Then I must be some kind of Genius

Well, I got my midterm marks back. I got a 90 in Network Flow...excellent. Network Design? Well, I got the second highest mark in the class! Unfortunately, that mark was 35%. The odd thing is that the highest mark in the class was around 75%, so there was a pretty huge drop-off. We're going to have a make-up midterm, and the prof talked to us all individually. I didn't tell him off or anything. What worries me is that it doesn't look like he's admitting that he's partially to blame for the class doing so poorly. Well, there's still 90% of the mark to be decided, so we'll see how this second midterm goes.

My sleep schedule is quite off lately. Lately, I've been going to bed between 4 and 5, and waking up at around 2PM. On days that I have class, I usually only get a few hours of sleep, and then crash when I get home. I forget what messed up my schedule. I was looking forward to attending a games day yesterday, but I woke up at 3 and realized it was half over, and by the time it would take to get ready and get there, it wouldn't be worth going.

I'm finally on the second disc of Shadow Hearts, but I think there's still a ways to go before I finish it. I beat the co-op story mode of Timesplitters: Future Perfect with Hugh, after some horrendously difficult stages. For Yoshi's Island, I've only got to acheive my goal of getting at least 80 on every stage for the last world, and then beat the last stage. I haven't touched FFVI lately. I have too many games started up already, so I'm trying to get SH and YI out of the way first.

I'm talking to Aly as we speak ('we speak', being figurative, of course). He reminded me that he has my Serenity DVD. I suggested that we actually do something, rather than just saying "hey, we should do something". It looks like I'll be going to see 300 this Friday in Mississauga (or Mrs. Sauga, as I jovially refer to it) at the IMAX theatre. I guess it doens't really mess with my midterms or anything, and the roads should be nice enough to drive on, so I can't think of any good reason not to go.

Katie was over last night, for the first time in a while. I was starting to get the feeling that she didn't really want to hang out with us anymore, but she initiated the hangout, so I suppose my fears were unfounded. She, Andrew and I played some NES (I have a NES emulator for PS2 with 900+ games), Scene It, and Carcassonne. As the night went on, activities included making spaghetti, and Katie falling asleep on the couch. I didn't know if I should wake her up or not, so I just played some Megaman 3 instead. Eventually she woke up (at 3:30 AM) and I kicked her out of my house. Good times, as usual! Unfortunately, she is babysitting this Monday and as such can not come over to watch TV.

I bought a Pitchshifter CD from those seedy guys that set up shop in the SLC the other day. "deviant", if you must know. It was a rare find, so I was happy to pay the eight dollars (sans tax). It's not as good as www.pitchshifter.com (the album), but I haven't really given it any time to grow on me. Now if only I could find a Bucket Truck or Chore cd...

The university had 1.5 snow days at the end of last week. They closed up shop at 3:30 on Thursday due to some pretty fierce snowfall. Overnight, there was really nasty freezing rain, hence the closure on Friday. It didn't mean much to me, besides letting me sleep in and saving me three hours of unenlightening class.

Well, that's as much as I'm willing to type for now.

Listening to... Reel Big Fish - Take On Me
Link of the moment... NES emulator for PS1. Needs a swap disc or mod chip to work.

Time to lose myself in Guild Wars

People not in town this weekend:
Hugh
Andrew
John
Julie
Nathalie
Laura

People I'm left with:
...Sivji?

This weekend should be an interesting test of my mental state. I have a feeling that by the end of it I will have lost a bit of my sanity. I'd even consider going home if it weren't for my fear of all this work I have. It's not much work, but I'm certain it will be slow progress.

I planned to buy Guild Wars tonight, but I decided not to. I bought it Tuesday night instead. I think it's a bit slow going at the moment, much like any other MMORPG. I think once I get a good handle on the controls and abilities, and once I find a few people to party up with, it will be a bit more interesting.

Well, I think I'll play a bit of that now.

Listening to... Alkaline Trio - Sleepyhead
Link of the moment... Just gotta make sure I find the right Guild

Need a touch of humanity

I've got that feeling that I'm going out of my mind because I haven't have any human contact for the last 6ish hours. I did some marking (and found my first set of cheaters!), and I'm not in the mental condition to get any work done. I think I'd like to fire up a game like Dragon Quest 8, but since it's burned I'd rather not put up with the possible frustration of trying to get it working.

Well, I got Tunde's bike. It's definitely a piece of work. The back tire is not on the wheel, the front tire is dead flat, the chain is off the gears, and the gears look pretty rusted. I'm really hoping that both bikes have the same size wheels so that I can take the good wheels off my other bike, put it on the newer bike, and then clean up and lube up the gears and chain on the newer bike. Hopefully by the end of the weekend, I'll have something that is workable. I realize now I should have just bought a new one to save myself the torment that I'm going through now. Let that be a lesson to me.

Well it looks as though my ENGL 119 class should be...interesting. Most people take it expecting it to be less work than a "real" course. Unfortunately, the term-long case study project works out to be quite a bit of work. Well, it subverts a final exam, so I guess I don't care one way or another. Me and Sivji were trying to recruit competent members ahead of time (that is, people who will be easy to communicate with and will do well in all oral aspects of the project). However, we still got stuck with two ESL girls, which may but a barrier of communication in the group. We'll still do well, it's just a matter of having to take more time to make sure everyone is on the same page. I've taken the responsibility of being the team project leader for the first week, meaning I have to have a formal status report ready for next Wednesday. I really don't know what they expect out of the people who are doing it the first week as we have no real progress to report on. All we'll have accomplished by next week is whatever brainstorming we get done on this Monday (we arranged an extra out-of-class meeting to get an early start). Not only that, but I have no idea what the layout of the report should look like.

Andrew and Hugh came back a while ago. We chatted, but as I expected we didn't really have anything to do. Andrew is tuckered out and has to get up early tomorrow. I could go to bed myself, but I never feel right going to bed before I feel like my day is over with.

I'm hoping tomorrow will be productive, though I say that every day. I hope to work on my bikes, go shopping, go to Value Village, and get either my marking or my CS338 done. Beyond that I have some lower priority things that I've been putting off for a while such as talking to people at the plaza about securing a parking space for John, doing my laundry, and recycling all these boxes stored in the basement.

Next Saturday (May 27), Julie and I are going to Niagara Falls. I don't know who else is coming, though I suspect John and Andrew are in the "maybe" pile. If you've ever been there and know of some good attractions, stores, or cafes to visit, then let me know.

It's sort of a shame, as there is a Warrior Weekend that weekend. I'd like to go to some of the events on both the Friday and Saturday, but I suppose my Niagara plans will interfere with that.

Well...I guess I'll get back to sitting on the computer wasting away my youth. Blah.

Listening to... Death From Above 1979 - Cold War
Link of the moment... I've been looking at recipes. Maybe one day I'll actually have the time and effort to make something.