More purging - Robots are fun!

I'm trying to get rid of a bunch of stuff that I have accumulated. I'll probably be moving again in the next few months and don't feel like lugging around all this stuff that I don't use. A lot of it has more sentimental value than anything, but I've found out that some of the stuff is worth a little bit. I will be selling what I can, although I know that I won't get want I want out of any of them. But its just stuff. It doesn't really mean anything or define who I am. I seem to do this purge thing about every five years. It can be hard to do but I'm usually happier and feel more free after I do it.

Last night, in preparation to sell them, I took pictures of all the autonomous robots that I built or was in the process of building a few years ago. It really made me not want to get rid of them and all of the books, materials, etc I acquired. I had a lot of fun learning about electronics, robotics, and programming. And spent a lot of money on it. But I haven't done anything with them since I started working on buying a house. I should all of my robotics stuff to someone who will use it. I didn't notice how dusty they had gotten until I took the pictures. This is a tough one for me. I would like to get back into the hobby, and it would probably be time better spent than what I do with my spare time now, but I'm scared that I will just want/need to spend more money on it. Maybe if I just sell part of it and keep that money separate and available only for robotic stuff. It would be easier to keep projects cheap if I build more BEAM type projects like this one. This was my second project and still worked when I packed it in the box a year and a half ago. It was very simple and has relatively few parts, but was still fun to build.That is a small solar panel on the back of this autonomous robot which changes light into electricity, charging the capacitor (large purple cylinder). When the stored electricity reaches a certain level it is released, driving one or both of the small pager motors. There are two small black light sensors on the front which tell the motors when to switch on in order for it to stay near the strongest source of light. I think it needs some friends. And a good cleaning.

 

Movies I've been wasting time watching

Instead of doing anything really productive, I've been watching a lot of movies during the last few weeks. You would think I would have the time for more posts. Here is a list of the last dozen or so movies that I have watched and some brief thoughts on them, roughly in order from first to last. Remember - the ratings only reflect how I personally feel about the movie, not necessarily how anyone else might rate them or how good they actually are.

• V for Vendetta - I watched this one before the end of the last school term. There had been numerous mentions of it in my English class because of the dystopian world that it portrays. This was a decent movie but I wasn't enamored by it like some of my classmates seemed to be. I've probably gotten too old to feel very passionate about a movie like this. It has Natalie Portman in it, who I usually like, but I wasn't all that impressed by her in this role. Don't get me wrong. This isn't a bad movie and it can prompt important thoughts and discussion. It just didn't present anything new to me personally and it seemed a little too fairy tale like. I did like seeing the use of the Guy Fawkes mask that the meta-group Anonymous started using after this movie. Apparently the original graphic novel series was much better and a lot more complex. I have not yet read any of them although I would like to now. 8/10
• Meerkat Manor -  This is not a film. This is a series that was on Animal Planet from 2005 to 2008. It is a combination of a documentary with dramatic narration about a family of meerkats in the Kalahari Desert. The show came out of a long term study done by Cambridge University. It is a really interesting show and the individual meerkats have definite personalities and distinct relationships with the other members. An interesting look into the lives of a mammal I knew nothing about. I watch 4 or 5 episodes a week and still have two more from the first season to go. 8.5/10
•  Bringing Up Baby - I kept seeing this movie in "best of" lists and have been wanting to watch it. I told some friends about it and we finally watched it together. I wasn't sure what to expect and that's what I got. This film is considered a "screwball comedy". I guess that's as good a general description as any. It was directed by Howard Hawks and starred Cary Grant and Katherine Hepburn. I like a lot of the work of all three of these. Katherine Hepburn was unbelievable. I wouldn't want to be anywhere near this crazy woman. This was a quirky and kind of strange movie that I liked a lot because it was so quirky and strange, especially for a 1938 comedy. 8/10
• The Watchmen - I had never read the popular graphic novel series that this movie was based on so I had no preconceptions about it. I thought it was a fun twist on the superhero genre and am always a sucker for alternate history stories. Because I wasn't familiar with the story, the end had a twist that I hadn't expected. I like the dark atmosphere, similar to Batman, Bladerunner, or Brazil. I would watch it again. And now I want to read the graphic novels. 8.5/10
• Huckleberry Finn -  This Mark Twain classic has even more film versions than Tom Sawyer. This one was made in1939, was filmed in black and white, and starred Mickey Rooney as Huck Finn. Much tamer than the book, but still a fun adaptation. 8.5/10
• The Adventures of Tom Sawyer - In Technicolor! This Twain story is timeless. This 1938 adaptation (and the book) will never get old. 9/10
• Inception - There has been a lot of hype around this movie and it is being rated very high on "best of" lists. I was skeptical, but wanted to see it because it sounded intriguing. There were some interesting ideas about dreams presented, but it found some of the story a little hard to swallow. A suspension of disbelief is definitely required to watch this film. I don't dislike Leonardo DiCaprio (I liked him in Romeo and Juliet), but I was unimpressed with this wooden acting. The climax of the movie was exciting but seemed inevitable and predictable. There was a subplot twist that left you guessing at the end that helped the end of the movie to be more satisfying. This movie was fun to watch, but didn't live up to the hype for me. 8.5/10
• Treasure Island - Another classic story that still holds up well for me. There have been dozens of remakes of this on film and TV, including one with the Muppets). I chose the1950 Disney version (their first live action film), although it is a toss-up for me on whether I like this one the best or the 1934 version with Jackie Cooper. How can you not like a classic pirate story like this? 9/10
• Greenlit - A recent independent documentary. Very short at less than an hour. An interesting and important subject which will probably not be promoted much by Hollywood. That's because it's about all of the waste and pollution that making movies cause. The movie being made that it examines is trying to be "green" but can't even adapt to simple measures like recycling, sorting garbage, or using reusable water bottles. A sad commentary on the hypocrisies of many Hollywood actors. 7.9/10
• Primer -I think that I really like this film. But I need to watch it again at least one more time before I completely understand what is going on. It can be a little difficult to follow. It is about the accidental discovery of time travel. The movie was made in 2004 for only $7000 by a mathematician/engineer and made just under $425K. On it's opening weekend it made $28K at four theaters. At one point 31 different theaters were showing it. This means no one saw it. A conservative estimate is 71,000 people.  Don't let that discourage you. Let the dense technical language and dialogue and the heavy use of actual physics do that. If you can get past all of that deliberate confusion and can follow along with what's going on, it is a really good story. An interesting new take on time travel movies. 9/10
• The World According to Monsanto - Another one of those documentaries on a subject that everyone should be a lot more informed about than they are. It can be angering, frustrating, and depressing to watch films like this. And they aren't exactly exciting or fun to watch. But if you care about knowing the truth instead of just keeping your head in the sand and believing the lies and propaganda of powerful corporations you should watch this and similar ones. Stay away from conspiracy movies and any show that has anyone in it that has been on the Art Bell show. Exercise your critical thinking skills. 8/10
• Machete -Yeah! Super fun movie. Lots of fake over-the-top acting, violence, and special effects. Yet it all manages to work perfectly. Great casting too. Republicans and Tea Partiers have described this movie as a how-to for illegal Mexicans instructing them on how to take over the US. That's almost as funny as this movie. Many people will hate this movie because it shows just how stupid they are. Many others will love it because it shows how stupid those other people are. And its funny. 9/10
• Swiss Family Robinson - This is the 1960 Disney version. I really liked this movie a lot when I was a little kid. Unfortunately, it doesn't hold up very well for me as an adult and I had a hard time getting through it. Too idealistic or something. For example, it was cute when the youngest son kept getting pet animals from the deserted tropical island, but they were all way to tame to begin with. And what a place! Ostriches, elephants, tigers, hyenas, zebras, monkeys, etc. Where were they? The fight between the dogs and the tiger was...interesting. I wonder if they could get away with that now. I think I would still love this movie if I was 10. I would like to watch 1940 RKO version to compare the two. 7.5/10
•  Scrooged - A Christmas Story came in a close second but Erik, Mary Kate, and I ended up watching this one Christmas afternoon. Carol Kane's performance of the Ghost of Christmas Present was by far the best part of the movie. A classic story but not Bill Murray's best performance. 7.5/10
• Rushmore - After watching Scrooged we were talking about other Bill Murray movies and decided to watch this one. I guess this film got some good reviews. It was a somewhat interesting story and a little different, but I didn't really care that much for it. 6.5/10

My car needs some TLC

I've been having some issues with the cooling system on my car for several years. In the last few years I have replaced the radiator, the upper and lower hoses, the cooling fan, the temp. sensor for the fan, and the thermostat. It still uses coolant, but doesn't overheat or act up much because I check the coolant level regularly. I recently came to the conclusion that I had been purposely ignoring for a very long time. I probably need a new head gasket and some machine work done to the head. I found a repair place that seems to be very highly regarded with good reviews and went there today to get an estimate. The place looked kind of sketchy and a little chaotic when I got there, but I went in and talked to the owner. I think I may have come to the right place. He seemed very knowledgeable and helpful. He gave me a rough estimate of the charges and I was really surprised. If the head gasket is the problem and there are no other issues, he will charge about $500 to replace the gasket, get the head machined, and replace the timing belt. I was surprised and was expecting a lot more than that. I thought it might be time to sell the Harley so I could fix the Honda. How ironic would that be? Although I still might sell it. I think I'm getting closer to that point. Anyway, I made an appointment for next Monday and if all goes well, it will be ready by Thursday. If not, I could be car-less over Christmas weekend. I'm not all that worried about it though. No school, no work, there is the bus and MAX if I need it. Hopefully, after this is done, my car should be ready to go for a long time to come. It has nearly 200,000 miles on it now and should have a lot more left in it with a new head gasket and timing belt. Expenses like this suck, but since I was expecting it to cost a LOT more I'm not letting it bother me.

Classes for Winter term

I registered for my classes a couple of weeks ago. I like to do it as soon as I can so I can get the classes that I want. Here's how it looks:

• CAS 140 - Beginning Access (3 credits) This is an online class that teaches database management using Microsoft Access. I'm probably going to drop this class. It is something that I want to take, but only registered for it because I wasn't completely sure which classes I actually am going to take so it is there as a back-up.
• MTH 243 - Statistics I (4 credits) More graphs, probability, distribution, and more statisticy stuff like that. This is the first of a series of two stats classes that I need to take. This class should be tons easier than calculus. I will be commuting twice a week to the Sylvania campus for this class and the philosophy class. I'm not really looking forward to that, but the worst traffic should be going the other way. 
• PHY 195 - Critical Thinking: Science & the Occult (4 credits) This class should be interesting. The instructor and class was recommended to me by my friend, Chuck. The PCC catalog says this class "introduces scientific method, assessment criteria for scientific observations and explanations and the difference between genuine and bogus science." The instructor wrote the textbook, which is apparently quite popular, and his class is apparently very entertaining and valuable. This class will fulfill my last Arts & Letters requirement for my AS transfer degree.
• PS 205 - Global Politics: Conflict and Cooperation (4 credits) This political science instructor and class was also recommended to me by Chuck. I've become a lot more interested in politics and world affairs in the last few years, so this class sounds interesting to me. The instructor was a Fulbright Scholar and is also said to be very entertaining and knowledgeable. This class will fulfill my last Social Sciences requirement for my AS transfer degree.

 My schedule will be Tues & Thurs at the Sylvania campus from 9am-12:50pm and Fridays at the Cascade campus (the one I have taken the majority of my classes at) from 12 to 3:50pm. This is going to change my work schedule also. I may try to get a different job when after they are posted later this week. I usually enjoy working at the school, but it's not the greatest fit for me. We'll see.

After this term is finished, I will only have one term left at PCC. I'll probably take the second stats class, hopefully the final enviromental science class I've been wanting to take, and unless a class that looks really interesting is available I will probably go for an easy, like Art 101 or something like that. No need to ruin that artificially high GPA I have going (now at 3.90).

I will need to start gathering information about starting there soon. I should try to get down to the financial aid and advising offices at PCC this week. And I will be on the lookout for the advisers from PSU who occasionally from come to campus.

More textbooks

I just sold my calculus textbooks, lab manual, and software. I'm happy that I got $170 for all of them, despite spending nearly $300 for them. I don't think it will be too difficult to sell my Excel text either. I will probably still lose a little bit on it, but not nearly as much as on the calculus books.

I'm trying to buy a used stats textbook on Craigslist, but the guy who posted the ad hasn't returned my phone call yet. He wants $60 for the book and CD-ROM that goes with it. Much better than $148, which is the price of a new one. I still need to solutions manual (I'm hoping the PCC bookstore has used copies for $30) and lab manual, which is $11. The books for my other classes could be as much as another $160.

Apathetic

I'm so glad this term is over. About half way through I lost most of my interest and motivation in my classes. My final paper for ENG261 was a joke. Grades haven't been posted for this class yet. I wish I cared. I liked the material and the deeper meanings, etc., but I didn't really like this class that much. I did fine and got 10/10 on all but one assignment. But by the time we had started on the final paper I didn't care at all about it. I'll probably still get a "B" in this class.

My Excel class was pretty easy despite missing numerous classes. I'll never take another weekend class again if I can help it. I haven't seen grades yet. The instructor tended to be late a lot and wasn't very organized. Probably an "A" or a "B". Meh...

My online PE class went well. I got an "A". I probably got a lot more out of this class than any of the others this term. It was a lot of work for a one credit class. Now if I can just keep up on the exercising. Stay away rain!

Calculus....calculus. I did not enjoy this class at all. I'm not sure what I got on my final exam. I feel like I did pretty horrible on it. If I'm lucky I got 70%. Unlike earlier tests, I barely studied at all for the final. I couldn't make myself care about the class. The instructor was leaving for South America yesterday evening, so he posted grades yesterday morning. I got an "A" overall for this class. I'm not sure I like that. The instructor for my first economics class talked about grade inflation at colleges in the US in general and at PCC specifically. She said that the econ department had lower average grades than any other department because they refused to inflate grades to make themselves look better. I don't know if that is true or it's just because economics is hard for a lot of people and many don't have an interest in it other than to satisfy a requirement. I have definitely come to agree with her in general about grade inflation. Mine is a classic case. I don't feel that I deserved an "A". I didn't do "A" work. My grades weren't there. My best exam was only 88%. I should have been lucky to get a "B" in this class. A lot of the grade was based on homework and lab assignments being done, even if none of the work was right or complete. He said at the start of the term that he would bump your grade up on level if you showed improvement on each test. I did that (76, 80, 88), if you don't count the final exam. I've seen this stuff in other classes too. It kind of cheapens the high GPA.

UPDATE
All of my grades are in now. I got straight "A"s. Lame. 

Calculus exam

Today was my third calculus exam. I was really surprised when it seemed like I actually knew how to do all of the problems. Did the last week of studying help me understand this stuff, or did I know it better than I thought I did? Maybe some of both. I'll find out on Thursday. Talking to classmates before and after the test makes me think that I know the material at least as well as most of the class. There are a couple of exceptions, like the Asian girl with the amazing writing who sits in front of me. She is always done first. Today was no different. The test only took her about 10 minutes. I finished in about 35 minutes and at least half the class was still working on their test. I'm glad that's over and I will only have the final exam left. Maybe I will get a decent grade, but I doubt that I will get an "A" unless I do REALLY well on the final. Only three more classes before then. Is the term really that close to being over?

More school stuff

Just about all I ever write about is school. You might think that I don't do anything else. You would almost be right.

My Excel class is pretty easy. The in-class part is almost a waste of time for me. This class should be helpful in my Stats classes and I'm pretty sure that if I do become an economist, I'll be using this and Access (databases) pretty often. The homework only takes a couple of hours and I usually have it done by Sunday night.

My English class is entering the final stretch. Last week we watched Brazil and had some interesting discussion about it. Even though I've seen this movie a bunch of times, I now have an even greater appreciation for it. I never really bothered to think about many of the deeper themes presented in the movie. For my final paper, I have chosen to write about the Harry Tuttle character in the movie Brazil and his relationship to Sam Lowry, the main character. I may also look at Tuttle using concepts like leaderless movements, resistance, and subversion. I want to compare him to groups like 4chan, and Anonymous. I'm a little worried about getting it up to 7 pages, but I think I'll be alright. I have 2 weeks to finish the rough draft for submission and them 2 more weeks to finish it. I shouldn't have sold my Little,Brown Handbook. It would come in handy for this. At least I have the internet. It won't be quite as easy, but it will work. Hopefully, I will be able to convince myself to work on this daily instead of waiting until the last minute to finish it.

My one credit PE class has been harder and has taken more work than I thought it would, but it is helping me to exercise more and eat (at least a little) better. I am having a harder time exercising (riding my bike) every day now that it is starting to rain. I've been trying to do more simple muscle-building exercises in my room, but I find it hard to get excited about them and find it difficult to stay motivated. Winters are long and wet here. I need to do more. I really don't want to gain back the weight I've lost and would like to keep losing more. That's going to be hard to do if I don't cultivate some new exercise habits.

Busier than I want to be

I never thought I would be doing so much extra homework. I still don't like calculus, but I feel like I'm starting to understand it better. Whatever that means. The last two weeks have been horrible. I was not understanding the composition rule (or chain rule) and the assignments that followed required that you know it. So I got a little farther behind in the two classes that followed. I still have some unfinished homework assignments and lab work that need to be done by Tuesday afternoon before the exam. I've done pages and pages and pages of extra homework, went to the PCC learning center numerous times, and talked to a friend of mine who had taken calculus only a few years ago and did well in it. I finally felt like I was understanding the rule, at least somewhat, yesterday and am feeling a little more confident about the upcoming test. I've been spending most of my time doing this and am getting sick of it. Hopefully, the rest of the term won't give me quite as hard a time. I hope that I don't have to ever take any more calculus classes, but it may be unavoidable. For now, all I have left is two Statistics classes. They should be easy after this one.

Bicycling update

I was doing calculus homework (never-ending!) and the batteries in my calculator needed to be charged, so I decided to go for another bicycle ride. The weather today has been amazing. Sunny, clear skies, and almost 70 degrees. Is it really November?

Since I bought my bicycle I've learned a lot about it. And I also learned that buying a cheap bike may have not been the smartest thing to do. The latest thing I've had to buy for it was a new rear wheel and gears. I discovered that the cheap wheels I have aren't going to hold up to my weight. At least the rear one. Even though I only ride on the streets and don't do any curb jumping, the old style (meaning cheap) rear axle is easily bent. And it did. After talking to the guy at the bike shop I've been going to (Citybikes) I decided to upgrade the rear wheel to a cartridge type so I wouldn't just keep bending axles. I bought a decent used wheel and the cheapest new gears they had for $81. I also got a couple of plastic tire levers for $4. I put the new wheel on, adjusted the brakes, and went out for a ride. I neglected to check the chain travel on the new gears and ended up hyper extending my leg after the chain came off. A couple of days later I ended up replacing the tube also, because I damaged the valve stem when I was putting it back together. This was definitely a learning experience for me. A couple of weeks ago I also purchased some fenders (another $40) so I wouldn't get too dirty when it is wet out. I hope that I am close to being done spending a bunch of money on it, but I should probably get a tire pump (instead of using my house mate's) and I will probably need to buy some rain gear. I keep putting that off, but it is an inevitable purchase.

I started out riding about 20 minutes at a time. Pretty soon it was taking less time to ride the same route, so I extended it a bit and was riding about 25 minutes twice a day. It didn't take long until I had to extend my regular ride even more to keep it at 25 minutes. I'm now doing that route in about 20 minutes if I push myself a little bit. When the weather is nice (like today), I either zig zag up and down the blocks on my way home (I did 50 minutes this way a few days ago) or I ride more than twice a day. I'll probably get in at least three of those today.

Between my continually changing diet and bicycling I've been able to lose even more weight. I'm creeping up (actually down) to almost 255, which is the least I've weighed for quite a few years. I'm hoping to get under 250 by the end of this school term. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for the nice weather to continue. I need to start doing some strength exercises though. I'm thinking about using some 1/2- and 1-gallon plastic jugs filled with water as dumbbells. I haven't been able to get into a habit of doing any exercises other than bicycling and I need some options.

I hate calculus

I really did expect calculus to be hard. And it is. But I'm a little disappointed. Two weeks ago our instructor told us that we had gotten through the hard stuff and that the rest of the term would be relatively easy. Last week was relatively easy when you compare it to what we had already done. But after today's class and trying to do the assigned homework this evening, I feel thoroughly lost. This class is easily the hardest one I have ever taken. I highly doubt that I will end up with an "A". I might have a hard time even ending up with a "B". It all seems so logical and relatively easy when I'm taking notes on the lecture, but I always seem to leave the practice lab (last hour of class) frustrated or even angry. I had a hard time even wanting to try this week's homework or finishing the lab after I got home. I was able to do a couple of the homework problems and spent about an hour trying to figure out just one of the lab questions that I had left. I can't imagine how horrible Calculus II is going to be. I can't even fathom what I'm going to ever use this crap for. If I at least had some idea of what I'll use it for I might be a little more excited about it. I'm going to be really pissed if I never have to use it.

My new job

Earlier this year I applied and was accepted for a federal work-study job. I finally started just under two weeks ago. The job I went for, and got, is with the AmericaReads program. I am working 5 days a week in the mornings at a nearby school, Vernon Elementary. This school is one of the most disadvantaged and underfunded schools in Portland and has a large minority student body who mostly come from broken or low income families. The first partial week was kind of hectic and I was doing all kinds of different things. I'm now on a regular schedule and work mostly with one 5th grade class. Since they do math in the mornings, that's what I'm usually helping with. On Fridays, I also read with a few kindergartners for about an hour. I'm working with kids who need the most help in both of these classes, so it is challenging. I have no real teaching experience and have been frustrated and humbled many times. But, it is already rewarding. The kids seem grateful (mostly) and they are always happy to see me. I won't make that much, working only about 10 hours a week, but it should be enough to pay my rent each month. I should also qualify for SNAP (food stamps) and am going to turn in my application and make a reservation to talk to someone this week. Hopefully I will qualify for about $200 a month, which will pay for most of my food expenses (I'm learning how to eat even cheaper than I was before). I might even be able to get college credit for doing this - 1 credit for every 30 hours. If I continue this throughout the regular school year I may end up getting 9 credits for it. I need to go to the Co-op Education office at school this week to try to get this going. I think you have to write several papers about what I expect to get from this experience and what I actually take away from it. I had no idea that these things would be available to me (except the food stamps) and it was a nice surprise to find it out. I think this may turn out to be one of the most personally rewarding things I have ever done.

I'm back - School update

It's been over a month since my last post here. I have no excuse other than I've been really busy and haven't felt much like writing anything. Take it or leave it.

As always, school takes up most of my time. This term I am taking my first calculus class, an English class on science fiction literature, beginning Excel, and a 1 credit PE class.

Calculus has been difficult, to say to least. It is very different than any of the math classes that I have taken. And I'm still having some difficulty with some of the more complicated reciprocal conversions, which is stuff I learned (apparently not so well) back in my first college level math class. So far we have covered limits, continuity, rates of change, and derivatives. I don't expect you to know what these are. I barely know what they are. Our instructor said that we have finished the most difficult part of the class. I hope so. I got a 76% on my first exam. Not so great, but at least it was a passing grade. We have our second exam on Tuesday. I'm feeling a little more confident about this one. I have been trying to change my study habits and no longer sit for hours at a time studying for an exam. I take it in 20-30 minutes chunks, then take a break and work on something else. This takes more time, but seems to be working for me. As long as I can improve at least a little bit on each exam I should do alright in this class. Commuting to the Southeast Campus two days a week is kind of a pain, but I really wanted to continue with the same instructor that I had for my last two math classes. I will also take him for my next calculus class next term. I have been trying to ride my motorcycle to this class, but I am not going to ride it in the rain. Getting to class wet is not fun. When I drive my car, I park several blocks away so I don't have to pay the $40 parking fee. So far this has worked out well.

My English class, Literature of Science Fiction (ENG261) is online. I don't care that much for online classes, but this one has worked out alright so far. There is a LOT of writing in this class. I still struggle with college level writing. At least the way they want it done. The subject of all the stories is dystopian societies, which really appeals to me. The stories, not the idea of dystopia. I turned in my mid-term paper last week, but still dont' know what kind of grade I got on it. I'm expecting the final to be particularly horrible. The weekly papers are much easier, but I feel that I'm not at the same level as some of the others in class. As long as I can get at least a halfway decent grade on the final paper I will do fine. So far, we have read, written about, and discussed E.M. Forster's short story The Machine Stops (available here if you are interested) and Aldous Huxley's Brave New World. I'm a little embarrassed that with as much science fiction that I've read throughout the years that I never got around to reading this novel. It is an impressive and powerful story to say the least. We just started Ursula K. LeGuin's The Lathe of Heaven and have read the first 6 chapters. I haven't read much of LeGuin, but this story is fascinating so far. I have a paper due Monday night on these chapters. I have barely started on it and will probably end up waiting until the last minute to get it done. Although I don't like it, I seem to write better under pressure. Annoying. The last thing before the final will be on a movie, not a book. The movie is Brazil, which happens to be one of my favorite movies. I hope this makes the assignments a little easier.

There isn't a whole lot to say about Beginning Excel. I felt that this is something that I should know if I'm going into economics. It's a fairly easy class, but I decided to take it right before the term started and ended up having to take Sunday classes. I managed to forget I had class last week, but I don't think that will have much of an effect on my grades.

My PE class is also online. It's only one credit, so it doesn't take up that much of my time. As part of the class I have had to keep track of my exercise. It's helping me to stay motivated. Most of my exercise comes from riding my bike, which I have been trying to do at least 25-50 minutes a day. I hope this helps me develop some good habits.

It's been a while

You would think that since I have been on a break between classes that I would have been able to put up a bunch of posts, but no...I've been busy being lazy. And reading a lot.

I have been threatening to buy a bicycle for quite some time and I finally did just that. I drove to Vancouver with Erik (thanks again for your help) to look at four used bikes that an older gentleman (Frank) had that I found on Craigslist. It was a toss-up between the Schwinn and the Diamondback, but I finally went for the 21-speed Diamondback because it seemed to be in a little better condition and felt more comfortable. Also it had new grips, metal brake levers, a quick release front wheel and seat post, a chain guard of sorts on the front sprockets, and a bottle rack, but no bottle. I paid $120 for this Diamondback Outlook (started life as a mountain bike) that has decent wheels that are 1/2" narrower than stock,  new tires, and higher bars. It does have a few scratches , but overall looks pretty good. I researched all of the components on the bike and found out that they are all near the top end of the lower quality level. The non-stock wheels and hubs are the best components on the bike. So I didn't get any kind of smokin' deal, but I didn't do terrible either.

Within a couple of days I also bought a helmet, a U-lock, and lights for the front and rear. It was a pleasant surprise to find out that the cheapest bike helmets offer pretty much the same protection as expensive ones, sometimes even better. The lights were kind of expensive, but that was something that I wanted to be of good quality. I want to be seen at night. They are both LED, can either be always on or flashing, are very bright, and use batteries that I already have rechargeable replacements for. And I got a lower-priced, but decent combination U-lock (no key!). I can use a small cable lock that I already have for the seat.

After riding it for a couple of days, I noticed that the seat was old, bent, and no longer very comfortable for my fat ass so I also bought a (cheap!) new saddle today. It's wider and a lot more comfortable, but I think it might take a some fiddling to get it in just the right spot. I will probably be getting fenders before too long so I can stay a little drier and a lot cleaner in the rain. I've already spent more on other stuff than I did on the bike. I hope to justify the money I spend with fewer auto-related expenses and better health. There is a whole list of other things I would like to get but can't really justify right now. At the very least, I would still like to assemble a small repair/flat kit for on the road. And some chain lube. If I can find a suitable small magnet and the right battery I can reuse the inexpensive cycling computer that I had on the GPz and took off before selling it. It would be nice to know exactly how far I am going.

I hope to start commuting to school and using a bike for any trips less than 5 miles or so. Maybe even more once I have been riding for a while. I have been going out at least twice a day and riding for 20+ minutes each time. I forgot how much fun riding a bike is. And it is so much faster and better exercise than walking. I'm pretty sure I rode close to 10 miles today. I went out first thing this morning for a short ride and then I rode to Erik and Mary Kate's to buy some eggs around dusk. Due to good timing I ended up eating some delicious barbequed beef and chicken while I was there. It was my first bike trip where I had an actual destination, rather than just aimless riding in the neighborhoods near my house. I was a little winded and sweaty when I got there, but not terribly so. I'm pretty happy with how much easier it is after just a few days. It will be even better once I get the seat adjusted. It was way too far forward and put a lot of weight on my already compromised wrists.

Bikes are MUCH easier to understand and work on than motorcycles, but I still have a lot to learn. I still haven't even got the brakes adjusted right yet. They are getting closer, but it is tricky. I haven't even tried to mess with any of the derailleur settings yet. I might pay someone to do a tuneup on it. Portland is a HUGE bike town and there are lots of bike mechanics around who work out of their homes and charge very reasonable rates. They are also usually willing to show you what they are doing and explain stuff to you if you show an interest. I think it would be a well-spent $40. I could do all the regular maintenance and repairs myself after that. Except for the special tools I would need to get. Luckily most of them are pretty inexpensive. The costs just keep piling up. Why did I think this would be any different than motorcycles? Again, at least it's cheaper.

I'm really happy that I started riding again. Although I've ridden a few bikes here and there over the years, I haven't owned one or ridden more than a handful of miles in over 25 years. It's always been about motorcycles and I didn't feel the need before now. But I'm super excited about starting again. I hope to start burning a lot more calories and losing some more weight. I kept off the ten pounds I lost in the last couple months, but haven't been able to make any additional progress with just walking. Getting a bike seemed like a good next step. It's fun to think about not having a car at all, but I'm certainly no where near that at this point.

Warning: This picture is quite large. If you click on it and have 

a slow connection, it might take a long time for it to load.

打它-迈克尔杰克逊和中国军队

Textbooks are still too expensive / More free money!

I tried to find out what textbooks are required for the classes I am considering taking for the fall term. I want to try to find used textbooks again if I can. It saves a huge amount of money. Two years seems to be about how long you can expect a college textbook to be used. There are some exceptions, but they are few and far between. The only class I am 100% sure of for the fall term is MTH251 (Calculus I). All of the calculus textbooks for PCC have just been changed and there are no used copies anywhere that I've checked because the book is brand new. The books I need for this class could cost about the same as tuition for the class. The main book is $190.30 and a required course packet is another $13.40. If I end up needing the solutions manual it will be another $87.05. This is all for one class. Luckily, Calculus II will use these same books. So $150 per class per term is about average. I think the textbook for the digital photography class I'm considering is about $140. Who knows how much the astronomy class might be. Probably more like $200 or even more. I had been hesitating taking an online literature of science fiction class until I saw that even if I buy brand new for the required books it will only be about $25. The cost of textbooks and availability of used books could be a deciding factor in many of the classes that I take in the next year. I have a lot of elective credit requirements left and can pick almost anything I want for them.

I still haven't haven't had to take out any loans for school. But that could all change soon. I am now eligible (finally!) and have applied for for Pell grants and Oregon Opportunity grants now and may be able to get an additional $1000 per term if I can get a federal Work-Study position. I also qualified for a Perkins loan of up to $1050 over the next three terms. Using just these resources I can potentially get $6383 for school costs over the next three terms. This could completely pay for those terms, maybe even with a tiny bit left over for living expenses. If I get all of these awards I'm pretty sure I have at least enough money for living expenses for the next 6 to 8 months, maybe more if I'm careful. If I could get through my first 2+ years of college without being more than $1000 in debt I would be ecstatic. If I can continue to receive grants and work-study I might only have to come up with living expenses. But that's where the debt is really going to start to pile up. I think about $9000 a year is going to be my lower limit. Maybe I will surprise myself and do better than that. Realistically I think I can look forward to a minimum of $20,000 of school debt if I get a Bachelors degree. If I do graduate studies it could be double that. If I went to a private college like Reed, not that I want to, I could expect to pay about $41,000 per year just for tuition! I'm just glad that I will be able to go to a relatively cheap public university. And that they have some quality programs that I am interested in. Even if I graduate with a $40,000 debt, I believe that there is a good chance I could have it paid off within a few years.

I don't want to think about this anymore right now.

The Return of the Reading List

I never get to read as much as I want to. There are SO MANY books that I want to read. School and its required reading has been slowing me down. It's been 6 months since I last posted what I have been reading for fun and I am a little surprised at how little I've managed to read in that time. I've been trying to shake things up a little by reading a little more fiction, particularly "classic", meaning older and hopefully not crappy, fiction of various types, but nothing really heavy like War and Peace or Atlas Shrugged or Of Human Bondage. I'm sure these are great books, but they hold little appeal to me. I need to use reading as an escape more often, like I did when I was younger. Non-fiction is informational and interesting, but I need to try and use my recreational reading more as recreation rather than education. I was hooked on cheap Conan novels for several years and the guy at the nearby used bookstore was happy to assist in feeding my addiction. They knew me well there. Good times. More fiction seems to be good for me and my mental health. And its free. Hard to beat that combo. So, here they are, in chronological order:

Animal, Vegetable, Mineral - Barbara Kingsolver
Another "crunchy" book. A family moves to rural Appalachia and decides to go for a year eating only locally produced food. Apparently Kingsolver is famous for her earlier highly-acclaimed novel, The Poisonwood Bible, about a missionary family that moves to Africa and I suppose that I may eventually read it.

The Undercover Economist - Tim Harford
A mass media economics books. Its the kind of book about economics that you might read if you aren't all that interested in economics. I would have learned something if I had read this a few years ago.

The Lost City of Z : A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon - David Grann
I love (LOVE! LOVE!) reading books like this and was thrilled when I saw that the library had this book on order. I immediately put in on hold and waited patiently for it to arrive. It's real-life Indiana Jones stuff. Buried treasure, lost cities, the Amazon jungle in the 1920's, world-famous British explorer vanishes. Smashing good time, old boy! More! I want more! Bring me more! I demand it!

Voodoo Histories : The Role of the Conspiracy Theory in Shaping Modern History - David Aaronovitch
Interesting, but I didn't agree with some of his conclusions and was a bit confused about the conspiracy theories that the author chose to not address. Some of his arguments were poor and made little sense. I wanted to like this book and it sounded promising, but I wasn't impressed.

A bunch of books on medicine and doctors in the Middle Ages, like Daily Life During the Black Death by Joseph P. Byrne. This wasn't for fun (humanities class), but I learned a couple of interesting things.

Green, Inc. : An environmental insider reveals how a good cause has gone bad - Christine MacDonald
Another disturbing book that told me some things that I already suspected and some more things that I didn't. Kind of a bummer, but good to know.

The island at the center of the world : the epic story of Dutch Manhattan and the forgotten colony that shaped America - Russell Shorto
I ended up not finishing this book. I ran out of time and had to get it back because someone else had reserved it. I would like to finish this book. I do love history and this is a much deeper look at what has turned into one of the most important cities in the world. Very well written and researched.

Little house on a small planet : simple homes, cozy retreats, and energy efficient possibilities - Shay Salomon
More tiny house stuff. Always cool to see what's new and different ideas. Some day...

Free-range kids : giving our children the freedom we had without going nuts with worry - Lenore Skenazy
Super awesome book! More people need to read this book. Not just people with kids either. It shows that the world really isn't such a scary place for kids and things aren't actually getting worse. We just talk about scary things more and are consequently more scared. Really. It helps that this book is fun to read.

There Was an Old Woman - Ellery Queen
I can remember reading and watching (Channel 55 was the shiznit!) a lot of Alfred Hitchcock Presents and Ellery Queen mysteries when I was young. I hadn't read a mystery novel in a very, very long time and decided to give it another go. I really like 1920s and 1930s settings and language in books, I'm not sure why. I think it's far enough removed in time from my own personal experiences that it is somewhat of a curiosity yet still very familiar. It does help if it is fun and easy to read like this one. I had no real clue who the killer was even though all the evidence had been presented. I'll probably read some more Ellery Queen books. Eventually.

Q.E.D.: Queen's experiments in detection - Ellery Queen
I got this one after reading the prior book. It's a collection of short stories and they don't work nearly as well as a novel length book. I only read about half of it before returning it.

You can't eat GNP : economics as if ecology mattered - Eric A. Davidson
Very well done and fairly short book on the basics of ecological economics. I'm still reading this one.

And then there were none - Agatha Christie
The Ellery Queen novel got me excited about mysteries and I decided to expand a little within the genre. This book happened to be available at the branch library that is only a 10 minute walk from my house so I decided to get it. Set in the late 1930's, this is Christie's best selling novel ever. A fun and fast read that left me wanting more. I had a good idea who the murderer was before the end, but there were still some twists that I never saw coming. Excellent.

Infidel - Ayaan Hirsi Ali.
I checked this book out about 4 or 5 months ago and never got enough time to read it. I just got it again yesterday and am several chapters into it right now. Fascinating story of triumph over adversity for a woman who grew up as a Muslim girl with few rights in several African and Middle Eastern countries, her eventual escape to the Netherlands, and her refusal to submit to a religion she never really believed in. After this book she wrote a screenplay which was made into a film titled Submission. This film ended up getting it's Dutch director/producer, Theo van Gogh, killed and has resulted in continuous death threats have been made against her ever since. It's a pretty interesting story so far and has been hard to put down.

Death on the Nile - Agatha Christie
I wanted to try a Christie novel that featured her famous Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot. I haven't started this one yet. I have high hopes.

There are probably a couple others that I'm forgetting. And I still haven't gotten around to reading Progress and Poverty or the Noam Chomsky book I've been trying to read for over a year now.

Dog bites man...Man is not happy

So I made myself go for a walk this evening because I hadn't done it for several days. I have been doing pretty well otherwise. I'm walking for nearly twice as long as when I started and at a much quicker pace. It's definitely getting easier.

Anyways, as I was headed back towards my house I was trucking along minding my own business and out of nowhere, I got bit by a freakin' dog! I wasn't sure I was going to say anything about it here, but I couldn't help myself. The older teenaged kid didn't have control of his dog, a large terrier like an airedale, and it lunged at me as I walked by and it bit me on the arm. There was a puncture and blood. I stood there for a couple of minutes cussing and not really knowing what I should do. I asked him where he lived and I said let's go there. We went back to the kid's house and I washed my arm and got names and info from his mother. What a stupid pain in the ass. Or arm. I don't plan to do anything unless I need to go to a doctor or something. They were apologetic and promised to pay for any medical bills that I might incur. I'm pretty sure that I should have done something different, but I'm not sure what exactly. This has never happened to me before. I hope it's fine. I don't want to have to deal with hospitals and insurance that I don't have. I'm likely to get screwed over in some way.

Happy Friday the 13th!

Next stop...Hollywood!

I forgot to mention that my picture was in the paper a couple of days ago. Well, sort of. This is an online article from the Oregonian, which is the big local paper here in Portland. You can enlarge the first picture of the article (with the "view full size" button) and there I am, second from the left with the orange backpack. This was our final environmental science field trip to the St. Johns Landfill.

The smell of the future

Maybe its time to get an agent. I smell movie offers, maybe even a special on Lifetime!

Almost finished for the summer

I just finished my final paper for international economics. I learned a lot, especially about Germany's economy. And Iceland too, which was my partner's country for the final group report. I'm glad I took this class and it was a good introduction to the subject, but I really didn't like the online environment. It really makes a difference how things are set up and requirements. My online health class is going well and works fine. I think some subjects are better suited for online classes than others. I would have liked closer supervision and more interaction between classmates. I like in-person lectures for stuff like this so that makes a big difference to me. But if I wanted to take this class I had to do it online. From what I understand, there are a lot of classes like this one that are only offered online and/or during the summer term. You take what you can get. I do feel a lot more comfortable with my level of knowledge of international econ, but my new knowledge barely scratches the surface and only covered some of the basics. I'm pretty sure I will be taking at least one more class on this subject when I go to PSU. I didn't get to see a lot of the work done by my classmates, but I'm pretty sure I did much better than most, maybe even all, of the others. I got A's on all my exams and assignments and have no reason to think that my final grade will be any less.

Wednesday night I turned in my final take-home exam for environmental science. There were 6 short-essay questions and 2 long-essay questions that ended up being 11 pages long. The hardest part was being able to sum up big concepts that we learned throughout the (short!) term in a comprehensible and cohesive way. I already got my grade back and got 102%! There was an extra credit question that asked up to relate what we thought about our 7 field trips. This was a fun and pretty easy class, just like the last one, but only 8 weeks instead of 12. I'm pretty confident that I will get an "A" in this class. We had to do a literature report again, this time on the book Silent Spring by Rachel Carson. I have been wanting to read this book for a while and was happy that it was assigned. Written in 1962, this book was instrumental in making people aware of the problems associated with chemical pesticides and herbicides like DDT, Aldrin, and other related compounds. This is another well-written book that I highly recommend to everyone. Our field trips were to Whittaker Ponds, which I think I wrote about in an earlier post, the Portland waste water treatment plant, a walking tour of alternative methods of storm water control, Metro natural pest control, a visit from a representative of the Oregon Environmental Council, the waste recycling center, and the reclaimed St. Johns landfill. The focus of this term was pollution and I learned a lot of good things. Just like before, this class is wide, but not really very deep. Even so, I will still try to take the last class in this series when its offered this winter.

My health class continues on. Nothing all that special. Some of my posts have probably upset and annoyed some of my classmates, but I try to be respectful and accurate. Some people don't like it when you question their weak and hyperbolic (this is my new favorite word and I have been using it a lot lately) statements. I'm still eating a little better than before I started this class and am getting more exercise, although I've been slacking for the last three days and haven't done anything and haven't lost any weight for over a week. I need to step it up and get a bicycle. Or something. A bicycle would probably be the smartest move. I know I can find something decent on Craigslist for under $150. And I still haven't made an attempt to quit smoking. Maybe the bicycle and the quitting smoking can go together. Do it lame-o. Don't just talk about doing it. Anyways, there are 3 more weeks of this class with 2 quizzes and one final exam (non-cumulative, its only on the last three class weeks). I should be able to get an "A" in this class.

My Iron Butt - part one

It's been 3 months since I last wrote something on my first Iron Butt ride (1000+ miles in 24 hours or less). Time for the next chapter.

I had planned on getting up around 5am and leaving by 6am. I went to bed early (around 8pm) so I could be well rested, but was so excited that I couldn't get to sleep. I finally decided not to fight it anymore and got up at around 11pm. I quickly got ready, got on my bike, and went to the corner gas station to fill up. I made sure I kept the receipt for time validation and was on the road at 11:26pm on March 29, 2003. Here goes!

I took a CD player and headphones but quickly realized that it just wasn't going to work. I made a quick stop in Hood River at 12:22am and took off the headphones and stashed the CD player deep in my tank bag. This was the last time I ever tried to listen to music while riding. I really enjoy just listening to the sounds of my bike and the road. It might sound strange, but the sounds are reassuring and relaxing to me.

I made my first gas stop in Biggs about 45 minutes later. I started to get a little cold around 2am and stopped at a rest area just west of Boardman.

By 3 am I was starting to wonder if I had made a mistake. Driving at 70+mph on the freeway at 3 in the morning in late March is REALLY COLD!!! This was before I had any really good cold weather gear (I bought a heated vest shortly after this ride). I had a set of worn out winter gloves that didn't really do the job anymore. I stopped thinking about how many times I had to pull over to try and warm up. I was stopping about every 30-40 minutes and I started to worry about if I was going to be able to make the trip in under 24 hours. I wanted to go faster, but I knew that would be a bad idea and would probably make things worse. Between Boardman and Ontario (about 280 miles). I ended up stopping 4 times (once while getting gas at LaGrande) to try and warm up. I started taking my gloves off and shoving them in next to the engine to try and warm them up. That usually lasted only a few minutes, but it was so nice to have warm gloves even if it was only temporarily. I wasn't allowing myself any coffee because I didn't want to deal with the later energy crash that would inevitably happen.

I made my last warm-up stop at just after 5 am near Plano. I remember there was a cement plant there. I felt horrible and wanted to cry. Instead I ran around, jumping up and down, flapping my arms like an idiot trying to warm up. After about 10 minutes of this I noticed the sky getting lighter. This was encouraging. I decided to power on through to Ontario, my next scheduled gas stop, and not stop again before I got there.

I finally got to Ontario (on the OR/ID border) at about 5:50 am. I pulled into the first gas station I saw. They didn't open until 6am so I had to wait a few minutes for them to turn on the lights and the pumps. The guys inside were giving me funny looks, but I was too cold to even care. I just wanted to get my gas and get back on the road. I could barely feel my fingers by this time. This is likely the coldest I have ever been. My whole body was cold. That deep down kind of cold. The sun was just starting to come up over the mountains. I have never been so glad to see a sunrise. Even so, it took another 8 hours before I started to feel warm again.

Since this part of my trip was in darkness and I was on the highway, there really wasn't much to see. I'm glad I put the majority of my highway miles on at the beginning of this trip. Made it less boring. Like I would have been bored on my bike.

So, that's 370 miles down in the first 6 1/2 hours, only about 700 to go. I was amazed that I was able to average nearly 60mph with all of the unscheduled stops that I made. I really wasn't going all that fast. Honest. That part didn't come until later.

Here is a Google Map of my route for this part of the ride.
Portland to Ontario

Next: Bodily functions go wild!

My busy week

Tuesday morning I went back to Baggenstos Farms with my friend Mary Kate and picked about 14 pounds of blueberries, raspberries, and marionberries. I was disappointed that there were no more strawberries. That was what I really wanted. Oh well. I was able to freeze the majority of them and store them in the freezer in Erik and Mary Kate's garage. I should have bought some small freezer bags instead of using the gallon ones that they had. It will be interesting trying to use only part of the frozen bag at a time.

I finally went to the Portland Art Museum on Friday evening. I've been threatening to go for several years but never made it. They have a free day once a month and there was an R. Crumb exhibit so I decided to take the plunge. It was a fairly large exhibit and since it was a graphic depiction of the book of Genesis we stood in line and it took several hours just to get about 3/4 or the way through it. Robert Crumb's artwork is fascinating and seeing his original works, with white-out and pencil marks, was really cool and this  took a HUGE effort to complete. The expressions and details were amazing. I have a new and greater respect for R. Crumb as an artist. I'm definitely going back next month. We really didn't have time to look at anything else while we were there and there is so much more to see. Here is the cover and a small example of his work in it.

Saturday morning I went to the Village Inn on 103rd and Stark to see some electric vehicles. It was an informal gathering of locals and their electric cars, motorcycles, and ATVs. There were some really interesting cars and very knowledgeable owners/builders. I kind of lost interest in converting my bike because of the costs and the lack of any real income. I still want to build one (several!) but it will probably be a while before I am able to do it. I took a whole bunch of pictures. Way too many to include all of them here, but I posted some of the more interesting ones. There were a couple of Tesla electric cars there also. Pretty cool, but a bit pricey at over $100,000 each.

We (Erik, Mary Kate, and I) also went to the drag races on Saturday night. They did have a few electric vehicles running, but it was mostly gas and diesel vehicles. I was a little disappointed. It was getting really late and they were still running but we decided to leave before the end. I probably would have stayed longer, but didn't want to lose my ride. The fastest run of the night was about 183 mph and the fastest electric car was about 110 mph. I think the fastest electric car (White Zombie - holds many records for the quickest and fastest street legal door-slammer, currently goes under 11.5 seconds in the quarter mile!) might have gone faster after we left. They had a brand new motor in the car (they blew up the old on the night before at the drags) and were working their way up. I'm sure I will have more opportunities to see it again though. It was still a good time and I hadn't been to any drag races for a long time.

If you didn't already know, you can left click on any picture to see a larger version. 

This is White Zombie. The owner has been working with this same car for about 15 years constantly making improvements. Very cool.

Under the hood. The new siamese electric motors clearly visible.

Batteries with charge management system. Very impressive. And expensive. Good thing he has a battery sponsor.

Another electric racer. He was also at PIR drag races.

He also had a siamese motor setup, but not quite as advanced.

I really liked this one. It looked like a piece of junk, but he built it for under $1000 and it went over 100mph in the quarter mile at PIR. Very interesting owner.

A closer look at his old-school setup.

One of two 914 Porsche conversions. This one was very clean and professional looking.

Closeup of the float chargers and one of the battery enclosures.

Another low-buck build. The owner constructed it as a final college project.

Slightly goofy, but still fun.

Very clean conversion, but I like to see the important bits. The covers looked very heavy. Typical Harley!

I like food

I have been doing pretty good on my "diet", which is actually just eating more fruit and less junk (somewhat) and trying to eat smaller portions. But yesterday I had a less than stellar day. I started out with eating two sausage, egg, and cheese muffins from McDonalds. That used up nearly half of my allowed calories for the entire day (2900 calories/day). I have been averaging about 85% a day in the last month, with a low of 51% and a high of 99%. I did manage to have a fruit smoothie for lunch and some tasty beans for dinner, but I went crazy on the carbs and ended up at 117% of my caloric limit. Surprisingly I didn't seem to gain any weight, but its been a couple of days since I weighed myself. I'm still walking and went out for almost an hour last night. I had not walked for exercise for the prior three days and felt guilty about it. But I stayed busy for these three days and managed to not gain any weight. I have currently lost 10 pounds in the last 6 weeks (now at 265) and want to lose AT LEAST another 25.

Another school update

I just finished my narrative report on Germany's economy for my international economics class. I have learned a lot about Germany and the other two countries in my group, Iceland and Greece, mostly from my own research. It has been frustrating because of the lack of communication on the class message boards. And the instructor has been on vacation for the last week has apparently had limited or no access to the internet. I am disappointed with this because this class is only 8 weeks long. I have learned a lot from the reading, but I could have done that on my own. Maybe things will pick up. The instructor seems to think so but I have my doubts.

Just like last time, I was worried way too much about my environmental science mid-term test. I had no problems with it and expect to get an "A" on it. This class continues to be enjoyable and educational. Last week was spent on pesticides. I passed on a bunch of literature from our field trip to Erik and Mary Kate. I am almost finished reading Silent Spring and am not looking forward to writing a paper on it and how it relates to what we learned this term.

My personal health class keeps rolling along. I tried to post a bunch more on the current discussion so I can get a better grade. I only had a couple of posts on the last one and got 80%. There are a lot of involved assignments for this class that are keeping me busy. I'm currently working on one concerning diet. I am about half done with it and have another week to work on it. I'm glad that I took this class. Its making me look at my health more objectively and is motivating me to make some changes. I know it will take a long time to change all of my bad habits, but I also know that it will be worth the effort.

Where has all the time gone?

I really thought I would have a lot more time on my hands this term. Homework is keeping me busier than I thought it would. These online classes are a lot more involved than I imagined. I could use some work on my time management.

I have been taking a few breaks from schoolwork though. My friend Justin has an X-Box 360 and he has been enticing me with two new racing simulation games. I really don't care about most video games, but racing games are another story. I spent about 3-1/2 hours over there tonight playing when I should have been studying for my environmental science mid-term test tomorrow morning (I can't believe it's midterm already). I did come up with at least one idea for my econ class, so it wasn't a total waste of time. At least that's what I'm telling myself.

I've been trying to ride the Sportster a little bit too, but I haven't gone very far yet. It's such a fun bike to ride and is a lot better around town than the Kawasaki was. I made my way out to Smith & Bybee Lakes a few days ago and went on a short hike. I was a little disappointed. There were tons of mosquitoes and the the main path was paved for pete's sake. I might go back again later in the year, but will look for other more inviting places than this.

I would like to go back to Tigard and pick more berries. It was SO cheap. I should have taken more while I was there, but wasn't sure how many I would eat. Brianna mentioned that she made a lot of fruit smoothies and I decided that I would try some. I really like them a lot and they are an easy way to get more fruit in my diet. So far my favorite is strawberry/banana with vanilla yogurt and vanilla soy milk. Yummy. So many combinations to try. I'm looking forward to trying strawberries with lemonade instead of soy milk.

I'm doing a little better at getting some exercise, but it's been hit or miss. I might go a week and never miss an evening walk and then only go every other day for a while. I didn't go tonight and I feel guilty because of it. I guess that's good (???). I want to incorporate stretching into my daily routine, but haven't made the move yet. I'm taking things slow, but am still having a hard time adding in new things. It's taken a long time to get so out of shape and have such a horrible diet. It won't change over-night.

Good News

Here are a few recent environmentally-related news stories that I found interesting and encouraging. This is the kind of stuff I like to hear.

Vegetable patches at work are a nice perk

Energy Efficiency: Twice the Impact of Renewables, Nuclear and Clean Coal Combined

Energy Star: Churches Now Receive EPA Lable for Efficiency

First electric highway in US to be from Canada to Oregon

Seattle Bans Single-use Restaurant Packaging From Landfills

An Orgy of Economists

I saw these two sites yesterday. I really want to be able to go to these conferences, especially the one put on by the WCERE in Montreal. The number of papers being presented on exactly what I am interested in is insane. Take a look under "Scientific Program - Detailed Program" if you are interested in seeing for yourself. Both conferences are happening right now. Of course one of them is being held here in Portland by the WEAI.

Someday I might get paid to go to one of these. Or both!

School Update!

We went on our second field trip today to the Waste Water Treatment Plant. Oh boy. Not exactly exciting, but it still performs a very valuable function and it was interesting to walk around and see some of the processes. Disappointingly, the were filming some cable series I have never heard of called Leverage while we were there so we couldn't go down into the tunnels where they were shooting. Stupid TV shows. Our tour guide said that some of the scenes from The Hunted (a pretty crappy movie) were also filmed in the tunnels. Next week's trip is to the Storm Water Treatment Plant. Still not very exciting, but it should be interesting too. I am currently working on next week's homework, which isn't really much more than reading a National Geographic article about the Klamath River and answering some questions about it. I had heard about the controversy about the dams, the salmon, and water use before and the potential outcome could be very positive. Will they actually remove the dams by 2020?

Online classes are kind of weird. You never really know what you are going to get. The two I am taking couldn't be much different from each other. In Personal Health we are encouraged to post a lot on the message board and are required to do a certain number of posts on different subjects. I have never really been one to engage much in online conversations. I think most of the others in this class are much younger than I am and are used to doing this already. I'll get in the minimums, but probably not much more than that. The assignments have been eye-opening for me. I have known for a long time that I need to change my diet, get more exercise, and quit smoking. This course is making me look at all these, and more, all at the same time. The papers I have been writing have involved looking at my health objectively and reflecting on it. So far it has been motivating me to start making some changes. I have been walking every night for at least 30 minutes, I'm keeping track of what I eat and how much I smoke. I'm trying to make some better choices about what I eat (this might be the hardest one for me) and how much I eat. I hope I can stay motivated to change my behavior and start some new habits. And I'm trying to drink a glass of red wine every day but I keep forgetting about it. I should put the bottle some place where I can see it better. If you want a decent cheap of wine, you can't go wrong with the black cat.

International economics class is not so touchy-feely. We are reading about tariffs, quotas, VERs, and export subsidies this week. This is pretty hard and the assignment has some parts in it that are going to require a second reading of the text. Possibly a third. There isn't a whole lot of posting required, although we will have to start giving feedback on other students nation reports next week. I'm doing mine on Germany. I have already learned a lot about their economy just by looking up some numbers. I think that I am still the only one who has posted their data and statistics. It's not due until midnight Saturday but it really wasn't very difficult. I think that there are a lot of people who have or will drop this class. We started with about 30 registered and probably at least half will drop it. I still think it is interesting, although there are certainly parts that aren't. There is a lot of reading and writing for all three of my classes this term so I haven't been able to devote as much extra time as I wanted to this subject.

Last Ride on the GPz

I was expecting to have the bike sold in the next few days so I decided to take one last ride on the Kawasaki. I sure am going to miss that bike. I wanted to drive up to Mt. St. Helens but didn't really have enough time. I kind of wanted to go to Detroit Lake because it's such a great drive, but had just driven that route in the car last week. I compromised and went to Timothy Lake instead. I had planned on taking the "secret" paved northern route on the way back, but the road was closed, probably due to a washout. If I hadn't been selling the bike I probably would have gone around the dirt piles like someone already had. I was tempted. It wouldn't have been the first time. Many of the forest service roads end up being closed for years because there isn't enough traffic on them to justify the repairs. I was a little disappointed because these narrow out-of-the-way roads are usually some of the best ones and I hadn't been on this one for a few years. Luckily there are plenty of other great roads out here.

I went through a big cloud of soft, squishy bugs early on and this is the view from inside my helmet. I forgot to bring any shield cleaner. Bugs along the river in late June? Who could have known? And of course I continued to hit as many of them as I could. I ended up looking through this mess for most of the ride. You can see where I started to try and wipe it off with my glove and then thought better of it. I've played that game before and you never win.

This certainly wasn't the epic final trip that I had in mind, but I was happy with where I went and I rode the snot out of the bike, which is something I hadn't really done in a while. I hadn't even been over 100mph for a while and managed to top 130mph twice on this ride without really trying very hard. I wonder how long it will be until I do that again.

Is it time to take the Sportster to Detroit? I believe the answer is "Yes!" but my butt is already sore just thinking about it.

Online Learning

I decided to drop one of my online classes. Four classes in one term is just too much for me. This is the second and last time that I will do that. Probably. I dropped one of the economics classes. I was a little disappointed, but its for the better.

So far the online thing is moving along, but there has been a bit of a learning curve. Online classes are a lot different than on-campus classes. The flexibility is nice, but I think I prefer to take classes in person.

I hope to get some motivation from the health class I am taking. I NEED to start eating better, exercising more, and quit smoking. I started walking again this week, but have already missed one day. I need to stay motivated and do all of this stuff. Seriously.

My environmental science class looks to be pretty much the same as the last one, but with even more field trips. Yah! We had our first one yesterday and went to Whittaker Ponds Natural Area and Park. It is basically a small nature reserve where they test water quality and do enviromental educational presentations. I had no idea this was here. If you want to know about it here is a .pdf document that you can read. It's kind of long but easy to read. I will be going back here soon to explore a bit more. It's a nice little place that is nestled in the middle of an industrial area and I was surprised it was there. I'm really looking forward to the rest of this class.