Cranky. Old. Man?

Oh my god, my schedule next year is going to suck no matter what I do. I'm down to two lingering stupid required classes (Diff Eq II, and Thermo-fucking-dynamics), one lab (controls! :<), a propulsion requirement (also :<), and of course my senior design. The rest are "electives" which means whatever Structures or Dynamics classes I want to take that will hopefully not kill me. I may take some rocket classes just cause rocket/space dynamics is simpler than air vehicle dynamics (do you want to deal with wings or not, basically). I managed to find a Structures elective that will prolly not suck, as I've taken a class with this guy before and managed a B (which is fucking amazing in engineering for me) because he's probably the oldest guy in the department. Also that course said nothing about math. Which is good. The other elective I'm trying to take is Principles of Dynamics which translates as "wobbly things with some math!" but since I rather like that professor (he was my first Dynamics prof and I generally understood what he was about) I'm willing to give it a shot.

This is all dependent on my adviser looking at my proposed Plan of Study and telling me if I'm psycho or not. I'm trying to overload this first semester slightly to account for a possible failing of my math class (considering my track record with that, this is necessary). Since I've got so few credits left (28!!! OMG ONLY 28!!!) the worst that can happen is I go on probation again. You have to be on probation for a couple semesters before the dropping happens, so ha. Even if I got an extra semester, that ain't happening. So really, my goal is simply to pass my damn classes and see how it goes. Having a job already makes me less stressed out about this, as they honestly don't care what my graduating GPA is, merely that I do graduate. My dad recommends I do interviews at other places, as it's easier to turn down a job after an interview than for your company to suddenly go belly up and you go begging for a job. Since engineering companies are slightly bastards about GPAs these days (I'll spare you the rant about how ridiculous that is) I'm probably not likely to get many offers. But then again, I have more experience than about 85% of the department (our school is really bad at setting up co-ops and jobs). I can always tell them that I have minions at this job and they want to make an action figure of me.

Future talk is crazy, basically. I'll admit to eying certain apartment complexes near my work building, because I'm about 98% likely to keep working here, full-time, and make salary after working for about 6 months to a year. Since I don't plan on having a car (hence the eying of the apartment complexes NEARBY) or cable, or anything really besides the basic utilities and of course, internet, I might not need too much of a raise. I figure since they do seem rather enthusiastic about keeping me working here, possibly on more projects and liasonning between companies at some point that I can negotiate a good wage. I don't want to be greedy, just be able to feed myself more than ramen. XD We'll see when it comes, I guess. Main goal is to graduate school already. SIX YEARS IS ENOUGH DAMN TIME.

And this is totally why I took the summer off. Working is awesome, school, not so much. I hope I haven't gotten dumber and suddenly won't understand this stuff. There might be bugging of the few grad students I know that are crazy and hanging around the department. Also, TAs.

Oh god, I'm dreading going back already. Why am I not one of those genius kids?

~Cendri

P.S. So I stumbled upon a college forum when I was looking around for class descriptions (because course numbers change sometimes) and I came across this entry:

Fortunately, I've been accepted to [name of my school]'s First Year Engineering Program. How is it (are there lots of weeding-out classes)? IF I do plan to attend [school] this year, do you think majoring in aerospace engineering ([my school's rank]) is worth my time and money? How's majoring in aerospace engineering, in future prospect? I've heard that not many students major in aerospace during their undergraduate degree; why is this? I also have a strong desire to study business/economics but I'm not sure whether I should or not. Do you think it's wise to major in aerospace engineering for undergraduate and go to MBA after few years of experience?

Many questions but I hope you can help me out. Thanks.

And maybe this is indicative of how long I've been in school, but I laughed uncontrollably. Especially at the "there's not many in there". No, there's not many in my major because you have to be a little out of your mind. XD

P.P.S. BEHOLD A POLL! Because all the cool kids are doing it and I'm slightly bored.

Barely got any sleep last night, for reasons I can't explain. I think I might forgo exercise today on the basis it might make me pass out.

Since I've been watching season 2 (which is an awesome season) of Battlestar Galactica and I have an inordinate amount of love for Battlestar Galactica: Razor, I've been surfing around looking for essays. My favorites are the paternal military man that is certainly not without his faults (Adama), probably the most kickass teacher in existence and religious strategist (Roslin), and one of the best examples of the fall from humanity into something raw and visceral (Cain). Starbuck and Tigh and that adorable little mechanic chick whose name escapes me at the moment are also ones I've grown fond of. So when I saw this awesome essay about Razor in particular it all made sense to me. I mean, I haven't the foggiest clue how I would act at the possible end of humanity, but I've a feeling I'd end up more on the well, inhuman side. >.> And well, I too was worried they were turning Cain into another "evil lesbian" because god if there aren't enough of those out there (or probably the most violent flavor, the evil bisexual, who can lure men too!). But so far the series has handled all manner of crazy things that combines my favorite bits of Trek (the technology, the organization, the really commanding leaders) and Firefly (future imperfect, people still acting like people, natural accents) as well as spy movies with a hint of mythology. So heart.

My dad and I argue about the new Battlestar all the time, because ironically, when he was in college the original was out (which is furthering my suspicion I'm a clone of his that they messed up the gender on...). And he likes to watch things more for the military maneuvers and snark, while I am and always have been the character attached sort. I do like drama, but only if it's done well, really. Which is why I could never get into most medical or lawyer shows, because I kept having this sense of complete deja vu with them, plus, it gets annoying being able to predict the outcome (yes yes, I've heard of House and I'll get to it one of these days). It's not that I'm an angst whore or anything, it's just good drama is more filling than say, a sitcom or purely an action series (not that I don't have my guilty pleasures there, but the older I get the more I like to be engaged by the media I watch). We can still watch Trek and not argue, though. I don't care if it's a shiny utopian future, Next Gen is classic. It's like the Gemini Program during the prime of our first Space Age--full of cowboys and lots of shinies. <3

Since my consciousness is altered when I can barely sleep, I might just take a nap now. Or write something. I did have to down caffeine to not sleep through Dynamics (which I hate feeling tired during, as I quite adore the professor, he puts an emphasis on actually knowing how planes work in practicality, not just theory, though I wish the practicality part was more stuff I got graded on plus I could see him saying "you need trigonometry a good ass kicking").

I think sleep is winning.

~Cendri

P.S. Huh. NASA Tech briefs never fail to amaze me (nor do certain programs I might be affiliated with).