Tales of an Aspergian Bus Driver

This is always kind of sad.

I don't like losing contact with people, especially not with a fixed "Leave me alone."

Syonyk: How's it going?
[Other person]: i gotta be honest - I really don't want to talk to you: nothing personal - I just don't have any interest in maintainig a friendship. sorry
Syonyk: Oh. Alright. Goodbye, then. Have a nice life.
[Other Person]: you too

*sigh*

-=Russ=-

2nd interview in Peoria

I just got called to schedule a 2nd interview in Peoria with Caterpillar. That's a good sign, I suppose. So I'll be out of town Nov 9th (and probably the weekend before for other stuff).

I'll be missing a few classes, but... *shrug*

The question then becomes, "Do I really want a job in Peoria?" I don't know. It pays well, but I'd rather stay in Iowa. :-/ I suppose I'll decide that if the decision has to be made.

-=Russ=-

So... content goes here, I suppose.

I haven't updated this in a while. There hasn't been much worth talking about.

The 'Ricer has fake nitrous.

I'm still waiting to hear about my license.

I'm currently down to one fully functioning mode of transportation (bike needs work, 'Ricer is loaned to Drew).

My phone needs replacement badly. The screen is half dead, the vibrate no longer works, and it has issues with reception in my apartment.

LAN party this weekend! I need to make sure my Windows install works, and get some games installed.

I might be heading out to Peoria on the weekend of the 6th to go to the State cross country meet - my brother isn't running, but he's on the team (they take 12, run 7, in case people get hurt).

That's about it for Russ-news. Hopefully I'll get around to writing down my thoughts on moving large underpowered vehicles with bad turbo lag around as quickly as possible.

-=Russ=-

I have scoured the net and found... these!

Apologies for those who don't find this sort of stuff funny... just don't read.

First, there are many complex graphs out there that show all sorts of data. Most can be simplified to something like this:

Also, there are some good ASCII animations on the 'net.

The roflcopter:

And, lollerskates:

I also understand people think we're headed out of prime biking season... winter is the BEST time to bike! The cold, crisp air, nobody else on the trails, the joy of sliding for 100ft with the rear tire locked up... it's great!

-=Russ=-

Bike mileage

I've mentioned in the past that I figure I put 1000-2000 miles on my bike a year, just based on chain wear & other such things.

I have a little trip computer now... and I do indeed put that sort of mileage on my bike. I've had it for under a week, and already have put 35 miles on. I'm well on track for 40-50 miles a week, just going to class/work/Stonebrook/etc. This doesn't count any long late night bike rides I do...

The logic for the trip computer is to help save money, interestingly enough. I tend to catch chain stretch after it's gone too far and has ripped up the gears on the rear cassette. If I change it earlier, I won't need to replace the rear gearset. A new rear gearset costs $20 or so... so it pays for itsself in one chain replacement.

Also, on the topic of biking, would anyone else be interested in biking up to Stonebrook on Sunday mornings? A gaggle of bikes would be interesting, more fun than riding alone, and generally environmentally responsible (and healthy!). I know that a few other people bike, but I've only seen 3 or 4 bikes at the 2nd service. I'm sure more people want to get out in the fresh morning air before & after the service...

-=Russ=-

I love using other people's computers.

0.015u 0.035s 9:43.85 0.0% 0+0k 0+0io 207pf+0w

That's the output of 'time ps -ef' - Yes, you're reading that correctly. It took almost 10 minutes to accomplish 0.035s of actual work.

This is on a computer that I'm supposed to be using for cluster programming. It only takes 4-5 minutes to log in, takes forever to run silly little commands that run instantly on other systems, and generally drives me up the wall.

This is on top of the frustration of trying to write a parallel algorithm that other people have accomplished in parallel and I am completely unable to understand (how to make it parallel).

-=Russ=-

Pictures of the new TV & such

Yea, I'm slow. But, it took time to get everything set up & such. Pics!

The 36" TV, stereo, TV stand (of 4x4s, 2x4s, and a box of 3" screws), and TV computer (plus others).

Does your TV run TuxRacer?

-=Russ=-

garfield.agron.iastate.edu

Is it wrong to feel bad about shutting down an SGI?

-bash-2.05b$ uptime
  4:30pm  up 386 days,  2:21,  1 user,  load average: 0.03, 0.00, 0.00

It's been a perfect little system, since last summer. I'm hoping it can get moved to the server room or something... I have root on a Linux box, but it just isn't the same.

-=Russ=-

On end-use of technology

Well, I made my big purchase for the semester, and am now the owner of a nice 36" TV. Still needs a table, which I'm planning to build today or tomorrow, but... it's big. And driven by a TV computer that's rapidly running out of hard drive space.

I also had multiple people visit yesterday, at scattered points. And, I realized the following:

Technology, when applied properly, is pretty neat.

The TV computer was working properly, the TV was working properly, and the stereo was working properly. This led to being able to watch Monster Garage, Futurama, Smurfs, Gummi Bears, and assorted other shows, on demand, pause them as desired, and generally create a nice environment to talk about things and generally chill out.

Now, getting all this stuff working properly was terribly frustrating, and involved computers almost flying out the window multiple times, but once it's all DONE, it's nice.

I do believe I need to throw a Monster Garage marathon one of these nights...

-=Russ=-

Classes

If I fail more than one class this semester, I don't graduate.

I'm currently failing or near failing 2.

-=Russ=-