7 Minutes Til Class
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Calculus II
By the way, Calculus II is painful. It's like torture in that when you think it can't get any worse, it does. When the professor said "integration of inverse hyperbolic trigonometric functions" a few weeks into it my head split open and the marbles spilled out everywhere. And that was only the beginning.
My first exam I got a 69.3 on. I was crushed. It was the worst grade I had gotten on a test since my return to college. Then I got mad at myself. So for the second exam I took a day off work, sat alone at the dining room table and studied all day long. When I went into the classroom for the test that evening I was saturated with formulas and methods. And it paid off - I got a 100.7 on the exam.
Now we are into sequences and series... power series, harmonic series, blah blah. It is conceptually difficult and I believe a few of the people who aren't showing lately have dropped out. I can understand why. It is totally mental - if your brain can't go into that space where numbers and graphs can be manipulated at will, you don't stand a chance. I feel like I have learned an entire new vocabulary, and in the process lit a previously dark section of my mind.
It feels pretty good.
By the way, Calculus II is painful. It's like torture in that when you think it can't get any worse, it does. When the professor said "integration of inverse hyperbolic trigonometric functions" a few weeks into it my head split open and the marbles spilled out everywhere. And that was only the beginning.
My first exam I got a 69.3 on. I was crushed. It was the worst grade I had gotten on a test since my return to college. Then I got mad at myself. So for the second exam I took a day off work, sat alone at the dining room table and studied all day long. When I went into the classroom for the test that evening I was saturated with formulas and methods. And it paid off - I got a 100.7 on the exam.
Now we are into sequences and series... power series, harmonic series, blah blah. It is conceptually difficult and I believe a few of the people who aren't showing lately have dropped out. I can understand why. It is totally mental - if your brain can't go into that space where numbers and graphs can be manipulated at will, you don't stand a chance. I feel like I have learned an entire new vocabulary, and in the process lit a previously dark section of my mind.
It feels pretty good.
Labels: calculus, college, math
¶ 9:19 PM 0 comments
SunRocket
So I took the dive and got VoIP for the home phone. Saw some positive comments about SunRocket and took a look at their website.. It looked like a good deal - $199 a year for an unlimited plan, plus they include a free wireless home phone. Got the package on Wednesday, hooked it up right before our church's Fall Festival. It was just a Linksys gizmo.. a very small box with network and phone jacks. I was frustrated because it didn't work properly at first, but I figured it out - it was because I had it hooked into my router, which was blocking some ports. Just reconfigured that and viola - dial tone! I was excited. But I was already late for the festival at which I said I would take Sara around to the fire truck, then quickly eat a burger and drive back to Calculus II class.
Today I checked out the call quality and it seems to be just like an ordinary phone. I plan to use it for awhile to be sure I'm happy with it. My next step with this (if I'm satisfied) is to transfer the old number and deactivate the landline. Total savings: $56-$17=$39 per month.
So I took the dive and got VoIP for the home phone. Saw some positive comments about SunRocket and took a look at their website.. It looked like a good deal - $199 a year for an unlimited plan, plus they include a free wireless home phone. Got the package on Wednesday, hooked it up right before our church's Fall Festival. It was just a Linksys gizmo.. a very small box with network and phone jacks. I was frustrated because it didn't work properly at first, but I figured it out - it was because I had it hooked into my router, which was blocking some ports. Just reconfigured that and viola - dial tone! I was excited. But I was already late for the festival at which I said I would take Sara around to the fire truck, then quickly eat a burger and drive back to Calculus II class.Today I checked out the call quality and it seems to be just like an ordinary phone. I plan to use it for awhile to be sure I'm happy with it. My next step with this (if I'm satisfied) is to transfer the old number and deactivate the landline. Total savings: $56-$17=$39 per month.
Labels: phone, sunrocket, voip
¶ 8:53 PM 0 comments
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Dinner Done
This is a great idea. Melinda went here and prepared 8 meals, ready to cook. Brought them home and put them in the freezer. Most of them were delicious, and even those that were so-so provided variety. We're buying a chest freezer tomorrow night and she's going back for 12 more meals on Saturday. Anything that simplifies the routines at home, provides nutritious and delicious meals, and isn't really that expensive is OK in my book! Check it out here: Dinner Done ¶ 8:50 PM 0 comments
This is a great idea. Melinda went here and prepared 8 meals, ready to cook. Brought them home and put them in the freezer. Most of them were delicious, and even those that were so-so provided variety. We're buying a chest freezer tomorrow night and she's going back for 12 more meals on Saturday. Anything that simplifies the routines at home, provides nutritious and delicious meals, and isn't really that expensive is OK in my book! Check it out here: Dinner Done ¶ 8:50 PM 0 comments
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
this is a test!
¶ 7:00 PM 0 comments
