http://blogs1.targetx.com/OSU/MessyMechE/ en Copyright 2009 Fri, 29 May 2009 23:50:24 -0500 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Risin' up, back on the street; Did my time, took my chances. Went the distance, now I'm back on my feet- Just a man and his will to survive. Thursday was the culmination of a Quarter's worth of anticipation, inspiration, and perspiration. That's right boys a girls: Thursday was the FEH (Fundamentals of Engineering for Honors) Robot Final Competition. For those just tuning in, some background: this Spring Quarter I've been taking a class called Engineering H193. The focus of this class is to design, build, test, modify, and (hopefully) perfect an autonomous robot that can perform several tasks on an obstacle course. This year's course simulated a mine, with our robot having to drop off dynamite, hit a detonator, traverse a debris ramp, collect a GEM, deposit it, and lift a retaining wall before finally returning to start. Recall that all this must be done autonomously. This class represents the intersection of professional writing, designing, drafting, building, wiring, programming, and a number of other engineering skills. Basically, it's a beast. After countless hours building this thing, it all came together for the Final Competition. How'd it go? It actually went pretty terrible. In the Prelims of the day, our robot was super inconsistent. We were fixing problems all day, only to have some bad luck cause a new error to erupt in the Final Competition. Not so good. But I'm still happy. I've learned so much this Quarter. There are so many mechanical, hands-on techniques like soldering sensors and working with PVC and assembling drive trains with DC motors. There are also a million programming things to deal with, like creating functions, commenting code, debugging, and much more. Finally, there's documentation involved like creating professional reports, budgets, timetables, inventory, assembly drawings, and on and on. Sure, DARIA didn't do so well on the big day. But she's taught me so much, it's hard to be mad for too long. And to be fair, she did have a perfect run in practice, so we know she had it in her somewhere. We made some mistakes, but we also had some incredible breakthroughs. It was heart-breaking, terrible, time-consuming, frustrating, and exhausting. It was educational, fun, exciting, challenging, terrific, and helped us accomplish more than any of us thought possible. Not bad, DARIA. Not bad at all. Take care, Rob One of the competition courses. Check out the live camera and computer display on the big screens to keep the audience updates of robots' progress! A peek behind the screens... This is the pit area for programming, diagnostics, charging, fixing, etc. My team takes a moment to appreciate our baby My girl. DARIA.]]> http://blogs1.targetx.com/OSU/MessyMechE/2009/05/battle_of_the_bots.html http://blogs1.targetx.com/OSU/MessyMechE/2009/05/battle_of_the_bots.html Fri, 29 May 2009 23:50:24 -0500 Finally I figured out, But it took a long long time. Now there's a turnabout, Maybe cause I'm tryin'... I've written a lot of lists. Here are two more... Great Ways to Jeopardize Your Calculus Grade 1. Don't go to lectures (You've got a robot to build anyway!) 2. Don't read the book (textbooks are much less exciting that Orson Scott Card, usually) 3. Wait until the lest second to do homework (stop procrastinating... later) 4. Work alone (if you're gonna get stuck, get REALLY stuck) 5. Don't look at past quiz solutions (you didn't do well anyway; why look at the answers?) ...This is bad news, it turns out. Sure, in the short term I got to do more cool things and sleep a bit more. But in the long term, my grades weren't exactly what I wanted. What's a college kid to do? Have no fear! Unless you fear lists... Great Ways to SAVE Your Calculus Grade 1. Do go to lectures. All of them. Heck, when you've got a great instructor go to office hours too! 2. Do read the book. It's got more details and great example problems. 3. Do your homework early. When you hit a jam, you've got time to figure it out. 4. Work in groups. You'll find that when you get stuck, it's great to have a fresh pair of eyes look at problems. 5. Do look at past solutions. College is all about learning, especially learning from your own foolish mistakes. End result? Well, it's actually a work in progress, as I type this. But things are looking up and I'm feeling better about this next midterm coming up. It's important to remember that the whole reason I'm at college is to take the classes; it is therefore important to put them first. No worries though, I'll still try to fit in lots of fun. And hey, only a couple weeks before the END of my freshmen year! Take care, Rob]]> http://blogs1.targetx.com/OSU/MessyMechE/2009/05/post_3.html http://blogs1.targetx.com/OSU/MessyMechE/2009/05/post_3.html Sat, 23 May 2009 14:18:16 -0500 There are secrets that we still have left to find. There have been mysteries from the beginning of time. So Ohio State is really into research. One of the biggest Undergraduate Research event at OSU is the annual Denman Undergraduate Research Forum. "But wait," you cry. "You're only a freshman! You can't possibly be allowed to present research at one of the largest and most prestigious undergraduate research forums in the nation!" That myth, along with many others, is dispelled on this page. I had the fine honor of presenting the findings from my Spring Break trip to Honduras. (For more information on that, just scope my blog's March entries.) Long story short, we checked out the electrical energy consumption of a rural Honduran orphanage. For the Denman, we presented our findings and extrapolated them to the bigger picture of rising energy consumption in third world countries. It was a lot of work to convert our service project data into a real research presentation, but it was also a great learning experience. Plus, between you and I, I totally plan on returning to the Denman in the next couple years. :-) I really love that OSU has all these ridiculous opportunities. Honduras, [cursed] robot project, and even undergraduate research opportunities. It's all here, and it. is. awesome. Lisa, Steve, and I present our poster at the Denman. Jess [not pictured] was our other group member. Take care, Rob]]> http://blogs1.targetx.com/OSU/MessyMechE/2009/05/the_2009_denman_undergraduate.html http://blogs1.targetx.com/OSU/MessyMechE/2009/05/the_2009_denman_undergraduate.html Tue, 19 May 2009 21:05:51 -0500 Can't say I was never wrong, But some blame rests on you. Work and play, They're never okay, To mix the way we do. This is the corollary to yesterday's entry. For those who read my blog often, you know I lead a pretty active OSU life. I'm very involved with cool clubs and the like. I also take part in a number of random adventures. And generally, my blog is pretty happy and fun. But to make it seem like college is one big party for me- well that's just not true. I am supposed to blog about ALL aspects of life at OSU, and I've been leaving out a rather crucial part of my OSU life this Spring... ACADEMICS. Engineering H193- The Robot Project Some kids, when they get done with class at 12:30 every day, go home and relax. Or maybe they go to the Oval and sunbathe. Me? I go to the Engineering building (Hitchcock Hall) and work on the robot. All day. And don't leave until it's dark. This robot is beastly. She's a pain in the butt one day and then completely awesome the next. One minute she works like a charm, the next everything falls apart and the programming is all glitchy. But wait, there's more! This puppy has gotta be fully documented, including Progress Reports, Lab Reports, Budget Analysis, Drive Train Analysis, Final Report, Final Presentation, Technical Inspections, Wiring Diagrams, Technical Sketches and Drawings, Meeting Notes, Testing Logs... The list goes on. It's a crazy amount of fun, and I'm learning a lot. But it's also an insane amount of work. Calculus 263A and Physics 133I Quizzes about hypervolumes (objects with four dimensions, rather than three)! Lectures about quantum mechanics! Labs on light wave interference! Midterms about gradient vectors! Homework about probability density functions and double (or triple, or quadruple) integrals! Basically, these are not easy classes. If I told you I wasn't always freaking out (at least in the back of my head) about a test, quiz, midterm, homework, lecture, etc. I would be lying. These are classes that simply cannot be taken lightly. There are so many equations and robot drawings and integrals running through my head I might explode! As always, life at a University as diverse and dynamic as Ohio State is all about balance. Work hard, boys and girls. Take care, Rob]]> http://blogs1.targetx.com/OSU/MessyMechE/2009/05/sf.html http://blogs1.targetx.com/OSU/MessyMechE/2009/05/sf.html Sat, 16 May 2009 01:05:29 -0500 Can't say I was never wrong, But some blame rests on you. Work and play, They're never okay, To mix the way we do. As usual, I have been one busy beaver this past week. Swing Dance Club is fantastic as ever! We recently had officer elections and... I have been entrusted with the 2009-2010 OSU Swing Dance Club Presidency! Wow! I'm very excited to get some cool stuff started for next year, so all you future Buckeyes out there be sure to give Swing Dance Club a look. One of the awesome things Swing Dance Club does is have dances throughout the year; this was Emily's first time out, and she was a quick study under Alex's (Vice Pres) Charleston tutelage. _________________________ More random fun was had later this week thanks to a nifty event called Best Day of Your Life. It's put on by Ohio Stater's Inc., a student organization here at OSU. The whole premise is making a day so full of random awesome that everyone can't help but be a little happier. In the bigger scope of things, it's an awareness event for suicide and suicide prevention, which is a really big deal. Koodos to you Ohio Staters, Inc- happiness is a commodity always worth investing in. What could be happier than a Giant Duck on the Oval? Random but awesome! Sadly, I got there late, just as it was time to deflate the big guy. Oh no! The giant duck eats Emily! The Best Day ended with a small-but-nifty pyrotechnic display on the South Oval. When the fluorescent block O kept burning after the show, me, Erin, and Kyle couldn't resist __________________________ Lots of other good stuff going on in the world: friends coming to visit from semester school already out, Romophos sophomore class honorary, and random good times with friends. Spring Quarter at OSU = awesome. Play hard, boys and girls. Take care, Rob]]> http://blogs1.targetx.com/OSU/MessyMechE/2009/05/play.html http://blogs1.targetx.com/OSU/MessyMechE/2009/05/play.html Fri, 15 May 2009 13:07:35 -0500 Pictures of you, Pictures of me, Remind us all of what we used to be. The busy life strikes again! There's simply too much awesome going on! I've been fortunate enough to experience lots of really cool things lately, but not fortunate enough to have the time to properly blog about it all. it would take [literally] thousands and thousands of words to tell you about everything. What's a Buckeye Blogger to do? Well, a picture is worth a thousand words, right? So I'll let the pictures do the bulk of the talking for me; I'll just add a bit of commentary. THEME PARK ENGINEERING GROUP The Theme Park Engineering Group recently visited Kings Island amusement park to check out their brand new roller coaster, Diamondback. It's a pretty epic coaster, to say the least. We got to ride it on a day the park was closed, which was completely cool. After riding it, we got to take a peek at some of the mechanics of the ride; again, very awesome. For more info on this trip and TPEG, check out the TPEG Blog! It's got even more pictures, more description, and even a couple videos. Nifty stuff! THE ROBOT Right. So this thing owns my life. You know this, I know this, the robot knows this. We finally named her though... Dar. I call her Daria, Kristen calls the robot Darwin, some have come to call her Darcy. But what's important is that we all call her Dar. Dar. D. A. R. Dumb-a** robot. I love her, really I do. She just drives me crazy sometimes. Such is love though, isn't it? Makes you jump with joy one moment, makes you absolutely nuts the next. The performance tests each week are getting tougher and tougher, but Dar usually impresses us with her ability to get even complicated tasks accomplished. SPRINGTIME When I can get away from the robot project for a bit, I enjoy the Spring weather of Columbus. There are a number of rainy days, but when the sun is shining it sure is nice. People are chillaxing on the Oval, walking around Mirror Lake, and just enjoying any excuse to catch some rays. Plus, there are a couple really cool once-a-year fun things to see... CHRIS BOTTI So one of my favorite trumpet players ever is Chris Botti. As it happened, ExploreColumbus had tickets to see Chris Botti with the Columbus Smyphony. I went! It was fantastic! And Emily was a great date too. (Hi Mrs. C!) :-) I got to meet and greet with Chris Botti for a bit and get an autograph, which was absolutely awesome. And that, in a nutshell, is how I'm spending my Spring Quarter. Of course, that doesn't even cover Calc and Physics class, Denman Undergraduate Research Forum, Romophos Sophomore Class Honorary, swing dancing (I have some BIG news about OSU Swing Dance club soon!), etc. etc. Take care, Rob]]> http://blogs1.targetx.com/OSU/MessyMechE/2009/05/quick_pics.html http://blogs1.targetx.com/OSU/MessyMechE/2009/05/quick_pics.html Sat, 09 May 2009 22:47:32 -0500 So if the world attacks, And you slide off track, Remember one fact- I got your back. Family is the perfect remedy to all the killer stress of my Spring Quarter. For those who may not know, Ohio State University hosts a Sibs Weekend every year. It's basically an opportunity for your brothers and/or sisters (usually younger, but my whole family made it out) to come hang out at OSU for the weekend. The above link shows all the nifty activities once can do. A small sampling of some things me and my family did: -Luau at Lincoln House (my dorm) -Renaissance Festival on the South Oval -Laugh Olympics (water balloon toss, free doughnuts, and endless whipped-cream pie-in-face) -Columbus Zoo visits Taylor Tower (there was a cheetah! Awesome!) -Copious amounts of eating out -General tomfoolery and Apples to Apples and getting caught up on life It was great to see the sisters, brother-in-law, and parents, though mom and dad could only stay for a bit before zooming back to Dayton. And I must confess, I did have to abandon the family at times for prior commitments going on (my life is pretty hectic, even on the weekends). Still, I was glad that they could come, and methinks they had a pretty good time too. It didn't seem like too many of my friends took advantage of Sibs Weekend 2009, but I definitely encourage it. It's oodles of fun, there are lots of cool once-in-a-blue-moon activities (when's the next time a cheetah will be walking around Taylor?!), and above all else family time is the perfect happy break from all the killer studying and activity-ing that normally dominates Spring Quarter. Me and the sisters Take care, Rob ]]> http://blogs1.targetx.com/OSU/MessyMechE/2009/05/attack_of_the_sibs.html http://blogs1.targetx.com/OSU/MessyMechE/2009/05/attack_of_the_sibs.html Tue, 05 May 2009 14:05:04 -0500 Boy, boy, crazy boy, Get cool, boy! Got a rocket in your pocket, Keep coolly cool, boy! Honestly people, calm down. I picked up today's copy of The Lantern and was stunned by the front page. The Lantern, for those unfamiliar, is the predominant on-campus student newspaper at OSU. I usually find reading them from time-to-time rather informative, and they're all over campus every school day. The front page today looked like this: Sensationalist much? Let's start with the Swine Flu. First of all, that picture. It's a picture of a baby being screened for Swine Flu in South Korea. Is this related to the single probable case of Swine Flu discovered at the OSU Med Center? Nope. Does it look sensational? You betcha. The Ohio State University has been handling the Swine Flu extremely well, in my humble opinion. Before each and every press release has gone out, OSU sent out e-mails to every student at OSU, explaining in great detail the situation, what was being told to the press, and what the plans were to counter any threat of spreading disease. Students have received a number of updates on behalf of the Office of Student Life, OSU's Emergency website, Provost Joe Alutto, and VP of Student Life Javaune Adams-Gaston. They cover everything from FAQs to simple tips to prevent spread of disease to simple updates on whats being done. www.emergency.osu.edu is a great resource for all OSU students, faculty, and staff. It's probably also good for parents out there to be reassured. --------------------------------- The second headline deals with an "Explosion." As it happens, guess where I was yesterday morning at that time! You're right! MacQuigg. One moment I'm in Calc lecture, the next moment the scene looks a little more like this: Students evac the building and all buildings connected Firetruck! This is not a fire drill like we all thought Now, these images may seem alarming, but let me point out a few things: 1. Students evacuated without incident. Now, we all thought it was a drill or malfunction at first, so we weren't too speedy initially. That changed however once we heard the sirens. Which brings me to point two... 2. The fire department was darned quick in sending a firetruck plus support vehicles and an ambulance. It took them only a couple minutes to navigate OSU traffic and get to MacQuigg. 3. "Explosion" really only meant small rupture of a tank in one room. There was a brief fire due to that rupture, but it was contained immediately, with the pulling of the fire alarm as a precaution. Firemen checked out the building, not a single person (not even the graduates working in that very room) was injured, and as far as I know MacQuigg went back to normal operations (minus that room) that day. Things happen. Swine flu's come out of nowhere and valves on tanks rupture. But these things happen once in a blue moon. And on the off chance that they happen (or even happen in the same day), OSU and Columbus have got trained, professional personnel to deal with things. They're organized, they have plans for every situation, and they keep the students informed. Sounds like we're in pretty good hands. :-) Take care, Rob]]> http://blogs1.targetx.com/OSU/MessyMechE/2009/04/dont_panic.html http://blogs1.targetx.com/OSU/MessyMechE/2009/04/dont_panic.html Thu, 30 Apr 2009 23:53:49 -0500 Who says you can't go back? Been all around the world and as a matter of fact, There's only one place left I want to go, Who says you can't go home? It's alright, it's alright, it's alright, it's alright, its alright. Edit note: For some reason targetx, the host of the blogs, didn't post my last two entries until now; make sure you scroll down and check 'em out! Recently, I have had two really really cool opportunities to be reminded how much remembering your home away from college can really rock. The Greene County Alumni Club is, like, the coolest OSU Alumni organization ever. Last Spring/Summer when I had just decided to become a Buckeye, these guys took me under their wing and held all kinds of cool events for OSU students, past and present, to celebrate some Buckeye Pride. That would have been cool by itself. Imagine my shock and amazement when I got a call from the Lincoln front desk that I had a package. It was from the Greene County Alumni Club! They made me a care package full of college essentials (Ramen noodles, post-it notes, candy... Absolutely marvelous!). It even had a nice note from them wishing me well and letting me know that they've got my back. For all you soon-to-be OSU students out there, I hope you keep an eye out for your local Alumni club. We've got 'em all over the world, and they usually do A LOT (care packages, scholarship contests, send-offs, etc.) to look after the current generation of Buckeyes. --------------------- The second cool thing that happened recently was my mom's birthday. I knew it was coming, and I hadn't called home in a little bit. I think my mom assumed I would just place a phone call or some such. Nope, not for my mom. She's way too awesome a mom to just get a phone call. Instead, I called up my sister a few days in advance and arranged for her to come get me (Dayton, my hometown, is only about an hour from Columbus). She came, got me, I bought some flowers and a balloon, and achieved TOTAL surprise at my home church. My mom turned around and was absolutely shocked (in the good way, I'm pretty sure :-)) to see me. It went beautifully, and I got to grab a quick lunch with most of the family. Good times. The moral of this story is that when you go off to college, don't forget about your family back home! They raised you and made you the successful college kid that you are; it's cool to do something nice for them every once in awhile. You owe it to them after all they had to put up with before you went out the door to college anyway. :-) Take care, Rob]]> http://blogs1.targetx.com/OSU/MessyMechE/2009/04/remember_home.html http://blogs1.targetx.com/OSU/MessyMechE/2009/04/remember_home.html Mon, 27 Apr 2009 19:30:57 -0500 Everybody's working for the weekend, Everybody wants a little romance. Everybody's going off the deep end, Everybody needs a second chance. I consider myself to be fairly hardworking. Whether it be Swing Dance Club, Theme Park Engineering Group, Fundamentals of Engineering for Honors (cursed robot!), Accelerated Calculus, Big Brothers Big Sisters, or any other number of things I do every week, I keep myself pretty busy. There's always work to be done! But Saturday I took the day off. And it was glorious. The first order of business was an event called Spring Fling. It's for current high school juniors to get a good first look at Ohio State. There are info sessions and the Spring Game (football game that previews the football team for the upcoming Fall season) and in the morning, a little reception time with breakfast. I went to this as part of Honors Ambassadors (Honors volunteer organization that helps with recruitment). Basically, I got to spend the evening talking to prospective students about why OSU is so awesome: the outstanding and ever-improving academic reputation of the University, the diversity of student life here, the city of Columbus, the opportunity for Study Abroad, and a million other little things. Muchos fun times. Next up was a chillax afternoon of watching the Spring Game on TV from the comfort of my suite in Lincoln. Lincoln dorms have a living room to share among 10ish people, which I really enjoy. The Spring Game itself was pretty nifty, though I will confess to napping through much of it (hey! I had a long week, give me a break!). The Saturday ended with a lovely trip to a Columbus Crew game with my roommate Frank and my favorite Emily in the whole wide world. The Crew, Major League Soccer champions, could only manage a tie against the evil Chicago Fire. Still, it was a great game, and thanks to the Student Union and ExploreColumbus I got tickets for only 10 bucks, including a $5 concession voucher. Sweet! The day was fun, but now it's time to hit the books again. Alas! Take care, Rob]]> http://blogs1.targetx.com/OSU/MessyMechE/2009/04/post_2.html http://blogs1.targetx.com/OSU/MessyMechE/2009/04/post_2.html Sun, 26 Apr 2009 16:58:07 -0500 I've got another confession to make I'm your fool Everyone's got their chains to break Holdin' you She takes up way too much of my free time. In fact, to say I have free time is completely false; any free time I would have is eaten up by her. She's temperamental. One moment everything is fine, the next nothing is going right. But I can't help myself. I knew what I was getting into. I knew that I was committing a lot of time, patience, energy, and love into this. It's Spring. And that means only one thing. ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... FEH Robot Project! Our baby goes up a hill The most up-to-date version So in FEH, Fundamentals of Engineering for Honors, I have to build a robot. From scratch. It must be programmed to run completely on its own. It's the capstone of sorts for freshmen Honors Engineering. This is harder than heck. Countless hours go into this darned thing. Sometimes I love it. Sometimes I hate it. It's a heck of a learning experience though. This is our obstacle course: View image I can't begin to talk about all the details of this project. Suffice to say, it's where all my free time and energy are going this Quarter. if you have questions, feel free to comment/shoot me an e-mail at kapaku.1@osu.edu. Be on the lookout this Quarter for more updates! Will I get the darned thing working? Heck, will I ever get the darned thing built? Me and the rest of Team Minority Rapport (Me, Kristen, Hany, and Jordan) will do our best! Tune in to this blog to see how we do! Take care, Rob]]> http://blogs1.targetx.com/OSU/MessyMechE/2009/04/post_1.html http://blogs1.targetx.com/OSU/MessyMechE/2009/04/post_1.html Fri, 24 Apr 2009 23:25:15 -0500 Oh, you know where, now I can't see, I just stare... I, I'm still alive. Hey I, but, I'm still alive. Hey I, boy, I'm still alive. Hey I, I, I, I'm still alive, yeah. Ooh yeah...yeah yeah yeah...oh...oh... Wow. I think I'm never, EVER going to do that again. See the last entry for an idea of how beastly and sleep-deprived my week was. I know what you're thinking. "But Rob, how ever did you survive all of that horror? What does one do when they've completely dug themselves into a veritable abyss of tasks and terrors? When one has precariously procrastinated, potentially pwning themselves? 1. Take a deep breath. Stop and think about what needs to be done. It's important to be super organized when there's a ton to do. Making a clear plan of action is the first step to digging one's way back into the land of the living. 2. Start! Like, immediately. Close the facebook, stop surfing wikipedia, get off the couch, and get started right away. Telling yourself you'll start in just a few more minutes does no good. Trust me. I've been there. 3. Work like a fiend. You are a kid on fire and nothing will get in your way! Just keep truckin' away at it, and behold as the to-do list shrinks ever so marginally. 4. Take [only a couple!] some breaks! You have to eat still, right? Eat with friends for 30 minutes. Get up and walk around for a bit. Maybe swap tasks to something else entirely for 15 minutes just to give your brain a rest. For example, a great homework break is doing some chores around the dorm like trash or organizing/cleaning your room. 5. Celebrate the small victories. OK, so it's four o' clock in the morning, I haven't slept more than two hours per night all week, and I've now got ten different kinds of energy drink in my system (BAD IDEA). But hey, I finished this lab memo. Hooray! Every little victory brings you one step closer to getting everything done. Encouragement is super important, even if it's for the little things. I know I would never get done all the things I try to get done if not for the amazing support system I always have around me. My friends at OSU do little things here and there to make sure I don't drown in the million things I juggle, and for that I am eternally grateful. Take care, Rob ]]> http://blogs1.targetx.com/OSU/MessyMechE/2009/04/made_it.html http://blogs1.targetx.com/OSU/MessyMechE/2009/04/made_it.html Fri, 17 Apr 2009 06:44:49 -0500 Once again life's thrown me a curve- And it blew up right in my face. Once again life's rattled my nerves- Don't you see what i'm stuck in the place? I am officially the master of digging myself into holes. I'm behind in every single class I'm in this Quarter. I need to read a few chapters of Math tonight, read even more chapters of Physics, and create the world's greatest chassis mock-up of a robot the world has ever seen for Engineering. Additionally, I need to round up some loose ends in post-trip documentation from my Spring Break trip to Honduras. Throw into this mix the Swing Dance, the Honors Ambassadors, the Theme Park Engineering Group, the Leadership Ohio State, the time with friends, the time exercising at the RPAC, the time in class, lab memos for Engineering, homework and quizzes between Physics and Math, Serving With Honor, Pinwheels for Prevention, Science Day 2009, Big Brothers Big Sisters, and underwater basket weaving (OK, I'm lying about that last one) and you can see that I seem to have overbooked myself a wee bit. Sleep? Pah, overrated! The good news is that most of that stuff will be resolved this week. I've just got to finish up some things and then life gets significantly less chaotic. I've also been wasting a lot of time still shooting the breeze with friends, so I can crack down on that a bit more. By this time next week, all will be well. You know, as long as I survive this week. Moral of the story: just because Winter Break you were itchin' to get out and get involved, that DOES NOT mean Spring Quarter you should try to make up for lost time. And die. Wish me luck. Take care, Rob]]> http://blogs1.targetx.com/OSU/MessyMechE/2009/04/oops.html http://blogs1.targetx.com/OSU/MessyMechE/2009/04/oops.html Wed, 15 Apr 2009 16:41:10 -0500 Don't think we're not serious. When's it ever not? The love we make is give and it's take, I'm game to play along. I have a tendency to try to do a lot at once. Fall Quarter I was that little starry-eyed freshman ready to dive into anything and everything. Winter Quarter classes defined my life and I hit the books hard. The weather was terrible anyway, so people weren't too terribly inclined to go out and about. Now it's Spring. There are cold snaps here and there as Winter dies hard, but the weather is (on average) pretty nice. Clubs are meeting more often, events are coming up, friends are all about hanging out, etc. Unforunately, the classes are just as demanding with Physics, Calculus, and FEH (Fundamentals of Engineering for Honors) all needing my attention. The FEH robot project is especially beastly, so expect me to talk about it A LOT this Quarter. There are so many great opportunities at OSU, it's sometimes tough not to get sucked in. I have to constantly remind myself not to apply for every awesome thing I find at OSU- there's just too much awesome for one kid to handle! Know thy limits. Stay tuned to see which ones I decide to pursue and which ones I have to leave be. Take care, Rob]]> http://blogs1.targetx.com/OSU/MessyMechE/2009/04/proceed_with_caution.html http://blogs1.targetx.com/OSU/MessyMechE/2009/04/proceed_with_caution.html Wed, 08 Apr 2009 14:40:06 -0500 Out of the tree of life, I just picked me a plum. You came along and everything started to hum. Still its a real good bet, The best is yet to come. PREVIEW OF COMING ATTRACTIONS The Classes: (note: class titles are semi-official and of my own making) Engineering H193 - The Robot Project -This class is epic. It's basically legendary in the college of engineering for being crazy fun, crazy cool, crazy hard... It's crazy. This thing will mean long nights and long hours in Hitchcock Hall (the home of the College of Engineering) plus a great deal of homework. On the other hand, it also means I get to build a robot! My inner nerd is geeking out. :-) Physics 133I - Waves and Random Awesome -We start with Simple Harmonic Motion and end up at special relativity and light. I'm rather excited. Physics has always been a point of interest for me, so this class should be crazy cool. I've got a new prof for this physics class, and he seems really cool (as was my last one, I should note). Math 263A - Multivariable Calc -This is actually the third quarter in a row I've had this particular instructor, and I'm thinking that's a good thing. He's a good teacher, cares about how the students are doing, and the TAs for recitation really know their stuff. If you've read my blog before, you know that Calculus tends to kick my can. Stay tuned to see if I can continue my trend from B to A- to (hopefully) A this quarter. Other awesome activities happening this Spring: -more Swing Dance Club -more Serving With Honor (service organization in the Honors college) -more Big Brothers Big Sisters -more Theme Park Engineering -more random stories about why THE Ohio State University is frikkin' sweet Take care, Rob]]> http://blogs1.targetx.com/OSU/MessyMechE/2009/04/spring_forward.html http://blogs1.targetx.com/OSU/MessyMechE/2009/04/spring_forward.html Sat, 04 Apr 2009 19:19:32 -0500