Back at the beginning

So today is the big day. The start of the final semester of my....ahem...distinguished...college career. It all comes down to these next 15 weeks. Assuming of course that I can pass 4 measly classes then it will all be over. A 5 year chapter in my life will be closed and I will turn the page to a career, a wife and family, and the rest of my life.

This last semester, though, is'nt going to be any walk in the park. As I said, I am taking 4 classes. They are as follows:

ME 325 -- Machine Design
ME 415 -- Mechanical Systems Design
ME 421 -- Mechanical Systems and Controls
ME 436 -- Heat Transfer

I am done with class every day by 1 PM, so I should have plenty of time this semester for studying and still finding time to work out, work on some personal projects of mine, and manage to find some free time for myself. I hope......

So classes today are of the usual first day sort. Introductions to course layout, syllabus, homework and lab schedule, signing safety forms and waivers, and assigning partners and groups. Very boring stuff. But, as usual, in a few class periods, all 4 classes will be going a hundred miles an hour, and we will all be struggling to keep up with the homeworks, quizzes, labs and lab reports, and those pesky group projects. And then in a blur of 15 weeks, it will all be over as quickly as it started.

Well, my blogging time is up...I have a class to go to now.

Today's peanut: 18 holes is a long journey. Don't wear yourself out on the first few holes....
Pace yourself. Being too enthusiastic at the onset can sometimes cause trouble later.

Hello 2009.........

We made it.

The world didn't end, the sky didn't explode, and I even managed to pass all my classes last semester, so 2008 ended up pretty well as far as I'm concerned.  

Resolutions?  Oh, not officially.  Nothing in writing or in stone or signed in blood or anything like that, but I definately have a few goals for good ol' 2009.  I got the wii fit for Christmas and I should have a lot more time to go to the rec and work out this semester, so getting and staying fit is priority #1 for me in the very near future.  Secondly, I ended 2008 with a lot of irons in the fire, a lot of loose ends that need tying, a lot of unfinished projects.  Naturally, those are pretty high on my list right now, too.

Most important to the success of this year, though, is the planning, organizing, and execution of the most important events of the rest of my life, and they all seem to have come at once here in 2009.  Ill be graduating from college (hopefully) in May, starting a career (somewhere) shortly thereafter, moving into a house (somewhere) after graduation, getting married (finally) in August, going on a honeymoon (somewhere) after the wedding, and starting a life with Katie (somewhere) when we get back.  Its shaping up to be a pretty crazy year already, and it's only the second day.  Wow.  I think I'm getting an ulcer already....

Today's peanut:  When in doubt, go to the next iron......people rarely complain that you put forth TOO much effort, its when you come up short that they get angry.

So here I am today....trying to avoid studying for my finals on Thursday morning.  I took my first final Monday morning.  It was in ME 335 Fluid Dynamics.  It was pretty easy actually.  I feel pretty good about it.

It is FREEZING outside.  It is snowing like a banchee right now as I type, and the internet says it is 4 degrees outside.  Ill be honest...I can handle the cold...I prefer the cold weather to the heat of summer, but that biting wind...I cant take that....no sir, not for me.  Walking back to my apartment from campus, I have to walk down a narrow driveway between two 4 story engineering buildings.  It is just a wind tunnel....its rediculous.  The strongest, coldest, most biting wind gusts you can imagine just howl through that little tunnel constantly.  I hate it.  I avoid going to campus this time of year if at all possible.

So I always find myself in this little state of panic this time of year...getting Christmas shopping finished up.  I am a typical guy and put things off til last minute, but the last few years Ive done pretty well in getting things done little by little in the few months before Christmas.  But, still, in these last few weeks, there are still a few presents that I still need to pick up, a few things I need to finish making, and a few places I still need to be.  And it all comes right during finals time...when im busy with school, busy with moving home for a month, busy trying to plan a new years-ish party...ugh....         oh well...it will get done...it always does.

Well, I suppose I should get some studying done...

Today's Peanut:  The fairway only seems narrow from the teebox......Things that cause you stress never turn out to be as crazy as you think they will be.

Theres a first time for everything...even blogging...

So its true.....Id much rather be golfing than doing anything that has to do with finals week right now...  Im very ready to be done with this semester, and in general, be done with college and start a career and get married and all that jazz.  But there is a small part of me that will be sorry to see this college thing come to an end.  Im not gonna lie, Id be a professional student in a heartbeat if someone paid me to do it.  I love school, I love learning, Ive loved my physics and engineering courses (with a few exceptions), and I love the college life.  I would LOVE to take a bunch of classes in other disciplines...Id take all kinds of stuff...business, art, psychology, agriculture, accounting, GOLF!!, other types of engineering....there is a never ending list...but....unfortunately...nobody is ever going to pay me a salary to learn.  So I suppose Ill graduate with my degree and Ill keep taking job interviews and Ill make a decision from the job offers I recieve and Ill start a job and be done with school forever.

It seems like the normal thing to do.  And Im all about being normal....(although Katie might disagree with that...)

So if Ive established that instead of being a lifetime student, Im going to graduate and start a job and get married, then I should probably write about that.  

As anybody who will read this blog probably already knows...I am marrying the lovely Kathleen Sue Merema this coming August 8th.  We are both very ready to be married and be done with this whole long distance relationship thing.  There are still a LOT of unknowns in our future...jobs were going to have...town were going to live in...place were going to live...on and on and on...but those unknows help make it exciting i guess..!  

As far as starting a job goes, I am still getting an occaisional interview (which helps my confidence significantly) and I do have a good offer from a great company.  I feel pretty good about securing a job despite the state of the economy...I hope I can still say that in a few months around graduation time...

So I must say, Im just rambling here.  This blog will likely be just random things that I feel like talking about on any given day, but then I suppose thats the idea of a blog in the first place.  I feel sorry for all of you that will read this on any sort of regular basis...you will be looking through a window into my scattered engineers brain....

I will probably usually talk about Katie, school, polotics, golf, and my life in general...if thats not your particular cup of soup.....well....Im sorry about your luck...

So I feel like as a blog writer, I should have some sort of sign off proverb or peanut of wisdom from my life.  Ive always seen sports in general and golf in particular as a great object lesson for life.  Almost any concept in sports can be directly applied to a real life situation.  I love that.  Maybe that makes me nerdy or sentimental, but I like it.  So here we go...

Today's peanut:  3 putts are still better than 4....dont quit until the job at hand is finished.