I am about a third of the way through this semester at CSULB.
Class I like
So far my energy conversion class is going well. I am enjoying the class and the work makes sense. I got back my midterm last week and I did well. I got an 87, which was the second highest score in the class. The average was 58, with a high score of 100 and a low of 24. Somehow I have become friends with a wide cross-section of the students. Of my three friends in the class, one got the high score, the other the low score, and the third about average.
The one thing I need to fix is how much time I am putting into the homework. I am not finishing all of the problems or doing my best on all of them. It is not an issue of difficultly, I am just not putting in enough time. While homework is only 10%, I need to pick up every point I can.
Class I despise
The second of my two classes is communication systems. It is not going well for anyone. It is a waste of time for me, the other students, and the professor. So far he is the worst math or science professor I have ever had. He spent four weeks talking about Fourier transforms, but managed to avoid working out even one example. Most of the time he walks around the room pointing to people and asking them to answer the question he asked five minutes ago. "I don't know" and "What is the question?" are the most common responses, even for me. However, I usually manage to say something that is completely wrong when I am called on.
I think I am more confused about Fourier Transforms that when I started the class. If you are working on a campaign to end the tenure system, he is a great poster-professor.
So far I have perfect grades on the labs for the class. I have the good fortune of having a great lab group (see the person who scored 100 above). However, there has only been one homework assignment, which no one fully understood. Most people completed less than half of it, and even then it was a lot of scribbles on paper instead of intelligent work. There is a midterm on Wednesday and I think it will be a disaster for everyone.
Fun people
I am happy I am getting to know some of the students in my classes. In my waste of time class, I sit in the corner with my lab group and talk about the latest episodes of Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead (which just so happens to have its season premier tonight on AMC) before class.
As for the girl in class I like, I think things are moving along well. A few days ago I asked if she wanted to do something fun with me this weekend and she said she was babysitting for her out of town relative. I will ask again this week.
Fun project
Since I do not have any experience working on an engineering project, I joined a computers and robotics club. They have different teams working on various projects, such as an unmanned aerial vehicle, a fire fighting robot, and a mechanical arm. I am on a team of people (all two of us) that is building a micromouse. It is a small robot that is programmed to navigate a maze and find the shortest route from the corner to the center. Neither of us has built a robot before, so this will be fun.
Overall I am happy with how things are going at Long Beach. I wish I would have thought of going there a year or two ago.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Weekly Meetings
This is a summary post about what I have been doing at church that ends with commentary about the Bears.
For the last year I have been involved with a retreat program at church. It started as just one weekend, but it continued with weekly meetings. While I started out as a participant, I eventually joined in the planning and leadership for future retreats.
I helped plan the last weekend that was scheduled for August. However, the weekend had to be canceled because only two people signed up. Then the leaders of the group decided to stop holding the weekly meetings.
In case you are keeping track, this is the second weekly group I have been involved with at church that has died after I got very involved with it. The last one was a young adult group that died in the summer of last year.
That day in August was the end of the retreat program, or at least it should have been. However, one of the people did not want it to end. He talked to me and another person and we decided to keep meeting to keep the group alive. For the last few weeks the three of us have been meeting and planning how to restart the program.
When we met, there is prayer, discussion on the readings for the upcoming Sunday, and then I give a short presentation on a topic we are interested in. I have talked about Divine Mercy, basic Bible organization, how to use the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and the mysteries of the rosary. At one point I was identified as a scripture scholar, which is something I never expected.
Right now we are finding a second time to met every week because someone's work schedule was suddenly changed. Also, we are preparing for a dinner with the pastor. I do not know why we are meeting with him (it was other people in the group who planned it). I am worried because the presentation these other people created is very boring; I did not even read all of the first page. However, I created an exciting presentation plan to share with them.
This has taken up a few hours every Wednesday, a meeting this past Sunday, a meeting yesterday, and a couple of hours on the phone in the last week.
Weekly Bible Study
When I started taking classes at Long Beach, one of my priorities was to involve myself with the student life. My first day on campus I was approached by a student who invited me to a Bible study.
This is a one on one study of a different Gospel passage every week. The student (who is a good teacher) has brought up some good points. For example, being Christian is more than putting in the minimum of going to church and being a good person. It requires living for Jesus. However, the studies are more like reading comprehension exercises and lectures. The questions literally ask me to read a verse and answer a question. After I answer the question, which I am usually told I answered correctly, the person launches into a few minutes of explanation and commentary.
Today I was going to tell the person that I am not getting anything more out of the readings and our meetings. He gives great speeches and brings in some good examples, but I am beyond where he is teaching to. In addition, my commitments to my current church group have significantly increased, as I wrote about above.
However, I had to tell him I was not going to a retreat he invited me to attend. He was disappointed, so I did not want to tell him I would drop the weekly Bible studies as well.
As for attending his retreat, this is my choice: Cal at UCLA football game with friends I know from church I see once or twice a year, or a Bible conference with people I have never met. Which one would you chose?
On a related note, if you live in Northern California, are looking for blue and gold spirited excitement on October 29th, and want an excuse for a road trip, I heard about a promotion (which I think is still going on) to get two free tickets to the Cal at UCLA game. Let me know and I will tell you more.
For the past 5 years I have been to the football game the Bears play in Los Angles every year and I do not plan on breaking my streak. I have also been to every one of the Bear's bowl games since the 2008 season. I will go to the game this year, but the Bears need 4 more wins to be bowl eligible. UCLA, Oregon State, and Washington State are the most winnable games, but they still have to win one against Oregon, USC, Utah, Andrew Luck's team, or ASU.
As a reminder, Thursday night is the first of two consecutive Thursday night games the Bears will be playing. The Bears will be playing at Oregon this week, and host USC next week.
For the last year I have been involved with a retreat program at church. It started as just one weekend, but it continued with weekly meetings. While I started out as a participant, I eventually joined in the planning and leadership for future retreats.
I helped plan the last weekend that was scheduled for August. However, the weekend had to be canceled because only two people signed up. Then the leaders of the group decided to stop holding the weekly meetings.
In case you are keeping track, this is the second weekly group I have been involved with at church that has died after I got very involved with it. The last one was a young adult group that died in the summer of last year.
That day in August was the end of the retreat program, or at least it should have been. However, one of the people did not want it to end. He talked to me and another person and we decided to keep meeting to keep the group alive. For the last few weeks the three of us have been meeting and planning how to restart the program.
When we met, there is prayer, discussion on the readings for the upcoming Sunday, and then I give a short presentation on a topic we are interested in. I have talked about Divine Mercy, basic Bible organization, how to use the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and the mysteries of the rosary. At one point I was identified as a scripture scholar, which is something I never expected.
Right now we are finding a second time to met every week because someone's work schedule was suddenly changed. Also, we are preparing for a dinner with the pastor. I do not know why we are meeting with him (it was other people in the group who planned it). I am worried because the presentation these other people created is very boring; I did not even read all of the first page. However, I created an exciting presentation plan to share with them.
This has taken up a few hours every Wednesday, a meeting this past Sunday, a meeting yesterday, and a couple of hours on the phone in the last week.
Weekly Bible Study
When I started taking classes at Long Beach, one of my priorities was to involve myself with the student life. My first day on campus I was approached by a student who invited me to a Bible study.
This is a one on one study of a different Gospel passage every week. The student (who is a good teacher) has brought up some good points. For example, being Christian is more than putting in the minimum of going to church and being a good person. It requires living for Jesus. However, the studies are more like reading comprehension exercises and lectures. The questions literally ask me to read a verse and answer a question. After I answer the question, which I am usually told I answered correctly, the person launches into a few minutes of explanation and commentary.
Today I was going to tell the person that I am not getting anything more out of the readings and our meetings. He gives great speeches and brings in some good examples, but I am beyond where he is teaching to. In addition, my commitments to my current church group have significantly increased, as I wrote about above.
However, I had to tell him I was not going to a retreat he invited me to attend. He was disappointed, so I did not want to tell him I would drop the weekly Bible studies as well.
As for attending his retreat, this is my choice: Cal at UCLA football game with friends I know from church I see once or twice a year, or a Bible conference with people I have never met. Which one would you chose?
On a related note, if you live in Northern California, are looking for blue and gold spirited excitement on October 29th, and want an excuse for a road trip, I heard about a promotion (which I think is still going on) to get two free tickets to the Cal at UCLA game. Let me know and I will tell you more.
For the past 5 years I have been to the football game the Bears play in Los Angles every year and I do not plan on breaking my streak. I have also been to every one of the Bear's bowl games since the 2008 season. I will go to the game this year, but the Bears need 4 more wins to be bowl eligible. UCLA, Oregon State, and Washington State are the most winnable games, but they still have to win one against Oregon, USC, Utah, Andrew Luck's team, or ASU.
As a reminder, Thursday night is the first of two consecutive Thursday night games the Bears will be playing. The Bears will be playing at Oregon this week, and host USC next week.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Back to more craziness
I want to get back to blogging and there is a lot to say. Things for me have been switching between busy and way too busy.
This past weekend I was in Berkeley for an alumni event for the Cal Newman Alumni group I am working to get moving. The event worked out well with more people attending than I expected. There was enough wine and cheese left over for an afterparty at Lisa's house.
My classes at Long Beach have a lot of work due. Yesterday one lab report was due and today a second lab report and some problems are due. The good news is I am pleased with the people in my lab groups; they are helpful. I also managed to join a club where I am on a team that is building a robot.
The group I am involved with at church that puts on retreats is trying to come back to life. We have a meeting scheduled with the pastor, but one of the three main people just had his work schedule changed and cannot make our weekly meetings anymore.
It is college fair season, so I am volunteering my time as an alumni representative for Cal. I go to high schools and community colleges when they have college nights and answer the questions of students who are thinking about applying. While I like talking to prospective students, the food the schools provide for the representatives is even better.
My dad is in the hospital. The short version is he was bit by a spider, got an infection, got blood clots, the blood clots moved to his lungs, and now his kidneys are stressed dealing with the medications that are being used to treat these things.
My grandma is visiting. She arrived last week and will be here for a month. After she leaves, my other grandma will come to visit for around two months. Among all this busyness, this is a reminder of why I need to move out.
I am looking forward to this weekend. There is no major commitment of my time. I am not driving to the other side of the state like last weekend or spending a lot of time in L.A. for a convention like the weekend before. I will be driving to LAX twice, but that is it.
This past weekend I was in Berkeley for an alumni event for the Cal Newman Alumni group I am working to get moving. The event worked out well with more people attending than I expected. There was enough wine and cheese left over for an afterparty at Lisa's house.
My classes at Long Beach have a lot of work due. Yesterday one lab report was due and today a second lab report and some problems are due. The good news is I am pleased with the people in my lab groups; they are helpful. I also managed to join a club where I am on a team that is building a robot.
The group I am involved with at church that puts on retreats is trying to come back to life. We have a meeting scheduled with the pastor, but one of the three main people just had his work schedule changed and cannot make our weekly meetings anymore.
It is college fair season, so I am volunteering my time as an alumni representative for Cal. I go to high schools and community colleges when they have college nights and answer the questions of students who are thinking about applying. While I like talking to prospective students, the food the schools provide for the representatives is even better.
My dad is in the hospital. The short version is he was bit by a spider, got an infection, got blood clots, the blood clots moved to his lungs, and now his kidneys are stressed dealing with the medications that are being used to treat these things.
My grandma is visiting. She arrived last week and will be here for a month. After she leaves, my other grandma will come to visit for around two months. Among all this busyness, this is a reminder of why I need to move out.
I am looking forward to this weekend. There is no major commitment of my time. I am not driving to the other side of the state like last weekend or spending a lot of time in L.A. for a convention like the weekend before. I will be driving to LAX twice, but that is it.
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Class at The Beach with the Dirtbags
I am in the third week of taking two classes at Cal State Long Beach. I need to explain how I got here.
Several months ago I came to some conclusions. Very few companies have jobs where the ideal candidate has a bachelor's degree in physics. Most of the things I want to do are engineering related, but my education is not. While I can understand the basic things behind what is happening, I do not have the specific training they want.
This and my lack employment led me to decide I should get a master's degree in engineering. The next problem is deciding what type of engineering. There is mechanical, electrical, aerospace, and a lot of other specialties I do not know anything about. After some thinking, reading, and vacillating, I decided electrical engineering was the field for me.
The next step is to get into an electrical engineering graduate program. My undergraduate GPA is nothing great (imagine a number less than three). I looked at schools that were ABET accredited in electrical engineering and decided one of the Cal States would be a good choice. The GPA requirements are within my range and they are very cost competitive.
To have a better application, I decided I should take some engineering classes. I have completed some UCI Extension classes in engineering, but those are not at the level of actual classes for matriculated students. So I took a real UCI class over the summer in Control Systems. While I was taking this class, I decided CSU Long Beach would be the best choice for me. I looked at their website and found a list of classes they expect everyone to have completed before starting the graduate program. When compared to the classes I had taken, I came up with some deficiencies and some questions.
I emailed the graduate adviser and asked to met him. He replied back that I should make an appointment to see him at the end of September. This was very unhelpful, as I would have to enroll in classes for the fall well before then. So I picked the classes I knew I would have to take. I also had to make a schedule that did not conflict with my UCI class which was ending the same week the Long Beach classes were starting. Since I was taking classes through a special program for non-admitted students, I had to get a special form, get the signatures of my professors, and get the department chair to sign off on it.
At The Beach with the Dirtbags
Now a few comments about CSU Long Beach. I had never been on campus until an hour before my first class. It is often called "The Beach" from its city Long Beach and the school being close to the beach. The sports arena is a big pyramid. Their sports teams are the 49ers. However, their baseball team is called the Dirtbags. The entire story is told by the Unnamed Geniuses. I am disappointed all of the teams are not the Dirtbags, but I am adopting the name until they come to their senses.
I am taking two classes at Long Beach this semester. One is Communication Systems. It covers putting information in signals. The first day I went to class I felt like I was in a bad high school class. It was an odd feeling. The professor speaks with an accent, writes in small lettering on the board, and walks around the room pointing to people asking them to answer his question. Usually he has been talking for so long nearly everyone (including me) has forgotten the question. There is a lab component to the class which is doing things in MATLAB. On the positive side, I found two good people for my lab group. One is a transfer student from a community college and better at MATLAB than I am. The other person is in the electrical engineering masters program. This is the first semester both of them are at Long Beach.
The second class I am taking is Energy Conversion. It explains how electrical energy becomes mechanical energy through motors. The professor is lively and makes funny comments. I think the class will be fun. The labs also use MATLAB to solve problems and simulate things. There is one other good development. There is a girl in class I have a crush on. So far we have met up to work on a lab together and she took my advice about watching Breaking Bad. I will play this out the best I can.
I am also involving myself with the campus life. I went to the club fair and picked two groups to investigate. I feel like a transfer student; I know I only have a couple of years on campus and am going to make the most of every minute of it. I think I will enjoy being at The Beach. All I need to do now is get accepted.
Several months ago I came to some conclusions. Very few companies have jobs where the ideal candidate has a bachelor's degree in physics. Most of the things I want to do are engineering related, but my education is not. While I can understand the basic things behind what is happening, I do not have the specific training they want.
This and my lack employment led me to decide I should get a master's degree in engineering. The next problem is deciding what type of engineering. There is mechanical, electrical, aerospace, and a lot of other specialties I do not know anything about. After some thinking, reading, and vacillating, I decided electrical engineering was the field for me.
The next step is to get into an electrical engineering graduate program. My undergraduate GPA is nothing great (imagine a number less than three). I looked at schools that were ABET accredited in electrical engineering and decided one of the Cal States would be a good choice. The GPA requirements are within my range and they are very cost competitive.
To have a better application, I decided I should take some engineering classes. I have completed some UCI Extension classes in engineering, but those are not at the level of actual classes for matriculated students. So I took a real UCI class over the summer in Control Systems. While I was taking this class, I decided CSU Long Beach would be the best choice for me. I looked at their website and found a list of classes they expect everyone to have completed before starting the graduate program. When compared to the classes I had taken, I came up with some deficiencies and some questions.
I emailed the graduate adviser and asked to met him. He replied back that I should make an appointment to see him at the end of September. This was very unhelpful, as I would have to enroll in classes for the fall well before then. So I picked the classes I knew I would have to take. I also had to make a schedule that did not conflict with my UCI class which was ending the same week the Long Beach classes were starting. Since I was taking classes through a special program for non-admitted students, I had to get a special form, get the signatures of my professors, and get the department chair to sign off on it.
At The Beach with the Dirtbags
Now a few comments about CSU Long Beach. I had never been on campus until an hour before my first class. It is often called "The Beach" from its city Long Beach and the school being close to the beach. The sports arena is a big pyramid. Their sports teams are the 49ers. However, their baseball team is called the Dirtbags. The entire story is told by the Unnamed Geniuses. I am disappointed all of the teams are not the Dirtbags, but I am adopting the name until they come to their senses.
I am taking two classes at Long Beach this semester. One is Communication Systems. It covers putting information in signals. The first day I went to class I felt like I was in a bad high school class. It was an odd feeling. The professor speaks with an accent, writes in small lettering on the board, and walks around the room pointing to people asking them to answer his question. Usually he has been talking for so long nearly everyone (including me) has forgotten the question. There is a lab component to the class which is doing things in MATLAB. On the positive side, I found two good people for my lab group. One is a transfer student from a community college and better at MATLAB than I am. The other person is in the electrical engineering masters program. This is the first semester both of them are at Long Beach.
The second class I am taking is Energy Conversion. It explains how electrical energy becomes mechanical energy through motors. The professor is lively and makes funny comments. I think the class will be fun. The labs also use MATLAB to solve problems and simulate things. There is one other good development. There is a girl in class I have a crush on. So far we have met up to work on a lab together and she took my advice about watching Breaking Bad. I will play this out the best I can.
I am also involving myself with the campus life. I went to the club fair and picked two groups to investigate. I feel like a transfer student; I know I only have a couple of years on campus and am going to make the most of every minute of it. I think I will enjoy being at The Beach. All I need to do now is get accepted.
Friday, September 9, 2011
Three classes, two campuses, one week
Last week was a crazy week.
As I have mentioned before, I was taking a summer class at UCI. Last week was the fifth and final week of that class. On Monday and Wednesday I had lecture and discussion that went from 8 to noon. On Tuesday and Thursday I had lab that was scheduled from 8-11. One of the people in my lab group was late on Tuesday because she was celebrating a religious holiday and completely missed Thursday because of a family emergency. To make things worse, our circuit board, motor, and (expletive) tachometer took a lot of coaxing to work correctly. Even the graduate students who supervised the lab could not make it work immediately. Things went so bad the entire class had to come in for a second lab day. I did not leave the lab until after noon both days. There was also the usual monster sized homework due on Wednesday. Completing that required me to stay up until 4 Wednesday morning before I woke up at 6 for class.
That was only half the fun. Last week was also the first week of two classes I am taking at Cal State Long Beach. The two schools have overlapping schedules because UCI is on the quarter system while Long Beach does semesters. I also had to get signatures and special forms to take classes there since I am not a matriculated student.
For Monday through Thursday of last week I drove from Huntington Beach to Irvine to Long Beach and then back home to Huntington Beach. Fortunately, all three of these destinations are close to the 405. On Thursday I left home before 8 in the morning and got back just after 9 at night. Since it was the first week the professor ended lab early. It is scheduled to run from 7-9:45.
The Weekend
This crazy week happened to have one of the more interesting weekends I have experienced in a while. On Saturday I watched the Bears beat Fresno State in the football season opener with the Orange County Cal Alumni Club. On Sunday I went to Ryan's house where I had a few drinks and decided it was better to spend the night there instead of driving home.
On Monday I went to Aden's to watch a Patton Oswalt comedy special. I am not familiar with Oswalt's comedy, but Aden and Nick orchestrated food based upon his sketches. They had Famous KFC bowls (also called mashed potato bowls) which Oswalt calls sadness bowls, cupcakes with french fries, chicken McNuggets, Cheetos, soda, beer, donuts, and ice cream topped with Lucky Charms. We never even opened my chips and cookies. It was awesome.
This Week
On Tuesday I went to UCI to met with someone to work on our lab report. However, she had been working on it until 7 that morning and could not make it to campus before I had to go to Long Beach for class.
Tuesday night I worked on an extra credit homework assignment and chatted over gmail with my missing lab partner. I gave her some great commentary to add to our report. Since the homework assignment was extra credit, I did not finish it and went to sleep at 2. Aside from the report and homework being due, Wednesday morning was also the final.
After the disaster of a final I went to Long Beach for class and to met with a lab group. I had to share with my group how I coded a Fourier series in MATLAB. All I could say was I could not finish it or know how to make it work. Then I made my way home before heading to a meeting at church where I essentially lead a mini-Bible study.
From Monday last week to Thursday of this week I made six round trips from home to UCI and then Long Beach. I drove over 400 miles.
Even with all this, I am happy to be involved with everything. Some things could have turned out better, but I am doing things and making something with my time.
As I have mentioned before, I was taking a summer class at UCI. Last week was the fifth and final week of that class. On Monday and Wednesday I had lecture and discussion that went from 8 to noon. On Tuesday and Thursday I had lab that was scheduled from 8-11. One of the people in my lab group was late on Tuesday because she was celebrating a religious holiday and completely missed Thursday because of a family emergency. To make things worse, our circuit board, motor, and (expletive) tachometer took a lot of coaxing to work correctly. Even the graduate students who supervised the lab could not make it work immediately. Things went so bad the entire class had to come in for a second lab day. I did not leave the lab until after noon both days. There was also the usual monster sized homework due on Wednesday. Completing that required me to stay up until 4 Wednesday morning before I woke up at 6 for class.
That was only half the fun. Last week was also the first week of two classes I am taking at Cal State Long Beach. The two schools have overlapping schedules because UCI is on the quarter system while Long Beach does semesters. I also had to get signatures and special forms to take classes there since I am not a matriculated student.
For Monday through Thursday of last week I drove from Huntington Beach to Irvine to Long Beach and then back home to Huntington Beach. Fortunately, all three of these destinations are close to the 405. On Thursday I left home before 8 in the morning and got back just after 9 at night. Since it was the first week the professor ended lab early. It is scheduled to run from 7-9:45.
The Weekend
This crazy week happened to have one of the more interesting weekends I have experienced in a while. On Saturday I watched the Bears beat Fresno State in the football season opener with the Orange County Cal Alumni Club. On Sunday I went to Ryan's house where I had a few drinks and decided it was better to spend the night there instead of driving home.
On Monday I went to Aden's to watch a Patton Oswalt comedy special. I am not familiar with Oswalt's comedy, but Aden and Nick orchestrated food based upon his sketches. They had Famous KFC bowls (also called mashed potato bowls) which Oswalt calls sadness bowls, cupcakes with french fries, chicken McNuggets, Cheetos, soda, beer, donuts, and ice cream topped with Lucky Charms. We never even opened my chips and cookies. It was awesome.
This Week
On Tuesday I went to UCI to met with someone to work on our lab report. However, she had been working on it until 7 that morning and could not make it to campus before I had to go to Long Beach for class.
Tuesday night I worked on an extra credit homework assignment and chatted over gmail with my missing lab partner. I gave her some great commentary to add to our report. Since the homework assignment was extra credit, I did not finish it and went to sleep at 2. Aside from the report and homework being due, Wednesday morning was also the final.
After the disaster of a final I went to Long Beach for class and to met with a lab group. I had to share with my group how I coded a Fourier series in MATLAB. All I could say was I could not finish it or know how to make it work. Then I made my way home before heading to a meeting at church where I essentially lead a mini-Bible study.
From Monday last week to Thursday of this week I made six round trips from home to UCI and then Long Beach. I drove over 400 miles.
Even with all this, I am happy to be involved with everything. Some things could have turned out better, but I am doing things and making something with my time.
Saturday, August 27, 2011
A trip to Pinnacles
A few weeks ago I went to Pinnacles National Monument with Larry and Peter. It was fun; we hiked and car camped.
The idea for this trip started when Larry got back from Vietnam. On a Wednesday we went to the OC Fair with Peter. Larry said he wanted to go on a nature trip before he left for Arizona in a couple of weeks. After thinking of a few places, I mentioned some people I knew had been to Pinnacles National Monument which is near Salinas.
On Thursday of next week our trip started. We left around 9 at night. As always, I did the driving. It was around 3 in the morning when we pulled up to our campsite. Luckily we were the only ones in that area so we did not disturb anyone. It was good Peter and I had practiced pitching our big 4 person tent a few days earlier. Aside from being dark, it was 47 degrees out.
Around 7 in the morning we awoke. Larry cooked bacon and eggs on a stove, but the bacon did not work out well. It had a lot of fat but did not produce all the grease we wanted for cooking the eggs.
We started on the trail at 9. Both Larry and I were concerned about being out of shape. Larry did very little physical activity in Vietnam, while I was long out of my habit of bike riding or even walking. Looking the the maps, Larry had planned a dozen mile loop around the park. It would take us through both caves in the park and most of the noteworthy trails.
We started at the Bear Gulch day use area, which was a short drive from our campsite. We went 1.2 miles through the Moses Spring trail to end of the Bear Gulch Cave trail. The cave was not very exciting. It might have been better if it was not partially closed for bats.
We went for 1.9 miles on the Rim trail and High Peaks trail until we reached the start of the Juniper Canyon trail. We had to go uphill but from the top we could see the clouds settling over a valley in the distance.
After the entire 1.8 miles of the Juniper Canyon trail we reached the west entrance of the park, the Chaparral Parking Area. It was 90 degrees that day and we had hiked 4.9 miles, so we used the opportunity to fill up our water. Throughout the monument I saw a few California Condors flying around.
From there we followed the Balconies trail to the Balconies Cave trail. Peter was always leading the way.
After our trip to the Lava River Cave in Arizona, we were looking forward to the caves. We brought extra clothing, extra light sources, and even purchased headlamps. However, the caves were a big disappointment. They were more like very short narrow canyons where some big rocks had fallen in and blocked out some light from above. The picture below was taken in the best part of the caves. If it would have been like this a lot longer it would have been a real cave. I should have looked up what a talus cave was when I saw it on the website.
After eating in the cave, we took the Old Pinnacles trail for 2.3 miles. This was nice because it was flat. Then we had a choice; we could take the Bear Gulch Trail back for a flat 1.6 miles back to my car, or take the High Peaks trail to the Condor Gulch trail for 3.7 miles. Which one do you think we chose?
The High Peaks trail also went up 1,300 feet. I almost died going up this hill. I was huffing and puffing like the Big Bad Wolf. Peter and Larry were doing OK, but I had to stop and rest a lot. At one point I laid down on the trail. However, I was worried the vultures I had seen earlier would start circling around me. I kept telling myself "If I can handle the Grand Canyon, I can handle this." When we got to the top we had this view.
We took the Condor Gulch trail down and back to my car. The hiking totaled 11.7 miles with a lot of ups and downs.
When we got back to our campsite we sat in the shade and waited for the sun to go down. For dinner we cooked pasta with a lot of spam and Vienna sausage.
Since the fire warning was at its highest possible level, they did not allow campfires. Using the showers at the campsite took a lot of time. Only one of the showers was working and it worked on quarters, with a four minute waiting time between uses.
The Drive
From Peter's house we took the 22 to the 5. We exited the 5 at Coalinga, then took the 198 to the 25 to the 146. The 198 and 25 were a lot of fun to drive at night. These winding hilly roads had turns that had to be taken at 25 or 30 MPH. There were very few other cars. My biggest concern was all the wildlife. There were rabbits all over; I ran over two or three of them driving. The entire trip took 636.7 miles. As with my earlier experiences, driving to the national park or monument is a bunch of fun.
We got back around 5 on Saturday afternoon. We had something important scheduled to do on Sunday, we went to Disneyland. The interesting things we did included going on the new Star Tours, which was not as good as I had hopped (I yelled at Jar Jar Binks). We also did the Toy Story Mania! shooting ride in California Adventure. You sit in a car that is taken to different places where you shoot at targets on 3D screens. Also seen was the show The World of Color in California Adventure, which you should get a Fastpass for early in the day to get into a viewing area. Imagine the Bellagio fountain show with lights and a lot of projected Disney characters and you get the idea. A couple hundred pictures of the day were posted online.
Overall the Pinnacles trip was good, but the place itself was not as good as our other National Park adventures.
The idea for this trip started when Larry got back from Vietnam. On a Wednesday we went to the OC Fair with Peter. Larry said he wanted to go on a nature trip before he left for Arizona in a couple of weeks. After thinking of a few places, I mentioned some people I knew had been to Pinnacles National Monument which is near Salinas.
On Thursday of next week our trip started. We left around 9 at night. As always, I did the driving. It was around 3 in the morning when we pulled up to our campsite. Luckily we were the only ones in that area so we did not disturb anyone. It was good Peter and I had practiced pitching our big 4 person tent a few days earlier. Aside from being dark, it was 47 degrees out.
Around 7 in the morning we awoke. Larry cooked bacon and eggs on a stove, but the bacon did not work out well. It had a lot of fat but did not produce all the grease we wanted for cooking the eggs.
We started on the trail at 9. Both Larry and I were concerned about being out of shape. Larry did very little physical activity in Vietnam, while I was long out of my habit of bike riding or even walking. Looking the the maps, Larry had planned a dozen mile loop around the park. It would take us through both caves in the park and most of the noteworthy trails.
We started at the Bear Gulch day use area, which was a short drive from our campsite. We went 1.2 miles through the Moses Spring trail to end of the Bear Gulch Cave trail. The cave was not very exciting. It might have been better if it was not partially closed for bats.
We went for 1.9 miles on the Rim trail and High Peaks trail until we reached the start of the Juniper Canyon trail. We had to go uphill but from the top we could see the clouds settling over a valley in the distance.
After the entire 1.8 miles of the Juniper Canyon trail we reached the west entrance of the park, the Chaparral Parking Area. It was 90 degrees that day and we had hiked 4.9 miles, so we used the opportunity to fill up our water. Throughout the monument I saw a few California Condors flying around.
From there we followed the Balconies trail to the Balconies Cave trail. Peter was always leading the way.
After our trip to the Lava River Cave in Arizona, we were looking forward to the caves. We brought extra clothing, extra light sources, and even purchased headlamps. However, the caves were a big disappointment. They were more like very short narrow canyons where some big rocks had fallen in and blocked out some light from above. The picture below was taken in the best part of the caves. If it would have been like this a lot longer it would have been a real cave. I should have looked up what a talus cave was when I saw it on the website.
After eating in the cave, we took the Old Pinnacles trail for 2.3 miles. This was nice because it was flat. Then we had a choice; we could take the Bear Gulch Trail back for a flat 1.6 miles back to my car, or take the High Peaks trail to the Condor Gulch trail for 3.7 miles. Which one do you think we chose?
The High Peaks trail also went up 1,300 feet. I almost died going up this hill. I was huffing and puffing like the Big Bad Wolf. Peter and Larry were doing OK, but I had to stop and rest a lot. At one point I laid down on the trail. However, I was worried the vultures I had seen earlier would start circling around me. I kept telling myself "If I can handle the Grand Canyon, I can handle this." When we got to the top we had this view.
We took the Condor Gulch trail down and back to my car. The hiking totaled 11.7 miles with a lot of ups and downs.
When we got back to our campsite we sat in the shade and waited for the sun to go down. For dinner we cooked pasta with a lot of spam and Vienna sausage.
Since the fire warning was at its highest possible level, they did not allow campfires. Using the showers at the campsite took a lot of time. Only one of the showers was working and it worked on quarters, with a four minute waiting time between uses.
The Drive
From Peter's house we took the 22 to the 5. We exited the 5 at Coalinga, then took the 198 to the 25 to the 146. The 198 and 25 were a lot of fun to drive at night. These winding hilly roads had turns that had to be taken at 25 or 30 MPH. There were very few other cars. My biggest concern was all the wildlife. There were rabbits all over; I ran over two or three of them driving. The entire trip took 636.7 miles. As with my earlier experiences, driving to the national park or monument is a bunch of fun.
We got back around 5 on Saturday afternoon. We had something important scheduled to do on Sunday, we went to Disneyland. The interesting things we did included going on the new Star Tours, which was not as good as I had hopped (I yelled at Jar Jar Binks). We also did the Toy Story Mania! shooting ride in California Adventure. You sit in a car that is taken to different places where you shoot at targets on 3D screens. Also seen was the show The World of Color in California Adventure, which you should get a Fastpass for early in the day to get into a viewing area. Imagine the Bellagio fountain show with lights and a lot of projected Disney characters and you get the idea. A couple hundred pictures of the day were posted online.
Overall the Pinnacles trip was good, but the place itself was not as good as our other National Park adventures.
Monday, August 22, 2011
Midway through a crazy class
This is the start of the fourth week of my five week class at UC Irvine. It has been a crazy few weeks.
The only thing I can compare this to is the quantum mechanics class I took the summer before my junior year. During the summer both classes are taught at twice the speed of a normal fall or spring term class.
The good difference is this class makes a lot more sense. I am understanding what is going on and it is all very reasonable to me. Most importantly, I am liking it. Also the professor keeps things interesting and generates much mirth. I laugh out loud and smile a few times every lecture.
However, I do not know anyone in the class. Unlike quantum mechanics, my friend Yinbo is not here to save me from my ignorance on problem sets and hang out with me during breaks.
For better or worse, (better for them, worse for me) everyone else in the class is an undergraduate majoring in electrical engineering entering his or her senior (or super senior) year. Except for the online extension classes I have taken (where the instructors were of varying quality), I have never taken an electrical engineering class before, let alone a fast paced upper division one. To be fair, if it were not for the MATLAB skills I learned in extension I would be hopelessly frustrated trying to complete the computer exercises and the first lab. The professor is helpful when I ask him basic electrical questions everyone else already knows. He gave me a lecture about the wonders of an inverting operational amplifier in office hours.
This class is taking a lot of time. On Monday and Wednesday I have lecture from 8-10:50 and discussion from 11-11:50. On Tuesday and Thursday I have lab from 8-10:50. Since each week covers the material normally covered in two weeks, the problem sets are extra long. Last week from 6 AM Tuesday to noon on Thursday I got less than four hours of sleep. There was a problem set due, a lab report, MATLAB, and reading for the next lab somewhere between a lot of procrastinating.
As a tangential benefit I am learning my way around UCI. Considering the large number of people I know who went there, it is good to have an idea where things are on campus and the best places to eat. In high school I ate at the In-N-Out and Del Taco across the street often, but I rarely ventured onto campus.
Driving there
The way I drive to UCI starts out the same way I drove to other educational institutions. I start out driving down Warner, which is the way I drove to high school. Then when I get on the 405 south it is like I am driving to a summer class at OCC. Then I get on the 73, which is a toll road. Luckily, the first few exits are toll free. I get off at Bison Ave. right before the toll part starts. One turn off the off-ramp and moments later I am on campus where the road takes me straight to the best parking lot. The drive home is the reverse of this. Today it took me twenty minutes to drive the 12.5 miles from UCI to home.
Today was the midterm and Wednesday of next week is the final. Somewhere in between is two (maybe three) labs and two extra big problem sets.
The only thing I can compare this to is the quantum mechanics class I took the summer before my junior year. During the summer both classes are taught at twice the speed of a normal fall or spring term class.
The good difference is this class makes a lot more sense. I am understanding what is going on and it is all very reasonable to me. Most importantly, I am liking it. Also the professor keeps things interesting and generates much mirth. I laugh out loud and smile a few times every lecture.
However, I do not know anyone in the class. Unlike quantum mechanics, my friend Yinbo is not here to save me from my ignorance on problem sets and hang out with me during breaks.
For better or worse, (better for them, worse for me) everyone else in the class is an undergraduate majoring in electrical engineering entering his or her senior (or super senior) year. Except for the online extension classes I have taken (where the instructors were of varying quality), I have never taken an electrical engineering class before, let alone a fast paced upper division one. To be fair, if it were not for the MATLAB skills I learned in extension I would be hopelessly frustrated trying to complete the computer exercises and the first lab. The professor is helpful when I ask him basic electrical questions everyone else already knows. He gave me a lecture about the wonders of an inverting operational amplifier in office hours.
This class is taking a lot of time. On Monday and Wednesday I have lecture from 8-10:50 and discussion from 11-11:50. On Tuesday and Thursday I have lab from 8-10:50. Since each week covers the material normally covered in two weeks, the problem sets are extra long. Last week from 6 AM Tuesday to noon on Thursday I got less than four hours of sleep. There was a problem set due, a lab report, MATLAB, and reading for the next lab somewhere between a lot of procrastinating.
As a tangential benefit I am learning my way around UCI. Considering the large number of people I know who went there, it is good to have an idea where things are on campus and the best places to eat. In high school I ate at the In-N-Out and Del Taco across the street often, but I rarely ventured onto campus.
Driving there
The way I drive to UCI starts out the same way I drove to other educational institutions. I start out driving down Warner, which is the way I drove to high school. Then when I get on the 405 south it is like I am driving to a summer class at OCC. Then I get on the 73, which is a toll road. Luckily, the first few exits are toll free. I get off at Bison Ave. right before the toll part starts. One turn off the off-ramp and moments later I am on campus where the road takes me straight to the best parking lot. The drive home is the reverse of this. Today it took me twenty minutes to drive the 12.5 miles from UCI to home.
Today was the midterm and Wednesday of next week is the final. Somewhere in between is two (maybe three) labs and two extra big problem sets.
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