A lot of work and CRP follow up

Last week I had homework due on Sunday, Tuesday, a midterm on Tuesday, and homework due on Wednesday. This week I had homework due on Sunday and a midterm on Wednesday. Next week I have work due on Sunday, Tuesday, and a midterm on Tuesday.

All of these things are keeping me busy. I wonder how I managed as an undergraduate to finish two majors, be very involved with two extra activities, and spend time with a lot of different people. Then I remember, I was a horrible student. This time at Long Beach I am making academics my number one priority.

Last week's midterm covered microcontrollers and programming in assembly. The professor decided to give everyone some extra points since the average was low. I ended up with a 104%. Yesterday's midterm was more difficult than I expected. I will find out next week how I did.

CRP
When I write summary posts of trips I often feel I fail to convey important points. That might explain why a backpacking trip from 4 months ago or a New Year's trip to Vegas have not been published yet. Before it gets too far away, I need to make this post about two weekends ago. I drove to Burlingame for the semiannual meeting of the California Republican Party. Along the way I picked up Derek.

One of the best things of conventions is hearing the interesting stories of people I know. This one happened earlier in the day before I got there. On Friday there was a lunch at the hotel. While different people gave speeches, the hotel staff served the attendees lunch. One of my friends from Berkeley (a former Editor in Chief) did not eat all of her food. She asked for a box to take out her food. She was brought a box, but the hotel staff did not give it to her immediately. She had to sign a waiver saying she would hold the hotel harmless if she became sick from improper storage and reheating of the food.

The best event of the convention was the speeches at lunch on Saturday. Rohit is the bay area chairman of Newt for President. Since the speaker was coming to the convention, Rohit had to select some people to stand on stage behind Newt to wave signs. Since I was fortunate enough to be a friend of Rohit, I got to be on stage at the same time as Newt. As an added bonus, Herman Cain also made an appearance to support Newt.

There are a few pictures of the event from the Burlingame Patch. For some reason I look less than happy, even thought I enjoyed being there.

When I planned out my driving route to Burlingame, I selected the shortest travel time possible through Friday afternoon traffic. I took the 405, to the 101, to the 85, to the 280, to the 92, to the 101 (again), to get to Burlingame. It was great. I only encountered a small amount of slowing on the 92 and the 101. The trip up was 450.7 miles.

Driving back on Sunday I made a stop in San Mateo to see Monica. I ended up taking the 82 (El Camino Real), to the 92 west, to the 101 south, to the 405 south. This route was not as carefully planned out. My plan was drive southeast and find a freeway.

The entire trip was 896.4 miles. That means my trip back (which was not as carefully planned) took 5 miles less than the drive up there.