Since I am home for the moment

Yesterday I was working on my taxes. I would have worked on them earlier, but things were crazy. As in living in an RV in the desert to babysit a radio repeater for four days crazy. And being in Fresno the weekend before that. Both of those merit full posts, but I want to get some pictures for them first.

When you are working on your taxes at 11:22 am on April 15th, it is not a good sign if your 1040 starts to look like this.



Despite the colorful explosion, I was able to finish and mail everything. It was good I finished them before 5; I had to work on my application for the master's in electrical engineering program at Long Beach which was due that day.

I would post my entire personal statement online, but I am concerned they might search for my personal statement and discover I plagiarized it from a random blog, or worse, they might read my disparaging comments about my professors who cannot teach.

Everything I mentioned in the personal statement is from the last couple of years. Most of it is from the last couple of months. For example, I realized that with little to no stretching of the truth:

• I developed an interest in microcontrollers taking a class at Long Beach. I am now developing a test system that will be contained on a microcontroller instead of requiring a laptop.
• I am the lead test engineer for field tests. I allocate personnel, write operational plans, and troubleshoot test systems in the field.
• The City of Los Angeles has entrusted me to test their life safety systems.
• I have taught first responders radio communications that they will use in case of a crisis or disaster.
• On the advisory board for a community college's electronics program, I explain the needs and trends in industry and help the college tailor its curriculum to prepare students for careers in electronics.
• I am a volunteer worker in a research and development lab.

I would have gotten into how I worked with machinists to perfect a faceplate for a prototype transformer by making changes in G-code for a CNC machine, but I was limited to 500 words/3500 characters.

When I had to list three academic references (but not get letters from them), I listed three people from Long Beach, including the graduate adviser for the EE program. In the five classes I took from these three people I earned a 3.8 GPA. Next I want to talk to a couple of these people and remind them how great I am in case anyone asks. If Long Beach does not accept me into their program I do not know what I am going to do.

Otherwise Pandora has done a great job of playing songs I like today. It is earning the ads it plays me every few songs. I can feel the gulf between my dad, brother, and myself. I have been out of town 6 of the last 11 nights, dealt with homework for a graduate electrical engineering class, packed for a trip to the desert, done my taxes, finished an application for graduate school, and tried to make the most of every day. My brother put mulch on some parts of the yard on Saturday or Sunday and then said on Monday he was tired from working so hard. My dad took a nap today, since looking at the computer for hours was so exhausting. I want so much more out of life than they do. I am afraid their dead weight will drag me down. I have to fight every day to build a better life for myself. There is no space in my new life for people who waste their life.