It seems everything is almost completely different every year I return to school. For the most part the people I interact with are the same, the professors are the same, and the environment is the same, but there is something big that has changed.
I finally got my computer put together and it’s up and running. So far, I haven’t had too many other major issues with it. I found out that the motherboard has two different SATA controllers, one of which I had my drives plugged into and seemed to be causing some trouble on booting. Sometimes it wouldn’t recognize my drives until I did a reset. After plugging my drives into the other controller, I haven’t had anymore issues with that. Then, awhile back, I was installing the drivers for my printer when the whole thing just shut down and wouldn’t power back on. After unplugging everything and plugging everything back in, it started back up. I noticed it shut down like that again a few more times over several days until I realized that the HSF wasn’t turning on all the time, causing the processor to overheat and shut down. It looked like some wires might be in the way of the fan, so I tied them back and it seems to be fine now.
In general, the new system flies. It starts up and shuts down almost instantaneously, which I think is due in part to the new hard drive. Oblivion, probably the most taxing game I’ve got, is amazing on this computer. Before, I had to run at a lower resolution and it was still pretty choppy in outdoor battles. Now, the scenery is amazing and everything runs smoothly.
School hasn’t been much different than undergraduate, so far. I did have a talk with one of my professors about doing a project for that class that could lead to an M.S. thesis. Hopefully the project won’t be too demanding since it’s really only supposed to be for the Biomedical Image Processing class this semester. Supposedly, it will deal with web services and distributed computing, which sounds interesting, but I have a lot to learn, especially since I’m not too familiar with web services. The other two classes seem more theoretical and have weekly homework assignments. Hopefully they won’t be too bad. I’m supposed to get my own desk in the Computer Science building with a good computer, but the CS office administrator hasn’t gotten back to me about that. I do like that from now on I won’t have to deal with anymore elective classes to fill my schedule.
My schedule isn’t too bad overall, but it’s a pain to be away from the main campus. I’ve been trying to take the bus or bike as much as I can so I don’t have to pay for gas. Besides, unless I’m going to practice, there’s nowhere to park. Having a car has helped things somewhat, but it only seems to offset the fact that I’m farther away from everything. I feel so isolated out by myself and especially since I’m not rooming with anyone on the team. From what I heard, it’s probably better that way as a graduate student. To make things worse, my knee has been bothering me and I’ve been on the bike, so I’m also by myself in that aspect. I’m sure I’ll adjust in time.
The other thing I’ve noticed is that I eat around 2.5 – 3 lbs of granola each week for breakfast. Previously, I would eat in the dining hall and didn’t think much of it, but I usually have been eating breakfast at the apartment since the dining hall is so far away. That equates to over $10 per week just in cereal. I was thinking of doing a bulk order from somewhere online so I wouldn’t be spending as much in the long term, but I still have to get my mailbox key.
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