Nikk Folts - News

Overdue

2008-02-02T14:27:00.000-05:00

This is a long overdue update... A ton has happened in just the few months since I last wrote. I'll try to make this as chronological as possible:

Patti came up to visit in mid-October. She spent 9 days here, and for the first time she got to meet my other best friend who lives here. They got along great (of course they are practically the same person, so why wouldn't they)...

So right on to November... the first weekend of November Patrice, Brian and Megan all came up for the Boston College/Florida State game. We had a blast and we got to see FSU upset the #2 team in the country! Woohoo! I felt a little bad for the BC fans, but it still felt great over all... Patrice was absolutely miserable because it was in the low 40's and pouring rain and her feet got wet on the walk over the the stadium. Megan had a blast though!

For Thanksgiving I flew out for a week's vacation at my grandparent's lake house in Homer, Louisiana. Lots of my family also went which was awesome. I was feeling really homesick at this point. Even more exciting though, was Mike, one of my best friends while growing up, decided to fly out and spend the week there as well. His sister Tatiana also drove in from Tallahassee. It felt great to catch up with him. It's always fun to hang out with Honey and Papa as well.

On to a very sad and depressing thing: my friends lost their baby Wesley so I only had the title of god father for less than a day. The whole situation has really brought me down during the last few months, so to avoid thinking about it, that is all I'm going to say... at least for now. On the brighter side, I'm flying to Australia in May for their wedding! 9 days in Sydney and 4 days in Fiji. I'm extremely uberly excited about it!

Now, in December I flew home for the holidays. My PTO expires at the end of the year, so with the combination of holidays, I was there for almost 2 weeks. While I was there I got to see my god daughter Ashlyn! She makes me happier than anyone on the face of the planet! It is so hard not being there while she grows up. I spent 2 days with her though... Man, those were two very tiring days.

During the holidays my dad, my grandma and I decided to do a three way car swap. My grandma got my car, my dad got her car, and I got his car. It's been a major ordeal, but it is finally working out. I was tired of paying $400 a month in car payments when I was only driving 30 miles a month.

Dmitri was kind enough to drive my dad's car up to me, and my car down to my dad. Of course, he got a free trip to Boston out of it. He spent a little over a week here, and during that time we went skiing in New Hampshire with my neighbor's brother Doug and my co-worker/friend Josh.

Of course, not everything is wonderful... I have horrible elbow pains from too much computing (of course, I'm using the computer to write this, which probably isn't the best idea). I've been to a Dr. who says I need to see a specialist... I also talked to her about my knee pain that I've had for nearly 3 years now... It hurts a ton to run/ski/hike/walk/ride my bike, etc. It most likely is going to require some sort of cartilage manipulation surgery, but hopefully not.

For new years I quit soda again... I drank no Dr. Pepper all of 2005 and absolutely no soda for 2006, but then I rewarded my self with a Dr. Pepper to ring in the new years 2007... well, that was a bad way to start a new year... so after getting in the habit of drink way to much soda again, I am forcing myself to quit it... for good this time... I'm 32 days sober... go me!

Well, I think that covers everything, although extremely briefly... but I'm suppose to stay off the computer, so that's all I'm going to write.

Version 2.0

2007-09-19T20:06:00.000-05:00

Work is still kicking ass... the new version is super cool, a few little things to do yet, but the main design is pretty much done. Been a busy month, I got to see my friend Alana Rush, who I haven't seen in over a year. She had been traveling the world doing cool stuff. When she finally moved back to the states, it just happen to be 45 minutes from me. I just found out another one of my high school friends moved to Florida, MA as well. Hopefully we'll get back in touch as well.

I've been really happy with my decision ever since I moved here. I love my job, my neighbors, the weather... pretty much everything about it. I am wickedly stoked about the weather... Fall starts in a few days, but it already feels like it... today was the first day this week to hit 70 degrees! The smell of the air brings back wonderful memories of days before Florida. I don't know how I made it nearly 9 years there... It completely and utterly sucks...

The only thing I miss about Florida is my friends and family... Nithin has already come to visit, he was the first, and he gets many friend points for that (note to all you other friends who haven't yet). Patrice, Brian and maybe Megan are all coming up in early November for the Boston College/FSU game. Patti plans on coming up sometime next month as well. YAY visitors!

When Nithin was here we did a lot of the touristy Boston stuff, so now I know what to suggest to people when they come up to visit me... I'll still use the next few as guinea pigs, but at least now if I have to work, I'll have something to suggest to people...

On the 1st of this month I helped my best friend move. I had to carry heavy furniture down 3 flights of narrow stairs, walk it 4 blocks, and then up another 4 flights of stairs... it took 3 of us 4 hours to get everything, and she claims to have already moved "the majority of it" before I started helping... I was sore for a week...

Not much else besides hanging with the neighbors, waiting for visitors, moving friends, and catching up with old friends has happened as of late, so not much else to blog about...

Godfather: Part II

2007-08-02T16:19:00.000-05:00

WOOHOO! I was found out today that I am going to be the God Father of two of my closest friend's first born! What an honor! Super exciting, I can't wait until he/she is born! They told me right before work, and then I had to try and not be too excited and actually be productive! For those of you who don't know, I am the godfather of my cousin's daughter (love of my life... hardest part of moving to Boston was leaving her) as well.

Well, I haven't updated in forever, but that is because it has been some of the busiest weeks of my life... I finished moving to Boston, I am almost completely settled now... need a few more random things, but other than that, I am pretty much set up. In a gist: I absolutely love my apartment, my neighbors kick ass, and work is very enjoyable and is only about a mile from me. Jäger is loving life here too, so many new smells.

On the way up to Boston I made lots of stops. First, I stopped in Tampa for Patrice & Brian's wedding. This was absolutely awesome beyond words... Everything was perfect... short ceremony, long reception, good food, and most importantly great people. It was great to see all my family and friends. Some of the people there I hadn't seen in nearly 11 years! All the parents of my elementary school friends were there... It was great seeing them... and for the first time I was an adult as well... much different conversations take place between two adults, than between a child and an adult. It was very enjoyable. For the third wedding in a row, I caught the garter... still single ladies!

The next day I continued my drive to Boston. I stopped in Tallahassee to pick up a few things (at this point my car was packed to the brim with at least 2 tons of my belongings). I had dinner with Kyle, Shannon, Dmitri and Nithin. And then early the next morning I was off... I drove all the way to Philly, arriving after 1:00 AM... I stayed at my friend Mike Treffehn's apartment. He and I had fallen far out of touch in recent years, and I was really happy to catch up with him! (despite it being after 1:00 AM we chatted for nearly 2 hours).

I was off the next morning for the final leg of my drive. The drive through New York sucked, but Connecticut was beautiful! I need to do that drive in the Fall, it has to be gorgeous.

Once I finally arrived, I had to unload the 2 tons of stuff from my car... then I went Target shopping, filling my car again, having to unload it again. Then I went to Ikea, and had to unload another 3 tons form my car... then I went grocery shopping and had to unload even more... Once I was finally done, every muscle in my body ached.

Well, that is all I have time for, but in general, everything is going great! Can't wait for Boston tourist to seek refuge in my apartment!

Boston, Here I Come

2007-06-29T16:15:00.000-05:00

I have been really busy in the last two weeks! It is a long process to explain, but I don't want to forget anything later in life, so bare with me!

So, where to begin... I was about to accept a job for a start up in Boston when, that night, I get a call from two huge companies. One of the two being the notorious Facebook (which had previously turned me down). Well, this all happened on a Thursday night. I was flying to Boston the following Wednesday through Friday to check out the company, but both the other companies want to interview me. I told one I could on Tuesday, and the other I could on Monday.

Sunday night I fly out to San Francisco from Miami. I arrived at 9:30 at night, woke up the next morning for an 11:00 interview. The interview ended at 2:08, so I sprint to catch the 2:11 train. I get back to the airport, get my luggage, and head out to catch my 5:15 flight. I was flying from San Francisco to Omaha for the Tuesday interview, unfortunately I had a layover in Denver. Well, United decided to cancel my flight, so I had to spend the night there, and fly out first thing the next morning. Only problem with this was that it was 12:30 PM before I finally got to sleep. I had to wait in a 1.5 hour line to book a flight the next morning, and then an hour line to get my luggage since I would be flying on a different airline. Luckily I was one of very few passengers that got their hotel paid for. Many were told it was weather-related, while I was told it was mechanical... pretty sketchy!

I barely made it to Omaha in time for my 11:00 interview. It finished, and I drove back to the airport for my 3:55 flight from Omaha to Atlanta (to catch a connection to Miami). Well, right before take off, they were told to return to the gate due to weather in ATL. Well, I wouldn't usually worry but I was suppose to fly out of Fort Lauderdale to Boston at 6:00AM the next morning, so I had them switch my ATL connection so that, instead of flying to Miami, I would fly straight to Boston. Around 6:30 we were able to leave, arriving in ATL around 10:30. I spent the night in the extravagant Crown Plaza hotel (thanks dad for using your points), then once again, woke up bright and early for my flight.

I arrived in Boston on Wednesday morning, and spent the entire day with the Daily Jolt (the company I now work for). They walked me through exactly what I'd be doing, they even worked out a time schedule. I was really impressed, and really excited because I knew exactly what I'd be doing. After spending the day with the Daily Jolt, Facebook called me and told me I should expect a verbal offer the next day by mid-day.

Thursday was spent with a Realtor, touring all of Boston, checking out the different areas to live. I fell in love with Beacon Hill, but it cost a fortune to live there. Fortunately I also liked the Brighton area. Facebook finally called me at around 7:00 PM and discussed their offer with me. Very intriguing offer, slightly more than the Boston job. Of course, the Daily Jolt wanted an answers by that night. So, I spent 2 stressful hours weighing my options, then I went to dinner with Aaron (my new boss) and told him the situation. I explained what Facebook had offered me, and we were able to work out a very similar offer, and I decided the Daily Jolt was the right job for me. I am an east-coast kind of guy, I'll be a Mid-level programmer rather than a Junior-level programmer (meaning I'll be essential to the company, rather than just another programmer), I'll be able to do a lot of work from home, I'll be in Boston (where I've wanted to live for 7 years now), the cost of living in Boston is quite a bit cheaper than San Francisco, and on top of everything, my best friend lives here. I have yet to regret my decision, once Facebook goes public maybe, but we'll see.

I was very excited to get home after a week of traveling the nation. I left Boston early Friday morning, and had a layover in Philly. Well, as you could probably have guessed due to my extreme luck, there were issues. They boarded the plane right on time, I passed out 2 minutes after boarding. Well, after I passed out, they announced that "there was a small mechanical problem, but it should be fixed in about 10 minutes and we'll be off". I fell back to sleep, into a deep sleep, and after 30 minutes they decided to make everyone get off the plane. Of course, I was in such a deep sleep the flight attendant had to wake me up. I noticed I was the only one on the plane, and she told me I had to get off. I asked "We already are there?" and she explained the situation to me. Oh boy! Another never-ending layover!

Once I get off the plane, they announce that "The good news is that it is a small mechanical problem... The bad news is that we have to fly the part in from Atlanta." Of course, this meant they weren't canceling the flight, so we had to sit there and wait. They did offer us a $25 voucher for a future flight (after reading the fine print I found out it expired 7 days later), as well as a $10 food voucher to use while we were waiting.

1 hour passes...

2 hours pass...

"Attention passengers, we regret to inform you that the part didn't make it from Atlanta. We are going to have to cancel the flight. Oh, and every flight to Florida is over booked until tomorrow at 2:30! Thank you for flying Air Tran"

Luckily for me, I had nowhere I had to be... most the other passengers were leaving the next morning on a cruise, so obviously 2:30 PM flight wasn't going to work. Some of them drove to Baltimore, others just broke down and cried. "It is our anniversary, and now we are stuck in Philly". I felt bad for them. I waited in line to rebook a flight (another 1.5 hours) and to get my free round-trip voucher. I nicely asked to be upgraded to business class as well. They also were kind enough to give every passenger a $30 discount at a hotel (even though it was mechanical failure).

Finally I was re-booked for the next day, had my hotel coupon and I made my way to the luggage area to get my bags. It was now after 4:00 PM (the flight was suppose to leave at 11:11 AM). I get to the luggage area, and it is all chaos. There were passengers at the end of their rope with the airlines, yelling at anyone with an AirTran t-shirt. They had no clue on when our luggage was going to be brought to us, so, realizing I had a while, I nicely mentioned that I had expected to get my hotel paid for considering it was mechanical failure that was the cause of my misfortune. Well, the baggage lady was eager to help since I was the only one being polite. She called about 5 different "supervisors", and none of them answered. Finally one showed up (not for me, he had an issue he was trying to resolve). She explained to him my situation, and he reluctantly brought me to the front desk. Well, 30 minutes later I had a voucher for a free hotel night. My luggage arrived right when I got back, and so I headed to the hotel (nearly 6:00).

At least in Philly I was able to sleep in the next morning since my flight wasn't until 2:30. It was my first full night sleep that entire week.

I flew back here (to Boston) this last Thursday, once again having flight issues. My flight leaving Fort Lauderdale left 2 hours late. I arrived to my connect in Philly 30 minutes before it was suppose to leave. Thinking I had to hurry I rush to the next gate, only to find out that my connection was also running late. I got to sit in Philly for 2.5 hours! Woohoo. Of course, by this time, I was very accustom to waiting, especially in airports.

During the week I was in Fort Lauderdale, I had been looking for apartments using craigslist. I found this one that I just had a feeling for. I couldn't tell you why I was so fond of it, just that I kept saying how much I wanted to see it in person. I spent Friday morning looking at places in Beacon Hill... $1500+/month for 350 sq. ft. apartments. None of them excited me too much. At around 2:00 Megan and I headed over to the apartment I found on craigslist. Immediately I knew it was the place for me. $1425/month for a 650 sq. ft. apartment with 10 foot ceilings. Everything was brand new, including the kitchen appliances. They redid all the electrical as well, so it can support my electrical needs. Across the street there is a park with a lake where I can walk my dog. It is directly on the Green line (Trolley to downtown), and there is a bus that goes straight to work. I also have a shared deck and a backyard so I can let my dog out there as well. I'll post pictures as soon as possible.

Cold

2007-06-09T10:40:00.000-05:00

I have a horrid cold! I've lost my voice even! It has lasted nearly 5 days... maybe I should see a doctor. It's all Patrice's fault garrr.... Nevertheless, I hope she hasn't suffered this much. <cough, gag, sniffle>

San Francisco

2007-06-02T22:59:00.000-05:00

I've was in San Francisco for almost a week! I went there for the Facebook f8 conference that I mentioned earlier. The exciting news that they announced was the whole Facebook Platform, a interface for developers to make applications directly embedded in their website. This leads the way for endless possibilities, all with instant access to 24 million regular Facebook users... that is 12 million daily (and growing).

In the week since the conference I have already made an application for Facebook that has nearly 3000 users! I've already made $18 from advertising as well. woohoo! I have many more ideas that I can't share until they are implemented though..

San Francisco is absolutely gorgeous... I don't believe I've missed out on that my whole life... I guess I can't complain because I have seen all of Europe, unlike most Americans... I mean, most Floridians haven't ever seen snow... so I have had a great life, but now my life is even better after seeing San Fran!

The first 2 nights Kyle and I stayed downtown in the Marriot. Smack-dab in the middle of the city. On Friday we walked from our hotel, all the way through China town, and finally to the Fisherman's Wharf... This had to have been one of the longest walks of my life... it was up one of the steepest hills I've ever climbed...

We saw almost all of downtown on this never ending walk... On the docks there was lots of entertainment, including some break dancers. We had some great food while we were there as well... As of right now, San Fran is close to being my favorite city in the US (that I have been to)... Lincoln Nebraska might still top it, but only for it's cool, cheap, housing... and being in the state that brought the world somebody as wonderful as myself...

We'll see how things go, but I am definitely hoping to end up there someday.

Travel

2007-05-14T22:01:00.000-05:00

Since I graduated I have been really busy... I keep trying to finish organizing my things, but people keep needing my help in far away places. I've been traveling a ton lately, first I was flown out to Ft. Lauderdale for an interview... the next week, I had graduated so I went on a camping trip in Anastasia Park near St. Augustine. The dogs absolutely loved the beach. I bought a fishing license, a pole, lure, etc, and attempted to fish, but the poles we bought were too cheap and the wire would tangle after every cast.

The day after I got back from there, I headed to a celebration that my family had planned for me in Atlanta. It was good to see my aunt, and my cousins. They took me to the Atlanta aquarium, which was really really cool, just a little too crowded.

I got back from Atlanta, and the next day my uncle Mike calls me up and tells me his computer broke. Best Buy wanted $350 to even begin to fix it, so he decided to use frequent flier miles to get me to Birmingham, Alabama. Well, Tallahassee is extremely small, so I had to fly through Atlanta (I was just there the day before). Not only that, he decided he wanted me there ASAP, so he put me on the 6:15 AM flight. Turns out (once we looked at a map, that Birmingham is only a 300 mile drive, rather than the 400+ I thought it was). Well, I get there, and his hard drive was fried so we bought two new ones, I got Windows up and running for him, and finally I used Norton Ghost to make the second one identical. Now if one hard drive fails, the other automatically starts working, and all his files are the same. He also backs up to CD, and uses an online backup program (made by Quicken) to store his files on a server automatically, every night. A little paranoid! he he... It was good to get to know him better, he is my least known uncle.

I finally get home, spend a day trying to organize, when I get a call from Patti asking me to come to Gainesville to cheer her up. Unable to let a friend down, I dropped everything I was doing and made the 2 hour trek to the Gville. I think I have only slept in my bed one night in the last 3 weeks.

Next week is the Facebook conference in San Francisco that my friend Kyle and I are going to. I am pretty stoked about that! Then it is back to Ft. Lauderdale.

3.67

2007-05-03T15:59:00.000-05:00

School is officially out! I officially have a masters degree in Computer Science! I feel smart... I ended up with a 3.67 GPA... only getting 3 B's the whole time, two of which were from the same teacher... and then the third I got (a B+ to be more precise) was in compilers. The only reason it wasn't an A is because every assignment built on the the previous ones, and in the first assignment I messed up slightly, but it wasn't graded until after the second one was due... so I had the same problem with the second assignment... ARG... oh well! I AM DONE!

My printer decided it is a good week to stop working... right when I have a ton of things to print at the end of the semester. I think it stopped working because I haven't printed anything on it for so long... I have used the one in my office on campus, but now that I have graduated, I no longer have access to my office... and this week all the computer labs were closed. I ended up having to go to Walmart and buy a $30 one.

So much has happened this week, I'll have to update later and explain it all, for now, I am going to take a nap. I have huge decisions coming in the next few days, and so I have to try and get some sleep.

Extra Blogs

2007-04-23T21:52:00.000-05:00

I went through my old blogs and put some of the worth while blogs into this one... now my archives go back to 2003... Long time blogging... While doing it I noticed that every once in a while there was a few months where I didn't blog anything... Regrettable because my memory isn't the greatest, so those months in my life are lost forever... he he, funny thing is, they were the busiest times in my life as well...

Facebook f8

2007-04-23T21:45:00.000-05:00

I was invited to Facebook's f8 Developer conference by THE Mark Zuckerberg himself! How cool is that? It is amazing what developing a website that uses other site's API can do for you (in my case favrats.com)... Here is the email:

"I would like to invite you to join us as we unveil the next evolution of Facebook Platform at the San Francisco Design Center on May 24. You will get first access to our new technology and a chance to develop alongside Facebook engineers and other top developers during an evening hackathon.

Click to RSVP for the event
f8 Schedule
Thursday, May 24, 2007
2:00pm - Doors Open
3:00pm - Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO and Founder, Keynote
4:00pm - Reception until 5:00pm
5:00pm - Hackathon until Midnight

The Concourse at the San Francisco Design Center
635 8th Street
San Francisco, CA. 94103

I hope you will join us.

- Mark"

Virginia Tech

2007-04-16T17:41:00.000-05:00

I believe we have "the rights to bare arms", but it is days like these that make me feel we're doing something wrong. I read an article today about how the $1 billion "don't have sex" campaign completely failed. Similarly, early this month I read an article on how the drug war is failing, or has failed if you think it is over... We waste so much time and effort on these things that, while they matter, they aren't killing anyone except for the people who aren't following the laws... especially since there is obviously nothing the government can do to prevent them from happening. Better gun control (I don't know... maybe even psychological tests before being able to buy them, and once a year there after) is something that is possible, and would save the innocent from suffering... I am just frustrated that things like this happen. Why do we make it so easy to kill other humans.

Laws are made to protect people's right... It is our right to LIVE, so protect us... Republicans care so much about being anti abortionists, "Pro Life", but then they support the death penalty and are against gun control... They seem confused to me... for those of you Republicans that don't fit into this generalization, good for you...

To all those affected by today's event, God bless!

Circus

2007-04-14T16:09:00.001-05:00

Florida State University's circus is celebrating their 60th anniversary, and for the first time during my attendance here I went to see it along with Nithin and two of his friends. I was amazed at how well the students performed... The entire show was put together by students of FSU. They made a few mistakes here and there, but if you saw the things they were attempting, you would be amazed just at the attempts. Growing up I only went to one Circus because my mom is highly allergic to, well... everything, but in this case animal dander. I forgive her though, she at least took me to one!

On the job front: I seem to have done well on my first technical phone interview, because now the company wants to fly me out for another one. I really have to find a way to relax during these things! My heart rate skyrockets, I start sweating like a dog, and I can't process words very well. No matter how much I try to calm down, I just can't do it. Interviewing has always been a huge fear of mine, one that I have tried hard to overcome by mock interviews etc... Nothing seems to work... During this interview I wasn't sure what to expect... I had read some websites about what to expect, but I hadn't been in the situation yet, so maybe that made me more nervous... I totally went blank on some very easy questions, so thought I was bombing it. I guess I got the point across that I really like to program, and that, when I get into a project, I own it completely.

On this upcoming Tuesday I have a second interview with another company that I have dreamed about working for since high school. I am very nervous about it, after this last interview I went out and bought books about technical interviews with big companies such as this one, and plan on reading as much of them as possible before then. The only problem with that is that I have a huge Compiler's program due Wednesday, and an Analytical Methods assignment due Friday (these "assignments" take anywhere between 60-100 hours to complete, and I have so far only had time to put a good 15 into it). My favorite e-store has also contacted me about a potential job and wants my availability for a "technical phone interview" that I should be "prepared to code" for... Well, how do you code over the phone? I guess I'll find out.

On top of my school work and job search, I am trying to find renters for my house, and on top of it all this next week I have to work extra hours because the Computer Literacy II class has their tests to take. OH! And it seems that my whole family thinks this next week is a perfect time to visit!

Outstanding TA

2007-04-11T08:58:00.000-05:00

This Friday I am being awarded the "Outstanding Teaching Assistant" award at the Computer Science award ceremony. Pretty cool! I have worked my butt off; I even taught a new class this semester. I am quite honored by it, I'm going to miss working here at FSU.

Grant

2007-04-09T16:45:00.000-05:00

I officially have a cunephew (cousin nephew). My cousin April just had her second child this last week! He is HUGE! 9.3 lbs, 22 inches... He is almost as big as his 4 year old sister (my god daughter, Ashlyn). Ashlyn has hypothyroidism, which causes her to grow slowly, so slowly in fact that she is only in the third percentile for height at her age. I just hope she gets tall enough so I can take her on roller coasters someday.

I have a few big companies, (that I will mention later once I'm either given an offer, or shot down) that are showing interest at me. One of them is my dream company for many reasons, but on top of that, it has been rated the best place to work for in the entire world. I've made it to the second stage of interviews and I am hoping to make it all the way. The whole idea of working for them is making me nervous, excited, confident, giddy, and ecstatic (to name a few). I know I am a perfect fit for a job, now I just have to convince them of it

My sister is moving into the townhouse next year, and it looks like she may have found two roommates to rent out the other rooms. This is definitely a good thing considering I am part owner of the place. Now I don't have to worry about loosing tons of money just because she couldn't find roommates. I spent all last night scrubbing every nook and cranny of the place! To get all the dog hair out, I had to empty my vacuum 5 times... Vaska sheds like crazy, but I love him none-the-less... Jäger on the other hand doesn't shed much. The problem with him is, despite knowing better, he has been getting into the trash, eating food of the counter, etc... REALLY frustrating, and I can't figure out how to get him to stop.

Vermont

2007-03-12T13:23:00.000-05:00

1300+ miles each way... Long drive, but well worth it. Last week was Spring break and Dmitri and I drove ALL the way to Boston (24 hour drive, with only food and restroom breaks) to see my best friend Megan. We stayed there for 3 nights and she gave us a tour of the historical parts of the city. We saw Paul Revere's house, as well as the church he lit up... We also went to the original Cheers restaurant, pretty cool place!

After Boston we drove out to Vermont and stayed 4 nights .5 miles from the base of the ski slopes! It was absolutely great. When we weren't skiing, we were relaxing (something that I don't get to do often in grad school!)... Of course, knowing my luck, we got the coldest week EVER recorded in Vermont for March... -15 degrees Fahrenheit, without the wind chill, and the wind was 20-30 miles an hour! I mean gosh, the second day was so cold that we couldn't ski, so we went to the mall in the town over. The car refused to start for a good 2 minutes (rather new car, it was just too cold)... The windshield wiper fluid was rated to work as low as -25 degrees, but it was frozen solid. Anyways, once we finally got to the mall, we bought some books and went back to the hotel and read all day. Quite nice indeed!

HTML

2007-02-15T16:21:00.000-05:00

After 9 years of working with HTML it is very hard to guess what is difficult for those who are just beginning to learn it. I have spent the last two weeks doing my best to teach my students the very basics of HTML programming, and they keep coming up with these great questions that I never even would have thought of... Of course, I am technical minded, and most my students seem to be artsy rather then technical, so it is neat to see how they can approach something completely differently than me. I am having a blast teaching it though, and have learned a few things as well (The coolest being the ability to start a ordered list at something other than zero... I've never had a purpose for this, so I never learned it, but then a student asked the question, and so I had to know.)

I've been working hard on the job search, but have very little time to check up on applications... I'm also trying to compile a list of all the projects I've worked on throughout college, this is a lot more time consuming then I had guessed. I've lost some of my code through the years, but I'm going through what I still have and I impress even myself with all the programs I have written. Oh, well, too busy to write more today...

Chili Peppers

2007-02-01T09:11:00.000-05:00

Last Sunday Nithin, Kelley, Kelley's roommate, and I all drove down to Tampa to see the Red Hot Chili Peppers perform for their Stadium Arcadium tour. For those of you who don't know, it is a 4 hour drive from Tallahassee to Tampa. We arrived there at around 5:00 PM and doors opened at 6:30 PM, so we walked from the venue to look for a restaurant. After finding a ton, we eventually decided on Bennigan's, where we received some of the worst service ever. After that we headed back in time for the opening band Gnarls Barkley, who were okay, but I only knew their famous song, and just weren't able to pump me up for the greatness I was about to witness.

The four of us had split the cost of joining the fan club in order to buy tickets during the pre-sale, which was a wonderful idea because we were only a few rows back and to the side of the stage. They played for an hour and a half straight! There are only a handful of bands that I have seen (U2, Crosby Steels Nash and Young, Nine Inch Nails, and Foo Fighters) that can outperform the Chili Peppers, but even they would have struggled that night. Last time I saw the Peppers the show was better, but that was only because they were touring with Foo Fighters and I am a bigger fan of their old music since I have been listening to it since I was 14. They only played a few of their older songs since their latest CD has so many new ones.

The drive home started at 11:30 PM, and as I mentioned before it is a 4 hour drive... I downed two energy drinks, and made everyone stay up to play 20 questions. 3 hours of 20 questions and we still didn't get very good at guessing, maybe we were choosing items that were too specific. I stumped them on:

The Oscar Mayer Weiner Truck
a particular exit we passed on 75
a Hydrogen Molecule (h2o particularly)

These, along with a few others. It was quite fun! Once we got back to Tallahassee I had to drop everyone off, so I didn't get home till nearly 4:00 AM, I still wired from my energy drinks, so told myself I was going to stay up since I had class in the morning anyway. Well, that didn't work too well, I made it to 7:30 but then passed out, sleeping through my classes until late in the afternoon. I should have bought more energy drinks, oh well, next time...

Yesterday I had my first Compilers test, it went well, and I am hoping it went really well, but I think it just went plain-old well. There were 2 questions I wasn't sure on, but other than that I knew what I was doing. I actually figured out that question 2 had no answer and so got everyone credit for it, it would have been nice to get twice as much credit as them for figuring it out, but hey, I'm not greedy. I also turned in my first assignment for that class, it was pretty fun, we had to create a pascal-like language to java byte code compiler. Now all I have for the next few days is to start working on my assignment for Analytical Methods "oh boy!"

Sims

2007-01-26T18:24:00.000-05:00

I officially have gotten another person addicted to the Sims 2... Dmitri hasn't been sleeping, and seems to have given up on his own life, just so he can make sure his Sim's life is working out. I too have been playing it a lot lately... on my third generation of Sims... I've also been Guitar Heroing it up to the point where I have blisters on 3 fingers and my arm... I have beaten 6 songs on ultimate despite not being able to beat "Psychobilly Freakout" on hard.

Yesterday I stayed on campus all day to finish up my first major project that is due next week. I also have a test next week, so thought I'd get the project out of the way. This weekend I am heading to Tampa for a Red Hot Chili Peppers concert with Nithin, Kelley, and her roommate. I am uber excited! Anyways, back to applying for jobs!

Excitement

2007-01-20T17:30:00.000-05:00

This semester is going to be hectic, but exciting at the same time. I am excited about teaching Computer Literacy II recitation, looking for a job, and most importantly graduation. It also looks like I am going to be creating the website for Alpha Gamma Delta sorority... There sure is a lot on my plate right now, but as I mentioned, I am excited.

My sister came down with mononucleosis and is thinking about withdrawing from this semester. I've been taking care of her for the last few days. I've been sleeping on the sofa so that she could sleep on my memory-foam-super-ultra-comfortable-600-thread-count-sheet-luxury bed.

Last week I found and saved two stray dogs. A 100 pound golden retriever and an 80 pound black lab. They haven't found the owners last time I checked, but hopefully they will soon. I wanted to keep them, but since I already have two dogs, and these two were gigantic, I figured that wouldn't work out too well in my small apartment.

Lastly, I just wanted to mention how great of a resource monster.com is. I put my resume up there earlier this week and I have already gotten 3 calls, and 4 emails. Looks like I'll have a lot of choices for the future. One of the jobs is in Colorado Springs, which is really exciting because then I'll be near the ski slopes... I still don't know where I'll end up, but hopefully somewhere near the mountains. Well, monster.com is just full of head hunters that spam your email, and call you at all times of the day... don't bother wasting your time there... goto websites individually

Utah

2006-12-27T13:59:00.000-05:00

So far it has been a hectic Winter break! Grandma and I drove all the way from Tallahassee to Lincoln Nebraska to attend my cousin Tara's wedding. From St. Louis all the way to Lincoln we had to drive through the massive storm that shut down the Denver Airport. We were supposed to leave Wednesday the 20th, but grandma showed up on Tuesday and peer pressured me into leaving a day early to avoid the storm. We made it to Metropolis Illinois around 11:00 PM (12 hours after we left), we gambled for about an hour (I won $80! Go me! Grandma broke about even), then finally we went to sleep around 1:00 AM. At 4:30 that same morning, Grandma decides that we should probably hit the road so that we can make it through St. Louis before rush hour... Unfortunately, we were further from St. Louis then we had thought and ended up hitting the beginning of it. About 4 hours into our second day I was exhausted, so we pulled up into a McDonald's parking lot and slept for an hour, restocked our supply of energy drinks, and then continued our never ending journey. Finally, at around 3:30 PM we arrived in Lincoln.

We spent the first night in Lincoln at my Aunt Kelly's house, but the next day Grandma and I, along with the many other relatives flying in that day, checked into the Embassy Suites... They had a complementary "cocktail hour" from 5:30 to 7:30 every night which was the first thing to make me feel like I was on vacation.

On the 22nd I went to the wedding rehearsal, and the rehearsal dinner... The dinner was much more enjoyable because it turned out that I wasn't even need at the rehearsal (I was an usher for the wedding). The wedding the next day was probably as close to perfect as a wedding could be... and the reception afterwards was a blast. Like my cousin April's wedding, I once again caught the garter... Last time I caught one, I ended up dating somebody for 4 and a half years, maybe this means something good is around the corner.

On Christmas Eve I flew from Nebraska to Salt Lake City, took a bus out to Park City, and met up with my second family, the Rushes. I spent the last two days on the slopes, but now my knee is killing me, so I reluctantly decided after the first run to take the day off. For those of you who don't know me well, my absolute favorite thing in the world is skiing, so taking a day off when I only get to go once or twice a season, is a really really big deal. I'm going to try and get back into my exercise routine when I get back to Florida and condition my knee for next time. I hurt it about 2 months ago while playing soccer.

Last night after skiing, Samantha and Astrid brought me to their Yoga class... an hour and a half of what seems easy, but really is a major work out... For the first time since I was 6 I attempted a hand stand, I had somebody helping, but I was able to do it, so that was exciting. The whole working your "inner-being" hoo-ha was kinda weird, but I don't remember the last time I was that relaxed.

Tomorrow I fly back to Nebraska to begin another endless journey back to Florida. Hopefully this time we'll have sunlight... Hope everyone is having a great vacation!

Vacation

2006-11-16T18:11:00.000-05:00

Well, Thanksgiving was very much appreciated... If it weren't for such a great holiday then I wouldn't have been able to get a break from school and work... The week prior I slept very little in order to finish all my huge school projects early, so that I could use the entire Thanksgiving week for relaxation. I headed down south to my parent's house last Friday, and didn't come home until this past Sunday. On the way down my sister Megan and I stopped in G-ville and had dinner at Friday's for Patti's 24th birthday. Unfortunately we got there right during rush hour so we had to wait nearly an hour before Patti made it there. I was glad to see her despite how little time we had!

On Saturday I decided I was going to camp out for a Wii since my previous attempts of pre-ordering it failed. I headed out at around 7:00 PM thinking 5 hours before it was sold would be plenty... I had heard every Walmart would have around 50 Wii's... Well, that was before they sold them to their employees first... I went to both the closest Walmarts and I was told that the line was already longer then the magical number of Wii's being sold... Depressed, I headed home and decided that I would try good old Amazon.com instead... Not knowing when they were going to start selling them, (I knew it was going to be between 3:00 AM and 3:00 PM EST) I decided I would wake up every hour on the hour and start pushing the refresh button... By 10:00 AM I was pretty drained and loosing hope... Still not for sale... Finally, at 11:00 AM, I thought I would try one last time before heading out to the Hard Rock Seminole Casino and the Sawgrass Mall with mom and Grandma. Sitting there pressing F5 while casually talking to my mom, I glance over at the monitor and I see "Buy with One-Click Ordering" appear on the page! YAY! I got one, they sold out in less than a minute and I was one of the people to get one! Go me!

The Wii arrived on Tuesday via UPS overnight... I unpack it, set it up, put Wii Sports in... "Unable to read disc..." I get an error... after browsing Nintendo's website I find their customer service number... They are sending me a new one, but it sucked because I had no game to play on my brand new system... I ended up renting one from Blockbusters, but I wanted to bowl, or play tennis... After getting bored of the game I rented, I headed over to Gamestop, and mentioned that I got the Wii and was waiting for Zelda to be shipped to me... They then told me that some guy sold them his used copy of it (4 days after getting it!)... Of course I went ahead and bought it for $10 less then it cost brand new... I was the first person (at least at their store, but probably anywhere) to get a used Wii game... Pretty cool...

On Thanksgiving we were suppose to goto Epcot and eat at the German-all-you-can-eat buffet... Well, when we called to make reservations, we found out that they were completely booked... So, last minute, we had to change plans and cook a Thanksgiving feast... My dad and I headed up to Melbourne to pick up my Grandma (who was there the day before our plans changed, but headed home thinking she was going to meet us in Orlando)... At first I was disappointed because I was really excited about the German food, but in the end (after sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, green beans, corn, peas, turkey, cranberries, 2 apple pies, and 2 pecan pies) it all turned out well...

Now it is back to school where, despite being ahead of the game before I left, I am right back in the "ahhhhhhh! Grad School" mode, trying hard to stay ahead... I just have to keep telling myself "3 weeks left!"... but then of course I think about the 14 page paper, the programs, and the bookwork I have yet to finish... Oh well, we'll see what happens...

Republicans?

2006-11-08T14:33:00.000-05:00

Well, as most of you know, the last six years has been a very difficult time for us all... Our founding father's ideas on freedom (freedom for gay civil unions, freedom from the "Patriot" Act, the freedom to choose, and the freedom to find cures to diseases, freedom of being unable to leave poverty due to a inadequate minimum wage), separation of church and state (come on, can you really not teach science in schools?), and most importantly checks and balances (the republic's won't run everything) were all merely a story of a lost time... Now, with shift from an anarchical government to one where everyone is represented, it is my hope that there will be less scandals and cover ups, there will never again lose hundreds of millions of tax payer's dollars by illegally giving government contracts to companies without the lowest bid (<cough>, or to those companies in which government officials have conflicting interests), we'll get the troops the equipment that they need to help us get out of Iraq safely, without spawning a new generation of terrorists... We'll be able to make sure that our President doesn't throw away the Geneva conventions just because he thinks it is "a little ambiguous"... We'll be given the opportunity to help reduce pollutants so that our children won't live on a scorched planet... There is new hope that we'll be able to fix our nation's security problems to prevent another terrorist attack... I am not saying Democrats are better than Republicans (I don't have to say it), I am just saying that our country needed some help, and now there is a chance it'll get it... We as a country can finally know that our government is functioning like it was designed... "Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness"

Dentistry

2006-11-02T00:37:00.000-05:00

Last week I helped Amanda move to Jacksonville... It wasn't something I was very happy about doing, but it had to be done... Her apartment seems really nice, big bedroom, mature roommate... Glad things are working out for her, just wish she didn't have to be so far away! This week has been really long without her to lean on...

Well... after helping her move, Dmitri and I drove to Gainesville. We dropped Vaska off at Dmitri's parent's house, and then headed off to see my second best friend Patti. Yes, my second best friend, it is a long story to explain why she doesn't quiet top the list (of course, she is a very close second), so I'll save that for another time... Anyway, when we met up with Patti, she, along with the entire University of Florida dentistry school, were attending a BBQ at a lake right outside Gainesville. They had quite a few events, including a raffle for mp3 players, dvd players, and even a flat screen TV! Well, I was only 10 tickets (out of thousands) away from being the big winner and walking away with that flat screen TV! I was completely bummed about being so close, yet so far from absolute glory... After the BBQ we headed over to her place where we watched some football and just hung out... Once all the good games were over, we went to what I think is the best restaurant in Gainesville, and then we went to see the movie "Open Season" (which I recommend if you like animated films)... My only regret about the whole weekend is that short time I was there... I got there late Saturday afternoon and had to leave first thing on Sunday... It would have been nice to see my other Gainesville friends, it has been forever... Of course, it'd probably be weird since it's been so long... <sigh> oh well, next trip I'll definitely have to at least give them a call...

On another note, I finally was able to get something better than a B on a Aggarwal test! Very proud of myself, of course it is just one test, and now there is a 14 page paper and an intense program due... but at least I was able to prove to myself that I can do it, it'll help motivate me for the final...

Lastly, but definitely not least, I was asked to be in my cousin Tara's wedding this December, which makes me feel real special, even if it is just ushering... I am going to be the best damned usher there ever was! I am also in my sister's wedding in July... man everyone's getting married!

Flash-Blink-Bang

2006-10-10T14:58:00.000-05:00

I wish the world would slow down so I can think... I need time to relax, time to imagine, time to catch up with old friends... I have so little time for myself that I don't even know what I want from life anymore... Where do I want to be in a few years? Who do I want to be with for the rest of my life? Why do I want these things?

I am emotionally and physically drained... I have been sick for the last two and a half weeks despite my increase in physical activity and the half gallon of orange juice a day... Since the beginning of grad school I have had sleeping problems, which is something I thought I'd never have... Even when I was addicted to caffeine (yummy dr. pepper) I could fall asleep faster then anyone except my father (which is about 15 seconds)...

What I really need is a good 3 month vacation from everything, where I could do what I want when I want... not have to worry about school, or work, or money... Organize all the many fragments of memories that I don't want to loose, and reminisce while skiing down a Alpine slope... (skiing is my favorite thing in the world to do)... I could just worry about me, get healthy, get to know myself again... Rediscover why it was that I could program all day and night and absolutely love it... Figure out how to enjoy the things I once did... I've been trying to buy happiness and it just doesn't work, time is happiness, and I don't have any time... Routines that never change make it seem like I'll be doing the same thing forever... until finally I pass away and everything I did will no longer matter... Unless of course I have people to share my life with, people I affect... but if they just become part of the routine, then what good will that do? Everything will blur together, and time will fly by so fast that it may as well never have happened...

Oh well, in another blink of the eye I'll be 95 years old, and all this worrying will be forgotten...

Busy

2006-10-07T21:45:00.000-05:00

Well, once again I am having trouble with Dr. Aggarwal as a professor... it seems like I will never figure out what he wants... Last semester he gave me my first B in about 3 years, and it looks like I am on track for getting another one... I took his class to prove to myself that I could do better, and then I have proved to myself that it is just his problem. ARG, grad school definitely sucks... I am working every Monday through Thursday night so it keeps me busy. I have my first test next week, and then another the week after. We'll see how they go...

I started both biking and playing soccer on the weekends... I completely forgot how much I love playing soccer, of course I am sore all over because of it. I got cleats and a brand new bike, plus accessories for each (a ball and water bottle, bike light, etc.)... My friend Kelley Jones invited me to do both, so she is very much thanked for getting me to exercise again. We are second place in the bowling league as well! Go us!

Sorry I haven't updated in a while, as I mentioned in the last post I completely redecorated my house, it is still only half way done because I ran into some problems... but slowly it will get done... That and grad school has kept me very busy...