And we're back

Apparently 'slacking' was a bit of an understatement.

But all things considered, my comment about the wisdom of starting the blog was prescient: spring was a bear. Up to this point I had been taking three classes per semester, to try and move things along as quickly as possible (this was just to get through the core classes before the electives kick in). Did that for a couple of semesters, and it went pretty well. Then in the spring I dropped to two, because I had heard that this one class was especially demanding. I figured just taking two rather than three would allow me to handle that class and still have a life. Seemed like a good idea at the time, and it worked out. Kind of.

It turns out that the class I paired with the bear was also a bear. It was, without question, the hardest semester in grad school so far. Imagine having two different 50-ish-page papers due within about a week of each other (see E.T. reference, previous). In a word: suckage. Oh, and it's all group work. So the two-class semester was a good idea, but the having a life part wasn't so much an option. As rough as it was, it was a good semester educationally: the subject matter of each class complemented the other, and I definitely learned more having taken them together than I would have taking them separately. But still, it wasn't much fun while I was in the middle of it. I guess it falls into the Builds Character category next to shoveling snow, mowing the lawn, and all the other things your parents made you do when you'd much rather have been doing <insert anything that isn't mowing the lawn or shoveling snow here>. Plus, the grades came out all right (A- in both) so I didn't take a GPA hit in the process. Still rocking the 3.9+ and holding on for dear life.

(The grades thing is kind of surreal to me. I had a sub-3.0 undergrad GPA, so going through this many classes seeing nothing lower than an A- is very strange. Of course, I did almost no work in undergrad, which doesn't mix very well with an engineering curriculum. Discipline issues. Still dealing with them, but better this time.)

The summer has been much easier. One class per session, and pretty easy ones at that (although that assessment may change when I get my midterm back tonight). I've spent most of my blog time reading/commenting at other people's, but haven't been paying much attention to my own. Part of it was laziness. It's so much easier when other people will provide the entertainment. I also just didn't feel like I had much to say, so why post just for the sake of posting (like this, you might ask)? But lately I've been itching a bit, so here we are. Plus, I had a post idea, which always helps. Considering the hiatus, though, I thought I should throw in a quick recap before getting into it. Then again, I'm pretty sure I'm the only one reading this, and I already know what's been going on. But for anyone who drops by, now you know, too.

And knowing is half the battle*.


* It's amazing what an age-group barometer this is. On one hand, it's incredibly satisfying when you can throw that line into a conversation and get a "Yo Joe" in response. They are officially someone you can relate to. Conversely, it's downright depressing when someone responds, with no irony at all, "what's the other half?" Just makes you want to take your Geritol and go to bed. And tell them to get off your lawn. These kids today...