... and Exhale

As you can guess, I passed :-) I can't believe it; I'm actually done with my qualifiers! Of course, I still have my research qual that I need to finish before this year, and then I have my candidacy and my defense. But since that's research specific, I think while they will be stressful, I'll have an easier time.

Now to start catching up with all the research and the coursework that I've been putting off this semester. I'm lucky; the second week of classes just ended, and the first homework assignment I have for any of them is due on Friday. So, I have -plenty- of time. I think today will be mostly doing the reading necessary for them and relaxing. I think for once, I deserve all the relaxation I can get.

As a special request from my good friend Ethan, I have created another LoLQualCat. :-) Created using the CheezburgerFactory, courtesy of ICHC.

Hmm.. Maybe LOLPhDCats will be in order? ("I can has PhD?" "Mah Research, Let me Show you It!", "Research Cat is Researching".. oh, the possibilities!)

Enjoy!

-Suzanne

Waiting for results...

So I took the programming languages qualifier this morning. I have no idea how I did. I woke up at 6:45am today, shaking, and then vomited. Talk about nerves! The exam went alright.. I got asked a question that I was definitely comfortable with answering, and it seems like they were satisfied with how I answered, though I stumbled on some of the followups. I don't know how I did. If they're feeling nice, I'll pass. If they're not, they can fail me; I have no idea. And I won't find out until later tonight (around 5 or 6pm). I have class at noon, and then we have a CS mixer at 4 pm.

I just need to try and relax and not think about how I did until then.

But what I -do- know is that I was incredibly nervous, and I probably was looking like this during the qual:

Introducing LoLQualCat! Or, "Suzanne During the Prog Lang qual". Enjoy!

-Suzanne

Take a Deep Breath...

That's it. I'm done with work for the night. I agonize, because I stop, and it's only 9:30pm. Forget the fact that I've been working all day. Forget the fact that I know I'm dangerously close to my limit.

It's only 9:30pm. And I'm stopping?

I have to though. I'm getting tired. My programming languages qualifier is in two days. This isn't last minute crunch; I've studied around 200 hours over the last three months for the exam, and a lot of the material is finally starting to click. Things I accomplished today:
-read and take notes on compilers e-book
-read and take notes on interpreted languages
-read and take notes on different programming classes( functional,
logical, imperative, object oriented, generic programming language)
over regular functions
-read and take notes about symbol tables
-read and take notes about garbage collection
-read about parse trees
-Figure out nuances of problem 13

Things I'm (unwillingly) leaving for tomorrow:
-read and take notes about exception handling
-read and take notes on inline functions, and advantages/disadvantages
-read about attribute grammars
-go over notes on object oriented languages
-polish example for question 5
-go over questions 17-23
-final run through the questions

My exam is on Friday at 8:30am. I am going cold turkey on the studying at 10pm tomorrow. What I have left for tomorrow is very doable... I just didn't want to have to do that much on the day before. I've been fretting over the prog lang exam again lately, which took me a long time to stop doing. The exam is unfair, but I've studied hard for it anyway. Now all that's left is to pray and see what happens.

Oh. And for those who are curious and didn't hear from me about it already: I passed the C+C qual. That's four out of five passed. Now to see if I can pass the last one.

IneedtorelaxIneedtorelaxIneedtorelax mustnotpassbreakingpointmustnotpassbreakingpoint relaxrelaxrelaxplaymario?sleep...
sleepsleepsleepsleep

sleep.

Quals and Outings

So my friend Chris just got back from CA (where he interned at Apple for the summer -- and now has a job offer from!) today, and he told me about this ice cream place in Troy called Moxie's. He heard about it on another blog, Dish and Dirt, and asked me if I wanted to go. Tonight was especially important, since it was the last day that it was open for the summer, and it was only going to be open till 9:30pm. It was close to 8:30 pm. He picked me up at around 8:45, and we headed over to Moxie's, which was out in the middle of nowhere a little ways from Troy. It was so far out, that our surroundings ceased to look like Troy; the roads became more twisty and turny, hillier, and ever darker. As we were nearing our destination, Chris had to use his Brights just so that we could see a little distance away (and it was a clear night). Finally, we found it, and got there at 9pm. Chris got Blue Moon and Indonesian Vanilla. I got Sweet Cream and Indonesian vanilla. Moxie's is apparently famous among Vanilla lovers, because they apparently have five kinds of vanilla ice cream: one named from each place that their vanilla beans was imported from.

Best. Ice cream. Ever.

I am feeling so lazy and full right now, and am probably going to head to bed after I post this. I shouldn't feel lazy though; over the last three days, I have gone over all 29 questions of the C+C qual, 10 questions per day. Tomorrow, I'm going to do a final run through all 29. I think I should be good to go on my qual for Wednesday.

Of course, being my usual graceful self, and considering how accident and illness prone I have been over the last few weeks, I managed to go and twist my foot on some gravel the other day. Since I'm still limping, I'm probably going to head over to the health center tomorrow morning, and get things all set up. Hopefully things should be ok.

Okies.. bed time for me! Good night everyone.

Late night misfortune

Tonight Kevin came over, and we decided to watch a movie. I had fallen sick a couple days back, so the visit served as a way to check up on me, and for us to have some of the chili we made the day before but never had a chance to eat. The chili was very good; it was really thick, and we mixed it with cheddar cheese and mozzarella cheese and ate it. We watched our movie, spent a little time together, and then went our separate ways (him, to home.. me, to bed). That was 12 am.

3 am I bolted upright in bed. My stomach felt like it was going to burst. I had thrown up a little in my throat, and it was really acidic. I cursed myself silently. While I'm a huge fan of chili, it's one of those things that I'm not supposed to eat, because it is tomato-based, and very acidic. Usually a few tablets of antacid and a little bit of stomach uncomfort is the worst of it. This time, however, I'd pay for my disregard for my body's dislikes.

I frantically searched for anatacid. No tums, no rolaids... nothing in sight. Among the pile of medicines, I was able to fish out a bottle of Pepto Bismol. I took a swig of it (I lost the dosage cap), and waited. In a few minutes, I began to feel a change... my stomach started to feel a lot worse. The pain was becoming unbearable. I frantically grabbed my laptop and started searching for ways I could neutralize the stomach acid. Sleep was a top priority, especially since I was trying to get better. Every time I coughed, it pushed down on my stomach, which felt like a nerve-ridden water balloon, precariously stretched.

Then I felt a difference. A rushing, boiling, churning difference. I pushed aside my laptop, and projectile vomited (I shit you not -- projectile vomited) all over my clothes, my bed, and my rug. I run to the bathroom and vomited again. I felt much better, but I returned to my room with anxiety replacing the acid that was there in my stomach.

I had paid almost $200 for my rug. It was a really nice rug. A beautiful rug -- black and creme colored, nice and thick, and felt really good when I walked on it barefoot. Miserably, I rolled my sheets into a ball and threw them into a corner of my room. The sheets were easily fixable as well as my clothes. I procured an extra set of sheets, and extra pants and an extra shirt, and threw them on the bed. Those can wait. What I needed to was get rid of that vomit on the rug.

I blotted the entire area with paper towels. This took a long time, since i didn't want to push the vomit into the rug any more than it was already. After I was satisfied, I got a wet, soapy sponge and tackled the stains on the cream part of the rug. I think I managed to get it all out; I got some more paper towels and removed all the moisture I could. There was nothing left that I could do, but consign myself to the next part... head towards bed, and wait till morning, when the rug dries. Then I can vacuum up the rest of the stain. If the instructions I found online work, it should come right out.

I remade my bed, changed my clothes (which I scrunched up and threw in the pile containing my dirty sheets) and sat there contemplating what had happened. Sometimes, I learned, it's not good to test your body's limits. My stomach still doesn't feel that great, but I'm getting tired again, so it's time for sleep. Will update after I vacuum.

Good night (or good morning), world.

UPDATE:
11:20 - Tuesday, August 21 2007
My rug is pretty much completely clean, and I am getting better... I still get exhausted very easily, but I think by tomorrow, I can fit in a full day's worth of work. Even though I was Master TAing on Monday, I couldn't bring myself to start working afterwards, and Sunday I was pretty much forced to stay in bed. Today, I worked very little on quals (it was astonishing how quickly it was exhausting me), and then concentrated on doing research. The research I'm doing right now is relatively light.. some touching up with CGI-perl on three sites that I'm transferring to a new server. It was slow, time-consuming work, but in a way somewhat relaxing. When I went home close to 8 pm, one of the sites had their transition completely finished, and the other two are partially there. A little more poking, and little more prodding here and there, should complete it.

Being sick sucks. On a positive side, this happened (and is ending) now, a full week before I have my first qual, and a good two and half to three weeks before my second (and last) qual, which is the one that I'm worried about. It's also a wake-up call from my body: I haven't been paying enough attention to it as much as I should have. Especially since I'm on RAship this coming year, I should try and work on taking more breaks, eating a bit better, and incorporating exercise into my weekly routine. I think with a little planning, this can all happen. I am starting to worry about my health somewhat, since I don't think I'm usually this sickly. Hopefully, things will get better.

Hopefully tonight will be better.

Good night.

Flaming Hatred

So fellow graduate student Nikhil drew a picture of a dragon attacking a group of hapless villagers on our whiteboard.

I had spent all day working on Programming Languages. Gazing admiringly upon his artwork, I was suddenly inspired to label it in thus manner:


You see, the allegory just popped out at me, and everything just snapped into perspective.

Clearly, I'm the unfortunate chap tripping on the log (right-most grad student).

Working hard! Now to move on to C+C. More updates later.

Enjoy!

-Suzanne