Data Structures and Doggies

 Good evening readers,

Well, I took the exam. About 40% of the questions were the same ones on the practice exam. Those were a breeze. There were a few more questions that asked us to evaluate function efficiency and binary tree traversals. The questions regarding efficiency were somewhat challenging, but I think I got most of them. I know I got one wrong. Big-Oh and Big-Omega notation don't make a lot of sense to me. I always think I understand them, and then I find some incomplete explanation that just seems to scramble the bits rather than connect them. I haven't had the best lectures on them, but then again I guess I could've read the textbook a little more often. Oh well. Nevertheless, I think I did pretty well. 

Now. Onto the next part of the title. Up here at Tech I regularly volunteer at the humane society. The Copper Country Humane Society. I typically walk dogs, although I don't mind a little cat cuddling. 

Recently, I've been walking a dog named Blaze. I visit him at least once a week, typically on Fridays. He's a sweet, 6-year-old pittie. I typically don't like pitties, but Blaze is an exception. He's gentle, slower, and super friendly. 

When he gets adopted I'll certainly be upset. Yet at the same time, I'll be happy because I know he's going to his forever home. But as of now, no plans for adoption have been made. I ask the staff every time I visit!

So there you have it. A few pictures of my good boy, Blaze. 

I'll try to keep this blog updated with dogs as I go. Who knows, maybe I'll make a "dog" tag!

Anyway. 

As always,

Thanks for reading,

The Questionable Programmer

"If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went."

- Will Rogers

Exam Tomorrow

 Hi all,

I have an exam tomorrow. I am not looking forward to it. It's just data structures but things such as Big O notation and Big Omega notation confuse me to some extent. 

It's just hard to wrap my head around. 

But I was curious as to if writing it down may make me feel better about it. I guess we'll see.

I know this was super short, but regardless,

Thanks for reading,

The Questionable Programmer

"Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will spend its whole life believing that it is stupid."

- Albert Einstein

The Dredge

 Hi all,

Yesterday, a few friends and I visited "The Dredge" . This place is a renowned getaway spot for Michigan Tech students, and it almost seems impossible to graduate without visiting it. 

This was my first time at a place like this, but I certainly don't intend on making it my last! Noah insisted on bringing work gloves so that he didn't injure himself anywhere. I managed without! 

I was the only one who climbed to the top of this one part. Everyone else was too afraid of the sketchy ladder! I guess I'm a real truckie now!

Here are a few photos of the adventure:

I have a few more adventures that I've been up to that I will probably get around to sharing. 

As always,

Thanks for reading,

The Questionable Programmer

"Jobs fill your pockets, but adventures fill your soul."

- Jaime Lyn

Interview and Review

Hello all,

Two posts in a row? Man, I'm on the ball aren't I?

I found some time after an enterprise meeting and decided to sit down by the Portage Canal and enjoy this lovely September evening. Felt like sharing some thoughts.

I had two interviews today. One with a major automotive manufacturer and one with a major agricultural engineering company. I think they both went well. The first was via MS Teams, and the latter was a simple phone call. The lady I spoke with on the phone could certainly be a 911 dispatcher. Super calm. I enjoyed talking to her. The three gentlemen on my MS Teams meeting were all MTU alumni so that was pretty neat too. 

Feeling pretty good about both of them right now. Now all I got to do is wait a few weeks. But there is a third company. A company that slides in at #1 pretty nicely. I am expecting to arrange an interview with them soon, but I have yet to hear anything. 

Thursdays are typically pretty relaxed. I have one class, two workouts, and two-three meetings typically. Today was a little unique, but it was still pretty relaxing. Perhaps it's the Bible study? Or the endorphins from the gym?

Not sure. But I'm not complaining. 

Today in my communication and culture class we watched a 1985 romcom called The Purple Rose of Cairo. Cheesy, yes, a little bit. Good? I thought so. We watched about a 1/4th of it. Skipped around a bit. But I got the general idea. 

I was not a fan of the ending whatsoever. She should've stayed with Tom Baxter. But it definitely seems like a movie I'd watch. Hell, an old movie inside an older movie? That's got my name written all over it!

Anyway, I have to go eat dinner. 

As always,

Thanks for reading,

The Questionable Programmer

"The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time"

- Abraham Lincoln

Hanging In There

 Hi readers,

College is often described as the best time of our lives. It's all partying, drinking, adventuring, and liking. 

But that's simply not the case. Not for me at least. 

Sure I have my friends up here and we do our fair share of activities. This semester alone I've seen the northern lights, went cliff jumping, and went kayaking down the Portage. The list goes on. 

But I often worry that things may have been better if I hadn't come up here. Allow me to explain a few reasons. 

Jobs. They're already hard enough to get. Networking and connecting with employers back home is really tough from up here. I'm basically riding on previous networking connections to find internships. It's not like there aren't great employers here. Hell, that's why a lot of students come here. 

But do these employers match the life I want? I don't think so. I wish senior year Ben put some more thought into that. 

I'm a sophomore. This upcoming summer or the next is stereotypically the summer I'm supposed to be interning. But I'm worried I may not find one. I have Co-Op opportunities it seems, and I actually have an interview for one tomorrow. I may have an internship with another dream company too. I should be scheduling an interview for that one soon!

But if these don't work, I'd feel pressured to take an internship in Michigan. And I really don't think I can spend a summer in MI alone. That's just not what I want. I have too many things I want to return to in PA.

Next reason. Connections. Sure I'm building connections up here, but are they permanent? Just about as permanent as any college connection. You see them maybe once a year. I can count how many people I'd like to continuously see on one hand if I'm being quite honest. But high school? I have a lot of friends that I'd like to keep from there. But it's hard to keep these connections when I'm 1000 miles away. So that's constantly on my mind and I'm constantly trying to reach out to friends back home and stay connected. But harsh responses or the lack of any response whatsoever is really painful. Especially when it's with someone whom you used to be really close with. 

Sure, some connections back home don't seem to be going anywhere. But what about the little ones? The people who may not know how much they mean to me? Those are the people that keep me up at night. 

Moving on, we look at experiences. Allow me to say this: there are some things I look at in other schools and I say, "man, I wish I had that opportunity". 

But then I am reminded of what I have here. I have the wonderful outdoors, snow, and Tech hockey! But don't get me started on our football.

But there are more experiences than just these. What about everything from my high school career? Robotics events? My day trips with the boys? Birthdays? All the other fun stuff I have going on back home. These kinds of events live rent-free in my head. Not these school events.

Now that I ranted a bit about some of the worries and problems I'm currently facing, allow me to make light of my situation. Or at least try to.

I'm in the middle of nowhere. I'm in a water-winter wonderland. I'm trying to embrace that. To make college and my past decisions meaningful. The sense of independence this builds. The beauty and respect for PA that it builds. 

Moving forward, I'm going to try and have a positive mindset.

On the bright side, I've been working out recently. The endorphins and self-improvement that come from working out are truly something special. It keeps me healthy and makes me more self-confident. And that's important during these challenging times. 

Ever since I returned to school, the VFD has presented itself in a new light. After assisting my hometown department, the age of this department shows. But that just makes me want to step up even more. Is this good? Well, it depends on how you look at it. 

Academically, probably not. Mentally, yes. 

Firefighting and a lot of the culture that comes with it help take my mind off of my worries and sadness. I've grown some connections on the VFD and even made some new friends on campus through it. I'm proud to be a part of such an organization. 

Although my classes may be more difficult this year, I don't think it's too much for me. I still think I have a healthy balance. I was able to find time to write this, wasn't I? 

But anyway. I think that's enough for tonight. 

Writing these thoughts down helps.

I sometimes wonder if anyone reads these. But nonetheless, an orchestra can still perform when there is no audience. 

"When the going gets tough,  the tough get going"

- Knute Rockne

Exciting News!

 Hello!

I want to apologize for my delay in posting. I've been very busy with some stuff up here at college. 

I don't have a whole lot of time to talk, but I do want to share some news. Yesterday, during work, I received a phone call alerting me that my brother and I were voted into the local fire department!

That's right ladies and gentlemen, I'm moving towards becoming a volunteer firefighter! I am super excited and am most likely going to get my gear this weekend. I know it's a large time commitment, but I'm willing to cut some things out for a little bit to do what I need to do.

By the way, I work at a fast-food restaurant here at college. It's called the Campus Cafe. Don't pronounce it like Café though. It was spelled incorrectly, so it's pronounced Cafe! Anyway, I am typically on the fryer, and I really like it, to be honest. It's a good rush that's not super overwhelming. And besides, in late January, I'm going to be making $15 an hour! But money is not the only good part. My boss there is super chill, and I have good relations with all the other employees. So there's a short work update.

I am still working on the really long post! I promise!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go to math class and coordinate some rides for this weekend!

As always,

Thanks for reading,

The Questionable Programmer

" Don't stop believin' "

- Steve Perry

The Update: Part One

Well hello again ladies and gentlemen.

Today is the day that you have all been waiting for: the update on my college journey. 

Well let's start from the beginning. The trip up here. 

I remember leaving the house very well. Tory, Ezra, Bri, and Big Joe all came over to say good bye and help load the car (which was filled top to bottom by the way). Leaving wasn't as hard as I thought it would be to be honest; I guess I was just so excited! After we said our goodbyes to my brothers, friends, and cats, we were off. 

The trip started off smoothly, with part of our journey going by my grandparent's old house. It was nice to see it again, and it made me wonder what they would think of me now. These thoughts were eventually interrupted after my mom slammed on the brakes a little too hard and brought down a bunch of stuff in the back. She got really emotional after this, exclaiming that she felt bullied because we were all joking about her driving abilities. It was a silent, awkward car ride for the next hour. And then the rain came.

We were looking on the radar a few hours prior, but we were not expecting what we got. We're talking people driving 10 miles per hour on an interstate bad. Here's a video during the beginning of the storm; my mother was still driving at this time. 

Eventually, the storm got to be a little too much for my mother, so my dad decided to give it a shot. Spoiler alert, he pulled over too eventually!

After we got through the storm, we pushed through Ohio, which turns out to be the most disliked state in Michigan too! Here's a picture that sums up pretty much every rest stop in Ohio: 

We didn't travel through Michigan for a long time, but we did have to go through it a bit on day one. I remember the Holiday Inn experience well. Apparently, something happened with our payment for the reservation, and we had to try and get in contact with the credit card company. We ended up sitting in the lobby for like fifteen minutes while my parents tried not to strangle the hotel staff. The next morning, we woke up and took advantage of the complimentary breakfast. When I say "took advantage", I mean we really, really took advantage. We grabbed as many muffins as we could stuff in a to go back without getting dirty looks. Needless to say, it got us through the morning. 

Once we got further into the peninsula, my dad decided to give Noah and I a shot at driving. I really enjoyed it! It's interesting to compare a minivan driving 40 miles per hour down a road compared to a minivan driving down an interstate at almost 80 miles per hour. When we got to beautiful Mackinaw City, we stopped for lunch at the iconic Wienerlicious.

Here, they offer wonderful hot dogs and bratwursts. Highly recommend you stop at this joint if you're ever passing through! Now, possibly my father's least favorite part, the Mackinac Bridge.

To easily commute across the Michigan peninsulas, you should take the Mackinac Bridge. Now, the bridge has been around since November of 1957, and has had no major problems with the bridge itself. But, the bridge is an open grate bridge, with very little siding. My father did not like this. So instead of him driving, my mother decided that it would be best if she drove. In the video, you'll see my father photographing a stuffed animal; apparently, it's tradition for Michigan Tech students when they cross the bridge, or something of that nature. 

Once you cross the bridge, it seems like a new world. Here are a few of my favorites taken along the northern coast of Lake Michigan. We unfortunately did not stop at any of these bridges because they were all on the left hand side of the road, and we didn't want to stop and try to cross. I believe all of these photos were taken on RT. 2. 

It's just like the ocean, but better! Less people, less salt, and a lot less sharks! After that, we drove up north towards a town named Munising. This town gave me small, lake town vibes. Really nice! From here, we moved west towards Ishpeming, which is actually where Uncle Rodger moved from! He told my brother and I that he never really picked a side in the Tech rivalry with Northern Michigan University, but he would now pledge to Tech since we were going there! After Ishpeming, the excitement really kicks in because you approach Marquette, the biggest city in the Upper Peninsula! This is also the home to Northern Michigan University. From here, it's about a two hour drive to Houghton, MI! Here's a collection of photos and videos from the journey through the U.P.: 

I also remember seeing a moose, but as we pulled over to go take pictures with the crowd (I know, stupid tourists, right?), it decided that it was done with the paparazzi and strolled back into the brush. Wish I got a picture, but oh well. I did get a picture of the field it had been in however:

Some time during our travels during the Upper Peninsula, my parents let me drive once more. I accidentally drove into the wrong lane, but I quickly and safely corrected myself! It was really just a straight, fast road for a few dozen miles. As we approached what I think was Munising, we pulled over so my dad could take the wheel in the town. 

Before I knew it, I had left Palmyra, PA behind, and had arrived in Houghton, MI.

I'll post at least two other parts. Probably not today though!

As always, 

Thanks for reading,

The Questionable Programmer

"The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step"

- Lao Tzu

Eric O'Shea Comedy Show at MTU!

Hello ladies and gentlemen,

As you may have guessed by the title, tonight at Michigan Tech we had a fantastic comedy show brought to us by none other than Eric O'Shea!

He did a fantastic job in my opinion. He went right up to the line, but did not cross it!

Eric O'Shea, as you may know, is a world-famous comedian. For those who don't know him, he looks like Kramer from Seinfeld in my opinion! He's participated in many, many famous events, and even performed with Betty White and Carol Burnett at the Emmys!

I also noticed some comedian "strategies" he used to up his game. The first one was referencing previous skits and sketches. For example, one of his openers mocked how little kids act so dramatic when they are getting yelled or are in trouble! So true! Regardless, he would pull this same move out during a later skit. 

This throwback to the prior skit I think just helps amp up the comedy. I hope that made sense!

He was also really, really good at mocking people and making voices. For example, he does a great Elmo impression. He has some videos of these impressions on his website!

During the show, the crowd, which was rather energetic and excited, clapped at some weird and funny times. It seems like he could not keep us quiet. I remember clapping right after he mentioned the fact that drivers will turn to look at slow drivers when going down the highway. These sort of moments frequented the whole show. He also asked how good the sporting teams were. That ended in a bit of an argument. Some kid in the middle of the crowd shouted, "D1 hockey (which is true) and D3 everything else!". Now, this isn't true. It's actually D2 everything else. Nevertheless, the kid insisted and so did a small other group. I was quick to back up the D2 people of course. Anyway, after we all quieted down, he cracked a few jokes about the argument, which sort of re-lightened the mood. 

There was also this one kid named Erik who really seemed to be a star of the show. Eric pointed out his laugh several times, and really liked him when he realized how similar their names are. Which reminds me; Eric O'Shea does not like modern child naming. I remember him making light of the name Ruth in 2021: "My name isn't Ruth, it's Ruth (pronounced Ruthhhhhhh; emphasize the 'h')!". He said there was also a seven in there somewhere! 

He also mentioned Finlandia University, which I think he recently performed at. Now he forgot the name of the school. Go back and look at what the initials of the school. Yeah. So he asked, and a large portion of the student crowd shouted the initials at him, and at first he got really confused. But he got it within like three seconds. Thankfully. Just some harmless fun after all!

Towards the end of the show, he sat us down and offered some heart to heart advice to us as freshmen. He told us how little ole nerdy him really struggled the first two nights, practically crying himself to sleep the first two nights. 

The third night got even worse; he learned that his parents were getting a divorce. At this point, some smart-ass decided to try and be funny and make a joke out of the situation. To my delight, he was the only one, and many other people stood up and said that he took it way too far. Eric O'Shea also called him out, telling him to stop. Not long after, the kid sunk down into his seat in embarrassment. 

Anyway, he gave us these three tips. 

1. Trust your instincts
2. Happiness doesn't exist
3. Help others who can't help themselves

So the two are pretty obvious, focused mostly on self-confidence and altruism, but the 2nd one is a little more interesting. He claims that happiness is result-oriented, and that's bad. Instead, we should get up in the morning, count our blessings, and be joyful because it's that easy. We can choose to be joyful. 

At the end of the show many people ran to go grab a photo with him. I did not, but I did capture this:

If you're looking for any highlights from his comedy, I do believe this, or something similar is it! He performed one of these at our show, and it was hilarious! I'm not sure if the songs are the same, because I didn't watch the one I shared!

Anyway, I really liked this show, and I highly recommend seeing him if you get a chance!

As always, thanks for reading,

The Questionable Programmer

"You guys are the last cool generation!"

- Eric O'Shea

College Arrival

Hello readers,

Well hello ladies and gentlemen, and welcome back to the blog. 

Today, we begin a new chapter. The college chapter. That's right folks just yesterday, Friday the 13th, we arrived up here in Houghton, MI, and boy oh boy am I excited! There is lots to discuss and lots to show, but I am afraid I won't get to it tonight. Tomorrow, at noon, my move in begins! I then have some activities and a social to partake in, and I plan to update you all on those, as well as the drive up later this week. 

So far the trip up here has been a blast, and although I miss the friendships I'm leaving behind, I'm looking at it as a break from them, and an opportunity to more naturally become myself. 

So, super short tonight. Just wanted to let you all know that I'm up here and ok!

As always,

Thanks for reading,

The Questionable Programmer

College is Fast Approaching!

Hi readers,

I first want to apologize for my disappearance again. I've been very busy at robotics and work, as usual. I promise these aren't empty lies! I truly think my hard work paid off somewhere, but we will get into that later. 

First, let's revisit some stuff from other discussions. Two blogs ago, I discussed my grandma's passing, but I did not mention that she suffered from dementia. Dad, if you're reading this, please skip the next few sentences. Anyway, many of you know my brother is a big fan of country music; one of his favorite songs is called "Numbers On The Cars", by Riley Green. On the way home from work, my brother would often play country music, and he would almost always make sure this song was in the queue. The more and more I listen to it, the more and more I realize how perfectly it described my grandma's state. So. Kudos to you Riley Green. 

Anyway, great country song, highly recommend. 

Moving on, let's discuss the competition: CHSy Champs. Ever since the end of the official 2021 season, my team has been preparing for this offseason. I've been showing up as often as I could, programming autos, practicing, climbing, and addressing issues as they appear. Going into the competition, I felt really confident in the robot, and myself, which was something I hadn't seen in a long time. All in all, despite the fact that the competition was outside of FMA, lacked interesting competition, and we didn't win, I still had a great time. I personally feel like the team had a rocky start, but greatly improved after the second match. Our performance was enough to put us in second and ally ourselves with the first alliance captain, another out-of-state team from Rochester, New York: Team 340. Unfortunately, a combination of disappointing second picks and an unlucky round robin, we went home without a win. I still believe we were the best robot there, and I think the numbers hold to prove it. Here is the Blue Alliance page for the event, as well as the Twitch live stream link. I definitely recommend looking for our close, yet successful, triple climb, as well as our highest scoring match (198)! I can't say I didn't perform without a little help however: 

Yes, that's right: the powdered root beer made a return for my last competition! For those who are unfamiliar, my team has been doing a "ritual" where the driver, or drive team, drinks this disgusting powdered root beer purchased from a specific Dollar General in York, PA. Now, my friend told me that this root beer was not from that specific dollar general, which therefore resulted in a lack of additional luck. Perhaps this is why we lost?

Work has also been very stressful, as it seems as though I have a bit of a mutiny on my hands at times. All I'm going to say is that employee morale has been quite low, and that put's a lot of stress on me as a leader. We did just have an employee party, so I hope that brightened the general mood. It was my brother's first time on Storm Runner, and it was also one of the last times I'll ever see my one friend Aidan. Aidan and I have been pals since the beginning of high school, and now he's moving to Missouri. I just hope God gives him some sense of direction with his life, because he got potential and drive! So, this next Coke is to you Aidan. Cheers!

I've also been spending a lot of time at my internship, which is currently testing the working, prototyped wind turbine my boss has been developing. I've done a lot of algorithms and generator setup, which has been proving more and more useful as I gain more and more direction in life. Go support them for funding round two!

Now that I've talked about that, let's look forward. My graduation party is on the 7th of August, and I was very hesitant to give out invitations, because these parties stress me out. I get stressed when I feel as though I am being judged, and for some reason I feel almost selfish for hosting a party to celebrate myself. I know when you put it that way it sounds weird, but nevertheless, is that not what's happening? 

I also just received my AP test scores back. It seems as though the universe is trying to improve my lack of self-confidence, because apparently, I did incredibly well on my tests. My scores from this year and last year are:

1. English Language and Composition: 4
2. Calculus BC: 4,  AB Subscore: 5
3. Physics I: 4
4. Computer Science: 5

I'm very proud of these scores, and they will certainly help me cut off some credits. In fact, with these scores, I'm qualified to start in Calculus III! That would be stupid though, so I'm probably going to start in Calculus II. 

Moving onto how I feel about college. As college gets closer and closer, and relationships just happened to get more stressful, I began to put two and two together. I'm not great at sensing emotion, making friends, or just expressing myself. Combine this with a faraway college full of people my age, and it gets a little scary. I'm gonna do my best to build self-confidence and become more extroverted at college. I can promise you that. 

There. I think I covered about everything. I'll touch in again after my graduation party!

As always, thanks for reading,

The Questionable Programmer

P.S. That questionable invention is still in the works, but substantial progress has been made!

"Wise men speak because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something"

- Plato

My Brother's Decision

 Hi all, 

As promised, I returned with news of my brother's schooling. Noah will be attending Michigan Tech as well. 

Frankly, I am not surprised, and saw this coming a long time ago. Often Noah and I would talk about college, and I would bring up a fact about Penn State, or a con of Michigan Tech, and Noah would be quick to make an excuse for why he should choose Michigan Tech. 

At the end of the day, both PSU and MTU are great schools, and you just have to go with your gut. 

Thanks for reading, 

The Questionable Programmer

COVID-19, Swerve, and My Brother's Decision

 Good evening readers,

As many of you know, my last post discussed the new project my team was facing: swerve drive! If I must say so myself, the project is going fantastic! We had full teleoperated functionality within just four days of the drivetrain assembly! It was really awesome to see the swerve work, as swerve drive has always been one of the most captivating pieces of FRC robotics for me. 

Now that I got that out of the way, let me move on to the COVID-19 situation. As of now, my mother has a pending COVID-19 test, but she seems to be doing just fine. She is an elementary school teacher at a private school, and has been sending kids home sick recently. I imagine she caught whatever it is she has from there. Whatever it is, I don't think it's COVID-19; here's hoping! 

My grandma has it as well. She lives in a nursing home, which was on lockdown, so I find it very concerning and frustrating that she was somehow exposed to this virus. However, if she is anything like the rest of the family, she will certainly pull though! 

My cousin, who is an elementary PE coach at another private school, also caught COVID-19. If I heard correctly, the school did not require students to wear masks at the time. I do believe that is why he caught COVID-19. Thankfully, he is a very healthy man, and managed to beat the virus. 

These are all the cases in my family which I can remember or know of. I know there are and were some potential cases on the team, but I will not disclose any information about that. 

I will say, programmer attendance has been really poor recently, and it does make me concerned about the future of the programming department. The team needs programmers. But if students don't show up, they won't stay engaged, if they're not engaged, they don't wanna stay on the team, and we then have no programmers. Anyway.

Now, onto my brother. As you people know, I decided a little after Christmas. My brother; however, plans on deciding by the end of January, which is tomorrow. Frankly, he still seems unsure. He is deciding between Pennsylvania State University and Michigan Tech, the school I'm going to. He crossed out West Virginia University about a month ago. Yesterday, we were looking at Penn State's reconstruction plan. This seems really exciting, but he's concerned that he won't get the experience and education he wants while this renovation is occurring. 

All in all however, I think he is going to go to Michigan Technological University. Again, mark my words: Michigan Tech. I will inform you all of his decision tomorrow!

Thanks for reading, 

The Questionable Programmer

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Review, College, and Adventure!

 Good afternoon everyone! 

I hope everyone here had a happy holiday, I know I did! 

I would have liked to post much earlier, but a lot had happened recently, so I couldn't find the time. Let's start with Christmas. 

This year was much like any other; we get up, open presents, then go to my grandparents the next day. 

This year, my parents got me new winter boots, which will really come in handy later (I'll explain later in this post)! I also got a new laptop, which is what I am writing this on as of now. It's a really nice Dell Laptop, so Dad, when you read this, thanks again. There is only one issue with it: the OS is Windows 10. While I still despise Windows 10, I really don't like Edge! I need to set Chrome up on this laptop, but I just haven't got around to it. One of the gifts I did not expect was a multimeter! It's a really nice Fluke 117! I try to use it whenever I can, since its nice to practice and experiment with. All in all, the multimeter is most certainly my favorite present. 

So like I said, we went to my grandparents the next day, and it was nice to see everyone. Well, mostly everyone. My one cousin has COVID-19, and therefore could not attend the get-together. That makes him the second one in my family to have become infected by the virus. He seems to just have a cold, and will most likely be just fine thankfully. Anyway, another one of my many cousins, a Lance Corporal in the Marines, was there with his girlfriend, and it was nice to see him too, but that's not why I brought him up. I think it was one of my aunts who offered him the task of opening the wine bottle. Well, I'm not sure if he's never done this before, but it didn't go well. He took the bottle in one hand, and the corkscrew in the other, and really, really pulled on the screw. In fact, he pulled so hard on both components that he dropped the wine bottle. As you would expect, my entire family started screaming at him. His father, grandmother, and brother were the most furious. He kind of just stood there chuckling in shock and surprise. Naturally his brother and I then turned to his girlfriend to rightfully welcome her to the family! 

His brother doesn't serve in the military and instead works for a mortgage company. He's really kind and enjoys writing stories. I don't mean your typical novels; I'm talking really odd, but interesting, science fiction stories and the liking. He does this on the side, and even gets some published! He and I talked for almost the entire time at the family gathering. He typically likes to go on and on about this table top roll playing game called Vampire: The Masquerade. It's like D&D but with vampires. And it's not like I don't enjoy listening to his explanations and stories; in fact, as a fan of D&D, I find this alternative really interesting! 

Now that I have discussed the gathering, I suppose I'll move forward in chronological order. Next up, would be my college decision. Oh, I should mention, I got accepted into Penn State University Park! I finally decided to commit to a college once I found out how competitive Penn State dorms were. I also figured, what's going to change between now and January when I planned on deciding. 

After consideration for many months, I decided on: Michigan Technological University. 

Why? Well, let me start by discussing my insecurities with high school. While progressing through high school, especially in 10th grade, I learned that I was not like everyone else. 

I did not take interest in athletics like most people, nor was I good at them. I got into bad training habits and that really disappointed me. While most of my classmates were focused on their looks, relationships, and athletics, I was focused on my grades and not much else. Throughout this, I kind of blindsided what everyone else thought of me. 

This is how its been for a very long time. Like a very long time. For crying out loud, my best friend was my teacher in 3rd grade. I absolutely hate looking back on this, but I still recall standing next to her for the entire duration of recess for many days. I don't know why I never caught on like most people, but like I said this tunnel vision of mine remained for many years. 

When I reached tenth grade, I realized all of this and rapidly became more and more self-conscious and insecure. I became much more quiet. I considered very few people friends. I looked more and more towards my robotics team for support. 

This is when I learned that a lot of people on the robotics team appreciated and liked me, the old me. The one who naturally fit in, and didn't go into this depressed hiding state. I feel like I can revisit that old me at MTU. 

Now, how does this relate to my college decision? Well, I feel as though Penn State is a larger school and it will therefore be more difficult to find out where I fit in. I also distinctly remember, both my faculty advisor and student contact saying that no one is trying to impress anyone at MTU. There are no cliques, and everyone gets together as one. That unity sounds amazing, and that sounds like the college experience, I not only want, but the one my mental state needs. 

MTU is also an adventure. I have been up there once, and I have never experienced that much snow! I want to travel and see the world, and I figured it would be nice to knock one out in college too! This interest in traveling probably came from my father, and it really grew after we road tripped out West!

The campus is also really beautiful. Here are two screenshots that I just took while writing this actually!

 

Side note, I applied for a private bathroom in the dorm on the right that looks like a right bracket from above (]). It's called Wadsworth Hall. 

Lastly, the education is just as good as Penn State. I get more hands-on experience, which is rare at a school as large as PSU. I also got a scholarship worth $80,000, and I think its nice that they recognized my hard work. 

The only concern I have is with my dad, and the younger me. As a child, I always grew up wanting to go to Penn State Main Campus, and now that I finally can, I don't want to let my younger self down. I don't think I will though. I was naïve and did not look at any other school. I also feel like Penn State has changed ever since they closed Ye Old College Diner! I kind of took this as a sign that this might not be the school for me. Although the campus is beautiful, the community just doesn't suit me. But like I said, I don't want my dad to be disappointed that I'm not going to his Alma Mater. He has said many times that he isn't and I do believe him now, but will it always be that way? I hope so!

So there you have it. That's my college plan. Oh, I majoring in electrical engineering if I haven't mentioned that. 

Now, time to move onto the 29th. On the 29th, we went skiing at Elk Mountain! I was ecstatic because we just bought some gear and everything the night before! I also can say that I went on an intermediate, or a blue (it was labelled as green; I think that was a mistake!). It didn't go very well to say the least! But I conquered the bunny hill with ease, as well as a kind of long and steep hill called the West Slope. I had a lot of fun flying down that hill with my dad. We also brought Noah, who had never really gone skiing before. He focused on the bunny hill while we were there, and resorted to falling as a way of stopping! By the end of the day however, he seemed to have got the basic concepts down pat. Skiing involves a lot of confidence in your speed and ability to stop yourself in my opinion. Here's a photo of me at the top of West!

Yesterday, the 30th, I also managed to finish writing a Reddit reply bot! The bot simply insults people upon command, and you can find the open source code here! I need a server to actually get it working, but right now, it uses another API to generate evil insults and will insult whenever its name is called upon someone in a reply or comment. But like I said, it will only work, when I'm running the program on my computer! Here is the link to the code on my GitHub. I surely think this is living up to my alias!

Today is New Years, and I have my younger cousins coming over soon. They want to celebrate New Years with us they said, and I was really surprised because I don't think they know we don't do anything special!

Anyway, thanks for reading whatever I'm going to call this. This is probably my longest post yet, and am surely exhausted now. I think I spent an hour and a half writing this. But nevertheless, it's nice to vent here sometimes.

Thanks for reading,

The Questionable Programmer