Now that the Olympics have come and gone I must admit that it has been difficult getting back in the groove of things. But there is no time for lollygagging! Midterms are here and the finals are looming ever closer.
But the less I’m reminded of the Olympics the better it gets. And the BCIT parking lot opening up again is double appreciated because now I don’t have park 20mins away from class.
Every so often, my internet meanderings turn up something interesting.
Like an article on how the Oscars influence Google search keywords. By the big G itself; looking at the statistics is surprisingly interesting. Especially when I don’t have to analyze it myself to make sense of it in a math class.
In other news, I hear it’s been snowing in Victoria. That’s some bizarre timing, Mother Nature.
Some of the best things happened in February – moving downtown (which really coincided with the Olympics really well), Olympics (and no school)… uhm… yeah, not much else. But we all know what happened in February. I seriously doubt we’re going to forget it – not for a hundred years.
But now it’s March. What a cruel way to start school after the spectacular break. Projects due, assignments to hand in, quizzes, midterms, and finals; all packed like sardines in a can for March. I’m beginning to feel a growing resentment towards the month of March.
Meanwhile, the weather continues to taunt me with its brilliant sunshine and warm(-ish) weather, making me seriously consider moving my bike here as well. Not that I have any place to put it. In fact, I don’t have any storage for anything at the moment except for a closet organizer and the built in cupboards in the bathroom and it’s wreaking havoc on my desk (as opposed to the floor whereupon it would become destroyed as a bunny toy). Stereotypically, a lot of the junk is stuffed into the closet, but being as it’s closed off and I can’t see it (out of sight, out of mind) I’m not really counting that.
With the Paralympics on its way here to start on Friday, I’m hoping that their games get a lot more coverage than they have in the past. Then again, seeing as we are the host country, Canadians might see more than usual of what’s involved in the Paralympics – which to me, exemplify the true nature of the Olympics.
Just when you think you’re down and out, you find another way – just as two bronze medallists this year showed the world – and were awarded accordingly with the Terry Fox award.
It feels impossible that school is starting after such an incredible two week break. The epic Olympics is just one sweet sweet icing on the cake.
It’s hard to believe that term 2A is coming to a close – it’s probably even more of a shock after coming back from a two week break. It’s even harder to motivate myself to get back in gear and start cracking at the books again. But of course, if that’s what needs to be done… That’s what needs to be done.
Since moving downtown, I’ve been able to make use of the public transit which is a bit of a surreal dream for me right now (as odd as that sounds). I never realised how tiring it was to have to wake up and keep my eyes peeled the minute I headed out the door before. It’s nice to gradually get my brain functioning (and eat breakfast – I’m such a lazy ass) while on the Skytrain over to school in the mornings.
So I’m sitting here, barely unpacked and my stuff strewn across the floor of my bedroom while I do absolutely nothing productive. Which is refreshing. I don’t really get a lot of time to do this – especially in the middle of a school term.
I haven’t finished moving in just yet – my mattress has just arrived and I need to figure out a office solution before I can really get cracking. Also, my furry little friends aren’t quite ready for the move – Aero’s head-tilt/circle-running problems flared up and I don’t really want to risk stressing her with a complete change of environment just yet. But on a much happier note, she just celebrated her one year’s anniversary about a week ago.
Since my brother’s out, I’ve been listening to his computer sound system that he bought at a Boxing Day sale around when I mentioned I’d like better speakers (my speakers were starting to crackle and pop and would lose sound in a speaker at regular intervals). Of course, they were for him, not for me. So I’m thinking, since I’ve been needing new speakers (and getting blown away by how nice his is) for years now I should probably think of investing some money in a set.
Meanwhile, I really should do some work. I’ve got about six assignments/projects that I need to complete (or get near completion) over the next week so much of the break will probably be spent doing that – while watching women’s hockey.
Also, did you know? BCIT’s Burnaby campus has turn into a bus loop of sorts for people travelling to Whistler to watch the games!
This past week I had my first opportunity to read news/sportscasts on-air on Evolution 107.9 FM! Until now – outside of the 1 Burnaby Express game I called – it’s been all practice for the instructors to mark. But not anymore!
The shift entailed putting together and reading a 5 minute newscast at 6:00pm followed by 3 minute sportscasts at 7:05, 8:05, and 9:05 and then a 6 minute sportscast at 10:10.
All in all I deem the night to be a success. Of course, like all types of live broadcasts there were some hiccups. Whether it was the script jumping to the end before I was done reading, not being able to hear the station feed, or my forgetting to put NHL scores in my 8:05 (what?!?!), I still thought it was a success and better yet, I really enjoyed it!
The highlight of my night (like the pun?) was for my 10:10 sportscast. I’ve been told clips make the cast better and I tend to agree. So when I figured that the Oilers-Flyers game was on TSN I had it on in the newsroom to try and record some clips. Too bad for me it was a scoreless game and nothing really exciting happened. That was until the last minute.
I was recording and with 16 seconds left Ryan Putolny scored the game winner for Edmonton. It was a good call and fit with the cast and luckily I recorded it. I played it in my 10:10 and was very happy.
What do you think?
Have a listen.
My 10:10 sportscast on Evolution
Well I am in the thick of the second term of my Network Admin BTech program (6th term overall).
Assignments and project deadlines are at every term and mid-terms are shortly a head.
One of the biggest assignments that we are working on is a Linux Firewall.
Now it may not be as exciting at the Harrison Ford movie, but it is very interesting and something I would implement at work and at home.
We are developing a firewall that would be run on a Linux box and essentially lock down the server/client machines behind it, except a few services.
The first assignment was to make a firewall that ran on the server machine itself, but the second assignment was to make a separate Linux firewall machine.
Failed Resolutions here I come!
The new year is well on its way and so is term 2 of the BTECH.
There are new courses that I’m taking and also I’ve enrolled in an addition night class to get a dual degree in both Network Administration and Human Computer Interaction.
Some of the new courses for this term are Research Methologies, Strategic Management, and Applied Ethics. Those courses are on top of the more advanced Networking and Project Management courses. But I must admit I am mostly excited about my dual specialty.
Human Computer Interaction is the study of interaction between people (users) and computers (wiki). I’ll be taking this program for three terms as it advances. My first class is today and I am excited about the new subject that I’ll be studying.
Value Reasoning
Yes, they are over…now the anticipation of the marks looms over me.
But all in all it was a great term. My first taste of how the BTech is going to be like. It was interesting, learnt a lot of things like:
- Cryptology and how the programs and devices we use handle encryption.
- Networking Linux computers, sharing files between Windows and Linux computers over a network.
- Marketing was interesting because we got to see how one needs to market their products to different segments of the population.
- In LIBS or English, we had many intriguing readings, and I quite enjoyed writing my paper about how we are more enlightened now with the use of technology.
I am looking forward to the next term and the new material, but for the mean time I am going to enjoy my time off.
Radiation therapy seems to be a field that most people have little exposure to unless they or a loved one has received cancer treatment. Another aspect of the job that most rarely think about is the treatment of those who are at the end of life. In our culture death and dying are somewhat of a taboo subject – we want to do everything we can to prolong life even when this is detrimental to the person’s comfort and dignity. I have seen patients with advanced stage disease given radical (curative) treatment when their bodies cannot handle it and the result is more pain, cognitive impairment, limited mobility, etc. This is an especially difficult decision to make with young patients – nobody wants to send someone in their 20s or 30s into palliative care without first doing everything possible. I don’t agree with this approach because the result is more suffering. The ultimate goal should be the patient’s comfort and not the desire to follow accepted norms.
