Don't Blame Me; It's the NyQuil Talking

I have bronchitis. :-(

Though it has not been diagnosed by medical professionals, I know what wheezing instead of breathing, and that green stuff in my lungs, means. And I hates it.

Lately at work, I've been asked to substitute several times on the two mobile branches that we operate, and while it has taken away from the time I've been able to be near an ICQ/MSN connection (hello, 9600bps connection), I'm starting to develop quite a fondness for the things. The two drivers have been telling me they're going to go stir-crazy during September and October when one of the vehicles gets pulled off the road for six weeks for a refit. I think I understand what they mean now.

Outside of work... well, there's not a lot really. I'm still not unpacked from university yet, and now, with being sick, I don't imagine much will be happening anyway. I've been invited to join an opera (!!) group in Lunenburg which, this summer, will be putting together an evening of musical selections from two of the musicals of William S. Gilbert and Sir Arthur Sullivan (that's Gilbert and Sullivan to those who can't pull that together): HMS Pinafore, and the Pirates of Penzance.

Realizing, based on my audience, that most of you won't recognize anything I just said.

(explains)

HMS Pinafore is the musical that Bart Simpson had Sideshow Bob perform on the houseboat; Data also performs a selection (A British Tar) from Pinafore in Star Trek: Insurrection. Penzance is less remembered, though it received significant mention in an episode of The West Wing, where it was often confused with Pinafore. Either way, it's bound to be lots of fun.

...if I can shake this bronchitis.

Finally, friends, Romans, Scrabblemen, lend me your tiles. At the International Scrabble Club, my username is bwuhlman. Look me up sometime, and play a round with me. You're almost certainly guaranteed to win. ;-)

That's all for now.

He Puts the BS Back in BCS

Who am I talking about here? Well, me, of course! :-D

Last Monday came, and went, with no apparent attempts to take the degree, for which I toiled five years in the underground salt mines, away from me. At least, not yet. The jury is still out, though, on the degree's resistance to shaking (think Etch-a-Sketch) and sunlight (think magic ink) type attacks. In the words of Kent Brockman, only time will tell. :-|

The Grad Formal followed. Decorated in a pirate theme (Yarrr!), the Acadia Arena hadn't looked that resplendent since General Council, which was also known, due to my lack of electricity, as The Age of Darkness. All Many of the boys and girls of the Class of 2004 were dressed in their Monday best to party away the last glimpses of our time together. I was privileged enough to attend with the ravishing JFos, after no one else seemed interested. I appreciate it a lot, JFos, if you're listening. I'm sure there were better things you could do with your Monday night than go to a goodbye party for 800 people you've never meet. I had lots of fun, except for the goodbye part. Early in the evening, it hit me that here, in this place, I would be seeing, maybe for the last time, many of my closest friends, people who have shaped who I am, and also people who I regret not getting to know better. It was a time to say "see you later", and I'm glad I went.

In the routine category, life at the Library continues, and, as a result, I anticipate that Branflakes.net will be moving to a shiny new server Real Soon Now - possibly by the end of the week. Yay!

That is all. Sorry to disappear for so long, folkses. Love to you all. :-)

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Somebody's Smiling Down on Me

Exam marks are starting to trickle their way down the grapevine. And things look good - very good. COBOL, for example, ended up being far better than I expected. Architecture and Advanced Architecture both turned out pleasantly well. The exam for Systems Analysis and Design was fair, and I suspect I did equally well on it. The remaining marks will come out in due course, but I'm comfortable about them as well. :-)

Starting May 3, I become the Multi-Agency Systems Administrator for the South Shore Regional Library, a job which most of you already know I have, and which I've basically de facto had since 1997. I get to play with Linux servers, Java servlets and PHP galore, all while making sure the librarians remember how to center a piece of text in a Word document.

This eschaton of sorts is a bit of a downer. It will be nice to be home, but I'm leaving most of my friends scattered through creation. On the upside, I can now plan a trip almost anywhere in eastern North America, Alberta, British Columbia and Texas, and have a waypoint along the journey where I can stop and be guaranteed a warm bed, delicious food, and old-fashioned friendship. ROAD TRIP!!!!!

Finally, a gentle reminder to the ladies that I'm still single. Don't let me slip past your fingers, lucky ladies! You don't know what you're missing. :-D

In The Words Of...

My third exam, in Advanced Computer Archtiecture, is now over. As is the standard reaction, people ask how you did, and I respond. Lately, I've found I have a penchant for citing my opinions on these questions by mangling quotes by famous people or from famous literatry sources. Tonight, I turn to the words of former American counter-terrorism czar, Richard Clarke.

Your five years of computer science courses failed you. The lessons in Advanced Computer Archtiecture have failed you. And I have failed you. I tried hard... but that doesn't matter, because I have failed. And for that failure, I would ask... for your understanding and your forgiveness

Seriously, it probably wasn't that bad, but I really needed to do great. It's all in Crazy Ivan's hands now. We'll just have to wait and see. :-/

In the Eye of the Beholder

Be aware: the following blog entry may involve a pot calling a kettle black. You have been forewarned. :-)

It really bothers me pisses me off bothers me that some people don't appreciate the special gifts that they possess, because they think it's not real, or it's not good enough, or who cares that I'm ______ anyway?

There are multitudes of gifts surrounding me. They span a wide variety of categories - a wonderful smile, an aptitude with computers, the ability to make a musical instrument tell a story as opposed to making notes, a silly sense of humour, haunting eyes, frightening intelligence, wicked fashion sense, great listening skills, a shoulder for friends to cry on, the most comforting hugs, and the list goes on, and on, and on.

Notice to the vain: No, the entire list is not about you, though it is not unlikely that a characteristic I think you (yes, YOU) possess is on the list. :-)

As I alluded to, I'm the last person to admit that there's anything special or redeeming about me. I'm a bad person, and you should hate me. That having been said, all the rest of you, you're all awesome in your own way. I wish you (and me too) would start noticing it.

In Real World News, the Library Peoples are coming up to Wolfvegas tomorrow, and we'll be discussing possible summer employment plans for me. Also, teh Jerry seems interested in offering me Employment of Great Mystery and Providence. My next exam is Advanced Architecture, Saturday evening.

I will, of course, keep you updated, faithful reader(s).

I Shall Not Fail

Two down, four to go. Exam Two: Architecture. My performance: best described by this paraphrase of the great Psalm 23, A Psalm of David. I now dub it, A Psalm of Darrell (Crooks, that is).

The Crooks is my shepherd; I shall not fail.

He maketh me to sit down in gray exam rooms: he leadeth me beside the rows of tables. He restoreth my grade: he leadeth me in the paths of knowledge for his name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of Academic Probation, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me, thy non-maskable interrupts and thy set-associatives caches, they comfort me. Thou preparest a superscalar processor before me in the presence of dependancies: thou annointest my head with core memory; my stack runneth over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of Architecture no more.

Hate... Everything

By everything, of course, I really mean exams. But boy, do I hate them. :-|

This semester, I will write six glorious exams. One, COBOL, is already completed. Status: sufficient. I've already discovered a mistake I made, and the exam was too long for the allotted time, but I am satisfied with how I did.

Round Two: Computer Architecture. Tomorrow night (tonight), 7PM. Be there, or fail to graduate again, and come back for another kick at the can. Not only do I need to know everything about how computers were ever designed or built, but I also need to know my Greek numerical prefixes (give me a femto!), and lots of stuff about binary and hex numbers. So. Much. Hate. Confidence Level: sufficient.

Round Three: Advanced Computer Architecture. All about RAID and networks. Like regular Architecture except with fourth-year apathy and presentations, and new acronyms. Confidence Level: wing and a prayer, buddy. Wing and a prayer.

Round Four: Systems Analysis and Design. Software Engineering with a shorter project and smaller groups. Confidence Level: I'm writing the exam drunk.

Round Five: Logic II. A symbolic logic course. Harder than I expected it to be. Will definitely require me to track down class members for detailed review of some concepts. Hopefulness level: pretty good with sufficient review.

Round Six: Communication. The course that makes God cry. I still have a term paper to write for this course, but the exam should prove relatively trivial and obvious. Hopefulness level: great, if I ever get the term paper done.

Anyway, off to cry and sleep and study and cry some more. Send me comments and live