Robot Car / Had 3 Tests Today

I forgot to post on the blog last week that I wasn't able to work on my robot car because I had a normal lab. I did manage to work on it today though. I carefully drilled the holes into the wheels using a drill press so that they could be attached to the motors. I also had to attach these components known as capacitors to each of the motors.

The capacitors have a pretty cool effect. I think they give the motors more power. I noticed that even though each wheel has its own motor, I can turn one wheel and it will turn the wheel on the other side. It is really cool. I think that the capacitors hold a charge, and when I turn one of the wheels it releases the electricity to the charger board, and it then gets transferred to the other motor. If you are wondering what capacitors are, they are the orange, squarish looking things attached to the motors. If you look closely enough you should be able to point them out. I have 3 more boards to work on, and then I need to attach them to the robot car. I think that I might have the largest portion of the robot car complete.

In other news, I had a 1-hour exam in Expository Writing today, and quizzes in Fundamentals of Circuits and Digital Circuits. I am pretty sure that I did a really good job on all 3 of the tests, which is nice to know. The 1-hour exam that I had today was only the first part of the Expository Writing exam. I have the second 1-hour exam for the class on Friday, and I also have a Process Essay due that same day. My Expository Writing professor told us that after Thanksgiving break the work will slow down quite a bit.

My classes have been going really well so far. I really need to get my Technical Math grade back up to where it used to be, so I don't have to worry about it so much. I am passing the class, which is nice, but I would like to have at least an 85 in the class. We are currently on a unit that I have never covered before, so I have really been focusing on how everything works.

I meant to type this earlier, but I got distracted by a few different things (PS3, Laptop etc...).
I haven't been posting on the blog as much as I used to because I am running out of things to post. It is also quickly slipping into winter, so there isn't really anything to take a picture of outside...

It is almost 1:00 AM. I normally would not stay up this late, but I don't have my first class until 11:00 AM (later today). :-) I am going to get ready to pass out now...

Apple Picking & Most Recent Essay Grade

Last week my Fundamentals of Circuits professor, professor Vandermark, asked everyone in my class if they would be interested in helping him pick some VTC apples to donate to the local food shelf. I decided that since I didn't have anything else going on I might as well lend a hand. There were 2 other students that showed up for the apple picking, so my professor, the other 2 students and I all picked apples from the various trees that are roughly behind my dorm building. It was a fun and easy way to help people out, so I had no problem devoting my time to it. If I remember correctly, we picked about 2-3 boxes of apples.

In other news, I got another essay back from my Expository Writing professor. I keep thinking to myself, "There is no way I did better than my last essay," and I am always wrong. I received a 98 on this essay. That means that I got an almost-perfect grade. It really won't surprise me if my next essay doesn't top this 98, but it will be interesting to see how it plays out. My professor told me that this essay was the, "Strongest essay [she's] read this semester..." My next essay is a called a Process essay. I am writing about how to properly string a guitar, and the different things to take into consideration. If I want to follow my pattern I will have to get at least a 99, or I will have to get a 100. Yup, very unlikely... :-)

Career Fair/Found My Future Job?

There are over 80 businesses at Vermont Tech right now for the annual career fair. The Judd gymnasium (attached to SHAPE) is packed with tables, displays, and people.

Out of all the businesses here, there is one that really stands out for me. The company is called Logic Supply. They are located in South Burlington, VT and specialize in building small computer systems and also retail services. They first started in 2003 with a team of only 5 people, but they are quickly growing. They now have a team of about 25 people, and the company is projected to grow very quickly profit wise. The company provides a whole bunch of benefits to its employees. They provide: Full health care, 8 paid holidays, 14 paid vacation/wellness days, shared profits (as the company makes more money, employees get a share of profits), and retirement plan known as, Simple IRA. The retirement plan means that Logic Supply will donate up to 3% for every dollar made with your salary to a retirement plan that you get from being an employee. They say that they have a bunch of other benefits also. I would imagine that one of them would be huge employee discounts, considering the fact that they sell retail computer parts and accessories on top of building computer parts and writing computer programs.

I am definitely going to look into getting a job at this place. Out of all of the businesses I talked to, this one seems like the best match. I do still have quite a ways to go before I graduate from college with my Bachelor's Degree, so I could end up finding something that interests me more, but with my current state of mind it seems very unlikely. :-) It sounds like the employees make a very, very decent salary. I am not sure what I would be making if I started working there right after graduation, but I know that the business was able to multiply their staff by 5 in the past 5 years, so who knows how much better the company will be doing 4 years from now...

You can visit their website @ www.logicsupply.com

OctoberFiesta - Two Famous Performers

NOTE: This is a long post, but you should find it interesting. I wish I could write tons more about the different things that these performers did, but there is no way to convert the experience into words.

Wow! OctoberFiesta was a whole lot of fun. There were many different attractions. There was a mechanical bull, a live radio broadcast (courtesy of WVTC 90.7 FM), several side-games sponsored by clubs, an inflatable booth for video games on a projection screen, a hot pepper eating contest and several other awesome things including free drinks and food.

Even though the first huge chunk of the show was great, the last part of it was downright awesome. There was a magician running around reading people's minds and performing some very cool card tricks. He did an amazing job of freaking people out by reading their minds. One person swore when he guessed the card a kid was thinking of and was so freaked out that he left the gymnasium! :-)

There were signs posted about "Sword Swallowing @ 9:00 PM" which I had to stay for. I didn't realize that the magician was going to be the sword swallower. Keep reading, it gets better. Right before the show was about to begin the radio station introduced the magician by saying:

"Ladies & Gentlemen. Can we have your attention please. He has travelled all around the world performing his act, he has appeared on Ripley's Believe it or Not, the Discovery Channel, the Travel Channel, MTV and several other channels, he currently holds 3 records in the Guiness Book of World Records for his dangerous acts. Ladies & Gentlemen... We now present to you... Mr. Roderick Russell!"

I had seen this guy swallow swords on Ripley's Believe it or Not when I was younger, and I thought that it was the coolest thing that was ever on the show. It was really cool to meet the guy in person and see his act live. He said that Guiness has banned sword swallowing because of how dangerous it is, and that he is 1 out of only 50 people in the world who can perform this act. He did so many awesome things. He lit one torch, inhaled the fumes, and then lit a second torch by breathing the fire onto it! He explained that he has pages (not one, but many pages) in the Ripley's Believe it or Not book that show pictures and xrays of the swords in his throat. This guy is very well known. He has his own website. His website is, www.roderickrussell.com be sure to check it out if you want to see higher quality pictures. I could write ten pages on this guy because of how cool his act was, but unfortunately I don't have time to do so.

It was cool because after the act was over, I got to talk to Roderick Russell. I told him about how I had seen him when I was younger and I thought that it was the best act on Ripley's (which it definately was), and how I didn't realize it was him until it was announced. I told him that it was really cool to be able to see him in person.

The sword swallower wasn't the only famous person there. There was a french guy there also who goes by the name Etienne (sounds like A-T-N). This guy's act was, by far, the funniest thing that I have ever seen. He is both a comedian, and a juggler. He travels all around the world performing his acts. His act is one that has to be seen though. Even more so with this act than the sword swallowing, this act had so much going on that it is hard to describe. One of the cool things he did, was he managed to balance on a step ladder, while playing the tuba! He was a wicked funny guy. He had a very deep French accent, but you could easily understand him. He made jokes about how you can never trust a mime, and he called them death mimes for the rest of the show... hard to describe, but trust me he was very funny. He asked the audience "Who has been to France?" No one raised there hands so he responded with "Yeah. I didn't think so. I mean, why the hell would you want to travel thousands of miles to be treated like shit by the people in France, when you can be treated the same way by people in New Hampshire?"

He also asked for an assistant from the audience to help him out. He asked the kid, "Have you ever been to Massechusettes?" the kid responded with, "No, but my girlfriend lives in Mass." the performer than responded with, "Yes. Yes. That is good to know..." He then asked "could you please lay on the floor?" the kid began to lay face down on the floor and Etienne stopped him and said with a stutter, "N-N-N-N-N-N-NO. Where do you think you are from? Massechusettes? What are you... like your girlfriend?" When the kid finally lay down, Etienne began to juggle swords right over his body. This was ver entertaining. He asked "Are you getting freak out yet?" and when the kid said "Yeah. a little bit." he got down on one knee and began juggling even closer to his body! This was, of course, one of the countless hilarious things that he said and did during the show. When he did the one handed balancing (picture above) he said " I call this the tie trick"... "Because if you look... the tie is holding me up!"

This event was one that I will never forget. The put this on every year, right after October break. I am really looking forward to the next 4 OctoberFiesta's that I will be attending. I hope that both of these performers come back next year because they are the best acts I have ever seen... by far. :-)

P.S Etienne also has a website. It hasn't been updated in a while, so he is actually much younger in the pictures on his website. his website is, www.veryfunny.com ...I mean, of course it is. :-)

Results of Other 2 Mid-Term Exams

Monday is always the longest day of the week for me. I usually have 7 hours of classes on Monday. Today I was able to leave my 3-hour lab 2 hours early. I finished my work quickly and accurately so I was allowed to leave early.

I got the results from my 2 other exams today. I was hoping for at least an 80 on my Intro to Technical Math exam. Most of the material was new to me the week of the exam so I had to basically learn it on my own. It was mainly based on Trigonometry. As I wrote above, I was hoping to get at least an 80. My grade for the exam turned out to be a 79 which is close enough to 80 that I am happy with what I got. As I mentioned in previous posts, exams are a HUGE part of the final grade. They are actually a larger part than I thought they were originally.

There are two students that I share most of my classes with and they both missed the Tech. Math exam. One of them had an average of somewhere in the high 70's while the other had an average in the mid 80's. Since they both got zeroes on the exams, the one who was in the 80's for an overall class average is now in the 30 range and the one who was in the high 70's is now in the 20's range! I think that is absolutely crazy. I didn't think that missing an exam would have such an impact. I knew it was really bad to skip it, but damn! :-)

Anyway, both of the students talked to the professor and she said that there was no excuse for missing the exam (even though it was the Friday before vacation, and they live far away, and their ride was leaving before the class). She told one student that if he ends up attending every class from here on out and starts to bring his grades up (from the 30's...) than she might let him retake the exam at the end of the semester.

Back on topic, I also received my grade for my Digital Circuits Exam. I received a 99 out of 110 possible points which is equivalent to 90%. Another 90 grade... Hopefully my winning streak never ends. Excuse my god damn french, but I am kicking ass! ...except in math, but I am doing borderline good in math. My professor was talking about how computers can make people lazy, so I told him (as a joke) that I don't think that I could get any lazier. He responded with "No. You are a good worker. There is nothing lazy about you." I think it is 'kind of' a cool thing to hear. My grades makes sense though. It stinks to be able to say that I am the only 100% drug-free student in my circuit classes. Other students talk about their stupid habits as soon as the professor leaves. Me, I proudly have no bad habits to talk about. I do my work quickly and efficiently, and who ends up getting the good grades?

I can honestly say that my work habits are very much different from everyone else. It is nice because the professors usually praise me for my work after my classes. As a final thought for this post; I enjoy being here very much. At the beginning of the year the professor's warned us that college "isn't like high school." They sounded serious, but I am actually happy that it is different. All of the BS that gets tied with high school gets cut off, and so do the people who don't take life seriously.

Sorry for the long post. I could write more about cool things going on soon but I will save it for my next post. :-)

I Continue to Get Awesome Grades...

I just go my 3rd essay back from by Expository Writing professor. My last essay was the best one out of a class of about 20 students. I received a 94 (i think...) on my last essay. With this essay, I was able to do a little bit better (you can't do too much better than a 94...). My grade for this essay turned out to be a 95. They were handed back at the very last minute of class, so I am not sure how my grade compares to everyone elses.

I turned in a lengthy writing assignment today. I am not sure if it is considered to be one of the five essays that we are required to write for this semester. It had all of the requirements that an essay has, but it said 'Writing Assignment 3" on the top of the assignment paper.

I have a weeklong vacation that starts today. After today, I am officially halfway through my first semester. I am getting awesome grades in 3 of my 4 classes. My math grade is a 70 something, but I hope to change that with the second math exam that I have today.

The blog will likely not be update while I am on break, unless I come up with something interesting to post about. I need to jump into preparing for my math exam. I want to do an awesome job on this one also... :-)

Completed Robot's Charger Board

I have successfully completed the charger board for my robot car. I have confirmed that it is working perfectly. The LED (it's a light) turns on when it is plugged in to the wall and all of my voltage readings come out the way that they are supposed to. For those of you who don't know, the charger board for my robot kit does two different things. The charger board could be considered the 'power box' for the robot car, and it could also be considered a charger for the batteries. The chip i s pretty cool considering I actually created it.

This is actually the first year that Vermont Tech has worked with these robot kits. They used to have the students do individual labs, loaded with lab work, and all of the work was based on the core concepts of circuits, over and over again. The professor said that he thinks we would learn more by breaking away from what the course has been doing for years, and get some more hands on work. The project is a whole crapload of fun, it is the coolest thing that I have ever worked on, and it is something I also look forward to going back to every Wednesday. I am looking forward to finding out about all of the cool things I will be able to create after I get my Bachelor's degree. :-)

Well, it is after 5 pm so I am going to go get fat in the dining hall now...

I will continue to post updates on the robot car every Wednesday until it is finished.

Fundamentals of Circuit - Exam 1 (UPDATE)

UPDATE:

I got a 96 on my exam! I did better than anyone else in my class, and exams count for about 30% of my grade at the end of the semester! :-)

I am really happy about the grade that I got. It was really cool in class today because everyone knew that I had the best grade. This goes nicely with me getting the best grade on my Narration Essay in Expository Writing! :-)

I have my "Robot Lab" in about 45 minutes. For those who don't remember, it is for my Fundamentals of Circuits class. I just about have the charger board complete. I will hopefully be able to take pictures of my progress if my camera doesn't die before hand. :-)

ORIGINAL POST:

I don't know my grade yet, but I did an awesome job on my Fundamentals of Circuits exam. :-)

After the exam, we were able to see which ones we got wrong and right. Partially credit was also given for any work that was shown. I showed all of my work and I only got one final answer wrong. I answered one of the 3 extra credit questions right. One bonus question I got wrong because I didn't know that the only animal that has every bucked my professor off was an elephant. :-)

I hope that I do just as good or ace the exam that I have tomorrow in Digital Circuits. That exam is going to be based on Binary Algebra (1's and 0's) It might end up being confusing, but my Digital Circuits class is probably my easiest class. Expanding on that, my Fundamentals of Circuits class is the most fun, my Expository Writing class is also pretty easy, and my Technical Math class is my 'serious' class because it is the core of my major. I cannot move onto more complicated courses until I have successfully completed the previous math course.

In case anyone is wondering, I haven't posted my own pictures because my camera's batteries are just about dead and I would like to save the life that it has left for my robot car. I am really looking forward to getting back to building that tomorrow.

Well, that is all for now. :-)

(P.S - This is a picture of my dorm building.)

Start of Week 7...

It is now the start of my 7th week in the semester. After this week I will officially be through the first half of the semester and the first quarter of the school year. Midterm warnings get posted this week. You only get a warning for the classes that you are getting a D or an F. I currently don't have to worry about getting a midterm warning. I am 100% confident in 3 out of my 4 classes. My Technical Math class is the only one that I have to worry about. I would wish that my math grade would be better but I am not in danger of failing right now. I would like to be getting an 80 something but right now I have a 70 something. (lowest passing grade is a 60)

I have 3, 1-hour exams this week. I have my Fundamentals of Circuits exam tomorrow, My Digital Circuits exam on Wednesday, and my 2nd Technical Math exam on Friday. I really need to make sure that I study the hell out of Trigonometry because that is still very new to me, and it still confuses me. I will make sure that I am confident going into the exam. I am getting a decent grade in Math, so I am not going to let it slip.

I got a 3-hour lab today for my Digital Circuits class. My lab starts at 2 p.m. so I am going to take advantage of my remaining free time now... :-)

About this picture:

This is a pretty good picture of some of the buildings on the campus. I didn't take this picture though, I downloaded it.

Update With My Robot Car

This is the start of my AWESOME charger board for my robot car. I built this today and I am really impressed with myself. What does a charger board do? It charges the batteries for the robotic car that I am making. I am happy that this seems to be coming out very well. The professor said that the charger board is the most difficult part of building the robotic car. I still have a few parts that I need to solder onto this board but I should be able to have it complete (and hopefully working) by the end of my next lab.

My next lab is on Wednesday and I will be completing this board and mounting it onto the body of the robotic car. This is the result of what is only my fourth time soldering, so I did an amazing job (my professor even told me so). For anyone who doesn't know why my car is considered 'robotic' instead of 'remote'; it's because the car doesn't have a remote controller. It actually uses sensors to detect walls (and other objects) and it will automatically turn itself around.

I always look forward to my circuits lab. What beats building a robotic car?

Double Double Toilet Trouble

Last night the bathroom was flooded.... and I mean flooded. There was nasty toilet water all of the places, it smelled like septic, and there was no way around it. We are not sure who did it, but the bathroom's get cleaned every morning at 10:15 a.m. so whoever did it was aware that they would be getting the whole floor in trouble. Whenever the word "FINE" is put on a sign around here, it can't be ignored.

My wing in my dorm building has already been fined over $1,200 for propping an exit door open. The exit door fines got split between all of the residents in my wing meaning that everyone pays only $13, but it is still $13 that some moron decided they would take from everyone. It is probably this same moron (or morons... I wouldn't be surprised...) who flooded the bathroom on my floor. The meeting is at 9:00 p.m. tonight. Even though I am pretty sure it is about the bathroom incident, it could be about other things too. I will try to post the information on my blog once the meeting is over... depending on the outcome.