Andy Morrow's Blog

Today, James and I drove up to Rock Canyon for a brief exploration trip hunting for caves. We spent maybe two hours total walking back and forth looking for a specific cave off the side of the trail only to discover later that we hadn’t gone quite far enough. It turned out, however, that the cave dead-ended about 15 feet underground, so that was slightly anti-climactic. It was, however, very nice to get out and do a little hiking. I love the outdoors.

The highlight of the trip, however, was hiking up a side-canyon looking for more caves. We spent about 30 minutes hiking up a very steep, loose hill. There were lots of small fissures, but none of them led anywhere. We realized we needed to get back down in a hurry in order to return the car we had borrowed on time, so we started moving quickly down the hill. What took us almost 30 minutes to climb we descended in under two. It was an absolute blast – and the eight or so onlookers sitting at the bottom gave us some amusing looks. Don’t worry, though. James and I have both done this before and were wearing helmets. Yes, we were being safe.

Look tomorrow for the final version of the mine trip post and a lot of various photos from around campus.

Figured I’d just check in with everybody. School’s going well – and PolSci is so very close to over. All I have left is to revise my paper and turn it in tomorrow. I already took the final. I think I deserve a B on the final. Honestly, I didn’t really grasp much after the second half, largely because I didn’t spend enough time on the readings. I think I could have gotten much, much more out of that class if I’d spent more time on it. Sigh. I suppose that’s how life is sometimes – we miss a few opportunities here and there, but it rolls on. And life is still good.

Anyway, I should now have much more time for blogging and writing code. And playing the piano. I’m not going to deceive myself by telling myself that I’ll read books for pleasure. Maybe on the weekends. I’ve still got The Innocents Abroad on my phone.

I haven’t forgotten about my write-up about the mine. I just haven’t had time to make any progress. I promise I’ll finish it this weekend. Also, I’ll have a lot more pictures of various random events in my life.

Speaking of the piano, however, I’m going to go play for a few minutes and then go to bed. See you all soon.

I’ve just literally aced two tests and the multiple choice on a third. My religion test was a 100%. I got my CS236 test back with a 100%. Finally, I just took the Math 113 exam and scored 100% on the multiple choice. Now, I must admit that I don’t think I’ll get 100% on the free response for the math exam. However, I’ll still be getting a pretty good grade.

My post on the mine trip is maybe half done. I’ll finish it this weekend.

Finally, only three more days of class left for PolSci 201 – two days of lecture and a final exam. Woo hoo! Soon I’ll only be taking 12 credit hours. Oh, how nice that will be.

Last night, I took my first CS236 exam. I feel like I aced it. I completed the test in one hour and four minutes and am expecting above 90%.

My thumbnail has healed enough from our trip that I can grip things between my thumb and forefinger again. It’s changed colors every morning except for this – it’s remained a nice maroon color. I should have been taking pictures.

Looks like I’ll manage to work 18 or 19 hours this week. I missed a few on Monday to take a test; however, I’ve made some up and kept up 4 hour days. What’s more, it looks like I’ll finish all my homework with good grades and no troubles. Plus, I’ll have this weekend to enjoy – I’ve got Monday to finish up any homework for Tuesday. (Monday is President’s Day, and I have it off.)

James and I still need to return the camping gear we borrowed from Robin and Carol. Hopefully they’ll let us use their yard and hose to clean some things off. The tent especially got rather dirty. It may still be wet. We need to get on that right away.

Maybe James and I can get to the Ophir Hill mine this weekend. I think Mike (Fish) goes every Saturday. James has a project to do for biology – he has to find a variety of kinds of mold inside of mines. (A convenient project proposal.) We’ll have to see.

James accidentally melted our electric kettle last night. He forgot to unplug it and it boiled off all the water, finally melting itself. Oh well. Easy come, easy go. James will probably get another one – otherwise, we couldn’t have hot chocolate and maté. James was introduced to maté by a friend from Argentina and became a big fan whilst in Peru. They drink it socially there. Most people I’ve met who have tried it dislike the taste (it’s rather earthy). I don’t mind it; however, it does have caffeine, so I avoid drinking it regularly.

We’re laying plans to play a harmless prank on one of our friends. I can’t say who “we” are just yet; however, I can say that the trap will be sprung soon, that it will be hilarious, that it will damage nothing, that we’ll help clean up, and that there will be video on the internet.

I’m going to begin work on my article about our mine trip. See you all soon.

James and I have returned from Death Valley, and did we ever have a good time. We were out with the Mojave Underground exploring mines in the area. I don’t have time to write about the trip now; however, I’ll be working on a post going into great detail over the next few days.

I’m sad to hear that Belle is no longer with us. Fluffy no longer has a target for growth – she doesn’t need to eat the dog anymore.

But in all seriousness, I’ll miss her.

In the other sad news department, the power supply for my external hard drives seems to have died. I pried it open, and it’s cheap trash. I make better solder joints whilst asleep using nothing but my laser vision. That’s alright, though – I’ll take it in to my office and figure out where the problem is, then fix it and put it back together.

The devotional today was good. I think the guy who gave it, Ronald Rasband, is related to my friend from last semester, Andrew Rasband. It’s not a very common last name. It was on the blessings of temple attendance and very needed.

I’m doing okay on catching up. I scored a 93% on my CS124 midterm, and I’m going to turn in a paper for religion today that I expect a good grade on. I’ve got tests coming up for math, CS 236, and religion. Also, there’s a paper due for PolSci on Friday. I can do it, though. The only question is how many hours I’ll manage to work this week. Hopefully twenty.

I may invest in a caving helmet once I’ve paid my housing deposit. It’ll be about $70, but I expect to use it many, many times throughout my life. I may try and go exploring near Manteca this summer.

Well, it’s time to grab some lunch and get to class. So long.

Bwa ha ha! The average score: roughly 61%. My score: 87.66%. Yeah, it’s that amazing.

In other news, I’ve got a whole lot of homework to do tomorrow.

EDIT: Oh, and I liked the floor at the Marriott. It was neat to actually be able to look at the speakers themselves. I’d do it again if I could.

It’s been Too Long since I posted, so here’s something short. Today, my friend Brad and I sat in the front row at the devotional. We were on the floor of the Marriott center, probably about 20 feet from the speaker. It was very neat. The devotional was on tolerance for other religions. The speaker was not the most charismatic or moving they’ve ever had, but her message was excellent and badly needed at this school. Religious intolerance is much more prevalent than it ought to be at the Lord’s university.

It looks like the previously mentioned Calc II midterm went alright. I got a 75% on the multiple choice, which, guessing from other scores I’ve heard, is quite good. I’ll be getting my test back today along with information on averages, so I’ll know tonight how well I really did.

I also took a midterm this morning for PolSci 201. I was fairly well prepared and think my test deserves an A- or a B. I think that’s what I’ll be getting in the class, which is acceptable given the amount of work I put into it.

Anyway, I’m going to grab some lunch before it’s too late. I’ll write something brief tonight.