Way Over Your Head

I bet you thought I wasn't going to do my traditional year-end post, didn't you?

For those of you who knew about my recent travels, this post may just come as a surprise. It certainly won't be in the same form as usual, but I'm getting it out there nonetheless.

As I type this sentence, it is currently 0304 UTC, and I only express the time that way because I'm miles above the ground and have no clue what state (or time zone, for that matter) I'm over at this time. Although I suspect we're over the Central time zone, and I promise I'll find out for sure later.

In case you're a little bit confused, I've been in El Paso, TX since Monday 29 December with the band and am now on our return flight to Pittsburgh. Since we're expected to land at about 23:20 EST, the only way I can get this post out by year's end is to use two-thirds of my remaining battery life to type this and the remaining third to take brief advantage of the free wireless Internet at Pittsburgh International Airport and upload it quickly before we leave.

Pitt's football team played in the Sun Bowl this afternoon against the Oregon State Beavers, and the last three days in El Paso have been one big "fiesta" leading up to the main event.

We met in Pittsburgh at 06:30 EST on Monday, and were busy either flying, practicing, performing, or whatever until we returned to the hotel at 22:30 MST (i.e., 00:30 EST, a full 18 hours later). Then Tuesday morning was a continuation of the whirlwind with a Battle of the Bands and another brief rehearsal before we got about 90 minutes of free time. I'm pretty sure most of us took a nap. Then off to the Fan Fiesta (where another Battle of the Bands was held), and we were free for dinner.

So all in all, over the course of the last three days, the band have had precious few hours of unstructured time. Not to mention that our hotel was right across the street from the airport, and there's not too many of those "authentic Mexican restaurants" within walking distance.

And then, of course, there was the game. Which we lost, 3-0. As one of my colleagues said, it was far more a matter of Pitt losing than of Oregon State winning. Such low-scoring games are always frustrating, especially when you're down and there are so many turnovers (including two in the first minute of play). Pitt stepped up to the plate in the waning moments of the game, but it was too little, too late. If only they'd played like that from the beginning...

But it certainly wasn't all bad. Not at all. Although the lows in El Paso were nearly identical to the lows in Pittsburgh on Monday and Tuesday (about 34 °F or 1 °C), the highs ranged from 60-65 °F (16-18 °C), whereas Pittsburgh was... well, let's just say it was colder back home. I got a bit of sun at the game today and am probably burnt. Which doesn't typically happen in December.

And then, of course, there's the time spent with friends. We may not always get along like peas in a pod, but it's good to see some of the people you care about and haven't seen for a while. And it provided a little bit of an escape from the hectic holiday season.

As I said, earlier, we're projected to land in Pittsburgh at around 23:20 EST, which means we'll probably be busing back to Oakland when the ball drops. And since I'll be away from home for the first time on New Year's, staying at a Pittsburgh hotel until my parents come on New Year's Day, I don't want to ring in 2009 in such a lackluster way as just saying "Happy New Year" on a darkened bus full of sleepy, grumpy people (grumpy because we lost and they're tired, not because they're generically grumpy people).

Anyway, I think that, should the celebration be unsatisfactory, I'll reserve the right to stay on El Paso time for celebratory purposes only until after it's midnight there. Maybe somewhere they'll be selling sparkling grape juice at 01:00? I don't know, but it's worth a shot, right?

In any case, I hope all of you have had a very happy holiday and I wish you all the best in 2009.

This is Tim, signing off from way over your head, at 0328 UTC (with 25 minutes of battery left for Pittsburgh).

Random tangent: Apparently, the in-flight movie for this flight was really short, so they're supplementing it with an episode of Numb3rs. Too bad my headset doesn't work.

Vote!

If you haven't heard it already, you're going to hear it again.

VOTE!

If you are eligible and registered to vote today, there's no excuse for you not to. Let your voice be heard.

I overheard a piece of a conversation yesterday between two people, one who was planning on voting for Obama, the other for McCain. And they (albeit jokingly) said that they should just agree not to vote and not waste their time.

What a horrible way to look at our electoral system! I voted absentee last week, and I haven't yet told anyone who I voted for. For all you know, dear reader, I could have canceled your vote. Should that matter to you?

On the contrary, it shouldn't cause you to do anything different but place your ballot as you were going to anyway. If you happen to agree with me, great. If not, fine. At least your voice will have been heard.

Obama or McCain, I really couldn't care less who you particularly vote for. I mean, obviously, it does matter who is elected, and so your vote does matter, but your particular choice isn't going to make me think any higher or lower of you.

On one condtion:

When you vote, whomever you vote for, it matters to me that you do so consciously and not blindly. You should actually think about all of the many issues at hand (taxes, economy, social security, foreign policy, health care and education to name only six)... and then make a decision that you're most comfortable with.

It may sound at first glance like I'm referring to those who are seemingly enamored with Obama, but there are just as many "McCain-iacs" out there who aren't looking at the issues. Likewise, there are just as many people on both sides who actually know what they're talking about and have made an informed decision one way or the other.

I know no candidate is perfect, and quite honestly, neither candidate will be best for all of the wide range of issues we must consider. But it is my belief that one should be able to justify to oneself why they voted for whomever they did in every category (or at least be willing to concede in a few cases that you can't have it all). If you can't do that... well, you still have every right to vote however you choose, but maybe you should reconsider your options one last time.

I may never ask you who you voted for to see if you can defend your choice. Most likely, no one will. But you should be accountable to yourself. Pro-McCain, pro-Obama, I don't care. Pro-thinking is the way to go.

This is the closest most of us get to running the show. Don't mess it up for stupid reasons. Think... and vote.

Polls are open in Pennsylvania until 20:00 EST. For customized local voting information, click here.

Random tangent 1: Yesterday, I was handed a bag of Doritos as part of a "get out the vote" campaign. It read: "Two parties, one America. Ranch and Pizza Cravers." And in my oh-so-perpetual 24-hour-laggy-wittiness, I realized that I was in fact registered "Salsa Verde." I should be offended.

Random tangent 2: Do they even make Salsa Verde anymore? That was a really good flavor...

On the Road Again

Why do I always seem to blog right before leaving town?

But alas, another month has gone by, and all too fast. It's amazing how that happens. And I really ought to be writing.

In a few short minutes, I'll trek up the hill to get on another band bus to Notre Dame. We'll be spending most of the day and evening tomorrow (Halloween) in Chicago, IL, where our hotel is, before heading back to South Bend, IN for Saturday's game, and ultimately returning to Pittsburgh in the wee hours of Sunday morning.

As a side effect that only a geek would notice, that means I'll be travelling into UTC-5 (Central Daylight Time), travelling back into UTC-4 (Eastern Daylight Time), and then changing the clocks to UTC-5 (Eastern Standard Time) on the way back. So I might as well just get used to "new time" now.

As far as politics goes, I voted on Monday. At 12:12 EDT, I filled in a bubble on a bubble sheet that somehow represents (in an absentee manner) my choice for president. It was a little bit scary, and I actually did pause a little beforehand. But I did it. And the ballot's in the mail.

I watched Barack Obama's 30-minute infomercial last night, just to see what he had to say, since it obviously couldn't sway my vote in either direction. I really don't know how to feel about that. I mean, sure it was uplifting and inspirational, but are paid infomercials really what our democracy is coming to? Please tell me it isn't so.

In any case, I'm sure glad to have gotten that over with. Obama referred to "having gotten to know Americans over the last 21 months," which really made me frustrated that this spectacle that has been the 2008 election cycle has been drawn out for so long. My one choir friend even wrote an Op-Ed for the Pitt News warning people to watch out for the onset of Post-Election Depression Syndrome.

But as important as the presidential election is, it's not been at the front of my mind lately. I had mostly made up my mind about a week and a half ago, which is a very good thing... because I haven't really been able to keep up with the news for the last week and a half.

If you've been reading recent tweets on my Twitter, you'll have noticed that I've been having computer troubles lately.

I was having a remarkably awesome dream on the morning of Saturday 18 October, when at 05:30, it was interrupted by a grating and whirring sound within my laptop. At first I thought it was the hard drive, and my tech-support/friend Corey was inclined to believe me, until I had him actually come over to run some diagnostics, which proved that it was in fact the cooling fan which was failing.

So in order to not overheat my laptop, I've been working out of computer labs for about the last fortnight. And when I get back from Indiana, I'll have to somehow find a replacement fan.

Classes are going well, and the same with all the extracurriculars. I'm a little bit frustrated that two of my classes decided to have big group projects for the end of the term but didn't assign them until just now, but I'll deal with it.

And, oh yeah, I'm a membership candidate for ΚΚΨ, the national honorary band fraternity. In fact, if all goes well, I'm just over two weeks from becoming a Brother.

Oops. Guess it really has been a while, eh, blogosphere?

Hope October was great, everyone. I'll see you hopefully sooner this time.

Random tangent 1: First snow in Pittsburgh yesterday! And I don't have my winter coat down here because my parents forgot to bring it down with them on 12 October. I'll survive, I guess.

Random tangent 2: The Cathedral of Learning has been lit up in all kinds of cool manners lately, as part of the Festival of Lights celebrating Pittsburgh's 250th anniversary next month. I have some awesome pictures, and I'd certainly like to link them, but (as you've probably guessed) uploading them just won't happen without a working computer.

Back to Blogging Basics

So, I feel like I should write here a bit more often. There are a number of reasons for this, which are listed below in no particular order:

• I miss blogging.
• A lot of my readership have just gone off to college and are physically further away.
• I want to feel as though I'm connecting with my family and friends as much as I have in the past.
• I've gotten 3 IMs in the last 24 hours basically saying "you should blog... now." ;)
  

Not that I'm one to cave to peer pressure (at least not often), but it's really a good point. For all of those reasons, I should be writing this right now.

And so I am.

But enough nonsense. A self-referential blog post isn't what you came here for. No one wants or needs that. You, dear reader, want to know about my life!

Or at least, I'm assuming you do. After all, you came here.

First and foremost, my classes are going pretty well. It's always hard to tell just three weeks in how things are going to be, but I'm fairly confident this time around. As always, there are many annoying quirks in each class, but I won't dwell on them (at least not here). After all, they pale in comparison to Laurel's dropped class, although I'm sure I find them just as frustrating at times.

I'm actually pleased with all of the members of my ChE 0301 lab team, which was a pleasant surprise considering I didn't know any of them prior to our first lab session on 4 September. As expected, Biochem is an interesting class despite the fact that it annoyingly falls on Tuesday nights. World Music is definitely fun and interesting; however, I'm a little bit anxious about the first exam on 17 September because I've never taken a formal music class here before and I have only a vague idea of what the exam will be like in terms of format, content, and the like. So I'll definitely be studying up for that.

I've been doing okay with waking up, too. For example, on 3 September, I watched Gov. Sarah Palin's speech at the Republican National Convention online, since I figured I might as well hear what she has to say in order to have any hope of making an informed decision in November. Her speech ended at around 23:15, at which point I decided to head for bed. One problem: I hadn't yet read over the lab for ChE 0301 the next morning.

I told myself that I'd get up at 07:00 to read it and do some other work before lab at 10:00... and I actually did. After a wakeup routine of about 20 minutes, I was actually alert enough to read and comprehend the lab manual. And then I realized that I was ever-so-slightly more of a morning person for doing so. Really, when was the last time I subconsciously decided to go to bed before midnight?

This isn't to say that I'm suddenly a morning person. Au contraire, mon frère. I mean, I'm writing this in the late evening hours, so that should be at least something of an indicator.

On a typical weekday this fall, I've had my "gentle beep" alarm go off at 07:50, followed by my louder "music" alarm at 07:56. I then fumble for my computer and wake it up, and it starts playing BBC World Service Radio at 07:59, just in time for the hourly news bulletin. Early on, I'd be out of bed when it ended at 08:06, but lately I've listened to the program in a half-dozed state until the break at 08:30. That's not good on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, when I have the 09:00 class, but at least I'm waking myself up... and I'm trying to stay informed while doing so.

Speaking of the 09:00 class (Materials), we just had a guest lecturer who presented a case study on airplane engine failures. I can't speak for anyone else, but I'm sure glad that that lecture was on 12 September and not 11 September. Because it wouldn't be very tactful to be talking about things going wrong with airplanes on 11 September.

I might be informally tutoring Physics 1, because I've got a couple of acquaintances who aren't having such a good time in that class right now. I helped one of them with kinematics just this afternoon. It took a little while to get the juices flowing in that direction again, but I think we made progress. And progress is good.

Um, that's about all I have now. Hopefully I'll be able to blog about some other things in the near future. But for now, it's late... and I must get to bed.

Random tangent: I've gotten back on a caffeine-regulated schedule. So long as I control my intake, all is well with the world.