Still with the Quant and a negatory on the job hunt.

April 23, 2003

Well, my slaving went fairly well this weekend. Honestly, I don’t even remember what I was doing on Sunday that I thought I’d be slaving. I guess it was a combination of my Quant project that’s due on Saturday night and my 3rd draft of my paper that was due on Monday. I don’t think I even got to the paper until Monday morning, and I didn’t start writing my project until Tuesday night, so again, I’m not really sure what I was doing. Oh yes, I had to change states. After finally figuring out the actual details of the project, I went to work, but I had done a lot of work before that on getting education statistics for my state of choice–Hawaii–in order, only to find out that it was impossible to do. Oregon and Washington were already taken, and it seemed like every state I could think of was either taken or didn’t have the right statistics that I needed. I finally settled on South Dakota, and the goal of the project is to look at different variables within the largest 101 school districts in the state and compare them to the data we had for Wisconsin already, and then determine what variables are able to provide the “best” education possible. It’s not really possibel to get the “best” education, so we pretty much have to decide on something being the indicator of a good education, so I chose high standardized test scores. As I say in my project, I’m not really comfortable saying that high test scores are the benchmark of a good education, but given my statistics, it’s all I could do. The one nice thing about the project that I can think of is that I’m using both monitors. I have my project on the monitor in front of me so that I can write, and my statistical analysis program on the other monitor so I can manipulate the data and create charts. Good use of technology.

The project, however, is really a pain in the ass. It’s one of the hardest assignments at the entire college, and many Quant students go absolutely nuts in this very week. I think that I’m making good progress on the project for only having two and a half full days left to work on it, but I’m at a point where it could either go really well in that I feel like I’m almost done, or I could discover soemthing I missed and end up really struggling. I already believe that my one of my core statistical methods is flawed, so I have to talk to someone in my class tomorrow to see if I’m even doing it right. I’ve gone ahead and done things in the project that I know I’ll need whether my numbers are right anyway, but there’s only so much that I can do without solving the statistical problems. I guess as long as I’m keeping busy….

Speaking of keeping busy, the job hunt is at a negative so far. I know that I’m going to have trouble finding a job, but I’ve been so busy that I haven’t really had a chance to do a thorough search yet. I apllied for a few jobs off Monster.com, but I don’t think I’ll hear back from any of them. I’m going to need to get one soon, though, for the time is coming in which I’ll be free from my responsibilities from school and my parents will start bugging me to get a job for real. Gotta make the big bucks somehow. And speaking of big bucks, I found out today exactly how much I owe in college loans over the four years I’ve been here. It sounded like a lot to me, but Dan and Heather both said that it was a fairly reasonable amount to have to pay off. I guess that’s one way to look at it. I like my way better, that I have enough to buy a fairly nice car fully loaded in debt hanging over me. Yeah, I’ll take the 25 year plan? Thanks.

Things are definitely wrapping up here, although I still have a lot of work, even excluding this project. Once I get it turned in, I’ll only have about four things left to do. Come next Wednesday, only one. Something I’ve been trying to do over the last few weeks in get rid of some of the food I have in my room. My bookshelf that I store my food on is getting sparse, finally, but I still have a bit of soup and rice to go. The real question is whether I’ll be abe to get rid of some of my other stuff, like all my Kool-Aid, popcorn, and beer. I managed to cram all the beer I have into my beer fridge, but it’s still a good portion. I had a couple tonight while I watched “The West Wing” like I usually do, but I may have to farm out the consumption process to some other individuals. As for the Kool-Aid, well, I’ve been drinking that for the last couple of days. One flavor I really like, and I don’t know why I wasn’t drinking it sooner. Maybe if I’d taken the time to actually mix it instead of always reaching for a Coke, I might not have the problem I do now. Some things I know I won’t get rid of, like all my spices, but that’s about all the food I’m planning on taking home with me. I also have bottles of Cognac and Scotch to get rid of, but there is no way I’ll be able to finish them, as that would require a lot of drinking that I don’t plan on doing. Looks like I’ll have the first additions to my bar whenever I get my own place.

But yeah, my head still isn’t above water. It’s a short road left to graduation, but I have a lot of weight still atached to me. Another two days of work, a short breather, then back to work for a 10-page paper due on Tuesday. I might be able to get an extension until Wednesday if I ask soon, but I don’t know how willing Beth would be to me turning in the paper on the last day of classes. It’s worth a shot, since I also have to present my findings from my Quant project early next week, plus turn in the final draft of my independent project. Wednesday night, I will be a very happy man.

So I’m going to bed now. I can’t bear to work any more on this project tonight, and I just want to get some sleep. My tummy is full from the leftover black beans and rice I ate during “West Wing” plus I’m getting sleepy from the two beers I had while I watched. This was actually the first week I didn’t go out into the lounge to watch, but I stayed in my room and watched it on the TV I have in here. I wasn’t feeling anti-social, but I wanted to be near my data so I could think about it and look at it on commercial breaks. Did I? No, but it was the thought that counted. All right, I’m off. I’ll post again this weekend when I’m feeling a bit more sane.

My headaches won’t go away, and I only have two Tylenol left. And I ain’t leaving my computer to clear my head.