Busy Busy Busy!

If you haven't guessed by my lack of "up-to-dateness" (if that's not a word yet, it should be), I have been keeping very busy. On Wednesday I completed my first round of exams. I have had about one a week for the past four weeks, and two this week. I was hoping to get a breather, but it turns out I have my second Chemistry exam next Thursday. Before dinner I spent a few hours getting caught up on my Chem notes. It is nice to have them posted online because I don't always catch everything in the lecture.

I got my Statics exam back this week and was pleased to learn that I scored about 35% higher than the average. I made a few silly mistakes on my Probability/Statistics exam but I did very well on that as well.

In addition to studies, I have been keeping busy as the Finance Committee Secretary and Webmaster of Phi Delta Theta. We are in the process of re-founding, so we have to make the budget up from scratch. We have been having several meetings to complete the requirements of regaining our chapter as soon as possible. We had a scholarship presentation last night, but I came up empty. The others' accomplishments were very impressive. Our colonization ceremony is tomorrow, so that is our next step.

I'm going to have to leave you with that. I have to go catch the bus over to Carver to watch the undefeated volleyball team take on the #1 team in the nation, Penn State. It should be a good match up. Hopefully I don't have this long of drought between reports again.

NFL Kickoff Week

I filled the final spot in a floor mate's fantasy league about an hour before the draft. As a result, I will be keeping closer tabs on teams other than Chicago. The Bears don't play until tonight, so I am watching the Cubs this afternoon. The broke out of their longest slump of the year last night (six games), but it was shorter than their preceding winning streak (seven games). And the Brew Crew also played poorly last week, so the Cubs are still in good shape.

My synopsis of the cafeteria has had time to "digest", so as promised, I will discuss it. I don't like the fact that dinner is not served Sunday night. At Central we had brunch and dinner instead of breakfast and brunch. I do like how food is served all day from 6:45-8:00 on weekdays. The selection is better during the week than the weekend. Overall I have been fairly impressed. I live in Burge, which contains the east campus marketplace. I have eaten at the Hillcrest Market a few times, but I'm still a bit lost in there. Some highlights of the menu are made order omelets on Sundays, shrimp gumbo soup, and salad with steak, spicy popcorn chicken or crab, depending on the day. There is also meat (turkey, steak, chicken, porkchops or roast) and potatoes almost everyday.

I was hoping to make it home this weekend to watch Centrals season opener and pick up a few forgotten items. I didn't bring my car because parking is rather expensive and I don't expect I'll need it too often. I had to resort to listing to the Pella and Central games on the internet, and since I didn't plan on being around, I didn't get a ticket to the Hawkeye game. All three teams won, Pella and Iowa moving to 2-0 and Central 1-0.

I had a few interviews on Friday. One was for a research position. As it turns out, they were looking more for coders than reseachers, so that proved to be a bit of a waste of my time. The other was for a scholarship provided by Phi Delta Theta. They are providing 4 $250 book scholarships as part of their recruitment efforts. They said that these scholarships are open to members and nonmembers both, and that there are more availible for members.

First Week

It has been a long first week. I went to a student organization fair and a job fair, and a number of other welcome week activities, not to mention a few classes. Speaking of classes, everything seems to be going well so far. Several of them are freshman and sophomore classes so I should do well in them.

I attended my first Hawkeye's game yesterday. It was a warm one, and I'm still recovering from a bit of sunburn. They won by a wide margin, but I noticed several errors that would become much more apparent against a reputable opponent.

I spend most of today reviewing job applications and help wanted materials I picked up at the job fair. I polished up a resume and cover letter for a position on the Virtual Soldier Research team. As a backup, I also filled out an application to drive a Cambus.

I still cannot find my camera cable, so I took a few pictures on my cell phone. The low quality is just the camera, not the room.

Move In

I officially became a Hawkeye yesterday when I moved into my dorm in Iowa City. I packed up the Highlander Friday afternoon between my two shifts at the Pizza Ranch. My parents and I began the 90 minute drive around 9:30 Saturday morning.

We found our way to Burge Hall and I checked in while Dad found a place to park. After unloading my belongings we had to move our vehicle. We found a place on the street and walked to Panchero's for lunch.

After lunch, we went to Target to pick up some necessities. I then said goodbye to Mom and Dad and began getting settled into my room. I have made a list of additional items I need to either buy or pick up from home.

I think I am all set with textbooks. I bought most of them online, as it was much cheaper than the bookstore. Hopefully I didn't purchase from deadbeats that won't ship my books. I spent a while this morning exploring the basement in Burge. There are some long winding hallways, but I believe I found the quickest way to the laundry room and the computer lab.

I assumed my room, number 4132, was on the 4th floor, but I was glad to learn that its a ground floor room. I'm not sure where the Men in Engineering live, but with classes starting tomorrow, I can meet some people.

I just got interrupted for a while. I went to the Presidents Block Party. Gus, my RA stopped by and mentioned free food. Thats is all the convincing I needed. Gus told me the Men in Engineering is on the second floor on all four wings of Burge. He even introduced me to one of the RA's up there. There were several prizes given away including a bike, a Wii, several $100 check cards and some football press box tickets. Unfortunately, my number was never called. In addition to the free food, I also picked up football and volleyball posters, a water bottle and a keyring. I took a few pictures of the room, but I can't seem to find my camera cable at the moment. I hope I didn't leave it in Prague again.