Other than the previous post, it has been a long while since the last time I really posted something meaningful here. However, there is a very simple explanation for the absence: I started classes a couple of weeks ago. This term is made up of a 5-week business management and a 10-week software project management and quality management class; quite different than the two engineering courses we had last term.

I am enyoing quite a bit the discussions we are having in both of these courses and I can see that I will be learning quite a bit during these next few weeks. However, in order to do well and have something to contribute to the class discussion, there is a huge amount of reading that needs to be done. This has proven to be the most difficult part of this "trimester". I have a couple of ideas that I would like to explore here and get some feedback, I will start working on these on my next little break.

I also want to comment a bit about my experience so far with OS X on the Powerbook. Something that I will say now is that although it is a change, it has been a very pleasant experience so far. The community in general appears to welcome newbie questions and that is great news for the future of Apple and its OS X.

After spending most of the weekend watching classes, it is funny how short 1 lecture can appear to be. I am done? I had to double check when I finished tonight just to make sure the lecture was not cut short. I am starting to really like my distributed systems class mostly because I am on familiar ground once again. It is great to learn all of those little details to something you know "how" it works but you really don’t understand the behind the scenes. Starting to ramble here, but know that things are on their way up regarding school.

These last few days I have been having serious doubts about going back to school. I officially started lectures this week and I have managed to watch 3 of them. Being online, I have the flexibility to watch them at any time and almost any place. However, that is not the reason for this post.

I am extremely excited about the opportunity to be able to take most of the classes offered in this program. The business component of the program makes it quite an attractive offer and I would have to say that was the biggest “attraction” and incentive for me to join this program. Now, I have always had reservations about a few of the classes and what is the true concentration of the program. “Embedded systems” is the emphazis and most of the students in the program do work in the field and have both the practical and academic experience in the area. I knew I was going to have to put extra effort to be able to get through these classes but I never thought it was going to be this hard.
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I spent this weekend mostly trying to not think about Monday’s start of “classes” and I would say that I did a pretty good job of it. Saturday morning, Sarah and I went out to become one with nature and tackled a 3.1 mile hike around McDowell mountains’s North Trail. The day was perfect for being outdoors so we had coffee and bagels outside and then headed up to our hiking adventure. I took several photos of our outing, which I have to admit had a couple of stories to tell but I will save those for a better occassion. Maybe once I post the photos online I will talk about my encounter with a “teddy bear cholla.”
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Going to take my second exam today. I think I am better prepared than last time but I hope that is true. I will post more this evening. Wish me luck!!

update: thank you Jodi and Mike for the good luck wishes and I can report now that I definetely had a better experience compared to last time. At least I did not have any blank questions this time around. I knew what to expect this time around and I covered the material better as well. Since the majority of the exam was based on actual programming, my score is based now on the professor’s discretion and weather or not he can understand what I was trying to do.