The Homework has Come-eth, with a Vengance

Today is busy. School went from 10:30 to 3:00, then work from 4:30 to 1:00. Last week being fall break I did not have any classes, and the classes seemed slower than usual right before. And now I know why. The professors (in all of my classes) did not want to start the new (and harder) material and then have all of us go away for a week. Now that classes are back in, they (the professors) are a week behind from where they wanted to be. Needless to say, when it rains it pours. Last week I got so bored I almost couldn’t see straight, and now I’m into homework up to my eyeballs. Either way my sight is compromised, so please pardon my white academic cane. And last night when I had copious amounts of time to do most of this homework, the professor didn’t post the stuff online like he said he would, so now I have to do most of it while I am here at work till 1am. It’s irritating, and believe you me I will leave a very poor review of the course when the time for feedback comes. Other than that all I can do is 'just do it'. Here is the lowdown on school the last couple of days:

Modern Optics I & II- a hard shift of gears, we are moving from Geometrical Optics to Physical Optics. The major difference between the two is how you treat light. In Geometrical Optics it is treated simply as a ray, which makes optical systems much easier to deal with, especially when you only have to deal with a few lines on the optical path length. Physical Optics is the study of the wave-like nature of light, and the different applications of. When you have harmonic waves with the electrical and magnetic fields coming out in different ways (all orthogonal to each other and the optical path length) it allows you to study effects like polarization in great detail. However, if you had this treatment of light in Geometrical Optics, you would easily have a seizure.

Calculus III- Linear differential approximations, tangent planes to surfaces with gradients and higher order Taylor polynomial approximations in multi-variables. (I know, that’s what I thought too, we’ll skip this for now and save it for another day)

Lab for Physics for Scientists and Engineers II- well, I think my competent lab partner has departed the course (withdrew), so for the time being I am stuck with the same jackass as before (remember the one that argued with the TA over a simple calculation error for TWO hours?). His name is John Paul Something-or-other. Sounds like a Pope right? So I have dubbed him Pud John Paul Jackass. Fitting I think. He wasn’t as bad today, but I was able to do almost the entire second section of the lab by myself, in the time it took him to do one simple equation. I also encouraged him to ask people around us if he had a question rather that engage the TA in another pissing match. He would ask me a question, I would answer, and of course my answer had to be wrong (it was not) and we would ask around, get the same answer, then finally bitch at the TA because ‘it didn’t seem right to him’. Beating my head against a wall would be a more productive few hours, or in a way that’s kind-of what the class has become with him around.

Music of the day- more like the last couple of days, the song “Brick Windows” by Ministry (honestly it’s been that song pretty much over and over), mixed with some KMFDM. It’s kinda hit my mood just in that perfect way. Nothing more than aimless acoustic aggression, or an industrial, politically motivated sexually charged booty shakin’ head bangin’ good time. Aah, toe-tappin’ violence is usually the best way to work your way through a bad mood in my opinion. You might have other ways I’m sure, so to each his/her own.

I would love to vent and/or write more- but I really have to get to work and study. Good night and a pleasant tomorrow every one.

T