To start, a few that don’t require much explanation besides a bullet-point mention:

• Having a single
• Volleyball (finally made it to playoffs)
• Grades (3 A’s and a B+)
• Getting a literature minor (a third one I wasn’t expecting to get until I found out I qualified this fall)

Now for those that require a little more explanation.

All of my other favorite awesome things have to do with my goals I set at the beginning of the year and modified at the midpoint.  Since this section’s going to need a little more reading than the previous section, here’s one of my favorite “blocks” of songs I played on Audiophonic this term.

I am still having a kickass senior project.  Development, while a little difficult at times because we’re unfamiliar with the platform, is enjoyable, and everyone has really had a hand in creating the final product.  I haven’t done much work on the game mechanics side of things, but the UI, learning to use interface builder, and making sure views transition correctly is all my handiwork (although the transitions got a major boost from another part of the team).  I can’t overstate how great our client has been through this whole process–he’s a Rose grad, so he knows that while we get stressed at times, we always produce great work.  There’s a great feeling knowing that even though your client travels a lot, even though you usually get his out of office email reply when you send him a status update, your questions/comments/requests WILL get a response within 48 hours.  Usually much sooner.  He’s responsive, he understands how we feel about feature creep (and hates to do it, but his ideas usually ARE good), and most importantly, he understands how busy we are.  That said, it felt really good to know that we blew him away with what we had done for the version of the iPhone app that was presented at the Senior Projects Expo.  Knowing that he felt really glad with what we had to show him going into the expo really made me feel confident it what my team’s doing.

The expo itself was great–our advisor, knowing our team’s potential to do something creative for the expo, encouraged us to go beyond the typical presentation.  We didn’t get everything we wanted to have at our table, but were still happy with what we came up with.  Our first goal was to have our poster stand out.  Using some of the original graphics from the game for our title/section headers made it fit in with the game, and the backgroun made sure things would stand out.  Our game is primarily targeted at a female audience, and as such, is pink.  We had one of two options with the presentation of the game:

1. Embrace the pink
2. Be Lame

We chose to take option 1.  I knew exactly which poster was ours when I went to pick it up from the printer–the inside of the tube was intensely pink.  I started having some doubts about whether it was too pink–I wanted something that would stick out, but not be retina-searing.  That seemed bad.  I made the executive decision to have another poster printed up with the game’s original gradient (which isn’t as intense, and still looked good), and brought the first version of the poster to our advisor meeting.  Our advisor thought it looked fine and actually liked it.  After talking with him and the group before our teleconference with our client, I sort of went back on my initial overreaction, but it still seemed like a good idea to have the second poster made.  That way we could decide as a group which background better represented the game.  The second poster got botched–no background was visible at all.  We wanted a pink background over a white one, so the carzy poster stayed.  And I’m sort of glad it did.  After four years of looking at the senior project posters, I didn’t expect my legacy in the department to be a giant pink poster, but I’m not sure I’d want it any other way now.  If nothing else, it’s certainly had the faculty talking (Sriram told me point blank at lunch that he didn’t realize how pink the poster was until after the expo).

We also wanted to have some sort of video loop going at the presentation showing the game in action, but couldn’t find good free screen capture software for the mac that didn’t leave a watermark or export solely to Flash.  Our replacement, a powerpoint file that did the same thing and showed the changes between our version and the original game, actually ended up working better and probably was more professional looking than our video would have been.  We also had a soundtrack (well, an iTunes playlist of appropriately-themed songs) for our booth–perhaps not the most innovative of things, but it was another touch I thought our display should have, and aside from adjusting the volume, it seemed to go over well.

The projects got featured on the news and on the RHIT website.  The local news stayed for what felt like 30 seconds and only talked to the booth next to us (doing an educational-themed project that hasn’t tested its interface with actual educators, as far as I know, which seems like an egregious mistake) before disappearing completely.  We got featured because we were setting up in the background and had an iPhone project.  iPhone is still a buzzword.  The news likes buzzwords.  The reporter from the Rose-Hulman PR office was a little better–he talked with our group for about 15 minutes and took a photo of our whole group, but none of the information we gave him or the picture showed up in the actual report.  He assumed both of the mobile groups are working on the iPhone (not true) and left it there because of the secret nature of our projects.  Oh well.  At least we got press.

The other awesome thing in my life right now pertains to that whole “get a job” goal I’ve had all year.  The endgame.  The goal at the end of all this schooling.  I’ve actually got a company pursuing me, and it feels amazing.  A week before the career fair (which I wasn’t planning on attending–none of the companies interested me), I got an email from a Liberty Mutual representative letting me know they’d be at the career fair, the career services office had emailed them my resume, and they were interested in seeing me as a result.  I was thrilled, especially when I learned they had an office in Seattle and a rotational program that appealed to me.  I talked with them at the fair, they seemed interested, and by the end of the week I had been asked to interview in the career services office a couple weeks later.

The more I looked at their website, the more Liberty Mutual fit as a company.  I’m a math dork–others in my major have avoided any additional math courses beyond what was required of them, but I’ve embraced the additional courses.  There’s something really cool about how you can use math to model most things, so I’ve pursued minors in math and computational science, both of which will come in handy–Liberty Mutual is a company that has a lot of data coming in, and knowing how to use that data and creat models from it seems like a particularly handy skill.  I’m hoping I can bring that to them should they hire me.

Anyways, the interview rolls around, and despite maybe needing a haircut, I looked good (or at least something approaching professional).  I don’t recall everything the interviewer and I talked about (and probably shouldn’t, in case there’s a non-disclosure in place), but I do remember a fun part of the interview.  My interviewer saw that I was a DJ at WMHD and asked me to announce one of my favorite songs (I chose 24 Hours) in 10 seconds.  Despite some initial fumbling when I tried to give some background on why I chose the group, I apparently impressed him with my delivery–I sounded “like I’d had plenty of practice” doing that (a year of doing that for 2 shows certainly helped).

I was told I’d hear back in about 2 weeks.  I had a positive response by Friday of the same week.  I must have done something right.  they were prepared to have me do another interview, but needed to know which position I wanted to pursue, a software developer role in Seattle or a Systems Analyst position elsewhere (my work this summer was of a somewhat SA-related nature).  I was confused-I thought the first rotation was a business rotation.  After some emailing back and forth, it turns out I wasn’t able to get into that program (they were filling the last position for that already), and this was a similar, non-rotational program.  I was a little disappointed, but I seem to remember the interviewer saying something about the possibility of getting in on the other program the next time it rolls around as an employee, so all is not lost.  that sort of sealed things for me–I was going to pursue the position in Seattle, as it fit closer with my skillset/goals.  That interview’s coming up sometime this month.  I’m pumped, partially because I get flown out, partially because this seems like a good fit.

So there we have it. Awesome things.  Hopefully I won’t be quite as swamped next term–it’s taken me 3 days to get this post together.  Looking to spring (my last quarter at Rose–amazing it’s already come so fast.  It feels like only a year ago I was moving onto campus and starting a livejournal for back home).  After a term of having a single, I will have another roommate this term–an exchange student.  We’ve talked briefly on Facebook, and things seem to be getting along well.  Hopefully when we meet face to face on Sunday that feeling continues.  On to the final lap–it’s not a victory lap, yet; I’ve still got 10 more weeks to push myself hard to reach the finish.

“Have you used our service before?” the sales representative asked me.

“No” I replied.

“Okay then.  Before I go any further I’m going to explain what the process entails,” she said in a chipper practiced tone.  I looked at her nametag.  Julie.

“What we do here at Future Perfect is take your initial data and with the use of advanced predictive technologies give you alternative timestreams as to how things could go.  Once you’ve chosen the outcome you’re looking to find in the situation, we give you a list of steps to take and ensure this future happens.  That’s why the screening process to get an appointment here takes so long—we don’t want this kind of information to fall into the wrong hands.”

I nodded. “You wouldn’t want the next potential dictator getting the steps they needed to enslave the Earth.”

“Exactly,” she replied, “Now which of our packages did you choose to go with?”

Future Perfect’s services weren’t cheap at any tier.  The basic package cost most of my life’s savings—I couldn’t imagine how much the top plan cost.  That analyzed over a hundred potential scenarios of the way things could go.  For the basic plan, I only got five.

“The basic plan.  It’s all I can afford.”

Julie seemed to understand.  “There’s nothing wrong with that.  Sometimes I think it’s the best of all the plans we offer—too much choice and you can’t decide.  Now what are you looking to do?”

I told her about my goal.  I currently worked as a technician on the shuttles running between Earth and Mars, but my goal was to be part of the exploratory missions to planets farther out in the solar system.  I had taken the job repairing faulty ships with the hope of advancing or getting some more relevant experience to apply for those sorts of positions, but had mostly been stuck in the same place.  Five years later, I needed a plan to change things.  Future Perfect’s services were my chance at that.

Julie finished typing into the console.  “Okay, I’ve got all of the data entered into the system.  It’ll take a few minutes for it to process, run the analytics and determine some options for you. Can I get you something to drink while we wait?”

I took her up on her offer.  We talked for a few minutes before the console beeped to indicate that analysis had been completed.  Julie took a look at the results.  A confused look formed on her face.

“Something’s not right.  According to these, you don’t have a future.”

I was taken aback.  “What?”

“Sorry, let me rephrase that.  I didn’t mean it to sound so hopeless.  There’s something wrong with the results—instead of showing the potential ways you could reach your goal, it’s showing that in all five of the possible timestreams, you’re going to die.  That can’t be right.”

“Is this a regular occurrence?”

“No, but it has happened before.  I’m going to grab someone from IT.  I’ll be right back.”

Waiting alone in her office seemed to take forever, but she came back with a technician.  He took a look inside the console, but nothing seemed to be amiss with the terminal.  He left to go check elsewhere in the office for the problem.

“It’s probably just a fluke in the system.  This happens every once in a while—you’d think with all the advancements that keep this place running we could at least keep it online 100% of the time.  I’ll refund your money and schedule you for another appointment.  Does 3PM tomorrow work for you?”

It didn’t.  Another appointment time was set up; I got my refund, and headed back to the main level of the Future Perfect building.  As I headed out, I was still thinking over what she said—Julie tried to cover it up, but there was something ominous in her voice when she told me I didn’t have a future.  What could she have been trying to hide?

I didn’t see the bus coming until it was too late.  So that’s what she meant.

Have a kickass senior project

I am doing amazing at this goal.  Our client is awesome–while he’s not always immediately available because of his heavy travel schedule, he’s always quick to respond by email and has even agreed to help us develop our public presentation materials (eliminating some of the worry of what we can/can’t say at these things).  I couldn’t have asked for a better team–we’re committed to working together successfully and we seem to be able to cover for each other’s weak points.  I feel like I could be actually “managing” a bit more — we’re not meeting as often as some of the other project groups.  On the other hand, we don’t need to meet as much–I can generally trust that what my teammates claim will be done will be done by the time it’s due.  Dr. Bohner is proving to be an excellent advisor–while he has the tendency to get off on tangents when we discuss our project with him at our meetings, he’ll be the first to poke us if something needs to get done and offers generally good advice.  I’m glad he’s a bit looser with grading than Sriram was with his teams last term–as much as I like Sriram as a prof, Dr. Bohner’s slightly more laidback attitude as our advisor is a better fit for us.

The tough part, development, starts when we get back.  I’m looking forward to it, though–we’ve broken everything down week by week and should be able to have all of the major necessary features done by the expo, with a few to add spring term before going for some of the more out there “if we have time” features and completing things

Run a puzzle hunt

This one’s completely fallen apart.  It was a good idea, but I find I don’t have the time, and I like being a participant of puzzle hunts much more than a writer.  I’ll add another goal to make up for this one being a bit of a bust.

Get a second-round interview with Microsoft/a job in general

Last year, I got a first-round interview with a Microsoft rep.  I got one this year too, although by phone rather than in person.  It was pretty cool–I got to talk with the head PM of Microsoft Project for an hour, and although I was mixed on how the interview went, I was positive for the most part.  Whether I botched the interview or whether they’re only hiring past interns because of the economy (a rumor I had heard), I didn’t get to the second-round, we-fly-you-out-for-a-few-days interview I was hoping for.  It hurt to get that e-mail; I didn’t even need to open it to know what it said (it came too quickly to be good news).  It couldn’t have come at a better time, though: I was at D’s house for fall break and had to push past the initial shock/sadness (there were tears over that e-mail, in all honesty.  Not many, and not for long, but they were there.) to resolve to enjoy that weekend, and it worked.  Que Sera Sera–whatever will be, will be.

My job search outside of Microsoft hasn’t been doing much better.  I got an interview with Epic on the spot at the career fair–that was really exciting, as that hasn’t happened before.  I enjoyed going through the interview process with them (unusual as it was), even if things didn’t work out — I’m not going to be a perfect fit with every company.  Google hasn’t responded to the application(s) I sent, although I have a contact with one of their people through a cousin, so I’m trying to see if I hear anything back that way.  I figured it couldn’t hurt.

My primary job search sources right now are the Career Services website and Craigslist.  I was wary about Craigslist, but the Software/QA/DBA section is surprisingly good for finding positions.  I have to sift a bit more to find things I qualify for, but I’m at least hearing back from more companies (usually with a “we’ll keep you on file” since they’re looking for someone on shorter notice) than I was with other search engines.  At this point, tenacity is the best thing I can have–if I keep applying, I’m bound to find something.  And if I don’t?  Just like last year, I’ve got a plan B started–it seems like it could be a rally good idea if I can find the customer base and get my feet off the ground

Cook at least once a month

This goal hasn’t been a problem either.  I’ve gone from thinking I was probably a good, not great, cook to realizing that I’m way above average compared to my (current) suitemates.  The years of practice have made me completely at home in the apartment’s kitchen, and while I wish I had some more counter space than I do, I’m really enjoying having the facilities.  One thing that hasn’t changed though, is people who use the kitchen and don’t clean their shit up.  I’m looking at you, CS.

Be More Social/Go Out More

I suck at being social.  I am all too happy to spend hours in my room reading/noodling around on the net instead of hanging out with people doing awesome things.  Unfortunately, I used D as a crutch–he was someone familiar and I could count on being able to hang out with him most of the time, whether in the room or going out to eat on the weekends or doing the radio shows.  With him having left Rose, I need to push myself to not completely alienate myself from others.  I’ve started some of the steps to change this already–even though he’s not here, I’ve still been getting together with the SNL group we started meeting with Fall term–but I need to do more.  I’m going to start by spending more non-project time with my project group–lunch/dinner on the weekends or something.  My academic life is great, but my personal life is in bad need of attention.  This is more of a long-term thing, but it’s a bit more reachable to the puzzle hunt thing.

and that’s where things stand.  More (on the start of winter term/christmas break) later.

Here’s what’s in store after the jump:

• Cold Drinks with Cool Profs
• Senior Project Presentations
• In-Person Client Meeting
• I avert disaster
• Finals Week
• Driving Home/Break

I finally got a chance to go to Cold Drinks with Cool Profs.  Hooray for finally being of age!  I’ve wanted to go ever since they were first announced sophomore year–not for the alcohol, but for the opportunity to socialize with my fellow CS/SE majors and profs.  I’ve realized for some time that while I don’t entirely “fit in” with my peers in regards to my interests and career goals, and I don’t want to completely ostracize myself from them.  Problem: I’m kind of awkward in larger-sized social situations.  I like smaller groups, to say the least.  I wasn’t completely out of my depth that night, though–my entire senior project team was there, so I hung out with them and we talked much of the night, eventually joined by our advisor (who continues to be awesome) and a few other students.  I left a bit early with  the member of my group I rode over with (I had no idea where the pub was, and trying to find it at night didn’t seem to be the best strategy), relaxed and ready for the next day’s presentations.

Things learned at CDwCP:

1. Whatever beer I sampled was not to my taste at all.
2. I should find out the name of what I’m sampling before I take some so I can remember not to get it again.
3. Strongbow cider is more to my taste preference.  This is my occasional drink of choice for the time being.

Senior project presentations went really well.  Radio has done wonders for my presentation skills–I’m still a little nervous when presenting, but nowhere near as bad as I used to be.  Since last time one of our group members was wearing a suit (he had an interview the same day), I felt I should continue the tradition and at least wear a blazer.  Aside from some minor technical difficulties when demoing our prototype (the simulator was offscreen when the laptop resolution changed, so we had to make a quick fix), we handled ourselves well and were able to answer any questions.  Our client had previously signed off on our use cases, and was very pleased with the job I had done organizing them.  I’m really happy with where we’re at, and although some of the documentation I had hoped to get done by quarter’s end is still unfinished, we’re at a really good place going into this next quarter.

I don’t want to badmouth any of the other teams, but I was really confused by one of the projects.  Two teams are working on a mega-project, one part of the team developing a game maker for educators and another team developing an online distribution system for games created with the game maker.  On paper, this seems like a good idea–educators working from the same textbooks could prepare a game like jeopardy or something that could be shared.  However, in the demo of their project, I’m not sure they’ve done enough to make their program easy to use.  They’ve changed the names of programming concepts such as “objects” and “actions” into theater terms such as “actors”, “costumes”, “props”, etc., but it’s really not clear how one is supposed to use/create any of these things.  While game ideas such as Jeopardy and Number Munchers were tossed out, the demo they did made neither of these.  Looking at it from the perspective of an educator, it still looks far too complicated–I wouldn’t spend the time to make a game when I can just develop questions and draw a jeopardy grid on the whiteboard.  They mentioned getting a group of educators to act as some sort of advisory committee–I hope they find some and soon before they make something no one will want to use.

With the presentation out of the way, there was only one more major event for senior project this term: meeting the client.  Originally I wanted to ask our client some questions about our non-functional requirements, but once I learned the project manager of the other team being sponsored by our client had suggested Sonka’s Pub (again), I realized this was less formal meeting, more informal getting-to-know-you.  I made a note to e-mail the client my questions in the morning.  The best thing I did pre-meeting: Google search the client’s name to figure out what he looked like.  This was amazingly helpful when there are 8 people who know they’re meeting one of the higherups at this company, but don’t know who he is.  As soon as he entered the back area of Sonka’s we were all gathered in, I immediately recognized him and waved him over.  Our client (let’s call him B as continually typing out “our client” is getting a bit ridiculous) is AMAZING.  So collected, so funny, so warm with all of us.  I was envisioning something more formal, but just shooting the shit with him for a couple of hours about Terre Haute, Rose, our projects, etc. was amazingly relaxing.  When he offered to buy drinks, I remembered what I had learned Tuesday and got a Strongbow (I didn’t drive) to enjoy over the course of the night.  I wasn’t drunk, but the drink helped loosen me up a bit so I wasn’t quite so tense with B.  I’d like to think I made a good impression on him.

There’s been a minor revolt in our kitchen.  CS’s cooking has caused 2 of the 6 who normally dine in our apartment on weekends to go out when it’s his turn.  If I have to lay down one more time from eating something he’s put too much salt in, that number will rise to 3.  He was scheduled to cook this week, and when he was describing what he was planning, something involving linguine and peanut sauce, it didn’t look too well.  His logic behind the choice of recipe (I use that term loosely–I have yet to see CS use a recipe when cooking) was that it was low-fat.  I jokingly accused him of saying I had a weight problem, and he said he had been to Baskin-Robbins.  This is a person who has to get belts in the boys section of Walmart because he can not find the right length in the men’s section.  I can find belts in the men’s section, and I’m only slightly larger than he is.  The claim that we need something low fat is ridiculous.  The night he was scheduled to cook, however, he came in at 5 needing something different, since he’d have to get a lot of stuff at Walmart.  I suggested we make chicken cacciatore with some pre-made sauce I had that only needed chicken and pasta, since it’d be quicker and feed the people he had invited from next door.  I went with him to get groceries, then came back and made dinner while he did the dishes that were in the sink.  At dinner, many compliments were paid to our “collaboration”, as CS put it.  To be fair, he collaborated by driving me to walmart so he could get stuff from the pharmacy section of walmart while I gathered the ingredients and cooked dinner, but I’ve learned to choose my battles at this point.  Disaster temporarily averted.

Finals week wasn’t bad.  I only had a paper and a take-home exam due for my lit classes that Tuesday before I was free to go.  The take-home final was done by 11 am Monday, and I completed 3 of the 5-6 pages I needed for the paper by 2.  I wanted to get in to the prof’s office to have him look at what I had written and the direction I was going before he got swamped with requests, so I headed over to his office, expecting a max wait of 30 minutes.  I waited for an hour and a half (the person before me took 45 minutes to have their paper looked at), but it was totally worth it.  After giving me some good pointers on correcting what I had and suggesting some places to push myself, the prof brought up that I almost have a minor in lit.  After this term, I’ll have gained another minor by accident.  That will be three minors total by the end of the year.  I’m pumped about that–I’ve taken classes that have interested me and managed to profit from them.  I’ve really liked Dr. Taylor as a professor–he’s pushed me as a writer because he knows what I’m capable of.  Hopefully my final paper lived up to that potential.  I’m proud of how I did in all my classes–A in senior project and romanticism, B+ in Computational Science, and B in Modernism, and a GPA that’s now getting close to 3.25 territory.  Now to keep this momentum going.

The drive back went pretty well.  It was raining in a lot of Illinois/Wisconsin, but I can handle rain.  The last part of the drive felt like it took forever–I’m sorry, Wisconsin, but you’re boring.  Really boring.  Break’s been pretty uneventful–I’ve done some Objective-C work so I can be of better use during the coding part of the project this term, gone to the chiropractor, gotten my hair cut.  Thanksgiving was fun–since my aunt that usually does Thanksgiving is moving soon, we just did things for ourselves.  The recipe for turkey with stuffing we used from Alton Brown was fantastic, and the stuffing was delicious (I particularly liked that it used dried cherries), and the pumpkin pie we got from Costco was probably the size of my head in diameter, if not larger.  All in all, a good meal that I’m happy to have helped with.  Met up with an old friend from high school today for coffee and a (bad 80s) movie, and although I was really nervous (something they picked up on), I think it went well for the most part.  As I was driving them home, I was entirely honest with them, and things seem to have been reciprocated.  I’m going to try to move things a little further next break when we get together again.  If nothing else, now I know I can call anytime and should message more often.

I’m ready to head back to Rose and attack winter term.  The drive may be long, but I’m looking forward to getting back to the apartment as well.

As a bonus for getting through this blog entry, here’s what I listened to while I composed it:

• Half of My Heart, John Mayer
• Cheap Kicks, Noisettes
• Fire On High, Electric Light Orchestra
• Assassin, John Mayer
• Jigsaw Falling Into Place, Radiohead
• The Fear, Lily Allen
• Every Now and Then, Noisettes
• Too Much Food, Jason Mraz
• We Talk Like Machines, Savoir Adore
• Portions for Foxes, Rilo Kiley
• Party Hard, Andrew W.K.
• Effigy, Andrew Bird
• Too Blue, 7 Worlds Collide
• In My Place, Coldplay
• Fences, Phoenix
• Don’t Stop Believing, Glee Cast

CS has the tendency to leave a door open when he leaves, whether it’s his roommate’s door when his roommate is in the process of going to bed or the front door of the apartment when he leaves in the morning (I’m all for an open door policy, but I’d rather not be the only one in the apartment with the door right open if I’m still asleep).  When I woke up this morning, D and his girlfriend (or so I thought) were already well awake and playing on the Wii.  The door was ajar, so I said “Did CS do this?  Did he?”

The response?  “CS is right here.”  Oh. Shit.  I quietly went back to my room and shut the door and just sat there for 10 minutes.  Then took a shower.  Then went back to the room, sat down, and just sort of avoided talking to Colin until classtime.  It still hasn’t come up.  If it does, I’ll be honest, but I seem to be lucky so far.  I need to be careful, double-check, and think before I speak poorly about someone.  Also, not being half-asleep would help.  Good to know that CS isn’t the only one who can be taken down a notch.

I’ve needed to go to Walmart since I moved in.  While I brought plenty for the kitchen, as did others, there’s some stuff that we all just forgot and needed to purchase at Walmart.  D and I had planned to go after we both woke up.  When I got up at 11:30 and left the room to use the restroom before planning my part of the list, CS cornered me, wanting to know if I needed anything from Walmart, as he was going.  Half-asleep, I told him I was planning on going, as I needed to get some supplies for dinner that night, since I was cooking.  It was agreed that D, CS, myself, and CS’ girlfriend would go together rather than separately so as to not get items twice.  CS offered to pay with his credit card, and here is where things began to get a bit frustrating.  Actual conversation:

“I get 2% back when I buy groceries.  So if we have $100 worth of groceries, I get $2 back”
“I know how percentages work, CS”

I don’t like shopping with CS.  D and I are aiming to fix it so it’s only the two of us because of this last time.  I make lists for what we need, and adhere as closely to that as possible.  CS makes a list as well, but then buys a bunch of stuff besides, raising the total of our communal total (items are separated into “individual” and “communal”–everyone pays for their individual plus their portion of the communal).  Of course, despite whether we will be using it/eating something made with it or not, it seems like most of CS’ stuff counts as “communal”.  He tried to claim the beer was communal.  D and I both informed him that if we weren’t going to be drinking it, we weren’t going to be paying for it.  These became part of his individual total along with word from me that if I wanted one (and I probably won’t), that I would gladly pay him for the one I took.

For my first shared meal in the apartment, I wanted to do something that I was familiar with that I knew would go over well, so I made Chicken Tikka Masala with the Masala sauce I brought down with me from Trader Joe’s.  The recipe is right on the jar–cook some (preferably Basmati) rice in another pot according to its directions.  While that cooks, take about 1 pound of chicken (I used pre-cooked fajita-seasoned strips) and cut it into 1-inch cubes.  Place in a pan with the jar of sauce and about 1/4 to 1/3 cup of water and let simmer, covered, for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally.  When done, serve on top of the cooked rice.  It’s simple, unpretentious, and really really good (particularly if you add some red pepper flake to the sauce for just a little bit of heat).  It went over really well with the group, but CS’ behavior while I was cooking, and while everyone was eating, seemed really rude.  Rather than talking about what we were having and talking about the smell coming from the simmering sauce, as most others were, CS was taling instead about what he was doing the next night–steak and a vegetable.  He talked about what cut of meat he got (a crappy one, to be honest), how he was going to season it, how his dad could make a cheap cut of meat better than most steakhouses, isn’t it going to be just great.  This continues all through dinner, and felt like a slap in the face.

I had a little reason to be concerned.  CS and his girlfriend had made cookies that afternoon.  Peanut butter blossoms (basically a standard PB cookie with hershey’s kisses in the middle after they’ve baked) are a fairly simple cookie to make, but somehow they screwed up.  After 10 minutes in the oven, CS wondered why they hadn’t flattened out.  This was blamed on the oven not being the proper temp, but when I asked, they hadn’t pressed down the cookies with a fork beforehand–something I’ve seen in every PB cookie recipe I’ve seen, even for the ones with hershey’s kisses.  I suggested this, but apparently I know nothing about baking PB cookies.  When the cookies were done, they were okay, but nothing overly special–there wasn’t enough of a peanut butter flavor to them and they seemed a little bland, like more sugar was needed.  This was enough to make me wary when CS said he’d be doing breakfast as well, but I agreed to wake up when he said he’d be making them to give him a fair chance.

When I woke up at 9 that morning, I didn’t hear anything going on in the kitchen.  I walked out into the dark living room to find that CS was just coming out of his room as well!  CS said that breakfast wasn’t going to be made for at least another half hour to an hour since no one was up.  This ticked me off, since I usually don’t set my alarm on the weekends and was a bit tired.  I crawled back into bed for 30 minutes and joined everyone in the main room of the apartment.  Once made, CS’ breakfast sandwiches were good–the eggs were nicely scrambled and the italian sausage was a nice counterpoint that added a little heat/flavor to it.  Maybe I had been wrong to judge CS’ cooking skills based on just the cookies.  Maybe he was more than just talk.

While D and I played on the Wii that afternoon, CS began to prep the steaks, tenderizing them and coating them with a rub that included meat tenderizer and lemon pepper.  I wasn’t really paying attention to how he was doing it or how much rub was going on the flatiron steaks he had bought, as I couldn’t see from where I was sitting.  He began to grill them, and the first batch (of two) was soon ready.  As they were cooking, I could smell pepper in the air–I was worried, but knew that a peppery flavor is sometimes good on a steak.  D’s girlfriend got the first steak since we still had our hands full with the game.  After she took a bite, a look came over her.  This could not be good.

After finishing the level at hand, I went to grab a steak, which CS was patting with a paper towel to remove excess rub.  It didn’t seem like a good sign that, post-cooking, the steaks looked like hamburger patties rather than steaks (although that could have just been the cut he got–a quick wiki search reveals flatiron steaks are cut from the chuck region of the cow).  I cut a bite off and put it in my mouth.  I nearly spit it out.  It was too salty, too peppery, and too lemony–alltogether awful.  D’s girlfriend realized this about the same time, and we asked how heavily the steaks had been seasoned.  These clearly didn’t need a heavy dry rub like they had been given, and no amount of scraping rub off would help the flavor–the great job of tenderizing CS did made sure the meat was permeated with the flavor.  It was all I could do to choke down the steak and veg (which got saturated with the juice from the meat and tasted salty) with a glass of water.  CS chose to do something he couldn’t quite remember in an attempt to impress us all and had fallen flat on his face.  While it seemed a bit mean to feel this way, the schadenfreude of this after all the disrespect I had been given the night before made up for this.

D, his girlfriend, and I went for a walk that turned into a drive down to Sonic to cleanse our palates with some cherry limeades (note to Sonic: have your free limeade coupons distributed to mailboxes.  Leaving a pile outside the ARA leads to students (self included) taking stacks of them to create a never-ending limeade source.)  It ended up not helping with the gastrointestinal woes we were suffering as a result of the salty steaks, but at the time, it tasted good, as did the feeling of retribution.

The core part of the senior curriculum for SEs at Rose is the senior project.  It’s a chance to flex all the skills one’s used and create an actual product for an actual company.  Although I initially had reservations about one of the members, time and time again I’ve been reassured that our team is going to work well together.  Our client seems energetic about what we’re doing and willing to lend a hand where we need it, and the project itself (an iPhone application for one of Turner Media’s properties) is cool and also involves a very hot skillset.  I get to be PM, which excites me and makes me nervous at the same time, but I have faith in my team that we’ll deliver a quality product to the client at the end of all this.  At this point, that would make the project a success for me–although getting one of those end of the year awards wouldn’t hurt either.

Run a puzzle hunt

This one’s already in progress.  I’ve loved the last two puzzle hunts I’ve been a part of, and although they tend to bring out the ugly , overcompetitive side of me, I really want to write/run a hunt of my own.  I’ve got a couple writing partners, so hopefully this will work out and spring 2010 will see an awesome hunt.

Get a second-round interview with Microsoft/a job in general

Last year, I got a first-round interview with a Microsoft rep.  That was one of the most exciting moments when I got that email–I ran out of the building to call home as soon as I had confirmed by email that yes, I was interested in an on-campus interview.  While I feel I did really well on the interview, I didn’t end up moving on to the next stage of the interview process.  Looking back, there’s a few things I’d change–indicating products I’d be interested in working on, for one–but overall it was a good experience to actually go through an interview.  This year, I want to get to the next level.  Getting an offer from them awesome, but at the least I’d at least like to get flown out to Redmond.  Microsoft has been my dream job since I came to Rose (although I’ve shifted from wanting to be an SDE to figuring out that coding isn’t my strongest suit to going through 371/372 to wanting to be a Microsoft PM).  I’m not entirely set on them (there’s at least a few other companies I”d want to work for, and there’s always the option of freelancing).  I’m thinking that wherever I end up, I’d like to be away from the Midwest for awhile–a change of scenery always seems to do me well.

Cook at least once a month

I love to cook.  I’ve been cooking since before I hit double digits in age, and I’ve been cooking a lot more since my mom went back to work.  I’m good at it, but my skills tend to atrophy a bit while I’m at school.  It’s not that I don’t have the facilities–all of my dorms so far have had a communal kitchen–it’s just that when the people who use the kitchen frequently don’t fucking clean it up after they’re done, it really diminishes the desire to use them.  All that should change this year–I’m in the apartments.  Hopefully this means I can start experimenting more and cracking open the copy of “The Joy of Cooking” I bought off of eBay.  If nothing else, I’m looking forward to sharing that food with friends.