Back to School: Round 2, Day 1

Well, after 16 months of working post-electrical basic schooling, I'm back at it for intermediate.

Apart from a former teacher I ran into, and one other classmate I worked with for 4 months, I hadn't said more than 10 words to anyone else by lunchtime.

There seem to be clusters of people that know each other, either they work together or old friends from the last block of school. I thought I was lucky to know even one person.

There are 2 other women in the class: the aforementioned former coworker, and another woman who also doesn't appear to know anyone.
I made eye contact with her, but she glanced over me sitting on my own at lunch to take a table to herself. So much for solidarity.

The group of 60 in this block are split between 3 different schedules. Some of our schedules overlap, shop time has to be separated for space. I'm curious to see which faces will end up in my group.

I have started a list of textbooks I have to buy. By the looks of it, when I'm done, an updated code book plus new textbooks is going to cost almost as much as school itself. On the bright side some of them will be used again in the Advanced block, so I'm paying now for next time too. The accumulation of textbooks, binders and tools means I might as well use a luggage bag with wheels to cart my stuff around in. But I won't, so I guess I won't have to worry about not getting enough exercise while at school.

I did manage to save money on parking though. The school charges $92 a month. Next door at the autoshop they rent out spaces in their spare lot: only $140 for January to March, a much better deal.

The school is quiet this week, as it's only apprenticeship blocks starting. That means Tim Horton's closed early today. The regular college programs start next week, so we might have to do something about taking a table of 4 to ourselves.

That's about it for today. My brain is a little fried from the long day, new faces and 10 trees worth of paper I've received (not yet including the textbooks of course).

Let's see how the rest of the week goes.

Comments

The "Social Impacts" of a Female Working with "Mostly Male Construction Workers"

The first time I'd heard anything about comments made by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was on Newstalk 1010' s The Night Side with Barb DiGiulio . For reference, here is a section of the comments from Mr. Trudeau at the recent G20 summit as posted in an article from the National Post : " Even big infrastructure projects, you know, might now say, well, what does a gender lens have to do with building this new highway or this new pipeline or something? Well, you know, there are gender impacts when you bring construction workers into a rural area. There are social impacts because they’re mostly male construction workers. How are you adjusting and adapting to those?" A lot of people are focusing specifically on the "social impacts... ...of mostly male construction workers" part in a negative light. I'd agree, it certainly doesn't sound good, does it? The resulting public interpretation of what that comment meant spinned the narrative to that of t

The Weasley Family Clock Project

I came across this project stumbling around the internet for interesting things, as I tend to do from time to time. I thought it was a great example of a practical use for some of the electronics stuff I have been learning in school. It also serves to feed my Harry Potter hunger. (Long live Dumbledore's Army!) I might not be at this stage of the game yet, but it would certainly be cool to work towards. It makes use of LED's, and a micro-controller connected via wi-fi. It connects to each family member's smartphones via an app (If This, Then That) to geo-locate the family member and communicate that location to the clock. This lights up the corresponding family member with their pre-set locations. That app has many more uses. It can be used to connect to your HUB wi-fi connected light bulbs; NEST home thermostat; Belkin's WeMo, a plug adapter that you plug your corded device (like a coffee maker, or your Christmas lights). The WeMo is a wifi enabled device tha

Three Seconds

He's going to hit me. If I try to maneuver maybe- Bang! One One-Thousand. The sound of a scream came from somewhere. I realized it was me. I shrink in my seat, recoiling from the impact. The side airbag deployed, grazing the left of my face and shoulder. I barely registered it. Somehow my right hand wasn't on the steering wheel. "I need two hands, two hands on the steering wheel. Steer!" Things were freewheeling now. I'm not in control. What's next? Two One-Thousand. Look left, the airbag was there. Look forward, but my focus was blurred. I could only see on what was happening inside the car. "Pump the brake, pump the brake, pump the brake!" I hit the curb that bounced me up and over the island. Three One-Thousand. "Pump the brake!" I came off the island into the right turn lane, no one was there. The car stopped. I braced for another possible hit. Nothing. I waz vibrating at a higher frequency. Trembling. I

The Sparks Lady

Search This Blog