Bogieblog

Class Update

I am still plugging along at class. We have lost 3 people along the way. I am doing well on paper; quizzes, homework and reports return good grades. At the labs I still struggle, but I seem to be struggling about the same amount as other students now instead of seeming to be the only one without a clue.

Out of the 10 students left (we started with 13), one had taken, and flunked, the class before and 9 had either taken EL101 or are taking it in conjunction with this class (this class is a pre or co-requisite for EL101). So, it seems that the first couple of weeks the 2 classes covered a lot of the same material. Now, we are in a different area, and it is apparent that everyone else isn't as far ahead of me as it appeared at first.

I still take a lot of time for study and homework, 14-18 hours per week, but I had nothing better to do anyway. WS is great thru it all, doing all the chores on class night, being quiet or absenting himself while I beat my head against the wall (ie, do homework), and providing comedy relief at just the right times.

I may not be brilliant but I am tenacious, so I am hanging in there.

Class 1

After the first night of class I am already the odd-man out. Everyone in the class works with electronics and has a clue. Me, I know nothing, which is why I am taking a class designed for those "with little to no knowledge" of electronics. The "no knowledge" part would fit me.

Unfortunately, someone forgot to tell the instructor about the "no knowledge" part. We didn't have the correct materials for Lab 1, so the instructor sent us home saying we could work on Lab 2 and get as far as we can. I can't even start because I have no clue how to read the schematic - it makes no sense to me.

On the bright side, I am doing fairly well (so far) on the theory part. I can count in base 2, 3, 8, 10 and 16 (and could fake it in other bases), can convert from hex to decimal to binary as well as directly from hex to binary (and vica versa). I even have a grip on gates (AND, OR and reversal). I'm still working on pulses, but I think I will do okay there.

Hopefully the guy that knows everything will help me out. I was the first person at class and he was the second. He made a big deal about letting me how much he knows (and later had to make a big deal about getting his Leatherman out for a small job). He probably does know as much as he makes it seem; he calibrates digital meters for a living . And , before tongues start wagging, he made a big deal about letting me know he was married too (with kids), so there is nothing on his mind other than stroking his ego. That's fine, maybe he'll help me get up to speed.

Next class should be interesting, and hopefully informative.

Back to School

In a meme that I did last July, I wrote that if I won a million bucks I would take a landscaping class or two.

The million bucks hasn't been won, but that did not stop me from signing up for a 10 week course on landscaping. It's not a real course; it is community education - you know, where people go to learn all kinds of useless things like "How to Put Together a Block Part" (honestly, that is one of the classes).

So, starting in April, my Tuesday nights (6-9) will be spent up at the Concord High School learning about landscaping. This will really screw me up as 9 is past my bedtime. It will take me 40-45 minutes to get home once I get out of class .

I have a feeling I will really begin to hate Wednesday mornings!