Back in the groove
Monday August 25, 2008 by Eric Allen
Whew. After an awesome summer internship at Wesabe and an epic cross-country road trip, I’m finally back in the groove at RPI. I took four days to move in, but I got to spend a lot of that time with my girlfriend. Classes started today, and I’m already enjoying the semester! Sometimes I can’t believe how full my life is.
Only a few short months ago I started my internship at Wesabe, and boy was it an adventure! Writing Ruby for a hot Web2.0 startup in San Francisco? What could be a better experience for a college sophomore? I learned all kinds of stuff, from how to run a team to Ruby security vulnerabilities to good places to eat in San Francisco. My coworkers were a pretty cool bunch! I’m not sure dot-comming is what I want to do with my life, but Wesabe definitely gave me a taste of what it can be like.
After a week to catch my breath, I headed out on a four-day road trip with my friend Dan back to New York. We went from Oakland, CA to Laramie, WY to Bettendorf, IA to Pittsburgh, PA to Troy, NY. Check out the map to get an idea of the distances. The trip went without a hitch: Dan’s Honda Civic performed beautifully, and the two of us are still good friends! We kept an hour-by-hour blog live from the car with Dan’s Verizon card and my iPhone. The cost came out to just over $200 for each of us, which was almost exactly what we would’ve paid to fly, not to mention shipping all of the stuff I brought back. I’m not sure spending four days getting to school is worth it, but the adventure surely was.
I had no idea how much I missed home here at RPI. I have so many friends here! Everywhere I go, whether it’s errands, food, or class, I keep running into people and catching up. My room is awesome (and has air conditioning!), too. I enjoyed my life during the summer, but here I really feel like I’m in my element. I know I’ve had my ups and downs with RPI, but now that I’ve committed to this place it feels great. My clubs are in full swing, and we’ll be recruiting freshmen at the Activities Fair on Thursday. The classes I’m taking this semester are all pretty technical: Physics II, Data Structures and Algorithms, Computer Components and Operations, and Laboratory Introduction to Embedded Control. That last one is gonna be sooo fun. I love playing with embedded electronics, and the class uses one of my favorite processors: the 8051! I like my professors so far, and I have friends in every class. All I’m missing is time for lunch.
Life can take you on many paths, so I figure the best thing I can do is to enjoy the path I end up on. I’m sure enjoying this one!
Backpacking at Lake Vernon
Monday July 7, 2008 by Eric Allen
I decided to forgo more conventional July 4th celebration and head into the backcountry this weekend for a 26-mile backpacking trip! It was so awesome.
The Disadvantages of an Elite Education
Monday June 23, 2008 by Eric Allen
I just ran into an article from The American Scholar that confirms many of my fears about top-tier schools. Having blatantly and publicly resigned from the whole pre-school system and headed off to an essentially vocational school (okay, engineering is a pretty awesome vocation, but still), I have found an interesting path. Unfortunately, most of the people around me at RPI are even less interested in being intellectual. Not only did they play by the rules, but they “lost” the game. Come on, guys! I, for one, and thoroughly enjoying the activities on campus, including a College Democrats club that has zero political science majors and a student-run sound reinforcement crew. I mix rock concerts! There is a significant handful of people at my university who do what they do because they enjoy it, not because it will get them good scores.
A little bit of sunshine
Friday June 20, 2008 by Eric Allen
My dad had an interesting experience the other day that I think is worth sharing. Here’s what he has to say.
Today I tried something new with regard to panhandlers. Usually I shake my head in the negative way; ooccasionally I give some money. Today I said “No.” A few steps later I remembered that I had a bag of apricots in my messenger bag that I had picked from my backyard and brought along for snacking on. I went back to the panhandler and asked if she would like an apricot. She smiled as I handed it to her, and we both felt better. These happen to be very flavorful apricots and I smiled as I walked away thinking of the small moment of pleasure she would get when she bit into it.
I haven’t spent much time in really urban environments, so I’m still somewhat confused by the behaviors and values surrounding panhandling. I really like the idea of giving the delicious fruit, though! Not only did it appear to make this woman’s day, it made my dad’s day, too!
Mach 1
Thursday June 12, 2008 by Eric Allen
I feel like a jet fighter: lean, fast, optimized like crazy, and efficient. Every morning I wake up at 7 am, and I’m running at mach 1 until I hit the sack at 10pm. I’m out the door in 30 minutes, and I catch up on email while I’m on the train. At work, I try to be as productive as I can possibly be, barely making time to take breaks to stretch and walk around. I listen to audiobooks on my way back to the train station, and take care of random personal stuff on the train home. I eat dinner as soon as I get home (at 7pm), and then I have about two hours to run through SuperMemo (optimized learning) and take care of tasks I couldn’t do away from home. By the time I go to bed around 10:30, I’ve been running essentially non-stop since 7 am. I use a well-tuned MacBook Pro, Tracks GTD for task management, and a multitude of scripts and hacks to optimize my productivity at my computer. I feel like I’m successfully cruising through my life at mach 1.
I’ve almost forgotten what down-time is! “Relaxation” is reading books, many of which are non-fiction and intended to expand my knowledge. I listen to music to improve my mood…while doing other things. I take time to socialize during lunch and dinner, but everybody has things they want to get to afterward. “Fun” for me is hacking on Tracks, adding code and testing features. I can’t wait to get back to school, where I’ve got a couple of website ideas I want to implement, a club I’m partially in charge of, and a club I want to revive. Oh, did I mention 16 credits of hard engineering?
Flying at mach 1 is exhilarating. I get a ton done every day, and I feel very accomplished. I get some recognition from others, but mostly I satisfy myself with knowing how well I’m doing.
An Information Diet: one month later
Tuesday May 20, 2008 by Eric Allen
It’s been over a month since I went on my information diet, and it is such a better lifestyle. I still read blogs, check email, and function normally, but I never read slashdot, digg, or reddit. As it turns out, this works quite well for reducing my inforporn to a reasonable minimum. Even four weeks later, I still find myself trying to check news sites once in a while, but thanks to AdBlock, the urge goes unfulfilled. I’m very productive at work (I’m back in CA for the summer), and I have a 3-day average for finishing tasks that I keep track of in Tracks. I’m even reading real books!
Paul Graham seems to have discovered a different solution to the same issue. Some other people have also found RescueTime to work well for keeping tabs on themselves.
