Archive for July, 2006

1+4+1=5

And just like that, I’m finished with linear algebra forever. I’m just a probability course away from completing the Math requirement for my Software Engineering degree.

Although I was severely underprepared for the final exam, I felt pretty good about it. I was a bit scared at first because I completely drew a blank on the first question, which was an extremely simple PA=LU decomposition. But then I figured it out and I was alright.

When there were only five minutes left in the exam, I realized that I’d made a really stupid arithmetic blunder, where I calculated 1+4+1=5. It was something I did at the very beginning, which carried on throughout the entire two-part question and I had to do a lot of erasing to correct it. At one point, I was thinking about simply writing “5=6″ in a box somewhere, in case I didn’t have enough time. But luckily, I had to square root it fairly early on, so it didn’t get absorbed into any other terms.

I took the afternoon off from work and I finished the exam at 3pm, so I went shopping. There’s nothing else to do.

I found these hott Prada loafers, but balked at the $525 sticker.

Banana Republic’s sizing is such that I can’t wear anything they sell. It’s all too big for me. Jackets would be alright, since they don’t need to be as form-fitting, but outerwear is so expensive.

Unsurprisingly, I found a lot of stuff I liked at Gap, but walked out with just a pair of khakis. I’ve been looking for a pair for a few months now and finally found one that I liked that was on sale. Yay for 30% off! I’m going to wait until end-of-season sales to look at the track jacket, v-neck sweater and twill pants again. I think they’re having some sort of cross-promotion with Converse or something because all the mannequins were wearing Converse shoes.

I also found a lot at Esprit that I wanted too, including this really comfortable, thick, warm, black jacket - perfect for Vancouver’s cold rainy weather. I felt weird trying on a winter jacket in the dead of summer, but it fit so well I wanted to get it. However, I wish the inside pockets were bigger because I don’t think I could fit my iPod or compact umbrella in them. Also, the lack of hood was disappointing too. Otherwise, I would have bought it, even if it was $200. There was a hooded jacket I liked too, except it was much thinner.

There was a naked mannequin at American Eagle.  She had boobies. One of the sales reps was a student from one of my labs. I’m sure he recognized me because he checked up on everyone except me, even though he walked right past me twice. I was going to say hi, but I guess it’s too weird making small talk with your former TA.

So addictive

My coworker sent me this great time wasting Minipops Quiz (.xls, 144KB) just now. It’s fun being able to pick out pixelized versions of pop icons, but also kinda pathetic when I’m like, “I remember that outfit from that music video/album cover/episode!”

I’ve got 19 out of 95 so far. Well, actually 20, but for some reason, they’re not giving me a point for the one that’s clearly Spice Girls.