Resuscitation Recitation

The CPR class turned out to be a mildly unpleasant experience. This year it was quite obvious that I would have been better off with a simple challenge instead of the full-length class. Unfortunately, timing did not permit such an option, so I was stuck for the day. While I was able to get out an hour early due to the small class size, it was painfully obvious that we could have spared ourselves at least another hour if our instructor hadn't gone off topic for ten or fifteen minutes at a time. Jennifer is in her second marriage, and she should have married this guy the first time. He's a former Marine (not an ex-Marine; don't ever call a former Marine an ex-Marine because, as they say, once a Marine, always a Marine) because he blew out both knees in service. One of the students in our class is also a former Marine, currently in the Army Reserve, fresh back from Iraq. She turned to him to back up all her stories about how great Marines are, and while I think he was flattered at first, he quickly grew as impatient as I was. She didn't help her case by continually talking about her own heath problems to the other middle-aged women. These problems include a hysterectomy, the hormone therapy resulting from the hysterectomy, her upcoming gastric-bypass to help her deal with her obesity that resulted from the hormone therapy, her cesarean sections, and her fused wrist, which forced her retirement from teaching music.

On the plus side, I was passed the written exam with 100% correct, and no one else was more than half-done with their exam by the time I left. I also got to take some longer walks on what turned out to be a very nice day because the bus schedule was not at all aligned with my own schedule, and I'm glad for it.

Crosses

On Thursday our class toured the construction site of the new Church of the Holy Cross, which was designed by the firm of our building systems professor. It was chilly, but I enjoyed walking around the machinery and exploring the partially erected structure. Additionally, I got to break it my Wisconsin Badgers hard hat, which I recently ordered from TeamOnTop.com.

Tomorrow I go to the local American Red Cross chapter for another all day CPR training session to get renewed for another year.

One Upping

The food on campus is mediocre in quality and rather expensive, so I've made a habit of noting what looks good to me and then buying it (or its components) from the grocery store and preparing it myself.  I made my own version of the Studio Break cafeteria's "Mac & Cheese" this evening.  Interestingly enough, neither of us actually used macaroni.  They use small shells while I selected whole wheat penne rigate.  I don't know what went into their sauce, but I used butter, flour (half whole wheat, half unbleached all-purpose), salt, milk, cheese, and parsley.  I'm pleased with the way it turned out.  As a result of my do-it-myself approach to food, I've developed a reputation in the studio as being the most frugal as well as culinarily ambitious.  I think I like both reputations although I know I have a long ways to go to fulfill the latter.  Still, cooking has been a lot more enjoyable this year.  I think it serves as a nice change of pace from the architecture work, and its nice not having to please anyone but myself.  If I just had a dishwasher, it'd be a perfect pastime.

Live from the Centro

I'm riding bus 9921 home from campus, and tensions are running high. Apparently a campus TV station has been airing a show called "Over the Hill," which, no doubt inspired by shows like South Park and Family Guy, has been using offensive material for humorous purposes. Unfortunately it sounds like the kids running the show have stepped over the line - more than once. The Daily Orange, supposedly condemning the show, ran a huge article that actually glorified it with page after page of (hilariously) offensive material. Really I think the kids were going for a satire, but I can see how their all-white cast prevented them from succeeding where issues of race are concerned. Listening to both sides argue it out here on the bus I'm glad that the controversy hasn't found its way into my studio.

Distance has a way

Google Earth tells me that when Claire and I are in our bedrooms at school we are seperated by 733,900 smoots. What is a smoot? Wikipeida has the answer:

A smoot is a unit of distance used for measuring the Harvard Bridge. It is named after an MIT fraternity pledge at Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity, Oliver R. Smoot (class of 1962), who in October, 1958 was rolled head over heels by his fraternity brothers to measure the length of the bridge. The smoot is equal to his height (five feet and seven inches -- 1.70 m), and the bridge's length was measured to be "364.4 smoots plus one ear". Everyone walking across the bridge today sees painted markings indicating how many smoots they are from the Boston-side river bank. The marks are repainted each year by the incoming pledge class of Lambda Chi Alpha. Markings typically appear every 10 smoots, but additional marks appear at other numbers in between. For example, the 70-smoot mark is omitted in favor of a mark for 69. The 182.2-smoot mark is accompanied by the words "Halfway to Hell" and an arrow pointing towards MIT. The markings have become well-accepted by the public, to the point that they are sometimes used by police to indicate the location of accidents along the bridge.

This was only the beginning of Smoot's career in standards and measurement; he later became Chairman of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and President of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

For those of you who still aren't keen on the smoot, the distance converts to 1,249 kilometers.

Don't Drink The Water

I just received notification that the Onondaga County Health Department has lifted its boil water order for the southeastern portion of the City of Syracuse. Due to a discovery of E. coli in the public water system we've been primarily dependent on bottled water for the past two days. I've been frustrated by my inability to wash dishes, but generally unaffected since the last few days have been too packed to allow for cooking anyway.

Drawing Field Trip

Our drawing class trekked across the quad last night to the John Crauss Memorial College building to see the Syracuse University Symphony Orchestra give one of their three free Tuesday night classes of the semester. The three pieces played were:
Camille Saint Saëns (1835-1921): "Danse Bacchanale" from Samson and Delilah
Samuel Barber (1910-1981): Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, Op. 38
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897): Symphony No 1 in c minor
I enjoyed the trip, and managed one or two decent sketches. Most of my classmates have a far stronger drawing background, so there were some pretty impressive drawings in the books when we got back to the classroom.

Later in the evening Michael, another student in my class, decided he didn't like the snack he had purchased, so I got to finish his bag of Fritos® brand Flavor Twists® brand Honey BBQ flavored Corn Snacks. I thought they were tasty but was lukewarm to their overly functional name and the presence of MSG in the ingredients.

Badgers Badgers

It looks like the Hepokoski family is getting another Badger. My little sister Laura, who is currently in her final year at Maple Grove Senior High sent in her application to UW-Madison last week...and got accepted this week! Whether she will even bother finish her Duke and Univeristy of Minnesota applications remains to be seen. This turn of events sure makes me feel silly for always pushing the deadlines (and thus subjecting myself to stressful waiting periods), but I can still celebrate with a good ol' Badger dance.