Busy couple of weeks. Let’s start with a follow-up, then my check-ins, and then what’s been up if I have time.
Follow-up: My stolen car has been found. It also seems to have been involved in a crime or time while away, other than just being stolen. But it seems like there wasn’t much damage, so with some hope I should have it repaired and returned to me any day now. Hopefully soon, because the rental I’m in now is busted. It’s a much newer Mitsubishi and the model itself seems fine, maybe even nice. I think it might qualify as a crossover or a small SUV, I’m not sure, but it’s very comfy and the modern amenities are great. But because it’s a rental, the alignment, tire balance, and who knows what else are just fucked. Getting up to speed means the whole thing shakes to all hell. I’m also very happy that I won’t have to buy a new car. I’m really not in the place for that right now. So dope.
Fitness/Health: I’m having a bit of a dispute with my insurance over a medication that I need to, you know, live. So hopefully I’ll get that cleared up soon. Also, I’ve become aware that I somehow managed to miss my annual physical all of last year, which ain’t great. So I’m scheduled to get one mid-April, and kinda hoping I can get in a little sooner. Fitness wise, I slacked a bit again last week, but at least kept up enough for maintenance. This week, I’m working on getting into a new “Spring” phase. I got in a walk that ended with a bit of a run, and that feels like a good start. Now I need to make sure I get in my remaining workouts for the week, and stay on top of my intake.
Academics: I have finished CS50x. And now there is a video of me. I’m going to link it here. So I’m pretty upset about that, but whatever. I didn’t have to take the class and I’ve known for a while that this would be how it would end. So alright, there we are.
In Algebra, I’m still working through my Exponential and Logarithmic Functions. I’m not finding these nearly as difficult as I have in the past, but also, I am taking forever. I do, however, think I should take forever. I’ve had so much trouble with these in the past, and I just know I gotta know ’em, right? So that’s the plan. The shit that’s up next is Series and Sequences, which I constantly see others complaining about, and I don’t remember doing at all. I’d love to finish Algebra this month, but I’m runnin’ out of month, and chunks of it are getting eaten up by other needs and obligations. So that’ll probably be mid-April.
I had plans to take a Python class, but I can’t find any that really meet my wants and needs. I might still do it, but I don’t know. I can find some for credit. I can find some that are online. I can find some that are self-paced. I can find some that are generally considered quite good. But I haven’t found one that hits all of those notes. It’s also come to my attention that, while I will likely want to use it in Engineering, I’m likely to learn what I need from other courses and don’t likely need a dedicated one. I’d already planned to continue my coding journey with some side projects and I think this will be a good place to get that fix for now.
I may find myself needing to enroll in actual school earlier than I’ve been planning, given that the vast majority of classes I’ll need seem to be considerably better in person. This bums me out. I was really hoping to save time and money on as many classes as possible, but I’m finding fewer and fewer potential courses that are actually available for-credit in the self-paced online format. I know there are other options, including self-study with testing, and I’m exploring those, but meh. Probably not good enough. Classes do exist for a few, and I’m planning to do as much Math as I can, possibly up through Calc II. I’m hoping I can pair Physics I with Calc I, and I was looking at a Chemistry course with Lab, but I’m hearing that might not be great. I don’t know. What else can I do that would count towards this?
Alright, last up, I might start check-in sections for music, projects, other stuff. I don’t know, but on the music front, I play with my friends most Sundays. And it rips. This last practice – yesterday – we had a guest. The guest is much better at guitar than me, at least in the genre that we’re moving into. And this is great news for me. I’ve been feeling extremely stuck and I’ve been both super into this genre but I’m also super anxious about doing it. Being able to play with him and watch his playing was great, and it’s melted a bit of that concern. His fingering and strumming were very crisp and clean, which is something I need to work on. Also, his understanding of keys and progressions is solid, which is another thing to work on. But just knowing that I have something to work on, especially since it so perfectly matches up with what I’ve been looking to work on, is great. But the biggest thing is that I could see up close and confirm my understanding of the play matches with what I saw with my own eyes.
Oh, um… Soul. I guess Neo Soul, because there’s like a helping of of Soul with a smidge of Jazz, a pinch of Blues, and a heaping scoop of Funk. The big revelation is how much of what he was playing was just identifying the key (which I do find quite difficult), finding the right chord progression, and then with that, just playing those chords and picking out arpeggios and solos within those chords and scales. If I pair that with some music theory, I should get there. Having something to aim for is a real help, though I now have to lock down a plan and then execute on it.
There’s other stuff going on, but nothing really worth getting into at this point, so we’ll leave it there. I’ll check in again next week, possibly earlier if I can find some time. I do have a few off-topic things I’ve been itching to get into. Keep it easy.