This morning at 4:17, I woke up, sweating profusely. Our room was so hot! So as I was laying there in bed, all of the sudden I heard a low but pretty darn audible rumbling sound. My bed started shaking back and forth, not violently, but very very very noticeable. It felt as if someone was climbing up the ladder to my bed. I quickly looked over to my ladder, but no one was there. Looking across the room to my roommates, they were sound asleep. As my bed began to stop shaking, I started wondering to myself what in the heck that was. An earthquake… NO way! I was convinced that either the shaking back and forth had been a dream, I was seriously mentally handicapped, or there was someone in our room. There was no one in our room, and I was not certainly not dreaming, and last time I checked, I was still somewhat normal (though my friends and family may disagree). I dismissed the event completely and went back to bed after opening the window.
This morning when I awoke to get up, my roommate Brett told me that “we missed an earthquake.” “I didn’t!”, I shouted back. So apparently I wasn’t imagining things and my sea-rocking-bed was for real. I survived and witnessed first-hand an earthquake, and in Illinois of all places. The last earthquake I witnessed was in California a few years ago. Hands down to the awesome power of God!
I just put up a few pictures from Leslie’s visit to the U of I this past weekend.
Click the image below to see them.
This weekend, Leslie came down to visit me here at the U of I. Boy, it was blessing to have her here.
She arrived Friday evening, and since we both had had long school days, watching LOST entertained us until bed time. She stayed with my friend Anne at Stratford House, which was certainly very nice of her to do.
Saturday was a day of… walking. Before brunch, we took a walk around the 6-pack and south quad. Then after brunch, we walked up to the Engineering Quad, up a little farther to see my apartment for next year, then all the way down to Oregon Avenue for coffee, and then down past Florida and Lincoln to the Arboretum. For a college in Illinois, the Arboretum was quite pleasant. It had some gardens, a lake, wooded areas, and a Japanese house used by the college for Japanese Education. After we were done with that all, we had to walk back.
In all, Leslie and I walked 7.28 miles, according to Google Earth. You can a trace of our trip below:
Today we went to church at TCBC, had brunch at FlatTop Grill (I highly recommend it!), and then plan on spending the rest of our time watching LOST or reading Harry Potter before her bus at 5.
This evening I went to Mandarin Wok for some chow with my good friend Joey. You know, for being in the middle of a cornfield, the food was actually quite tasty. We ordered off of the Chinese menu, which partially meant that I had no idea what I would be receiving. We pointed to stuff, and in broken English, were told was it was… “Chick-in”, “Veggie-tables”. But whatever it was, it was good.
After the meal, I scurried off to a Computational Theory exam before having to walk the 25 minutes back in the freezing, torrential rains amidst a thunderstorm. A nice warm shower and clean clothes awaited me back at the dorm.
Last week was my spring break. It was relaxing, a time away from the constant pressure and stress of school and its related activities. Some of the highlights of my break include:
- Lots of time with Leslie: taking walks, watching LOST, cooking pizza, making pizza blindfolded, and reading Harry Potter to name a few things.
- Palm Sunday lunch at Grandma and Grandpa’s with the family.
- Lunch at Thipi Thai in Glen Ellyn with cousins Alli and Emily.
- Lunch with mom at Sushi House.
- Picking sister Sarah up from the airport and having breakfast at Egg Harbor.
- Easter Sunday lunch at Grandma and Grandpa’s with the family.
That was a short list, but it was a good break overall. How do I know? It was hard to come back to school.
Today at 6:58, I turned in my last physics test for my last physics class ever. It was tremendous. Today was a good day leading up to the test, and it has certainly ended well. I took a few pictures throughout the day to document this momentous occasion, and you can check them out here.
The time for the end of physics is drawing near. With no days left, and just a few hours to go, I still don’t feel ready enough to take to the exam. Oh well.
Physics will end in:
I was just looking at my calendar for March, and I have to say, it is the most colorful month. In my terms, that means it’s busy. There is all kind of events, midterms, things to do, birthdays, and places to go.
What’s your busiest month?
The month of March in my iCal.
Today was another momentous day in my physics career: the last lecture, the last discussion, the last quiz, and the last time I have to breathe inside of the Loomis Laboratory of Physics. Because of this, I decided to take some pictures during the day.
Just before the start of my last lecture in physics. This lecture was covering quantum periodic lattices.
After a full day in Loomis, I left the building for the last time (hopefully) in my life.
Today we knocked off two physics events that I will never have to do again! The first of those are the labs. My last lab was this morning at 8:00, and I took a few pictures to celebrate this momentous occasion.
Our lab room in Loomis.
Starting the last page of the lab!
My lab partner Steve doing some calculations.
Check, check, and check!
Today was also big news because I finished the last physics homework I’ll ever have to do:
