Welcome

Since I am stuck on campus so often and food on campus is very fatty, horrible for you and expensive I have found the need to carry around a protein bar to substitute for a meal.

I bought this Cool Mint Chocolate Cliff Bar and was eating it today while working with a group. All of the sudden I got jittery like I had too much caffeine. It turns out the protein bar I have is an energy bar with caffeine. Caffeine and I are not very compatable since it makes me nervous.

So I have been eating a little bit and then drinking a lot of water to keep from getting too high on caffeine.

Laugh if you want.

How important is age really? This is something I have been thinking about quite a bit over the past few days.

Before I came to IU a concern of mine was that the other HCI students were going to be much younger than me. I didn't want to be the old lady at 28. When I got here I found that there are some people that are older than me and a few that are the same age as me along with the youngsters :) and that made me feel better.

Am I too old for a facebook or my space account? Is it odd that I have these since these services are dominated by people much younger than me.

Is it weird that the main person I spend a lot of time with outside of class is 24? Is it strange that this should bother me?

No real answers here just questions.

Five seemingly unrelated things that are in a way related.

Last weekend I went to Chicago to see Tom Petty. I have been a big fan of Tom Petty for a while and he has been very high on my list of concerts I had to see. I heard this tour might be his last so I planned to go before I started school. It was a bit of a mistake since things are really crazy right now but I had a good time.

I had never been to Chicago before and will hopefully post a more detailed post about the trip later.

Tom Petty is sort of Gainesville's equivalent of John Mellencamp but he doesn't live in G-ville anymore unlike Mellencamp. If you talk to some of the musicians that have been in the G-ville music scene for a while you will find people who can tell you about hearing Mudcrutch, Petty's first band play the bars around campus.

I am one of those people that finds inspiration in music. I know I do especially in times of stress. A few of my favorite inspirational songs are Tom Petty songs so that is another reason I wanted to see him live.

I relate a lot to "Learning To Fly". Before he played this song he said that this was a song many people relate to and was probably one of the best songs he wrote.

A few verses of the song I find particularly pertinent to my current state.
"Well I started out down a dirty road
Started out all alone
And the sun went down as I crossed the hill
The town lit up the world got still

I’m learning to fly but I ain't got wings
Comin down is the hardest thing

...

Well some say life will beat you down
Break your heart, steal your crown
So I started out for God knows where
But I guess I'll know when I get there"

A few other favorites I Won’t Back Down

"Well I won't back down, no I won't back down
You can stand me up at the gates of hell
But I won't back down

Gonna stand my ground, won't be turned around
And I'll keep this world from draggin me down
Gonna stand my ground and I won't back down

Hey baby, there ain't no easy way out
Hey I will stand my ground
And I won't back down.

Well I know what’s right, I got just one life
In a world that keeps on pushin me around
But I'll stand my ground and I won't back down"

Runnin’ Down A Dream

"Yeah runnin down a dream
That never would come to me
Workin on a mystery, goin wherever it leads
I'm runnin down a dream"

Right now I and many of my classmates are pretty stressed out about our first year of HCI/d. In a way I feel like they are trying to weed out the people who are not serious about this. I am very serious about this program and determined to succeed. So I am sure you can see even more why I identify with some of the lyrics above.

The unfortunate thing about group work, projects, readings etc. is that it takes up a ton of time. I have been working as the editorial assistant for the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication but I have found very minimal time to work on this on a consistent basis. I have time on the weekend but the editor needs someone to help everyday and right now I can't guarantee anything on a regular basis. Therefore I had to make a tough choice today, I need the money from this regular job but I haven't had the time to devote to it so I had to give it up today. It was a tough choice but I could potentially pick up some coding for the journal. I am also getting tossed a few high paying freelance items that I find more interesting so it may work out better in the long run.

Everything happens for a reason.

I have had some things that have bugged me just a little bit ever since I decided I wanted to come to IU.

The first is what if I get up there and hate doing usability testing?

Well I did my first formal usability test today with the camera, microphone and a working site to test. I was the facilitator and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I can't tell you why but I just thought it was so great. This is definitely what I should be doing. I am really interested in digging into the observations from the rest of the group. We tested the IU accounts system, http://itaccounts.iu.edu. If you have used it you know how lovely it is. You can't even log out after you get into the site.

The second was what if I have made a huge mistake by quitting my job and no one will be interested in me?

I went to the job fair today and had a lot of good conversations with employers. One of them told me that with my experience I would probably be high on the list of a lot of companies for internships. This made me feel good. I didn't really find anyone that I am very excited about since many of them didn't know anything about usability and were looking for coders. I did have to explain usability to a few people. Some called it QA which it could be I'll have to see if I get any QA intern offers and then see what they entail. One thing I did decide is that I am not accepting an unpaid internship or an internship that is not what I want it to be. I don't need the work experience like I did as an undergrad looking for an internship.

I did get some decent tchotchkies. Target gave me a set of cool magnets and a foldable Target Frisbee. General Mills gave me a box of granola bars and a microwave cake. I also have a collection of pens and other stuff.

As someone said it was a good place if you were looking for consulting work but not quite as much if that wasn't what you wanted to do but it was a good boost for me during a rough first semester.

It has been quite some time since I have been to a career fair. I like getting all dressed up but I don't like having to schlep across campus in a suit.

As an undergraduate I didn't get much out of the fairs other than a bag full of tchotchkies, pens and other stuff. The only things that I still have are a light up Microsoft yo yo and an Intel guy. Remember the Intel guys in what looked like hazmat suits?

I am hoping for something more out of this one other than stuff. Of course I also now have four years of work experience and I am working on my masters instead of being an untested undergraduate.

I spent some time this evening revising my resume and printing out a few copies on some nice resume paper.

Now I just need to find someone to give me an internship in usability.

I just googled one of the employers Indiana INTERNnet. They are having a luncheon with of all people Stephen Dubner, co-author of Freakonomics. So if you didn't get enough of Freakonomics this summer here is your opportunity for more!

Everyone has their where were you on 9/11 story so here is mine.

I was in the first semester of my last year of undergrad. I didn't have classes that day so I offered to take a friend to the doctor who had back surgery a few months earlier. She was going in to get clearance to work and to drive again.

I remember sitting in the waiting room of the doctor's office and hearing the doctor's assistants mumbling something about a plane crashing into a tower. I thought maybe an ultra light or some other small plane had crashed into something local and didn't think much of it.

My friend finished up with the doctor and said to me sounds like there will be interesting front page news tomorrow a plane crashed in to the World Trade Center. At this point in time neither of us realized the severity of the situation.

I dropped her back at her house drove back to my apartment and decided to take a nap. I had been up late the night before doing night production of the online edition of the student newspaper, The Independent Florida Alligator.

About 15 minutes later my friend called me in tears and said you need to see this. So I got up and immediately headed to the internet as many did since you really couldn't load any of the major news sites.

At this point I thought maybe I should go into the paper since they need me but I didn't want to hang up on my friend. I got a call waiting beep on the other line and it was the Editor asking me to come in and help out.

I drove down to the Alligator and started helping put photo galleries online and whatever other content we could get off of the Associated Press wire. I didn't see any of the video until after I got to the Alligator.

I don’t remember how long I was at the Alligator since time went very quickly after that.

It was exciting to be part of the frenzy of getting information out. The only thing I can compare it to since would be working with a paper in Louisiana post Katrina. It is sort of a twisted adrenaline rush that journalism types get out of major events like that.

They canceled classes on campus as I am sure many major universities did. They also canceled the Florida vs. Tennessee game that was set for that weekend. There was a report that someone might try to blow up the nuclear reactor that across the street from the stadium.

I remember at some point in time my mom called and left a message to make sure I was ok and she never does that.

My brother hadn't decided what he wanted to do with his life after college and the events of 9/11 steered him toward the Marines. Currently he is a second lieutenant in the Marines and is graduating from the second part of basic school in October. We don't know where he will be six months from now.

I am used to not usually watching the first two games of the season since they are pay-per-view and usually not worth the money but I would have liked to have seen UF vs. UCF. I couldn't even find it on pay-per-view here. I have 4 free PPV things I need to use within 30 days so I could have watched it for free.

It sounds like it was a pretty good game. Chris Leak the QB apparently really shined. Maybe just maybe I am wrong about next year being the year but I don't want to say too much now until we meet Tennessee since that match up is so unpredictable. Hopefully I will get to see that game but I will be in Chicago.

Clarification for people who don't know the Florida University System structure. Instead of having IU at various cities we have different universities spread throughout the state. UF is the University of Florida in Gainesville. UCF is the University of Central Florida in Orlando. UF has a pretty good football legacy, UCF and USF are both good up and coming football programs.

Last Friday I was a somewhat overcast day no rain but just sort of gloomy. At about noon I hear this loud siren coming from the direction of campus. I would have had no idea what this was except for the fact that my mom went to Missouri so she had told me about tornado sirens. I guessed that is what that was.

At this point I was very concerned and immediately went online to the weather channel to figure out where the tornados were. I was considering grabbing my laptop and hiding in the basement of my building. I didn't see anything about a tornado in the area or even a tornado warning online so I wasn't sure what to do.

I asked another student last week about it and he said that they test the tornado sirens every Friday at noon. Apparently when you hear these you should go to the basement of the closest building.

Not being from the Midwest tornado sirens are a completely foreign concept. We do have tornados in Florida but we don't have tornado sirens on campus and with hurricanes you know those are coming at you in advance.

I just heard them again not too long ago so that reminded me.

I wonder how many students know we have a night escort service. No not that kind of escort but I am sure you can find that in B-ton also.

Following up on my little rant about IU Parking. I sent an e-mail to the Office of Women's Affairs seeking a solution and they gave me the number for the walking escorts.

"Safety Escort Department
Phone: (812) 855-SAFE
Web: www.indiana.edu/~cps/escort.html

The IU Student Association provides safe evening transportation for women and men who would otherwise be walking alone. A walking escort is available for women only, but van service is available for both women and men."

That would have been helpful to know earlier. Thanks to Matt hopefully I won't have to use this service that often but it is nice to know it is there.

So I find myself in this nearly impossible situation. I have a class that gets out at around 9 two nights a week. I live about a mile from campus and don't mind the walk during the day but at night it is a different story.

The neighborhood I live in is not well lit so walking home around 9ish is not a great idea although I have done it 3 out of the last 4 night I have had my class.

I tried to be safer tonight and park on campus in one of the metered spaces but the meters are only for an hour and I didn't know this until I got there. I even gave it an extra dime hoping maybe it would give me more time. Unfortunately I got a parking ticket.

After that I came home and decided maybe I needed to just give in and buy a stupid decal. I had looked on the parking site earlier for what I was eligible for and it had said A and C which are decent but expensive permits. Tonight I see I am only eligible for an E or an F which are essentially worthless since I live closer than an E or F decal can park.

So what do I do? I can't keep walking home after dark because it isn't safe once you get off campus but I have to go to class.

I blame one of my former coworkers for introducing me to the evil Chipotle burrito. Those things are so good they are near addictive. I believe there was a point in time when he was going there just about every day for lunch. I know there was a point where him and my supervisor were going there once a week.

Today is free burrito day in Bloomington at the Chipolte near campus. They are giving the first taste away hoping to get more people hooked on their burritos and willing to pay for it next time. I am sure they will succeed since I became fairly addicted after going there the first time. There is even a web site for people who are huge fans http://www.chipotlefan.com/. *Disclamer* I only know about this site is because I was looking for the official site on Google. I am not that huge of a fan.

I had to head to the Starbucks in the same are to interview a subject for a project I have due tomorrow and decided to see if I could get through the burrito line fairly quickly.

I think in total it took me maybe 15-20 minutes from the point at which I started standing there. When I visited here for the first time in April of 05 they were just opening the Chipoltle and had a free burrito day. That day the line was wrapped all of the way around the block. I knew I wasn't that determined to get a free burrito.

I have noticed that pizza, another food that is a staple of college and so good for our health *sarcasm* is very cheap too. I am a fan of Papa Johns pizza as far as chain places go. In Tampa a large cheese pizza would run you about $12. Here I can get a large one topping pizza, breadsticks and a 2 liter of Coke for $10.

I also had pizza from this place called Avers the other night and they had basically the same deal as Papa Johns but the pizza was marginal at best, the breadsticks were pretty tasty though.

Mother Bears is my favorite non-chain place right now. The have some good specials but the problem is that I end up with too much food for one person as is what happened with Avers.

Yes I did see both.

My friend and I went to West Palm Beach my last weekend in Florida to see Dave Matthews Band. We have done every tour since 1998 together. We had a great room facing the beach.

This was the view from our room. Kind of Florida postcardish I think.

The funny thing about our room is that we had this little black and white TV in the bathroom. When you turned it on it didn't get anything but fuzz. It looked like it was connected to the cable but didn't seem to be working. I just thought it was so weird I had to take a picture of it.

We did find out that Dave Matthews Band was staying next door at the Four Seasons. Unfortunatly I didn't bring my Four Seasons clothes or else we probably would have had a few drinks at the lobby bar. The opening act was apparently staying in our hotel but I didn't see them.

On my way back to Tampa I decided to do a bit of outlet mall shopping. I was walking past one of the handicapped spaces and saw advertising for a scooter company on the curb.

They are reaching their target audience but it makes me question what is for sale next.

A lot can happen in a few weeks. This time last month I was beginning wrapping up things in Florida, still working full-time and trying to manage my summer readings for grad school plus a part-time job.

Today I am in Indiana and have just started my second week of grad school. I don't have my full-time job anymore, I do have some freelance from it though and more reading for school plus the part-time job is still there.

Much has changed on one hand but not a lot has changed on other hand.

I am going to be clearing out a few Florida posts I wanted to make before I left but I didn't get a chance to. So it is going to be a little mixed up between Bloomington (B-ton or B-town ?) and grad school posts and Florida things.