First day back to school

Yesterday I was really tired even though I only had two classes at school. I guess a 12-hour workday is long regardless of how much work is actually done. After my eikaiwa classes I went to pick up my new Rubik's cube from the delivery shop, but they didn't have it so I'm going to pick it up today. When I got home after 8:30, I basically just researched Rubik's cube methods and played around with the Rubik's cube until I decided that it was too late to do anything but sleep. It took me a while to fall asleep after that, which could be attributed to my having the light on late and not reading, or it could be because I ate and drank soda quite late, until 9.

This morning I was thinking about a friend from college who posts a lot on Facebook. I think he might be one of the most academically intelligent people I know, but there's a lot that I don't agree with in his posts. I think it's mainly because he's pushing back too hard against his upbringing, to the extent that I'm not sure his worldview is even Christian anymore. I'm convinced that culture is wiser to the extent that it is informed by the Bible, but I'm almost certain that he would not agree.

Functional program and new Rubik's cube method

Yesterday I had a slightly more balanced day. I programmed quite a bit, but in the end, I didn’t make as much progress as expected. Do I ever meet time expectations in programming? I don’t think so. However, I did manage to achieve basic functionality by exporting program data to XML format, and I fixed a very frustrating bug related to the text correction system. Just in itself this is fairly decent progress. I also added some important functionality to the review system to make it less annoying, and tried to add a due date to reviewed verses, though I suspect there’s a problem somewhere in that.

There was a lot of resistance, but I managed to make myself get up and dance. The last time I was most happy with my progress with the Fresno, or hitting, but yesterday it was like starting from zero with how badly I moved. The other moves were on the stiff side as well—as expected of the first day back after four days on followed by four days off. Still, I managed to find enjoyment, and afterwards I completed my long dreaded thorough cleaning of the toilet. I had hoped to get a little more cleaning done before going back to work, but with the place tidy and the toilet clean, I am appeased.

Aside from producing a functional version of my memory program, going to Yokohama, and cleaning, I had two more goals for the break. First was to do a fake pack to see how much stuff I need to get rid of and whether I will need to send an extra box home. I decided that this was a bit pointless at such an early stage—it was mainly fueled by my excitement to be going home anyway. Second, I wanted to make paneer. I bought the milk, but I got absorbed in programming and never actually went through with making it. Friday shouldn’t be too late though, or even tomorrow if I get the urge.

By seven last night I had added all the easy features to my program, and my next planned feature was to a complicated window which I didn’t feel like starting. Instead, I cleaned the stains from my handkerchiefs and prepped my bag and clothes for my first day back at school. Then I started working on the Rubik’s cube, which I hadn’t done much of to that point. I decided to learn a faster algorithm. After research, I found the most popular speed-solving method, but it turns out that the first two steps are done entirely intuitively, leaving only the last two steps to be done by algorithm. So, my goal was to practice doing the first two steps intuitively. The website suggested doing the first step by preparing, and then moving the cube without looking at it, and also to keep the cross side down so that the other sides are easier to see. This was really difficult, and I spent over two hours practicing it. My speed cube comes tonight, and while I was worried that it might be a waste out of my not using it, now I’m more worried that it might be a waste because I don’t need such a nice cube yet.

Programming Haze

Yesterday I didn't even think about video games, so concentrated I was on programming. I hit several frustrations, but I pushed through. As mentioned in my previous post, I was intimidated by saving data, and I left it as the last feature to complete before considering the application to have basic functionality. I started to install a SQL database, and then decided that that was way too heavy-duty, at least for right now. A few minutes with Google reminded me that I could save data in XML, which I have done before though I don't remember it well. A couple more minutes led me to a library that converted entire objects into XML with a single line of code. That's what I'm talking about! Unfortunately, importing that library into my project became a nightmare because the instructions didn't seem to apply to my IDE. I searched Google for probably three hours and installed a new and old version of my IDE. Then I suddenly realized that this mysterious "Maven" that I was forced to make a project with was some kind of library repository which was able to painlessly download missing libraries, including the one that I was trying to use. Probably ten minutes later the library was working, but by that time it was already 11 PM so I got to a stopping point and shut her down.

I dreamed about Rubik's cubes again, although it seemed like I spent less time on it yesterday than the day before. I solved the puzzle eighteen times with an average time around 4:15. It was interesting to feel myself get slower as evening approached, though my second to last solve set my new record at 3:02. I'm thinking about buying a speed cube. Eh, why not.

I also went to Tsuruya, and found my decision not to take a bike ride vindicated. Just in that ten minute ride I hit four icy patches and I slid and fell off my bike at one of them. I landed on one foot so there was no injury, but it was scary and also I was glad that I didn't have any groceries with me at the time. Coming back home I was more careful.

In the end I did no exercise again, and no reading because I was determined to solve my library problem. I did finish tidying up my apartment, so I have no excuse not to do some serious cleaning today. Except, you know, programming. But I will definitely do at least some cleaning after I dance.

Day of Programming

Yesterday was kind of amazing. I woke up at four and went back to sleep around 6:30 for two more hours. After that I more or less programmed or played with the Rubik's cube all day, with breaks for coffee, lunch, and talking to my parents. Yet despite hours and hours of programming, I don't have a lot more to show for it, even looking at lines of code written. I designed a text browse window and achieved two objectives: based on a read file, display the indices (references) for the texts, and display the texts themselves. Next I want to work on the really excited part: the review window with text checking and correction. Then I'll dive into the dark nightmares of saving and loading data.

As far as the Rubik's cube goes, I can now complete it without looking at the instructions. My record is 4:20, but the next three tries after that all went over ten minutes because I made mistakes. I'm pretty sure that I could improve my time a lot on the first two levels of the puzzle, but I think I'm doing well for only having practiced for two and a half days.

This morning I finished learning the Arabic alphabet. Which doesn't mean I'm finished studying it by any means, just that I can recognize the roman alphabet equivalent for all the Arabic letters. Probably. I definitely need to do more review.

Slow programming

About 9 last night I suffered from a sneezing attack, which revisited me about 4:30 this morning. I'm thinking about making a bike trip tomorrow, provided that a cold doesn't haunt me all day today. It's going to be frigid in the morning, but there shouldn't be any precipitation.

Yesterday was kind of a wash. I went shopping, cooked dinner, watched some Jojo, studied Arabic, and did a good bit of programming, but I feel like that only accounts for about six hours. I spent another two or so working on my newly acquired Rubik's cube, managing to solve it three more times, the last time in less than fifteen minutes. Even though that time was not too long, I was seeing and thinking about the Rubik's cube as I went to sleep last night.

I actually ended up playing a video game (Streets of Rogue) for about three hours, which allowed me to beat it for the first time. It's much more fun in a social setting, and I don't think I can really lose myself to it for days, but I have put in almost forty hours since I bought it. Hopefully it won't draw me in again though--I no longer have the excuse that I haven't beaten it yet. There is still quite a bit of mysterious time to account for in my day. Maybe I need to use a time tracker.

For dinner I tried to make fish curry. I used cod, which was the only fish that looked mostly boneless and not too expensive. I think it worked quite well, but the curry itself was a different matter. First, the tomatoes I used were Del Monte, but they had an unpleasant flour-like flavor. I've noticed it before, but I thought it was from a different brand of tomatoes, so I guess now I need to just remember not to buy canned tomatoes. I also added too much yuzu, i.e. citrus flavor. The sauce was a bit too sour and fruity. Then to fix this I decided that adding mustard would be a good idea. It wasn't. So I've got two more meals of peculiar fish curry. I would like to make a decent fish curry, but next time I'll try following the recipe.

In programming I ran into several minor obstacles which slowed me down but didn't stop me completely. I designed the browser view, and then redesigned it when I decided to use a tree instead of a list to browse the texts. I also created the ReviewManager class and nailed down a lot of its functionality, although I didn't write any methods beyond getters. When I write what I accomplished it's hard to believe that I spent three hours, but I'm pretty sure that time is close to accurate. I need to write or rewrite a to-do list for the program--maybe it would help speed things up.

Back from Yokohama

How quickly I've forgotten my "habits!" Granted, it's only been a week, and yesterday I was out of town, but still! I've been writing a blog in my head all morning, and only now did I even think to actually write!

I traveled to Yokohama on Thursday. I had originally planned to spend three nights, but I decided that if I was going alone, two nights would be sufficient. Then when I got there, it turned out that the museums were all closed, so I decided that my one night was sufficient and came back home on the last train yesterday. For the most part I thought Yokohama was a really beautiful city. If you want to shop and eat without being overwhelmed by tourists, it's probably as nice as it gets. The sea and the bridges were highlights, and really made the city unique. I spent almost the whole time shopping, and despite the incredible array of food choices, all but my last meal ended up being convenience store food.

As for today, it's a bit of a lazy and strange day. My phone says that I walked almost thirty kilometers yesterday, and while I don't doubt that that's a high number, my legs are telling me that it's not too far off. So I won't be dancing today. And because I didn't remember blogging until the afternoon, this entry is looking like it will stop pretty soon.

Programming breakthrough

Yesterday was a beautiful albeit cold day, but I didn't take the chance to enjoy it. Compared to the previous day, I don't know where the time went. Oh yes, that's probably because after waking up early, I took a long nap and woke up at 10:30. I got my reservations completed for my trip, but I think I spent most of my time working on programming. I refactored all of my previously written code into the new project in Netbeans, and easily accomplished what I had first tried to do a month ago when my problems began--I made the program read a text file of a few Bible verses, and then display only the text of the first verse in a text box. Once this was successful, I did a lot of work on the GUI design.

I almost talked myself out of dancing just because I didn't feel like it, but I convinced myself to watch a few dance videos which inspired me to try after all. I think my hitting technique is improving, but it's still quite difficult to make it look good. I did some cleaning and packed for my trip, and finally had a rather nice dinner. I ate bulgolgi, okonomiyaki, and a matcha chocolate pudding which might be the most delicious thing I've ever had from a convenience store. I did laundry too, but seriously, where did the time go?

IOVG: Fighting the urge to play wasn't as difficult as the day before, but it was still quite a struggle. I did a lot of programming, and then I started reading at 8 PM. By 9:30 I was tired, so I downloaded a trivia game and played it for an hour. There were some interesting questions where I could learn something, like the one about hippos having red sweat or the Olympic gold medalist who colluded with the nazis during the occupation of France and was killed by a French resistance group. Unfortunately, these only made up for about 10% of the questions. There were also some incredibly stupid ones, like "what was the occupation of the character played by (actress) in the movie (title)?" Who cares, what's the point? And the majority of the questions were such basic knowledge that I felt a bit insulted, and there were ads too. So I uninstalled that app and played a memory game for about fifteen minutes.