Non-rooted and/or non-Android users will have no clue what this is for. It's basically an app for editing config files on the phone instead of having to use vi/nano in terminal or adb shell on a computer. I'm still working on it but the proof-of-concept work was finished in my Java class last semester (got a 99% on the project) and ported to Android a couple weeks ago.

propeditor


Now I just need to find a file browser hunk of code to ... borrow.

Got an A in 'advanced' UNIX, though I'm kinda pissed at the instructor for giving me points I shouldn't have had. Dunno my grade for Software Engineering, but as long as it's a C or better I'll be ok. Hard class, way too many students, and they changed the online class software over Christmas break and it's a PITA and a half now.

Now I'm doing networking (woo OSI 7 layer burrito) and Java programming. We'll see if the Java instructor lets me do an Android app for my class project.

Work's still work, though the construction going on is a pain because they all show up within the last hour of my shift and need temp badges.

CM is still fun. Didn't think I'd last this long with it.

I finished my speech class and didn't have any severe psychological episodes. Yay.

Now: a month off school, and then 4x 400level CS classes next semester. Wheee

But in the meantime I'll continue being the chief bugmonkey and resident issuer-of-hammers in #cyanogenmod. Android stuff is fun.



All that crap from july's post never came to be, thankfully.

school is meh

weightloss is meh. Finally consistenly under 270 on the mailroom scale at work (was 282 when I started dieting july 20something)



life is meh.

---Original entry redacted so I don't get in trouble---

Long story short -- possible changes at work (and depending who to trust, anywhere from changing companies to not having a job).

16 weeks of no smoking as of last Saturday. 25+ lbs gained.

So I'm back on Atkins as of last night. We'll see how it goes.

Bleurgh.

of states that I've been in.

Now with more Kansas!
(and Missouri, which is where I am now).


So:
CA, NV, UT, WY, NE, IA, IL, IN, MI, then the 2nd half of that list backwards to CO, now KS and MO. Oh, TX, MN and AZ if airport stopovers count.

The first half of the drive (eastern CO/western KS) was in pitch black in the rain so I missed some of the more boringer stuff. Then the sun came up and KS was kinda pretty. Actually not that flat (at least the eastern parts) and a lot more trees than I thought. Nebraska is boring flat and boring and flat. KS isn't so bad akshually.

And MO is cool. It reminded me of MI a lot in the north, but down here in the ozarks it's quite interesting. The places where they've cut the road through a hill show completely different rocks than MI or anywhere else. The trees are a lot more deciduous (and according to my mom, the dogwoods are in bloom) and the roads are curvy instead of up and down but straight. Fun driving (too bad there's 500lbs of crap in my car) but kinda annoying in the rain.

Oh yeah, rain. Tearing down I-70 in torrential downpour in pitch black in the middle of nowhere at 2am on a Sunday morning.... Yeeha! Sleepyness wasn't a problem. Stuff's freaking harrowing. Rain stopped with sunrise (half through KS) but started up again about halfway through MO and got quite heavy towards Springfield. Good thing about the rain is it kept the bugs down (said bugs experienced through KC while it was dry, I'mma need a good wash next week).

But I beat my parents here. They flew from SFO to DFW to ... Springfield, MO. They were at the airport when I left Denver and in Springfield getting their car when I drove by.

Oh, serious hilarity: their compact car is a VW NewBeetle. Green. Yes. That green.

We drove around Ava, MO (where we is, about 20 minutes away from the property they bought) in my car because I was NOT going to pile into the back of a NB.

After some pizza we crashed around 4pm and I woke up at midnight and am now awake (which is pretty close to what I'd do on a weekend anyway). I'm drinking coffee and will be trying to flip my schedule later today (should be easier with less stressful stuff going on).

Car's doing great, averaging 35mpg or so, which isn't bad for ~900mi at 70-80mph with a bunch of crap in the trunk on an engine that finally went into 4 digit mileage on this trip. The drive was comfortable (heck of a lot moreso than the escort) except cramps in my right foot (solved with very sparing use of cruise control for a minute at a time).

So except for being up at the wrong time, kinda hungry, and wanting a smoke (it's been 6 weeks and I haven't slipped up) and being not impressed with the 'free wifi' (you get what you pay for) at the hotel (extra parenthetical for effect) I'm doing good. I have a camera with me and will have plenty of pics.

I went for a drive today. Despite it being Sunday, I was not what anyone in their right mind would call a Sunday Driver.


View Larger Map

That's the route. A nice warmup down I-70 (at 75+ mph, accelerating up hills in 6th gear) and back, then out to Boulder. From there I figured I'd just take a backroad back to Golden. That's what happened, but the back road was .... very back road, heh. I drove by the Flagstaff Restaurant (which I've seen featured on FoodTV and/or travel channel) and kept going up Flagstaff road. I figured it'd loop around back towards Estes Park or Idaho Springs or something. Nope, it heads off towards Gross Reservoir, which is pretty cool. Failing to find a place to stop and take pictures, I turned right at a sign that said "Hwy 72" (the other direction said "no outlet").

This is what the road looks like:



Yeah. It was muddy, slushy, no guardrails and just over one lane wide. I had to pull as far right as possible a couple times to let Jeep Cherokees and other SUVs by.

But I made it. I stopped at a liquor store where the dirt road meets Hwy 72 and got out. Yeesh, the car was a mess. I got Mountain Dew and cruised back down the road through Golden, got back on I-70 and came home, stopping at a gas station. I didn't need fuel that much (still 1/3 of the tank the dealership gave me) but I needed a carwash.



$23 in diesel and $9 for a 'premium' carwash later, and I'm about 94 miles away from being able to redline the engine. (According to the diesel geeks at tdiclub.com you should keep it at/below 3800 rpm the first 500 miles, after that wind it out to 5100 all you want). 135 miles according to my car, in about 3 hours (including the stop at the liquor store). Odd, google maps says it's 136 and should take 3.5 hours.....

That was fun.

Yanno when you get your mind set on buying something but give yourself time to think it over, save up money... You do your research, comparing this and that, somewhat for fun, somewhat to justify that what you want is really what you need... And then when the time comes.... is it really what you wanted? Is it really worth it? Have you overhyped it in your own head only to be disappointed?

My brain did about 45,000rpm this morning as I was waiting for paperwork to be filled in, financing to be approved, the Escort to be appraised.

Before this morning I'd never seen an 09 Jetta TDi in the flesh (at least not knowingly and up close), much less driven one.

The test drive was interesting. I adapted quickly but not quickly enough (stalled it at a stop light). Then there was accelerating up a hill... I left it in a lower gear just long enough for the turbo to really spool, and almost launched the whole car into low-earth-orbit.

No. This car was not overhyped in my head. This car is as awesome as I thought it would be (and believe me when I say that the feeling of letting this engine wind out can't be quantified by numbers like 140hp or 240ft-lbs of torque).


The drive home from the dealership was fun. I avoided the highway just so I could get used to driving in traffic.

The drive to work was also fun, but I'm definitely going to have to keep an eye on the speed, cause I found myself doing 70 without thinking.




eta: Suckers at the dealership gave me $500 for the Escort.