WOW where the hell should I even start. Like my new layout? I just noticed that Blogger put out new templates and stuff. It's kinda cool. Don't worry bout it if you read my posts in another reader. Most of you probably do anyway.
Ok, let's get the boring stuff over with first. So "research" with Salahuddin and his grad students didn't really get anywhere this summer. I sorta learned how to use the program PETSc, which is used for solving differential equations in C++. Not that I actually used it for anything--I was supposed to study one of the examples and then write another one based on it, but it never happened. I went into the lab a few times, though I stopped going recently, both because I honestly don't have any interest in it and also because I was busy anyway. Ehhh, there'll be other opportunities...
Other thing is I'm still somewhat employed at the SSL from last summer. Or to be more accurate, I've been "volunteering" since the campus won't let me get paid for over 40 hours a week. O well. I just go up occasionally to work with my supervisor and other engineers on finishing the boards from last time (yes, the process can be extremely slow). It was just a bunch of repetitive tweaks and fixes, with the mechanical details constantly changing and forcing me to adapt. Of course, in the real world things are like this all the time, and engineers of different focuses often have to work closely with one another.
At the SSL I've also been able to put my awesome mandarin skills to use a couple times. I was asked to teach one of the Chinese engineers there how to use the program that I've been using and answer her questions (she's from Shanghai). Here's a snippet of one of our question-and-answer sessions:
Her (mandarin): Ok, so I was wondering why I couldn't import the board outline from this dxf file.
Me: Uhh, 我想这个 file probably 做得不好。我没 encounter 过这个问题。。。
Her (mandarin): How do I edit the layers on my board?
Me: *pause to digest* Oh, 你先去 Setup menu, 然后 click "Layer Definitions." 你看 by default 全部都是 on 的，所以你要把不用的 close, ok? 你该 click 这个 button...
As you can see, my poor mandarin combined with such a tech-heavy context made for some amusing answers. Afterward, she asked me about my school life and the usual stuff, which was a bit better though still slightly embarrassing. "我是三藩市来的。这个summer 我在 campus 教课, uhh.. introductory circuits. 这个是我第三年，last year 开始在这儿做工."
Life sure is fun.
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