It's been a while.
May. 11th, 2005 05:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
haggholmSo what's happened since my last terse post two weeks ago, or my last real post three weeks before that? I feel like a random, jumbled post, so that is what you shall receive. I warn you; I'm rather tired, and this is not entirely coherent, certainly not cohesive, and frankly rather poorly written.
Well, school's over. Most of my marks were above my expectations—for instance, I expected to squeeze by on the honours dissertation and ended up receiving a mark of 93%, which makes me happy. My average is a little bit above 90%, which also makes me happy—I'm no Scott or Jon Ben, but I think that's fairly decent. Formal graduation decisions are made this week, but I don't foresee any trouble. Today I straightened out an immigration mess, so I will be legally allowed to stay in the country for convocation, which is a bonus.
I've been accepted at the University of British Columbia (and rejected by U. of Toronto and Waterloo). It's kind of far away from everyone I know here, and I shall miss some good company, but it seems like a nice school in a very nice location. I look forward to grad school; extremely interesting courses, a big and stimulating academic environment, and a chance to reboot things and enter a university as a ... well, maybe not non-recluse, but certainly less of one. One can try ... Time to apply for a new student visa and look into residence in detail ...
When I go there, I want a laptop. Part geek gadget love, maybe, but it's sort of a social thing, in a way—I don't want to shut myself away too much again. If I can carry a computer around and do my homework in a lounge or coffee shop or someone else's room or apartment ... it'll just open more options. So now I want to find a laptop that's reasonably cheap, well supported in Linux, and powerful enough to run some mostly rather simple apps; programming and office programs and such. Nothing extravagant for me; I'd rather have good battery life and a decent price. (If anyone has suggestions ...) If possible, I might even get it now, before I go to Sweden for the summer. It's probably cheaper here in Canada, I could use it whilst home, and when I get to UBC, I will have a computer until my desktop gets there—I may get things shipped a little later.
As for my time here, I'm relaxing and battling bureaucracy. I shall have to apply for a visa next; once my paperwork is done, I might look into making a few extra dollars on RentACoder so my time isn't entirely wasted. I rather enjoy relaxing, though, which in itself is rather unusual for me; I hang out a lot with Chutz and Michaela (and often Shahn) and some with Scott, have a drink now and then, just hang around ... it's just nice. I've never really had a social life before; it may not be large now, but it's a pleasant novelty.
Well, school's over. Most of my marks were above my expectations—for instance, I expected to squeeze by on the honours dissertation and ended up receiving a mark of 93%, which makes me happy. My average is a little bit above 90%, which also makes me happy—I'm no Scott or Jon Ben, but I think that's fairly decent. Formal graduation decisions are made this week, but I don't foresee any trouble. Today I straightened out an immigration mess, so I will be legally allowed to stay in the country for convocation, which is a bonus.
I've been accepted at the University of British Columbia (and rejected by U. of Toronto and Waterloo). It's kind of far away from everyone I know here, and I shall miss some good company, but it seems like a nice school in a very nice location. I look forward to grad school; extremely interesting courses, a big and stimulating academic environment, and a chance to reboot things and enter a university as a ... well, maybe not non-recluse, but certainly less of one. One can try ... Time to apply for a new student visa and look into residence in detail ...
When I go there, I want a laptop. Part geek gadget love, maybe, but it's sort of a social thing, in a way—I don't want to shut myself away too much again. If I can carry a computer around and do my homework in a lounge or coffee shop or someone else's room or apartment ... it'll just open more options. So now I want to find a laptop that's reasonably cheap, well supported in Linux, and powerful enough to run some mostly rather simple apps; programming and office programs and such. Nothing extravagant for me; I'd rather have good battery life and a decent price. (If anyone has suggestions ...) If possible, I might even get it now, before I go to Sweden for the summer. It's probably cheaper here in Canada, I could use it whilst home, and when I get to UBC, I will have a computer until my desktop gets there—I may get things shipped a little later.
As for my time here, I'm relaxing and battling bureaucracy. I shall have to apply for a visa next; once my paperwork is done, I might look into making a few extra dollars on RentACoder so my time isn't entirely wasted. I rather enjoy relaxing, though, which in itself is rather unusual for me; I hang out a lot with Chutz and Michaela (and often Shahn) and some with Scott, have a drink now and then, just hang around ... it's just nice. I've never really had a social life before; it may not be large now, but it's a pleasant novelty.
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no subject
Date: 2005-05-11 09:39 pm (UTC)Anyhow - Sweden for the summer, you say? Visit meeee and Juha, please? Please please please. Although if we have a broomcloset for an apartment, well, I hope you can sleep standing up. *g* We'll visit you, if need be; I'm only reluctant about that because of possible money worries, and that the financial assistance I'll get only allows me to leave the country once a year. -_-; (I'm sure I could slip off to Estonia for a weekend without issue, but, y'know.)
no subject
Date: 2005-05-11 09:43 pm (UTC)And I certainly hope to visit you guys for a while! Should aught go wrong and you end up visiting Sweden instead, I'm quite confident I could arrange free living at my grandparents' place, but I expect to pop over for a few days at some point ... I don't know about sleeping standing up, but a couch or a little mattress on the floor or something should be fine.
no subject
Date: 2005-05-11 10:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-05-12 12:15 am (UTC)You should check what you need as far as autonomy and compare different processor types. Also factor in if you need built-in wifi. Centrino can drain a little extra sometimes, but it pays off if you need to always be on your campus's wireless network, less of a drain than having a card in all the time. Then again, I prefer to have an external orinoco to hook up an antenna on ;) , personal choices. I don't know if you got lots of stores around your place, but I can have a look at what we got in Quebec City for you.