My drive for five...

One of the bitter/sweet parts of finishing a semester is slowly getting your marks back. I know for me it has been more sweet than bitter and it looks like this final semester may be the sweetest yet but it's also one of the toughest for me to wait out. My drive for five is for five straight A+ grades. Now classmates, before you all come to lynch my ass also remember that I am still currently unemployed.

Mike's Final Semester Grades
E E 469 - Feedback Control Systems: A+
Engg 405 - Engineering, Business, & Society: A+
Mec E 451 - Vibrations and Sound: A+
Mec E 480 - Advanced Strength of Materials II: A+
Pet E 366 - Petroleum Production Operations: A+

Anyway, just so you can all share in the excitement/dissappointment I'm going to update this entry as the grades come in. Please don't take this as bragging. I've put in my hard work and it's just something I'm very proud of.

Onto other news. The apartment is mostly empty now. I'm just taking a short cleaning break at the moment. I still have a couple days to get everything done but it would be nice to be able to enjoy the end of the week. So, with that, back to the washing. Peace.

Oil, hair, what's next?

Okay, I've put it off long enough. I know my mom is dying to see my new haircut. I'm sure she'll be supper proud. If not...LUKE DID THIS TO ME!!



Can't you tell I'm thrilled?

Actually I'm quite liking it now. It's grown in a little bit and I've finally got all of those little hair clippings cleaned out of my ears...a week and a half later.



Home-made

It's going to feel so nice having this length of hair in Thailand. My usual mop makes me sweat in Canada's climate...imagine me there. Uncomfortable.


So on to other news. The Oilers are in the playoffs! YES! It's been a while but we're back. It's just too bad that they dropped the first game to Detroit in double overtime. Detroit didn't deserve that goal, even if they did have way more shots than us. Still, the oilers blocked 35 shots, Roloson still saved 60...I think we're in good shape.




Super fans!

It's a good thing that Nevin has so many jerseys...and that he was away at a Brooks & Dunn concert. We did have one more super fan in our ranks but the stress of overtime was just too much for him.



Poor poor Brendan

Actually Brendan was feeling pretty rough all day. There's been some bad colds and fevers going around lately. I'm still trying to kick my sickness.

Anyway, one more exam to go...ever...on Monday. I studied a lot today and I'm going to put in some good time tomorrow. I HAVE to do well. I got my Engg 405 mark today which I expected to be my lowest mark this semester: an A+. Damn...I have a lot to live up to. Need a good night sleep. Peace.

Five Saturdays in a row...

Yeah, the calendar may say Monday but for me it's my fifth Saturday in a row. Since classes ended everyday has been filled with usual Saturday stuff. Recovering, planning, exercise, studying, and knowing that you still had at least one more free day ahead of you. Well tomorrow is not another Saturday, it will be Sunday. My first of the last exams is on Wednesday, April 19th. Vibrations...in the bag.

Highlights of my extra-long weekend:

Easter - only needed two meals to get me through the day. Jeff cooked up a morning feast at Grandma's. Nick and Jess attended. Then Luke's parents invited Nevin, Corrina, Ang, and I out to St. Albert for their Easter Family Feast. It was very nice of them and Luke's mom gets an A+ rating from me. We even got take-home treat bags!



Nevin finished off his chocolate rabbit in less than two days!

Okay, so that's about it for highlights. I still don't have pictures of my new dew but they will come soon.

Other stuff:

Corrina had us over for an appetizer potluck for her birthday and to celebrate all the MecE's being done their 460 Design projects. Here Chris was telling us a very involved story (when he wasn't polishing off plates of snack food).



Corrina joins us at 23!

I also have a few pictures from our playoff run a couple weekends ago.



Team Ramrod



My last university hockey game.



Pete, me, Luke, and Nevin after the game.

Photographs courtesy of Jeff. (Thanks bro) That was also the weekend of our provincial swimmeet. I wasn't participating but I still showed up both days to cheer on the team and snap a couple pictures.



Part of the Penguins Swim Team.

I had a great year with these guys. Colin and Amanda were great coaches. I made a lot of friends and hope to see them next year if I can find a Calgary Masters team to continue competing with.

That's it for now. One more big day of studying tomorrow!

Weak of change...

No, that's not a typo but maybe it should say "Weak from change...". So many first and lasts this week have left me just exhausted. Where to start?



White Trash Dan

This was definitely a first that hope is a last as well. Wednesday was our last day of classes. I had a final at 10:00, a MecE 480 review at 11:00, RATT at 12:00 and beer gardens at 1:00...for starters.



Corrina and Nevin pose at the garderns.

It was a beautiful Wednesday. In fact this whole weeks has been nice. A little chilly in the shade but I haven't worn pants during the day for a least 10 days now.

For me the beer gardens was a chance to mingle, roam, and seek out those that I've met over the last 5 years and say my goodbyes. Many were surprised to hear that I was done, fini. What? Haven't I been hanging around here for long enough?



James...Rahul...inseparable!

Yes, 'tis actually true. Just as my high school was sad to see me leave in 2001, the great U of A will have to watch me walk away in 2006.



Kolla and Trevor.

After spending a few hours and few dollars in the beer gardens it was off to Brendan's Backyard White Trash Barbecue. I liked the idea cuz by that time I was starving and losing my alcohol tolerance by the minute.



Don't worry folks, it's sparkling apple cider...classy!

From burgers and chips to steaks and potato skins, we had our fill. Brendan is keeping Nevin's barbecue for the rest of the summer and is determined to become an experienced "outdoor" chef by August.



Rosie out-eats us all.

We didn't think this steak was going to fit on the barbecue let alone in her stomach. Nice work!

Since Wednesday I haven't slowed down:
- excellent movie : Inside Man
- great lunch place : Chicken for Lunch
- clinched playoff spot : Oilers!!!!
- popular thing to do at Luke's house : shave head (well...to 1/4")

Yes, that's right. My hair is now extremely short. Hasn't been like this since I was about 6 months old I think. It was a bit of a shock last night and I'm still getting used to it. I did get a chance to go show off the new dew at Woolie Bullie's. Trevor and his brother were having their birthday bash. Seems most people like my hair or at least don't say anything about it. Good sign for me. Pictures later.

Grad pictures...

Hanging with Pete at grad night.

Okay, I've had these pictures online for a week now but I just haven't posted them. Our MecE grad was on March 25 and I have to say it was a blast. My parents were there for the supper and speeches. They've helped me so much to get through the last five years.



I guess you can say they've really supported me.

It was also kind of nice/weird to see all the engineers so dressed up.



The Grads!

These are most but definitely not all of my friends up here. I've got to know SO many over the years that you just can't get them all in the same room...let alone the same picture.



Grad boys.

This started off as a picture of the Vance Refrigeration volleyball team (minus Jeff and Terry of course) but when there's pictures to be taken you'll find Luke and Dan in there somewhere.



My family did show up later to congraduate me.



...and the night progresses...



...and it's probably time to go home.

So now what are you going to do now that you've graduated from Mechanical Engineering?



WE'RE GOING TO THAILAND!!!

The next Saturday was our Iron Ring ceremony. Pretty short but enjoyable at the same time.



Showin' the bling.

So we've done it. We've made it through 5 years of hell and it's now time to move on and have more fun in the work world. Peace.

So many goings ons...

I haven't written in a while and it's definitely NOT because nothing has happened this last week. In fact it has been incredibly busy. I've now had my iron ring for a week and haven't lost it. Can't say the same for all my friends. Our hockey team man the playoffs. We won our quarterfinal game on Monday 7-5 and then won our semifinal on Thursday in the shootout. I the second goal of the game for our team with a slapshot from the top of the circle...about time. We were down 5-2 at one point but came back to within one and tied it up 6-6 with our goalie pulled in the final minute of the game. They put one off of our crossbar with 3 seconds on the clock. Anyway, in the shootout our goalie made three straight stops. Our first two shooters missed as well but Nevin made a nice move to win the game. Ah, what a hero.

I also made the last four swim practices of the year. It wasn't as hard on my body as a thought. Provincials were this weekend too at the university pool. I didn't sign up as I though I'd be watching MecE design presentations all afternoon but all of my friends were done early in the morning. Anway, I'll write more later but I'm about to get picked up for our DIV 1 INTRAMURAL HOCKEY FINAL!!! Let's go team Ramrod!

IRON RING....

Yes!!!!! I finally have the little piece of metal that makes me complete. Again, I apologize in advance but I'm going to be overly super-stoked for a couple weeks. We're just at home for a brief second before continuing the partying! I'll fill you in with any details I can remember later.