January 31, 2007(Wednesday)

I spent most of the time working on the PhD project today. It is not easy to figure out what happened. My simulation class professor wrote something that is similar to my project. However, because of the large scale that I am deploying, I don't think that I can take advantage of the simulation code.
At night, Nicky, Joyce, Joe went to our home to have hot pot.

January 30, 2007(Tuesday)

After class today, I talked to prof about my project. I am glad that I am doing fine in the program. Hopefully the hard work will pay off eventually. For the rest of the day, I spent the time working on the PhD project. I also had an afternoon nap.

January 29, 2007(Monday)

The work load during the last several days was so uneven. About a week ago I was so busy. But then after I passed my CCIE written exam and handed in the simulation class homework, there is not much to do. I played badminton for 3 hours yesterday, and read some comics today too! It is really relaxing. But I am afraid that once I have homework, I would be busy again.
I went with classmates to lunch to celebrate a classmate Wenbin's birthday.

January 28, 2007(Sunday)

After Sunday school and Sunday service, we practiced for the song for 2 hours again today. At night, we played badminton for 3 hours! Last few times we only played for less than 2 hours because the facility is closing. However, we got to play 3 hours today and I had enough fun and exercise! For some reason, I played so many badminton lately. I think that I am pretty good too because I am energetic and I can react fast!

January 27, 2007(Saturday)

Today is a smooth and enjoying day. Nothing much happened. I stayed home doing homework and watched movie at night.

January 26, 2007(Friday)

I taught the I-Core this morning again. HP donated about 40 laptop tablet to IU and we get to see those deployed in the classroom. Each student has their own tablet laptop. When they need to write the notes, they can have the option of either use the keyboard or fold the laptop to something like a notebook and write on it directly. That is quite interesting, but not the coolest part. The coolest part is the instructor can simultaneously see what screen the 40 students are doing. And then he can ask which student volunteer and then display that student's screen to everyone's laptop. And the instructor can have the option of only limiting to classroom access and no web access. Moreover, the instructor can ask for a poll (whether everyone understand what concept that he is currently talking) and see the result (e.g. 50% of the students fully understand, 30% needs help and so on). This will be the future of classroom. But a bit too expensive (each tablet costs $2000, and need to buy the software as well).
I took the CCIE written exam this afternoon. I was supposed to take it yesterday but then there was problem. Today I am glad that it went through well, and I passed the test, because the test is very similar to the study guide that I purchased. Now I can finally breathe and have a more relax life because I have done my CCIE test and also finished my computer simulation program (and the next homework is not here yet)
At night I led the Bible Quiz. I have done so many times and I added so many different elements to make it competitive and everyone is involved. I am sure that everyone enjoys that. And then they went to our home to practice for the song "You are my all in all" because we will sing it Feb 4. We enjoyed it really much. After they are gone, Carmen and I practiced ourselves too. I sing tenor and she sings alto.

January 25, 2007(Thursday)

I went to do a dental check up and routine cleaning today. The last time I did it was probably around 2001 or 2002. Carmen has the insurance that includes the dental check up so we took advantage of it. The dentist did a good job in explaining what she is going to do next so that I prepared my heart about what will go on. However, at the end I thought that the insurance covers everything but I have to pay $50, because she did some deep root cleaning and gave me some medicine to take because there is some problem with the teeth. I am glad that she found out the problem but this is not fair that without any warning or choice, I got to pay for $50.
I originally scheduled to take a CCIE written exam to recertify my certificate this afternoon. I have studied for this for quite some times. However, when I was there, the computer has problem and I have to wait for 2 hours and even then the problem is not solved. Therefore, I have to reschedule the test. I am quite upset about this, not only because of the time that I spent there (glad that I did study during that time), but more important, about the mental capacity allocated to this studying. I am in a big rush about the school class and this is absolutely not nice to put something inside my brain again. I will take the test again tomorrow.
At night we went to prayer meeting. Only two couples (us and Daniel/Yangching) went. It ended early and I spent the rest of the night studying.

January 24, 2007(Wednesday)

I worked on the PhD project for a while and also the simulation class. My computer is slow and I am really annoyed by this. Especially I need to run Microsoft's VB.net program and that takes up a huge memory. The computer is so slow and I am really annoyed.

January 23, 2007(Tuesday)

I have birthday party every year when I was young. I get to eat whatever that I like. And I have birthday present. I think that my parents are great.
I was working hard on a computer program for my class. Usually it would take someone more than 50% of the time to do debugging. However, I am very lucky because I spent 4 hours yesterday working on the program, but only spent about 30mins today troubleshooting. I am happy about that. I went to play table tennis with Carmen at night.

January 22, 2007(Monday)

I spent the whole day (about 8 hours) studying and working on the simulation class. There is another Chinese in my class called Wenbin. He had a computer programming background and he completed all the homework with ease while the rest of us are suffering so much. Each of us has our own strength and mine definitely is not computer programming!

January 21, 2007(Sunday)

We went to worship and Sunday School. Afterward, Carmen helped me to cut my hair, and at the same time I watched "Beauty and the Beast" DVD from my laptop so that I won't be too bored when she is cutting my hair. I also prepared the Bible quiz at night.

January 20, 2007(Saturday)

During afternoon, we went to church friends Chunli (he used to stay at our house to sleep when he went to visit his girl-friend, now wife) and Helen's gathering because they got married during new year at Taiwan and came back to have some sharing with us. Then at night we went with friends of our group to church to play badminton. This is a great time to have some game time with them, and I think that my badminton skill is the best, even though I don't play badminton at all. I did not do much homework today.

January 19, 2007(Friday)

After spending several days on my homework of the simulation class, I finally get to spend some time on the project. For a PhD student, class is not important. What matter is whether or not I can publish. Of course, I need to pass my class and let the professor to have a good impression about me. So I just need to do the minimum and devote my time to project.
At night, there was Bible Study. And then afterward they went to our home to practice a song for the church anniversary (Feb 4). We will be singing "You are my all in all" in different parts. There are several people in our group that is major in music and that certainly really helps. Sing this song also remind me about the worship team of Canaan in 1998. At that time we practiced this song at 5319 Norfolk ST. Carmen and I really enjoy to practice in worship team. We are glad that we can do this again.

January 18, 2007(Thursday)

I had a short meeting with a potential PhD student today. He is about 40 years old and has worked in the industry for 15+ years. Greg, my classmate, has the same background as him. Therefore, mainly Greg did most of the talking.
At night, we had dinner at Dennis. The food tastes pretty bad, like school's cafeteriaˇ¦s food. With the relatively expensive price ($9 per entry), that is expensive. However we had a buy-one-get-one-free coupon and that is much more reasonable. Then we went to prayer meeting.

January 17, 2007(Wednesday)

Suddenly, today is very cold. Yesterday there was some small snow, and this morning it is below freezing point and the car wind shield is full of glassy ice. I had a very difficult time to put the key inside the whole and I need to warm the key hole with my breathe in order to move the key so that I can open the door.
Since I have a full day of class today, Carmen and I carpooled to and back from school. I felt so bad about the homework for the simulation class (using Excel Visual Basic now). I spent a lot of time but then I still can't get that to work. I am glad that there are some classmates that can help me.
At night I went to have deacon board meeting. The term of the deacon is from May 1 to April 30. Now we are thinking about the next term of deacon already. We just had the nomination committee from the deacon board (and I am one of them). We also talked about the church 1 year anniversary too!

January 16, 2007(Tuesday)

I tried to spend so much time today (several hours) fixing some of the problem with my computer code for the simulation class homework. I don't have much success and I felt bad. Usually the last little bit of bug is the hardest to find. Other students have done the homework already and I think that I am not doing that good. At night when I was trying to bike and study at the same time, my brain just burnt out and I can't focus anymore. Therefore, I need a break.

January 15, 2007(Monday)

Today is the Martin Luther King Holiday and I am able to miss two classes today. I get some times to do the homework. I also went to have work out and bike (by bike-machine) for 50 mins. It is very convenient to bike because I can study and bike and study at the same time. The amount of exercise is not as much as running, but still I get some sweat and able to study as well

January 14, 2007(Sunday)

I preached today and the topic is about money. I think that I am a natural public speaker that can talk quite interesting. However, this is precisely my weaknesses when preach: because it is very likely that I depend on myself and not God. I hope that God does His work.
I went with fellowship friends to have lunch afterward. At night, I also played some light and no-running badminton with some of them. My ankle is pretty much all recovered now.

January 13, 2007(Saturday)

I spent several hours and worked hard on the simulation class programming homework. I often hit road block when working on this homework. I agree that this is important to take a break and do something else during that time because I would not go anywhere anyway.
At night, Carmen and I watched the "Finding Nemo" DVD at home. We went to Disney World a month ago and watched a great musical play about Finding Nemo. However, I never watched the movie. Now I finally get a time to watch the movie!

January 12, 2007(Friday)

I taught I-Core this morning again. I am the Assistant Instructor (AI) and my job is just to lead a discussion of a short case. I am quite nervous before the class start, and actually wish that I only have to do research and I don't have to teach. This is quite amazing because before I join the PhD program I always thought that I would love to teach but dislike research. It seems like that I changed! I actually enjoy doing research but dislike teaching. However, when the class starts, I enjoy the attention and also the talking again. So I am doing fine. However, the case today is only a discussion without any solid thing or math involve. Therefore, I only used 25 mins for the 50-mins class. I let the students out early, and I am sure that they don't mind.
At night, I visited a Mandarin family group for Bible Study. The leader is a 50+ years old man and I think that his leading style is quite similar to mine. He is very familiar with the Bible. I enjoy this Bible study.

January 11, 2007(Thursday)

I picked up where I left off this Monday (after meeting with prof) and continue to work on the PhD project for several hours today. I hope that I can finish it as soon as possible, but somehow I don't know the exact requirement of the professors so I may waste some effort. At night we went to prayer meeting.

January 10, 2007(Wednesday)

I had a full day of class (only two classes) today. One class is a PhD seminar about heuristic for integer programming and scheduling problem. It is taught by an old professor who has taught this course for many times. For my previous three semesters, the professors are all new to teach PhD seminar. This is the first time that I attend a PhD seminar by an older faculty. Even though there are quite a lot of readings, it looks like that this course will not be that tough. The other class is about using Microsoft's Visual Basic newest version VB.net to do simulation. This will be a tougher class. The last class that I take is an elective about game theory. Since I am interested to use Game Theory as my dissertation topic, this is a very important class to me. The prof says that there is a lot of proof and math in this class. I hope that I can learn a lot and I am looking forward to this.

January 09, 2007(Tuesday)

I work hard today. Spent almost all time that I am conscious on school stuff. This is the last semester of course work and I hope that I can get through it. Starting next semester, I hope that life would not be as busy.
At night, Carmen and I watched "Cars" Disney DVD at home. This is a nice relax because otherwise my brain would be running too fast and can't stop. Break is important.

January 08, 2007(Monday)

I had a meeting in the morning about my PhD project. I worked on the paper during the summer and I thought that I did a pretty good job. However, as usual, they criticized my paper and there is so many rework to be done. Every time meeting the professors makes myself feel that I suck. I am discouraged throughout the day.
There is already homework for the simulation class. I worked on that for a couple of hours but I am not getting very far yet. The first few weeks of the semester is always hard and I imagine that this time it will also be the same. Even though today is just the first day back to school, I am low in energy and discouraged. I feel bad for myself.

January 07, 2007(Sunday)

After Sunday Worship, we went to Border's bookstore. I originally planned to study because I have finished the "Dragon Ball" comic already. However, Carmen suggested me to read the "prince of tennis" comic. Then I like it and spent 2.3 hours reading three books. The story is simple: no one knows this tennis prodigy at first. But then he kept on surprising others and eventually keeps on winning. I guess that for the next little while I will probably read this comic whenever I go to Border's bookstore.

January 06, 2007(Saturday)

We helped a HK person called Melody to move house and drove her to lunch and buy some grocery. At night we went to Joyce and Nicky house for dinner and also a gathering. This is to welcome the new people coming to IU this semester. We played UNO game. I find that after playing for card game for about 4 hours, I got bored. I still remember the days in Hebron fellowship (1993-95) that we played card game for a long time. However, now I am old and don't like this as much.

January 05, 2007(Friday)

I went to have some gentle work out today. I can't run, but I can bike comfortably. I always bike for 5 mins to school, and I always think that biking is not that difficult. However, after biking for 10 mins I am all sweat and tired. After biking for 20 mins, when I walk again my leg has no power. Biking is easy on the service but it is actually quite challenging.
At night Carmen led Bible study. She thinks that she did not do a good job but I think that she actually did pretty good. I have that experience before: I thought that I did a good job in leading Bible Study but turned out that Carmen thinks that it is not that good. I have also experience that I think that I did a bad job but Carmen thinks that this is good. This is one of those days for her.

January 04, 2007(Thursday)

Rather than letting myself slip one more day away from my life, I decided to be more productive today. I slept early last night and I drove Carmen to work this morning. Then I had an almost 3 hours late-morning nap. I went to see the doctor afterward about my twisted ankle and it turns out that it is only a minor injury. I only need to rest for a few days and that should be fine. At night, I went to prayer meeting while Carmen stayed home to prepare for the Bible Study tomorrow.

January 03, 2007(Wednesday)

It is quite boring after twisting the ankle. It is because I cannot go to work out and run. This activity is important to me, not as much because of the reason of exercise and sweating, but rather because this helps me to have a time table of the day. It breaks down my day time into two halves, each with about 3 hours. However, now I am facing a long 8 hours day (about 2 hours used to be the work out time plus shower) and I lack the structure. Therefore, I woke up quite late today (passed noon). The important thing that I do is to write down some famous (famous to me) Bible verses. I have started this project since 2002 and I have now about 15 pages of famous Bible verses/stories. I have done with the New Testament and most of the Old Testament.
At night, Carmen and I went to dinner.

January 02, 2007(Tuesday)

I twisted my right ankle today while playing basketball. The last time that I twisted my ankle happened in the last millennium (about 98 or 99). I stepped on someone's feet. It hurts a bit. I can still barely walk, but nothing serious. The first thing that I said after I twisted my ankle is to talk to the person's feet, saying that "it is not your fault". He apologizes afterward but I said again "it is not your fault". Usually people would ignore and go home, or swear. I am very nice and this is a good testimony.
At night we had the group leader gathering/meeting. All group leaders shared about the situation of their group. We find that each group has the similar problem: pressure in leading Bible study, boyfriend/girlfriend or family problem.

January 01, 2007(Monday)

We woke up after noon today. I also have an additional afternoon nap. Almost everything are closed and not much going on for the first day of the year. However, I still study and read paper as usual. This is part of my life.