shocks

One cannot easily recover from the shocks that happen in one's life.

I recently had non-life-changing shocks the past week.

1. Melinda Doolittle got eliminated from American Idol. I had hoped that Jordin would somehow mess up and get eliminated instead. But she's really good. I didn't like her anyway, so I hoped Blake would win the Finale. But he didn't.
2. Some bigwigs are attending our presentation. Including one person we are eager to see, but not actually get to know to because of rumored sternness. Brings back memories of when I was applying for KEM.
3. I cannot solve the activated carbon filter because there is simply no information on how to design one. I am hoping for a miracle because I only have 2 days to finish my whole project.
4. Lor Fresnedi didn't win as Muntinlupa mayor. Of course I'm a Fresnedi supporter since I am a scholar of the local government. At least I know that the taxpayers' money are actually used in worthy projects such as college scholarships for about 100 students. Let's see how things turn out for the new mayor.
5. (not really a shock) But the senators I voted are not winning! For the nth time in my life my bets are lagging behind. I'm beginning to think I vote bad candidates or maybe I just go against the flow. Uh, I didn't vote for big-mouthed candidates who wouldn't make a law if his/her Pork Barrel depended on it. So I'm going with my go-against-the-flow theory.
6. I'll have an interesting sem, with interesting professors. *cough172cough*

Enough shocks for me. At least until I recover.

potatoes? tomatoes!

I am currently absorbed with doing work. Although I suffer from it (and the chronic bad canteen food), I find a bit of joy in doing stuff like that, however hard (it's giving me headaches!) it is.

Found out about something horrendous this week. Actually, most of us suffer from two things (out of a lot): prejudice and generalization. Just because a tomato is ugly doesn't mean it's rotten. Just because a tomato is rotten doesn't mean all tomatoes in the box are rotten. Like I said, we suffer from these injustices but we also, subconsciously or otherwise, do these to other people. Why waste a perfectly good tomato just because one is traumatized from a rotten tomato in the past? That's not fair for the other tomatoes (which is weird because tomatoes don't have feelings) because they grew up nicely, but are still neglected because of the prejudice and generalization they experienced. I know it would take a deluge or tsunami to wipe the earth of all people who do these things (so that means all of us), so are we doomed? Of course we are. We even vote for underqualified senators, corrupt governors and mayors and lazy councilors. Anyway, all we got is one another and we would be stuck with the people around us for a very long time. So, I think a little cooperation would help. A little compassion and unprejudiced thinking will make the world a better place. (Ah! World peace! World peace!) Or a better tomato sauce.

It would seem that we got sucked into playing Text Twist like the other guys there at PED, but we really have a game of our own. However, one day, we just played Text Twist and never looked back. So, it's not a matter of we did it because they were doing it, let's say, we had a different inspiration to do so. But, why am I so defensive about this thing? I've no idea.

I am one of those UP people shaking their fists in the air for the CRS team. Or the ChE Department. Or the unpopular professors/instructors. Anyway, I am fearing that I would not get the ChE education that I paid for, thus I might graduate knowing a little, thus I might fail the Boards, or pass the Boards but suck at work, thus have a miserable life. Sometimes wethink these problems are insignificant, but they aren't. Unfortunately.

what vacay?

My vacay ended April 26, when I went to Batangas for an interview.

Unexpectedly, I was accepted for their summer internship (for 24 days until June 1). Of course, I was ecstatic at first because I will be working in a hardcore chemical plant. A dream of a chemical engineering student who has been just looking at books for the past 4 years. That was until I had to start working on my project: Evaluation of the Demineralization Plant.

I had to learn and relearn my ChE 133 stuff. It was the end of my 2-day career as a budding chemical engineer. The JG Summit Petrochem people would find out that their newest intern is a fraud. That he does not know how the heck an ion exchanger works.

So, I had to read mounds upon mounds of chemical engineering books, which are, not really enjoyable to read. I had to filter out a lot of complicated stuff from Perry's, which provide little help on adorption and ion exchange, but is a great source for physical data. I had to re-read Foust, and refer to McCabe and other books. I had to do research over the internet, since they would probably explain the matter fully in a few, ordinary words. But my quest for digestible literature over the internet is futile. Oftentimes, I need to be a member of some journal-subscription website to access the really good stuff. The free stuff are overviews and do not tell me how to design an ion exchanger.

So far I had a really miserable OJT because of the work I had to do. It's like I entered an abstract art critiquing job rather than a process engineering job. Another factor that added to my misery is that I had to stay in Batangas (100 kms away from home) for five days. That means no TV, no siblings, no other friends and fun activities for five days. Every Friday, I feel like I'm getting out of prison. Anyway, thanks to Mils and Carlo, life at Batangas has become bearable for me. They had been such nice people and I have easily adapted to the routine they had two weeks before I came along.

I'm just hoping to get through designing. It would be a nice training for my plant design this coming academic year.
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I had met the college-version dictator. Probably worse than the "principle"-monster I have met before. I'm just hoping s/he doesn't turn out to be a hypocrite. That would be worse.