528%

The annual interest rate of a cash loan place next to Hobby Town in Boise. Pretty amazing. Check out the stats:

Borrow $1000, continuously compounding interest:
$1000 * pow( math.e , (1 + 5.28) t )...

t = (1 day) = 1/365 --> $1017.35

t = (1 week) = 7/365 --> $1127.99

t = (1 month) = ~30.416/365 OR 1/12 --> $1687.64

t2x = $2000 @ ~40.29 days

That is crazy. Or, if you get halfway to the door and come back deciding that you didn't want the money anyway:

t = (30 seconds) = (0.5/525600...yes this is another memorized statistic) = $1000.01

You would already owe them an extra cent.

If you can't make fat bucks as a loan shark on that deal, there is clearly something wrong.

In other thoughts, the other day, while I was taking down our family's Christmas tree, I noticed how it seems that Christmas light strings behave very much like branched-chain polymers. Being primarily that they are very hard to untangle, once they have reached that condition; their movement typically bound at the branching sections. And I think that if any of you have tried to untangle a mass of Christmas lights and a mass of branched-chain polymers, you would agree it is a frustrating proposition.

I am also excited by the possibilities of being the first to tread snowtracks down any particular patch of fresh snow, and of an entire half-isle dedicated to solvents of all kinds in pretty little tins at Home Depot. Acetone, isopropanol, methyl ethyl ketone, and denatured alcohol? Yeah...how many things could I dissolve? :)

Right. Well, it is past 10 at night again, and I'm still in the lab. This time my excuse is that the internet is down at our apartment, meaning that here is my only real link to what must be the other half of my life, and we've got an awesome music system here too, which I make sure to use.

Looks like I'm done again, for now. Valete,
~TT

Time to give and be thankful

Yep. Good times. Finished yet another week busier than the last in school, and now that Thanksgiving break has officially begun for Boise State students, I have some time to think again.

I helped out in Rake Up Boise this morning with part of the MSE club, and we had over 25 people turn out which finished two households (40+ bags on the first one, ~15 at the second)  in a little over an hour. Work goes quick when you have a work gang like that to help out. Among other random things to make me feel good during the day, I donated to the Idaho Food Bank and called in a lady's employee ID card that I found on the street. 

Been a good day of helping others as best as I can, when I am able, although I must admit that on behalf of my own projects, I didn't get all that much done today. I did have to replace my car's battery, though. After that I played a little guitar, toyed around with some new riffs, but I still haven't gotten around to recording anything new yet. I'm also eagery anticipating my two books that I ordered, so I can begin to read those, but I am confronted with the knowledge that as soon as this break is over the last three weeks of this semester are going to be a step above the previous kind of busy, yet again.

At any rate, I've been taking today to give myself a little bit of a rest, and to get ready for more fun and likely sleepless times ahead. Thankful for the respite, and glad to be able to give back to people who who deserve it just as much.

Vale!

Alex

First!

Why a new blog? Considering the level of busy that I've been lately, it hardly seems reasonable that I should have time to do yet one more thing, but this one has been on my list for a long time. I'd rather not even like to think about what else I should be doing with my time right now, but by the fact that I'm choosing not to do any of those, I will finally catch up on some things else that needed to get done.

A first blog at a new site is not a place to press the burgeoning agenda of blogs that are piled up from other places. In that light, I'll have to keep it somewhat relevantly connected. I guess I could explain why I decided to move to a new blog site. Previous blog site has been on Myspace, and in continuance of my progression through formats and locations on the web for my thought outlets, it helps to keep anyone trying to follow me on their toes. <.< Well, maybe not. Especially if you take anything by my standard handle and search it, you'll probably find me everywhere.

Just felt like it was time for a change from the Myspace format, since I don't even really use Myspace anymore, and it has kind of a sour taste from a professional point of view. Not that I intend blogs to be professional at all, I just don't like Myspace's other reputations. Anything owned by Google? Probably a pretty stable bet, for now.

So I'm the last person in the lab right now. Even though I could have gone home before 10 tonight, I am still here. I always find something to do, be it productive or not, I guess. Music up as loud as I care to have it, and bonus research to be done. The only downside of this being that I still don't know where by bike light is, going on two years, and so riding home at night is always a slightly illegal proposition. Odd to think that is the case for bikes, but not for pounding it on-foot in any other condition.

I guess another thing of note would be it is suddenly the 30th of October. That means that Halloween is tomorrow. Of course I am oblivious to time during the semester, and it is odd to think that it has come around already. Weeks come and go without much indication of change despite the work that is to be done from day to day. On a bright note, however, a Halloween/Farewell party at my cousin's house is a welcome break in daily routine. For those of my friends who were not creative or resourceful enough to costume themselves, I have selected props from a Christmas theme one year ago, any they shall be given these instead.

If I had time, I feel like writing songs, continuing stories again, catching up, blogging more, and reading. I have noticed that I do manage to waste a fair amount of time on things that are not that, but honestly, within the expanse of things that I have committed myself to, there will never be enough time to finish them all. I have been told that not being able to achieve everything I set myself to will make me sad. And it is true that I miss spending time on other things that I love, but since I am simultaneously doing everything else that I love, it is not that hard to make the compromise. Simply put, if I did not enjoy doing it, I would not be spending my meager amounts of time on it. Missing those things which I also love to do simply makes me redouble my efforts to accomplish them within less time. 24 hours a day couldn't possibly be enough. :)

BTW: I have just found where all the dead flies in the lab are coming from. These are the only living things that I have seen in here since a spider or so months ago. They have migrated from the NPD lab, and 30 dead in their lab with numbers mounting over 20 in our lab makes me wonder how they originally got in here. I have no question on why they are dying, but as to why they are living is entirely something else.

Well, it is time again for me to set off. I am chilled out from writing and music, but it is time to be directed to other activities. Verily, valete.
Alex
--
~TT