Letting off steam...

School has been hectic, with the fatigue starting to set in even though this is only the second week. So tired now to work, I think I should blog to to let off some steam...

Workload is heavy. 8 modules for a final year seems a tad too much, with a timetable that spans from early morning to late afternoons for most of the weekdays. It is not an ideal schedule, considering that I have to fork out considerable time to do my FYP.

FYP has been relatively light, but am still required to do some self-studying on my own for my part on receiver design. Right now, I can only make out the concepts, but still do not understand much. And will have to go down to the design of the integrated circuit for various components like the amplifier, filter, oscillator and mixer. The mention of integrated circuits is sending chill down my spine, because I have replaced EE3003 in NTU with a module consisting of only op-amps, diodes and BJTs in France. Can't escape after all, think I gotta put in more time to self-study, again. Anyway, been helping out the PhD student and another yr 4 guy with some experiments that is taking up some time. Was there whole afternoon today doing mundane work of changing frequency of singal generators at the transmitter end, from 4pm to 9pm. Neva had lunch, and was freaking hungry by the time our experiment ended. Came back hall to cook instant noodles...

Besides FYP, I thought most of my modules this sem rather manageable, judging from the lectures for the first two weeks. Wireless communication is my FYP, so I gotta make it my pet subject, while Telecommunications look like a module about plugging in numbers into equations to get answers, suits me pretty fine. Software engineering is all abt memorisation. That leaves DSP, which my FYP mates advised me to drop because they found it difficult. I didn't, because I still believe in the value of equipping myself with basic DSP knowledge that would be beneficial to my Communications specialisation. Very fortunately, most of my tutorial class tutors are the lecturers of the modules, so at least I won't get goondoo Profs who dunno their work.

But then, there is Human Resource Management (HRM), a killer subject for EEE4. The reason - an egoistic lecturer who claims to make sure you fail the second semester if you don't make the grade in the first. In a way, he is encouraging student participation by encouraging people to post on the EE4041 discussion board, promising to give notice to active students. Pretty unorthodox, but I thought the avanlanche of posts in the discussion board now are pretty much nothing but people who are trying to score points. But well, I am posting as well, although I made one sarcastic post which probably caught his attention, saying I am trying to make the other students feel guilty for no rhyme or reason. *shrugz* Yah, juz gotta submit to power sometimes, I will be posting to get into a good position for a good grade. And GOSH, everyone gotta buy a brand new edition textbook (ie no 2nd hand from seniors) @ $41!! Wallet bleeding...

And I realised I still havent gotten over my phobia for cats and probably dogs. Pathetic right, such a big man afraid of a scrawny kitten which ran into my room last night, in the end gotta seek help of my neighbour to get the cat out! I guess I'm just not a pets person.

Yah, basically just an incoherent entry. Shagged.