Being Sick Sucks

The past two weeks I have been very sick. I have been out sick 3 days out of the past 2 weeks which is very rare for me because I am rarely sick for long. However, I have now been sick nearly constantly for about a week and a half. It is robotics competition season which has really taken a toll on my health. Two weeks ago we had a competition which was fun, but really wore me down because I spent over 40 hours at the school that weekend and had many late nights leading up to it. The week after the competition, my exhaustion finally caught up with me and I started to get a cold. However, I tried to fight through it and basically ignored it for 2 days which really backfired because I woke up at 2 am the next day and basically felt like I was dying. So, I then spent the next 4 days gradually recovering and by the middle of last week, I started to feel better. However, this only lasted about a day and a half because there was another robotics competition this weekend. Between the long hours and being surrounded by 2 thousand other people and their germs, my cold came back and, so, I have spent the last 2 days recovering from that. Hopefully, I am actually recovering this time. Through all of this, I remembered how much being sick really sucks. It has reached the point where, as a second semester senior, I am actually looking forward to being back in school. If that doesn’t show how bad I have felt, I don’t know what does.

Waffles Part 2

Yesterday, my first period class made waffles once again. However, things went much smoother this time. First of all, we made them in AP Physics because of the MCAS schedule and we had asked ahead of time, so we were actually allowed to make them and didn’t have to make them during lunch. This meant we had a lot more time because we had a double in physics, so we had 2 hours instead of 30 minutes. This allowed us not to rush the waffles and actually cook them fully.

The waffles were very good this time. They were much lighter because we used a different batter and they were nice and golden brown because we had a better waffle iron. People also brought in toppings like berries and whipped cream instead of just maple syrup which added a lot. We also made some chocolate chip waffles because everything's better with chocolate. Overall, the waffles turned out very well.

A Great Investment Opportunity

A few weeks ago, I wrote a blog post about my awesome athletic skills and how I ran only one PACER. I did so because two people seeking entertainment offered my 10 dollars to drop out after a single PACER. While I still think it was totally worth it, gym progress reports were recently posted and I got a 0 for the day because of “poor effort.” I personally disagree greatly with this grade. I showed up to class, on time nonetheless, I wore my gym clothes, and I did not verbally or physically assault anyone. Therefore, I think it is unfair that I got the same grade I would have gotten if I didn’t show up at all. I am even more angry that I didn’t know this ahead of time because I went to a gym class that I apparently could have just skipped.

So, for those of you looking to invest in another entertainment opportunity, I am willing to argue my grade for the low price of 10 dollars. Some of you may be wondering, why would I give you money to improve your grade? Well I am willing to argue that I deserve a 1 for the day because I did run one whole pacer after all. You know that would be a great sight to see. As a bonus, if you pledge 5 dollars or more, I will give you a signed copy of my gym progress report. So, think about this great opportunity and comment your pledges below.

Waffles

As some of you may know, yesterday was a very important holiday: National Pancake Day! Now while pancakes are great and all and free IHOP almost makes IHOP tolerable, waffles are where it is really at. On Monday, my AP Calculus class decided to make waffles to get an early start on this important holiday (we actually had no idea the next day was National Pancake Day, but I am going to say it was planned for the sake of the story). However, we were not allowed to make waffles in Calc, so we were forced to make them during lunch.

In hindsight, this may have been for the better because as we learned, the waffles were terrible.  We added milk and eggs to the batter when I am pretty sure it was a just a water mix and the waffle iron couldn’t shut all the way among many other things I am sure made the waffles terrible. They would not brown and were possibly partially raw in the middle and were dense as a brick. They also just didn’t taste that good. However bad the waffles were, it was still a fun time and is one of those moments that I will look back on after I graduate and remember the good times of high school.

Robotics

As some of you may know, I am on the school’s robotics team. This year’s game is called FIRST Stronghold. It is medieval themed and the basic premise is that there are two alliance each with a tower. The tower is behind a row of obstacles called the outer works. There are 5 obstacles called defenses that are chosen from 9 options and they range from a low bar you have to fit under to a drawbridge. You can earn points for crossing each of these defenses and after you cross 4 of them twice, you get what is called a breach. The other primary game element is the tower. There are a bunch of dodgeballs on the field and you can earn points by shooting them into the tower. You can shoot in a goal at the base of the tower for 2 points or at the top of the tower for 5 points. At the end of the game, there is the opportunity for robots to climb the tower for additional points.

Our robot is designed to cross most of the defenses. It is also capable of shooting into the high goal and uses vision software for aiming instead of being aimed manually. I really like our robot this year and think it will perform well (knock on wood). We compete for the first time this weekend at a competition that we are hosting at the high school, so we are down to the wire with putting the finishing touches on the robot. I am very excited to finally get to compete and to see how well we do.