Oh Hai, Valentine's Day

As I am sure many of you know, I am not the world's biggest fan of Valentine's Day. One, I'm not a big fan of flowers, they wither and die and then I just feel bad throwing them away, because really what was the point? Two, not really into chocolates - I mean they're good a couple noms but then I'm tired of eating them. So there's your two major Valentine's necessities chucked out the window for me.

Now this Valentine's I was sick, but not enough to not appreciate how spectacular my boyfriend is. Not only did he drive all the way to Parallax to pick up some supplies so I could fully work at home, but he also cooked some delicious vegetarian "chicken" (seitan) noodle soup, and poured my juice in a red wine glass so I could feel fancy. I also got a very sappy but heartwarming robot-themed Valentine's card. Seriously, how did I get so lucky?

I also received my make-up Christmas gift (since both Steven and my parents got me a Smart Pen) - a Nook color! Now the neat thing about the Nook is that you can root it to be an Android tablet! So now I have my very own Android tablet, and the best part is, I can start reading comics again!

So Steven, this blog post is really just to say, thank you for being amazing & I love you! <3

Look Ma, I'm on the interwebs!

Nothing too exciting to report here...I'm currently sick and spent all of yesterday in bed watching classic Doctor Who episodes on Netflix, popping Chinese immune system-boosting herbs (or 'Ancient Chinese Secret' as I like to call them) like they were going out of style, all while muddling through a Numerical Analysis lab. And while that may sound all well and good, I missed out on the opportunity to try out cross-country skiing.

I blame the people who come into work sick under the guise of 'I'm not contagious'. Puh-lease. It's the 21st century people, the internet provides us the amazing ability to stay in contact with the office while keeping our germs to ourselves. You're only hurting those around you...and they don't appreciate it.

I'll admit, I used to be one who wouldn't call in if I was still feeling OK to work - but that was very selfish as I didn't think of the well-being of my fellow co-workers. So now, while my coughs are honking away, but I still feel clear-headed enough to work, I can confine myself to the apartment and still be plenty productive.

And if I'm still sick by this weekend when there is finally supposed to be snow in Tahoe, heads will roll I tell you, ROLL!

Anyway, I did release a new video last week, should you be interested in watching. You can also find my face on the homepage of www.parallax.com.

This video focuses on the differences between our old Scribbler Robot and our new and improved S2 Robot. If you'd like to take a look, go here!

And if you have a YouTube account, you should 'Like' the video, it makes me feel awesome.

...And I'm sick. 

Let's Pause for a Moment, and....

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Oh what a great game! The Pack certainly did not disappoint. It definitely became a nail-biter there at then end, but ya know, they just had to keep the game interesting. Super Bowls when one team totally dominates the other are definitely no fun to watch except for those fans whose team is doing the dominating.

Steven and I threw a little shindig complete with Merkts Port Wine cheese, brats & kraut, great friends, and green and gold mini cupcakes:

And hip-hip-hooray for bringing Lombardi back home!  :]

Back to School, Back to School...

I have recently come to the realization that while I have been talking about how much I'm enjoying my graduate school courses, I haven't actually said anything specific about them. So for any interested, here we go!

The first class I'm taking in Numerical Analysis which is basically a fancy name for your standard MATLAB class. Honestly, it's not that exciting, but it is good coding practice. Plus, MATLAB is being used for robotics applications, so it will be good to get familiar with the software. And I scored a 100% on my first quiz, so that's pretty rad.

But my second class, Microcomputer System Design I, is the course I'm most excited about. It's covering PCI system architecture which is going to help a lot with the things I work on at Parallax. Basically, it's a bus specifications for all peripheral devices communicating with the computer processor. The nice thing is that all bus specifications are basically the same, so by getting a thorough understanding of PCI, I will be able to more easily code and work with specifications more prevalent to microcontrollers, such as I2C.

And the teacher is awesome too, he breaks things down into easy to understand pieces using some great analogies. Plus, he has an excellent sense of humor, which you really have to appreciate when he's covering what's normally very dry material.

And now for something completely different!

Tomorrow is a very big day - The Packers take on the Steelers for Super Bowl XLV! We're throwing a big bash to celebrate the occasion with beer, brats with kraut, and green and gold cupcakes! It should be an awesome game, ending in an awesome Packers victory! :D

GO PACK GO!

Well Look What We Have Here...

It looks like I've gone an awfully long time without posting another blog - I really am terrible at this, aren't I?

Anyway, things have been rather busy, but excellent. I started my graduate school courses which are ah-mazing! Really, I couldn't be more excited! It feel so good to be back in a classroom, taking notes and reading textbooks. And please, no need to tell me I'm a nerd, I'm already well-aware.

I also posted a new video for work (hooray!), and honestly, if it's not too arrogant for me to say - I think it's my best one yet. Take a look and attempt the project if you like!  :]

And the quest to switch from coffee to tes is going amazingly well. I haven't had coffee in 10 days and don't miss it one bit! No caffeine headaches, or extreme drowsiness at all. If anyone is thinking of making the switch, I highly recommend it. No coffee breath, that's got to be a perk, yeah?

Whelp, I suppose that's all for now - hopefully I'll have something more exciting to say soon. Until next time, stay classy interwebs.

My Quest to Quit Coffee

A major pet peeve of mine at work is the fact that some of my co-workers don't seem to have the courtesy to brew a new pot of coffee when the carafe is near-empty, leaving nothing but burnt, undrinkable liquid in the bottom. So I nearly always need to brew a new pot when I get to work - rather irksome when it's early in the morning.

So I've decided to take the plunge and try to give up my addiction to coffee and replace it with a more healthy option - tea. Now I haven't really read any studies or anything, and have absolutely no evidence to back my claim, but I feel that tea would be a better source to quench my caffeine addiction than coffee.

And if not, at least it will make my breath smell better.

Today on my lunch hour I popped into Tevana and picked up their Perfect TeaMaker. It's a rather neat contraption that allows you to brew a single cup of tea really easily. You just add water and tea leaves, let it steep for as long as needed, then place it on top of your mug and let the tea drain into your cup. Bellissimo! 

I also picked up some tea which apparently has 100% the caffeine of coffee, so hopefully this will make the switch easier. My main concern is making sure I don't get a headache at noon, so I'll try to keep you posted (dear Blogland) in case any of you out there are thinking of doing something similar.

Oh, Well Hello There...

I suppose I haven't posted an update recently, and I'm sure you've been missing out on some 'Jessica Time'. So what's been going on recently?

Well not a whole lot, really (which I suppose is why I haven't posted). I thoroughly enjoyed my time at home with my family for the holidays, and was a little sad to come back to CA. But being back means more snowboarding time (yay!) and I must say I'm getting rather good.

Since the holidays, I've officially become a published author, which is pretty rad. The book is called Stamps in Class 'Mini Projects' and it's a collection of projects and things that I've put together since working at Parallax. You can take a look at it for free on this page.

I also start graduate school next Tuesday, which I really could not be more excited about! I do my most amazing work when I'm juggling a million different things, so I'm excited to get back 'in the zone'. In undergrad I worked 30+ hours a week as an Applications Engineer while going to school full-time, and I got better grades while holding that job than when I was working 20+ hours at New Balance!

School really is what I'm best at, where I've always excelled. Some kids were good at sports, some good at dance or student government, and while I am a pretty decent singer, school was my talent. I should have never bothered with dance lessons or playing soccer or swim team - I should have joined the Mathletes or something because I was in the business of getting A's. If only I had the courage to accept my nerdiness back then...

I mean really, is there anything better than well-organized notes, highlighted passages in books or color-coded and labeled Post-It notes marking important pages?

I didn't think so.

Plus this time I have the Smart Pen on my side - an amazing device which records audio and syncs it with what you're writing. That means, if I miss the professor saying something, I can just tap the paper and fill in my notes accordingly. 

I am so so so so so so excited!!!