Day 136 - 25 strings finished, 1,000 cranes total!

I have been so busy with school and work, that I haven't taken the time to properly update this blog. Instead, I've been posting updates to Twitter (twitter.com/greenhiker).

So here's a brief recap of my progress since my last post:

800 cranes complete on March 30th.
890 cranes complete on May 9th.
950 cranes complete on May 12th.
980 cranes complete on May 13th.
990 cranes complete on May 14th.
1,000 cranes complete on May 16th.

Now that I've folded 1,000 cranes, legend says that I'm entitled to a wish. I've got a wish in mind, though it's a secret. :)

Also, I'm giving my cranes away! Thanks for reading.

Day 74 - 18 strings finished - 720 cranes total

I've had the apartment to myself this weekend and have been putting off studying for tomorrow's final exam, opting to fold 120 cranes instead.

I've put off studying because I feel comfortable with the material, though I should probably go over the various examples and previous quizzes.

That said, I'll make this post short and go study.

Day 67 - 15 strings finished - 600 cranes total

To make my school and work schedule easier, I decided to get my motorcycle running again rather than rely on public transportation. I'd been day dreaming about getting a new motorcycle and when the local Honda dealership made me a reasonable offer to trade-in my old bike, I decided to go for it.

Having reliable transportation will open up my world a little bit and I look forward to visiting the priory I used to practice at.

I'd had a splitting headache most of the day yesterday, so after riding home, I relaxed and folded 40 cranes. I folded another 40 this afternoon.

Now it's time to finish up my homework. My only final is a week from tomorrow.

Day 61 - 13 strings finished - 520 cranes total

I finished the 12th and 13th strings of cranes on Saturday afternoon. I was putting off doing homework and wanted to reach the halfway mark within two months. I did, however, complete my homework on Sunday.

I've taken pictures, but have yet to post them. Soon!

Day 58 - 11 strings finished - 446 cranes total

School has been taking up much of my time, though I've had a little bit of breathing room since I dropped the linear algebra course. I actually folded 40 cranes last Friday and another 40 on Saturday, then split 40 more between Monday and Tuesday. Last night I took it easy and folded SIX cranes.

I turned in my application for the MS Statistics program and also turned in an application for a TA position. The TA position is a long shot, but I've got my fingers crossed.

The summer school schedule came out today. It looks like I'll be taking a grad school prerequisite class from 10:30 a.m. until 11:45 a.m. Monday through Thursday for 8 weeks this summer. I'm not sure how I'll make that work with my job, though I'll figure something out.

Day 51 - 8 strings finished - 320 cranes total

Last Saturday, I was completely overwhelmed by much work I had to do for my advanced linear algebra course. It wasn't the volume so much as the fact that the proofs were becoming frustratingly difficult to complete. I ended up doing absolutely no homework on Saturday and opted instead to watch television and movies while folding cranes.

I knew that I had a statistics midterm coming up and when I checked the class schedule on Saturday evening, I was somewhat mortified to discover that the midterm was on Monday. I decided then that I was going to have to drop the advanced linear algebra course and spend Sunday studying for my stats midterm.

And study I did. I studied all day Sunday and went to bed shortly after midnight and it paid off. I aced my stats midterm with a score of 50/50, though I didn't find out until Wednesday.

When I did my undergraduate degree, I did it for the same reason that I believe most people do. To get a good job. Well, I've had a good job for a few years now and when I went back to school last Fall, I did so with the intention of enjoying my studies. As interesting as the linear algebra material was, I wasn't enjoying myself and didn't have much personal time. So, I dropped the class yesterday afternoon and now have a manageable weekend ahead of me. While I'm out the money I paid for the course, I consider that better than failing and being miserable in the meantime.

Last night I went to Ignite 5 at the Bagdad Theater and had a great time listening to 18 different speakers. Each speaker had five minutes to give their presentation which was accompanied by a total of 20 slides which advanced one by one every 15 seconds. Most of the talks were very entertaining, especially the one titled How to kill four chickens in three years. Less entertaining was the monotone voiced girl speaking about being a bicycle commuting parent. She essentially read crappy pseudo poetry from her slides and part way through her presentation, I excused myself to use the restroom.

I've only got a few statistics homework problems to do and a full weekend with which to do them. I'm tempted to go hiking on Sunday, though it depends on the weather.

I got my federal tax return today, though nearly all of it will go to the University to repay the financial aid I received for the linear algebra course.

Day 40 - 6 strings finished - 240 cranes total

School has been extremely busy and so I haven't made the time to post an update.

But that hasn't stopped me from folding cranes. I folded 40 cranes the weekend before last and then another 30 last Tuesday evening. I folded an additional 10 cranes on Saturday morning, completing the 6th string.

The volume of cranes hanging is impressive, especially since I am about 25% complete.