On the Town

Last weekend I got a chance to explore downtown Chicago. Being a big fan of sophisticated and cosmopolitan cities, Chicago does not disappoint me. I was fortunate to be downtown during one of the many celebrations recognizing the Burnham plan centennial, at Millennium Park. The Burnham plan is also know as the plan of Chicago, essentially the starting point for the metropolis it now is.

As I was listening to the Grant Park Orchestra, I gazed around, while sitting on the stairs at the open-air pavilion at Millennium Park. I looked up at some of the buildings. I turned around and looked at the crowd. It was a remarkable scene. Because of the efforts of people, who cared about enriching society and making Chicago a better place for people to live. We ended up with a M. Park. What was just a former railroad yard. A large percentage of M. Park was funded by private donors. I'm glad to know there are people out there who can look beyond their own self-interests, and think about how they can better society. I spoke with a colleague about this recently, and we came to the conclusion that most people aren't able to look beyond their own self-interests, which is quite a pity. There's much more to life than just becoming rich. Your actions define you.

On the Web: http://picasaweb.google.com/alvin.adderly/ChicagoMohamedVisit

Chicago

It has been a while since I last wrote on my blog. The past few weeks have been pretty good. Work is moving along, I learned how to run a few tests more or less unassisted. My massive design and coding project is underway. My law class is almost done, I have to say I enjoyed studying the law a lot. I also have enjoyed my trip to downtown twice a week.

"Welcome Aboard the CTA Redline with service to downtown, and 95th."

As I've said before Loyola is situated in a great part of downtown. This weekend, I plan to do everything I possible can in downtown. Starting today! Why, because Mohamed is coming to visit me, and we intend to explore every inch of Chicago. Chicago is a really great city to live in. Except for the fact that things close early.

Hopefully I'll be able to take some pretty good night shots with my new dslr of the Chicago Skyline and such (refer to my previous blog post if this term confuses you).

In my "spare time", it's linear algebra, and integrated circuit design. I decided I'll probably need to get a CS minor also. + 1 semester. Three word(s) people should avoid in conversation, "nice","cool" and "like like".

What I've learned in the past few weeks:

1.) Pay ridiculously close attention to detail
2.) Ask a heck of a lot of questions
3.) Really understand what you are doing inside and out
4.) Understand why your doing something
5.) Try to learn from your mistakes (of course some people never do)

I'm 21

First off wow I'm 21. My how time flies. I'd like to correct a previous blog post I wrote, while I was riding on the CTA. I said I that I was heading towards Chicago and Lake, I meant Chicago and State.

Anyway, I've been busy with work and class. I do get to play on the weekends. Last weekend I went to the Shedd aqaurium with S & Company, which is free thanks to the large technology company I work for. Working has been eventful, I realized that I still have a steep learning curve. Yea, VLSI your right, staying in school is still more fun. I finally did buy a dslr, or in laymen terms, a really nice high end digital camera. I ended up getting the Canon T1i. Lets see how good I can learn to take manual photos.

What shall I do today who knows?

Riding the CTA

Having wireless broadband everywhere is pretty nice. I'm sitting on the CTA redline using my laptop while heading to Loyola, at Chicago and Lake. This weekend was pretty good, I went to a local art festival in Deerfield, with Jenny and Sayo. Besides that I think I have a better grasp on my design project now. Last night I decided to read into the wee hours of the morning, but it was worth it.

I ordered some parts today, that should come in pretty soon. Global commerce is pretty interesting, I remember when I bought a device earlier this year and it came from China through US Customs in less than two days. I think the parts I ordered are coming from Alberta, Canada.