It’s
not as bad as it sounds; my midterms are fairly spread out this semester,
although I have one in every class, and multiple in some classes. I never have
that many at one time, but once they start, they never really stop until finals
period. I’ve had two this week – Government and Naval Science – plus a history
paper due, but Monday is our holiday of the semester (besides 3 days for Thanksgiving),
so it balances out. Yom Kippur is also next week on Wednesday, if you’re
interested.
Last
weekend wasn’t much fun; I came down with the same cold/allergy hybrid I get
every semester, usually brought on by stress. I’m still a little snuffly, but
it’s much better than in previous years, and I think it’s on the way out. The
cold snap has also yielded a little, which is probably helping. They’ve turned
the heaters on in the buildings, and it’s pretty chilly when you get up in the
mornings, but you don’t need a coat by midday.
What
else has happened this week? In Roman Empire we’ve gotten to the Caesars; we’ve
had everything from Julius Caesar’s assassination to Nero and Vespasian in a
very short period of time. The account of Nero’s life in particular was very
disturbing; I’d never looked at it in great detail, but it influenced a lot of
books I read when I was younger, and it’s what comes to mind when I think of decadent
absolute power: everyone trying to entertain one fickle, self-infatuated man
who’ll kill you or knight you at the drop of a hat.
The
Commander of US Cyber Command and the NSA, Admiral Rogers, came to speak at MIT
for lab on Wednesday morning. The talk was interesting, although it would have
been more interesting if I’d gotten a full 8 hours’ sleep the night before. It’s
interesting to compare the VIPs that come through our ROTC unit from time to
time. With some exceptions, generally visitors in the flag officer ranks don’t
stand on ceremony, although visiting lieutenants have been known to do so. Of
course, we insist on it anyway.
In
other news, the water that’s supposed to be delivered to my door monthly
finally arrived, after several delays and a refund for the first month’s lack
of service. Last year I had two cases of water bottles; yesterday, I showed up
to find an entire water dispenser waiting outside my door. It even heats and
cools the water – I was very excited. I’ve also finally been brave enough to
make (microwaveable) rice and beans in my room, and they actually turned out
well, even if my room now smells permanently like seasoning.
The main
event of the week on campus, however, has been the strike by our dining hall
workers. I don’t know enough about the issue to comment, but it’s made eating
in the dining halls a little more difficult. The management is still providing
food, but there are far fewer options, and some of the dining halls are closed,
so those that remain open (like ours, thankfully) have to absorb the extra
people. On the plus side, the dining halls are open longer now, and there are
fewer tempting things to splurge on. It’s a strange dynamic; if you looked at
what everyone was advertising, you would assume that everyone was one big happy
supportive family, but obviously something’s wrong, because – well, they’re still
striking.
I’m
looking forward to the three-day weekend; I’m still having a hard time pushing
myself into being productive, but I should have time to get a good amount done
on my thesis (at the moment I’m just slogging through secondary sources) and
get ahead for next week – and get some rest in. Happy holidays, and see you
next week!
Pictures:
Everything's still warm and green outside. It's tourist season.
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