Test and Book Foo

Had my test. Went fairly well I think, only a little unsure on one question. Got flustered/distracted at the beginning because of something the prof did though and so wrote down the wrong student number at first (which is what he did, warned about 'not knowing your name'. :P. If he hadn't mentioned anything I would have been fine), which caused him to point that out to me aloud, at the start of the test (since I was the very first person he asked and barely had time to write it down before he looked at it). Bah.

Anyway, book foo. I decided to go with Alas, Bablyon because I was carrying my textbook for the test, and when I've got a textbook in the bag there's more chance for books to get damaged by jostling, and I didn't want to do that to Ender's Game. So, without further ado...

Finished: Downbelow Station, by CJ Cherryh
Started: Alas, Babylon, by Pat Frank

More thoughts behind the cut tag.
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Yay, I'm a failure!

I'm strongly considering dropping my 7-10pm class. For a couple reasons, the time being only one of them.

The course is Software Design, which might be an interesting course... and actually, it's required for my major. But it's in EIFFEL. I hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate hate Eiffel.

Hate it. Just in case I wasn't 100% clear in the above, let me be clear. If I just typed the word 'hate' repeatedly, until LJ spit out the entry as too long, that still wouldn't account for 1/10th of the amount of hate I feel for Eiffel.

It's neither close enough to a programming language I know for my skills to transfer smoothly, nor different enough that my mind can treat it as a completely separate entity. It has this annoying-ass 'ACE file' which you must create in order to tell it where every file is, where the program starts, whether assertions are checked, etc, etc. Instead of, y'know, just compiling the programs you want individually and running whichever one makes sense.

We've got an assignment due next week I haven't significantly started because every time I try I want to poke my eyes out with a pen. And in an other programming language, it'd be a relatively simple assignment, I just can't make the leap (especially with all the crap testing junk). What's more, the assignments are designed for two people, but I'll wind up having to do it on my own (which is allowed but you get no benefit from it, and I have no other choice really because I can't ask anyone else if they want to partner up with me).

But it's a required course. So if I drop it, I'll have to take it again, and it'll likely still be in Eiffel (it's been in Eiffel at least the last few years, from what I understand). Though I might at least get a better time for it and so be more relaxed and able to learn it (and maybe even get a teacher who can speak English clearly without being in a monotone).

Even so, I'm starting to get into a self-esteem spiral over considering dropping it. Yay, I'm a failure again. I sometimes feel I'll never get out of Uni. Well, unless I drop out entirely (and likely take the Long Walk), which is always an option, just not a very good one.

Anyway, if I drop it before Feb 1st, I at least get 40% of what I paid back (anything after that I lose the whole money). So, maybe I'll do what I can to make as much headway in the assignment until then. If I can't 'get it' by then, bybye hellday.

Bah. Feeling low.