OT: Down the Wabit Hole (Boredom Thread)

[BagHead]

So I'm going to UND this semester, they actually have an aerospace engineering online program. There are a couple labs where I'll have to go campus in the summer for, but they only last a week. I'm playing it safe and only took a 12 credit course load.

The English Comp class is going to be interesting. They have some discussion boards I have to post on. So far I'm refraining from being myself on them.

Math is Pre-Calc. I wanted to start off with a refresher and get comfortable with whatever programs they use for the online stuff.

Some Python coding class that the prof didn't update from last semester so nothing is working.

The Intro to Engineering class which looks interesting. Lots of CAD on a program I haven't used before.

I got some cool swag in the mail today:
View attachment 962570

What the hell? University of Maine didn't send me shit!

Joking aside, I'm glad to hear you're going for it, man! I know it's a big interest for you. I hope you do awesomely!

 

[57special]

It's a bit harder to join a club and get anything out of it being a distance student. The aerospace online version is only a couple years old, so it never came up in my previous searches. That car club your son was in looked really cool.

Online math courses are different. The right answer will come up as wrong if you put a random space in your answer.

Yea the labs will be at campus, but I'm pretty sure I can figure out way better experiments than the school allows. I'm thinking a potato gun, making the potato more aerodynamic and adding wings to it as the starter project. Maybe add a couple of sparklers to look like engines.

I'm not too concerned about jobs as of yet. I have enough connections and being a disabled vet really opens a lot of doors (gotta love quotas for tax reasons).

S2 (now a junior in Comp E)says that much of the teaching is terrible, so he doesn't bother going to many of his classes, anyway. Goes to Youtube. The lack of practical knowledge is also disturbing...that's why the clubs are so good, as they actually work on things that drive, fly, or do some sort of job. As a tradesman, i am also stunned at how they send them to work in shops with no safety training. They have a fantastic big shop(s) with expensive, powerful tools that can kill or damage you or others in the blink of an eye, and they give the students no training before they go in there. That would never happen in the trades.

 

[Wabit]

S2 (now a junior in Comp E)says that much of the teaching is terrible, so he doesn't bother going to many of his classes, anyway. Goes to Youtube. The lack of practical knowledge is also disturbing...that's why the clubs are so good, as they actually work on things that drive, fly, or do some sort of job. As a tradesman, i am also stunned at how they send them to work in shops with no safety training. They have a fantastic big shop(s) with expensive, powerful tools that can kill or damage you or others in the blink of an eye, and they give the students no training before they go in there. That would never happen in the trades.

My math class is all youtube videos. TBF youtube has been my go to for learning things for years now. It's how I learned to build cigar box guitars.

The lack of practical knowledge isn't surprising to me. The people with the hands on experience are in the prime earning years of their life and teaching would be a paycut for them. The older you get after that the generational and technical divides are large enough that it's not worth the hassle of becoming an instructor. I've kept teaching as a backup plan at a tech school. and the more I looked into it the less I wanted to do it. I don't want to deal with a classroom full of kids my daughter's age.

Those fancy shops with all the big and shiny toys are something I want to play in. It probably better that I don't have easy access to them. I'd either turn into Doofenshmirtz or Phineas by the end of the semester.

 

[Wabit]

What the hell? University of Maine didn't send me shit!

Joking aside, I'm glad to hear you're going for it, man! I know it's a big interest for you. I hope you do awesomely!

That swag was a surprise to me. I'm a semester behind where I wanted to be. UofAZ turned into just a massive waste of time. A stupidly long acceptance time, putting me in the wrong major, and then telling me that what I wanted was a 6+ year degree track doing it online.

I'm excited and a bit scared of going back to school. My teachers are all younger than me, and the freshman classes are definitely aimed at someone my age or life experience. And, as a surprise to on everyone here, I've found that I like being contradictory and poking things with a stick to see what happens.

 

[BagHead]

That swag was a surprise to me. I'm a semester behind where I wanted to be. UofAZ turned into just a massive waste of time. A stupidly long acceptance time, putting me in the wrong major, and then telling me that what I wanted was a 6+ year degree track doing it online.

I'm excited and a bit scared of going back to school. My teachers are all younger than me, and the freshman classes are definitely aimed at someone my age or life experience. And, as a surprise to on everyone here, I've found that I like being contradictory and poking things with a stick to see what happens.

Find me a better set of qualities in a scientist or engineer, if you can.

 

[57special]

My math class is all youtube videos. TBF youtube has been my go to for learning things for years now. It's how I learned to build cigar box guitars.

The lack of practical knowledge isn't surprising to me. The people with the hands on experience are in the prime earning years of their life and teaching would be a paycut for them. The older you get after that the generational and technical divides are large enough that it's not worth the hassle of becoming an instructor. I've kept teaching as a backup plan at a tech school. and the more I looked into it the less I wanted to do it. I don't want to deal with a classroom full of kids my daughter's age.

Those fancy shops with all the big and shiny toys are something I want to play in. It probably better that I don't have easy access to them. I'd either turn into Doofenshmirtz or Phineas by the end of the semester.

Yeah, when we toured the shops at the U i wanted to just stay behind and do stuff.