starting over at 40

"I can assure you... I'm not secretly an ageless vampure." -- me, after my suitemate Anthony said I don't look old

Summer is off to a good start as two of my aunts are visiting from overseas. Figuring we had to do something fun together, Dad took all of us to Reno and Tahoe over the weekend. Intense heat aside, this was an enjoyable vacation.

Hope everyone had a nice weekend. It was pretty special for me because I turned 40 on the 10th. Can you believe I've been on Earth for 40 years?

People have told me you will always feel "young" after a certain age. In my experience, this is quite true. I still feel like a twenty-something all the time, and only stopped feeling like a fresh college grad in recent years. However, the latter is no longer true given that I'm now back in grad school. If only my body could stay the same age. :P

It's been a while since I've had a birthday celebration with people my age. However, that's not a problem because I got some nice presents again this year. For starters, my cousin Cathy and her husband Andrew sent me some cool new socks. I want to save them for special occasions, but they look really comfortable. Definitely can't wait to see Andrew and Cathy again during the holidays.

I also got a birthday cupcake from Nob Hill Foods. It was pretty sweet but otherwise delicious. On a related note, my parents bought me a birthday card while there. It's very high-quality and quite beautiful too.

Dad also ordered a TI-89 Titanium graphing calculator for me. I actually already have a TI-89 that I used in high school and college. It turns out ECE 238 and ECE 256 both involve a lot of calculus, so we spent much of Saturday looking for my old calculator. Because the original model is not supported anymore, my father figured this was a good time for an upgrade. It's pretty funny because the TI-89 was partly a present for my 17th birthday.

We also went to Nob Hills Foods and Ranch 99 Market this morning for groceries and snacks. Our plan was to the stores yesterday after dinner, but I was pretty busy due to an assignment for my statistical signal processing class. However, the good news is I managed to finish the assignment a few hours ago. It was not easy by any means!

One downside is that there were some events at UC Santa Cruz that I had to miss. I would have loved to check them out if I didn't already have plans to come home. You literally can't have your cake and eat it too. On the whole, this was an enjoyable weekend.

Currently reading: The Martian: Lost Sols by Andy Weir

returning to graduate school: two weeks in

It's been two weeks since I moved to UCSC for the quarter. I survived the first few classes and thought I'd share an update. :-)

One thing I noticed is graduate students have more autonomy and freedom when it comes to academics. We get to choose an area of study as opposed to just following a specific curriculum with "core" courses. Professors are also more lenient when it comes to assignments. For example, the exams in ECE 256 are open book and open notes, and the quizzes in ECE 238 allow unlimited attempts. If only college was like this!

Of course, technology also helps. UCSC uses a learning management system called Canvas that is useful for keeping track of assignments, grades and course materials. Online platforms like Discord make it easier to stay connected with classmates. I decided to give ChatGPT a whirl and found it to be quite accurate. It's certainly a lot different than being a student in the 2000s.

I'm considered a "non-traditional" student because I worked for almost 15 years before coming back to grad school for a second master's degree. One of my concerns was that people would find it weird to have a classmate in their late 30s. However, this turned out not to be the case. Everyone seems friendly and unconcerned about my age, and I've already become good friends with my suitemate Yuxin. It's nice to know UCSC is so welcoming and inclusive.

Of note is there is always so much to do on campus, even when the economic situation is terrible. I'm not going to lie: work life is so mundane in comparison. I'd be lucky if a company had one holiday party and one family picnic a year. We actually have so many events at UCSC that I often have to miss them due to schedule conflicts!

Going back to school as a middle-aged person is a very surreal experience. On the whole, I'm glad I made the decision to continue my studies at UCSC. It's going to be challenging and sometimes difficult journey for sure, but also rewarding at the same time. :-)

Currently playing: Redneck Rampage

moved to UCSC for the fall quarter

I just moved to the my graduate student apartment at UCSC. It definitely feels a bit strange to be back at university after 15 years. I was a bit nervous at first but am already starting to feel at home. :-)

Our department-specific orientation is in two days, and the general graduate student orientation is two days days later. I'm definitely looking forward to meeting the faculty and fellow graduate students before classes start on the 25th.

For those curious, I'm taking a medical imaging class and a statistical signal processing class this quarter, as well as two seminars. Graduate school will be challenging at times, but I'm confident this is something I can handle. So wish me luck because I'm going to need it for sure. :D

Currently listening to: "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor

level 120 Archaeology in RuneScape

I just reached level 120 Archaeology in RuneScape and now only have two more 120's go!

Archaeology is an interesting skill as it is both profitable and also ties into the lore. It's easily one of the best-designed skills in the game. However, the downside is some items some items needed to complete certain achievements are dependent on luck and take a very long time to drop. For example, I've spent hours at the praetorium and still don't have all the pages needed for the Shadow Fall and Decimation mysteries. I won't lie — this can be quite frustrating at times.

However, the grind can be worthwhile because I've already earned a lot of chronotes. I'm really looking forward to completing the other dig sites after this. But someone please tell Jagex to add bad luck migitation to the journal pages. :-)

Currently listening to: "The Blueberry Shuffle" by Douglas Wood

moved my stuff to UCSC today

I just finished moving most of my belongings to UC Santa Cruz with the help of my parents. Even though this took a few hours, the process was simpler than had expected. There are still a few things we need to bring on my next trip, but the good news is the hard part is over. Of note is there was so much stuff that our SUV was packed to the gills. I certainly don't remember this being the case when I was an undergrad at Berkeley. It almost felt like I was preparing for a mission to Mars. :P

One nice thing about the graduate student apartments is we get single-occupancy rooms. It's nice to have some privacy — which often isn't possible when you have to share a space with others. I also don't have to worry as much people stealing my things. From what I've heard from family friends, this can definitely be an issue at times.

As mentioned before, my original plan was to begin doing research with Prof. Eshraghian during the summer so I could get a head start in my studies. However, he recently informed me he would be away from UCSC until around August as he is busy attending a workshop. So my family decided that I would move back into the dorms when Prof. Eshraghian returns to campus. At least I'll be able to relax at home for a while. :-)

Currently listening to: "I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me)" by Whitney Houston

bits and pieces

Just some personal updates I want to share. I didn't feel like making a separate post for each of those events, so here they are:

Level 120 Herblore in RuneScape

I'll start by saying I got level 120 Herblore in RuneScape on the 4th. I now only have three more 120's left before I have all the skill levels needed for the completionist cape. Jagex does plan to increase the other skills to 120 in the future, but that is expected to take several years.

I'm planning to get 120 Archaeology next as I have less than one million XP to go. However, that will have to wait because the membership on this account expires in like an hour or so. It'll probably be a while before I resubscribe as I'm going to be busy preparing for graduate school in the next one or two months.

A literal trip down the memory lane

Dad decided to take us to Sanborn County Park on the 7th as we realized we had never been there in all the years we've lived in the Bay Area. Even though we didn't stay here for long as it was a bit hot outside, this was nice for a change. It's always fun to explore new places. However, one highlight of this day trip is it brought back childhood memories.

For one, our route took us through the area in Cupertino where my late maternal grandparents used to live. Mom and I would always stop by their house after my horseback riding lessons on Saturdays, and I'd spend the afternoon watching cartoons. I certainly still miss my grandparents from time to time. It's hard to believe they've been gone for over 15 years.

I should mention our old family friends, the Liangs, lived fairly close to my grandparents in Cupertino. It's been a long time since our families have gotten together as we had gradually lost contact over the years. I don't think I've seen Stacey in person since 2010, and Emily since the year before. It's apparently quite common for adults to grow apart from childhood friends. :-(

Of note is Sanborn County Park is located close to Walden West and and Via West — the latter formerly known as Camp Costonoan. Walden West was very popular among my old classmates at Springer. I didn't attend Walden West but did go to Camp Costonoan in sixth grade. On the whole, this day definitely brought back some childhood memories.

A few shots

I mentioned a few times that I'll be taking courses at UC Santa Cruz later this year. Due to the university's immunization requirements, there were a few shots I needed to get before I could register for classes. I first got the updated COVID-19 vaccine on the 14th. The side effects didn't become apparent until the evening and lasted all of Sunday. However, everything was back to normal by the 16th.

The university also requires two doses of the MMR vaccine. We looked through all my medical records and could only find evidence of one dose, so I had to get the second dose on the 17th. It wasn't without side effects as my arm became pretty sore afterwards. However, that went away after a few hours. I still have to get two chickenpox shots — one for July and another in August — so hopefully those go without issues.

On a related note, I'll be moving to Santa Cruz in less than two weeks. It's both exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time!

Currently listening to: "War" by Edwin Starr

a nice Memorial Day "staycation"

It's hard to believe Memorial Day has come and gone. For a while, I actually thought it was still mid-May or so. It's often said that time goes by faster as you get older. So true. In any case, our long weekend wasn't too bad.

Friday

I was pretty busy even before the long weekend started. So my father has been building an enclosure in our backyard to protect our fruit trees from birds and rodents, and he needed my help for certain jobs that require two people. However, the nature of this type of work means that times can be unpredictable. What my dad estimated to be a 30-minute job ended up taking up all morning and then some. I could swear I had barely finished breakfast and sat down when it was already 1 p.m.

Gardening can be rewarding but also demanding at times. I was helping my dad put up a wooden beam when it fell and hit me square on the head. Ouch. Good thing it wasn't serious because I've had worse before.

Mom was also busy as she had to prepare a picnic lunch for Saturday's day trip. I also had to help put some cabbage leaves out to dry later in the afternoon as Mom wanted to try out some new recipes for cabbage dishes. We were all a little tired and decided to forgo our daily stroll around the neighborhood. However, that wasn't an issue as I made sure to get plenty of exercise on my own time.

Saturday

Dad decided to take us to Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park as we hadn't been there in a while. We encountered some traffic along the way but still managed to get there on time. I should mention we didn't hike as far as we did last time because we were all a little tired. It's probably because of all the yard work we did the day before.

On the way home, my mom wanted to stop at Nob Hill Foods for groceries. We took the opportunity to get some ice cream as it was a little warm outside. I could hardly believe how much the prices had gone up. For example, Ben & Jerry's was over $7 a pint at the original price. However, there was some Dreyer's ice cream on sale. :-)

Sunday

Some time ago, I received a $25 gift card for Target for attending my health insurer's orientation session. Dad figured this would be a good time to use it up and took us to the new Target store in Sunnyvale. I wanted some snacks but ultimately decided that frozen meals were healthier. It turns out $25 was barely enough for a small pizza and three other items, and all the portions were smaller than the pictures indicate. Food prices are insane these days!

We then went to Costco afterwards. Of note is there is usually a lot of samples around this time of day. This was nice for a change as it's been a while since I went to Costco. It was again past 1 p.m. when we finally had lunch.

Monday

Having done so much in the past few days, I spent much of the time studying for the classes I'll be taking at UC Santa Cruz later this year. There is so much to learn about AI and neural networks. However, I did find some time to play RuneScape and managed to complete the "It Still Should Have Been Called Aetherium" and "Work on Your Artisan II" achievements. It was quite a grind to smith all that armor after mining the required ores.

On the whole, this "staycation" was quite enjoyable. The only downside is I started getting a toothache a few days ago. I certainly hope it's nothing serious. Pretty sure a root canal operation would be unpleasant and expensive.

Currently listening to: "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz