Fear the Crab

We’re still learning probability in 241. I understand the concept, but when presented with a problem I have trouble figuring out the different details and what’s expected of me. I suppose this is the same as how some people can’t stand word problems; perhaps it’s a failure to understand and notate the different variables.

In 211 we’re going to convert our big programming assignment into an Applet, and run it off the web. I already started trying out the code, but the GUI isn’t what I thought it would look like. I’m not sure if it’s because I’m forgetting something, or some of my parameters are off. For example, I wanted a text field that was 80 characters long, flanked by a label and a button. Instead I got a big label, text field of 20 characters long, and a big button. Perhaps in class Thursday we’ll find out how to adjust these things. We still haven’t learned how to make the buttons and stuff do anything; right now we’re simply designing the layout.

If the Applet thing works out, I’m going to post my JavaQuest game on my web page. Unfortunately, whoever plays it won’t be able to save their game. I can’t save it on their machine, and I sure as hell don’t want them to save it on mine! Still, it’d be an experience to do that, and I can leave it on my page for no other reason than to brag.

I took a two-hour nap, so now I’m awake. This might not be so good, because I have to wake up early and go to work for an extra day tomorrow. If I stay up late I’ll be very surly in the morning.

I first dreamt that I had my new truck, and everyone from the dental lab wanted to come down and check it out. The only problem was, they came very late at night, when we were asleep. I woke up to show them the truck and give them all a ride, because I didn’t want my dad to get upset at them, and instead of being a pickup it was one of those multi-passenger trucks, lifted, with leather seats. I remember trying to drive it and I was having a hard time because the steering wouldn’t respond and the suspension was just too loose. Suddenly I became embarrassed because these were Maile’s friends and co-workers, and here I was making a fool of myself for getting a truck and not being able to handle it. At the same time I was getting upset at her co-workers because they kept wanting me to drive like an off-road maniac, going down dirt paths and bumps and rises. I felt the truck go off-balance and tip over, rolling end over end until it crashed against a hill. I asked if everyone was okay, and nobody responded. Then I found myself in a prison of sorts, except I was a third-person amorphous entity that was just watching. Each cell was made of concrete stone slabs with a single window, and I was visiting each one in turn and looking at its occupants. I heard a voice saying that these criminals were those that could not function properly in society, and so were condemned here for the rest of their immortal lives. The word immortal stood out, and I realized that this was an elven community, and these criminals were spending eternity locked up in cold dark cells. The voice that was speaking was one of the jailers, who was checking each cell to make sure the criminals were behaving properly. In one cell, a bunch of criminals were talking to one guard, and when the jailer checked on that cell, he asked what the guard was doing inside. There was a brief conversation, and then guard left the cell. As the two walked away, the leader of that cell’s occupants reached forward, and plucked the door key that was still inside the lock, courtesy of the guard. Then the elven criminals turned into these jelly-like, blob-shaped aliens, armed with devastating weapons. They broke out of the cells (for there were more than a few) and unleashed havoc upon the elves. I watched and moved among them as they rounded up elves and tortured, maimed and killed them all. Then I began to control the actions of one person in particular, a woman with the powers of Superman, who was busy finding stragglers and hiders. Here it turned into a roleplaying session, as I would speak the moves she would make, the words she would say, where she would go, and the woman would act it out as though I were directing a show. There was one straggler left, and he put up some resistance, and here it seemed like he wasn’t “playing by the rules” because he kept ignoring the fact that the woman had Superman powers and he was just ordinary. Yet I couldn’t do anything about his uncooperation because the game just continued. I (controlling the woman) chased the straggler around the complex, and he led me to a strange room, a training room, where he had summoned the real Superman, and I thought o shit I’m dead. I had the woman retreat full speed out of there, and Superman flew after her, just as fast down the corridors. I remember the anxiety of the chase, and thinking that the alarm should be sounded so that Superman can play with all those aliens instead of beating me up. The alarm did sound, and while Superman was distracted, I had the woman go to an area I (we) had visited earlier, which was the “end of the level.” The woman grabbed two magazines and entered into the next area, but she had to hide the magazines somewhere for later retrieval. Inside the women’s restroom, I checked various places where she could hide it, and also remember where she hid it. There was a noise outside, and I thought crap Superman and his cronies have entered this area and are going to begin a search and they’re going to find us and I’m going to be in trouble. I tried to open a locker as quietly as possible, and when I got it opened I saw that it was just a door leading to nowhere, only a blank wall with metal-like pipes. And no place to hide magazines.