So I took that first midterm on Monday. It really did seem early. My friends felt it was early; most of them don't have their first for another few weeks. And when I walked out of that math test, I felt awful. Even with open everything a la a CS exam, it was 5 long questions in 45 minutes. I'd only finished 3 of them before there were 5 minutes left. The two I skipped I didn't have a clue on how to do and it was buried deep in my notes. So I gave a one sentence guess on both of them and turned it in. Ugh, at least the whole class didn't feel well.

Fast forward to today. The professor commented he was surprised with the results. Though no one finished in 45 minutes, he thought the exam would take no more than 5 (!) minutes. And on a 5 point scale, it you got a 4, you did well. If you got a 1, there's work to be done. If you're stuck in the middle, the future looks cloudy. I'm in the clouds, but in the brighter side of the scale rather than the darker side. I did better than I thought since he graded on general ideas instead of exact answers. Though on one where I guessed, I had to find the best approximation of a Euclidean norm with a polynomial of degree zero in the interval from 0 to 1, a mouthful indeed. I looked at it and scribbled down 1/2 without explanation, which luckily was the correct answer.

Evans Hall is to be torn down soon and be remade into 2 smaller buildings. And while this project may not be finished until 2020, it's still too late in my book. Whoever put that building there in the first place should be shot. It's not just its ugliness but its terrible to get up when elevators break down like it did today.

Now that that is behind me, there's other things to talk about. Tonight is the final debate among California gubernatorial candidates now that the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has reinstated the election date of October 7. If you haven't registered to vote, it's too late! The deadline was last Monday. Arnold Schwarzenegger is actually in this one and while the questions are given in advance, the format is open and prone to interruption so expect a free-for-all. Of course, the one who can compose himself or herself the best will take the debate. 6:00 tonight on most stations.

Darrell Issa contributed $1.7 million to the recall effort but may vote no on the recall. If Schwarzenegger and State Senator Tom McClintock stay in the race, it will split the Republican vote and allow Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante to coast to victory. Issa obviously thinks Bustamante is worse than Davis in that Bustamante has proposed raising taxes considerably and would rather support Davis than allow Cruz to cruise. But you know, I actually think Bustamante would be better than Davis due to his legislative experience which may be helpful in working with that body, something Davis has failed to do in his tenure and something that has shown with the constantly tardy budgets.

So be true, go watch, and be informed.