An incredible Monday after a really great weekend full of outdoor activities and games. My favorite part of the weekend was going to Knott's Berry Farm which is a place that I have never been to before. We started off by going on all the fastest roller coasters and finshed them in about three hours. Then we had dinner with the provided meal voucher. The food was excellent and the service was great. After, we went on our favorite roller coasters for a second time, but we waited in line longer for a front seat on the cart. By this time, it was dark and a lot more exciting. The next day (Sunday) was just as enjoyable becasue I did my laundry, went to the ocean, and participated in a suite poker tournament. The laundry went well although the dryer did not fully dry my clothes although I put them in for 80 minutes. It was probably better, however because my clothes just dried in the closet on hangers. I was surprised by the performance of the MayTAG washers/dryers because they are normally a very reputable company. Maybe after years of abuse, they have become weak.
The ocean was great and the water was semi-warm. I enjoyed just floating in the waves and occasionaly swimming farther out. After the return from the beach, I ventured into my room to finish my homework before some more suite activities and games. I was very excited about starting my homework because I was able to do it on a topic that was really interesting to me. The assignment was to research and write two pages of notes on a topic of engineering that interests you and could possibly be something you would do as a career in the future. I chose robotics in the military. Specifically unmanned robots (UAV's) produced by two of my favorite companies, Northrop Grumman and Foster Miller. Northrop produced the MQ-8 Fire Scout which is an unmanned helicopter capable of autonomous vertical takeoff and landing. Foster Miller produced the first unmanned robots which defuse IED's (Improvised Explosive Devise) in a process called EOD (Explosive Ordanince Displosal) . The robots, called Talon and MAARS are extremely versital and represent the perfect junction of good engineering and user (controller) interface.
After all my homwork was done, the suite poker tournament began. Matt (the RA) wiped out two players in the first round with a very good hand. A long tournament shorter, I was left against Matt and lost to him because he had sets of 2. Maybe we will rematch tonight.
Bye for now,
Best,
Paul Deardorff
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