Freude im Ausland

After one glance at the worksheet for CS this week, I realised that there was no way I could do the homework without reading the text book. This might seem like a revolutionary concept, but in reality I hardly ever touch a textbook (although I probably should have for Calculus last semester. I read the book as an afterthought in order to prepare for the final and found that the book was about 10x easier to understand than the lectures that my professor gave). But it was obvious that these problems required some serious reading and analysis. So I put it off. This was not only because procrastinating gives one a sort of thrill (although this is true. Running has a whole other meaning if you are running away from an angry troll with a bloody axe who has murder on his mind). In my case, I preferred to put off my CS homework so that I could do my math homework. And I preferred to do math instead of reading my text book because math is something that can be done while doing something else that is more interesting (although I freely admit that the quality of your math homework decreases when multi-tasking, and the time it takes you to finish the assignment actually increases…so in hindsight I totally should stop multi-tasking when I do my math homework). But in any case, the fact remains: I did not do my CS homework or read my text book.

Today my plan was to read the relevant chapters and get the homework over with. But we had a visitor from out of town, so I decided to put it off until afternoon. We had a delicious breakfast and then I took her around and showed her everything of interest that there is to see in Düsseldorf (hint: it took around 2 hours. Interesting city huh?). But the day was so beautiful and the sun was shining so brightly that I really didn’t want to get down to work reading and analysing. But when I opened the cover of the book to the table of contents something happened. I thought, “Wow. This stuff actually looks interesting.” And so I got into bed and started reading my Computer Science textbook.

It was the coolest feeling. I didn’t feel like I was reading a textbook. I wasn’t going out of my head because it didn’t keep talking about taking the fifth derivative of a four variable function or something (thank goodness. We are only doing second derivatives with two variable functions and believe me…it is enough). But instead I felt like I was in bed reading a good book like…The Count of Monte Cristo or something. No…that isn’t a good example. I’ll try to think of a book that I have not described as “so intriguing and awesome that I can’t put it down.” Although I was thinking this week that it is really quite a stretch to imagine that Edmond Dantes was able to learn four languages fluently IN PRISON. And then when he got out, he was able to speak all of them with such a good accent that all of the natives of the land automatically assumed he was one of them. Especially since he supposedly learned the languages from an Italian monk. Good one Alexandre Dumas! I am laughing on the inside. My German is decent, but I am surrounded by GERMANS all the time. And I still have an accent. But even with that major flaw to the story, The Count of Monte Cristo is in another league. Hmm…let’s compare my textbook to The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin. Good book. Interesting story line. Won some prizes. But most importantly, I’d read it again. Yes my friends, I have an awesome textbook. One thing, at least, is abundantly clear: I did indeed choose the right major.

We get to learn about how computers are structured and the different levels that make up the computer and how they all function together and…blah blah blah. If you are a computer science major (or some other geek-inclined person) then you are currently nodding your head and admitting the sheer awesomeness of the complexity of the entity that is the computer. If not, then you probably don’t care one way or the other. Suffice it to say, I was forced to literally declare “that is awesome!” at least once while I was reading.

But that one time it WAS totally awesome. It was talking about disposable computer chips that could be attached to clothing to tell a washing machine the temperature at which the piece of clothing could be washed! A whole system immediately flashed into my mind. I could build a laundry shoot that would send my clothes to the washing machine and, after recognizing the specific article of clothing, it could sort it into its correct pile and then wash all of the clothes automatically once a week. Of course, the machine would also automatically dry the clothes as well, and because it would know what each piece of clothing is, it wouldn’t be that much of a stretch to add a folding machine to fold each article and place it on the conveyor belt which would then bring it back up to my room and place it in my closet in its designated spot. At that point, it would really be no stretch at all to imagine that I could have an menu of clothes. I could order my “outfit for the day” (like in Clueless but a little more hi-tech) and then it could be delivered to me without my having to always go rummaging through the drawers looking for something specific to wear. It would totally be worth it and with technology the way it is today, it is actually feasible too. They will probably come out with their own “automatic laundry system” one of these days. Probably already have them. And so I promised myself, that when I have the skills and the resources, I am totally getting one of those systems. Because let’s face it: my closet wishes it was as well organized as my file system and my clothes wish they were washed once a week. My future husband will probably not object either…

Of course, I haven’t actually got around to reading chapter two, which has all of the relevant information for my assignment. Probably should get on that.

UPDATE: A request: If you EVER hear of such an automated laundry system that is actually available to the common consumer at an affordable price, will you PLEASE not hesitate to let me know about it?