So yesterday was the first day of the semester. I hadn't exactly been looking forward to it, of course. Yesterday and today, there have been some interesting turns of events. Read on.

I arrived at school worried. I had stupidly chosen to take AP Spanish, and I was going to have it second semester during first block (period). So I asked Mr. Mumtaz, one of the computer teachers, if I could be his teacher's aide second semester, first block. He said he could only have TA's during second block, and that was a no-go for me because of AP Calculus. He, however, suggested that I sign up to be a "tech kid," so I did it right then and there. When I made the change to my schedule in the Guidance office, they told me to report back to them right in the morning on January 9.

For the chronologically astute, that was yesterday. And so I entered, prepared to accept my fate of fixing people's computers (which is something I surprisingly don't know how to do) or something of that nature. I knew I had no chance of somehow asking to be Mr. Mumtaz's TA because I heard (on MySpace, eww, yuck, gag, etc.) that Billy was planning on being his TA during first block. Anyway, there was a group of other students in the Guidance office, most of whom I recognized. They had been told to show up there and then because they were planning to be TA's, and Billy was among them, telling others of his vague plans for TA-dom. Apparently he really wasn't sure what he was going to do, but he was only planning to be Mr. Mumtaz's TA. (That's unusual; when you ask to be a TA, you first have to get permission from the teacher and Guidance... normally.)

They dealt with the group alphabetically, so I got called up relatively early. I explained my situation. Mr. Mumtaz gave me a sign-up sheet for... blah blah blah. So I assumed that I was going to be on the Tech Team. The lady at the desk tried to reach Mr. Mumtaz, but he was late and hadn't arrived yet (typical). So I was set aside for a little while. Later, the lady got in touch with the guy who's in charge of the Tech Team, and he said he wasn't doing it this semester. So the lady asked if I could settle for being Mr. Mumtaz's TA. Could I! I did hesitate for a moment because Billy had also asked to be Mr. Mumtaz's TA. I mentioned this -- he had been called up in the intervening time -- and Mr. Pitts chimed in, "Business is business." I was called up first, so it was my choice. I took it.

Of course, this was all subject to Mr. Mumtaz's approval, but I knew he wouldn't mind. So I went up to his room, opened the door, and said, "Does somebody need a TA?" He said he didn't mind at all, so I got to TA-ing immediately. The class is Web Design II -- not a class I've taken, but you can probably figure that I have some of the knowhow. I was able to help the students with their <table>-related woes. It should get interesting as they learn Flash and other things I don't know.

Second block was the same as always: AP Calculus.

I knew that third block was going to be interesting. My schedule said it was in room 164 -- the internal suspension room (like detention, but all day during school hours). The floor your third block is on determines which lunch you have. If you're on the 2nd floor or part of the 3rd floor, you have A lunch. If you're on the rest of the 3rd floor, you have B lunch. There are no classrooms on the first floor, but apparently if you do have a class there (like Drama or something) then you go to A lunch. So I went to A lunch, and I was able to sit in the exact same place and talk to the same group of people. Funny how that worked. Well, there are only two lunches, anyway.

So after that, I headed to the IS room for Physics. I had heard it was easy, but after having the class for a day, I decided to remain undecided on that. Apparently, a science teacher from a while ago came back for this semester, and so someone in the science wing had to give up their room. Mr. Marchand, the head of the Science Department, obliged and moved his room to this tiny chamber (about two-thirds the size of a regular classroom) far away from any other classes, and especially the science wing. As for the class itself, as I said, I'll have to reserve my judgment about whether it will be easy. I think it will be as long as I do the work and study. But that's always the case, isn't it?

Fourth block, the last of the day: Programming III with Mr. Mumtaz. My schedule actually said Programming II, but I assumed that was normal because Programming II and III (and IV, if there happens to be someone who's taken the class that many times) share a classroom. Actually, it should say Programming III, so I have to get that changed; otherwise, my transcript will look like I re-took Programming II even though I got an A in it. Anyway, I was expecting the combined class to have a total of 10 people like it did last year, so I was shocked to find that the whole room was full. There are about five of us in Programming III, and the rest are in Programming II.

Unlike last year, in which we dived right into advanced topics, Mr. Mumtaz is going to spend a few weeks reviewing the basics for this large group of Programming II students, and so we Programming III people are going to have to follow along. The Programming II kids apparently don't really remember what they learned last year, so Mr. Mumtaz is reviewing the basics -- flowcharting (which we covered for the first two weeks in Programming I and never did again because they're pointless) and "Lucky Seven," the first program Mr. Mumtaz teaches you to make in Programming I. Ah, the memories. It's going to be a little slow for a while, but I'm hoping to have some interesting challenges soon.

Here's an animated map showing the History of Religion and its spread.

Google Patent Search is pretty handy. I had been vaguely aware that my grandfather had had a patent at one time (he invented a special kind of Ping-Pong table), but I could never locate it on the Patent Office's web site. Thanks to Google, I've found it: Game Table, issued August 31, 1971. (That was his also his birthday, as it turns out.)