JB School

Sunset from the dorm, with haze from forest fire smoke

Well, it's finally started. I officially moved down to the dorms at OIT this past Wednesday, and started classes on on Monday. It's surreal, and feels amazingly disconnected down here, but at least I've begun heading towards the eventual position in Medical Imaging I've been aiming for for nearly a year already.

Eden remains up north, regrettably, but we both know we're doing the best we can to make this work, and she should be able to visit relatively shortly (It actually works out to be slightly cheaper to take the train than to drive down and back, which is nice.)

Weather has been interesting since I arrived, starting in the high 80s/low 90s last week with an insulating blanket of smoke in the air from a forest fire that's been burning for a while nearby. It's been bad enough at points that when I went up to Crater Lake to get some follow up photos to compare with our earlier trip, the lake could not be seen at all from the various observation points, as the smoke collects in the crater bowl. This week the temperature has dropped dramatically, to the point that we were hit by hail yesterday and we have a strong possibility of snow sometime this week.

My new roommates are interesting, and even somewhat encouraging to me from a job standpoint. All of us have tales of recent layoffs, are returning to school after some level of break, and it seems that we get along nicely. Chad is working on a degree in Geomatics, and also has a taste for baking that will be interesting to sample as the year moves along. Nick is heading into Computer Engineering, and has already given me a chance to work out how to mount Ubuntu on a usb drive to get him up and running for class. Rounding out the group is Dustin, a Mechanical Engineer with a display setup that I'm sincerely lusting after to no end. Seriously, he gives the teleconference room at Netflix (which we were explicitly barred from photographing) a run for the money.

We haven't had a chance to do terribly much together sociably yet, other than endless Residence Hall meetings, but I think that may change as the term goes on, depending on what free time evolves. At the least, I've gotten them all started on Munchkin, and I'll be dragging at least two of them out to Mongolian BBQ tonight to celebrate successfully withdrawing from the Res Hall meal plan after a battle. I don't want to say too much on the subject here to avoid the possibility of repercussions, but suffice to say the math used for the current program's implementation is more than a little bit funny. That, combined with the fact that my budgeting figures were off from either not noticing applicable charges or working with 2008 rates (which are the only rates available online), had had me landing several hundred dollars behind at the end of the week. At the moment, I'm back to being in the black, even after books, and with a bit of a surplus for the short term. It's a good thing.

I've been to all of my classes now, save for my A&P lab, and I've got to say that my overall impression has been positive, especially A&P itself. The instructors seem personable and knowledgeable, even friendly. Moreover, the pacing of the courses seems manageable, with each only having a relatively small number of deliverables due. Even given the fact that the size of these assignments exceeds what I was expecting, I think I'll have an easier time dealing with several projects rather than numerous small bits of homework.

I'm also working with some new medication that seems to be helpful in allowing me to focus on a single task with comparatively few distractions. Over the summer I got tested and confirmed that I have a relatively severe case of ADHD. I must admit that initially I wasn't very happy about this, and felt almost as if the disorder were some kind of excuse for not working hard enough, but after having some time to reflect and see some results from the medication, I'm very encouraged and hopeful. Obviously I haven't had much of a chance to see how it works in a scholastic setting yet, but I've definitely noticed some level of reaction in my personal life. I'm finding that I'm able to hold on to at least some names in new social situations, and even recall bits of information encountered in passing that I haven't consciously tried to memorize, both tasks that have been difficult if not impossible in the recent past.

Unfortunately, I just noticed a warning on the bottle yesterday that it can induce headaches, which may partially explain the resurgence of migraines I've had recently. The week before I came down was filled with pain, dizziness, and nausea to almost crippling levels constantly, which I attributed to stress. Certainly the very worst of it was the day before I drove down, and I've had migraine spikes before from stress, most notably during the brief period while I was attending Idaho State. On the other hand, the intensity seems to have dropped significantly since I got here, and has returned primarily to pain only. I guess we'll have to see how things shake out over the next few weeks. If it does end up being medication induced, I'm sure I can find an alternative without this side effect.

In any case, it's been a good week thus far, and I'm in a pretty positive mood. I guess that's really all you can ask for, especially considering the distance from friends and family. Mind you, I am keeping Circled by Hounds and Kathryn Claire playing as a nearly constant background, just to hear some familiar voices. You can't blame me for that, can you?

Finally, here's all of the information you might need to get to me while I'm down here this term. For phones, the number you probably have (503-916-9367) will technically still work, but is directed to a pay-as-you-go cell phone and I'd prefer to limit it's use. As an alternative, please try to use my Google voice number (503-395-8561) for both voice and SMS. This has several advantages for me, not the least of which being that incoming voicemails and SMS are transcribed and forwarded via email, meaning that I can respond (quietly) while in class if necessary. If I'm available, calls will still forward to my cell phone or to the dorm room (once the line is fixed). The other major advantage is that I'm more likely to notice the call, or the message if I'm not around, since my phone is nearly always turned to silent these days.

My mailing address is:
Josh Byram
Oregon Institute of Technology
ATTN: Residence Halls
3201 Campus Dr. PMB 2703
Klamath Falls, OR 97601

If you're in the area, you can come visit in the new "Village" residence hall, room 2301A. I'd prefer, however, that such visits dodge the dates where I'll have something due as much as possible. I'll be posting my assignment calendar here shortly, as that worked rather well last time as a motivator to stay on top of things (not to mention it ended up being a handy mobile reference for me). My class schedule is also on my shared google calendar; if you don't have access to it and would like to be added, please let me know.