Las Vegas Day One

I went to Las Vegas this week and I am going to post my blogs retroactively so that everyone can get an insight in what I did and what I thought about it. In general, I had a blast and I definitely miss it now that I am back in New York.

The travelling from New York to Las Vegas went very smoothly, but it was quite painful at the same time. My flight was scheduled at 6.30 AM from JFK airport and I had to make a connecting flight in Phoenix.

With that said, I had to get up at around 3 AM to arrive at the airport on time for departure. Both my girlfriend and I were pretty tired but we were also excited so that helped us from falling asleep.

When arriving in Phoenix, we immediately felt the change of mentality and personality of people. It was less diverse and people seemed friendlier than in New York. We wanted to get to Las Vegas as soon as possible so I asked for standby tickets for an earlier flight. Luckily, we were able to get two seats.

We did not get seats next to each other but we were fine with that since the flight only lasted for about 45 minutes. Both my girlfriend and I got really good seats with a lot of space so we were definitely happy about being able to switch flight.

We arrived in Las Vegas about two hours earlier than expected, which was good because it would allow us to rest before getting started with our planned activities. We had booked a shuttle to the hotel and it took us about forty minutes to get there because we were dropped off last.

We had called the hotel a few days ago to request an upgrade, which we were told should be possible. However, when we got there, the staff told us that the hotel was fully booked and that we would have to stick with our original room. That was a disappointment but the room turned out okay anyway.

When we were done checking in and resting for a while, we went out for an orientation. We had planned to see a show but we got caught up checking out the strip and a few other locations so we never went to see it.

We also went to the Las Vegas Outlet Mall. It almost looks like a small village with several shops and we had a great time walking around there. We bought some cloths and other stuff that was on sale even though we probably would find it cheaper in New York since people have to pay tax on cloths in Las Vegas.

It stroke us how far it was between attractions in Las Vegas. In New York, people can easily travel from one attraction to another. In Las Vegas, people have to walk for hours to get from the south part of the strip to the north part of it.

We got back to our hotel at midnight after we had bought a 24-pack of water and some snacks for our planned road-trip the next day. The weather was exceedingly hot and up to 40 degrees Celsius and it gave us a headache many times because of lack of water.

Placement Seminar Class

I used to complain about the placement seminar class that I am taking this quarter. I was definitely not the only one being argumentative because it is a one credit class and the only thing the class talks about is preparation for interviews and employment. For example, it helps people to formulate cover letters, resumes, and thank you letters.

However, after seven weeks of formulating resumes and letters, I have realized that the class is quite useful. I purchased a book a year ago that showed samples of resumes and other letters so I have used it to prepare my material for the placement seminar class.

I thought what I came up with was good, but my professors have been able to provide suggestions that have improved my letters significantly. Ultimately, being able to formulate letters, not only professionally, but superiorly will help people to land the job, which they are applying for.

I am taking this class online and I am happy that I chose to do that. Taking it on campus would involve unnecessary lectures that would just waste my time. What we learn in this class can more easily be presented in documents, which can be distributed through blackboard and emails.

In addition, we also have weekly discussions concerning different topics. For example, students have to comment on why thank you letters are important and what people can do to differentiate themselves towards others.

The only thing that I want to complain about is the format of some documents. All students had to prepare letters from employer and fill out certain forms in regards to employment assistance and similar. The format of the documents was that of Microsoft Word and it was hard to type without interrupting the current format of the document.

For example, when people typed their name, the underline would move and the text would be disrupted. To fix this, people would have to erase certain lines and try to put everything together by themselves. It would be much better if the documents were Adobe Reader files or similar so that the document format would stay intact when typing. Other than that, this class has been a pleasant surprise.

Las Vegas

I went to Princeton in New Jersey this weekend. My girlfriend had to meet a friend and we thought it would be a nice day trip and an easy escape from the city. We took the train there, which took about an hour and twenty minutes.

Princeton University, by the way, is one of the best schools in the world so we were excited about seeing what it would look like. My girlfriend’s friend just graduated so we had the opportunity to check out a few classrooms and the dorm.

Princeton University reminded me of movies such as “Good Will Hunting” and “Scent of a Woman.” It was interesting to visit buildings where Albert Einstein had worked and the dorm looked like I expected. There are a lot of buildings so it took us hours to see everything.

We got pretty tired after the visit because we had not eaten anything for the whole day. Our first meal was a Chinese-American buffet outside the town. The buffet was very ordinary and it offered a bunch of delicious dishes.

My girlfriend and I started to miss New York after realizing how slow everything was. We had to wait almost an hour for the bus and people are much more laid back in Princeton than in New York. I guess we like the action in New York although it can get too much sometimes.

I am going to Las Vegas next weekend with my girlfriend. We are going to stay there for five days and both of us are really looking forward to it. It will be nice to get away from the city for a while and neither of us has been in the South before.

I am going to post pictures and talk about our daily experiences in the blog to keep you all posted. I still have school that week, but I decided to skip the two classes that take place that week. I will have to prepare a few things for my online classes but it is nothing major. What is important is that I will be able to enjoy Las Vegas to the fullest without having to worry about school for a week.

Forensic Science

I got 92 out of 100 for my forensic science exam. The average grade was 84 so I feel good that I was above average. I suppose that I got two questions wrong since the midterm consisted of twenty-five questions and I received a score of 92.

I actually believe that the professor constructed the test so that 85 points and above was an A. This is very generous but I personally feel that it violates Berkeley College’s grading policy. Berkeley College’s system is that 90% and above is an A. From there, the school has B pluses, Bs, and B minuses and so forth.

The professor will follow this system at the end of the quarter when final grades are distributed. Tests will account for most of the final grade while participation and cases holds some weight. If all this adds up to more than 90%, the student will receive an A for the course.

Memorial Day is getting closer and most people are off school and work. I will take the week off because I am planning for something with my girlfriend. I also have a bunch of things to do for school so I will be very busy that week.

I turned in all required written assignments for my bioethics class yesterday. They are not due until next week and two weeks after that but I wanted to finish it as soon as possible. I now have one thing less to worry about.

I will get physical therapy for my issue with my back on Friday. The treatment will only last for three weeks, which is nice. The pain would probably go away by itself but the therapy will speed up the process. It started hurting after I stretched a muscle when reaching out to grab something at a supermarket. I am looking forward to get some massage in the future.

It is important for international students to get health insurance when arriving in the United States. Swedish students can get it through CSN but there are several options for people from other parts of the world. Some New York based insurance companies even offer free to low cost insurances for some international students. These plans usually do not cost more than $25 a month.

Midterm Week is Over

I did very well on my bioethics midterm. I scored 200 out of 200 and I am looking forward to learning more about the class average. I personally felt that the test had an average difficulty level but I also feel that many students probably underestimated the test.

I did not get back my other test in forensic science yet but I have high hopes about it since it was very easy. I do fear that I have a few unnecessary mistakes however. Most students left quickly after the test and I do not think that was a good idea.

Although it was an open book test and a bunch of review questions had been posted the week before, I think that many students run into the risk of underestimating and misunderstanding many of the questions. Some students are too lazy to read full paragraphs for example so they might not understand the whole concept.

I compared notes with a classmate and he marked one question wrong just because he did not read the full page. The answer included alternative A and B but he only market A and I think many other students made similar mistakes.

Additionally, a friend of mine thought the test was very difficult, which is something that I found hard to believe. However, according to her, some questions were difficult to interpret and could be confusing sometimes. I understood what she felt although I did not agree with her. My point is that even though most students find a test easy, there are always people who think it is challenging.

I also had a presentation for my PowerPoint class last week. I thought I did worse than my first presentation but my professor disagreed and thought I had improved. I did not receive a grade for the presentation yet but I suppose that I will get above 90 since that was what I got for my last presentation.

I went to buy some new cloths last weekend and found some new dress shirts, ties, and t-shirts. I also found a bargain at Sears for a pair of shorts. I only paid $20, which is what Old Navy charges people for its, bad quality, shorts. I had no idea that Sears was that good of a store, but I will definitely visit them again.

Weekend Plans

The subway system was working much better today. Yesterday was actually the first day that I was late for work for the second time in my life. With that said, in general I am never late. I usually give myself enough time in the morning so that if there is a delay, I will still arrive on time.

I personally feel that being on time is exceedingly important. Way too many people do not understand this. I hate waiting for someone to show up or when a person walks in late to a meeting or lecture. I specifically do not understand people who are constantly late. For example, there are people who always show up thirty minutes late for lecture.

In any event, I was able to catch up at work like normal so it did not affect my day too much except that I was disappointed with the MTA. I actually read in the paper yesterday that they are planning to lay off around 500 workers, which I definitely think is a good thing. The union does not agree with me.

I am planning to go to see Iron Man 2 this weekend. My girlfriend and I really liked the first movie so we are excited to watch it. My friends say it is a good movie but it is not as good as the first one. I really do not trust anyone’s opinion since everyone has a different opinion.

I am also thinking about visiting Max Brenner, which is located at Union Square in Manhattan. It is a café that specializes in chocolate. They serve, among other things, chocolate pizza and all kinds of desserts. I currently watch what I eat so I do not want to have the pizza even though I really would like to try it.

I actually tried chocolate pizza when I went to Switzerland about four years ago. I remember that I liked it but the taste was of no surprise. In other words, it tasted exactly the way I had imagined it would. I might try something else at Max Brenner though just for the sake of it.

I am also planning to visit a place called SYMS in Manhattan. It is a department store similar to Century 21 but they offer better service in their suit department. I want to buy a new suit and possibly a few ties and dress shirts. I will see if I have time to do all of this, but I was hoping to finish everything on the same day that I will watch Iron Man 2.

MTA

How can the MTA improve service to its customers? If I would ask this question to any New Yorker, we would have a very long conversation. I will the MTA, which run the subways in New York, credit for being able to transport millions of people every day. However, there are so much that can be improved.

This morning, I experienced some extremely frustrating issues in the subway. There were no Manhattan bound trains this morning from my neighborhood. The staff did not explain the reason. I had to travel to Coney Island, which is the opposite direction of Manhattan.

I already knew that I would be late for work but I was hoping to save some time if the train went express over another line. The N train usually runs express over the D line when there are no Manhattan bound trains.

This did not happen. The train first indicated that it would run over the D line as a local train. It would take a very long time to get to Manhattan this way. However, the train switched to run normally over the N line again meaning I would not have had to gone to Coney Island in the first place.

The train was running fairly smoothly for a few stations but suddenly stopped because of signal issues. People were getting pretty upset at this time, including me. The problem is that no one can do anything about it. Customer service is something that the MTA would not know anything about.

Actually, I think this problem illustrates pretty accurately why monopolies are inefficient. Obviously, it would be very difficult to have more than one or two companies operating in the subway system. However, without alternatives, people will get stuck, lose valuable time and money, and be surrounded by inefficiencies.

In addition, monopolies do not have much incentive to improve or to find innovative solutions. The MTA ignore training its employees, looking for inefficiencies, and providing customer service. I belong to the few who think MTA’s prices are decent. However, the company keeps increasing prices while decreasing services and this is not good.

One major problem with the MTA is its rude, untrained, and uneducated workers. Employees have no motivation to do a good job. Maintenance workers are lazy and it is not uncommon to see ten workers sitting down while one man does the job.

The staff and others who provide assistance to people who need to buy a new card or ask for directions are also exceedingly unprofessional. They do not smile, do not provide clear instruction, nor do they work efficiently. It makes me upset to think about how much money is lost because of their lack of effort.

Presentation

I have a presentation to prepare for tonight for my computer class. I personally feel that my professor misinterpreted my last presentation so I hope that he pays more attention tonight. I will also try to be clearer and I will definitely think about what he suggested.

I am making a presentation about Sweden and why people should visit the southern province where I am from. I am making it sound ironical by suggesting people to visit dull and unexciting places. In the latest slide that I created I suggested that people could spend a night in a prison since it is free and the rooms are exceedingly clean and well managed. Quite honestly, this is not too far away from the truth.

What really bothered me last time was that I received the same grade as someone who directly read of his or her notes. I still got a 90 but I am really not satisfied with a grade that cannot be backed up by facts or clear evidence of the performance.

I have my last midterm on Thursday this week in my forensic science class. It is an open book and open notes test and I feel well prepared for it although there are some questions that I am still trying to unravel. The test will cover everything from physical evidence to different microscopes used for the processing of evidence.

My girlfriend’s semester ended today and she is very happy about that. I wish that I could join her for the three months of vacation that she is looking forward to but since Berkeley College is following a quarterly system that will be impossible for me to do.

I should mention that I do not mind the quarterly system at all. I actually think it is better than a regular semester system because it allows students to graduate faster. In addition, if students want three months of vacation, they can take any of the four quarters off each year and still be counted as full-time students.

I have never taken a quarter off. I think I would feel bored if not doing anything for three months. If I would have had the opportunity to travel or work, I could have done it though. For now, my plans are to graduate in September and to start to work directly afterwards.

Another A?

I had my bioethics midterm yesterday. I felt that it went well. About half of the points were from questions where you had to match the right answer with the right question. Some other questions were multiple-choice type questions.

The biggest part of the test consisted of four essays. The first two were rather straight-forward and not too hard to answer. The other two were more difficult although I am only worried about not receiving full credits for one of my answers.

I do feel that it is very likely that I will get an A however. I just finished an extra credit assignment as a backup though. The extra credit essay only needs to be a page long and is not too hard to complete. However, it only represents 3% of students’ grades so it really will not help that much.

I have an appointment for physical therapy today. I stretched a muscle in my back about a month ago and my doctor prescribed me the physical therapy about a week ago. I should only need a few visits until the muscle heals. I actually feel much better now than I did a few weeks ago but it feels good to have professionals take a look at it.

I feel that it is quite ironic that I stretched my back as a student and while working in an office. Before I came to New York, I worked as an operator in a factory. My daily tasks included lifting heavy glass as part of a quality control process and my back was constantly active. I guess the exercise helped to keep my back strong.

I have come up with a great diet method. I buy a foot-long Subway sandwich every weekday and eat half for lunch and the other half on my way to school. When I come home I eat dinner. This way, I only consume about 1,200 calories a day. The subway is only 530 calories because I almost always order turkey or ham without cheese and dressing.

The other 500 calories is what I ea when I come home. This is only an estimate and some days I may actually eat 1,500 calories a day because of a snack or something. Anyway, in the weekend I can eat almost anything without gaining weight.

I personally feel that this works because when I am at home, I am in the mood to eat almost constantly and it is hard to fight this temptation. However, if I am busy working or studying, I do not care much for food. This is therefore a perfectly balanced diet for me. I am thinking about starting to exercise to speed up the process of losing weight but I am not motivated enough to do that right now since I am quite busy with school and work.

Midterms

I have a midterm today in bioethics. I am not certain of what to expect because I never had a test with this professor before. My fear is that she will ask many questions concerning the law because she is lawyer. The book also discusses several cases in regards to comas and patients’ right to die.


I definitely feel that bioethics is an interesting topic. I think I have learned everything that we discussed up until now so the test should be fine. However, if the professor starts to ask for dates and laws, I might run into trouble.

For example, we have been discussing laws in New York, Montana, Washington, and Oregon when talking about euthanasia. Although, I do know what laws are applied, I may find it difficult to name the case and remember the date of it. The same goes for the topic of abortion. Roe versus Wade is easy to remember but there are tens of other cases like this that I simply do not know the name or date of.

I posted a blog before describing the issue of comments. It seems like Blogger has been infected by spammers who continuously post comments on people’s blogs that contain links to other websites. This really upsets me but there is not much I can do about it.

I am supervising all comments now, which means that I have to give approval to the comments before it is posted. This is something that I do not like doing since it feels like censoring people’s opinion. However, I guarantee that all comments that do not contain any spam material will be posted.

There is some tension in New York these days since after the failed bomb attempt in Times Square. Actually, not many people talk about it and people seem to be taking it with ease. I have read some foreign articles describing the situation as if people live in fear but that is not true. As far as I know, people seem to be living their lives the same way as they did a month ago.

I go to Times Square pretty much every weekday when I go to school. I do not fear being blown up and it does not seem like anyone else does. I guess those people who are afraid of terrorist stay away from the Theater District.

I feel that the New York Police Department is doing a pretty good job in terms of preventing attacks. I heard on the news that about twelve terrorist attempts have been prevented since September 11 of 2001. I guess this is both good and bad news but at least it shows that intelligence agencies stay alert.

School

I have a couple of midterms coming up next week. This usually happens every sixth week of the quarter since that is half way before the quarter ends. I will have three midterms on campus. However, I feel that only one test will be difficult to study for.

My first midterm will be in Bioethics on Monday next week. It will cover a lot of legal and medical terms and cases and I do feel that I may become challenging to remember all of it. However, I took ethics a few quarters ago so I feel that I have an advantage over others, as that class covered a few principles of bioethics.

Quite honestly, I had hoped that it would cover less laws and regulations and more issues such as euthanasia, cloning, and abortion. However, my professor is a lawyer so it falls natural to her to talk about topics that she engages every day.

My second midterm is for my PowerPoint class. It will, most likely, be very easy. However, I have had that professor before and almost got into trouble because of a few minor mistakes. It is therefore important not to underestimate the test and to carefully read the questions.

My third test is for my forensic science class. The test will consist of 25 multiple choice questions and will be a very easy test. The professor wants us to learn how to evaluate and analyze cases and do not feel that tests are very important. The midterm will, in addition, be open book and notes. Failing on this test would therefore be almost impossible.

In addition to all my midterms, I have weekly quizzes, discussions, and assignments to complete. I therefore expect the following weekend to be very busy. I am going to type down all my notes for my bioethics class tonight after work so that I can start to study for the test on the train on my way to work or school.

I try to finish my assignments for my online classes as soon as possible every week. They are posted every Sunday morning so I always plan to finish it the same day. However, students have to be active on the discussion board on at least two different days so that there is time to reply to comments and posts by other students.

I also try to complete a couple of papers that are due later this quarter. I have a few term papers to complete for my classes in bioethics, placement seminar, and entrepreneurship. If I can complete all of them early, I will be able to relax more at the end of the quarter. This is definitely something that I am hoping for.