Well, another day is just about over. And that means more sleep! So far this semester has gone by so much faster than last semester. I think that's mostly due to the fact that I'm just not as busy and overwhelmed as I was last semester. Most of my days have consisted of going to class and studying for FM. And so far my main classes aren't very challenging. Last semester all three of my classes were challenging and required a lot of work outside of class. And teaching took way more time than the computer lab and grading does. But I am definitely fine with not being as busy.
This morning I got up and went to work. I didn't have any grading, so I just studied for probability. Then I went to life con. We talked some more about the multiple decrements model. Since this model is used to determine things like worker's compensation and wage benefits for dead employees, it is comes up in court at times. Dr. Foley talked a little bit about his time as an actuary and how he didn't like being an expert witness. As he said "It's the job of the opposing lawyer to make the witness look like a fool, and that was never especially difficult*. It never really made sense to me though. Actuarial science isn't an exact science, you use shortcuts all the time. So how can I honestly say that when I'm cutting corners and the other guy is cutting corners that one of us is supposed to be right? You can't!"
* Dr. Foley is very smart but like many intelligent people he can't always say things like they're worked out in his brain. Also like many mathematicians, his brain is doing such high level computation or analysis that when he's explaining things he doesn't include every detail. That typically isn't a problem for his students, but I can see that being an issue in court when people don't understand how he thinks. So if he's explaining something he might not write every detail simply because his mind is on more important things. A favorite Foley quote: "I have better things to do than arithmetic." This is precisely how most mathematicians. Arithmetic is trivial.
After life con I went to the gym to go work out with Dustin. We didn't finish our work out because he wasn't feeling well and it was really hot. I was starting to get a little nauseous too. So we stopped after about 45 minutes. That was fine with me. I went back to my office, had lunch, then went to the computer lab. I didn't want to buy salad this week because I had so many left overs, so I took a bagel and peanut butter in with me. It was a good lunch. In the computer lab I did some work for FM. I started to re-read the chapters on futures contracts and commodity/interest rate swaps. I can do the problems fine, but I want to get some more theory. We'll see how it goes.
When I got back to my apartment I showered and took a nap. I was pretty tired and didn't want to make coffee. So I slept for about an hour. I felt much better afterwards.
Then I got up and read some more. I heated up some left over tuna casserole for dinner. That's pretty much what I'll be eating for the rest of the week, with some other left overs so spice things up. Apparently one batch makes a lot.
After dinner I worked on probability for a while. Then I did some more FM problems. I facebooked for a bit. My friend Lindsey got accepted into OSU's Chemistry grad school program, so that's pretty exciting. This isn't really going to mean anything to pretty much everyone who reads this, but Miles and I are considering putting together a Highlander team this summer and possibly being in a (UGC?) tournament? But that really depends on how much time we all have. It's fun to dream.
And now I'm probably going to go to bed! So. Night!
No comments:
Post a Comment