New

As we roll into 2008, I've made a few resolutions, some engineering related and others not.

• Watch less TV - too often in fall I would crash on the couch and watch reruns of reality junk. TV time in 2008 will be limited to The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, Real Housewives of Orange County, and Project Runway
• Exercise every day - yoga on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, then biking or dancing the other days
• Eat out twice a week maximum - this is to save money and and also to help me stay healthy.
• Keep in touch - emails and instant messages don't cut it - I need to seek more "face time" with my friends in Orlando and elsewhere
• Stay in my faith - not only does this mean Mass every week, but also prayer, and not just when I'm down in the dumps or ecstatically happy
• Work smart - keep distractions to a minimum, schedule study time, and know when to put down the books and get my butt out of the house

I think that's a good assortment. It's also realistic, which is the most important part of a New Year plan. I still need to catch up on my fuel cell readings, but that'll happen soon enough.

To that end, I'm done with half my reading of the fuel cell handbook from the Department of Energy - the first part was on efficiency and performance. As it turns out, it was a lot like the reactive mixture things I learned in Thermodynamics 2 this past semester as well as some of the concepts from my Principles of Electrical Engineering course a year ago. The efficiency of the cell depends on the resistance from the electrical end as well as the efficiency from the reactive mixture standpoint. This shows me that I'm on the right track, because reactive mixtures was my favorite part of thermo 2.

I'm feeling optimistic and enthusiastic about this year. I know that it's going to be a good one because of the plans I've made over this break.