El Fin (almost)!

July 20, 2001

It's hard to believe, but last night I finished the CD-ROM portion of my thesis! It is done! Over! Completed! Whatever will I do with all the free time (aside from revising the thesis paper, of course).

The CD-ROM is finished and today I mailed off a master copy of the disk to be duplicated in Arizona. I ordered 150 copies to sell to CANDISC bikers and to give away to a limited number of friends. I figure if I sell anywhere near a hundred discs at $15 a piece, I'll at least break even on the project. If I sell more or get more orders, I may even turn a profit. I'll just have to wait and see how pleased people really are.

After I put the finishing touches on the CD last night, I was extremely happy. So happy that I decided to go for a drive down the interstate with the stereo turned up far too loud. I really had no destination, but if there's one thing this whole thesis project has taught me, it's that driving around in a somewhat aimless fashion is really a lot of fun. I'm not talking about "dragging main," or some silly activity such as that. I'm speaking about cruising down the open highway, seeing what there is to see. I hope to do more aimless driving in the future (within reason, of course).

In addition to struggling to believe I have basically completed my thesis, I'm trying really hard to comprehend that I'll only be a Grand Forks resident for seven more days. That's only a week! It's somewhat sad, because I was beginning to like it here.

Now, having read about all the work I've put into my thesis, don't you feel obligated to order a copy of the CD? Go ahead, do it! I know you want to.