Woke up early around 6 AM. It was very cold. We left the Guffey Inn around 7 AM for a short detour to take Nicky’s friend, Chastity, to Waffle House for breakfast. We arrived back in Atlanta around two in the afternoon. I went straight to bed. I woke up at about 8 PM, studied Statistics and Health, talked to Tracy on the phone. I went back to bed right after.

Sleeping on the floor was not very comfortable. I was the first one up - the rest eventually followed. I quickly dressed and took a short walk outside while they got ready. Tracy gave us a guided tour of the Duke campus. There are a variety of scenic walkways, gardens, and foliage throughout. The Gothic architecture yields a pleasant, Medieval atmosphere. The Duke University Chapel towers in the distance.

After the tour, much of our afternoon was spent at an arcade in a nearby mall playing DDR 5th Mix. The arcade, however, was particularly crowded, and we were only able to play a few games before leaving for dinner at the Olive Garden. After dinner, we left for the Guffey Inn (Tracy’s Aunt and Uncle’s house). Our night was spent renting and watching a movie from Blockbuster - The Royal Tenenbaums. Exhausted, all of us went to bed shortly thereafter.

Nicky and I arrived at Tracy’s apartment in Durham, North Carolina around midnight for her 21st birthday party. I finally got to meet her roommate, her friends, and many of her sorority sisters. Stacie had burned several hip-hip and dance music tracks to CD and most of the night was spent dancing and socializing. Tracy and I danced long after the party ended. Stacie and Audrey also spent the night. All of us went to bed around 4 AM.

Happy Birthday, Tracy Jill.

There was no Digital Design Lab today so I was able to go to school a little bit later than usual. Chris, the other undergraduate TA in the lab, joined me for a quick bite to eat at the Student Center. In Economics, we covered pure monopolies. I spent much of the night studying Circuit Analysis.

Went to class as usual, but had to skip Circuit Analysis to meet the Georgia Tech Student Services lawyer. He came up with some good suggestions, and gave me the number of an attorney to call tomorrow. After the meeting, I went to Wal-Mart and got a full service oil change. They checked all my fluids, vacuumed my car, inflated my tires, and more - all for a very reasonable price.

It’s Ryan’s last day. Nicky, Adam, Ryan and I went to a local chinese buffet for lunch. It finally rained today, and we were lucky that it didn’t foil any of our earlier weekend plans. Our web server also went down, making it difficult to update entries. I finished grading CS1322 tests, and read a chapter or so of Economics. I also did some organizing and rudimentary cleaning after Ryan left, including balancing my checkbook. Michael made it home safely, or so we assume. No one ever actually saw him come in.

I talked to Tracy on the phone.

It’s Columbus Day, and I can’t feel the rest of my body. Ryan and I left in the morning to head off to Six Flags over Georgia. The amusement park was surprisingly close to our apartment - we overestimated our time and were the first ones there. Consequently, we were able to park right in front of the main gate, which was closer than even the premium parking places. It was modererately chilly outside. The whole place had a picturesque, Halloween theme to it. After waiting for the park gates to open, we immediately headed to our first roller coaster ride, the Georgia Scorcher. The lines were minimal, sometimes even non-existant, and within minutes I was on my first ride. We visited several themed locations - from Gotham City, to Lickskillet, to Bugs Bunny World. And of course, we rode on several exiting rides, including Deja Vu, Ninja, and Superman. Superman was by far my favorite ride - it was different from all the others in that you are horizontal, instead of vertical - so that it feels like you are actually flying through the air.

My body handled the several Gs placed upon it quite well, although I did throw up once or twice from motion sickness. To recover, I had an expensive $9 burger meal with fries at one of the food joints in the park. Food inside the park is ridiculously expensive, by the way. Anywho, after lunch we finished up the remaining roller coaster rides and double backed to some of our more favorite ones.

We left the park a little before closing. When we arrived back at the apartment, we were completely exhausted, and took a two hour nap. For dinner, I made pasta with chicken and vegetables. We concluded the night by watching Back to the Future 2.

I can’t feel my feet. Ryan and I woke up around 11 to have lunch at Moe’s, located on Ponce de Leon. We both enjoyed the delicious burritos and the upbeat atmosphere. After stuffing ourselves considerably with southwest ingredients, we left for Georgia Tech to give Ryan a tour of our humble campus - Skiles, the College of Computing, and the Van Leer Electrical Engineering building. We also toured the Student Center, and the Bobby Dodd stadium. Ryan got to see a DDR arcade machine for the first time.

Our adventure soon began in the quaint district of North Avenue, where we arrived at the MARTA station to visit Underground Atlanta, a downtown attraction favorite. Underground Atlanta has a wide variety of shops, restaurants, and activities. In particular, we went to Magic Masters and watched as the salesman/magician performed zany card tricks and other slights of the hand right in front of our eyes. We also watched a 12 year old kid playing saxaphone and piano. I dropped a dollar in his basket.

Our journey eventually led us to the World of Coca-Cola pavilion. There, the majority of time was spent at the Spectacular Soda Fountain and Tastes of the World, where one can sample a variety of soft drinks from around the galaxy, most of them quite awful. We also witnessed a short film (ten minute advertisement) on Coca-Cola products.

For dinner, Adam, Ryan and I went to Ruby Tuesday’s. Nicky was at work. At night, we watched a classic, Back to the Future, before heading to bed. I set the alarm for 8 AM.

In the evening, Nicky, Adam, and I went to the movies and watched Knockaround Guys. It was barely tolerable. I made chicken primavera for dinner. For the second dinner of the day, I made spaghetti and meat sauce. It turned out to be a pretty decent meal. I started grading the CS1322 tests. Ryan arrived around 1 AM. Nicky was already asleep.

Fall break! Finally. The goal of today is to do absolutely nothing productive. I updated my Debian packages today, got paid, and watched John Doe (1×03: Do Re Me) and CSI: Miami (1×03: Wet Foot Dry Foot) before heading off to bed. Michael, quite easily the most irritating of roommates, left for the break - there was much rejoicing among the rest of us.