Murphy's Law At It's Best

I thought we had everything planned - printed circuit board was done and ordered, microcontroller programming was done, software programming was done. Then, I got a message from one of my team mates yesterday..."The printed circuit board will only come in on Thursday or Friday." Crap. The project is due on Monday. In between panicking and cracking my brains for a solution, I was numb. Then, WY and I sat and thought about it.

We do have a back up plan, which is to create a digital voice recorder without a memory chip. *Sigh* But it's just so irritating how we had everything done and now this happens. We've actually finished programming (but not testing) the microcontroller code. I know, I know, this sounds like French to a lot of you but I just can't help it. Sometimes, there are things I cannot explain, and I feel worse than you do, because I feel like I'm talking another language. I can't even explain it to my parents...they don't understand. Of course, not their fault. I'm the one who picked this field of study. It's so frustrating.

Deadline is on Monday. I'm really scared, but I'm just not thinking about it. I agreed to go watch a movie with some friends tonight, but now I'm wondering if that's wise, considering how I should be studying for my finals or working on two reports - one is due on 26th October, the other is due on 3rd November.

I have a particular team mate whom I dislike. No, he's not from The Island (those of you who know me will know which place I refer to), but he's my former classmate from home. He's in my team and I just feel really annoyed that he's not putting in enough effort. He just sits and say "Yeah, that part is working but I cannot fix the part which is not working." He's been saying that since last week. I just wish he would put in more effort. I'm tired of making excuses for him with the team mate from The Island because the three of us are friends. (Note: 3 people (myself, two friends) and the 1 guy from The Island make up the team.) He's actually studying now, when I called him. He's supposed to be coding instead! I know, exams are near, but the project is even nearer. Unless you call him and tell him, he makes no effort to contact any of us about when we're meeting up. Unless I print out all the important notes and coding examples, he doesn't even TRY to code it himself.

And this is Java we're talking about. Hell, Java is a piece of cake compared to Embedded C Programming for Microcontrollers (that's what I'm doing). I really wish he'd try before he calls me and complains that it's not working. What do I do? I know Java, but I've never done Serial Port Programming in Java myself. I'm just as inexperienced as he is, so it's only fair he finds out how to debug it himself. It's his task after all. We gave him the easiest task, yet he cannot complete it.

I don't think being in a team with your friends is actually as fun as I thought it would be. Sometimes, I really have to control my temper.

Anyway, you know how I never sit around and mope. So I e-mailed my lecturer, telling him that I need more time in the lab. Technically I wrote something along the lines of how everyone's project is being attacked by 'Murphy's law' and that we all could use some extra time in the lab to fix it. If the printed circuit board comes on Thursday, then the team mate from The Island can complete his soldering work by Friday and the whole of Friday, WY and I can sit in the lab and test the codes we've written. However, the lab is closed on weekends and the due date is Monday, so it would be nice if we could use the lab the whole of the weekend too. That way, I'm quite sure we can complete the project, or at least get a working device. You cannot pass the subject without a working device.

He hasn't replied to my e-mail yet. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, but I also know he can be cruel and deny my request.

It's Murphy's Law attacking not just my project, but my life again - Everything that can go wrong, will go wrong. Maybe Engineering is a personification of Murphy's Law :(