In between Tai Chi and Sanda classes last night, I read the Software Engineering Body of Knowledge document, a 204-page IEEE pdf from 2004. It's a good way to pick up vocabulary from and a rough terrain map of a field you're trying to learn, and I wish I'd done that when my pick-a-major dartboard hit electrical engineering 4 years back. The only problems is that the document itself is written in drowsiness-inducing academic form. Observe:

7. Practical Considerations
The first level of decomposition of subareas presented in this KA may seem to describe a linear sequence of activities. This is a simplified view of the process. [Dav93]

In other words, "It looks like we're going through these topics in order. We're making it easy for you." Oh well. The loud thuds of the more advanced students rapidly kicking pads was stimuli enough to keep me conscious, and if I ever want to study "Software Engineering" proper, as it was delineated 4 years ago, I have plenty of bibliographies to track down. And this is the language that I need to absorb and learn to speak to understand some conversations in the office that only dimly make sense to me now (oh, that I could overhear more conversations!)

Another thing I learned last night: turnips and dijon mustard do go well together.