In case anyone cares, Karl "if-he-was-an-animal-he'd-be-a-grizzly-bear" Weiss gave me the thumbs up for using the CM-200. This is after about 6 training sessions. So now I can go willy-nilly on the TEM anytime I want. As you may no doubt have already guessed, 5 straight hours in a dark room chock full of super-expensive scientific equipment really fucks with your head, leaving you in a state of temporary insanity afterwards.
Friday, October 25, 2002
Tuesday, October 22, 2002
Stress levels are climbing. I just found out yesterday that I have to give a talk at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting on December 6. That gives me about a month to complete the necessary research, and right now I'm only doing sample prep. So, please excuse me if I don't blog as often as I should. I actually have to go off and to that right now. Later!
Friday, October 18, 2002
Wednesday, October 16, 2002
Egad! I have a frickin' Thermo midterm tomorrow. Time to "rise above" and show those physics majors that geology majors are superior! So tonight I'm going to go home early and study all night (in addition to making a black-light box for Earth Science day and finishing wrapping Kelly's birthday gifts). By the way, my oral midterm for French took waaaay longer than it should have, increasing my stress levels dramatically. I just want to get that shit over with, but people kept being stupid and couldn't work their stations. I mean, how hard is it to press record, stop, rewind, play?!? These people make me sick!
Tuesday, October 15, 2002
Ahhh! Now back to the grindstone. Today I have to leave ASU early because Kelly needs to do a Maple lab on my computer. I guess I can use the extra time at home to do other homework. I don't have much to say right now because I have to leave soon. So I'll just leave you with some slogans for our research group. If you are confused, you should know that we don't have much space and we are lobbying for more.
TEM Group Research Closet
TEM Group: Close-Packed since 1996
The Guinness Book of World Records' World's Smallest Research Space
TEM Group Research Closet
TEM Group: Close-Packed since 1996
The Guinness Book of World Records' World's Smallest Research Space
Friday, October 11, 2002
Finally, the weekend!
You know, after I bought that laptop, I have no urge to spend anymore money. Even if I visit websites or stores and see something that I'd like, I don't even think about actually buying it.
Let's see, this weekend I have to:
- relax!!!!!
- read the rest of the Spark of Life book about early life on earth (mostly stuff I've already heard before)
- read one of my Thermo "enrichment readings" and write a summary about it (more like an opinion)
- make out with Kelly (better put that as number 1)
- see Philip on Film, where an orchestra plays the Philip Glass scores to some short films (I like Philip Glass alot).
- did I mention relax?
You know, after I bought that laptop, I have no urge to spend anymore money. Even if I visit websites or stores and see something that I'd like, I don't even think about actually buying it.
Let's see, this weekend I have to:
- relax!!!!!
- read the rest of the Spark of Life book about early life on earth (mostly stuff I've already heard before)
- read one of my Thermo "enrichment readings" and write a summary about it (more like an opinion)
- make out with Kelly (better put that as number 1)
- see Philip on Film, where an orchestra plays the Philip Glass scores to some short films (I like Philip Glass alot).
- did I mention relax?
Wednesday, October 09, 2002
Uh oh. I just did something bad. I just bought a laptop.
It's a refurbished gateway. It's actually a pretty decent computer--1.2 GHz, 20G hard drive, CDRW, Ethernet + Modem, with a free carry case. And for all that it was only $900. So, in all actuality, I got a smoking deal. I just feel bad for spending all that money. It actually took me about an hour to go through all the check-out procedures because I had to keep proving to myself it was worth it. I spend 20 minutes alone with my mouse over the submit button before I pressed it. You know, $900 is a lot of money. I can afford it, but I just feel a little weird for spending that much. At least it's something I'll use alot (I'm always asking to borrow Kelly's computer to use Excell).
Kelly's probably wondering where I am. It's almost 8:00 PM. Maybe she's still at work. I wish I had my cell phone with me, but I left it in my office. I'm going to go down there now.
It's a refurbished gateway. It's actually a pretty decent computer--1.2 GHz, 20G hard drive, CDRW, Ethernet + Modem, with a free carry case. And for all that it was only $900. So, in all actuality, I got a smoking deal. I just feel bad for spending all that money. It actually took me about an hour to go through all the check-out procedures because I had to keep proving to myself it was worth it. I spend 20 minutes alone with my mouse over the submit button before I pressed it. You know, $900 is a lot of money. I can afford it, but I just feel a little weird for spending that much. At least it's something I'll use alot (I'm always asking to borrow Kelly's computer to use Excell).
Kelly's probably wondering where I am. It's almost 8:00 PM. Maybe she's still at work. I wish I had my cell phone with me, but I left it in my office. I'm going to go down there now.
Monday, October 07, 2002
Let me begin by apologizing for not 'blogging for a while...oh wait, I'm not sorry because this is my own damn 'blog and I can post whenever I want!
Anyways, it's been a busy weekend. Kelly had a couple field trips, and I was her support this weekend (dropping her off, picking her up, making her lunch and breakfast). Plus I had to get my usual load of work completed. I didn't get everything done, but I'm in good shape for this week. It just seems that I never have time to do anything. I'm definitely going to rethink my classload for next semester, and I probably won't audit another semester of French. Truth be told, the language really isn't all that interesting, and unlike German, it makes no sense at all. There are grammar rules in French only for the sake of pronunciation! How can I condone the creation of an "exception to the rule" just to make it easier to say? Maybe if they would just pronounce every syllable in a word things would be easier!
I'm always thinking about putting in aftermarket parts in my car, even though I don't have to money to do it. Lately, I've been considering the idea of putting in lightweight underdrive pulleys. Everybody knows that there are a set of belts and pulleys that use the engine to run things like the a/c compresser, the alternator, the fan, and other things. The auto manufacturer makes these pulleys as cheaply as they can, which means they are usually made out of steel. However, steel is pretty heavy, so it has a lot of rotational inertia. Aluminum, on the other hand, is quite light, and spins at the same rate with less energy consumption. This means the replacement of steel pulleys with aluminum pulleys frees up energy to turn the car wheels. Also, aftermarket pulleys are usually slightly smaller (at least the one connected to the engine) so that each revolution uses slightly less energy that if they were stock diameter (even though slightly more revolutions are needed). Unorthodox Racing makes a set of pulleys for my car that apparently frees up to 12 horsepower (about 5HP for normal driving). This is pretty good compared to HP gains from intake or exhaust modifications. Unfortunately, the set costs $480, although I know where to get it for $410. This is just stuff I think about.
Anyways, it's been a busy weekend. Kelly had a couple field trips, and I was her support this weekend (dropping her off, picking her up, making her lunch and breakfast). Plus I had to get my usual load of work completed. I didn't get everything done, but I'm in good shape for this week. It just seems that I never have time to do anything. I'm definitely going to rethink my classload for next semester, and I probably won't audit another semester of French. Truth be told, the language really isn't all that interesting, and unlike German, it makes no sense at all. There are grammar rules in French only for the sake of pronunciation! How can I condone the creation of an "exception to the rule" just to make it easier to say? Maybe if they would just pronounce every syllable in a word things would be easier!
I'm always thinking about putting in aftermarket parts in my car, even though I don't have to money to do it. Lately, I've been considering the idea of putting in lightweight underdrive pulleys. Everybody knows that there are a set of belts and pulleys that use the engine to run things like the a/c compresser, the alternator, the fan, and other things. The auto manufacturer makes these pulleys as cheaply as they can, which means they are usually made out of steel. However, steel is pretty heavy, so it has a lot of rotational inertia. Aluminum, on the other hand, is quite light, and spins at the same rate with less energy consumption. This means the replacement of steel pulleys with aluminum pulleys frees up energy to turn the car wheels. Also, aftermarket pulleys are usually slightly smaller (at least the one connected to the engine) so that each revolution uses slightly less energy that if they were stock diameter (even though slightly more revolutions are needed). Unorthodox Racing makes a set of pulleys for my car that apparently frees up to 12 horsepower (about 5HP for normal driving). This is pretty good compared to HP gains from intake or exhaust modifications. Unfortunately, the set costs $480, although I know where to get it for $410. This is just stuff I think about.
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