Having a PhD does not grant instant knowledge. We astrophysicists may have a thorough knowledge of how the universe works, but that doesn't mean we know now to lead a team. In fact, we can be quite lousy at being a PI (Principal Investigator, aka, 'the Boss') because most of us have no managerial experience. Being brilliant does not equate automatic skills in everything, despite how some professors act.
This week we were introduced (at the rate of ~75 slides an hour) to Project Management. I learned a lot this week, but the rapid-fire presentation of information was overwhelming at times. Even so, there were lots of useful snippets.
The take-away from this week: Find a good project manager AND NEVER LET THEM GO.
Seriously.
Good PMs make instrument projects work. Bad or mediocre PMs (especially PIs who think they can hack playing both parts but really can't) make instrument projects languish and cause costs to rise to obscene levels.
Project managers have to work with optical, mechanical, electrical and software engineers. They keep people on budget and on time (if possible), and basically organize and collate everything. They deal with interpersonal disputes and deal with contracts and suppliers. Basically, they play the critical role of mid-wiving an instrument from concept to delivery. It's worth spending time and resources to find a good one, because life without one can be hell and puts an instrument at risk for never being completed. While it's possible to be both the PM and the PI, a lack of an exterior agent can lead to cost overruns from adding nifty features ("I'm sure I have/found/received enough money to add a $200,000 grating").
We also talked about systems engineering, or keeping track of how each different facet will come together and insuring that each subsystem plays nice with the others. There was an awful lot to digest, and while I'm sure that with on-the-job training I might be able to eek out a living as a systems engineer (one of many possible avenues after I graduate), the thought is intimidating.
So yeah. Lots to think on.
Next week: Electronics!
Wednesday, June 06, 2012
Second week: Mechanics
I'm not going to spend much time on this week because there isn't much to say. The professor for this week was not engaging. I did learn a lot about athermalization, or how to reduce the effect of changes in the dimensions of materials as the temperature changes. This is a major constraint on IR instruments because we have to cool our entire instrument to liquid nitrogen temperatures (about 77 Kelvin, or -320˚F), and oftentimes our detectors to liquid helium temperatures (about 4 Kelvin, or -440˚F).
Even with low-expansion (or shrinkage, in our case) materials, the length contraction can be as large as millimeters or even centimeters. This is deadly in the case of optics, because our lenses are fragile things and if the lens mount shrinks by a few millimeters, your lens will shatter (it happens, sadly). Thus, being aware of the athermalization techniques is important so that we can ask the right (or less wrong) questions when working with our mechanical engineers.
We also went over basic telescope design, focussing on the trusswork (hint: TRIANGLES ARE YOUR FRIEND). Minimizing the flexure of our instruments, which often hang off the back of the telescope, is key. Weight also has to be minimized, and figuring out an optimal compromise among rigidity, weight, cost, and size takes months and years of iteration.
Luckily, we instrument builders who aren't engineers by training can put money in our budget for mechanical engineers. It's vital for us non-engineers to be able to have a common vocabulary when talking with our engineers and to not demand the impossible from them. The lesson of this week that I took away was to make sure to put in enough money in my future instrumentation budget for the engineering effort. I think I could handle the initial optical design of an instrument (and maybe won't require the help of an optical engineer), but there's no way I could do the mechanical engineering by myself.
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| Me in front of the EMIR vacuum jacket. The EMIR instrument (it is going on the GTC sometime next year) must be cooled to liquid nitrogen temperatures, and the vacuum jacket makes this cooling possible. The instrument weighs in around 4 tonnes, half of which is the jacket. The solid, off-axis circle to the left of my head is the entrance window (that's where light from the telescope enters the instrument). The whole instrument rotates (that yellow ring is one giant bearing) to counter the apparent rotation of the sky as seen by the telescope. It took nearly 8 years from design to delivery to get this aluminum jacket to the IAC, where it will undergo testing and then integration with the rest of the instrument over the next year. EMIR, like nearly any other instrument made for 10m telescopes, will take in total just over a decade between the initial proposal and first light on the sky. |
We also went over basic telescope design, focussing on the trusswork (hint: TRIANGLES ARE YOUR FRIEND). Minimizing the flexure of our instruments, which often hang off the back of the telescope, is key. Weight also has to be minimized, and figuring out an optimal compromise among rigidity, weight, cost, and size takes months and years of iteration.
Luckily, we instrument builders who aren't engineers by training can put money in our budget for mechanical engineers. It's vital for us non-engineers to be able to have a common vocabulary when talking with our engineers and to not demand the impossible from them. The lesson of this week that I took away was to make sure to put in enough money in my future instrumentation budget for the engineering effort. I think I could handle the initial optical design of an instrument (and maybe won't require the help of an optical engineer), but there's no way I could do the mechanical engineering by myself.
Tuesday, June 05, 2012
Living in Santa Cruz
Living in Santa Cruz de Tenerife is an experience. It's a city of over 220,000 people, and is the first city that I've really lived in (unless you count visiting relatives in Denver...). The city is along the northeast coast of the island (http://goo.gl/maps/dsxj). The streets are somewhat narrow (as most old cities are). I live in the northeastern section of the city (http://goo.gl/maps/nep9).
The woman who owns the flat I'm staying in teaches Spanish to non-traditional students. She's warm and extremely gracious and a very interesting person.
The doors are fascinating. They have no door knob on the outside - you need a key to get in. There is a handle on the outer side, but it's in the middle of the door. This seems to be a fairly common arrangement here.
The laundry area is on the roof of the apartment building. It makes for a windy drying area - there are no dryers. With plentiful sunshine it's usually not a problem, but the winds are an issue. Leaving clothes overnight is risky, unless you use a f*k-tonne of clothespins. I learned the hard way.
The first time I did laundry I managed to lose one pair of my shorts - they fell down and blew around the roof until someone hung them up on the water pipes. Sunset is quite extraordinary here - if you can find the right place.
I love the morning walk to the tram. It's only about half a mile (800m), and I get to walk by an elementary/middle school and numerous shops. The bakeries are amazing and easily put the States to shame in quality, price, and number of shops. There are two bakeries on the way to the tram stop, and both sell a decent morning pastry (pan de chocolate or la napolitana) for less than a Euro. The best part, something I remind myself each time the lectures start dragging, is that I am being paid to be on an island (beaches!) to learn about instruments, and am basically being paid to do it. Suck it, nerds :-p
I've also discovered barriquitos. America, especially you Starbucks, should pay attention to this drink:
It's not all barriquitos and jamón (cured ham that is so good it's illegal in the US {it is illegal, but not because it's so good. Something about the ham producers not wanting to compete with real meat with real flavor}) – being on Tenerife, so far from The Fiance (TM) rates a 9.9 on the Suckometer®. Even though it's only 5 weeks, it has been more of an emotional hardship than I thought it would be. We've become so interdependent on each other over the past year and change that I feel nearly crippled without her near. I will be very happy to get back to FL.
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| Calle San Martín, looking up. |
The woman who owns the flat I'm staying in teaches Spanish to non-traditional students. She's warm and extremely gracious and a very interesting person.
The doors are fascinating. They have no door knob on the outside - you need a key to get in. There is a handle on the outer side, but it's in the middle of the door. This seems to be a fairly common arrangement here.
The laundry area is on the roof of the apartment building. It makes for a windy drying area - there are no dryers. With plentiful sunshine it's usually not a problem, but the winds are an issue. Leaving clothes overnight is risky, unless you use a f*k-tonne of clothespins. I learned the hard way.
 |
| I used Panorama Maker 5 to stitch together the 5 frames that make this image. It was close to sunset. Those mountains go right to the beach (click for full-size). |
I love the morning walk to the tram. It's only about half a mile (800m), and I get to walk by an elementary/middle school and numerous shops. The bakeries are amazing and easily put the States to shame in quality, price, and number of shops. There are two bakeries on the way to the tram stop, and both sell a decent morning pastry (pan de chocolate or la napolitana) for less than a Euro. The best part, something I remind myself each time the lectures start dragging, is that I am being paid to be on an island (beaches!) to learn about instruments, and am basically being paid to do it. Suck it, nerds :-p
 |
| Seriously, why can't we have nice things like this? |
I've also discovered barriquitos. America, especially you Starbucks, should pay attention to this drink:
- Sweetened, condensed milk, one shot or so.
- Espresso, one shot.
- A half-shot of brandy (or liquor of choice).
- A slice of lime or lemon rind.
- Steamed milk to taste.
It's not all barriquitos and jamón (cured ham that is so good it's illegal in the US {it is illegal, but not because it's so good. Something about the ham producers not wanting to compete with real meat with real flavor}) – being on Tenerife, so far from The Fiance (TM) rates a 9.9 on the Suckometer®. Even though it's only 5 weeks, it has been more of an emotional hardship than I thought it would be. We've become so interdependent on each other over the past year and change that I feel nearly crippled without her near. I will be very happy to get back to FL.
First Week: Optics
So I've been here for nearly 3.5 weeks now. Classes are going well, and I've managed to do something awesome every weekend. I wanted to write a bit about the course and describe where I live.
The first week of IScAI is optics, taught by Steve, my supervisor. Steve is one of those charismatic geniuses who is not at the top of his game and passionate about teaching, and so this week was full of practical information presented in a useful format, followed by reasonably difficult and relevant homeworks. It's refreshing to have a lecturer who is not only a master of the subject but is also willing to put in the effort to teach it well.
Anywhoo.
Steve is of the opinion that the major guideline of instrumentation is to do SCIENCE. It doesn't matter how fancy the optics are, or how cutting-edge the detector is – can you do new science with the instrument? He's fond of saying that an instrument built from spare parts or parts bought from Al Campo (basically Walmart) is infinitely superior to a multimillion dollar instrument with groundbreaking technology if it can produce Nature or Science journal articles and the multimillion dollar instrument just produces so-so results.
After all, we're trying to do science. Science is the driver for building new instruments. As one of my professors at CU was fond of saying:
Optics is key. Our job as astronomers is to gather incoming light and measure its properties (eg, where is the light coming from and how bright is it). We use optics (lenses and mirrors) to manipulate and measure light. Oh, there are complications, such as prisms, gratings, filters, etc, but they are basically just lenses and mirrors of a special type. The mechanical apparatus is really just holding the optics in place. Electronics move gratings, filters, etc, into the optical path as well as control the detector – it's really about getting the information our optics gather to the scientist. Software sends the signals from the scientist/tech to the instrument. At the end of the day, it is the optics that do the work, and, given the science and budgetary constraints, we start with the optics.
SO. Steve taught us enough of optics to start designing instruments. Each day's lecture ran from 9 to ~1:30, after which we had lunch at the cafeteria here on the IAC campus. After lunch we had homework, which took anywhere from 2 to 4 hours to complete. Steve had us design cameras and spectrographs using Zemax, which is a ray-tracing program written expressly for optical design. Very cool stuff.
By the end of the first week, I feel confident enough to say that, given a week or so, I can design an achromatic lens for any (appropriately small) wavelength range. I definitely am not an optical engineer, but I am prepared to start learning on my own oh how to build astronomical optical/IR instruments.
The first week of IScAI is optics, taught by Steve, my supervisor. Steve is one of those charismatic geniuses who is not at the top of his game and passionate about teaching, and so this week was full of practical information presented in a useful format, followed by reasonably difficult and relevant homeworks. It's refreshing to have a lecturer who is not only a master of the subject but is also willing to put in the effort to teach it well.
Anywhoo.
Steve is of the opinion that the major guideline of instrumentation is to do SCIENCE. It doesn't matter how fancy the optics are, or how cutting-edge the detector is – can you do new science with the instrument? He's fond of saying that an instrument built from spare parts or parts bought from Al Campo (basically Walmart) is infinitely superior to a multimillion dollar instrument with groundbreaking technology if it can produce Nature or Science journal articles and the multimillion dollar instrument just produces so-so results.
After all, we're trying to do science. Science is the driver for building new instruments. As one of my professors at CU was fond of saying:
Nature whispers to us constantly, and if we only listen, and figure out how to decipher those signals, we earn a deeper insight into our universe. – Chuck RogersIt makes no sense to expend millions of dollars and tens of person-years on an instrument if it cannot further our understanding.
Optics is key. Our job as astronomers is to gather incoming light and measure its properties (eg, where is the light coming from and how bright is it). We use optics (lenses and mirrors) to manipulate and measure light. Oh, there are complications, such as prisms, gratings, filters, etc, but they are basically just lenses and mirrors of a special type. The mechanical apparatus is really just holding the optics in place. Electronics move gratings, filters, etc, into the optical path as well as control the detector – it's really about getting the information our optics gather to the scientist. Software sends the signals from the scientist/tech to the instrument. At the end of the day, it is the optics that do the work, and, given the science and budgetary constraints, we start with the optics.
SO. Steve taught us enough of optics to start designing instruments. Each day's lecture ran from 9 to ~1:30, after which we had lunch at the cafeteria here on the IAC campus. After lunch we had homework, which took anywhere from 2 to 4 hours to complete. Steve had us design cameras and spectrographs using Zemax, which is a ray-tracing program written expressly for optical design. Very cool stuff.
 |
| A quick example of what Zemax does. Each color represents a location on the sky (eg, 3 different stars). It traces how light rays move through an optical system, and has a user's manual that's about 4000 pages long. |
RECAP: First weekend wandering around La Laguna
Alan and I arrived Friday afternoon in Tenerife. The island was experiencing a bit of a heat wave, and by a bit I mean that there's no A/C anywhere and it was regularly over 100˚F the first few days.
The IScAI program is run (mostly) by the Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, or IAC. They don't arrange housing for the IScAI participants, some of whom take only one or two weeks of courses, and so that meant I had to find a place. Being consumed with my Masters meant that I procrastinated and didn't have anything lined up. Alan of course had a room squared away, so I went to Pension Padron in downtown La Laguna instead.
Friday was a mix of exhilaration and trepidation (funny how that works). On the one hand, TENERIFE. On the other, no place to live, coupled with a crippling (and irrational) fear of failing D:
Regardless, I spent the first day walking around central La Laguna. It is one of the first modern European cities laid out on a grid, and navigating the city is fairly easy. There's a nearly-constant breeze that keeps it bearable on hot days, and it's quite dry, especially after Florida!
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One thing that I didn't grasp until I got here was just how steep it is.
|
Friday was a mix of exhilaration and trepidation (funny how that works). On the one hand, TENERIFE. On the other, no place to live, coupled with a crippling (and irrational) fear of failing D:
Regardless, I spent the first day walking around central La Laguna. It is one of the first modern European cities laid out on a grid, and navigating the city is fairly easy. There's a nearly-constant breeze that keeps it bearable on hot days, and it's quite dry, especially after Florida!
When evening came I walked down to the IAC, which is in between La Laguna and Santa Cruz and about a 10 minute walk downhill from La Laguna. After I walked back to my room I simply passed out. Sleeping on the plane for a few hours helped, but jet lag was definitely there.
Unfortunately, there was no breeze or fan in my room at the pension, and so I woke up at 3am just drenched in sweat. My reptilian brain saw the tile floor and I flopped my way to the floor. It improved the situation, but it was a little disconcerting to wake up and realize that the slight breeze coming through the window blew the curtains around enough to leave me in clear view. Oops...
Saturday was spent wandering around La Laguna. Steve arrived in the afternoon, and he graciously invited Alan and I to pre-dinner drinks at his hotel, which then turned into dinner with a gaggle of astrophysicists. It was a blast.
Typical Canarian foods include papas arrugadas ('wrinkled potatoes') con mojo. Mojo is a traditional sauce that is just amazing. It comes in many varieties, but the most common ones are mojo verde (green mojo, made with cilantro) and mojo rojo (red mojo, made with peppers). It's one of the best things here. There are also small fishes that are lightly battered, fried and eaten whole. They're not my favorite, but they do grow on you. Calamari is also a big thing here, as you would expect living on an island in the middle of the Atlantic.
La Laguna is a college town, make no mistake. The bar scene is epic. Steve introduced us to caipirinhas, which I highly recommend, at a bar called the Brazilian Pirate. After a few rounds, we crossed the street to Kapital Bar, which was pounding the Eurorock. I had my backpack with me because I didn't feel safe leaving my laptop at the pension, and when I told Steve that I felt a bit like Zach Galifanakis in 'Hangover', he nearly keeled over. Luckily, he survived my joking, and we decided to call it a night. I finally made it back to my room around 3:30 – not a bad way to spend a Saturday night.
Typical Canarian foods include papas arrugadas ('wrinkled potatoes') con mojo. Mojo is a traditional sauce that is just amazing. It comes in many varieties, but the most common ones are mojo verde (green mojo, made with cilantro) and mojo rojo (red mojo, made with peppers). It's one of the best things here. There are also small fishes that are lightly battered, fried and eaten whole. They're not my favorite, but they do grow on you. Calamari is also a big thing here, as you would expect living on an island in the middle of the Atlantic.
La Laguna is a college town, make no mistake. The bar scene is epic. Steve introduced us to caipirinhas, which I highly recommend, at a bar called the Brazilian Pirate. After a few rounds, we crossed the street to Kapital Bar, which was pounding the Eurorock. I had my backpack with me because I didn't feel safe leaving my laptop at the pension, and when I told Steve that I felt a bit like Zach Galifanakis in 'Hangover', he nearly keeled over. Luckily, he survived my joking, and we decided to call it a night. I finally made it back to my room around 3:30 – not a bad way to spend a Saturday night.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Arrival at Tenerife
Whoa. Been a while. Lots have happened.
Here's the short of it:
Back in March I was accepted to the International School for Advanced Instrumentation (IScAI) in San Cristóbal de la Laguna, Tenerife, Spain (or La Laguna for short). IScAI is a 5 week course on building astronomical instruments. In this era of giant telescopes that require multi-million dollar permanent instruments (even visiting instruments are quite expensive), we instrumentation folk have to meld together the science requirements while balancing the cost of the precision optics, mechanical requirements, and costs. Not an easy task.
IScAI is one of the rare places where students can get the training our bosses wish they had had as graduate (or post-doc) students. We will learn Optics, Mechanics, Electronics, Project Management, and Software Design, and most importantly, get an idea on how to integrate all of these things into our future instruments. Both Alan and I are here from UF.
Plus, it's in the Canaries. Tough luck, eh?
Here's what I'm going to do:
I'll be posting every day or three and detail my adventures here for ya'll (all 6 of you :P) to enjoy. I'll start with a few recap posts so that I don't have to write 10 posts right now - I'll only procrastinate.
Starting next post. See, it's a beautiful sunny day, hardly a cloud in the sky:
and I've got some sunbathing laundry to do.
Sadly, the laundry part is true and trumps the sunbathing bit. For now :-)
Here's the short of it:
Back in March I was accepted to the International School for Advanced Instrumentation (IScAI) in San Cristóbal de la Laguna, Tenerife, Spain (or La Laguna for short). IScAI is a 5 week course on building astronomical instruments. In this era of giant telescopes that require multi-million dollar permanent instruments (even visiting instruments are quite expensive), we instrumentation folk have to meld together the science requirements while balancing the cost of the precision optics, mechanical requirements, and costs. Not an easy task.
IScAI is one of the rare places where students can get the training our bosses wish they had had as graduate (or post-doc) students. We will learn Optics, Mechanics, Electronics, Project Management, and Software Design, and most importantly, get an idea on how to integrate all of these things into our future instruments. Both Alan and I are here from UF.
Plus, it's in the Canaries. Tough luck, eh?
 |
| First few minutes on Tenerife - relaxed and ready to conquer the day. Right after a post-Atlantic nap. |
Here's what I'm going to do:
I'll be posting every day or three and detail my adventures here for ya'll (all 6 of you :P) to enjoy. I'll start with a few recap posts so that I don't have to write 10 posts right now - I'll only procrastinate.
Starting next post. See, it's a beautiful sunny day, hardly a cloud in the sky:
 |
| I think that's El Tiede in the background, but I can't be sure. Either way, it's Tenerife :D |
Sadly, the laundry part is true and trumps the sunbathing bit. For now :-)
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Brief Postings
Greetings faithful bloggerites! Where does the time go?? Here it is, already near the Ides of June. Shyyyte...
Whelp, I've completely failed to write more often. Ah well. I'll try espousing more frequently (can't be too hard...). In the meantime, why not some words of wisdom? Or at least no-holds-barred bragging? Lulz.
I've made history at UF twice over. First, by passing the written qualification exam for doctoral candidacy (or as we students lovingly call them, quals), normally taken at the end of the second year. The quals cover each of the 6 core classes. No first-year student has ever passed the quals, but to be fair, the department has only offered my year and the year before the opportunity to take them (none of the students who are one year ahead of me tried last year to pass).
I also made history by being one of the first people to ever fail the Galactic and Extragalactic section. Oops. Apparently no one in the last decade had failed it...go me :-)
There are other things I want to write about, but I think I'll save them for a later time. Keep tuned!
Whelp, I've completely failed to write more often. Ah well. I'll try espousing more frequently (can't be too hard...). In the meantime, why not some words of wisdom? Or at least no-holds-barred bragging? Lulz.
I've made history at UF twice over. First, by passing the written qualification exam for doctoral candidacy (or as we students lovingly call them, quals), normally taken at the end of the second year. The quals cover each of the 6 core classes. No first-year student has ever passed the quals, but to be fair, the department has only offered my year and the year before the opportunity to take them (none of the students who are one year ahead of me tried last year to pass).
I also made history by being one of the first people to ever fail the Galactic and Extragalactic section. Oops. Apparently no one in the last decade had failed it...go me :-)
There are other things I want to write about, but I think I'll save them for a later time. Keep tuned!
Monday, January 17, 2011
Random Ejaculations
Oh English. Such a funny, strange language. Full of entendres and double meanings (to say nothing of double standards. HEY-OH!)
English has some odd roots. A blend of German, Dutch, French, Greek, and Latin...such a confused and deranged, downright indecent really. Speaking of Dutch...
This is why I get nothing done all day! :-) There is of course no way the very-dead Doug Adams (whom I'm sure I'm badly paraphrasing) could have possibly known about Voorwerps :-p
English has some odd roots. A blend of German, Dutch, French, Greek, and Latin...such a confused and deranged, downright indecent really. Speaking of Dutch...
That green splotch is Hanny's Voorwerp (Hanny's Object), the first of a whole new class of astronomical objects. Discovered by a Dutch person, this green snotty blurb of gas has been the object of much....wondering.
Apparently the backstory is something like this: The bright spiral galaxy above the Voorwerp (Dutch is even odder than English! Don't believe me? well you're wrong :) has at its center a supermassive black hole that was recently feeding. We say such a galaxy has an active galactic nucleus because the black hole doesn't gobble everything down; some matter (and energy in the form of light) escapes. The black hole stopped feeding for some reason This has been theorized to happen to all supermassive black holes - SMBH'S, as they're known, are a kind of binge-y eater.
ANYWAY, Hanny saw this mucus blob of green stuff and galaxy people went nutz over it (so did many of the paranoid homeless people, but nobody noticed). What hit me then, and hit me hard, is that Hanny's last name is van Arkel.
WHY THIS MATTERS
One of my favorite books growing up was The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. And one of the minor plot points has to do with a small clan of people who believed that the Universe had begun in something called the Great Green Arkelseizure and live in constant fear of their deity and the coming of the Great White Handkerchief.
I of course immediately connected Hanny van Arkel's great GREEN Voorwerp with the Great Green Arkelseizure. This has been bothering me for YEARS!
This is why I get nothing done all day! :-) There is of course no way the very-dead Doug Adams (whom I'm sure I'm badly paraphrasing) could have possibly known about Voorwerps :-p
There will be more postings, and hopefully more regularly.
Til then!
Monday, October 25, 2010
October Already?
Whoa. Long LONG time, no post.
Biggest news: I got engaged! The Girlfriend (TM) is now The Fianceé (TM). The wedding's gonna be a while - we're thinking fall 2012 now. Hooray for budgetary constraints and LOTS of family :-p
I've been asked to opine on science by the lovely Erin Macdonald (her blog Perigalacticon is definitely worth adding to your blogrolls!), and when I finish it I'll post it here :)
Let's see...lots of happenings in the past few weeks.
Biggest news: I got engaged! The Girlfriend (TM) is now The Fianceé (TM). The wedding's gonna be a while - we're thinking fall 2012 now. Hooray for budgetary constraints and LOTS of family :-p
Next biggest: I will be at Kennedy Space Center, curtesy of the biologists I've been working for. I promise I'll get you some results urm, Sunday *kowtows quickly and fearfully*
There's a lot going on. Midterms came and went (actual midterms, like one of them. In the middle of the semester and everything!). Papers are needing to be written. Homeworks and projects are coming due. And through it all, science to be done! Lovely science.
I've been asked to opine on science by the lovely Erin Macdonald (her blog Perigalacticon is definitely worth adding to your blogrolls!), and when I finish it I'll post it here :)
In the words of the ineffable Stephen Fry: "Oh Christ, I've left the iron on." *dashes out of scene*
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
The Saga Continues
Actually, things are good.
*checks sky*
It's even cloudy out, thus preventing the ungodly heat and humidity from sweating what's left of my balls off. In fact, it won't even break 90℉ until tomorrow! Yay...
So here's how things have been:
Friday: Just another day at the office. I've been working on getting this contour plot to work...needless to say, I've been failing fairly hard at it because I'm a moron. :) Thanks to some help from The Girlfriend™, I finally almost comprehend how to do it.
Saturday: The grad student whose been hosting me for the past 2 weeks loaned me the cash to move in. I got into my place and reveled in having my own space.
That night was the Dr Who season penultimate and ultimate episode over at Duy's (a Canadian post-doc). Before that kicked off, we watched the first 2 new (sqeeeee!) episodes of the resurrected Futurama.
It was a good day. A+
Sunday: So remember how I joked about being king of the nerds? Well, I wasn't really joking. I woke up late, got picked up by a friend and went to a different post-doc's to play me some D&D. Now, I have never had a local concentration of nerds high enough to be able to play, so this was my first time. It was pretty fun, I have to say. They rolled up a level 3 dwarf fighter for me and we killed us some ogres and hellhounds :) There was pizza afterward in the 'gentrified' part of town, and it wasn't half bad.
Very good day. A
Monday, yesterday: Well, I found out that the bus runs every half hour from my place. I know this because I watched one bus go by and then waited for the next 30 minutes. In the sun. Sweating my gonads away.
I also found out that within 4 blocks of me is an Albertson's, a Books A Million, a Game Stop, AND a Wal-Mart. Another 2 blocks up is Lowe's and a Sam's Club. Fantastic, because I can now only stay at work until 7 (when the last bus runs), and then I can mess around for 6 hours when I get home because Al's doesn't close until 2. Granted, it smells strongly of animal excrement, but the hours and prices are unbeatable.
Tuesday, today: While things have been slow to develop, the first of the top secret science projects is proceeding apace. I'll be posting details later.
The other project, SPIFS (Stabilized Specular Imaging Something or other), is also going well. I'll tell more of that later, and include some awesome pictures as well.
Update @ 11:30pm - The day is done, time for bed. I've been geeking out some more on my own time, catching up on Dr Who. I've made it to the 2nd season, episode 11. Not bad, for only being recently introduced...
*checks sky*
It's even cloudy out, thus preventing the ungodly heat and humidity from sweating what's left of my balls off. In fact, it won't even break 90℉ until tomorrow! Yay...
So here's how things have been:
Friday: Just another day at the office. I've been working on getting this contour plot to work...needless to say, I've been failing fairly hard at it because I'm a moron. :) Thanks to some help from The Girlfriend™, I finally almost comprehend how to do it.
Saturday: The grad student whose been hosting me for the past 2 weeks loaned me the cash to move in. I got into my place and reveled in having my own space.
That night was the Dr Who season penultimate and ultimate episode over at Duy's (a Canadian post-doc). Before that kicked off, we watched the first 2 new (sqeeeee!) episodes of the resurrected Futurama.
It was a good day. A+
Sunday: So remember how I joked about being king of the nerds? Well, I wasn't really joking. I woke up late, got picked up by a friend and went to a different post-doc's to play me some D&D. Now, I have never had a local concentration of nerds high enough to be able to play, so this was my first time. It was pretty fun, I have to say. They rolled up a level 3 dwarf fighter for me and we killed us some ogres and hellhounds :) There was pizza afterward in the 'gentrified' part of town, and it wasn't half bad.
Very good day. A
Monday, yesterday: Well, I found out that the bus runs every half hour from my place. I know this because I watched one bus go by and then waited for the next 30 minutes. In the sun. Sweating my gonads away.
I also found out that within 4 blocks of me is an Albertson's, a Books A Million, a Game Stop, AND a Wal-Mart. Another 2 blocks up is Lowe's and a Sam's Club. Fantastic, because I can now only stay at work until 7 (when the last bus runs), and then I can mess around for 6 hours when I get home because Al's doesn't close until 2. Granted, it smells strongly of animal excrement, but the hours and prices are unbeatable.
Tuesday, today: While things have been slow to develop, the first of the top secret science projects is proceeding apace. I'll be posting details later.
The other project, SPIFS (Stabilized Specular Imaging Something or other), is also going well. I'll tell more of that later, and include some awesome pictures as well.
Update @ 11:30pm - The day is done, time for bed. I've been geeking out some more on my own time, catching up on Dr Who. I've made it to the 2nd season, episode 11. Not bad, for only being recently introduced...
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Life just threw me off the cliff...and is flinging poo at me
Here's a brief update (in chronological order) on my sojourn to get a new apartment:
This weekend - I was a slob. Didn't do much at all, except run some nifty IDL simulations.
Monday - tried to open up a bank account with Wachovia. Missed the first bus, got stuck in a torrential downpour, caught the second bus, then got to the bank 10 minutes before closing. The front door was locked and I had to walk back ot campus. The rain here is warm so it felt like I was being pissed on. Literally.
My aunt's vaunted wire transfer never came through. Why? BECAUSE THERE IS NO SPOO-WIRE. Ahem.
HOUSE STATUS: Still on the futon.
Tuesday - got a new bank account with BBVA, a great bank. They offered me a line of credit and a credit card. I applied for the credit card, but failed miserably in understanding that the line of credit was a separate application. I met with the biologists that I'll be working with (expect a separate blog on that). Got my paperwork to fill out to get paid (albeit on July 2). Got a lot done as far as research goes. Waited endlessly for my aunt to pay up, in vain. AGAIN.
HOUSE STATUS: Still on the futon.
Wednesday -The day started out late, went to the bank to draw on the line of credit I thought I had, was gently pulled to the side and had it explained to me that it was a separate deal AND I'd have to wait for the credit card application to clear before I could apply for the line of credit. Walked for what felt like hours (really only about 30 minutes), sweated a good 4 lbs away. I'm considering waxing my body, just to be cooler.
I also turned in the paperwork to the nice people in the Hortocultural Sciences Dept., only to find out that:
As the title of this post would suggest, it feels like Life (or Karma...that BITCH) has pitched me off a cliff, and then flung poo at my face. Not only did I try everything I could to get into my place, but now I know I'll barely have money enough to cover rent/plane trip out to SF to be a groomsman for one of my best friends and have enough money to eat simultaneously.
There is some light reaching down this dark and foreboding path, but it sure is hard to see sometimes. My parents can't help me, and my aunt can't be trusted. If it weren't for The Girlfriend™ to keep me sane...well, I wouldn't be sane.
So here's the plan:
I'll just use that handy dandy credit card.
Assuming I get a positive response.
Hear this, karma: "I'M SORRY ALREADY! I JUST WANNA BE IN MY APARTMENT!..."
This weekend - I was a slob. Didn't do much at all, except run some nifty IDL simulations.
Monday - tried to open up a bank account with Wachovia. Missed the first bus, got stuck in a torrential downpour, caught the second bus, then got to the bank 10 minutes before closing. The front door was locked and I had to walk back ot campus. The rain here is warm so it felt like I was being pissed on. Literally.
My aunt's vaunted wire transfer never came through. Why? BECAUSE THERE IS NO SPOO-WIRE. Ahem.
HOUSE STATUS: Still on the futon.
Tuesday - got a new bank account with BBVA, a great bank. They offered me a line of credit and a credit card. I applied for the credit card, but failed miserably in understanding that the line of credit was a separate application. I met with the biologists that I'll be working with (expect a separate blog on that). Got my paperwork to fill out to get paid (albeit on July 2). Got a lot done as far as research goes. Waited endlessly for my aunt to pay up, in vain. AGAIN.
HOUSE STATUS: Still on the futon.
Wednesday -The day started out late, went to the bank to draw on the line of credit I thought I had, was gently pulled to the side and had it explained to me that it was a separate deal AND I'd have to wait for the credit card application to clear before I could apply for the line of credit. Walked for what felt like hours (really only about 30 minutes), sweated a good 4 lbs away. I'm considering waxing my body, just to be cooler.
I also turned in the paperwork to the nice people in the Hortocultural Sciences Dept., only to find out that:
- My driver's license + my printed-out scan of my Social Security Card (ironic that Social Security is abbrieviated with SS, considering the whole, well, Nazi thing) was in no way, shape, or form, sufficient proof of who I was, despite the fact that the actual card, if I had it with me, would have been copied along with my driver's license. This means that I won't be paid until July 16th, if, and only if, I get a new one tomorrow.
- Despite my years (FUCKING YEARS PEOPLE) of research experience, A's in the right classes, and graduating valeFUCKINGdictorian of my fellow astronomy dept classmates, I will be making a grand total of...wait for it...$9.00/hr. That's right. I'll be making less than I did working at the freaking planetarium. So much for technical skills eh..
I sent the prof who signed the paperwork an email with my CV and an explanation that I'M WORTH MORE THAN THAT. We'll see. And yes, the caps mean I'm angry. And at my wit's end.
I'm seriously considering getting a second job. Maybe Wal-Mart is hiring... - The Astronomy Department has absolutely no way of helping me financially. This leaves me in the awkward (yet familiar) position of asking professors for a personal loan. FML.
- One of my officemates told me how his fellowship money (I have $4,000 in fellowships) didn't appear until October. Thus my awesome plan of eeking out a living until August is ruined. FUCK. MY. LIFE.
As the title of this post would suggest, it feels like Life (or Karma...that BITCH) has pitched me off a cliff, and then flung poo at my face. Not only did I try everything I could to get into my place, but now I know I'll barely have money enough to cover rent/plane trip out to SF to be a groomsman for one of my best friends and have enough money to eat simultaneously.
There is some light reaching down this dark and foreboding path, but it sure is hard to see sometimes. My parents can't help me, and my aunt can't be trusted. If it weren't for The Girlfriend™ to keep me sane...well, I wouldn't be sane.
So here's the plan:
I'll just use that handy dandy credit card.
Assuming I get a positive response.
Hear this, karma: "I'M SORRY ALREADY! I JUST WANNA BE IN MY APARTMENT!..."
Friday, June 18, 2010
Fridays
Fridays are always interesting days.
Sometimes they remind us that we are adults now, and drinking until 3 or 4am is really a game for the kids.
Sometimes they remind us that during the week we would be best off if we actually worked more than 10% of the time on the other four workdays.
Sometimes they remind us that there is a just and loving god.
Sometimes, it's just another day.
My Friday began with me waking up bright and early at 9am. As I'm still at my friend's place until Monday (fingers and other appendages crossed!), I waited for him to get up and shower so that I could then get up and shower. He did eventually...around 10. I even showered before that, hoping to get to the office before lunchtime.
Sometimes, being a quiet houseguest is the pits.
We did get moving eventually. I discovered a cool new app that is a real-time GPS map of the bus system in Gainesville, and wrote a few emails and thought about work (that counts, right?) Rolling in around 11 on a Friday just feels...right. Or wrong, it's hard to tell.
My work today consisted of simulating starlight going through a turbulent patch of air. This results in the light from the star going from a diffraction-limited point with rings (known as a point-spread function) to a speckle. It's basically what happens to sunlight as it goes through a pool - even a glassy-smooth, clear pool. Anywhoo, after futzing about with it for a few hours (read: until 2 or 3), I finally got a handle on it. I then took a well-deserved break and talked with The Girlfriend™ for an hour or so. It had been storming the entire conversation, but I was tucked away on the 4th floor of Bryant Space Center, happy as a clam.
That brings us up to 4:30 this afternoon. I was being a good drone, working diligently and not thinking at all about how fed up I am with my family (promise!) when with a ¡BOOM! and a CRASH!!, the heavens opened up and gave one last huzzah, shutting down the entire building and outlying labs. It was very exciting, and after a moment of swearing futilely, I packed up and left with my host.
It's odd, not one of the grad students I talked to were excited, and not a one of them showed any sort of positive reaction to the idea of going out and having a beer (because, obviously, that's what the gods intended us to do). Instead, I'm now at my host's place, once again on the futon.
Man, I wish nerds and geeks weren't so awkward.
Sometimes they remind us that we are adults now, and drinking until 3 or 4am is really a game for the kids.
Sometimes they remind us that during the week we would be best off if we actually worked more than 10% of the time on the other four workdays.
Sometimes they remind us that there is a just and loving god.
Sometimes, it's just another day.
My Friday began with me waking up bright and early at 9am. As I'm still at my friend's place until Monday (fingers and other appendages crossed!), I waited for him to get up and shower so that I could then get up and shower. He did eventually...around 10. I even showered before that, hoping to get to the office before lunchtime.
Sometimes, being a quiet houseguest is the pits.
We did get moving eventually. I discovered a cool new app that is a real-time GPS map of the bus system in Gainesville, and wrote a few emails and thought about work (that counts, right?) Rolling in around 11 on a Friday just feels...right. Or wrong, it's hard to tell.
My work today consisted of simulating starlight going through a turbulent patch of air. This results in the light from the star going from a diffraction-limited point with rings (known as a point-spread function) to a speckle. It's basically what happens to sunlight as it goes through a pool - even a glassy-smooth, clear pool. Anywhoo, after futzing about with it for a few hours (read: until 2 or 3), I finally got a handle on it. I then took a well-deserved break and talked with The Girlfriend™ for an hour or so. It had been storming the entire conversation, but I was tucked away on the 4th floor of Bryant Space Center, happy as a clam.
That brings us up to 4:30 this afternoon. I was being a good drone, working diligently and not thinking at all about how fed up I am with my family (promise!) when with a ¡BOOM! and a CRASH!!, the heavens opened up and gave one last huzzah, shutting down the entire building and outlying labs. It was very exciting, and after a moment of swearing futilely, I packed up and left with my host.
It's odd, not one of the grad students I talked to were excited, and not a one of them showed any sort of positive reaction to the idea of going out and having a beer (because, obviously, that's what the gods intended us to do). Instead, I'm now at my host's place, once again on the futon.
Man, I wish nerds and geeks weren't so awkward.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Housing Update
I'm gonna go crazy. I'm told that I'll have to wait until NEXT FREAKING MONDAY before I can move into my new place.
Ugh.
Family - you fail.
UPDATED @ 4:40pm:
So...talking more with my erstwhile aunt...it's a business deal gone south, so I guess I can't be too angry. Well...maybe.
UPDATED @ 7:30pm:
For Cozmik, as requested:
You don't want to see me angry. I'm even less pretty than I am usually.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
There and Back Again - Moving X-Country
So I've been in Florida for 5 days now, and at the university for three. Might as well give an update, right?
I flew into Jacksonville International on Southwest, specifically because I could shove two bags in the hold and not be charged for them. It was fantastic, and free, and the airlines didn't send my bags to Montana, which is what happened last time.
I learned that renting a car if you're under 25 is a major pain. It's nearly impossible if you don't have a major credit card (I, for example, do not own one, and am under 25 - no rental car for me this time). There's a great shuttle that runs from the airport to Gainesville, and it was cheap enough that anyone who comes down to visit me should use it if they fly into JAX (seriously, it's awesome).
I wish I could say that I moved in to my new apartment, effectively going door-to-door from my old one in Boulder to the new one here in G'Ville (the ' will probably be dropped soon due to laziness). Sadly, reality is a jerk.
Way back at the beginning April, when I decided to come to UF, I was so busy I could barely make time to see my girlfriend, let alone actually do some apartment-hunting. I did what any good guy would do - I turned my mom and aunts loose on the problem and forgot about it. In a few days they had a place lined up for me starting in June, and I was told by an aunt that the first month's rent and the security deposit were my graduation gift and had been handled in May (a most excellent gift!). On Friday afternoon, before flying down to G'Ville at 7:30 AM the next day, I got a call saying that actually nothing had been paid for, but don't worry, a solution will be there by Monday, Tuesday at the latest.
I'm typing this on one of my new friends' futon (thanks man!) on this lovely, rainy, Wednesday night.
Normally I am a self-supporting student, but I couldn't afford the cost of the 1st month's rent and the security deposit up front. When my aunt told me that she would be paying, my heart was overjoyed at the prospect...
Needless to say, aside from the stress of that whole, "I have no place to live, whatamIgonnadooooo!!??!" feeling, things are great. Really, great.
My goal for the summer was to come down and get a feel for the department and get more research experience under my belt and $$ to live off of. So far, my adviser is in Spain and the grad student whose supervising my work has given me loads of new papers to read. Tomorrow he and I will be meeting about some simulation work that he thinks I should be doing. Fun! I hope to open a local bank account tomorrow so that I can be paid as well. So far: 1.5/3 goals are met, which isn't bad at all :)
SO. Hopefully tomorrow I will have money in hand and be able to at least sleep on a bed of my own. My friend's cat will be very thankful, and so will I.
I flew into Jacksonville International on Southwest, specifically because I could shove two bags in the hold and not be charged for them. It was fantastic, and free, and the airlines didn't send my bags to Montana, which is what happened last time.
I learned that renting a car if you're under 25 is a major pain. It's nearly impossible if you don't have a major credit card (I, for example, do not own one, and am under 25 - no rental car for me this time). There's a great shuttle that runs from the airport to Gainesville, and it was cheap enough that anyone who comes down to visit me should use it if they fly into JAX (seriously, it's awesome).
I wish I could say that I moved in to my new apartment, effectively going door-to-door from my old one in Boulder to the new one here in G'Ville (the ' will probably be dropped soon due to laziness). Sadly, reality is a jerk.
Way back at the beginning April, when I decided to come to UF, I was so busy I could barely make time to see my girlfriend, let alone actually do some apartment-hunting. I did what any good guy would do - I turned my mom and aunts loose on the problem and forgot about it. In a few days they had a place lined up for me starting in June, and I was told by an aunt that the first month's rent and the security deposit were my graduation gift and had been handled in May (a most excellent gift!). On Friday afternoon, before flying down to G'Ville at 7:30 AM the next day, I got a call saying that actually nothing had been paid for, but don't worry, a solution will be there by Monday, Tuesday at the latest.
I'm typing this on one of my new friends' futon (thanks man!) on this lovely, rainy, Wednesday night.
Normally I am a self-supporting student, but I couldn't afford the cost of the 1st month's rent and the security deposit up front. When my aunt told me that she would be paying, my heart was overjoyed at the prospect...
Needless to say, aside from the stress of that whole, "I have no place to live, whatamIgonnadooooo!!??!" feeling, things are great. Really, great.
My goal for the summer was to come down and get a feel for the department and get more research experience under my belt and $$ to live off of. So far, my adviser is in Spain and the grad student whose supervising my work has given me loads of new papers to read. Tomorrow he and I will be meeting about some simulation work that he thinks I should be doing. Fun! I hope to open a local bank account tomorrow so that I can be paid as well. So far: 1.5/3 goals are met, which isn't bad at all :)
SO. Hopefully tomorrow I will have money in hand and be able to at least sleep on a bed of my own. My friend's cat will be very thankful, and so will I.
What, a Weblog? Sounds Awkward. And Nerdy
Does the interweb really need another blog?
YES. And mine will do nicely, thank you very much.
Actually I figured this was a great way to keep my friends from bugging me about actually starting a blog. See what I did there? I think it might qualify as reverse psychology. Hmmmm, I wonder if that works on invisible friends too...
I'll try and write at least once a week about my various adventures here in Gainesville, because every day seems like a lot of work and once a week should be manageable. Hopefully that is...the maw of my adoring public is always hungering for more flesh...
So yeah. I'll write in my awkward ways, hopefully enlightening you readers on some aspect of some incredibly boring (read: FANTSTICAL) of my life as a grad student. Can't wait!
YES. And mine will do nicely, thank you very much.
Actually I figured this was a great way to keep my friends from bugging me about actually starting a blog. See what I did there? I think it might qualify as reverse psychology. Hmmmm, I wonder if that works on invisible friends too...
I'll try and write at least once a week about my various adventures here in Gainesville, because every day seems like a lot of work and once a week should be manageable. Hopefully that is...the maw of my adoring public is always hungering for more flesh...
So yeah. I'll write in my awkward ways, hopefully enlightening you readers on some aspect of some incredibly boring (read: FANTSTICAL) of my life as a grad student. Can't wait!
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