Finally I feel a lot better. Looking back on it, I probably shouldn't have gone to work on Thursday. I came in for a half day on Friday but I couldn't last any longer than that so I left and went to the doctor. My husband also went to the doctor, so we had double walk-in appointments at the same time at this ambulatory care center that I went to for my arm one of the first weeks I was in town. The doctors gave us antibiotics for our secondary infections and sent us on our way. We had our prescriptions filled at Kroger while we stocked up on chicken soup, sparkling water, and juice. Then we went home and sat around trying to recover from our excursion.
On Saturday I felt much better, like I was finally on the mend, but we didn't do much of anything that day because I didn't want to push myself. That meant skipping out on our weekly role-playing game, which was unfortunate but had to be done. On Sunday I felt even better and I was able to do a few chores around the house without getting too exhausted.
The big problem has been that the weather has been absolutely gorgeous for the past week, and I've been too sick to go outside and enjoy it! Now, just as I'm getting well, it's supposed to storm and cool off again. That kind of sucks.
Springtime is definitely here, however. We've had daffodils in bloom for a couple of weeks here. I've noticed that they are pervasive: we have a big patch of them in our front lawn, I see them by the side of the road all the time, and they seem to grow like weeds. The flowering pears are out too, and I may have seen a redbud or two but I'm not sure. One thing I've noticed is the striking absence of tulips. I have yet to see a single tulip, in my yard, my neighbors' yards, or anywhere. So I don't know what to make of that.
Monday, March 13, 2006
Thursday, March 09, 2006
Wiped Out!
Whatever I was coming down with on Monday got progressively worse, until I ended up having to go home at about 2:00, because I just couldn't think or concentrate. Actually, I had to psych myself up to get myself feeling good enough to drive home. Driving requires a lot of concentration!
I stayed home all day Tuesday, too. Yesterday, I tried to get up and go to work, but to no avail. I slept very little on Tuesday night, and I felt worse on Wednesday morning than I'd felt all day Tuesday. So I spent yesterday recuperating too.
This morning, I wasn't at 100%, but I was feeling good enough to do a light day of work. Also, a classmate of mine is here today, giving a talk, and I wanted to see his talk. The nice thing is, going to a talk is an acceptable and low-effort way to spend my time.
I spent a lot of time watching daytime TV. I was too sick to do much more than be a spectator. My better half was also sick, which made it hard because neither of us could really wait upon the other. Mostly we just complained a lot to each other, and took turns getting food.
Also, I had read on the internet that a good way to get rid of a smoky smell is to dip a towel in a half vinegar-half water solution, wring it out, and then sling the towel over your head like a helicopter blade. On my way home from work on Monday, I stopped at the grocery store to buy some vinegar, because I figured that for $1.29 I wouldn't mind trying to see if this home remedy would help dispel this smoky smell. So on Monday evening, I gave it a try. It was a great effort to swing that towel around while at only about 40% power, but it was worth it, because it worked! It didn't get rid of all the smoke, but it definitely cut down on it. So this is a shout-out to my new friend vinegar, the odor neutralizer.
I'm at about 75% power right now, and this is a definite improvement. I think I'll last the whole day today.
I stayed home all day Tuesday, too. Yesterday, I tried to get up and go to work, but to no avail. I slept very little on Tuesday night, and I felt worse on Wednesday morning than I'd felt all day Tuesday. So I spent yesterday recuperating too.
This morning, I wasn't at 100%, but I was feeling good enough to do a light day of work. Also, a classmate of mine is here today, giving a talk, and I wanted to see his talk. The nice thing is, going to a talk is an acceptable and low-effort way to spend my time.
I spent a lot of time watching daytime TV. I was too sick to do much more than be a spectator. My better half was also sick, which made it hard because neither of us could really wait upon the other. Mostly we just complained a lot to each other, and took turns getting food.
Also, I had read on the internet that a good way to get rid of a smoky smell is to dip a towel in a half vinegar-half water solution, wring it out, and then sling the towel over your head like a helicopter blade. On my way home from work on Monday, I stopped at the grocery store to buy some vinegar, because I figured that for $1.29 I wouldn't mind trying to see if this home remedy would help dispel this smoky smell. So on Monday evening, I gave it a try. It was a great effort to swing that towel around while at only about 40% power, but it was worth it, because it worked! It didn't get rid of all the smoke, but it definitely cut down on it. So this is a shout-out to my new friend vinegar, the odor neutralizer.
I'm at about 75% power right now, and this is a definite improvement. I think I'll last the whole day today.
Monday, March 06, 2006
Sunday, March 05, 2006
Adventures in Optimization
I think it's safe to say that optimization is my area of expertise. My dissertation was on the application of an optimization method to a problem arising in geophysics. My boss is putting me on all these proposals as the optimization expert. And the other day, I was asked to serve on a DOE review panel for a couple of proposals involving optimization.
This explains why optimization is always on my mind, then. And it explains why this blog entry is all about optimization! (Well, that and the fact that some people just come here for the math. Gotta know your audience!)
Once again, never fear, non-mathematicians! I'm not going to get all technical on you. Why would I want to relive all the technical details in my off time, after all?
Optimization is the process of finding the best possible configuration or solution to a problem. The best solution is called the optimal solution, or optimum, and the configuration at which we obtain the optimal solution is the optimizer. So, for example, if we want to buy at least three oranges from Kroger at the cheapest possible price, then the optimum might be $1.00, with the optimizer of the oranges that are 3 for a dollar.
Usually when we have an optimization problem, we also have a constraint. That is, we might want to buy no fewer than three oranges, but no more than a dozen, and minimize the price per orange. So maybe there is a bag of a dozen oranges that sells for $3, and a crate of a gross (144) selling for $5, in addition to the 3 for a dollar deal. Well, the crate price is definitely the cheapest per orange (about 3.5 cents per orange!) but it doesn't meet our constraints. So instead we must choose the bag of a dozen oranges for $3, which comes out to a quarter per orange.
Sometimes in an optimization problem, we have two conflicting objectives we wish to satisfy. For example, the other day I had a shopping list that was pretty much evenly divided between food items and drugstore items. If I wanted to minimize the dollar cost of buying everything on my list, I could buy all the drugstore items at Kmart for a pretty good price, and then head over to Kroger and buy all the food items. But I was also kind of tired (it was 6 p.m. on a Friday, after a long day of work!) so another, conflicting objective was to minimize my effort. The drugstore items were also available at Kroger, but they would cost slightly more. Which solution was better: going to two stores, or going to one store but paying more?
It would be nice if I could incorporate these conflicting objectives into a single problem. But how can I quantify "effort?" I could say that time is money, and express the problem like this:
minimize [(cost of shopping) + (my hourly pay rate) × (time spent shopping)].
The trouble with this approach is that the effort of shopping isn't always the same. For example, it takes much more effort to shop when you're hungry or sick with the flu than when you're well-rested and not in a hurry. So "effort" doesn't seem to readily translate into terms of money.
Optimization problems like these, with conflicting objectives that can't readily be combined, are called Pareto optimization problems. They are pervasive in the fields of economics, engineering, and mathematics.
Depending on how important each objective is, there can be a huge continuum of solutions. For example, if my only objective was to minimize the cost of the items on my list, I might hit several stores, compare all the prices, compile a list of the cheapest prices, and buy from a large number of stores. Of course, this process would take hours and I would have expended a great deal of effort. At the other extreme, I could pay someone to go to the store and buy all those items for me. This would require little effort but probably cost more than I would want it to.
Qualitatively, if we were to draw a graph of cost versus effort, it might look something like the following.
The x-axis (left to right) represents cost, and the y-axis (up and down) represents effort. The dotted lines represent the minimum possible cost and effort. The red dot where they intersect represents the (impossible) minimum combination of cost and effort. The blue curve represents all the possible minimum combinations of cost and effort; in other words, at any of the green dots on the curve, any decrease in cost will come at the expense of more effort, and vice versa.
You may be wondering how I could draw such a curve in real life. Well, I do have a means of converting effort to money (pay rate × time). I could quantify effort by weighting that quantity depending on how tired I am. I could set up the problem like this:
minimize (1- w) × (Cost) + w × (Effort),
where 0 < w < 1 is the weight I assign to effort. So on days when I am feeling chipper and adventurous, maybe I will assign w = 0.1, and on days when I am in bed with the flu, maybe w = 0.9. In other words, there are many Pareto optimal solutions to this problem, and I simply select the one that best suits my needs.
I mentioned before that Pareto optimization problems are central to economics and engineering. You can see from my example that the same sort of analysis could be applied to many economic issues.
As for engineering, hydrogeologists might want to determine the configuration of an underground aquifer using data from several different exploration methods, such as seismic data, borehole data, and electromagnetic data. All of these methods give different pictures of the aquifer. How do we combine the data to give us the most accurate picture?
Once we've figured out the configuration of the aquifer, we can now understand how the geology will affect the transport of a contaminant. What is the best way to clean up the contaminant, while minimizing environmental impact, cost, and time?
Suppose we want to route messages through a dynamically changing network where the cost of a path is determined by several non-additive cost functions. How do we find the best path?
Suppose we create a robot that needs to make sequential decisions in a changing environment. How can the robot make those choices?
These are all very difficult problems, and unfortunately, there are no unique solutions. The solutions generally depend on the priorities of the people posing the problems.
This explains why optimization is always on my mind, then. And it explains why this blog entry is all about optimization! (Well, that and the fact that some people just come here for the math. Gotta know your audience!)
Once again, never fear, non-mathematicians! I'm not going to get all technical on you. Why would I want to relive all the technical details in my off time, after all?
Optimization is the process of finding the best possible configuration or solution to a problem. The best solution is called the optimal solution, or optimum, and the configuration at which we obtain the optimal solution is the optimizer. So, for example, if we want to buy at least three oranges from Kroger at the cheapest possible price, then the optimum might be $1.00, with the optimizer of the oranges that are 3 for a dollar.
Usually when we have an optimization problem, we also have a constraint. That is, we might want to buy no fewer than three oranges, but no more than a dozen, and minimize the price per orange. So maybe there is a bag of a dozen oranges that sells for $3, and a crate of a gross (144) selling for $5, in addition to the 3 for a dollar deal. Well, the crate price is definitely the cheapest per orange (about 3.5 cents per orange!) but it doesn't meet our constraints. So instead we must choose the bag of a dozen oranges for $3, which comes out to a quarter per orange.
Sometimes in an optimization problem, we have two conflicting objectives we wish to satisfy. For example, the other day I had a shopping list that was pretty much evenly divided between food items and drugstore items. If I wanted to minimize the dollar cost of buying everything on my list, I could buy all the drugstore items at Kmart for a pretty good price, and then head over to Kroger and buy all the food items. But I was also kind of tired (it was 6 p.m. on a Friday, after a long day of work!) so another, conflicting objective was to minimize my effort. The drugstore items were also available at Kroger, but they would cost slightly more. Which solution was better: going to two stores, or going to one store but paying more?
It would be nice if I could incorporate these conflicting objectives into a single problem. But how can I quantify "effort?" I could say that time is money, and express the problem like this:
minimize [(cost of shopping) + (my hourly pay rate) × (time spent shopping)].
The trouble with this approach is that the effort of shopping isn't always the same. For example, it takes much more effort to shop when you're hungry or sick with the flu than when you're well-rested and not in a hurry. So "effort" doesn't seem to readily translate into terms of money.
Optimization problems like these, with conflicting objectives that can't readily be combined, are called Pareto optimization problems. They are pervasive in the fields of economics, engineering, and mathematics.
Depending on how important each objective is, there can be a huge continuum of solutions. For example, if my only objective was to minimize the cost of the items on my list, I might hit several stores, compare all the prices, compile a list of the cheapest prices, and buy from a large number of stores. Of course, this process would take hours and I would have expended a great deal of effort. At the other extreme, I could pay someone to go to the store and buy all those items for me. This would require little effort but probably cost more than I would want it to.
Qualitatively, if we were to draw a graph of cost versus effort, it might look something like the following.
The x-axis (left to right) represents cost, and the y-axis (up and down) represents effort. The dotted lines represent the minimum possible cost and effort. The red dot where they intersect represents the (impossible) minimum combination of cost and effort. The blue curve represents all the possible minimum combinations of cost and effort; in other words, at any of the green dots on the curve, any decrease in cost will come at the expense of more effort, and vice versa.
You may be wondering how I could draw such a curve in real life. Well, I do have a means of converting effort to money (pay rate × time). I could quantify effort by weighting that quantity depending on how tired I am. I could set up the problem like this:
minimize (1- w) × (Cost) + w × (Effort),
where 0 < w < 1 is the weight I assign to effort. So on days when I am feeling chipper and adventurous, maybe I will assign w = 0.1, and on days when I am in bed with the flu, maybe w = 0.9. In other words, there are many Pareto optimal solutions to this problem, and I simply select the one that best suits my needs.
I mentioned before that Pareto optimization problems are central to economics and engineering. You can see from my example that the same sort of analysis could be applied to many economic issues.
As for engineering, hydrogeologists might want to determine the configuration of an underground aquifer using data from several different exploration methods, such as seismic data, borehole data, and electromagnetic data. All of these methods give different pictures of the aquifer. How do we combine the data to give us the most accurate picture?
Once we've figured out the configuration of the aquifer, we can now understand how the geology will affect the transport of a contaminant. What is the best way to clean up the contaminant, while minimizing environmental impact, cost, and time?
Suppose we want to route messages through a dynamically changing network where the cost of a path is determined by several non-additive cost functions. How do we find the best path?
Suppose we create a robot that needs to make sequential decisions in a changing environment. How can the robot make those choices?
These are all very difficult problems, and unfortunately, there are no unique solutions. The solutions generally depend on the priorities of the people posing the problems.
Friday, March 03, 2006
Adventures in Math
I know some folks come here just for the math, so here's another little piece of math to keep you coming back.
The other day I got an interesting e-mail from my fearless sister-in-law Ginger. (Ginger is a closet mathematician, but she just doesn't know it yet. I got her addicted to Sudoku, and now she's sending me math e-mails. It's only a matter of time before she starts doing calculus for fun.) Anyhow, here's what the message says:
1. GRAB A CALCULATOR. (YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO DO THIS ONE IN YOUR HEAD)
2. KEY IN THE FIRST THREE DIGITS OF YOUR PHONE NUMBER (NOT THE AREA CODE)
3. MULTIPLY BY 80
4. ADD 1
5. MULTIPLY BY 250
6. ADD THE LAST 4 DIGITS OF YOUR PHONE NUMBER
7. ADD THE LAST 4 DIGITS OF YOUR PHONE NUMBER AGAIN.
8. SUBTRACT 250
9. DIVIDE NUMBER BY 2
DO YOU RECOGNIZE THE ANSWER?
I tried it on my old phone number in Illinois, 367-5384. (As an aside, that was the coolest phone number ever. It spelled DORKETH. One can be so fortunate only once in life, I suppose.)
3. 367 x 80 = 29,360
4. 29,360 + 1 = 29,361
5. 29,361 x 250 = 7,340,250
6. 7,340,250 + 5,384 = 7,345,634
7. 7,345,634 + 5,384 = 7,351,018
8. 7,351,018 – 250 = 7,350,768
9. 7,350,768/2 = 3,675,384
That is indeed a familiar number! It's the original phone number I started out with.
This trick will work with any phone number. I know you're all asking why. At least, the folks who are in this for the math are, and they're the ones who count (ha ha! a little math humor there!) so I'll now explain how this trick works.
First of all, remember from elementary school how starting from the decimal point and going to the leftt, we have the ones place, then the tens place, then the hundreds, etc.? In each of those slots, we can put any integer from 0 to 9, and this represents a number. The number is just the sum of each of those integers times the proper power of ten; for example,
436 = 6 x 1 + 3 x 10 + 4 x 100
= 6 + 30 + 400
= 436.
So, if we were to write out our phone number as an integer, we could write it as
abcdefg = g x 1 + f x 10 + e x 100 + d x 1000 + c x 10,000 + b x 100,000 + a x 1,000,000 = g + 10 f + 100 e + 1000 d + 10,000 c +100,000 b + 1,000,000 a
= g + f0 + e00 + d000 + c0,000 + b00,000 + a,000,000
= abcdefg.
So, following the above algorithm:
3. abc x 80 = (c + 10 b + 100 a) x 80 = 80 c + 800 b + 8000 a.
4. (80 c + 800 b + 8000 a) + 1 = 80 c + 800 b + 8000 a + 1.
5. (80 c + 800 b + 8000 a + 1) x 250 = 20,000 c + 200,000 b + 2,000,000 a + 250.
6. (20,000 c + 200,000 b + 2,000,000 a + 250) + defg = 20,000 c + 200,000 b + 2,000,000 a + 250 + g + 10 f + 100 e + 1000 d.
7. (20,000 c + 200,000 b + 2,000,000 a + 250 + g + 10 f + 100 e + 1000 d) + defg = 20, 000 c + 200,000 b + 2,000,000 a + 250 + 2 g + 20 f + 200 e + 2000 d
= 250 + 2 g + 20 f + 200 e + 2000 d + 20,000 c + 200,000 b + 2,000,000 a.
8. (250 + 2 g + 20 f + 200 e + 2000 d + 20,000 c + 200,000 b + 2,000,000 a) – 250 = 2 g + 20 f + 200 e + 2000 d + 20,000 c + 200,000 b + 2,000,000 a.
9. (2 g + 20 f + 200 e + 2000 d + 20,000 c + 200,000 b + 2,000,000 a)/2 = g + 10 f +100 e + 1000 d + 10,000 c + 100,000 b + 1,000,000 a
= g + f0 + e00 + d000 + c0,000 + b00,000 + a,000,000
= abcdefg (!)
I thought this was a cute trick. I wrote all the steps out there, but you can see, if you gather like terms, that after step 5, we have 2 x a,bc0,000 + 250. (The 250 is just there to throw you off the track.) After step 7, we have 2 x a,bcd,efg + 250, and after we take away the extraneous 250, we obtain 2 x a,bcd,efg. Finally, in the last step, we divide by two and get back the original number.
I have to admit that I did follow step one and pull out the old calculator when I first tried this trick. Although perhaps it would have been more fun to do it with my trusty slide rule or my new abacus that I bought in San Francisco. Until next time, math fans!
The other day I got an interesting e-mail from my fearless sister-in-law Ginger. (Ginger is a closet mathematician, but she just doesn't know it yet. I got her addicted to Sudoku, and now she's sending me math e-mails. It's only a matter of time before she starts doing calculus for fun.) Anyhow, here's what the message says:
1. GRAB A CALCULATOR. (YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO DO THIS ONE IN YOUR HEAD)
2. KEY IN THE FIRST THREE DIGITS OF YOUR PHONE NUMBER (NOT THE AREA CODE)
3. MULTIPLY BY 80
4. ADD 1
5. MULTIPLY BY 250
6. ADD THE LAST 4 DIGITS OF YOUR PHONE NUMBER
7. ADD THE LAST 4 DIGITS OF YOUR PHONE NUMBER AGAIN.
8. SUBTRACT 250
9. DIVIDE NUMBER BY 2
DO YOU RECOGNIZE THE ANSWER?
I tried it on my old phone number in Illinois, 367-5384. (As an aside, that was the coolest phone number ever. It spelled DORKETH. One can be so fortunate only once in life, I suppose.)
3. 367 x 80 = 29,360
4. 29,360 + 1 = 29,361
5. 29,361 x 250 = 7,340,250
6. 7,340,250 + 5,384 = 7,345,634
7. 7,345,634 + 5,384 = 7,351,018
8. 7,351,018 – 250 = 7,350,768
9. 7,350,768/2 = 3,675,384
That is indeed a familiar number! It's the original phone number I started out with.
This trick will work with any phone number. I know you're all asking why. At least, the folks who are in this for the math are, and they're the ones who count (ha ha! a little math humor there!) so I'll now explain how this trick works.
First of all, remember from elementary school how starting from the decimal point and going to the leftt, we have the ones place, then the tens place, then the hundreds, etc.? In each of those slots, we can put any integer from 0 to 9, and this represents a number. The number is just the sum of each of those integers times the proper power of ten; for example,
436 = 6 x 1 + 3 x 10 + 4 x 100
= 6 + 30 + 400
= 436.
So, if we were to write out our phone number as an integer, we could write it as
abcdefg = g x 1 + f x 10 + e x 100 + d x 1000 + c x 10,000 + b x 100,000 + a x 1,000,000 = g + 10 f + 100 e + 1000 d + 10,000 c +100,000 b + 1,000,000 a
= g + f0 + e00 + d000 + c0,000 + b00,000 + a,000,000
= abcdefg.
So, following the above algorithm:
3. abc x 80 = (c + 10 b + 100 a) x 80 = 80 c + 800 b + 8000 a.
4. (80 c + 800 b + 8000 a) + 1 = 80 c + 800 b + 8000 a + 1.
5. (80 c + 800 b + 8000 a + 1) x 250 = 20,000 c + 200,000 b + 2,000,000 a + 250.
6. (20,000 c + 200,000 b + 2,000,000 a + 250) + defg = 20,000 c + 200,000 b + 2,000,000 a + 250 + g + 10 f + 100 e + 1000 d.
7. (20,000 c + 200,000 b + 2,000,000 a + 250 + g + 10 f + 100 e + 1000 d) + defg = 20, 000 c + 200,000 b + 2,000,000 a + 250 + 2 g + 20 f + 200 e + 2000 d
= 250 + 2 g + 20 f + 200 e + 2000 d + 20,000 c + 200,000 b + 2,000,000 a.
8. (250 + 2 g + 20 f + 200 e + 2000 d + 20,000 c + 200,000 b + 2,000,000 a) – 250 = 2 g + 20 f + 200 e + 2000 d + 20,000 c + 200,000 b + 2,000,000 a.
9. (2 g + 20 f + 200 e + 2000 d + 20,000 c + 200,000 b + 2,000,000 a)/2 = g + 10 f +100 e + 1000 d + 10,000 c + 100,000 b + 1,000,000 a
= g + f0 + e00 + d000 + c0,000 + b00,000 + a,000,000
= abcdefg (!)
I thought this was a cute trick. I wrote all the steps out there, but you can see, if you gather like terms, that after step 5, we have 2 x a,bc0,000 + 250. (The 250 is just there to throw you off the track.) After step 7, we have 2 x a,bcd,efg + 250, and after we take away the extraneous 250, we obtain 2 x a,bcd,efg. Finally, in the last step, we divide by two and get back the original number.
I have to admit that I did follow step one and pull out the old calculator when I first tried this trick. Although perhaps it would have been more fun to do it with my trusty slide rule or my new abacus that I bought in San Francisco. Until next time, math fans!
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Adventures in San Francisco
San Francisco is one of my favorite cities in the world. I have fond memories of it as a young child, as a college student, and now as an adult.
When I was five, my family spent a year in Davis, California, close enough to San Francisco to visit the city fairly frequently. I have fond memories of the Exploratorium and Golden Gate Park from those days. As a college student, I spent a summer doing research at SRI International in Menlo Park, California, close enough to San Francisco to visit the city on several occasions. I have fond memories of Golden Gate Park, the Golden Gate Bridge, Chinatown, Cable Cars, and more, from those days.
On Friday night, Jeff and I rode the cable cars and it was a lot of fun. Just riding the cable cars is fun, but sharing the experience with him is what made it a wonderful experience. On Saturday morning, we took a ferry to Alcatraz. I had never been to Alcatraz before, so this was a new experience for both of us. The audio tour is narrated by a former correctional officer of the prison, and also features the points of view of another officer and two former inmates. It was just fascinating. Alcatraz was a very safe and efficiently run prison. The hardest thing the prisoners faced was the feeling of deprivation. The view from the island is just spectacular: San Francisco on one side, Marin County and the Northern side of the bay on the other. The punishment of seeing and sometimes even hearing all that you're being deprived of must have been severe.
On Saturday we also visited Ghirardelli Square and Fisherman's Wharf. At the wharf was a museum called musee mechanique, with a lot of old amusement machines, such as one that showed 3-D slides of the 1906 earthquake, and another that was a dummy that would just laugh and laugh.
On Sunday it rained all day, but we didn't let this stop us from having fun. We used our bus passes to go to the Golden Gate Bridge, where we took a lot of pictures and walked part of the way across the bridge. Because of the cold rain, we did stop touring a little earlier than we might have otherwise.
We woke up early on Monday morning, took the shuttle to the airport, and got home by 9 p.m. It was a fun trip, but we were glad to be home.
When I was five, my family spent a year in Davis, California, close enough to San Francisco to visit the city fairly frequently. I have fond memories of the Exploratorium and Golden Gate Park from those days. As a college student, I spent a summer doing research at SRI International in Menlo Park, California, close enough to San Francisco to visit the city on several occasions. I have fond memories of Golden Gate Park, the Golden Gate Bridge, Chinatown, Cable Cars, and more, from those days.
On Friday night, Jeff and I rode the cable cars and it was a lot of fun. Just riding the cable cars is fun, but sharing the experience with him is what made it a wonderful experience. On Saturday morning, we took a ferry to Alcatraz. I had never been to Alcatraz before, so this was a new experience for both of us. The audio tour is narrated by a former correctional officer of the prison, and also features the points of view of another officer and two former inmates. It was just fascinating. Alcatraz was a very safe and efficiently run prison. The hardest thing the prisoners faced was the feeling of deprivation. The view from the island is just spectacular: San Francisco on one side, Marin County and the Northern side of the bay on the other. The punishment of seeing and sometimes even hearing all that you're being deprived of must have been severe.
On Saturday we also visited Ghirardelli Square and Fisherman's Wharf. At the wharf was a museum called musee mechanique, with a lot of old amusement machines, such as one that showed 3-D slides of the 1906 earthquake, and another that was a dummy that would just laugh and laugh.
On Sunday it rained all day, but we didn't let this stop us from having fun. We used our bus passes to go to the Golden Gate Bridge, where we took a lot of pictures and walked part of the way across the bridge. Because of the cold rain, we did stop touring a little earlier than we might have otherwise.
We woke up early on Monday morning, took the shuttle to the airport, and got home by 9 p.m. It was a fun trip, but we were glad to be home.
Saturday, February 25, 2006
San Francisco
I've been remiss in writing lately because Jeff and I have been in San Francisco for most of the week! We left home on Tuesday morning and arrived here in the early evening. Our flights were uneventful, thank goodness.
I spent Wednesday, Thursday, and most of today at the conference (yes, the only way I can get any time out of town is by going to a conference! I hate the fact that I earn only two weeks of vacation per year!). I presented my talk yesterday. It went pretty well except for the fact that it was a little on the short side.
My former advisor was unfortunately unable to make it to the conference, so he asked me to collect as many people with Illinois connections together as possible, and take a picture of them. Unfortunately, I didn't get everyone together at once, but we were able to get one picture with ten people and another picture with two previously unpictured folks, so I think he will be pleased. Some of the people in the first picture I had never even met, but somebody else knew that they were Illinois people so they joined in the picture. I hope my advisor knows who they are because I sure don't!
One of the people in the picture was a young woman who got her undergraduate degree at Illinois and who worked for my advisor when she was there, but is now a graduate student at Berkeley. She spotted me on Wednesday morning and I think she was really happy to see a familiar face. I kind of took her under my wing for a time, because this was her first conference. Something I didn't realize until nearly halfway through my second conference was that everyone at the conference is as shy as I am, and they're not talking to me because they're shy, not because they're unfriendly. Once I understood that, I was able to make some connections by being more assertive. And since I did that, I now know a fair number of folks to whom I was able to introduce this young woman. I noticed that she also made a few connections of her own, with people whom she met in the conference sessions. I think it helped her to understand going into the conference that everyone is shy.
Our first night here, we saw on the map that we were very close to Chinatown, just a few blocks southwest, so we decided to walk there. Well, we plotted a course that, as it turned out, involved hiking up this huge hill and then back down again into Chinatown. That was kind of stupid. So we figured out that if we just went East first instead of North, we could avoid that huge hill entirely. So we went back to Chinatown last night for dinner and again this afternoon for some souvenir shopping, and didn't suffer from getting out of breath at all.
Tonight after dinner we took a trip on the cable cars. This is Jeff's first trip to San Francisco, so naturally it was his first time on the cable cars. We got a three-day pass for all the city public transportation.
We'll be here for the weekend, and we'll leave on Monday morning. I'm burning one vacation day for this but I think it will be worth it. Tomorrow we're going to go to Alcatraz. We don't have any other concrete plans but there is plenty to choose from.
I spent Wednesday, Thursday, and most of today at the conference (yes, the only way I can get any time out of town is by going to a conference! I hate the fact that I earn only two weeks of vacation per year!). I presented my talk yesterday. It went pretty well except for the fact that it was a little on the short side.
My former advisor was unfortunately unable to make it to the conference, so he asked me to collect as many people with Illinois connections together as possible, and take a picture of them. Unfortunately, I didn't get everyone together at once, but we were able to get one picture with ten people and another picture with two previously unpictured folks, so I think he will be pleased. Some of the people in the first picture I had never even met, but somebody else knew that they were Illinois people so they joined in the picture. I hope my advisor knows who they are because I sure don't!
One of the people in the picture was a young woman who got her undergraduate degree at Illinois and who worked for my advisor when she was there, but is now a graduate student at Berkeley. She spotted me on Wednesday morning and I think she was really happy to see a familiar face. I kind of took her under my wing for a time, because this was her first conference. Something I didn't realize until nearly halfway through my second conference was that everyone at the conference is as shy as I am, and they're not talking to me because they're shy, not because they're unfriendly. Once I understood that, I was able to make some connections by being more assertive. And since I did that, I now know a fair number of folks to whom I was able to introduce this young woman. I noticed that she also made a few connections of her own, with people whom she met in the conference sessions. I think it helped her to understand going into the conference that everyone is shy.
Our first night here, we saw on the map that we were very close to Chinatown, just a few blocks southwest, so we decided to walk there. Well, we plotted a course that, as it turned out, involved hiking up this huge hill and then back down again into Chinatown. That was kind of stupid. So we figured out that if we just went East first instead of North, we could avoid that huge hill entirely. So we went back to Chinatown last night for dinner and again this afternoon for some souvenir shopping, and didn't suffer from getting out of breath at all.
Tonight after dinner we took a trip on the cable cars. This is Jeff's first trip to San Francisco, so naturally it was his first time on the cable cars. We got a three-day pass for all the city public transportation.
We'll be here for the weekend, and we'll leave on Monday morning. I'm burning one vacation day for this but I think it will be worth it. Tomorrow we're going to go to Alcatraz. We don't have any other concrete plans but there is plenty to choose from.
Thursday, February 16, 2006
SOLD!
Somebody liked our house in Illinois enough to put a bid on it! They didn't like it enough to bid our asking price for it, but we accepted their offer anyhow, because every month that we hang on to that house costs us $1000. And who wouldn't like to have an extra thousand a month in income?!?! Seriously, their bid was only about $3500 below our asking price, and they want to close in March, so that is equivalent to full price in June or July, except that we get the money a couple of months sooner! We will still be getting a serious chunk of change out of that house. We'll be able to pay back my Dad, who loaned us the money for the down payment on our house here, and still have enough left over to pay off some lingering debts, make investments, and replenish our bank account.
That house is our final link with Illinois. I know it sounds silly, but I cut another link yesterday by changing over the cell phone to a Tennessee number. There was something nice about having that connection: people in Illinois could call us as if it were a local number. It's not like they actually did, but they COULD, at least in theory. So I felt kind of sad to cut off that tie.
We've been growing more and more roots here, though, which helps make these last Illinois ties easier to let go of. We are feeling more and more at home here, I'm getting used to my job, we've made some friends, and we've discovered some good restaurants (the next visitors get to have Mediterranean takeout, good Mexican food, and/or local gourmet pizza, all of which are vegetarian-friendly!). Also, this weekend a friend from undergrad is coming to town, because he's interviewing for a job here at the lab. It will make this an even cooler place to live if he gets that job!
That house is our final link with Illinois. I know it sounds silly, but I cut another link yesterday by changing over the cell phone to a Tennessee number. There was something nice about having that connection: people in Illinois could call us as if it were a local number. It's not like they actually did, but they COULD, at least in theory. So I felt kind of sad to cut off that tie.
We've been growing more and more roots here, though, which helps make these last Illinois ties easier to let go of. We are feeling more and more at home here, I'm getting used to my job, we've made some friends, and we've discovered some good restaurants (the next visitors get to have Mediterranean takeout, good Mexican food, and/or local gourmet pizza, all of which are vegetarian-friendly!). Also, this weekend a friend from undergrad is coming to town, because he's interviewing for a job here at the lab. It will make this an even cooler place to live if he gets that job!
Sunday, February 12, 2006
Snow!
It has been snowing this week, for the first time all "winter." I say "winter" because it may have gotten into the teens at night a couple of times but that's about it. I could get used to this mild climate!
Anyhow, it actually decided to "snow" this week, and said "snow" actually stuck to the ground overnight, only to be melted by the sun's strong rays in the morning. When I say "stuck to the ground," what I really mean is "stuck to our deck, the tree branches, and the grass, but not to the road." In this way the disaster of Tennessee drivers on ice is averted. That sounds like a great show, but not one I'd like to see right now.
The snow has once again covered the ground, but I think within the next couple of hours it will all melt away. This afternoon we are going to see the Lady Vols play basketball, for an outing sponsored by the social club at my workplace. Thankfully this "snow" will not get in our way.
Anyhow, it actually decided to "snow" this week, and said "snow" actually stuck to the ground overnight, only to be melted by the sun's strong rays in the morning. When I say "stuck to the ground," what I really mean is "stuck to our deck, the tree branches, and the grass, but not to the road." In this way the disaster of Tennessee drivers on ice is averted. That sounds like a great show, but not one I'd like to see right now.
The snow has once again covered the ground, but I think within the next couple of hours it will all melt away. This afternoon we are going to see the Lady Vols play basketball, for an outing sponsored by the social club at my workplace. Thankfully this "snow" will not get in our way.
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
Home Is Where the Heart Is
I've been thinking a lot about the meaning of the word "home." I have of course recently moved from Illinois to Tennessee, and Tennessee is becoming more of a home now. But still, when I think about home, what do I think of and what place, if any, do I consider home?
They say (whoever "they" are!) that the place where you spent your junior-high-age years is the place you think of as home. So for me, that place would be Lexington, Kentucky. I suppose that in some sense, that is true for me; whenever I dream about "home," for example, it's always the house I grew up in, even if the dream is about me as an adult.
On the other hand, today as I was waiting for my lunch to heat in the microwave, I saw a package of Solo brand cups, which, I proudly thought to myself, were made BACK HOME IN URBANA, ILLINOIS.
Is Illinois home? I spent my first twenty-two years in Kentucky, and the next seven in Illinois. So maybe less than a quarter of my life was spent there, but those were some of the most formative years of my life: years in which I became a homeowner, an adult, a wife, and a citizen; years in which I finally developed my own opinions, self-confidence, and independence from my first family; years in which I overcame tremendous obstacles. So perhaps Illinois IS home to this version of me, because it's where she was born and raised.
In some ways I self-identify more as an Illinoisian. When people ask where we're from, I say Illinois, because that's where we moved here from. I compare everything here to the way things are in Illinois. Jeff and I refer to ourselves as "crazy Illinois drivers" when we brandish our aggressive driving skills on the polite drivers of Tennessee (of course, these aggressive driving skills were learned in Illinois!).
Kentucky seems kind of like a distant dream in some ways. It just doesn't have the same hold over me that Illinois does. Oh sure, my dad and bonus mom, my grandma, and a few friends from high school and college still live there and that draws me to visit occasionally. But every time I go back, there's something new and I don't feel like it's very familiar.
In time, I imagine that Urbana will grow and change without me, too, but there's still a big draw there that's lacking in Kentucky. I know we'll be back there for a visit on many occasions. This is the place, I'll tell my kids, where Daddy and I lived when I was in graduate school. This is the place where Mommy got her degree, but more importantly, where she grew up, where she learned more than you can fit in any book.
And after that, we'll go home, wherever that may be.
They say (whoever "they" are!) that the place where you spent your junior-high-age years is the place you think of as home. So for me, that place would be Lexington, Kentucky. I suppose that in some sense, that is true for me; whenever I dream about "home," for example, it's always the house I grew up in, even if the dream is about me as an adult.
On the other hand, today as I was waiting for my lunch to heat in the microwave, I saw a package of Solo brand cups, which, I proudly thought to myself, were made BACK HOME IN URBANA, ILLINOIS.
Is Illinois home? I spent my first twenty-two years in Kentucky, and the next seven in Illinois. So maybe less than a quarter of my life was spent there, but those were some of the most formative years of my life: years in which I became a homeowner, an adult, a wife, and a citizen; years in which I finally developed my own opinions, self-confidence, and independence from my first family; years in which I overcame tremendous obstacles. So perhaps Illinois IS home to this version of me, because it's where she was born and raised.
In some ways I self-identify more as an Illinoisian. When people ask where we're from, I say Illinois, because that's where we moved here from. I compare everything here to the way things are in Illinois. Jeff and I refer to ourselves as "crazy Illinois drivers" when we brandish our aggressive driving skills on the polite drivers of Tennessee (of course, these aggressive driving skills were learned in Illinois!).
Kentucky seems kind of like a distant dream in some ways. It just doesn't have the same hold over me that Illinois does. Oh sure, my dad and bonus mom, my grandma, and a few friends from high school and college still live there and that draws me to visit occasionally. But every time I go back, there's something new and I don't feel like it's very familiar.
In time, I imagine that Urbana will grow and change without me, too, but there's still a big draw there that's lacking in Kentucky. I know we'll be back there for a visit on many occasions. This is the place, I'll tell my kids, where Daddy and I lived when I was in graduate school. This is the place where Mommy got her degree, but more importantly, where she grew up, where she learned more than you can fit in any book.
And after that, we'll go home, wherever that may be.
Saturday, February 04, 2006
Santa Fe Beans and Rice
I am not a huge fan of beans and rice. I'm not a huge fan of microwave meals, either. But I am a huge fan of the Weight Watchers Smart Ones Santa Fe Beans and Rice microwave meal.
So naturally, I decided that I needed to figure out how to make it myself, instead of buying this meal in a one-time use, "disposable" plastic dish. I believe that I have figured it out. It's not exactly identical, but it has the same sort of delicious flavor. The recipe follows:
2.5-3 cups water (depending on the type of rice you're using)
1 cup tomato sauce
1 packet taco spices* (enough for one pound of meat)
1-2 dashes cayenne pepper
2 cups uncooked rice
1 16 oz can red beans, drained**
1 small zucchini, diced into small pieces
8 oz frozen corn kernels
1 cup reduced-fat sour cream***
1 tablespoon skim milk
grated Monterrey jack cheese
Combine water, tomato sauce, taco spices, and cayenne pepper in large saucepan. Heat to boiling. Add rice, beans, zucchini, and corn. Bring to a boil, then lower temperature and simmer until rice is cooked and liquid is gone.
When rice is almost done, combine sour cream and milk in microwave-safe bowl. Heat in microwave until warm and mixture is runny.
To serve: Scoop some beans and rice onto a plate or into a bowl. Top generously with sour cream sauce. Sprinkle grated cheese on top. Microwave until cheese is melted, if desired.
Other serving suggestions: This would be really good on a bed of lettuce, like a taco salad. Also, I think it would be fun to eat with tortilla chips.
* I used a commercial packet of taco spices, but you can get the same flavor for a lot less money by combining 2 teaspoons instant minced onion, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon chili powder, 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch, 1/2 teaspoon crushed dried red pepper, 1/2 teaspoon instant minced garlic, 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano, and 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin ("Taco Seasoning Mix" recipe from More House Specialties by Deanna House).
** You can prepare your own red beans ahead of time -- you want to have about 3 cups of beans for this recipe.
*** You can use real sour cream or even fat-free sour cream, except for the fact that fat-free sour cream is completely disgusting.
So naturally, I decided that I needed to figure out how to make it myself, instead of buying this meal in a one-time use, "disposable" plastic dish. I believe that I have figured it out. It's not exactly identical, but it has the same sort of delicious flavor. The recipe follows:
Becca's Santa Fe Beans and Rice
2.5-3 cups water (depending on the type of rice you're using)
1 cup tomato sauce
1 packet taco spices* (enough for one pound of meat)
1-2 dashes cayenne pepper
2 cups uncooked rice
1 16 oz can red beans, drained**
1 small zucchini, diced into small pieces
8 oz frozen corn kernels
1 cup reduced-fat sour cream***
1 tablespoon skim milk
grated Monterrey jack cheese
Combine water, tomato sauce, taco spices, and cayenne pepper in large saucepan. Heat to boiling. Add rice, beans, zucchini, and corn. Bring to a boil, then lower temperature and simmer until rice is cooked and liquid is gone.
When rice is almost done, combine sour cream and milk in microwave-safe bowl. Heat in microwave until warm and mixture is runny.
To serve: Scoop some beans and rice onto a plate or into a bowl. Top generously with sour cream sauce. Sprinkle grated cheese on top. Microwave until cheese is melted, if desired.
Other serving suggestions: This would be really good on a bed of lettuce, like a taco salad. Also, I think it would be fun to eat with tortilla chips.
* I used a commercial packet of taco spices, but you can get the same flavor for a lot less money by combining 2 teaspoons instant minced onion, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon chili powder, 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch, 1/2 teaspoon crushed dried red pepper, 1/2 teaspoon instant minced garlic, 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano, and 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin ("Taco Seasoning Mix" recipe from More House Specialties by Deanna House).
** You can prepare your own red beans ahead of time -- you want to have about 3 cups of beans for this recipe.
*** You can use real sour cream or even fat-free sour cream, except for the fact that fat-free sour cream is completely disgusting.
Friday, February 03, 2006
Thursday, February 02, 2006
In Case the Whole Research Scientist Thing Doesn't Work Out...
...I've begun planning for an alternate career path:
My spammer name is Replica T. Sheepskin.
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
Book Review
Book Review: The Way They Were by Brooke L. Foster
The book The Way They Were: Dealing with the Divorce of Your Parents After a Lifetime of Marriage by Brooke L. Foster was released last Tuesday. The four copies of it that I'd preordered arrived in the mail last week, and I immediately set to reading it.
Books aimed at people who were adults when their parents divorced are alarmingly scarce. The only other book exclusively on this subject (at least that I'm aware of) is the out-of-print A Grief out of Season by Noelle Fintushel and Nancy Hilliard, dating more than fifteen years back. I was a regular on the Adult Children of Divorce Yahoo group for a long time, and it was very common to hear the complaint that the only book out there on the topic of what we were going through was not available. I got my copy (which I treasure) from the Urbana Free Library discard pile. If the folks at the library had known, they could have sold it on eBay for a pretty penny!
Since I was such a regular on the group, I was approached by Brooke Foster to tell my story. I was delighted to do so, and I also put her in touch with my two sisters, so that she might get an entire family's perspective instead of simply mine. She was a good interviewer, and a wonderful listener. I was looking forward to seeing how she would incorporate our stories into her book.
I really liked the book. The writing in it was beautiful; her words were poetry and the content flowed seamlessly. She incorporated our stories and the stories of many others into the book, and the story about her family was also central. In a way, she went in chronological order, because she treated topics in the order in which she became aware of them throughout the life-changing divorce of her parents. For example, it is not until the end of the book that she discusses the effects of parents' divorce on their adult children's intimate relationships, because that's the point at which she began to be aware of those effects, whereas in my experience, the unquestioning trust of my partner was one of the first casualties of the divorce. The fact that I was already married is what I think accounts for this difference.
At the Barnes and Noble website, I read one review packed with unwarranted venom, and I had to wonder if the reviewer had read the same book that I did. For example, he describes the author as unable to understand that parents are "human beings with evolving needs." The thing is, she not only understands that, but explains it in the very first chapter! On top of that, the books he recommends over this one weren't even on the same topic! His preconceived notions of the book were evidently uninfluenced by the words between the covers.
I think that since I've read just about every book about adult children of divorce, and plenty of other books on family dynamics, family estrangements, and the like, I didn't really learn much from the book, but it was good to have all that information in one place. I think that A Grief Out of Season is more methodical and therefore maybe a little more helpful, but this is a very good book too. I would recommend this book highly to any adult seeking to come to terms with their parents' divorce.
The book The Way They Were: Dealing with the Divorce of Your Parents After a Lifetime of Marriage by Brooke L. Foster was released last Tuesday. The four copies of it that I'd preordered arrived in the mail last week, and I immediately set to reading it.
Books aimed at people who were adults when their parents divorced are alarmingly scarce. The only other book exclusively on this subject (at least that I'm aware of) is the out-of-print A Grief out of Season by Noelle Fintushel and Nancy Hilliard, dating more than fifteen years back. I was a regular on the Adult Children of Divorce Yahoo group for a long time, and it was very common to hear the complaint that the only book out there on the topic of what we were going through was not available. I got my copy (which I treasure) from the Urbana Free Library discard pile. If the folks at the library had known, they could have sold it on eBay for a pretty penny!
Since I was such a regular on the group, I was approached by Brooke Foster to tell my story. I was delighted to do so, and I also put her in touch with my two sisters, so that she might get an entire family's perspective instead of simply mine. She was a good interviewer, and a wonderful listener. I was looking forward to seeing how she would incorporate our stories into her book.
I really liked the book. The writing in it was beautiful; her words were poetry and the content flowed seamlessly. She incorporated our stories and the stories of many others into the book, and the story about her family was also central. In a way, she went in chronological order, because she treated topics in the order in which she became aware of them throughout the life-changing divorce of her parents. For example, it is not until the end of the book that she discusses the effects of parents' divorce on their adult children's intimate relationships, because that's the point at which she began to be aware of those effects, whereas in my experience, the unquestioning trust of my partner was one of the first casualties of the divorce. The fact that I was already married is what I think accounts for this difference.
At the Barnes and Noble website, I read one review packed with unwarranted venom, and I had to wonder if the reviewer had read the same book that I did. For example, he describes the author as unable to understand that parents are "human beings with evolving needs." The thing is, she not only understands that, but explains it in the very first chapter! On top of that, the books he recommends over this one weren't even on the same topic! His preconceived notions of the book were evidently uninfluenced by the words between the covers.
I think that since I've read just about every book about adult children of divorce, and plenty of other books on family dynamics, family estrangements, and the like, I didn't really learn much from the book, but it was good to have all that information in one place. I think that A Grief Out of Season is more methodical and therefore maybe a little more helpful, but this is a very good book too. I would recommend this book highly to any adult seeking to come to terms with their parents' divorce.
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Help Me, O Internet!
There are some interesting features in our new house, but the weirdest one by far is this strange electrical outlet in our bedroom. Below is a diagram of two different types of outlets.
The outlet on the left is your average, everyday outlet, which are quite numerous in this house. The outlet on the right is this mystery outlet that's on one of the outer walls of our bedroom. Notice that the outlet looks sort of normal except that the two upper prongs are rotated 90 degrees from usual.
In trying to figure out what this outlet could possibly be, I asked my dad, the handyman of all handymen. Unfortunately, he'd never heard of such a thing. So next, I looked it up on the internet. Googling for "electrical outlets types United States" I came across the Wikipedia article about domestic AC power plugs and sockets. I learned quite a bit about power plugs and what they look like around the world. It was all very interesting. There are thirteen standard types of sockets, used around the world. The Wikipedia article had pictures of these thirteen standard types (A through M), but none of them are this mystery outlet. So then I read the fine print about the North American types, and it suggested that "plugs with two flat parallel pins are 240 V variants" of the standard type A (two-prong) plug, and are very rare. But there was no mention of the three-prong mode, but I think I'm going to go ahead and assume that this is simply a high-voltage variation of the type B (three-prong) plug.
This brings me to my questions for the internet. First, am I right that this is a high-voltage outlet? Second, assuming that this is a high-voltage outlet, why is it in our bedroom? I mean, sure, you have high-voltage outlets for your electric stove, your clothes dryer and the like, but the outlets for those appliances don't have this shape to them. They're usually a lot bigger than the standard outlet, for starters. More importantly, what sort of high-energy appliance would one put in the bedroom? A supercomputer? (I saw that IBM servers can be connected to such an outlet, but I'd think that the noise would really get to you.) Another stove, in case you wanted to bake yourself a snack? An enormous hairdryer? (But why wouldn't the outlet be in the bathroom then?) A super-mondo deluxe vibrator? (…and where can I get one?)
Help me, O Internet! You are my only hope!
The outlet on the left is your average, everyday outlet, which are quite numerous in this house. The outlet on the right is this mystery outlet that's on one of the outer walls of our bedroom. Notice that the outlet looks sort of normal except that the two upper prongs are rotated 90 degrees from usual.
In trying to figure out what this outlet could possibly be, I asked my dad, the handyman of all handymen. Unfortunately, he'd never heard of such a thing. So next, I looked it up on the internet. Googling for "electrical outlets types United States" I came across the Wikipedia article about domestic AC power plugs and sockets. I learned quite a bit about power plugs and what they look like around the world. It was all very interesting. There are thirteen standard types of sockets, used around the world. The Wikipedia article had pictures of these thirteen standard types (A through M), but none of them are this mystery outlet. So then I read the fine print about the North American types, and it suggested that "plugs with two flat parallel pins are 240 V variants" of the standard type A (two-prong) plug, and are very rare. But there was no mention of the three-prong mode, but I think I'm going to go ahead and assume that this is simply a high-voltage variation of the type B (three-prong) plug.
This brings me to my questions for the internet. First, am I right that this is a high-voltage outlet? Second, assuming that this is a high-voltage outlet, why is it in our bedroom? I mean, sure, you have high-voltage outlets for your electric stove, your clothes dryer and the like, but the outlets for those appliances don't have this shape to them. They're usually a lot bigger than the standard outlet, for starters. More importantly, what sort of high-energy appliance would one put in the bedroom? A supercomputer? (I saw that IBM servers can be connected to such an outlet, but I'd think that the noise would really get to you.) Another stove, in case you wanted to bake yourself a snack? An enormous hairdryer? (But why wouldn't the outlet be in the bathroom then?) A super-mondo deluxe vibrator? (…and where can I get one?)
Help me, O Internet! You are my only hope!
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
One Year of Blather
Ladies and Gentlemen:
Thank you so much for putting up with my blathering over the internet this past year. Some people actually read this site and come back again for more! Thanks again to those of you who frequent this blog and actually comment!
It has been a year of great change for Jeff and me. I moved from a cozy existence as a grad student to an existence as a real, live professional. I uprooted us from Illinois, our home for seven years, to Tennessee, our new home. I also started making more money than I spent, which is definitely an improvement! Here is a recap of the highlights of the year:
January and February were spent working really hard on finishing up my dissertation research, teaching karate, and losing that last bit of weight. In March, I was rewarded for my hard work in two out of the three areas by reaching my weight goal and interviewing for a job (complete with car wreck), and I was punished in the karate arena by tripping over an eight-year-old.
In April, I reached Lifetime status at Weight Watchers, failed to get an offer for the job I'd interviewed for, and almost interviewed at IBM Watson. (It was rescheduled for June.)
In May, I became a brown belt and traveled to Sweden for a conference.
June (and part of July) was absolutely insane for me, as evidenced by my hectic schedule for the month. I had four interviews, defended my dissertation, and partied wildly afterwards.
Two of my interviews (1) (2) actually resulted in offers being extended. July and August were spent ruminating over the decision of which to take. With an offer like this, it's really hard to say no.
In the end, I picked the other one, and began working on September 15. I went on ahead, leaving Jeff behind, to move to Tennessee and start my new job. I learned a lot, much of it stuff that one would not expect to learn on the job (such as how to write with the non-dominant hand). I was lonely and lived in a small apartment all alone, but in October, my beloved husband finally finished up in Illinois and moved down here to be with me, and Dad, Marvis, Laura, and Anne all converged upon Oak Ridge to help me and Jeff celebrate our birthdays.
In November, Jeff and I closed on our new house, which we are still enjoying. Thanksgiving was slightly depressing but I made it. December was more fun, especially after the orthopedist fixed my elbow. We also traveled to Kentucky after Christmas to see the family on both sides.
So far the new year has been good to us, too. We defeated our evil futon frame and did various other home-improvement projects. We found a new roleplaying group to join, and that has been a lot of fun too.
This year has brought a lot of change to Jeff and me. Most of it has been for the better (although I do miss a lot of things about Urbana still). I wonder what changes the next year will bring. Thanks for taking the journey with me!
Thank you so much for putting up with my blathering over the internet this past year. Some people actually read this site and come back again for more! Thanks again to those of you who frequent this blog and actually comment!
It has been a year of great change for Jeff and me. I moved from a cozy existence as a grad student to an existence as a real, live professional. I uprooted us from Illinois, our home for seven years, to Tennessee, our new home. I also started making more money than I spent, which is definitely an improvement! Here is a recap of the highlights of the year:
January and February were spent working really hard on finishing up my dissertation research, teaching karate, and losing that last bit of weight. In March, I was rewarded for my hard work in two out of the three areas by reaching my weight goal and interviewing for a job (complete with car wreck), and I was punished in the karate arena by tripping over an eight-year-old.
In April, I reached Lifetime status at Weight Watchers, failed to get an offer for the job I'd interviewed for, and almost interviewed at IBM Watson. (It was rescheduled for June.)
In May, I became a brown belt and traveled to Sweden for a conference.
June (and part of July) was absolutely insane for me, as evidenced by my hectic schedule for the month. I had four interviews, defended my dissertation, and partied wildly afterwards.
Two of my interviews (1) (2) actually resulted in offers being extended. July and August were spent ruminating over the decision of which to take. With an offer like this, it's really hard to say no.
In the end, I picked the other one, and began working on September 15. I went on ahead, leaving Jeff behind, to move to Tennessee and start my new job. I learned a lot, much of it stuff that one would not expect to learn on the job (such as how to write with the non-dominant hand). I was lonely and lived in a small apartment all alone, but in October, my beloved husband finally finished up in Illinois and moved down here to be with me, and Dad, Marvis, Laura, and Anne all converged upon Oak Ridge to help me and Jeff celebrate our birthdays.
In November, Jeff and I closed on our new house, which we are still enjoying. Thanksgiving was slightly depressing but I made it. December was more fun, especially after the orthopedist fixed my elbow. We also traveled to Kentucky after Christmas to see the family on both sides.
So far the new year has been good to us, too. We defeated our evil futon frame and did various other home-improvement projects. We found a new roleplaying group to join, and that has been a lot of fun too.
This year has brought a lot of change to Jeff and me. Most of it has been for the better (although I do miss a lot of things about Urbana still). I wonder what changes the next year will bring. Thanks for taking the journey with me!
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
Adventures in Humor
The better half and I both have strange senses of humor. Luckily, we seem to have similar tastes in jokes. In this entry I shall attempt to delineate the different classes of humor in which we partake.
1. Inside Jokes. We have many shared experiences and from these shared experiences we draw much of our humor. For example, one time a certain family member (who shall remain anonymous) once said that only “goons” drank out of cans. So now we accuse one another of being goons when we notice the other drinking from a can.
2. Repetition. We are little more than amoebas, in that this is a case of stimulus-response. Most of these jokes are not even funny. For example, every time we pass a particular street in Oak Ridge, one of us nudges the other and says, “Hey, see that street? [My Ph.D. advisor] used to live down that street.” There were similar jokes in Urbana (like “That’s where the foundry used to be before it burned down” and “They used to run prostitutes out of that hotel.”) I don’t know why this is funny, but it is.
3. Injecting reality into fantasy, or vice versa. When we’re watching a TV show, or playing a game, or whatever, I often do this. For example, in the game World of Warcraft, certain animals leave you with “discolored fangs” as loot. I commented recently that if only those animals used Crest toothpaste, they wouldn’t have discolored fangs.
4. Puns. Mostly, I make the puns, and he groans. Puns were an integral source of humor in my family when I was growing up, and I continue the tradition.
5. Deliberate Misinterpretations. One of us says something, and the other takes it in a completely different way. Jeff is really good at this one. I tend to mix this method with puns for more effect.
What sorts of humor do you like?
1. Inside Jokes. We have many shared experiences and from these shared experiences we draw much of our humor. For example, one time a certain family member (who shall remain anonymous) once said that only “goons” drank out of cans. So now we accuse one another of being goons when we notice the other drinking from a can.
2. Repetition. We are little more than amoebas, in that this is a case of stimulus-response. Most of these jokes are not even funny. For example, every time we pass a particular street in Oak Ridge, one of us nudges the other and says, “Hey, see that street? [My Ph.D. advisor] used to live down that street.” There were similar jokes in Urbana (like “That’s where the foundry used to be before it burned down” and “They used to run prostitutes out of that hotel.”) I don’t know why this is funny, but it is.
3. Injecting reality into fantasy, or vice versa. When we’re watching a TV show, or playing a game, or whatever, I often do this. For example, in the game World of Warcraft, certain animals leave you with “discolored fangs” as loot. I commented recently that if only those animals used Crest toothpaste, they wouldn’t have discolored fangs.
4. Puns. Mostly, I make the puns, and he groans. Puns were an integral source of humor in my family when I was growing up, and I continue the tradition.
5. Deliberate Misinterpretations. One of us says something, and the other takes it in a completely different way. Jeff is really good at this one. I tend to mix this method with puns for more effect.
What sorts of humor do you like?
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
Bits and Pieces of Nothing Much
* Inspired by our success against the futon, we decided to change all the locks on the doors, so that they would all have the same key. We successfully changed all the locks but one, which is the front door handle. For some reason, they put that door handle in a weird place: not in the middle of the door, but probably about halfway between the middle and the outside of the door. We couldn’t replace just the handle because the shape of the shaft that turns the new handle is different than the shape of the hole it’s supposed to go through.
* We found another group to roleplay with. Our previous group broke up because there were too many stressors in the other people’s lives. So Jeff inquired around some more, and we found a group who are doing a D&D campaign. We both had a great time. The only thing is that I’m the only woman and I think some of the group members haven’t really played in a group with a woman before, and they don’t quite know what to do. But I think that they’ll soon get used to me and I’ll get used to them. In particular, I think that I will be endeared to them when I start bringing tasty snack treats. The bunch of bananas at home is just getting to the right stage of ripeness to make some really tasty banana bread!
* I love my husband’s cooking. I like his jambalaya better than I like ice cream, and that’s saying a lot, because I could subsist entirely upon ice cream if it weren’t for all those pesky nutrients that ice cream lacks. Oh, and the fact that as proud as I am of having lost all that weight, I don’t want to do it again.
* This morning I went to a meeting about the proposals our group is submitting to the gubmint for funding. I understood next to nothing. I mean, I was able to parse almost every word that was spoken, but I couldn’t make much sense of the phrases stringing them together. But it’s all good; I just need to talk to my mentor and ask him to explain how things work.
My entire experience with proposals consists of writing proposals for supercomputing time. Those were pretty simple, and I had my advisor looking over my shoulder the whole time, because it was his name going on the proposal (some pesky rule about needing a Ph.D. to be a PI). I’m not writing any proposals for this round of submissions; my mentor is writing me in to his proposals. But in the not-so-distant future I’m going to need to begin writing proposals of my own. So it was good to go to that meeting, even if I didn’t get much out of it. Just being exposed to the process is a good first step.
* We found another group to roleplay with. Our previous group broke up because there were too many stressors in the other people’s lives. So Jeff inquired around some more, and we found a group who are doing a D&D campaign. We both had a great time. The only thing is that I’m the only woman and I think some of the group members haven’t really played in a group with a woman before, and they don’t quite know what to do. But I think that they’ll soon get used to me and I’ll get used to them. In particular, I think that I will be endeared to them when I start bringing tasty snack treats. The bunch of bananas at home is just getting to the right stage of ripeness to make some really tasty banana bread!
* I love my husband’s cooking. I like his jambalaya better than I like ice cream, and that’s saying a lot, because I could subsist entirely upon ice cream if it weren’t for all those pesky nutrients that ice cream lacks. Oh, and the fact that as proud as I am of having lost all that weight, I don’t want to do it again.
* This morning I went to a meeting about the proposals our group is submitting to the gubmint for funding. I understood next to nothing. I mean, I was able to parse almost every word that was spoken, but I couldn’t make much sense of the phrases stringing them together. But it’s all good; I just need to talk to my mentor and ask him to explain how things work.
My entire experience with proposals consists of writing proposals for supercomputing time. Those were pretty simple, and I had my advisor looking over my shoulder the whole time, because it was his name going on the proposal (some pesky rule about needing a Ph.D. to be a PI). I’m not writing any proposals for this round of submissions; my mentor is writing me in to his proposals. But in the not-so-distant future I’m going to need to begin writing proposals of my own. So it was good to go to that meeting, even if I didn’t get much out of it. Just being exposed to the process is a good first step.
Sunday, January 08, 2006
Becca & Jeff 1, Broken Futon 0
On Friday night, Jeff and I defeated our broken futon in battle.
Our futon frame was all in one piece when we last saw it in Illinois. It was loaded into the moving truck and shipped off to who-knows-where for storage. But apparently, when it got to who-knows-where, it was taken apart with little care, resulting in a cracked beam and a broken off bolt.
Jeff glued the cracked beam back together, but we couldn't get the broken off bolt out of the hole. Fortunately, the cracked beam was the one with the broken bolt in it, so we just decided to replace that beam. We went to Home Depot and bought a 2x4, and had them cut it to the right length. We also bought some 4" wood screws, because we had no way of drilling the holes and installing bolts like the original. On Friday night, we reconstructed the futon frame without any major injuries to ourselves! We put the new 2x4 in the back, so you can't see it. The futon frame is stable, but just to make sure we lounged around on it a lot.
Next project: rearranging everything in the downstairs "den." We're making it into a gaming room, where we will have our TV, stereo, futon, easy chair, bookshelves, computers, a table, and chairs.
Our futon frame was all in one piece when we last saw it in Illinois. It was loaded into the moving truck and shipped off to who-knows-where for storage. But apparently, when it got to who-knows-where, it was taken apart with little care, resulting in a cracked beam and a broken off bolt.
Jeff glued the cracked beam back together, but we couldn't get the broken off bolt out of the hole. Fortunately, the cracked beam was the one with the broken bolt in it, so we just decided to replace that beam. We went to Home Depot and bought a 2x4, and had them cut it to the right length. We also bought some 4" wood screws, because we had no way of drilling the holes and installing bolts like the original. On Friday night, we reconstructed the futon frame without any major injuries to ourselves! We put the new 2x4 in the back, so you can't see it. The futon frame is stable, but just to make sure we lounged around on it a lot.
Next project: rearranging everything in the downstairs "den." We're making it into a gaming room, where we will have our TV, stereo, futon, easy chair, bookshelves, computers, a table, and chairs.
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
Happy New Year!
We had a great time in Kentucky. First we went to my dad and bonus mom's house, where we saw both of my sisters, Rachel and Laura, as well as Scott and Byron (Rachel's husband and son), and Anne (Laura's girlfriend). A good time was had by all. Highlights (from my point of view) included
*Sisters' night out, in which we did girly things like go bra shopping, get free makeovers, get pedicures, and go out for dinner and dessert. Okay that last one was not intrinsically girly, but since it was an all-girl activity, it counts. The pedicures were fun, except that it was slightly uncomfortable to have Asian immigrant women bowing at your feet. (The woman who did mine spoke no English.) But it was nice to get such luxurious treatment, and I think I'll probably do it again sometime.
*Byron, my incredibly cute, two-and-a-half-year-old nephew. Aside from the early morning yowling, he was cute as a button and a joy to be around. He was not terrified by his Aunt Becca and Uncle Jeff. One day when Byron was wearing an orange shirt, Uncle Jeff even got him to say "Go Tennessee!"
*Dad and Marvis, the impeccable host and hostess of the visit. We are always made to feel very welcome by them. I never cease to be amazed by Marvis' big heart, because she spoils Byron just as much as she spoils her own grandbaby, Maya, and she treats me and my sisters as if we were her own children. I know where to go whenever I need to feel taken care of: chez Papa et Marvis.
*Giving gifts (and getting some, too!). I enjoy the giving almost more than I enjoy the receiving. Despite the fact that in May, when I was buying gifts in Sweden, I didn't even know of the existence of Anne, I bought one extra t-shirt and that was what I ended up giving to her. It was a surprisingly big hit because, as it turns out, she is interested in Sweden and hopes to visit there someday. And for Scott I got a book on the Stockholm City Hall, which I thought he needed in order to prepare for the day that he receives the Nobel Prize in Physics. He was glad that I was willing to help him out like that. The gifts I received were wonderful, too. From my fearless younger sister I not only received last year's promised gift of leg warmers, but also a handmade bag made from a denim mini-skirt and an old pillowcase. It is really something to behold! And from Rachel, Scott, and Byron, I got some beautiful pillow covers for square decorative pillows. Now I just need to find some pillows for them, and a place for them to go. Dad and Marvis also showered me with gifts, including an ergonomic mouse pad with wrist support, a Kentucky t-shirt, and a South American wall hanging.
On Saturday, we traveled over to Louisville, to visit the in-laws. Highlights of that portion of the trip included
*Seeing Alice, my former babysitter. As in, she used to babysit me when I was a kid, and (amazingly!) she still likes me. I saw her on New Year's Eve, and she commented that she had spent more New Year's Eves with me than with anyone else. That is a distinction of which I am quite proud! We went over to her mother-in-law's and spent the evening playing games. But I was pretty tired so I returned to the in-laws' before 11 and welcomed the new year by sawing some logs.
*Cooking dinner for mom- and dad-in-law, who complimented me on the chicken dish that I made. Can I just say that matzo meal is the best invention ever? For those of you who are fans of chicken with a lemon flavor to it, pick yourself up a container of matzo meal (by the Manschweiz company, maybe? something like that) and make the lemon chicken in the recipe on the side of it. It is sooooooo goood and super easy to make.
*Seeing the mom- and dad-in-law and the brother-in-law and sister-in-law-in-law, who obviously like me and are proud of me. I gave them each a copy of the magazine that I was in (nothing too amazing, just the NCSA's publicity magazine, Access) and they were quite proud. Dad-in-law even took the magazine to work to show it off to his co-workers.
But I think that the biggest highlight of the whole trip was actually coming home. I am, by nature, a homebody, so it was good to get back to my turf, even if I don't completely feel like it's home yet. It's home enough that it felt good to once again sleep in my own bed and shower in my own bathroom. Still, it was a fun trip and I'm glad we went.
*Sisters' night out, in which we did girly things like go bra shopping, get free makeovers, get pedicures, and go out for dinner and dessert. Okay that last one was not intrinsically girly, but since it was an all-girl activity, it counts. The pedicures were fun, except that it was slightly uncomfortable to have Asian immigrant women bowing at your feet. (The woman who did mine spoke no English.) But it was nice to get such luxurious treatment, and I think I'll probably do it again sometime.
*Byron, my incredibly cute, two-and-a-half-year-old nephew. Aside from the early morning yowling, he was cute as a button and a joy to be around. He was not terrified by his Aunt Becca and Uncle Jeff. One day when Byron was wearing an orange shirt, Uncle Jeff even got him to say "Go Tennessee!"
*Dad and Marvis, the impeccable host and hostess of the visit. We are always made to feel very welcome by them. I never cease to be amazed by Marvis' big heart, because she spoils Byron just as much as she spoils her own grandbaby, Maya, and she treats me and my sisters as if we were her own children. I know where to go whenever I need to feel taken care of: chez Papa et Marvis.
*Giving gifts (and getting some, too!). I enjoy the giving almost more than I enjoy the receiving. Despite the fact that in May, when I was buying gifts in Sweden, I didn't even know of the existence of Anne, I bought one extra t-shirt and that was what I ended up giving to her. It was a surprisingly big hit because, as it turns out, she is interested in Sweden and hopes to visit there someday. And for Scott I got a book on the Stockholm City Hall, which I thought he needed in order to prepare for the day that he receives the Nobel Prize in Physics. He was glad that I was willing to help him out like that. The gifts I received were wonderful, too. From my fearless younger sister I not only received last year's promised gift of leg warmers, but also a handmade bag made from a denim mini-skirt and an old pillowcase. It is really something to behold! And from Rachel, Scott, and Byron, I got some beautiful pillow covers for square decorative pillows. Now I just need to find some pillows for them, and a place for them to go. Dad and Marvis also showered me with gifts, including an ergonomic mouse pad with wrist support, a Kentucky t-shirt, and a South American wall hanging.
On Saturday, we traveled over to Louisville, to visit the in-laws. Highlights of that portion of the trip included
*Seeing Alice, my former babysitter. As in, she used to babysit me when I was a kid, and (amazingly!) she still likes me. I saw her on New Year's Eve, and she commented that she had spent more New Year's Eves with me than with anyone else. That is a distinction of which I am quite proud! We went over to her mother-in-law's and spent the evening playing games. But I was pretty tired so I returned to the in-laws' before 11 and welcomed the new year by sawing some logs.
*Cooking dinner for mom- and dad-in-law, who complimented me on the chicken dish that I made. Can I just say that matzo meal is the best invention ever? For those of you who are fans of chicken with a lemon flavor to it, pick yourself up a container of matzo meal (by the Manschweiz company, maybe? something like that) and make the lemon chicken in the recipe on the side of it. It is sooooooo goood and super easy to make.
*Seeing the mom- and dad-in-law and the brother-in-law and sister-in-law-in-law, who obviously like me and are proud of me. I gave them each a copy of the magazine that I was in (nothing too amazing, just the NCSA's publicity magazine, Access) and they were quite proud. Dad-in-law even took the magazine to work to show it off to his co-workers.
But I think that the biggest highlight of the whole trip was actually coming home. I am, by nature, a homebody, so it was good to get back to my turf, even if I don't completely feel like it's home yet. It's home enough that it felt good to once again sleep in my own bed and shower in my own bathroom. Still, it was a fun trip and I'm glad we went.
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