Archive for August, 2007

No Rest For The Weary

Published
by
Nicole
on 8/27/2007
in Journal
. 2 Comments

Work life has been rough for me recently. I spent most of last week trying to diagnose my ill workstation, only to find late on Wednesday that the problem seemed to be a corrupt SolidWorks file that had managed to destabilize the entire OS. I couldn’t even get a virus scan complete in safe mode. Eventually, I was able to delete the problem file and then all those troubles disappeared. I set the data I’d been taking on Friday when the problems started to process overnight.

Now, on Wednesday, I’d awakened with hearing problems that I assumed were caused by my ears being congested. One of the side effects of this was that it was physically painful for me to be near constant droning noises like electronics and fans. Guess what you find in wind tunnel labs?

So when I woke up with the same problem on Thursday while, at the same time, feeling less well overall, I decided that after I went to pick up the recently processed data, I would make a visit to health services. I ended up spending half of my day there, getting diagnosed with the early stages of a middle ear infection (in both ears!), and loading up on drugs and antibiotics. By this point, I was feeling feverish, but my advisor really wanted that data, so I slogged through all the data analysis I could think of in my debilitated state, and went up to report it. I could say more on that, but I’ll refrain and instead say that, having planned to leave early since I was sick, I didn’t get to leave campus until 4:45.

On Friday, I got an e-mail from my advisor asking me, by Tuesday, for a “schematic drawing” of the multiple camera assembly on which I’ve been working. Well, all of that existed in my head, sure, but I hadn’t had the time (broken computer! data taking!) to get things drafted in SolidWorks (which broke the computer!). My Friday afternoon was spent desperately attempting a) learn SolidWorks and b) model all the components of the multi-camera sled. I went in on Satuday, and, after some eight hours of work to get one screenshot of everything put together, I send an e-mail with the picture and ask if this is alright, and, if not, please get back to me so that I can fix it. I got a reply late Sunday night: thanks, but no. I wanted X and Y and Z and A and B, too!

Cue the freaking out. How am I supposed to model all these things in SolidWorks by Tuesday when I have classes today? Screw it, I decided. It was time to put my mad Photoshop skillz to use. I had about an hour before my first class, so I rushed into the work. About forty-five minutes in, Photoshop erased all of my work. The office was filled with the sound of my cursing. I redid as much of it as possible, rushed away to class, and spent an hour desperately trying to keep up with a TA who erased things she put on the board immediately after finishing her sentence. Then I returned to my desk and ate lunch while continuing to work in Photoshop.

On top of that, I read the lab manual for my first optics experiment. Now, this is an undergraduate-level physics course, but I’ve never had any significant amount of optics before, and it’s been five years since the subject’s even been touched. Moreover, it’s a course that meets for six hours of lab and one hour of lecture every week. Overkill, anyone? Steph and I arrive to find that we are two of four students, so there’s no chance of hiding behind others, and, naturally, the professor decides to ask me the first question. It doesn’t take very long at all for me to fumble things completely, at which point I tried to excuse myself by explaining exactly how little optics and waves I’ve studied and just how long ago that was.

My first task was to do an equipment inventory. Fine. I had a list, and it wasn’t too tough to figure out what half the optics equipment was. But then I got lovely visits from the professor, who wanted me to do things like show him how I could figure out what the focal lengths of the lens were and determine which of these damn things was a quarter-wave plate. For reference, I’d never heard of circularly polarized light, let alone a quarter-wave plate before this afternoon. We finally got through the theory of what-the-hell-is-this, and, of course, he then wanted me to set up polarizers and the quarter-wave plate with the laser so that I could verify that it was, in fact, one of these mythical quarter-wave plate things. Thankfully, they left me alone for long enough that I could start setting up the optics and put together the photo sensor so that I could measure intensities properly. At one point the professor came back in and watched me work for a minute, then said, “You are very precise. That is excellent!” I got a similar compliment from the TA when I was doing the first part of my experiment–he noted that I was very particular about my safety precautions and alignments. I laughed and told him that I’m an experimentalist–I may not know much about optics, but I can handle setting up experiments and doing them properly. So, in the end, I guess that came out okay.

Then it was back to my office for a quick meeting with my advisor (two minutes? maybe?) and another hour or so of working on that Photoshop picture.

I got home to discover that my toilet was clogged by my roommate for the second time in less than 24 hours.

The only real bright spot in my day? Receiving the Once soundtrack, the new Josh Ritter album, and a Josh Ritter EP from Amazon.

I can has weekend now? Please?

Recent Excursions In Print and Film

Published
by
Nicole
on 8/21/2007
in Journal
. 0 Comments

I just finished reading the last of the Little House books a couple of minutes ago, and it’s hard to express how much I enjoyed re-reading that series. It’s been so many years since I last read them; I thought going into it that maybe I’d just enjoy the nostalgia of reading them, but I don’t think that covers it. I also thought that, since I remembered liking the earlier ones more than the later ones when I was younger, that it might be that way this time, too. But, somehow, in getting older, I loved them all just as much or more than I did when I read them as a little girl. Certainly the earlier ones had a similar effect on me as they did when I was little–I was always fascinated of the descriptions of how their day-to-day tasks were done and what sorts of things they ate and such. The books made me every bit as hungry as before. (I still desperately want to taste the candy they made by pouring fresh, hot maple syrup over clean, cold snow.) But I think, being older, that I found more to relate to and appreciate in the later books than I did when I was younger. And, oh, I did so love reading about Almanzo courting her. He could practically give Mr. Darcy a run for his money, but Almanzo Wilder’s got the definite advantage of having been real on his side.

Ahem.

I also finished reading The Princess Bride just yesterday after an aborted attempt to read it a few years ago. The book was certainly enjoyable, but I do think I quite like many of the changes Goldman made when adapting it for the screen. Not that, you know, my love for the movie has any biasing effect on me. Oh, no.

Speaking of films and biases, I also watched the remake of The Lion in Winter last night. Now, I’m quite sure that my adoration of love for the original blinds me somewhat to the good points in the newer version, but it’s difficult to have Patrick Stewart and Glenn Close uttering the exact lines Peter O’Toole and Katherine Hepburn gave such fire to and not be at least a little disappointed. The newer version, of course, has much more impressive sets and costumes and background shots, but, for the most part, I felt like the actors’ deliveries lacked the dangerous edge of the original. Somehow it just doesn’t work when King Henry tells King Phillip, “Use all your voices. When I bellow, bellow back,” in a congenial, smiling manner. I mean, hello. You have to bellow in the first place, Henry.

Although the two leads seemed a lot softer and affectionate than in the original film, there were some aspects of the newer one I appreciated. I felt like the portrayal of Geoffrey, the middle son, was more believable in this film, even if he doesn’t quite come across as the thing of wheels and gears that his father accuses him of being. I felt that the interpretation of Richard was okay–not great but not bad either, just different. And I thought that, as King Phillip, Jonathan Rhys Meyers handled the Richard/Phillip scene with Henry better than Dalton had, but that may be my appreciation for JRM and his, um, ability to do scary-crazy sneaking in somewhere. The John in this version was, well, John but with the addition of crying. No, sobbing. Seriously. There was one whole scene where he was just sobbing so heavily in the background that it distracted from Henry’s speech. Strangeness, really.

I’d had high hopes at the beginning, when they showed a sequence entirely unlike the original, in which Eleanor was shown (in armor!) alongside Richard and Geoffrey as they fought a civil war against Henry. They showed Henry ordering her capture, letting the boys go, and then the initial imprisonment of Eleanor. I was getting excited. …And then we picked up the word-for-word execution of the original screenplay but, for the most part, without the verve and barbs that made me so love the 1968 version. Ah, well. It’s what happens. ;)

Books Everywhere

Published
by
Nicole
on 8/19/2007
in Asides
. 3 Comments

Maybe I’ve been reading too much when I come to a Little House book chapter entitled “A Knife in the Dark” and immediately think, “Hey, isn’t there a chapter called that in Fellowship of the Ring, too?” (Yes, there is.)

The Lab Hates Me

Published
by
Nicole
on 8/17/2007
in Journal
. 4 Comments

So, I’m currently not on my advisor’s good side because I haven’t yet gotten the data that he wants, and, as he never ceases to remind me–as though I’m not painfully aware of the fact already myself–classes are starting next week and there’s not a lot of time for getting that data between now and November. Wednesday’s attempt to get the experiment done was foiled by the Ultimately Inconsiderate Labmates and the disgusting biohazard they left growing, dying, and rotting underneath their rig. We located them and, with the power of the facilities manager behind us, made them clean the mess up. Unfortunately, it took them most of the day, and there wasn’t enough time left in the day to do the experiment.

Thursday was eaten up by the gigantic lab meeting in which I got berated by my advisor in front of our entire lab group as well as another professor and some of his students.

So, needless to say, I was pretty desperate to get in the lab and get some data this morning, even if it wasn’t with our fancy $1000 probe (which, I discovered on Wednesday, actually has resolution problems that our straight, homemade probes don’t have). Steph got in, and we headed over to the lab, set up the probe calibration, and got started. Then the stand that we have to use to yaw the probe during the calibration broke. I can turn the knob that controls the angle all I want, but that doesn’t mean that the angle will change. Okay, whatever. I manhandle the stand into each of the positions we need; we record the data, get our constants, and set everything up for the experiment.

We fly through the data collection at our first location, then move the probe, turn the tunnel back on and get ready for the next one. Except the computer freezes. Nothing extraneous is open; only what we need to take data. Yet the computer cannot switch between open windows. In fact, it can’t handle us moving the cursor. Time for a forced restart, we think. And another. Throw some disk checks in there for good measure. I’m getting frantic. I slog through uninstalling a bunch of programs we don’t need. Finally, I manage to knock out a bunch of that junk that could be running in the background and get it started on a virus scan. We go to lunch.

When I return, the virus scan has run for over an hour but found nothing. Also, it’s frozen. I force yet another shut down and turn the computer on again. This time, when it boots, I tell it to restart, hoping that this will clear whatever weirdness might be lurking in the registers. The computer comes back on, and it cooperates. I call Stephanie back and we fly through a dozen probe positions. Things are looking up. Maybe we’ll even get done in time for the TGIF at the Big Red Barn.

And then, the computer locks up again. We manage to restart it without forcing a shut down. We get another data point. But it locks up before we can take a second one. Now funny lines are appearing at the top of the monitor. Time for another forced restart, and another set of data gets recorded before the computer locks up. Restart. I start another virus scan, which helpfully ends after less than 9 minutes when the computer locks up yet again.

Well, guess what. I got data at fifteen locations, professor. The data is safely stored on the E:/ drive–and it’s the C:/ drive that seems to be failing–but I can’t tell you a damn thing about it because the computer won’t possibly run for long enough to process said data files, and it’s the only one that has the code to process the batch files. But the data’s been taken. Also, I declare it the weekend now. Oh, and, by the way, can we get me a new workstation?

Waterfalls, Research, and Little Houses

Published
by
Nicole
on 8/14/2007
in Journal
. 3 Comments

Tonight I discovered that walking through Cascadilla Gorge just before seven o’clock at this time of year produces perfect, slanted golden light on the waterfall just beyond the College Avenue bridge. Or, as a little girl who was there at the same time as I was put it: “Ooo, look! Doesn’t it look like gold?” I must remember to put my camera in my backpack so that I have it for my hikes walks home.

Research is trying at the moment. I’d go into more detail, but chances are that it would degenerate into the sort of angst-ridden frustrations that I probably don’t want displayed for all the world to see. But I think things will improve. I have to hope.

Still haven’t achieved full unpacking. I’ve reached the point where I’ve stalled with the end in sight and just can’t quite find the energy to handle the last odds and ends. Maybe that’ll pick up once I get around to buying my desk. In the meantime, I can make do.

I’m definitely enjoying the swanky new apartment, and I don’t much mind having it all to myself for the moment either. Mark, you’ll be pleased to know that I have got the gas stove working, and I didn’t even have to explode anything in order to do so. Let the cooking commence!

When my mother and sister came up with my dresser, they brought along the Little House boxset I was given when I was seven or so. My mother and I used to read the books aloud to one another in turns when I was younger, and I was a great fan of the series, as well as the Rocky Ridge series that was published in the 90s. I’ve been re-reading the Little House books in the evenings before bed and have finished the first four. I’m pleased to find that I still enjoy them very much, and have just as much–or more–awe of the achievements of early American pioneer families as I did when I was young. Also, the books have retained their ability to make me incredibly hungry thanks to their descriptions of meals the families eat. If I don’t bake some cornbread soon, I may go crazy. No, really.

Poking around the Internet inquiring after Little House and Rocky Ridge information for those of you unfamiliar with the stories has revealed to me that someone has written an additional Little House book that takes place between On The Banks Of Plum Creek, which I just finished, and By The Shores Of Silver Lake, which I’m about to start. I’m not quite sure how I feel about this. I’ve always been kind of iffy about people unrelated to Laura Ingalls Wilder writing about the lives of her relatives (although I was able to put this aside for the Rocky Ridge books because the author was very close to Rose Wilder). Maybe I’ll see if the library has a copy once I’ve finished re-reading the original books. In the meantime, I’m overdue for some relaxation today.

Blood Drive

Published
by
Nicole
on 8/13/2007
in Journal
. 0 Comments

Today ended the drought of donating blood because my iron levels were finally high enough again, yay! Eating all those bowls of Grape Nuts for breakfast the last few weeks helped, I’m sure. The Red Cross women got very excited, too, when I told them that I was O+. The only downside was that I hadn’t been drinking enough water in preparation, and the needle pinched every time I had to squeeze, which made the actual donation kind of painful. The bright side, of course, is that in just an hour or so, I helped save up to three lives. :)

Sterling and Stardust

Published
by
Nicole
on 8/10/2007
in Journal
. 1 Comment

I’ve just returned from Stardust, which was every bit as wonderful, funny, adventure-some, and romantic as the book Neil Gaiman wrote, despite being quite different in its onscreen incarnation. And, it was perfect for getting me in the mood to dress up tomorrow for this. Yay weekend!

P.S. - Go see Stardust! If you ever appreciated The Princess Bride or anything along those lines, you’ll enjoy this film. So what are you waiting for? Go!

New Apartment Woes

Published
by
Nicole
on 8/5/2007
in Journal
. 4 Comments

My things and I are all at the new apartment and I am taking a moment from unpacking to swipe some bandwidth from some kind souls who didn’t encrypt their network. All is well, though I currently fail to find words for exactly how sore, bruised, and swollen I am. It frightened me this morning when, upon swinging my legs out of bed and making contact with the floor, my first thought was, Dear God, I didn’t know that my feet could feel such pain just by touching the ground.

It would also be nice if my gas stove (a first for me) would light when I turn the knob and not spark and smell bad. If you couldn’t guess, I’m scared of exploding myself, which would suck for many reasons, not least of which is the issue of destroying all the property I just managed to move here.