My future's so bright...

Home Addition Photos

2011-05-11T16:17:00.002-04:00

I have really taken an absurd amount of photos, and blogger is a pain in the butt when it comes to uploading a large amount of pictures. Therefore, I have created a Kodak Gallery for all to see. I will keep uploading photos to this gallery, so check in if you're interested.

Major Work

2011-04-30T10:54:00.005-04:00

House Update

2011-04-25T20:08:00.015-04:00

A year or so ago, I was doodling with an online floor planner, and I drew up this little number:

I've been daydreaming about it ever since. Then - a couple months ago - Sonya and I decided that we should probably make the room we want in our house before the kids are born, so we're doing a pretty sweet addition. The first thing the contractor did was drop of a port-a-pooper.

Step two for our contractor was to remove our air conditioner and all the insulation from our attic. This wasn't a big deal in April when the weather was nice, but it's getting hot now! We need to see some progress!

Thanks to the extra time I've been able to draw up some better plans for the addition.

We are doing a little more structurally than I had previously planned, so we have a little more with which to work. Now we have room for a hallway and that gives us the room for two full bedrooms.

In Addition to removing the AC and insulation, the contractor had time to draw up these sweet elevation drawings for the county permit folks and my neighborhood architectural review board.

Today I came home and found actual construction had been done! They removed some roof and they started laying down the new joists.

I may be taking this blog down in about 5 months.

2010-12-20T07:54:00.003-05:00

This blog was essentially created to talk about stuff I was doing in school and stuff I was doing on breaks from school. Sometimes I just posted random stuff, too. Either way, I won't really need this forum for too much longer.

Next semester I may or may not be taking classes, for I really only have a senior design requirement left to meet. Right now my GPA is sitting at about 3.83, but this may go up or down as in roll the final grades for this semester. Now all I need is a job.

The Agency Rides Again!

2010-08-07T06:52:00.006-04:00

My band of aging rockers has been invoked to bless a friends day of birth and to mourn the ten-year anniversary of the release of our beloved CD Engines. I received a call from Klaus (guitars) about doing a show in September, but I told him the likelihood was low that I would be able to fly down and avoid missing school. To my chagrin, the Richmond to Miami round-trip price was $117 + tax, so Sonya booked it, and away we go. You can't really beat that price for an early-Friday-morning departure and a late-Sunday-evening return. Now I am left with re-learning how to play our songs, and some of this stuff is 15-years-old. Some of our songs could be in high school now!This show really has us all inspired to be creative again. Its a welcome change. Mike (drums/vocals) has been hard at work in his studio remixing Engines for some form of re-release, and he's also mixing the CD we recorded but abandoned in favor of Engines. Our 1998 recording - tentatively titled Monkey In A Spacesuit - will finally see the light of day! Mike has sent mixes of a couple of the songs, and the results have been stunning. First, we really were a very tight band, and second, Mike is a really good engineer/producer/mixer. I don't expect people who weren't there in our little scene to enjoy this stuff, but its really great in its context. Various horrible mixes of these songs have actually leaked to our fans, and we always get requests to play those songs, so I know this will be well received in South Florida.
Believe it or not, we really draw a crowd down there, and I think we'll be giving these folks something to remember. Unfortunately our rehearsal is painfully limited. We may be reduced to Google-video-chat-rehearsals and one 5-hour marathon dress rehearsal, but I'm confident we can pull it off. Most of this stuff just comes from muscle-memory. That's a term we've been using a lot since we all seem to be able to just pick up our instruments and play these songs without fail.The only material that has me nervous is the new stuff. We recorded it, played some of it a couple times at shows, but we never toured on it. Playing a song a few hundred times leaves an indelible mark on the psyche and nervous system, but the songs from Turn don't have that benefit. They are a bit simpler, so that's a blessing. Either way, this show will be fun. Its a very quick visit to Miami (which is a good thing), and we'll spend some very quality time with friends. I can't wait.

More Summer Research

2010-07-02T07:19:00.005-04:00

Lung bifurcations are all the rage at VCU this summer. There are several PhD students working on different aspects of this project, and I was lucky enough to avoid these complicated structures for a while. Unfortunately, my project got bogged down waiting for part-orders to arrive, so I was handed my own little segment of the bifurcation drama. These models are all being constructed in a CAD package called Gambit, and Gambit is really just the design structure for a CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) system called Fluent. Design for CFD requires building the negative space of a structure since the model is really meant to study the fluid in the structure. Hyper-accurate measurement of the trachea and the fist few bifurcations are used to build the fluid volumes, then the real work begins. For CFD to be effective, the volume must be broken down into tiny cells called a mesh. Each cell in the mesh usually takes on a regular geometric shape like a solid polygon where each vertex (corner) of the polygon forms a node. Specific information about flow conditions (boundary conditions) are calculated at each node, and the whole set of nodes forms a massive matrix equation. Luckily, we build the model, but the software solves the matrix. In high school algebra, most people solve simple linear matrix equations, but these matrices are usually higher order, nth degree differential equations.

If you are having a hard time reading this than you should pity those of us who took Finite Element Analysis, for these cumbersome equations are solved by hand in the FEA class. Nightmare.

Anyway, my portion of this project was adding a ribbed-shape to the tracheal section before the lungs. This slight change in geometry has the potential to create a very noticeable change in the behavior of the fluid (air) traveling through the lungs. We'll see what the model tells us pretty soon! Here's a close-up of what I've done thus far. I sent these images to Sonya, and she said, "Gross!" I sent these same images to my dad, and he said, "at first, I thought this was a cobra."

Updated Previous Post!

2010-06-24T11:40:00.001-04:00

Look Down!

Grad School Trip

2010-06-14T11:42:00.004-04:00

I have been toying with the idea of going to grad school ever since I started my undergrad at VCU, and the time to make a decision is upon me. Sonya has made it her mission to put the many pieces of the process together on a spreadsheet. She has organized the next few months of our lives in order on a handy checklist. Sign up to take the GRE - check! Find out application fees - check! Mark the application deadlines on my planner - check! Figure out where I want to go to school -check, check, and double check!!!

My friend Rachel and I have been on a mission to narrow the grad school options to a more reasonable list. We've been researching the research, and I've got my list narrowed enough for Sonya and I to take our campus-visit road trip. We're hitting The Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI, Michigan State University in East Lansing, MI, The University of Wisconsin - Madison in Madison, Wisconsin, the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, MN, and I just added the University of Illinois in Urbana, IL. U of I is on our way home and is highly ranked, so it would be foolish to drive past it without a visit. These schools all offer excellent programs in alternative transportation and energy, and they are not in California or Texas. California and Texas are over-represented in the list of top 50 schools, and I neither like endless heat nor the periodic shaking of earth, so the Midwest is my focus. There are a couple interesting programs in New York, but I really want to get back to the Midwest for a while - even if only for a few years.

Summer Research

2010-06-10T16:39:00.006-04:00

I'm lucky enough to have a paid internship this summer which should cover the difference in tuition since it was raised by 20%. This will be my foray to CAD modeling and using the Stereolithography Rapid Prototype Machine. Here's a picture of my design:

I wish I could describe the purpose of this design, but my boss might hang me out a window by my fingernails. The rest of my time has been spent learning some new software and reviewing Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics, and Thermodynamics. Fun, Fun, Fun.

I do feel privileged to be receiving a paycheck, for there are a bunch of students doing this garbage for free.

Senior Year

2010-04-09T14:19:00.004-04:00

I have registered for my senior year! Here it is.

Gadzooks!

2010-04-02T08:09:00.004-04:00

A week from today I will be registering for the first semester of my senior year. However, I should stay focused on this semester because I am struggling. My grades haven't suffered too much, but I am just physically and mentally spent. I'm not sleeping, my confidence is struggling, and I'm finding myself sensitive to dumb comments. I have heard from multiple sources that the junior year of Engineering School is the toughest. I pray it's true.
As for next semester, I am truly excited about the classes. I remember when I first looked at the curriculum, I was most intrigued by a class called Mechatronics. The description seemed cryptic, but now I'm getting ready to register for that class and I know exactly what it's all about. I'm also taking Vibrations, Sensors and Measurements, and Senior Design. One more semester, then I'll need to find a job. Crud.

The US (and maybe Canada) is my oyster .

2010-02-07T13:23:00.004-05:00

The time of graduation is rapidly approaching, so this summer will be my last summer in which to find an internship that could lead to employment. I first visited the VCU's Engineering and Business Career Center and was highly disappointed to discover that the title of that office is somewhat of a misnomer. In fact, the Career Services Office merely helps you with your resume and then directs you to a website. The school is nice enough to provide a password for what would otherwise be a pay-service site. I'm glad I did not pay for that garbage because half the internship links are filled, over, dead or misidentified as engineering.

The next avenue I ventured down was to contact professors for advice. Just to be clear, professors do research and have very little idea of how to find an actual job. After that fruitless endeavor, I started asking friends and family. This seems to have been the best option.

The Atlanta family has found several interesting leads for me, my dad has sent an email to my brother's godfather (an engineer in Salt Lake City and dad's best friend since childhood), and I could always go back to NASA (a friend here in Williamsburg brought the LARSS program to my attention last year.)

Some may wonder, "why not just go back to NASA?" The answer is I'm not really sure what NASA is all about anymore. I'm not sure people really want NASA. I direct you to this news story. At any rate, the free market folks are very excited at the prospect of letting private companies take the lead on manned space-flight; however, I would suggest that if there was immediate revenue in such a venture, we would already have McDonald's on the moon. Private companies already do all the engineering, so I would have to go get a job with Lockheed Martin or Northrop Grumman anyway. Of course, with the Constellation program cut, and no other plan for returning the US to space, the private firms won't be working on this stuff either.

So, there you have it. I'm looking anywhere and everywhere for internships. Ford, Lockheed Martin, Northrup Grumman, and friends and family all have my resume. Hopefully I'll find something really great this summer.

2010-01-06T22:35:00.000-05:00

Accomplishments

2009-12-14T16:00:00.004-05:00

After tomorrow, I will be halfway through my Junior year, and seeing my progress on a little spread sheet is eye-opening.

Yellow = complete; Hot Pink = Registered

CAE Design

2009-12-08T14:21:00.022-05:00

My beloved engineering team has been feverishly working to complete our final project, and we presented our design to the class today. This was slightly more nerve-racking then performing my original solo-acoustic music. Happily, it's all over, and the professors who watched us tremble in fear seemed genuinely pleased with our design. We would surely have completed this project far earlier were it not for the inadequacy of SolidWorks. Most of us already own the 2008 version, but the drawings were started in the newest version. Unbeknownst to any of us, SolidWorks is not backwards compatible, so we were forced to work during computer lab hours at school. No Fun.
Here's a video we made that is supposed to demonstrate how knuckleheads like us brainstorm a problem. Really, it was just an opportunity to drink beer. Oh yeah, original music by yours truly.

Chad and I sat through four and half hours of presentations and pretty much wanted to die afterward, but we made it though to hear the professor say he was going to be generous with the grades. Awesome news.

Fluids Mechanics Extra Credit

2009-11-04T19:41:00.002-05:00

Bernoulli by Nope

Make your own

Programming

2009-10-11T09:40:00.002-04:00

I am very glad I did not choose Computer Science or Computer Engineering as my major. My Numerical Methods class is a close to a programming class as I care to venture. Here's what I'm doing right now:

"Problem 9.16: Develop, debug, and test a program in either a high-level language or macro language of your choice to multiply two matrices - that is, [X]=[Y][Z], where [Y] is m by n and [Z] is n by p. Test the program using the matrices from Prom. 9.2."

This is something that - though complicated - I can do without much trouble by hand, but programming this is a nightmare. I've spent hours trying to map it out on paper, and I just can't figure it out. Where's my ah-ha moment?! I'm using Matlab because it is the most friendly environment of which I know to work. Of course, Matlab, graphing calculators, and a million other languages have code I could look at for ideas, but muscling through this stuff usually provides the best understanding of what the computer is doing.

Too much of this class is devoted to writing programs that have already been written better than I ever could.

We Miss Them Already

2009-09-16T00:28:00.007-04:00

Pipo's Project

2009-08-19T11:44:00.006-04:00

Sonya's father was in town this past weekend and had the strange desire to help us refinish our cabinets. He has been telling people that we put him to work on his vacation, but that is a blatant falsehood! He actually pestered us several times about getting started. Here are the results of Pipo's motivation. We sanded and sanded and sanded. I hate sanding. Sonya hates sanding. Pipo smoked while we sanded, but I think he hates sanding, too. We worked on the cabinet doors the longest because of all those pretty little details. We painted everything white, put the cabinets and shelves back, and realized we liked the cabinets without the doors. No we have six painted doors to store in our attic. I'm still learning how to use the new camera, so I apologize for the weird colors in the photos.

Expenditures

2009-08-15T07:50:00.010-04:00

This past Christmas, my dad gave me his fathers old camera case full of specialty lenses, an old Nikkormat EL, and Grandpa's Nikon F. Sonya and I were so excited. I planned on taking a film class, but free-time being essentially nonexistent, I just have not had the chance. The cameras and lenses have been sitting in my closet until Thursday when Sonya said, "I want a digital SRL." I told her that before we jumped into that I'd like to see if there was a model that fit those lenses. So after a little research, I discovered the Nikon D60. The reviews I've read have all been positive, and the only issue that has been raised is that none of the automatics features work. That is really no issue because the images are instantly reviewable, and the camera display has the handy feature of highlighting overexposed areas. Snap a picture, check the picture, adjust the f-stop, and keep shooting. Awesome. Here's a picture of my office since I've done some rearranging.

You can see the windows appear overexposed, but the room is dark in the top image. I have complete control over these subtleties which I have never experienced before. Here is where I sat in the Cessna 504 with Pilot Leslie O. Kagey giving me the evil eye. I can't tell if he's kidding.

The fish eye distortion is pretty obvious in all these shots. I love this lens! Here's a shot with the Nippon micro lens. I'm sure my dad was taking pictures of coins with this lens, but I really like the depth you get when taking pictures of subjects with a little more distance.

The next few shots are with the automatic lens that came with the camera. They look pretty darn good, and the snapshot quality of our old Olympus 5 mega pixel camera is still not as severe on the Nikon.

This is Ramona eyeing Sonya's Father's food. That is the other big news. Pipo is here! I better go downstairs and enjoy some cafe' with the rest of the family.

Flying Scientist

2009-08-07T08:36:00.005-04:00

Spot the Geek!

2009-07-22T14:27:00.002-04:00

It's a trick, we're all geeks!

Which one of these things does not belong?

2009-07-16T15:59:00.002-04:00

Druekes in Virginia!

2009-07-07T07:40:00.009-04:00

The Miami Druekes were with us for the Independence Day weekend, and it was great having them. They've been here enough times (3 times) to be all done with the usual historic tourist stuff, so we hung around the house and drank wine and beer, played cribbage, grilled bratwurst, and had general merriment. Aunt Mary Kay and Uncle Carl were with us from Michigan, but they had not enjoyed all the Ye-Olde-Colonial fair, so they did that stuff during the day and joined us in the evenings. It was fantastic! Mary Kay took plenty of pictures, so I need to get a hold of those to add to the blog. We did all head to Duke of Gloucester street to enjoy the fireworks which is the one thing in Colonial Williamsburg I have never done. It was a really great display. Of course, for an hour before the fireworks, there was a team of preachers standing on step stools enjoying their rights to free speech and making those around them uncomfortable. I'm pretty sure the framers intended everyone to have the right to make others uncomfortable. Isn't that what "inalienable" means?Here you can see us enjoying the sermon before the fireworks show. Look at how moved my dad is by the power of preachers in Birkenstocks! This weekend also proved a rare occasion for my dad to bond with our not-so-brave dog, Jake. He has become much more social with strangers, yet he is still terrified of having his picture taken. Jake has the uncanny ability to recognize and fear all devices with picture-taking capabilities. Here is an example of Jake's reaction to cameras:
Look at his smile! Ramona loves cameras and people.
I almost forgot this picture. I simply will not explain it!

Lisa's Proof

2009-06-26T08:00:00.002-04:00

My sister-in-law always says that I'm a Rocket Scientist or an Astronaut. Here's her proof. I wish they would have let me keep that swell jump suit, but I'm pretty sure I can get one from Cintas.

You down wit' NTSB? ...

2009-06-09T07:31:00.003-04:00

I'm starting to learn a little more about my duties at NASA. I'm working on a joint project with the Environmental Protection Agency studying the health of the Chesapeake Bay. We're going to be outfitting a Cessna with some sensors to detect Chlorophyll using direct and reflected light, so my boss handed me the manual for the sensors and said, "try to familiarize yourself." I've been studying the manual, and I think I have a grasp on it. Tomorrow we'll be meeting the National Transportation Safety Board to review the necessary modifications to the Cessna. Happily, they don't just drill a few holes in a plane and let 'er fly without doing a little engineering. This little run-in with the NTSB makes my internship a whole lot more valuable. I'll have to defend the value of my internship in the fall, and work that actaully involves engineering is clearly a plus. I'm pretty sure the Statistics class I'm taking right now will pay big dividends before I'm even done with the class. It looks like I'll be analyzing data pretty soom; I'm suprisingly excited about it!

Free Time, Schmee Time

2009-05-30T12:12:00.003-04:00

The next week is the only week this summer I'll have two classes and my internship all together. My orientation with NASA on Monday is an all-day affair, so I will be attempting to sandwich in time to study for the three tests I have this week. Of course there is also a bunch of regular classwork to finish. Summer semesters are great for getting things done rapidly, but I think I prefer a marathon to a sprint. Thankfully, there will only be another three weeks after this week with Statistics and the internship, and then I'll be left with nothing but NASA through August. Sonya and I can't wait for the Miami Druekes to arrive, for the visit was well-planned around the Independence Day break. Somehow I'd like to get them a little tour of Langley. There has been 97 years worth of Aerospace research and innovation coming out of there, and I really want a chance to show it of to the family. We will also be visited by a small segment of the Michigan Drueke Clan in the form of Aunt Mary Kay and Carl. I love being the summer-vacation destination.

Well, that was quick.

2009-05-11T17:04:00.003-04:00

Here's the big news. I have been offered and accepted a summer internship with NASA. I'm participating in LARSS (Langley Aerospace Research Summer Scholars) and will be working on a joint project with the EPA. I'd love to say that I earned this based on merit alone, but I must give credit to my lovely wife. A professor Sonya works with at William & Mary is married to an engineer with the EPA, and he pulled some strings to make this thing happen. I have to hope that he would not have done so had I not shown significant promise. Needless to say, I am ecstatic! They're working around my school schedule since my summer classes overlap the first couple weeks of LARSS. Also noteworthy, this is my first paid engineering gig. It should cover tuition and books for the fall, and it also counts as a credit toward graduation. Yehaaaa!

...why I have been posting infrequently.

2009-05-11T16:33:00.002-04:00

I finally have all my grades for this semester, and I'm pretty pleased. I earned four As and one B. My GPA is now sitting at 3.710, and I'm pretty happy with it. I feel I must say that the two Bs I've earned at VCU have come from the same dang professor. I'd blame him, but I'm not 20. It must be some learning style conflict. Still, I'm pretty happy. Now that I have a little free time, I'm sure I will get some work done at the house. I'll post at Sonya's blog with photos. I'm waiting on confirmation about my truly exciting news, so stayed tuned for my next update!!!

"Almost there... Almost there..."

2009-04-30T07:26:00.002-04:00

Pardon my Star Wars quote, but it captures the sentiment. I've got a final in Mechanics of Deformables today at 1:00 and then two more finals next week. On Monday I turned in the group project for Engineering Computation and Visualization, took the Circuits final and completed the Thermodynamics final. Now is the time when being a little O.C.D. becomes a liability instead of a blessing. I check my grades about twenty times a day. I realize this is not healthy and may cause an ulcer, but I don't like surprises when it comes to grades. Every semester I make spreadsheets that keep me abreast of my progress and inform me exactly what I need to achieve certain goals (straight As), but a couple classes are really too close to call. I had a 94 average going into the Thermo final, but that one dang test is 40% of the grade! Circuits, I'm ashamed to say, has left me in potential C territory. I really only needed a 70 on the final to guarantee a B, but that class has proven extremely challenging. It's a class that - taken alone - would be an easy A, but my Mechanical Engineering classes take a necessary priority.
All that is left after today is Engineering Visualization & Computation and Multivariate Calculus. I'm not too stressed about either of those classes. The last two weeks of school were devoted exclusively to the aforementioned group project and studying for the Circuits and Thermo finals, so my brain shut down to Deformables and Calc. III. This means I need to teach myself about four classes worth of Multivariate Calculus in order to get the grade I need on the final. Happily, I only need a 70 on the final for an A in the class. We had our third test in Deformables on Thursday, but I really only needed about an hour to study for that one. I got a 94.
So if you are keeping up at home, I have two finals next week followed by two weeks off. Then the six-week summer semester begins followed by two months off!! This fall I begin my junior year in earnest.

Fall Junior Year Cometh

2009-03-31T14:45:00.002-04:00

Summer 2009 Courses

STAT 541 Applied Statistics for Engineers and Scientists Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Prerequisites: MATH 200-201 or equivalent, and a working knowledge of computers. An introduction to applied statistics intended primarily for students in mathematical sciences, engineering and the Commonwealth Graduate Engineering Program. The fundamental ideas of the collection and display of information, descriptive statistics and exploratory data analysis, elementary probability theory, frequency distributions and sampling are covered. Other topics include tests of hypotheses and confidence intervals for one and two sample problems; ANOVA; principles of one-factor experimental designs including randomized complete black designs, fixed and random effects and multiple comparisons; correlation and linear regression analysis; control charts; contingency tables and goodness-of-fit. Students may receive degree credit for only one of STAT 541, STAT 543 or BIOS 553.

MGMT 319 Organizational Behavior Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Prerequisite: Junior standing. Introduction to the determinants and consequences of human behavior and task performance in an organizational setting. Topics include motivation, job design, group development, organizational design, communication, leadership and change.

Fall 2009 Courses

EGRM 300 Mechanical Systems Design Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Prerequisites: EGRM 201, EGRM 202 and MATH 301, or permission of the instructor. Basic principles of applied mechanics and materials employed for the design of machine elements and mechanical systems; state of stress, deformation and failure criterion is applied to bearings, brakes, clutches, belt drives, gears, chains, springs, gear trains, power screws and transmissions.

EGRM 311 Solid Mechanics Lab Semester course; 4.5 laboratory hours. 1.5 credits. Prerequisites: EGRM 201, 202 and junior standing or permission of the instructor. Corequisites: EGRM 300 and 309. Experiments will be conducted on fundamental principles of solid mechanics, materials and dynamics. Topics covered include testing of materials for tensile, compression, bending and torsional loads, vibrations and material microstructure.

EGRM 321 Numerical Methods Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Prerequisites: MATH 301 and EGRM 215, or permission of instructor. A study of numerical algorithms used in error analysis, computing roots of equations, solving linear algebraic equations, curve fitting, numerical differentiation and integration, numerical methods for ordinary differential equations and a brief introduction to numerical methods for partial differential equations. The course content is tailored for mechanical engineering applications.

EGRM 420 CAE Design Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Prerequisites: EGRM 201, 215 and junior standing in the School of Engineering or permission of the instructor. Review of geometric modeling, engineering visualization tools applicable to engineering design. Develop visual thinking and communication skills with assistance of computer modeling tools. Emphasis placed on creative design, application of physical laws, and hands-on virtual or physical projects. Topics include review of kinematics/dynamics of commonly used planar mechanisms and programming techniques for motion simulation. Interdisciplinary projects will be assigned to assess students' design knowledge.

ENGR 301 Fluid Mechanics Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Prerequisites: PHYS 207, MATH 301 and EGRM 204 or permission of instructor. Basic and applied fluid mechanics; fluid properties; application of Bernoulli and Navier-Stokes equations; macroscopic mass, momentum and energy balances; dimensional analysis; laminar and turbulent flow; boundary layer theory; friction factors in pipes and packed beds; drag coefficients; compressible flow; flow measurements; numerical simulation; applications to the operation and design of turbo machinery.

PHIL 201 Critical Thinking about Moral Problems. Semester course; 3 lecture hours. 3 credits. Prerequisite: UNIV 111 or equivalent. This course focuses on the development of sound critical thinking skills and their application to a range of topics in moral philosophy, including questions about the nature of morality, whether we have reason to be moral, and also to topics in applied ethics like the morality of abortion, animal rights, world hunger, pornography, capital punishment, sexual behavior, environmental ethics, and reverse discrimination. (Only one of PHIL 201/212/213/214 may be taken for credit.)

Dana, Dana, Dana...

2009-03-01T09:16:00.007-05:00

As long as I've been alive, my mom has not gone a week without bringing up Dana Hall, so I tend to roll my eyes and tune out whenever she does. Dana Hall is the prestigious, all-girl boarding school she attended. Now, I have my own Dana story.
My wife Sonya works at the College of William & Mary with a professor named Ed Felton who, for some reason, has always shown interest in me and my goings-on. On Friday, I finally met Dr. Felton, and he seems like a nice guy. He even invited us out to dinner. I'm not sure when we'll make that happen, but it might be nice. Who knows?
We had dinner than night with my mom, so I told her about our encounter with Dr. Felton, and she turned white. She is prone towards reactions like that to pretty mundane events, but I asked what was wrong, anyway. She asked,"is he from Boston?" Sonya said, "well, he went to Harvard." Mom said, "Does he have a son named Thad, or Thadford?" Sonya said, "Yes, he does have a son named Thad." By this time, Sonya and I are speculating that maybe mom dated this guy or something - even though Sonya knew he was much older, and happily married, and a pastor.
Mom began to tell us that Ed Felton was the name of her "house-father" at Dana Hall in 1968. She remembers playing with baby-Thad. This is truly nuts! She has some story about Mrs. Felton and bacon, and 'townies', and baseball bats. Is there a more elitist/obnoxious term than 'townie'? Again, I tuned that whole part out because I had probably heard it, or I was still fixated on the truly unique part of this tale.
Sonya has yet to see Dr. Felton to tell him about all this, but I'm sure he will be as shocked as we. I finally have a reason to feel a connection to Dana Hall that is my own, and that is pretty cool.

Thermo is cooler than it is scary.

2009-02-26T07:07:00.003-05:00

The problems that we see in the thermodynamics class ,just like physics, are all based on a couple of laws (equations). Everything we do for homework is based on manipulations of those few equations. We just got into the second law of thermodynamics which, to me, is like the first law of cynicism. Not really, but it does give an equation that defines the absolute most efficiency that is possible. How depressing. Truthfully, even that is practically unattainable. This guy Carnot was the first person to put this idea together, and so now we know we'll never have the perfect engine. Bummer. In the lamest of layman's terms, if the hottest you can get is the melting temperature of the material out of which you build your engine, and the coldest you can get is just a few degrees below 273 Kelvin, then you'll never get 100% out of your engine. Oh yeah, you'd also have to eliminate friction and a host of other impossible things. On the other hand, this all implies you have some moving parts. What if you had no moving parts...

I kicked Thermo's Butt!!

2009-02-23T13:14:00.002-05:00

Here's the update on my Test Wave #1. We're still waiting on the Circuits grade, the EGRM 215 test is Wednesday, and Calc III test #2 is next Tuesday. Calc III test #1: 91% - A, Deformables test #1: 93% - A, Thermodynamics #1: 87% - A. I've been sweating over that class. It's the "weed-out" class. When Dr. Tepper showed up today to return the tests, he looked sad. He began to go over the spread of grades and told us it was the worst average he's ever seen. I wrote down the spread because I was terrified. 3 students >90, 4 students between 80 and 90, 6 students between 70 and 80, 9 students between 60 and 70, 10 students between 50 and 60, 17 students between 40 and 50, 22 students between 30 and 40, 26 students between 20 and 30, and 8 students below 20 (including several students who scored in the single digits). I included the entire spread here to explain why I have never been happier to receive an 87. Huzzah!!!!!!!

Exams: First Wave

2009-02-10T14:12:00.003-05:00

Exams always come in waves. ...Horrible Tsunamis of Pain ...or no big deal. I've been keeping up with my work, so I guess I should be prepared. I already got my Calc III exam back and I got a 91. I lost points because I couldn't remember the equation of a sphere. ...stupid, stupid, stupid. That was the easiest part! Anyhoo, an A is good by me.
I have my Deformables test Thursday, and I have a little bit of studying left. I should be fine. Monday I have Thermodynamics. The professor has a funny habit of calling every exam a "midterm." How many middles does this semester have?! I've been keeping up with the work, but this class has so many brand new concepts. I guess nothing is really brand new, but I've never really seen problems worked this way. The good thing is that everything is pretty logical. oh yeah, the test is open book!! Sweet. That scares me; you know the test is going to be extra hard if it's open book.
Friday, Feb 20th I have Circuits. The test starts at 7:30 am. I need to wake up at 5:30. Ick.
Wednesday, Feb 25th is Engineering Computation and Design.
All in all, they did a better than average job of staggering the tests. I've had two in one day before, and I wanted to die!

So far, so good

2009-01-30T18:55:00.003-05:00

Grades are starting to roll in, and they seem pretty good. Every class is challenging but nothing seems unreasonable, yet. The biggest nuisance seems to be circuits lab. Six hours of lab write-up chews too much study time, but we really only have six more this semester. The other labs are in a circuit design software called Pspice. My laptop is gradually turning in to a math/science nerds delight. It started with Excel, then Matlab, then Pspice, and now I have Maple, too. I even have software for thermodynamics that automatically pulls up the thermo tables and phase diagrams and solves all kinds of problems using thermodynamic properties. The first new property I learned is specific volume which is nothing more than the inverse of density, we spent today going over enthalpy and specific heat. Next, we learn how to make rabbits appear out of thin air. That's going to be cool!!
Calculus III has been mostly review thus far, so that makes life a little easier. Mechanics of Deformables has just been an extension of Statics. In Statics, you learn to resolve forces about a rigid body like a steel beam, but you neglect all the forces internal to the beam. Now we actually analyze those internal forces that can make a beam fail, or bend, or "deform".
EGRM 215 has mostly been fun with Excel, but now we're getting into some really cool funtions of Matlab. I've been using Matlab for a while now, but there's always so much to learn.
At some point I was planning on keeping this blog less boring, but everything I do in school is boring to anyone who is not studying the same thing. That's all I do!! There's nothing else to talk about. You can see all the cool stuff going on at home on Sonya's blog. Stay tuned here to get your nerd on.

Where were you?

2009-01-20T20:44:00.003-05:00

Today was one of those rare moments. I made this list of others.

Space Shuttle Columbia - April 12, 1981 - Mom and Dad's room at 4999 Burton St., Grand Rapids, MI - 5 years old

Reagan's Second Inauguration - Monday, January 21, 1985 - Ms. Adam's Third Grade portable classroom - 8 years old

Challenger Disaster - January 28, 1986 - Ms. Capero's Fourth Grade Class (Oliver Hoover Atrium) - 9 years old

1st Gulf War - August 2, 1990 - Living room at 8025 sw 153 ct, Miami, FL - 14 years old

World Trade Center - September 11, 2001 - Dad's House, Country Walk, Miami, FL - 25 years old

Columbia Disaster - February 1, 2003 - Ginny Song's Apartment, Brooklyn, NY - 26 years old

2nd Gulf War - March 20, 2003 - Somewhere between Miami and Grand Rapids driving overnight with dad to Aunt Rose's funeral - 26 years old

Barack Obama Nominated President - November 4th, 2008 - At home in bed with Sonya sleeping next to me - 32 years old

Barack Obama Swearing-In - January 20, 2009 - VCU School of Engineering East Hall Atrium - 32 years old

I must have forgotten something.

Day Two

2009-01-13T13:43:00.003-05:00

I had Mechanics of Deformables this morning with Dr. Mital. I'm pretty sure he is younger than me, but that's o.k.. He's likable. Today we covered the syllabus and some Statics review. I actually felt very comfortable with the material, which is good, because I had Statics a year ago. We took a pop quiz! He made a comment about having pop quizzes when people leave early, and somebody left early. What a way to begin. I hope that early-leaver drops.
I have Multivariate Calculus in a couple hours. Her syllabus claims that anyone who did worse than a C in Calculus I & II will find the course "challenging." I can't help but think that it will be challenging even if you had an A in Calculus I & II. This is my last math requirement from the math department, but I still have two more math courses to take. STAT 541 "Applied Statistics" and EGRM 321 "Numerical Methods" are next semester, and I must admit to being a little nervous that a graduate level course is my foray into statistics. Most people I know who have taken statistics say it is boring, so maybe a graduate class will be more thrilling. HA!

Day One

2009-01-12T19:55:00.003-05:00

I'm back in school and glad to be there. I fixed the last little hiccup with my Circuits Lab, and now my schedule looks pretty good. My Engineering Graphics & Computation professor said her class is not a "weed-out" class, but she did say Thermodynamics is a "weed-out" class. I sincerely hope I am not a weed.
The first day of Thermo was just covering the syllabus and the professor assigned some light reading.
Circuits was a regular class section, but it was mostly review of some Physics II concepts.
Tomorrow I have Multivariate Calculus and Mechanics of Deformables.
Yippy for me!

Two Blogs for the Price of None

2009-01-06T07:51:00.005-05:00

I just went through the digital camera and found some great photos of our trip to Nashville. We took no photos in Miami or Atlanta for reasons I can not explain.

This semester, I want to avoid the complete neglect of my creative urges that I have suffered in semesters passed, so I am doing my best to make my home studio a little more inviting. I found this little desk at Office Depot on double sale for $49. I could not pass it up. I have reinstalled Windows and Protools on my old laptop, so now I will hopefully be able to take advantage of the upgrades I performed on the memory and disk size over the summer. I don't even have antivirus software on that laptop, so hopefully there will be nothing to interfere with the function of Protools.

Also, I took down the "cone-of-silence" because it was under-used and over-sized. Now it is serving a superior function in my garage as a storage closet on wheels.
This is the only picture I could find of the "cone-of-silence" in its previous location. Notice my sisters performing their rendition of "Stop in the Name of Love." Fantastic!

Home at Last

2009-01-02T08:44:00.002-05:00

We've been home for three days now, and we're finally feeling unpacked. We drove straight through the night on Monday after leaving Miami at 12:30 PM, and we didn't arrive in Williamsburg until about 4:30 AM. We even followed the Garmin's advice and took the ferry home. I'm not sure if it actually saved us any time, but it definitely shaved some miles off the trip. Plus, it's always nice to get off the interstate.
It took the better part of Tuesday to recover. We went to the bank, stopped by Target, and returned the rental car. I think we got to sleep again by about midnight.
We happily never left the house on Wednesday, but Christopher and Corbett stopped by around 9:00 PM to ring in the new year with us. Christopher and Sonya let Corbett and me drink in the new year.
As to be expected, Thursday was spent nursing my hangover. I was feeling better by dinner time, so we watched some of the DVDs we received for Christmas. Wristcutters is an amazing movie! We also watched the first half of Ken Burns' Thomas Jefferson and three episodes of season 2 of 30 Rock.
Today, I am finally feeling whole, so we're going to head into Richmond.

Suprise of a Lifetime

2008-12-16T11:00:00.003-05:00

Material Science has been my least favorite class, but its over. I told myself, no matter what grade I get, I will not take Material Science over again. Of course, I would be forced to take it again if I failed, but I was absolutely sure I did not fail. Surprisingly, except to Sonya, I got an A. whawhawhat? How did that happen? I worked like mad on that class, but my test grades were all Bs. Even my homeworks and quizzes pointed to a B. Through some cosmic fluke, I got a 94 on my final. The final was supposed to be multiple choice and 2 worked problems. When I got to my final, there was no multiple choice. There was only short answer and the two worked problems. This means to me that somehow my pal Arch Angle Gabriel must have guided me to the answers. Don't get me wrong. I studied. ...but I studied for every test in that class, and I was consistently below average. Thank you Gabriel!
So Gabriel, there's this other thing I'm praying for...

The Weeks Ahead

2008-12-15T08:17:00.003-05:00

I've got one more final tomorrow at 1:00; it's Dynamics. I'm actually looking forward to it because Dynamics is my favorite class. Two of my classes have already posted the final grades, and the results are pretty good. I got a B in Physics II and an A in Differential Equations. That Physics grade is a little annoying because it's a 5 credit course, so it really drags down my GPA.

Today, I have a dental appointment. Even though it's just a cleaning, I'm still nervous. I'm 32 and still afraid of needles and the dentist. I know it's rediculous. No matter how many painless shots I get or routine dental visits I attend, I still dread those events.

After the dentist, I'll be meeting the wife for lunch and then going home to study for that Dynamics final. Hopefully, this evening we'll have sushi with mom.

Tomorrow morning I will study some more and then head to Richmond for the final. After the final I will most likely do some Christmas shopping in Richmond.

Wednesday, we pick up the rental and head out on our holiday journey. I think we're planning on seeing everyone we've ever met this Christmas. Mmmm, a relaxing vacation...

The moral of this list of events I'm blabbering about is; next to seeing my beloved family and friend this Christmas, there is nothing I'm looking forward to more than the following week when there is absolutely nothing written on my calendar. Maybe I'll finally finish reading The American Sphynx. I love reading about Thomas Jefferson.

The real moral here: We all need to find a way to live closer to one another so it's not an event when we get to see one another. I would love to be allowed the luxury of taking my family for granted.

Brain Break

2008-12-09T10:36:00.003-05:00

There is nothing cool about phase diagrams; they are as boring as they sound. They are more boring than watching grass grow because I don't have to read a chart about all the minutia that happens at each step of grass-growth. I don't care about the crystal structures that pop up when Austenite is cooled through an alpha+gamma phase, through the eutectic isotherm, and into Cementite. Oooh, look, Pearlite. Isn't that so pretty?! No, it's obnoxious. Materials Science falls under that special category of classes that is so general that its useless. The needed information will either be covered in specific classes or simply read from a chart. Arg!! I'm sure I'll appreciate the class once I'm done, but right now, studing for finals, ...ick.

thanks dad and Cory for the great picture!

One Down

2008-12-04T11:30:00.002-05:00

I just got out of my Physics II final, and I feel pretty good about it. I'm happy to know that I will never have to take another general physics course. I may take Modern Physics to attain a minor in Physics, but that depends on the time I have available. I already have enough credits for the minor in Math, so I might be more interested in seeing how much I need to double major in Mathematics and Mechanical Engineering.
The rest of the class sessions today and tomorrow are all review for finals, so I'm basically done. The mental marathon is essentially over, so I can take a little rest. I'll have a week after the holidays to start preparing for the Spring, but I never really stop thinking about school.
I'm looking forward to spending a couple weeks with friends and family even if it means driving all over the southeast. A change of scenery and a change of pace is always welcome.

Things for which I'm Thankful

2008-12-02T15:08:00.002-05:00

My family managed to keep a houseful of people (including two beautiful children) quiet while I worked on Dynamics homework. My wife puts up with the absurd amount of time I put in to school on a daily basis, and I hope she knows how grateful I am. This thanksgiving weekend, I'm sure everybody would have preferred I not work on Dynamics, but everyone understood the necessity. Thank you to all family and friends that make my success at school a probability.

Making Progress

2008-11-17T14:33:00.002-05:00

I took a Linear Algebra class over the summer because the most recent curriculum at that time at VCU showed it as required. When I got to VCU, Linear Algebra was replaced by Numerical Methods, so it looked like my Linear Algebra class was going to be a waste. Last week I was talking to a guy in one of my other classes, and he said that Linear Algebra used to count as a technical elective. Today I found out he was right! That means I'll have a very easy Senior Year. Fall 2010, I'll be taking 10 credits instead of 16. Spring 2011, I'll be taking 12 credits instead of 15. If my AA from Miami-Dade College does nothing else for me, at least it is lightening my load!

I also registered for the Spring today. ...17 credits worth of pain. MWF-8:00AM-Electrical Circuits; MWF-9:00AM-Thermodynamics; TR-9:30AM-Deformables; MW-2:00 PM-Engineering Computation; TR-3:30PM-Multivariate Calculus; and a couple of labs as well.

Geesh.

The train speeds up before it stops!

2008-11-08T08:50:00.003-05:00

I'm nearing the home stretch this semester, and the pace is exhausting. I have at least one test per week right up through finals. This weekend I will be working take-home test #3 for Dynamics and studying for thursday's Physics test #2. Next week I'll be taking Materials Science test #3, registering for the spring, and paying for parking. The following week I have a test in Differential Equations, and then we head to Atlanta for Thanksgiving. The week after that I'll have Dynamics test #4 and my Physics final exam. Finally, finals week begins. They actually spread finals over a two week period, so Dec. 10 at 8:00 a.m., I have my Materials Science final. Dec. 11 at 1:00 p.m., I have my Differential Equations final. I get that weekend to prepare for my Dynamics final on Dec. 16. Gasp!! You have got to be joking! Then we head to Miami for a "relaxing" Christmas break. I should have about a week at home before classes start up again. I plan on doing nothing.

My state went blue, but my county went red.

2008-11-05T17:04:00.003-05:00

I don't get it. We have William & Mary, we have mixed races, I thought we had logic. How did James City County go red? Don't get me wrong; I'm ecstatic with the overall results. I drive through Charles City County everyday, and that county has the look of the typical rural red county. Nope! They voted overwhelmingly for Obama. I take back everything I ever said about Charles City County. Now I know why I always see giant bucks running around. The redneck deer hunters don't live there!! I can't believe I was actually a little nervous driving through with my Barack Obama sticker. What's more, my favorite professor of all time lives in Charles City County. I definately appreciate the great historic irony of the former confederate capital voting in the first African American President, but I'm even more appreciative of Charles City County. I drive past plantations everyday where countless african slaves toiled endlessly. Most of the plantations are surrounded by actively-worked land, but my good buddy John Deere can handle all the work by himself. No need to force entire generations to work tobacco or cotton. Now, they can vote. Now all we have to do is convince everyone that Debra Dickerson is evil so the eons-long road to national reconciliation can be complete. Listen Debra, don't try to take Barack's blackness away from him. It means too much to the rest of us!

I don't like John McCain; he's not elitist enough.

2008-11-04T11:04:00.003-05:00

Sorry for boring blogs.

2008-11-01T13:24:00.004-04:00

I've been taking some heat for blogging about my boring school stuff, but I really did intend this blog to be about school in the first place. Sonya's blog is our place for the more entertaining stuff. Still, I will try to keep this blog a little lighter, so let's discuss Differential Equations. Ha ha, no. Actually, I did get a 97 on my last Diff. EQ test, so I'm going to go ahead and break my arm patting myself on the back. Materials Science has been a bit of a drag. I'm scooting by with Bees, but that will have to do. Materials Science seems to be less about science and more about the names people give to things they observe. Now that's boring!! Physics is just plain cool, but its is very complicated. If you didn't know, physicists are smart, but don't ask them for advice on picking up chicks. It's just not their thing. We've been studying AC circuits, and now we're getting into Maxwell's Equations. I've learned how to calculate the speed of light and that light travels in waves. The craziest thing we learned was about energy transmission. Try to picture two waves traveling perpendicular to eachother. Actually, do not do that. It will cause you pain. Lastly, Dynamics has to be my favorite class. It's pretty dram tricky, too, but its much easier to conceptualize and solve. Of course, I posted some old homework the other day, and that's where most of the complaints of boredome came from. I still think it's neato.

I got my new tires.

2008-10-30T09:07:00.002-04:00

The mechanic did not notice the sound from my engine as was to be expected, but they put on my tires. They're some brand I've never heard of ....Christie Yamaguchies or something. I don't know. I guess you have to special order Goodyear tires if you want to buy Goodyear tires from the Goodyear shop. People are stupid.

New Tires

2008-10-27T21:35:00.002-04:00

I am getting two new tires on my truck. There's also some crazy sound coming from my engine the comes on somewhat arbitrarily. I don't really know too much about cars, so I'm always left to trust the mechanic. We have a guy that works on Sonya's car, and we feel pretty good about it him. Unfortunately, he does not work on Nissans, so I have resorted to the Goodyear in town. I've been there before, and they seem to do a good job. I figured, I need tires, that ought to be the place to go. So when I dropped my car off, I figured it would take a few hours. Nope. They don't have my size tire, they have to order them, and they won't be Goodyear tires. What the heck is that all about?!

I Hate Yorkshire Terriers

2008-10-22T12:16:00.005-04:00

I made friends with the backyard-neighbor dogs. If you've ever read "Children of a Lesser Dog," you may have seen pictures of the Bizzarro versions of our dogs. They are actually quite sweet, and they seem really happy when I take the time to go back there and say hello. I've done a good job of ignoring them for a long time, but I noticed a new dog there the other day. Curiosity got the better of me, so I climbed through the woods to take a peek. It's a daggum Yorky. ...piece of ***. My hatred for that breed dates back to a time when my old roomates came home with one. They made no real effort to train him, so he relieved himself all over the place. I know I should blame the owners and not the dog, but all of my subsequent experience with them has been similarly bad. This little nightmare in the backyard is no exception. As I said, I made friends with Josie and Dixie. I go back there now and pet them. I try to pet the new little piece of garbage, but all it does is leap and try to bite my fingers. It's obnoxious.

Major Nerd Alert

2008-10-20T20:28:00.004-04:00

This type of problem is a lot of fun because it looks like a fairly complicated spring/mass system, but you can do all the calculations in just about one equation. Yeah work-energy equations! Yeah Sir Isaac Newton!!
This section was all about linear constraints (kinematic constraints), but it's really all about fun with pulleys. This one was challenging.
Here's another Kinematic Constraint problem. I probably spent three hours messing with this one until I realized my error in logic. It was still a lot of fun even after all the extra time.
This problem was fun because it nearly made my TI-89 graphing calculator explode. Its literally impossible to solve this equation without technology because it requires you solve for two trig functions simultaneously. You would be forced into a deadly game of trial and error if you ever wanted to do it by hand. Why would you ever want to do this by hand?!
This was one of the earliest assignments we did. If you can read my chicken-scratch at the top of the page, you can see it's a pretty intense gravity problem. Actually, it's not too hard, just a little abstract.

If anybody was wondering the kind of stuff I'm doing in Engineering School, here's your taste.

Reading Days

2008-10-15T17:21:00.005-04:00

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Fall break at VCU is called "Reading Days." It's a chance to get all caught up on classes. Of course, I've got tests in every class directly following this little break. Here is where I will be spending reading days. Notice my sweet rolling book cart

...schmebates...

2008-10-08T08:39:00.002-04:00

I am sick to death of debates. They tell us nothing other than both of these guys listen to the news and reviews of previous debates. Dickain tried his best to not sound completely like a growling dog, and Obama seemed forced to pander to that group of Dumbocrats that think he needs to sound tougher. I like Obama how he is naturally and attempts to "get tough" fit about as comfortably as a swear word from my dad. If you don't know my dad, he doesn't swear much, so it sounds funny when he does. I appreciate that about him. These debates just cause me stress. Nobody expects to hear anything new; we're all just waiting on the Ford-esque gaffe that shuts one of the campaigns down. If these things were about facts they could be done and over in five minutes. If you really pick through the voting records, you'll see evidence that bothers you on either side. The whole choice comes down to personality and intelligence. The main thing I learned from the two debates thus far is these guys both need to invest in a good thesaurus. Maverick ...Main Street ...Fundamental Difference ...911 ...blach...

Bookshelf on Wheels

2008-09-29T11:43:00.004-04:00

I want a rolling bookshelf for various reasons. Here's my stash of texts from four semesters of Engineering School.

Today I managed to finish my homework for the week, so anyone who has read my earlier blogs knows how fantastic that makes me feel. I am a little bit ahead!!!!!!!!!

Denise Quayle

2008-09-26T08:55:00.002-04:00

Why has nobody made the connection between Sarah Palin and Dan Quayle. We've only known our friend Mrs. Palin for a short time, and she's already left of with some real verbal gems. Look for the CBS interview. Foreign Policy Experience?

No time for blog Dr. Jones!

2008-09-24T08:36:00.002-04:00

I'm finally starting to get some feedback on my performance here at VCU and I'm pretty happy. While my grades aren't as stellar as they were at TNCC, I feel like I'm at least keeping up with the pack in all my classes. I don't have as much time to devote to Differential Equations as I would like, but I still managed to get a B on my first test. That's nothing to sneeze at! I'm consistently getting As in Dynamics, B+/A- in Physics II, and today I should be getting my first Material Science test back. I've been getting As on my homework in that class, but that's a measly 10% of the grade. By-the-way, what's the best way to write the plural of a letter grade? I don't want to use an apostrophe because my letter grades don't own me or anything!! Anyway, the stress level is pretty intense now, and that's a change from TNCC. I got stressed at TNCC around test time or when I got bogged down on hard stuff, but now I'm in a nearly perpetual state of stress. I guess that's what I should expect from Engineering school. If there was ever a class you looked at in a college catalog that made you gasp opon merely reading the title, I have to take it.

...like trying to shovel all of the sand from the desert

2008-09-16T14:22:00.002-04:00

I keep doing homework, but I never get a feeling of accomplishment. The homework is listed for the whole semester, so I always see what's next to get done. Its all I can do the stay on track, but I want to get a little ahead. The work load is just too much to ever be ahead.

Blachhh

My Brain Hurts

2008-09-08T08:30:00.005-04:00

I was working on a problem in Dynamics for about three hours that I just couldn't figure out. I had done the previous four problems in no time, but like most things in life, the last one was a doozey. I needed to get some other work done, so I left Dynamics to get started on Physics. By the time I got to Physics, my brain hurt. I was fatigued. I went to bed. The next day was ridiculously busy. We had brunch with mom, we went grocery shopping, I changed the oil in both cars, Sonya's car started smoking, I mowed the grass, I took a shower, and then I got back to work on Physics. It was 4:00 pm. Crap, where did the day go? Since Sonya's car was smoking, I had to delay getting back to homework to finish the grocery shopping. Okay, its 5:00 pm, now I can get back to homework. It took about two hours, but I think I got my head wrapped around the physics homework. I kept working until 9:00 pm, and then I cried "uncle." (Sometime between 5:00 and 9:00, we ate dinner.) Sonya had already prepped breakfast for the next morning, so all I had to do was prep the coffee. By 10:30 we were asleep.

This morning we actually got out of the house by 7:00 am, so I could drop Sonya off at work and still get to class in Richmond by 9:00. When I get home, I have to call a tow truck to get Sonya's car to the shop, get as much homework done as possible, prep tomorrow's breakfast, pick up Sonya from work, take her to Newport News for a class, and try to finish any lingering homework while we're in Newport News.

I have no idea what tomorrow is going to be like, but I think Papa Dios is getting us ready for something. We know of nothing on the immediate horizon, but I can't help but feel like, in the immortal words of Richard Dreyfus, "This means something."

Neoprene is cool stuff.

2008-08-28T08:42:00.002-04:00

I have a new routine of putting my bike in the back of my truck, driving to VCU, and then riding my bike the half mile to class. Today it is raining, so my task is a little more complicated. My backpack is not waterproof though it is a bit water resistant. I was concerned about the safety of my laptop until I remembered it is in a neoprene sleeve. I honestly wondered why they always make the sleeves out of neoprene, but now my internal stupid question has been answered. My computer has its own little dry-suit. That makes my happy, for everything in my backpack would have been soaked if the rain were just a little more severe. Now I can blog from the comfort of the quiet room in the Trani Life Sciences Building here at VCU. By the way, that is the best name for any building here at school. The Tranies are infamous here in Richmond.

Let the home work begin!

2008-08-24T09:58:00.002-04:00

I spent the first half of Saturday doing Dynamics homework. The problems were really interesting, and I felt well prepared for them. We jumped right in to some pretty cool Physics involving gravity equations. As usual, I got stumped for a long time because I was misunderstanding the text, but the problems took no time once I realized my mistake. Today I'll be doing Differential Equations, but the homework is Calculus review. Material Science is going to be a little like Biology because there's no way to learn it other than to read it over and over. Physics II seems like a really cool class, and the professor works really hard to make sure everybody gets it. Bare in mind, these are all first impressions, but I'm pretty excited to finally be in a real Engineering community.

Last Week of Freedom?

2008-08-18T16:55:00.008-04:00

This was supposed to be my last week of freedom until the fall semester begins, but then I made the decision to transfer to VCU. Now my classes begin this week on Thursday, and there are a ton of preparations to be done. I already have assignments on Blackboard. This week, instead of going bowling or finishing my Thomas Jefferson biography, I'll be reading Dynamics, Material Science, and Physics texts. I'm not at all bummed to be diving in this way, but the end of summer just crept up on me. As each new semester progresses, the new material makes the previous semester's lessons feel like kid stuff. I'm not even going to try to do any reading for Differential Equations until after the first lecture; that would be just nuts.

Now I'm at a real university, so there is actual help to be found. I have tutors for all my classes at my disposal, so a phone call to Klaus won't be my only option when I'm near tears in frustration. I'll probably still call him because he happens to be gifted at explaining complicated things. He's also gifted at guitar, piano, and accurately imitating languages he can't actually speak. Although, he does speak Spanish and a little German.
Speaking of my gifted bandmates, Mike just got the call of a lifetime. Rick Rubin called Mike's management and said, "I need to get this guy back to L.A.." You see, Mike had just moved his family to Nashville because L.A. is too freaking expensive. They arrived in Nashville on August 12th, Mike's birthday is August 13th, and he was back in L.A. on the 14th. He got back home August 16th, and I called him immediately. He stayed at the studio which happened to be a 6-bedroom mountaintop house overlooking the Pacific ocean. Wow. He hung out with Rick Rubin for a while, and Rick asked to hear some of the Agency CD. Mike told me Rubin said, "Wow, I didn't know you guys were this good." It feels pretty good hearing that somebody as influential as that likes my music. It sounds like Mike's session career was made this week. I don't think I'll ever be more excited for a friend as long as I live.

Goodbye TNCC!

2008-08-12T20:10:00.004-04:00

I am officially a student at VCU! I've registered and paid for all my classes and dropped all my TNCC classes. I'll be in Richmond from Monday through Friday. That's 100 miles a day. I wasn't planning on transferring to VCU until the Spring, but I couldn't stop thinking about how weak my Fall TNCC semester was. TNCC is clearly not really capable of keeping up with agressive students, so they didn't offer enough class sections. My classes were going to be late at night, and there were schedule conflicts that kept me from having a full load. As soon as I looked at the VCU schedule, I realized they mean business. I literally could not make my schedule conflict. They did such a good job planning the classes that I could actually choose any class section without worry. The registration process was easy with the exception of having to get an override for my Physics II class. It was closed, but they let me in.
A little experience goes a long way, too. A group of people walked over to the Physics department for overrides, but the person in charge was no where to be found. They waited a few minutes and then took off. I waited another 40 minutes and got the exact spot I wanted, and I met my professor who told me not to worry about buying the book. I already own two calculus-based physics books; I don't need another.
Another bit of wisdom got me out of some nonsense. Apparently, I need to take an ethics class, but that sounds like perfect summer semester material. The advisor was trying to get me to take it during the fall, but I need to take engineering classes during the spring and fall since they are not offered during the summer.
All and all, I am stoked!

Chris does not need shots!

2008-08-08T10:21:00.002-04:00

By request from Sonya:
1. Chris needs your sex talk...
2. Chris needs this. (How vague.)
3. Chris needs to give me cancer. (I don't think I have that power.)
4. Chris needs tech support. (Thanks Jason.)
5. Chris needs a job. (That's why I'm in school!)
6. Chris needs quiet time on Flickr. (I don't take time for intentional misspellings)
7. Chris needs your wish list.
8. Chris needs to get laid.
9. Chris needs suggestions for 130 Christmas cards!
10. Chris needs a nickname. (Chris is a nickname!)

Oh yeah, the doctor told me I already had all those shots! Sweet!!!!

Shots

2008-08-08T07:43:00.004-04:00

Today I have to go to the doctor and get vaccinated for school. No, I'm not five! I am, however, terrified of needles. It makes me sick just thinking about shots. No matter how many times I've had blood tests or shots and feel no pain, I'm still scared. I might be able to get out of it because I was vaccinated before my short lived stint at FIU in 2004. I'm not sure how long the vaccines work, but here's hoping... Speaking of FIU; I hated that place more than junior high school. Every system they had was designed to be a big pain in the butt, and my advisor put me in classes for which I was in no way ready. I dropped calculus at FIU and felt retarded; then I went to TNCC and got an A. Back to shots - I was reading the fine print on my vaccines, and it seems and can get a waiver. The recommended ages for these things is 18-25. I think 32 is old enough to be able to get out of it; also, I worked for a year as a waste water treatment plant operator. That must have built up my immunity!

Computers aren't cheap, but I am.

2008-08-06T10:39:00.004-04:00

As I can't contain my excitement at transferring to VCU, I've been fiercely reviewing their website for advice and general expectations. VCU requires all students have a computer - preferably a laptop. Well, I own a laptop which I purchased in 2003, which was super-fancy back then, and which is quite antiquated now. Upon looking at the price of new fancy laptops, I remembered the pain I experienced the first time I shelled out the dough for my VAIO, and I couldn't bare to go through it again. The problem I now face is that my laptop is showing its age and runs a little slow. It also has a small, by current standards, disc drive. I have endeavoured on a quest to maximize my computer for the least possible expense, and this is what I've done. First, I have upgraded my memory to the maximum 1 gigabyte at a cost of $25. Second, I bought a 160 gigabyte disc drive for $80. Third, I bought a new battery for $70. Finally, I removed Windows from my laptop and replaced it with UBUNTU which is a free Linux-based OS. My buddy Jason is a computer whiz, and managed to get my Belkin wireless PC card to work with the new OS. Linux is the OS that all engineers and people in the know swear-by.
One of the deciding factors for me in keeping my laptop and switching the operating system to UBUNTU was the poor reviews I've seen for Leopard (the new MAC OS) and VISTA (the Microsoft OS debacle.) Mainly, memory has become so cheap that software writers have become lazy in their programming, and they have gone graphics-crazy with the interface. Linux is simpler, more secure, and more adaptable. It does require some know-how, but UBUNTU has been nearly Windows-like in its ease of operation. Their are plenty of other Linux-based OS options out there; most folks seem to like Red Hat's Fadora Core.
I think the UBUNTU folks must know me, or I am just a perfectly predictable demographic, for they included all of my favorite games. You get solitaire, mahjong, and Tetris. Also, all of my old files open without any issue using the Sun Microsystems open-source OpenOffice.

2 blogs for the price of one.

2008-08-02T12:38:00.007-04:00

Blog #1 - Charlottesville

Sonya and I decided to cut down on our Carbon Footprint this year and keep our vacation fairly local. This is easy because Virginia is a remarkable place. We drove the measly two hours to Charlottesville and stayed two nights at the Boar's Head Inn. Upon our arrival to Charlottesville, our first stop was for lunch at Michie Tavern. You can read all about their strange hours of operation and delicious food at the link. After lunch, we drove the short distance up to Monticello where we found large crowds and construction of a new visitors center, so we turned around and headed to Ash Lawn-Highland. We've been there once before, but it was late in the day so we didn't enter. We did notice the last time we were there that Ash Lawn is owned and operated by the College of William & Mary, so we figured we might be able to get a deal this time since Sonya is under the employ of the college. We were right; Sonya got in for free! The location of Ashlawn is arguably even more beautiful than Monticello though the house is much more humble. We spent an hour on the guided tour of the house and another hour walking the self guided tour of the grounds. By the time we were done with Ash Lawn, it was nearly check-in time at the Boar's Head.

We checked-in at 4:00, and Sonya took a nap while I hooked up the laptop to research dining options. We decided on C&O Restaurant. What a great place! Sonya had the Grilled Ahi tuna filet with horseradish-ginger sabayon, bulghur-feta croquette and Endive radicchio salad, and I had the Duck breast with blueberry-rhubarb glaze and curried Israeli couscous. Delicious! After our dinner, we realized the restaurant is right next door to the Charlottesville Pavilion where Willie Nelson was playing that night! Sadly, the concert was sold-out, so we headed back to the inn.

The next day, we awoke to realize the power was out in the room. Thankfully, the AC was running on generator power, so it was still comfortable in the room. Sonya was supposed to have a massage at 2:30, so we decided to walk down to the spa around 11:00 to check-in and enjoy the pool. We put on robes and walked over to the pool only to be told it was closed due to the power outage. By this time, I was getting a little more than annoyed and certainly not relaxed. They told us the the power was still on at the Sports Club, and we could use the pool there. So we walked the several hundred yards in our robes. By the time we arrived at the pool, we were sweating. The Sports Club pool is not private and was filled with screaming and yelling kids. We swam briefly and read our books. I am reading The American Sphinx, and Sonya is reading Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea. It was too loud for me to concentrate, so we decided to ask someone there if the power was back on at the spa and if the pool there was open. The kid we asked ran over to ask someone - though he had a phone right next to him - and he said the spa and spa pool were open. We walked back down to discover that he was of course wrong. I was very un-relaxed at this point, and it was now quite hot in the spa, so Sonya cancelled her massage appointment. We walked back to the room, and as we approached the door to our room, the rest of the generator power went out, and the emergency lights came on. We entered our room and the AC was off. Nooooooooo! Seconds later, the power was fully restored! Huzzah!!!! Sonya called the spa and rescheduled her message for 3:15, and we headed down. The pool was open, the AC was on, and life was good. I was still a little disappointed to discover children playing at the spa pool, but they were reasonably quiet, and I was able to read. Aaaah, this was relaxation like I've never known it. Sonya got her massage, I swam to cool off, and life was all better.

That night, we decided to head to Staunton for our second-favorite German restaurant. Edelweiss is first for atmosphere, but second for quality of food compared to Eckhard's. We pigged out and bought our favorite German dark beer - Köstritzer Schwarzbier.

The next day we ordered breakfast in bed, and checked-out at noon. We headed up for a wine tasting at Barboursville Vineyards. The ruins of the Thomas Jefferson designed estate are there in the background as you taste 16 different wines for a mere $4 per person. Virginia's wine country is simply amazing. Next we drove to James Madison's Montpelier. Go there.

If anybody thinks we defeated the initial idea of reducing our carbon footprint though all the mountain driving, we reduced our carbon emissions by at least 1.47 metric tons by avoiding air travel.

Blog #2 - VCU

I found out upon our return from Charlottesville that I've been accepted to VCU. I have orientation on August 12th, so I'll be transferring in the fall as long as I can get all the classes I need. We're now considering buying a tiny, fuel-efficient car for my commute. I'm also looking into a vanpool service, but class schedules are a highly limiting factor on such things.

2008-07-17T09:38:00.006-04:00

The Miami Druekes have returned home from their trip to visit we Druekes of Georgia and Virginia, and we are sad to see them leave. They flew in to Richmond on July 4th and stayed for a long weekend. It was a brief visit, but we managed to see the sights.

Abigail has been snapping pictures with her new phone and took this one of Elizabeth. I showed dad how to send the photos via bluetooth to the computer, so now we have a copy of Abby's picture.

The family left on Monday, July 7th for the mountains and eventually Atlanta. They took a leisurely five day drive to Atlanta and looked at mountain towns in which they may soon wish to retire. After a nice long weekend in Atlanta, they returned to Richmond for their flight home. We were able to join them on Tuesday to take in some sights in Richmond. First we visited Bottoms Up Pizza where Lisa and Jeremiah both served duty.

We were surprised to find no dish named for Jeremiah or Lisa, but there did seem to be some homage to Uncle Steve and Aunt Jo-Jo. I'm not sure on their connection to the Restaurant, but we were happy to see them honored.

In 2004, Hurricane Gaston made its way through Shockoe Bottom and flooded many of the businesses. We took these photos of Dad (since he's the tallest) in front of the flood line painted inside Bottoms Up.

After lunch, we headed over to the VCU Engineering School so they could see where I should be going pretty soon. Sonya was also interested in the decor since she's in charge of the committee for the interiors at the new Mason School of Business at William & Mary.

Sonya was happy to see the equations painted on the walls and knows I'll be quite happy there. I can't wait to transfer!!

Summer, Fall, Spring, Summer

2008-07-13T10:55:00.003-04:00

I finished up my second summer semester at TNCC, so that means I've officially been there a year. I'm a community college veteran. I'm finally free of classes that involve knuckleheads, and everybody that has made it this far is in it for the long haul. That's not to say the classes are getting any easier, or that everyone gets an A or even passes, but everybody needs the classes they take. I have been a little surprised that students still don't seem confident enough to contribute. Professors are like performers, and they appreciate a response. They also seem to reward students for actively participating in the class discussions. That must be how I got my B in Linear Algebra. A B is a weird grade to receive because it implies that I worked hard enough to get an A, but I simply never got the material well enough to receive an A. Linear Algebra is the first class I've ever taken where I can do every exercise in the book but not get an A on a test. This is a very important lesson. I can understand pretty complicated stuff when it's phrased in a way in which I'm comfortable, but this professor made the tests straight from his own notes which didn't really relate to the text. Luckily, a high theoretical mathematical ability isn't really necessary in order to be quite capable of applying the techniques. I've already gone back to my Statics text to use the techniques I learned in Linear Algebra, and my new skills are paying off in spades.

Also, I got an A in Microeconomics, but who cares.

There's a sucker born every minute.

2008-07-11T09:27:00.006-04:00

I've been getting phone calls everyday from some recorded voice telling me Macy's has some "important personal business" to discuss. Since I'm not retarded, I hang up. I sent Macy's an email stating that if they do not cease from using this tactic that I would personally start boycotting their store and encourage everyone I know to do so as well. They are just dying to get me to use their useless credit card. Sonya and I use our Master Cards exclusively to purchase everything and pay our bills because they give us money. I don't need airline miles, points towards a purchase, or any other hair brained scheme. I got an email from them this morning telling me I can call the number on the message and ask them to stop calling. Wouldn't it be nicer if they asked me the last time I was at Macy's if it would be okay if they called me for promotions. I could simply chuckle and say, "of course not," and that would be the end of it! I wouldn't be getting solicitations on my dang cell phone, and I wouldn't be ranting like Andy Rooney! The whole thing made me think of the new American Express commercials with Tina Fey and Martin Scorsese. Scorsese entices Fey into the first class lounge with an "important opportunity." She gets excited thinking it's a script or something, but he's just trying to pawn off a time share. The commercial cracks me up because I picture Amex hearing the ad pitch and not even realizing the irony that their credit card offer is just as lame as a time share. Hmmm, Amex charges a fee, and Master Card gives back cash. I'll take the Amex and a punch in the balls, please

One Down...

2008-07-09T16:51:00.002-04:00

I finished Microeconomics today, and I'm happy to say I got another A! That leaves me nothing to think about other than Linear Algebra until tomorrow night. The 94 I got on the last test took a lot of the pressure off, so now I at least don't have to worry about getting anything less than a C. Linear Transformations, Linear Combinations, Eigen Vectors, Eigen Values, and Eigen Spaces are all I'll have to concern myself with for 24 more hours! Wish me luck!

Holy Crap! I got a 94!!!!!

2008-07-01T19:47:00.002-04:00

I thought Physics took work; it did. This is like taking Physics over the abbreviated summer semester. Tonight, I think I might actually get a good night's sleep. I've got a solid nine days until the final, so I should be able to sufficiently prepare. My Miami family will be here this weekend, so that will cut down on the study time a little. I'm sure I'll still squeeze in some studying in the mornings. Its amazing what this good grade did for my confidence. I felt right on top of the material we covered today. I always contribute in the classroom, but this time my stupid embarrassing blurted wrong answers were replaced by astute observations.
In other news, Coldplay released a new CD. They keep releasing the same CD with different song names, but it's cool because I like that CD.

Glory Days

2008-06-29T12:23:00.002-04:00

I decided to add links to my page, and I needed to find the web addresses. I just Googled my old band to find the URL since I couldn't remember it. This is what I found: Just Joshing You. Josh made the astute observation that The Agency's first CD will most likely never be repressed, so he went ahead and posted all the songs on his blog. I suppose some folks might be mad about their work being published without permission, but I was just flattered. This CD is now 11 years old, and it's nice to see some occasional interest still pops up. He also says some pretty fantastic stuff about our other releases; however, I do have to take exception to his claim that Mike sang most of the songs! As I recall, we had been splitting the singing duties down the middle since about 1998, so that's about 10 of the 12 years of our existence! Come on!

The Physicist Who Snubbed Me

2008-06-27T07:52:00.009-04:00

One of the really fun things about taking Linear Algebra is the illusion it presents me with the slightest ability to understand String Theory. Dr. Derise had just let us out for a ten minute break, and I decided to read on to the next chapter. The chapters always begin with a brief biography of famous mathematicians, and this chapter began with Emmy Noether. She was a highly important figure from the 1930s who fled to the US from Germany to escape Hitler.

Her bio reminded me of a famous physicist I recently learned about named Lisa Randall. She is doing amazing work with String Theory, and the NY Times article about her describes some pretty fascinating stuff. I was attempting to talk to my brother about some of her work over our dinner at the Butcher Block Buffet in Stephens City, VA. To my astonishment, I discovered that topics like these are best discussed in locations without children, children's magicians, or buffets. Anyway, my Linear Algebra professor has an incomprehensible depth of knowledge about mathematics and the people who practice it, so I asked him if he knew of Lisa Randall. Of course, he had, and better than that, she snubbed him! He saw her at Princeton, and attempted to ask her a question about mathematics, or physics, or something crazy of the like. Thinking he might just be a weirdo, she ignored him.

He then began to tell me of another important physicist who also gave him the cold shoulder. He asked me if I'd heard of Edward Witten. I actually had!! I've seen him in Brian Greene's NOVA documentary The Elegant Universe. Also, my good friends Christopher Aubin and Corbett Bazler have met Dr. Witten. He is almost more famous for his strangely falsetto speaking voice. Dr. Derise wanted to ask Dr. Witten what E8 means. E8 is one of those terms that string theorists throw around. It describes the dimensionality of the mathematics of string theory. Dr. Derise was brazen enough to simply ask Dr. Witten, "What is E8?". Dr. Witten answered with a series of terms that would produce spontaneous combustion of the average person's brain. Dr. Derise, being very cavalier, pressed Dr. Witten for further explanation. Dr. Witten turned and walked away. Ouch.

Doesn't he just look like a big teddy bear?

I have test #3 in Linear Algebra on Monday. Wish me luck!

Also, sorry I went so link-crazy, but do check out the links!

I'm a Big Baby

2008-06-19T20:24:00.004-04:00

I got my grade back on test two, and I don't feel too good about it. I was telling myself, that if I didn't score at least ten points more on this test than the last test, I would drop the class. I got a 72 on the first test and a 71 on this test. I approached the professor to let him know I enjoy the class, but I need to drop it. I long ago met my quota for college screw-ups. He then spent twenty minutes telling me not to drop, he hasn't yet applied the curve to test #2, and that I probably have at least an 82 on the test. He also told me that there is certainly nobody better than me in the class, and he would go home depressed if I dropped. He also assured me, as long as I keep up with my studies the way that I have been, I would receive no worse than a B in the class. I still don't feel great about an 82, but I feel fantastic having that kind of support from my professor. This is my first exposure to truly abstract applications of mathematics, and I find it exceedingly interesting and excruciatingly difficult, but I am confident that completing this 300 level math course will be infinitely rewarding.

Almost ready for test #2 in Linear Algebra

2008-06-16T09:05:00.007-04:00

This weekend was filled with nothing but studying and maybe a couple brief outings. I sure hope that I will be able to make up for all these boring weekends to my wife when I graduate. Our two outings resulted in a new air compressor and an evening with friends at Nawab.

Checking air pressure in your tires is pretty essential and never more so than when gas is $4.00/gal. I've been eyeing this model ever since I saw our hardwood floor installers sporting it. Pretty cool. It turns out you can save a bunch of money if you order it from Lowe's online but pick it up at the store. I saved $50. Really cool! ...so for the rest of the weekend...

Vector spaces are descriptions of n-dimensions, and that is as crazy as it sounds. There actually are practical uses for this stuff, but you would need to be an engineer or physicist. The only way you could ever even visualize this stuff is to put it in no more than three dimensions. If you project two one-dimensional vectors with x, y and z coordinates out from the origin of a coordinate system, and then join those vectors to form a plane, you have created a vector space. If you have only cursory experience with vectors, you may have learned the definition of a vector is (essentially) a line with magnitude and direction. Until last week, that was my perception of a vector. Now, I have learned that a vector need only meet 10 criteria, so objects that meet that criteria now include Matrices, Polynomials, the traditional coordinate vector notation (which really boils down to a 1x2 matrix), and a host of other expressions. Wwphhew! I was talking to my buddy Kluas about this stuff yesterday because he is probably one of only two friends of mine who would be remotely interested in this stuff. He's smart enough to have realized that you can use this technique to solve several simultaneous quadratic equations! When I'm in class, I'm struggling to keep up, but Klaus listens for a few moments and makes little discoveries of his own. Man, I wish I was that bright! I've got one more section in the text to cover today, and then I will have done all of the homework before the test. I will spend Tuesday before the test reviewing all my notes and summarizing. This should hopefully prepare me.

Two tests down!

2008-06-06T14:33:00.003-04:00

We had our first test in Linear Algebra on Monday and our first test in Microeconomics today. The collective results in the Linear Algebra class were a little low, and I fit right in there. I did okay, but I definitely need to work a little harder. I am not used to doing proofs, so it's a new skill I need to hone. I hate to speak too soon about a test, but I feel pretty good about the microeconomics test. So far, the material seems pretty self explanatory, but it still manages to be pretty interesting. I thought I was working for an MBA simply because it was being thrown at me by VCU, but if econ represents the kind of material I will see in Business School, I'm pretty excited. Most schools consider econ a social science and don't include it as part of the Business School, but I have a feeling that it's just a function of the usefulness of the class. Everyone should take econ just like everyone should take humanities. The reaction of the class to the econ material is exactly as it was for humanities. 60% of the class could care less, and the rest seem enthralled. The professor is a bit creepy. He tells stories, but he usually does a good job of keeping them on point. He's just a bit long-winded. He's old, overweight, and a conspiracy theorist. He also has a problem with eye contact when spoken-to. All in all, he's pretty likeable.

Several Simultaneous Eek-uations!

2008-05-30T02:13:00.003-04:00

Linear Algebra is strange. Who knew you could do so much crazy crap with matrices and determinants? Dr. DeRise knows. Anyway, I have my first test on Monday, so wish me luck.
I've been continuing to do housework, and I finally planted some of the shrubs. I also decided to recycle most of my bottle collection. I made a list of what I had and threw it all in the bin. Feel free to e-mail me if you're interested in the beer list. I made a database that included all the pertinent information. I also got two Black & Decker storage cabinets, and those do a wonderful job of keeping the garage looking tidy. I'm turning into the "Anal Retentive Carpenter." I hardly use my tools, but they look really nice in their little cubbies.

My Last Weekend of Freedom

2008-05-16T09:48:00.003-04:00

Monday starts my quest to master both Linear Algebra and Microeconomics. I'll have to remember to bring my eye patch so as not to damage my eyes when viewing the very tiny economies through the microeconomiscope. Sonya and I are still trying to decide how to best make use of this last weekend. I'm pretty sure a haircut is in order; I'm back to my Luke Skywalker look. Stupid straight hair. I would like to head to Richmond a make a pilgrimage to Kuba Kuba and perhaps get a Shockoe Shake. MMMM. We also have some yard work to finally get done.

Frank: I told my wife I wouldn't drink tonight. Besides, I got a big day tomorrow. You guys have a great time. College Student: A big day? Doing what? Frank: Well, um, actually a pretty nice little Saturday, we're going to go to Home Depot. Yeah, buy some wallpaper, maybe get some flooring, stuff like that. Maybe Bed, Bath, & Beyond, I don't know, I don't know if we'll have enough time.

Great Meeting!

2008-05-13T07:35:00.005-04:00

My meeting with Anita Hazel Taylor at VCU went smashingly. The new wing of the Engineering school was just completed and it looks fantastic. I believe I will be quite happy there. Upon meeting with Mrs. Taylor, I've learned several things that make me excited to go to VCU. First, as I said in my last post, I can drop Chem II from my summer schedule. What I didn't know is I can drop Spanish II as well! VCU gears its students towards an MBA to go with the BS, so I will be taking Microeconomics this summer along with Linear Algebra. Mrs. Taylor told me I don't need to take Linear Algebra, but I've been looking forward to that class for a while. I will stay at TNCC through the fall and transfer to VCU in the spring. I could actually stay at VCU through the spring were in not for TNCC not offering Thermodynamics, but missing that class would put me behind schedule. My last semester at TNCC I'll be taking Vector Calculus, Dynamics, Physics II, and Bowling! I could actually drop the bowling, but that would be just crazy (and it lets me keep my full-time status.) My first semester at VCU will be Differential Equations, Circuits I with the lab, Thermodynamics, and Strength of Materials. The spring will be my first experience in a true Engineering School, so I will be the dumbest guy in the building.

Meeting at VCU

2008-05-12T07:38:00.003-04:00

Today at 3:00 I will be meeting the recruiter for the VCU School of Engineering. Sonya and I have been debating the pros and cons of moving away to school, and it just does not seem reasonable to try to sell the house so I can go away to school. ODU is in Norfolk and I have no love for Norfolk. Also, I don't want to have to rely on either the Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel or the Monitor Merrimack Bridge Tunnel, so VCU is the best option. The only issue with VCU is they do not offer Civil Engineering, but that's no skin off my back. The only difference in lower division classes between Civil and Mechanical is I don't need Chem. II for Mechanical. I have no great love of studying Chemistry, so Mechanical it is! Avoiding Chem. II also means my summer schedule just got a whole lot better, so I can take Spanish II over the summer or just have an easier summer. Also, I may transfer to VCU in the fall before I finish TNCC if the folks at VCU think it'll work better for transfer. I don't want to waste time at TNCC with classes that do not transfer. Stay tuned...

Hitting Homeruns

2008-05-07T17:38:00.006-04:00

It was brought to my attention that it's confusing when I post on Sonya's blog, so here's my update on housework. You can refer to my to-do list from Children of a Lesser Dog. So... anyway, I can scratch several items of my list after today. First, I'm just about done with the gate for the deck. I need to get a latch and it'll be all done. I'm pretty proud of the gate because it was my first attempt at actual joinery. I used an end lap joint reinforced with four galvanized screws at each corner. The span of the gate is pretty wide, so I needed a system that would prevent the gate from sagging out of square. The gate is attached to a handrail post which could be pulled out of plumb by the torque of the gate in the closed position, so I made a foot to keep the gate from dropping too far. The latch should keep the gate level when it's closed. After I finished the gate, I made my new hose storage. It looks pretty cool, and I got rid of some scrap wood. I may still make a lid. The reel on the side of the house never gets used because it leaks and its a pain to use. It's just so much easier to coil a hose.Once that was complete, I got to work on the lattice. I finally devised a system for cutting that garbage. Lattice is tricky stuff to cut even with a circular saw.I still had a couple fence slats to make from the fence repair we did a few months back. All I really needed to do was cut the dog-ears with my miter saw.After all that was done, I cleaned most of the scrap out of the garage. I swept, I vacuumed, and I drank a beer. It's been a good day.

Sophomoric Humor

2008-05-01T16:10:00.003-04:00

I have finally caught up with my sophomoric humor. I am a sophomore. I took my last final today, so I am done with Spanish I, Calculus II, Physics I and Statics. My physics professor was kind enough to post the grades the same day we took the final, so I got an A in Physics I!!! I don't know how I pulled that off, but I do know the easy A in the lab helped out a ton. I put all my studying eggs in that basket, so I have to hope I knew enough about everything else not to bring my averages below an A in any of the other classes. I get two weeks off, then its Chem. II and Linear Algebra. Truth be told, I will probably start reading the Chemistry text on Monday. Eight weeks is an awfully short time for that class, so I'll need a little head start. I have to admit, this semester burned me out a little bit. Two weeks without classes should bore me enough to motivate me for the summer semester.

Yeah for infinite series!

2008-04-21T19:01:00.008-04:00

If anybody read my post about infinite series a couple weeks back, I'm proud to say I was able to wrap my head around the topic well enough to score a 95 on my test! That means I have a 94.5 average going into the final on May 1st. That also means I can get an 81 on my final and still get an A in the class. I really hope I mesh as well with my next professor. I've had very good luck with Math instructors at Thomas Nelson, and I'll be a little sad to say goodbye to those folks when I transfer.

I had to leave my Calc. II class a little early the other day, so I had to go to Mr. Tyler's office to get my test back. I always like to talk to him anyway, so I didn't mind sticking around TNCC for his office hours. Mr. Tyler is probably about 70 years old and has spent his whole life in Hampton Roads. I knew from talking to him before that he is from Charles City County, but it took until this last office visit to put the pieces together. His family has been in this area for hundreds of years, and his name should be pretty familiar to anybody with the slightest knowledge of US history. The most notable Tyler would probably be our tenth president John Tyler. John Tyler was the vice president to William Henry Harrison who has some significance in my family. The Tyler's influence in the area can be felt by Sonya and me in pretty much every direction. We live off of John Tyler Highway, Sonya works at William & Mary in Tyler Hall, and the courtyard outside her office is dedicated to the Tyler family and includes a plaque with my professor's name, George Tyler.

As I mentioned before, I really enjoy talking to Mr. Tyler. He was talking to me about his collection of Volkswagens. He has a hobby of finding beat up Volkswagens of any variety and fixing them up. He has had a collection of Beetles, Karman Ghia, Buses, Porsche 914s, and even "The Thing."
He told me about a cross-country trip he took with his wife and kids in an old Volkswagen bus that reminded me of Little Miss Sunshine. I don't think his trip was nearly so calamitous, but it did sound like fun.
We got to talking about how long people have been doing calculus with nothing more than a feather, some ink, and some paper. He showed me his father's Calculus book from 1919. I think I want to collect antique Calculus books. His father's book was small, leather-bound, and filled with his father's notes in pencil. There was even some notebook paper folded in the middle of the book, and Mr. Tyler wasn't sure if it was his or his father's handwriting. It's amazing to me that this man has Mathematics in his family the way my brother and I have photography and chess boards in ours. The difference being that Mr. Tyler teaches calculus, and I can only take photos with an automatic camera, and I don't even know the rules to chess.
The next week is going to be pretty hectic. I've got two more days of classes followed by three days of finals. Wish me luck!

Electric Cars

2008-04-11T08:34:00.004-04:00

Sonya and I want a new car. I want an electric car. I know that's very Ed Begley, Jr. of me, but that's what I want. I found the car I want and it's in Canada. Zenn Motor Company is coming out with a fully electric car that has a 250 mile range, a top speed of 80 mph, and a charge time of 5 minutes. Isn't that the exact car that everybody wants? As of now this car does not meet US safety standards, and I actually think the standards are ridiculous. It's all physics. Our standards are based on big heavy cars smashing into other big heavy cars. We've got all these giant SUVs playing Hungry Hungry Hippos with little cars, so we ban the little car instead of the man-eating hippo.

There must be a way to import this car to the states, some exemption, some way to apply reason to the unreasonable. Zenn is using the ultra capacitor, and much of the buzz is so positive that it provokes skepticism. This wave of "green" automobiles currently in development is so inspiring, but as per usual, the US manufacturers seem thoroughly uninspired. The Chevy Volt could be the exception, but Chevy is too concerned with making their car look American (big and stupid) that they're missing the boat entirely. Hybrids should be considered a temporary quick fix, and they are magnificent for that purpose. Now there are better options, and that is the direction any smart, forward-thinking company would lean. So Zenn is from Canada, and I could be proud to at least buy a North American car even if that north American country is not the US.

Another interesting car is french-developed Compressed Air Technology (CATs) car designed by Moteur Development International. This car probably does meet US safety standards, and it's cheap (about $18,000.) The body is all carbon fiber, so it can be stronger than steel. There's no frame, so it's light. You'll have to read the story at the link on the CATs system because I can't explain it properly. As far as I can tell, this car runs on magic.

I'm not as excited as I once was about fuel-cell cars. Let the fuel-cells generate electricity at home, and charge your electric car with your home fuel cell. Then you can add some minerals to your fuel cell's exhaust, and make your own Evian.

Who put on the brakes?!

2008-04-07T20:37:00.002-04:00

Infinite Sequences and Series are difficult. Some things go pretty quickly, and some smack you around and call you Toby. This stuff is like shopping at Ross; there's crap everywhere. It's like everything I learned in calculus up to this point just got thrown back in my face. "We'll see what you remember," said Freidrich Bessel. I'm sure I'll wrap my head around this stuff; I just hope I get it before test day!
On a lighter note, my summer schedule has improved. I can't make Spanish 2 fit in, so I'll be done with the summer semester by July 12. I have Spanish 2 in my fall schedule now, but I'm not sure if its really doable. Adding another class eats into my study time, and I have a feeling I'm going to need all the study time I can get.
Next up in Calculus II: Multiplication and Division of Power Series. Gulp.

A little more thirty.

2008-04-05T11:36:00.004-04:00

Milestones decrease after you turn 30, and instead of being fun, they are just kinda boring. Sonya and I have a joke about birthdays after you turn 30; you are just more 30 than you were before. Then you turn 40, and I guess it works the same. My mom likes to say that 55 is an important birthday, but I don't understand why. It shouldn't be any more important than 11, 22, 33, 44, etc. Maybe she's confused by the importance of 25 and 75, but those are clearly quarters of a century. She likes to put positive spins on otherwise mundane events, and maybe that's a good thing. It's easy to be cynical, and being cheery about nothing is pretty difficult. Sometimes I'm worried that she's just surprised to be alive, so every year is a big deal. Perhaps if you live your life that way, you'll never take anything for granted. I've been so stressed out and busy with school that I haven't had much time to really enjoy my free time. I feel like I'm always rushing to get my free time out of the way so I can get back to studying. It's not that I don't enjoy my free time, but I've always been the kind of person who can not sleep if I know of got unfinished business. That's the problem with school; you've always got unfinished business. Even when school gets out, I'm thinking about the next semester. I've got to order my books, refresh my memory on everything I'll need to know for my next semester of classes, and figure out how to make time for the really important people in my life. I'm always afraid that the people I love think that they don't matter to me because I spend so much time studying, but that's not the case. Hopefully, when I finally finish school, things will be different. Of course, then Sonya and I will have kids, careers, and home life, so it will be a challenge to make room for the other things that matter. We'll try our best to stay positive, and maybe after we've accomplished all of that, 55 will seem like a big deal.

Out of synch with the rest of the world.

2008-04-02T11:02:00.004-04:00

You can tell you are out of synch with school semesters and you are taking unique courses when your schedule looks like mine. Luckily my summer semester doesn't look too bad, but my fall semester is the pits. Monday through Thursday I need to be at class at 11:00 am, but the following classes on those days don't start until 7:00 pm. The one exception is Physics II Lab which is on Tuesday at 4:00 PM. That cuts my wait time to three hours on Tuesday. This ridiculous schedule leaves me either having to head home after my first class and doubling my gas expenses or staying at school for 10 hours. I'll see Sonya for an hour in the morning and an hour at night. I guess that's what I get for waiting this long to finish school! So, Elizabeth, Abigail, Kate and Sarah ...stay in school! The good news in that otherwise dreadful schedule is ample study time, however, I will probably need to go to Panera to study because the facilities at TNCC are deplorable. I think the legs on the study tables are held together with Kindergarten paste, the computers here cannot load Gmail for some reason, and the student body looks like the cast of D.C. Cab. I pity the fool who tries to get his learn on in this place! (On a side note, Sonya knows students at William & Mary who do not know who Mr. T is. ...scary.) I'm beginning to fear my Spring '09 schedule. My only hope is that by the Spring I should be fully on track with the Engineering curriculum, so all of those classes should be priorities for the Engineering dept. to staff. Of course, most of the schedule blocks for math professors are going to be filled with College Algebra, Pre-Calculus II, or maybe Calculus II. They might have two sections of Differential Equations to offer, but I would be surprised. My other classes are pretty specialized, so I would be astonished if they offered more than one section. Curses.

Schedule Update!

2008-03-27T12:39:00.002-04:00

My AA from Miami-Dade College has finally paid off. TNCC is giving me credit for College Success Skills, so I can drop that from my summer schedule. I was joking with Edie Gilbert (the person who is charge of reviewing transfer credits) that it seems rediculous for me to take a class on the ins and outs of registering for college classes. I have an AA; I know how to register. She said, "Oh, you have an AA; you don't have to take that class." Yippy! I'm still on track for graduating from TNCC in 2009, but I'm not sure if I'll have to take a class or two in the summer. There are a couple of classes from Miami-Dade that I still have to get TNCC to agree to transfer. Edie Gilbert has been really helpful, so I'm just waiting on approval from the Engineering deptartment.

Whatchoo Bloggin' 'Bout!

2008-03-26T06:30:00.003-04:00

I thought I was studying hard before! TNCC lets you register for the summer and fall together, so I assembled my schedule for the next two semesters. Ouch! The first summer semester lasts from May 19th through July 12, and I'll be taking eight credits! My course load is Chemistry II on Monday and Wednesday from 2:00-4:50, Linear Algebra on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday from 5:00-6:50, and College Success Skills (why do colleges make you take this?) on Tuesday and Thursday from 2:00 to 3:50. The second summer semester starts June 30th and lasts through July 31th, and I'll be taking Spanish II on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 9:00-12:30. I get three weeks off to remember my humanity and then fall starts. I'm actually really looking forward to it. It will be a relatively light Differential Equations, Physics II, Dynamics, and Bowling!! I'm packing all these classes in so I can avoid taking classes summer 2009. I'm pretty sure we'll have our hands full figuring out how to go wherever we'll be heading next. Klaus and I were laughing about people who say, "You ought to have no problems keeping up with school; you're full-time." They must have been art students.

All caught up on Physics

2008-03-23T13:05:00.004-04:00

I finally finished paying the fiddler for all that studying I missed due to our spring break adventures! Phew, que milagro! It's very easy to get behind in physics; that particular class seems to move so much faster than any other class. I benefited from all my hard work in statics because the last section covered in physics was statics! I can do some crazy force and torque calculations now, and I can actually imagine about a million uses for that skill. Today I'm doing the last little bit of catch-up in Spanish, so next week I'll be able to budget my time a little more evenly to school and leisure. We've really only got about 4 weeks left of classes before finals, so it's crunch time. I'll get about a month off and then I'll start the summer semester. I'm planning on taking Linear Algebra which will be Monday through Friday for six weeks, and I will also take my second semester of Spanish which should be a regular 12 week course. I won't get a real look at the schedules until April 7, so I'm not too sure if I'll be able to time my classes well. I can't believe how quickly this semester is flying by; its not too long until I'll have to figure out where to transfer. Will we have to sell our house? Will we move out of state? Will I be accepted anywhere worth going? Who knows!? Maybe I'll get into Georgia Tech and be near my Atlanta family, or maybe I'll go to Michigan Tech and be near mosquitoes. VT would be great, and ODU would be okay depending on the circumstances.

The Agency

2008-03-20T19:01:00.014-04:00

I've been thinking about the years I spent trying to play music for a living and how fast those 10 years flew by. After a pretty terrible semester of college in the fall of 1994, I moved back to Miami from Virginia in hopes to join a band. I arrived in Miami July 5th, 1995 and by October I was in the Agency. I am in school with kids that are the age I was in this picture! EEK! Klaus, Mike and I really grew up together, and they mean more to me now as friends than I ever realized they would. This picture is from one of my first shows in November 1995. We were all really into Rush and the Police and punk music, so that's what we tried to write. It took another year and a half to finally record our first CD, but we were sick of all the songs by the time it came out. The release of Rock to the Apocalypse, named after something our producer Jeremy Dubois used to say, really managed to help our following. If you've heard this CD, you may be shocked to know that people still send me emails to tell me how much those songs mean to them. To me, it means I can't hit skip on my IPOD fast enough. I guess I must like it a little or it wouldn't be on my IPOD. The CD release party for this show allowed me to witness one of the most hilariously memorable events in my life. My dad and my step mom came to the show, and like the great dad my dad is, he wanted to stand up front with Cory. As soon as we started, a mosh pit erupted around Dad and Cory. They looked like the Haunted House pinball game when you get two pin balls at once. Brilliant! We recorded another 10 songs with Jeremy in 1998 but never really finished mixing them. The only versions of those songs I have are rough mixes, so they sound even worse! We started writing new songs and went on our first national tour in 1999 with the Grey AM. It was a lousy tour, but we really managed to have fun. Once you travel the country like that, you really can't help but want to keep doing it. We wrote some more material during and after that tour, and we, the record label, and all those who knew us knew the new songs were better than the previous ten songs, so we recorded the new songs. That material became Engines. We toured a couple more times, but after Klaus suffered some horrible family tragedies, we realized we could not continue. The Agency finally fell apart, Mike joined Dashboard Confessional, and I did nothing. Mike convinced me to join his other new band Seville. We released one CD together and then Mike quit to devote his time to Dashboard Confessional. I released another two CDs under the Seville name. It sucked. It was no fun for me. I missed my friends. By 2003 I was floundering with music. We played a few reunion shows that were remarkably well attended. We decided to write some new songs and released Turn in 2007. It was great to be creative again, and it convinced me that after all the time I had devoted to being a musician, all I wanted was to be at home with my wife. Music is great, but I'm almost 32! I'm glad I saw the country with my friends, I'm glad my music meant something to someone, and I'd love to play some more shows with the guys, but I'm much happier studying engineering. When I finally build a bridge or a skyscraper, the critics won't make fun of my clothes.

Statics and insecurity

2008-03-17T20:47:00.002-04:00

The subject of Statics has intimidated me ever since my good friend Klaus described it to me about ten years ago. The text book, like a physics book, is filled with Greek letters signifying all kinds of abstract notions. The class, now that I'm fully engulfed in it, still intimidates me. Its getting a little less abstract, though. Schools usually insist that physics be a prerequisite, but Thomas Nelson doesn't seem to have that same policy. They should. It's not that you need to know too much physics (you really need to know a ton of trig), but there are a few things that they teach in physics class that you really need. Vector Algebra is a necessity, torque is useful, and experience with relating forces is a big plus. Still, without all that very useful information, I trudged onward. This is what we in the Engineering Student Community like to call "putting the cart before the horse." The good news in all of this after getting our grades back on the first two tests, I got a 93 and 94 respectively. Holy Cow!!!! I need to talk to some actual engineers because I don't feel like an A student. I've heard some folks say that by the time they finished school, they didn't realize they learned anything. I'm sure that's why it takes 3 to 5 years to get a licence. It takes that long to fully put all the pieces together.

Doh!

2008-03-14T08:53:00.002-04:00

I may have accidentally posted on Sonya's blog. I moved it over to mine!
Sorry Sonya! Also, I fixed the post "Building Stairs" so you can see the images. Profound!

Statics Test

2008-03-14T08:48:00.002-04:00

I took a test in statics and its had me nervous. This subject is really interesting and my first purely engineering class. I got a 93! I have never been more proud of a test grade. Apparently the rest of the class did really badly because he said the grades were horrible. He gave a "Pop Test" today that was open book to try to boost the grades. I'm not sure it helped. Statics is something you study for about a week in Physics, and, like the name suggests, you need to set the problems up so that net forces all equal zero and stuff doesn't move. Mainly, we've learned how to break forces down to component vectors, sum forces, and calculate moments. Moments are the engineering equivalent to torque. We've started looking at truss designs and its pretty crazy stuff. I really wish I had taken Physics and Calculus II prior to Statics, but I've just got to work extra hard this semester. I think it will pay off in the end, though.

Sometimes we study things that are just amazing that they are actually know-able. I've included some images of my previous job. These should thoroughly explain my motivation.

Fruit and houseguests?...

2008-03-11T07:31:00.003-04:00

We're now 2/3rds through with our string of trips and house guests. I'm exhausted. It was great having Juliet and Camilo here, and we really can't wait to go visit them in Boston. One of the many great things about having out of town guests is you take the time to see all the local stuff you tend to take for granted. I haven't been to Belle Isle in Richmond for a long time, and it truly is one of my favorite places to spend a day. We were there on one of the windiest days I've ever experienced and a storm was rolling in, so we had to abbreviate our visit more than I would have liked. It was still beautiful. We also took an abbreviated tour of D.C.. It doesn't matter if you are there for a week or for a day, you will walk until your feet are filled with contempt for their masters. The American History Museum is closed for a complete renovation, so there is a very small American History exhibit in the Air & Space Museum. It worked out perfectly for our little trip. Last night we grilled chicken and hung out on our new deck. I lit a fire in the fire pit, and we drank some drinks. It was sweet.

We got up this morning at 5:30 to drop our guests off at the airport. We get about a day and a half to recover and then Sonya's mom arrives. She has been here several times, so we most likely won't be doing too much sightseeing. Honestly, I can't afford any more time away from school. I need to study, study, study. Sonya's mom will likely cook some of my favorite food, and I will be able to do school work. I can't wait to get home, do my physics homework, and eat garbanzo beans. You never knew anyone could make garbanzo an event. I'm not a huge fan of hummus, but she turns those little chicks into something grand. We saw a dish when we were in Spain that looked like something similar, but we couldn't really understand the description on the menu. It turned out to be garbanzo and beef tongue. I had never had beef tongue, so I was intrigued. My curiosity, having now been met, affords me the right to refuse beef tongue if it is ever again offered. Gross. The weather is supposed to be sunny with highs in the 60s when Sonya's mom is here, so we should be able to enjoy the new deck some more! Sonya's mom leaves on Monday, so we can finally get back into our little routines. I need that.

House guests, like fruit, are beautiful, but they tend to get a little too ripe after a week or so.

Spring Break!

2008-03-06T19:20:00.003-05:00

As you may have read on Sonya's blog, we spent a long weekend in Chicago which was pretty great, but when we got home, I went right to back to work on the deck. I'm proud to say, "finito!" I've actually got some more stuff I plan on doing like replacing all the old white plastic lattice with the pressure treated stuff and building a gate to keep the dogs (or maybe kids someday) from getting off the deck. I've cut most of the lattice to size, so all that's left is to tack it up. Its the perfect job for my little electric brad-nailer. This has been one of the most rewarding projects I've ever done. I used just about every tool I own, I kept my creative juices flowing, and I've added value to my home. You can't beat it. Oh yeah, I helped keep the economy chugging along by shopping at the struggling home improvement stores. Home Depot, Lowe's, and Ace all owe me a debt of gratitude. I don't think the beer-brewing industry is struggling, but if it was, it would owe me, too. Here's the last group of deck pictures.