Last night I could still see the grass. This morning, I could barely see our house.
The southern part of Indiana starting right around downtown Indianapolis, got 6 or 8 inches of snow yesterday during the day. Amazingly, we got absolutely nothing where we live. There was a slight dusting in the evening but when we went to bed I could still see the grass.
This morning, as Jen was first to notice, we had about 8 or 10 inches outside. Just imagine what the South side looks like now! Jen had a little trouble getting her car out of the garage. Our road had not been plowed yet, but there were some tracks you could run in. Jen just got stuck a little bit near the end of the driveway. It was nothing a couple reverse-drive-reverse rocks couldn't take care of.
I was about ready to go too, so I had her wait a little bit down the road so we could drive out together. When I got my car out of the garage I just hammered it backwards. Near the end of the driveway I cranked the wheel and did a sweet little spin right into the existing tiretracks. It was like one of those movies where the car slides sideways right into a parking spot. Yeah, I was proud. It was awesome. (As you may or may not know, driving in snow is one of the most highly testosterone producing activities a man can do)
Well, we didn't make it 75 feet around the curve before we came upon an SUV in distress. Apparently the 4WD was out and he was running only on rear-wheel drive. He was fishtailing all over the place and I could see that he was quickly going to wedge his "truck" sideways in the road and be stuck for good. So I got out and ran up to help. I ended up having to push directly sideways on the truck at the back-right corner. He kept fishtailing right and it didn't do any good to push forward. So I ran along the side of the truck pushing sideways as hard as I could. After 20 minutes of pushing, shoveling, and grunting we finally got his "truck" onto the main road.
I find it somewhat amusing that Jen's Cavalier and my Toyota Matrix, both of which are tiny little rice burners, made it out just fine while that guy's SUV couldn't get 10 feet without somebody pushing like crazy. So not only do SUV's hog all the gas, kill more people, and cost twice as much, but they also can't drive for crap in the snow. Great! Let's all buy two! I realize that if the 4WD had been working it may have been a different story, but come on. Don't mind me, I'm just bitter from the frost bite on my toes. I really do hate stupid city people who drive SUVs because they think they're cool or they "need" them, though. I wish they'd just burn their money instead.
Anyway, Jen and I made it to work safe and sound. I followed a Hummer into work. Not one of those toy Hummer H2s you see all the time now, but one of the real honest-to-goodness Hummers of old. My previous tirade about SUVs aside, that thing was absolutely awesome in the snow. It was barreling through everything in its path. I'm just glad I was behind it instead of in front of it! My entire car isn't even as big as one of it's tires. :^)
So I guess we're going to have a white Christmas. Yeah! I've always had a better time on Christmas when there's snow around. I'll talk to you all soon. Merry Christmas!
Thursday, December 23, 2004
Wednesday, December 22, 2004
The Seven Days of Jen
Well, Jen's birthday has come and gone this year. I think she had a pretty good time. Her parents came up earlier in the week for dinner and some cake. That was fun. We drove to Michigan on her birthday (17th) for some more cake.
Since Jen was so nice to me on my birthday this year (she got me a laptop) I decided to do something extra for her this year. I decided on something I deemed the "Seven Days of Jen". I gave her presents for the 7 days leading up to her birthday. Here's what she got:
Day 1: "The Elf" DVD and "The Best of Will Farrel: SNL" DVD
Day 2: New Cell Phone
Day 3: Clothes
Day 4: A $150 shopping spree with her best friend Kim.
Day 5: An MP3 player with an FM tuner for working out.
Day 6: Still hasn't come in the mail. Stupid holidays.
Day 7: Leather jacket with matching leather gloves.
I think she did pretty well. That new cell phone is awesome. It has a camera, video recorder, voice recorder, email, text-messaging, internet browser, games, & more. It's a whole bunch of fun to use. I kind of want to get one now, and I usually hate cell phones.
Now I just have to convince her to get me an HDTV for Christmas....
Since Jen was so nice to me on my birthday this year (she got me a laptop) I decided to do something extra for her this year. I decided on something I deemed the "Seven Days of Jen". I gave her presents for the 7 days leading up to her birthday. Here's what she got:
Day 1: "The Elf" DVD and "The Best of Will Farrel: SNL" DVD
Day 2: New Cell Phone
Day 3: Clothes
Day 4: A $150 shopping spree with her best friend Kim.
Day 5: An MP3 player with an FM tuner for working out.
Day 6: Still hasn't come in the mail. Stupid holidays.
Day 7: Leather jacket with matching leather gloves.
I think she did pretty well. That new cell phone is awesome. It has a camera, video recorder, voice recorder, email, text-messaging, internet browser, games, & more. It's a whole bunch of fun to use. I kind of want to get one now, and I usually hate cell phones.
Now I just have to convince her to get me an HDTV for Christmas....
Friday, December 17, 2004
Rose-Hulman
I had the neat experience this week of giving some lectures at Rose-Hulman. There are 8 sections of ES202 that combine into 4 sections for a two-hour lab. ES202 is the "Introduction to Thermodynamics and Fluids" class for sophomores at Rose. It's made up of 200+ students, mostly mechanical engineers, but also some computer engineers, electrical engineers, and biomedical engineers. I got to give a lecture during the lab period to three of the four groups. Some of the students during the other lab period came to a different lab time, so I almost had 200 students all together.
I spoke to the students about Rolls-Royce and what we do. I introduced them to jet engines, the different parts of the engine, and how those parts work together to create power for different types of situations. Then I described how we go about designing a new engine and gave them some examples of what I have seen on the military side of things. I showed them some videos and some really neat pictures of upcoming technology like the Joint Strike Fighter, V22 Osprey, and Predator drone. Basically, I just gave them an overview of the jet engine and the engineering concepts and methods that go into it.
The students had a great time. The professors told me that they had students come to their office after the sessions to say how much they liked it. That made me feel good. I could tell they were interested, because they paid attention and asked some really good questions, but it's nice to hear that they weren't just faking it. I tend to get pretty excited about this kind of stuff, so I think my enthusiasm probably rubbed off on them a little bit.
I'll tell you what, doing stuff like this makes me realize how much I want to be a professor someday. I can't wait to get a PhD and go back to some engineering college. Rose-Hulman would be a great choice, too. On the other hand, I also realized how valuable real-world experience is when you're presenting this kind of thing. The students were really interested to hear about what the engineering world is really like. Having experience gives you a certain amount of credibility to work with.
I had some professors ask me to do similar things for other classes, like Propulsion Systems, so hopefully I'll get the chance to do this again. Now all I need to do is fanagle a speaking fee out of them. :^) Just kidding!
I spoke to the students about Rolls-Royce and what we do. I introduced them to jet engines, the different parts of the engine, and how those parts work together to create power for different types of situations. Then I described how we go about designing a new engine and gave them some examples of what I have seen on the military side of things. I showed them some videos and some really neat pictures of upcoming technology like the Joint Strike Fighter, V22 Osprey, and Predator drone. Basically, I just gave them an overview of the jet engine and the engineering concepts and methods that go into it.
The students had a great time. The professors told me that they had students come to their office after the sessions to say how much they liked it. That made me feel good. I could tell they were interested, because they paid attention and asked some really good questions, but it's nice to hear that they weren't just faking it. I tend to get pretty excited about this kind of stuff, so I think my enthusiasm probably rubbed off on them a little bit.
I'll tell you what, doing stuff like this makes me realize how much I want to be a professor someday. I can't wait to get a PhD and go back to some engineering college. Rose-Hulman would be a great choice, too. On the other hand, I also realized how valuable real-world experience is when you're presenting this kind of thing. The students were really interested to hear about what the engineering world is really like. Having experience gives you a certain amount of credibility to work with.
I had some professors ask me to do similar things for other classes, like Propulsion Systems, so hopefully I'll get the chance to do this again. Now all I need to do is fanagle a speaking fee out of them. :^) Just kidding!
Saturday, December 11, 2004
Christmas List
Folks have been waiting for our Christmas list, so here it is. You might have to check with Jen or I to make sure we aren't getting any of this stuff for each other. Although, I guess we could just return it so it's not a big deal.
I've tried to include some links to examples of the stuff. We'll keep updating this post as we think of stuff, so feel free to check back.
Mark's List:
Lord of the Rings, Return of the King - Extended Edition DVD
Knights of the Old Republic 2 - Xbox Video Game
Fable - Xbox Video Game
Lord of the Rings, Return of the King - Xbox Video Game
Lord of the Rings, The Third Age - Xbox Video Game
Brown dress belt (preferably with a silver buckle) 34-36 waist
Table Saw (Something like this or this)
30" or larger wood clamps
Cheap multimeter
Wok (a nice one because we've trashed ours already)
Wireless headphones (900 MHz) something like this.
Jen's List:
Coffee maker with a wake-up timer (makes coffee in the morning)
Whole coffee beans, different fun kinds.
Black knee-high boots. You'll have to ask her.
Colorwave green pasta dishes, gravy bowl, or anything else fun.
Framed art (Ansel Adams & Monet are her favorites)
Fleeces (size medium) something like this, preferably full-zip though.
Plain long sleeve t-shirts. All different colors, size medium.
Work out clothes.
Burgundy or light tan throw pillows to match our new couch (Fabric #C845132, I think).
Christmas decor, we've got nothin'.
Walkman with a radio.
I've tried to include some links to examples of the stuff. We'll keep updating this post as we think of stuff, so feel free to check back.
Mark's List:
Lord of the Rings, Return of the King - Extended Edition DVD
Knights of the Old Republic 2 - Xbox Video Game
Fable - Xbox Video Game
Lord of the Rings, Return of the King - Xbox Video Game
Lord of the Rings, The Third Age - Xbox Video Game
Brown dress belt (preferably with a silver buckle) 34-36 waist
Table Saw (Something like this or this)
30" or larger wood clamps
Cheap multimeter
Wok (a nice one because we've trashed ours already)
Wireless headphones (900 MHz) something like this.
Jen's List:
Coffee maker with a wake-up timer (makes coffee in the morning)
Whole coffee beans, different fun kinds.
Black knee-high boots. You'll have to ask her.
Colorwave green pasta dishes, gravy bowl, or anything else fun.
Framed art (Ansel Adams & Monet are her favorites)
Fleeces (size medium) something like this, preferably full-zip though.
Plain long sleeve t-shirts. All different colors, size medium.
Work out clothes.
Burgundy or light tan throw pillows to match our new couch (Fabric #C845132, I think).
Christmas decor, we've got nothin'.
Walkman with a radio.
Friday, December 10, 2004
The Christmas Season Is Here
Well, we've put up a Christmas tree and that means that the Christmas season must officially be here. Of course, that's means I have to go shopping. Ugh. That's okay though, at least I know Jen will like her present of a big screen TV that I'm getting her. I'm sure I'll... oops, I mean she'll love it.
Our Christmas Tree
In years past we've driven to Michigan in a blizzard. We're hoping this year that won't happen. We're not driving up on Christmas Eve, but we are going up next weekend. We apologize in advance if our presence brings about the next ice age.
Mosby is starting to show signs of getting bigger. He's getting a little longer and less rotund. Although if he keeps eating the way he has been he ought to get back to his regular rotund self rather quickly. He's finally figured out that meowing by the food bowl pretty much guarantees getting some grub. He's also figured out that meowing separately for Jen and I will get him grub twice. We rarely are home at the same time so we never know who's fed him yet. He's lovin' it. Here's an updated pic for those of you keeping a picture of the (great)grandchild in your wallet. :^)
Mosby in December 2004
Our Christmas Tree
In years past we've driven to Michigan in a blizzard. We're hoping this year that won't happen. We're not driving up on Christmas Eve, but we are going up next weekend. We apologize in advance if our presence brings about the next ice age.
Mosby is starting to show signs of getting bigger. He's getting a little longer and less rotund. Although if he keeps eating the way he has been he ought to get back to his regular rotund self rather quickly. He's finally figured out that meowing by the food bowl pretty much guarantees getting some grub. He's also figured out that meowing separately for Jen and I will get him grub twice. We rarely are home at the same time so we never know who's fed him yet. He's lovin' it. Here's an updated pic for those of you keeping a picture of the (great)grandchild in your wallet. :^)
Mosby in December 2004
Monday, December 06, 2004
The Battle Ends
After 1250 tiny-print pages and more than 6 months of lunch-time reading I've finally finished War & Peace. It was definitely an interesting book. The story line seemed somewhat drab, at least from the standpoint of what happened to the characters, but the history in the book was really neat. I read a Napolean biography just before starting this book so it was neat to see the view of Napolean's Russian campaign from a Russian viewpoint. The descriptions of Russian culture around 1812 were also pretty interesting.
Aside from the history, the best part about the book had to be the analysis of the human psyche that Tolstoy put into the book. Most of the story consists of describing the thoughts and feelings of the characters. Tolstoy doesn't describe the feelings as an outsider looking in though. He describes feelings and thoughts just as they would occur to the character. It makes for some neat insights into how & why people think the way they do. It's fun to see the thoughts of the characters develop though the story.
It was long but I think worth it. If nothing else at least I can say that I've read War & Peace. You'll have to decide for yourself if that makes me an intelligent person or a glutton for punishment.
Aside from the history, the best part about the book had to be the analysis of the human psyche that Tolstoy put into the book. Most of the story consists of describing the thoughts and feelings of the characters. Tolstoy doesn't describe the feelings as an outsider looking in though. He describes feelings and thoughts just as they would occur to the character. It makes for some neat insights into how & why people think the way they do. It's fun to see the thoughts of the characters develop though the story.
It was long but I think worth it. If nothing else at least I can say that I've read War & Peace. You'll have to decide for yourself if that makes me an intelligent person or a glutton for punishment.
Saturday, December 04, 2004
Nothing to see here.
Just checking in to report that.... well, there's nothing to report. Not much has been going on lately. Jen started her new rotation today. She's on call tonight, too. What fun! I've been nice and busy at work. Thank goodness other folks are as slow as I am because I feel like everything is taking twice as long as it should. Ugh!
Oh yeah, we did get some free grub last night. Jen's residency program is trying to get new recruits right now. They take the applicants out to dinner and the current residents (and their husbands) get the very difficult task of eating the free food right along with them. We went to a nice little place called Bertollini's downtown. It's a fancy italian joint. We probably spent $80 between the two of us. Of course, it's hard to feel guilty when they're using Jen for slave labor. About 3 of those meals a week and she might just be making minimum wage. Yeah, we're not bitter. :^)
Oh yeah, we did get some free grub last night. Jen's residency program is trying to get new recruits right now. They take the applicants out to dinner and the current residents (and their husbands) get the very difficult task of eating the free food right along with them. We went to a nice little place called Bertollini's downtown. It's a fancy italian joint. We probably spent $80 between the two of us. Of course, it's hard to feel guilty when they're using Jen for slave labor. About 3 of those meals a week and she might just be making minimum wage. Yeah, we're not bitter. :^)
Saturday, November 27, 2004
Happy Turkey Day(s)!!!
Thanksgiving was great this year. We managed to make it to three total Thanksgiving events, two in Michigan and one at our house in Indianapolis. It was great to see everybody. Here's a couple of pics of everybody at the Caswell Thanksgiving festivities in Michigan.
Grandpa Takes In The Game
The girls.
Today Jen's family drove up from Bloomington to have dinner with us. I cooked and managed not to screw anything up. Of course, I did make enough food to feed an army. Seriously, by the time we were done eating we barely even put a dent in the food. The potatoes were piled so high that even after dinner they were still at a level above the top of the bowl. Oops! Apparently Jen and I will be eating ham and other leftovers for about 3 weeks. Good thing we like to eat!
The Lucas Family
Nicole pretends to read.
Grandpa Takes In The Game
The girls.
Today Jen's family drove up from Bloomington to have dinner with us. I cooked and managed not to screw anything up. Of course, I did make enough food to feed an army. Seriously, by the time we were done eating we barely even put a dent in the food. The potatoes were piled so high that even after dinner they were still at a level above the top of the bowl. Oops! Apparently Jen and I will be eating ham and other leftovers for about 3 weeks. Good thing we like to eat!
The Lucas Family
Nicole pretends to read.
Sunday, November 21, 2004
Our house
I realized this weekend that I hadn't posted any pictures of our house for everybody to see. When we got home we saw that our nice tree out front had finally changed color so we figured it was a great time to take a picture.
Our House
Our House
Tuesday, November 16, 2004
Pumpin' Iron
Well, I'm still a little confused as to just how it happened, but Jen and I joined a gym this past weekend. There's a family owned mini-franchise place called "Cardinal Fitness" here in Indianapolis. They're really cheap and everybody there seems pretty nice. $32 a month for the both of us. That's less than you usually have to pay for one person.
They're small but they have good stuff. They don't have a pool or raquetball courts or anything, but they do have all new equipment. It's kind of nice that they aren't too big because that limits the exercise freaks that you have to deal with. There's plenty of cardio equipment and enough weight equipment to accomplish everything we need. It's pretty comparable to what they had at Stanford.
Jen and I have each been there twice now and the pain is definitely present. I couldn't really move my arms yesterday. Apparently my biceps were on the brink of explosion, or at least they felt like it. We'll have to take it easy for a while I guess. It feels good to be healthy though. I know I'm getting older because my motivation has moved from looking good to feeling good.
They're small but they have good stuff. They don't have a pool or raquetball courts or anything, but they do have all new equipment. It's kind of nice that they aren't too big because that limits the exercise freaks that you have to deal with. There's plenty of cardio equipment and enough weight equipment to accomplish everything we need. It's pretty comparable to what they had at Stanford.
Jen and I have each been there twice now and the pain is definitely present. I couldn't really move my arms yesterday. Apparently my biceps were on the brink of explosion, or at least they felt like it. We'll have to take it easy for a while I guess. It feels good to be healthy though. I know I'm getting older because my motivation has moved from looking good to feeling good.
The amazing swimming Mosby!
Mosby has done some funny stuff since he's moved in, especially as he gets used to his lack of claws. But he topped it all last night as he went for a little swim in the toilet. He got himself nice and soaked. We not sure what happened but he must have just fell in. We're keeping the lid down now.
Saturday, November 13, 2004
Congrats!
I'm sure everyone who reads this already knows, but congratulations to Dad for becoming Associate Speaker Pro-Temp. Nice work!
Friday, November 12, 2004
The Kitty Is Surviving
Well, the cat has officially made it an entire week without destroying anything or having anything bad happen. The day after we got him he had a blown pupil, but that's almost healed. His one eye was completly dialated. It was huge. It still detected light, because he would squint, but it wouldn't contract. Weird.
The vet said that happens sometimes, though. Apparently they have a long optic nerve, and things like trauma or infection can inflame it and cause these kinds of problems. He didn't really know the cause, but he pulled the standard doctor trick: He gave us some antibioitics and said to check back if it didn't get better. We wonder if it was just a side effect of the anisthetic from the surgery. Who knows? At least it's getting better though.
We also put some "soft paws" on Mosby. He was scratching us quite a bit. Not on purpose, just when he lays down he likes to alternate stretching out each of his paws. It's actually kind of like a mini massage, but it can hurt when he gets you just right. We didn't want to get him declawed yet because, frankly, we don't want to spend the cash until we know he isn't going to keel over on us from his eye thing. So we got these little caps to glue onto his claws. It was a fairly easy thing to do.
The funny part has been watching Mo get used to not having claws. He likes to walk along the back of our chair, stand up on the back, and bat at the blinds. Well, since he doesn't have claws he can't hold himself up. He keeps wiping out and falling off the chair. It's pretty hilarious. And now the little mini-massages are quite nice. Of course, they aren't nice at 5:30 in the morning like today, but they're nice at other times.
The vet said that happens sometimes, though. Apparently they have a long optic nerve, and things like trauma or infection can inflame it and cause these kinds of problems. He didn't really know the cause, but he pulled the standard doctor trick: He gave us some antibioitics and said to check back if it didn't get better. We wonder if it was just a side effect of the anisthetic from the surgery. Who knows? At least it's getting better though.
We also put some "soft paws" on Mosby. He was scratching us quite a bit. Not on purpose, just when he lays down he likes to alternate stretching out each of his paws. It's actually kind of like a mini massage, but it can hurt when he gets you just right. We didn't want to get him declawed yet because, frankly, we don't want to spend the cash until we know he isn't going to keel over on us from his eye thing. So we got these little caps to glue onto his claws. It was a fairly easy thing to do.
The funny part has been watching Mo get used to not having claws. He likes to walk along the back of our chair, stand up on the back, and bat at the blinds. Well, since he doesn't have claws he can't hold himself up. He keeps wiping out and falling off the chair. It's pretty hilarious. And now the little mini-massages are quite nice. Of course, they aren't nice at 5:30 in the morning like today, but they're nice at other times.
Thursday, November 04, 2004
Mosby comes home.
Jen and I picked up the new cat today. We got him home and he seems to be doing pretty well. He's mostly just exploring right now. We decided to call him Mosby. Not sure where that name came from, but it seems fun. Here's a pic...
Mosby getting used to the new digs.
Mosby getting used to the new digs.
Monday, November 01, 2004
Pet Attempt: The Sequel
Jen and I just got done adopting a cat. Yup, you heard me right, a cat. It must have been a momentary weakness on my part. I'll post some pictures (and a name) when we pick him up Thursday.
Washington D.C. Trip
I just got back from a trip to Rolls-Royce headquarters in Chantilly, Virginia. They took all the “Early Career, High Potential” members from North America and sent us there to get a feel for the upper levels of the company. There were 33 of us all together, with 15 coming from Indianapolis. We were all somewhere between 25 and 30 years old. I think I was one of the younger folks (at least maturity wise! Just kidding! :^).
I flew out on Monday. The put us up at a really nice hotel called Westfields Marriott. It was a pretty fancy place. We didn’t do anything Monday night so I just got to relax and watch some baseball (go Sox!).
On Tuesday morning we started off with some meetings at the headquarters. The Rolls-Royce North America President, Jim Guyette, began with a half hour spiel about the ECHP program and what it means to Rolls-Royce. It was an inspiring speech, but it was a little daunting to hear that the 33 of us in that room were expected to be running the company in the future. Yeah, right!
After Mr. Guyette’s speech we heard from eight other heads of the business. The CEOs of Civil, Defense (which I’m under), Energy, and Marine all talked with us. The leaders of the financial, human resources, legal, and corporate communications divisions also spoke. It was nice to hear about the company from the leaders and get to ask them questions. They talked too long and we asked too many questions, so we were way over time for the morning.
After lunch we went down to Washington, D.C. to the Capitol building. We drove buy all the memorials, Smithsonian museums, and government departments. It was neat to see. We ended up at the House of Representatives committee building. We went into the Committee for International Affairs room and sat down at the big chairs up front. Then we had some folks come and talk to us about government on “The Hill”.
We have four lobbyists in Washington that talk with everybody to try and swing things for Rolls-Royce. There is an ex-Senator, Ed Pees, an ex-general, Mike Ryan, and a couple staffers. They were all neat people. They told us about their jobs and what they do for the company. They also had staffers from some others Senators/Reps come in to speak with us. It was fascinating. I’m sure my Dad would have loved to be there. As it was, I grabbed some “International Affairs” stationary for him. I would have gotten more but I just couldn’t seem to pry any paintings off the wall.
We spent all afternoon at the Capitol and then bussed it back to the hotel. They wined and dined us all night and we got a chance to speak with all the people we heard that morning. It was so strange to realize that we were talking face-to-face with the 10 most powerful people of RRNA. They were all great people, very friendly and talkative, and great leaders. One lady I talked with, the head of Corporate Communications, worked in the White House for Reagan and the first George Bush. Wow! They finished up with a nice surf-&-turf dinner and some dessert. Then it was back to the room at 10:00 for some more baseball.
The next morning we headed back toward the Capitol. This time we went to the Pentagon. We couldn’t go inside because it would have taken too long to get through security, so instead we went to the Marine headquarters right next door. A couple young Marines told us about their jobs and how they use our equipment and plan for budgets. Then a four-star general, introduced only as “Spider”, came in to speak with us. What a neat guy! He was really excited about what he did. I asked him for his thoughts on Afghanistan and he seemed to be very excited about what we’ve done there. Apparently the elections went off without a hitch and the citizens of that country are ecstatic to be free and vote for the first time in their lives.
After that we went to the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum. There are two museums. The one by the Capitol houses small things. The one we went to, by the airport, houses the big stuff. There was an SR-71 Blackbird, a Concorde, a Space-Shuttle prototype, tons of fighter jets, even an F-35B Joint Strike Fighter (which I work on). Neat stuff. Unfortunately our tour guide decided to suck our brains out by giving the most excruciatingly boring tour of all time. He was a nice guy but he sure didn’t know when to say when. Ughh!
Well, that’s it. I got stuck in Newark on the way home and had to spend the night there. That stunk, but it could have been worse. Can’t complain too much after an experience like that. Good to be home with the ol’ lady though!
I flew out on Monday. The put us up at a really nice hotel called Westfields Marriott. It was a pretty fancy place. We didn’t do anything Monday night so I just got to relax and watch some baseball (go Sox!).
On Tuesday morning we started off with some meetings at the headquarters. The Rolls-Royce North America President, Jim Guyette, began with a half hour spiel about the ECHP program and what it means to Rolls-Royce. It was an inspiring speech, but it was a little daunting to hear that the 33 of us in that room were expected to be running the company in the future. Yeah, right!
After Mr. Guyette’s speech we heard from eight other heads of the business. The CEOs of Civil, Defense (which I’m under), Energy, and Marine all talked with us. The leaders of the financial, human resources, legal, and corporate communications divisions also spoke. It was nice to hear about the company from the leaders and get to ask them questions. They talked too long and we asked too many questions, so we were way over time for the morning.
After lunch we went down to Washington, D.C. to the Capitol building. We drove buy all the memorials, Smithsonian museums, and government departments. It was neat to see. We ended up at the House of Representatives committee building. We went into the Committee for International Affairs room and sat down at the big chairs up front. Then we had some folks come and talk to us about government on “The Hill”.
We have four lobbyists in Washington that talk with everybody to try and swing things for Rolls-Royce. There is an ex-Senator, Ed Pees, an ex-general, Mike Ryan, and a couple staffers. They were all neat people. They told us about their jobs and what they do for the company. They also had staffers from some others Senators/Reps come in to speak with us. It was fascinating. I’m sure my Dad would have loved to be there. As it was, I grabbed some “International Affairs” stationary for him. I would have gotten more but I just couldn’t seem to pry any paintings off the wall.
We spent all afternoon at the Capitol and then bussed it back to the hotel. They wined and dined us all night and we got a chance to speak with all the people we heard that morning. It was so strange to realize that we were talking face-to-face with the 10 most powerful people of RRNA. They were all great people, very friendly and talkative, and great leaders. One lady I talked with, the head of Corporate Communications, worked in the White House for Reagan and the first George Bush. Wow! They finished up with a nice surf-&-turf dinner and some dessert. Then it was back to the room at 10:00 for some more baseball.
The next morning we headed back toward the Capitol. This time we went to the Pentagon. We couldn’t go inside because it would have taken too long to get through security, so instead we went to the Marine headquarters right next door. A couple young Marines told us about their jobs and how they use our equipment and plan for budgets. Then a four-star general, introduced only as “Spider”, came in to speak with us. What a neat guy! He was really excited about what he did. I asked him for his thoughts on Afghanistan and he seemed to be very excited about what we’ve done there. Apparently the elections went off without a hitch and the citizens of that country are ecstatic to be free and vote for the first time in their lives.
After that we went to the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum. There are two museums. The one by the Capitol houses small things. The one we went to, by the airport, houses the big stuff. There was an SR-71 Blackbird, a Concorde, a Space-Shuttle prototype, tons of fighter jets, even an F-35B Joint Strike Fighter (which I work on). Neat stuff. Unfortunately our tour guide decided to suck our brains out by giving the most excruciatingly boring tour of all time. He was a nice guy but he sure didn’t know when to say when. Ughh!
Well, that’s it. I got stuck in Newark on the way home and had to spend the night there. That stunk, but it could have been worse. Can’t complain too much after an experience like that. Good to be home with the ol’ lady though!
Technical Assistant Position
Well, the results are in and I didn't make the cut for the technical assistant position. Apparently they were looking for someone with actual talent. Who knew?! :-)
While I'm a little disappointed, I must say I'm a little bit relieved as well. That would have been a real long time to leave Jen back in Indy all by her lonesome self. It sure would have been neat to go to Europe for a while though.
I'm still keeping my options open for other UK opportunities. I just got an email the other day about special scholarships & secondments. They tend to be for 3 months, instead of the 6 I was considering. That would be much more bearable. Of course, I wouldn't be the numero uno coffee fetcher for the biggest engineer in the company. But it would still be neat.
I guess that's it for now. I've got some special assignment coming down the pipe, plus in December I'm going to do some lecturing at Rose-Hulman. So I've still got some neat stuff in store at work. I'll keep you updated.
While I'm a little disappointed, I must say I'm a little bit relieved as well. That would have been a real long time to leave Jen back in Indy all by her lonesome self. It sure would have been neat to go to Europe for a while though.
I'm still keeping my options open for other UK opportunities. I just got an email the other day about special scholarships & secondments. They tend to be for 3 months, instead of the 6 I was considering. That would be much more bearable. Of course, I wouldn't be the numero uno coffee fetcher for the biggest engineer in the company. But it would still be neat.
I guess that's it for now. I've got some special assignment coming down the pipe, plus in December I'm going to do some lecturing at Rose-Hulman. So I've still got some neat stuff in store at work. I'll keep you updated.
Sunday, October 24, 2004
Update
Hi everyone! I know it's been a while since I wrote anything. That's mostly because I'm lazy, but partly because not much has been going on.
I haven't heard anything from the UK job. They told me they would inform us either way, so no news isn't bad news, it's just no news. I'm going to send an email next week and see if I can figure out what's going on.
Jen and I went to Tennessee at the end of last month. We went to Pigeon Forge for a couple days just to hang out and relax. We rented a nice, although overpriced, cabin just outside the city. We did a little shopping and some hiking. It was nice. Here's a quick pic of a river we hiked by.
Little River in Great Smokey Mountain National Park.
I guess that's pretty much it. I went home friday night. It was good to see everyone again. Plus, I got some pie, always a good thing! Okay, I'll write later.
I haven't heard anything from the UK job. They told me they would inform us either way, so no news isn't bad news, it's just no news. I'm going to send an email next week and see if I can figure out what's going on.
Jen and I went to Tennessee at the end of last month. We went to Pigeon Forge for a couple days just to hang out and relax. We rented a nice, although overpriced, cabin just outside the city. We did a little shopping and some hiking. It was nice. Here's a quick pic of a river we hiked by.
Little River in Great Smokey Mountain National Park.
I guess that's pretty much it. I went home friday night. It was good to see everyone again. Plus, I got some pie, always a good thing! Okay, I'll write later.
Thursday, September 30, 2004
Interview
Well, I had the interview this morning. The video conference worked except that I couldn't see them. At least I got to do the interview though.
I think it went pretty well. It was actually a pretty "easy" interview in that they didn't ask a lot of hard questions. That aspect was somewhat disappointing because I didn't get a chance to speak with them about some of the things I had done. Hopefully that won't hurt my chances. I don't get the feeling that it will.
It went well though. No awkward pauses or rambling answers. I'm not sure how many people made that first cut (~10) but I'll find out about the next cut in a couple weeks. I would guess that my chances are pretty much even with the others.
I did find out that if I get the job, it would start in December instead of January. I would still get to come home for Christmas though. I think that would actually work out fairly nicely.
That's all for now. Bye!
I think it went pretty well. It was actually a pretty "easy" interview in that they didn't ask a lot of hard questions. That aspect was somewhat disappointing because I didn't get a chance to speak with them about some of the things I had done. Hopefully that won't hurt my chances. I don't get the feeling that it will.
It went well though. No awkward pauses or rambling answers. I'm not sure how many people made that first cut (~10) but I'll find out about the next cut in a couple weeks. I would guess that my chances are pretty much even with the others.
I did find out that if I get the job, it would start in December instead of January. I would still get to come home for Christmas though. I think that would actually work out fairly nicely.
That's all for now. Bye!
Monday, September 27, 2004
Delayed Interview
Well, I'm sure everyone will wonder how the interview went. Unfortunatley we had some trouble getting the video conference connection to work. I blame the engineers. By the time it was working we decided to just reschedule for Thursday so we could talk for the full time.
So, no info yet. We're off to Tennessee so I'll let you know later.
So, no info yet. We're off to Tennessee so I'll let you know later.
Thursday, September 23, 2004
I'm back!
Well, I know it's been quite a while since I last posted, but we had some bad news so I didn't much feel like writing about it. Back at the beginning of the month our dog Jessie was hit and killed by a car. :-( Needless to say we were pretty sad for a while. We're trying to decide now if we want to get another dog or just hold off for a while. We'd only had her for 3 weeks!
Except for that things have been going pretty well. I've been put into a group of young folks at work known as Early Career High Potential (ECHP). We're apparently supposed to be the people with the most potential for success in the future. Rolls-Royce wants to give us lots of help & advice in advancing our career. Today I got to meet the president of Rolls-Royce Indianapolis, Steve Dwyer. He was quite a fantastic guy, very inspirational & easy to talk to. He explained the program and told us what will be going on.
As part of the ECHP thing, next month I'm going to start a "special project" that will broaden my experience. It won't have anything to do with my current job and it will only last for a couple months. I don't know what it is yet though. I'll let you know.
To top it all off, the 16 of us in the program get to go to Washington DC at the end of October. It's a huge deal! We get to meet all of the Chief's of the various Rolls-Royce North America sites (I think there are 8 or 9 all together). We get a tour of Capitol hill, complete with discussions about our Lobbyists there in Washington & how that all works. Then, the next day we go to the Pentagon for a big tour. Apparently we're going to be surrounded by big-wigs for two days. It's a fantastic opportunity (a little intimidating) and it should be a lot of fun. Especially since I've never been to DC.
Besides the ECHP thing, I've also got another neat career opportunity playing out. I was nominated to apply for a position as Technical Assistant to the Director of Engineering & Technology for Rolls-Royce (global). I would be working direclty for one of the highest level people in the company, worldwide! How neat is that? It would mean leaving Jen here for 6 months while I go to the UK, but we talked it over and think it'll be just fine. Not that it won't be hard. Anyway, I applied last week and I found out yesterday that I made the downselect to 10 people (from I don't know how many applicants world-wide). I have a video-conference interview on Monday. After that they'll downselect again to 3 people and those 3 will fly to the UK for face-to-face interviews with Mike Howse (the big wig). I'm a little nervous but it's quite an honor to even make the first cut. Wish me luck in my interview!
Well, I guess that's it for now. Jen and I get free dinner tonight from her hospital. Gotta love those doctor perks! See ya everybody!
Except for that things have been going pretty well. I've been put into a group of young folks at work known as Early Career High Potential (ECHP). We're apparently supposed to be the people with the most potential for success in the future. Rolls-Royce wants to give us lots of help & advice in advancing our career. Today I got to meet the president of Rolls-Royce Indianapolis, Steve Dwyer. He was quite a fantastic guy, very inspirational & easy to talk to. He explained the program and told us what will be going on.
As part of the ECHP thing, next month I'm going to start a "special project" that will broaden my experience. It won't have anything to do with my current job and it will only last for a couple months. I don't know what it is yet though. I'll let you know.
To top it all off, the 16 of us in the program get to go to Washington DC at the end of October. It's a huge deal! We get to meet all of the Chief's of the various Rolls-Royce North America sites (I think there are 8 or 9 all together). We get a tour of Capitol hill, complete with discussions about our Lobbyists there in Washington & how that all works. Then, the next day we go to the Pentagon for a big tour. Apparently we're going to be surrounded by big-wigs for two days. It's a fantastic opportunity (a little intimidating) and it should be a lot of fun. Especially since I've never been to DC.
Besides the ECHP thing, I've also got another neat career opportunity playing out. I was nominated to apply for a position as Technical Assistant to the Director of Engineering & Technology for Rolls-Royce (global). I would be working direclty for one of the highest level people in the company, worldwide! How neat is that? It would mean leaving Jen here for 6 months while I go to the UK, but we talked it over and think it'll be just fine. Not that it won't be hard. Anyway, I applied last week and I found out yesterday that I made the downselect to 10 people (from I don't know how many applicants world-wide). I have a video-conference interview on Monday. After that they'll downselect again to 3 people and those 3 will fly to the UK for face-to-face interviews with Mike Howse (the big wig). I'm a little nervous but it's quite an honor to even make the first cut. Wish me luck in my interview!
Well, I guess that's it for now. Jen and I get free dinner tonight from her hospital. Gotta love those doctor perks! See ya everybody!
Wednesday, September 01, 2004
Class
Well, class has started for me this fall. I decided to just take a single class. I was going to take two but orientation changed my mind. Apparently the second class, computer graphics, wasn't really what I thought it was. It didn't really fit with my plan. And they weren't offering much else either.
So, I'm only taking Data Structures & Algorithms. It looks like it will be pretty neat, but hard. Lot's of math & coding, which I like, but also lots of proofs, which I don't.
On the plus side, my prof just screwed up two proofs in a row from chapter 1. Of course, it's hard to tell through the broken English. Do I sound bitter? :^) One thing about it, class at IUPUI definitely makes me appreciate my education at Rose & Stanford that much more.
But I think I'll learn a lot on the topic so it should be fun. Okay, by everybody!
P.S. Jessie is getting slowly better, but still snotting all over the place. No puking though!
So, I'm only taking Data Structures & Algorithms. It looks like it will be pretty neat, but hard. Lot's of math & coding, which I like, but also lots of proofs, which I don't.
On the plus side, my prof just screwed up two proofs in a row from chapter 1. Of course, it's hard to tell through the broken English. Do I sound bitter? :^) One thing about it, class at IUPUI definitely makes me appreciate my education at Rose & Stanford that much more.
But I think I'll learn a lot on the topic so it should be fun. Okay, by everybody!
P.S. Jessie is getting slowly better, but still snotting all over the place. No puking though!
Thursday, August 26, 2004
Jessie update
Well, Jessie is in recovery now from a little doggy sickness. Apparently she came down with a fairly bad case of kennel cough. She was coughing & hacking & sneezing all over the place. But the worst part was when she threw up on the carpet. That got her relegated to the garage for a while.
But we took her to the vet last night and they gave us some cough pills to help her with the irritated throat. I guess she'll just have to get over the cold on her own, there isn't anything they can really do to treat it. They said that over 50% of dogs that come from a shelter get kennel cough. Wow! She appears to be doing better though so let's hope it goes away quickly.
So now we've made through explosive poo, explosive yak, and dog snot sprays. I'm not sure if there is anything else that can come out of her. Let's hope not!
But we took her to the vet last night and they gave us some cough pills to help her with the irritated throat. I guess she'll just have to get over the cold on her own, there isn't anything they can really do to treat it. They said that over 50% of dogs that come from a shelter get kennel cough. Wow! She appears to be doing better though so let's hope it goes away quickly.
So now we've made through explosive poo, explosive yak, and dog snot sprays. I'm not sure if there is anything else that can come out of her. Let's hope not!
Monday, August 23, 2004
Jessie joins the Caswells!
Well, after some long and hard lobbying from Jen we finally decided to get a dog. We decided that it would be best to try and get an older dog from a pound. A puppy might be a bit much for us right now. And we're definitely glad of that decision in hindsight.
So we looked around a bit and finally found some great dogs at the Indianapolis City Shelter. We had it narrowed down to a Harrier (large Beagle) and a Black Lab. We finally went with the Lab because we had heard that hounds, like the Harrier, need a ton of attention & don't like to be left alone. That wouldn't be good since we won't be around sometimes. Plus, I was pretty biased toward the Lab because I grew up with them. They're just awesome dogs!
Well, we picked her up just in time. When I went to get her another couple had just finished taking her for a walk and were going to get her the next morning. But I got in line and managed to get her before closing time. Score!
Before we get to interesting stories we should show some pictures. Her name is Jessie, she's one year old, and she seems to be house trained (more on that later). Here's the pics...
This is Jessie in "chillin' out" mode.
This is Jessie getting ready to lunge at Mark's camera and take off. She missed.
As cute as she might look in those pictures, we've had a little bit of trouble getting her acclimated to the environment. For one, she seems to be a very needy puppy right now. I talked with some folks (vets) who said that shelter dogs can sometimes be like this. They don't want to leave the pack (us) because they got left behind once before. But I guess this will settle down over the next few months. Until then she'll be whining like mad when we leave for work & following us all over the house. It's actually kind of endearing (except for the barking).
Now, as much as we've enjoyed her, there have also been some bad spots. I was ready to send her back to the pound (or the moon) this morning but Jen's cooler head & motherly ways won out. After waking us up at 4:30 in the morning for the third of the past 5 nights, we had to put her in her cage in the garage. Well, when I got up this morning there appeared to be some sort of small explosion in there. She had poo'd & then managed to spread it all over the place. So, instead of going to church we got to clean her & the garage & the cage up. What fun!
That little incident got her on my naughty list for the morning. But, possibly because she felt the noose tightening, she was a perfect little doggy for the rest of the day. So right now we're all good. But one more explosive poo incident and we're gonna talk. Just kidding, she's here to stay. :^)
Well, I guess that's it. I start classes this week & Jen's still working her butt off. Perhaps the newest member of the Caswell tribe will provide some much needed fun for those off hours.
So we looked around a bit and finally found some great dogs at the Indianapolis City Shelter. We had it narrowed down to a Harrier (large Beagle) and a Black Lab. We finally went with the Lab because we had heard that hounds, like the Harrier, need a ton of attention & don't like to be left alone. That wouldn't be good since we won't be around sometimes. Plus, I was pretty biased toward the Lab because I grew up with them. They're just awesome dogs!
Well, we picked her up just in time. When I went to get her another couple had just finished taking her for a walk and were going to get her the next morning. But I got in line and managed to get her before closing time. Score!
Before we get to interesting stories we should show some pictures. Her name is Jessie, she's one year old, and she seems to be house trained (more on that later). Here's the pics...
This is Jessie in "chillin' out" mode.
This is Jessie getting ready to lunge at Mark's camera and take off. She missed.
As cute as she might look in those pictures, we've had a little bit of trouble getting her acclimated to the environment. For one, she seems to be a very needy puppy right now. I talked with some folks (vets) who said that shelter dogs can sometimes be like this. They don't want to leave the pack (us) because they got left behind once before. But I guess this will settle down over the next few months. Until then she'll be whining like mad when we leave for work & following us all over the house. It's actually kind of endearing (except for the barking).
Now, as much as we've enjoyed her, there have also been some bad spots. I was ready to send her back to the pound (or the moon) this morning but Jen's cooler head & motherly ways won out. After waking us up at 4:30 in the morning for the third of the past 5 nights, we had to put her in her cage in the garage. Well, when I got up this morning there appeared to be some sort of small explosion in there. She had poo'd & then managed to spread it all over the place. So, instead of going to church we got to clean her & the garage & the cage up. What fun!
That little incident got her on my naughty list for the morning. But, possibly because she felt the noose tightening, she was a perfect little doggy for the rest of the day. So right now we're all good. But one more explosive poo incident and we're gonna talk. Just kidding, she's here to stay. :^)
Well, I guess that's it. I start classes this week & Jen's still working her butt off. Perhaps the newest member of the Caswell tribe will provide some much needed fun for those off hours.
Monday, August 16, 2004
Jen gives in to my constant whining..... awesome!
Well, after listening to my whining for about a year, Jen decided to get me a laptop for my birthday. She let me pick it out for myself and pretty much gave me free reign. Of course, I got some input from her because I have a hard time making up my mind between options sometimes.
I ended up getting an HP zt3000 with all kinds of tricked out stuff. Let's see: Pentium M 705 with all the Centrino wireless stuff, 512 MB RAM, 64 MB ATI Video, the best screen possible (1920x1200, awesome), 30 GB harddrive, blah, blah, blah. It's got some great features. An SD card-reader, S-video out, wireless, DVD drive, etc. It's a widescreen format, which made it a bit on the heavy side (6.5 lbs), but that's okay.
I'm really going to enjoy using it. Actually, I already am. Jen and I do a little bit (okay, a lot) of TV watching so it's nice to be able to chill out on the couch and surf the net or check email while we watch the Olympics or whatever. I'm looking forward to testing it out in class this fall. I'm taking two CS classes so it will be nice to have that with me.
So far I've only encountered two drawbacks. The first one has nothing to do with the computer. I can't take the laptop into work with me. I don't really care about that, except that I have class directly after work so I can't go home. In other words, I have to leave the laptop in the car. So it could get stolen, or it could bake/freeze depending on the weather. That sucks, but there's nothing I can do about it.
The second drawback is apparently a pretty common problem with LCD screens. There is a dead pixel right in the middle. That sucks, especially since I paid an extra $100 to get the "good" screen. It isn't covered under warranty because there are less than 7 dead pixels (just one). I could return it but I hear it's a common thing. I don't really notice it doing normal stuff, just when I watch a DVD or during boot-up. It actually doesn't bug me outside of those times. I'm still deciding whether or not it's a deal-buster. Other than that I love it though.
So, add another tool to my "tool"box. I'm such a geek. My next project is turning Jen's old computer into a Linux file-server, with aspirations of being a web-server later on. We'll see how that goes.
Later.
I ended up getting an HP zt3000 with all kinds of tricked out stuff. Let's see: Pentium M 705 with all the Centrino wireless stuff, 512 MB RAM, 64 MB ATI Video, the best screen possible (1920x1200, awesome), 30 GB harddrive, blah, blah, blah. It's got some great features. An SD card-reader, S-video out, wireless, DVD drive, etc. It's a widescreen format, which made it a bit on the heavy side (6.5 lbs), but that's okay.
I'm really going to enjoy using it. Actually, I already am. Jen and I do a little bit (okay, a lot) of TV watching so it's nice to be able to chill out on the couch and surf the net or check email while we watch the Olympics or whatever. I'm looking forward to testing it out in class this fall. I'm taking two CS classes so it will be nice to have that with me.
So far I've only encountered two drawbacks. The first one has nothing to do with the computer. I can't take the laptop into work with me. I don't really care about that, except that I have class directly after work so I can't go home. In other words, I have to leave the laptop in the car. So it could get stolen, or it could bake/freeze depending on the weather. That sucks, but there's nothing I can do about it.
The second drawback is apparently a pretty common problem with LCD screens. There is a dead pixel right in the middle. That sucks, especially since I paid an extra $100 to get the "good" screen. It isn't covered under warranty because there are less than 7 dead pixels (just one). I could return it but I hear it's a common thing. I don't really notice it doing normal stuff, just when I watch a DVD or during boot-up. It actually doesn't bug me outside of those times. I'm still deciding whether or not it's a deal-buster. Other than that I love it though.
So, add another tool to my "tool"box. I'm such a geek. My next project is turning Jen's old computer into a Linux file-server, with aspirations of being a web-server later on. We'll see how that goes.
Later.
Our Trip To Boston
Well, in the last installment of our spring vacation (only 2 months late) we went to Boston. I have to say that Boston is a great city and it made for a nice end to our vacation.
Our friend Kevin lives in Boston and works for Bose. I was his roommate for two years in undergrad. He's fluent in Japanese & a friggin' genius so he's had some great jobs. He worked in Japan for a couple years. I was able to go see him with some buddies for about 10 days. Man was that cool. Now he lives in Boston & works on audio systems for Japanese car companies (Infinity, a.k.a. Nissan). His girlfriend still lives in Japan so it's cool that he gets to go there on business sometimes.
Anyway, Kevin lives in a nice apartment in one of the little Boston areas (I forget which). Apparently people in Boston are very particular about explaining exactly what part of the city they are from, so every 5 feet seems to have a different name. He had some nice access to public transportation so we were able to go downtown pretty easily.
We were able to take the famous Freedom Trail and see all kinds of great history. It's the birthplace of the U.S. and the center of where lots of things happened during the revolution days. For those that don't know, the trail winds through Boston and shows you all kinds of historic sites. We just bought a little guide book and walked the trail ourselves. That was pretty nice because we were able to linger to speed through as needed.
Take a look at some pictures:
Here's Jen and I out in the harbor traveling from Charleston back to Boston. You see the Boston skyline behind us.
Here's a semi-authorized picture of the House of Representatives Chamber. Check out the pictures on the wall. Yeah, no pressure with that kind of history around.
I've got to say that we had a great time in Boston. It was great to see Schaaf and the city was awesome. We're actually considering moving there for further schooling (MIT), but that's a ways away. Until then it will definitely be on our list of favorite vacation spots.
Our friend Kevin lives in Boston and works for Bose. I was his roommate for two years in undergrad. He's fluent in Japanese & a friggin' genius so he's had some great jobs. He worked in Japan for a couple years. I was able to go see him with some buddies for about 10 days. Man was that cool. Now he lives in Boston & works on audio systems for Japanese car companies (Infinity, a.k.a. Nissan). His girlfriend still lives in Japan so it's cool that he gets to go there on business sometimes.
Anyway, Kevin lives in a nice apartment in one of the little Boston areas (I forget which). Apparently people in Boston are very particular about explaining exactly what part of the city they are from, so every 5 feet seems to have a different name. He had some nice access to public transportation so we were able to go downtown pretty easily.
We were able to take the famous Freedom Trail and see all kinds of great history. It's the birthplace of the U.S. and the center of where lots of things happened during the revolution days. For those that don't know, the trail winds through Boston and shows you all kinds of historic sites. We just bought a little guide book and walked the trail ourselves. That was pretty nice because we were able to linger to speed through as needed.
Take a look at some pictures:
Here's Jen and I out in the harbor traveling from Charleston back to Boston. You see the Boston skyline behind us.
Here's a semi-authorized picture of the House of Representatives Chamber. Check out the pictures on the wall. Yeah, no pressure with that kind of history around.
I've got to say that we had a great time in Boston. It was great to see Schaaf and the city was awesome. We're actually considering moving there for further schooling (MIT), but that's a ways away. Until then it will definitely be on our list of favorite vacation spots.
Friday, July 16, 2004
Our West Point Trip
Well, we left from New York on Tuesday, June 1 to visit some friends from my Stanford days. Mike was another M.S. student with me at Stanford. We worked in the same lab, under the same professor, and took classes together. Needless to say, we were good friends. His wife Sue has got to be one of the nicest people you could meet.
They have two awesome kids, Sam & Sarah. I had seen Sam when he was just a month old. He was born just before I graduated. But I hadn't seen Sarah at all. They're both a couple of great kids. Sam & I had apparently kept in contact with through some sort of telepathic connection. Although, I wasn't aware of it. As soon as we got there he decided that I was his best buddy. I carried him all over the place. And if I set him down, he wanted right back up again. It was actually a lot of fun. Although, getting pee on your arm isn't my favorite past-time. :-)
Here's a picture of Mike & Sam. Gotta' love the baby backpack!
West Point had to be the most relaxing portion of our trip. I was really impressed with how beautiful the area was. There are rolling mountains, tons of trees, the hudson river. It was awesome. And the base itself is built in a very neat way, lots of block & stone. It would be hard to visit there as a young man and not want to become an Army officer.
Besides just hanging around the house & relaxing, we took a tour of the base on a bus. They told us some neat little bits of history and gave us a good overview of everything that goes on. The place has just as much history as Boston.
Here's a picture of the front of the cadet barracks. Notice the beautiful Cadet Chapel further up the hill.
I guess that's pretty much it. It was great to see Mike & Sue again. I hope we can meet up from time to time as we get older. They have a great little family going there.
They have two awesome kids, Sam & Sarah. I had seen Sam when he was just a month old. He was born just before I graduated. But I hadn't seen Sarah at all. They're both a couple of great kids. Sam & I had apparently kept in contact with through some sort of telepathic connection. Although, I wasn't aware of it. As soon as we got there he decided that I was his best buddy. I carried him all over the place. And if I set him down, he wanted right back up again. It was actually a lot of fun. Although, getting pee on your arm isn't my favorite past-time. :-)
Here's a picture of Mike & Sam. Gotta' love the baby backpack!
West Point had to be the most relaxing portion of our trip. I was really impressed with how beautiful the area was. There are rolling mountains, tons of trees, the hudson river. It was awesome. And the base itself is built in a very neat way, lots of block & stone. It would be hard to visit there as a young man and not want to become an Army officer.
Besides just hanging around the house & relaxing, we took a tour of the base on a bus. They told us some neat little bits of history and gave us a good overview of everything that goes on. The place has just as much history as Boston.
Here's a picture of the front of the cadet barracks. Notice the beautiful Cadet Chapel further up the hill.
I guess that's pretty much it. It was great to see Mike & Sue again. I hope we can meet up from time to time as we get older. They have a great little family going there.
Saturday, July 10, 2004
Our Trip to New York
Well, I guess I'd better start by letting everybody know how our vacation to the east coast went last month. Jen had a few weeks off before residency started so we figured we should probably take a vacation before she started working 80 hours a week. I had never been to the east coast so we decided to make a little trip out that way to see some friends.
First up was New York. Jen's cousin Rachel lives right in Manhattan. She has an awesome apartment at 34th & Park Ave. It was originally a two bedroom apartment but they converted the dining room into a third bedroom. They put up a new wall & it looks really good. I wouldn't have even noticed if she hadn't told me they put up the wall. I was pretty amazed at how large it was. Even with the dining room converted they had a ton of living area. Definitely a difference from what I've seen in other cities. Although, she says that it isn't common.
We got to New York on a Friday about midday. We moved all of our stuff into the apartment and then decided to start in with the tourist stuff. We had to park our car in a garage. It cost $29 a day. Ouch! But since Rachel was so nice to let us stay at her place for free it didn't hurt too bad. It's so nice to have such good friends.
First thing we did was walk around downtown Manhattan for a while. That was awesome! I felt like I was walking through a movie or something. You couldn't walk 100 ft without running into something you'd always heard about but had never seen. We saw ground zero, wall street, the statue of liberty (from afar), a really neat church, china town, and on & on. Here's a couple pictures from that day:
At one point we went to lunch down in Chinatown. We went to a place called Joe's Shanghai. It specializes in something called a soup dumpling. It's this little dumpling filled with a yummy soup of some sort. I didn't necessarily want to ask what was inside, but it sure tasted good.
Rachel was working about as much as Jen is now, if not more. Luckily, though, she got some time off to hang out with us. She got to go to dinner with us down in Little Italy. Let me tell you, I would be in heaven if I could get an apartment down there and just eat for the rest of my life. There are about 50 restaurants down this one little street. The street is blocked off, the restaurants set up tables outside, and there are lights strung up all over the place. People are eating & drinking wine, waiters are speaking Italian & trying to get you to eat at their restaurant, other's are selling stuff. It's really neat. We just picked a place and sat outside. We sat there for probably 3 or 4 hours before we realized what time it was. It was just so relaxing & the food was awesome.
We went to the Empire State Building, which sucked. Not that it wasn't neat once we got to the top, but it was pure hell trying to make it there. We waiting in probably 6 or 7 different lines before finally getting up there. It took over two hours. Ugghhh! But we got some neat pictures (see below) & we get to say that we did it. Word to the wise though, be prepared!
Here's a picture of Jen & I on top of the Empire State Building!
This is the entrance to the Empire State Building. I thought it was really neat. Of course, this is only about 10 minutes into the 2 hour wait.
Next up was Central Park. It's huge. I took a picture from the Empire State Building that you can see below. It's very pretty & clean. I was impressed. People were out running & walking, just hanging out. There are lots of little ponds & gardens. A nice relaxing time.
Central Park from the Empire State Building.
Probably the most comprehensive thing we did was to take a tour around Manhattan island. It was a 3 hour tour that took you all the way around the island, with a guy pointing things out & telling you stories along the way. It was really interesting & gave you a good flavor of the island. Be warned though, make sure to wear sunblock! I got burnt so bad on my forehead that I blistered the next day. Ouch! I'm all healed up now though, so no harm done.
We went to Bronx zoo with some friends from West Point. It was a neat zoo, but I've seen better. The trip out was a bit of an adventure, since we went the wrong way on a subway twice. Oops! At one point we had to go above ground to change trains, in Harlem! Kind of scary for a couple of whities from Indiana. :)
While we were in New York we had our first anniversary. I can't believe it's been a year already. In some respects it seems like it went fast, but it also feels like we've been together forever. Any woman able to put up with me for that long deserves a medal. I'm thinking a purple heart for our 50th anniversary. :) Anyway, we went to a nice dinner down in Little Italy again (which was even better this time). Then we went to see Rent on Broadway. Then we decided to pretend we had some money & get a hotel downtown. All in all, a very nice first anniversary.
Well, I guess that's it for the part of our vacation to New York. We were there for 4 days all together. It was a blast and I'd definitely recommend going to anyone interested. What a great city. Don't know if I could live there though.
Check back later for the rest of the vacation. See-ya!
First up was New York. Jen's cousin Rachel lives right in Manhattan. She has an awesome apartment at 34th & Park Ave. It was originally a two bedroom apartment but they converted the dining room into a third bedroom. They put up a new wall & it looks really good. I wouldn't have even noticed if she hadn't told me they put up the wall. I was pretty amazed at how large it was. Even with the dining room converted they had a ton of living area. Definitely a difference from what I've seen in other cities. Although, she says that it isn't common.
We got to New York on a Friday about midday. We moved all of our stuff into the apartment and then decided to start in with the tourist stuff. We had to park our car in a garage. It cost $29 a day. Ouch! But since Rachel was so nice to let us stay at her place for free it didn't hurt too bad. It's so nice to have such good friends.
First thing we did was walk around downtown Manhattan for a while. That was awesome! I felt like I was walking through a movie or something. You couldn't walk 100 ft without running into something you'd always heard about but had never seen. We saw ground zero, wall street, the statue of liberty (from afar), a really neat church, china town, and on & on. Here's a couple pictures from that day:
At one point we went to lunch down in Chinatown. We went to a place called Joe's Shanghai. It specializes in something called a soup dumpling. It's this little dumpling filled with a yummy soup of some sort. I didn't necessarily want to ask what was inside, but it sure tasted good.
Rachel was working about as much as Jen is now, if not more. Luckily, though, she got some time off to hang out with us. She got to go to dinner with us down in Little Italy. Let me tell you, I would be in heaven if I could get an apartment down there and just eat for the rest of my life. There are about 50 restaurants down this one little street. The street is blocked off, the restaurants set up tables outside, and there are lights strung up all over the place. People are eating & drinking wine, waiters are speaking Italian & trying to get you to eat at their restaurant, other's are selling stuff. It's really neat. We just picked a place and sat outside. We sat there for probably 3 or 4 hours before we realized what time it was. It was just so relaxing & the food was awesome.
We went to the Empire State Building, which sucked. Not that it wasn't neat once we got to the top, but it was pure hell trying to make it there. We waiting in probably 6 or 7 different lines before finally getting up there. It took over two hours. Ugghhh! But we got some neat pictures (see below) & we get to say that we did it. Word to the wise though, be prepared!
Here's a picture of Jen & I on top of the Empire State Building!
This is the entrance to the Empire State Building. I thought it was really neat. Of course, this is only about 10 minutes into the 2 hour wait.
Next up was Central Park. It's huge. I took a picture from the Empire State Building that you can see below. It's very pretty & clean. I was impressed. People were out running & walking, just hanging out. There are lots of little ponds & gardens. A nice relaxing time.
Central Park from the Empire State Building.
Probably the most comprehensive thing we did was to take a tour around Manhattan island. It was a 3 hour tour that took you all the way around the island, with a guy pointing things out & telling you stories along the way. It was really interesting & gave you a good flavor of the island. Be warned though, make sure to wear sunblock! I got burnt so bad on my forehead that I blistered the next day. Ouch! I'm all healed up now though, so no harm done.
We went to Bronx zoo with some friends from West Point. It was a neat zoo, but I've seen better. The trip out was a bit of an adventure, since we went the wrong way on a subway twice. Oops! At one point we had to go above ground to change trains, in Harlem! Kind of scary for a couple of whities from Indiana. :)
While we were in New York we had our first anniversary. I can't believe it's been a year already. In some respects it seems like it went fast, but it also feels like we've been together forever. Any woman able to put up with me for that long deserves a medal. I'm thinking a purple heart for our 50th anniversary. :) Anyway, we went to a nice dinner down in Little Italy again (which was even better this time). Then we went to see Rent on Broadway. Then we decided to pretend we had some money & get a hotel downtown. All in all, a very nice first anniversary.
Well, I guess that's it for the part of our vacation to New York. We were there for 4 days all together. It was a blast and I'd definitely recommend going to anyone interested. What a great city. Don't know if I could live there though.
Check back later for the rest of the vacation. See-ya!
Friday, July 09, 2004
Hey everybody! This should be fun!
Well, I've finally decided to start myself a little online blog-action. For those family members out there that may not know exactly what a "blog" is, I suggest checking this out. By the way, if you ever need to look up something real quick, try out WikiPedia, it rocks.
Anyway, I plan on this blog just covering general stuff about Jen & I. Hopefully you can check back here once in a while and see what's been going on with us.
I guess that's it for now. I'll start blogging our life pretty soon & hopefully you enjoy what I have to say. See-ya!
Anyway, I plan on this blog just covering general stuff about Jen & I. Hopefully you can check back here once in a while and see what's been going on with us.
I guess that's it for now. I'll start blogging our life pretty soon & hopefully you enjoy what I have to say. See-ya!
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