It's True

Today, I gave up Mountain Dew indefinitely.

and by Mountain Dew, I mean all soda.

Whirlwind

Today we got a tour of several of the x-ray related facilities at UMC. When we got to angiography the imaging device had the following caption:

If you can read this:
1) Thank a teacher
2) Use the shield

Hint: the shield thing is to prevent overexposure to the technicians.

I almost forgot

Yesterday Kyle turned 2 months old. We didn't celebrate, but he did sleep most of the day. It's not like he would have noticed.

Also, I trued my own wheel yesterday. Isn't that exciting?!?!

Medical Physics

The class isn't nearly as difficult as it sounds...

...except, for the 8am meeting time in combination with the fact that the prof leans towards the boring side...

...oh...and his accent that is sometimes difficult to understand.

The syllabus isn't any easier to understand. It does mention that we have tests and that they count for 70% of our grade, but there is no clue regarding the frequency or relevant dates for test taking. Today, part of that mystery was solved when I received the following e-mail:

Ladies and Gentlemen:

It is time for a belated mid-term exam. Again the form is a take-home test. I am enclosing the required files...

Thanks for the heads up!!

FYI

Just because you can drag out a single point into a book doesn't mean you should.

Behind Bars

What do you think?

Grad school dropout?

I was waiting for the bus near some campus construction when I noticed some workers digging a trench a few feet away. I began to reflecting on my own similar experience and my lack of envy for theirs when a few of the workers started throwing comments my way. "That's right," one said. "You better stay in school or else you'll have a job like mine," as they all continued to dig.

Obviously, they were not quite up to speed regarding my current school situation. Yet, one has to note a distinct similarity between a college dropout and myself - neither of us are aware of an optimal/appropriate time to leave school.

On a completely different note, Kyle turned 8 weeks old today, and today was his first trip to the BMX track. All in all, it was a very important day for him.

Bio(?) Joke

Seminar Speaker: "And that is how the cell metabolizes Iron."
Big time PhD: "So, the process appears to be cyclic."
Speaker: "Yeah, it can be seen as a cycle."
PhD: "Can we call it a Ferrous Wheel?"

The good, the bad and...

Lots has happened today.

We found out Kyle has an ear infection - which would explain all the crankiness and the difficulty breathing. So he's on antibiotics for the time being.

We got a good amount of rain today, and we're supposed to get rain tomorrow. Thats good for Tucson, bad for bike rides to school.

On a good note, it's days like today that make me glad I chose my field. Perhaps it's because I finished half of an assignment in 2 hours that my prof said should take a whole group the better part of a day.

Wal-Mart

If you hate Wal-Mart, you'll love JibJab's new bit - click on Big Box Mart. (via Kos I think)

OSA meeting

The OSA has a conference in Tucson next week. The price of student admission drops $60 if you are a member. How much is student membership? $30.

Standard admission and membership is a similar situation.

I just find it funny...that is all

Kyle and Granddad (who was in town today for work)

Cold

I'm amazed at how many people put on a sweatshirt as soon as it gets below 65 degrees at night.

I miss Flagstaff...

Kyle is playing with his toys...although I'm not sure he knows it yet

Ig Nobel

Kinda like the Nobel prize, only not. If you havn't heard of them, go here. "Every Ig Nobel Prize winner has done something that first makes people LAUGH, then makes them THINK."

Listed is the research topics of years winners (since that is the funny part). Go here to see the fully referenced list:

AGRICULTURAL HISTORY: for his scholarly study, "The Significance of Mr. Richard Buckley’s Exploding Trousers."

PHYSICS: for patiently conducting an experiment that began in the year 1927 -- in which a glob of congealed black tar has been slowly, slowly dripping through a funnel, at a rate of approximately one drop every nine years.

MEDICINE: for inventing Neuticles -- artificial replacement testicles for dogs, which are available in three sizes, and three degrees of firmness.

PEACE: for electrically monitoring the activity of a brain cell in a locust while that locust was watching selected highlights from the movie "Star Wars."

ECONOMICS: for inventing an alarm clock that runs away and hides, repeatedly, thus ensuring that people DO get out of bed, and thus theoretically adding many productive hours to the workday.

CHEMISTRY: for conducting a careful experiment to settle the longstanding scientific question: can people swim faster in syrup or in water?

BIOLOGY: for painstakingly smelling and cataloging the peculiar odors produced by 131 different species of frogs when the frogs were feeling stressed.

FLUID DYNAMICS: for using basic principles of physics to calculate the pressure that builds up inside a penguin, as detailed in their report "Pressures Produced When Penguins Pooh -- Calculations on Avian Defaecation."

Just as a reminder....this is valid, respected research. You too can have a future in a similar research career. Look over previous years winners for more of the same...

I guess you're feeling pretty lucky...

Blue Nishiki...

It's supposed to look bad...I'll make it look better.
Eventually it'll be a fixed gear

As promised - it's a Hyundai Accent

How time flies

Especially when you're sick, with a sick kid, and buying a car.

Yes, we bought a new car. I came to the conclusion that Kyle was too good for our old Honda.

I've decided to make a geared road bike for the time being. In 6 months or so I'll probably convert it to a fixed gear, or build one (since I can do that cheaply now).

Tomorrow I'll post pics of the new car, and the before picture of the bike I'm building...

...Ok, maybe a pic of Kyle too (if you're lucky)...

...who, by the way, has turned into a jumping jack. We took video of him last night jumping up and down on Nana's (Mindy's mom) knee while watching tv.

Question for all

Saturday I picked out the frame I'm going to build up for myself. It's an old Nishiki road bike. Although, now I'm considering a fixed gear.

Now, I know some of you have opinions about this while others don't know the difference, but I'll ask anyways. What do you think? Geared freewheel or fixed? Could this be the question?

Of course it's not the question. The answer is not 42.