Weathering

Wednesday, June 30, 2004

Unusually efficient

That's me! Today I cooled down my cryostat and began taking data. I think this is the first time ever that I actually started taking data on the same day that I cooled the thing down. That is not because it is a particularly difficult or time-consuming task. It is because it took about three days to cool down the cryostat that I used during graduate school, so when this one hits 10 K, I feel like I've done at least a complete day's worth of work, even if it actually only took a few hours. Likewise, if I spend about an hour in the cleanroom, I feel like I've worked a full day. It's all about mindset, people. Mindset and low expectations.

I realized that I have no plans for the rest of my time in Santa Barbara. Well, there is the trip that we plan to take to DC to find housing in September, but we have no set weekend plans (that I can think of) for the rest of my employed time, which will be down to two months, starting tomorrow. That amounts to 43 official university work days. That's not so many, I guess. Unfortunately, I'm not exactly overburdened with responsibilities these days. It takes me approximately one hour to figure out that my results look nothing like Tizzed's, even though I'm measuring the same samples at the same temperatures. Exactly the same samples and exactly the same temperatures. I don't know what I'm doing wrong, but it's driving me crazy. In any case, it doesn't take long, and then I don't know what to do next. Some people would be jealous of my low-intensity work days, but they are boring and leave me feeling kind of lousy (the days, not the people). I spend a lot of my days fantasizing about how fabulous life will be when we have a two-bedroom apartment. JR will have a room of her own! She'll probably still sleep with me anyway. She likes to curl herself up next to my side while I sleep, which I really like. She never sleeps on Matt's side of the bed. (Oh, JR is our cat, in case anybody doesn't know.) But anyway. When we have two bedrooms, we'll have a futon in one that will fold out to offer guests excrutiatingly luxurious sleeping conditions. We'll provide breakfast in bed. That's how great it will be. They'll never want to leave the guest room, it will be so inviting. Er, or at least it will have a door that closes and a non-air-filled sleeping surface. That will be nice.

Oh! That reminds me of my most exciting news! Dr. J and Big T are coming to visit us in DC! (I haven't told Matt about this yet, by the way.) They are flying to LAX to visit Dr. J's parents for Christmas, and then they're returning to Germany via DC for a three-day layover, Dec. 30 - Jan. 2. We'll have New Year's plans! We'll stay up past midnight! Yes! Of course, we'll have to drag them away from the comforts of the guest room. It will be worth it, though.

Monday, June 28, 2004

A lovely weekend

This past weekend Matt and I went to San Simeon, where we finally met Alisha, Mark's girlfriend of going on two years. It was a fun weekend. We met them on Friday at Hearst Castle, where we did the basic, first-time visitor's tour. It was actually a second-time visit for me and Matt, but it had been years since our last visits, so we didn't mind repeating the basic tour. It was nice, but soooooo hot. I had read to expect temperatures in the low 60s, and a lot of wind. I daresay it was 90 degrees out, and as still as it could possibly be. So I was kind of dragging during the tour, but mostly because I was thirsty. We stayed for the informational movie, and then went for dinner in Cambria. The next morning we met for breakfast, took a hike in the morning, and then visited four wineries in the afternoon. That was fun, but by the last one, I could hardly look at wine anymore. We had dinner at a Mexican restaurant in Paso Robles, and headed back to San Simeon, where our Motel 6 awaited. It was still relatively early, so we walked to the beach and watched the beginnings of the sunset. We then retired to our respective rooms--I was feeling pretty lousy by then, and just wanted to go to bed. On Sunday we met up for breakfast again, and Mark and Alisha departed for their trip up the coast back to Berkeley. Since it was early, and our drive home was only a couple of hours long, Matt and I decided to go back to Hearst Castle and do the Garden and Grounds tour. I liked that one a bit better than the basic tour. The group was small, only nine people, so it was easy to ask questions and see everything. After the tour, we headed back to Santa Barbara, where I took a little snooze on the couch and talked to Jess. And soon after, Helen called and asked if we'd like to join her and Buebbles for dinner at Chipotle. She needn't even have asked, in my opinion. I love Chipotle, and readily accepted the invitation. (After checking that Matt wanted to go, of course.)

And today, as I waited for the cryogens that won't be here until tomorrow, I finally completed my resume and sent it out with my transcripts to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. I hope to hear from them soon about a job. I don't know if my qualifications fit the position available exactly, but I hope they're close enough. I also finished my application for the job at the American Physical Society, so I will mail that one off tomorrow. It's nice actually to have made some progress on the job search.

Monday, June 21, 2004

TV and Stuff

Someone in Switzerland asked what TV I've been watching lately. Well, I'll tell you. A lot of Alias and The West Wing, both on DVD. And on Sunday I watched part of the E! True Hollywood Story of Drew Barrymore. I like her. Other than that, though, very little TV. I'm hardly ever home, it seems, and the regular TV season is over, anyway. I used to watch Las Vegas on Mondays, Scrubs on Tuesdays, West Wing on Wednesdays and tape Friends, Will and Grace and ER on Thursdays. I usually wouldn't watch the tapes for a couple of weeks, though, and then I'd catch up on all the missed episodes on a Saturday afternoon. I got pretty tired of television this past year, though. By the end of the season, I actively wished for West Wing reruns. Now that I'm watching the first two seasons on DVD, I'm struck by how much more interesting the show used to be. Plus, I complain all the time that my life is too busy and scheduled, and planning to watch a particular show at a particular time be oppressive. I don't like to miss new episodes, though. So the moral of the story is that I'm kind of glad that the regular season is over.

So, since I don't watch much television, how on earth do I fill my hours? Worrying about jobs, that's how! I'm applying for four different jobs now. One is at the American Physical Society. They have an opening for a Program Coordinator for a program that pairs high school physics teachers with university professors to work on team-teaching and curriculum development. They want somebody with at least a bachelor's degree in physics with an interest in education and strong communication skills. I think I could be that person. Unfortunately, the location of the job is pretty bad. It's in College Park, MD, and we want to live in Alexandria, VA. It is on the metro, but it would be almost an hour on the train each way, which is a bit longer than sounds reasonable to me. So, I'm also applying to work with my sister at the Patent and Trademark Office. That job sounds like it might be a tad on the boring side, but the location couldn't be better, the hours are regular and the salary is excellent. And they're advertising for someone in semiconductors, so if I got the job, I'd get to use my physics background, which appeals to me. Just because I'm tired of labwork doesn't mean that I don't still love physics. I'm also putting together an application to teach physics at private high schools in the DC area, and I haven't given up on the National Academies' Science Policy internship. That application is due September 1, so if nothing else has materialized by mid-August, I'll apply.

In the meantime, I'm working on converting my CV to a resume. I bought this book online (and for very cheap, I might add) called "So What Are You Going To Do With That?" A Guide to Career-Changing for M.A.'s and Ph.D.'s. Now, I have an M.A. and a Ph.D., so I figure this book was written just for me, right? In any case, it has a chapter on turning your CV into a resume, and I think I could benefit from some of their hints. The book was written by two women with English Ph.D.s who left academia and found fame and fortune. Hey, it worked for them....

Thursday, June 17, 2004

A week later

The weekend was even better than I hoped it would be, and that's about all I can say. Read Jess' update for a complete listing of events. Days later, I still can't believe I'm back at work.

Thursday, June 10, 2004

Midday funeral

I just bid my Palm Pilot farewell in a small, personal ceremony that consisted of my dropping it gently into the garbage can in my lab. It was actually a Handspring Visor. I dropped it on the floor and the screen shattered. I was pretty bummed until I saw that I could get a new one with a color screen for $120 at Amazon. And that other people were selling theirs for $8. I guess it's time to move on.

In other news, I just found out that my sister Emily got a super awesome summer job at an environmental conservation camp in Warren County, NY. I'm not sure what she's doing, but she hasn't officially begun yet, so I guess I'll hear more after she does.

And I talked to Megan!! Also, my data is coming out really well and I'll have my week's goals accomplished probably within an hour. What a day!

One more work day

And then the big weekend commences! Tonight we are picking up Robbie and Jess at LAX. We will stop at In-N-Out for dinner on the way home, and thus begin the California-food-filled weekend festivities. And tomorrow we storm G-Town: Chilitos for lunch, sushi for dinner, after-dinner entertainment at the Merc.

And then the big stuff really happens. Eastcoast fun with a westcoast flair at the home of Dr. Matt Lippert on Saturday, and then the graduation celebrations on Sunday. Yay!

Saturday, June 05, 2004

Another Saturday night, another helium transfer

Yep, I'm in my boring old lab, where my cryostat is very slooooowly being filled with liquid helium and liquid nitrogen. I didn't want to come in today, but it was either today or tomorrow, so I figured I'd get it over with, since we had to go out to return a movie anyway. I can't tell you how much I look forward to the days when I don't have a cryostat to deal with over the weekends. (Or during the week, for that matter.)

So, last night we rented The Company, Neve Campbell's movie about a ballet company, based on the Joffrey Ballet. If you don't like ballet, don't bother with it. There is a lot of dancing and next to no plot. If you don't mind ballet and like pretty movies, give it a try. Matt's not much into ballet, but enjoyed the movie. If you love ballet, definitely rent it. I liked it a lot. There aren't many special features and the "making of" featurette is very short, but I found it interesting.

And now on to my biggest story: This morning I saw a dog riding a skateboard. No, really riding it. It would push for a couple of steps with two legs and then jump all the way onto the board and glide for a while and then start pushing again. It was phenomenal. I laughed so hard that I started crying. Oh, this was at the Big Dog Parade on State Street. It was the leader of the parade--no seventy-six trombones here. It made my day. And then I went home and found out that Ronald Reagan had died. I was way too young to understand anything about his politics, but he is the first president that I remember as a kid, so I was kind of sad to hear the news. I mean, he was really old and suffering, so I'm sure it was also something of a relief, but still. I remember feeling sad when Richard Nixon died, and he was way before my time.

And THEN there was the Belmont Stakes. Ooh, doggy. I liked that the race was close at the end, but I thought that Smarty Jones was going to win. I guess I wasn't the only one.

And then there was lots and lots and lots of cleaning. Long ago I designated today spring cleaning day. Mostly that's because Robbie and Jess are coming this week, but also because I think it's a good idea to clean every, you know, once in a while. I hand-scrubbed the kitchen floor. Now, to be fair, I'll let you know that the kitchen floor is tiny. But still. Hands and knees. The works. Now I am exhausted and I just finished up the cryostat business, so I am off.

Friday, June 04, 2004

Another day, another doctor

Congratulations to Matt Lippert, who defended his dissertation today!