Weekend
March 27, 2009 at 2:32 am | In Mountains, Skiing | Leave a CommentI’m stoked:
NEXT SYSTEM...DUE SATURDAY...SEEMS TO GET STRONGER WITH EVERY RUN. ALL MODELS AGREE THERE WILL BE STRONG WESTERLY WINDS DOWN THE STRAIT ON SATURDAY AFTERNOON. IN FACT THERE COULD BE GALES OVER ALL WATERS WHICH WILL BE REFLECTED IN A GALE WATCH FOR EVERYWHERE. THERE WILL ALSO BE HEAVY SNOW IN THE MOUNTAINS SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND NIGHT. NEXT SHIFT MAY HAVE TO CONSIDER A HIGH WIND WATCH FOR THE ZONES AROUND THE STRAIT...AND IT WILL BE BREEZY TO WINDY EVERYWHERE. SUNDAY SHOULD BE RELATIVELY CALM AS A SHORT WAVE SURFACE RIDGE BUILDS. CONDITIONS WILL DRY OUT AND THERE COULD BE SOME SUN. BURKE
If only the partner were in town … I’ll sort it out nonetheless.
The older snow’s gotten cooked, and this will come down warm –> cold. Except for huge crowns, this sounds like a recipe for a whole ton of wonderful. But where? With whom?
Experiment’s baking, so I should sleep. Sheepies.
Thesis
March 26, 2009 at 11:05 pm | In Physics | Leave a CommentTonight, it’s written in polyamide coated copper wire.
Hrmph.
March 26, 2009 at 4:09 am | In Uncategorized | Leave a CommentHm, well, it’s 5 am. After waking up late and fiddling with the experiment for a little while, it’s perhaps too late to go. Gut says don’t. Weather gods say go, but they also predict another foot of snow for the weekend. Ski camping somewhere awesome is sounding very attractive.
Tomorrow
March 25, 2009 at 10:32 pm | In Skiing | Leave a CommentWill start with a walk in snowy woods (assuming, of course, I get up).
It’s nice to have such a mellow ascent into avalanche terrain. It means you can go home.
Reports are of deep, but wet. Prospective partners’ plans prioritized placating people pre-perfect powder. I’ll get mine. They can have their grant. 
. On the upside, I can return to the stash I know well; precisely what I want when I’m a week out of touch with the snowpack.
Sleep.
Equinox
March 21, 2009 at 12:51 am | In Skiing | Leave a CommentWith calendar Winter on hold for nine months, I can ski for me again. I intend to spend the weekend in the lab, but a clear sky tonight is broadcasting the call of the snowfield. A 6 am wakeup should tell me everything I need to know.
Edit: Yep. Slept in, just as I suspected. Pretty day though!
Whatsoever
March 19, 2009 at 10:00 am | In Life, Physics | Leave a CommentThoughtful words can be found most anywhere, but major religious texts concentrate some of them. Thank you to Mark Camphouse for bringing the following into my life:
Whatsoever things are true,
Whatsoever things are honest,
Whatsoever things are just,
Whatsoever things are pure,
Whatsoever things are lovely,
Whatsoever things are of good report;
If there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
Philippians 4:8
It’s been on my mind more than usual for the past few months. Truth is a dicey thing to think about near the boundaries of knowledge.
Zeros
March 17, 2009 at 2:30 pm | In Government | Leave a CommentWith the flap over the AIG bailout, it seems appropriate to make the following observations.
The bonuses that are dominating the headlines:
~$165,000,000 .
The first bailout paid to AIG:
~$170,000,000,000 .
The rough cost of the first round of TARP expenditures:
~$1,000,000,000,000.
The money that has generated so much hot air represents about 0.1% of the money paid to AIG. I’d be very happy to vote for a legislator that decided to look carefully at how the other 99.9% of the federal money’s being spent. The first round of the TARP is more than $3k/US citizen.
Our citizens and legislators would do well to understand the simple fact that a trillion is a million times bigger than a million. Scumbags or no, the AIG executives are pocket change. Burning people at the stake on the floor of Congress won’t generate jobs or prosperity for anyone but custodians.
Lucky
March 15, 2009 at 4:04 pm | In Life, Mountains | Leave a CommentIn so many ways.
Looking forward to sharing a similar view with the same partner.
Curiosity
March 12, 2009 at 8:47 am | In Uncategorized | 2 CommentsAfter some thought, it seems to me that the best reasons for undertaking an experiment are curiosity and necessity. Either there’s just something you’d really like to know, or somebody somewhere really needs to know something.
I’m still naive enough to believe that science isn’t about racing to a result, or about scooping a competitor. It’s about trying to learn something new. Like at the cutting edge of climbing, it’s about pushing the boat out as far as one possibly can. There’s no doubt in my mind that I’ll be personally better off if my experiment reaches its goals before similar ones can, but getting there first cannot be the underlying motivation for my work. Reaching more sensitive results more efficiently can. I believe there’s a fundamental distinction.
I will not see my friends as enemies.
Smile
March 9, 2009 at 10:35 pm | In Life | Leave a CommentI’ve worn one all day. In the interest of producing early morning hoots and hollers, I must attend to sleep.
She’s out there, on the span.
To sleep!
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