happy holidays!

Hope you are all having a good week! We have filled it with family, friends, and the stomach virus...two very welcome in our lives, the other not so much so. I am taking a short hiatus from blogging as I soak in the lovely Oregon rain and some time with my sweetie. Back after the new year....

oxford

Oxford, Mississippi may not have the same prestige as the place of a similar name in the UK, but I've heard it is considered one of the top ten college towns in the US. And there are some strange similarities, for instance they have a Double-decker Day where they drive a double-decker bus around The Square.

Lots of folks have asked me what I think of Oxford and whether I've found a friendly welcome. Oxford is a fine place to have landed myself. Still being new there, I couldn't tell you exactly what it is known for besides Ole Miss. I arrived at the height of football season and Ole Miss football is one of the town's biggest attractions. Oxford swells by the thousands (or maybe more like 10's of thousands). Fans gather in The Grove all gussied up in their finest, tailgating before the game.

Besides the university, Oxford is a small town of 12-15,000 or so...with lots of little expensive shops on The Square, a variety of restaurants, some classy independent stores, and a fair number of box stores on the outskirts. It is a semi-liberal college town bringing in folks from all over the country and all around the world. This gives the town its indie flair of theater, music, and world-renowned speakers. There are little art shops, independent bookstores, live radio shows, and plenty to do if so inclined. And of course, like any classic college town there are plenty of late-night bars and pizza joints.

I have felt very welcomed. Lauren and Danny (my co-workers/landlords/friends/gracious hosts) have included me in many of their activities. Through them and other folks from work, I have met a lot of new people and gotten a chance to see a bit of Oxford. Folks at NSL (the lab I work at) have been very friendly and generous. It is good to land yourself in a new workplace just before the holidays...there are more gatherings which make it easier to meet people and get to know them better.

As for town and the outskirts...I have also explored a bit on my own, but honestly I have spent most of the daylight hours working. In winter it is dark so early that it is a bit harder to get out and see the area. There are some small parks and a reservoir close by, but to do some real hiking you need to drive to the Ozarks or towards the Appalachians. Since hiking is my main method for getting to know the local fauna and flora (as opposed to hunting - which is done in abundance nearby and also the reason I probably shouldn't be hiking about randomly in the woods) I have not gotten too much exploring done.

And no, I have not visited Memphis at all yet. Some time this winter I hope to meet up with some friends and see a bit of the city...if I can squeeze it in between experiments!

food!

Just a few days until Christmas and all through the house,
Bread was a baking - prepared by my spouse!

Today is a day of cooking and projects at home. We've got bread, cookies, yogurt, and cranberry relish all taken care of. While waiting for the oven timer to ding, we've had time to consider new projects and visit with friends.

Cameron has also been working on his big home project of the year - the new closet. Preparations included tearing out all the flooring and sub-flooring (termite infested!) as well as removing old insulation and then replacing the missing floor. He painted doors and windows that brilliant "capricorn blue" and made some adjustments to our bookcase. The structure of the closet is in place, including hangers, shelves, etc. Now he's working on the doors and some of the other finishing touches. It was an excellent surprise for my coming home and fits into the house perfectly!

home again

I've made it back to Oregon! I've been gone only eight weeks, but it feels like such a long time. Luckily we have webcams these days to make home not feel quite so far away. There is something about seeing someone that makes the world of difference.

My return to Oregon was welcomed with snow and hazardous road conditions (as well as airport delays). I love having a little bit of snow, so this was no big deal. Though the snow and cold lasted longer than normal for our area, in true Willamette Valley fashion the snow has turned to rain and the snow is melting away. In fact, today was darn near warm at 30-something degrees.

Honestly, Mississippi feels as "miles away" as it is right now. Since I've returned I'm just having fun with Miso and Emma (including a typical-to-Miso run in with a raccoon on an afternoon walk) and starting (yes, starting!!!) my Christmas shopping. The chickens have grown so much since I left! Our hen-turned-rooster Kung-Pao really gave me a what-for this morning...all full of cock-a-doodle-doo!! They are really funny to watch in the snow. The chickens step carefully through the snow and huddle together in the nest box at night. I don't think they appreciate the snow.

Though the workaholic in me says I still have work to do, I'm taking advantage of the holidays to catch up on some reading, cook, see friends, and spend quality time with Cameron and the girls. I look forward to visiting with everyone before heading back to Mississippi. It's hard to believe I am only 1/3 of the way through my internship and there are still many months ahead!

Let the holiday adventures begin!

The weekend trip to Michigan and Indiana was packed to the gills spending time with friends and family. I averaged something like 4 hours of sleep a night and still managed to make it to work Monday morning! I got in to Detroit Friday night after an uneventful (and absolutely empty) flight from Memphis. Our wild and crazy Friday night was packed with hula-hoop, dancing, and bowling...all from the comfort of home....

My mother and her brother pulled off a totally surprise, Surprise Party for my grandmother's 90th birthday. She was shocked and extremely pleased to see all the family and friends that gathered.

The 90th birthday is one to celebrate! Once you hit milestones like 70, 80, and 90, it seems like people are once again feel free to admit their age. I find it funny that we start out very proud of our birthdays: "I'm 4 and 3/4"...sweet sixteen...21.... Then somehow we get to a point where it is more socially accepted to hide our age or be embarrassed by it. After enough years pass that silliness goes away and apparently we are again proud - this time at a long-life well lived. Why aren't we just proud of all of the years?!

Well regardless of all those 90 years, my Grandma put her children, grandchildren, and their spouses to the test by outlasting us playing dice and cards on her birthday night. Bet she didn't think she'd be playing 10-penny until 1:30 a.m. on her 90th!


The end of the whirlwind trip was a friend's graduation celebration. I'm pretty certain that we will be hearing more about Dave in the future... folks in politics definitely have a way of being heard.

And so, after quite a few less hours of sleep, some gift unwrapping, and an early morning trip back to Memphis, I returned to my schedule of 5 minute measures. Two days left to pack it all in before heading back to the airport and a trip back HOME! Yeah!!! (No, I'm not excited at all.)

travels

'Tis the season to travel! I love the idea of going somewhere and I love being there, but the getting there is definitely not my idea of fun. Besides the hours of sitting around airports, nasty winter travel weather conditions, and determining how to fit your giant winter coat into your overnight bag, I get very distracted.

I know I need to get tons of work done to really relax during the holidays, but no matter how much I try I find myself instead considering every facet of my upcoming trips. ...what to pack...what's the weather...how much work will I be able to get done on the plane...or should I just give up and read a book like I normally do?

So today I am off to Michigan and Indiana. I'll be there just two days but will be going to two parties in two different states and seeing dozens of friends and family! Talk about packing it in! I promise pics and stories when I return.

thank you

One fun thing about being at a research facility is that we are all just big geeks at heart. When a flume is running or some other crazy noise is coming from somewhere, everyone pops their heads in to check out what is going on. We are all curious and interested in what others are doing. For instance, my flume is extra noisy right now – high discharge moves rocks around that are in place to reduce the turbulence of the water pumping in to the flume. You can hear the noise down the hallways, up the stairwells, and probably well into many offices. As you might imagine, lots of folks have stopped by to see what is going on.

I’ve enjoyed all this friendly interest. I’ve gotten some good feedback on my project and some great encouragement. It certainly helps in the face of all my uncertainty about making the right choices. My advisor recently gave me some good advice about making decisions for this study. Basically it boils down to: if you can justify it, then it’s probably okay.

Now a bit off subject - I have a random musing to share…do you ever find yourself saying thank you for the oddest things? I often am talking with someone and at the end of it I say “thank you”, but it has no relation to anything we’ve talked about. Or, the thanks is for something so obtuse, I figure they have no idea what I am thanking them for. The worst thing is that even though I recognize this odd habit I can’t seem to cure myself!

Thanks for reading! ;-)

rainy day

It was raining hard out there this morning...just beautiful! I love a good hard rain – the kind that soaks you to the bones and makes you want to stay indoors and just watch out the window. Of course, I think I enjoy it more when I can do just that...be inside and not have to be out working in it.

I guess it is a good thing that I have an appreciation for rain. It makes Oregon living a whole lot easier. I could do with a little less cold rain and a little more warm rain. I miss the warm thunderstorms of the Midwest summers! Now that's a rain it is fun to be outside for!

As the day progressed the rain stopped, then turned into a raging thunderstorm - complete with lightening and all. Another phenomenon also occurred – scientists started grabbing their gear and running to catch the storm. In this case they are storm sampling, i.e. collecting sediment samples, stage-discharge values, and other fun activities in the middle of the night. Why is it that the good storms always happen at night?

So it looks like there will be many a bedraggled scientist or technician sitting out the night in a government vehicle. Meanwhile I’m "cozy" indoors with my flume. Just me and the giant wooden box full of water!

in-between measures

This last weekend and this week I am taking control measurements for my study. What does taking a measurement consist of? Well, I set up a probe to measure velocity in a flume…the measurement takes 5 minutes at each of nearly 150 measurement locations. So, I position the probe, start the measurement, wait 5 minutes, move the probe, start the measurement…etc., etc. until they are done. Then I repeat the whole process two more times (under different flow conditions).

Now the question that should be in your mind is…what does she do with her time in those 5 minutes? One benefit behind the 5 minute schedule is that I have learned exactly how long it takes to do certain things…go to the bathroom, check your car’s oil, get something from the office, make a cup of tea…the list goes on. You probably never really cared about how long they took, but I assure you each takes less than 5 minutes.

After awhile of trying to get work done in 4-5 minute stints, I get tired of trying. Sometime late in the afternoon I begin to make to-do lists….lists for the “under 5 minute” category and lists for when I have more time to get work done…lists of chores…food lists…packing lists…lists on sticky notes…lists on the computer…lists on scratch paper…gotta love a good to-do list! I don’t have internet or phone connection at the flume, so I have taken to writing emails/blogs/etc. as a document, putting it on my flash drive, then racing upstairs to my office and sending it out. Sometimes it takes several trips to complete one email!

Through the day I spend a lot of my time looking over my shoulder and wondering who is there. This probably sounds creepier than it really is. The flume is next to the major passageway through the “new” hydraulics lab, so there are often people coming through. The sound of the flume is so loud that I don’t often hear people until they are close by. Sometimes, when I am tired of staring at the computer, I lean back and look at the ceiling. We have skylights in the lab and I can “see” what kind of day it is…sunny, cloudy…and when it is getting dark….

After enough repeated motion of moving the probe around in the flume, I have been trying to use the force. How does this work? Well, each time I move the probe, I need to position it very carefully within a millimeter of the desirable spot (in all three coordinates – x, y, and z). Z is the toughest one, requiring me to slide the probe up and down through guides and often adjust it somewhat arbitrarily (at least at first) until I can go look at the computer screen for a more precise estimate. Whenever I am off by even a millimeter, I have to climb back up to the flume, make the adjustment, and head back down to the computer…adding several precious seconds to my work day. So now, I go up to the flume and “feel” where the probe should be located. Jedi knights, make room for one more!

So now the big question…how many measures did I complete writing this? I’ll never tell….

the latest

Today is momentous…the first full day of official flume data collection! At first, I was a bit disappointed that things were taking so long to get off the ground, but I probably shouldn’t have been. The first week I was here I was warned that considering the state of the flume and instruments, not to be surprised if it took 6 weeks before collecting the first real dataset. I believe I’m just about on target.

So now I’m just working day and night (okay, evenings – not through the night) to get the first set of runs completed before the holidays. I knew that once I passed the Thanksgiving mark, there would be too much to do in too little time. Thanksgiving was spent in North Carolina with my father and his wife and visits with an aunt, uncle, cousins and their families, and Donna’s mother. We had lots of fun playing games, hiking, relaxing, conversing, and checking out Ken and Donna’s Mercantile. It was a short visit, but we didn’t waste a minute of it! They packed my bags full of food, beverage, and warm clothes and I returned home in a maze of holiday traffic.

More travel to come in the next couple of weeks including MI, IN, and home for the holidays. The flume will also be in a new state. So more to come later.