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….