Logging Surprise!

I have been finding these at the rate of about one per week since I moved back to California. The nickel is included for scale. I found this one while I was removing a tree stump.

I have been using them for an experiment in self-assembly. If I convert each one to a monolayer, how many specimens will I have to test before one of them self-assembles back to its original shape? Anyone reading this blog want to venture a guess?

I'm Back

I'm back in California. My possessions showed up a few days ago and my car arrives back in California in a couple days. I start a new job soon and I will be looking for housing out in China Lake. It's an exciting time!

Outer Banks

I went to the Outer Banks last weekend. That was a fun trip. I have posted some photos below.


This photo shows the Hatteras Island's current location in the background while the granite stones in the foreground show it's original site. It was relocated in 1999 because of the eroding shoreline bringing the ocean nearly up to the base of the lighthouse.


Here is the Hatteras lighthouse up close. I would have liked to climb it but it was closed for the season. My tour book didn't say anything about the closure.


Welcome to Avon, where stress is forbidden.


This house could use some grooming.


I stopped by the site of the Wright Brothers' first flights. This photo shows the markers for their takeoff spot (far left), and their landing spots for their first three flights (on the right). I knew their first flight was only 120 feet, but I had never really thought about how far that really was. This photo shows that it really wasn't far at all. It was their fourth flight that really gave them the feeling of success, when they flew about 850 feet. That marker is too far off in the distance to be seen in this photo.


Here is a closer look at the first landing marker.


Here is the plaque noting their take-off spot for their flights.


Part of the reason their flights were short in distance but longer in duration was because of the strong head wind (30mph+). Their resulting ground speed was relatively low (probably making it a lot safer (a crash at less than 10mph isn't that scary, is it?). This photo shows the flag on the day I was there. The wind was blowing in the opposite direction on the day I visited, so the Wrights would have had a strong tailwind.

Celebrity Sighting Part II

I happened to fly on a plane with Abby Wambach earlier this month. She's the most famous female soccer player in the U.S., and possibly in the world. We ended up waiting together at a gate in Philadelphia.

She had her hair cut short and was wearing a hat but her face was unmistakable. I am pretty sure she wasn't expecting to be recognized because when I talked to her she turned slightly red. Her suitcase had the initials MAW so I was pretty certain it was her before I talked to her.

She broke her leg before the Beijing Olympics and wasn't able to travel with the team. The US Team ended up winning the gold medal this summer. I asked her how her leg was doing. She said it was healing nicely. I told her there were a group of us in Durham looking forward to her getting back out on the field.

She was flying coach with the rest of us grunts. Normally when I see her on TV she's surrounded by smaller players which makes her look taller. However, when I stood next to her I felt like I was a lot taller than she is.

Weekend Celebrity Sightings

Do you know who this is?



That’s right (or wrong, if you guessed incorrectly), Senator Joseph Lieberman and his wife! I was at a conference in Seattle from Tuesday through Saturday. I stayed in a hotel near the airport on Friday night, and Joe Lieberman was in the lobby with his wife while I was checking in. I didn't say anything to him, but I got independent verification from a couple other sources that it was, in fact, Joe Lieberman. There was no security entourage with him. I suppose he is simply a senator in the eyes of the secret service, but it seems like he should have had a couple people with sunglasses and radios following him around.


Yesterday morning on the return flight I had a layover in Chicago. Everclear (the band) got on my plane and rode to RDU with me (they flew economy class too). I was standing next to them at the baggage claim and could see stickers with the band's name on their stuff coming off the baggage carousel. It turns out they played a gig in Raleigh last night. The cover charge was $10, which might explain why they were flying economy class.

Golf

I went golfing this weekend. First time ever, essentially. I went once before when I was 16 or 17, using someone's right-handed clubs (I am left handed). I have used the driving range probably 6 times (the last time was in October) so I am definitely a beginner. This weekend I was able to acquire the proper left-handed clubs. If you have never been then you might not know (like me), but there is a dress code (no jeans). I was going with the fast-food rule, that is, if you have enough clothes on to eat inside a fast-food joint then you have enough to play golf. Evidently, that is wrong in the eyes of the golf course. After a return trip to change my jeans into khakis while my group used the driving range, we were all set for our 3pm tee-off.

On the first five holes, all par 4's, I shot 8,6,8,8, and 7. After that a thunderstorm set in so we gave up and went to dinner. A guy I play soccer with is a regular player and he said my swing was better than the rest of my group's. Granted, they weren't exactly professionals but it was nice to hear I have a future in corporate hobnobbing if my lab work doesn't pay off.

cable tv

I finally got rid of my $56 per month for 70 channels cable television. I opted for a digital receiver with some rabbit ears ($13 from Wal Mart) where I can get about 15 channels including all the major networks. I think the only two I will miss from regular cable are ESPN and TNT, but I have ESPN360.com to make up for that! Instead of relying on the TV for all my entertainment I plan on using it only when I am desperate. I'll use my reduced channel options as an excuse to do something else more productive.

more Duke basketball

I underestimated the zeal with which people root for Duke. I remember one day in late October I was walking to the gym and I saw these guys out in the middle of the grass outside Cameron Gym surfing the internet on their wireless capable laptops. The weather had already gotten very cold and I remember thinking it was way too early in the season for them to be outside waiting in a line. I decided there must be something else going on that day I don't know about. Within the next few days the tents started to go up, just in time for the winter rains. A photo of the tenting scene is below.

The rest of the photos were taken the morning of the Duke/UNC game (3/8/08), 12 hours before its scheduled start. It was drizzling for 2 days in a row, then the morning of the game when the rain had finally stopped the wind started blowing in 40-50mph gusts. You can see the effects of the wind on the tents.

The next photo is the brown burrito. To escape the wind some students got a brown tarp and set up a makeshift shelter. It reminded me of a burrito. You can see one guy inside the burrito holding the tarp, and another in the background dragging garbage cans to anchor it down.

You can see the length of the line in the next photo, 12 hours before the game.

These guys are guaranteed a spot inside due to their tenting diligence, they're just waiting around in the wind and ~35 degree temp to try and get a courtside (versus two to three rows back) seat! They really are crazy. The red line in the photo indicates the path of the waiting line and includes a kink where it wraps around the block. The court is to the left of the news van on the far left.

Of course the last photo is the famous Cameron Indoor Stadium, the setting to some of the country's most famous basketball stories and the current coach of the USA basketball team.

Duke Basketball game

Went to the Duke/Maryland game last night. The whole experience was awesome.
It is a small arena. I had a great seat, right behind one of the baskets. I took a couple photos that I thought you might find interesting. You can see Coach K in one of the photos. Dick Vitale is in another one. I was sitting against the railing as he walked by before the game so I snapped a picture.

Need Better Insurance?

Then don't go with my company. They won't even cover me in case of accidental nuclear explosions. What's next, they won't cover my boat if a sign comes out of nowhere?

New Suit

I got a new suit a few weeks ago. First time trying it on is pictured below. What do you guys think? I know, a haircut and shave would be nice.

Cracked Window

My windshield on my car cracked this morning on the way to work. The window had a ding since long before I bought it and I never thought much of it. Apparently the combination of bumpy road, extremely cold weather, and the defroster on the inside of the car caused it to POP while I was driving. Now there is a 4' crack along the bottom of the window.

I called the insurance company this morning and they're sending someone out to take care of it in the morning. It won't be covered, but at least they arranged the appointment and guarantee the work.

Parental Units

At Christmas this year we watched a slideshow of old photographs my Grandfather had digitized. I had a great time peeking into my family's past. Take, for example, the photo I have posted here. Can you tell which is my parents from their youth, and which is them after 30+ years of terror named Josh, Tricia, Nathan, and Chris?

Frisbee Golf

Ever play frisbee golf? I played this weekend. I had a pretty good score for a first time frisbee golfer. My first throw was a disaster, I ended up in a playground. From there my next toss to the hole ended up in thicket of trees. Everybody was thinking "this guy sucks." From there I made a 50ft putt into the chains. Surprised the heck out of them. :) The rest of the day kind of went like that. I got third place out of seven players.

My driving definitely improved as the day went one. People were marvelling at my distance near the end of the day, unfortunately they weren't always straight. I think I have found my new calling. I am going to drop this whole postdoc thing and try to find a disc golf sponsor.

Hunting in Tucson

Hunting is much harder than I realized. It makes me admire those hunters in the past that used rifles without scopes and had to reload between each shot. No one I was with actually took any shots this weekend. That was a vital part of my education I missed. We were never in the right position and the three day weekend meant the other hunters in the neighborhood were making the bucks kind of skiddish. The guys I was with were very very good about spotting deer with the binoculars.
Even with them telling me where to look I was only able to see about 50% of the deer they were finding. Impressive. Here is everyone milling around the campfire, it was a little on the cold side.

News Flash!

Nothing terribly exciting has happened in the last month. Bummer. Let me see if I can dredge up something interesting to report.Well, let's see. My project is barely moving, but at least it is moving forward again. What you see below is a gel used to seperate DNA bands of various sizes. The uppermost band in the right hand lane indicates a successful reaction. Take a look for yourself!

Exciting huh? Luckily I have that to keep me inspired. My lab has been pretty empty lately, which translates to a lot of work getting done (nice) but the silence can be deafening and distracting too.

Niagara Falls Update

Visited Niagara falls in late July. I can't remember if I blogged about it or not. Here are a couple photos of the trip! It was a 12 hour drive, one way.

apartment upgrade?

My bathroom had a steady stream of drops coming from the ceiling on Friday. I checked with the upstairs tenant to make sure they weren't overfilling the bathtub. I called the complex and they came and cut several holes in the ceiling to check what was going on. They left a lot of debris behind and a few large holes in the ceiling with a note saying they would come back again at the start of next week to fix it. Bummer. My papertowl roll was decimated when I got home that night, I guess they used it to clean their mess (they only cleaned parts of their mess). :)

Petersburg, Jamestown and Yorktown!

Mom and Dad flew out to Charlotte for the week. They drove a couple hours to meet me in Durham and we hung out for a few days. Lori accompanied us on a day trip to Virginia where we saw Petersburg, the site of a civil war battle. Most of the pictures are on my Dad's camera.
From there we drove to Jamestown and spent a couple hours touring the famous landmark. In the early evening we thought we'd try to squeeze one more trip in and drove another 30 mins to Yorktown, site of the revolutionary war surrender of Cornwallis. I have this picture of the house where Cornwallis sent his Lieutenant to surrender on his behalf.

Pontoon Plane

I took a Sea Plane to Lake Union on my way out Seattle. The plane took off from the marina on the island, landed at Lake Union, and I took a 5 minute shuttle to the airport from there. Once I boarded my commercial flight headed for Milwaulkee I snapped some pictures of Mt St. Helens from the air. Enjoy all the photos below.