Rain, rain, rain

It's been dry so rain is good. The daffodils and lenten roses are blooming nicely. I saw little green tufts popping out of the ground where I planted bulbs last fall, and also the spots where Troy transplanted hostas. Hopefully we'll have some pretty hyacinths and lush hostas soon. Our new dogwood tree out front also is budding some little spouts. In grade school, we used to say April showers bring May flowers, but around here. we need to say February showers bring March flowers.

Hot Point

We may have found our new favorite eatery! We really enjoyed our delish meal and good company tonight. Three of them talked engineering and I got to listen in on the brilliant conversation. Always refreshing to meet people who are excited about life and their work.

We definitely would go back to this restaurant. It's a cozy place, close to our house, and the food is awesome. We shared a spicy pork burrito (huge!) and bread plate. Yummmmm! Looks like there is outdoor seating when the weather turns warmer.

Heard a new word today while driving and listening to a radio conversation regarding the increasing cost of college education. One expert panelist mentioned that students are now living in single room suites (instead of 3 sharing one tiny room like I did in the fossil times) with fancier cafeterias that serve sushi, etc. She said the "resortification" of the college experience contributes to the cost. Speaking of which, yesterday I read that my alma mater, Northwestern, raised its tuition, room and board for 2009-2010 year by 3.6%... to a whopping $49,791!!!! No wonder I keep getting solicitations for Alumni Fund endowments! Some people don't make that much as salary in one year, let alone for college funds.

Downhill!

I just finished up my Hydraulics exam. I either did very well or I was on the completely wrong track! Next I have a short computer lab, then Linear Algebra to finish out the day. I just have a FORTRAN computer program due this week, and then I am officially deadline free through Spring Break (except for my personal deadlines, of course).

Tonight Youngin and I are trying out a different restaurant called Hot Point. Youngin met a couple who are both Civil/Environmental engineers, so we are going to meet them for supper. Hopefully we'll get to talk about what the Civil Engineering field looks like, how to approach school, etc. Should be interesting!

We are really looking forward to Younguk and Hyesoo coming a week from now. Maybe we'll take them to try out the S-Mart Korean grocery during their stay (it has a sit down area where we can order food).

More Linux

Here's an interesting post regarding Linux and how it is viewed as a competitor by Microsoft.

So far the transition to Linux has been easier than I thought. However, there are a few things I am going to ask Christian about. One is that when I minimize windows, sometimes they disappear and I can't figure out where they went. It also took me a long time to figure out why I had practically no sound, but eventually I realized that it was set up for an external amplifier. Once I turned that option off I was good to go.

Wabi Sabi

This is a Japanese concept which I find interesting. "Wabi Sabi is about respectful conversation, harmonious and peaceful dwellings, and modest behavior. It is ordered but not orderly, planned but not scheduled, simple but not simple-minded, and deliberate without being rigid."

Is the class half full or half empty?

This is the week before spring break. I'll have one serious exam on Thursday. Otherwise, my goal is to stay afloat, take good notes, and prioritize what to review over spring break. If I have a bunch of homework assigned, I'd like to work through that during the first weekend of break. Then I'll spend parts of the first three days of next week reviewing material and getting back up to speed with prerequisites like calculus and chemistry. If I can do that, I'll still have a guilt-free four day break, and good company to enjoy it with!

So I'm now blogging from a LINUX/Ubuntu machine. Scott was here over the weekend and had a netbook with Ubuntu. (For those of you who don't know what Ubuntu is, I didn't know until about a week ago - it basically replaces Windows on your computer.) I had been talking to Ken and Christian about putting it on my laptop. Anyway, seeing Scott's setup put me over the edge so we went to the Chapman's and Christian set it all up. Last night I was trying to mess with some settings and got the equivalent of the Windows blue screen of death, but I finally figured out how to reset it to the original settings. Overall I am impressed with how well Ubuntu recognized all the devices I have attached to it (printer, wireless keyboard & mouse, etc.). I thought that was going to be a pain. I think my machine is running a bit faster, too. That may be attributed to Ubuntu, but it may also be a result of clearing out all the extra junk I had stored in my computer.

Ubuntu and other new words

We had a discussion yesterday about the evolution of language and words. It's interesting to think about all the words we know, plus the fact that new ones are being created every day. I really have no clue what the program ubuntu does but the very fact that I know it exists should amaze everyone. Wikipedia says it's a Zulu word which translates "humanity to others." Very cool that the English language is dynamic and incorporates influences from other countries.

One trend which I often notice is "verbalizing" nouns. Like, "she pinked her room" which was a statement overheard recently.

The Guest Room

Here's a photo of the new duvet. The room's not complete but looking better than it had.

We really appreciated our company overnight. It was a quick visit but very enjoyable. They are headed for South Carolina. Happy trails!

Shopping bliss

Happy, successful adventures today in the world of retail therapy! After looking for a few weeks, I found the perfect duvet cover for our guest bedroom. Clean, bright, kinda contemporary, kinda Asian, kinda delicate, kinda crisp. I stared at a black, pintuck one at Target for nearly 30 minutes, but was glad I moved on and found this one. Ahhh... now, to keep searching for the next perfect thing.

All good things come from Ohio, I've learned since being married. So, we're really looking forward to our good company from Ohio tomorrow night.

Moi?!

Our study for tonight has really made me think! I'm now wondering what is the longest period of time I've gone without complaining. Today was a BAD one for that. I think I complained about something every 15 minutes at least. I'm going to conduct a self-study and see how many times a day I complain, and how often. Obviously, it will be extremely scientific, double-blind, non-biased and unfunded by any association, and therefore will be presentable at the some psychology conference somewhere.

And for pictures of the world's cutest Korean girls, click here and feast your eyes :)

Food, glorious food

We've been switching up the dinner menu this week for some excitement. Cooking is definitely more fun with variety. Yesterday was a little Indian -- a chicken curry with onion and peas over rice with a side of lentils and naan. Tonight was German --sausage and kraut, with potato pancakes and lima beans. Later this week, we'll have cajun and also Italian.

Downtown Cary now has a Czech restaurant, Klara's. I've never eaten that type of cuisine but the menu in the window looks interesting. Keep meaning to tell Lester and Esther about it.

Time to say something

Yeah, I've let Youngin take care of the blog for a little while, so I figure I better say something.

Today I got back my first exam of the semester. It was by far the hardest of the three I've taken so far, and I escaped with a B. I should have at least a B on both of my other tests (there's always the chance of a nasty surprise, though) so I'm doing ok so far. I only have one more serious exam before Spring Break, which is coming up in only TWO WEEKS!

I was hoping this semester I would be over the "I can't remember anything I learned 8-10 years ago" hump, but unfortunately I'm finding other weak areas instead. Sometimes it's terribly frustrating, but other times I'm amazed at how just a little extra work can bring the basics right back! I think I will need to spend some of my Spring Break on these subjects so I can focus more on learning current material for the rest of the semester.

Just a reminder to check out my Water Resources blog from time to time.

Dates

Our past few Friday nights have been "date" nights, starting off with an anniversary dinner a couple of weeks ago. Then the following week, we went to a place where we know someone who works there, and this past Friday was our Valentine's dinner. We decided against flowers and trinkets and chose a nice restaurant instead.

On Friday, one of my sweet patients dropped off a Valentine's gift bag, filled with a beautiful shawl and some heartful cards. What a neat surprise! Definitely a boost after a long week... and another good reminder of why I like what I do.

Today, we enjoyed our lunch with Jeff and Britta, a nice spur-of-the moment gathering.

Also, with the realization that we are having company this Friday, not next Friday, I was spurred into action around the house. We are looking forward to their visit. A while ago, we ordered the Aerobed Premier Comfort Raised air mattress, after researching various options. It's been pumped up in the basement for a couple weeks now, and hasn't lost much air yet. We really should sleep on it for a night, as that's the right way to figure out if guest beds/rooms are comfortable or not. Uhhh... or maybe the lucky guest in the basement will be frank enough to tell us how the Aerobed worked out.

Happy Heart Day

Yes, it's one of the most commercialized holidays, but still a nice chance to stop and think about all the individuals we love and appreciate. I should do that more anyway. From our heart to yours.... have a happy day.

Grammar Cop

When I write, I am constantly aware of spelling and grammar. It might be leftover from middle school and high school English classes where we had to diagram sentences and had repetitious assignments learning the differences between "there" "they're" and "their." We were also drilled about the proper usage of "I" and "me" and to this day I always notice when they are not used correctly in conversation. I don't comment on it, but somehow a little ding-ding goes off in my head. The usual crime is the overuse of "I". And... in 6th grade, Mr. Bartelt, our science teacher, always corrected us when asked "I can I go to the bathroom?" He'd say, "I don't know, can you?" Then, sheepishly, the question was changed to "May I go to the bathroom?" and he'd say yes.

The real truth is when I write this blog, I am VERY conscious of the Grammar Police who are reading it. You know you are! The professorial-types with multiple letters behind their names are the scariest cops. Too bad you can't flunk me anymore. If I were to grade my grammar right now, though, the worst would be punctuation, followed by run-on sentences, followed by poor paragraphing. C-

Even when I text, I find it hard to use abbreviations. I tend to use the function on my phone that guesses the word after a couple of letters. Did I just state my antiquity?!

Oh well, enough blathering. Today was a great day, helped by being off work and enjoying balmy temperatures. After a workout, running a few errands, I met Barbara, Rosemary and Riley for lunch at Serendipity Cafe, definitely a special place. Thanks for the nice ladies' time!

Better run and check the meat temperature. It's Giada's parmesan-crusted pork chops for dinner. Poor Troy is being experimented on again.

Lunar tides

As much as we tout our cerebral advantages and intellectual development, homo sapiens are just as attune and influenced by the lunar pull on the earth as any other critter. This observation comes after 5 days of frenetic craziness in the office. It started Friday and finally calmed down this afternoon. Monday was the full moon -- and it was particularly bright, which somehow seems to heighten the madness. Hence the word "lunacy."

One lady told me it's the same way in her classroom. She knows exactly when the moon is full by the way her students behave. We used to notice a lot more traffic in the ER during those same times. Supposedly there is more crime during full moon periods. Even our network system was down these past couple of days! (ok, that might be a stretch for causality but..... )

A quick google search revealed disputing scientific evidence regarding the moon's affect on human behavior. Some researchers deny that there is any influence, but others have found definite correlations between the two. My personal research only continues to confirm that those positive ions indeed turn people "loony."

Companion Blog

I started a companion blog over the weekend. It's more for school, work, and technical stuff that I don't want to add to this blog.

Here it is:

CEWater

Ketchup vs Catsup vs Catch-up

To quote something trite: "if you want something done, ask a busy person to do it." The point being that being busy makes one more organized and therefore more efficient and even able to take on more tasks. Since working full-time as of January, I'm never quite caught up on housework, correspondence, shopping, etc but I'm learning (yeah, it's a slow process) that I need to be more organized. Several years ago, I met some ladies who had binders of month-long meal plans with grocery lists and coupons to match. Others had menu calendars posted on the fridge. I admired their planning skills. I'm nowhere near that, and probably will never be regimented enough because I mostly look at the contents of the fridge, freezer and pantry and then create some meal to use up veggies or re-purpose leftovers. Despite that, though, I'm still at a grocery store two or three times a week. That's a clear sign that I need better planning. I made a little progress by spending some weekend time cooking dinner for the first part of the week, finishing up laundry, pressing, cleaning, calling and/or meeting some people and it feels good! Catch-up is ok, but getting "mustard"-ahead is better. (Sorry, George, it had to be said!)

The Signs of Spring

We have life blossoming in our back yard, including the lenten rose from Troy's parents and the hint of daffodils coming. YES!!!

Get your goat

While I worked on Centennial Campus, I heard about a kudzu control experiment using goats. It was one of those things you hear snippets about but never get the full story.

I finally found the whole story here
(Lower left side, click on "Goat Invasion")

It's arrived

The flu season has hit! We have been seeing several cases since last week. For you technology gurus out there, Google flutrends claims it can track the flu season better than any other modality by the number of searches for influenza.

Our water is off right now. Apparently there's a water main break at the bottom of the hill. The crews are out digging or something. I still reflexively turn on the faucet and then duh! realize that the water is off. Thankfully we have some gallon jugs in the basement leftover from the hurricane season. It's amazing how much water we actually use!

ACT Pencils

When I took the ACT, there was only one pencil deemed worthy. The Mirado Black Warrior. Apparently Paper Mate is now producing them.

Anecdotal evidence suggests a 10% score increase when using the Black Warrior, due to the soothing ease of use and pleasing cedar aroma.

Pencil Blog

Pencil Link II

According to James W Atwater,
"Black Warriors are the gold standard by which all pencils shall be judged. Having first realized the distinctives of this instrument back in 1982 I have been satisfied with nothing less since. Do not buy or use a Black Warrior unless you are willing forever more to use nothing less. Otherwise, they will only break your heart. "

Gold mine

My study space has been migrating through the house. I started last summer using a desk in the basement, then the kitchen table, then a desk in the sunroom, then back to the kitchen table, and finally I am in the basement again. This time I think I am settling in for a while. We bought a 4 ft table I use as my desk. Behind the table-desk is my huge computer monitor which sits on the desk I was originally using. Over the weekend we bought a decent office chair too.

I spent a bunch of time this weekend on actual homework problems. I spent a lot of time trying to review old material from prerequisite courses I have not had in years. The gold mine I'm referring to in this post's title is a little chemistry book I found. Usually when I am trying to review these old materials I find that there are still traces of the information still in my brain. All I need to do is sit down and do some of the simple problems several times each and I'm back on track again. Unfortunately, finding a source of these problems (with solution set) is, well, a big problem. Usually standard textbooks are going into so much detail I don't have time to sort it all out. So this little chemistry book I found at the library is great. It starts out with the simplest of ideas. Each idea is explained in a sentence or two, and immediately followed by a question. So about every third or fourth sentence is a question. Somehow it's a good approach for me and my mind is finally crawling back out of the chemistry graveyard.

Check it out:
A Self-Teaching Guide

I was excited enough to order the above book as well as a physics edition.

Kudos to Troy

As of today, he's survived 365 days (plus one second added to 2008) of living with me! No easy feat, as my mom would say :) This has been the best year of my life. Thanks, honey. Happy Groundhog Day to everyone else.

Baking bread

It's the final task for the weekend. The dough's starting to rise, then another half hour in the loaf pan and the final half hour to bake. Blogging is a good way to take advantage of the waiting time.

After our various gatherings this weekend, I realize more and more that we know some wonderful people. The connections that we have with others makes our lives richer, and confirms some theories I've been reading about in a book recommended by a friend. It's called Loneliness and explores psychological concepts in social interaction versus isolation. I've often wondered if some depression and anxiety really have roots in social isolation, and this book attests to that concept. I talk to people all day long who are stressed and have no good outlet for it. Those with close friends seem to handle stress (i.e. life) better. Troy and I are fortunate to have had some social networks pre-established when we moved into town, but the actual bonding takes time and effort. Also, having moved from friends and family, it takes time and effort to continue those bonds too. We appreciate those who help us with new and old friendships.