Memorial Day — 2010

Posted Sun May 30, 2010 in

And I’m proud to be an American,
where at least I know I’m free.
And I won’t forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me. — Lee Greenwood

I think Greenwood got it right. I’ll take some time today to remember what freedom costs and those who paid that price. I’ll also take time to remember my loved ones, both the living and dead. It is a day that is poignant to me for many reasons. Maybe the most obvious is that I’m on the back end of my life and have seen a lot. I loved a lot of people who are gone and I know I will follow.

My prayer is that when I’m gone I left something for them to hold on to, that I left them a legacy from my life, my knowledge, and my experience that they will benefit from.

In the end, that’s all we leave — memories. I remember.

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Ending the Lubbock Trip

Posted Sat May 1, 2010 in

El ChicoIt seems fitting that we ended the week here in Lubbock by sharing a meal with best friends at El Chico. We started the week with a meal there and ended it. That seems poetic, at least to me.

In retrospect, it was a good week. I got sick Tuesday and saw a doctor Wednesday morning. It seems to be the norm for me on these trips anymore that I can count on catching something along the way. Old Man Time is creeping up on the ruminator, it seems.

We accomplished some good work. I think we might have solved the rational method problem that was plaguing the work here at the end. There are a few more computations to complete (and ably under control by one of the best), but I suspect those will be complete before I arrive back in Nevada.

We scoped an NSF proposal as well. I think we have a workplan to float a proposal to NSF for the June due date. At least we will give it a good shot.

My family and I will head north to Denver in a few hours. I woke with a bit of tummy upset, but the Pepcid dealt with it. Now I just have to settle down an active mind.

This bit of video assembled by some of our troops in Afghanistan is absolutely stunning. I’m pleased they found time in the midst of an awful situation to do something fun and creative to remind us that they are not just soldiers doing their job out there, but are fun (and funny) folks as well.

God bless y’all. May he keep you safe and bring you home safe.

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Literature Review

Posted Tue Apr 13, 2010 in

Kim RicheyI started out early this morning, working through a project review and figuring out what needs to be done next. I wrote a buttload of emails, then paused for a few minutes to write in my journal.

That journal-writing activity seems to be something key for me. It’s a chance to pause and reflect both on what is coming and what is behind. I think that is something healthy — at least for me.

I also find I’m listening to music a lot more again. I’m not sure exactly why, but I am. I’ve been cleaning up my collection — tossing some things and re-ripping others with the excellent EAC extractor and LAME encoder. I also bought a few new disks and think I’ll order some more as I figure out what sounds good to me.

But, after writing in my journal and my morning ablutions, I hit the literature review really hard. I pulled the boxes from under my work table in the garage, popped them open, and pulled a handful of papers from them. Those are the remains of my earlier climate-change project. I guess the remainder went into the bin somewhere along the way. I wish I’d scanned them, but the aphorism goes “wish in one hand and shit in the other and see which fills first…”

Regardless, I need to see what’s transpired since I last worked on the downscaling problem. It’s been at least ten years and a buttload of money (there’s that word again) was spent on climate-change research since then. So, I’ve been working on Google Scholar all day. I finally quit about 1630 when my poor little pea-brain couldn’t take any more. I’ll hit it again tomorrow, I think. I’d like to get the graduate student who’s helping at Tech a load of work to do while I’m out of town late this week. I can get started reading and writing next week then, before I head for Lubbock the following week for a writing workshop.

Now I think I need a bite of something to eat. I need to finish my presentation in the morning and there are two meetings tomorrow as well. We’re planning on leaving Thursday morning before too late because I need to pick up some materials from California Dam Safety before they shut down Thursday afternoon.

I’m doing a seminar for the Corps of Engineers Friday on the concurrent flooding problem. I’ll present my “toy” and then talk about the bivariate probability distribution approach and then segue into copula technology. I’m not sure about my audience, but I think there will be a few technically-savvy folks there who will want more than lip service to the mathematics.

I’m not a mathematician, but I can do a little mathematics. I’m also damned stubborn. I do not give up easily when confronted with a problem. It’s part of my nature.

Now I want something to eat.

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Facebook Censorship?

Posted Wed Feb 17, 2010 in

This link from the Buckeye Firearms Association came across my desk yesterday.

I sometimes use Facebook when I have time to just play around — which seems more rare as time passes. It’s a place where I can track the activity of people I care about.

However, if this is true, and Facebook decided to pull the page (and the Glock page referenced as well), then I’m done with them. I’ll write a letter of departure and cancel my account. If they are biased against firearms, or don’t have the stomach to combat polictically-correct censorship, then they have no place in the American arena.

Americans love lively, reasoned debate — or they used to…

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Dangerous Citizen

Posted Tue Feb 16, 2010 in

The quote for the day is from Austin Beard.

You need only reflect that one of the best ways to get yourself a reputation as a dangerous citizen these days is to go about repeating the very phrases which our founding fathers used in the struggle for independence.

Charles Austin Beard
US historian (1874–1948)

That’s a strange thing, because in the climate today I see the same thing. Although I guess it shouldn’t strike me as odd, it does. What a shame. We are losing what those men and women worked so hard to build. I guess that is the nature of things. The law of entropy is strong.

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What's the Buzz?

Posted Mon Feb 15, 2010 in

I now have an earworm1. I’m reminded of the bit in Jesus Christ, Superstar where the disciples are singing “What’s the buzz, tell me what’s-a-happening…”

One thing about my use of “Yahoo!”: as a home page is the news “crawl” in the today box. I see a lot of things there that I would not normally see. I never managed to get my “Google”: homepage working that way. But, I see a headline and my curiosity makes me scan the contents. So, I find myself reading a mix of news and entertainment writing that is featured by Yahoo!.

An article about threats against Johnny Weir because of his fur-wearing was interesting. It’s not whether I care about his wearing fur or faux-fur a bit. I do care, though, that someone would threaten him for his choice of material. I’m disappointed, though, that he caved to the politically-correct no-fur position. That’s a shame.

The interesting part, though, is the amount of buzz generated by the article. When I checked, there were greater than 4,400 comments on the piece. That’s an incredible amount of commentary. Some of it was lively and intelligent, but most of drivel not worth the electrons it cost to send it down the pipe. (I didn’t spend much time reading — I never do because it’s a waste of time.)

The inability of people to reason, or perhaps their unwillingness to think before they post, is a poor testimony to the shape of human society. Maybe I expect too much. The bell curve is certainly in effect. But, I’d hate to measure the intellectual capacity of the median comment. I think it would be shockingly low.

Maybe we are a virus on the planet that should be eliminated. We don’t seem to be earning our keep…

1 An earworm is a bit of music that is “in your head.” I love the word! It’s so descriptive.

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Valentine's Day 2010

Posted Sun Feb 14, 2010 in

I have a few valentines out there. As soon as I finish this and get a cup of coffee, I’ll start working on my e-cards. I have a few to send this morning to my loved ones.

St. Valentine’s Day is a strange celebration. I think it’s great to celebrate love, although I wonder at the choice of this particular day. Regardless, it’s a good thing to celebrate, although I deviate from the original intent of the celebration and remember my loved ones, not just Wife. (Although she deserves a lot of remembering for her care and years of dedication.)

So, I think the coffee pot just finished and I need a cup. I’m going to go get my first cup of the morning, then work through my list of valentines.

Remember someone you love today. It’s a good thing to do regardless of whether you celebrate the Christian tradition or some other.

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