Today's Project

With all our non-working time off, Katie and I have been doing some home improvement stuff. Last night Katie changed the upholstery on dining room chairs to some cool micro-suede fake polyester leather stuff. They look and feel nice.

Today I installed a pulley system for getting our bikes in the garage off the floor. If you've ever seen ads for things like this (big hooks being more common) they usually feature an attractive women in "work-out clothes" one hand on the bicycle as if she had just hung it up. Two things: unless she is a lot stronger than she looks and/or the bicycle is a $4000 10 lb. bike, she did not just get done hanging it up with one hand. Two, often these photographs seem to be done in 12-foot garages where hanging the bike by the front tire places it completely out of the way.

Since neither of these facts apply to our garage situation, we grabbed a kit that makes a simple pulley system with lowering hooks to grab under the front handlebars and the seat. We've got two of them installed in such a way that the bikes are out of the way but we can still get them down easily enough. (We realized during the planning process that the bikes needed a place to "land" when we wanted them down. For example, though hanging them above the car would save space we would have to move the car every time we wanted them down. This definitely made finding a good spot a big more tricky.)

I wouldn't say that raising the bike is trivial with this system but it is possible for Katie to do it without too much effort. So far my only complaint is that the rope seems to tend to slide out of the grooves in the pulley when its not being loaded down. We'll see if this ends up being a pain over the long-term.

Photos

Over the past few weeks Katie and I took two trips: one was our "second honeymoon" (also known as "we're probably never going to be a position to do this again") trip to Hawai'i, the other a trip to Westcliffe, CO where Katie's parents recently purchased some land. Both trips were great and wonderful in different ways and I have photo's to share from them.

Except that when we got back from Colorado, the device I store my pictures on (a LaCie 2Big Network for those of you who may care) wasn't working. The power went out while we were gone and this device has always had trouble with power glitches. Usually I'm able to get it back up and running with only a minor amount of effort but this time it looks to be more serious. I called tech support and we're slowly working on a solution (parts are being shipped to me right now). In the mean time, my pictures are locked up and unavailable which means I can't share them with you; you'll just have to wait.

(As you'll probably realize, I haven't updated my Flick'r stream in quite some time. This is keeping in par with the frequency of my posts here, only worse. What can I say? I have no excuse.)

In Last Week's Episode...(Or What I've Been Up To In The Past Few Months)

I once again have very little excuse for not being more active in my blogging. In this case, quite a bit has happened since I last wrote.

As of August 7th, I will no longer be an employee of Cessna Aircraft Company. Due to a federal law, Cessna has to give 60 days notice when laying-off 500 people or more and I was given my notice on June 5th. I am doing my best to not take it personally but this is a bit difficult as I was one of seven in our group of 40 or so that were chosen for this first round to really affect our group. As the company is doing very poorly financially and seems to be in survival mode, I didn't necessarily expect to avoid the lay-offs completely but I had hope. I viewed myself as a valued employee who had made a lot of significant contributions to the project I was working on and seemed to have a good skillset. I didn't consider myself one of the most valued employees but I hoped I was in the top 35% in my group. To find out I was in the bottom 17% is unsettling to say the least.

I don't know why I was specifically laid off. At the group meeting days before the notices went out our boss told us the factors involved in assessing and ranking the individuals in our group, things like attitude, technical skills, professionalism, etc. Noticeably absent from the list were things like salary, years of experience and current project. I honestly can't imagine how I could have ranked so poorly by the official standards that I would end up at the bottom of the list. When I told my co-workers I had been laid off (minutes before walking out the door for the last time), I could tell they were just as surprised as I was. Everybody's best guess is that, despite the official ranking criteria, the reason for me being laid-off has something to do with working half-time and pursuing a Master's. I don't know why developing my technical skills would be perceived as a liability but it may have been.

So what's next for me? Well, I still have two more classes in the fall and a thesis to finish up before I complete my Master's. I had a great idea for a thesis related to my project at work that is probably not an option now; back to square one at this point. After that, its hard to say. I may end up pursuing a PhD at Wichita State or at another institution and depending on how long my thesis takes, that could happen as soon as the spring or fall 2010. Katie and I are still discussing all of this because we'd like to start a family sometime before I would finish my PhD (since that would be in ~2014) but if she's going to be providing the income for us, she can't be a full-time mom as well. There are a number of options, we just need to figure out which one is best or most feasible for us.

In the mean time, I've been plenty busy with around-the-house projects. We might install an attic fan, maybe a skylight, probably replace our front door. (I may have not made it clear above but as of right now, I am still technically a Cessna employee and will be until Aug. 7th. I am still getting paid by them but, again, for reasons I don't understand, they would rather not have me around at work and have asked me not to come back.) I've got plenty of time to think and pray over my future and have also been doing just that.

Wind Power

I've just turned in a paper for one of my classes on wind power and offshore wind farms.  Have a read if you want to see what's kept me busy lately.  I've got a presentation on this on Tuesday.

Spring has arrived

• This week was the first evening we were woken in the middle of the night by our weather radio warning us of a severe thunderstorm in the county somewhere.
• Right now we're sitting through our first tornado warning for the county.  No tornados to report at this time but it is raining quite heavily.  This leads to....
• Its raining and blowing so hard our dogs, normally not ones to mind the water but rather enjoy it, have opted to stay inside, even when given the chance to go out and play.

Welcome to spring in Kansas.

Another Great "This American Life" Story

Well, I haven't got around to my "top ten" list for "This American Life" yet but I've got another clip from one of the shows. I've actually had this sitting around for a while but didn't have a good way to share it until I recently set up my Google site. 

Anyway, if any of you have ever spent any significant amount of time overseas, particularly in a culture where you don't know the language, don't know the customs, don't know the how much you should tip, and don't know how to get a taxi ride back to where you're staying, well, this show is for you.  I heard first before our two weeks in China and after that trip can identify with it even more.

I hope you enjoy it.

(Oh, the full show is here: listen online for free, download the show for a buck (well, actually $0.95 USD).  You'll get tired of hearing me say this but this will surely be one of the best dollars ever spent.

FDIC Ride-Along

In the same spirit as a police officer ride-along, This American Life did a piece recently where one of their contributor's got to sit in on the process of the FDIC shutting down a bank in Vancouver, Washington.  Here's the clip.  The whole hour is good to listen to, though, and I'd recommend that you check it out.  

(In addition to listening to all their old episodes online for free and subscribing to their podcast where you can download the latest show for free, it looks like they've added the option to purchase individual episodes for $1 from their website.  This is a steal!  One hour of fascinating radio to own and cherish forever for less than anything you can buy at Starbucks. I'll have to put together a "best-of" list so that all three of my loyal readers can get the most bang for your bucks.)

What I've been up to

When I was trying to explain to one of my brothers why I haven't posted lately due to end of semester school work, he suggested that I post what I've been working on to my blog.  In that spirit, here is a paper I turned in yesterday that I've been working on for a week or so. I've two tests this week and another project due next Monday. (and another next week and another the week after that, and another test next week...)

I highly suspect that this will be the content on the blog for the next month.  I hope that you like electrical engineering!

And the new motorcycle is...

... as you can see its not a Honda Rebel.  That deal fell through for mysterious reasons that are not clear at all to me.  After not getting back to me in a week and a half (after several calls) I finally managed to get a hold of him and he informed me he had "waited too long" and that he couldn't register the bike to sell it to me.  The motorcycle was no longer for sale.

(Side commentary:  I don't buy his story completely.  I've learned recently that Kansas requires that all vehicles be registered at all times and this guy had left the bike unregistered for over a year.  I believe that there would be some complications in registering it but there is no way that the State provides no means to register a vehicle with a valid title and bill of sale whose registration has lapsed.  Put differently, what is he going do with the bike if he can't register it.  It has no license plate so he can't ride it.  Is he going to sell a wonderfully cared-for bike for scrap metal?  I think there is more going on here than I was told.)

Thus began a month long search for my scooter replacement.  Compared to what most people were asking on Craigslist, most motorcycles weren't even an option for me.  If I was interested in the bike and the price was not too far from what I had, I would email and ask if they were flexible on price.  Some were, some weren't.  Lots of emailing, phone calls, even checking out a few bikes in person.   Katie was highly involved in the approval process as I wanted her to be comfortable with whatever I ended up with. When all was said and done, I ended up purchasing a bike that I found one of the very first weeks I was looking but took nearly four weeks to finally take a look at.  Shown above, the bike is a 1996 Kawasaki KLR250.  Until I get a chance to repaint the body, we call the "Teal-mobile".

I've ridden it to work and school for two days now and I'm very happy with it. It has a few minor things that need to be repaired, the biggest one is a leaky fuel shut-off valve followed by a carburetor rebuild.  Right now, with neither of those fixed, the bike has a tendency to leak fuel while parked (unless I get the valve in just the right spot).  I should pick up the gaskets for the valve on Monday and be able to fix it that evening. Until the carburetor gets rebuilt, though, I'm keeping the gas can in the Buick so that Katie can fill it up and bring me fuel when (not "if") I forget to close the valve when I park.  I just know that's going to happen at some point.

Things I like about the bike: its simple (single cylinder), not expensive, liquid-cooled, doesn't get blown around in the wind near as much as the scooter, it fits my height well, has low mileage, generous suspension for handling the potholes of Wichita and should get good fuel economy (we'll see after a few tanks).  

Things I don't like: its teal and purple and it leaks gas.

That's all for now.

A Further Note on Why I Don't Like Trains in Wichita

On the way home Katie and I got stopped by a train.  It was the back-and-forth kind that slowly heads one direction for a few minutes, stops for a few minutes, heads back the other way a few minutes.... You get the picture.  The trains that are just passing through town aren't that big of a deal; usually less than a five minute wait.  The "Sunday Driver" trains take at least twice as long, often longer.

So Katie and I are sitting there, watching, waiting.  We see the rear locomotive approach the intersection and ... come to a stop.  Sigh.  After a few minutes, the locomotive pulls away rather quickly and this time there is no train attached.  We are both very excited by this.

And the the cross-bars don't go up.  The red lights are still flashing and the warning bell is still clanging.  We see the cross-bar for the on-coming traffic rise and then stop half way.  It hangs there for a minute then drops back down.  Shortly, our cross-bar rises half way for a few minutes and then drops back down.

It takes a few of these cycles for us to get close enough to see the source of this mystery.  The cross-bars are being directly lifted by (I presume) a train company employee.  He lifts one for a few minutes and then cross the street the lift the other.  

This is a first; never seen anything like this before.

Twenty minutes of waiting.  During rush hour.  We had plenty of company.

Taxes 2008

Katie and I just finished doing our taxes for 2008 and once again, I was quite impressed with Kansas' online FREE electronic filing.  After the muted pain of our Federal returns ("muted" by the use of TurboTax) the Kansas electronic filing was five minutes.  Copy a few values from the federal return, enter bank information for electronic deposit and we were done.  

One of these days very soon the Federal government will have free electronic filing for all simply because it will save a large pile of money/work by not having to deal with enter information on paper returns into a database.  Every year they inch closer and closer to this by allowing more and more "low-income" earners to file for free. (I think if your total income was less than $55,000 this year you could file for free.)  Right now, probably over half of the tax-payers could file for free.  My prediction: in less than 5 years over 90% filings will be electronic.  You heard it hear first.

(Oh, as a bonus side-note, TurboTax thinks the likelihood of an audit is "low" this year.  We haven't been audited yet for our 2007 return so we may have slipped of their radar for now.  I do have a friend, though, who is being audited for his 2007 return and due to my past experiences he has come to me for a bit a preparation guidance.  Once the word gets out that I'm fought the IRS behemoth twice and have been victorious, their going to be beating down my door for help.  I might have to start charging.)

In Wichita, at 3am...

I woke up at 3am this morning with a very runny nose.  After 20 minutes of attempting to blow my nose quietly so as not to wake up Katie, I finally gave up and went out into the living room.  (I have no idea what precipitated all of this but I went through about a dozen tissues in half an hour. Katie thinks I may be allergic to something.  Something that only shows up at 3am.)

My nose cleared up but now wide awake, I had the opportunity to explore the wonders of early morning television in Wichita.  Here are the results:

Several newscasts

Jay Leno

Infomercials

Leave it to Beaver

Now you know.

Life and Transportation

Yes, this is the first post in quite a while.  I mostly have no excuse.  I've started my second semester of graduate school, trying to get life organized after the Christmas holiday, took a a class offered through our church, working on taxes, and trying to take a respectable inventory of our house.  None of these really seemed worth writing about (at least by the time I ended up having time to actually do the writing.)So what is the cause of break the silence?  Not something important  or monumental but, rather, something fun.

I got a motorcycle.

Just got back from looking at it with Katie and though the owner needs a few days to do title paperwork, I am effectively the new owner of a 2001 Honda Rebel.  Compared to the scooter I've been riding, this things seems to be a dream.  It has all kinds of great features like gears, high-beams, readily available parts, etc.  It even sounds so much better than the scooter.  The bike is definitely on the smaller side for somebody my height. but I on the quick ride up and down the street it seemed to work for me.

Speaking of which, shifting on a motorcycle is going to take a little getting used to.  My scooter has not discrete gears so I never had to worry about shifting; just "twist and go" as they say.  Now I'm having to work a clutch and a shift pedal; there's not indicator of what gear you're in except for a light that comes on when you're in neutral.  I might have to toodle around the neighborhood of the seller to get the hang of things before I make the journey home.  As the seller commented to Katie while I was making a fool of myself on my test ride: "He's a bit out of practice, isn't he?" 

Yes, yes I am.

So what of the scooter?  My plans are to get it back in running shape and sell it.  I don't know how long that will take as the repair will involve removing the engine block.  In fact, the length of time it might take to repair it was a major factor in deciding to purchase a motorcycle.  Without my scooter life was considerably more complicated in getting both Katie and I where we needed to be.  Though purchasing a new bike may seem like overkill, the price was right and if/when Katie revokes my motorcycle privileges, I should be able to sell it for close to my purchase price.  

Was it a mistake to purchase the scooter?  I've thought about this over these past three years of ownership and am divided on it.  It wasn't a mistake in that the purchase price and operating cost of the scooter has still been much less than that of owning a second car.  (At 70 mpg, insurance at ~$150 a year and not more than $200 for parts total; the scooter has been very affordable to own and operate.)  Could I have made a better purchase with that money?  Yes, undoubtedly.  For a first bike, though, everything worked out fine.  I've learned about motorcycle riding and ownership and financially it has worked out in our favor.  Whatever I can make in selling the scooter is going to be gravy.

Not much more to say right now.  I'll post pictures when the deal is done.

Another Reason I Love Portland (In Which My Nerdity is Confirmed)

Take a lot at this hasty picture taken in the parking garage at Portland International Airport.

The item of interest that you should note is the beam with read beacons stretching down the length of parked cars.  By the time my brother had parked the car beneath one of these I already knew just fantastic they were.  These were the heart and soul of the coolest thing yet to hit parking areas since yellow paint.

These are simple sensors that somehow tell if a parking spot is occupied or not.  If the spot if filled they turn red, if it is available they turn green.  If this is all they did their usefulness would be immense.  As you drive by rows and rows of parked cars a glance at the lights would tell you if any spot was open.  No more surprises when the spot between two SUVs which looked open is found to house a 1985 Civic.

It gets better though.  At nearly every junction in the parking garage is an LED display indicating how many open spots are available down a given path.  It even breaks it down by handicapped and non-handicapped spots.  To park your car you find a floor on the parking garage that says it has spots available, find a row with an open spot, and look for a green light.  It worked brilliantly for us by pointing the way to the closest open spot on level.

And, actually, I lied about this being the best thing since yellow paint.  The very same garage implemented something else not near as cool but also very useful a few years ago. Instead of taking your parking ticket at paying at a "toll booth" on your way out of the airport, they installed ATM-style payment kiosks throughout the parking garage that allow you to pay for parking before you even get in your car.  This effectively adds dozens of additional payment points and greatly speeds up the payment process.  Brilliant!

Biggest Home Extreme Loser Makeover

I just got off the phone with a good friend of mine and he made a very interesting point regarding the similarities and differences between two reality TV shows: Biggest Loser and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.  Both shows are aimed at helping people who are in a situation that is difficult/not healthy.  The course of action each show takes, though, is fundamentally different.  

Extreme Makeover is all about the "wow" factor.  The show tries to find a down-on-their-luck family who has a problem that can be fixed by extreme home improvement.  Well, maybe not all of their problems but at least some of their problems.  And actually, the show likes to focus on the big changes their making (to their home) and all the good it will do them.  It often seems the families in need are doing things like running a shelter for blind, paraplegic dogs or a foster home for run-away Chinese orphans, etc.  The point is, based on a handful of viewings, often a new living situation will go a long way towards helping the family.  The crew shows up, sends the family on a vacation, changes everything, and brings them back for a heart-pounding reveal. Very dramatic, makes for good TV, fits well in a one hour time slot.

This mode of assistance is very different than Biggest Loser.  Biggest Loser is all about long-term changes.  The obese individuals shows up and sign themselves into the ranch for as long as they can stay, possibly as long as three months or so.  They are on-board all day, all night, week after week.  Every day they are making choices about what they eat, how hard they work out, what they are going to do to try to lose the most weight and continue to stay in the competition.  The only way they get on the show is by having developed a fitness pattern that is horribly bankrupt and by coming to a realization that they need to change something soon and change it in a drastic way.

One of these shows is focussed on a change in circumstances, the other on a change in process or, because these are people after all, character.  Extreme Makeover does a one-week blitzkrieg on your life, Biggest Loser is in for the long haul, hoping to make you a fundamentally different (and better) person. 

Extreme Makeover isn't a bad show, doesn't have evil motivations, and is not despicable.  The kind of aid they provide can be very effective helpful.  There are families out there that have one significant problem in their lives that a new house could go a long ways to fixing. Sometimes money is the only barrier.  Sometimes.

There are some down-sides, though, to building them a new house.  Invariably, the house is bigger than before which almost guarantees larger utility bills going forward.  (Granted, they do try to use energy efficient techniques/appliances but no amount of efficiency will change the fact that there is twice as much square footage to heat/cool.)  Sure the kids get totally decked-out rooms with INCREDIBLE interior design but, especially for younger children, their interests will change in time.  When the love of airplanes wanes, what do you do with the 747 cockpit that has been built into your room?

What Extreme Makeover does is very generous and I truly hope that every family that is helped has thrived since receiving their new home.  I doubt this is the situation, though.  It may be like winning the lottery; after the emotional thrill wears off, the blessing may end up being more of a curse.  Once the crew drives away and leaves you with your new house, its all up to you.  Any problems you had before that the new house doesn't fix are still going to be with you.  You're not a new person, just the same old person in a new house.  Maybe with higher heating bills, to boot.

Biggest Loser has a much less ambitious goals in some ways; they just want to help you learn to eat right and take care of your body. Sure, the winner at the end of the show gets some money but its not even enough to make you independently wealthy for life.  Maybe just enough to pay off the mortgage and/or buy a new car but that's it.  The real prize is the change in who you are. Your attitude towards food is new. You see the value in exercise.  You've learned to accept the pain of working out or denying yourself ice cream.  You've put in a lot of hours in the gym.  Every pound lost has been the difference between calories in at the dinner table and calories out on the treadmill.  There's no way around it and they have spent as long as three months living with that reality in their face.

And there aren't any excuses, either.  There is no 2 lb. handicap because you grew up on Twinkies and never stopped eating them.  No week off because your parents just divorced and you have been over-eating to avoid the emotional pain.  The cause of the problem is irrelevant. If you want to stay on the show, you're going to have to work at it, just like everybody else.  No excuses, just work.

I don't I know if either show does any long-term follow-up (I'm guessing not simply because it may not make good TV), but I bet the Biggest Loser people have a much better chance of experiencing lasting change. In a non-trivial and mundane way, they've been transformed.

Generalizing this to society as a whole, I think most of our problems need change that is more like The Biggest Loser than like Extreme Makeover.  Most people's problems can't be solved by throwing money at the problem, even if they think it can.  The big, difficult problems in our world require change in people at a fundamental level and it is VERY difficult, if not impossible, for that to happen in any other way than long-term personal commitment on the part of both those giving and those receiving help.  Everybody has to work at it and there are no excuses; if you want change, if you want to be transformed, you've got to put in the hard time.

I hope that whatever the future brings, that we as a society can learn to not accept quick fixes and instead be willing to commit to long-term, hard work to fix our problems.   We need to be willing to roll up our sleeves and make an effort in each other's lives, doing our best to help others and stick with it over the long-haul.  Real change is hard work and we need to have the patience and strength to not give up.  Transformation is hard-fought but long-lasting.

Snow and Driving

Speaking of snow, on the way home this afternoon, driving slowly and carefully on the highway, I saw a bright red car off in the ditch at the right-hand side.  At first I thought it was a fancy sports car and was chuckling to myself at the misery of the hot-rod driver who clearly thought the laws of physics didn't apply to him, even when it snowed.  (Turns out it was a Dodge Stratus and I revised my evil laugh to more sympathetic thoughts.  Only good, honest, non-rich people own a Dodge Stratus.  Clearly.)

Then an idea occurred to me.  What if the highway patrol intentionally placed a few bright colored cars in the ditches as snows begin to fall to remind other drivers of the danger?  A cautionary tale with a sad ending on display for all drivers to see.  All we'd need would be a few brightly colored cars at strategic points to do the trick.  Of course, usually weather like this produces its own non-contrived roadway mishaps and they don't seem to care all drivers straight.  

Maybe its because the cars aren't red.  That must be it.

First Snow in Wichita

Well, at least the first snow that has accumulated.  (We were gone over Thanksgiving and we heard it snowed then.)

Basil and Anise are having a lot of fun with the snow, the first time they have experienced it.  Both seem to enjoy eating and frolicking in it.  Here's the proof:

Man Purse

After months of constantly mis-placing my wallet, keys, phone, and work ID, I've finally purchased a bag to keep track of everything.  The straw that broke the camels back was when I couldn't find my wallet for about 24 hours and decided that as soon as I found it, I would get a bag.  Thankfully, I did find it (I was afraid that it might have been stolen/left in public) and a bit of web-shopping found a bag for me.  I've had the bag a few days now and love it.  I can put everything I need in it and when I walk out the door and I can have confidence that I have everything.

Politics, Journalists and Nerds

Recently, (OK, a few weeks ago), the NY Times published a little opinion piece showing how the stock market has faired under Republican vs Democratic Presidents.  Their conclusion was that the market does better under Democrats.

Enough buzz was generated around the "internets" (my wife hates it when I say that) that pundits on both sides of the aisle started attacking and defending the conclusions.  Some of these statements seems legitimate, some seem fallacious, but it seemed hard to pin down any sort of definitive answer.  Party loyalty seemed a bigger factor in these discussions than any attempt to find out the truth of the matter.

Enter the nerds.

Theodore Gray, the co-founder of Wolfram Research and professional math/computer nerd, grabbed a pile of data and started to analyze it.  Not any sissy journalist kind of analyzing in an Excel spreadsheet.  No, he went gang-busters and started to try to account for things like inflation, lag between a president taking office and when his policies were implemented and companies paying dividends.  The results showed that the choice of assumptions regarding these factors he included dramatically influence the results.   Change the lag between inauguration and impact on the market and the best party overall could change.

The most interesting result, though, was what stock returns looked like spanning both Democratic and Republican presidents.  In other words, choosing to invest in the markets regardless of the party of the sitting president.  (Which, to the best of my knowledge, is what most people do anyway.  I'll let you know if I here of anybody pulling money out of the market based on the result of this up-coming election.  Don't hold your breath.)  Check out the article to see the results.

The article demonstrates an opinion I've held for a long time: life would be better if we had more nerds.

Wall•E

Katie and I saw Wall•E this past weekend and we both loved it.  (We almost always see our movies at the cheap theater, thus the five month wait from its release date.)  The film is unique is so many regards but probably the most striking is the fact that very little dialog takes place the entire film.  Some reviews of the movie said this would make it less accessible to children, ostensibly the target audience.  Another blogger pointed out that the Road-Runner cartoons are 100% dialog-free yet seem very effective in entertaining the little-ones.  I concur.

From a photography nerd stand-point, the film also has a unique new visual style thanks to the use of a new virtual camera used when rendering the film.  This new camera brings a very strong traditional film-look to the film with things like zooms and shallow depth of focus strongly displayed through-out the film.  (I've got to get going to work or I'd write more, maybe in some other post).  

All told, a great film, undoubtedly the most worthwhile movie I've seen in past few weeks.  It is films like these that show just how mediocre most movies are today and how wonderful, enjoyable, and effective a well-executed story can be. 

Go see it for yourself.