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Gerritt's Homepage Classic - December 2003 Homepage Classic 1600 MILES OVER, ONE MILE UP December 29, 2003. 6:45 AM I've been assigned the task of transporting one VW Jetta and one large dog across the country. How I get myself into this kind of thing I'll never know, but adventure always lurks around the next corner. Garry, my mom's boyfriend, has moved out to Colorado to a small nearly-abandoned mining town in the heart of the Rockies, and she'll be moving out there with him in June. As part of the moving process, Garry needed a way to get his car and his dog, Apollo, to their place. So, for only the small fee of a plane ticket home, I offered to drive the Jetta and the slobber machine out west. Melanie has offered to come with me to make the trip a little easier, and we're set to leave this morning. We'll be getting there on New Year's eve, and we'll be watching Dick Clark counting it down at 10 PM this year. Our return flight is on the 4th, and by then I should have a ton of pictures to sort through. Its about time to hit the road, I shall return to updating in a week. Have a Happy New Year y'all. Aaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwww. . . FREE VACATION!! MELE KALIKIMAKA December 24, 2003. 11:45 AM  Merry Christmas to all, prospero ano y felicidad. JUST A PLANE OLD DAY December 22, 2003. 2:45 PM  Saturday I went out to Dulles Airport to visit the brand-new Air and Space Museum annex, where the Smithsonian has bought a bunch of land and built a big hangar full of antique aircraft. The Smithsonian, the "world's most visited museum", has the National Air and Space Museum on the National Mall in Washington, but this new facility was built because they didn't have enough existing space to display all the planes and vehicles they had restored. And so the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center was born. In traditional Smithsonian style, the building is huge, with stuff hanging down from the towering ceilings, plaques and tour guides, an IMAX theater, simulator, gift shop, and mazes of walkways around the artifacts. The aviation hangar was open and nearly complete, but the adjacent space hangar was not yet open to visitors. You could see inside of it, though, and see the Space Shuttle Enterprise awaiting the end of its restoration and the opening of the hangar. Inside of the huge aviation hangar were hundreds of planes from the past 100 years, from the last Concorde ever to fly to the first ever commercial aircraft. Highlights around the hangar include one of Boeing's huge 367-80s (the prototype for the first commercial jet), a Boeing 307 Stratoliner (the first ever pressurized-cabin commercial airplane), a Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird (the fastest jet ever built), and a hundred other military, commercial, and passenger airplanes. Of particular interest to me were the two largest planes in the exhibit: the Enola Gay and the Concorde. The Enola Gay was the giant B-29 Superfortress that dropped the first atomic bomb on Japan in WWII, and the Air France Concorde F-BVFA made the last ever flight of the aging supersonic jets in June. We also went to see an IMAX movie about Ernest Shackleton's failed attempt to cross Antarctica on foot and its transformation into the most amazing true-life survival story ever. Also in true Smithsonian style, the museum itself was totally free but parking on the remote property is $12, and the IMAX is $8 each. It's worth it, though, to see all the restoration and hard work put into building such a place. You know, airplanes are fun, but when will I get to go see the National Sea and Submarine Museum? My pictures from the Air and Space Museum are now online! THERE'S A BATHROOM ON THE RIGHT December 19, 2003. 11:45 AM When I stop at a fast food place to use the restroom, there are two things I want. One: I want it to be clean enough that I'm not afraid to reach over and flush the toilet, and two: I want to have a paper towel to dry my hands on and throw away. Yeah, I know those blower things are better for the environment, prevent messes of paper thrown on the floor, and 'prevent chapping' or whatever, but let's face it, they're a royal pain. You have to wait forever for the person in front of you, then it takes you forever to dry your hands, and they never really dry off unless you have the patience to sit through at least two cycles of the 'automatic shut-off' kind. If you like to splash water on your face when you wash your hands, forget it, just use your shirt. And all those people who don't bother waiting for the blow dryer and just leave with wet hands make grabbing the handle to open the door a very unpleasant experience for the rest of us whose hands were nice and dry. As a word of caution, McDonalds restaurants almost always have hand dryers instead of towels, as do Burger Kings. I have yet to find a restaurant chain that consistently has towels, so let me know if you know of any. No matter how bad their food is, I'll still go there just to use a paper towel. And another thing, why is there no standard for which side of a hallway the Men's room should be on? When I walk into the little side entranceway thing at a restaurant, I'd like to be able to always turn right and have the men's room there (after all, men are always right). Its just so easy to misread and only see the last three letters in 'women'. A new standard should be made, and all restaurants, gas stations, rest stops, and businesses will have to follow: if your restrooms are located opposite of each other in a hallway, the men's room will be on the right side when entering the hallway. There, it's been proposed. All in favor? I'VE GOT SHIPS RUNNING THROUGH MY BRAIN December 15, 2003. 10:45 PM Last night was the annual Wesley gift exchange, where the spirit of Christmas turns to greed and jealousy as we go around the room unwrapping gifts and then swapping for someone else's gift that we like better. I brought one of my mom's create-your-own fountain kits that she introduced me to at Thanksgiving. I guess everyone liked it, it got swapped around quite a bit. The fountain I made at Thanksgiving is set up in my room, complete with a bunch of rocks I collected when hiking around the mountains up here near Blacksburg. Its nice to have the soft trickle of water running in my room while I try to focus on studying for exams. Now that final exams are upon us like a ton of bricks, I've been shut up inside for the past two days, not leaving except to take one final and for the gift exchange last night. So needless to say, I'm going completely insane. For anyone who knows what its like to have your finals count for a third of your grade in each class, it takes a lot of studying just to make sure you're ready to study. After getting through a chapter, you find yourself doing anything to keep moving or at least distract your mind from studies (for example, writing this web entry, or making a comic strip with Captain Underpants). Late last night, deep into reclusive late-night studying, I suddenly realized that I had gotten up from my studies and was dancing around to a Fountains of Wayne song and playing my stapler like a castanet. Where did I stop studying? How long have I been flinging staples around the room? Am I really learning anything? After picking all of the staples out of the carpet, I decided I should probably take a break, have a coke or something. So I promptly laid down and went to sleep. It sure is nice to know that I'll only have to do this stupid exam-week thing one more time. Two more to go, one tomorrow morning and one Wednesday morning. Then a whole month off! MANDO-TASTIC December 13, 2003. 11:45 AM For anyone not familiar with the mandolin, it is a small stringed instrument played like a guitar and tuned like a violin (G-D-A-E) except that each string of the violin is doubled. These eight strings, when tuned properly, can produce some amazing sounds from such a tiny instrument. Last night, two of folk music's most extraordinary mandolinists played to a packed Lyric Theater in downtown Blacksburg. Chris Thile and Mike Marshall took the stage with only two chairs, four mandolins, a lamp, and some microphones, and proceeded to play two hours worth of their own mando-duet music style. They played old Irish fiddle tunes, some Bach, some original stuff, and songs from their CD. There were two other instruments that they played during the show, the mandola and the mandocello. Both are part of the mandolin family but tuned like a viola (C-G-D-A) and a cello (C-G-D-A, one octave down). So with these instruments it was like having the pieces of a string quartet being played by only two people with mandolins. Of course they left out the string bass, of which I am quite fond, but their style and ability on the mandolin made it hardly worth switching instruments anyway. Thile, the lead singer of the young bluegrass group Nickel Creek, mixed his speed and reckless improvisational skills with Marshall's mature, precise rhythms and solos to produce some really amazing music. Thile is only 22, and has been playing mandolin since he was a kid. Marshall is nearly 20 years older than him and has played on records and tours with some of the best and most talented bluegrass artists over the years. If you're not familiar with the mandolin, check out some of the stuff Thile and Marshall play, and if you're not a fan of bluegrass, check out some Nickel Creek. You'll change your mind. GOOD JOB December 11, 2003. 11:05 PM Good news from Gerritt! My first job offer has come in already. I interviewed with a recruiter on campus in October, and I got an offer this past week. The job is as a Naval Architect for Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, VA. They offered a nice salary, the benefits of a federal government job, and I'd get to work for the largest naval yard in the country. I'd be working for the Navy helping to design repairs and refits for US Naval vessels. I have another interview set up with the Navy's Carderock Division in Maryland in January, but the offer in Norfolk expires before this interview even occurs, and I'd much rather work for Carderock. I'll have to see what I can do about getting the deadline extended. It sure feels nice to know that at least someone wants to hire me, even if its not exactly the job or the location I'm looking for. Wednesday morning, in my last Ship Dynamics class of the semester, we were setting up a computer program to determine some seakeeping characteristics for a hullform of a catamaran (twin-hulled ship). The hullform is programmed into the computer as a huge equation full of high powers and complicated algebra. Normally this wouldn't make any of us OE students laugh, in fact, normally this would make us shudder. But in this case we laughed, and every time this particular equation was used for the rest of the day it made me snicker. Why? Because this equation is called the "Wigley Hullform." Pronounced as spelled. There's nothing better on a Wednesday morning than listening to our stone-faced professor talk about anything 'wiggly'. A DRIVING SNOW December 8, 2003. 9:45 AM It's funny how a snowstorm can uncover so much. For example, there's a Buick out in the faculty lot next to Randolph Hall that's still covered in snow. This leads even the less astute to conclude that this particular faculty member hasn't left campus since Thursday morning. Maybe the rumors are true: some professors really do sleep on a cot in their office and never leave the building. A snowy day also uncovers the ingenuity and craziness of a big group of college students looking to have a good time. Throughout the weekend, Owens dining hall probably lost about 500 trays stolen for use as sleds and then returned later the next day, students all around town were coming up with elaborate plans for snowball battles, and everyone was hoping we would at least have a class or two cancelled on Friday. The snow had stopped Thursday night, and the roads were cleared out before sunrise on Friday. When I drove home Thursday evening, the snow storm uncovered three entirely different types of drivers on their way home in the snow. The first type drives a sedan or perhaps a mild SUV or all-wheel drive car (like a Subaru), and makes their way home slowly but confidently, being patient with others and cautious of the slick roads. Tailgating this first type of driver is the second type, who drives a ridiculously huge pickup or SUV (maybe not even with four wheel drive), is overconfident about the abilities of his or her vehicle, and gets impatient with people who drive slowly and safely in the snow. While these two drivers perform their cat and mouse ritual, whining about each other's driving, they pass our third type of driver, who has gotten stuck in a ditch on the side of the road. This third driver's sports car is not well suited for snow, and their overconfidence in their driving abilities has led them to drive too fast or too recklessly and slide into the shoulder or the berm (if they're in PA, OH, IN, or WV). Along the two miles of bypass-460 between Price's Fork Rd and business-460 I saw four cars that had spun off the road and been abandoned on Thursday night during the snowstorm. All but one were sports cars. Be safe out there in the snow this winter, and try to keep your Mustang on the road and your SUV off of my back bumper. AND SINCE WE'VE NO PLACE TO GO December 4, 2003. 11:45 PM  Snow is so pretty and fun; I think it's God's way of making up for the short days and bitter cold of wintertime. Blacksburg has gotten its first snowfall, and still more is predicted through tomorrow night. Here in the mountains, we get a lot more snow than I'm used to, yet they never ever cancel our classes. Even when all the other colleges and school districts around are closed, Tech still has class. Oh well, that's one more advantage to driving a Subaru. TURN ON THE MAGIC OF COLORED LIGHTS December 3, 2003. 11:15 PM  Yes, that is a picture of our great Christmas light creation out on our deck here at the Knoll. We are a beacon to those driving past on Ramble Road, a shining light in the dark of the Corporate Research Center, and perhaps even trick some planes into thinking we're the Tech Airport. Maybe not that last one, but our balcony is the brightest on the block so far. Tom and I bought the light globes and the green-to-red icicle lights at Walmart, and yes, we purposely made the red and green strands fade in and out at two different times. Just our tribute to the spirit of Christmas, and to all those nights in Maryland when we get bored and drive around looking at other people's tacky Christmas lights. We also nailed our plywood Santa to the wall in the living room, and he's looking a bit sickly, but that's nothing new. KNOW WHAT? December 1, 2003. 10:15 PM Virginia Tech's football team choked and lost four of its last six, but will still play in the post-season Insight Bowl in Phoenix. The bowl game is the Hokies' 11th consecutive bowl appearance, and their first time playing an opponent from the Pac-10 conference. They'll be playing California on December 26th at 8:30 PM. Go Hokies! I just got back from watching VT Men's Basketball team beat Morgan State. They've started the season at 3-1, and their star senior, Bryant Matthews, shot for 36 points tonight. (He's in my volleyball class.) Big East tournament, here we come! Donald Rumsfeld cracks me up. (He's the US Secretary of Defense, in case you're not up on your presidential cabinet.) He won this year's "Foot in Mouth" award, given by the UK's Plain English Campaign, for comments he made to a news briefing on Iraq in February 2002. His winning quote: "Reports that say something hasn't happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. . . We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns -- the ones we don't know we don't know." |
