Tis the season still...

Christmas was nice. My Uncle Fraser flew in from Chicago and stayed with us for a few days. My parents, brother, uncle and grandparents attended the family Christmas Eve service. There was a cute skit where a donkey, cow, sheep, and camel took all the children through the Christmas story. Some highlights included the donkey complaining about how heavy Mary was, the cow saying baby Jesus looked like a piglet, the sheep galloping and calling the angels "Baaaaaaad to the bone", and the camel was called Joe.

The next day we opened presents. I got many nice things including a Kitchen Aid! I am going to have a fun time trying to find room in my kitchen for all the new things. The best thing about Christmas break is the Oklahoma weather. It was not only sunny but even warm. The cats love running around the back yard and taunting the neighbor's dogs. Little Kitty and my father have bonded. My dad likes to take baths in the morning and the Little Kitty enjoyed sitting on the side of the tub, batting at the water my dad poured in front of her.

Tis the Season

I am finally home, and by home I mean my parent's home. The drive home was long, but the cats did fine. The little one mostly climbed around the back and would find places to curl up and sleep. Kerrigan mostly laid on Michael or my lap. Usually when we put Kerrigan in the car it is to go to the vet, which she hates, so she freaks out the entire time she is in the car. I think the number of suitcases and her kennel made her sure that the vet wasn't at the other end of the trip.

A Thanksgiving Update

Thanksgiving dinner

Michael and I had a nice small Thanksgiving. I made a 12lb turkey, a pumpkin pie, and mashed potatoes. Michael made a corn casserole.

Today we tried to make turkey pot stickers to get rid of the extra turkey, but I think they would taste better with chicken.

Little kitty on me.

I have new little critter running around my house. Her name has been a great challenge and so mostly she is just called Little Kitty. She is a four month old cat we adopted from the Michiana Pet Advocacy Center. We were told that she was found in a wood pile located in an abandoned lot where people dumped animals. The rescue worker who found her caught her tail as she darted between the logs. When worker pulled her out, the kitty started hissing, spitting, and scratching like crazy. Four about the first two weeks of her foster care, she didn't come near people, and then suddenly one day she changed her mind and became, according to her foster mother, the sweetest little purr machine.

The little kitty may look like a mini Kerrigan, but her personality is nothing like the larger cat. Kerrigan is affectionate, but can be skittish and stand-offish when faced with new people, things, or places. The little kitty can't wait to explore and make friends. She has even taken to climbing our small Christmas tree so she can bat at the ornaments.

So far, Kerrigan has not been too crazy about the little one but I think she will come around soon.

Kerrigan and the little kitty sitting on Michael's legs.

It's begining to look a lot like Christmas...

Yes, I realize it is only the middle of November, but I couldn't wait for December and wanted to enjoy my decorations as long as possible.  I had Michael up on the roof putting lights icicle lights up while I hung lights in the tree.  It has been getting colder but so far no snow.   

On the research front things aren't going very well.  The laser has been inconsistent it its power so I have been trying to figure out what is going wrong.  So far tech support has been having me dismantle the laser and switch out parts to figure out what is wrong.  However, it looks as if I am going to have to send it back to the company for repair.  Also, I am giving a FlowPac seminar on Friday which has been stressful since Dr. Sucosky is PowerPoint perfectionist.

Happy Birthday to Me!

I had a great birthday. Nick, Michael and Anne cleaned up the house for me. We had one of our game nights with the whole gang. Nick made his family's real Italian pasta sauce for dinner. Michael gave me a spaghetti measure and the Cocktail Chemistry set from ThinkGeek. His family gave me some very nice sweaters from LandsEnd.  Thanks everybody!

Fall Fun

I haven't written in awhile. School has been busy and exhausting and in my free time I am trying to work on the house. Some rooms have come quite a long way.

Living Room

The kitchen has also taken shape, but I still plan to paint it and install real tile next summer.

Kitchen

This past weekend, Michael and I stained the deck. We put up some Christmas lights to brighten up the back yard. The fire pit was our anniversary gift to ourselves. I placed paving stones on the deck under the pit so it isn't a fire hazard.

In addition to working on the house, I am taking Taekwondo on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The classes are a really good workout. My butt is looking so much better!

Proactiv has also contacted me about doing a test shoot for a commercial. I don't really know why they are considering me since I never had really bad acne, but I am getting free stuff out of it and it would be really fun to be on TV.

I am not a mind reader!

So, I am writing this post because I really need to vent. Otherwise, I might scare my office mates, since I am about ready to start screaming and pulling my hair out.

This whole frustrating situation started about a week ago. One of my classes doesn't have a textbook because the professor teaching it is in the middle of writing the book. So every week he is going to give us chapters from the book and our homework is to proofread the material and come up with one example problem. The example problem statement and solution has to be given to him in LaTeX. He told us that we could write everything up in Word and then just copy and paste the work into the proper places on the LaTeX template he gave us.

So last week I read the chapters that we were given and came up with two example problems. The chapters were pretty straight forward, just going over topics like the Ideal Gas Law and the difference between perfect and imperfect gases. We also talked about mean free path of gas molecules. Since the material was so basic, I figured the best examples to do would just be an application of the Ideal Gas Law and calculation of the mean free path. I tried to incorporate Avogadro's number and molar calculations so that the problems wouldn't be too straight forward.

When I went to put my text into the LaTeX template, nothing would work. I was troubleshooting the homework all morning up until class. When I tried to print out what I had, I found that the only printer I have access to on my side of campus was out of paper. So I ran over to class with just my corrected notes. I explained that I had come up with my problems, but the code wasn't working on my computer and so I didn't have the final copy of them with me. The professor said that wasn't a problem and just to get them to him as soon as I could.

Michael had been helping me with the code, so when I got out of class the code was finally working. I saved a PDF of the code output and sent it to the professor so that he would have my homework and I sent my copy of the code to the TA.

The next day, I get an email from the professor saying that he doesn't want to receive any electronic copies of anything. I know he had asked for a hard copy, but I figured that he would rather I make an effort to get him my homework in a timely fashion since I had been unable to print and the nearest printer is at least a 20 min walk from my office. I also had made sure not to send him the code which he had very explicitly said he didn't want. He also starts into how the pressure I calculated in one of my example problems has to be wrong, since the partial pressure of oxygen at STP is close to 21 kPa and my answer is way below that. However, nowhere in my problem did I say that there were other gases in the room. I simply had a box with so many molecules of oxygen at a certain temperature and the problem showed how to calculate pressure from that. My example wasn't supposed to equal something physical, but he wanted it to. So I redid the problem the way he wanted and gave it back.

Then at the next class he starts complaining about how people didn't do the assignment correctly. First, he complained how the graduate students hadn't bothered to come up with some interesting examples and the one undergraduate did. As an example of what not to do, he cited my problem in which you had to calculate the mean free path of oxygen in a box. The chapter was over PV=nRT and mean free path! If those two things are the only tools I have to work with, how complex of a problem can I make?!

At this point, he begins to give us a whole new set of requirements for the homework. For example, we are supposed to create an example problem over something that confuses us in the chapter. We are also supposed to bring some sort of in depth analysis to the problem like examine the sensitivity of a variable in the equations we use. He also gave us a handout with rules of how to format our units and answers. I would have appreciated knowing all of this before, but I am still not sure how far you can dig into something as straightforward as PV=nRT! He also uses my second problem as an example of no proofreading because my answer wasn't what your would expect at ground level, and I am sitting there in class thinking to myself that there wasn't any mistake other than the professor assuming the solution should have been related to normal atmospheric pressure. So now I know he wants something based of actual physical parameters so you can compare your answer to reality- another requirement I would have appreciated knowing ahead of time.

Two days later, the class gets another email, this time telling us that if homework is late it is an automatic 50% deduction of points, which I feel is a bit harsh especially for a graduate class. He also states that the LaTeX code cannot have any errors in it or it will be returned to us for correction. He claims that if we use the template he gave us that we shouldn't have any errors. However, the template has errors inherent in it, so even if my portion was entirely correct, his stuff wouldn't be. The email also contained about 7 more items about how he wants us to format things.

I can't guess everything he wants. I am a busy student. I have other classes and research I need to get done. I need to know what is expected of me so that I can do the work correctly and in a timely manner. I can't spend all my time trying to search for the magic formula that will make him happy. I also don't like it when professors say that they will be happy with A when really they want A+B. I don't have the time to spend doing things not required of me for class when I have all my research duties that are weighing heavily on me. Tell me what you want, and I will give it to you, but I don't have the extra time to do work that isn't required of me for a class that is only loosely associated with my research.

So that is basically it. I get tired of professors assuming that we can read their minds and then also assuming that we are going to go home and spend all of our time (extra or not) working on the material for fun. He actually wanted us to go home and write a program for fun that would determine if you got wetter running or walking in the rain. I don't have time to write a stupid program to calculate something I don't care about that isn't going to be graded.

The Start of Year Two

It is now two weeks into classes of the fall semester, marking the beginning of my second year as a Notre Dame graduate student. This semester, I am taking Microparticle Dynamics and Numerical Analysis. So far, both of my classes seem like they won't be too crazy.

The house is also starting to come together especially now that I have finished buying appliances. This past weekend, I finally purchased my washer and dryer. The pair was delivered on Sunday and I wore the last of my clean clothes on Saturday. I picked a Samsung set that has steam in the dryer, which will be great since there have been many times where I've steamed up my bathroom trying to release wrinkles. The washer also has a special sanitize cycle which is supposed to remove 99% of the bacteria commonly found in fabrics.

I ache all over...

Nick and Michael were a great help with moving this weekend. On Friday, Michael rented a truck and the two of them started to move all my large pieces of furniture. We worked until about 2 am the first night. My bedroom stuff has been moved, but I am sleeping on a mattress on my floor because I need a split queen box spring. The stairs in my house are very narrow and turn 180 degrees, so my box spring won't fit. Mattress Warehouse sells the split queen, but won't have one until Thursday, so I am stuck on the floor until then. My first night in my new house was nice, but I was too tired to really get excited. On Saturday, we started moving the rest of the furniture and this time we were able to get Anne's stuff over as well as the ferrets. We worked until 3 am which was when we all just about dropped from exhaustion. Sunday was a slow day and mostly was spent putting things in their proper place. We still have a lot to do, but the house is starting to take shape.

I have also started to meet my neighbors. Kathleen lives diagonally in front of me. She came over to say hi while I was still in the painting phase. Her father lived next door to me until he passed away and now she is trying to sell his estate. I knew that the house was an estate because I actually had viewed the house when it went on the market right before I made an offer on my house. She was very helpful and gave me the number of her lawn guy so that I could keep my lawn nice while I don't have a mower.

My neighbors across the street are Bryan and Stacy (whose names might not be spelled this way). Bryan came over an introduced himself at about 11:50pm the other night. He also gave me two certificates for free Little Caesar's pizza since he is the regional manager. His wife works at St. Joseph Hospital and they both love to garden.

My neighbor that lives to the opposite side of the house for sale is very strange. I don't think I know her name but she keeps talking to me and watching me. She is an older lady and keeps telling me that Animal Control has been on my property laying traps to take care of a pregnant raccoon. I think she is very glad that the house is no longer empty because it will mean less animals hanging around her property. She also doesn't like us parking close to her driveway and I think she has been watching us move in.

I am glad that my neighbors are friendly, even the weird lady next door.

Vacation!

For the last two weeks, Anne, Nick, Michael and myself have been busily working on the house.

Anne's Room Before

Anne's room has been changed from an ugly purple to Baby Boots, a softer purple/blue wall color with white trim and ceiling.

Anne's Room After (the toilet is not a permanent part of her room)

My room has transitioned from a beige room with very dirty walls to Mint Spritzer, a very very pale green with white trim and ceiling.

My Room before

My Room after (the green is so light the camera has a hard time picking it up)

The hall which was a dingy pinkish color was also painted, Swiss Mocha, the same white used throughout the bedroom trim and ceilings.

Anne painting the hallway

The final room to be improved upon was the living room. It was a really deep yellow with paneling on the lower half. While the two-tone approach to the room was attractive, the paneling was scratched up in places so it had to go. The room was then pained Star Bright, a much lighter yellow.

The paneling has been removed and the walls repaired

A look at the new paint (on right) and the sun-room with old color

Living room painting finished

There is still a lot of work left to be done like putting the trim back on and covering the outlets (most had been ripped out of their slots) but that can be done at a much leisurely pace once we move.

Now I am finally on vacation in Canada. It is really crowded in the cottage now that everyone is an adult. We just don't fit like we used to, but that's okay. It is nice to escape from civilization if only for a little while. I have been searching for a piece of Muskoka artwork for my new house, but it looks as if I can't afford anything I like, but that is what happens when you shop in millionaire tourist country. The water has been really nice and it has been super nice since there are none of the pesky bugs that are normally around in early summer when we usually come.

On the down side I have been having a really hard time finding mint Aero bars. These are the most amazing candy bars ever. They are chocolate on the outside and a minty bubbly structure on the inside. You can also get them in milk and dark chocolate, but mint is my favorite and they don't sell them in the States except for at specialty import stores which are never located near me.

I have the rest of the week and then I am heading back to the States to move into my house.

Homeowner at last!

Closing went smoothly and now I officially own a house. The first order of business is installing light fixtures and painting some of the main living spaces. I also need to buy appliances for my kitchen and laundry room. Time to get to work!

Sometimes I feel like I am in Limbo...

It is the time of year when all of the stores start gearing up for Back to School. When I was in grade school, it was exciting to pick out new pencils, binders, and maybe even a lunch box. When college came, I got to get new and exciting things for my dorm room, like bedding, a shower tote, and nifty multipurpose desk lamp. Now that I am in grad school, I work on campus year-round and don't really have any reason to buy a lot of new supplies especially since I still haven't used up my current stock.

Now my major "Back to School" purchase is a house. While exciting, there are lots of aspects about it which I can't enjoy. Since living here after grad school is not in my plans, I don't want to spend lots of money and time fixing and installing all sorts of cool features which I hope to have someday. The whole situation is taunting me. For example, the white walls of my apartments for the last 3 years have been driving me crazy and I can't wait to have my house where I can paint the walls any color I want. I also really like solar tubes, but there is no way I am spending the dough to install one in a house I might only have for a few years. It is hard to be in a place where I can finally do whatever I want, but at the same time I am limited by practicality and money.

I have been trying to come up with some creative, yet cheap ways to fix up the place. I am considering buying a Granite paint kit to spruce up the kitchen counters. I figure it might make a good fall break project. I don't know how well these type of kits work, so if anyone has had any experience whether good or bad let me know. I have also had fun trying to figure out painting schemes using the Sherwin-Williams color visualizer. It is fun and useful, but I know colors on a computer screen look very different from on a wall and so I can't wait to go out and buy samples to try. Below is one such attempt to pick a good color for the walls. I like the original idea of yellow because it opens up the room, but I am attempting to pick a more warm neutral color that gives the same effect.

Example of Color Visualizer software

I also really don't like the tiles in the full bath. There are only two paint colors that go well with the tile, whiter or light grey. The previous owners did the job themselves and while not unpleasant it is sloppy. I would also have chosen a much better color palette. I don't want to redo the tile, but if I am given any excuse, i.e. a tile comes loose, I am going to redo it and make the bathroom much nicer looking.

The Great House Hunt

I have decided to buy a house. In order to accomplish my goal, I have enlisted the help of Jane Frasch, a local Coldwell Banker Realtor recommended to me by Elaine. We began our house search two weeks ago. My ideal house would have 2 bathrooms, a large kitchen, plenty of storage, a room that could be used as an office, a dishwasher, garbage disposal, well kept exterior, reasonably close to school and shopping and be 60,000 or less.

The first house we checked out was only 936 square feet and way too small. I currently have an apartment around 1300 sq. ft. and I am crowded as it is. My dad thinks I have too much stuff for where I am in my life if I can't fit into 900 sq. ft., but I like space so we set off to look at some slightly larger houses.

The next house was a 1680 sq. ft. foreclosure. The house was rough on the inside, but some rooms were really nice. It has 1.5 baths, a huge kitchen, three small bedrooms, a detached two car garage, a large deck, and a Michigan basement.

The third house on our tour was interesting because of the decor. There were five shades of carpet used in different rooms: chocolate, aqua green, pink, orange, and pattered green. There were several types of paneling: real wood, fake brown wood, fake white wood, and fake stone. The basement was finished and had a bar which was nice, but I felt this house would take too much to redecorate so it was quickly crossed off the list.

We looked at several more houses but they were crossed off because the kitchen or bathroom was too small. There was a condo in the mix, but due to its 70's decor with mirrored walls and very vertical floor plan it was also discarded.


The second day of house hunting involved visiting three different duplexes. The idea of making money off my property was quite attractive, but once I saw the condition they were in I felt they would take too much work before my investment would pay off. They were all very old and needed new floors, plumbing, and many other cosmetic fixes that would be rather more time consuming that painting over the hot pink paint in the bedroom. Another duplex overlooked the local municipal brick and paving supply depot.

The second day yielded one house that Michael liked. It 1300 sq. ft. and well maintained. The kitchen was of a decent size, but it only had one bathroom. The attic was finished and could be used as a large bedroom or rec room. The main problem with the house is that it had a very narrow driveway that opened onto a major street so getting in and out could be a problem. There was an alley behind the house and we could rip up bushes and park in the backyard to solve that problem though.

At the end of our two day house hunt, I had determine my favorite house of the bunch. My favorite was the second house from the first day. Even though it was rough and needed work, all of the work could be classified as cosmetic. So tomorrow I am planning to get pre-approved for my mortgage and formulate my offer. With luck the house will be mine by August 1st.

The Results are in...

Today I received a letter from the university with my Qualifier test results. I panicked at reading the first line which stated that I had not passed the Qualifier test. My heart sank because I feared having to retake the math test and class. However, upon closer inspection I discovered I had passed math just not the other two tests. The results of the fluids test did not surprise me since I took it the day after the math test and only had about 4 hours to study for it. I will have to pass a second test in January in order to stay in the program, but I have all of the fall semester to brush up on fluids and none of the pressure of the math test.

The design test results were very surprising. I had received a marginal grade which means I will have to TA for the class. I have no idea how I made a marginal grade for two reasons. First, I had done well in the course all semester and had received an A. Secondly, after the test when comparing my answers with other people I felt that I had done better than Elaine but not better than Michael. The strange part is that both of them passed. I don't plan on protesting though since all I have to do is TA for the course. The professor for the course is nice and there are much worse TA positions I could get stuck with. Overall, I am very happy with my results because I passed math.

I do think that there are better ways of revealing the test results though. They could send a letter saying:

Below are your 2010 AME Qualifier Test:
Math: Passed
Fluids: Failed Required Action: Retake in January 2011
Design: Marginal Required Action: TA for Optimization Course Spring 2011

Instead I received the letter below.

Results Letter

Qualifiers, California, and Kerrigan

After a very brutal first year, Ph.D. candidates are required to take the qualifier exams. These exams occur one week after finals and consist of three tests: Math, which everyone takes, and two tests of the takers choice. I took Optimization and Fluids. In order to get ready for the math test, I joined up with some other students for a study group. Starting the week of finals and lasting until the math qualifier, we studied nothing but math for at least 4-5 hours every day. It was very depressing to break for dinner and come back to study. Professors leaving for home would just walk by our group shaking their heads. By the Friday before the test, I started to go a tad insane. Tuesday hailed the start of the tests with Optimization. While not too bad, it was harder than expected. Math was Wednesday and was horrendous. I knew how to do some of the problems, but completely guessed on others. My only hope at this point is if enough people did worse than me I might eke by with a pass. Thursday was Fluids. I would like to say I was confident about what I did, but I was so out of it by that point, I really don't know how well I did. I know I made some really stupid mistakes, but hopefully I didn't screw the test up too much.

With the tests over with, it was time to leave for vacation. Michael and I were supposed to leave 7:30 pm Friday night, but our plane was canceled and so we had to leave Saturday. Actually, the plane was first delayed, but no one bothered to let any of the passengers know until after the time the plane was supposed to have left. There weren't even any gate agents on our side of security to ask about the flight either. The plane ended up being delayed until 10 pm and everyone would miss their connecting flights at O'Hare so everyone rescheduled and caused the flight to get canceled.

When we finally made it California, we were ready to relax. After a day of rest, Michael drove his grandfather, sister, cousin, aunt and me to Yosemite. It was an interesting day since it was sort of rainy and there was construction throughout the park. Each time the road would collapse down to one lane, we would have to wait in line for the lead car to come and take us through the construction. Even with the slow progress we were able to see some stunning vistas.



We also made it into San Fransisco where we walked the Golden Gate Bridge, shopped at Pier 39, and wandered around Chinatown. We had dinner at a restaurant in Chinatown called Hunan Homes. We enjoyed a nice quiet dinner in the back room until a tour bus unloaded. After dinner we headed home.

Another awesome aspect of the week were the cherries. Michael's grandfather has a small orchard and several of the cherry trees were ready to be picked. A couple nights we would walk down to the farm and eat cherries off the tree for desert.

The week went by quickly and Sunday we flew back to South Bend.

Kerrigan went the vet yesterday. She was absolutely mortified the whole time. Her goal was to make herself as small as possible and limit access to her rear. She doesn't mind the shots so much, but it is the temperature taking that she hates the most. In two weeks she goes back for her spaying. We are still debating if we are going to de-claw her. I don't want to, but I can't go around with scratches on my arms for the next 10 years. She isn't scratching maliciously, but accidents still hurt. We are trying Kitty Caps right now. I don't think she likes them.

The end of the semester...

It seems that all the professors have forgotten the semester was supposed to end today because the last day of class came and went and I still have a mountain of work before me.

Sunday:
10 am - 1 am
-Finished up Fluent simulation and wrote PPT presentation for class next morning
End of Day 1: 26 PPT slides, 2 pages of Word doc

Monday:
8:30 am - 9:30 am
-Gave PPT presentation
10:00 am - 1:30 pm
-Worked on paper about gold nanoshell cancer treatment due Wednesday (took 20 min for lunch)
2:00 pm - 3:00 pm
-Attended Biomaterials class
3:00 pm - 4:30 pm
-Attended lab meeting and was tasked to write paper for Wednesday and PPT for Thursday
4:30 pm - 5:30 pm
-Worked on tracing electrical problem with my LabView USB 6221
6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
-Attended SWE banquet
7:00 pm - 9:00 pm
-Worked on Biomaterials paper until headache set in
9:00 pm - 8:00 am
-Showered, played with Kerrigan, slept
End of Day 2: 6 pages Word doc

Tuesday:
8:00 am - 10:00 am
-Breakfast, Kerrigan, worked on Biomaterial paper
10:00 am - 1:30 pm
-Worked on Biomaterials paper, more troubleshooting lab equipment
2:00 pm - 3:15 pm
-Attended last Optimization class of the semester
3:30 pm - 5:00 pm
-Attended meeting at local children's museum HealthWorks! to discuss plans for new exhibit I am building
5:00 pm - 6:30 pm
-Worked on troubleshooting flow loop so Andrew could have data to present Friday at conference
6:30 pm - 11:00 pm
-Dinner, finished Biomaterials paper, wrote semester report
11:00 pm - 7:00 am
-Shower, Kerrigan, sleep
End of Day 3: 11 pages Word doc

Wednesday:
7:00 am - 8:00 am
-Breakfast, Kerrigan
8:30 am - 9:30 am
-Cardiovascular Fluidics last class of the semester
9:45 am - 1:30 pm
-Worked on setting up Optimization project, lunch, corrected Biomaterials paper
2:00 pm - 3:00 pm
-Turned in Biomaterials paper, received term paper that now needs to be corrected for class textbook
3:00 pm - 4:00 pm
-Helped Andrew with conference presentation
4:00 pm - 7:00pm
-On campus errands, dinner, off campus research errands
7:00 pm - 1:30 am
-Finished optimization project, started lab PPT for presentation tomorrow
1:30 am - 8:00 am
-Shower, sleep
End of Day 3: 5 pages Word doc, 13 PPT slides

Midweek totals: 24 pages Word doc, 39 PPT slides

Thursday:
9:00 am - 10:00 am
-Breakfast
10:00 am - 11:45 am
-Start writing last term paper
11:45 am - 2:00 pm
-Help Andrew with presentation, semester presentations
2:00 pm - 4:00 pm
-On phone with NI support trying to fix DAQ
4:00 pm - 10:00 pm
-Continue writing term paper, dinner, finish term paper
10:00 pm - 11:00 pm
-Get ready for bed, sleep
End of Day 4: 18 pages Word doc

Friday:
9:00 am - 10:00 am
-Breakfast
10:00 am - 2:00 pm
-Studied for Math qualifier, turned in term paper
2:00 pm - on
-Gave in the mental fatigue and began my weekend.
End of Week totals: 39 PPT slides, 42 pages Word doc

Work still left to do: Write my portion of NIH R03 grant, correct Biomaterials term paper, put together summer research plan, study for qualifiers

The worst part is that I can never get on top of the work because even though classes are over, I keep getting assignments every time I turn something in!

The year is ending so fast, and I still need the time.

There are only a few classes to go before the end of the semester. Unfortunately, my professors keep piling more and more work on me. On top of the projects and homework assignments, I am trying to help my undergraduate finish the flow loop for his research conference presentation. I am also helping our lab post-doc write an NIH grant proposal for her work. Finally, the icing on the cake, I have to start studying for the qualifying exams in my free time.

Thankfully, the weather has gotten nicer and so my free time isn't spent sitting inside waiting for sunshine. The sunny sky has also brought me a new surge of energy. I am trying to start a mini garden on my balcony. I hope to grow peas, tomatoes, corn and a few different herbs. So far, the tomatoes and one pea plant have sprouted. The soil is not yet warm enough for the corn or herbs yet, but hopefully I can start them soon.

My walls of my bedroom have been bare since I moved in, but I finally got some art for my room. Now that it is on my wall, the rest seems so bare.

This past Sunday, Anne, Michael, and I went over to Nick's to celebrate his birthday by using the grill is parents bought him for his birthday. We had some great steak and watched X Files: I Want to Believe, which was very disappointing. I wanted to see aliens.

This weekend, I hope to have the time to attend the Wakarusa Maple Syrup Festival which will no doubt yield a blog post.

At last some good news...

I have been feeling a bit discouraged lately because my health has really been making it hard for me keep up with my class work and research, but today that all changed. The first thing I do when I get into my office is to check my email. One sender caught my eye: GRF Operations Center. The subject line read: 2010 NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Award Notification. I opened the email to see this:

I know it is hard to read so here is the first part blown up.

I was so psyched that I started jumping up and down in my office. I didn't stop bouncing for about an hour. The best part about getting the NSF is that I don't have to apply for the other grants my advisor wanted me to apply to. Unlike the NSF, those grants required a real research proposal (think around 12 pages) which followed all normal proposal formats. This meant a lot of writing and paper research work that I would have had to do this summer. I now have funding for three years and hopefully I can use this as leverage to fast track my studies here.

If you wish to know more about my research, you can read my proposal below. My project focus has changed slightly to study the effects of aging, but the idea is essentially the same.



NSF Proposal

Kerrigan the Kitty

So first off, let me address why there was no Spring Break: Part 2. After the very climactic beginning, nothing much else happened. I was still not feeling all that well and so I spent most of the week trying to not feel guilty about catching up on sleep.

Classes started again, much to my dismay with me feeling the mysterious pain again. A week later I began to feel better, but then I caught the latest 24 hour stomach flu which is still hanging around. On the positive side, Dan's kittens were finally ready to leave their mother, so tonight we went over to his house to pick one out.

We saw the kitties shortly after birth. There were four very tiny kittens whose eyes were barely open. One of them had tiny bump on its nose. At the time, I thought that I wouldn't want a kitten with a growth in case it was sickly. However, when we went back, the kitten we liked most was the one with the bump. In fact, we didn't even realize that we had picked that one until Dan's roomie told us the story of her birth. Apparently, when she was born the mother rejected her because of the bump on her face. His roommate discovered the abandoned kitten 8 hours after birth barely alive. Fortunately, his roommate was able to keep the kitten alive until the mother accepted it. The final factor in picking the kitten was that Dan's roommate told us that she liked to cuddle and sleep with you. So tonight, we brought home Kerrigan: Queen of Claws. The name was totally Michael's pick due to his fascination with StarCraft.

Spring Break: Part One

I know it is just the beginning of my spring break but already so much has happened. Originally, Michael and I were hoping to make it to his house for the break, but with flights costing so much this week we weren't able to afford the trip. So instead, I was hoping to make it into Chicago and stay at my uncle's place for a couple of days, but he left for a cruise the day before I contacted him so those plans fell through too. So it looks as if I will just be getting a head start on all my homework and term papers which is probably a good thing.

Last night Nick came over to watch the Oscars and partake in delicious wings. Right as Ryan Reynolds was introducing the best picture nominee District 9, my phone rang. On the other end of the line was a nurse who said she was calling on behalf of Anne. Anne had fallen while skating and fractured her wrist. She asked me if I was on campus and I told her that I was next to campus, so she gave me the street address of the emergency room and asked if I could come get Anne and her car. I of course said yes. When I went to plug the address into the GPS, I found out that Anne was not at a South Bend ER but at the Kalamazoo ER over an hour away. So Nick, Michael, and I all piled into the PT Cruiser and set out for Kalamazoo, MI.

After traveling through the very dark back country roads of Michigan, we finally reached the hospital. Anne needed to pick up her prescription before we left town since they wouldn't let her carry the prescription across state lines. I left with Anne in her car and Michael and Nick headed home in the PT. As we were driving through town, I kept thinking to myself how dim Anne's headlights were. Suddenly, I saw red and blue lights flashing in my mirror. I pulled over and stopped the car. Finally, the officer walked up to our car. He very politely introduced himself and told us that one of our headlights was out and asked us what we were doing. I explained that Anne had just broken her arm and that we were going to the pharmacy and then home.

"Where is home?"

"South Bend, IN."

Now, a very confused cop asked us why we were in Kalamazoo. We explained that Anne comes here for skating. He was still confused because we live in Indiana, but our plates are from Delaware, Anne's home state. So we explained that we are students at Notre Dame. I think he was still confused when he let us go, but all he did was run my license and tell us to drive carefully.

Snowboading: My Unfortunate Tail(bone)

Yesterday, I tried snowboarding for the first time. The GSDO at Notre Dame took a large group of us to a ski lodge about 45 min away called Swiss Valley. We had the choice to either ski or snowboard. I choose snowboarding for two reasons.

1.) I felt I would have an easier time if I was locked into a frame and only had to concentrate on balancing rather than having to keep my skis straight, together, and balancing.
2.) Snowboarding looks so much cooler.

So we arrived. Michael also choose to snowboard and Anne choose to ski. We got our gear and headed to the bunny slope. It was definitely not what I pictured a bunny slope to be. I was hoping for a short, not too steep slope that I could use to get the hang of it before trying anything with speed. After about 10 min of figuring out how to strap on, I was ready to go.

I kinda managed to slide over the edge and pick up speed. At first, I felt pretty good. I didn't feel like I was off balance or anything and was thinking this isn't so bad when I started to spin. While I may be okay if I am just going straight, there is no way I can keep my balance on a spinning board. Sadly, I was going way faster than I should have been for my first time and so when I fell, it really hurt. I am not sure in what order I hit, but I know I hit my head really hard and my tailbone even harder. I also remember still sliding and spinning while flat on my back. I was in so much pain, but I forced myself to lift my head and wave to my friends up top. I was worried that if I hadn't moved they would have called the emergency staff and I didn't want that. Michael came down and helped me down the rest of the way.

Going up the slope was just as bad. The bunny slope used a rope to pull you up the hill. The only problem was you had to know how to stand on your board, so I ended up on my front. At this point, I just decided to climb the hill myself. My next two runs consisted of Michael holding my hands as I slid down the side of the slope. By this time, my backside was hurting so much I couldn't bend or twist which made doing anything really really painful. My foot was also bothering me.

Warning: If you don't like hearing about injuries skip to the next paragraph.
Back in high school I went to a youth convention and on the first night there, someone stomped on my foot and broke my right big toenail in half. The rest of the week involved miles of walking and by the end of the week was excruciating. When the nail finally healed I had to have part of it removed and the root killed because it was painfully ingrown. Sometimes, when I stub my toe or accidentally injure my foot, that nail acts up again. For the past couple of weeks it has been bothering me. So the very stiff and tight board boots caused lots of pain every time I put weight on my right foot.

So about one hour and three attempts, I gave up. Michael continued to pick up the sport and he and Anne eventually moved to the intermediate slope in order to use the ski lift. Since Michael couldn't steer, he would try to wait until the slope was mostly clear before going. However, numerous times people would stop halfway down to watch their friends, so he would be forced to fall down so he wouldn't crash into them.


While waiting at the top of the intermediate slope, a snowboarder made a spectacular fall as he was sliding off the lift. Then he came over and sat on the snow near me. After glancing over a couple of times he struck up conversation by telling me he had made too many face plants today for his own good. The conversation continues as follows:

Him: "So who are you here with?"

Me: "I came here with a bunch of friends."

Him: "Is one of them your boyfriend?"

Me: "Yes."

Him: "Never fails."

We continued to make awkward small talk until I had to go meet Anne and Michael coming off the lift. I wondered what would have happened if I had told him I didn't have a boyfriend.


Even though I really didn't have fun, I am not totally turned off of snowboarding, but if I do it again I would want
1.) lessons
2.) a helmet

I really don't like doing things where I can seriously injure myself without some instruction. I think next year the GSDO should set up some sort of lessons either official or unofficial since they are taking a bunch of first timers and it really isn't fun to be just left to your own devices.

Today, I am still very sore. I can't stand up by myself and I still cannot bend over, which makes doing anything very hard. I am hoping that a couple of days will erase all the painful memories from last night.

Chicago!

So the day before Valentine's Day, Anne, Michael, Nick and I ventured into the Windy City to visit the Museum of Science and Industry. We started out on the 9AM South Shore Line and took it all the way to the museum. The line to get tickets for MSI was amazingly long, but we were able to bypass it all by buying museum memberships. For a mere $80, I am able to get free admission, Omnimax tickets, and special exhibit tickets for myself and a friend. This time, the special exhibit was an inside look into the White House which featured a massive 1ft to 1in scale model. I don't have any pictures because, unlike the people in front of me, I respected the wishes of the exhibit owner and did not take any pictures. We checked out the Toymaker 3000, the coal mine, Genetics and Baby Chick hatchery, Imaging: The Tools of Science, Henry Crown Space Center, Petroleum Planet, The Great Train Story, You! The Experience, and still came nowhere near close to seeing everything the place had to offer.

After the museum, we rode the bus to Water Tower Place and rode the escalators up to the top floor just so we could ride the glass elevator all the way down again.

Dinner was a quick bite at Rock Bottom Grill. I had the most amazing soft pretzel with a spicy cheese sauce. After, we headed down to Millennium Park to kill time before our train left. We viewed the Cloud Gate and some very strange sculptures that feature the faces of Chicago residents which spit water at you in the summer. We watched some skating at the free rink in the park until a guy who I think wasn't quite all there started to take interest in me. After, we headed down to the train station only to find it was closed and so we had to set off on a hike to the next one down the line. The train ride home was spent either sleeping or fighting the urge to sleep. Even though we got in after midnight and did not get to bed until 1AM, it was a very good day. The train was nice because no one had to deal with driving home after such a long day.

Valentine's Day began with breakfast in bed (frosted doughnuts with sprinkles) and a vase with a rose trio. I also received some chocolates from the South Bend Chocolate Factory and Dutch mints. Dinner plans to Outback were suspended until today since I had to spend the entire afternoon working on homework and was too tired to go out, but the day was a good one overall.

It may be Spring Semester, but all I see is snow!

So far, I have been enjoying my courses this semester since they haven't been as demanding as my fall classes were. If I get lucky, there might even be a class field trip for my Cardiovascular class. Dr. Sucosky is going to see if we can view an open heart surgery so that we can better understand what we are learning.

My research is starting to pick up. I have almost finished my flow loop and my lab computer should arrive any day. This semester, I need to program my flow loop and set up a LabView program to record pressure and flow rate data. Then, I will place an aortic valve into the loop and see if I can get the correct pressure and flow curves. I need data by May so that I can apply for a podium presentation at the BMES conference in October. Even though research has become more demanding, our lab still knows how to relax. On Friday afternoons, Dan, Ling, Andrew, Alex, Aifang, Dr. Sucosky, and I all head down to Legends and down a couple of drinks at Dr. Sucosky's expense.

On the weekends, I have been staying close to home since the weather has been cold and recently very snowy. Michael and I were at the mall on Saturday and witnessed the Mall Train. It is a little train that departs from the station in front of Macy's and, for a fee, will take you on a ride around the mall. It is a sight to watch all of the shoppers jump out of the way as it chugs through the mall. I also purchased some more furniture. The furniture line that my couch comes from was being discontinued and so I was able to get a really good deal on another sofa, loveseat, and chair.

Nova and Pandora are doing quite well. Pandora has finally stopped nipping for the most part and has even calmed down some. Nova has not been her lazy self and has taken to climbing up onto the new furniture to dig.



Coming up in the life of Clara:
1) Possible trip into Chicago this weekend
2) Valentine's Day - What will Michael have planned?
3) Ski/Snowboard trip - My first time to try either, which one should I do this trip?

Start of a brand new semester....

The start of the semester has brought on many new and exciting changes. Over the end of Christmas break, Notre Dame sent out TA assignments, but guess who never received one. That's right, I somehow escaped having to TA for a class. I am super excited about this, since it will allow me more time to concentrate on research. Also, my course load this semester seems like it will be less traumatic than the last one. I am taking Optimization of Design, which looks to be a straight-forward course that will prepare me for one of my qualifier exams in May. It also brings some application to all of the abstract math I didn't really understand from last semester. I am also taking Cardiovascular Fluid Mechanics, which is taught by my advisor. This course should be a big help since it pertains directly to my research. The course only has one test (a midterm) and then a final project. The only downside is that it is at 8:30 am. My final course is Biomaterials. There are no homework assignments or tests, only papers which we do as a group every couple of weeks.

My research is starting to pick up. I hope to actually have my flow loop operational by next week. I hope that once I actually start making data collection progress, I will start to enjoy it more. Right now, it mostly seems like an endless internet search and setup right now.

This past weekend was an exciting one. On Sunday, Nick came over and had fondue with Michael, Anne and I. This was the first time I tried making fondue with artisan cheese. The new fondue set my parents bought me for Christmas was really nice because the pot can hold two different dips at the same time. After Nick left, I showered like I normally do, but the next part of the evening was a complete surprise. I came out of my bathroom in only a towel and Michael was waiting outside of my room with the door closed. He told me he had something to show me. He led me into my room, which was dark. He flipped the light switch and my room was lit up with green laser stars. Behind him I could see some silhouettes on my dresser that I did not recognize. He asked me if I knew that he loved me to which I replied yes. Suddenly, he was down on one knee asking me to marry him. He handed me a ring that was folded out of a $100 bill. He told me that he knew I would have been happy with any ring he might have chosen, but that he wanted it to be perfect and so I could trade the paper ring in for real one I picked out. He turned a lamp on and the strange shapes behind him were several different flower arrangements. He told me that he had hidden them throughout the apartment all day and only had a chance to set them up while I was in the shower. So, dripping wet, I became engaged.