2 finals

I have 2 finals on Monday.  They are the last 2 finals I ever have to take.  Ever.  

I spent my whole day studying (sorta...I am easily distracted by my labmates, food, and the internet.  But I haven't left the lab in the past 9 hours with my studying books open!  That counts, right?).  It is Saturday.  After Monday, I will never again spend a Saturday studying for a final.  Or doing homework.  I hope.  

Even if I do, it won't be very many more Saturdays.  I could end up with one of those jobs that forces me to work on Saturdays, but I sure hope not.  And it won't be a regular occurrence. 

Tomorrow I have church and a women's night.  I really have grown to love these women at my church.  They're awesome, inspiring, and really great to have in my life.  But it will take away a very large chunk of my study time.  Can't wait for the day when I can spend quality time with those around me without feeling guilty for not studying instead.  

Goodbye, school.  I won't miss you.  But maybe I will.  My emotions are slightly conflicted about this whole being done with school thing.  But mostly just for the sake of saying goodbyes.  I've never been very good at that... And how do you say goodbye to something that's been a part of your life since you were 6?  

You spend your Saturdays doing things other than homework, that's how.  :-)  I'd like to think of it as a perpetual summer.  Yeah, let's go with that. 

Springtime!

Yesterday, as I stood in that football stadium and swayed back and forth with my classmates singing the Penn State alma mater, I remembered.  Because the last time I did just that, I was also crying profusely (and so was the rest of the audience, to be fair).  Last time there was hurt, pain, and confusion.  This time there was joy, hope, and healing.  Winter had turned to spring.  We came together as a family, once again...to celebrate the coming of spring, a new beginning, a brighter future.  

Except that it's supposed to snow tonight.  Whatever.  Yesterday we were outside in t-shirts. 

Also, last night I went to a concert given by the Penn State Glee Club.  Oh my.  60 men wearing tuxes singing beautiful music (often sacred hymns, and a few pirate songs).  Ahhhh.  :-) 

I go to the best school.  The crazy amount of talent here astounds me. 

And also, we have a new crop of baby duckies!

 

How is it spring where you are?  

Fighter jets, kittens, and other stories

This week I went to an on-site interview with Navair, the Navy's aircraft research and testing facility.  The interview was on a Navy base in southern Maryland.  Because it was at a Navy base, there were just lots of fighter jets just kind of chilling out and flying around for testing.  At one point when we were on a tour we saw a few F-18s take off and fly around, and during my interview (outside at a picnic table...really laid-back), we saw an F-35 take off (it was LOUD...we had to pause the interview for a minute so it could fly by).  Here's a fun youtube video of the F-35 that I got to see in person.  I felt like a kid in a candy store :-).  These planes are COOL. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=ZBt-aQ1vObM

On a completely different topic, Dave and I got to pet-sit a kitten last week.  The kitten was afraid of us for 2 full days and wouldn't ever come out when we were around, but finally on Friday it decided to befriend us.  It was so cute and cuddly, I got kitty snuggles for the whole weekend :-).  

Are you looking at me?

Kitty snuggles!

Being a natural predator... abut to attack Dave's finger

 Also, yesterday I got my passport! Yayy!!

Interview!

Tomorrow I am driving to Patuxant River, MD for a Wednesday interview.  Wish me luck!  It's going to be a 5 hour drive and I'm kind of bummed that I didn't take their offer for a rental car, but whatevs ... Betty can make it as long as I remember to fill her up with gas halfway there (my gas gauge is broken, makes for driving long distances an adventure).

I'm interviewing with Navair.  They do pretty cool looking stuff. 

And I get to skip class/work for 1 day and 2 half days!  Yayyys! 

Technical support

This morning, I spent 45 minutes on the phone with Comcast trying to get our cable to work again after they gave us a new digital converter box.  Long story short, I did not get our cable working (whatever...I don't really need TV anyway)...but I did speak to a lot of different technical support people, who apparently are not in contact with one another when they transfer me...AT ALL.  

I got a laugh when one of them (I believe it was technical support person #2 or #3) asked me for my address.  I told her, and then she said something along the lines of, "I can't find that address in our system.  Are you near any cities so I can transfer you to another technician in your area?"  Haha.  Clearly, she is not familiar with Pennsylvania geography, or with the location of State College.  I am about as far away from any cities as humanly possible, I think.  State College is, at best, a small town.  And at best, Pittsburgh is the closest city...about 2.5 hours away.  Maybe Harrisburg counts...it's a little closer at 2 hours. 

And I love it.  I love the small town feel.  I love being able to walk home from work on a beautiful day instead of taking the bus.  I love eating ice cream while gazing on a large cow pasture that provided the milk to make that ice cream.  With the mountains in the background, of course.  So beautiful.  I never would have guessed that I would have fallen so in love with State College, Pennsylvania. 

I have an interview in DC in 2 weeks, and the thought of being thrust into the big city scene of traffic and people slightly frightens me.  I will probably get lost trying to find my hotel, like I did in Hartford CT.  Oh well.  Cities are fun though, too.  I did enjoy visiting NYC and Cleveland and Philly and Pittsburgh the few times I have.  Heck, Erie is even kind of a city, and I loved it there.  Cities also provide lots of unique ministry opportunities that are harder to find in small towns.  But it's a high-stress, high-paced environment that I'm not quite ready for full-time.  In Erie, I could retreat to my little suburbs and avoid the inner city for weeks at a time.  And I can certainly do that if I end up in DC, too.  But it'd be harder.  And expensive.  And lots and lots of traffic.  Ugh.  

On the other hand, living completely in the middle of nowhere would also stress me out.  I like having neighbors, and stoplights, and things to do on the weekends. 

I think that's what I like so much about State College...it's a perfect balance of those things.  The college town atmosphere gives the town life and vibrancy and things to do.  But it's not a city packed with people (except on football weekends...at which times I avoid a 2-mile radius that surrounds the stadium at all costs).  

What do you like and dislike about cities?

Wonderful

ON FRIDAY, I BOOKED TICKETS TO GO TO COPENHAGEN FROM JUNE 9-17!!!!!!!

So. Excited.  I have never in my life been overseas.  I also had an appointment at the post office to get a passport on Monday (it will be here in 4-6 weeks...if all goes well).  Our airplane will be a 757 (!!).  I've never been on an airplane that big.  And I get to sit in an exit row for the red-eye 6 hour flight from NYC to Iceland.  Pumped.

This may require a bit of backstory:

My graduate research is in the field of gas turbines, and there's an International Gas Turbines Institute (IGTI) that holds a conference every summer.  They alternate in location between North America and Europe (last year was Vancouver..super cool).  This year it will be in Copenhagen.  While it's a no-brainer for certain students to go every year (PhD students, Master's students who want to work in the gas turbine industry after graduation, any students who wrote a paper that was submitted and who will have to give a presentation, etc.), it was not in any way a no-brainer for me to go (at least not with the department paying for my trip...I suppose I could have chosen to spend the ~$2000 myself to go for one week, but that's just expensive).  In fact, I fit into none of those 3 categories.  But the rest of my lab-mates do.  So for awhile, it looked like my entire lab was going to go to Copenhagen for a week without me and one other student.  I was sad.  My adviser told me all of the boring details I just told you, and then she said we'd talk about it again in a few weeks. 

But then, Friday, I saw my adviser at a women grad student luncheon.  Afterwards she asked me what we were doing about this conference.  I said I wanted to go.  And she, without any hesitation, said, "Okay, you can go."  Wait, what?  I didn't have to plead my case about why I should go?  I didn't have to commit to doing a PhD?  I giggled and thanked her and skipped back to the lab to book my flights.  I was lucky enough to get on the same flights that the rest of my labmates are taking, so I don't have to make the long trek alone.  We leave at 8:40pm June 9th, and arrive at 12:45pm the next day.  But that includes a time jump forward. It will be lots of traveling, but it might still be shorter than my terrible 20-hour excursion coming back home from New Orleans in March 2010 (I think we could have driven home faster than we flew that day...). 

Some fun facts about Copenhagen in June:

The sun rises at 4:30am and sets at 10:00pm

The average temperature is 66 degrees Fahrenheit (and record high is in the 80's...hah)

It. Looks. Like. This: 

Eeeep!  So excited!!!!! 

:-) :-) :-) 

Procrastinators unite...tomorrow

The second half of the semester is going to be rough for me, mostly because my motivation to do work has drastically decreased.  I can see the light at the end of the tunnel - 7 weeks and I am done with class...FOREVER.  Well, until somebody finally successfully convinces me to do a PhD.  They're trying really really hard.  

I have homework due this Friday.  It was assigned 2 weeks ago.  I have barely started it.  And right now, I am blogging about it instead of doing it. 

Oiy. 

Does anybody want to derive the finite volume equations in cylindrical coordinates for me?  Anybody?