In Conclusion

Remember the challenge I posted earlier? Well, I managed to convince 19 other people to sign up! Woohoo! I learned that it is hard to convince people to sign up for something that will make them work, and even harder to get them to actually do it. Maybe if I made it a group effort there'd be accountability... I can't bare the thought of leading 19+ people on a hike or a run... Then there are the people who, when set loose, make you run for your money.

At the end of it all, (it's arguably still going on) I set my personal goals nearly perfectly. I was rather impressed; they were seemingly lofty at times, but I pulled it off. And as a result, I shaved about 1:30/mile off of a race time this year. I beat my Lost Lake time by 26 minutes! (All because I have never hiked so much trying to keep up with some of the people on this challenge...)

Half of me is feeling so lazy right now that I really don't want to have to do this next summer, but I think I'll be on the ENSTAR Lost Lake team for the duration of my employment.

Speaking of employment...

I'm so excited to be a priority member of Era Airlines!! I get to board first! On a 30 minute flight. With 19 seats. But I gain flight points faster now!! To fly wherever they do! In Alaska. Mostly on the west coast. yay... I can fly to Bethel, Cordova, Kodiak...

Actually, the last two might be potential options for fishing.

"I don't know how you can do it; going to the same place and doing the same thing everyday?" (someone's remark about my job)

"After nearly 10 years consulting, take my word, this side of the equation is much nicer, it's never the same" (my boss' summary of my job)

I tend to lean towards my boss, (maybe that will get me a raise...) especially considering that I only go to the same place 3 or 4 times a week, and hardly ever do the same thing. Last week, I reported twice to 2 locations, at odd hours, and had monumental challenges to solve. It's really inconvenient when valves don't seal and you're needing the gas shut off...

But, ooo! I saw an awesome physical property. *Rule of thumb: for every 17psi change in pressure of natural gas, there is a 1F degree change in the temperature* If you raise pressure, temperature goes up, and vice versa. So, when you open up a valve with a 560psi pressure differential across it, and the ground temperature is already about 38F, you get a lot of ice.

Then! Throttle back the valve so there is less gas moving through it, and what was iced now thaws. But only where the gas isn't flowing.

What you see below is frost from the cold gas, and what happens when gas goes through a 90 degree bend: it swirls.

Steel Candy Cane

Yeah... I don't see this everyday...

Better than a Good Day at the Office

I often feel remorse for not keeping up on posting, but then I think about how much more important tasks you have and convince myself not to post. To take one for the team. To spare you from the temptation of reading about my life. Know, that it is all for you, loyal readers, that I do not post!

There's the saying: A bad day (insert what you'd rather be doing) is better than a good day at the office.

If you believe that, I believe you need a new job. Maybe make whatever it is you'd rather be doing and make it a job.

In my mediocre life, I just spent a day fishing. We limited out on nearly everything. We caught fish, feasted, caught more fish, drank beer, (you didn't read that, mom) caught more fish... When we limited out, we played catch and release. We fished until the boat cooler was full. Now that you have the idea, note that it's a Wednesday, and both my bosses are with me. It was another day at the office.

All that to say, a good day fishing, on par with a bad day at the office. Sure this is a lot of fun, but if I'm having a bad day at work, it's because I'm being pushed to the max. My superiors all like teaching by school of hard knocks or trial by fire. (Fired scares me in my line of work, btw) But! (there's always a but) It's never more than I can handle. They always tell me "you're young, what are you worried about?" (And great job!) remember, the only way you'll grow is through pushing and stretching.

Plus, I believe that bad days are a mindset. If you think you're going to have a bad day, you're going to have one.

Furthermore, what you choose as a career path, should be what you're passionate about. I met a kid struggling through engineering school. When asked why he chose engineering, his response was "there's no money in a astrophysics degree". Why do that to yourself? I prefer to think there's a job out there, that you could work for 40 years, retire, and be perfectly happy the whole time.

Not sure how I got to this here, but (there's the but again) there's my opinion for what it's worth.

Yeah, I love my job. Everyday is a good day, and right now, there's nothing I'd rather be doing.

Next Time, I'm in Charge of Flights

Where's the Bean Stock?

Wow! I've managed to make it 3 whole weeks since I last posted.
Believe me, it was a fight not to post; but with sheer will power, I overcame the urge.

Coffee is a good thing

"I should blog" "oooo, what's on gearpatrol" "I should blog" "hmm sleep sounds nice"

3 weeks ago I was working like crazy trying to prepare for my week long class. Monday I spent in the Valley trying to start some work in hopes that I could've sent it off for approvals while in Chicago. Tuesday I spent in Kenai being shown an area where I am designing a station for; they gave me a thumbprint sized location to fit a footprint sized station. Great... Wednesday "Hey, btw, we need you down in Homer" And "Hey, btw, the meeting isn't until 3" Yay... Another 14 hour day in Homer. Thursday and Friday I spent catching up on stuff that I missed while out the first three days. It was a hectic week. More FlyAway Rewards Points for me!

So then I venture forth to Chicago to learn about how to properly design measurement stations. Just in time!
"Why are we leaving at 2:30 in the morning??" Because you picked the flights, Paul...

The first place I looked for in Chicago was good coffee, and found it at Intelligentsia. Paul proceded to laugh about how hipster the place was. Hey, I go where there's good coffee. Upon getting our slow brew, we walked over to Millenium Park to see the giant silver bean. I think it's called the cloud gate. I think I saw the moment-after of someone proposing. There was a lot of applause and PDA.

I spent the week drinking out of an educational fire hose, and I think I absorbed the gist of everything. I found out that my cohort is not much of a museum person, so we spent the week walking around the town and finding food. I highly recommend Gino's East Pizzeria and Seven on Heaven. Gino's East is near, well um... Hooters, and a Hard Rock Cafe, but the pizza was great! I had to admit defeat after only 3 slices, though. Seven on Heaven is cajun. Whatever cajun is doing in downtown Chicago, it's doing it right. That was phenomenal. It may be a good, or a bad, thing that we found that on the last night.

After walking around and exploring pretty much everywhere North of the river, on the last morning, in the beautiful sun, we discovered the South side of the river; where Frank Sinatra sings, "On State Street, that great street, I just want to say..." Bummer, it's the last morning. Next time, I suppose.
"Wait, there was a 9pm flight? Why didn't we get on that last night?" I don't know, you tell me
"Dangit, why didn't we take the direct?" Can I pick the flights next time, Paul?

(Don't get the wrong impression, Paul is a great, hilarious fellow. He is me at ENSTAR, except for Anchorage)

I return to a desk that looks more like a mountain. That was a first. Monday I spent the day just staring at it. Actually, I picked up my axe, and started hacking away. How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. My desk actually surfaced by Thursday and I made some great progress in other areas. I love it when things go my way.

Last week also started hill training. Oh, how I hate it so. I am sore. Like a warm hug... Maybe one of these days I'll get a new hobby that requires less energy.       Nah!

And, as texted to my sister, that delicious image on the right is an egg house. It's really simple: take a tomato, scoop out the inside, put an egg in there, bake it, top with bacon. Great stuff. And it has bacon. Who can argue with that?

Who Celebrated May the 4th?

Excited!

Woohoo! I have seven sign ups to the fundraiser!
You don't want to be left out, do you? Sign up now!

I have had the undue pleasure of spending multiple days down in Homer. I don't know what I did to deserve the torture of having to fly down there for a day and fly right back. The worst part is that the morning flight gets in about the time that all of the baked goods come out of the oven at Two Sister's Bakery. That really is horrible. (I'm surprised I'm not more well rounded)
The sticky buns are amazing. And the savory ham and cheese danish... Mmm... Steps to a great morning: Land in sunny Homer, start company truck, drive to bakery, let truck warm up while enjoying coffee and baked goods.

Of course, after driving around all day with no destination, I get really bored and tired. And when you leave the house at 5am, not to return until 9:45p, it makes for a long day.

Driving around Homer makes me want to take my road bike down there.

Or any bike.

Shoot, I'd take a scooter.

I also want a cabin down there on top of the ridge in the picture.

Sigh... Someday...

If I lived that close to that bakery, I really would be well rounded.

I have high expectations for my upcoming adventure to Chicago. Not that I expect anything out of the travel experience, but I expect every little snowflake to have melted off my favorite trails by the time I come back. Starting that week, no man will be able to contain my desire for running outside. I should be out there already. Gearing up. Preparing for races. Ascending the highest peaks.
Winter, END! Or I am coming to chase you away!

If you see a person jumping up and down on a mountain or kicking snow around, beware. That's me making winter leave...

Announcing!!

I have been holding this in for about a month now.

I was thinking about what sort of goals I want to set for myself in the summer, and I thought that hiking the vertical equivalent of Mt. Everest would be fun. Then I thought, well how do I get as many people as possible to do it too?
So I created a fundraiser and now use bribery and emotions to get people to participate. And you can run, hike, or walk!
From May 1st to August 31st, I challenge you all to do something that seems huge up front, but can be easily divided over the whole summer. At the end, I will give you all a t-shirt. And ice cream if you can make it.

It costs $40.00 and the money will go to Arrowhead Children's Home in Murumba, Kenya. Pretty excited, eh? Can't wait to sign up? Just go to:
sites.google.com/site/arrowheadeverestchallenge and fill out the forms!

There is also more information about this whole thing at that link.

What is Necessary

I am becoming more of an engineer every day. Translation: I am replacing my blood with coffee. I love coffee. I love coffee in the morning. I love it in the afternoon. Sometimes at night. There are now six different ways to make coffee in this house.
And I still sleep soundly at night!

I'm beginning to start to possibly think about maybe moving out, I've come to realize something that I cannot live without: a grill.
As a man, at least one meal a week should revolve around a grill. There's my theory. To grill is man.
Not just any grill, but a wood fired or charcoal grill.

I've been exercising this manly muscle for the last two weekends, making some amazing venison tenderloin last weekend, and chicken this weekend.

The tenderloin was fantastic. I saw that it was thawed (and bleeding all over the fridge) so I took matters into my own hands and made a marinade. Apparently it was from a young deer, and was extremely tender. Extremely. Not quite cut-with-spoon tender, but close. Makes me want to be a hunter and live by "if it's brown, it's down".
The accompaniment to the tenderloin were vegetables (in the tinfoil in the picture), cubed hash browns - that were so close to cookie jar home fries - and mushrooms and onions. Tasty meal

I tried something new with the chicken to try and solve the common chicken problem: dry white meat. I sort of filleted the breast and rubbed in some basil garlic butter. Nothing makes something taste better like fat. More and more fat. Long story short, my brother complemented the chicken.

So wherever I choose to reside, rest assured there will be a grill outside. (And some way to make coffee)

Where's the Textbook?

Again, I amaze myself. You only have to fall down once in order to learn the lesson.
...Okay maybe that's not true. Maybe twice. Or thrice. (I can't believe that's a word)
Anyways.
My brother asked for help on calculus. I stared at the first question. And stared. ...And stared. "Where's your textbook?" *look for an example*
And stare. Blankly. Hmm... I wonder what color I should where tomorrow? (Get the picture yet?)
Wait! Do this, this, this, then this and... voilà!! Oh. Oops. Nope don't do that. Do... This! Whoops. Nope. Not that. Um... "Well I tried this and this, but it didn't work out. Maybe if I did this and..." Hey look, there was a math error back there.
From that point on, I was on top of that assignment! (I bet you never thought you could get a rush from doing math)
Lesson learned: You can always make a math error...
Second lesson: the first derivative of an equation evaluated at a point is the slope of the tangent line. The derivative is not the equation of the tangent line. Duh. If I had realized that sooner, I wouldn't have stared so long in the beginning.

Maybe I should become a regular tutor. I enjoy helping people and doing math and science...

I would be an evil teacher. Probably hated. But I can almost guarantee that my students would know the material. Reasons:
1. In a 60 minute perfect class: 10 minutes for a quiz on the day previous material, 30 minutes answering homework questions, 20 minutes solving the quiz and going over new material. I think its absolutely important to make sure everyone understands what was just covered. And quizzes encourage attendance.
2. I would be the kind of teacher who makes 2 or 3 tests worth 90% of your grade, 10% on class input. The ultimate test grade would be swayed by the quiz and homework scores, but until the end, no one would know by how much. Have to keep the element of surprise. (more on this in a second)
3. My first test would be next to impossible. And on a curve. That way, everyone looks like they're failing throughout the semester. Not failing miserably, but just on the edge of success. Then, they will give 100%, all the time. I will hang the carrot in front your nose to keep you going...
4. I would write a different test for each class, (no cheating, now) but use all quiz and homework questions. (I'll cheat for you) Except on the first test. I have to break everyone down.
Sounds like boot camp.
5. Um... Let's make another number.
6. In a math class, the process matters the most. If you think 2+2=5 like my sister, well then you're an optimistic economist or you tried to drink and derive. Don't go into accounting or engineering.
7. Oh, yeah, almost forgot. That 30 minutes answering homework questions would be taught by the students. Every student will have to answer another person's question. Teaching is the best way to learn. Plus they'd learn public presentation skills.
8. By the end, I would have figured out whether or not you understood what I was teaching, and if you did, well, you passed. If you didn't, see you next year for round 2!

There you have it. Nathan's 8 (7) points to a perfect class.

*Bonus:* 9. If I'm teaching math, pens will be outlawed. If I receive an assignment in pen, all the points you would've gotten become negative and suck away from your total score. Pens suck life away from math.

And my previous math student got 100% on a final.