Wine and Pogo Sticks

For some reason my keyboard just tends to flow a lot easier after I’ve had a few to drink. Which is thus, indirectly my official excuse for not posting very often as of late; what does a guy have to do to get a drink around here!

Tonight’s beverage is of the red variety – a French style cabernet sauvignon out of California, to be exact. To say I was a wine connoisseur would be total malarkey. I haven’t been in the business of wine tasting for very long and even though I know what I like when I taste it, and I’ve gotten to the point where I might be able to pick a decent bottle out of the below $4 price point at Trader Joes, a real wine snob would probably “express amusement at the very thought of my choice in vintage." Meh, whatever.

Some day I might become one of these so called “wine snobs” if for no other reason than I’ll have had so much practice drinking the shit. Hell, I’m mostly a beer and coffee snob already - what’s one more to seal the deal? Snoby-snob, snob, snob.

So earlier today I’m minding my own business, trying to calculate the adiabatic flame temperature of the combustion of propane gas in 50% excess air – per some long drawn out take home final that may or may not be due tomorrow morning – when I hear it again. The mother-fucking upstairs mother-fucking neighbors are home. I don’t know who the fuck they fucking are, but I’m almost fucking positive that they fucking romp around on mother-fucking pogo sticks as soon as they close they’re front door. It’s loud as FUCK!

Now they’re listing to some bass thumping slow jams, I can hear the bass though the walls but at least they’ve lost interest in pogo sticks.

My Bro, help me to understand the nature of the beast younger sibling, and remind me how much I actually do love him.

My brother, lately, speaks in either a broken spanglish northern New Mexican accent or a regaled country bumpkin draw. The reasoning behind this was unclear to me at the time of my visit with him (Thanksgiving holiday) and despite receiving a few words of explanation it remains mostly unclear at present. I suspect the spanglish is a direct result of both spending time with Borracho and/or the Spanish Language class he is taking at the University. I find the spanglish extremely amusing and have begun to incorporate a lot of it into my daily conversation también.

I forget what prompted the exact reason for me to tell him “you know, sometimes you should think about why people are trying to get rid of the stuff they set outside for trash pick up.” Semi-unrelated, I recently learned of a scheme of his to go out on the nights before trash pick up and collect bags of aluminum cans set out on the curb for recycling. I’m assuming (read: hoping) he’s only picking up pre-sorted bags of aluminum and not mixed trash bags to latter pick out/sort the aluminum from it. I’d been pre-warned about this however by an email that simply read: “price per pound of aluminum = $1.20 I am gona be rich!” For my Bro’s sake I hope he can find a recycle center that still pays for cans.

I used to share a small apartment with my brother. It was impossible, or rather not probable, to come home and not find something new looming in the living room. I’ve come home to road signs, road cones, large lengths of rope, car parts, lumber/sheets of plywood, new very large “art” project materials… etc. The list goes on. Some days I’d be lucky and it’d only smell like spray paint inside the apartment, or I’d find a new poster staple-gunned* to the wall. It’s quiet now with out him.

My brother will let you when he is unwilling to exert the necessary effort to not “fuck up your shit.” Odds are “your shit isn’t worth it.”

He’s starting a hiking club in Albuquerque. If you’re female and you’ve been to a college party in ABQ recently you’ve probably heard about it. Upon pointing out that UNM has an actual hiking club I received this awesomely (I almost cried I was so proud of him) honest response: “Look man, I know there’s already a hiking club at UNM – I’m just doing this to puro meet chicks”

It's great talking on the phone with my brother.
Typical phone greeting: “Whad-up up man?”
Typical start of phone conversation: “Oh man I’ve been up to mad shit, I got all kinds done today… ”
Typical phone salutation: “Wheno-bye.”
Actual voice mail received (9/10/06): “Aye, necesito más peligro para la tortuga! [Pause] Wheno-bye.”

One of the things we have in common (maybe I learned from him, actually now that I think about it I did learn it from him) is we are both very honest with our parental unit. This means we tell them the truth or when faced with a situation when we know they wont approve of whatever goings on, we logically/conveniently omit the truth (i.e. turbos and other high dollar expenses).



* Definition: sta·ple gun n
a powerful device used to project heavy metal staples into wood or masonry**

** I also use a staple gun to affix everything to the walls.

Per Melisa per Lacey: too good not to post

I'm not sure I know what to think about this... Comment as necessary.

As long as females can fool males in thinking they're faithful

At the heart of all long-term relationships lies a fundamental deception WOMEN only stay with men for security, and men only stay with women for sex. It's a cynical view of human relationships, but researchers now say it is the driving force behind the evolution of monogamy--and women started it. By offering sex all the time, females in monogamous species disguise whether they are fertile and trick males into sticking around.

In most species, females only have sex when they are fertile. This is because sex takes energy, and carries the risk of disease. But it also means males can easily tell which females are fertile, so they don't waste time on mates that won't get pregnant. Indeed, males usually give females no help in raising their offspring. "The male strategy is to stay with the female for as long as she is fertile, and then to leave," says zoologist Magnus Enquist of Stockholm University.

But in some species, including birds, porcupines and humans, the girls have wised up. By cutting down on visual and chemical cues, and by having sex all the time, they stop males from telling whether they are fertile. "The male has no cue," says Enquist. "All he can see is the behavior of the female."

Once males are blind to a female's condition, he says, it's no longer worth their while chasing lots of partners, because the one they're with is as likely to be fertile as any other. "There is a search cost. It takes some time to find a female."

Although this idea makes intuitive sense, until now it was a mystery whether the trick works. Normally, a male choosing a stable relationship over a philandering lifestyle would have fewer offspring, putting him at an evolutionary disadvantage. Would women hiding their fertility by offering sex continuously be enough to tip the balance?

Enquist and his colleague Miguel Girones from the Netherlands Institute of Ecology in Nieuwersluis decided to investigate. They created a mathematical model to test the theory, and found that under certain conditions, monogamy is the preferred option. Even in a population where males were used to having many partners, if females started to conceal their fertility, the males settled down into long-term partnerships.

"Classical explanations of sexual behavior always focus on the male," says Enquist. "But this gives stronger focus on the woman." Evolutionary biologist Anders Moller from the CNRS, France's centre for scientific research in Paris, agrees. "This is driven by females," he says. "When ovulation becomes concealed, the males stay with the females longer."

But animal behavior expert Mike Siva-Jothy of Sheffield University argues that tricking males into being monogamous isn't the only reason for females' high sex drive. Having lots of sex with lots of different males might ensure that at least some of their off spring were fathered by good-quality mates.

Although this idea doesn't fit with the traditional view of monogamous societies, Siva-Jothy points out that even in species where pairs bond for life, the females cheat. "When avian biologists went out and looked at the DNA profiles of the offspring, they found that everyone was having a romping time," he says. But so long as females can fool males into thinking they are being faithful, their strategy of hidden fertility will still work. "They have to be cryptic because they don't want their partner to find out," says Siva-Jothy.

Source Citation: Marchant, Joanna. "Sex, lies and monogamy.(research into the habits of monogamous animals)(Brief Article)." New Scientist 170.2288 (April 28, 2001): 4. Expanded Academic ASAP. Thomson Gale. NMSU Las Cruces. 6 Nov.2006&contentSet=IAC-Documents&type=retrieve&tabID=T002&prodId=EAIM&docId=
A74885887&source=gale&srcprod=EAIM&userGroupName=nm_a_nmlascr&version=1.0>.

Dressing Like an Engineer

When I think about what Engineer's dress like I have a few mental images that pop into my head of typical garb.

First and for most I look towards my university Professors for the latest in post 1970’s engineering fashion. This dress typically includes a flannel patterned button shirt, kaki slacks, dress-up-black belt, and some light colored Nike® kicks. This type of dress seems fairly typical of other engineering professionals I’ve seen with the exception of the ever-popular Polo® t-shirt, often adorned by a company logo of sorts. This seems to be widely accepted as proper business attire and although I’d much rather wear a pair of jeans; it beats the hell out of having to wear a suit and tie.

Second, I look up to my current boss, a certified PE, and technical field engineer. His dress is similar with only a single exception. In place of the minimalist type dress-up belt previously mentioned he sports a rather hefty utility belt. He tots all sorts of things along thoughout the day by means of affixing them to various clips and holsters on said belt. Despite the batman-esque look and uber *$_&/#(! tendency of such an appliance, I have to admit the preparedness and utility of always having small tools and a flash light on hand does have its benefits.

I cant really remember where I was going with this anymore… I'm sure there was some point in bringing this up.

Insert random conclusion here.

FIN

What is it about the people's car?

In this short our boy Adolph is informed his car has been stolen, and recovered - stripped to the bare shell. Watch the video for a very decent rant about why any other car is just a piece of shit.

I wont ruin the ending, but if you're fluent in German you'll want to pretend you're not and just read the english subtitles.

Miscellany

Just a few head lines and updates...

Turbo Install
I've been hesitant to post up about this mostly because I don’t have any pictures of it yet. But it's done, its running - its boosting - it's quick. Basically it is the same car till about 3k rpm, the turbo kicks in like a ton of bricks and the tach races to redline. Under boost it sounds like a lion, then the measly 6psi of intake pressure blows off with the sound of a small mouse pissing in a puddle.

The install was straight forward as can be. We (Cisco and I) got started at ~5pm on Friday afternoon and worked through the night to make the inogeral test drive at ~8am on Saturday.

So far no leaks, no surging, no problems.

School
They say grad school isnt for everyone. I dont see why, it's not so bad. It's a good chance I might get straight A's (for the first time in my life), I'm making bank as a TA, and I'm not stressed at all.

Favorite class so far is ME 570 (Analysis I) - not sure why though. Actually now that I think about my favorite class being Fouier Series and Eigan value problems I'm starting to worry about myself as a human being. Can I have my soul back now?

This Weekend
I'm going home to Santa Fe this weekend for two main reasons. One, bring Muffin home. Two, attend a "Cigar and Car Bomb, Cape Party." If you're not in the know on either of those two points dont fell bad - I'm not even sure why or what I'm doing on the subject(s).

It'll be the first time driving the Corrado on a long trip since the install. Also, the first chance that I might have to tell my parents that there's a turbo in my car now (I'm not of the impression that they'll understand why I would do such a thing).

Planning to be back for the Aggie Football game on Sunday. Might join the body painters. As seen at the last home game, pictured right.





Edit: It was cold as fuck.

The Good Humor Co.

Back by popular demand, Brought to you by the Good Humor Company; It's Popcicle Stick Jokes!

Q: What kind of License does a refigerator have?

A: A license to chill.


ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!11!

Boost’n

In the past I’ve posted about going turbo with the Corrado. So this time… I’m serious!

On Friday afternoon I called up Kinetic Motorsport and ordered Stage1.

The various boxes of goodies should start showing up from Canada late next week (or so). I’m pretty extremely excited.

Edit: This morning when I woke up I went out to the car, sat behind the wheel in the parking lot and just thought about what an extra 100 hp is going to feel like.

You know what really grinds my gears?

There is a group of students in my classes that are starting to piss me off. Each one in this particular group behaves in the same manner (hence referring to them as a “group”) – each of them have the same frustrating social dyscrasia that makes them similar to each other. They dress exactly the same in one of two outfits that the group seems to coordinate between days. On Monday-Wednesday-Friday it’s a dress shirt and tight – look at me, I can show you what my balls look like with out dropping my pants – slacks. On Tuesday-Thursday it’s a WWF tee shirt with stone washed jeans circa 1984.

I can get past 10 guys walking, talking and dressing alike; I can even see humor in it (believe me I’ve laughed). It does bother me however, when they disrupt class by talking to them selves and then blurting out wrong answers. Its even worse when they give wrong answers in unison – it sounds like an auditorium right before they tell everyone to be quite and pay attention... murmmor, murmomor, mmmmurmorrr.

In contrast, when you have a one-on-one conversation with them they stand to close and (take into consideration how close they’re standing when I say this) talk below the audible decibel range.

Obviously if there were such a group of people that you had to deal with everyday you’d have come up with a nick name for them. If anything just to make referencing their actions to others easier. It makes sense. Moreover you’d pick a name that highlighted their similarities as a single entity. Basically, something like: “The Wrestling Fans” or “Team Tight Pants.” Shame on you.

I lovingly refer to them as “The Indians.” It was a natural choice for me as in addition to their aforementioned parallelisms they are all of Indian nationality.

All racism aside about the way they smell (even though the stereotype holds), I wouldn’t label them as “The Indians” if they all were not of the same nationality, and I wouldn’t be writing this rant if there wasn’t something they did as individuals that pissed me off.

Today we had a quiz. I was done quickly – not the first done but nonetheless admittedly fast. So I had a chance to sit around with nothing to do but observe those who were still working. When the professor called time and picked up the remaining quizzes it appeared as though most students stopped on queue and handed 'em in, some even uncompleted. The Indians kept working.

The prof asked again, “Quizzes? Hand them in.” He paused. “Ok, I have all the quizzes?” He then began to go over the solution on the chalkboard. At this point, one by one, the Indians would stand up and sneak in their quiz papers into the pile at the front of the room or something to the effect of working on it some more and then trying to hand it in after the solution had been posted. Point being they knew they were in the wrong they were sneaking. Sneaking!

Finally, the prof who now seemed upset (and rightly so), flat out stated he was NOT going to accept ANY more. And at the brink of yelling he said: “I realize there’s a language barrier here but you guys need to be way more responsive to the things I ask. When I say turn them in now, I mean NOW.”

A good 2 minutes later the last one turns one in.

To conclude this rant I’ve got some anonymous comments I received after doing some pre-blog venting:

Sent at 4:59 PM on Wednesday
********: Well, don't call Dell for help, they'll send you to a call station in India where the mother fucker on the phone knows so little English its really just to piss you off to the point that whatever was wrong with the machine seems moot.


Sent at 10:44 AM on Wednesday
******** ******: Yeah, there were tons at my school. They used to hang out all night in the computer lab and the whole place reeked of ass and curry.
They changed the chairs out my senior year, and suddenly the computer lab didn't stink. It was real gross, those chairs were vile.

Street Legal Sofas

Say it with me now... "I Am Sofa King We Todd Did." But seriously did you know the current Guiness world record for top speed on furniture is on a street legal sofa? An impressive 87 mph at that - thats almost fast enough for time travel ladies and gentalmen.

Right now you're thinking, alright then - good to know. But wait there's more! "The wonks" at www.sofa.com, a British based online sofa retailer, are building a sofa to beat the existing Furniture Land Speed Record. Reportedly all they need is "someone brave enough, fast enough, daft enough... They need a driver." The best part is you can head over to www.sofa.com, take a guess at how much change they found between the sofa coushions and are keeping inside a glass jar pictured on thier website, and enter to win a weekend of racecar driving, followed by the ultimate prize - drive the sofa for the win!

Semester Beer Fund

So this morning I received an email from my brother. For the full effect I've included it below in its original form:


Dude, Leif, I'm speechless.

Indiana vs. Belgium

I just got back from Columbus, Indiana. I was there for about a day and a half on an interview for a full time engineering job with Cummins. The interview went well in my opinion and I should here back from them with an offer by next week.

One of the things that stayed with me the most was the similarity in landscape of Columbus and Belgium. I’ve provided some quick google-image-search results. Like I said, the likeness is incredible.

INDIANA:

BELGIUM:

INDIANA:

BELGIUM:

INDIANA:

BELGIUM:

INDIANA:

BELGIUM:

Una conversación muy extraña con Borracho Brooks

Today I recieved an email from John. Here's what it said:

hheeeyyy raven. I was wondering if it'd be possible to swing by later and pick up the remaining cake from your chante?

So I replied:

mi torta es tu torta. confieso, yo no tengo gusto chocolate.

To which I recieved:

hahaha. por que no? y por que you tengo chocolate at your house for soo long and no say nothing?

And so I sent:

eeee, no se. is probablemente porque una muchacha asked me to keep it there.

The converstaion then ended with:

aye es funny por que this muchacha and myself had a convo and she said that its probably todo seca ahora porque ella no put a cover on it..so its most likely dry. i ella quire her plate as well. bien? no bien? what are you up to tonight? I dunno if i am going to go tomorrow bc i think that I will be picking up my car...hopefully anyway.

My 3rd grade spanish teacher (Senora Perez) would be proud!

Nurburgring Webcam

I just found a great new way to waste time!

http://www.nurburgring.org.uk/webcams.html

It refreshes every minute. Here's a good one:



Also, this one looks just like New Mexico at night:



Heres a few more links that could be of interest:
Google Satelite Map
The Official Website
Wikipedia Entry

Symposium 2006: Highlighting Student and Postdoctoral Research

Every year I’m asked as an intern to participate in the Annual Student Symposium. I had a choice between a poster presentation or a technical talk. Unlike years past, this summer I’ve opted to go for the technical talk.

Upon submitting my registration I received a phone call. The caller informed me that he’d received my registration. He then told me:

“The objective of a technical talk is to communicate information to other scientists.”

I was also instructed that mumbling, monotone speech and use of obscure terminology are not effective methods of communication.

This brings up the question: Does this guy say this to every one? What the hell!

Further more now that mumbling and monotone speech are out I have no idea what I’m going to talk about. Any one got any good ideas?

German Humor

The company that manufactures some of our electrical equipment is based out of Germany. After some repeat reliability issues and unacceptable service from the American based support team the company has sent in an “expert.” I’m a little confused as to why the American support team does not include any of these so called “experts.”

As such I spent most of today with a technician from Germany. He never mentioned his name and from the paper work it seems mostly unpronounceable, I’ve been calling him Expert (he seemed to like it). There was a lot of red tape that I had to cut though in order to get Expert into the facility – a process that could have been made easier in my opinion had any member of my team ever escorted a foreign nation into the building before. I can just see it, this is what all of them were thinking: “Just let that summer student figure it out, if he gets a security infraction it’ll matter less.”

Throughout the day I learned a bunch of cool stuff about Expert.
1. He speaks three forms of German – Regular conversational, formal written, and technical.
2. He has a daughter my age that is much better looking than any of the girls we ran into today.
3. His wife is over-weight, the diet pills don’t work for her.
4. His first car was a Renault (french - what the hell, wheres the german pride), now he drives a Passat TDi.
5. He becomes upset if a restaurant (Quizno’s) doesn’t serve beer.
6. He carries a book in his tool box entitled “German Humor” all pages of which are blank.

In the end he did not have the right tool with him to finish the job and it will have to be over-nighted from the American support company.

I was afraid to ask but I speculate that the reason he did not have the particular tool with him was because the required storage space was taken by the blank joke book.

Looking to be getting busy, I think… well, maybe.

I spend a lot of time at work with nothing to do. There is a specific reason for this. The reason is most of the work I’m assigned to are design improvement projects that hinge entirely on the contractor that’s scheduled to come in and make measurements or do work. These are by no means small projects and most times involve operation critical equipment. They should keep me busy except the problems are the gaps between projects that are too large and thus leave me with nothing to do between them. I’ve done every thing in my power to expedite the arrival of these contractors and schedule the next project just within completion of the last but it continues to be an unsolvable problem.

During these periods of nothing I’m still required to look busy and put in my time at the office. This is especially the case as I share an office with my Mentor/Supervisor/Boss Man and when we’re both present I feel the need to appear like I’m doing something I’m supposed to – something important. I like to call these periods of looking busy Interim Project Preparation Engineering Analysis and Planning (IPPEAP).

Although I receive nothing but praise from my current Mentor my previous Mentor and now good friend was outraged upon hearing about IPPEAP. He insists I ask for more work to do when I have nothing going on between projects. It seemed like a good, honest suggestion, plus if it worked it would relive the boredom and the stress of being caught just looking busy. So I did.

I then had “escort responsibilities” which is far worse than IPPEAP. I actually had trouble staying awake. I’d escort workers into basements and other mechanical/electrical rooms where they them selves do not have access. Then I’d sit around (there’d be a chair if I was lucky) and wait for them to be done. I’ve since complained about this enough that I’ve been relieved of these duties as they did not contribute to the educational goals of my engineering internship. It was back to good ol’ IPPEAP until I could come up with a better way of telling my Mentor I needed something to do.

Yesterday I thought I had the answer. I made the proposal to my mentor and received an entire list of things to do! Half the items on the list looked extremely difficult and like they’d suck unless I got some help. I thought: “this u’ll take me forever to do.” Boy was I excited (and wrong).

As of 2pm today I’ve completed everything on the list and then some. I feel really good about these accomplishments and the timely manner in which they were completed, yet part of me thinks I shouldn’t have worked so fast cause you know… now what?

I’ll think of something to do I’m sure of it. I know I’ll write a blog entry.

Ok that’s done.

The return of the Tri-pod

The last time I went auto-crossing was in El Paso. I took the Corrado out and had an unfortunate run in with a very pissy individual in a Grand Am. I’ve kept track of his participation with the pan am region; in general he continues to suck and I never should have relinquished those points. What an ass.

This last Sunday the Rio Grande region hosted an event in Santa Fe. A load of Volkswagens were in attendance. As far as I can remember there were: two R32’s (one red one blue), a 1.8t Jetta with NMTARC (hey, I started that club) badging, a grip of mkII GTI’s, a 4 door Rabbit with an 8v turbo, and everyone’s favorite 1983 bone-stock diamond silver Rabbit GTI.

When I walked up to the registration desk I was greeted by a few familiar faces, one of which said: “ahh, the return of the Tri-pod.” (For those of you that don’t get the joke, this is in reference to the rabbits tendency to lift its inside rear wheel when cornering.) Another guy said: “What no rental car?” (I went almost an entire year racing Enterprise rental cars) Next, Tom asked me if I wanted to be a Novice director – to which I answered: “Hell, yes!” What a way to make an entrance, I love racing with the Rio Grande region.

I had a blast being a novice instructor. Basically, you sit in the passenger seat of a sports car with someone who has either little or no idea what they’re doing and hold on for the ride of your life. Afterwards you suggest areas/methods for improvement. It’s everything I love all rolled up into one (squealing tires, roller coaster rides, and pointing out peoples flaws).

Over all I did very well. I got a few comments along the lines of: "Good run!" Results here.

Project Rabbit Update

I've been stalling to do this write up because I wanted to make sure I did it right, read: "I was out drinking with friends last night and the night before and only got around to it now." At any rate, once again last weekend the confines of Konstruct Performance were invaded by our crack team of first time body work "professionals." The rabbit saw it's first real coat of paint in over 4 years, and if I didn't know better I'd say it was done by the real professionals. (notice the intentional lack of quotations on the later - indicating no sarcasm towards the hard working men and women who paint cars for a living)

Ambitiously we started working Friday night in an attempt to have the booth set up and ready to spray first thing Saturday morning. That said we didn't get that far until late Saturday night, and even then Sunday morning brought to light even more scratches and pit-holes that needed attention before the first coat of primer could be laid. We crunched to get the last of the filler applied and sprayed the fist mist of primer at 10:25am. Notice how healthy looking Leif looks in the above pic; it was clearly taken before any painting had taken place. Right so enough BS, on with the pics!

First coat of filler primer, notice those sexy flared fenders. Sick.


Leif and Jack, tag teaming the rabbit into submission using a sealer/surfacer. "No Runs, No Runs, No Runs... Focus!"


Thats right folks, that can says "Imola Yellow" as found on the S4, RS4, and 20th AE GTI.


This was our view from the outside of the booth.


I snuck in and snapped a quick pic while the rear was still gray.


After four thick coats (~2 qt) of yellow, on goes the clear. The clear coat was hard to spray because it was almost nearly impossible to spot where we had been even a second ago.


This is a good action shot. There's actually clear comming out of that gun. See what I mean.


Looking over the finished product.


I like my rear hatch like I like a good Simpsons' caracter, bald and yellow!


Leif cleaning up, not looking very healthy and deffinatly a few brain cells less than when we started. Next time we're getting a full paint suite and the expensive resperators.


It still needs to be color sanded and buffed, but god damn it looks good already.


I'd eat soup of of that, that's right I said soup.


One last shot of the car before it getts color sanded and buffed.


More updates to come as the car gets put back together this comming weekend. I'll have lots of pics of the rear badging as well as the install of the rear spacers and the new wheels. Also a shot of the entier car! There's talk about driving up to the ski area for a photo shoot Sunday followed by a BBQ at our parents house for everyone that lent a hand on the car.

Staying Active

I've been doing really good lately at staying active. After work on Monday I went to the gym with Nate and did some light lifting just to get back into it with out being to sore the next day. I did some curls and was able to put some real weight on the bar (for me anyway) – which I feel really good about. On bench it was a different story, I did a little warm up using just the bar and was already feeling like I wasn't going to be able to add much weight. I ended up doing 3 sets of 10 with a 10 pound-er on each side of the bar, I was then only able to do a few with the 25's (read: not able to lift it very well at all).

Yesterday Cisco asked me if I wanted to go swimming. So of course I said yes, but only if we could play water basket ball after the laps. The hoop was over-run with youngsters and I ended up only swimming laps. I did about half a mile (15 laps) in half an hour, with only a few brakes to catch my breath. I thought Cisco was going to die, that kid is out of shape.

This morning I met Doug at 5:45 am at the YMCA in Los Alamos to play racquetball before work. If racquetball were an Olympic sport Doug would probably be on the US Olympic Racquetball Team. I've never thought it was possible to have worked so hard, sweat so much, and lost so badly at a sport where all you have to do is hit a little ball up against a wall. We played 4 games to 15 points, my highest score being a 4.

Today after work Cisco and I are planning on going to the Wellness Center to lift. I'm going to have to remind Cisco to go easy. Last time we lifted together he told me he hadn't lifted in over a year – then his legs stopped working and Rob and I had to carry his fat ass. Now he tells me he hasn't lifted since then… that was two years ago and he's not looking any lighter.

Party at Nate's House!

This summer is a little different from other summers in that, although I continue to work in Los Alamos, I’m now LIVING in Los Alamos. I moved into a spare bedroom at Nate’s house. I’ll spend a lot less money fueling up the Corrado and also keep some serious mileage off her. I’ll probably end up spending more money on things like food and beer, and there is a rent payment, but over all I should be able to come out ahead in my savings. That means money for car parts!

My plan is to stay at Nate’s on week nights and unless there’s a party or something going on in Los Alamos head back over to my parents’ house on the weekends. We’re on Thursday of week one and so far it’s been really nice. I especially appreciate the 3 minute - 1 mile commute versus the 1 hour - 50 mile commute.

In other news, I’ve been doing some job hunting. The idea here being I could take a job instead of going for my masters degree. I have several options I would be excited about if I were to actually receive an offer letter. I’ve listed them in no particular order:

1.Automotive consulting firm based out of sunny California.
2.Design engineer for major diesel engine manufacturer in tornado warning Indiana.
3.My current boss’s job or other government job in high altitude/attitude (WMD building) Los Alamos.
4.Desk/cubical job at NASA (just submitted a resume online for the heck of it) in bad accent Texas.
5.Worse desk/cubical job at Raytheon in hot and dry Tucson Arizona.
6.Parts counter at the Volkswagen dealership in artsy Santa Fe.
7.The fall back plan: Grad school in scorching hot Las Cruces.

So I haven’t applied to very many places, but among the ones I have applied for I defiantly have my preferences. Ultimately I’ll make a decision based firstly on the work, secondly on the geographic location and the opportunities to travel, next on proximity to friends and family, and lastly on the pay or cost of living.

Fender Madness

So I’ve been meaning to post up progress pictures of the car but have been unable to do so for a number of reasons. With that I present to you the following excuses:

1. To busy to post up cause I’ve been working on the car
2. Fire wall issues/prevention at work
3. 56k dial-up at home
4. My dog ate it

Basically the car isn’t even done yet and it looks the pimp. Not only did we role the fenders but we managed to flare them as far out as they could go without adding metal to them. This resulted in an additional inch of width up front and an impressive 2 inches in the rear. The front wheels look great in the wheel wells with just a little poke. The rear wheels however have enough room for a loaf of bread between the edge of the wheel and the new fender line. Leif has ordered a set of 25mm wheel spacers in order to give the car that proper euro-look.

On Saturday we set up a paint booth inside the shop. Our Dad even came by to lend a hand; he also brought a grip of thirst quenching bevs with him, nice! The booth was constructed of 1” pvc and large sheets of plastic, it measured 10’ wide, 20’ long, and a few over 8’ tall. Ventilation was taken care of by a large box fan set up to blow all the fumes from the booth outside and 3 home furnace grade panel filters were cut in on the opposite side. After the booth was set up we got to work washing the car, per a recommendation of the guy at the paint shop we used Tide laundry detergent. Once fully de-greased we taped off all the rubber and glass and hit the car with its first coat of paint – a light grey etching primmer. By the time that was done it was 12:30 am and everyone other than those directly involved in shooting the car was wasted (read, everyone except Leif and Jack). We called it for the night.

The next morning was the first time we’d seen the car not black, and everyone at the shop agreed that the lighter color did a much better job at highlighting/complementing the lines of the car. After much deliberation Leif has changed his mind about the final color of the car. The new choice is Imola Yellow. Imola Yellow is a VW color first used on the 20th AE GTI and the thought is it’ll make a great match with the aforementioned badgeing.

Next step is some light body filler. After that we’ll have to set up a day to spray the rest of the car in one sitting this will include a sealer, the yellow, and finally the clear.

Pics coming eventually, bear with me.

Leif’s Rabbit

Leif’s Rabbit has been in the family for over a year now. After its initial purchase the paint was fully stripped all the way down to bare metal. Leif did all the work himself in our garage, working tirelessly during nights and weekends, last year while I was away at college. I returned for the summer to find a fully primered car that looked schweeet as hell. Here’s a picture of the car at last years Dubs Along the Rockies show in Colorado Springs.


This summer Leif has some wild new plans for the car. It’s out with the dull primer black look and in with a fresh coat of Volkswagen’s Black Magic Pearl (BMP). The fenders are to be rolled and flared “way the way out” to accommodate a set of 15 x 6.5 Seebrings with some fat rubber. The new wheels look hot; they’ve been painted so that they’re not your average Seebring and do well at showing off the recent rear disc brake conversion and bright red brake calipers. Along with the upcoming bodywork/re-spray the rear hatch is going to be fully shaved and outfitted with a brand new OEM 20th anniversary GTI badge.

With less than a month left till the show Leif’s done most of the work but I’ve had the chance to help out here and there. By Saturday the car will be fully sanded and we will haul it over to Konstruct Performance where we will work with Diego to weld up the holes in rear hatch and smooth any remaining dents with filler. Diego has also volunteered his shop to set up a make-shift painting booth where both Diego and Leif will work to spray the car in numerous coats of that sweat sweat BMP. Work is probably being done as I type this as a strict deadline to finish the car and show it at this year’s Dubs Along the Rockies show has been set.

Stay tuned for photo updates over the weekend.

Edit: In responce to comment, its deff not my old rabbit - its fast (faster than the Corrado infact) and lowered. Between the four of us Rotsaert's we have 3 rabbits, a 62 bug, a 72 bus, and my corrado for a whopping total of 6 Volkswagens. We also still have the Wagonier and the Falcon.

Driving

Today was my first day back to work in Los Alamos. If you include the drive to work and back today I've driven ~1,370 miles with in the last 5 days. Most of these miles were due to the two trips it took to move all of our crap back and forth from Cruces to Santa Fe.

In other news; I'm single once again - and I'll leave it at that.

Skinny Dip

I picked up a 6-er of a new summer seasonal by the New Belgium Brewing Co. The name of the new seasonal is as synonymous with summer and good weather as sun burn; Skinny Dip. It's a light ale with a hint of hops to make it just a little crisper than what you might expect from a golden ale and there's a hint of lime that balances it out. Overall I was impressed and enjoyed all six the same evening with little moderation.

Setting Cruise Control

I used to make fun of Justin for throwing up during finals week. I didnt understand how he could possibly put him self though so much stress that as he got done with things and was able to relax a little he began involentary vommiting. That said, I've thrown up twice this week - niether time as a result of too much beer. The first time was after I watched Chelsie walk out for the last time after picking up the last of her stuff from my apartment. The second time happened just now... imidiatly after the Comm 265 test in the grass near the health center on my way to my car. I dont like it and I hope this doesnt continue as the week progresses.

On a possitive note I'm in the home streach! I've only got two finals left and they're both a walk in the park. All I have to do is set the cruise control and get through a couple more days of this week, which isnt turning out that great - especially from an emotional stand point.

I'm really ready right now for Saturday, but the thought of graduating is really getting to me and it seems my excitement and happyness can only be expressed by intence throat craps and watery eyes. Can I go get drunk yet?

Indiana: "The Crossroads of America"

Indiana became the 19th state on December 11, 1816. It has a population of just over 6million people making it the 14th most populous state in the USA. Major Industries include: agriculture (corn, soybeans, wheat), manufacturing, mining (coal, limestone), and steel-making.

It's also home to Cummins inc. I'm excited because today I put in my resume with their online job search database for Design Engineer V903. I would be super pumped if I got this job, it sounds sick from the description. Also its the first time I've looked at a job ad and met every single qualification required.

Despite all this talk about grad school and spending all that money on all the application fees across the lower 48, not to mention the cost of the GRE, I think it would be nice to not be in school anymore. And what better way to take a break from school than spend it working as a design engineer on a high horse power monster of a V-8 diesel engine used only for the millitary.

The Great American Finals Week To Do List

It really helps me sometimes when I get busy to make a little list so that I dont miss anything in the wash. In the past I've used note pads, sticky notes and small pieces of paper; a white board mounted on the wall; and less-favorably my arm, wrist, or hand.

This time I thought I'd do something a little differant. This way it'll be with me just so long as I'm at a computer with an internet connection. Also I can cross things out as they get done, here on erg/home/wtf.

Sunday May 7th
(1.) Make a To Do List
(2.) Finish Grading Statics Homework, enter grades, and email spreadsheet
(3.) Study for Math 472
(4.) Complete Grad School Paper Work
(5.) Laundry (i'm out of clean under wear)

Monday May 8th
(1.) Make copies of the high low and average
(2.) Talk to Donaldson about TC Research Report
(3.) Submit Last of Grad School Paper Work and get the faculty recomendations
-Sevostionov
-Donadson
-Conley
(4.) Look into the details of math minnor
-application form
-copy of unoffical transcripts
-copy of evaluation of transfer credits
-submitt it all back to math dept.
(5.) Study for Math 472 (fucking seriously today)

Tuesday May 9th
(1.) 8:00 - 10:00 am, Math 472 FINAL EXAM
(2.) Study for Comm 265
(3.) 6:00 - 7:00 pm, Comm 265 FINAL EXAM
(4.) Get some much needed sleep

Wednesday May 10th
(1.) Start Ling 200 take home test
(2.) Clean apartment and get ready for parents coming
(3.) Turn in ME Lab key (get my 20bucks back)
(4.) Get my sketch on for shorty
(5.) Sell back some books

Thursday May 11th
(1.) finish Ling 200 take home test
(2.) Study for Stat 371
(3.) Really clean up this mess!
(4.) (~6pm) Parents Arrive in Las Cruces
(5.) meet with conley at 9am
(6.) exit interview at 9:30am
(7.) Enter time sheets + time online

Friday May 12th
(2.) 1:00 - 3:00 pm Stat 371 FINAL EXAM
(3.) Turn in Ling 200 take home test and LL
(4.) Sell back more books (i.e. Stat, Ling... )

Saturday May 13th
(1.) GRADUATION CEREMONY
8:00 am @ football stadium wearing cap and gown!
(2.) Get Drunk.

Damn Raven, It only took you 6 years

On Saturday, May 13th I will graduate with a Bachlors of Science in Mechanical Engineering and a Minor in Mathematics.

This is BIG! I'll end with 169 credit hours, 34 of witch are "unused."

6.5 tons of robotic mayhem

The good folks at Carnegie Mellon University have unveiled a new addition for the list of badass unmanned off-road vehicles. Code name: "Crusher."

According to News.com:

On April 28, Carnegie Mellon's National Robotics Engineering Center unveiled this new unmanned vehicle to work on almost any terrain. It can carry more than 8,000 pounds of armor and payload and is powered by a lithium ion battery that's recharged by an onboard turbo diesel generator. Top speed: over 25 miles per hour.

View the video here.

Muffler Bearings

This pic pops up in forums every now and again... It's a classic, and shows the proper technique for replacing worn muffler bearings. Replacement bearings can be found here.

Yes Now!

I walked into the very busy mechanical engineering computer lab this afternoon and thought to my self, "god damn, it smells like a fucking gym in here."

I sat down at a computer to check my email.

Dr. Pederson than walked in and said aloud in his very Ed McMahon voice:

"It smells like a gym in here!"

That was ironic, Hi-yo!


EDIT: Dr. Pederson was previously famous for the phrase: "Have you created views?" ... and other great McMannerisms.

Scanning: while I was out...

... of my mind, strung out on coffee and running on 2 hours of sleep. Everyone loves a good random shot of a moose.

Report for Burl

I'm working on a report on the interesting bits of research I was involved in this semester. Its due Monday (tomorrow). Here's a teaser:

No satisfactory method exists to properly quantify the effect of the error produced. It is hypothesized that by producing a method that can accurately and consistently detect inhomogeneities the error in the emf could be accounted for in the calibration of the thermocouple.

Did I write that? I sure did, man that's good stuff. I realize out of context that morsel doesn't make much sense but I can assure you as it sits in the report it's golden.

Testing Torpor

So I bombed the GRE even though I thought I was doing great through out the entire thing. I finished right at the end of the time limit on all the sections and was under the impression that I got most of the quantitative questions correct.

I saw a few questions about mean and standard deviation, which according to Kaplan is a sign that I was getting into the “harder” questions – meaning I was doing well. So I don’t really understand why I didn’t do better.

As far as the verbal section goes I kind of knew I wasn’t doing so hot because all the questions seemed easy and on the computer exam that’s a sign that, well… it meant I was fucked. I must have missed a few of the harder ones in the beginning and as a result the computer dropped the skill level and I was doomed.

I could give a shit about confidentiality concerning my test scores so here goes. If I remember correctly I scored a 410 on the verbal and a 600 on the quantitative. I wont know what I got on the analytical for a while. Lets hope this is good enough for NMSU, I was told my score wouldnt matter much but we'll see I guess.

GRE

Today I take the Graduate Records Exam (GRE) in El Paso at 1:15 PM.

I'm sitting here at my desk this morning after reading Kaplan's GRE Exam, More of What You Need to Score Higher on the GRE Exam, 2006 Edition last night, in its entirety.

Now that I feel perpared with Kaplans methods I’m starting to worry about things like:

What if my computer doesn’t work?
What if the mouse is hard to operate?
What if the keyboard is like mine and the letter ‘H’ doesn’t work sometimes?
When am I supposed to leave Las Cruces so that I get there on time?

And Finally…

I hope El Paso isn’t on a different time zone.

Keeping in Touch

When I was in high school I had a friend tell me: "Out of all of the people I know, you Raven need a cell phone the most. It's like impossible to get a hold of you."

To present I've carried a cell phone for 7 years. I'll probably die a cell phone induced cancerous death at the young age of 30. Either that or I might die in a gasoline station fire when I answer an important call while pumping gas despite the omnificent warning signs that tell me other wise.

Despite my inherent cell-induced demise, I do however appreciate the basic convenience that owning a cell phone has given me. I can talk from in my car during rush hour. I can talk when I'm stranded in the middle of the dessert. I can talk from the living room, toilet, shower, kitchen, and bedroom with out wrapping myself with that accordion-like cord thing. I can answer calls when I'm in class, at a restaurant, and even Starbucks. Pretty much as long as I am not at my parent's house or any other thick-walled adobe house I'm available and standing by to answer your important call!

That said, I'd like to quote a statement I heard someone make at a party a while back: "A cell phone's ultimate purpose exists for the convince of the owner of that phone and the owners alone."

Ok, that seems selfish, I agree. If wifey needs to call just to hear your voice so she can properly make it through the day - I owe her as much to answer. And if a friend calls needing a ride home from the bar and then opts to drive him/her self home after a few too many when I'm not picking up; I'd of preferred to have been available.

Afterwards it seems obvious that someone was trying to get a hold of you like you were the only one left on earth. Signs typically include flashing lights, a large number of text messages - mostly just repeates of the phrase: "answer your phone asshole!", and more missed calls than your cell stores a history of.

So what does everyone think? Due to the advent of cellular telephones after how much time and how many tries should someone start to worry about the person you're trying to reach? And because of caller ID no one leaves real voice messages anymore so here's the break down:

2 weeks, 30 missed calls, 15 "answer your phone" messages?
4 days, 20 missed calls, 20 "answer your phone" messages?
1 day, 10 missed calls, 5 "answer your phone" messages?
2 hours, 5 missed calls, 26 "answer your phone" messages?
5 minutes, 45 missed calls, 76 "answer your phone" messages?

Before cell phones what was a standard turn around for a call back? I'd say a day or two, and you would have probably only called the house once and left a message with your name and call back number.

PCU

Who hasn't seen the movie PCU? A high school senior visits college for the weekend, and stays at the wildest house on campus in this classic tale of anti-political-correctness.

what's that? You've never heard of it? Dude, where were you in 1994?

The movie was modeled after all the protests that happen on campuses all over the country. Typical university students in the past and present are mostly if not actively liberal planet saving hippies. If you keep up with campus current events there's typically a protest for animal rights, or energy conservation, or within the last 5 years anti-bush demonstrations.

That said at NMSU you cant swing a dead cat in the parking lot with out hitting either a "Viva Bush" or a "Sportsmen for Bush" bumper sticker.

Today I saw something written in chalk on the side walk. It read, "Love thy neighbor, support gay rights."

Ok you say, cool, I didn't even know we had a gay community here, but what ever, I'm not into it but cool - not here at [sarcasm]good ol'[/sarcasm] NMSU. It had been crossed out with a new message that reads "God Hates Fags! aggiesforchrist.com"

Goes to show that Christians only love their neighbor if their neighbor is also Christian. Ugh, I just don't know what else to say - I'm a little angry right now... I need a beer.

The Great Easter Gift Exchange

It's been years sense Leif and I had an egg-hunting-good-time for Easter. I remember when we were growing up Easter used to be a lot like Christmas, with some pretty kickin' gifts from the Easter Bunny. We made Easter fun again this year! Leif, Chels, and I did a little gift exchange between the three of us. It turned out GREAT!

I ended up making each of the guys a basket. For Chels I got some Godiva Hot Coco Mix, a bomber of some specialty IPA from the Ska Brewing Co., and a stuffed giraffe. For Leif I went a little over board and managed to score some plastic eggs big enough to fit a miniature of booze inside; the eggs came in a pack of six, so naturally there were six shooters in his basket. I also got Leif some chocolate and the latest magazine issue of Performance VW.

White Sandboarding

White Sands National Monument is located on I-70 between Cruces and Alamagordo, only about 40 miles from the house. On Friday Chels and I woke up and decided it would be fun to take a drive over there. We packed the cooler, and left Cruces around 2pm. I also made sure to pack an old snowboard we had laying around the apartment for a little Sandboarding action.

We got there in no time; 40 miles goes by fast in the Corrado, especially on a nice day with all the windows rolled down.

The following picture is from the above sandboarding link. I, like this guy, spent a few seconds upside down.


Unlike this guy, it was completely unintentional and the landing totally hurt. Typical of most times I attempt to have active/sportive fun I scraped both elbows, my knee, and most of my chest. I also took a big chunk of skin off of my hip.

I took a spill when I realized I was really starting to pick up speed near the bottom and bailed. Because I was going so fast I couldn't get running fast enough downhill to start to come to a stop. When I ran out of downhill I hit the very hard-flat surface where the sand had compacted from rain - chest first.

I've been limping around the last couple of days mostly because my knee feels really stiff. The scabs arent bad at all - except they're the kind that are just not deep enough to anything but sting. This is especially the case when my cest comes into contact with anything other than air, things that suck right now include: water, the bed sheets, clothing, any table I accedently rest my elbow(s) on, and people (including myself) who carelessly/loveingly touch me where I've been scraped.

Google Maps?

I've always done pretty good at getting lost every time I go to El Paso. For that reason last Wednesday when we went to the Bob Dylan concert I thought it would be best to check Google Maps for directions to the Don Haskins Center. This way with proper directions we could relax, not worry about getting lost, and leave Las Cruces at the last minute - secure in the knowledge that we would be able to negotiate the proper route, express-like.

So here's the map Google Maps produced:



The purple line is the route Google recommended, with the instructions ending somewhere in downtown El Paso...

But wait a minute, Don Haskins Center? "Hey Chels, isn't that the UTEP basket ball stadium?"

"I don't fuckin' know."

So we ended up leaving at the last minute, following the directions into some neighborhood in the downtown area, realizing the mistake, and than winging it back up Paisano Drive towards I-10 and the UTEP campus. Luckily Chels was able to provide directions to UTEP.

We ended up missing the first hour of Merle Haggard because of the scenic route through downtown. Dylan rocked, and the way home went a lot smoother.

Sleeping and Women

It's a scientific fact that Chels needs more sleep than I do. I'm curious if this is gender specific or not... Do girls need more sleep than men?

Maybe it's Chels specific. Every night she always falls asleep right away, while I lay awake for another 30 minutes. In the mornings I wake up with her 6am (some mornings she sets it at 5am) cell phone alarm, nudge her to turn it off but than only get up with my 7am alarm. I then make coffee, take a shower and then try to actually wake her up. By this time she usually says something like, "Oh my god I should have been [there] by now!"

Her excuse, or so she tells me, for not being able to get up in the morning, is "I can't help it, your bed is so comffy." Although I agree that my fouton on the floor is the balls, it gets me every time that someone who may have never slept on the floor like this in her life would think so. I have to admit I am flattered every time she says it. There's something rewarding about getting a good nights sleep on something as simple as a fouton mattress laid flat on the floor.

Email Highlights o' the Day

I got a couple emails from Shorty today. Among a picture of the easter bunny (dead) and some pics of a tractor pull was this joke - which I thought was the balls.

An engineer was crossing a road one day, when a frog called out to him and said, "If you kiss me, I'll turn into a beautiful princess."

He bent over, picked up the frog and put it in his pocket.

The frog spoke up again and said, "If you kiss me and turn me back into a beautiful princess, I will stay with you for one week."

The engineer took the frog out of his pocket, smiled at it and returned it to his pocket.

The frog then cried out, "If you kiss me and turn me back into a princess, I'll stay with you for one week and do ANYTHING you want."

Again the engineer took the frog out, smiled at it and put it back into his pocket.

Finally, exasperated the frog asked, "What is the matter with you?

I've told you that I'm a beautiful princess and that I'll stay with you for one week and do anything you want. Why won't you kiss me?"

The engineer said, 'Look, I'm an engineer. I don't have time for a girlfriend, but a talking frog, now that's cool."

A little about how we met

I get a lot of grief about not posting enough about Chelsie... from Chelsie, as it were. I'm sure it has nothing to do with a jealousy of me spending more time on the Internet than with her but rather her merely stating the obvious. Rather than simply appease her by gradually working gossip about our relationship into the content here I thought it’d be cool to post up an excerpt from an essay I’ve been forced to write for a class on a romantic relationship that I’ve been in. If you find these kinds of things horribly cheesy you may has well just skip over this one:

I met Chelsie on November 12th, two years ago. From the instant when I first saw her, to the moment when she agreed to marry me, and everyday thereafter we continue to grow closer to each other. During these short years the moment in our relationship that stands out the most in my mind is the period during which we first started dating.

At this time we were both working in an old biker bar on the outskirts of a small town in southern New Mexico. I worked as a cook in the back, where I cooked (read: deep fried) all the typical fried bar foods, including frozen burgers, pizza and nachos. Chelsie worked as a bar tender, she continuously fought off the come-ons from the much older drunken patriots clad in ridding leathers and Harley dew-rags.

As a pair, we stuck out as both being very different from the usual crowd that inhabited the bar; actually, it was probably because of our adverse surroundings that our similarities and common interests became so apparent. Everyday I found comfort in Chelsie’s objection to the type of food we were forced to prepare and the manner in which the management conducted their operations. I always looked forward to work on the days when she was behind the bar and dreaded the days when she wasn’t. On the days we worked together we kept a distance in order to maintain a proper work edict, but a quick glance in her direction would help to put a smile on my face...

The rest as it were tries to meet the requierments of the assignment and gets a little technical with "comunications terms" and very much less interesting.

Dylan

Chels, Leif and I have tickets to see Bob Dylan on April 12th in El Paso.

I'm SUPER SYKED!

Da Snuz?

Do you hit the snooze button on your alarm clock?

How many Times do you hit snooze?

When you hesitate before hitting snooze, are you being lazy?

Does your lazyness overpower the necessity to turn off the insesent alarm clock noise?

Or are you one of those people who set an alarm but always wake up 2 minutes before it goes off?

Sony DSC-H1

I've been wanting a digital cammera pretty bad and I've been thinking I'll get one real soon with my tax refund.

I'm leaning towards quality over portability. I was at Best Buy yesterday and messed with a bunch of the display models. I was also looking here. At the Sony Cybershot DSC-H1. It's a 5.1 Megapixel camera with 12x Optical/2x Digital Zoom. It comes with the SLR look - which I like beacause although I dont need the performance of an SLR I like the way they're balanced. The only down side I see here is the memory card format... it uses "memory sticks" which run around $60 for a one gig-er

What I really need is a means to justify spending $420 on something thats a want and not a need (ie. rent or food). Post up comments with opinions.

My PS2 has ice on it...

The fan on our PS2 (slimline) started making a lot of noise. I have yet to open it up to figure out exactly why but it sounds like a bad bearing or that the fan has come into some interference. The PS2 seems to have a temperature control unit on it that modulates the small fan within 3 settings (off, low, and high) as necessary. On high, the fan is loud enough to make hearing the TV a problem. What we’ve been doing is placing an ice pack on the underside of the PS2 before we turn it on – this keeps it cool enough so that the fan never even turns on.

I did some research into the power consumption of the thing. The original PS2 consumed approx. 79 watts vs. the new model at approx. 45 watts. In addition to the lower power rating, the new model uses an external power supply/converter – I’d imagine that this means the new unit generates only half the amount of heat on the inside of the console. While the fan in the new unit is much smaller, and moves less air we’ve never had a problem with the PS2 overheating. That said it does get a little warm…

I've never been the type to simply replace an OEM part with another OEM part so I’ve devised a scheme to insure the proper cooling of the otherwise very small, very slim PS2. Currently Leif and I are debating retuning it under warrenty or doing something (i.e. over clocking the processor) to justify a major cooling upgrade.

Stay tuned here for a few sketches on the current cooling upgrade plan. Also, if any one can comment on overclocking the PS2 processor that'ld be neat.

Edit: here's plan A (note the use of blue LED glowing fan). I was thinking I could get away with using the machine shop at school to make that fan shroud/cover thing. I'd think a solid block of abs plastic or some urethan would be easy to machine and when painted black with the same side mouldings/slits would match the look of the origonal PS2 casing.

This could be the death of me...

http://kamtec.co.uk/products.php?prod_cat=10

... or my savings account at least.

Also, THIS IS THE NUTS!

Spring Brake Laziness and Post Mortem Craziness

Last week was Spring Brake. I made it a point to take a brake from the usual hustle and bustle of college life. This included tedious tasks such as homework or work in general, keeping up with my usual internet-ing and lastly showering.

I spent the greater part of the beginning of the week catching up on everything Grand Tourismo. I managed to complete two 24hr endurance races as well as most of the One Make races. During this time the only reason I left the house was to buy more beer. My reclusive behavior seemed warranted for three reasons: (1) I was drinking and not driving, (2) the Play Station sucks at playing it self – I had to be there to keep it company, and (3) turns out I’m severely allergic to outside (namely Mulberry Trees) in the month of March. I’m currently just over 80% completion in the game.

In the later of the week Chels and I took the C to Phoenix. The proper 3 letter abbreviation for Phoenix is PHX. The lesser known and equally correct 4 letter abbreviation for Phoenix is PHNX. Saturday night we hit a UB40 concert. It was held outside in the parking lot of a very smoky casino off hwy 87. The very British white guys that make up UB40 do in fact play what is classified to be “reggae music.”

The first thing they said after their first song was:

“Cheerio, how ya’ll doing out there tonight. Right-o, but you know once the spoties come on we cant see you so we need you to do more than dancing out there, we also need you to sing along.“ Who’s dancing?

Immediately following the above statement was this trifler:

“Here’s one most of you probably wont know off our first album.” And you want us to sing what now?

Chels’ Dad latter mentioned that he probably never should have seen them in concert because now all of his fond Reggae, Rasta memories of singing along with Red-Red Wine are now shattered with images of Gay British dancers who chew gum while they sing up on stage.

Now that school is back in full force I'm busier than ever. Hence the bit about carziness in the title. I've got to get my grad school app in at NMSU; get off my ass and start applying for jobs just in case grad school doesnt work out; keep up with all the usual school work; prep 100+ thermocouple samples by tomorrow; finish (read start) a report on thermocouple inhomogenity testing/calibration; and do the usually weekly homework grading. At some point I'll try to find time to sleep and eat something, oh and cruise the Vortex.

Calling In

On the way to class yesterday morning I was redirected and told to go back in the other direction by a man wearing a Kevlar vest and holding a rather large shot gun. Not knowing what was up I took a detour in order to make it to my class - It was important to make sure I turned in my homework that took me all of 10 hours to complete (fucking homework). I got there just in time to sit down when the fire alarms in the Math building went off. I was then directed to evacuate with the others to a large park away from the building near the center of campus. No one had any real clue as to what was going on. After some deliberation as to whether or not the teacher was going to hold class in the park we were told by some official that we wouldn’t be allowed to return into the building(s) until 12:30. The teacher then kindly handed back the tests, collected the homework, and dismissed us from standing near her in the park – we went back to standing in the park, now slightly more dispersed.

According to KTSM-TV News Channel 9 of El Paso someone called the President's office at 8 in the morning and said there was a bomb inside one of the libraries and that it would explode at 9:30. Also supposedly the FBI is on campus investigating the threat; because someone called the Las Cruces Sun-News about the bomb threat with references to Al-Queda. Freaky.

I highly doubt there was any kind real threat yesterday. Most likely it was meant to be some sort of prank with the intention of starting spring break early. The fact that someone would do such a thing as a college student is sickening to me. School officials have reported that if a student is to blame he/she would be either put on suspension or expelled – oooooh, intense! Seriously if the person that called this in is caught he/she should be punished to a far greater extent than expulsion from the university. We’re talking full on Afghanistan military retribution.

Risking innocent lives through terrorism/pranks either for personal or political gain is selfish, unjust and thick headed, it’s just downright uncalled for. The person that called in this treat was bluffing as no bombs were found but even still through the course of evacuation someone could have been hurt. I for one was extremely inconvenienced – a crime punishable by death.

More Fast

This is a cool little game based off the VW GTI "Make Friends With Your Fast" ad campaign. My best time was 35.944 to solve all 4 puzzles.

Check it!

First Gold Star Award

erg/home/what_the_fuck.htm gives the first ever gold star to Jaime for most returns in a single post... even though he forgot "That guy minded when I farted in the elevator."

VW + Google

Mein Auto ist verloren, wenn nur ich ein dreidimensionales Führer des Weges hatte... Yeah Google!

New in car nav system by Volkswagen, Google and nVidia based on Google Earth, read more here.