Brazil

Hey All,

Rather than giving each person who asks, "Hey, how was the trip?" the same short, generic response, I'm going to give a more detailed response here so that everyone can get the full version.

Here's some statistics first:

# of days: 9

# of miles flown: ~12,000

# of flights: 6

# of miles driven: 1,500

# of hours traveled ~30 each way

# of hours of sleep while traveling: ~4 each way

# of brazilian foods and fruits eaten:  many

# of instruments to install: 7

# of instruments successfully installed: 5

# of traffic violations while I was driving: 4

# of group members who got sick: 1 (me)

So basically the trip involved going to two different sites where we had shipped small cargo trailers filled with equipment.  At each site we had to run power cables and convert 230 V to 115 V for all our equipment.  We had to attach a clear plastic dome and a GPS antenna to the roof and get all kinds of stuff running: a MiniMe (optical instrument), a laser (for calibration), a laser shutter, pc's to record data, wireless network to transfer data.  That list sounds quite a bit simpler than it was to do.  Water leaked into one of the containers and damaged a few computers.  One we fixed, another we swapped parts around with another one to get it running.  What we weren't able to get around was that two camera controller cards went bad somewhere in transit.  This meant that we weren't able to get the imager and one of the MiniMe's running.  Sadly, this means that I'll have to go back later this summer :P.

It was quite an adventure.  Being without a home depot equivalent posed quite a challenged when supplies were needed and/or broken.  Having limited internet access posed quite a challenge when information or files were needed (2 hours to download 4 megabytes, ftl).  The sun was really hot.  Just a few minutes of exposure without sunscreen or a tan resulted in mild burns.  The temperatures were around 85-95 degrees with humidity of 50-60%.  Some days we were sweating long before we started working, others were really okay.

Hopefully next trip we'll have some time to do some sightseeing.  As it was we saw some great scenery though.  I'll post pictures when I get a hold of them.

The Internetz

I have about six hours to finish a homework assignment that's due tomorrow, and so in the interest of relaxing for a few minutes after class, I've been reading one of my favorite webcomics, xkcd (By "favorite," I mean, "The only one I keep up with that isn't on my igoogle homepage.").  Today I came across this one, which led me to simple.wikipedia.org, where I naturally looked up engineering.  What does simple wikipedia say about engineers?  Among other things, I found this gem: "Most engineers are trained to be very clever. Much of their training involves working within a limited budget and materials."

I think I'll just leave it at that....

Resurection!

It seems that most of my friends have given up on blogging for the time being. But I couldn't really complain about it since I haven't blogged in a couple months either... UNTIL NOW!

This semester I added a signature to my emails (or maybe partway through last semester). Anyway, I was just thinking that it'd be interesting to see how long I could make it if I listed everything that I can possibly think of. So here goes... Except that I don't want to post everything there is to know about me on the internet... hmmmm. Guess I'll just have to stay humble :D

This weekend I'm driving to another wedding. I hope my car gets me the whole way there this time. Recently I had the tires rotated and now there's some vibration that wasn't there before...

I can't really think of anything else to say since my initial blog idea got shot down by privacy concerns, so I'll leave you with this profound observation that should put to rest the epic ninjas vs. pirates debate.

If a ninja got on a pirate ship at 10 am it would be a ninja ship by lunchtime and no one would know what had happened to the pirates.

Gas Prices... Just as I Suspected

I was thinking that gas prices have been getting low enough that they should be making some records when you adjust for inflation.  I found this graph that I thought was interesting enough to share for two reasons.  First of all, gas is now cheaper than it was 50 years ago when you adjust for inflation.  Secondly, the graph shows how much the dollar has inflated.  The dollar is basically worth half as much as it was 25 years ago.

Figure courtesy of Wall Street Journal.  Check out  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122722595127246035.html

for the whole article.

The Tolerance we find in America

I came across an article today about an 8th grader who ran an experiment this election season.  She noticed that her school was predominantly in support of Obama, and so she wore a shirt that supported McCain for a day and recorded the tolerant and understanding responses that she received.  

I don't mean to imply that the situation would have been different had she worn an Obama shirt in a predominantly McCain-supporting school.  I hope that this experiment is an anomoly and the majority of people are more accepting... but I kinda doubt it.

The Ill-Fated Road trip

A few of you have heard the story about my attempt to make it to Phil and Heather's wedding a couple weeks ago. Here is the extended version of the story:

On Friday night after gcf (graduate Christian fellowship) large group my roommate and I gave another gcf member a ride home and found out that she was going to Chicago the next day for a family get together. She was planning on getting up to take the train at 6am, but the timing worked out that I could give her a ride, drop her off a couple miles from the highway, and continue on to Phil's wedding in Milwaukee. That made me happy, since while I like road tripping I get bored, and having company helps a lot. So. The next morning we headed out, and I dropped her off right on time. Right after I left, the low coolant light came on in my car. I got out and looked under the hood to see something wet scattered over part of my car.

Now, I'm not a mechanic. However, I do posses shrewd observation skills and a solid command of basic logic.  So after carefully evaluating the evidence before me, I determined that something was wrong with my car. I got directions to the nearest service station and headed there immediately, arriving just in time to pop the hood and watch the remainder of the engine coolant make its bold escape from the confines of my engine via a hose that was as cracked as a drug-dealing cop.

The service station I had happened upon said that they'd have to order the needed part from Saab and wouldn't be able to fix it until Monday. As a good American, I wanted it fixed within the next hour, so I called my insurance company to get my ride towed to a Saab service station. Sweet! tow truck within the hour. Get it fixed. Still make it to the reception and get to catch up with everyone...

An hour and twenty minutes later I called back. "Oh, apparently the tow truck was in an accident and they didn't tell us... please hold... we can get a different truck there in an hour to an hour and a half. Can you wait that long?" "NO! I'm going to drive off, catch me if you can!"  As if I had a choice.  Finally, four hours after I pulled into the station, a tow truck arrived and got me to Saabtech precisely fifteen minutes after they closed for the day, perfect timing. So I ended up calling Betsi (the friend I gave a ride to) and spending the evening with her and her extended family.

Now, as these plans were being made, I was picturing myself being introduced to all of Betsi's relatives as "her 'friend' from college who gave her a ride" (assuming they forget about the "and had car trouble" part at the end).  Meeting her Aunt and Uncle and immediate family was fine, and I went out to dinner with them.  However, after dinner we went to Betsi's great Uncle and Aunt's house where several other family members were lying in wait to jump me, tie me up, interrogate me about my intentions with their great niece/niece/cousin, and quite possibly look strangely at me.  But I knew their plan had a fatal flaw.  When my sister got married a few years ago I had a few awkward moments when I couldn't quite remember who certain people were that I was, in fact, related to.  Therefore, as I entered the door, before anyone could say anything (or get the rope out to tie me up), I greeted them all, "Hi everybody!  Man, it's been a while.  How have you all been?!"  

My shock and awe campaign was a complete success.  In the ensuing moments chaos ruled in their minds.  I could see from the looks on their faces that they were frantically scrambling to figure out who I possibly could be, who knew all of them without them recognizing me.  With the enemy camp thrown into disarray, I was able to explain why I was there, and they were so relieved to learn that they weren't supposed to know me that my explaination was met with no objections, no strange looks, and most importantly, no ropes or bright lights.

In the end it turned out to be kind of fun, because I do like people and Betsi has a very nice family.  I guess I also got a practice run at meeting a girlfriend's family (whenever that happens :).   I was fortunate enough to be able to stay the night at Betsi's Aunt and Uncle's sweet downtown flat, and took the train back to Champaign in the morning, leaving my car for my parents to pick up the next weekend on their way to visit me.

All in all the whole experience  reminded me that I'm not as in control of my life as I'd like to think I am. It could have been a lot worse, I had a place to stay and someone to ride the train back with, but bottom line was that the day went much differently than I had planned.

James 4:13-17

"Now listen, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.'  Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow.  What is your life?  You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.  Instead, you ought to say, 'If it is the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that.'  As it is, you boast and brag.  All such boasting is evil."

I'm going to retranslate that into the "Peter just had an interesting weekend" version.

"Now listen, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to Chicago and then Milwaukee, go to a wedding, and return home.'  Why, you do not even know whether or not your car's coolant hose will crack before you get there.  In addition, the tow truck may be delayed such that you cannot get your car fixed until Monday, forcing you to depend on a friend's relatives for a bed and to take the train home early the next morning.  What is your life?  You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.  Instead, you ought to say, 'If it is the Lord's will, we will live and go on a road trip to celebrate an old friend's wedding.'  As it is, you boast and brag.  All such boasting is evil."

Apparently I'm not quite as in control of my life as I like to think.

Practical Justice...

is the name of a book that I started reading a couple weeks ago.  It is written by a Christian who spends a lot of time ministering to the opressed and the poor.  Most recently I read the section of the book on "giving a man a fish" where he talks about direct handouts:  what it looks like to directly help someone, what it can cost, and what not to do.  In addition to that, I started reading Isaiah in my quiet times, which is a lot of God criticizing the rich for making money by oppressing those who are in need.  God promises to return and give both the righteous and the wicked what they deserve.

Anyway, I think I read the chapter in Practical Justice on Wednesday morning.  That day it was raining so I rode the bus to campus and was thinking about walking home that evening because I felt like it.  As I was walking down green street a man named Charles greeted me on the street.  I could tell immediately from his manner that he wanted something from me (or was selling something), and sure enough, he told me he was homeless and asked if I would help him out.  Due to some other circumstances that God brought about, I was relatively free for the evening and so I agreed to buy him dinner, where he told me that he was a Christian, has been all his life, and his favorite passage is the ten commandments.  Also during dinner he asked me for a few different things that boiled down to more money, which I did agree to take him to Goodwill and buy him a coat, while refusing to give him $40 in cash.  

So I drove Charles and a buddy of his, Marcus, to Goodwill and bought him a warm coat and a pair of pants.  Marcus had walked over to buy some food at a fast food place, so we drove over to pick him up there, and parked to wait.  As we sat in the parking lot, I looked over my left shoulder to see the restaurant, and then to my right and saw a liquour store, and then started to wonder which door Marcus would come out of.  Sure enough, he came out of the latter establishment.  Charles assured me that he was talking to somebody there, cuz he knows lots of people, but Marcus hadn't seen us right away, and I saw the bottle in his hand and the look in his eye when he spotted us.  His story was that Long John Silver's didn't have change for a $50, so he had to go over there to get change.

I'm really glad I had the whole experience.  I was exposed to the realities of the poor.  I can't say that I really got a taste of it or that it hit me full on.  But I met and talked to some guys who have to walk everywhere and sleep on the streets.  

I'm glad I put some food in Charles' stomach and I'm glad I put a warm coat on his back, and I'm glad I didn't give him any cash :).  I also figured that since he said he was a Christian (whether he is or not) and I was buying him dinner, that he wasn't going anywhere, so I talked as much as I could about Jesus.  I told him one of my favorite passages, I talked about what I've been learning about trusting God in grad school, and about what we studied in Bible study the night before.  When he thanked me I told him to thank God, because I wouldn't be doing it if it wasn't for what God has done for me.  This kind of thing is outside of my comfort zone and risks my belongings and takes my time, but I think it's what Jesus would have done. 

I apologize if it seems like I'm tooting my own horn here, I don't mean to be.  This is something that happened to me.  I've been praying for opportunities to share the gospel and to be a part of caring for the poor and the oppressed, and so I guess I shouldn't be surprised when God gives me a chance to do both.

Life without mah internetz?

Last Monday the internet at my apartment was down all day. This did result in a few minor emergencies-I had to frantically redo some homework on campus so that I could print out the proper graph. However, I have recently been thinking about how I spend my time and if I am actually as busy as I think. That day definitely illustrated to me how much I use the internet for AND how much time I waste online. I also realized that I really could do without the internet. I'd have to either stay on campus or go back to campus after dinner to do homework in the evening and check my email less frequently, but that really isn't that drastic. After I finished my homework on Monday evening I sat down and read a book instead of reading news or browsing the internet. So what if I fall behind on reading xkcd or miss a deal on something at Newegg, having a slower pace could be nice. As an inadvertent illustration to my point, I'm writing this on campus while I'm in between events, and thirty minutes just wasn't enough time for me to feel like getting some homework done (especially since it isn't due until next Monday).

I've also decided that I think that my blog is one of the most unattractive blogs on the net, so I may play around with the template and color scheme.

have a fabulous Thursday

Home-schooling strikes again!

I just read an article about a twelve-year-old girl who got bored with high school coursework and is now attending a community college.  She is applying to go to Yale for pre-med next year.  The thing that I liked best about the article is that her parents said that others asked them "Aren't you rushing things?"  Which is a pretty valid question, but their response was that it was their daughter who has these goals and dreams, and so they're just being supportive.  I though it was cool that they aren't pressuring her, she's making her own decisions with their help.  Sounds like home-schooling at it's best.