Fun and rainy weekend

This weekend Minna and Dan came up to Boston with their kids and Minna's mom Ruth. It was so much fun. Dan and I went F1 racing, we all ate sushi, and I kept calling Ruth Beth for some reason. All the fun was sort of washed out with all of the rain. The typically New England Patriots day activities were all canceled or moved indoors except the Marathon, which turned out to be a great race, but we stayed home.

The paper is nearly complete, and so my thoughts are turning to the next one. I must admit that this process is a long one, but I feel better as I get closer to finishing my first real paper, believing that I can write the next one considerably faster. I just need to push myself for the next two to four days or so to finish the last and hardest parts of editing and describing all of the findings and hard work I have put in over the last few weeks... last year really, but the last few weeks have been productive from the standpoint of usable data to talk about. Check out Dan's site for more details, for some reason I can't post pictures right now!

I always seem to have an excuse don't I? Between Sam's birthday and trying to get these 320's done each night I now find less time to post. I guess dedicating 1 hour to something other than the "have too's" in my life is showing me just how much time I am wasting in my day. Today I tried my hardest to finish an assignment, and work on solving the problem of a certain figure in my article that should have been written by now. This plot is really making me angry. Either my analysis is wrong, the code is wrong, or I don't understand the result, because right now it doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

So just how is the 32o's going for me? Monday was great, Tuesday I forgot to do one of them, so tonight I am trying to make it up. The idea was to do 3 X 20 minutes of something you want to do daily but just haven't managed lately. I also said you have to do all 7 hours. So I am doing all 7 hours, even though last night fell apart.

I am not being fully honest the main reason last night fell apart, was that I watched "An Inconvenient Truth". However, I am not sorry that I watched it. Although, I thought that some of the ways in which the data was presented were borderline alarmist. Overall I liked it and am still giving it a lot of thought. There really is a lot I could be doing personally right now to consume less energy and produce less carbon dioxide. But now I want to know how I can help as an engineer. I really want my next project or the one after that to be directly related to finding a way to capture carbon, or change it from a gas into another element or into dirt, or something. Or a way to decrease energy use, or increase efficiency, or something...I know it sounds vauge, but so are most beginnings. I just feel like if I don't get involved in some way that I am sort of missing the point of the message and letting my kids down in some way. Letting myself down in some way. Lets all pledge to start "consuming" less. As a kid one of the things my boy scout leaders always said was "Leave no trace". From a philosophical standpoint it's impossible to "leave no trace" of ones existence, but leaving a small one is a lot less annoying to future generations.

My 320's aren't going great because I have been starting them so late in the day...note to self: make improvements to ones self requires an alert mind, so start earlier in the day.

Productivity:
I don't really know because I haven't been tracking this as well as I did last week, but here is a guess.
9-12 article and listened to npr in one ear about the IQ2 debates
12-1 lunch and break with Jesse
1-2 Learned about spatial solutions to the boundary layer using the Orr-Sommerfeld equations
2-3 picked up race tickets and started homework
3-6 worked on homework, it seems to be working, now just need to answer questions.

At work 9 hours, productive for 7, actually not too bad. I guess when I don't "complete" something in a day I feel sort of like it was wasted.... whatever.

How is your debt?

I am just getting started on the last 40 minutes of my 320's. I read on the train this morning so I only have two other things to do. I took some time this evening to look over our emergency preparedness plan and inventory our 72 hour kits. The kids have grown a lot and the main things we were missing were clothing related. We also need to update some of the food items, but the main thing was that most of the kit was scattered into three parts, which would make its usefulness in an emergency null.

I also updated my checkbook, which is something I have just started doing on a weekly basis. Before that Julie had the burden and we often argued about finances. Our new system seems to be working well. This is our third month with the system and I am pleased, and we haven't fought once about it yet. Basically, I am in charge of all the bills and the main bank account. Julie is in charge of a separate account for spending on things like food, clothes, gasoline, etc. The amount is fixed for now, but seems a little on the low side. However, the motivation for her is that if she is wise with it, she can spend any extra she accumulates however she wants. It also means we could go hungry, but luckily she is a loving wife and mother.

It feels good to have a more strict budget because we both know exactly where the money is going. It also feels a bit constrictive right now because we paid off our credit cards. After running the numbers I thought we could pay off all of our creditors. I paid off all but one just to be safe, and I honestly think the plan would work, but we have a vacation coming up and I don't know how we could pay cash for it. So we will probably dip back into the tar pits of credit again soon.

My guilt is exacerbated by a quote from David B. Hales of the quorum of the twelve who said "You should not use credit cards to go on vacation or things of that nature. Pay cash for them and you will avoid debt." He is right. It is a little late now that we have airline tickets....but my mind is starting to think of a few ways we could save money and still have fun. After all it is our tenth anniversary and we should celebrate our magnificent marriage. However, following the council of a prophet will get us further both in this life and the next than just throwing caution to the wind in a frivolous attempt to regain our youth through materialism.

I read a depressing article about debt today. I have a fair amount of debt myself. It is really unavoidable with a family of this size to support. It would be nice if Federal Financial Aid would take into consideration people with families. It makes me sad that some of my lab mates can enjoy themselves and save money each month, while I borrow money every month just to pay my bills and eat. It is even more depressing to think that about two months of every year those needs are met through a credit card because I can't even qualify for enough loan money to cover those months. I will admit that part of the problem was a lack of skill at budgeting my money in the past. That is one of the reasons I am trying to gain control of our finances. However, I still fill that there are some big gaps in the way the money is appropriated. I guess what I am getting at is that the whole purpose of financial aid is to assess the needs of the individual, but having a family and being married doesn't really seem to factor into my financial package. The counselors will say it does, but honestly an extra $3k a year compared to a single student is really nothing when there are 5 mouths to feed.

You may be thinking that I shouldn't be in school with a family? Perhaps you are right, but then on some levels isn't that a form of discrimination? Make sacrifices you say? Isn't going to school a sacrifice? I have been in school every year since 1997, going every summer, and that entire time I have been married, I also worked full time all 5 years I was getting my bachelor's degree. I point these things out not to brag, but to say that I think I have been making sacrifices. Perhaps they were the wrong ones. What would I like to see? Need based financial aid that makes sense for everyone. I don't want my lab mates to go into debt in graduate school, but then I don't want to either. After all my salary is enough for them to live on comfortably, why then can I not have the same?

320's

This week along with my usual posts of random pictures and productivity stats, which I know you all can't wait to see, I am also going to participate in the 320's. This program I thought of while in the shower yesterday. Each day for 7 days you must do 3 things each for 20 minutes that you have wanted to incorporate into your day, but for some reason haven't been able to, and no you cannot count sleep and work! This means 1 hour dedicated to straightening out some curves in your straight and narrow path. This week mine will be scripture study, mandolin or guitar, and reading Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography. Why? I feel like if I do these three things each day then I won't spend the rest of my day thinking about them. For a while I have been trying to incorporate scripture study and music into a daily routine, but with limited success. I am usually reading at 11:30 and about to fall asleep, and by that time practicing an instrument is no longer on my wish list. After listening to conference and hearing about a few deaths this past week of people I know in a remote way, I realized that if I don't start doing just a few of the small things I have always wanted to now, my life will be over I will have missed so many small opportunities to become who I wanted. So this week I will try to incorporate something my ancestors knew a lot about (routines)! Some may ask why I didn't add exercise, the main reason is that this week things are really warming up, and my bike tires are pumped up and my chain is lubed, so it is time to get back on the bike commute, which will be enough exercise for this week. Although, it rained today so I walked again :( but tomorrow looks nicer!

So if you would also like to do the 320's just sign up here by commenting or emailing me, and I will put you on the list. What do you get? I send you a fine chocolate bar via mail if you do all 7 days and send me a small report on your improvements in each area over the small duration. So sign-up and get some free chocolate. I mean lent will be over so you could eat it! So far Thom and Jeff have signed up.