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Get Firefox about me: Jared Lee age: 26 current residence: State College, PA hometown: Cumberland, WI undergrad major: Physics, Gustavus Adolphus College grad program: Meteorology, Penn State University
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One Blog to Bring Them All and in Happy Valley Bind Them
Okay, so I'm now back from my trans-Pacific trip, and there will be a few posts forthcoming about the trip to Terra Australis. In addition to the Australia trip there have been a few other major things going on, such as moving out of my old apartment and into Isaac's house, and going to a wedding in Indiana. But let's start with the wedding. So on Fri 30 July I gave a seminar on my research at 9am in the Water Tunnel Bldg on campus, the same seminar I was to give three times in Australia. After I finished that and some other things I had to take care of, I hit the road for Kettering, Ohio (a suburb of Dayton), to visit my friends Daniel & Katie. It took a lot longer than expected to get there, however. It was fine until I approached Pittsburgh. For some reason Yinzers are scared to death of driving through a tunnel, so they slow to a crawl for two miles leading up to it. It's happened every single time I've come into Pittsburgh on I-376/US-22 from the east -- and this wasn't even rush hour! Then I hit another inexplicable traffic jam in downtown Pittsburgh, most likely caused by Yinzers being afraid to merge properly (or at all). Then I hit another traffic jam on I-79 near Washington, PA, as it approached a junction with I-70, which had construction both ways on it (several mile standstill backup). Then on I-70 near Wheeling, WV, traffic was backed up several miles up the hill because the tunnel in Wheeling was closed -- and so were two of the three lanes of the I-270 bypass around Wheeling. What genius! In all, it took me about three hours to travel 60 miles. UGH. When I finally got into Ohio it was smooth sailing though. Once I got to Daniel & Katie's and brought my suitcase into their house, Daniel innocently asked, "Is that everything?" because he wanted to shut the garage door. Then it dawned on me all of a sudden. I had forgotten something. Namely, the clothes I had picked out to wear to the wedding. They were hanging in my apartment's closet. By themselves. (I had packed up all my other clothes and taken them to Isaac's in preparation of moving out, so those literally were the only clothes left in my closet.) I remembered to pack the shoes, just not the pants, shirt or tie. SIGH. Anyway, I felt like a dolt, but decided not to worry about it that night or the next morning, and instead wanted to enjoy my time hanging out with Daniel & Katie and their two young daughters, Paige (17 mos.) and Claire (5 mos.). They've sure got their hands full, but not as full as they will be when they're both toddling around. :-) It was fun to hang out with them again, but unfortunately I didn't get any pics of their young brood. I'm looking forward to when they come visit State College sometime in October! On Saturday I headed north and northwest from Dayton, angling over to Goshen, Indiana. Along the way I stopped at a JC Penney to purchase some wedding attire. Considering all I had was shorts and a t-shirt, it was pretty necessary. :-) But I found something agreeable to me at an agreeable price. I still wasn't thrilled about buying more clothes when I already have so many and am preparing to move to Colorado by trying to fit all my possessions into my car. Anyway, onto the wedding. I hadn't ever met Mary Rose before, but I've been friends with Luke from way back in kindergarten/1st grade in Mountain Lake, MN (which, incidentally, doesn't have a mountain but does have a lake). We were on the same bus route and were practically best friends back then. When I was in 2nd grade my family moved to Wisconsin, but Luke & I kept in touch through letters periodically, and he and his mom even came to visit once when they were in Osceola for a Bible camp. Through middle and high school we lost touch, but when I was a freshman at Gustavus, I saw a poster in Björling Hall (the music building) advertising an upcoming concerto performance in nearby New Ulm by the Southwest Minnesota Orchestra, featuring guest pianist Luke Norell. I thought it was worth a drive over to the concert to see if it was the same Luke Norell that I knew, and when he walked out on stage with his red hair, I knew it was him. So we've kept in touch ever since then, but still haven't been able to hang out much. Luke & Mary Rose are both pursuing their DMA in piano performance, Luke at Indiana University, and Mary Rose at Northwestern University. So of course there was some fantastic music at the wedding! :-)
The reception was held in the atrium right outside the recital hall where the wedding took place. It was nice to have it right on-site. Partly because it wasn't a large space, and partly because both families are quite conservative, there was no dancing at the reception, and there wasn't any alcohol either (not even champagne for toasts). It's not an arrangement that I'd prefer for my wedding, and some people might say that a wedding without any alcohol or dancing is lame, but for this one it actually worked great. I was at a table of people who all knew only either the bride or the groom but pretty much nobody else there, which was kind of nice, actually, in that nobody felt totally isolated. A funny moment came when one guy at my table accidentally lit his program/songbook on fire, hehe. :-) The reception was also filled with music throughout, with lots of family members and friends getting up and playing/singing various pieces, many of which were in small songbooks that were at each seat so that everyone could sing along as well. It was great fun!
Luke and Mary Rose also played a few piano duets: It was a great wedding and reception, and I was glad I could make it. Even though I of course didn't get much of a chance to catch up with him, I was able to catch up some with his family, which was nice. Not many of Luke's friends were able to make it to Indiana, so they had a couple of receptions back in Minnesota for folks there in mid-August. So they were especially appreciative that I was able to make it. I think they enjoyed my story about forgetting my clothes too, and that I was in the process of moving out and about to travel to Australia on top of that, and that I still could make it. :-)
I had hoped to fly to my cousin Jonathan & Lindsey's wedding in Spokane last weekend, just a few days after returning from Australia, but I realized I couldn't afford it, what with the Australia trip and moving to Colorado. It would've been nice to bookend the trip with weddings, but I think I would've been too exhausted to hop right back on another plane for another cross-country trip!
[On location in Los Angeles International Airport]
Right now we're in LAX, and our flight to MEL boards in two and a half hours. Our flight from IAD made an unplanned refueling stopover in lovely TUL because the plane's center fuel pump was inoperative. They said the two fuel tanks over the wings are the main ones, and the center tank is just an auxiliary tank, but with that pump not working, they needed to get extra fuel to make it to Los Angeles. How reassuring! Other than that our travel day has been pretty smooth so far. I'm just super-tired from getting only three hours of sleep last night. I didn't get back from Indiana until 7pm, and then I didn't finish cleaning/moving out until 12:30am. After unloading my stuff at Hollemans, I then realized I forgot something and had to go back, so it was after 1:30am before I went to bed, and awhile after that before I fell asleep. 5:30am came wayyyy too early. I'm looking forward to a glass of wine or two at altitude knocking me out on the flight! I'm not exactly looking forward to being in a metal tube for 15.5 hours though (16.5-17 if you count early boarding and everything else), but it's worth it. Australia here we come!
In addition to all the work-related stuff for me to do at NCAR (and my visit was useful, I thought), Alex was also at the tail end of a 3-month visit to NCAR when I was there. Bonus! I arrived in Denver on Friday night the 9th, and took the Super Shuttle to Boulder, where I had arranged to rent a bedroom in someone's house, just a 5-minute walk from NCAR Foothills Lab. Convenient! And it was only about three blocks from where Alex was staying too. Somewhere between the State College and Detroit airports I lost my memory stick, however. It had my presentation and other relevant data files on it, among other things. I called lost and founds at both airports and filed a missing item report with Delta, but nobody had found it or turned it in. Oh well. Fortunately Kerrie was able to go into the Water Tunnel Building to find and email me the files I needed. Thanks, Kerrie!! I would've been up a creek without that. Anyway, Alex had gone with some friends out to Steamboat Springs that evening to catch the hot air balloon festival at dawn on Saturday morning. But he left me his car and keys so that I could drive to Steamboat on Saturday and catch up to him in early afternoon. I'd never been west of Boulder in Colorado, and it was a beautiful drive west from Denver on I-70 to Silverthorne and then up to Steamboat Springs on CO-9 and US-40.
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![]() ![]() ![]() On Sunday morning the 11th we drove back up to the Alpine Visitor Center (11,796 ft) in Rocky Mountain National Park to do some hiking. We hiked along Ute Trail, which started across the road from the Alpine Center, and took turns carrying the backpack. Our map said the trail went 4.1 miles to Milner Pass, where Trail Ridge Road crossed the Continental Divide. Views along the trail were pretty spectacular.
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While we did a lot of eating and drinking, we did do more stuff than that. :-) One night Alex introduced me to the game Bananagrams, which is basically like simultaneous, real-time Scrabble, except you can constantly rearrange your words to fit in new letters. We fit in a workout early Wednesday morning (I got up at 6am to go run with Alex down to the gym), went to an NCAR picnic Wednesday afternoon (when I helped Dr Greg Holland carry a keg of Fat Tire back up to his vehicle, he said to Alex & me with a smile, "I'm glad to see that grad students still have their priorities straight when it comes to free beer," lol), played some pickup soccer with a bunch of Alex's friends from NCAR (we were the only two Americans, interestingly), and went rock climbing that evening. It was my first time climbing since our study abroad orientation in Australia five years ago.
Climbing didn't go well for me this time though. Whatever physical excuses I might've had (tired/sore arms from lifting weights that morning for the first time in a couple months), let's just say I really need to work to change my attitude when I run into difficulty in a physical activity, be it skiing, running or rock climbing. When it comes to my body, my will is pretty weak, and I have a tendency to get easily frustrated, excessively negative and pouty. It's not pretty, but it's something I realize I desperately need to change. I had hoped to redeem myself with another go at climbing on Friday morning, but Alex was too tired (woke up super-early) and had too much to do, with it being his last day at NCAR. My arms were still sore that day anyway, so maybe it was for the best that I'll wait to try again. Next time, whether I reach the top or not, at the very least I will have a better attitude. I flew out early on Saturday morning the 17th, and the original plan was for Alex to drop me off at the airport and then continue his long drive eastward to Iowa and then Michigan. But we got home from his farewell party too late Friday night, and he had too much more packing to do, so in order to let him get a bit more sleep before his super-long drive, I took the Super Shuttle to the airport (the shuttle was 45 minutes late though, which didn't make me happy, as it was supposed to pick me up at 4:30am). I was very close to calling and waking up Alex to ask him for a ride when the shuttle finally arrived. I was glad I didn't have to because he really needed the sleep with two days of long drives ahead of him. Overall I had a terrific week in Colorado. It was a useful trip work-wise, and it was fantastic to be able to hang out with Alex for a week. I really enjoyed that. I desperately needed the break, too, after having worked so hard in the six weeks coming into it. I think I'll be able to get used to living in Colorado starting in November (mountains and low humidity sure are attractive!). Visitors welcome!
The news has been out for awhile now, but just in case some of you haven't heard: I'm moving to Colorado this fall. About three weeks ago my advisor, Sue, told us she was taking a job at NCAR (National Center for Atmospheric Research) starting at the end of August, and had arranged to bring along the four grad students she currently pays and for whom she is the main advisor -- me, Andrew, Luna & Tyler -- if we chose to go along. We had absolutely no idea that it was coming, though I did guess that was the purpose of the suddenly-called meeting about a couple hours beforehand. So after the shock of the news, I decided within an hour or two that I'd follow her out to Boulder. I felt like the decision was pretty clear. The next day I met with Sue individually and worked out the when of my move: the week of 8-12 November. There are many reasons I wanted to stay until then, but a chief work reason is to get a journal article written on the research I've done this summer before I move to Boulder. Getting that moving date set really allowed me to relax a lot (she's starting at NCAR on 30 August, so I was panicked at first that I might have to move to Colorado right away upon returning from Australia). There are still many details that have yet to be worked out, but it appears all systems go for me to move out there. It's an exciting new challenge and opportunity for me, and will look great on my resumé to have some experience working at NCAR while in grad school. NCAR is a great place. I'll still be a full-time Penn State student (and will only be getting paid at a grad student rate at NCAR, rather than a full-time employee rate), but I'll just be living and working in Colorado (and possibly maintaining my Wisconsin residency). I may end up stop keeping a foot in three different states and just change my residency to Colorado though, we'll see. I'll be sad to leave behind my friends here at Penn State, and to leave a place I've lived in for 5 years now, but I'm also excited to have a new beginning out in Colorado. Forcibly shaking things up a bit won't be a bad thing for me. One of the challenges of this sudden move comes because I have a lease signed at my apartment through the end of July 2011 (signed the extension back in February, which is actually fairly late in State College to sign an August-August renewal). However, now it looks like Anders & I have probably found someone to take my spot on the lease (an incoming meteo grad student who we hosted on the visit weekend back in February) starting next month. And he's interested in purchasing my furniture too (which I'm selling because it's prohibitively expensive on a grad student salary to rent a moving truck from State College to Boulder). Hooray! Because I'll be in Australia from 2-21 August, however, that means that I need to move my stuff out before I leave (and I'm going to a wedding next weekend in Indiana, so it actually needs to be out before the weekend). Hollemans have graciously agreed to let me store my stuff in their garage or basement while I'm in Australia. When I get back from Australia, then I'll move into Isaac's new house, where I'll be renting one of his bedrooms through mid-November (David D will also be living there). And then I think I've also found a roommate and place to stay out in Colorado too! I emailed the Evangelical Free Church in Boulder (Calvary Bible Church), told them of my situation, and a guy named David emailed me back, saying he had a room available in his townhouse in Longmont (about 10-15 miles northeast of Boulder, Longmont is a popular place to live for NCAR employees, as Boulder is ridiculously expensive). That seems like a great place and a great situation for me, so I think I'm going to take it. Everything's really fallen into place this week (mostly yesterday) in terms of living arrangements for the next few months, praise God! I'm really glad to have gotten these things set before I go to Australia. Now I've gotta get busy early this coming week and pack up everything that I'm not taking to Australia and a few days' worth of clothes for the wedding and before I leave. Looks like I'll be camping out with just the bare essentials in my apartment for a few nights!
G'day! I got back from Colorado back on Saturday (a post and plenty of pictures from that trip coming soon!), so now I can start turning my attention toward my trip to Australia in less than two weeks! I was so crazy-busy in the lead-up to my trip to Colorado, trying to get research done for that trip, that I haven't really had any time to put into getting ready for Australia. While I'm still busy now, I'm actually much more relaxed, which is good, and it's allowed me to get a number of things done. Applying for an electronic visa? Check. Confirming I have no-fee ATM withdrawals worldwide (and thus won't bother with travelers checks)? Check. Editing a support letter that's going out to my church this weekend? Check. Meeting with Ash & Tracy to go over some plans and advise them weather-wise on what to bring? Check. Contacting some people I know at Monash to arrange for some grad student ministry events/meetings? Check. Arranged for places for me to stay while I'm in Melbourne (with my friends Rob & Simone, Joel & Rosey, and James & Ali)? Check (kinda -- I still need to arrange what nights I'm staying with who). But things are falling into place. Also, submitting abstracts for my three research seminars that I'm giving? Check. Took care of that one this afternoon. For the main work/education-related purpose to my trip, I'm giving three seminars (the same one at all three places, entitled "Down-Selecting for Numerical Weather Prediction Ensemble Configurations." I'm giving them mainly because I'm interested in the possibility of pursuing a post-doc position in Australia, if one were to become available. So here's when I'm giving seminars in the Melbourne area: Fri 6 Aug at noon: Monash University I'm really excited about these, and they'll be brand-new experiences for me. I've never given a seminar at someplace other than Penn State before (and I'll be giving this same seminar at the Water Tunnel Building on Fri 30 Jul at 9am), and there will be a fair amount of new experiences for me. It was really easy to arrange them too; I just emailed someone at each place, introduced myself, said I was coming to Melbourne, and asked if I could visit their institution, and offered to give a seminar. They're more than happy to arrange for seminars from foreign scientists who visit Australia. :-) I've been having fun putting the talk together this week, and I think it's going to turn out really well! There's still some additional work I'd like to include, of course, so hopefully I can get that wrapped up before I leave. Monday 2 August, when Ash, Tracy & I depart for Australia, will be here before we know it! Two weeks from now I'll be happily jet-lagged, walking around Melbourne, and seeing old friends again!! |