Gratitude (June 13-19)

Posted on 2018-Jun-21 by corwin
  1. Lots of rain for our garden
  2. Eating fresh peas out of the garden
  3. Reorganizing our entertainment system to better hide wires and reduce clutter.
  4. Being able to quickly return a defective Blu-ray player for a full refund
  5. A new optical digital audio cable
  6. A presentation at a phone meeting went well
  7. Watching the season finale of Star Trek:Discovery
  8. Learning details of construction projects at the most recent Citizens’ Advisory Committee Meeting
  9. Baking bacon
  10. Being able to take a box to the UPS store on my bike
  11. Winning a new keyboard and mouse in a giveaway from a local computer store
  12. I thought our broken garage door needed to be replaced, but the repair person was able to fix it (for “a while” at least) at a tenth the cost of replacement!
  13. Watching Metropolis Restored, the nearly-complete restoration of the first science fiction feature film.
  14. Starting the Book of Amos in our reading group
  15. Buying radishes and tomatoes at the Farmers’ Market
  16. Connecting my phone to our car via Bluetooth
  17. Candlelight yoga
  18. Calling my stepfather on Fathers’ Day
  19. In preparation for upgrading my Entertainment PC, my wife discovered that I have a BTX (not ATX) motherboard in my current one.
  20. Help from a friend in selecting components for the upgrade
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#TBT: Mini Me

Posted on 2018-Jun-14 by corwin

This is me a long time ago. I took this picture from a family genealogy book, which was written when I was in fourth grade (1990). I’m glad I finally grew into those teeth!

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Gratitude (June 6 – 12)

Posted on 2018-Jun-13 by corwin
  1. Getting the front lawn mowed
  2. Starting a new batch of sauerkraut (June 6)
  3. My wife harvesting more kale from our garden
  4. Being able to delegate responsibility 
  5. E-mail conversation with a friend
  6. Watching my wife’s church softball team play and win (twice)!
  7. Good food and catching up with friends at The Well potluck
  8. Finalizing the dates for my family’s visit this summer
  9. Despite being clouded out, the Black Hills Astronomical Society meeting was fun, and I learned about how our new astrophotography camera works
  10. Spectacular clouds from the incoming storm
  11. A playful neighbor cat joined the meeting too
  12. Buying radishes and tomatoes at the Farmers’ maket
  13. Successfully connecting my phone to our car via Bluetooth
  14. My wife sold our previous vehicle
  15. Lunch club at Sabor
  16. Making an important appointment
  17. Winter break scheduling with my graduate students
  18. Beautiful weather for bike riding (June 12)
  19. Picking up farm fresh eggs with my wife
  20. Despite it not turning out well, I am still grateful for my attempt toradish greens.
  21. Beautiful sunset on a walk with my wife (June 12)
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Gratitude (May 23 – June 5)

Posted on 2018-Jun-06 by corwin
  1. Helping my wife install some new light-blocking shades in our bedroom windows
  2. Important and encouraging meetings with colleagues
  3. Allen Sherman
  4. Seeing Black Panther at The Elks
  5. Our departmental meeting with the University’s President
  6. Good conversation with a long time friend
  7. My eyes are healthy and I do not need to change my eyeglass prescription
  8. Being able to work from home
  9. Helping my wife work in the garden and for the amazing amount of hard work she has done to plant it and help it grow!
  10. Getting a lot of work done around the house (May 28)
  11. Good discussion at the Wobbly Table (May 25)
  12. Visiting a friend
  13. Good discussion of imperfections at The Well (May 27)
  14. Getting packed for my trip to Minneapolis (May 29)
  15. The tremendous amount of work my wife has done in tilling and planting our garden
  16. Our first harvest from the garden (volunteer baby kale)!
  17. Safe and on-time shuttle ride to the Rapid City airport
  18. Due to a flight delay, I was unable to present at a phone meeting, but the organizer was very understanding
  19. I arrived in Minneapolis in time for all of my personal and professional meetings.
  20. The light rail system that took me to and from the airport
  21. Meeting with good friends and enjoying good food, memories, and update sat Annie’s Parlour.
  22. My AirBNB was affordable and in an excellent location
  23. Taking a shadow shift was very helpful in learning what has changed since the previous time I took a shift.
  24. Dinner with a friend from high school who now lives in the Twin Cities
  25. The opportunity to teach the person who shadow shifted with me during my first day on shift.
  26. A thrift shop near where I stayed allowed by to buy a few items I had forgotten to pack.
  27. My shifts went well overall.
  28. I was able to properly report and document the few problems that did occur while I was on shift
  29. I found good food to make for lunch while on shift
  30. Good weather for walking around campus after my shifts
  31. Visiting the Mississippi River on the U of MN campus
  32. Keeping in touch with my wife while I was away
  33. Good dinner at the Minneapolis Airport
  34. I am a getting better at plane spotting. I can tell the difference among a 737, an A320, and an A321.
  35. Safe and punctual flight back to Rapid City
  36. Shuttle ride back home with interesting conversation and a chance to talk about my work.
  37. Seeing A Wrinkle in Time at The Elks. I recommend it!
  38. Finishing a bunch of travel paperwork
  39. I was able to have a check I had forgotten re-issued and cashed.
  40. Meeting with my students after my trip.
  41. Watching my wife’s team play softball in two games, including a thrilling that ended in a 10-10 tie. She had some great plays, hits, and runs! (June 4)
  42. Having enough flexibility in my schedule to wait out the computer problems at my polling place. 
  43. Physics Lunch Club at Olive Garden (June 5)
  44. Planning for my class in the Fall
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Gratitude (May 2 – 22)

Posted on 2018-May-23 by corwin
  1. Getting our lab mostly packed an inventoried for a temporary relocation over the summer.
  2. Taking possession of our new vehicle
  3. The willingness of the seller to go the extra mile to resolve some last-minute difficulties.
  4. My grad students did a great job packing and labeling our lab in preparation for the move
  5. Visiting with friends
  6. Learning how to operate some of the features in our new vehicle!
  7. When our van’s battery died, it was across the street from an auto parts store
  8. Successfully changing a car battery with my wife, a first for both of us
  9. A good and encouraging conversation with a longtime friend
  10. Shuttle to the Rapid City airport
  11. Safe and on-time flights from Rapid City to Indianapolis
  12. Catching an earlier shuttle from Indianapolis to Bloomington than I expected
  13. Staying with my friends in Bloomington while attending the NOvA Collaboration Meeting
  14. Getting rides to and sometimes from the meeting from my hosts
  15. Beautiful weather for the collaboration picnic
  16. Good food and catching up with colleagues at the picnic
  17. Honoring our departing co-spokesperson 
  18. Photograph of past and current Indiana University people on NOvA
  19. Having fun playing corn hole
  20. The van back from the picnic dropped me of two blocks from where I am staying
  21. Great food at Anatolia after the meeting (May 10)
  22. Deep and fascinating discussion about the laws of physics, Turing Machines, and Gödel’s incompleteness theorems over dinner
  23. Going to a place I remembered for lunch (May 10)
  24. Interesting thesis talk after lunch
  25. Getting several e-mails answered in the morning
  26. Making scrambled eggs for my hosts on my final morning there
  27. Seeing wildlife and a nice view of a lake during a walk through the woods near my hosts’ house
  28. My past antenna research and experience may be useful for them.
  29. Walking to the hotel for the shuttle to the airport
  30. Safe and punctual shuttle ride to the airport in Indianapolis
  31. Good lunch at the airport
  32. Safe, punctual, and quick flight to O’Hare
  33. My shuttle driver from O’Hare to Fermilab was willing to deal with some unexpected changes along the way
  34. Good weather for the walk from where I picked up the keys to my actual lodging
  35. Trying out the Fermilab bike share program
  36. Trying out Fermilab’s Zipcar to get dinner
  37. Important and helpful conversations with colleagues at the DUNE Collaboration Meeting
  38. Meeting with a friend at Country House in Geneva, IL
  39. Having Chinese food and catching up with friends at their house
  40. Riding one of the bike shares to and meeting with another friend at one of my favorite breakfast places
  41. Catching up with a friend over Chicago style pizza
  42. Very affordable lodging at Fermilab
  43. Laundry facilities in the building where I stayed
  44. Good food and conversation at the Collaboration Dinner
  45. Amazingly detailed chalk DUNE logo for our collaboration photo
  46. Dinner and catching up with a friend at one my favorite Thai restaurants
  47. Going for ice cream for dessert
  48. The aiport shuttle picked me up at Fermilab
  49. Safe, punctual, and non-stop flight from O’Hare to Rapid City
  50. Learning the basics of plane spotting
  51. Airport shuttle back to my home
  52. My wife had the upstairs bathroom repainted while I was gone, and it looks nice
  53. Time to rest after returning from my trip
  54. Making bacon and french toast at home with my wife
  55. Watching M*A*S*H with my wife
  56. Beautiful postcard form a friend traveling in Europe (card from Ireland, mailed from France)
  57. How much the garden grew while I was gone
  58. Getting the winter tires out of the car and into garage storage
  59. Starting our whole house exhaust fan again for the summer
  60. Showering our newly repainted bathroom for the first time
  61. Removing some clutter from my temporary lab space
  62. Lunch club at Guadalajara’s
  63. Good meeting with my wife and a colleague 
  64. Starting my summer meeting schedule with students
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Bloomington, IN Graffiti

Posted on 2018-May-12 by corwin

In Bloomington, IN, the graffiti teaches you about the importance of punctuation.

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Gratitude (Apr. 18 – May 1)

Posted on 2018-May-02 by corwin
  1. Participating in the March for Science
  2. The cat (a black cat named Sabbath, get it?) who marched for science
  3. The opportunity to be a the featured speaker at the end of the march
  4. All of the compliments I received on my speech afterwards
  5. Good presentations in class
  6. Interesting colloquium from one of our students
  7. Getting boxes and starting to inventory in preparation for our lab move
  8. Listening to part of the SDSMT orchestra concert on Facebook
  9. Safe and on-time flights back home from Columbus
  10. Arriving in time to teach class upon my return
  11. Getting takeout for dinner before our final band rehearsal
  12. Getting takeout before our band concert
  13. Getting to know one of the other tuba players in the band while waiting for the concert to start
  14. The very good performances of the other two bands
  15. The theme for the concert was “Battle of the Bands,” and the announce for the “battle” did an great job. He made the theme work
  16. We won the battle of the bands!
  17. After many months of trying, we were finally able to get together with friends at a great Thai restaurant
  18. Selecting the railing for our deck rebuilding project.
  19. Learning about the Holy Shift tour at The Well (Apr. 22)
  20. Reviewing several important documents (Apr. 23)
  21. Physics Lunch Club at Mongolian Grill
  22. Interesting posters by students in the Technical Communication class
  23. The opportunity to give my wife a ride to the airport
  24. Her flights were safe and she arrived on time.
  25. I was able to keep our garden and indoor seedlings watered while she was gone, and several of them sprouted!
  26. Difficult but important meeting with a colleague
  27. Buying a new bike bag and other items for my bike.
  28. Learning how my wife might be able to more easily adjust her handlebars
  29. Biking to the final Physics Department social of the semester
  30. Good food at the social
  31. Learning more about my colleagues at the social
  32. Finished writing the final exam for my class
  33. My wife’s flights home were safe, and she made her connection
  34. Watching my wife’s plane land at the airport
  35. Taking her home from the airport
  36. Starting a new book with The Well
  37. Checking out a book on Lakota star knowledge from the library
  38. Finishing online cybersecurity training
  39. Encouraging words from friends at a difficult time
  40. The overwhelming graciousness of one of my friends
  41. Getting our lab mostly packed an inventoried for a temporary relocation over the summer.
  42. Taking possession of our new vehicle
  43. The willingness of the seller to go the extra mile to resolve some last-minute difficulties.
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Our Concert is Tonight!

Posted on 2018-Apr-20 by corwin

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Gratitude (Apr. 11 – 17)

Posted on 2018-Apr-18 by corwin
  1. Our final regular band rehearsal before our concert went well
  2. My wife planted peas on our garden, and we already have garlic and green onion sprouts
  3. While I am not pleased about the forecast storm for Apr. 13 because I am planning to fly out that day, I am grateful for the weather forecasting technology that allows me to prepare for it.
  4. Time to visit a friend due to cancelled flight on Apr. 13
  5. Time to spend with my wife due to snow day for my employer on Apr. 13
  6. Finally flying out of Rapid City on Apr. 14
  7. Despite many obstacles, and needing to switch airlines, we arrived in Columbus in time for the APS April Meeting.
  8. The patience and good humor of my students as we overcame those obstacles.
  9. My presentation and stint as session chair went well
  10. We found affordable and functional lodging within walking distance (for me) of the meeting location
  11. Catching up with many friends and colleagues while in Columbus
  12. Getting to know my students better
  13. This was my first APS meeting!
  14. Keeping in touch with my wife while I was away
  15. Visiting past favorite restaurants with friends while in Columbus
  16. Attending many interesting talks at the meeting, including some given by friends of mine
  17. Lots of good food near the convention center
  18. Learning about physicists fighting for human rights, including Narges Mohammadi
  19. Learning more about pioneering women in astronomy
  20. It all happened under the watchful biceps of Arnold
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Gratitude List (Mar. 28 – Apr. 10)

Posted on 2018-Apr-11 by corwin
  1. Our final faculty candidate’s visit
  2. Tentative plans for dinner with friends
  3. Good session of a workshop about making learning more inclusive
  4. Editing one of my collaboration’s entry on Wikipedia
  5. Important discussions with my department chair
  6. Being well prepared for my class despite a difficult start to the morning (Apr. 2)
  7. Time to talk with my wife after class
  8. Finding reconstructions of lost Doctor Who episodes
  9. Getting the bulk of our tax information inputted.
  10. Catching up with my sister on the phone
  11. Good food and conversations about recipes at The Well potluck
  12. Catching up on sleep (Apr. 8)
  13. Finished reading a document I volunteered to review
  14. Having more prepared for class than I needed (Apr. 9)
  15. Good meeting with one of my students about his computer programming exercise
  16. Safe drive to Laramie, WY, despite unpleasant weather and some slippery roads (Apr. 6)
  17. Arriving in time to have dinner with a friend
  18. Excellent and hilarious improve show featuring Colin and Brad from Whose Line is it Anyway? 
  19. The volunteers for the sound effects game were very good.
  20. A safe drive back in better weather
  21. Getting some needed work done during the drive
  22. Using my wife’s laptop to listen to and watch Garfield and Friends during the drive
  23. Finding ginger ale at a travel stop along the way
  24. Our final faculty search committee meeting
  25. Good conversation with a long-time friend
  26. Buying and transporting home a load of compost for our garden
  27. Being a judge at the High Plains Regional Science and Engineering Fair
  28. The show from the Black Hills Raptor Center at the fair
  29. My wife’s interview at the fair was broadcast on the morning news!
  30. My wife was able to record her news appearance on our DVR
  31. Finding lunch despite the unexpected cancellation of Lunch Club (Apr. 3)
  32. Time to relax on Easter Sunday
  33. Trying a (very diluted) bleach bath for the first time
  34. Editing the NOvA entry on Wikipedia
  35. Inclusion Committee meeting (Mar. 29)
  36. Netflix still delivers DVDs
  37. Watching Darkwing Duck and finding it is as fun as I remember
  38. Working with my wife to fertilize, till, amend, and prepare our garden beds for planting
  39. Lunch club at a new restaurant
  40. Making a plan for this week and travel this weekend
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