Man vs. Wild

In this special man vs. wild edition, you'll catch of the real struggle, and what it must have been like to survive in primitive times. No camera men and support crew, just me and the brutal truth that is nature.

5:30 finds me on the side of the lake with my trusty rod and real, trolling for bass. Time passes and I have no success in catching the fish that will provide vital nutrients for my survival. After an hour and a half I decide to try for panfish or bluegills instead. I catch a couple small ones, but nothing that has enough meat on its bones to feed my hungry stomach. after obvserving the movement of some smaller panfish among the rocks in the shallows, I change techniques and let the bait drag and bounce slowly along the bottom rather than zip through the water. On my second cast I meet with great success. I reel in a gorgeous 9" panfish. That should go a long way towards keeping me alive. not having a chain or a bucket to secure the fish, I simply lay him on the grass far enough away from the water that he won't flop in. With those kinds of results, I've got to see if I can get another one to make a full meal out of it. Then I spot him. about 20 yards away, a heron is obviously eyeing my fish hungrily. He slowly stalks the fish, moving when he thinks I'm not looking. Twice I chase him away as he makes a dash for my precious dinner. Then it happens: several quick tugs on my line alert me that I've caught the rest of my dinner. Within seconds the fish is out of the water and on the bank. At that moment my heart lands in my stomach like a brick as I hear a squack and turn to see the Enemy scoop up the fish and take off across the lake. About 200 yards down the bank I watch as the heron gulps down the fish without so much as a please and thank you. The sun has set as I look bleakly at the 5 inch fish on my line, and with a sinking heart, realize that I will be going hungry tonight.

baby dolls

I noticed recently that baby dolls' heads (the ones with the cloth stuffed bodies and the plastic heads and extremities) are held on by zip ties.

There's something awesomely morbid about that.

What message are they trying to send kids?

Surprised, Encouraged, Amazed

Three frames of mind which I went through today.

The past few days I've been down in Iuka, MS for a meeting. Yesterday was fairly interesting, getting to see the project which was just in its final stages, and getting familiar with the facilities down there. But today turned out to be far more interesting.

Surprised

I was surprised today when I saw a dead armadillo by the side of the road. I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised...but I was.

Encouraged

The meeting which i was attending was largely to accomodate Mike Griffin, the former director of NASA. The project which was being presented was one which he had personally commissioned, and thus he was very interested to see the results. What was encouraging was that the entire project lasted two and a half years, from innitial conception, to final production. For any of you familiar with govt. work...that's BLAZING fast. And on top of that it was totally awesome. So it was encouraging to me that there are projects that can still be run in a semi efficient manner by NASA that create state of the art results. They may be few and far between...but they do exist. ;-)

Amazed

...at how God opens doors. Mike Griffin is now on the faculty of University of Alabama in Huntsville. In his position there he is pushing for the university to be very closely alligned with NASA, and other industry members. He and Larry Pelham (not technically my boss...but really my boss. :-)) got to talking, and between the two of them came up with a master plan. They suggested that TJ and I start at UAH on a masters program, and that NASA and the University work it such that our work at NASA counts as research towards our masters. Nothing could be more welcome as I've been trying to figure out how to work in a masters. i am not clear on the details of how it would work, but it means that I could potentially finish a masters program in two and a half years. But at the least it means the people I report to at both work and school will be working towards the same goal, which will hopefully make ballancing things easier. and it also most likely means I won't have to pay a penny to go to school. probably not even up front. In any case, I'm very thankful. pray that everything works out well with this. it would be VERY exciting if I would be able to finish the masters in 2 or so years instead of 5 just doing it part time. but it's all pretty amazing if you ask me.

Barber Shop

Since moving away also meant that I no longer have my sisters/father/mother to give me haircuts periodically, it also necessitated finding somewhere to get my hair cut. As I do with most things, I turned to google to ade me in my search. One of the first results it brought up was this:

http://artofmanliness.com/2008/05/20/rediscovering-the-barbershop/

I highly recommend reading the entire article as it is very well written and explains the barber shop experience FAR better than I will ever be able to. But needless to say, this article inspired me to find a real barber shop, and not just a hair cuttery. My search yielded the following.

http://alroosters.com/

This traditionally styled barber shop is set up in the very quaint and attractive shops on Providence Main Street. I intend to visit this area more in the future...but more on that another time.

When you first walk in, the first thing that strikes you is the smell. It smells like man. A pleasant mixture of aftershave, shaving cream and even a touch of alcohol. (they serve you drinks while you wait) The next thing you realize is that all the people waiting are men. Pretty cool. Give them your name, and they'll give you a time slot. Once you're in the chair, the experience begins. After a brief consultation on what you would like done, the cut begins. Using a combination of scissors, combs, and clippers, your hair is slowly tamed and shaped into a respectable state of being once more. But that is only the beginning, my friend. next a hot, lightly scented towel is brought and wrapped around your face and neck while your hair receives a thorough washing, followed by a complete scalp massage. ooo, life is good. After the wash and scalp massage the towel is removed and you sit back up feeling quite refreshed. But wait, theres more. Using a traditional straight blade razor, your neck and sideburns are trimmed into tip-top shape, followed by a neck and shoulder massage. You pay the smiling clerk and walk out of the barber shop feeling like a new man.

All in all it was completely worth the 24 dollars of my hard earned money. I feel fairly confident that the next time I am in need of a haircut, I'll find my way back to Providence and Roosters.

The First Two weeks

I gave it some thought, and determined that, since I am now a long ways from all my friends and family, it seems more likely that this blog will actually be read by at least a few people. It's also as good a way as any to keep people updated on how my life is going.

So the first two weeks have been pretty good. The first week was very slow at work. My NASA contact was out all week, so /TJ (another new hire) and I didn't have much to do. However the second week things began to pick up.

For the time being I'll be working largely with hands on fabrication. We are making test panels from different types that will then be broken to determine material properties. I'm encouraged so far, I think that once I get into the swing of things I will have a lot of opportunities to get invovled with very interesting projects. For the time I'll stick it out while I get through all the boring initiation stuff.

After much thought and consideration, I've reached a decision. And i know I will probly be ridiculed for this, but I shall stand firm and say with Benedick, "Does not man love the meat in his youth which he can not endure in his age?" and, even though it's completely irrelevant, "No! The world must be peopled!!"

I've decided it's high time I invested some time and money in my wardrobe, especially now that I'm working. I've realized that when i dress nicely, I simply feel more productive and inspired at work. Thus, with Suzanne's help (though she doesn't know it yet) I'll be making an attempt at updating my wardrobe. Clothes are depressingly expensive, but such is life.

Meals...so far I have only eaten out once. I'm pretty happy with that. Hamburger helper and hotdogs have been my friends. Tonight it's lasagna hamburger helper w/ some corn mixed in. woot. :-)

I'd love phone calls, messages, e-mails...whatever. hope everyone is doing well.

Epic Fail

Once again I have demonstrated my inability to handle the level of commitment it requires to keep up a blog. *ashamed* In other news, I'm writing this when I should be studying for an econ exam and writing a review paper.

Lesson of the day. I actually feel GOOD after I run if I focus on running/walking at a pace such that I can continue to carry on a conversation the entire time rather than running til I'm dead. I went about a mile and a half or two miles (haven't measured it yet) this morning with a couple brisk walks mixed in. It felt great. :-)