hot down in summer time city

Ok so I have not wrote in a few days. Mainly because I have not been around a computer that much. On Friday I was at the ISU thermal hydraulics lab building the flow channel to my test. That took most of the day because of Murphy's Law (not really Murphy of the Murphy's Law below but close enough to point the blame on him).

My mentor had an awesome idea at the beginning of the day, instead of building a complex network of PVC pipe we would use tubing. Well it turns out that didn't work because the way PVC is rated and the way tubing is rated is two separate things. So eventually Dan had to make a run back to the hardware store and get PVC pipe. After he got back the lab was very hot. It was only a mild 103 degrees outside. So inside with no air conditioning and with a huge pump operating it was only about 110 degrees. All in all it was a very productive day but with some down time. Monday I get to go and clean some of the parts and pretty much reassemble it all over again. I do not mind, it is much better than sitting at a desk doing nothing.

This blog was supposed to be posted on Friday night but I went swimming at Adam's pool instead. It was much needed after that very very hot day at the lab. However, that night Sam and Adam found out horrible news. The lab is not going to pay their tuition. It is a big screw up by one person. The lab switched programs for graduate and PhD students. Since Adam and Sam are on old contracts the new one does not honor what the old stated. Eventually they will have to pay their own tuition because of politics. People keep saying, "They are the ones doing this to you" or "It's not us it is them". Who They and Them are is still a mystery. As far as I am concerned I am ok. I just am impatiently waiting for my loan to go through. I really need it so I am really hoping it comes through.

This weekend was very relaxing. We rented some movies on Saturday night and watched them. Cooked some delicious food. It was just a lounging around weekend for me for the most part. I did help Sam a little with the bathroom, but more of as an consultant than anything else.

Anyways I apologize that this is so short but I have a massive case of hicups that is driving me nuts.

Enjoy,
Rick

To leave you with a quote:
"They will die to death!"
~Me

a time for reflection of frustration

So today Kailey and I finally got all of our paper work in for the townhouse we want. Well we got it. We are located by the pool which is not really where my first choice was. I am just paranoid about people being rude and noisy by the pool but hey at least we got the apartment. I was somewhat scared because we sort of fibbed a bit on our application. To wave the $700 worth of fees and what not we said Kailey is enrolled for fall term at NCSU, which she isn't but it saved us a bunch of money. Kailey will hopefully be enrolled spring term instead. Anyways I am super excited about it, one less thing to worry about.

Today is another slow day. I am in my office today which is never a good sign, especially when I have stuff I need to get going on in town. However, since my mentor is busy today I can't really do anything. The construction of the test apparatus cannot be done alone. So I am here today. I guess there is one good thing, I received a certain package at work that I got for Kailey, which she doesn't know I got something for her but I did. So that is pretty cool.

Oh and for those who missed out on my graduation and desperately wanted to go this picture below summarizes everything. Actually, I was quite disappointed. It was super long, we had a horrible commencement speaker, and I mean absolutely horrible. The Nuclear Engineering department had a brunch before the big ceremony that was pretty cool. But everything else was kind of slow, long, and boring. At least they had my diploma inside, unlike my high school graduation where I got a blank piece of paper.

Well that is all for this week I will try to write more later this week.

Love and kisses,
Rick

To leave you with a quote:
"If I had a horse I would name it pretty, because horses are pretty."
~Some magazine article Paul was reading while in England.

the 5 1/2 minute hallway

Ok, so the titles of my blogs will not really have anything to do with anything really. I just figure it is better than the date. So today I got into my lab, which is ISU's thermal hydraulics lab. I finally started to put together the mock up I designed last summer. Now the only thing I have left to do is to route the water into it, which of course is easier said than done. The good thing about working in town is I get to sleep in about two hours more. Some of you out there are probably thinking wow that is a lot more sleep, and to be honest it really is. My typical day goes as follows:

* 4:30 am...Alarm, in my head I think of how horrible it is to wake up at this time.
* 4:40 am...Finally stop thinking about how horrible it is to wake up at 4:30 am. Shower, dress, and other stuff to get ready.
* 5:40 am...Catch the bus 5 blocks away, sit on bus.
* 7:00 am...Bus finally pulls into MFC parking lot (middle of desert).
* 7:05 am...Get to office start up computer.
* 7:20 am...Stop starring at computer and decide to make progress on the day.
* 9:00 am...Cookie break, where we discuss how horrible it is to wake up at 4:30 am and ride a buss for over an hour.
* 11:00 am... Lunch, where we discuss the massive amount of paper work and cost codes it takes to get anything done.
* 11:40 am...Take a walk out to TREAT (about 2.5 miles round trip).
* 12:10 pm...Get back to work.
* 3:00 pm...Start thinking about the long uncomfortable bus ride home.
* 4:20 pm...Get on the bus (mind you work day ends at 4).
* 4:45 pm...Bus leaves.
* 6:20 pm...Bus drops us off about 6 blocks away.
* 6:35 pm...Arrive home.
* 7:00 pm...Eat dinner.
* 10:00pm...Bedtime.

Incas you have not noticed yet, I really dislike the bus, it is too hot in the mornings to sleep and too cold in the afternoon to lean against any metal. But it really is not as bad as I make it sound. I really enjoy it out here. The work, when I have it, is fulfilling. Which is what all anyone can ask for as far as employment goes. Sometimes there are bureaucracy issues that drive everyone mad but overall itÂ’s a great atmosphere. Plus, I will only have to deal with this a few more days and then my remaining time here will be in town which is only a 5 minute drive away. I am very very glad about this.

Kailey recently created a blog on this site as well. So yeah I do not know if anyone that reads mine will want to read hers since a majority of you are friends of mine. But if you do want it just email me and ask for her blog site. For those of you that have never seen Kailey here is a picture of her below.

This picture was taken last winter outside my parents house, isn't she beautiful. I think so. That is all I am going to write for tonight. I promise there will be more tomorrow. Maybe even a few pictures.

A prize goes to the person who can guess where the title of my blog came from, besides Kailey because she knows what it is. Oh and there isn't really any prize I am just curious as to if anyone knows where it came from.

Enjoy,
Rick

To leave you with a quote:
"I read in a book once that the best way to avoid a shark attack is to stay out of the water."
~Kailey

first things first

Welcome friends and family. This is my blog. Yes I am writing a blog. I have decided to make a blog that I can write in. It will be about my life in general. This is going out to all of my family and friends so if they care to keep up with daily events in my life they can. I will try to keep up with the current events in my life, however I am not as ambitious as some(ie Bob). I will not write every day but I will try to several times a week. So enjoy. Since I will be moving across country. I think this would be an easy way for everyone to keep up with me without having to talk to me, because well let's face it I don't really talk very long on phones.

So here is a quick update for those of you that have been out of the loop for awhile. I graduated in the spring from Oregon State University with a bachelor's degree in Nuclear Engineering with a minor in Mathematics. On a whim I decided to apply for graduate school last winter. I could only afford to apply to two schools.

So I went with the familiar OSU, and the other was a school that had shown interest in me for once, NCSU. In February I flew out with my good friend John (who had also applied) to NCSU to visit the campus. I enjoyed my time there but came away with remorse of a wasted trip. Well, on the contrary, NCSU offered full funding for a TA position for my first year. I accepted, due to the fact that OSU only had enough money to fund 4 graduate students. OSU eventually ran into more money but their offer was too little too late.

The following months I studied hard and started a plan of action to move to NC. The great part of moving to NC is that Kailey (my girlfriend for the past year and a half) decided to come with me, which is a great thing because I am not sure I could do it without her.

As for the summer Kailey and I are in different states. I am at INL for another summer working on a similar project that relates to last summer. Kailey is in Corvallis working at Figaro's Pizza, a job she hates and will hopefully quit soon. Kailey visited last week and it was the best time I have had in Idaho. I will be coming back to Oregon on August 11. However, I will be moving shortly after.

Enjoy,
Rick

To leave you with a quote:
"Bears have it all."
~Victor