Some Pictures.

Sorry about the delay Kristen. :)

Pretty green scenery at Southfarm.

Mooo! Notice Zephyr hauling ass along the fence.

Whatchyoulookinat?

Buttercup.

Educational signs. And it's patriotic!

The kitty finally let me pet it.

It was purring like crazy...

More exotic roadkill...

This time a copperhead. Startled me until I realized he was quite dead.

Some things...

Well, I'm busy working on the presentation for my defense (as you can see). That'll be Friday at 2:00, so the end is very near. I actually have to present it in front of Mylroie tomorrow and a few other times this week, to work out the bugs. Or at least the obvious ones. It's getting there.
Anyway, I'm proud of myself because I rebuilt my rear wheel all by myself. Mike gave me plenty of tips, but I did it all with my own two hands. All new spokes and nipples. It's not the first wheel I've built (I built several for my trials bikes), but I think it's the best job I've ever done. Got the tension really high, and it spins perfectly true, with only a barely perceptible hop. So yay. However, I forgot to get a rim strip, so I haven't ridden it yet. Not that I have time to.
So Spring is moving along quite rapidly down here. Most of the leaves are out now, and it's starting to get hot already. I haven't had to turn on the AC yet, but I did have to have the fan on for a bit yesterday. Though, now that I think of it, I had the dryer going, which definitely heats things up a bit upstairs. This time of year, there are these pretty purple flowers than grow on vines around here. They are quite nice to look at, and they smell wonderful. Our old apartment was surrounded by them, and Kristen and I always enjoyed them. There's some out front growing up a telephone pole here too. Here's what they look like. Too bad I can't replicate the smell...

Also, came across this the other day. It cracks me up... This is really cool too.

Some funny pictures

Courtesy of internet land...

My new strategy...

"Stop, Hammertime"

Cool puddle, dirty dog.

Another picture from Southfarm, imagine that. Notice the parallel lines on the banks of the puddle. I'm pretty sure how those got there. Anyone have any guesses? Oh, and there's some goofy dog in the picture too. Things are getting green and quite nice down here. Only a few more weeks before it gets too hot though I suppose...

Oh snap!

Funny/weird/frustrating thing happened to me just now on my way home. I was riding the 'cross bike on my way home as usual, just leaving campus, when all of a sudden... ping, ping-ping, ping! Just like that, riding across a gravel parking lot, 4 spokes broke at the same time. One in the front, three in the back. No big deal, but the rear wheel was now so out of tension that I couldn't ride it. So I had to carry it all the way home (half hour or so). They all snapped on one side, so I'm pretty sure they got weakened by all the side force that gets put on the wheels when I'm coasting with all my weight on one side of the bike (slightly leaned over) when I'm about dismount. Anyway, here's what I think about it:

Pancake Turtle, literally...

So, seems it's warm enough the turtles are starting to come out. Saw a few out at Southfarm this afternoon, including this poor snapping turtle that didn't quite make it across the road. :(

California

Well, I'm back. Had a nice trip overall. Some things I did...

- The mission of San Juan Capistrano: Down south a ways. A pretty old Spanish Mission that is famous for the swallows that return there every year. Also the prettiest of the missions according to Anna.
- Joshua Tree National Monument: Out east in the desert. Got there mid afternoon, did a nice short hike to the top of Warren Peak. Nice view from up there. Camped out under the stars. Actually got to see some stars. Anna spotted lots of satellites too, and several shooting stars. What they say about it getting cold in the desert at night is true! I was quite chilly in my worn out 40-degree bag. Some neat and unique geology in the park too. This was the only place I took pictures the whole trip too.
- Club Echo: Some club in Silverlake. Anna's friend had a friend in one of the bands that was playing, so we went. 6 bands each played a few songs... the last one (that Anna's friend's friend was in) was really quite good. They were called "The Airborne Toxic Event" or something like that.
- Griffith Observatory: Up in the San Gabriel mountains overlooking the LA area. Probably once had an awesome view, but now all you can see is smog and city. It's not an active observatory anymore in terms of research, but it's quite a tourist stop. Really neat stuff too. Awesome planetarium show too. You can also see the Hollywood sign from up there, but I didn't bother taking a picture.
- FOOD! There sure are some awesome places to eat there! First night we had some delicious Indian food. The next day we had Chipotle. That place definitely lives up the hype Anna had built up. It's sort of like a Subway for Mexican food, and it's delicious. Had some awesome chocolate from some place Anna knew of. Had an amazing strawberry donut (with actual fresh strawberries) somewhere (Glendora?). Anna is also a great cook and made chicken parmesan one night. Not to mention the best chocolate cookies I think I've ever had, and she said the previous batch was even better! A place called California Pizza Kitchen was really good too. Jamba Juice is also really good. Some decent Italian food the last night too. I'm sure I'm leaving something out. There's lots of good stuff though.
- Caltech: For some reason, I expected the campus to be rather drab and boring, since it's such a smart person tech school. But it was one of the prettiest campuses I've ever seen. As pretty as Scripps (where Eliza went) or Vassar, but not as big. I also felt about as stupid as I've ever felt. The place just oozes smartness. I hung out in Anna's office a bit, and she had a few text books around (ok lots of them). I don't think I understood any of them. And some of it I should have (Calculus). Really makes me realize that there's a lot of really really smart people out there, and I don't know anything. Makes me feel sort of worthless in a way, but it's also sort of inspired me to learn my science better.
- Anna's friends: I got to meet a couple Anna's friends, including her best friend Julie. She's also a Caltech Ph.D. person, and also really smart. She was lots of fun to hang out with. Her and her husband are race car enthusiasts, and have two tricked out Toyota MR2's. In fact, her and Anna are going to Vegas this weekend to drive on a track there (Anna will be doing work poolside). Also met her friend Jenny, who had the friend in the band. She was fun too, but I didn't get to know her very well because we were in a loud club... And finally her and Julie's friend Patrick. He's quite a weird one in my opinion... But he's got a nice car...
- "Breach": Saw this movie on night at the theatre. It's about CIA espionage and stuff. I thought it was quite good, and so did Anna and Julie. I recommend it.
- Badly Drawn Boy: Anna's favorite band (well, it's mostly one guy). Listened to him a lot, and I quite like it. Nice and mellow, and pretty. The album "Born in the UK" was my favorite of the three I listened to. Worth a listen for sure...
- Driving: Even though there's stuff everywhere, it seems like you have to be in a car for half an hour at least to get anywhere. Lots and lots of driving. I was also amazed that you can drive for hours in one direction and still never really leave the city. They all have different names (Pasadena, Claremont, San Dimas, etc...), but it's all run together.

I got home around midnight on Wednesday. Good to be home and see Zephyr again. She was quite excited. Athena had been taking care of her while I was gone. So I had a nice trip and I learned a lot of things. I think I've come to the realization that I could never live in that part of California. I hope norther Cali is different. Anna assures me it is.
I'll be defending my thesis on Friday, the 30th of March. After that I'll have to submit it and edit it according the library's stupid formatting rules. Once that's done, I'll probably be writing an article or two for submission to a real journal of some sort. So it's getting there. I'm more scared than ever about what comes next though. This thesis stuff seems sort of trivial compared to that. I just don't know what I'm going to do, or even what I want to do. I guess I still haven't got things sorted out in my head since the major changes that have occurred the past months...

Well, here's a couple pictures from Joshua Tree... and no, there aren't any pictures of her or I.

Sorta hard to see, but the light colored rock is granite. The darker stuff that is above it is gneiss, a metamorphic rock that got "baked" by the granitic intrusion. This is all part of the same event that formed the Sierra Nevada...

Some of the gneiss up close. Pencil for scale.

Weathered granite outcrop. Lots of climbers out here some times of year I hear...

Another granite outcrop...

Looking sort of SE from Warren Peak (~5100')

A Joshua Tree.

Looking back towards the west from Warren Peak.

California

Well, I'm off to California tomorrow. I'll be spending most of the time in and around Pasadena, but we might make it out to Catalina Island and Joshua Tree National Park. Anna is still super busy, so any time she's got to take off school will be great.
I finished a draft of my thesis today. Mylroie has looked at it several times and has pretty much okayed it, now my other committee members have to review it. I might be able to defend by the end of the month, but it really depends on them. I have a feeling they're going to hold me up a bit. Without all the maps and data (100+ pages of them), it's about 70 pages. By far the longest document I've ever written. I'm not really very proud of how it turned out, but I don't have time for perfection. It's a learning process I guess...
Anyway, I'll probably have internet access while I'm out there. But if any emergency comes up, Anna's number is 626-755-4031.
I hope you're all doing well and Spring arrives soon.
Oh, and I think the cat will be called "Charlie"...
Expect some pictures when I return too. :)

The cat needs a name.

No, I'm not going to adopt it, but I'm tired of calling it "the cat". It's got sort of a mustache marking on it's face, so I was thinking of names of famous people with mustaches...

Adolf (as in Hitler)
Charlie (Chaplin)
Joseph (Stalin)
Ernesto ("Che" Guevara)
Mario (from the video game)
Hogan (as in Hulk Hogan)
Worf (the friendly Klingon on Star Trek)
Mark (Twain)
Friedrich (Nietzsche)
Paul (Waterstrat)

What do you think? I'd rather avoid the fascists and commies, but whatever... :)

Zephyr and the cat.

There's a local/stray cat that hangs out on the porch sometimes. I've been feeding him a little dogfood every morning for a while now, so he's around a lot. He's really timid about people, but it loves Zephyr... It's getting more brave about me too.

Mammoth Cave

A couple pictures from the trip to Mammoth Cave this past weekend... (in no particular order)

Passage in Floyd Collins Crystal Cave. Most of this was dug out by hand, by one guy.

Large Chamber in Floyd Collins Crystal Cave. Guy on the left is Leif Mylroie.

Down in Cedar Sink, a resurgence. Mylroie is the bald guy in the green coat.

Looking down into Cedar Sink

Water droplets on the ceiling.

Crossing a bridge somewhere in Mammoth.

Large phreatic tube (~10m wide).

Somewhere on the tourist trails...

Mushroom beds from back in the day...

4 years.

It hurts as much as it ever has. I wish I could somehow go back and prevent what happened. I would do anything. There's still nothing I can say that explains how I feel, so rather than attempt and fall short, I just won't say anything at all. If she knows, that's all that matters. Life goes on I guess.

Pictures from Mike Lace

The following pictures were taken by Mike Lace (the cave mapper guy) this past trip to San Salvador. He uses an old SLR (film), and these are scans of those...

Making our way out to a sea cave on Cut Cay.

Rice Bay side of North Point.

Cliffs at the Gulf... lots of sea caves along here...

A rare shot of the interior. The remains of the building are known as "Watling's Castle". This is on the south end of the island looking roughly north.

The beach at the Columbus monument. Shade courtesy of casaurina trees...

Taking GPS points for Athena, north point.

Taking a GPS position on Cut Cay.

Stuffing something back in my backpack... at the Gulf.

Watling's Blue Hole, looking west towards Grotto Beach.

Jamie, Athena and I on the way to a big tafone on Cut Cay.

The pier at north point. Field station off to the left. Ah the memories...

Me crouching at the entrance to "The Master's Lair" sea cave (or is it?).

Checking a station in a tafoni cave on Cut Cay.

Things...

It's been a while since I've had time to write anything on here. Still haven't got a lot of time, so here are some things that I've been up to or will be up to or whatever else comes to mind...
-I've been working almost nonstop on my thesis, generating the data I'll use. I'm done now, so it's time for analysis and writing...
-I've started looking for jobs, all over the place really. I don't want to live in the SE anymore, but other than that, it's pretty wide open.
-I'm going out to California for spring break (I'll be there March 9th-14th) to visit a friend. I'll be in Pasadena for most of it, but we'll probably be doing some driving around too.
-I got a haircut today, from an actual barber. It's been quite a while since I've been to a barber, since Kristen always cut my hair. Turned out well I think. Not any better than what Kristen did though.
-I won't have anyone to share my Valentine's day with for the first time since I lived in Seattle (in 2001).
-I've been letting Zephyr roam the house all day this past week (we used to keep her in her crate while we were gone), and she hasn't torn anything up yet.
-Last I heard, Kristen is doing pretty well, but busy with school as usual.
-I haven't had much time to ride lately, and it probably shows.
-I put my rack on the 'cross bike and started using the panniers again. I think it rides even better with a load on. Love that bike...
-I'm jealous of the people up north getting all the snow (they probably wish they were rid of it).
-I'll be going to Mammoth Caves again on the 23rd-25th. Ford and Amanda are probably going to tag along. It will be fun to introduce them to the wonders of caving.
-I don't understand most people.
That's about it I guess...
Here's a random picture:

Southfarm of course...

Pavement is hard!

Riding to school yesterday, had a little incident. It had been down below freezing at night, but it was about 34 degrees on my way there. I was riding along Blackjack Rd, with a truck right on my ass eager to pass me. I was approaching a turn off the main road, with the truck still right behind me, but getting ready to make his move. I didn't slow down as much for the turn as I usually would, so I was leaned into it pretty hard. Apparently, I hit a small patch of ice (or really slippery pavement) and next thing I know, my wheels went out from under me, and I'm skidding on the pavement. Fortunately, I didn't get run over, but the truck didn't even slow down to see if I was alright. I ripped some holes in my nice jacket, through my shirt, and skinned my elbow some. Also tore a gaping hole in my glove, ripped my leg-warmer skinned my knee, destroyed the bar tape on that side, scuffed the shifter, scraped the buckle on my shoes, etc. Not really a bad crash, but enough to shake me up a bit. I haven't crashed on pavement in a long time. Not as forgiving as grass or dirt.
Anyway, most importantly, the bike survived without a scratch besides the torn tape and scuffed shifter (which is already beat up). And I didn't get run over. So that's good. Just a little sore on my right side now...

And it was relatively new tape too...

By the way, this might be the first glimpse you have had at the cyclocross bike I've had for a while now. It's a 62cm Surly Crosscheck and I love it. It's fantastic. More on that later if you're curious...

Sven Nys is amazing...

I don't know if any of you follow cyclocross, but Sven just kicks ass. He just won his seventh world cup this season, in a race where half the field dropped out due to bad conditions, including his main rival, Bart Wellens. Americans Jonathan Page and Ryan Trebon (2nd and 1st US riders) did well too, coming in 9th and 10th, respectively. What a great sport.
Cyclingnews.com link

Things.

Went for a long walk with Zephyr this morning... here's a picture of her with a stick. :)

Also, my car needs a name, and my friend Anna is going to help me come up with one, but she needs to see it first. So this picture is for her.

Progress

Not a lot going on around here. Since I've been back, I finished up the DIS (directed individual study) geomorphology class I was supposed to have done last semester. Got an A in that, which is nice to have out of the way. I'm continuing to work on my thesis too of course. The maps have been done for a while, and I'm almost done measuring some of the geometric parameters (area, perimeter, etc) so I can get started on the analysis. After that, I guess is when I start writing. Not really looking forward to all that, but I guess it'll get done before too long. Actually, I need to defend by March 29th, so it's really not that far away at all. Yikes.
I'm only taking one class this semester, and it only meets for 3 hours, once a week. But I'm at school all the time, working on stuff. I got stuck teaching the night labs again this semester, so Wednesday and Thursday, I'm here until at least 8 or so. It's not so bad though I guess, just makes for a long day (for Zephyr too). Still working at the bike shop some too, lots of repairs lately, but otherwise the same old place.
I'm going to start looking for jobs soon, which scares the shit out of me. I've put off joining the "real world" long enough, but I guess I can't do it much longer. Unless I go for my Ph.D., which I don't want to do right now, if ever. A friend of mine in California is trying to convince me to move to San Francisco. Jobs out there for sure, but I don't know if I could deal with all the people. I guess it's worth a try. But really, the main draw for me going out there is her, and I think she knows that.
Anyway, that's about it... Lots to do and lots on my mind...