Sandia National Labs - You've been great

This summer, I called Albuquerque, NM home, and Sandia National Laboratories work. I can honestly say that it's the best job I've ever had. Sure, it was a good because it paid well and it will look great on a resume, but it goes beyond that. I'm getting at those things about a job that you can't really know until you work there. The people are good, the atmosphere is laid back, but not lazy or non-professional, my project was open for me to explore, but not too vague either, and best of all, the work has been really interesting the entire time. So yeah, I liked the whole package.

It would be really fun if I could say something like "I would tell you what I do at work, but I would have to kill you," but that's just not the case. SNL is home to a great deal of classified information, but I didn't get security clearance, so I wasn't authorized to deal with any of it. I actually work on simulating grain growth in metals. I'm focusing on abnormal grain growth, a generally undesirable phenomenon, and ways to attempt to prevent it. The big result of my research is that using particles to try to inhibit abnormal grain growth may not work as well originally hoped. In fact, I found that particles can cause it.

Desert life isn't as bad as you might think actually. In fact, I like the summer weather here more than Pittsburgh's. Albuquerque has some advantages that make it more tolerable than Phoenix, for example. As it turns out, July and August are the rainiest months of the year. It's actually very common that a thunderstorm rolls through in the afternoon, bringing cooler temperatures, a bit of humidity, and wind. Locals call it the monsoon season, considering the (relatively) heavy rains this time of year. Also, because we are about a mile high, the nights usually cool down quite a bit, and we don't get the 110F days you might expect. In fact, the high back home in Sheridan, WY so far this summer is essentially the same as what Albuquerque has had so far.

As Ashlee has shared in earlier posts, she'll be flying here in about a week, and then we'll drive the 800 miles home. My summer here went fast, but it's been great. I'm even considering coming back next summer for another dose of SNL.

A Whole New Look!

We're remodeling. Since we don't have a house with walls to paint, or a garden with plants to water, we spend our time remodeling and nurturing our websites. I must say, this one has grown up to be quite the little trooper!

We're still fixing some things and working on other little gadgets, but overall, we're pretty excited for this new look. It's like the website went to a beauty salon. And had the deluxe spa treatment package (only 59.99 +tax!).

Speaking of beauty salons, I got my hair cut yesterday (though it's still down to my shoulders). And tomorrow I'm getting some red highlights put in. As mom is always saying "Hair is an accessory; have fun with it." So, I'm taking her advice. I hope she's proud of me!

Tonight I had a lot of plans and goals - none of which got accomplished. But I did have a lovely 2 hour dinner with Pastor Andrae. And when I came home, we started working on the website...And here I am.

Plus, it's a lot more fun to do this than washing the three weeks worth of dishes piled up by my sink. At 12:30am.

...

I'll do them tomorrow. Goodnight!

Share the Blog!

Well, since the blog is up and running (look at me, I'm blogging at work!), I want to encourage everyone to share the news. It's easier for Todd and I to keep people up to date through the blog...rather than sending emails...or not sending emails...and getting in trouble for not sending them...

Anyway!

Share the blog and we're going to keep working on it. Right now, we're just trying to pass the time until I fly out to New Mexico. But there's a lot going on to keep us busy during the time - buying school books, getting the apartment in order, packing, and planning.

And now my break is over. Today the children will be inside all afternoon because of the ozone action warning - something that says the air might be somewhat unhealthy so the children shouldn't go out in the afternoon. It's nice because we get to stay in the air conditioned room. But it's also a little more noisy and chaotic.

After work today I'm going to meet with Pastor Andrae and chat with him over dinner. It's been a while since we've talked and we've always had a good relationship, so I'm looking forward to it.

And now I'm off!

P.S. Chocolate Chip Chewies for teacher-snack today.

The Triumphant Return...

Or at least, we like to think that it's triumphant. We've fallen a little behind in our blogging lately, for various reasons. But, with the coming school year, we've decided to once again take the initiative to keep you all duly informed on what we're doing. As long as we remember *puts a post-it note on her mirror*

That being said, this post is a desperate attempt to catch everyone up on the craziness that we call life!

Right now Todd and I are still in different parts of the country. He's spent the summer in New Mexico at an amazing internship while I've stayed in Pittsburgh. He flew out to see me for my 21st birthday, thereby making it extra special. We had a wonderful weekend with friends (many who came to Pittsburgh specifically for the party). This is a picture of us after a delicious Italian dinner -before the comedy club and the dance club we went to later that night.



After the clubs we went to breakfast and then caught a cab home as the sun came up. I think we were all asleep by 6am and slept till noon. The next night we had fun in the apartment with music, games, and many many jokes.

I've been working with the kids that I've been with for the past three years at the Cyert Center. This is their last summer at the Center and I've been blessed to share the past couple of years with them. The photo that you see is most of the class and it was taken in June. And while they look like angels...they're children :) Enough said.



It's a wonderful job despite the chaos. The cook at the Center, Brenda, makes breakfast, lunch, and afternoon snack. And staff eats free. Let me just say that it's delicious free food...All the teachers complain about gaining weight. Some items on our menu include (keep in mind this is all cooked by our chef. She's amazing): Breakfast burritos, pancakes, spinach pizza, alfredo (and shrimp for the teachers), orange chicken with noodles, bbq chicken, turkey (with mashed potatoes and corn - Thanksgiving in June?), banana bread, and other delectable treats. And quite often she makes something special for the teachers -brownies, strawberry shortcake with whip cream, rice crispy treats, cheesecake. I know, I know. The things I endure...

But! Along with the food there's the time spent with the kids. And while I could have had a desk job this summer, I'm so glad that I decided to work with the kids. We've gone on walks, done swimming lessons, read stories, played tag, run through sprinklers, and just had a whole lot of fun. I've been with this same group of kids for quite some time now. I'm going to miss them in the fall.

Moving on...

Todd and I will meet up in a little over a week and we're both super excited for it. I'll be flying from Pittsburgh to New Mexico and then we'll be driving from New Mexico to Sheridan. Please pray that the Oldsmobile makes it. Her name -her being the Oldsmobile- is Brown Sugar (Just in case you were wondering). I don't really know where the name comes from, but that's what the family calls it. Brown Sugar used to be my great-grandfather's car before his death. We're thankful that my dad let Todd borrow it for his internship. And we're hoping that it works well enough to bring out to Pittsburgh with us.

After a couple weeks home (complete with visiting family, dinners, fun in the sun, and relaxing), we'll be coming back to Pittsburgh for yet another year!

We've moved in to a new apartment. It's nice (brand new carpet!), though it will be a little smaller than we're used to. Especially with the new addition to our family...

Yes. Meet Shar. (pronounced like Shard, but without the 'd').



This is a picture of him as a kitten. He's grown quite a bit since then. He's adorable and loving, not to mention a little spoiled. We have a routine where I come home, he meows at the door, I pick him up and carry him on my shoulder as I put my stuff away. He's often found relaxing next to me or sleeping somewhere.

That's one side of Shar. The other side...Is psycho. I have claw marks all over and he loves to bite my toes. He has a little bell on his collar (put there so that I had warning when he was going to pounce on me). The bell jingles like crazy as he sprints from one end of the apartment to the other...12 times...before clawing his way up my chair (scratching my arms in the process) and biting my ponytail. Oh yes, we love Shar...

Well, I think that's a decent attempt to catch everyone up. I'm sure that we'll be posting more often *looks at the post-it on her mirror* Or at least, that's the plan.

And to those of you in Sheridan - We're looking forward to seeing you soon!

A Day in the Life of a USFS Firefighter

For those of you who don't know, I worked for the United States Forest Service this past summer as a firefighter. The Bighorn National Forest has several fire crews, and I was on the Burgess Junction Engine Crew. That means that there were six of us who lived up on the mountain the entire summer and were ready to respond to a fire at essentially anytime. All the crews have a five day work week and they are staggered such that there are always at least two crews working. Our crew is very lucky in that we had Fridays and Saturdays off. Most of the crews were off during the normal work week.

I love the mountains and hate the heat of the plains, so living up in the USFS cabin was great for me. Also, there is no phone, internet or TV. We did have basic utilities and a full kitchen (even a microwave!). It is definitely a departure from many modern conveniences however. While I was mostly glad to be away from technology, it was hard for Ashlee and I to keep in touch. We agree that one summer was enough and that I should get jobs in the future which allow us to stay in better touch, and better yet, see each other every day!

Most of the time the forest is not on fire, and we have to do work to fill the hours. There are usually projects that the office people develop (in terms of forest management) that firefighters can work on. For instance we might go to a certain area and cut down all trees that are under five inches in diameter for thinning purposes. But at anytime we could get a call to respond to a fire or smoke report.

One such day we had gone to check on a smoke report. We drove across the forest to see if we could find something. The guy who reported it met with us and we watched the area for a while. As we never saw anything, and it was getting close to quiting time, we decided it was a false alarm and headed back to the station. Along the way we heard on the radio about a cow that was stuck in a mud bog. We decided to stop by and see if we could help the cowboy who was going to try to free the bovine. This is what we saw:

This particular meadow was essentially a sponge. This cow found her way into a nice void in the sponge. She could get her front legs up on the grass, but couldn't pull out with her front legs or push out with her back legs. We tried filling the hole with rocks to create better footing, or rather better hoofing. It was no good. We tried digging out around the hole some, but again, we still had a bogged down bovine. As she struggled the hole just got deeper and deeper:

Eventually the combination of digging out a trough toward the downhill, pulling on her with a four wheeler, and lifting her with a fallen tree, we liberated the cow from her mud path gone wrong. This is something like how we got her out, but we were also lifting her hind end with the tree:

When things were all said and done, something like seven people were there for four hours working to free the cow. Padlock (the ranch that owns the cow) was lucky to not lose that head!

While that wasn't the most intense or exciting experience I had with the Forest Service, it was the most bizarre. I hope you all aren't too discruntled knowing I was on the clock getting paid with taxpayer money!

Four day weeks... again

Like most college students, Ashlee and I returned to classes recently (a week ago today for us) and are now settling into the routine. Luckily, we aren't like most others students in the fact that neither of us have classes on Fridays. In fact, we haven't had classes on Fridays since the fall of 2006. For me, this arrangement actually isn't really by design, but is mostly just a result of how my departments schedule their classes. Ashlee has to be a bit strategic to make it work, but obviously it's worked out.

This semester I'm pretty excited to be taking a photography class at Pittsburgh Filmmakers. I've taken other photography classes here at CMU, but this semester it worked better to go off campus. We've only met once so far, but one of my first impressions is that the instructor, Tim Fabian, reminds me of a character from the Simpsons... I think. It's probably going to drive me nuts trying to figure out who exactly comes to mind. But really, I think I will learn a lot and enjoy the class quite a bit. Also, Professor Towe, who teaches a computational methods class that I'm taking at CMU, is enrolled the photo class with me. That should be fun.

"HowTo" Get posts via email

This is just a quick post on "HowTo" have new posts to this (or any) blog automatically sent to you email inbox. SendMeRss is a service that allows you to have updates to an RSS feed automatically sent to any email address of your choice.

1. Follow this link (opens a new window/tab)


2. In "RSS Feed URL" put:
   
   http://ddeeffnn.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default


3. Fill in your email address

Further Info - An RSS feed is really just a list of content from a website, and every time new content is added to the website, the feed is updated. There are a bunch of web services and desktop programs that allow you to subscribe to feeds and automatically get updates. While each of you could download a program that would let you know when Ashlee or I update our blog, we realize many of you probably don't want to do that. Instead I found SendMeRSS which will simply email you the updates automatically.