The FedEx Tally

Not only are people criss-crossing the country for the holidays, but millions of presents are also en-route in FedEx and UPS road trains.

Christmas Road Trip '06

On the shortest day of the year, just before 5 am, we left on our 950 mile cross-country drive to the east-coast.

Under Pressure

In high pressure science the puns come too easily, of course, this time there was the distinct possibility that something would explode - safety glasses were involved.

Bird Feed

With the trees striped bare for winter, local Scout(?) troops decorated the branches with edible treats for the birds - pretty at first, but putrid after a few days.

Mid-Holiday Season Turkey

Being away for both Thanksgiving and Christmas, we decided to cook our own mid-season turkey.

Ice Rings

A week below freezing, and seven ice contours by the river... like growth rings on a tree.

Copyedit Hell

Despite the fact that journals employ techinical editors to ensure the grammatical fidelity of published papers, we are required to send manuscripts to the fussy, internal APS copy editors before submission. As far as I can tell, their purpose is to put red pen on each page of a manuscript and hyphenate every second pair of words. If you choose to omit the more obsurd suggestions, the manuscript is returned to you for re-correction. I wonder if I prepared a manuscript for the Journal of Solid State Chemistry (no hyphen!), would copy edit try to add hyphens, i.e., solid-state chemistry as they did today??

Summer's Gone

Storm Slams Midwest*

Overnight, we had our first real snow for the year. OK, we did have a few flakes in October, but that wasn't more than fingernail deep. This time we had rain, then sleet, then snow, then more snow - the perfect recipe for slippery driving conditions. The roads were littered with car-casualties that spun out on the ice trying to get to work before the roads had been cleared. I slept in instead.

* blog title borrowed from tv news

Wood Duck

With 10 megapixel images, you can afford to crop photos a little more. It also helps to lure greedy duckies with food...

Reservoir Falls

A multitude of little streams were draining into the catchment area after constant Thanksgiving rains. Without a tilting LCD screen, I spent quite some time draped on the ground trying to steady the camera on rocks for some long exposures. I really should start carrying a tripod.

Beware of Pucks

Its Thanksgiving eve, and my first ice hockey game (not counting Mighty Ducks 1 & 2). It was everything I expected, with bodies smashing against barriers, player punch-ups and flying pucks.

XTi - f1.8/50mm test shots

Birthday Lobsters

Pete's parents treated him to fresh lobsters for his birthday. The lobsters weren't feeling quite so snappy after their nice warm bath.

Connecticut Thanksgiving

We're back in Connecticut staying with Pete's folks for an extended Thanksgiving holiday. In honour of our holiday, the weather is fantastic, although UPS is yet to show up with my new camera.

Canon 400D/XTi

After years of faithful service from my Olympus C5050, I have finally decided to upgrade. Spending a considerable amount of time finding the best price online, I wanted my new toy ASAP and splurged on next day delivery. With any luck it will be waiting for me when I arrive in Connecticut tomorrow for Thanksgiving along with an extra lens - the Canon f1.8 50mm II.

The Third Decade

It's a big birthday for Pete. As with any new stage in life, this is an excellent opportunity to take up a new hobby - brewing. Thankfully a high quality Australian product was available through Amazon.com and I wasn't forced to resort to the local "Mr Beer" brand.

US Mid-term elections

Yet more elections, and in the absence of compulsory voting, candidates not only need to convince people to vote for them, but to vote at all.

One tactic involves automated calling at odd hours... "I'd like to tell you something about candidate X....". From the X campaign? Nope. Candidate Y motivating anti-X votes - the "make 'em mad" strategy.

Fallingwater

Before returning from Pennsylvania, we visited the famous 1930's Frank Lloyd Wright construction, Fallingwater. The huge horizontal slab floors/terraces are cantilevered directly over a waterfall. My favourite design element? The retractable-glass covered stairs from the lounge down to the river above the falls.