Sailing Adventure

I first learned to sail at the Sea Scout Base in Long Beach around the time I was 8 or 9, but I left the hobby dormant for the better part of 2 decades.

I did try to earn my small boat sailing merit badge the year our scout troop went to camp Chawanakee, but while Chawanakee was in many ways a much nicer facility than Tahquitz, their classes were not nearly as good. Any class I took at Tahquitz the counselor worked with you bit by bit until you understood and had the necessary skills. At Chawanakee they mostly told you to go read the book and come back when you were ready to pass off. OK, so maybe it was my fault or the merit badges I attempted, but I earned like 5 badges each year year I went to Tahquitz and none at Chawanakee. So needless to say, I didn't get the small boat sailing merit badge. I'm not certain I even made it out on the water in a sail boat.

I finally renewed the hobby with several classes at UCLA's Marine Aquatic Center (MAC). Since then I've enjoyed getting out from time to time. My father in law even gave me his old boat so I have one of my own to get out in from time to time.

However, in all of this, I've always wanted to really get in a sail boat and go somewhere. In my little 14 footer, just getting across the harbor is a labor, but last weekend my friend Andy Horning invited me to crew for him on his Hunter 40 as we raced to Catalina Island.

It was actually part of an 11 race series including 5 races to the island, 5 races back, and one race there, around the island, and back. The short version of the story is that outside of sex, this was probably the most fun I've had in the last 20 years.

The race over started with decent if not terrific wind, but it never filled in acording to its usual pattern. Luckily we ended up all the way on the left side of the course and the strange wind filled in from there first. After a prolonged lull the wind finally filled in coming from the mainland (exactly where it never comes from) that blew us in to the finish line. We actually won that race (at least within our class). It was a blast.

That evening we moored outside Avalon Harbor and went on shore for dinner and a movie. There is only one theater on the island, but lucky for me it was showing the new Star Trek. (Totally awsome, but that is for another post.)

The night was pretty calm, but being outside the harbor the boat still rocked quite a bit. I had hoped to sleep deep and long, but ended up waking up fairly bright and early after having spent the night in more of a dreaming wakefulness than true sleep.

The next morning after a hearty breakfast of oatmeal we headed back to the starting line for the race back. This time the starting wind was almost non-existant. For the first 2 1/2 hours we drifted at speeds never more than 2 knots. Andy is a talented skipper and managed to squeeze every bit out of the boat, but we were still probably less than 5 miles from the island. Then rather suddenly the wind filled in and we were broad reaching at 9-10 knots for the next 2 hours. (Now that is only about 10 mph, but on a boat it is really fast and exciting.) The pole to put up the spinaker (the big parachute like sail) wasn't working right so we were not able to fly it. That may be for the best, with only two of us it would have been hard to deal with, but it might have given us another knot of speed which may have been enought to win. Still I got to stear most of the way in while Andy navigated and kept the sails trimmed.

We ended up taking 3rd in the race back (there were about 13 boats in our class). That puts us in a very competitive 2nd place for the series. I'm hoping he asks me to crew for him again as the series continues. More to come.

Gone Walkabout

Pierce College where I work is unique among the campuses of the Los Angeles Community College District in that it is the agricultural campus. It is by far the larges campus with most of it being undeveloped or fields and grazing land. A few weeks ago I decided to take about an hour to go and enjoy it. So here are some pictures from my trip.

This is the first field closest to campus. The first barns and another part of the field pointing up towards the stadium.

Next I passed some cows luxuriating in the shade.


It's easy to forget how close to the urban environment we are sometimes. But the apartments in the background are a quick reminder.

The pond is a favorite place to go on a small hike or cross country run.

Finally a few pictures from the walk back. The valley is really a beautiful place. Especially when the smog drops down for a bit.

Assymetry

This sign was posted in the bathroom for the physics offices at Los Angeles City College. We didn't make it, but I thought the assymetry in the English and Spanish instructions was interesting.

If you can't tell, both English and Spanish start by saying "Please Keep the Restroom Clean." Both end with "Thank You", but the Spanish adds a the extra line, "Don't throw paper on the floor." And I keep asking myself, is that cultural, racist, or what gives?

The Big Bang Theory, Part II

Some time ago (and probably on a blog that is no longer operating) I did a review of the PBS commedy "The Big Bang Theory." A very funny sitcom about physics Ph.D.s. Like most commedies it makes accurate if exagerated play on various personalities typical of the subject.

Well recently I found out that the science advisor for the show is Dr. David Saltzberg who I TAed for in Winter of 2002. He is a great and funny guy and does an excellent job of keeping the physics on track. Not only that, but the actors came by UCLA to study how physicists act. So if I had stayed just a bit longer, some of their actions could have been based on me.

I wrote Dave about it and he said he'd be glad to get me into a filming some time. Maybe I'll get really lucky and meet one of the actors. More to follow I hope.

Tax Season

Many years ago, a relative mocked a former inlaw for having earned less than $2000 in a year on about 8 W-2s. I have to admit that I was nervous as to how much better I would fare as we came near tax season this year.

You see I was laid off in February of last year and spent the remainder of the year either underemployed or over/underemployed. (I'll explain that in a moment.)

I was lucky enough to have a solid second job at the time and I quickly managed to get on substitute teaching lists for both Long Beach Unified School District and Kelly Educational Services. This kept me busy and kept the morgage paid (though little else). With the help of family, tax returns, some severance pay, government, savings, and prayer we managed to make it through spring.

By summer I picked up a second part time teaching job and by Fall I had three. This is what I called over/underemployed. I had the teaching load of 2 full time instructors but was not full time anywhere. Still, I could finally feel self sufficient again.

So anyway, it came tax time and I was grateful to find that while I did in fact have six or seven W-2s the total was well over $2000 so I guess I can feel confident in my worth as a father and husband.

Staci took me to her accountant to do the taxes. I've always done mine myself, but I have to admit this was more enjoyable. In part because someone else was doing the nitty gritty and in part because he was really a delightful guy to hold a conversation with. Our supposed hour and a half appointment lasted nearly 3 and poor Natalie and Richard got stuck with our kids, but they were very sweet about it.

Oh, by the way, after one full year of scraping for whatever jobs I could find. I do once again have a full time position. In fact it is my first tenure track job. I am now the newest Physics Professor at Pierce College a part of the Los Angeles Community College District. I have actually wanted to teach here for a long time as they are working very hard to implement the best practices of physics teaching. On the other hand, when I was working several part time jobs I could justify doing a good enough job, now I truly need to do an excellent job. When you combine that with the fact that it is a new teaching style, the administrative and committee responsibilities, and the fact that it is on the far side of Los Angeles County I am still working my tail off. I finally rented a room over there because the commute home each night was too hard and I was in after everyone was asleep and out before they woke anyway.

Still I am excited and very blessed. I am grateful to family and friends and a wonderful wife who helped me pull through a challenging year. I am grateful that we live in a country that helps those who are struggling and hard work is still rewarded. And I am grateful to the Lord for his tender mercies.

All Alcohol Must Be Radioactive

It's true! At least in the united states all alcohol for human consumption must be slightly radioactive. You see, the law requires that alcohol for human consumption must be made from fruits and grains, but you can also make alcohol from petroleum. (Oh don't go eww, vanillin (artificial vanilla) is made from petroleum too.) So the question is how can you tell which is which?

Now purefication is good enough that you couldn't tell from chemical analysis, but fresh (as in less than a few thousand years old) plant matter has significant amounts of Carbon-14 in it which is radioactive. By contrast, fossile fuels are millions of years old and all of the carbon-14 has decayed out. So if your alcohol is radioactive, it is made from grains and fruits, if it is not it is made from petroleum.

Just one of the many facts I learned in "Physics for Future Presidents" which I'll review soon.

How many blades

I've always wondered how many blades are really necessary to shave. You can still buy razors with only one blade (more on that later) but most have at least 2 and 3, 4 and even 5 are now common. Gillet fusion actually has 6 (5 on the front and 1 on the back for precise trimming when you want a single blade.)

I never was much of one to go in for these fancy things figuring 2 blades were probably enough. But lo and behold here I am a convert to that ridiculous fusion mostly because of excellent marketing.

You see, I bought a reusable gillet sensor razor my first year back from my mission hoping that if I kept a closer shave my girlfriend would want to kiss me more often. (That soooooooo was not the problem.) I kept it for well over a decade (still have it in fact) and I would probably still be using it except for that excellent marketing.

You see I never bought the fusion razor. They sent me that for free in the mail. That is no small gift to get for free in the mail as they retail for nearly $10 (I'm sure wholesale is much less.) So now I could try it, FOR FREE. And I'll be darned if 5 blades aren't more comfortable than 3. So now while I will still use cheap disposables if that is what someone has or someone buys for me, I really like the gillete fusion. (And they do stick it to you on cartridges).

So the real question is, at what point does more blades become counterproductive. SNL (I think though it could have been MadTV) did a skit on a 15 bladed razor. I thought 4 was ridiculous, but I love 5. Where does it really end.

(On a side note, I shaved today with a single blade razor. I thought it had gone reasonably well if slightly less comfortable. Then I turned around and noticed about 50 tiny dots of blode coming from my neck. So maybe it is more than just minimal comfort.)