Skype

The leaps and bounds that technology has made in the past two decades never cease to amaze me. I was excited to get my first microwave oven in the late 80s. When I bought a computer in the early 90s, it was awesome. I was thrilled when I finally owned a cell phone in the late 90s - it felt just plain crazy to be able to make a call from anywhere I chose. When the internet came along, I was smitten. In love. How did I ever manage without it? This past summer I finally got a data plan for my cell phone. Internet on my phone? It doesn't get much better than that!

Now I Skype, too. I find it astounding to be able to chat with and see someone on my computer when they are actually very far away. Jake and I have had Skype accounts for a year or so. We initially set them up to talk to Jim while he is in Texas and we are in Michigan. We all see each other so frequently, though, that we haven't really used it for that purpose. When we do Skype, it is usually with Adam from his Colorado apartment. Since Adam took off to Diego Garcia last month, we have Skyped with him twice. It still seems miraculous to me that we are able to talk to, and see, Adam live when he is 10,000 miles from here.

I took pictures of Adam while I was chatting with him on my little - and apparently very dirty - netbook the other night. Adam picked up his laptop and walked over to the beach near his DG office so I could check things out.

My screen doesn't do justice to the beauty of Adam's beach and lagoon. Notice the Navy ships anchored off in the distance.

When It Rains, It Pours

A few weeks ago, we discovered a damp spot on the dining room ceiling at our condo. We called our management company to send someone out to check the problem. A construction guy showed up the next day and told us that a sprinkler line appeared to be leaking. He said that he could not work on sprinklers and we would have to notify our management people to arrange for someone from the "fire protection" group to do that. As he walked out the door, he smirked, "Hope your pipe doesn't burst!" A week later, a worker from the "fire protection" firm was finally available to come check our now-dripping ceiling. He cut some holes in the drywall and found that there was no sprinkler line anywhere near the leak. Naturally, he was only authorized to work on sprinklers, so he recommended that we call our management company to arrange for a licensed plumber to repair what seemed to be a dripping pipe. As he walked out the door, he quipped, "Hope your pipe doesn't burst!" Six days later, a plumber came to the condo. He peeked at the leak, declared that the problem originated at an upstairs toilet, and proceeded to fix what he called an improperly-installed commode. I now have a new respect for licensed plumbers because - after one construction worker, one sprinkler man, and two weeks of the management company passing the buck - this guy diagnosed and fixed the problem in about 45 minutes. Jake and I had used the upstairs bathrooms sparingly throughout this whole ordeal, and I can assure you that it is once again nice to be able to go to the restroom during the night without trudging down the stairs.

Believe it or not, the dining room ceiling in the Texas house now also has a leak. The issue down there is a roofing problem which was repaired earlier this year, but apparently was not quite patched up correctly. Jim noticed the drip there after two-and-a-half rare (for this year) inches of rain fell the other day. Hopefully any more precipitation will hold off until a worker can mend the roof.

I really started to worry when the condo ceiling actually started dripping water.

We will have to live a while longer with our hole-y drywall since the wood is slightly damp up there. Things should dry more quickly if we leave the ceiling open.

Pictures from Afar

Adam has finally managed to send some photos from his post in the Indian Ocean. To be fair, he said that the internet connection is slow and it took almost an hour to upload these pictures. The weather certainly looks pleasant out there, which I believe is not in the best interest of the DYNAMO climate study. I'm sure it is making for some delightfully fun days for the scientists, though.

Adam ready to launch a balloon.

This "shipping crate" serves as the DYNAMO office.

The inside of the office appears to be in a state of organized chaos. Notice the cot leaning against the far wall. Apparently it was not nap time when this shot was taken.

A Diego Garcia beach. This one is a hop, skip, and jump from the office.

The exterior of the Navy Gateway Inn and Suites.

Adam's digs as seen from one direction.

The room from another direction. I know Adam has become somewhat of a neat freak lately, but - really - where is his stuff?

Radiosondes and Recreation

Things seem to be going well over on Diego Garcia for Adam and his research partners. The three grad students and their technician have divided up their work days into three shifts. During each shift, a number of weather balloons are launched and then monitored for up to two hours each. The balloons carry an instrument pack called a radiosonde that transmits atmospheric data back to a computer. Once the balloon reaches 80,000 feet or so, it bursts and everything just falls back to earth. I asked Adam how they can be sure that their meteorology junk doesn't interfere with passing planes and he assured me that the radiosonde & balloon are so lightweight that an aircraft would annihilate them on contact. Plus, they do contact air traffic control prior to each launch. Weather balloons are deployed twice each day - every single day - at over 800 locations around the globe, so I suppose if they were problematic to aircraft we would have heard about it by now.

The area where the DYNAMO office is set up on Diego Garcia was previously a "tent city" for troops during the height of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is empty now except for several work trailers and some probably-high-tech and necessary scientific weather devices. Adam said that curious Navy and Air Force personnel have dropped by to visit, and some friendly military guys gave them a cot for napping during their overnight shifts. (Napping? Are they in kindergarten? Geez, I'm glad they are not the air traffic controllers!) There is a beautiful beach steps away from their work place and Adam said he has gone for a dip or two, maybe between balloon launches? He eats meals at the Officer's Club, cruises around the island in some sort of nice-looking Ford truck, and has even attempted to windsurf. Hopefully some pictures will arrive any day now, as I am looking forward to seeing what this Shangri-la looks like. I'm sure Adam will send some as soon he gets a break from the horribly laborious life he is leading there.

It's a tough job, but someone has to do it.

Around the World

Adam departed his Colorado apartment eight days ago just prior to 6 o'clock in the morning. Twenty-eight hours, three flights, and two continents later, he found himself at a snazzy hotel in Singapore. Adam's stay in southeast Asia was brief, as it was merely the point where he had to rendezvous with a U.S. military aircraft in order to reach his destination of Diego Garcia. He did make the most of his short visit to Singapore, though, by taking a tour of the city. And, thank goodness he knew not to chew gum there because it is against the law and punishable by a fine of up to $1,000. I am assuming that Singapore must be one tidy city!

Adam and his atmospheric science colleagues met up with their transportation to DG - a U.S. Air Force C-17 - on Tuesday afternoon at a Singaporean air base. Apparently, the huge military plane provided an interesting ride. While snapping photos of the outside of the aircraft was prohibited, pictures could be taken inside. Diego Garcia houses a U.S. Navy base that has graciously allowed (or been monetarily compensated to allow?) the DYNAMO climate project to operate from there. Upon arrival on the island, Adam and the others settled into their hotel rooms, then went through some training with the grad students that had already been there for the past month. While chatting with Adam on Skype this afternoon - and our Skype connection was less than perfect; actually it was not very good at all - Jim, Jacob, and I learned more about the research work that is going on in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Adam's weather balloon launches sound quite intriguing and I will post more about them in my next DG update.

Student of the Month

Jacob was recently chosen as one of the "Students of the Month" for October at the high school. Around 60 kids out of 6,300 are given the honor each month. To be eligible, Jacob had to go to class prepared, participate and contribute, treat teachers and peers with respect, etc., etc. We were invited to an early morning ceremony last week where Jacob received a couple of certificates, a hearty handshake from his vice principal, and some enthusiastic applause. And a bagel and juice for breakfast. All in all, it was a nice little reception and we are, of course, very proud of Jacob.

The Maize

On Sunday afternoon the weather was unusually nice in southeast Michigan. Jacob, Nancy, Richie, Jean, Jenna, and I decided to take a trip to a local corn maze. This particular maze is one of the largest and most difficult in the state. In fact, they sell maps in sealed envelopes for $1.00 in case you get hopelessly lost among the corn stalks. If you make it to the exit without opening your envelope, they will refund your $1.00. We walked up & down row after row of corn. We passed the same groups of people over and over again. We probably traveled through the same intersections repeatedly. We contemplated peeking at our map, but resisted the urge. Fifty-five minutes after entering the maze, we triumphantly emerged with our envelopes unopened. We sure were proud to get our map money back.

Jacob sauntered down a path.

Jenna got up close and personal with some stalks.

Lost, but not too worried.

Focused

Jacob had his final 80-question driver's ed test this afternoon. He passed. As soon as class was over, he bounded out of school and hopped into the car. We then zipped over to the Secretary of State office and arrived five minutes before they closed. Luckily, that gave us just enough time to pick up Jacob's learner's permit. (And, oddly, none of the other 21 kids from his class showed up to get their permits today.) Once he was legal, Jacob climbed behind the wheel and, after taking an abnormally long time backing out of our parking space, proceeded to drive us home. He did a great job!

Jacob cruising down Cherry Hill Road.

South of the Equator

This weekend, Adam will be taking off on a five-and-a half week long expedition to the other side of the world. From Denver he will fly to Singapore via San Francisco and Hong Kong. After spending two days in Singapore, he will hop onto a U.S. military aircraft for a six-hour flight to the island of Diego Garcia. Diego Garcia is a small atoll in the middle of the Indian Ocean that has no commercial airport, just a U.S. military base. Adam and two other atmospheric science graduate students are going there to participate in a climate research project called "Dynamics of the Madden-Julian Oscillation," or DYNAMO. Diego Garcia is tropical, hot, & humid, and appears to be quite scenic. If I can persuade Adam to send me some pictures while he is there, I will post them.

Flea Market Fracas

Last Friday and Saturday, Nancy and I booked a table at the Finnish Center Flea Market to sell some of our old stuff. Nancy had a lot of nice things for sale, I had a few items, and Irma donated several pieces of jewelry. When the doors opened Friday morning, lots of shoppers came pouring into the flea market. Not very many stopped at our table despite the fact that we had awesome items at very reasonable prices. Luckily, Nancy was able to sell some of her pieces of fancy crystal, or we might not have even made enough money to pay the price of our table. After buying lunch for myself, any profit that I earned had disappeared. We looked forward to the next day, as Saturday shoppers typically come in droves and make big purchases.

The next morning, flea market customers were few and far between. Nancy and I walked around a bit and discovered that the lady in charge of the sale had decided to lock the front doors of the Finnish Center for the day. We found a sign outside telling people to use a side door. We were confused. It ends up that a few of the Finnish Center bigwigs had set up flea market tables - free tables, I might add - in a side room and wanted to corral shoppers past their wares before they went into the large, main selling room. The problem, however, was that most customers just tried the front doors, found them locked, and then left. Or, if they did find their way to the side door, they thought that the whole sale was in that small room, and exclaimed, "This is all there is?" I can't tell you how many people walked away. Nancy and I spoke to "Lady-in-Charge" and politely asked her to unlock the front doors. She refused. We talked to her husband, who is an executive on the FC board and who also had a selling table in the side room. He agreed to unlock the doors. "Lady-in-Charge" saw her husband opening the front doors and all hell broke loose. After she screamed at him, she screamed at us. She wanted those doors locked and that was that. There was no reasoning with her and she proceeded to rudely tell everyone that she had the right to make that decision. Word spread through the flea market like wildfire and many vendors were so frustrated with her decision that they vowed never to come back. At the end of the day, the doors stayed locked and we made very little money. If nothing else, though, it was definitely the most interesting flea market in which we had ever participated!

Beware of Student Driver

After waiting 14 years and 9 months, Jacob finally reached the legal age to take driver's education in Michigan. His class began this week and, besides sitting through 8 hours of lessons, he has also driven twice. In an actual car. On real roads. For a total of 120 minutes. Driving has always been one of Jacob's dreams, so, as you can imagine, he is beyond thrilled. His driving instructors - or "coaches," as they are called at this school - say that he has done a great job on the road so far. Hopefully he will keep up the good work because soon they will be taking him on the freeway and letting him accelerate a two-ton vehicle to 70 miles an hour. Jacob has a few more weeks of classroom work and 4 more hours behind the wheel with a "coach" before he earns his learner's permit. I have a feeling that once that happens, I will be sitting in the passenger seat and Jacob will insist on driving everywhere.