A. wins 318-288
Originally uploaded by achmorrison.
Low scoring game today at Swim Cafe. No bingos.
December 13, 2008
December 05, 2008
R. wins 398-321
R. wins 398-321
Originally uploaded by achmorrison.
R. killed me tonight, although we both had bingos: inquires and sanders.
Scrabble night in DeKalb.
Scrabble night in DeKalb.
Originally uploaded by achmorrison.
No Scrabble last weekend over Thanksgiving. This was our board from a fun night in DeKalb with friends the week before that.
December 01, 2008
Day of Firsts
This is my first major post about commuting since I started working at Northwestern and taking the train for two hours each way every day. Today was a day of a lot of firsts for me. It was the first day of the month (obviously), and today was the first day of reading week at Northwestern. It was also the first day after the first major snowfall of the year. And this morning was the first time I slipped and fell on the Adams Street bridge by Union Station.
Chicago only got maybe 2 inches (if that) of snow that actually stuck to the ground; apparently no one bothered to clear the walkway on the bridge before the morning commuters tramped the snow down into a solid pack of ice. I was quick off the train this morning, and when I got out of Union Station the bridge was mostly clear of people. The snow had been packed down, but not evenly. It was a bumpy layer of compacted snow and my dress shoes were not equipped to handle the lack of friction. Have you seen a cartoon where the character's legs slip out from underneath the body? That was me on the bridge. I landed flat on my derriere. I was able to get up quickly, fortunately nothing was broken (on my body or in my bag), and nothing had fell out of my coat or bag. As I limped slowly down the street an older man with a cane gave me some friendly advice on icing down my back. I kept a straight face, even though I was not really in the mood for conversation at that point.
I got to the Quincy station and made sure the train pulling in was not a Purple Line train. I had just received my Chicago Plus transit card, but didn't know if it was active (long story for some other time, maybe) so I tried using the kiosk to check the balance of the card. The display said that I could not add money to this type of card. I took that to mean that the card was not active, so I hurriedly added $20 to my CTA transit card. It was at that point when I realized, I should have just tried my Plus card on the turnstiles. I did, and it worked. So today was the first day of my unlimited ride card (another first!), but now I have a $20 CTA card in my wallet that I don't really need.
The rest of the morning commute was relatively uneventful. The coffee at Linz and Vail tasted extra delicious after all my earlier excitement. The evening commute was also relatively boring. The packed snow-ice had been cleared off the bridge sometime during the day. The only interesting thing that happened tonight was that after I got back to Aurora and was walking from the train to the car, I saw a mouse (first rodent spotting?) in the parking lot of the transportation center. It was just hanging out in the ice and slush of the parking lot. It wasn't moving very fast, but it did move away when I tried to bend over to get a better look.
If this is what the winter commute is going to be like, I might have to look into gearing up with some crampons. Or at least some galoshes with traction.
Chicago only got maybe 2 inches (if that) of snow that actually stuck to the ground; apparently no one bothered to clear the walkway on the bridge before the morning commuters tramped the snow down into a solid pack of ice. I was quick off the train this morning, and when I got out of Union Station the bridge was mostly clear of people. The snow had been packed down, but not evenly. It was a bumpy layer of compacted snow and my dress shoes were not equipped to handle the lack of friction. Have you seen a cartoon where the character's legs slip out from underneath the body? That was me on the bridge. I landed flat on my derriere. I was able to get up quickly, fortunately nothing was broken (on my body or in my bag), and nothing had fell out of my coat or bag. As I limped slowly down the street an older man with a cane gave me some friendly advice on icing down my back. I kept a straight face, even though I was not really in the mood for conversation at that point.
I got to the Quincy station and made sure the train pulling in was not a Purple Line train. I had just received my Chicago Plus transit card, but didn't know if it was active (long story for some other time, maybe) so I tried using the kiosk to check the balance of the card. The display said that I could not add money to this type of card. I took that to mean that the card was not active, so I hurriedly added $20 to my CTA transit card. It was at that point when I realized, I should have just tried my Plus card on the turnstiles. I did, and it worked. So today was the first day of my unlimited ride card (another first!), but now I have a $20 CTA card in my wallet that I don't really need.
The rest of the morning commute was relatively uneventful. The coffee at Linz and Vail tasted extra delicious after all my earlier excitement. The evening commute was also relatively boring. The packed snow-ice had been cleared off the bridge sometime during the day. The only interesting thing that happened tonight was that after I got back to Aurora and was walking from the train to the car, I saw a mouse (first rodent spotting?) in the parking lot of the transportation center. It was just hanging out in the ice and slush of the parking lot. It wasn't moving very fast, but it did move away when I tried to bend over to get a better look.
If this is what the winter commute is going to be like, I might have to look into gearing up with some crampons. Or at least some galoshes with traction.
November 15, 2008
A. wins 358-272
A. wins 358-272
Originally uploaded by achmorrison.
R. had all the high point tiles and all the S tiles, but could not capitalize on them. I had one bingo: caution.
November 08, 2008
A wins 420-331
A wins 420-331
Originally uploaded by achmorrison.
R. started the game strong with a bingo: ranterS. I had 2 bingo: sleeveS and sputnik.
November 01, 2008
A wins 332-257
A wins 332-257
Originally uploaded by achmorrison.
This was our first timed game in a long while. No bingos.
October 24, 2008
A. wins 328-295
A. wins 328-295
Originally uploaded by achmorrison.
Tonight we played at Caribou with 50 of the finest of the future of Naperville providing PLENTY of background noise. No bingos tonight.
October 12, 2008
R wins 332-282
R wins 332-282
Originally uploaded by achmorrison.
New coffeeshop today: Saxbys in Plano. One bingo: loaders was not enough to win.
October 09, 2008
Got one!
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October 04, 2008
A. wins 367-352
A. wins 367-352
Originally uploaded by achmorrison.
Today's game was played at Dunn Bros Coffee shop in North Aurora. since the first place we went to decided to close 3 hours before their posted closing time. This coffee shop has free internet terminals running linux! Plus, they roast their own beans. Yum!
One bingo today: details.
September 29, 2008
Test post!
Here is a new paragraph.
And another.
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September 20, 2008
A. wins 309-304
A. wins 309-304
Originally uploaded by achmorrison.
Low scoring game today. Found a great coffeeshop in Brookfield, Loca Mocha.
September 13, 2008
A. wins 387-304
A. wins 387-304
Originally uploaded by achmorrison.
R. had a bingo: lotoses (she cheated to find it) but it didn't help tonight. We were back at Prisco's Next Door, and are starting to question the quality of the lattes here.
September 06, 2008
A. wins 338-268
A. wins 338-268
Originally uploaded by achmorrison.
Last night's game was at a new-to-us coffeeshop called Prisco's Next Door. Nice place. We'll be back
August 23, 2008
R. wins 371-369
R. wins 371-369
Originally uploaded by achmorrison.
Today's game was played at a coffee shop in Schaumburg with an Asian flair. Renae came from be hind to win even though I had all the S tiles. 3 bingos today: ravings, outings and Renae's bingo: rezoned for 106 points.
August 12, 2008
A. wins 399-366!
A. wins 399-366!
Originally uploaded by achmorrison.
One bingo tonight on Renae's new delux board: salTies.
August 05, 2008
File this under Job Hunt Woes
So today (unless I don't get this posted in the next five minutes, as it is 11:55 pm right now) marked the end of my time at my first institution when I turned in my keys to the division office. I was really glad, in retrospect, that a very friendly colleague was around at the end of the day and we walked out of the department together. I barely even noticed shutting the door to my office for the last time.
The end of my stay didn't come without some indignities, however. Yesterday I was checking my email midmorning when I noticed that no email was getting through either coming in or going out. I was able to resolve the issue, thankfully. I know I'm not entitled to email there anymore, since I suppose my last official day on the payroll was July 31, but since no one told me the email would be shut off, I was a little surprised to not be able to reply to the people at my future institution.
In addition to moving and trying to transition to the new school, I'm keeping my eyes out for advertisements for teaching positions for the Fall of 2009. They just started to come out, so it's time to start getting excited again!
The end of my stay didn't come without some indignities, however. Yesterday I was checking my email midmorning when I noticed that no email was getting through either coming in or going out. I was able to resolve the issue, thankfully. I know I'm not entitled to email there anymore, since I suppose my last official day on the payroll was July 31, but since no one told me the email would be shut off, I was a little surprised to not be able to reply to the people at my future institution.
In addition to moving and trying to transition to the new school, I'm keeping my eyes out for advertisements for teaching positions for the Fall of 2009. They just started to come out, so it's time to start getting excited again!
July 25, 2008
Link spew
I've been dragging around a bunch of interesting sites that I wanted to save/share, but didn't really want to put in my del.icio.us account. So here, in no order whatsoever, is a bunch of random pages that caught my eye in the last couple of weeks:
Futuristic Materials: really cool modern materials that all have interesting and useful properties. This is the real stuff of modern high-tech.
The Beige Site: answers the all important question - What is an old person? Hilarious!
Pac-man shirt by Errorwear: Just awesome.
Cupcakes vs. Muffins: answers the age-old question. (Or does it?)
100 Web Tools for Writers
The Three Laws of Great Graphs: Humorous and true.
Tips for Better Blogging: I'm probably not following any of these.
10 Hot Musics Sites: some interesting sites I hadn't heard of.
Scrabbling for Legal Rationalism: Nice write-up on why the lawsuit against the Scrabulous makers probably has little chance of winning in court.
Futuristic Materials: really cool modern materials that all have interesting and useful properties. This is the real stuff of modern high-tech.
The Beige Site: answers the all important question - What is an old person? Hilarious!
Pac-man shirt by Errorwear: Just awesome.
Cupcakes vs. Muffins: answers the age-old question. (Or does it?)
100 Web Tools for Writers
The Three Laws of Great Graphs: Humorous and true.
Tips for Better Blogging: I'm probably not following any of these.
10 Hot Musics Sites: some interesting sites I hadn't heard of.
Scrabbling for Legal Rationalism: Nice write-up on why the lawsuit against the Scrabulous makers probably has little chance of winning in court.
July 14, 2008
No power for you!
No power for you!
Originally uploaded by achmorrison.
Don't you dare plug in your laptop at the Barnes and Noble in Plainfield, IL.
July 12, 2008
July 08, 2008
I previously posted a link about why twitter is useful (and fun!), but I recently heard an interview on NPR with one of the founders of twitter. This was one of the most succinct explanations of why twitter is more than just a "micro-blogging" tool.
After you've listened to the twitter piece, check out this one on getting and getting rid of earworms (the musical kind).
After you've listened to the twitter piece, check out this one on getting and getting rid of earworms (the musical kind).
July 05, 2008
July 03, 2008
A wins 306-271
A wins 306-271
Originally uploaded by achmorrison.
Only coffee shop open tonight was *Bucks. No bingos tonight.
June 28, 2008
R. wins 423-397
R. wins 423-397
Originally uploaded by achmorrison.
We had quite a game today. Actually, R. had quite a game today. She got three bingos: dieters, grunted, and bonkers. I was only able to come up with one bingo: sluices.
June 20, 2008
June 14, 2008
Skype with the sister.
Skype with the sister.
Originally uploaded by achmorrison.
Renae's computer has a built in camera so we can video chat with Jennette.
June 13, 2008
All the cool kids are doing it, so here's my personality mosaic:
1. Castle Ruins - St Andrews Scotland, 2. Lunch, 3. ic0452.JPG, 4. oh... the blues, 5. Danica McKellar at Microsoft, 6. cup of coffee, 7. Istanbul Train Station, 8. pie ala mode on laptop on irc channel #sf-raves - dscf0334, 9. Covering Third, 10. HAVING FUN BEING A KID AGAIN !!!, 11. Uncertain Future, 12. at The Beat Museum, San Francisco: Hunky Jim Morrison of the DOORS band
Now you go get one!!
1. Castle Ruins - St Andrews Scotland, 2. Lunch, 3. ic0452.JPG, 4. oh... the blues, 5. Danica McKellar at Microsoft, 6. cup of coffee, 7. Istanbul Train Station, 8. pie ala mode on laptop on irc channel #sf-raves - dscf0334, 9. Covering Third, 10. HAVING FUN BEING A KID AGAIN !!!, 11. Uncertain Future, 12. at The Beat Museum, San Francisco: Hunky Jim Morrison of the DOORS band
Now you go get one!!
A. wins 377-372
A. wins 377-372
Originally uploaded by achmorrison.
Late Friday night game. We each got a bingo (R. with 'camions' and I had 'goodies') but R. let me win tonight.
June 12, 2008
Sync an ipod with iTunes on a linux computer!
Back in March there was some excitement when one of the WINE developers got an ipod to be recognized by iTunes running on linux with WINE. He posted his patch, but it has yet to migrate to the binary releases. So, unless you fancy patching and compiling WINE on your own, iTunes with WINE is not a great option.
I learned about VirtualBox about the same time, and it occurred to me that I could have a small Windows XP guest OS running on top of my Ubuntu install.
I installed the PUEL (non-free) version from Sun and followed the standard installation procedure. After applying a ton of XP patches, so that I could get to the point where I could use the guest XP install, I was able to download and install iTunes. I followed the instructions on the ubuntu site to get USB to work so the ipod was recognized. Here's a screenshot:
I wanted the ability to share folders between the guest and host OS and after a bit of struggling was able to get that to work (see note below). The bonus of getting the folder sharing to work was that I had to enable mouse sharing, which allowed for the "windowed" mode that you see in the screenshot.
I know that this is not the "free as in speech" way to use an ipod, but I also have a Nike+ that I would like to sync with the runnerplus website on a more regular basis. It was starting to be a pain booting into Windows to sync the ipod to have my stats saved to the website. Also, I have yet to find a linux tool that handles smart playlists of podcasts correctly. So far, this option seems to be the closest to what I've been looking for. And, I haven't seen anyone else do this in linux, that I know of. :)
Some notes:
I learned about VirtualBox about the same time, and it occurred to me that I could have a small Windows XP guest OS running on top of my Ubuntu install.
I installed the PUEL (non-free) version from Sun and followed the standard installation procedure. After applying a ton of XP patches, so that I could get to the point where I could use the guest XP install, I was able to download and install iTunes. I followed the instructions on the ubuntu site to get USB to work so the ipod was recognized. Here's a screenshot:
I wanted the ability to share folders between the guest and host OS and after a bit of struggling was able to get that to work (see note below). The bonus of getting the folder sharing to work was that I had to enable mouse sharing, which allowed for the "windowed" mode that you see in the screenshot.
I know that this is not the "free as in speech" way to use an ipod, but I also have a Nike+ that I would like to sync with the runnerplus website on a more regular basis. It was starting to be a pain booting into Windows to sync the ipod to have my stats saved to the website. Also, I have yet to find a linux tool that handles smart playlists of podcasts correctly. So far, this option seems to be the closest to what I've been looking for. And, I haven't seen anyone else do this in linux, that I know of. :)
Some notes:
- USB permissions are not persistent after reboot. Further, you need to set the permissions AFTER plugging in the ipod.
- The linux host can grab control of the sound card making the XP guest unable to play music. One way to fix this is to shutdown the program in linux that grabbed control of the sound card (if you don't need to use it) and restart the XP guest.
- Installing Guest Additions seems to be critical for folder sharing! (Some people have posted that it is optional.) In my case, I had to install it TWICE to get the folder sharing to work. (There are other people who report similar behavior.
June 06, 2008
A. wins 341-307
A. wins 341-307
Originally uploaded by achmorrison.
We each got a bingo tonight: R. with 'favorite' and I had 'joisted'. Quiet night at Fusion Brew, but I got to try the mango jelly texture for the first time.
May 24, 2008
R. wins 457-312
R. wins 457-312
Originally uploaded by achmorrison.
Another huge game for R. She had 2 bingos today: 'spitters' and 'hoagies'. I had one: 'quacked'. This may have been our first 3 bingo game.
May 23, 2008
R. wins 393-252
R. wins 393-252
Originally uploaded by achmorrison.
R. destroys me tonight with her 'z', 'x' and 'j' tiles. She gets play of the game with 'exam' and 'zax' for 97 points.
May 14, 2008
May 10, 2008
A. wins 346-292
A. wins 346-292
Originally uploaded by achmorrison.
I had all the 'S' tiles tonight. The only bingo was mine as well: 'GuESTED'. I also got to play a word with no vowels: 'CWMS'.
May 09, 2008
A. wins 336-264 (timed game)
A. wins 336-264 (timed game)
Originally uploaded by achmorrison.
At Fusion Brew for a quick game. Both of us pulled strange tiles tonight.
May 05, 2008
In one of my current scrabulous games, I had in my rack one high scoring tile (J) and six 1-point tiles (AELINS). My opponent had just laid "ZED" for 24 points, and I was down by the same score.
I played around with my tiles for awhile. I came up with "SALINE" but I missed "ALIEN" or "ALIENS". Had I played "ALIENS" and "RICES" I could have gotten 25 points (I think), but I would have spent my "S" tile on a non-bingo, which is something I try to avoid. I was really trying to come up with a 5-letter word that ends with "A" so that I could play it on the triple-word space and make "ZA". But, I couldn't find any such words ending in "A" (and I still don't think there are) so I kept looking. I've been holding the "S" for a few rounds and if I get desperate, I can make "QIS" and "SEX" but I'm really hoping for something better, plus I want that bingo.
So, I went defensive and played "LAZED" (16). I guess that's not a great defensive move, in retrospect. Actually, it's pretty bad. There are a couple of great hooks to play on the front, but at least they won't cross the triple-word-score square. I'll have to cross my fingers and hope my opponent doesn't have a "G" or "B" to lay on it and get another 10 points out of the "Z".
I played around with my tiles for awhile. I came up with "SALINE" but I missed "ALIEN" or "ALIENS". Had I played "ALIENS" and "RICES" I could have gotten 25 points (I think), but I would have spent my "S" tile on a non-bingo, which is something I try to avoid. I was really trying to come up with a 5-letter word that ends with "A" so that I could play it on the triple-word space and make "ZA". But, I couldn't find any such words ending in "A" (and I still don't think there are) so I kept looking. I've been holding the "S" for a few rounds and if I get desperate, I can make "QIS" and "SEX" but I'm really hoping for something better, plus I want that bingo.
So, I went defensive and played "LAZED" (16). I guess that's not a great defensive move, in retrospect. Actually, it's pretty bad. There are a couple of great hooks to play on the front, but at least they won't cross the triple-word-score square. I'll have to cross my fingers and hope my opponent doesn't have a "G" or "B" to lay on it and get another 10 points out of the "Z".
May 03, 2008
A. wins 329-251
A. wins 329-251
Originally uploaded by achmorrison.
Not our finet game today, but the coffee was great at Coffee Nation. I even bought a bag of decaf beans.
May 02, 2008
R. wins 391-285
R. wins 391-285
Originally uploaded by achmorrison.
R. killed tonight and got the only bingo: nailers.
April 29, 2008
Job Search Woes #3
So this afternoon (yesterday, really) I got a voice mail that I had been somewhat expecting for the last few weeks. Back when I first found out that I would not be a candidate for job in my current department I applied at a school near Renae's job. I found the opening on the school's webpage. A week after submitting my application materials, I called their HR department to find out if they had received a complete application package. (They had.) So, I waited to hear whether I would get a call from their search committee. After not hearing from them after 6 weeks, I called and asked about the status of the search. The HR rep called me back and said that they had re-evaluated their needs for next year and would probably not be hiring anyone. Today's voice mail confirmed that the decision had been finalized.
Here are some things I know:
1. I should be applying to more places.
2. I'm not entitled to an interview from ANY place to which I apply.
But, here's something else I know:
IF YOU ARE NOT GOING TO HAVE A SEARCH, YOU SHOULD NOT PLACE AN AD ON YOUR WEBSITE.
Thank you. That is all.
Here are some things I know:
1. I should be applying to more places.
2. I'm not entitled to an interview from ANY place to which I apply.
But, here's something else I know:
IF YOU ARE NOT GOING TO HAVE A SEARCH, YOU SHOULD NOT PLACE AN AD ON YOUR WEBSITE.
Thank you. That is all.
April 27, 2008
A. wins 334-298 (timed)
A. wins 334-298 (timed)
Originally uploaded by achmorrison.
I got the only bingo this time on my first move: injurer.
What happens when I send a picture to flickr as a twitter?
What happens when I send a picture to flickr as a twitter?
Originally uploaded by achmorrison.
At the Coffeehound for a round of grading.
April 25, 2008
R. wins 395-310 (timed game)
R. wins 395-310 (timed game)
Originally uploaded by achmorrison.
R. killed tonight. She had three 's' tiles, the 'j', 'x' and 'q' tiles. She got the only bingo of the game: retrains. (But, she needed a little help on it.) I had one good play: za for 61 points.
Job hunt woes #2 (but should be #23 or greater)
It's been a long six months (minus one day) since I submitted an application for a permanent job. The application that I submitted was to the university that I am currently at, so I was essentially applying to keep my own job. (That's an oversimplification, I realize, but it's not the point of this post.)
It has been a long, long, long six months. In December I had two phone interviews with the search committee (who are my colleagues). Then I waited. And waited. And waited some more. Back in March, when I couldn't wait any more, I finally asked the chair how the search was going. I was told to wait a couple more days any he would be able to tell me more. So I waited a few days, and nothing. After one week had passed, I decided to ask again. It was a Friday afternoon at 2:30 pm, before my 3:00 class when I was able to track the chair down and ask if there was an update. I was told there was an update and that it wasn't good news for me: the search committee had decided NOT to bring me on as a candidate for the position. What then followed was about 20 minutes of administrative double-speak that did nothing to explain why I had not been given an interview.
Had I not asked on that Friday, I would not have learned about not being a candidate until Monday morning, when the poster announcing the first candidate was posted in the division office.
Slowly but surely the three candidates came to campus. The first candidate came and it seemed that his schedule was purposely arranged so that I would not have any contact with him. I was not even introduced to him when we passed in the hall. It was a little surreal.
Then a week or more passed before the next two candidates came to campus. I think Spring break was mixed in there as well. The second candidate was coming on a Monday, and the poster announcing his talks was posted the week before. When I saw the name on the poster, it looked vaguely familiar. I went to my email and checked that, sure enough, I had met this candidate before: when he was on campus last May as a candidate for a visiting position that he ultimately did not get offered. Talk about insulting. The department thinks a person is not qualified to be a visiting professor, yet he can have an interview for a tenure-line job? Meanwhile, the visitor that is going on THREE YEARS in the department is not worthy of even being considered? So when that candidate was on campus, we bumped into each other in the hallway and he remembered me and was kind enough to say hi and ask how things were going.
The third and final candidate came immediately after the second candidate left. I ran into him while he was being shown my lab. No one offered to introduce him to me, so he made the initiative to introduce himself.
Meanwhile, while the interviews had been going on, my students were starting to figure out the situation. The campus is small and there are very few secrets kept in the community. More than one of my students, without my prior knowledge, contacted the department on my behalf and voiced their support of me. It was nice, but ultimately meaningless.
Also, somewhere along this time, my chair and one of my other colleagues were having trouble looking me in eye or even acknowledging my presence in the department. One of my other colleagues, who was not involved with the search even commented how the department seemed a little unfriendly or at least not at ease.
Through the grapevine I heard that an offer had been extended to the first candidate. Then, on April 17th, the colleague who was not involved in the search pointed out that the minutes of the faculty meeting announced that the physics search had been successfully completed. So the news went public before I was informed. I suppose it could be argued that I had no right to be told, but it was pretty unprofessional the way the situation was handled.
I was really hoping that the search would ultimately fail, or that for other reasons I would be granted a fourth year as a visitor (which I had been told was not out of the realm of possibility) but today in the afternoon campus mail I received a memo from the registrar and provost explaining procedures for departing faculty. This was news to me, since I had been expecting to be verbally told one way or the other whether I would be back next year. Anyway, at least now I know.
I'm trying to look at the big picture and not get too down on myself. It's really hard though, because I feel like I spent the last three years building up a research project out of next to nothing that I brought to the cusp of where I think I could squeeze out three papers from the data we took this year. My plan for the summer was to write that all up. I do suppose I can still work on it this summer, but it will not be as easy if I have to split my time between that and looking for jobs/place to live come August. I just don't want to see the last three years as being wasted, which I know they were not, but it's hard to put my finger on what it was about my time here that I have to show future search committees.
I thought I had learned that I was right for a liberal arts school and that a liberal arts school was right for me. Now I have to consider other options in the short term. I never thought that I was entitled to the position that I applied for. I guess I made the mistake of believing that I had earned the respect of getting an interview for it. I know that these sorts of decisions happen all the time at colleges and universities around the country, but that doesn't make it any easier on me.
The last visitor that we had in our department warned me before he left to not trust anyone in the department. I did not believe him, because I thought that he was just saying that because he left on not-so-good terms with a few of the people in the department. I now see that you can get along with people you work with and still not trust them. So I have some advice for the visitor(s) that come after me at this institution: don't trust anyone in the department if you are a visitor. And, anyone that you find that is not in the department that you CAN trust, will ultimately not be able to help you.
It has been a long, long, long six months. In December I had two phone interviews with the search committee (who are my colleagues). Then I waited. And waited. And waited some more. Back in March, when I couldn't wait any more, I finally asked the chair how the search was going. I was told to wait a couple more days any he would be able to tell me more. So I waited a few days, and nothing. After one week had passed, I decided to ask again. It was a Friday afternoon at 2:30 pm, before my 3:00 class when I was able to track the chair down and ask if there was an update. I was told there was an update and that it wasn't good news for me: the search committee had decided NOT to bring me on as a candidate for the position. What then followed was about 20 minutes of administrative double-speak that did nothing to explain why I had not been given an interview.
Had I not asked on that Friday, I would not have learned about not being a candidate until Monday morning, when the poster announcing the first candidate was posted in the division office.
Slowly but surely the three candidates came to campus. The first candidate came and it seemed that his schedule was purposely arranged so that I would not have any contact with him. I was not even introduced to him when we passed in the hall. It was a little surreal.
Then a week or more passed before the next two candidates came to campus. I think Spring break was mixed in there as well. The second candidate was coming on a Monday, and the poster announcing his talks was posted the week before. When I saw the name on the poster, it looked vaguely familiar. I went to my email and checked that, sure enough, I had met this candidate before: when he was on campus last May as a candidate for a visiting position that he ultimately did not get offered. Talk about insulting. The department thinks a person is not qualified to be a visiting professor, yet he can have an interview for a tenure-line job? Meanwhile, the visitor that is going on THREE YEARS in the department is not worthy of even being considered? So when that candidate was on campus, we bumped into each other in the hallway and he remembered me and was kind enough to say hi and ask how things were going.
The third and final candidate came immediately after the second candidate left. I ran into him while he was being shown my lab. No one offered to introduce him to me, so he made the initiative to introduce himself.
Meanwhile, while the interviews had been going on, my students were starting to figure out the situation. The campus is small and there are very few secrets kept in the community. More than one of my students, without my prior knowledge, contacted the department on my behalf and voiced their support of me. It was nice, but ultimately meaningless.
Also, somewhere along this time, my chair and one of my other colleagues were having trouble looking me in eye or even acknowledging my presence in the department. One of my other colleagues, who was not involved with the search even commented how the department seemed a little unfriendly or at least not at ease.
Through the grapevine I heard that an offer had been extended to the first candidate. Then, on April 17th, the colleague who was not involved in the search pointed out that the minutes of the faculty meeting announced that the physics search had been successfully completed. So the news went public before I was informed. I suppose it could be argued that I had no right to be told, but it was pretty unprofessional the way the situation was handled.
I was really hoping that the search would ultimately fail, or that for other reasons I would be granted a fourth year as a visitor (which I had been told was not out of the realm of possibility) but today in the afternoon campus mail I received a memo from the registrar and provost explaining procedures for departing faculty. This was news to me, since I had been expecting to be verbally told one way or the other whether I would be back next year. Anyway, at least now I know.
I'm trying to look at the big picture and not get too down on myself. It's really hard though, because I feel like I spent the last three years building up a research project out of next to nothing that I brought to the cusp of where I think I could squeeze out three papers from the data we took this year. My plan for the summer was to write that all up. I do suppose I can still work on it this summer, but it will not be as easy if I have to split my time between that and looking for jobs/place to live come August. I just don't want to see the last three years as being wasted, which I know they were not, but it's hard to put my finger on what it was about my time here that I have to show future search committees.
I thought I had learned that I was right for a liberal arts school and that a liberal arts school was right for me. Now I have to consider other options in the short term. I never thought that I was entitled to the position that I applied for. I guess I made the mistake of believing that I had earned the respect of getting an interview for it. I know that these sorts of decisions happen all the time at colleges and universities around the country, but that doesn't make it any easier on me.
The last visitor that we had in our department warned me before he left to not trust anyone in the department. I did not believe him, because I thought that he was just saying that because he left on not-so-good terms with a few of the people in the department. I now see that you can get along with people you work with and still not trust them. So I have some advice for the visitor(s) that come after me at this institution: don't trust anyone in the department if you are a visitor. And, anyone that you find that is not in the department that you CAN trust, will ultimately not be able to help you.
April 23, 2008
MediaPlayerConnectivity :: Firefox Add-ons
Do you subscribe to Ubuntu Forums about some hacks for getting the streaming audio and video to work, but yesterday someone posted that the streaming was now working with no strange workarounds needed.
I installed the MediaPlayerConnectivity Firefox Add-ons in my browser of choice, which is currently Flock I logged onto MLB.com and chose the Cubs/Rockies game and seconds later was listening to the sweet play-by-play of Pat and Ron.
Go Cubs!
I installed the MediaPlayerConnectivity Firefox Add-ons in my browser of choice, which is currently Flock I logged onto MLB.com and chose the Cubs/Rockies game and seconds later was listening to the sweet play-by-play of Pat and Ron.
Go Cubs!
April 22, 2008
What does $200 get you these days?
This May our department is offering two sections of the "Sound, Music, and Hearing" class, which fill a general education requirement for Physical Science Labs for non-science majors. It's a fun class to teach because we get to play with a lot of fun toys and do a lot of neat experiments that we don't often have time to cover in the general physics labs.
The professor teaching the other section and I decided that we wanted some new resonance tubes with the water reservoir attached to a stand for looking at standing waves in a closed-open tube. The CENCO (or is it Sargent-Welch?) catalog had the best deals, but they also had the largest variety of resonance tube experiments to order. Our budget is only a few thousand dollars, and as much as we'd like to have 4 resonance tubes for the class, we decided to order one of the low cost models (the Student Resonance Apparatus) and one of the mid-range models (the CENCO Resonance Apparatus). I placed the order a week ago and recently some boxes appeared in the main office.
I opened the box and removed all the packing material. The kit was nicely packaged. All the clamps and the reservoir and rubber tube was all in a ziplock bag. The aluminum rod was taped to the cardboard tube which contained the acrylic tube. I pulled the instructions out of the bag and worked on assembling the apparatus.
Assembly was straightforward. The rod screws into the base, then the clamps are attached and the tube is slid into place. My only complaints were that the rod was not perpendicular to the base (it must have been tapped a little crookedly) and that the instructions kept referring to the "tripod". I don't know about you, but when I see the word "tripod," I instinctively think of something with three legs and not a flat base.
Here's a photo of the assembled resonance apparatus. The tube is quite long, meaning we should be able to get lots of standing waves in the tube for a large variety of tuning forks. I cheated a little bit with the photo by choosing an angle that does not draw attention to the lean of the rod. One of the features that was kind of nice about this apparatus is that the bottom of the tube has a peg which fits into a small hole in the base to keep the tube well positioned. Also, this apparatus includes a clamp for holding a tuning fork above the resonance tube. The clamp is just a right angle clamp, which was a little disappointing that it wasn't anything more specialized, but it will be interesting to see if the clamp works well to hold the tuning fork while the fork is vibrating.
After setting up the mid-range model, I unpacked the economy model. The contents of the shipping box are shown in the following photo.
It may be hard to tell from the photo, but there was an excessive amount of packaging for this kit. All of the pictured components were in a single box stuffed with packing paper. The base and the tube/rod came in separate boxes. And the bag with all of the clamps and reservoir were in a plastic bag, which was so tightly taped shut that I had to destroy the bag just to free its contents. (On Earth Day, of all days...)
After I made it through all of the layers of packaging, assembly of the economy model was as easy as the mid-range model. The tube is held to the rod by a test tube clamp and there is no clamp for the tuning fork.
The economy model uses what is essentially a large plastic cup (complete with the SOLO logo on the bottom) for the water reservoir. One wonders how much abuse the reservoir will be able to stand. I suppose that if it is damaged, replacement would not be too difficult or costly.
The economy model does not have a peg on the bottom to help keep the tube in place on the base. like the mid-range model does.
Also, the economy model is significantly (~50%) shorter.
Here is a photo of the two models side-by-side for comparison:
You can easily see the difference in the height of the two. Also, the lean of the longer tube is more apparent when comparing the two.
The real question is how do the two compare in terms of using them to do experiments. I haven't had a chance to try them out yet, but I have made some observations from putting them together. The real question is: What do you get by spending the extra $200 to go from the economy model to the mid-range model?
From what I have seen you get the following benefits:
The professor teaching the other section and I decided that we wanted some new resonance tubes with the water reservoir attached to a stand for looking at standing waves in a closed-open tube. The CENCO (or is it Sargent-Welch?) catalog had the best deals, but they also had the largest variety of resonance tube experiments to order. Our budget is only a few thousand dollars, and as much as we'd like to have 4 resonance tubes for the class, we decided to order one of the low cost models (the Student Resonance Apparatus) and one of the mid-range models (the CENCO Resonance Apparatus). I placed the order a week ago and recently some boxes appeared in the main office.
I opened the box and removed all the packing material. The kit was nicely packaged. All the clamps and the reservoir and rubber tube was all in a ziplock bag. The aluminum rod was taped to the cardboard tube which contained the acrylic tube. I pulled the instructions out of the bag and worked on assembling the apparatus.
Assembly was straightforward. The rod screws into the base, then the clamps are attached and the tube is slid into place. My only complaints were that the rod was not perpendicular to the base (it must have been tapped a little crookedly) and that the instructions kept referring to the "tripod". I don't know about you, but when I see the word "tripod," I instinctively think of something with three legs and not a flat base.
Here's a photo of the assembled resonance apparatus. The tube is quite long, meaning we should be able to get lots of standing waves in the tube for a large variety of tuning forks. I cheated a little bit with the photo by choosing an angle that does not draw attention to the lean of the rod. One of the features that was kind of nice about this apparatus is that the bottom of the tube has a peg which fits into a small hole in the base to keep the tube well positioned. Also, this apparatus includes a clamp for holding a tuning fork above the resonance tube. The clamp is just a right angle clamp, which was a little disappointing that it wasn't anything more specialized, but it will be interesting to see if the clamp works well to hold the tuning fork while the fork is vibrating.
After setting up the mid-range model, I unpacked the economy model. The contents of the shipping box are shown in the following photo.
It may be hard to tell from the photo, but there was an excessive amount of packaging for this kit. All of the pictured components were in a single box stuffed with packing paper. The base and the tube/rod came in separate boxes. And the bag with all of the clamps and reservoir were in a plastic bag, which was so tightly taped shut that I had to destroy the bag just to free its contents. (On Earth Day, of all days...)
After I made it through all of the layers of packaging, assembly of the economy model was as easy as the mid-range model. The tube is held to the rod by a test tube clamp and there is no clamp for the tuning fork.
The economy model uses what is essentially a large plastic cup (complete with the SOLO logo on the bottom) for the water reservoir. One wonders how much abuse the reservoir will be able to stand. I suppose that if it is damaged, replacement would not be too difficult or costly.
The economy model does not have a peg on the bottom to help keep the tube in place on the base. like the mid-range model does.
Also, the economy model is significantly (~50%) shorter.
Here is a photo of the two models side-by-side for comparison:
You can easily see the difference in the height of the two. Also, the lean of the longer tube is more apparent when comparing the two.
The real question is how do the two compare in terms of using them to do experiments. I haven't had a chance to try them out yet, but I have made some observations from putting them together. The real question is: What do you get by spending the extra $200 to go from the economy model to the mid-range model?
From what I have seen you get the following benefits:
- Longer tube, meaning a wider range of frequencies to work with.
- Sturdier water reservoir.
- Peg in the base to better hold the tube in the apparatus
- Clamp to hold the tuning fork on the rod
- The machining of the hose connections is clearly of a higher quality. (Need closeup photo to show.)
- Shorter tube means experiments could potentially be done on the lab table, instead of on floor.
- Less expensive components means lower costs for maintenance.
- The smaller size may be easier to store.
April 20, 2008
R. wins 334-298
R. wins 334-298
Originally uploaded by achmorrison.
We played with the travel version today at Starbucks. There was a guy talking to himself for the first part of the game
April 19, 2008
In my Saturday morning browsing, I stumbled onto a great summary of why Twitter is actually useful and worth signing up for. I've been twittering for a week now, and I have to admit that I quickly got addicted to it. I doubt that I will be getting or sending twitters that drag me into a bar for drinks anytime in the near future, but there may be other situations where I make connections with people I would otherwise have missed.
April 18, 2008
April 12, 2008
The John Wesley Powell Research Conference was today on campus. Three of my students showed off their stuff. All in all, everything was pretty good. There were fewer entries this year, which was kind of good, I think. Last year it was way too crowded at the poster sessions and there were too many oral presentations to choose from.
April 11, 2008
R. wins: 343-328
R. wins: 343-328
Originally uploaded by achmorrison.
We each got a bingo tonight. I had 'joshing' and R. had 'duckier'.
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March 29, 2008
R. wins 383-281
R. wins 383-281
Originally uploaded by achmorrison.
This game was played the weekend before Easter. Renae wom big time.
R. wins 342-330
R. wins 342-330
Originally uploaded by achmorrison.
R. won this game because she had the 'q', 'x', 'z', 'j', three 's' tiles and a little help from a friend. Two bingos: broiLeD and festers.
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