What did the baby ghost eat for dinner? A boo-loney sandwich!

Why do mummies have trouble keeping friends? They're so wrapped up in themselves.

It's Halloween and this woman has nothing to wear. She puts a sheet over her and sticks horns on it and goes to work. A co-worker asks her what she is dressed as. She replies, "Bull Sheet".

Happy Halloween!

This morning started off interesting. I woke up at 6 a.m. to study for my test (which went well, thank you). I heard sirens. I heard a helicopter land nearby (Life Flight). I heard more helicopters hovering above my house. There was a small plane circling overhead. The dogs kept barking at the helicopters (what a threat!). Finally, I went outside to make sure one of my neighbor's houses wasn't burning down or something. A couple other people were outside, so I asked what was going on. One guy said "Well, those are news helicopters, go turn on the news!" So, I went inside, to see my neighborhood live on t.v. Some guy in a car crashed through a few fences and ended up in a swimming pool and I watched live on t.v. everything that was happening a few blocks away. There's a picture here.

Irwin arrived safely this morning. He decided he'd rather have a nap than lunch with me (dissed!). But I'm sure we'll have fun the rest of his weekend visit.

Irwin finally gave into peer pressure and began his own blog. He's right, English teachers from Lakewood, NJ are falling off their chairs. I've been such a bad influence, he started reading regularly after I forced some books on him, and now he's writing!

I got a really good night's sleep last night for the first time since before Greece, I think. 9 hours. Solid, uninterupted. I think it helps to have the window open (now that it is cool enough to leave the windows open), something about fresh air makes me sleep better.

Work has picked up again. Let's see if I can get everything done in a mad rush so that in two weeks I won't have anything to do again. Hurry up and wait, that's my motto.

As for homework, Jen and I are about 25% through our fourth massive astrodynamics homework assignment (this one we are allowed to work in pairs, not that it makes the assignment much easier, but I think it reduces the amount of grading the professor has to do). When we finish this one we are moving onto massive assignment number 5. And somewhere in there we need to fit in our class project (I consider each of these assignments as time consuming as a class project, so I can only imagine how long that will take!). Tomorrow I have a test in finite element methods. I actually feel kind of prepared for it. I need to study for about one more hour, if I can squeeze it in.

Yesterday, through random coincidence, both the lawn service (ok, I broke down and paid someone to mow my lawn for a change this month) and the cleaning lady came yesterday. Its so nice coming home after a long day to a spotless house and a groomed lawn. The only thing that would've been better is dinner on the stove and a glass of wine waiting. I need a house-husband so every day is like that.

Once again, my professor managed to crack me up in class this morning. About halfway through class, he started talking about our exam on Thursday. He said the first question was going to be a really simple question that we should all know about boundary conditions, much like a similar homework problem.

Then his eyes got all beady. He turned out the lights and he shut the door. He said "If you don't get this all right, I am going to be very very angry with you... [silence]... isn't someone going to ask me how angry?" (a quiet student perks up with "how angry?") Then he pulls a ghost out of a plastic bag and says "Yell at the ghost!" (So we did). And the ghost lit up and shook and made earie noises. Then the professor said "I will be angrier than this ghost!" How random!

Sarah and I did our pitches yesterday. They both went well. We got our raises and promotions. And then life goes back to the usual routine...

I am feeling particularly wordy today. Or erudite (which is how my mom likes to describe my journal).

A giant lightening rod

Sailing this weekend was fun, though short-lived. After waiting for one thunderstorm cell to pass, we hit the water. The first race was supposed to be a windward/leeward (and repeat) course. Except right after we finished the first winward leg, the wind shifted 180 degrees! So it was windward-windward-leeward-windward. Very weird. But ok, cause the windward legs are way more fun for me. And we won first place by a huge margin! That was cool too. The next race was a little less eventful (and we settled into 4th place, making us tied for second, giving us a chance at first place if we did well on the third race).

The weather was definitely turning bad again as we started the third race. I nervously pointed out a huge lightening bolt in the South Shore Harbour area to my skipper ("Did you see that lightening bolt?"), and he snapped "No! I'm watching the boat in front of us, we're catching up! We can win this!" (I teased him about his response a great deal after we were safely ashore). Anyway, as if on cue, another large lightening bolt struck dangerously close (a mast is, after all, a big lightening rod). At this point the entire fleet makes sharp right turns and races back to the dock. That ended that regatta!

Rest of the weekend

I tried to spend as much of the weekend as possible winding down. I took about 2/3s of the drivers' safety class. I watched t.v. I got my hair trimmed. I went over to Jen's house to work on homework (another monster astrodynamics assignment). I went shopping to buy new black shoes (I decided my sandals weren't going to cut it for my intern pitch). I was very happy with the shoes at the store, but the little pair of stockings they gave me must've been thicker than the ones I'm wearing now, because the shoes are a little loose, which is bothering me. And, I only walked around on the store's carpet, and I didn't notice how much of a click-clack sound they make when they hit the floor (which always brings back memories of school teachers walking down the hall). Oh well, too late now, at least they were only $30. I am enjoying the opportunity to wear one of the dresses I bought in Switzerland that has spent the last two years collecting dust in the back of my closet.

Red ski jackets

Cari's photos are cracking me up, because in almost all of them she is wearing a bright red ski jacket. This makes me laugh because it reminds me of Karen's and my first trip (Iceland, Scotland, Ireland) sophomore year. This was before either of us were ultra-confident about European traveling. Anyway, I brought along my only winter coat at the time, my bright red puffy ski jacket. Karen made fun of me the entire trip because she thought I was making us appear to be a target for all the scam artists that prey on American tourists, because my ski jacket made me stand out like a sore thumb compared to everyone else in more stylish winter attire. Of course, this is before we both realized that no matter what we were wearing, everyone would know we were American (accept when we go to Greece and get asked if we're Italian, German, Spanish, or Canadian first).

I read this month's Outside magazine last night. It was filled with about a billion exotic places to go skiing. Ok, maybe about 10. I've been to two of them (Andermatt, Switzerland & Whistler, B.C.). That leaves me a lot more to go. Chile seemed particularly tempting (but since its in South America, its ski season is now winding to a close). I think now that October has rolled around I must be getting in the mood for the ski season. Which is too bad, because I don't plan on taking as many trips this winter as I did last winter. But maybe I will. Anyway, the point of this little ramble is that I am currently picturing myself on a clear sunny day, with puffy clouds, crisp air, and fresh powder, cruising down the mountain. Too bad its 90 degrees and flat here in Houston.

But I will be doing some cruising. Or sailing, at least, this weekend. The Clear Lake Sailing Club is hosting an all-weekend "Waiting for the Great Pumpkin" regatta, which will consume my Saturday and half of Sunday. I'm looking forward to it, because I haven't been sailing in over a month now (darned school interfering with my fun!). In between sailing and sleeping, I'm going to attempt to do some chores around the house, study for my finite elements test, and take drivers' safety. Oh, and go shopping. I need new black shoes.

Aren't I an exciting person?

I did a thing I have never done before I test. All the way through college I was a good little girl. And then last night I had a beer (or two) before I went to my astrodynamics test. I think I did ok on it. It wasn't difficult, but there was one question which I think I may have messed up, at least half of it, I'm still not sure though (it actually lead to a lunch discussion - basically, which requires more launch velocity, a parabolic 300 x 500 km orbit, or a circular 400 km orbit? I said the first, but after the test, I think I convinced myself that they are equal).

I'm starting to feel a little ill, I hope it will go away. It seems like everyone around me is sick. I just have a few more updates to make on my intern pitch, I'm glad that's almost over.

Did I mention yet that Heather and her fiance offed and eloped? So congrats! (I don't think they actually read my journal, but..) I'm glad they had the wedding they wanted, but I was holding out for their wedding to be the first one in my peer group that I got to attend. Sarah is always getting to go off to weddings, and they are people I know, but I'm not close enough with them to actually get an invite. I've never had a person that I considered a relatively good friend that is my age get married. Well, Charu got married, but she got married in India and didn't invite any of us Americans (and now she's disappeared off the planet anyway). And now Heather eloped. I hope this isn't a trend. Karen, you better have a huge wedding!

Sarah posted some details of our trip to Greece here.

I have a test in my astrodynamics class tonight that I am totally not ready for. I've done some studying, but not really enough. I was hoping to squeeze some in right before class this evening, but I realized I am double-booked with the post-season sailing party that I promised to attend tonight (inconveniently it is at the exact same time as my class). I'm not really sure how its all going to work out, but I think I am going to go to the party for like 45 minutes and then rush over to class (I e-mailed the prof about arriving for the exam a little late, since some students are taking it a whole week late, but he never wrote me back. If it wasn't for something so frivolous as a party, I would probably send him another message to his work e-mail, but it is frivolous, so I can't, which really frustrates me).

When I mentioned that I hoped my life would settle down soon, Nick told me he thought my life was pretty steady state. Not steady state calm, just a steady state of constant busy-ness. I wonder how I get myself to this point. But I am really looking forward to December. After December 5, I have no class, I have no trips planned, for a full month and a half. Until then, I just need to close my eyes and picture Santorini, I guess...

Well, its been a little whirlwind since I've gotten back. I've been working obsessively on my intern pitch (read Sarah's entry to understand the importance). This of course kept me at work later than usual last night. Then, I had some last minute homework to do before class this morning. After class, I rushed back to work to put the finishing touches on the pitch (which I'm practicing this afternoon). I have volleyball from 8-10 tonight. And I have an astrodynamics test tomorrow evening which I haven't studied for yet.

Let's see, on top of all that, my lawn needs to get mowed desperately. I have to find 6 hours to take the online drivers' safety class before the end of the month. I'm spending all weekend sailing (I know, poor tortured me) in the Waiting for the Great Pumpkin Regatta. And then I have a test in my other class next Thursday (more difficult), and Irwin's coming next week. The following weekend I am planning on going to D.C. This leaves me with absolutely no time at home at all.

I'm trying to remember the picturesque sunsets in Santorini I experienced less than a week ago. What a fabulous trip!

Greetings from the gorgious Greek island of Santorini!

We are about to go watch the sunset over the island cliffs and the Aegean Sea. Then we will eat some excellent Greek food, inlcuding the most important food groups in my life: olives, feta cheese, and tomatoes.

Yesterday was the whirlwind tour of Athens. The city employees decided to take a day off from their strike and so the historical sites were all open, the public transportation was running, etc. (they were striking all last week, and it looks like all next week too). So, I stood on the Acropolis. I walked through the Ancient Agora. I ate souvlaki and dolmades (grape leaves). I watched the people.

We're going to stay here for a few days, enjoying the volcano, the hot springs and the beaches. Then maybe the high monstaries of Meteora back on the mainland. Then home on Sunday.

Its wonderful!

I had a very early morning today and very little sleep. Hopefully this will only help fascilitate me sleeping on my little hop over the Pond. I am oh so excited to go to Greece. Though, I am a little worried that currently taxi drivers, doctors, teachers, the coast guard, police and tourist workers all appear to be on strike, though theoretically it should be over before we get there.

Let's see, last night, I went to dinner with a group of World Space Week people and Lance Bass (member of the pop group *NSync, for all you old fogies who have no clue what I'm talking about). It was fun. It was even more fun to meet all the people who have also been working on World Space Week and are just in town for a few days.

Anyway, there was something about Lance that really reminded me of my little brother, Nick. I kept thinking they looked alike, so I kept staring at him, and he probably thinks it was because he was a celebrity, but it was really me trying to figure out why I thought he looked like Nick. Because you wouldn't see it if you just looked at his picture on album covers or whatever. I concluded that they have the same face shape, and they kind of carried themselves in the same way, and my brother used to have that funky frosted hair style too. Anyway, isn't it enheartening to know, Nick, if you had any music talent, you could get into a boy band.

This morning, I took George to the airport at 4 a.m. Ug.

Now, off to Greece. I changed my little weather "pixie" to have the weather in Athens, so you can watch how perfect it is for me. My cell phone will work over there if you need me, but, at $1.25/minute, you better need me BAD.



Last time, when I left for Scotland, I left Scottish poetry on my web site. Now, you'd think with epic poems like the Illiad and all, I'd have tons of material. But there aren't really any lines from that stuck in my head. So I picked this one (which is actually the last stanza of the poem), that's not really Greek at all, but bonus points if you remember the relevence:

Attic shape! fair attitude! with brede
Of marble men and maidens overwrought,
With forest branches and the trodden weed;
Thou, silent form! dost tease us out of thought
As doth eternity: Cold Pastoral!
When old age shall this generation waste,
Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe
Than ours, a friend to man, to whom thou say'st,
'Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.'

Sometimes I wonder why I let my life become so busy that I actually have to make an effort to pencil sleep into my schedule.

My schedule for this week: Tuesday, drop dog off at vet, class (including commute) 9-11:30, work until 7:30, volleyball canceled, howework until 9. Wednesday, work 8 - 6:45, class from 7-9:30, homework until midnight (ok some socializing too). Thursday, class 9-1130, lunch for Jen's birthday, work until 6:30, run home to let the dogs out, go to dinner with the Space Week crowd, home by 10? Friday, drop George off at the airport (5 a.m.), work until 1:30. Get on the plane for Greece at 3:50. At work, before I leave, somehow manage to prepare a whole new set of input decks for SORT, find a (possibly significant) error in the cross range code I've been writing, and complete an outline of my intern pitch. Oh yeah, and try not to stress about the test and homework assignments I have within the first three days of returning from Greece.

One more day running around like a madwoman. Then Greece. Ah, Greece. I like to go far away for vacation. Then its impossible to think about home. There's too much mileage between you and the sources of stress. And too much new stuff to fill up your mind so that you don't think about old stuff.

Cari put up pictures of Oktoberfest. Yeh! Cari complains that I don't link to her journal often enough. Poor Cari, I bet she doesn't appreciate what a smart aleck I am! But Cari better appreciate that I'm taking her dog to the vet in the middle of my extremely busy week because two of his three annual shots actually expired last month! Tisk tisk tick, Cari.

Today has gone by in a flurry of activity. It seems that things can only go fast or slow but no where in between. I am working obsessively on my homework (actually churning and cranking, cause all the technical details are worked out, but presenting the results is turning into a real challenge). I am preparing obsessively for Lance Bass's visit as part of World Space Week. And, for a change from the last month, I have two tasks that I am making really rapid progress on, which requires churning out more and more results. And, then, I found out my intern pitch is scheduled for Oct 27. Now, I am really excited about this, because the promotion and pay raise will be excellent! However, it really couldn't come at a worse time, cause I have a bunch of stuff to do, and now I need to start working on the presentation and spend the week when I return doing practice pitches before the "big one"; and all this is crammed together cause I'll be out of town all next week.

Four more days until Greece. Of course, things are getting interesting, as Greek strikes spread. Hopefully services will return to normal on Saturday, since most of the strikes are scheduled to end on Thursday. In other news the weather on both Saturday and Sunday in Athens is forecast as "Partly Cloudy" high of 77, low of 68. Perfect!

Cari and her friends went to Oktoberfest in Munich! Her friend Will wrote an excellent description. You may remember my own experience, with Oktoberfest prompted me to write (and then delete following a few outraged responses) my famous "Three Vices" diary entry. Ah, good times. And 6 liters of beer and one German/Swedish guy all in own night, what could be better? Gosh, those drinking songs still get stuck in my head sometimes.

The weekend was pretty busy. I had yummy dinners (with meat, I've started eating it again to prepare for all the yummy lamb dishes in Greece). And I spent all Saturday sitting at my desk doing homework which I am still not finish. On impulse, I cleaned out my closet on Sunday (I can now see the floor! Yeah!). And then ran errands. Then I vegged briefly, guilty cause I had more homework. This is going to be a busy week. World Space Week (and Lance Bass's visit) is upon us. I have to keep repeating to myself (when things annoy me) "not my problem, not my problem. Greece. Greece. Greece."

I woke up this morning to another perfect day. I've been leaving the windows open and the birds were tweating happily. It was a very Disney-moment. Then I heard this slush slush slush noise. Since Apache had disobediently wormed her way onto my bed after the alarm went off the first time, I knew it wasn't her. What could it be? I wonder. It was Bennet. Drinking from the toilet. YUCK!!! I quickly scolded him and of course he looked horribly guilty. Though the thought did cross my mind to let him keeping drinking and run and get my camera phone and take one of those pictures that Cari would "appreciate" forever!

As for this weekend. My plans. Homework homework homework. The assignments are stacking up, and I have one due next week and two due during the week I'm in Greece. All need to be completed this weekend, because I don't think I'll find a lot of time during the week to do them. And I'd ask for an extension (which I think both profs would be happy to grant), but both classes all have additional midterms and homeworks scheduled the week after I return from Greece. So, if I don't do it this weekend, I'll have an even more serious backlog when I return.

Yeah for Greece!

Ok. Now that's out of my system. Hopefully in the midst of my homework frenzy, I'll also get out and enjoy the weather, and maybe see a movie, or go out to dinner, or cook myself something yummy, or finish my Scotland scrapbook or something...

Its another perfect day! How long can this last? I am only reminded of a certain time when I was living on another part of the jet stream when I was wondering how many more weeks would pass until I saw the sun again. And now, perfect. Clear, breezy. Ah. You're all going to get sick of me extolling the great weather sooner or later, I know.

Again, I can't wait to go to Greece. However, President Bush's economic policy is shrinking my travel budget on a daily basis. 1 dollar now buys 0.86 Europes. 0.86! Compare this to when I left Switzerland, when 1 US dollar bought 1.15 Euros. That's over a thirty cent loss in value. Why is this you ask? Because the President thinks that having a bad exchange rate strengthens our domestic economy, because suddenly imports are really expensive, so we are more likely to buy domestic. And our exports suddenly become more competitive internationally, because they seem cheap because the foreign money goes farther against the dollar. All of this, of course, also serves to increase the trade imbalance and potentially seriously mess with the world economy (I mean, what if other countries put into place similar protectionist policies? Then, we'd have a massive devaluation of currency on an international scale!)

And in the meantime, its making a meal that would cost $10 in the U.S. probably cost $12 in greece. And when you're on a $50 a day budget, that's an impact!

Ok, that's my rant for the day. I'm having a good day. My sims are running. I have too many volunteers for space week. I have another quick little task to do that I'm making progress on. And the weather is perfect. And my professor was funny yet again today. All is good.

The weather outside is perfect yet again. Perfect! Why can't it be like this all year?

I played hooky from volleyball last night to stay at my desk for an extra hour and half in an attempt to make progress on my homework, which is just killing me. But I think an e-mail from my T.A. this morning cleared up a lot of my problems, so I'll probably try again tonight. Well, I have to try again tonight, cause its due tomorrow morning.

This is the part that sucks about being a part-time student, because half my class all works in a lab together (and in the same lab as all our TA's work) giving them a definite advantage on finding homework assistance.

And then I get into work this morning, still frustrated with the homework assignment from hell. At the most inopportune time in the frustrated state I was in, I kind of had a disturbing conversation in which one of my co-workers (who already has a masters degree) told me that my masters degree in engineering was absolutely irrelevent to my job in engineering. And another co-worker told me I was behaving inappropriately by asking for homework help from the only other NASA person I know who took the class I'm in, because I would be interfering with his work by doing this.

This once again gave me a "why am I doing this to myself?" moment (and the question made me question why am I in this job? and why am I stressing myself out in order to get a masters? and which of the two is more important to me? and why do my job and masters have to be mutually exclusive, as they are pretty much in the same field and I made sure to only take a job that preported to be supportive of graduate studies? and wouldn't I rather be in a job that requires lots of travel and far more human interaction (hm, when did I decide not to be an airline pilot?)? and do I really want to be an engineer (I could sign up to take the foreign service exam, still..)? And do I really want to work for a big organization with stupid bureaucratic rules when I could be working for (or owning) a little flexible innovative company where I would have lots of responsibility and lots of freedom?).

So I popped in my Matrix CD, which is full of rage (Marylin Manson, Nine Inch Nails, etc.), so I could listen to it and hope that some of my rage disappates.

I need to get over these moments, because I full well intend to be doing this until at least May 2005. I am beginning to feel about as stressed out as Sarah.

But its an honor and a privledge to work for the federal government. Even though at the moment NASA seems more like a jobs program for aerospace engineers than a source of innovation and exploration. I know this is the place I need to be to be part of the manned space program. And that's why I'm here. I just need to remind myself of that occasionally.

The good news is my work has suddenly become less frustrating because I finally have a lot more direction in the project I am working on. Hopefully I will have results in the next week now. And then I will have a meeting with the people who wanted the study done, and then get even more direction on the scope of the study. And then maybe people will actually start caring about the work.

I can't wait to go to Greece. Actually, I can't wait to go to lunch where I can sit outside in this beautiful weather and tell jokes and laugh.