Airport Security

With all the holiday travels, airport security has been a favorite of the news lately, so I thought I should take a stab at it. Well, maybe I should not stab it lest people think I'm up to no good. And being bad is not the goal; the goal is to comment on a curious topic.

Snow Driving

Based on my heating bill, winter is officially here. Another leading indicator is all the snow in the ground; last week it snowed quite a lot. I do not know exactly how much; however, from various unreliable sources, I have gathered at least 6 inches. It is hard to tell because, up here, the snow is cleared very quickly from the roads. A good thing, I suppose, unless you would like to drive on snow -- which I did.

Little Turtles in the Dark

Some of you might be aware of a challenge little turtles face when, after hatching from their eggs on the beach, they try to make their way to the sea. The classic challenge is getting past the seagulls: An army of little turtles rushing to the sea as these big white birds swoop down, turn them on their tiny carapace, and end their short, short lives. It used to be the case little turtles had little to worry about at night; however, lately the little turtles face a new night challenge: shiny structures near beaches. See, little turtles have it in their minds that shiny equals sea; therefore, instead of going to the sea (normally the shiny thing under a full moon night) they rush in the opposite direction toward the shiny, shinny buildings. The point is this: Not having light where, or when you expect it can be very, very disorienting.

Making my Bed

Ever since I arrived in Wisconsin, I set the goal; I even wrote it down in my "to do list" -- devotional, read news, work out, write journal, make bed. Ideally, I would wake up in the morning, have breakfast, get ready for work, and, at some point in between, make my bed. However, for a long time after arriving here, I did not have a bed; if I did not have one, how was I supposed to make my bed? Then I realized a fallacy in that question: If I already had one, why would I want to make a bed, unless I wanted two?

The Mysterious Dash

Moving to a new place requires learning a new language, always. When I came from Cuba to the United States it was pretty obvious: While in Cuba I spoke Spanish, in the United States I needed to learn how to speak English. However, every next place -- though it might share the same language as the previous -- has its own jargon, idioms, and acronyms. English was just my second language.

MyGoals

After almost a month in Wisconsin, I am not doing quite as much as I would want. Unlike college, there is simply not enough time, or energy, to be as spontaneous. Faced with the fact that I cannot do everything, I am obliged to prioritize. As a result I must do a better job of setting goals.

Cooking Work

Today, my roommate and I cooked some rice and beans; well, I did the cooking and I messed up. The rice was a total failure -- sticky and bland. Though I prepared the beans in the wrong order -- added the water, then the beans, then the peppers and the onions and the rest of the seasonings -- they still turned out pretty good (it is hard to mess up bean). The combination was, well, edible. We ate the food while watching an episode of Leverage, an old tradition that started with Boston Legal last summer. A note on the cooking, most of the time it turns out well -- especially when my roommate does it -- but occasionally we do not get optimal results when trying something new. You know, there is always a learning curve.

Sustainable Brewing

Milwaukee is well known for one thing, beer. They take that stuff seriously here; needless to say their professional baseball team is name "The Brewers". They do all kinds of brewing here -- commercial brewing, home brewing, micro brewing, craft brewing -- if it is brewed, you'll likely find it in Milwaukee. In fact, they love beer so much in this area they have even come up with a new type of brewing: Sustainable Brewing.

Spaghetti Connections

Today I had an awesome revelation as I was cooking spaghetti. While I was heating water, I began to observe the bubbles that began to form at the bottom of the pan, which got me thinking about buoyancy, surface tension, and the implications for heat transfer. I know what you are thinking; but bear with me, it all links to my work.

Final Exams Never End

No internet at home yet; however, thanks to the generous free wi-fi from the local Caribou Cafe, I get to update my blog (I hope the free advertising makes up for not buying their coffee while I use their wi-fi).

The drive from Miami to Waukesha was completed without any problems (any major); there was a minor one in Pittsburgh, but more on that later. The trip started Friday morning and culminated Wednesday afternoon, July 7th, at 2 pm; as opposed to initial expectations I did most of the driving, including all the mayor cities -- Washington, Chicago, and Pittsburgh.

Moving On

Tomorrow I start driving up to Wisconsin. This will be, I believe, the fifth road trip I do with my parents (previously two to Maryland, one to New York, and one from New York City to Niagara's Falls). For the most part these are pretty enjoyable, except when my dad runs over little deers on the road; we get to have a good family time and talk about things you only get to share in a road trip.

Fits with the Honda

As I mentioned in the previous post, I bought my first car. I started by researching and narrowing my options based on two criteria: gas mileage and price. That placed hybrids out of the question because, though they do well in the first category, they are not too friendly with the greens in the pocket. Next, I went to a few dealers to see what they offered and to negotiate a price. After about two weeks in this process, I bought the car last Thursday and my dad drove it home. My dad had to drive it home because I bought a car I could not drive.

Up to Down in Miami

If there is a single event that has defined my stay in Miami, since I returned from Duke, it has been surgery. I needed a simple procedure called tympanomastoidectomy (I hope I spelled that right); or, in simpler terms, I needed to close a hole in my ear that was not supposed to be there. If you ask me how it felt, I would not be able to tell you much. From my perspective the procedure was simple enough: I went to the hospital and signed all the paperwork (papers that explained what would happen in case of certain complications such as "in case of death...";just kidding); Then a nurse took my vital signs; the anesthesiologist applied the anesthetics; then I remember explaining to my dad what each of the...; ...then I woke up in another room with a cast over my ear -- apparently 2 hours had passed.

Intro

I supposed is about time I get writing; I have been meaning to start this blog ever since I graduated (May 14), but I keep putting it off. Since I'll start working pretty soon, I figured my window of opportunity to get it started was quickly closing.