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.