Festivals, Visits, etc.

One thing we have up here is fall festivals and fairs. I have been to the Franklin County Fair and watched an ox pull ( they are huge, some over 6 ft high at the shoulder), to the Conway Festival of the Hills ( more mud than hills on that day), to the Ashfield Autumn Festival ( great weather) where I heard some great Celtic music, and the lower key Williamsburg Craft Fair, where I got some apple chutney to go with I don't know what, and to the Turner's Falls Pumpkin Festival where there were enough unwholesome foods being consumed to rival a major refinerey in terms of oil consumption and health effects.

I have finished getting the old rotted north sill out of my barn and now have to figure out how to replace it on the rough fieldstone foundation. Level it with mortar, pour in lots of concrete, ignore the problem and just lay some large boards down, are among the choices. Since we just got 7" of snow, fast and no water looks best right now. I've gotten most of the holes and damage to ramps from Irene fixed but I do need to lay down some paving stones. It looks like the house will have to wait for late spring for external and structural repairs except some rafter reinforcements.

I plan to visit Ridge on November 17 to, among other things, help a bit with the Physics Club's NJ Olympics team. DO NOT bring in any brownies, I am still 16 lbs over weight.

I have been writing recs like crazy and my facility for creative writing is becoming alarming. If only you guys were half as good as I say you were.

With some of you applying to a dozen and a half schools copying is worse than ever, in time, cost, and worst of all for me, keeping things straight.

I am rereading Einstein's 1916 paper on general relativity, but I need to prove some of the matrix algebra to myself rather than just accept what he's written. It's not that I think he might be wrong ( although there are some typos in this translation), its just that I don't know what it really means in terms of its effect on transforms from arbitrary reference frames to "natural coordinates" until I work out the steps.

Calculators

Going through old emails I found this one from the media center from last January:

"If any of your students are starting to wonder where their calculators have gone, they may find an answer in the Media Center. We have found:

1 TI-84 Plus Silver Edition

1 TI-84 Plus (with an Apple sticker on it)

3 TI-89 Titanium"

I don't know if they still have them, but I hope some students get connected with long lost companions though this. Again, tell your friends... it's hard to believe, but some people are benighted enough to not read this blog.

Research has its rewards.

Just got this from Mr. Heineman. Pass it along to your friends. Its about a symposium next spring but deadlines for applying etc. are NOVEMBER FIRST!

Please visit the following website for directions and forms:

http://soe.rutgers.edu/jshs

We are pleased to invite you and your school to participate in the Rutgers University Junior Science and Humanities Symposium, a science fair for high school students interested in science, mathematics, and technology research. Students who have undertaken their own scientific research, underclassmen who intend to conduct research in the future, and high school teachers are invited to attend our symposium on the campus of Rutgers University’s School of Engineering in Piscataway, NJ. This year’s Symposium takes place March 19 - 20, 2012.

High Schools of the students participating must submit the School Registration by November 1, 2011. Students who have conducted scientific research submit research papers to the competitive portion of our program. These students must submit abstracts of 200 words or less detailing their work by November 1, 2011. They then must submit full research papers of their work by January 9, 2012 (Teacher/Student Registrations and Parent/Guardian Permission forms are due on January 9, 2012 as well). Based on the research papers, our panel of judges selects up to 22 of the top students as Finalists, who are chosen to give oral presentations of their work at our symposium in March.

The judges will also select up to 50 other students as Poster Finalists, who will give poster presentation of their work at our symposium. Finalists compete for 4 expenses paid trips to the 2012 National Symposium on May 2-6, 2012, in the Washington, D.C. area, as well as Scholarships of $2,000; $1,500; or $1,000. Poster finalist compete for 1 expenses paid trip to nationals and additional prizes.

Students who have not yet conducted research or are just beginning projects are welcome to attend the symposium as observers. On the first day of the symposium (March 19, 2012), all student researchers, observers, and sponsoring teachers participate in a series of events designed to excite their interest in science. The first day will comprise concurrent presentations from researchers at Rutgers, possible site visits to local corporations that hire large numbers of scientists, and a college & career panel. At night, students will be treated to a formal dinner recognizing their scientific achievements, hear from a keynote speaker, and take part in team based math, science, and engineering challenges.

Sincerely,

Jean Patrick

Mid October Update

Wow, almost three weeks without a post. My excuse is I have been busy. It still sounds like an excuse rather than a reason. After all, how long does it take to tell what is going on in the life of someone who is retired?

In any case here is a summary of what has been going on.

1) House and other duties. i) I have been working on my barn. It needs some repairs to the sills (the pieces of wood between the foundation and the walls) . The north wall is now jacked up and I have removed the first course of siding sheathing and interior wall. Trying to figure out how level to make it and how to make it that level are taking a ridiculous amount of time.

ii) My wife's car needs repairs to the door. While she was taking a yoga class seeking inner piece [really working to retain flexible joints] some miscreant backed into her driver side rear door and drove off. She won't let me try to replace the door, I don't blame her.

Yesterday, Tuesday was a typical day. I started out writing recommendations and then moved onto replacing spark plugs in my Volvo, then to securing studs to a joist so when I jacked the joist up it would support the wall so I could remove the sill. I ran out of the lag screws I was using . My car's exhaust system had failed the day before and I had ordered the parts. The FedEx Express site said they were loaded on a truck at 7:30 AM and were heading for me, but they weren't here yet. No problem, I'll just hop on my bike ride down the hill three miles to the local hardware store (and mail that rec letter on the way). Then before I have a chance to do that the owner of a quarry a mile up the road stops by and we have a nice chat about how much and what kind of stone I need to replace what hurricane Irene took from around my barn, not to mention John McPhee and Loren Eisley and evolution. Start down to get the screws and about 100 yards from the store I remember that they are closed on Tuesdays. Well, at least I mailed the rec letter. Pedal the 3 miles and 300 feet uphill back home and still no parts. Now have to ride to Cummington Supply, 12 hilly miles away to buy the screws. On the way there at the highest point of the route, who passes me? the Fed Ex truck ten minutes later he passes me again. He has either finished delivering my parts or is about to do so, but do I go back. No, by the time I get back, fix the car, and get to Cummington, they will be closed. Besides, the sun has come out and I need the exercise.

Twenty five miles and $9 worth of hardware later. I am back home, changing into car repair clothes. From 6:15 to 8:15 I am under my car in the dark (with a portable light), in my driveway, replacing tail pipe, exhaust pipe, and two mufflers. One reason for moving was to find a big enough garage and barn so I could fix cars in a well lit, smooth floored, and possibly warm building. Maybe some day.

Got cleaned up and welcomed home my wife who spent the day sending our grandkids off to school, substitute teaching and then traveling 30 miles each way to help local League of Women voters develop their policy on public education and now cooks a light supper.

The rock arrived this morning and I spent four hours moving about an eighth of it. I wish I knew something about this stuff. I am not sure where the big rocks go in relation to small and mediums and how will I ever get grass to grow back? Any masons and landscapers out there?

Then back down to the barn basement to expose some more studs and sill.

Ahhh retirement.

2) Ridge related i) I visited New Jersey staying with friends in Glen Rock. Tuesday I drove down and got to spend some time with the current scoutmaster of Troop 15, "my troop" for the past 28 years. Wednesday was spent visiting more friends.

Thursday was the big day. Started with some minor errands including picking up many recommendation folders. Then came the physics club meeting. A great turn out and lots of energy and lots of juniors. Obviously the current officers and Mr. Lee are doing a great job. Nice presentation by Eric Wei on his work on using plasmas to treat surfaces.

It was great to see so many of you throughout the day. Even some of you I spent all year yelling at showed up. I hope none of you were bored. Please remember when visiting, you are free to leave whenever you wish. I understand that you may have other things to do besides listen to my pearls of wisdom, no matter how precious they are. It was very generous of Mr. Lee to let me use his room most of the day.

It was also nice to see the staff members I worked with, most of whom remembered my name.

After school and the last students I had dinner with several close friends on the faculty and then drove home ( 220 miles).

iii) Since then I have been sharpening my creative writing skills, writing letters of recommendation. How to not tell the whole truth and not lie is a skill I am trying to perfect.

3) Family and friends. Made a one day trip to NJ Sunday for the unveiling of my mothers footstone. Got to spend time with sisters, brothers in law, and nieces and nephews. My mother's fondest wish was to get her brood together often. Its nice that we get on so well. Maybe the distance that normally separates us helps us appreciate each other when we do get to be in one place. Maybe we are really, really nice people, me included. I'll let my students form their own opinions on that one.

In addition to trips to NJ we have had several visitors up here and we realize how lucky we are to have friends willing to travel to visit us.

4) Physics. Haven't you been reading this? Who has had time for physics? Well I have had some time. Reading articles on physics education and on general relativity and the relationship between quantum mechanics and causality. I really have to organize my reading and start writing notes. I am convinced, so far, that the fact that action is quantized and general relativity assumes infinitesimal displacements is what leads to their incompatibility. If I get to figure out what this explains I'll write a post from Sweden. Don't hold your breath.