Late November Update

I very much enjoyed seeing and talking with so many of you last Thursday. I slipped into the routine of being at Ridge so easily that I drove right past the visitor parking spots and was almost at my old spot before I remembered my new status. At least I did not go to the main office three time to check my mail box as I did on my last visit.

I am glad to see most of you are having rewarding senior years and most of you have not yet shut down the learning process.

I was very impressed by the number of juniors at the Physics Club meeting. The club has a solid future. I conclude that this is a very positive reflection on the new advisor and club officers.

I hope that many of you will participate in the New jersey Physics Olympics. It's a great combination of physics, engineering, craftsmanship, teamwork, camaraderie, and fun.

Here is a link about a contest some of you interested in the environment and media should consider: pearson@communications.pearsonschool.net

I have finished cutting away most of the rotted wood in the north end of my barn; capping the fieldstone foundation with reinforced concrete; installing and anchoring sill plates for two thirds of it and getting studs and sheathing in for a quarter of it. The rest should be easy, but won't be for one reason or another. After that,its on to reinforcing posts and joists and then the south wall sill. In the meantime brake pads, generator ( on order), transfer switch also on order), and trying to get approval for the new septic. Then I can start on the house's carpentry problems. Ah retirement

I spent a few hours working at my old scout camp on Friday and Saturday. A fellow veteran camp volunteer cuts up our fallen trees into 18" lengths and then hand splits these lengths with an 8 pound mall. In about two hours of splitting before he went to work Thursday, he created a pile about 6' high and 8' across. A pretty handy guy to have around a camp.

In physics, the big excitement is neutrinos apparently going faster than the speed of light in a vacuum. I'll wait a little longer for the dust to settle and the data to be confirmed before I try to revamp my understanding of a limiting speed in the universe.

I wish all of you a very Happy Thanksgiving (even you Elena and even Zach Halpern) and of course including my alumni ( I have no former students [Hi Amber, Allie, Anshul, Alex[es], and Ashley and Zachs - sorry about you guys not at the start or end of the alphabet]). Remember how much you have to be thankful for and try to spend time with people to whom you really matter.

Snowstorm, Halloween, and Recommendations

1) Last Saturday the hill towns around here including Ashfield got about 20 " of snow. However, because it started as snow and it was breezy, the trees accumulated little extra weight and there was almost no damage. Our lives have been pretty much normal except for gas station lines. The nearby towns in the valleys where the storm started as sleet and wet snow sustained lots of damage, probably worse than Basking Ridge, and power won't be back in some cases until Friday. The loss of power has so much effect on us that it reminds just how dependent on electricity and electric utilities we are.

It's a shame that so many trees will be lost as a result of the storm.

2) Yesterday was Halloween. The town shuts down main street at dusk and nearly all the kids in town and the associated parents and other adults go down the street in costume, trick or treating and having a great time. My wife and I went down to see the event, and walked around carrying a candle lit Jack o Lantern. It was nice to see so many people exhibiting such good spirits, but I do miss Halloween at Ridge

3) Everyone for whom I am writing recommendations should have received an email with the following message. Pay attention to the message and email me if you did not get it.

"Folks,

All rec letters with due dates of 11/1 or earlier went out in the last two weeks. This covers 30 of you. In fact, if you had a due date of 11/1 or earlier, all your recs with due dates before 12/16 should have gone out. If the colleges haven't received them by 11/8, let me know. DO NOT count on the Common Application site to tell you. I have heard that it only tracks electronically submitted recs.


If you had early due dates I WILL NOT SEND OUT THE LATER THAN 12/15 due date letters UNTIL I HEAR FROM YOU!!!!!!!!


Good luck and do have the consideration to keep me posted.


Dr. Cherdack"