Not So Random Thought

When woodworking an instant of inattention or clumsiness can undo days of careful workmanship.

Five minutes of binge eating can undo a week of discipline.

 A few moments of hate or anger can wipe out years of care and love.

Physics Non Progress Report

Been doing a lot of reading of papers written at the inception of quantum mechanics from a collection " Sources of Quantum Mechanics, published by Dover. It leads off with a paper by Einstein concerning how the proper spectrum of radiation from a gas in thermal equilibrium can be derived from quantum absorption and emission. Right now I am in the midst of a paper by Bohr which seems to be an attempt to relate quantum emissions to classical electrodynamics/mechanics of charged oscillators. Trying to relate the classical emissions expected from charged oscillators to emissions, and absorption of quanta from transitions between the quantized "stationary" energy states is a tall order. I expect to have to read this paper more than once to see if Bohr achieves anything like this. I need to get through this and a few more papers before reaching Heisenberg's major paper on some of the fundamental "principles" of quantum mechanics. Wish me luck, I'll need it.

A Bit of an Obituary for a Small Creature

Yesterday our 20 year old cat died. She was officially my son's cat but she lived with us for the last nearly four years. She was quirky and  at first pretty anti-social, but after several months of adjustment she became very affectionate. Whenever she could, she would spend time in our laps or sleeping on us.

She argued with her drinking fountain,  made loud outbursts in the middle of the night, shouted for us to come upstairs and keep her company, needed special food, and lot's of attention, including frequent cleaning of the aforementioned water fountain. However all this was an okay price to pay for her warm affection, her loud purring, and the appreciation she showed for any attention we gave her. Life is simpler and quieter around here. I do miss her.

Miscellaneous Mid April Report

Haven't posted much lately because not too much blog worthy to report and our internet service makes posting painful. Not much snow or precipitation of any kind for the last several weeks. We are having a reasonably early melt out of the snow and the lack of precipitation is holding any flooding to very low levels.

Visited some family in North Carolina in march. Good to see some nice folks.

On the flights back and forth I got to see some of the development around Pittsburgh and Raleigh. It looks like sprawl is still in season, despite all its ills. More reliance on automobiles for everything, nothing within walking distance, kids needing appointments to find other kids to play with, large lots that only the landscapers get to see or use, etc.

Our local scout troop is in a rebuilding mode and we got a nice outing in, using snow shoes and a sledge, while the snow was still deep and firm.