Cycling

I managed to get some cycling in over the last several days. A typical round trip in these parts involves about 100 feet gained or lost every mile. Since its a round trip this implies a minimum of 200 feet per mile gained on the uphill parts. Thus there is a minimum average of 4% grade when climbing, and usually somewhat more, since there are some flats. On my last ride I hit a 17% grade and was barely able to keep going. When I got home, the only part of me that didn't hurt was my hair. 

I was thinking of moving to Louisiana since I hear its pretty flat down there, but the other half of the senior Cherdacks vetoed any such plans.  Just as well, flat is kind of boring.

Family, Home, and Culture

Had a great time at Passover at my sister's house. She has a wonderful set of children, children in law, and grandkids. I would have to say that my family's best talent  is the ability to pick great spouses.

I recently began working on the sills, beams, and joists of my house  and this will probably keep me pretty busy through mid May, with time out for rides, cultural activities, etc.

Speaking of cultural activities, yesterday we went to the fine arts museum in Springfield  MA. It has a small but very fine collection of paintings, well worth seeing if you are in the area. We followed this with dinner in Wethersfield, CT, a fine old town with many pre revolutionary and some fine federal period buildings. This was followed by a great concert with the Hartford Symphony playing the Dvorak Cello Concerto, and Sibelius Second Symphony. Fine and exciting performances with Gerard Schwarz conducting with his son the cello soloist. Not a bad ending to a day that started with removing forms from a concrete pad I poured on Wednesday and getting a beam up on house jacks.

Admissions, Rejections, etc.

So far I have heard from about half of you as to how you have fared in this years great college bazaar. Please let me know how you did so we can celebrate, commiserate, or ponder the the mysterious working of admissions offices together. Also, please remember that whatever happens won't change my opinion of you; I already know you much better than those college admissions people do.

Good luck to all.

Colorado Trip (Revision 1)

We just returned from Colorado early this morning ( got in at 3:00AM)  where we visited our son Daniel. He is doing his Post Doc at Colorado State University on neutrino measurements. Most of his time is devoted to developing ways to interpret the signals from instrumented targets to determine what particle reactions occurred.

While out there I did some cycling with him [ I am trying hard to believe that his choice of speed and terrain had more to do with his strength and enthusiasm and less to do with collecting my life insurance]  and without him and some hiking with Daniel, some with Jean, and some solo. Daniel lives and works in Fort Collins, a very bike friendly town, where he survives with 2 bikes and no cars. The town is pretty flat but the challenging foothills start right at the edge of town.  People are very friendly and mostly physically fit. Even casual riders often move at near 20 mph.

We spent four days in Rocky Mountain National Park hiking along trails that led to lakes or mountain tops. I felt the reduced air at 10,000 feet, moving even slower than my usual "deliberate" pace. The trails are not marked very well and with snow covering the footbed they are difficult to follow. Daniel and Jean's cousin's husband, Joe, and I spent about 3 hours last Saturday following false  tracks on Flat Top Mountain , sometimes through 8 foot deep snows, before finally locating the right trail to the summit. By then time and energy were running out so we headed home. Views were still great, but I regretted missing the top by such a wide margin. The three Cherdacks did a nice stream side walk on Sunday, the bright sun contrasting with the snows on the mountains.

Elk were plentiful and some areas were fenced in to keep the elk out and allow plants to regenerate. The elk looked pretty ragged this time of year as they shed their winter coats. Despite melting the snows, the forests and meadows looked pretty dry; this and the prematurely warm weather  are making forest fires a real danger.

Jean and I went back to the park Tuesday night and Wednesday I hiked up to the summit of Flat Top solo. I saw only 5 other people on the mountain all day. The trip was about 9 miles with about 3,000 feet of gain... not much different from a hike to major peak in the Adirondacks of New York, but the altitude had a major effect on me. I used snowshoes on Saturday, but I used crampons for much of the hike on Wednesday.


Here comes some physics. Skip it if you must, but don't tell me; I'd rather not know

Since static pressure at a point is caused by weight of fluid above that point we have

delta P/delta y  = - density of air x g ( force of gravity per kg  or 9.8 N/kg). In other words the force on a square meter ( pressure, P) declines ( thus the negative sign) by the weight of one cubic meter of air ( density x g) when every you go up ( in the positive y direction) by one meter.


Pressure P is related to the number of moles of gas per cubic meter ( n/V) by

P=n/V  R( Universal gas constant of 8.31) x T(temperature in Kelvin which was about 300)

So P = n/V x 8.31 x 300 or n/V = P/2500

Also the  density of air = (n/V) x kg mole of air and

air has a density of about .029 kg/mole. Thus we have density = n/V x .029

delta P/delta y = -(n/V)x.029 x9.8 = -(P/2500) x.029 x9.8 = -P/8772 ( Pascals/m) [ A Pascal is 1 Newton of force per square meter  of area].  The solution to the equation is
P = Pat sea level(which is 101,000 Pascals) x e ( or 2.78 the base of natural logs) ^-y ( height above sea level)/8772

or P = 101,000 Pascals e^-y/8772.

Flat Top Mountain is about 4,000 m high so the pressure on top is about
101,000 x e ^- (4000/8772) or about 63% of what it is at sea level.

The hike was great and the view were wonderful, more than 40 snow covered peaks to the north and west, some classic pyramids, others blocky, cliff seamed  piles. Deep canyons and many lakes to be seen as well.  Here are some photos from near the lakes and meadows at about 9,000 feet. The last picture is from our cabin where we stayed Wednesday.

Cliche March

March lived up to its billing as to coming in as a lion. We got about a foot of snow on Wednesday/Thursday; followed by about two inches of frozen rain/snow on Friday night/Saturday morning. This made for some great snowshoeing on Friday.  I followed a nearby trail near us that leads about 3/4 of a mile to an old disused, but still well kept, little cemetery. The last burial was about 1870 and most of the plots belong to just four families. I'll try to post a picture soon. Near the cemetery, the trail passes through some beautiful pine and hemlock groves. Just stopping looking at the snow covered trees made my short trip take well over an hour.

The other major issue in my life is Ingemar. Apparently this old Volvo thinks 300,000 miles is enough. Either some sensor or the main engine control module is malfunctioning and so far several tests have failed to uncover why it idles very lean and then quits.  I'll have to run some more tests and may have to get assistance from my wife. This will require some diplomacy on my part since she believes 21 year old cars should be forcibly retired.

In the meantime, while I love winter, warmer weather,  forecast to be starting Wednesday will make woodworking in unheated spaces and home and car repair a lot more comfortable. In the meantime 16 degrees tomorrow morning and 12 degrees for a low on Tuesday morning.

Further February Updates

We spent the  weekend before last with friends from Glen Rock visiting us here in Ashfield. We spent last Sunday evening visiting with cousins, some of whom I had not seen for thirty years. Its nice to keep in touch with folks who matter to you and get back in touch with family.


As for projects the two projects mentioned in a prior post: About three weeks ago I went with Jean when she picked out fabric for thermal shades for our 90" inch wide, cold as the dickens, north facing, kitchen window. While there, I was struck by a very pretty fabric combining flowers and wading birds. I bought a yard and built a stretcher for it and mounted about half a yard's worth. Here is an incomplete picture of it.

 I have been trying to make a frame for it, but no project goes smoothly. I decided on a pattern for the frame and had to buy new wood for it since I did not have the right thickness in the right wood. Then I found I would have to double up on the wood any way. Then I found I didn't have right router bit for the shapes I was interested in so I made the molding on one edge using a manual plane. This exerted enough pressure on a tendon sheath in my finger to cause a temporary halt to further planing. Fine, I'll use my shaper. So now I find I need to replace the shaper motor (1/3 HP 1725 rpm and  has a dead capacitor and not enough horsepower any way). Fine, I have a spare that has 1/2 HP. Fine, rewire this replacement motor so it turns the right way and can reverse if needed and then discover it cannot be made to fit the mounting. That's okay, I have another 1/2 motor that will fit. Fine, rewire this motor to get it to turn the right way and just forget about putting a reversing switch on it. Mount it. Fits very well. Oops pulley from old motor won't come off and now I see it won't fit new motor any way. Oops new pulley I bought is 1" too small. Further thought and research says I really need a 3450 rpm, 1HP not 1725 rpm motor anyway.  Good news, just got one on Ebay 5 minutes ago. Now I just have to drive out and pick it up, wire it and install it.  In the mean time I used a plane and some carving tools to make a mockup of a section of my frame design and decided I didn't like it. Back to the drawing board.


The next project is a pair of night stands. This requires using my lathe, whose motor I recently got to work by fiddling with its capacitor cut out switch, but still will need some more attention soon. I have only just begun practicing turning spindles on the lathe which is unfortunate since my design will require me to make eight spindle legs. Here are two leg patterns I sketched. I have decided to use the one on the right. Wish me luck.

End of February

While we only received about two inches of snow this past week, the end of the week were cold and windy enough to remind us that we are in New England in February.

We got to watch my youngest grandson ( he'll be seven in June - if I let him survive 'til then) from Thursday evening through Saturday night, and except for locking me out of the kitchen and having a meltdown during one dog walking episode, he was an ideal guest. Well maybe not ideal. He did beat the socks of of me in a game of Othello.

Speaking of the dog, not ours, theirs: his name is Ernie and he is a mix of Beagle and Australian Shepherd we are told, although  I am sure that a box of rocks or a small pile of gravel is somewhere in his ancestry. Ernie is the dumbest canine in the northern hemisphere. It is only my lack of travel that limits my claim of his championship of ineptitude to only one half of the earth. Call him and he runs away, sit means leap up as far as he is concerned. Anything that has any smell, preferably associated with putrefaction or at least morbidity, is infinitely attractive. For two years he has been trying to play with the three cats who share his home.
For two years this home has been a constant display of fur bearing projectiles launching themselves to high shelves and the top of the refrigerator in usually successful attempts to avoid Ernie's affections.

Come in the door, he needs to rush out, only to come barreling back in the next instant, or show up three hours later end the end of an exasperated neighbor's leash. Ernie just knows that a leash is something to be tangled in and that everyone's greatest interest in life is to wear his paw prints and rub his belly.

For two middays, I got to take this four legged intellectual disaster for  exercise and other business. He got plenty of exercise, but he saved his other functions for the house. This despite being walked three times a day. Cleanup was not pleasant.

His one outstanding virtue is that he is incredibly good natured and friendly and this has probably saved his life.

Got a little bit of work done on building interior buttresses ( short stub walls) in the loft, but I decided I need to sheath them as they are too ugly otherwise. Hope to finish it by midweek.

This weekend the Village of Deerfield commemorated a devastating attack by French and Indian raiders that nearly wiped out the village on February 29, 1704. I went to some events yesterday and a concert of music for organ and soprano at the Brick Church in Deerfield with my wife today. We then went to the Northampton Brewery for dinner only because they have Irish folk music on Sundays. The beer is something we just have to suffer through. After all this music we still listened to some operatic music on the way home. One piece among the many beautiful melodies that really captured our thoughts was the intermezzo from Mascagni's "Cavalliera Rusticana". I strongly recommend that next time you are feeling quiet and thoughtful and want something to enhance your mood, listen to this piece. Here is one link to it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSL4pPVf9rE&feature=related
I suggest you skip the visuals and just listen.


I have started two woodworking/ decorative projects and I'll discuss those in a separate post.

Early February

More like mid February, the time does fly. We spent last weekend in the White Mountains and did some modest snowshoeing and hiking. I actually needed my crampons to make the last 300 yards to the top of Black Cap Mountain ( more like a hill). The trip provided a much needed reminder of how impressive the White Mountains are, especially when the upper reaches are snow capped. We are planning a return trip in about three weeks.


Last Thursday we went to a concert of the Hartford Symphony and heard what I think was the best performance of the oft played Beethoven's Fifth I have ever heard, live or recorded. Tempi, phrasing ,volumes, etc. were well nigh perfect. The conductor was the relatively young and little known Alexander Mickelthwate. I'll look for his name in the future.


Been doing a bit of walking, snowshoeing around here, but not enough to lose an weight.  




I have fallen behind in my physics reading but will reform soon. I did help, I hope, one student now taking an electricity and magnetism course.

My computers have been dodgy lately. Two weeks ago the monitor on my desktop died. I called Samsung. They took a week to send me the shipping labels so I could return it for repair. On the other hand I sent it to Carlstadt,NJ on Friday evening and it came back repaired yesterday. That is remarkably fast service. In the meantime I relied on my old Mac laptop for email etc. While I was out, our upstairs cat decided to sleep on the keyboard and ended up hitting keys which accepted an upgrade of my old Firefox to a version that does not work on the G4 laptop. Thus for a couple of days I had to rely on my wife's Window infested laptop for communication, the horror of it still haunts me. Now I'll try to load Linux on my laptop and be done with Apple who no longer support their older products. [It seems that Steve Job was just as ruthless as Gates.]

Things have been a little slow on the home front, partly because I now suffer from trigger finger a condition where too much pressure on tendon sheaths on the fingers of my right hand make it difficult to hold and apply large forces to tools. I sketched out plans for a pair of night stands. The legs are to be round so I started practicing wood turning on a great old lathe I bought a few years ago but did not use. After a few minutes I noticed the motor was overheating, and when I shut it  down it would not restart. The obvious cause on not starting was a dead capacitor, but I am old enough to know that replacing the capacitor would only set things up for another failure. A little investigation showed the, centripetal switch, which takes the capacitor out of the winding circuit was not working. Keeping the capacitor in the circuit will overheat the motor and then burn out the capacitor. After a lot of lubrication and changing to weaker springs in the  switch and replacing the start capacitor it will new start and run coolly most, but not all the time. Why the switch needed attention at all is beyond me. It is very simple and nothing important seemed to different from what it must have looked like when new. Now its time to make the same repair on the motor of my shaper.

Last week also saw me replace the passenger side ball joint on Ingemar ( the red Volvo wagon). Ingemar passed the 300,000 mile mark on Friday and we are planning a party to celebrate soon.

I hope to give an update in less than 3 weeks next time.

Helpful Garden Hints

Are you troubled by those pesky little lawn ornaments? You can't do better than getting a couple of these gremlins to help you get rid of them. Now if only I could keep the gremlins from chewing on the furniture.

Mid January Update

I really enjoyed my visit to Ridge on Friday, seeing faculty friends and spending time with great alumni like Carly, Ashley, Sandra, Christine, Akil, Henry, and Jon. It's always nice to find out that people will spend time with you, even when they no longer have to.  It's also nice to hear how you folks are doing and to hear so much in the way intelligent thoughts and interesting activities.

Saturday was spent at the NJ Physics Olympics. We had an astonishingly large turnout comprising four teams. This says a lot about Mr. Lee and Ms Mususmeci and the club officers. We got a first in the collision free car event.  I hope this year's juniors will compete next year as well.  I got to judge the Fermi questions and I am glad to say there were no horrendously silly answers from Ridge this year.

It was a long drive home Saturday and it felt good to be back in the country.

We had a snow storm last week and two this week, but the total on the ground is well under two feet. There's still plenty for snowshoeing and I did some of that last Monday and yesterday without ever driving anywhere to do it.

Here are a couple of photos from last Friday: one of our house and one taken from about 400 feet up Hawley Road.

Maybe these photos will inspire some of you to visit.

Well back to finding a contractor for our septic system and to refreshing my understanding of sold state circuits so I can repair a receiver.

Check with Your Colleges, Visit

A few colleges have misplaced or not received recs I sent out last month. Double check to make sure they have arrived. Contact the colleges directly NOT the common application site, which only records online recs.

We got about 6 inches of icy snow here today which postponed my venturing down to New Jersey until Friday morning. I hope to get to Ridge before noon. I will try to help the Physics Olympics teams, but will be available for other things.

Busy Week

The last several days have been pretty busy. I've got twenty two new rafters in place to help support our loft roof, which is doing some sagging after 125 years. Ten or twelve more to go. This involved cutting and installing 15 foot long 2x6 s using brackets I made from angle iron and what are called collar ties cut from 14 foot long 1 1/2 by 6s. Managed to get this far with no new cuts or bruises. Wish me luck on the rest.

Also managed to fix a VCR and a CD player 9 mostly new drive belts) and find and order replacements for some bad transistors in an old Sony receiver. It is a nice piece of equipment and weighs slightly less than a Sherman tank. It was built to last, but not to withstand shorted speaker wires. Transistors burn out quickly since they have low impedance and are sensitive to temperatures. Got to be careful with old equipment.

Speaking of old equipment, I got bored
 of only hearing my complaints while working in the loft so I assembled a sound system using a CD player, a 30 year old amplifier, a 35 year old speaker, and a 55 year old tuner. The tuner is a little weak, but the other components are not bad.

I am supposed to give a lesson on how the physics of torque is used in engineering to seventh graders in a Greenfield magnet school next week. If it goes well maybe I can show how one principle can explain why riding uphill in low gear is easier and why bridge beams are deep and narrow, not wide and shallow.  More likely, I'll just show them how lucky they are to have their regular teacher every day.

We saw War Horse. I thought it was a fine movie. It reminded me of how pointless and wasteful most wars were, particularly World War One. Also we picked my wife's car after it was repaired following a parking lot get together.

Also managed to get mildly confused by Griffith's contention ( in his primer on particle physics) that the weak force does not change generations of leptons. I thought muon ( 2nd generation lepton) to electron, electron anti neutrino ( both first generation), and muon neutrino ( 2nd gereration) was a weak interaction. I relize we are still left with a sum of zero total first generation leptons ( particles and antiparticles cancel in this accounting) and one second generation lepton, as we started, but there are two first generation particles in an existence as a result of the decay. Enough of this, I'll check with my son.

Hope to see some of you at Ridge on Friday, if this week's snowstorm isn't a show stopper up here.

Project

Here is the combination coffee table/display case I made for my wife. While it has many technical imperfections,  it is still not bad. Like a lot of my students.

Post Holiday Post

I managed a sort of symmetrical title to this post.

Hope you all had good holidays and I hope those of you who are sitting on the edges of your seats about admissions are getting some good news.

Our holidays were very pleasant up here, with Daniel around and much time spent with Chris' family and many new friends. The coffee table/ display case I made for my wife was a big hit with her so I have garnered some brownie points.

Things are a lot quieter and slower paced up here. Good things as far as we are concerned.

We visited New Jersey, attending a New Years Day party and staying with friends. We did a walk around Ramapo Lake on Monday and more visiting.

Tuesday was my day to visit Ridge and I appreciate the warm welcome I received from many students and faculty members. It was also nice to see some graduates who came back to visit.

Thanks to Mr. Lee and Ms. Musumeci, the current club officers, and the spirit of Ridge students, the physics club is thriving. Twenty members are planning to attend the Physics Olympics on 1/14.

After being busy and doing a lot of driving Tuesday, yesterday was a rest day. It never got out of the teens and I didn't do much more than take a walk and fill a bird feeder and reread a couple of chapters on particle physics.

Today started with a walk and will progress to trying to sort out faulty thermostats, attempting to repair a CD player ( some of us prefer non MP3 sound), and, I hope, to making some progress reinforcing the loft over our kitchen and workshop. I also want to see how many days in a row I can go without getting into a car.