Heard on NPR...

If you missed it, listen to this hilarious conversation with John Boehner (House Minority Leader) on Morning Edition. The most hilarious part is his argument that NASA (a science agency, with scientific instruments on its satellites) should not get 400 M$ to study climate change, because money has already been allocated to the CIA (a spy agency with spy instruments on its satellites) to study it. WTF? Oh, and he doesn't see how that spending would help the economy. He seems to think that NASA actually puts the money on rockets and launches it into space, instead of employing thousands of scientists, engineers, IT wonks, mechanics and secretaries. Nimrod.

It's so cute. They don't even know what to do with themselves. As witness wossname Cornyn (R-Texas), being a real p.i.t.a. just for spite. Tee-hee.

Funny. I don't remember politics EVER being this interesting before... I can watch Barack roll back Bush policy all day long. That's my boy.

Yum!

So one thing that I'm really, really going to miss when I leave Socorro (besides all the new friends!), is the Berry Good Blend from the Navajo store. This is awesome. I put a handful in my oatmeal every morning. Unsweetened berries of all kinds, all dried up. I don't even need sugar, the berries are so good. It's just mixed berries. Just dried up. Yum. None of the supermarket kinds even come close. It's sad, because I don't think they'll mail them to me. I'll have to learn to make my own, I guess.

The International Perspective...

12 people came to coffee today. Of these 12, only 1 was American (me); 2 were from India, 2 from Japan, 1 from Australia, 1 from Canada, 1 from Mauritius, 2 from China, 1 from Taiwan, 1 from the Netherlands. This is typical here. Not only am I often the only woman around, but I'm almost always the only American. I get a good cross-section of opinion from lots of different backgrounds around the entire planet. (Sometimes I have to translate, because the clash of accents can be really disorienting!)

The general mood is optimistic and happy, even though most of these people are not citizens. All are very excited to say goodbye to Bush, (who is pretty much despised by all).

There was some mystification about the actual ceremony, and why it comes so long after the election. I think everyone sort of feels that way!

There was a lot of mystification about all the sermons and religious language. Several people asked me about it, and I explained that a lot of this religious stuff is relatively recent, since the Red Scare about the 'godless communists' in the 1950's. This was greeted with disbelief. Most agreed that pretty much the best thing about communism is that it is godless. (I neglected to take note of what the 2 Chinese people thought about this part of the discussion. Too bad, because it would be interesting to know what they think about it.) The general feeling was that they can't see how a supposedly secular government can be filled with all this religious pomp. I have to admit that I agree!

The Canadian was bent about the 'hero-worship' aspect of American politics. But they still have a queen up there, so he doesn't get to tell me 'How we do it in Canada...'. He caught a lot of flack for his criticism.

But all of these people see this day as a turning point, a moment when they no longer have to apologize or explain the politics of their choice of current country to their friends in their home country. The world is watching, from right here in tiny Socorro, NM!

Several are coming to my house this evening to watch (or re-watch) the speech, and lift a glass in celebration. Fun!

The quiet...

was astounding. It feels like the whole world was waiting to hear what this man had to say. A breathless pause. A universal moment of silence. And in that silence, here's what I heard.

We will restore science to its rightful place...

We reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals...

America is a friend to every nation and every man, woman and child...

We are ready to lead once more...

A collective failure to make hard choices.

What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them.

Power grows through prudent use.

...roll back the specter of a warming planet...

Our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness.

People will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy.

The world has changed, and we must change with it.

A new era of responsibility.


I'm all fired up and ready to go!

John Williams!

I didn't know that was coming!!! How fun to have new music written by one of America's greatest composers, just for the day, and such super-luminaries to play it!!!! Wow!!! And what a beautiful piece. "Air and simple gifts", it's called, if you missed it.

And it's now 12:01. Power has passed, whether the words have been said or not.

And here comes John Roberts. And Michelle with the Lincoln Bible. And Roberts did it wrong! Tee-hee.

Here's the speech....

Time to change...

the passwords.

I just realized this morning, as I was logging in to all my computers and applications, that for the last few years, my password set has been based on the first line of A Tale of Two Cities. I will have to now think of a new password set that more accurately reflects my more positive mood.

I hope all of you are enjoying this uniquely American celebration of the peaceful transfer of power. The pictures of the Mall are absolutely astonishing. Millions of people all over D.C. just to be there on this incredible day. Lucky them. What a good day. What a good day. What a good day.

Lots of talk about the racial boundaries being crossed, but almost as important, I think, is the socioeconomic boundary. This is the first time in my life that a person has risen from poverty to the highest office in the land. I think I had assumed (without thinking too much about it) that that could not happen any more.

What a good day.

Here he comes!!!! Back later.

A big weekend...

coming up!

Saturday is a normal weekend day---schlep laundry to the laundromat, go to the grocery store, go to the post office to mail more g.c. to John, clean the house, go to the library. That'll be about 7 miles of walking by the time I get all that done. I might start by taking myself out for pancakes!

Sunday, I'll have time to start rewrites on Altamira. Eep!

Monday is MLK day, an NRAO holiday, so a group of us are going for a 10-mile hike. It's going to be 60 degrees here, so it's perfect weather for a big hike! That'll eat up almost the whole day, by the time we meet up, head out, walk up the mountain, eat lunch, walk down the mountain, head back, etc.

Tuesday is Inauguration Day, so I pretty much plan on the whole day evaporating, and accomplishing nothing but watching all the fun on the interweb. Then the group is coming over in the evening to lift a glass or two in honor of the day! Hooray! Nobel-prize-winning physicists advising our government! (This particular one was an NRAO summer student, it turns out---which is a fun fact...)

Pretty much, I'm planning on a four-day weekend. It's good to be on sabbatical...

Newbie introduction...

For the CASA documentation?

Check.

You almost feel sorry for these people, don't you? Isn't it good that it's not YOUR job to ply me with things to do?

New Assignments

1) write 4-page introductory introduction to CASA. (The current introduction runs 60 pages. It's more of an... overview... than an introduction!)

2) build a few mockups of what a status and forecast page might look like, for all the poor schlubs who are sitting at their home Universities, and starting to be terrified that they won't know what to do with the data coming out of the correlator.

3) a few minor adjustments to the spreadsheet.

Apparently, this is supposed to take me the remaining ~8 weeks of my time here.

So I think I'll write a grant proposal. ; )

One thing I've learned is that spending time at a 4-year, underfunded, teaching University makes you really, really efficient about using your time. And spending time at a research institution encourages you to think about things. That's not meant to be a criticism. It's not bad, it's just different. They have a tendency to overthink, and I have a tendency to slap things together and call it good. It takes all kinds to make the world go 'round...

Zip... zip...

Arg. Second Wednesday of the month.

Pizza lunch AND cake AND extra coffee. zip.

I can barely type.

But at least I'm not hallucinating!

The interim Ta-Da list.

The last post was a list of what I intended to do, and where I was on those projects. But not everything I've done was on the list of things to do. This is where the ta-da list comes in. It's the list of what I've done. If there was a Venn diagram, the two lists would overlap, but not completely. The ta-da list makes room for all the things that you didn't even think of before you started.

a) Organized and evaluated the CASA project. Seriously, this is huge. I'll probably get no publications out of it, but the people running the project just keep telling me how grateful they are that I came here and did this for them. They have a sense of accomplishment and a sense of purpose and a sense that they might someday actually finish the g.d. thing. That was missing when I got here.

b) Re-learned radio astronomy. I still feel pretty novice and tentative, and have days when I'm completely confused, but my confidence grows day by day, and I've remembered what closure errors are and why I care.

c) Analyzed continuum and spectral-line data on about 15 sources. Discovered some weirdnesses, and did some solid science.

d) Figured out what's new in radio astronomy, learned about the upcoming EVLA and it's correlator, become knowledgeable about the new software, and made new contacts and collaborations.

e) Got Barack Obama elected in Socorro County. ; ) (well, not single-handedly, but still!) Learned to canvass, got involved in politics, and met a huge number of people. Knocked on hundreds of doors and made thousands of phone calls. I also made signs. And helped on election day. And spent entirely too much time reading political blogs on the interweb.

f) I learned stuff. General stuff, specific stuff, lots of stuff. I read a lot of books about the economy, about politics, about plague. I understand more about why we are in the mess we are in than I ever would have if I had more distractions available... I learned how to eliminate cockroaches, and learned about New Mexican history, cuisine and culture. I visited a matanza, dia de los muertos, and ruins from the pre- and post-colonial times. I learned to love green chile (not much to learn!), and learned to hate Taco Bell. I made more trips to WalMart than any person would care to admit to, and learned to hate it too. Cheap crap, sold cheap, and then the other stores close, and the cheap crap gets expensive. It's a mean-spirited business model, and I resent it.

g) I gave public talks (2), invited talks(4), colloquium talks (3), lunch talks (1), and chaired sessions (2). I went to meetings (lots) and conferences (2), and colloquia (lots). I learned that some people really, really need to go take a class in public speaking, and some people just need to learn to speak louder. I watched the people watching the people, and learned that approximately half the time, any given person is not thinking about what's happening in front of them. Even if they are interested.

h) I learned a lot about the environment, got a grip on solar cells, wrote worksheets and activities for a class, and thought hard about what the point is.

i) I planned a one-week summer course for teachers.

j) I wrote letters of recommendation (4), letters of support (2), reports (3), and proposals (2). I wrote (all but the last chapter of) a novel.

k) I learned more about Open Office than anyone should need to know, ever.

l) I was reminded that you can move to a new place with two boxes, two duffel bags and a bicycle, and be pretty much content, except for missing all the people and creatures you left behind. 600 square feet is a lot of space if you are one person with no furniture. It's barely too small if you are two people and a good-sized dog. This is useful knowledge just now. It's keeping me from panicking about the economy.

m) I figured out that I hate to write science papers, and why I procrastinate about writing them. And then I figured out what to do about it.

n) I figured out that my presence in committees at WSU is over-rated, and apparently unnecessary. This will bring so much future joy to my life. You have no idea.

o) I learned to live without a car.

p) I learned to like running.

q) I learned to cook a mean spanish rice, acquired an addiction to potato-chile-cheese burritos, and rediscovered the joy of the humble cast iron pan.

r) I learned that the well-funded research institution is a myth. Everybody, everywhere, has the same problem: too few resources for what they are trying to do. Maybe the planet is too small for the dreams of all the people on it.

s) I learned lots of new spanish words. And a lot of spanglish.

There's probably more. But it's time for lunch...

Interim report.

I woke up this morning, and thought, "I wonder if I can just go home?" mostly because I'm tired of Socorro, and feeling homesick, and missing everybody.

So then, I thought, "How would I know if I could do that?" and then I thought, "Wait, didn't I write a list of goals somewhere?" So I looked back through my posts, and there, on the very first post, was a list. I think I need an interim report on where I am, so I can answer the above question.

"a) The National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO)... I'm off to Socorro to make myself useful to them. I'll definitely be doing some documentation. I'll definitely be doing some software testing. I'll definitely be doing some radio astronomy..."

I have done some documentation, I have done some software testing. In fact, I did an entire audit of the entire software package that is necessary to handle the ~1,000-fold increase in data complexity that comes with the EVLA. I helped the group figure out where they are (pretty much on time), and then I helped them make a plan. And then I went in and figured out some specifics of specific packages. At the moment, I am the most expert user of the package anywhere. So that's fun. I also did some radio astronomy. I took some data and got a surprising result. I have new collaborators, and I've worked with them to analyze some data they took years ago, and never got around to analyzing. I have a meeting with them on Thursday to talk about it.

Remaining: to write these things up for publication. Arg. There are at least three papers here to be written. I have discovered that I hate that part. Not so much the writing, but the dealing with referee's comments. I have realized that this is because I have never published two papers on the same thing. That means that when referee's comments come back (typically after six months or a year!), I've completely forgotten how to do the analysis, so I fundamentally have to start over, instead of just polish up. I think I'll stick to radio astronomy for a while, and see if I can get my pub. rate up by at least sticking to the same software for a while. ; )

I also need to check with Gustaaf, and find out what else he needs me to get done on the software project before I go.

b) ... the Physics Department has an environment course on the books that hasn't been taught... ever, as far as anyone can tell. Won't it be fun to create such a course and teach it in the fall of 2009, when I'm back from sabbatical? ...to read all about it, and invent fun classroom activities that make the physics of global warming real to my students.

I've created an outline, chosen a book, and done a lot of reading. I've lined up at least one guest speaker, and am working on a couple of field trips. I've put some thought into classroom activities, but have not actually written them up in any sort of detail. I got derailed for a while by discussions that were going on at home about whether I'd teach the class, and then got derailed again by the slumping economy, and wondering whether I'd actually get to teach the class.
Remaining: some classroom activities, a syllabus and a more detailed outline.

c) We've all of us been doing an enormous amount of work lately, that remains completely undocumented. Science in the Parks. The K-8 core. Studies of learning in the planetarium environment. ... and I really should finish that paper that Mike and I worked on.
Remaining: all of this. Sigh. No, wait. I did a draft of the Science in the Parks article for Mercury. I wonder what I did with that?

d) Soon, the planetarium is going to need to be updated again. 'Maybe not today, and maybe not tomorrow, but someday...' This is a 1 M$ project, probably. Guess I'd better write some grants. grumble, grumble.
Remaining: all of this. Sigh. And no sign of improvements in staff support anywhere. I really need to think about whether this is even possible without better staff support.

e) I need to find that place in my head where the ideas just come swimming up, rising like bubbles through my mind, and bursting open with a sweet scent and a flash of light that makes it seem like anything is possible.
f) So by the time I come back, I want to feel like I've got the intestinal fortitude to make all those possibilities into realities.
Remaining: Keep at it. But morale is really bad here, and I'm not sure these are going to happen in this locale!

g) If I don't need brain surgery, then there are a number of secret things that I want to see if I can do: a sprint triathlon before I'm 40;
Remaining: Don't need brain surgery! I forgot about that! Boy, that'll cheer a person up, I tell you what. But I've not done much about the triathlon since arriving in Socorro. I've gone for lots of walks, ridden my bike a lot more than usual, and generally been pretty active, but, well, I should probably go running this afternoon.

g2) finish my book;
Remaining: I have to write the concluding chapter, and then the first draft will be done. Then, I have some rewrites. I have some consistency issues, keeping track of items, and how many people are in the room, etc. I also made some later changes to technology to make the story work better, and I have to go back and fix up the earlier chapters. But the first draft is almost done!

g3) learn one-tempi changes;
Remaining: Um, all. However, John's new horse already knows these, so I can learn them from him when I get home! (The horse, not John!) But I definitely can't do this from here.

Ok. So that's a lot. I'll make a list, and get back to you... oh, but before that. I need a ta-da list. That's probably a whole separate post.

The weird square thingy...

Right. So finally I asked somebody about the weird square thingy. We discussed it, and agreed it couldn't be a problem with clean. So he suggested I go back to the visibilities.

So I went back to the U-V plane, to look at the data. Yup. There it is. A couple of U-V visibilities needed to be flagged. No more weird square in two channels.

But all of this just points out that we darn well better invent autoflagging before the new correlator comes completely on line. It's one thing to look at data from 256 channels. It's a completely other thing to look at data from 100,000 channels. No one will use the thing if they have to find 'bad' data by hand.

So that's my next task. To figure out... wait for it... where the group is with the autoflagging. Because no one can remember.

Everything humans can consume...

is an appropriate delivery system for green chile.

Grilled ham and cheese and green chile. (Be sure to smoosh the edges of the bread together so the chile doesn't fall out while it's cooking!) This is my latest g.c. invention, and it's the best improvement on grilled cheese since sliced bread. Seriously. What am I going to do when I get home and I can't just buy it at the store anymore?!

Apparently, the green chile harvest has been falling in recent years. This year it's down 30% (I'm unclear if that is relative to some average, or to last year). "Why?" you ask. Because southern New Mexico has been getting too much rain. D'oh.