Scot's Thoughts

This morning when I woke up to get Riley out of bed (~7:45), I heard this "gushing" sound. It was the sound of someone taking a shower in your house when you are in another room. I thought maybe a toilet handle needed to be jiggled, but after checking them, that was not it. It seemed to be coming from outside, so I walked downstairs. When I reached the bottom of the stairs, it sounded like it was coming from the kitchen. My immediate thought was, "is there a gas leak?!" but there was no smell. I walked through the kitchen a few times trying to figure out what it was. Was is behind the fridge to the left? Was it below the sink to the right? I couldn't figure it out, so I looked out the kitchen window and the neighbor's driveway was full of water. Crap. I went outside and the spigot was on/open.

When I came in, Becca was downstairs and asked, "did you figure out what that sound was? I woke up last night and couldn't figure out what it was." That was at 2:00 am! So the water had been running for at least 5 3/4 hours. At least I know that it was less than 8 hours because it wasn't on when we went to sleep (oh, what a relief!). What stinks is that in Austin, they take the average of the two highest months water use in the winter for your "wastewater" level for the rest of the year (because the water you use to water your lawn in the summer doesn't go down the drain).

Why does weird stuff happen to us in this house? It already seems like we are the vortex of trash collection for the neighborhood. There is always a can or a candy wrapper blowing into our lawn and because of some weird wind patterns, our front door (leaves like to collect there too). A couple weeks ago, our mailbox was knocked off. A couple months ago, a red paintball splat was on some of the brick on the front of the house (then one day, it was mysteriously gone). And who goes around and opens someone's spigot in the middle of the night? This morning as I left I looked at everyone's side yard to see if it had happened to them. Nope, just us. Eco-vandals? Probably just a bunch of kids up to no good.

I work with the young men at our church. They are going to have a youth conference in about a month and will be participating in a service activity called CROP Walk. These walks occur around the nation and are organized by the Church World Service. Many denominations and community groups participate to raise money and awareness for people that walk everyday to get clean water or lack food and tools to live. A portion of the money raised stays in the local area for food banks and other projects. The rest helps provide food to people around the world, build pumps for water, provide tools for simple farming, etc. If you would like to help in the service project and help our youth meet their goal, please visit http://www.walnutcreekcropwalk.blogspot.com/ for more information and links to the Crop Walk website and our donation page. Thanks.

Austin is upgrading the recycling program. Out goes the blue bins that we put out and in comes larger carts that we roll out to the curb. This reminds me that a couple of months ago, our bin was in pretty bad shape. I saw a city truck delivering a new bin across the street, so I ran over and asked if I could have one as well. He gave it to me, and I asked what I should do with the old one, guessing that I would give it to him. He shrugged and said, "I guess throw it away." Kind of ironic, throwing a plastic recycle bin in the trash. So I wonder what will happen to all the old plastic bins. Maybe we'll just throw them in our trash cans.

In Texas, everything is bigger. For example, the University of Texas. Many schools have a big building for all of the enigeering disciplines. Here in Texas? A 9-story building for mechanical engineering. A 10-story building for civil engineering. A 6- or 7-story building for electrical engineering. Chemical engineering, biomedical engineering, petroleum engineering - big buildings. You get my idea. Oh, and by the way, for some reason, the elevators don't work well together, they act pretty much by themselves (makes sense for engineering buildings, who should be controlling these things, right?). You can wait for 2 or 3 minutes for an elevator, then all of a sudden, all 3 are there and going up. Which brings me to my next point...

Learn how to use elevators! This is to you, mr. undergraduate who wears shorts when it's 37 degrees outside and didn't take a shower this morning and has his ipod blaring loud enough for the whole elevator to sing along and still be drowned out by the noise. Why do you have to get on the elevator on the 3rd floor and push the 4th floor button? Can you do it? Sure. Should you do it? No. Haven't you ever heard of the 2 floor rule? If you aren't going up at least two floors, use the stairs. They are right next to the elevator, and you could use the exercise, although it already seems that you aren't wearing deoderant. Three floors is even better. Oh, and that includes going down. Why do you wait at the elevators for 3 minutes on the 7th floor and then get on with everyone and press the 6th floor button? You have gravity on your side! You should know this because you are studying to be an engineer. We really don't love stopping at every floor. Which brings me to my next point...

That song is cool. Who is it?

A friend's recent post reminded me of something. There are two types of people in the world. Those that hate opening biscuit cans and those that don't mind. I am in the party that doesn't mind. Or at least is made to not mind. I have the title of "biscuit can opener, man of mystery". I have a badge that says so. Ok, no I don't. But I think it is kind of fun. The suspense, the mystery. Will the can open nicely when you first start unwrapping the paper? Will the can not open after all the outer paper is off and you have to hit it on the counter or poke it with a knife? Will it open gently and take all the drama out of the event? These are questions that must be pondered if you are to take on the title of "biscuit can opener". It is a heavy responsibility, but someone has to do it. There should be hazard pay, but I'll let you in on some "biscuit can opener" secrets.

Secret #1: Keep your tongue within the confines of your teeth and close your mouth (or at least make your teeth touch). I have found that this is a great method for any suspenseful situation, such as when the music picks up or a door opens slowly in a movie. If you don't, you might bite your tongue when you jump. I've done this once, hence, the remedy. Just make sure that you are focused on the task, because it's a little embarassing to hold on a conversation with clenched teeth. People tend to wonder what is wrong with you.

Secret #2: Squint your eyes. Not only does this make you look cool and show everyone how this task is the most dangerous in the world, it lessens the distance for you to blink when the can pops. It may also provide that extra millisecond for you to get your eyes closed so you don't get the rare, but painful condition of "biscuit eye". Or, you can use ppe (personal protection equipment) such as safety glasses, ear plugs, facemask, or gloves. Boy, that would look cool.

Secret #3: Pull the paper off quickly. Just get it over with! This is like pulling a bandaid off. If you do it slowly, it hurts longer. Just pull the pin and throw. Oh, wait, that's real grenades.

Secret #4: Call your grandma and ask how to make biscuits from scratch. Sure it takes more time, but then you don't have to open any biscuit cans.

Secret #5: Conveniently be "busy" or not at home when the biscuits need to be made. Just be aware that you may have to turn in your badge, and gun too.

Today, we made one of the cheapest, yet yummiest meals. Beans and rice. "What?" you say. My mom usually made beans at least once a month. She would make a big batch and then use the extra beans for other meals (refry for burritos, tostadas, etc.). These aren't just ordinary beans. They have bacon (everyone knows everything is better with bacon).

On to the recipe. A few notes - this isn't the greatest recipe because I don't really know the amounts. I did my best to guess. It's one of those recipes that you add or take away stuff depending on how you want it. Plus, after 20 years of making them, I just kind of do it. Don't ask about the time when I was about 10 and my parents were gone all day and I was supposed to stir them but instead watched tv - they burned and not only was that meal ruined, but the subsequent meals as well.

~1# pinto beans (remove any bad beans and rocks and rinse)

Add water to cover the beans. Important! Salt the water heavily (2-3 Tbls.?): as the beans suck in the water, they will also pull in the salt. If you don't do this, the beans will be bland and you can't add enough salt to make them taste good afterwards. Bring to boil (2 minutes). Cover, turn off heat and soak for 1 hr. Drain and add new water to cover the beans, again, heavily salted. If you don't do this, the water you soaked the beans in will give you more gas (I assume that more woman will make this than men, and I'm sure you already have enough gas from your husband/boyfriend/etc.). Bring to a boil and then lower the heat, cover, and simmer for about 1 hour. Change the water out again. You don't have to salt it that much now - this is the last water change. The beans will start to be soft and not be so crunchy. Add enough water to just cover the beans. Simmer for another 1/2 hour or so. Add:

1 small onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced (I love garlic, you can use less if you want)
2-3 slices bacon (uncooked), chopped
1-2 8oz. cans tomato sauce (I like 2 but I think my mom uses 1)
Salt and Pepper to taste
opt. ~1 tsp. Cumin (or more to taste)
opt. ~1 Tbls. Oregano

Bring to a boil (the tomato sauce will help thicken the liquid). Simmer for another 1/2 hour or so, or until the beans are tender and the bacon is cooked. Tonight I added the Cumin and Oregano (which I haven't done before). I think this batch was the best that I've made.

Serve on top of rice with cheddar or any cheese you like, sour cream, etc. Bon appetit, or rather, ¡Buen Provecho!

I have always liked watching squirrels. I know, they are rodents, but they crack me up. They like to flick their tails and run around like crazy maniacs. Anyway, we have a few squirrels that like to bury nuts in our yard and chase eachother, jump across the branches in the trees, and run across the fence. There were two, then three. I think they had a baby because the third was smaller. Now, there seems to be a new sheriff in town. Today, a big one that looks like an albino, or at least a blonde squirrel, showed up.

In order to increase the action, I have trained my dog Bernie to chase after them. That's his only responsibility in this family, and he knows it. The squirrels know it too, because when they hear his tags jingling (even before he gets outside) or the doggie door, they take off. So, maybe I've created a little Pavlovian response.

If I say, "What's that?!", he runs to the door, looks out, let's out a gruff, and if he sees one, he goes and chases it (this is also great if I want him to go outside because I feel like he hasn't gone to the bathroom in a while). If he sees one in the yard, he tears across the family room, out the doggie door, and chases them away. Sometimes they chatter at him. Sometimes, if there are two of them, they run crossing patterns. Sometimes they taunt him, climbing down a trunk until they are just high enough that he can't reach them. It's great when they are running along the fence and change directions and he loses them (they're running 5 feet above him, after all). Sometimes if they keep coming back, he stays outside and stalks/"hunts" them. I have no idea what he would do if he actually caught one (he is pretty fast, but the squirrels are more agile), but once he brought a dead bird into the house for us and was so proud of himself.

So, in no way is this post begging for comments (or is it?). But I think each of us has that little internal desire to get comments. We hate when we get a graded paper back and there are no markings and an 89%. What happened here? What did I do wrong? Right? I call it the ebay syndrome. The beauty of ebay is that everyone gets feedback. It gives them validation. Hey, look, I'm an adult, but a gold star still means something - it doesn't matter that it's on the computer rather than my forehead or shirt. Sometimes, a comment just lets you know that someone else is out there. Sometimes, it has something constructive to add. Sometimes it's validation of a good or bad job. Some people peep at other people's blogs (see this posting from a friend), but sometimes I peep on the comments. What do others say about other's posts? Anyway, enough of this lunacy - here's your gold star, so stop asking. But make sure to leave a comment first!

I love parentheses (who doesn't?). I don't necessarily love over puntuaction in general, like extra !!!, overuse, of, commas or leaving people hanging... But I do love using parentheses. If you know the way I talk (sometimes it bugs Becca to no end how I interrupt [I'm working on it]), which I think I got from my family dynamic (I love it - how sometimes it's not who is talking, but who can talk the loudest and fastest to win the "head of conversation" role for that minute). Anyway, parentheses allow for my ubiquitous tangents (side thoughts that I often verbalize). It allows for a sentence within a sentence (and sometimes a sentence in a sentence in a sentence [like this]). Maybe the love comes from math, where parentheses can get you (4)(3)=12. Isn't it great!? Instead of using 4 x 3, just use (4)(3)! Ok, all of a sudden, that doesn't seem much shorter, but maybe it's because you don't want to confuse the x with an x, like in algebra. I don't even use parentheses that much for other things. I just use it as a clarification to my train of thought. Emoticons, nah :). So, here's to ()!!! ...

Ok, I'm just trying to make myself look good and make up for other weeks, but this week I've been triply good about "date" nights. The "" adds subjectivity so I don't get flamed if someone doesn't think that the "date" is a date.

On Tuesday, I came home and Riley was napping and Becca was sitting at the top of the stairs reading a book. She looked up and I immediately thought one of those, "I better take her to dinner tonight because if I ask what's for dinner, I'm not going to be alive to eat dinner again". I guess Riley had been whiny all day and was getting into everything. Anyway, we headed to Carino's because they have a $19.99 deal (like the european prix fix) where you get unlimited bread, soup, salad, a chioce of an entree each, and a desert (until Feb 10th). We had never been, but it was decent, like Macaroni Grill or Olive Garden. Actually, of all things I was impressed by their croutons. And their Italian chocolate cake. Of course, Riley was good because she had been bad all day for her mom and flirted with everyone at the restaurant. Afterwards, I wanted to get a new pair of jeans (previous post) and Becca wanted to go to the outlets up in Round Rock because she had some coupons to some kids stores (she has become the queen of coupons, giveaways, etc. - she even got the sunday paper as an investment on the coupons [she's keeping track to see if the paper will continue]). So, I guess we could call that date 1.

Last night (Friday), our church put on a play about Joseph Smith. It was quite well done. The script was a compilation of various people's journal entries that spoke about their encounters with Joseph Smith. Usually, the actor spoke the journal excerpt while the action was being played on another part of the stage. There was some singing and overall was worth going to. Riley was pretty good even though it got a little late for her and got a little scared everytime people clapped.

Becca has designated tonight as movie night. So, not bad for "dates" this week, however lame you call going to dinner and outlets as a date (if she counts it, that's all the validation you need). I am a little embarassed to admit, but we still haven't used a babysitter. Part of it is that all the youth we know live pretty far away, but also because we still are a little nervous (I think Becca a little moreso than me). We'll get over it. We also hate imposing (read asking) on people because we are ... well, no excuse really, just retarded. Maybe if we got out of our shell more and started doing more stuff with friends and their kids.

I like new clothes. I like new sheets. They just feel right: crisp and fresh. I don't get new clothes or new sheets that often. I just got a pair (ok, two pairs) of jeans using Christmas money and am wearing one today.

You don't realize how much your old jeans have faded and been worn, but for those reasons, they have become a good friend. You know they feel right and they've been there for you through thick and thin. But you also know that not after long, they will be relegated down the ladder to work jeans. And the work jeans will become painting jeans. And the painting jeans will become rags.

The new ones are young, vibrant, ready to go and see the world. They are crisp and the color is sharp, and dang, they make your butt look good. So which is better? I don't know, but it's the circle of l[ev]ife.

Have any of you played around with the new family search website put out by the church (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)? The new site can only be accessed by members. It is awesome. I have always liked genealogy and family history (the stories and such). One of my first merit badges I earned was for genealogy. My mom used to do a lot of genealogy work, so a lot of our family's research has been done. Now the hard work has to be done to advance the lines.

When I really got into doing genealogy and temple work about 5 years ago, I remember downloading gedcom files and importing them into PAF and linking them and sorting duplicates and entering names. It was so tedious and you had to go through so many steps. In fact, I was so frustrated by it that I filled out a 12 generation chart by hand so I could visualize it better. It was also a hassle to coordinate with family who had the cards to take to the temple and who was going to do the work and when (some cards sat for years before the work was done).

I always thought - with what we can do with computers, why can't this be in one spot? I'm glad someone else had those same thoughts and did something about it. It's a lot easier now and everything is in one place. Of course, once you get to the end of the line, you still have to do work to find names and such, but man, this new tool has made life so much easier.

Many have asked me (including family), "why are you getting a Ph.D.?"

Let's look at it from a logical point of view. If you look at the pay jump from bachelors to master's (which takes 1-2 years), it is pretty worth it. The jump in pay from master's to doctorate isn't as much and it takes more than twice as long to get a Ph.D. compared to a masters. So there is little benefit from the purely monetary point of view (sure, the initial pay will be higher, but you lost 4-6 years of good wage to get it).

My initial intention was to just get a master's degree and get a job. My dad has two (engineering and business), which I admire. Maybe I wanted to be the first "doctor" in my family. Not really, I don't really care that much.

I guess that I just went through the doorway that was open in front of me. I've always done well in school and liked it and maybe I just feel safe in this environment. I've figured it out and have my system. I also feel like it has opened potential opportunities that I wouldn't have had otherwise (being a professor, doing the best research, etc.). There's an old joke that says a B.S. stands for bull$&#*, M.S. stands for more of it, and Ph.D. is piled higher and deeper. I have found that you don't necessarily have to be super smart to do it. You mostly just have to be stupid enough to stick around long enough until your advisors tell you, "write up your work and go get a job, you bum".

I'm still not sold on becoming a professor. They all seem overworked and stressed. You have to prepare lesson plans and tests for class, teach the class, grade hw and tests. You have to bring in a bunch of money by writing proposals that most likely won't be granted to manage a group of graduate students to do research. You have to serve on university and departmental committees. I know some professors that say they work 50 hours per week, but after their kids go to bed, they put in 2-3 hours writing or reading stuff at night. Yuck, I just don't think that I have that much entrepreneur in me. I don't care if I'm famous. I want a good wage, benefits, work 40-50 hours a week, occasionally travel to conferences, and be home with my family. Someone told me how you choose: decide what you want to do on a Friday night. If you like reading and writing professional journal publications on Friday night, be a professor. If you like to (fill in the blank) on Friday night, do something else.

The ambitious side of me says that I can grow more as person by being a professor, but even though I like teaching and doing research and am decent at writing, I just have a hard time getting excited about working that much when I can make a similar amount working less. The realist side of me says - it's a job that supports your family. Do it well, get your paycheck, and enjoy the time with your family. Now, that sounds a little more exciting, albeit less exotic. For me, my job isn't who I am, but just a part of me. When I retire, I want to be done and not feel lost because I've lost my "identity". Don't get me wrong. I want to do something I enjoy, but I'm interested in a whole lot of things.

So, if you want to get a Ph.D., go for it. But don't call me doctor.

Well, today is the first day of the new semester. It really isn't different than most days. In graduate school, my research is my job, so I still come in during breaks unless I'm on vacation. It just means more traffic, more students around, and that I have to remember what classes I signed up for. I only have 1 class this semester - my last class of my college career. The rest of my time is working on my dissertation. I'm a little sad that it is my last class, because I like learning and there are some classes that I would have liked to take, but just don't have the time. On the other hand, I'm over it and just want to be done. I think that 20+ years of school is about enough. Time to go make some real money. I can't complain. My fellowships have paid me well enough, but it's time to find out my earning potential. So, here's to 2008 and finishing school!

I don't know if Becca remembered that today was the first day of the semester since I usually go in anyway, but she got up with Riley and made waffles. Thanks! She also put a twix bar in the lunch I made from some secret hidden stash I didn't know she has. I'm a lucky boy. It's probably a good thing the candy is in a secret stash since I don't have much self control when there is good candy in the house. She didn't take a picture of me on the first day of the semester, but that's a good thing. I was a little groggy this morning and realized that I have a blue and black striped shirt with brown corduroy pants (are those out of style now? I don't see anyone else wearing them anymore). Oh well, I'm a guy, and I'm an engineer. At least I have a brown belt and brown shoes on.

Becca reads quite a bit. I used to, but once I started college, reading textbooks and studying took most of the desire to read for fun away. I have tried to read more. I usually go in spurts, mostly around the new year. One year, I read the three books in the Fishers of Men series by Gerald N. Lund. I used to read action fiction, like Clive Cussler, which I liked, but I have decided that if I'm going to read, I want it to make me think a little bit. Maybe it's that I've become accustomed to learning something when I read, like the journal articles that I'm always reading for my research.

Now to the question, or the realization that I've made. Here is a list of the last three books that I have read or that I am reading:

Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond
A Brief History of Time by Steven Hawking
The World is Flat: A Brief History of the Tweny-first Century by Thomas L. Friedman

I have actually really, really enjoyed them, in addition to my subscriptions to National Geographic and Mechanical Engineering. So, I guess if being a nerd is thinking about why different civilizations have become world powers while others have not, space-time singularities and black holes, and how the world is so interconnected, I guess that yes, I must be a nerd. And also write run-on sentences. I think that the next book will be Into the Wild.

I decided to start my own blog so that I would have a separate place to write some of what is going on in my life, thoughts I had, or things that I like to do. Some things might be doubled in my family blog, wayefamily.blogspot.com, but it ends up being mostly about Riley, which is perfectly fine. We set up the family blog after trying out setting up a website for the whole family to dump pictures, emailing photos, using kodak galleries, calling on the phone, and using webcams. This seemed to be the easiest format for family and friends to see pictures and updates for our family (mostly how Riley is growing and what she is doing). It allows for people to see what they want to see. So, it takes some of the pressure off us for information dissemination and puts it back on those that want the information. It also allows for a more streaming avenue of pictures, video, and text.

Blogging changes the way that I live to some extent. I find myself asking, "how can I blog this" or "what picture would be the best to share" or "I should take a picture of this so that I can blog it". Anyway, it's been good for the purpose of keeping a family history of sorts. Maybe one day, we will use the blog posts to make a book (there are a few places that do it) so that we have a paper copy. Even though everything is going electronic (another discussion for another day), it's nice to have a physical copy of some things, especially since this format will probably be obsolete in 5 years.

Well, I hope that my musings in the future will be entertaining, enlightening, interesting, and help you get into Scot's thoughts. Enjoy!