Travels and Thoughts

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WEEK 30 2006

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Saturday 29 July 2006

Saturday - off to visit the boat. It may be back in the water next week.

Friday 28 July 2006

Friday - futzed about, working out how exactly to generate the finite element model, then ran a couple of quick test cases. About 5 millions lines per case, which will be repeated for several hundred cases... I really need smaller summary's of the output.

On the bright side, no flight tomorrow (Saturday), or even Monday. Why don't test flights excite me? Control room staffing's start very early and can last all day. There's no phone, no internet, no computer (nothing to distract the staff) and most of the time nothing is happening. The aircraft sits on the ground while the technicians work on it. Finally it starts flying, and most of the time nothing is happening then. It's on it's way to the test area, it's on it's way back from the test area, maybe it's climbing or descending to get in position for an actual test run, or maybe there's a comm or telemetry issue with the aircraft or other aircraft are in the airspace. Finally, if one is lucky, there are several minutes in which the test actually takes place. But on early flights you rarely get that lucky...

Don't get me wrong, it's part of the job and I accept that. But I really didn't want to spend this Saturday that way.

Went to my friends' place for a quick dip in the pool in the evening - very nice. Then I showed them how to synchronize their PDA to their laptop. Actually I half showed them. Microsoft and Verizon have colluded to force people to use their damnable Outlook. But my friend just wants to transfer and backup some files, not synchronize calendars and all that other crud. I've found that if you go about half way through the procedure Windows Explorer will start to work, will see the PDA and be able to access it, and you can stop the install there.

Phoebe's favorite new resting spot.

Thursday 27 July 2006

Thursday - well, my part of the code is done, if not entirely checked out. But the input model has issues, and that's someone else's problem. Sometimes I feel like Eliza's father from My Fair Lady:

"With a little bit of luck,
just a little bit of luck,
someone else will do the blinkin' work!"

Heh. Which reminds me - I read somewhere that someone is auctioning off Audrey Hepburns little black dress from Breakfast at Tiffany's. It starts at $50,000.

In other news I went by Circuit City and Best Buy to see if they sold small cassette tape players. No luck. There are only a few portable CD players - flash memory and hard drive MP3 players rule the shelves (Technically one could have MP3 tape player, but I've never seen it). One clerk suggested Radio Shack or perhaps Walgreens. Another possibility is a new player in the car - the problem is that it's almost as hard to find an in-dash combination radio/cassette/Cd player. Bah. If the choice had to be made, the tape player would win. CD's are a pain to deal with in the car.

Wednesday 26 July 2006

Wednesday - well, the model is a lot bigger. But it's looking good. I've written a code to convert CG forces to attachment forces, and can apply them to the NASTRAN model soon. Hopefully by Friday, because that's what I told people. But I'll be in the control room almost all day Friday, and have meetings tomorrow, so that'll cut into time for this effort.

How much money do we spend on space? Some people have wildly exaggerated ideas - 99% of the budget perhaps. It's actually the opposite, around 1%. A not untypical letter to the editor, via Space Politics.

Down to 200MB on this computer again. I really need to switch over to the new P4, rather than keep on working on my old machine. But there's so much stuff to transfer...

Tuesday 25 July 2006

Tuesday - hard at work. My loads are coming along, and the guy doing the FEM model, with Pro-E, is doing his bit. In fact, his bit is a bit easier than my bit. Pro-E generated at FEM model, using solid tetrahedral elements, in two or three minutes. Pretty impressive. I say easier, but in reality, the entire design was his, and the backstory is certainly filled with hard work on his part.

That's a first cut - 25,000 elements. It'll probably go up. The computers don't care. It'd be ridiculous to model something like that with hand work, but with computer CAD/CAM it's nothing.

It was hot and humid again. 84F in the house when I got home - the swamp cooler can't really keep the temperature down when it's over 100F outside and humid.

I forgot to mention, I saw the beginning of Fargo on Sunday. I've seen the end a couple of time, but until now never had a glimpse of the villian Jerry's machinations that start it all.

Monday 24 July 2006

Monday - back to work. Messing about with Python again. Things are not working exactly as I would hope, but that's the world of free software.

But maybe my Dad would like to try it?

The team lead liked the abstract, but had a couple of suggestions. Which I am implementing.

Hot again. And rather muggy.

Sunday 23 July 2006

Sunday - not a lot to say. Watched some teevee, read some books, went out to lunch with friends. Sort of a wasted day, but I needed some down time.

Teevee - I've now finally seen the end of The Sixth Sense, and of What Dreams May Come. I've never actually be able to sit through the entirety of either, and to be honest, I didn't this time either. Just got lucky, clicking around.

Book #31 is The Martian War, by Gabriel Mesta. It purports to tell the true story of H.G. Wells inspiration for 'The War of the Worlds'. Not badly written, but rather blah. Reading the reviews I find it's a pseudonym for Kevin J. Andersen, whose books are similarly not entirely to my taste.

Picture of the Week

Photo Notes: Canoe, Kayak & Gull.

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