"In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." –John 16:33

Month: December 2023 Page 1 of 2

School’s out forever!!!

We honestly think we are done now. We think this is the final form of the diploma wall.

  • A 1978 BS Oregon State University — Ken
  • B 1981 AE Oregon Institute of Technology — Ken
  • C 1983 Shodan (1st degree black belt) Kodokan — Ken
  • D 1990 MS University of Texas at El Paso — Ken
  • E 2012 AS Wake Technical College — Kelly
  • F 2014 BS North Carolina State University — Kelly
  • G 2014 BS North Carolina State University — Christian
  • H 2016 MS University of Washington — Kelly
  • I 2019 PhD Arizona State University — Christian
  • J 2020 AA Clackamas Community College — Lorena
  • K 2023 PhD University of Nebraska-Lincoln — Ken


Thinking about 2024. Finding a good, big hard thing to do.

I have gone through the exercise of making New Year’s resolutions quite a number of times, but if I ever accomplished any of them, it was not by my own volition with the resolutions in mind. This year, though, I am in a little bit of a unique place in that I (we, really–gratefully including all the friends and family that helped me) have finished something big that I have worked on assiduously for many years. With that complete, there is a little bit of an empty feeling.

As usual toward the end of each year, I called some of the buddies with whom I have worked and do not want to lose touch, but do not have regular contact. With one of them, Andrew B., among other things, we talk about what we are working on–usually big picture items like career and education. This phone call was no different and it really got me realizing that I have no big picture thing at which I am aiming (of course, except the spiritual/religious thing that is way at the forefront of everything I do). But more importantly, it reminded me that my life is always profoundly better if I have something on which to work that is longer term, contributes to society, allows me to work with friends, and that is not particularly easy.

I have been able to identify a few things that I think would be good to do that are in a much smaller category, but that do not really rise to the level of a big, hard, good thing. I am not going to be able to identify that, but am writing this post as a marker to start thinking hard about it. In lieu of that, here is a short list of smaller things that I hope will keep me fruitfully occupied until and if God is willing. Some of it is just aspirational, so writing it down might get me off center to do it.

  • Go to London (because London) and to Madrid (to look at Velazquez paintings in Del Prado)
  • Perform two specific, short-term research projects with my friends at University of Nebraska–Lincoln and publish articles on the research
  • Read some serious books–I have already purchased Richard Bauckham’s “Jesus and the Eywitnesses,” N.T. Wright’s “The Resurrection of the Son of God,” and Michael L. Brown’s five volume set titled “Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus”
  • Setting Lorena up to better manage her house business with her brother Lynn in Mexico
  • Helping Lorena start taking classes she wants to take on pottery, English pronunciation, etc.

I think I have enough to keep me occupied, but want to find something bigger, again, God willing.

Getting closer to renting

I texted Lynn today to see if he was letting his workers have the day off since it is almost New Year’s Eve. He said no because he is about three days away from the first two renters moving in on January 6 and there are a bunch of uncompleted small details. He sent me this picture with three of the six mailboxes installed (the other three are at the second house entrance. The first renters moving in is coming a lot later than we hoped and expected, but the apartments are also a lot bigger, went from four to six units, and include a lot more amenities than we had initially planned. Their are two azoteas now and they are way nice with a mesquite grill, a bathroom and shower (I think), and spectacular views from both the upper and lower azoteas. The apartments are already on the market for sale and we have interest, but we have found the potential buyers are very attracted to buying the place full of renters. All six units have been spoken for, but there needs to be a bit more diligence on a couple of them before we sign contracts.

Post-doc volunteer work

I am off and running on the volunteer work I am doing for the GaugeCam GRIME Lab. I am now automatically downloading images from the USGS HIVIS KOLA camera site and plan to see if I can write Python code to measure the water level in images with only a very small octagon in them (less than the width of a typical staff gauge) to be used for creating a pixel to world coordinate calibration model. I did not think I would be so energized on this project, but it is very gratifying and a lot more enjoyable without the time pressure associated with the work I did for my PhD. We are going to try to start off just with small, finite length project with specific research goals in mind and see how that goes.

Post-doctoral (volunteer) research project

Now that my PhD schooling is complete, I have asked to stay on and continue the research that started at North Carolina State University back in 2009. Troy (UNL) and Mary (UNK) have positioned a much smaller target at the Kearney Outdoor Learning Center (KOLA) in Kearney, Nebraska. The idea is to investigate the stage measurement accuracy level when the octagon used for pixel to world coordinate calibration is small enough to fit on the top of a traditional USGS staff gauge. This fits into Troy’s and Mary’s research programmed aimed at reducing the conditioning (addition of objects solely to help measure) of water body images. I am in the process of porting the original code written in C++ to Python so it is easier for people in the hydrology community to use. Troy writes about it over at the GaugeCam blog: here.

Lorena’s new cup from Kelly

Kelly got Lorena a new “Best Mom Ever” mug for Christmas this year. The old one was the only one she ever used. Even if there were plenty of clean and perfectly adequate mugs available in the cupboard, she was never willing to use one of them. She always washed the cherished, “Best Mom Ever” mug and used that. She was horrified when it got chipped in the dishwasher a year or two ago, but it still held liquids without dripping or spilling so she continued to use it. Now, though, she has happily retired the old mug for the new one. It was never really about the mug itself. Rather, it was always about the mug Kelly got for her. I hope this one is as sturdy as the last one. Or maybe Kelly will get her another one sooner so she does not have to wash it twenty times per day when she wants to use it.

Life after graduation

We returned home yesterday from all our graduation and holiday travels after getting up at 3 AM to catch a plane from Washington (DCA) to Texas (DFW). We had Christmas dinner at Jack-in-the-Box because that was the only place we could find open on the way home. Then we sat around and did literally nothing–well, not entirely true because Lorena is incapable of leaving stuff unpacked, but for the most part all we did was sit around and recover with some comfort food thrown in (VERY cheesy mac and cheese). While I was writing this blog post, Lorena sent me an image of what we ate for Christmas dinner. It truly was spectacular. Kelly did the bulk of the cooking over Christmas and Lorena did the bulk of the shopping and organizing. It was all just amazing. We had a prime rib, bone-in roast with new potatoes, mushrooms and a superlative, Kelly-invented gravy. This morning, Lorena and I ran the last two diplomas down to Michael’s for framing after an Egg McMuffin breakfast with hash browns and a pie at McDonald’s. Of course not much of the above is on my approved diet plan, but I promised myself I would not wreck everyone else’s time during the holidays due to strict adherence to my diet. Now, I am kind of afraid to get back on the scale and get going again. Lorena bought two “L” steaks (t-bone, I think) at the Mexican grocery store in Godley, so that is my drop-dead last diet deviation with a minor exception for New Year’s Eve.

Online PhD commencement video

Troy and I show up at around 32:00 and also at a little after 1:15:00

Merry Christmas 2023

We spent Christmas day traveling back to Texas from Washington, D.C. and ended up eating tacos and egg rolls for Christmas dinner at Jack-in-the-Box. That was the only place we could find that was open. Actually, we had a fabulous Christmas with Christian and Kelly yesterday. My Crocs and Lorena’s slippers in the picture on the left were gifts from Kelly. We cooked and at a fabulous ribeye roast (bone in) before we opened presents. Honestly, it was the best Christmas we have shared together in years. There are a LOT of confusing things going on in all our lives with church and just life in general, but we read Luke 2 about what Christmas is really all about between dinner and opening presents. It was a reminder that Jesus Christ is still King and Lord and that are hope is only in him and his sacrifice. I am SO grateful for every reminder of that, especially on occasions like Christmas.

Tia Mina passes away

We just got news this morning that Lorena’s Tia Mina and Grandma Conchita’s sister passed away in Monterrey after a short illness. She is the second of twelve children (Conchita was the first) with whom Conchita, who was just a year older than Mina, was very, very close to her for their entire lives. Lorena’s father, Grandpa Lauro, was a first cousin to Mina’s husband, Tio Wilo. Lauro actually introduced Wilo to Mina. Mina died two days short of exactly 30 years after Wilo. Mina is the first of her nine siblings to pass. Everyone, of course, is saddened, but she led a good life dedicated to God for which we are all grateful.

Side trips

One of the best things we did as a family in Nebraska for the graduation and in Washington, D.C. for Christmas was just do a thing or two on a whim. This picture is from when we went to the Holy Family Shrine off I-80 between Lincoln and Omaha. The trip to the Hirshorn museum, the Berry Rye foo-foo drink bar, and several other side trips were a joy. I hope we can do the same again sometime soon, before next Christmas at least, in Forth Worth or the house in San Pedro.

Capitol Christmas tree

Lorena, Kelly, Christian, and I took Uber over to Ted’s Bulletin Restaurant for a late breakfast, then walked to the Capitol Mall to see the Capitol Christmas tree and to visit the Hirshorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. We ate to much, but also got in a lot of steps in the rather brisk weather. I have to admit that I prefer the more traditional art museums over modern art museums like the Hirshorn.

Christmas at Kelly’s

We flew to Washington, D.C. the day after we returned from driving home from the graduation commencement in Nebraska. It was pretty helter-skelter for a bit, but now all of us are ensconced in Kelly’s beautiful and very festive apartment for Christmas. So far, we got to meet Kelly’s boyfriend, Adam for the first time (a very impressive and nice man) and held a party for several friends including Adam and his aunt and uncle who live here in D.C. Uncle Andy and I are running fans–watching not doing–and from the same era–he graduated high school in 1974, I in 1973–so we had a grand time talking about stuff only people from that era would understand. I really hope to see all of them again soon–maybe in Texas. Today, if we get out of bed in time, we are going out to lunch and then on to the Museum of the Bible. We plan to celebrate Christmas tomorrow evening because Lorena, Christian and I all fly out early Christmas morning.

Commencement: The day after

Christian and Kelly took Lorena and I to the fabulous Boiler Room Restaurant in Omaha for a steak after the commencement ceremony at University of Nebraska–Lincoln. That is the same place where Lorena, Christian and I went after my dissertation defense back in June. Afterward, we all went to a craft cocktail bar named Berry & Rye and had a foo-foo drink before we went home. On the drive up from Lincoln we stopped in at something called the Holy Family Shrine–a roadside Catholic shrine that is an architectural marvel with flowing internal water features and spectacular views of the landscapes and hills along the I-80 freeway.

Working in DC

We met Kelly’s boyfriend, Adam for the first time, last night at a little party in her apartment. We plan to be together again tonight along with Adam’s aunt and uncle. It was a pleasant evening and we were very impressed. He seems to be a very thoughtful person, both in the sense of kindness and in the sense of consideration of ideas and situations. We are very much looking forward to the evening tonight, too. In the meantime, I have found a great place to work with a beautiful street-level view of Washington, D.C. in its fall/winter glory.

Retirement PhD: Done

I have the diploma, my University of Nebraska email and Teams accounts are going away in a month or two, and there is a real feeling of finality to this enterprise of getting a retirement PhD even though I am not yet retired (thankfully). I have already started on a volunteer research project with the GRIME Lab. I am going to take that work at a much more leisurely pace. Hopefully, we will be doing something with the ITESM university system in Mexico, too, so it should be fun.

Best graduation gift

Lorena and I had an outdoor thermometer at our house in Centralia that we loved to check. Youngin’s parents wanted to get me something. Unbeknownst to them, they got us just the perfect gift. Lorena and I are looking for a bracket that will allow us to rotate the thing different directions so we can use in when we are sitting on the porch or in the living room. The best part is that it is a Cornhuskers branded thermometer. I almost laughed when I opened it because it was so perfect.

Thank you Troy

A huge note of thanks to my PhD adviser, Professor Troy Gilmore (top photo), at University of Nebraska–Lincoln and founder of the GaugeCam GRIME Lab where I plan to volunteer now that I have finished my degree. No words are sufficient to express my level of gratitude for his support through so many years of education and research and, even more, for his friendship. His wife, Youngin, made a spectacular Korean dinner for the commencement after-party with committee members, Aaron Mittlestet (bottom photo) and Mary Harner. I am just so grateful for it all.

Graduated

Done. They handed me the actual diploma during the graduation. Troy and Youngin threw us an amazing after party. I will describe it all in a little more detail when I am not writing on my phone.

Last day of school

Today, Lorena and I are meeting Troy and Youngin for lunch in downtown Lincoln. This is probably my last day of school, ever. It has been an incredible amount of work, but every minute was worth it. Part of this had to do with me wanting to get a PhD, but honestly, the best part was the people with whom I worked. My committee consisted of 100% people of good will. My buddy John S. Started in the same program about halfway through my program and it has always been a joy to work with him. I’m going to enjoy continuing to volunteer with Troy, but it kind of won’t be the same. I just wish there was a way to adequately thank everyone involved.

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