Day 502 of 1000
Here is a neat post on the project we are supporting at NCSU.
Category: General Page 18 of 116
Day 501 of 1000
Today is my last official day of work at Cimtec. I have a couple of more days vacation with them next week. My good friend John Stranzl with whom I worked for three years at Centice has taken my position at Cimtec and will do an excellent job there. My short term relationship has not ended as I will help with uncompleted projects and consult on new opportunities for which I have unique expertise. Long term, I expect and hope to work for Cimtec again. They are a great company with super people. I am only sorry my first stint there was so short (1 year) due to our changing family situation, mostly due to my aging parents.
Day 500 of 1000
We are exactly half way through with our 1000 day countdown to graduation today. What started out to be a sad and slow Christmas vacation with no family and nothing happening turned into one of our best Christmases ever. Let me count the ways:
- A family trip to Charlotte where we just hung out together and had a great time.
- The game night for the kids with their Russian, Venezuelan, and NCSU friends at our house was a rousing success. Lorena and I even got to go out on a date that night.
- The new cellphones–enough said.
- Some marvelous artwork by Kelly.
- A dive into Android programming in C++ for Christian.
- Entirely too much food.
Now, it is time to go to work. It certainly appears that Spring semester of 2013 will be the hardest semester of their entire undergraduate career. Kelly has her second semester of Mathematical Statistics. Christian has Modern Algebra, Analysis, and research.
Kelly is working on a fabulous new painting that she want so try to do in the style of Norman Rockwell as much as possible. It is looking really good so far. It is amazing how much the original scene looks like a Rockwell illustration. Kelly is going to start posting her stuff on her website, KellyJeanChapman.com. Right now that site points to an old server we have running in the house, but in the next couple of days we will move it two its own location with our ISP. She would like to start putting some of her art up there and also start back into cartooning as she has time. I said I would help her.
Day 499 of 1000
The kids will head back to school next week so they are blasting away hard on fun projects while they have time. Next semester will probably be the most difficult semester of both of their undergraduate careers. I will talk a little about that later. In the meantime, Kelly is drawing like crazy. She has switched (for awhile) from pencil to watercolor and having a great time with it. Here is her latest effort
For his part, Christian is setting up his computer to write applications for his Samsung Galaxy Note II. I accidentally called it a Samsung Note by mistake and got in big trouble for that. It is a very cool project. He is going to write in C++ using QT and QT Creator in Linux. I am excited to see what he does. I am not sure if I have described here his last big project to browse the web from a regular (non-smart) phone. It was very cool, but he has moved on now.
I already mentioned that I finally broke down and got everyone cell phones. Christian got a Samsung Galaxy Note II. He informed me that it would make him much more productive at school and I believed him. He has had the phone for about a week so far. This is what he has been able to produce:
Day 498 of 1000
When I was very young, New Year’s Day was a great day that I used to make plans to do better–better in school, work, sports, health, and anything else I though might need some improvement. Then, I went through a fairly long period of cynicism. I thought New Year’s resolutions were just another cliché to be disparaged. The older I get, though, the more I realize that anything that helps focus on improvement is a good thing. I plan to use today as a day to work harder on humility, weight loss, and keeping track. Why only three things? Well, really those two things include a lot. Humility, in my case, has to do with talking less, helping more, giving my credit to God, managing my emotions to the benefit of others and those sort of things. Weight loss has to do with eating better and exercising more. Those first two things will keep me busy, hopefully for the whole year.
The third, keeping track, is aimed at blogging consistently with higher quality. It really is an indulgence to myself, but I want to do it. Since we finished homeschool, this blog has had no coherent purpose other than to talk about my own personal projects and some family chronicling. Kelly and I are in the planning stages of doing something new and interesting. Christian will start on his first serious research project. I will try to talk about those things here.
Cannot think of a better way to bring in the New Year than to spend it with Tom and Sharon. We had salmon barbecued on a cedar plank, mac and cheese, amazing bread, etc., etc. Then, to top it off, Tom taught Lorena, Kelly, and Christian how to make crêpes. He made them on a homemade crêpe pan with a homemade crêpe spreader. It really does not get any better than that.
P.S. I really like this picture of Tom.
After a workout at the YMCA, we will head over to the home of the elder of our meeting tonight for a quiet dinner. We are all glad. Last night was a fun busy night, but too much to do two nights in a row. Also, it is a great way to use up some of the leftovers from last night. I will try to remember to put up a picture or two.
Day 497 of 1000
I cannot believe I we are almost half way through our 1000 day count. When the count is complete, the kids (hopefully) will have graduated from NCSU and be planning for grad school. I blew it though. Somehow, I got two days off during my counting. I went to the Date Duration Calculator webpage and found that I had fouled up. Embarrassingly, due to my “don’t change the blog posts after two days” rule, I am going to have to leave it like it is.
I am in too good of a mood to let it get me down. I had a date with my bride last night while the kids had a game night party with their friends. Both were a wild success.
Day 497 of 1000
Troy, Christian, François, and I all met down at the Biological and Agricultural Engineering Laboratory at NCSU this morning to work on the GaugeCam project. It was very interesting. I have not really done anything on the project for several months, but François has been pretty busy. There were two items that were of particular interest. First, François visited Bangladesh with a team of scientists to work on some agricultural water research. They were able to use the GaugeCam cameras to monitor water levels as water passed through a crop field.
The second was even more interesting. Based on research performed using the GaugeCam water level measurement tools, it was determined that a whole category of pressure sensors used by the USGS to measure water level are significantly inaccurate, especially when water levels are rising or falling. The first paper based on our research will be published in several months. There are two (and probably a third) additional papers for which data has already been gathered.
A have my work cut out for me over the next several days as I have some software deliveries that are required to complete the analysis of the data.
Day 496 of 1000
Well, Lorena, Kelly, and Christian finally beat me into submission. We got three Samsung S III for Lorena, Kelly, and I and one Samsung Note II (for Christian). We are in the process of activating them right now. Lorena really wanted an iPhone, but there are some things that are just wrong. She has seen the error of her ways and is now wildly happy she did not get stuck with an Apple product.
Day 493 of 1000
I just bought tickets for my first trip to Oregon to visit my parents since they have moved into assisted living. I am very excited to start the interviewing. I am putting together an interview kit that everyone can use. The only thing missing that I hope we can find before I go so I do not have to buy another one is the charger for the video camera. I am going to have everyone upload their interviews and videos to a common place, then start writing it all up.
Day 491 of 1000
I have worked with my Russian friend Igor at two different businesses over a period of three years. We went to their house for dinner last night. Igor’s wife Tatiyana is one of those people who goes out of her way to make people feel comfortable. She is an amazing cook and entertainer. Their kids are almost exactly the same age as Kelly and Christian. They are super good kids, too.
Day 488 of 1000
I expected to spend much longer than a year working for Cimtec Automation. It was over a year from the first time I talked to them until when I went to work for them. They have their fingers in just about every industrial sector in Virginia and the Carolinas. In addition they have a thriving international web based distribution business. I have enjoyed working for virtual every one of my employers, but Cimtec is special. The work environment is amazing. The owner of the company makes sure everyone in the company knows how things are going in as much detail as he can give. If there is an opportunity I want to pursue, the company takes me seriously and invests in making it happen. I in the middle of my switch to a new position because of circumstances that have nothing to do with Cimtec. I surely hope I have the chance to work with Cimtec again sometime in the future when circumstance permit.
Day 485 of 1000
I am about to hit a milestone with the pickup. I have never bought a new car, then kept it for 100,000 miles. That is all about to change. I hope to do this more often.
Day 484 of 1000
The kids grades are all set for fall semester. They did great. The big news is that Kelly is now a Senior! She claims she has senioritis, but she has only been at NCSU for one semester (summer semester does not count–it was only one class). We are very excited for her. Next semester will be, by far, her ugliest semester with her capstone Mathematical Statistics class, two programming classes, and three additional classes. It will be Christian’s ugliest class, too. He has Modern Abstract Algebra, Real Analysis, an Electrical Engineering class, and two more that are not so easy.
Day 481 of 1000
There was snow on the windshield of my rental car her in Prescott this morning, but all the snow on the ground had melted. I really like what I have seen of this town so far. What do I like? Let me list a few things:
- There is a grocery store here named Frys that makes the very best chicken (fried and backed) that I have ever gotten at a grocery store deli.
- There is an In-N-Out here. I went there for the first time and got a hamburger. It was awesome. They even gave me a box so it was easier to eat in the car.
- I went to a bible study on Friday night with some wonderful people. We have lots of common friends around the country. One couple even knew my folks. I am looking forward to meeting with them while I am here in Prescott.
- The work I am doing at Quantum Catch is VERY interesting.
- The scenery here is nothing short of amazing.
Day 478 of 1000
Based on a very limited, but quite consistent sample, I would have to say that people in North Carolina say please, thank you, and your welcome a WHOLE lot more than people in Prescott.