Hello everyone, terribly sorry about the delay between last post and this one. I've been extremely busy over the past two weeks, but we'll see if I can't tell you a bit about it.
Let's see... Thesis work, thesis work, annnnnnd more thesis work! Oh, I occasionally got to do some programming! Honestly the past couple weeks have been a bit of a blur, but there have been some good highlights that are worth pointing out.
One of the high points of the past two/three weeks was the return of Bjorn to CERN for yet another round of struggle with the electromagnetic calorimeter. This was a good point because it meant I got a fair amount of help on some things to do with my data analysis that had been bugging me (pun intended).
Actually I only got to see him for about half the time that he was here since he arrived around the time my night shifts started. Once those were over, he was working at point 2 (where ALICE itself is situated) while I was in the office at the CERN main site most of the time. However we did manage to have SOME time to work on things that needed work. This included some work for the UPC group here at CERN (UPC = Ultra-Peripheral Collisions for those of you who care at all about any of the physics I talk about).
My thesis work has progressed as well via lots of work and occasional meetings with Dr. Cherney who throws red ink on my thesis at random and tells me why everything I think I know is wrong. Actually he doesn't do that and is in fact providing some very constructive criticism, but I've had to re-write my first two chapters twice already with a third re-write on the way. It currently reads like evening news factoids which is almost dry enough to be considered a rough draft for a Physics related paper. Still need to run it through the drier a few more times, however.
One of the neat things I've somewhat vaguely gotten involved with is a start up company called AerosonX which a friend of mine and her father have started. It is doing some neat work that I can't talk about because of the non disclosure agreement, but in spare moments I've been trying to translate some physics into English for them. They are aware of the unfortunately small amount of time that I can spend on anything for them (and it is volunteer work anyway) due to my thesis taking over my life. Still, I am quite flattered that they asked me.
Another highlight of the past week was another truly amazing dinner, courtesy of France being a hop, skip, and a jump from CERN. There is a restaurant near a ski resort called Crozet which is about a 15 minute drive from my house in Saint Genis, if that. The resort is closed since we've had amazing spring weather here (immediately followed this week by amazing spring rain). However, the restaurant is open and while I have had better duck, I had to get peking duck IN Peking (well Beijing as it's called these days) to do it. It was delicious and had, of course, amazing wine to go with it. Bjorn, Yiota and I all went. It was a thank you from Yiota for the good job I've done in removing wallpaper (more on that later).
My father was planning on visiting this weekend, but due to a combination of expenses and company scheduling issues he wasn't able to come, which is unfortunate. However, I'll survive since he is coming next weekend instead and staying for a longer time than he would have this weekend. I plan on taking him to said duck place. And feeding him Raclette with my various friends here. And cooking Mont d'Or for him fresh from the Ferney-Voltaire market. Basically we're going to need to go for a run or two to work it all off. I'm excited that he is coming. I wish Mom could come too, but between money and time she can't. Oh well.
I have found time to hang out with people on occasion. Polly dragged me to Geneva to go shopping because she needed a new pair of shoes. Well she didn't drag me really... I secretly enjoyed myself because it wasn't the office. Also she's a good friend and amusing to hang out with. We went to a mall sort of like a miniature Bellevue Square (for those of you from Washington to have an analogie) a few miles down the road from CERN. A fairly nice place and not as expensive as it could have been, considering we were in Geneva. I got socks. She went to get shoes and wound up with two new dresses and a tank top. And no shoes. Oh well! It wasn't for lack of looking. I was designated bag holder (actually I just picked up the bags in spite of her insisting I didn't have to repeatedly) so I at least had a function. I actually had a lot of fun... Hehe.
Just today Bjorn and I managed to get out and about for a nice if soggy drive around the lake
trip to Nyon (not Lyon, a point which confused me considerably). Nyon is a small town about 30 to 45 minutes north of Geneva. It, like most of Switzerland near Lake Geneva, has a magnificent view of the lake, even in spite of the rain. We had lunch in one of the many cafes near the water front and walked around for a while. It was well worth the trip (and the drip) to get out of the office. We went to a castle right in the middle of town that was first built in the 1290's. It's always fun to think about how old things can be in Europe compared to the US.
I mentioned my progress on wallpaper removal. For those who do not know I've been reworking the walls of the room where I've been staying in as part of a rent reduction deal with Yiota. Her daughter, Katerina, will move in there once I'm out. I'll have to endure lavender walls for a few weeks, but oh well. It is over half way done and will probably be at most three or four more days of work since I have maybe a day's work of wallpaper left plus one or two days painting, not to mention moving everything back into place. Then I can live there again! I've been in Yiota's room while she's moved into Katerina's (there are bunked beds in there). I'm eager to be done since it has been an absolute pain in the butt. Never ever ever ever volunteer to remove wallpaper. Ever. It isn't worth it.
Beyond that I've been job hunting, though recently I've been focusing more on my thesis. I've figured out a deal with God as to what my future will be like. If I do get a job, I go with that. Or the one that most interests me of ones I'm offered. If I do not hear anything before, say, the end of May, then I'm seriously considering joining the Air Force. It would be good for me, provide connections, and is the service most likely to get me researching in Aerospace. Given my druthers, I'd take a nice research posting at Edward's in California. We'll see. Even if I wind up as a supply officer it will probably still be a good experience (though I hope to God I don't end up as a supply officer).
That's the majority of things I've done recently beyond work on my thesis. I have a return trip booked now: I arrive back in Omaha on April 17th. Here is my schedule for the following week and a half:
Wed 18th: presentation due for my Statistical Mechanics course. I'm presenting on some real world thing that can be modeled as a statistical system. I'm thinking the stock market.
Friday 20th: The Nebraska Academy of Science talks. I'm giving a presentation aimed at college biologists and chemists about my work at ALICE. I don't expect anyone to show up other than the few people from Creighton who are going to the talk with me. Yay!
Saturday the 21st through Thursday the 26th: back to New York! If you thought I was done there, HAH! I'm now officially an author at STAR, which means my name will appear on published papers! This means I should probably show up one last time. I probably should also at least read papers my name shows up on as an author, but that comes in the future.
Friday 27th: Presentation for Creighton's physics seminar. Every student has to do one. This one will be a slightly more detailed version of my NAS talk. Should be easy to write and to give.
I will have my Thesis defense probably in early May unless some miracle happens that lets me give it in April. Regardless Dr. Cherney has offered to pay me through the end of May for tweaking if I don't have any other jobs lined up. This is optional and I'm considering it... but we'll see. I could use an extra month's pay since I'm planning on buying a car...
Well that is everything for now! So sorry for the delay between posts. Hope everyone is well!
Ciao!
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