Memories on a Run

My run today took me past a place long familiar; a place where my cousin and I once climbed vast jungle gyms and scaled giant concrete pipes. Memories of building block towers and scavenger hunts abound there. The lawn is overgrown now, and the metal jungle gyms and concrete pipes have long ago been removed lest children be exposed to the hazard. In their place a plastic play set sits unused on its bed of recycled tires. Inside on the floor once strewn with blocks and other toys are scattered shards of broken glass, while vines make a steady, beautiful assault on the sidewalks and brick columns. As I ran by, I realized that my hometown is changing and so am I. My kindergarten is for sale, but my memories will remain.

Misplaced Priorities?

I saw the Apple iPhone ad linked below on TV last night. While I would be very happy to have an iPhone to use (read: play with), I did take issue with some of the scenes presented in the ad. Specifically, in a couple of scenes what looks like a businessman in a hotel room is using the video-call function to view either his child crawling or his wife. While this is an undeniable advance in wireless connectivity and should be celebrated as such, couldn't such technology be put to better use?

Being separated by about 600 miles from my fiancee this summer due to internship assignments, I would like to be able to video-chat with her occasionally. On the other hand I would much prefer being able to telecommute to my job so that I could be with her in person. Why isn't there 'an app for that'? Shouldn't we be making it easier to stay close to our families rather than making it more convenient, even seemingly attractive, to be apart?

Of course, maybe if I had an iPhone I would understand...

A Different Perspective.

There's a place in a lonely desert that nobody on the planet has named. It stretches on for miles in all directions without any signs of civilization, or life for that matter. It is in this lonely wilderness that an alien spacecraft landed. The craft released a robot that went about collecting data to send back to the civilization that sent it. The civilization sent the craft to discover whether there is life here, and whether they might survive here if they came. Perhaps in the future they will send explorers or settlers here.

This is not science-fiction. The civilization is us.

My Best Photos

I've recently had the time to sit down and go through my photo albums searching for those occasional great pictures. The ones that surprise you with color or landscape and just beg to be framed. I can't post them all here, but you can view the album.

Labor Day 5K

This Monday I ran a 5K on the Tech Trails (mountain biking and cross country skiing trails near campus). I heard about the race at the end of last week and decided it would be a good thing to do. It turned out to be a small race, with only around 20 runners competing. The course was fairly difficult with hilly, narrow trails that made passing difficult. It would be easy to twist an ankle on those trails, and several people fell during the race, though I was not one of them. I was glad I didn't sign up for the mountain biking version of the race, as running those trails was hard enough. I finished well overall, 6th place and 22:10. Not bad at all considering the terrain, and the fact that I haven't been training all that consistently. Overall, a very fun way to spend the morning.

Getting ready for the start.

The starter told us "It will look like the trail ends, it doesn't!" This is what it turned into.

Coming in for the finish.

End of Summer Activities

I have been very busy seeing the sights this Fall. As I mentioned in the last post, Between the end of the Summer semester and the start of Fall classes, Ashby and I took part in a family canoeing trip down the Au Sable river. That was a very fun-filled, if cold and rainy, weekend. Luckily we all managed to stay relatively warm and dry even on the river. After departing our campsite near the river, we completed the shortened drive back to Michigan Tech, and stopped by Big Springs for a little sightseeing and to stretch our legs.

Once back in Houghton, we spent a day getting unpacked and then departed on our trip to northern Wisconsin and Minnesota. On the first day, we drove to Duluth, stopping on the way to hike in the Porcupine Mountains.

Me by Lake Superior in the Porcupine Mtns.

Ashby by the Superior shore.

The view from a lookout tower elsewhere in the Porkies.

After our hiking we stayed the night in Duluth before setting out to the long awaited mystery destination, which was a physics particle detector operating in the bottom of the Soudan Underground Mine State Park in Minnesota. Ashby and I really enjoyed seeing the detector in person, and learning about the physics being explored there. We also went on a tour of the historical mining operations. All in all, a very enjoyable destination where we learned a lot.

The Hoist Building.

The head frame, this is where we got into a 'cage' to be lowered into the mine!

The bottom of the mine: almost half a mile below the surface, the ride down takes over 2 minutes.

Our great tour guide, Pete, and the electric trains that take visitors back into the mine for the historical tour.

After the mine, we headed back East to the Baptism River Inn (by my Mom's suggestion) for the night. The other guests were very interesting; one couple was visiting from England. We talked much about the differences in culture between America and the UK. It made for a very interesting breakfast. In the morning, we made our way back to Houghton, stopping to see the sights along the way as much as time allowed.

The Sauna near the Bed and Breakfast.

The Baptism River, just a short walk from the B&B.

Split Rock Lighthouse, one of our stops on the trip home.

Amnicon Falls, our first stop in Wisconsin on the trip home.

Big Manitou falls at Pattison State Park.

The weekend after returning from our trip, we took a trip up the Keweenaw to see Fort Wilkins and do some other sightseeing. As always a very beautiful trip.

Sunset over Lake Superior.

Summertime in Houghton

On a trip with visitors (cousin Alex and his girlfriend Kaylin) to see the local sights.

I've spent the last seven weeks in Houghton taking classes and working for Michigan Tech's Summer Youth Programs. It's been a fairly busy time, with several groups of visitors coming to enjoy the summer weather here. It was nice to have visitors on some of the weekends since Ashby has been in Ann Arbor for the summer. For classes, I took a total of 6 credits which is close to a full-time load when it's condensed into seven weeks. I took 'Mechanical Vibrations' and 'Statistics for Engineers', both of which will likely prove useful in the future.

My job with the Summer Youth Program fit in very well with taking classes. I was responsible for chaperoning the students to and from Houghton on the weekends. Several times this meant driving a Michigan Tech van to a nearby town and picking up or dropping off a handful of students. Most often it meant riding a charter bus through the night two nights in a row on the weekend running down to Lower Michigan to trade the students who had finished their programs for ones on their way up to Houghton. A few times I was able to meet up with friends and family during the bus layover. Thrown into the mix were a few around town van trips for field trips as well. It was quite an enjoyable job and it kept me from excessive boredom on the weekends as a side benefit!

Now I'm in the process of preparing for final exams at the end of this week, after which I head home to Erie for about a week before coming back up. It should be a fun week, with a family reunion and canoeing trip in the works. I know it will go my much too quickly, but when Ashby and I return to Houghton, we plan to make a trip to Wisconsin and Minnesota to a 'mystery destination' that I'm sure we will both enjoy along with some state parks on the way. That will make the trip back more fun. Then it's back to school in the fall. I'm excited to be the leader of the powertrain ("engine") sub-team for the Supermileage team this year. I have some new ideas, and the whole team seems fired up to make more improvements after our impressive performance this summer.