The View from New Hampshire

Colorado Vacation

2007-07-23T21:56:00.000-04:00

Jodie and I just got back from a great vacation in Colorado. We were fortunate enough to be able to stay with my Uncle and Liza at their home in Glenwood Springs. We also spent a couple nights with my cousin and his wife, who live in the same town, and a night in Steamboat Springs. Glenwood was a great home base for many activities, including a day trip to Moab, Utah and a four day backpacking trip to the Maroon Bells - Snowmass Wilderness outside Aspen.

Here's an itinerary of what we did. I'll post some trip reports in the hiking section when I get a chance. In the meantime, you can look through some of our photos.

7 July Saturday
- Arrived in Denver, escorted by Uncle David to Boulder and Flatirons, then to Leadville (highest city in US at 10,200ft), to Camp Hale (site of 10th Mountain Division), and eventually to Glenwood Springs where we took a brief tour of the Hotel Colorado.

8 July Sunday
- Guided by Uncle David and Liza
- Hot Springs Pool in Glenwood Springs
- Tram up to adventure park
- Glenwood Cave Tour
- Alpine Slide
- Jodie did the giant swing over the canyon
- Visited the Doc Holliday Memorial in Glenwood

9 July Monday
- Day trip to Moab, Utah. Drove in route 128 and back via route 91. Went to the Fischer Towers (with view of Castleton tower), Arches National Park, and slickrock trail (though didn't bike)

10 July Tuesday
- Hiked to Hanging Lake in Glenwood Canyon.
- Drove up a dirt road outside Dotser, above the canyon

11 July Wednesday
- Climbed Mt. Sopris, ~12 miles round trip, 4000+ of elevation gain

12 July Thursday
- Hot Springs pool in Glenwood
- Paragliding off Red Mtn in Glenwood (Jodie only)
- Rafting of Glenwood Canyon (Shoshone rapids to West Glenwood)
- Dinner with Ken, Melanie, and Uncle David

13 July Friday - 16 July Monday
- Four Pass Loop backpacking trip from Maroon Lake outside Aspen.
- Night 1 at Crater Lake
- Night 2 at Snowmass Lake
- Night 3 in Fravert Basin

17 July Tuesday
- West Ridge of Quandary Peak (14er) attempt (Pat only)
- Shopping/sightseeing in Frisco and Breckenridge
- Stayed with Ken and Melanie

18 July Wednesday
- Ran part of the Scout Trail in Glenwood Springs and along the River Trail
- Played mini golf
- Dinner with Ken and Melanie

19 July Thursday
- River Trail run in morning
- Drive to Steamboat Springs, CO
- Hike to Fish Creek Falls

20 July Friday
- Biked river trail
- Strawberry Park Hot Springs
- Drove to Denver

21 July Saturday
- Flew back to Boston and then to NH

Good Reading on Goodreads

2007-07-23T21:40:00.000-04:00

I've started to use the website goodreads. It's a pretty neat site, where you can rate books you've read, add them to your virtual bookshelves (i.e. read, currently reading, to-read), and connect to your friends.

My favorite aspects of the site are the "to-read" bookshelf and the friends feature. With the "to-read" bookshelf, you'll never forget the title of that good book you hear about a few months ago. It's also nice to see what your friends are reading and what their favorite books are.

I put links to both my goodreads page and Jodie's goodread page on the sidebar of this site.

Year In Review

2006-12-29T11:27:00.000-05:00

I always find year end lists interesting. The Google Zeitgest is a summary of popular searches and they have published the most popular searches of 2006.

http://www.google.com/intl/en/press/zeitgeist2006.html

Climate Change Report by Economist Sir Nicholas Stern

2006-11-13T12:29:00.000-05:00

Sir Nicholas Stern, Chief Economist and Senior Vice-President of the World Bank from 2000 to 2003, released a climate change report on 30 October 2006. The report suggests that the global economy could be forced to shrink by 20% due to the effects of climate change. However, the report says taking action now would only reduce global gross domestic product (GDP) by 1%.

I've heard of several previous studies on the economics associated with climate change prevention policies, and most suggest a small reduction in economic growth to make dramatic impacts on our emissions. A lot of the information in the Stern Report is not new, but this is definitely the first global economic report produced by such a prominent economists.

Are there any more excuses left for not pursuing climate change prevention policies? Initially, lack of scientific evidence for climate change was cited as a reason not to take action. There is an overwhelming abundance of data supporting climate change, so that excuse certainly won't work. Another excuse often used is that climate change prevention is too costly, but as the Stern Report and others have shown, the cost is minor, and the cost of not taking action is significantly higher. The only excuses left are self-interest and shortsightedness, which are not good excuses at all - unfortunately they tend to be powerful ones.

Here are some of the findings of the report

- "The benefits of strong, early action on climate change outweigh the costs"

"Our actions over the coming few decades could create risks of major disruption to economic and social activity, later in this century and in the next, on a scale similar to those associated with the great wars and the economic depression of the first half of the 20th century. And it will be difficult or impossible to reverse these changes. Tackling climate change is the pro-growth strategy for the longer term, and it can be done in a way that does not cap the aspirations for growth of rich or poor countries. The earlier effective action is taken, the less costly it will be."

- "Scientific evidence points to increasing risks of serious, irreversible impacts from climate change associated with business-as-usual paths for emissions."

"The current level or stock of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is equivalent to around 430 parts per million (ppm) CO2, compared with only 280 ppm before the Industrial Revolution."

- "The impacts of climate change are not evenly distributed - the poorest countries and people will suffer earliest and most. And if and when the damages appear it will be too late to reverse the process. Thus we are forced to look a long way ahead."

- "Emissions have been, and continue to be, driven by economic growth; yet stabilisation of greenhouse-gas concentrations in the atmosphere is feasible and consistent with continued growth."

- "Policy to reduce emissions should be based on three essential elements: carbon pricing, technology policy, and removal of barriers to behavioural change."

- "An effective response to climate change will depend on creating the conditions for international collective action."

- "There is still time to avoid the worst impacts of climate change if strong collective action starts now."

Below is a link to a BBC article on the Stern Report's release and a link to a 27 page summary of the report.

BBC Article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6096084.stm

Report Summary: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/30_10_06_exec_sum.pdf

Entire Report: http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/independent_reviews/stern_review_economics_climate_change/stern_review_report.cfm

Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Oil Facts

2006-10-05T08:53:00.000-04:00

It's hard for me to believe the debate over drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is still going on. I suppose some people would say it'll continue until they finally decide to drill it. But anyway, it has been going on for years. My wife wrote a thesis on the rhetoric of the photography used during the debate, basically how pictures are used to convey different meanings and feelings. And just like pictures, the facts are construed to convey different meanings. At the heart of the debate is the amount of oil in the wildlife refuge and whether it is worth drilling.

According to the Dept. of Interior, there are 10.4 billion barrels of technically recoverable oil in the ANWR [1]. According to the Dept. of Energy, there is a 95% likelihood of there being 5.7 billion barrels, a 5% likelihood of there being 16 billion barrels, with an average estimate of 10.3 billion barrels [2].

Now, ten billion barrels of oil sound like a heck of a lot, huh? Well, the US consumed 20.7 million barrels a day in 2004 [3]. So doing the math, the ANWR only has enough oil for 502 days or 16.5 months. That's not much.

10.4 billion barrels / 20.7 million barrels per day = 502 days

I personally don't think it's worthwhile to disturb the ANWR for a little more than a years worth of oil. The oil is located in vital Caribou habitat [4]. But before we make any hasty judgments, lets look at what the proponents of oil exploration say. According to anwr.org, "ANWR oil could provide an additional 30 to 50 years of reliable supply" [5]. Now somebody has to be lying. We just showed it won't even last 2 years. Well, not exactly. We aren't going to pull 10 billion barrels of oil out of the ANWR all at once, so there probably will be 30 to 50 years of production, which could also be seen as 30 to 50 years of direct environmental impact. But let's assume that we do drill in the ANWR and take oil for 30 years, how much is that a day?

10.4 billion barrels / (30 yrs * 365.25 days per year) = 0.95 million barrels per day

The daily production from the ANWR would be less than 5% (0.95/20.7) of 2004 US oil consumption. Assuming oil consumption grows in the future, the ANWR oil would be an even more insignificant portion of the total oil. But we need oil and every little bit helps, right? Well, how about we reduce consumption instead. We could put 5% more ethanol in our gasoline, we could drive 5% less, or we could have more efficient vehicles. For example, the average passenger car gets 27.5 mpg [6]. If that average was increased to 29 mpg, passenger cars would consume 5.5% less gasoline - BAM no need for ANWR oil.

So, bottom line, there isn't much oil in the ANWR, so we might as well leave it there and start putting our resources to reducing oil consumption.

[1] US Department of Interior: http://www.doi.gov/news/030312.htm
[2] US Department of Energy: http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/petroleum/analysis_publications/
arctic_national_wildlife_refuge/html/anwr101.html
[3] US Department of Energy: http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cabs/topworldtables3_4.html
[4] US Fish and Wildlife Service: http://arctic.fws.gov/carcon.htm
[5] http://www.anwr.org/case.htm
[6] National Highway Traffic Safety Administration: http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/rules/cafe/overview.htm

Septic Work

2006-10-01T19:03:00.000-04:00

We had our septic system replaced this past week. We had the money in escrow from when we bought the house, so it didn't really cost us anything. We had a guy up the street do the work. I was surprised how big and deep of a hole he dug. I knew the leach field was pretty good size, but I guess I didn't think that he would dig so deep to put sand below the crushed stone. Anyway, he did a really nice job cleaning up afterwards, so the yard still looks nice. That's one less thing to worry about.

Energy Resources - Stock and Flow

2006-09-29T12:49:00.000-04:00

There are two main components to an energy resource, stock and flow. Stock is the amount of the resource that is built up, and in the case of oil this would be the total amount of oil we have on the planet right now. The flow is the incoming amount of the energy resource that replenishes the stock. In the case of oil, there is basically no flow, because oil is created on the order of millions of years. In the case of solar energy, the stock is the sun itself, while the flow is the energy emitted by the sun.

If an energy resource has no flow, no matter how low the consumption rate, the resource will eventually be exhausted. Therefore, the sustainability of an energy resource is solely dependent on the flow. As long as the consumption rate is less than or equal to the flow, the energy is being used in a sustainable manner.

Since oil essentially has no flow, there is no way to use oil in a sustainable manner. No matter how much we increase the efficiency of gasoline engines, we will eventually run out. The only variable is when. The oil picture is bleak because consumption rates continue to rise even though we have reached the peak of our oil production (in 2005 in fact - see Hubbert Peak Theory and Deffeyes). As demand continues to increase and supply drops, price will rise, so clearly oil will become an energy source of the past.

The real question we face is not whether to move away from oil, but when and to what. We need to find an energy source, or mix of sources, that have a flow large enough to match our consumption (or we need to change consumption to match the available flow).

Adding more complexity to the situation is the third factor in energy use, the endogenous limit, or the limit created by the earth itself. There may be a limit to the amount of carbon dioxide the earth's atmosphere can contain and still be suitable for human life. Therefore we may want to move away from oil before it naturally runs out.

Scientific American Special Issue on Energy

2006-09-19T12:35:00.000-04:00

The September volume of Scientific American has many articles on the energy and environment debate. Several of the articles are a high level overview of the problem. There are some articles that talk about specific technologies, such as Nuclear and Hydrogen, but still at a high level. The articles are easy reads and interesting.

Here's some of the articles from the table of contents

A Climate Repair Manual
A Plan to Keep Carbon in Check
Fueling Our Transportation Future
An Efficient Solution
What to Do about Coal
The Nuclear Option
The Rise of Renewable Energy
High Hopes for Hydrogen
Plan B for Energy

The bottom line in all the articles that I've read is that we need to do something to change our energy usage, and we need to do it now.

You can read some of the articles online at www.sciam.com

Lincoln and Luna Join the Family

2006-09-11T13:44:00.000-04:00

I can’t believe I haven’t posted this sooner, but I guess I’ve been busy going to camp, my week-long conference for work, and with class starting up again. Anyway, Jodie and I have adopted two weimaraners, Lincoln and Luna from a family in Sturbridge, MA. The family recently had a baby and decided they didn’t have the time to exercise the dogs as much as they should. Luckily, we saw their post on an AMC forum and applied for the dogs.

Lincoln and Luna are both 3.5 years old. Lincoln is a big boy and Luna is a cute girl. They are lots of fun and love to run and play. Jodie and I have decided to add a section to this blog devoted to pictures and stories about Lincoln and Luna. We’re calling it The Weimaraner Chronicles. Check it out!

Ethan's Baptism Photos

2006-08-15T20:28:00.000-04:00

I've posted the pictures I took at Ethan's baptism on my Picasa Web Album. Check them out

Wedding Pictures Posted

2006-07-13T12:29:00.000-04:00

Our photographer has posted some of our wedding pictures online. You can scroll through the pictures either by clicking on the larger one, or with the arrow keys (left/right) once you get the process started. Enjoy!

http://www.thamerphotography.com/mclaughlin/

Alaskan Honeymoon Photos

2006-07-12T08:15:00.000-04:00

Jodie and I are back from our honeymoon. We had a fantastic time! I wish we were still there. There was so much more to see - Alaska is so big.

Our photos are posted online, so check them out when you get a chance.

http://picasaweb.google.com/PatMcLaugh

May 2006 Wrapup

2006-06-10T10:08:00.000-04:00

It's been a long time since I've posted, but I've been busy with the upcoming wedding and work, etc. Jodie and I have been enjoying living in our new house. It's great coming home to our own place. We've had a few interesting things happen so far.

New Hampshire received a lot of rain in May, particularly the weekend of the 13th and the 14th. I was up in Maine with my Parents enoying some beautiful sunny spring weather, but when I returned home on Sunday night, our street was flooded just beyond our house. Southern NH had severe flooding causing many schools to close for the majority of the week. The town of Hooksett was closed on Monday. They weren't letting traffic in our out of town due to the flooding.

For the last month or two, Jodie and I have enjoyed the company of a pair of barn swallows. The pair has been sleeping in the overhang just outside out front door. They didn't seem to mind us going in and out of the house as long as we were relatively quiet. Each night around 7:00pm they would fly in, spend the night and fly out around 6:00am. They are no longer staying with us - they seemed to stop coming about the same time we got the dog.

Yes, we have a dog. We are taking care of Sampson, an eleven year old yellow lab. He is owned by one of Jodie's friend's parents. They moved to California for about six months and were looking for someone to take care of Sampson while they were gone. It's been pretty fun watching Sampson. For the most part he's a really good dog, but we have had some trouble with him going to the bathroom in the house while we're at work.

I've only had the chance to go up to the lake in Maine a couple times so far. We've had nice weather both times - I even caught a bunch of fish over Memorial Day Weekend. We won't be able to go up all that much this summer because of the wedding and honeymoon.

It's hard to believe the wedding is only a couple weeks away.

Which Car should You Be Driving?

2006-02-24T16:24:00.000-05:00

Answer: A diesel-electric hybrid using 100% biodiesel. Unfortunately, I don't know of any diesel-electric hybrid cars on the market, and biodiesel isn't readily available. BAE SYSTEMS does make diesel electric buses for New York City.

Biodiesel Retailer Map
Hybrid Buses

I recently found out UNH has a biodiesel group, and they have a comparison between several different cars. They compare cost per mile (strictly fuel cost), and fossil energy input per mile (again strictly looking at the fuel) for six different cars; a Jetta TDI on biodiesel, a Jetta TDI on petrodiesel, a Jetta 2.0L on regular gasoline, a Toyota Prius Hybrid, a Honda Fuel Cell vehicle (hydrogen), and a Dodge ESX3 diesel hybrid. The diesel hybrid was the cheapest to operate per mile at 3 cents per mile followed by the Prius at 3.5 cents/mile, the Jetta TDI on petrodiesel at 4 cents per mile, the biodiesel Jetta at 4.7 cents/mile, the gas Jetta at 6.2 cents/mile, and last the fuel cell at 19 cents/mile. The price of fuel used for the comparison is outdated, but I don't think the order would change much with updated fuel costs.

As far as fossil fuel use, the diesel hybrid (using 100% biodiesel of course) was the clear winner again, using only 0.55 BTUs of fossil energy per mile. The runner up was the Jetta TDI on biodiesel at .89, then the fuel cell car at 2.4, the Prius at 3.4, the petrol diesel Jetta at 3.7, and the gas Jetta at 6.0. The energy balance data for biodiesel used in the calculation seems a little optimistic, but biodiesel would be the clear winner regardless - unless the hydrogen for the fuel cell car is obtained from renewable sources. The hydrogen was assumed to come from natural gas.

The UNH Biodiesel group also has a great introductory presentation on biodiesel.

Car Comparison
Biodiesel Presentation
UNH Biodiesel Main Site

New House Photos

2006-02-19T16:31:00.000-05:00

Wachusett Skiing / Snowboarding

2006-02-19T09:16:00.000-05:00

Jodie and I went to Wachusett Mtn in Princeton, MA yesterday for some skiing and snowboarding. I snowboarded and Jodie skied. It was awesome!

We got a coupon book from Mr. Tux when we signed up for them to provide our tuxedos for our wedding. The coupon book is great! We used a coupon for a free "Learn To Turn" package for both of us. The package included free rentals, a free lesson, and a free lift ticket for the lower mountain. We didn't pay a dime for the whole day!

Originally I was thinking of bringing my skis and using the coupon for an entire mountain lift ticket while Jodie did her lessons, but then I thought this was the perfect opportunity to try snowboarding. I'm really glad I decided to go the snowboarding route. It made it so Jodie and I were on the same level. It was her first time skiing and my first time snowboarding, so we were quite content to stay on the lower mountain. In fact we didn't progress to the chair lift until around 2:00 pm. We were in lessons in the morning, and then still needed to work on a few things using the "magic carpet" lift before trying the chair. Apparently, the days of rope tows and "J" or "T" bars are gone, and these conveyer belt things are the standard "bunny slope" lift.

I didn't really know what to expect from snowboarding. Part of me thought I'd pick it up pretty easily because I've skied before and I'm generally pretty good at picking up things like this. But, another part of me feared I'd be quite bad because I'd never skateboarded in my life (the few times I tried to even stand on a board went very badly) and a lot of people compare snowboarding to skateboarding. At the beginning of my lesson, I struggled quite a bit. Though I was one of the better people in the class, I was still struggling to go straight for a few feet and make one turn. By the end of the 1.5 hour lesson, I could occasionally link two turns together.

There were a couple things I found very surprising about snowboarding. I was surprised to hear the rider is supposed to weight the front foot heavily, when intuitively I would have thought, and my body seemed to agree, the rider would want to weight the rear foot more. I also was surprised to find out I ride "goofy", meaning with my right foot forward. I had heard the term "goofy" before, but I had always assumed riding with the left foot forward was "goofy". There are a couple questions they ask a first time snowboarder to help them decide which foot should be forward. First, what foot do you kick a soccer ball with, and second, if you ran and then slid on a slippery surface, which foot would you put first. I definitely do both those things with my right foot. It is quite surprising to me that most people don't, especially since most people are right handed and so am I.

After a lunch break, Jodie and I stayed together somewhat and used the "magic carpet" for awhile. When the 1:00 pm snowboarding classes invaded the slope, there really wasn't much room to practice. Even though I was still struggling a lot, and falling regularly, I suggested to Jodie that we take the Monadnock Chair lift up. She agreed with a little convincing. I figured the trail was a green circle, so it would just be a lot more of what we had been doing already. I was right, for me, it was a lot more falling.

By the end of the day, I was feeling quite beat up from the repeated falling, but I was doing pretty well linking my toe-side and heel-side turns together. I was finally able to ride down the slope in a reasonable fashion.

Jodie did amazingly well. She had vowed never to try downhill skiing, especially after getting a small taste of downhill on some cross country ski trails. Thanks to this coupon, I was able to convince her to give it a try, and she did great! And liked it! Jodie has a difficult time when she's not in full control, and sliding downhill definitely fits in that category. Once she learned to turn and stop, she could control herself to her likening. She also is afraid of falling down. Who would have thought, but that made her learn much more quickly because she really didn't want to fall. She actually made it through the whole day without falling, which must be a record for a first timer. Though, it might have been nice for her to fall a couple times just to realize it's not that bad. Trust me, I can attest to that!

Summary:
Number of falls for Jodie: 0
Number of runs without a fall for Pat: 1

The House Saga Continues ...

2006-02-10T16:39:00.000-05:00

The seller on our original house came back and offered to give us $6,000 back at closing if we came back to the house. Apparently, he was disappointed that the house didn't sell fast after we left. This was an attractive offer given the radon and septic issues at the new property. Jodie and I felt we could move right into the house and bank the $6,000 to use in the event the septic system has issues or if we sell the house and the new buyer wants some concession.

The sellers on the new house have offered us a total of $11,000 in a combination of cash back at closing and escrow funds. That almost covers the cost of both radon mitigation systems and a new septic.

After some going back and forth on our decision, we've decide to stay with our "second" property. It will involve a little more money on our part, but we like the house and sellers better than the first house.

Another Bad Septic! Plus High Radon!

2006-02-10T16:16:00.000-05:00

The inspection on our "new" house turned up a failing septic system and high radon levels in the air and the water. The septic system had a lot of water and sewage in the leach field. The radon level in the basement air was 6.5 pCi/L and the water radon was 15,000 pCi/L. An Air radon level of 4.0 pCi/L is the EPA recommended level above which action should be taken. There is no agreed upon level for radon in the water, but a level of 4,000 pCi/L has been proposed in NH. Maine uses 20,000 and Massachusetts 10,000 pCi/L. Most literature indicates the largest health risk from water radon is when it outgasses from the water, such as when showering.

After quite a bit of investigation, I've decided the radon treatments for air and the water are warranted. Obviously, a new septic system is warranted as well. Here's what I've found for estimates for the various systems. These estimates are just ballpark estimates based on the information I could give over the phone. A site assessment is necessary to get a good estimate.

$6500 - $8000 for a septic system design and installation
$900 - $1200 for air radon mitigation system
~$3500 for water radon mitigation

Resources:

http://www.des.state.nh.us/EOH/Radon/FAQs.asp

http://www.radonh2o.com/

http://www.radongas.org/

One House Out, New House In

2006-02-10T15:49:00.000-05:00

Jodie and I are now under agreement on a different house. The inspection on the first house went fairly well. The boiler is older and needs a new coil, and some of the electrical wiring was out of date, but the big issue was the septic system. The septic system is undersized and not state approved. There is a 500 gallon metal tank and a trench line rather than a leach field. Kent Septic did the inspection and said they don't even like to pump metal tanks because they collapse. The inspection results were somewhat disappointing, but I wasn't too upset because I thought the inspection was enough to force the seller to make a concession.
The seller was unwilling to make a concession. His standpoint was that the system works, so there was no need to do any work. Jodie and I felt the seller should make concessions because based on the inspection results we felt the system was inadequate for the size of the house and unmaintainable because of the metal tank. It seemed to us that we'd be stuck with a large bill to replace the system, if not right away, then probably before we could sell the house.

Jodie, our real estate agent, and I met with the seller's original septic inspector, who inspected the septic a year ago. These septic people painted a much better picture. Saying the system does work now and is serviceable. They have in fact pumped it many times. They claimed the problem with metal tanks was the cover collapsing and this septic has a concrete cover.

Jodie and I still didn't feel too great about the septic system. Even if it works, it's too small and we'd likely have problems in the future. We weren't happy with the seller, who had bought the place a year earlier, made some updates, and was basically just trying to make as much money as possible. So we decided to spend the rest of the day looking at other houses on the market to see what our other options were.

We ended up finding another house in Hooksett for the same asking price. We made an offer, and ended up getting the house for the same price as the first one, with some money back for closing. The house has more finished space than the first house and has lots of storage space (2 garages) and a lot of land (5.5 acres, though some of it is wetlands). We're very excited.

Another Semester at WPI: Spring 2006

2006-01-22T10:08:00.000-05:00

Last Monday was my first day of graduate classes for the Spring 2006 semester. My plan for the semester was to take a class in Microelectromechanical Systems (MEMS) and to do three credits of directed research work. So, on Monday I left work early to drive down to WPI for my first MEMS class. I get there, I’m a little confused at first because the room number given for the course turns out to be the computer lab, but other students show up so I figure I have the right place and find a seat. About 10 minutes after the class is scheduled to start a professor type person walks to the front of the computer lab, asks if anyone is here for the MEMS course and then proceeds to tell us that the professor is not in today, so we have no class. Well that was a great, worthwhile hour drive down to Worcester! Thanks for the heads up professor!

While I’m at campus, I figure I’ll make good use of my time. I buy the book for the course ($135!), and setup my WPI computer account at the computer center. I assume that since the course meets in the computer lab, I’ll probably have to log in to the computer at some point.

Thursday rolls around and back down to WPI I go for the second, but really the first MEMS class. I’ll also be meeting with my professor to start the directed research afterward. The MEMS professor shows up on time and mentions he was out on Monday, but doesn’t offer any sort of apology. He proceeds to handout approximately a hundred pages of notes that are relevant to the first two class lectures. He then proceeds to go through the first two classes worth of PowerPoint slides (we wouldn’t want to be behind schedule so early in the semester). We never once touch the computers in front of us, nor does he mention them. The professor does interrupt lecture a couple times to chastise the other students in the computer lab for talking quietly. These other students are actually trying to get some work done. I can’t figure out why the professor would hold the lecture in the computer lab other than the fact there is a projector screen for his PowerPoint slides. There are screens in other classrooms, though maybe not quite as big a screen as the one in the computer lab. Anyway, I find the computer lab a very distracting environment for a class. People are coming and going all the time, there are keyboard/mouse noises, and not too mention the much more interesting material a few clicks away on the Internet.

Overall, I’m not impressed with the course or the professor. The class will have homework for every lecture, two exams, a project, multiple laboratories, and mandatory seminars in addition to class time. It looks like a lot of work, and potentially additional trips to campus other than scheduled class times, for a subject that is not that interesting to me. I should have known to drop the class on Monday when he didn’t show up and never told us beforehand.

One of the sheets the professor gave to us in his handouts was a sheet outlining his Homework and Exam Requirements (HER). This sheet lists sixteen items about the required formatting of homework assignments. “Points will be taken off during the evaluations for not satisfying these requirements”. My favorite one is number fifteen. “15. Staple (no folded corners, no paper clips, or other separable fasteners) all sheets for specific homework set (or exam, or report) in the upper left corner – do not staple more than one homework set at a time; make certain that the staple has a positive slope of approximately 45º”.

Thankfully, my directed research meeting when a lot better. I am going to be studying Biodiesel fuel and assessing its “cradle to grave” environmental effects. I think it will be very interesting and somewhat fun.

I’ve decided to drop the MEMS course and add the Advanced Dynamics and Vibrations course instead. I was originally going to take the Adv Dynamics and Vib class, but I had the professor last semester for graduate level dynamics and wasn’t too impressed. I’ve heard this advanced class will be spending a lot more time on random vibrations, which is a topic we deal with a lot at work.

Found a House!

2006-01-12T07:22:00.000-05:00

Jodie and I found house! It's a ranch that has been renovated, and is only a few minutes from our current apartment in Manchester. The house is actually in Hooksett. We're under contract and only need to complete the inspections and other paperwork for closing. Maybe we'll be in the house by the end of February!

The house hunting process was fun at first. It was nice to look a bunch of houses, but the process became more stressful as we kept looking and didn't see anything we really liked. Then we found a great house at a great price and made an offer. Unfortunately, the seller went with another offer even though we offered their full asking price. It was very disappointing to lose that house, but there were several houses on the market we hadn't seen yet, so there was still hope the right house was out there for us. When we made an offer on this house that we are now under contract with, I was very stressed. At that point, we had looked at basically every house on the market in our price range and location requirements. It was a very unsettling feeling to think "what do we do if we don't get this house". Thankfully, the stress ended last night when we got word the seller had signed our contract even though they received two other offers last night. It's a very good thing we got our offer in early (the house had only been on the market two days).

New Year's 2006

2006-01-04T15:45:00.000-05:00

Jodie and I spent New Years in Syracuse with Ben and Jaclyn. It was so much fun! Their New Years Party consisted of good food, fun games like trivial pursuit, and watching some of the Giants football game. There was some wine and champagne, but also some sparkling cider. It was my kind of party, low key, with fun people and only a little alcohol. There were six or seven of us. Ben and Jaclyn’s friends Josh and Jess were up from Arkansas; Adrian, who is in medical school with Jaclyn, and Brian, her fiancé, were there. Phil stopped by briefly.

On New Year’s Day, we sat around in our pajamas all day, played some more games, and read. I finished Shadow Puppets by Orson Scott Card, and started Dan Brown’s Angels and Demons.

Ben & Jaclyn have a great house with very modern colors. I really liked the yellow walls in their living room and the hardwood floors. Jodie and I would be lucky to find such a great place.

Adam Greenberg

2005-12-31T12:06:00.000-05:00

Adam Greenberg was a great person whose life was too short. I only met him a few times, but he was very memorable. He had a great sense of humor, very witty. He could deliver these sharp one liners that would make the room erupt in laughter. Though I didn't know him that well or for that long, he touched my life. One of the most immediate ways he changed my life is through his speech at Ben and Jaclyn's wedding. He was the best man and his speech was very funny and heart-felt. Adam's speech was in July, and when it became time for me to give the best man speech at my brother Ben's wedding in October, I looked back on Adam's speech and in many ways tried to emulate his style. My speech would have been very different, and much worse, if it hadn't been for Adam.

Not knowing Adam very well, it was hard to realize how much he went through as far as his health is concerned. He never complained and embraced every hurdle he face. He had lymphoma, and though he was cancer-free for several years, he had many other health complications due to his treatment. His death was sudden and unexpected. Jodie and I were expecting to pick him up yesterday to bring him to Ben and Jaclyn's New Years party. I will miss him.

5 Million Tons of CO2 Pumped Underground

2005-11-18T07:51:00.000-05:00

The Department of Energy has successfully pumped five million tons of carbon dioxide underground. The carbon dioxide is from a coal gasification plant in North Dakota and has been pumped underground to a Canadian oil field. This technology sounds very promising because it could significantly reduce CO2 emissions into our atmosphere while increasing the oil production of a given oil field.

When I heard about this successful test, I was very interested. This technology is highly suggested by Deffeyes in his book Beyond Oil. I hope to hear more about this technology in the future as it is implimented in more places. It seems to me a win-win situation for global warming and oil companies. The technology sounds like it could make a significant dent in our carbon dioxide emissions. The article I read states that if the process were used in all the oil fields of western Canada, “we would see billions of additional barrels of oil and a reduction of CO2 emissions equivalent to pulling more than 200 million cars off the road for a year.”

Click here to read the article.

Beyond Oil: The View From Hubbert’s Peak by Kenneth S. Deffeyes 2005

2005-11-11T07:44:00.000-05:00

I just finished reading Beyond Oil by Deffeyes. The main point of the book is that world oil production has peaked and we need to find alternatives to fill the energy gap that will be created as oil production drops off. Deffeyes points out that heavy investment in research and development of alternatives should have started fifteen years ago. We need to start such research now, but that won’t help us in the next five to ten years. Deffeyes presents a few existing technologies that we need to focus on in the near term.

1. High Efficiency Diesel Engines: Current technology can achieve 90+ miles
per gallon and using new computer controls can reduce some of the engine pollution.
2. Coal Fired Electric Plants: Trap the carbon dioxide produced when the coal is burned and pump it underground to enhance oil recovery.
3. Wind Turbines: Turbine technology is well developed and Wyoming (and other locations) has lots of wind.
4. Nuclear Plants: Learn to stop worrying and love the cheap electricity.

Deffeyes also points out a few actions individuals can take to help the energy problem.

1. Buy a Hybrid Car and/or Move closer to work
2. Buy Local Crops to reduce food transportation energy
3. Switch to Fluorescent and LED Lighting
4. Upgrade Home insulation

For the most part I agree with Deffeyes. High efficiency diesel engines will certainly reduce the amount of oil we use, but I think hybrid engines and existing fuel cell technology should be used as well to limit the air pollution from diesel engines. Or what about a hybrid diesel-electric engine? I haven’t heard anything about that concept.

Coal electric plants make me nervous because of the air pollution they cause. Trapping the CO2 and other pollutants from the coal and storing them underground sounds great. My only question is do we really have the technology already to trap CO2? If we do, why haven’t we implemented that already?

Further implementation of wind turbines is a great idea, though I’d also add other alternative energy sources such as solar and geothermal to Deffeyes’ list.

Nuclear energy makes me worry as well. Maybe Deffeyes is right, that we need to stop worrying so much about nuclear energy, and enjoy its benefits. I’m not so much worried about the electric plant exploding as I am about the nuclear waste. Deffeyes points out the physical size of the nuclear waste produced is relatively small. That makes me feel good, but the waste has to be contained for 15,000 to 240,000 years. How exactly are we going to do that? 15,000 years is so long, it’s really beyond comprehension. We have no idea how much change the earth could go through in that time. Nuclear fusion sounds like a great solution. Deffeyes says it produces no radioactive waste, but is at least 20 years away.

The individual actions suggested by Deffeyes to reduce our energy consumption all make very good sense. I’ve heard about taking such actions before, so this wasn’t anything new to me.

Overall, I was somewhat disappointed in the book, but my disappointment was really my own fault. I didn’t do much research into this book before I purchased it and started reading. The title alone seemed reason enough to get the book. My disappointment was largely due to the fact the book primarily discusses the state of oil in the world and other possible fossil fuel replacements, such as natural gas, coal, tar sands, and oil shale. I feel we need to move away from fossil fuels by using renewable energy sources and promoting energy efficiency and conservation. The book does discuss nuclear and hydrogen energy options, but does not discuss renewable energy sources in any depth. The book sticks to the topics that Deffeyes is familiar with. He is a geologist and therefore most renewables are outside his realm of expertise. I would still have expected some discussion of geothermal energy.

I did find the overall conclusion and message of the book very interesting. I knew world oil was running out, but I didn’t realize we are already at or past the peak.

Favorite Quotes

2005-11-09T15:16:00.000-05:00

"Anyone who believes that exponential growth can go on forever in a finite world is either a madman or an economist." - Kenneth E. Boulding

"The absolute simplicity. That's what I love. When you are climbing your mind is clear. Free of all confusion. You have focus. And suddenly the light becomes sharper, sounds are richer, and you are filled with the deep, powerful presence of life." - Brad Pitt (Heinrich Harrer) in Seven Years in Tibet

Hybrid Cars and Fuel Cells are old Technology

2005-11-04T06:20:00.000-05:00

Gas electric Hybrid cars have been around since at least 1970. Fuel Cells were used during NASA's Apollo missions during the 1960s. The reason these technologies aren't more prevalent today is simply that there hasn't been significant push to develop the technologies until more recently.

I am mentioning this fact because the other night I was early for my graduate class at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). Since I had a few minutes I was looking at the posters in the hallway. One of them was called "Mechanical Engineering Through the Years." It had a bunch of old photos, one of which was a group of guys and an old car with "WPI Hybrid Electric" on the side. I looked into it a little more and found out the car was for a Clean Car Race back in 1970. The race was organized by several colleges to raise awareness of the significant air pollution coming from automobiles.

It's hard to believe that such an event took place 35 years ago considering the lack of progress made towards cleaner vehicles.

Evangelical's Push to Curb Global Warming - What will Bush do Now?

2005-11-03T06:50:00.000-05:00

The National Association of Evangelicals plans to release a statement calling for mandatory greenhouse gas controls. The statement will be signed by over 35 evangelical leaders from across the US. The evangelicals believe there is a moral obligation to preserve the Earth.

It will be very interesting to see if such a statement causes any change in Bush's stance on climate change. Bush will be caught between his conservative base, which based on this news is pushing for climate change legislation, and his industry base which has opposed such legislation. I would think the conservative base holds more votes than a few industry lobbyists. I hope that means Bush will choose to go along with the evangelicals and support climate change legislation.

I always thought it was weird that saying the environment was considered a liberal idea. The word conservation is the same root as conservative, so by definition environmental conservation is a conservative idea. Saving the environment is resisting change. It is preserving the environment in its original state. That is a conservative idea. Maybe the conservatives have finally figured this out and the liberals and conservatives will now agree and we'll make some progress. We can only hope.

Read the article at the Chesapeake Climate Action Network

Maybe I Should Have Voted for Lieberman

2005-10-26T10:51:00.000-04:00

I found and interesting newspaper article online today. It was called Lieberman proposal: Hybrid autos to combat manmade global warming. Basically, the article states that Senator Joseph Lieberman plans to introduce a bill requiring 10% of new cars to be hybrids or alternative fuel vehicles by 2007. Additionally, the bill would require 50 percent of new cars sold in America to be hybrid electric or based on other gasoline-saving technology by 2012.

I was very happy to hear about this bill. It's about time we started to push for more efficient cars to decrease our dependency on fossil fuels. This bill would be similar to raising the mpg standards for vehicles.

One other thing the article mentioned, was that Lieberman and McCain are planning reintroduce their Climate Stewardship and Innovation Act, which would mandate a rollback of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. to 2000 levels by the end of the decade.

Now, let's hope these bills pass through congress.

The Rain Finally Stopped

2005-10-16T18:07:00.000-04:00

We saw the sun today for the first time in 9 or 10 days. It was a welcome and much needed sight. There hasn't been much flooding impact in Manchester, but elsewhere in the state has been hit hard. The worst hit areas are in the westerner part of the state, Keene and Alstead in particular. I drove over the Merrimack river today and it was higher than I can ever remember seeing it. The water is so high even though only a few weeks ago, it was about as low as I've ever seen it.

Jodie and I participated in the Breast Cancer walk at Greeley Park in Nashua. It was a nice walk, but I unfortunately volunteered to help set up. The walk was at 10:00 am, so I figured helping to setup would entail getting there around 8:00 am. Instead I was told to get there around 7:00 am. Jodie and I got there early and help set up a few things, but we really didn't do much. Soon, we found ourselves without much to do, and more than 2 hours to wait until the walk began. We ended up walking around Greeley Park and playing on the swings for awhile. I don't have a problem helping setup. I mean, I did volunteer, but I didn't really enjoy carrying about 6 boxes and then having nothing to do. I'm glad to help out, but if I'm not needed, I rather not show up early to stand around.

Overall, the walk was a success. We enjoyed the walk very much, and it's great to raise money and awareness for such a good cause.

Buffalo

2005-10-08T15:30:00.000-04:00

Last night I saw a brief part of a show about Yellowstone National Park and the railroad industry. It was on NH Public Television, and was called YELLOWSTONE: AMERICA'S EDEN. It was very depressing. It started out showing footage of huge herds of buffalo roaming the plains. There used to be 60 million buffalo in the western US. The white men, railroad people from what I took from the show, wanted to own the land that was presently occupied by native americans. They noticed that the native americans relied heavily on the buffalo for survial, and they thought that a nice indirect way of getting rid of the native americans would be to kill off the buffalo. The show had pictures of enormous piles of buffalo skulls and said that St. Louis sold 200,000 buffalo hides a day! The pictures and facts were deeply distrubing about how incredibly quickly and thoroughly the buffalo were distroyed. In fact, the buffalo were thought to be extinct until about two dozen buffalo were found in what is now Yellowstone National Park.

Ironicly, the same railroad people saw the beauty of yellowstone and realized it was worth perserving. They were one of the main groups lobbying for yellowstone to become the first national park. Of course, the beauty to them was the number of people who would ride their railroad to see the natural wonders. Suddenly the buffalo, elk, sheep, and deer were valueable to these people. So valueable that they decided to kill gray wolf and bear to reduce the predators of these animals. As a result the population of these grazing animals increased. Unfortunately, the population increased beyond what could be supported by the small yellowstone ecosystem. The over population lead to over-browsing, which lead to the decline of beaver, which lead to the loss of wetlands, which hurt duck and fish populations, etc.

The program went on to show the vast influx of people via automobiles and the detrimental impact they had. They showed the park rangers cleaning Morning Glory pool of all the trash people put in there. They pulled 86 dollars of pennies out of the pool!

I went to Yellowstone a few years ago, and luckily a lot of the damage of previous visitors, such as trash in Morning Glory Pool, is temporary. Much of the damage has not been temporary. The buffalo still are a fraction of their original numbers, grizzly bears are not present in Wyoming like they used to be, nor or the wolves.

I was depressign to me to see such destruction to beautiful and innocent creatures and habitat. There is a delicate balance between enjoyment of our natural wonders and over use.

Ben & Kate's Wedding

2005-10-04T17:49:00.000-04:00

Saturday was Ben & Kate's wedding. It was a lot of fun. The ceremony was very nice. It was at First Church in Nashua, NH. The reception was at the radisson in Chelmsford, MA. I was the Best Man. It was my first experience being part of the wedding party. I was a little nervous about having to stand in front of the church during the ceremony and giving my speech as best man. I was nervous during the speech, but I think it turned out pretty well.

It was nice to see several people from my family who I haven't seen in a long time. I suppose that's one of the best things about weddings is getting to see everyone. Todd Thamer was their photographer. I mentioned him to Ben and he ended up using him. I didn't know until he walked in on the wedding day, so that was a bit of a surprise. I kind of was able to have a day long interview with Todd. I got to see him work, and he did a nice job. I think he'll do a great job at our wedding too.

Crappy Day

2005-09-24T16:26:00.000-04:00

I feel like absolute crap. I only got about 3.5 hours of sleep last night. I normally get 8 or even 9 hours. Last night was my brother's bachelor party. Being the best man, I was in charge of planning it. My brother can be difficult to deal with because, for some reason, he doesn't like to give his opinion on what he'd like to do. About the only thing I could get out of him about what he'd like for his party was a list of people and the fact he'd like to drink a fair number of microbrews. When I asked him his opinion on some specifice things I had in mind, his response was generally "whatever you decide" - not much help there.

I'm definitely not the best choice to plan such an evening, as I have never gone to a bar just to hang out. It's just not something I find enjoyable. I don't drink and I don't like cigarette smoke and loud music. But away, I planned to go to a couple bars in Manchester. The first was a microbrewery, but not very nice. The next place wasn't a brewery, but did have 40+ local microbrews on tap. It was nicer. I was actually having a half way decent time, once it seemed liked everyone else liked the place, and I started to talk to Joe about climbing. Then it was getting late and it became quite apparent that most people, my brother and Steve in particular, had had too much to drink. I had to support my brother as he walked back to the car because he was all over the place. Then he puked all over my car just before we got home. Even after that I wasn't that upset. It was his bachelor party and he seemed to have had a good time.

That was yesterday though. Today, is the day I meant by calling this post crappy day. I just feel like crap. I think the lack of sleep has a lot to do with it. I spent three hours cleaning my car this morning (after about an hour of cleaning last night). Then I ate too much lasagna for lunch, got my hair cut, and came back to Manchester. I decided to go for a run and see if that made me feel any better, but it didn't. I still feel like a fat, ugly, lazy pig. Plus I have tons of homework to do - obviously I don't feel like doing it.

Crap...

Gas Prices

2005-09-23T10:13:00.000-04:00

I filled up my gas tank this morning. It was $2.89/gallon. It was $2.77 yesterday morning. I probably should have filled up then - oh well. I suppose the gas price increase is due to Hurricane Rita, but it hasn't even made landfall yet. I have heard many of the oil refineries have temporarily shut down for the storm, but I find it hard to believe the gas supply has been affected already. No doubt, the price of gas will go over $3/gallon this weekend after the storm hits. Part of me doesn't mind the high gas prices. I drive a Toyota Prius and get about 50 miles/gallon, so I'm not impacted by the price of gas quite as much as some others, but that's not the reason I don't mind the price increase. I don't mind the increase, because it's my hope that the high gas prices will raise the energy issue in our country so that some real progress is made. I think there is real opportunity to make some drastic changes to our energy infrastructure to make it more sustainable. Our country and its economy is incredibly dependent on the oil industry, which is clearly not good. Like any good Wall Street investor would say, we need a diversified portfolio. The US needs to develop alternative energy sources, preferably environmentally friendly and sustainable sources, to create a balanced energy industry. If our energy industry is more diverse, a major disruption of one particular source, such as oil, would have a far smaller impact on the economy. The solution to high gas prices is not to increase the oil supply, it is to increase the availability of alternative energy sources.

Many alternative energy sources, such as solar, are more expensive than oil. If the price of oil continues to climb, they may not be any longer. But even if the price of oil doesn't rise high enough, the US government should step in and help the other energy industries out. One of the main reasons alternative energy sources are more expensive is because they are produced in small quantities. If the demand for these alternative energy sources increased, the price would go down, but the demand won't increase unless the price goes down. This is where the government needs to step in and help lower the price hurdle so the alternative energy industries can take off. The development of alternative energy sources benefits our environment, but also the economy as a whole by removing our dependence on a single energy source.

I am really intrigued by the idea of decentralized energy, especially for more rural areas, rather than massive power plants. It makes sense to me to have a solar panel on the roof of each house, to have each house be it's own sustainable energy source. Of course, a centralized approach does make more sense in densely populated areas. But again, why not have more diversity; a decentralized energy approach for rural areas and a centralized energy approach for cities.

62 Billion Dollars !?!

2005-09-22T20:11:00.000-04:00

Congress has passed about 62 billion dollars in Katrina relief money. That's as of now. I've heard some people are estimating as much as 200 billion will eventually be allocated for Katrina relief. All this on top of the billions that are being spent on rebuilding Iraq!

Where does all this money come from? From what I hear, nowhere really, they are just borrowing from the American peoples' future. I heard some talk of repealing the republican enacted tax cut. I'm not exactly sure how much that equates to, but I'd imagine its still not enough for the Katrina relief. And such a repeal is rather unlikely in a republican controlled Congress. The financial behavior of the US government really frustrates me. Why aren't they subject to the same common sense rules as everyone else? In my personal finances, if an unexpected expense arises, such as an expensive car repair, the money has to come from somewhere else. I don't keep spending my money the same way I was before the unexpected expense. So why can the government do that? And why don't they save some money for unexpected costs? Most people with a good handle on their finances put away a chunk of money "for a rainy day". Does the US government have a "rainy day fund"? Not that I'm aware of. They can't even balance the budget for a single fiscal year, let alone save something for the future.

And where exactly is this 62 billion dollars going? I understand there is a lot of destruction on the Gulfcoast, but don't those people have hurricane insurance? I would think that would be requirement down there when people apply for a home mortgage. I realize that some lower income people don't own homes and may not even be able to afford renter insurance. But I would think the landlord would have insurance on the building. I know there will be a significant cost in cleaning up the cities and their public infrastruture, but won't most of the cost fall on insurance companies who have to pay claims to all the people and businesses in that area? Where the insurance companies get that kind of money is another question.

I heard someone at work today talking about the hurricane destruction and he said some really interesting things - which isn't unusual as he is very intelligent and he can rightfully say things like "when I got my first patent" and "the first billion dollars I earned the company". Anyway, he was talking about how he owns some property down along the Gulf of Mexico, and how beautiful and wonderful it is. But he said he doesn't have a mansion down there because "you know that every 10 years this storm comes through and makes the cars float down the street." I thought his comment was well said. I don't think many people have that kind of view point. I don't think they buy or build a house along the Gulf coast with the idea in there head that it is quite likely a major hurricane will come through this area in their life time. It is even more likely as global warming continues - but that is a topic for another day.

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita

2005-09-22T19:52:00.000-04:00

Lately, the stories of Hurricane Katrina, its distruction and the clean-up, have been all over the news. Now, Hurricane Rita is bearing down on the Gulfcoast again, but this time between New Orleans and Galveston, Texas. Katrina virtually destroyed New Orleans and caused gas prices all over the US to rise almost a dollar a gallon. Now, similar destruction is feared (expected) as a result of Rita. This destruction is obviously horrible for the people directly affected by the storms. It has caused me to wonder about the intelligence of building major cities, such as New Orleans, so close to the Gulf coast. Hurricanes are not exactly uncommon in these areas. It has really been a question of when, not if, something like this would happen to New Orleans. National Geographic ran a story about the potential destruction of New Orleans due to a hurricane over a year ago. I haven't read the story, but I heard about it on NPR. Apparently the story was very accurate in predicting the type and magnitude of damage.

I don't know much about the history of New Orleans, but I'd imagine one of the major reasons it is such a large city and so close to the Gulf is because it's a major port. There is probably a lot of traffic to New Orleans from the Gulf, including oil barges from the offshore oil fields. But couldn't a large portion of the city be moved slightly north to a not so hurricane prone area? As Katrina and the Asian Tsumani, have made perfectly clear, nature is very powerful, and there is little we can do to stop its desruction. Not heavily developing the areas prone to destruction is really the only solution.