Snow Break 2010

We're going to play, "How badly can I bog down the internet connection." Its this game where I see how many demands I put on the internet and see how it reacts.  Currently I'm uploading pictures of our Arizona trip, a feat I normally do at two in the morning when I can't sleep because it takes up all available bandwidth.  Now I'm blogging while uploading the pictures.  We're talking it takes so much band width to upload the pictures that I can't even get the website to reload the pictures.  As part of my blog I want to upload pictures, so we'll see exactly how well that goes. 

For the more pressing matter at hand -- stories about the desert.  We left on Thursday after work.  We flew down and got off the plane into air that was at least double the temperature of what we left.  It was strange.  Naturally it was dark -- but it was really dark.  Apparently because of an observatory around Tucson they can't have street lights.  I loved looking at the sky!  It was great to be in a semi-big city, be standing in the backyard and finding constellations -- and not just the main stars in the constellations, the small ones too.  We could easily see most of the Seven Sisters and Orion and a few others that I never remember the names of.  Chris did though and was pointing them out with names.  We also saw cactus.  I hadn't ever seen a Saguaro cactus before.  In OK we had prickly pears and such, but never the Saguaro.  At least if I'd seen a Saguaro cactus it hadn't ever been as tall or as majestic as the ones we were seeing.

On Friday we went to the desert museum.  Basically they've cordoned off part of the National park there outside of Tucson (well, I tried to google the name of it, and I got that I couldn't find a server which means there's no extra bandwidth, one point for the internet apparently) and have made a living museum.  They have some animals in enclosures, much like a zoo, but they also have cactus gardens and things that explain desert ecology and stuff.  It was neat.  I liked it a lot, but that's just me.  I really liked the sea of cacti that went on in every directions as far as I could see.  It was wild to think about exactly how old some of the cacti were.  I mean, if the cactus grows an inch a year (roughly) and is twice my height then that cactus has been there a while.  It also takes 100 years to grow an arm, so those with several arms jutting out everywhere were how old exactly?  The skeletons were also really cool. There's a picture of one below.  I also went for a nice easy run on Friday -- it was in the seventies.  I was wearing a singlet and shorts while everyone else was in sweat pants and long sleeve shirts.  It was a CLEAR day and it was nice to run.

Saturday we went to Phoenix.  Emily's mom lives there and so we started by going by Em's mom's place and picking fruit off the trees.  I'd never picked oranges or grapefruits so it was fun to climb trees and pick fruit.  It took us about 15 minutes to get four or five large bags full of oranges.  We also had lemons -- they were HUGE!  It took 5 lemons to fill a regular grocery bag (just to give you an idea of size).  Linda and I climbed the back fence (well, I started to scale it then couldn't so Chris got me a ladder while Linda just went on over) to get grapefruit.  We only picked a bag of those, but that still left us with quite a bit of fresh produce.  After picking fruit we went into Phoenix proper to pick up my race packet.  That was a mad house -- only a small omen of what was to come.  That night we went to see Avatar in IMAX 3D.  Finally.  It was great.  Overall I felt it was more political than actually having a plot line, but the imagery and the language was really neat.  I think I may be a linguist at heart. 

Sunday morning I ran the race.  It was ugly.  There is no other way to put it.  We got to run down strip club boulevard early Sunday morning, and actually circled around parking lots.  I will not be giving it a favorable view rating when I get to rate it.  It was pretty to see the sunrise before the race started, but overall it was an ugly race.  Temperature wise it was great -- it was even cloudy.  I did okay, I think it is my second best time for a half marathon.  Seeing as I hadn't really been eating much except meat and carrots for a few days I did well.  The post race madness was crazy.  It was entertaining to try and get several people who didn't have a clue where they were together.  Then getting back to Em's mom's house was funny too.  We kept following arrow signs pointing in the right direction, yet they never put us on the freeway.  We had talked about going hiking up to some wind caves, but that was vetoed because my foot was hurting as was another person's in the group. We drove back to Tucson and got to see a georgeous sunset.  It was flat with the mountains in the distance.  The mountain rings were everywhere and really cool.

Monday I woke to the sound of rain.  Yes it was sprinkling in the desert.  We didn't do much, just chilled and got ready to go back to snow land.  We didn't really have any troubles once we got on our plane, but it had been delayed for weather problems in Las Vegas (where the plane was coming from).

Today we went back to work.  It was warm here (about 30), but much cooler than the past weekend.

The first week of the year back at work was, well the first week of the year back at work.  We both accomplished quite a bit and mananged to not go crazy.  The biggest thing I suppose was that on Tuesday of last week I went to the allergist.  I had asked to not see this particular allergist as he doesn't think that what I'm eating is causing all my symptoms.  As a scientist I'm pretty sure that they are because when I eat certain foods I get sick.  When I don't eat those foods that make me sick then I don't get sick.  It's a pretty simple experiment that anyone in the third grade could probably do so seeing an allergist for it seems a bit excessive.  I did see him though and am now looking for a good allergist in the Chicagoland area.  I'd prefer someone in the Naperville/Aurora area, but am willing to do a lot for a good doc. 

School started today so it was a hectic busy day for Chris.  I start classes tomorrow as I managed to get Tuesday and Thursday classes again this term.  I've got biochemistry and biotechnology on my plate.  We'll hope it goes well.  I've heard that both of the courses are easy so that makes me kind of nervous.  I tend to not do so hot in classes that others think are easy, so that means I'm on my guard against letting the material get away from me. 

It continues to be winter.  It has been warm enough to snow recently though so it isn't too bad yet.  The two bad storms that have been predicted (one for snow back in Dec, and this one for the "cold" snap we were supposed to get) haven't really been bad.  We did get about 8 inches of snow last thursday though.  Everything has a nice white blanket -- except for the roads and sidewalks.  It is wonderful to be back in an area that deals with the snow well, and snow removal.  They aren't as on top of it as they previously have been so we're thinking that it is probably budget cuts.  We just have to wait for a while for them to clear the snow -- they aren't doing it as instantly as they have the past two winters.

A Christmas Blizzard and Southern State Blitz -- People Documentary

I actually ran out of time with the last post to really talk about all the people we got to see for our southern state tour.  We got to see a lot of people, and it was really great to see everyone.  We missed a lot of people as well, but hopefully we'll catch everyone this year. We managed to see a lot of the families and some surprising friends. 
As opposed to listing them all I think I'm just going to put up several of the pictures from the trip, some with commentary. 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

A Christmas Blizzard and Southern State Blitz -- Travel Documentary

This will be one of the posts dealing with our Christmas vacation, depending on how long they allow one post to be.  I may divide up the posts based on topics, and this post will be divided up as such as well.

One reason I've not managed to post is because I've been in Oklahoma and Arkansas doing family things.  I really did mean to post last week before we left but simply ran out of time.  The past 10 days have been nuts, so hopefully you won't think too badly of me for not posting.

Anyway, our Christmas adventure started last Tuesday, December 22.  We were getting snow in Chicago, it was supposed to stop snowing by nine...then noon, but at two when we left it was still snowing so we're not sure exactly when it stopped.  This is a picture of the car when I went to dust it off to go get Maggie from the airport.  It was snowing quite a bit actually and it continued to snow until we hit Springfield, IL.  We made it to Jeff and Ginger's house in Waynesville Missouri by about nine (weather added a couple of hours) and got to talk and hang out with them for a bit before turning in for the night.

Wednesday, we woke up and started driving to Tulsa.  After about half an hour we hit rain.  These were the storms that helped flood Arkansas, and we almost stopped several times.  We're talking we had 50' visibility.  Chris was driving through the  I normally don't talk a lot about the treacherous conditions we might be driving in, but we didn't have a clue that this would be some of the easiest of the driving we had to do during our week touring Oklahoma and Arkansas.  

Thursday, we woke up and it was raining.  It had been raining a while, but then it started sleeting about noon.  We managed to drive out to my dad's house and see him before it got too bad.  This is a picture of the sleet that had accumulated at my dad's.  I took this just before we left. 

The drive back to Tulsa was slow -- it took us at least twice as long as normal.  When we got in, we decided that we would not be going out in it again.  It was starting to snow by the time we made it back to Tulsa, and the roads were icing since it had rained and sleeted so much the snow was coming down on to a layer of ice.  As we were driving they were starting to shut down highways and there were a couple of fatal accidents.  Since it was snowing it continues to snow for the rest of Thursday (Christmas Eve).  We stayed in and missed church, but since we couldn't get out of the driveway and they canceled church we felt this was appropriate. We had horrific wind to go with the snow so we got a nice Christmas blizzard.  In Oklahoma.  We ended up with around a foot or so of snow when it was all said and done.  There were huge drifts in some places, like the one that blocked in our little Focus.  This picture was from about six at night -- so all of the snow had come down in about two hours.  

John actually was going out at this point in time, which is why you see the foot prints in the snow.  He managed to not make it back until the afternoon of Christmas Day.  He was unable to get up the driveway in his Tahoe.  There were random cars parked all over the streets though from when the cars just wouldn't go any further up a hill.  

Since we were snowed in for Christmas we left for Shawnee from Tulsa the day after Christmas, as opposed to Christmas.  There was so much snow that we couldn't see curbs and thankfully we let several other families brave the snow and packed it down for us so that we didn't have to plow it in our little Focus.

Saturday driving was all sorts of slippery.  We managed to not see many plows which was shocking to us.  Being from the Chicago area we typically see plows with the blades down as soon as there is enough snow on the ground for the blades to do any good.  We were driving on snowpack with the plows next to us and blades up.  We were very confused.  On our trip from Tulsa to Shawnee we counted cars in the ditch to help us pass the time.  We often saw packs of them together and were shocked at how many people were ending up the ditch practically vertical.  Our final count was: 62 cars in the ditch or on the side of the road, 10 plows with only 6 of them having the blades down, and 3 tow trucks (not counting the one in the ditch below).  This was in a 90 mile stretch of road.  Also are a few pictures of the side of the road.  Some of the snow drifts show evidence of lots of wind. 

 Then driving around Shawnee for a couple of days, well, we probably need a new suspension on the car.  They never really plowed and were simply waiting on the snow and ice to melt.  In Oklahoma that is really a good plan most of the time, the only problem is that with this storm it stayed cold for several days after it.  We left Shawnee on Monday (28) and managed to have a dry day of driving.  That was by far the easiest drive of the trip.  We managed to see a few friends on our way to Chris's mom's house, but then we just wanted to stay there for a while.

Yesterday we managed to drive back to Aurora.  We left from Arkansas and it was a good thing as Oklahoma had gotten another couple of inches of snow.  We were also lucky in that we didn't have to go up I-44, which of course was getting snow all day long.  We hit snow about Springfield (again) and it didn't stop from there.  The plows were out salting and moving snow as it was coming down.  We ended up with only an inch or snow from the storm yesterday, enough to cover up all the nasty colored snow that's plowed into nice piles everywhere.

A Mighty Wind

This past week we got our first taste of winter.  The snow storm that hit most the rest of the country managed to only drop about 6 inches here.  With all the wind and such though you would think we got several feet of snow.  We had 30-40 mph winds that were bitter!  It was interesting though -- last Mon & Tues we had snow and it melted, then we got the "blizzard" and the wind and temperature dropped so quickly that it created a very nice skating rink.  When the plows went out they mainly plowed the snow off of the ice and left a nice tractionless surface for everyone to drive on.  Naturally everyone forgot how to drive on the ice and snow, but we did manage to make it home in one piece. We had so much wind that anything leeward of the wind had a lot of snow, while the stuff that was out in the wind had no snow so to speak.  These were some of the trees that were sheltered from the wind by a building and they show quite a bit of snow.  I think they are quite pretty.  I also think it a shame there isn't that much snow everywhere, but I'm weird. 

Thursday was our first sub-zero day and the top of the Sears Tower froze!!  I mean it had frost along the top couple of layers of the tower.  My building was cold -- we had snow on the inside all day.  I'm not sure if it actually blew in (the windows don't always seal the best) or if because of the wind the metal sills became so cold that snow formed from the water moisture inside and just sat on the sills.  The picture of the frozen Sears Tower...

The big news is that I got my endoscopy results back.  The mast cell numbers are still way too high.  Since I'm eating stuff like I'm supposed to this means its not actually food or that there is something I'm continuously ingesting in water or simply by breathing that is making me sick.  I get to go back to the stupid allergist -- the one who decided not to give me shots last fall when I asked for them.  The allergist that had to give me anti-histamines half way through the test because I was reacting so well to them.  The allergist that had to give me the interdermal shots spaced very far a part because simply having the essence of the environmental allergen on my skin reacted half way up my arm, made my eyes itch, and made my arm swell so much they couldn't actually make out what I was allergic to -- but apparently couldn't give me shots because he wanted to try me on medicines I'd already been on and they hadn't done enough.  Also, the doctor who doesn't discuss medicines with me.  My GI doc said she was going to try and get me an appointment with a different doctor, so we'll hope that she can pull those strings and get me in at the other clinic.  

A good note -- the semester is over!  We made it through.  Chris is busy cleaning the labs and getting ready for after the break.  We have one week after we get back from Christmas before the semester starts again.  I will be taking biochemistry and biotechnology next semester so hopefully it will go well.  I don't know my grades for this term yet, but I can't imagine that I didn't pass my classes.  Then in May I will be looking for a job as I finish up a Masters.  I'm already looking really, but in May I'll really need one. 

Christmas Trees and Holiday Magic!

Saturday, we went to the MSI to see the Christmas trees!  We also got to see a gingerbread house of the white house.  It was made recently enough that standing around the edge that you could still smell the sugar and ginger from the house.  It smelled sooo good!!  The shrubs were made of rice krispies and trees were made of popcorn balls!  It was very neat to see the white house on such a small scale.  They also had the white house decorated for Christmas.  The MSI has christmas trees decorated by different community groups that are found in Chicago.  Unfortunately, there didn't seem to be as many trees this year as previous years.  We're not sure why, but both of us felt there were fewer trees.  While there we also got to see some Royal Scottish Dancers.  The guys in kilts were pretty entertaining.  I joked with Chris about joining them, but he doesn't think he'd look that good in a kilt -- apparently his legs are too hairy.  We didn't really go through much of the rest of the museum while we were there. 

On Sunday I worked Holiday Magic at the zoo.  They've decorated the zoo with lights every where!  A few of the animals were out an about -- like Whirl (a tiger), Hudson (polar bear), Aussie (polar bear), and Jim (alaskan brown bear).  But since its cold you'd expect those animals to be out an about.  It was about thirty degrees or so and it was nice to see the polar bears not being green!  At the zoo there is also the sleigh set up with polar bears pulling it.  It was great.  I liked all the cute things around the zoo -- the wreaths around the statues to go with the endless lights.  Some of the lights were impressive and the reflection pools were really cool.  Now though, the pools (what are fountains in the summer) will really start to freeze over, so that means the reflections will be different. 

We also got some snow today.  It was nice.  It was our first snow and we only got about an inch.  It was nice to finally get some though.  It was naturally enough to cause massive problems.  They didn't get plow because there wasn't enough snow.  It was also gone by mid-day, but it was here.  We're actually supposed to get quite a bit of snow tomorrow.  Hopefully it will snow so much that all finals will be canceled.  This is finals week so that means I've got exams on Wednesday and Friday.  I've also managed to get through this semester.  I now have one semester left before I get my Masters.  I don't know what I'm going to do with it yet.  If you know of anyone in the Chicago area in need of a MS Chemist let me know.  I'm looking at doing some teaching at several community colleges around us or looking at some of the food companies around here.  There are several of them and it could be interesting.  Chris is still looking at taking the stockroom over at some point in the next year. 

Starting December off right

Well, we've started December now and we've not had any snow.  We typically get snow starting around Thanksgiving (though Chris says that it doesn't actually start snowing then since we don't get a couple of inches on the ground and they don't have to bring out the plows) and so far nada.  Tonight is the first night we're supposed to get snow, and not even half an inch at that.  I'm hoping that the snow will help me feel more festive.  It simply getting colder has.  So did looking at all the Christmas lights along the interstate from Minneapolis to Chicago when we drove back on Sunday. 

The past few weeks have been a blur and now the semester is over.  Papers, projects, and exams are done, so now full force into finals week.  I suppose I should start with a few weeks back though to keep everyone up to speed on what's happened.

The Sunday before Thanksgiving I flew to Tulsa to do the Route 66 Half-Marathon.  It was my only half for 2009.  It went well, not quite as well as I expected, but sufficiently well that I'm pleased.  My mom ran the race with me and we both finished.  It was a very hilly course and I managed to get through all the hills with very little problem.  Here's a picture of us after the race...

After I flew back to Chicago I had another test done.  They did an endoscopy and it was pretty eventful apparently.  I don't like anesthesia or people sticking tubes in me.  The drugs have kind of reset my brain too, which isn't so good this close to finals.  It's either the drugs or the sheer exaustion that have re-set my brain, but it isn't wanting to work right right now. 

For Thanksgiving we went to Minneapolis.  We had a lot of fun with our friends there and enjoyed just being out of Chicago.  A pic of us from the weekend...

Other than that, there hasn't been much going on.  We're still trying to make Christmas plans so I'll let you know when we get around to finalizing them.