Let it Snow

Work, Grades, Books, and Poll.

I got the job, start Monday. It was going to be Jan 2nd, but they moved it up. Is custodial/maintenance at YMCA from 7:30 to an hour before class, Monday through Wednesday. Comes out at 22 hours a week. Over Christmas though I don’t fully know when I will be working yet.

I had my final math test today, and feel pretty good about it. I know I have A’s in CAD and Drafting, and as long as I get an 87.4% on math test I have an A there too. Manufacturing is close to the edge too depending on the test we had Tuesday and the presentation later today. So, worst case scenario, I get A, A, A-, A-. Not bad for a worst case, huh? Will let you all know final grades when I get them (Monday or Tuesday I think).

I got my books this week too. I have all but a course packet for my machine tools class. Only cost me around $500.

I need to come up with a new poll, but every time I decided to try I can’t come up with one. Soon, I am trying.

I guess that’s it for now. Enjoy the snow, sounds like a lot is coming.
BTW, uptime at 32 days, 3 hrs, and still going.

nick

Untitled 8

Uptime, and Job?

So, the great debate on my computer has returned. There is a security update out that I have been ignoring for a week now, but with a current uptime of 28 days 1 hour and 16 minutes, I am hesitant to install because I don’t want to restart. You may remember about a year ago I reached an uptime of 21 days 8 hours. I will let you know the final record when i decide to restart.

I was going to mention it last time, but didn’t, but decided I will now. I may have a job. I am at about 99% sure. I applied for work study at Delta and got a referral for a custodial/maintenance position at the YMCA. I went in to fill out the application and have an interview Thursday, and it seems all is set. They even went through my schedule to figure out when I can work. So, I am figuring I will find out Monday for sure, but like I said I am 99% on it right now. It is only $6.50 an hour, but no taxes are taken out because it is considered financial aid. If I get it, I can add a work category to the blog maybe.

OK, I am off to watch some TV, finish homework, and go to bed. See you all later.

nick

Radioluminescence

Tritium-phosphor lighting, and Movies.

Isn’t that a fun word? Say it, Radioluminescence. See, told you so. I am doing a bit of a report on it for manufacturing. We have to pick a product and do a report on the manufacturing processes required for it. I decided on making radioluminescent exit signs, powered by glass tubes coated with a phosphorescent and filled with tritium. The tritium which is a heavy form of hydrogen having 2 neutrons rather than none, decays into helium-3, releasing an electron.

1 proton + 2 neutrons -> 2 protons +1 neutron + 1 electron

That electron strikes the phosphorescent creating a flash of light, in the same way the electron beam in your Tv or monitor fires electrons at your screen, which is also coated with a phosphorescent. The beta particles are mostly absorbed by the phosphorescent, and those that are not are either absorbed by the glass or reflected by it until they are eventually absorbed, releasing no radiation outside the glass tube. By placing a few of these into a housing and butting a cut-out with the letters EXIT on it over the face, you have yourself a lighted exit sign that requires no battery backup, wiring, light bulbs, or any other maintenance whatsoever, and can last from anywhere between 10 and 20 years. Yes, there are some associated risks like vial breakage and gas release, but tritium is actually the safest of all radioactive isotopes, and the beta particles emitted cannot pass through skin and any gas inhaled is passed through with your urine, and not absorbed into your bone marrow. Also, since it is still hydrogen, the gas dissipates in the air very quickly, and there is rather little in each vial anyway. Very cool stuff.

Also, i watched the Jerk today. Very cool movie, very funny. If you have never seen it, do yourself a favor and do so. It is on TV semi-often, or you can just rent it.

Other movies seen recently include Fantastic 4 (good, must do sequel, as there was maybe too much intro plot, and not enough save-the-world plot), Mr. and Mrs. Smith (good), and Elektra (not so good). Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle is sitting here too, since jenn fell asleep and missed half of it last time. I liked it, so we get to watch again. Also a very good movie if you haven’t seen.

OK, I guess that is all. Go back about your merry lives till I decided to honor you with my presence again.

nick

Sorry

Not much

Sorry about the sparseness of updates. There really hasn’t been a whole lot going on though.

School is down to 2 weeks. As of my last calculation I had all A’s, though 2 are borderline into the A- range. Still damned good though.

I gave Jenn her Christmas gift today. I figured it gives her more time to use it.

We had Mandarin House for dinner today as well, always tasty.

Hmm…

Yeah, that’s all I can think of.

Sorry again.

I will try and work on new template more, as the fall theme is a little outdated now.

Nick

Finally!

Post count, “Alpina”, Links, Editing, Oprah, and Folding.

Some quick announcements.

This is post 330.

The word “Alpina” has been removed form all posts, and exists only in this one. They have all been changed to the correct spelling of “Alpena”.

All links to pages on the old site (homepage.mac.com/nslyax/…) have been either removed to changed to point to the same page on this site (hooji.nfshost.com/…).

All 296 old blogs have been edited, and as far as I know, have the correct dates. Oddly, all the ones mis-dated to 12/31/1969 @4:49pm were from December 2003 or 2004. Anyway though, it’s finally done, and only took 89 days.

After 16 years of asking her, Dave Letterman has finally convinced Oprah to appear on his show, airing December 1st at around 11:35.

I finished my F@H unit for 241 more points, for 3045 points total.

That is all.

Happy Thanksgiving

Folding, Mom, Thanksgiving, Jenn, Editing, and Scott.

I am almost done with my Folding@Home unit. I am on step 396 of 400. It should finish up over night.

My mom’s surgery went fine. That was Wednesday, btw.

Thanksgiving was uneventful. Went to grandparents, talked to Tim (he lives 2 doors down now), ate, blah blah.

Jenn went home for the week. Tuesday afternoon, till Saturday afternoon. She shadowed her mom around the hospital for a day and spent a lot of time with her family. Also, she went out with Gwen on Wednesday and Friday night.

I am down to the 18 misdated blog posts. All 278 of the others are edited though.

Scott brought my mom cookies too. They were good, except i couldn’t figure out his secret code. Two M&Ms was marshmallows and 3 was none, or something. Either way, we need to go get some Genji.

I think thats about it. Not much has been going on really.

Maybe something good will soon. I will let you know if it does.

Woohoo

Ferris

In case any of you don’t know, I am at Delta pursuing an AS degree in Manufacturing Engineering (my second AS, I already have Pre-Engineering) in preparation for transferring to Ferris for a BS in man. Eng. Tech. So, last week I emailed Ferris checking on a few class transfers and had nearly decided the message was lost to a spam filter somewhere. Today though, I got my response, and it cut nearly a semester off. Woohoo! I am excited, since I am already on my 4th year of a 2 year college, so moving along toward a degree I could have already had if I started toward it after HS is a very good thing.

In other news, posted a new poll, and edited more old blogs. Not much else though.

nick

Still More Site Updates

Search results, Updates, and Comment Reply

So after looking on search engines, I have found that I am listed on Yahoo, Altavista, and the google blog search, but not on MSN, Lycos, or main google. I did find that it can take 5-8 months to exit the google “sandbox” though, and since site in only 3 months old, and last site took about that long, I have decided everything is OK, though I would prefer to be listed. Also, I am wondering when the old site will be removed from search results, since it hasn’t existed in a month and a half.

I added a site history page, including screen shots of the old sites. I also updated the site’s front page and to-do list, and tinkered with the style sheet. I am liking it much more now, but still requires more work. Also, I changed to a different poll, and think this is the one. It is actually a WordPress plugin, so integrates very well. Easy for me to edit, and seems to work well for you too. We will see how it goes.

As far as Sarah’s comment on the weather, no, I cannot like this weather. Yes, today is better than the past few, but high winds and snow just aren’t for me. Like I said a month ago, I like Autumn, it’s just too bad it’s only a month long season. Thank you for commenting though.

Still More Changes

Site, Weather, and School.

So yet more changes on the website. I changed the colors some, and the headers, and the sidebars are next. I moved the links on the top, and added a path listing under the header. I actually got into editing it because I finally got the template for the blog working, and it was rather hard to read due to colors. So, the new blog template is coming, just so you know.

The other day I realized I passed $0.50 in hosting fees. It took me 4 months, so thats pretty damn good. That comes out at $2.00 a year, which is $97 less than .Mac. Woohoo.

I am now obligated to complain about the weather. Lets face it, it rather sucks. First, it was windy. Then, it was windy but from the other direction. Then, it rained. then, it sleeted. Then, the wind calmed down, but then it snowed. Then, the snow accumulated. it’s crazy. The water in the river was a foot or more higher than normal yesterday, today it was at least 3ft low, probably more. You could walk from the middle grounds to the riverwalk pier all on dry (well, exposed and mucky anyway) ground. Anyway, this is our first real snow, and though it’s, so far at least, not accumulating on concrete yet, it is accumulating on about everything else, and that’s more than the only other snow this season (actually, it was debated that that first snow was actually a frost, which is possible, since I never saw it fall, only white on various surfaces).

In school, hmmm…

I had another math test. Only 1 more of those left thankfully. Not bad on this test, but certainly could have been better. Also, I might lose one of my classes for next semester. Right now, there are only 2 people signed up, out of 25 seats. I will still have 12 credits, so no worry there, but still, it is a required class, I need it at some point.

OK, thats all for now.

Ohh, I will go for another poll soon too. But you all need to comment more I think.

nick