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Post by Captain Hygiene on Jan 30, 2009 16:56:11 GMT -5
I've occasionally thought about writing a blog, but I've never really known what to write about. I guess a good first subject would be to write something about myself that others would find interesting. Unfortunately, I'm going to write about weather. It's a pretty big part of my life - I claim not to be a weather fanatic, but the mere fact that my career is in meteorology places me pretty far up the nerdiness scale. I’m not really that bad, though - unlike many of my colleagues, I don’t give weather the same importance in my life as, say, breathing or eating. It’s always been more of an interest than an obsession for me. I was always interested in weather when I was young, but a big part of that was because I was deathly scared of thunderstorms and tornadoes. Even a slight darkening of the sky or a distant rumble of thunder was enough to make me feel sick. I imagined a tornado appearing at any instant. I was interested in weather forecasts because they told me when bad weather might happen. As I grew older, I began to think of possible careers for myself. I know, I thought to myself, I’ll devote my life to something that makes me crap myself with fear. Okay, my phobia had actually worn off by that point, but I’d retained a lot of interest in day-to-day weather, and I decided to study meteorology. I did my undergraduate work with a vague idea of being a forecaster. No research work for me! As I began to realize though, graduate degrees are becoming more and more required to get decent jobs in this field, and I decided to go to graduate school. I finished my Master’s in Atmospheric Science last semester, but along the way I developed second thoughts about forecasting. In theory, I find it fascinating, but in reality, I don’t like the pressure it puts on you. It essentially becomes a never-ending problem that you have to face each day, much like an eternal homework assignment. No matter how good you are, you'll still have to do it again the next day. What’s more, not only do you have to solve the problem every day, but the general public will call you up and harass you when you’re wrong. That just wasn’t something I wanted to deal with, so I did what all good students do: go to school some more. I’m just starting my Ph.D. work now, and it’s really giving me an opportunity to go out and do things. We’ve gotten funding for a major observation project, which is really taking off now. The overall goal of the project is to make detailed observations of heavy snow this winter and next winter, using weather balloons, a mobile radar and a couple of other instrumented trailers, and (next year) an instrumented aircraft. We’re just finishing the preparation phase now, which involved driving out across the Midwest to find sites where we can actually park these instruments. I’ve put a few thousand miles on several rental cars in the last month or so visiting these sites, which has given me the opportunity to visit a lot of new places. Sure, a lot of these new places are actually cornfields, but visiting them still beats office work. We’re just about ready to start the deployment phase (or, the “lots of sitting around in the cold” phase). We’ll be forecasting winter storm development over the Midwest, hoping for storm systems that move over one of our possible observation sites. If we think there’ll be a good one, we’ll all truck out to that site and set everything up (hopefully) ahead of the snow. Then we’ll monitor these instruments in 12-hour shifts throughout the storm to make sure they keep working. This will be cool, but in practical terms, it will also involve lots of sitting around outside or in truck cabs, checking the instruments or launching weather balloons from time to time. Probably not the most comfortable of jobs, but again – it beats sitting in an office all day. Next year, we’ll have a big instrumented aircraft flying through these snowstorms as well, and I should have the chance to ride around on that quite a bit as well. This project is one of the reasons I like where I am now. First of all, I’ve grown to like the idea of research (even if it’s not always unbridled joy at a day-to-day level). Beyond that, it’s given me the opportunity to travel internationally for conferences and collaboration, and I’m getting the chance to go out in the field now and make observations. A lot of my life involves sitting around working at a desk or taking classes, but the opportunities I get more than make up for that. More than anything, though, it’s kept me from doing TV weather.
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Post by callipygias on Jan 30, 2009 17:13:44 GMT -5
Wow, very impressive, Captain. The idea of forecasting seems dull (not to mention thankless) compared to the possibilities you've opened up. In short:
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Post by siamesesin on Jan 31, 2009 15:33:37 GMT -5
I have nothing but admiration for you, CH. Meteorology has such a huge impact it on day-to-day life, and it seems like a fascinating career to boot.
If you're out near this cornfield sometime, I'll spot you a beer.
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Post by Crowfan on Jan 31, 2009 15:37:13 GMT -5
It sounds totally cool. Much more fun than office work.
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Post by Mighty Jack on Jan 31, 2009 22:27:53 GMT -5
very interesting and thanks for sharing - i never knew what you were studying.
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Post by CBG on Feb 2, 2009 8:54:05 GMT -5
Pretty super-cool, CH. *sniff* They grow up so fast... *sniff*I I’ll devote my life to something that makes me crap myself with fear. LOL!
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Post by doctorz on Feb 2, 2009 13:17:55 GMT -5
Fantastic. I really don't get interested in the weather until Hurricane Season. Then I'm pretty darn interested. Good luck on your career. Find a way to deflect Hurricanes back out to sea and you will be a made man!
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Post by Donna SadCat Lady on Feb 2, 2009 13:40:28 GMT -5
Hmmm, at the risk of saying something controversial, I'll say, find a way to get people to build and/ or live in such a way that they are no longer threatened by inevitable natural phenomena, then you'll really have something! But in the Midwest, the only really nasty weather that threatens us is tornadoes, so I shouldn't butt in.
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Post by solgroupie on Feb 5, 2009 0:42:43 GMT -5
wow, cap'n, i'm impressed. i always wondered what you were studying in school, but never really had the opportunity to ask. i think it's great when someone can make their passion into their life's work. so few get to experience that.
and now i have a weather question. like you, i love snow and never get enough of it. i live in northeast tennessee, and we do get our share of cold weather (it's 15 degrees right now) and some snow, which surprises a lot of people. they tend to think when you live in the south that automatically means you never see cold weather or snow. i live in the valley and am surrounded by mountains, so naturally, they get most of the snow when it does snow here, which isn't nearly often enough for me. they constantly hog it all. but today, it really snowed - it came down hard and steady for at least three hours, maybe more. i was busy at work today, so i am not sure on the time, exactly. but tell me this - since it never got over 20 degrees today and it snowed so damn much, why didn't we end up with significant accumulation? i know, as usual, the mountains around us got it. but there wasn't even enough to fill in my front yard - there were big bare patches of grass. and what was covered wasn't even really enough - the grass was still poking out. after all that snow! are your weather gods playing a cruel joke on me, or do i need to be done with it and just move in with crowfan? now if you'll excuse me, i must go ask a friend who happens to be a doctor about this pain i've been having in my shoulder.
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Post by Captain Hygiene on Feb 5, 2009 10:31:05 GMT -5
Hmmm, at the risk of saying something controversial, I'll say, find a way to get people to build and/ or live in such a way that they are no longer threatened by inevitable natural phenomena, then you'll really have something! I agree with this. Without insulting anyone who lives there, living on the Gulf or the lower East Coast is something I will never do. Living in those areas, particularly in places like New Orleans, just feels like playing the odds to me. Some of that feeling comes from living in the Midwest - tornadoes are a threat, but they seem like a more diffuse, smaller scale problem. Hurricanes are so much more massive, they can potentially wipe everything out on a much larger scale (not to mention that they can have the added bonus of tornadoes too). tell me this - since it never got over 20 degrees today and it snowed so damn much, why didn't we end up with significant accumulation? I don't know - had it been below freezing for a long time before the snowfall? Was the wind blowing throughout the storm? Could it have been a cruel joke perpetrated by officemates?
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Post by Donna SadCat Lady on Feb 5, 2009 13:45:13 GMT -5
Hmmm, at the risk of saying something controversial, I'll say, find a way to get people to build and/ or live in such a way that they are no longer threatened by inevitable natural phenomena, then you'll really have something! I agree with this. Without insulting anyone who lives there, living on the Gulf or the lower East Coast is something I will never do. Living in those areas, particularly in places like New Orleans, just feels like playing the odds to me. Some of that feeling comes from living in the Midwest - tornadoes are a threat, but they seem like a more diffuse, smaller scale problem. Hurricanes are so much more massive, they can potentially wipe everything out on a much larger scale (not to mention that they can have the added bonus of tornadoes too). It's like the one town on the banks of the Mississippi River that got flooded out back in the, what, '80s or early '90s. Rather than rebuild the town--again--right in the same flood-prone area, they built the town with the help of federal funding some distance away up on a bluff, safely above the flood plain. Now, of course there not enough federal money to move New Orleans out of harm's way. Nor is at all practical to expect all Floridians in hurricane-vulnerable areas to relocate safely inland. And it would take considerable clout to move wealthy Californians off mudslide- and brushfire-prone hills. But can't there at least be stricter zoning laws to prevent more and more new building in these places? And if there are zoning laws, can't they be enforced? Or is the relentless pressure of human greed and hubris too great to keep developers from grabbing land wherever it's most valuable? And from consumers from fooling themselves that their dream house is going to be all right when natural disasters come around? And can I ever stop asking dumb questions?
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Post by Captain Hygiene on Feb 5, 2009 16:37:46 GMT -5
Or is the relentless pressure of human greed and hubris too great to keep developers from grabbing land wherever it's most valuable? And from consumers from fooling themselves that their dream house is going to be all right when natural disasters come around? I think that's it. But in happier news:-------- Today, I'd like to write about life goals. I don't mean those big goals like "become President of the United States," or "cure cancer," or "become President and cure cancer." I’m talking about smaller-scale goals. I'll admit it - I'm pretty lazy, and I'm more interested in goals that could actually be achieved without slaving away 160 hours a week. I'm not particularly interested in being rich (there aren't very many wealthy meteorologists); I just want to make enough that I don’t have to live paycheck-to-paycheck or be forced to dumpster dive on weekends 1 for food. Since I’m not looking for an opulent lifestyle, the things I’d like to do are pretty obtainable. Two in particular come to mind. The first would be to develop better culinary skills. I’ve always been interested in the art of cooking interesting foods. When I was figuring out my career, I pondered on becoming a chef for a while. Eventually I decided that depending on this work for my life’s income would be pretty impractical (I’m not too inclined to start up my own restaurant, I doubt I would ever become a highly-ranked master chef, and a position at a run-of-the-mill restaurant doesn’t sound that attractive), but the dream is still there. I don’t especially like the drudgery of cooking food that I need to get by – my day-to-day meals tend to be pretty nondescript. I like cooking more interesting food occasionally on weekends or when I have more free time, and this is what I’d like to pursue as a hobby. At some point in my future, I’d like to take classes at a culinary school or department. Not to develop skills for a job, just to expand my knowledge in this area. The only things I would need for this goal would be a bit more time in my schedule and a steady income. I wouldn’t expect the actual cost to be huge, since I’m not trying to do this as more than a hobby. My other goal involves renting out a recording studio and performing and mixing my own music (okay, my real goal is to have a home studio, but even I know that’s a bit out of the question). This goal depends on my own skills, though, which are pretty mixed at the moment. I’m competent on piano or other keyboard instruments 2, due to having years of lessons. Guitar is a trickier question – I’ve been “trying to learn” for some years now. I’m always so busy, though, that I’ve stayed near the same level of proficiency for months on end. It’s difficult for me to do anything but learn the guitar by rote – the concept of the keyboard on a piano and how it translates into music is so ingrained in me that I still have trouble conceptualizing the guitar. I can memorize all sorts of guitar chords or melodies just by hand position, but I still can’t visualize how the guitar strings are set up without stopping whatever I’m playing and thinking about it. In other words, I can memorize songs but not improvise or play any real solos. This difficulty would be surmountable with more time to practice, though, as would developing passable bass skills. Beyond these, I’d still want to learn the drums, but that won’t happen any time soon, if ever. Aside from the cost, there are a couple of things this goal would depend on. My instrument skills could be improved with more work on my part, except possibly the drums (which could conceivably be addressed with this new “drum machine” technology I’ve heard about). One other issue is my creativity – I love fiddling around with music arrangements on a keyboard, or messing around with music software, but I have all the creativity of a bowl of cold gravy when it comes to composition. It’s not a skill I’ve ever studied, and it’s not something for which I have any natural aptitude. I’d still enjoy playing around in a studio, but what I’d work on would most likely be my own arrangements of pre-existing works. The second issue only really appeared when I started recording and mixing my playing on a computer: I have a major problem keeping to a beat. This makes sense because of my training on piano as a solo instrument. Aside from playing with a choir for a while, I’ve really worked on my own, generally in a more expressive, classical style. Interpretation of the music has been more important to me than keeping to a steady beat. Unfortunately, when I try to record multiple tracks to mix together, I have problems making every track match up at all. Even when I record to a click-track or play along to the previous recordings, it’s nearly impossible for me to match up the tracks at anything approaching a good quality. Again, though, this difficulty could be addressed through dedicated practice. All I really need is to devote more time and this goal is relatively attainable. Of course, there are other things I’d like to do in the future, but these are two of the main things I daydream about from time to time. 1I’m not knocking dumpster divers, but I imagine the thrill would be tempered by the fact that it’s a necessity rather than an amusing pastime.
2Including the accordion but not the keytar. Never the keytar.
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Post by callipygias on Feb 5, 2009 18:57:07 GMT -5
That all sounds great, but I still get the feeling that you'll retire early and end up inventing something all sciencey. Mad genius is your future.
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Post by CBG on Feb 6, 2009 9:22:42 GMT -5
But in happier news:-------- Today, I'd like to write about life goals. I don't mean those big goals like "become President of the United States," or "cure cancer," or "become President and cure cancer." I’m talking about smaller-scale goals. I'll admit it - I'm pretty lazy, and I'm more interested in goals that could actually be achieved without slaving away 160 hours a week. I'm not particularly interested in being rich (there aren't very many wealthy meteorologists); I just want to make enough that I don’t have to live paycheck-to-paycheck or be forced to dumpster dive on weekends 1 for food. Since I’m not looking for an opulent lifestyle, the things I’d like to do are pretty obtainable. Two in particular come to mind. The first would be to develop better culinary skills. I’ve always been interested in the art of cooking interesting foods. When I was figuring out my career, I pondered on becoming a chef for a while. Eventually I decided that depending on this work for my life’s income would be pretty impractical (I’m not too inclined to start up my own restaurant, I doubt I would ever become a highly-ranked master chef, and a position at a run-of-the-mill restaurant doesn’t sound that attractive), but the dream is still there. I don’t especially like the drudgery of cooking food that I need to get by – my day-to-day meals tend to be pretty nondescript. I like cooking more interesting food occasionally on weekends or when I have more free time, and this is what I’d like to pursue as a hobby. At some point in my future, I’d like to take classes at a culinary school or department. Not to develop skills for a job, just to expand my knowledge in this area. The only things I would need for this goal would be a bit more time in my schedule and a steady income. I wouldn’t expect the actual cost to be huge, since I’m not trying to do this as more than a hobby. My other goal involves renting out a recording studio and performing and mixing my own music (okay, my real goal is to have a home studio, but even I know that’s a bit out of the question). This goal depends on my own skills, though, which are pretty mixed at the moment. I’m competent on piano or other keyboard instruments 2, due to having years of lessons. Guitar is a trickier question – I’ve been “trying to learn” for some years now. I’m always so busy, though, that I’ve stayed near the same level of proficiency for months on end. It’s difficult for me to do anything but learn the guitar by rote – the concept of the keyboard on a piano and how it translates into music is so ingrained in me that I still have trouble conceptualizing the guitar. I can memorize all sorts of guitar chords or melodies just by hand position, but I still can’t visualize how the guitar strings are set up without stopping whatever I’m playing and thinking about it. In other words, I can memorize songs but not improvise or play any real solos. This difficulty would be surmountable with more time to practice, though, as would developing passable bass skills. Beyond these, I’d still want to learn the drums, but that won’t happen any time soon, if ever. Aside from the cost, there are a couple of things this goal would depend on. My instrument skills could be improved with more work on my part, except possibly the drums (which could conceivably be addressed with this new “drum machine” technology I’ve heard about). One other issue is my creativity – I love fiddling around with music arrangements on a keyboard, or messing around with music software, but I have all the creativity of a bowl of cold gravy when it comes to composition. It’s not a skill I’ve ever studied, and it’s not something for which I have any natural aptitude. I’d still enjoy playing around in a studio, but what I’d work on would most likely be my own arrangements of pre-existing works. The second issue only really appeared when I started recording and mixing my playing on a computer: I have a major problem keeping to a beat. This makes sense because of my training on piano as a solo instrument. Aside from playing with a choir for a while, I’ve really worked on my own, generally in a more expressive, classical style. Interpretation of the music has been more important to me than keeping to a steady beat. Unfortunately, when I try to record multiple tracks to mix together, I have problems making every track match up at all. Even when I record to a click-track or play along to the previous recordings, it’s nearly impossible for me to match up the tracks at anything approaching a good quality. Again, though, this difficulty could be addressed through dedicated practice. All I really need is to devote more time and this goal is relatively attainable. Of course, there are other things I’d like to do in the future, but these are two of the main things I daydream about from time to time. 1I’m not knocking dumpster divers, but I imagine the thrill would be tempered by the fact that it’s a necessity rather than an amusing pastime.
2Including the accordion but not the keytar. Never the keytar.Lofty goals, Capt, I wish you luck. Thanks for the visual aides...they're so helpful.
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Post by Captain Hygiene on Feb 6, 2009 10:56:47 GMT -5
Apparently I invent comfortable contact lenses at some point in the future.
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