I'm pretty sure that this is how our interns think of me. One of our interns who works very closely with me on some of the hydrogen research asked me a few questions about where we would take our research from where we are. Well, I mentioned a few things about variation of our measurements and got some confused looks. So we tore right into the dry erase board, outlining daily variation in our measurement and discussing how would would test the accuracy of our protocol over real life samples. One thing led to another and next thing I know, we're talking about designing a new sampling apparatus for rumen fluid that will more efficiently filter protozoa without leaking dissolved gases. At the end, I took a picture of the board mostly because I don't know if I could replicate everything I wrote out, and I wanted to be able to revisit the exact conversation again if needed. Since then, we've started down the path of proving the hydrogen sampling method and haven't had a lot of progress because the calibration of the gas system has been pretty difficult.
The infamous board.
Calibration of our gas analyzer is always more difficult than it should be and this started as soon as we bought the equipment. It would seem that most people just don't calibrate their systems because when I went to do it the instructions weren't even detailed! I believe the exact quote was, "Calibration should be done as often as necessary." What does that even mean? I didn't know, and so I contacted the company for more explicit directions for the calibration. They had to write them first. And so since then the calibration has always been a fight, as I edit the calibration instructions to mesh them with the programming.
Good news, the freeze dryer is up and running. Check out this frozen reverse icicle!
My first two exams are out of the way without too much pain and suffering. To be honest, I really enjoyed the first day and felt pretty good about the second one. The questions are strictly confidential until after the oral examination, and I think I will probably never talk about them. To take the mystery out of the candidacy exams would weaken the rite of passage of taking the exams. Suffice it to say that the exams were challenging, but I felt like I could answer them well and didn't struggle to beat the time limit. The most crushing part was getting finished just to hear from my advisor that the bureaucracy that is my great university rejected my committee. They require four members from my home institution and so there will now be five members on my committee. We have added a bioenergy and fermentation expert, and I now have a fifth exam next week. What was so crushing was that I intentionally scheduled my exams around my wife's birthday so that I would be done with the writtens and celebrate a night with her and Hannah. I can only hope that I finish the fifth exam early so that we can still celebrate. That was my motivation all through the last two exam days.
This weekend I got to watch Hannah a bit, and captured this video to show how quickly she moves.
I also needed a bit of a break this weekend and let the redneck out. The wasps have been a problem for a while and I used the paintball gun to soften up the nest a bit. My wife thought I was nuts, of course, and more so when I started throwing logs at it to break off the top part of the nest. No luck, so the rest of the next will remain. And a lot of people are probably still scratching theirs heads about the crazy neighbor.
They called them "Ohio tumbleweeds". I've never seen them before but this year they are everywhere.
The wind rolled the snow like a sleeping bag. This one is over a foot in diameter.
Never know what you'll see at work. Pigs walking in the snow?
So, one of the Christmas gifts that I gave to Amanda this year was a calzone maker courtesy of Williams Sonoma. As a guy, I have to say that this is the coolest cooking and baking goods store. So many fun gadgets! The rest of the pictures in this post will demonstrate this fun little piece. As we try to eat more home-cooked food, this was just one fun addition to our repertoire. It may sound corny, but it is fun to make food with my wife.
Behold the mold. Be sure to dust with flour - or you'll be peeling dough.
Fill with dough and pizza sauce. I like more, she likes less.
Cheese, pepperoni and such. Duh.
Close the mold and have the dough hanging out.
Cut off the extra dough on the outside.
VERY carefully, remove from the mold. This doesn't go well.
And bake. All the cheese in the middle is from one that broke loose. Hence the careful.
I'm pretty sure that this is how our interns think of me. One of our interns who works very closely with me on some of the hydrogen research asked me a few questions about where we would take our research from where we are. Well, I mentioned a few things about variation of our measurements and got some confused looks. So we tore right into the dry erase board, outlining daily variation in our measurement and discussing how would would test the accuracy of our protocol over real life samples. One thing led to another and next thing I know, we're talking about designing a new sampling apparatus for rumen fluid that will more efficiently filter protozoa without leaking dissolved gases. At the end, I took a picture of the board mostly because I don't know if I could replicate everything I wrote out, and I wanted to be able to revisit the exact conversation again if needed. Since then, we've started down the path of proving the hydrogen sampling method and haven't had a lot of progress because the calibration of the gas system has been pretty difficult.
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