Um, so I took the GPS back. It was a piece of junk. The interface was very nice, but the functionality was a little shady. I used it to drive to the dance party last Tuesday, but when I started it up to go home, it wouldn't acquire the satellites. It took 2o minutes to find them, by which time I had already gotten lost and then unlost by dead reckoning. No thanks to the GPS, I finally got home some 1/2 hour late. Harman/Kardon should stick to making sound equipment and stay away from GPS.
The dance party was super fun! I was a bit nervous at first, but once we got into it, it was a blast. We learned the hustle, cha-cha, rumba, electric slide, and cuban shuffle. A few guys tried the "Soldier Boy" routine. ;-) I was able to do most of the dances with only a few limitations because of my knee. At the end of the night, I was feeling a bit sore, so I called it quits. It was very enjoyable and I'm glad I went. Part II is tonight...I'm looking forward to it.
Speaking of my knee, the news there isn't so great. I went to the doctor/surgeon on Wednesday and he thinks it's both a meniscus tear and an ACL tear. I actually had an MRI yesterday. It was almost comical listening to him messing with my knee and saying, "Oh boy....oh boy." So my options are really to just do physical therapy and hope it gets better naturally or to pursue the surgery route (likely outpatient arthroscopic). The doc doesn't think that (based on my condition) I will regain full mobility taking the non-surgery route, so I'm probably just going to bite the bullet.
I'm so glad I have insurance now. The MRI alone was $1,100. I racked up about $250 from the visit and X-ray last week. The bills will only continue to pile up as the process continues. Fortunately, my deductible is only $1,000 (a benefit of a high premium), so after that magic number (which I've already reached in the last week), I only pay 20% of my in-network expenses. Praise the Lord for health insurance!
If I do need surgery, I'll probably wait until I get back to WA. I'll have my family around to help take care of me, as well as a month away from work. I just hope that recovery time is quick and that I regain full mobility afterward. I want to get back into playing soccer and football again. It's been so long...I can't wait to get back on the field! :-)
Also last Wednesday, I left for Galveston, TX for a miniature vacation. What a nightmare my trip was. I'm never flying Delta again, if I can help it. They got me to Atlanta, then promptly cancelled my already-overbooked flight to Houston, thereby overbooking all the other flights to Houston! They then stuck me in a hotel room, paying for a whopping $10 of it and leaving me with the other $65. Meanwhile, they sent my bag on to Hobby Airport in Houston and sent me on to George Bush Airport in Houston the next day. Lovely efficiency. So I showed up 16 hours late, without my bag, and $65 poorer. They delayed my flight on the way home too, so I just said, "No more." Ugh.
Beyond that unfortunate travel experience, the trip was great! It was awesome seeing Casey, Josh, Milan, Sarah, Chase, and of course Kelly again. Kelly really does live in a nice area. When she and John (her boyfriend) picked me up from the airport, I was kinda surprised....I had always envisioned Texas as this brown, dusty place with tumbleweeds blowing across the road. No, it was actually very green and beautiful, if a bit chilly! The people where not the backwards, southern-drawling, cowpokes I envisioned either...they were down-to-earth, surprisingly modern, and amazingly friendly! Downtown Galveston is a nice place too....very touristy, and the beach front is quite the attraction. I was very impressed, all in all. Kelly has some nice friends from there too.
Thursday night was a bit odd...we had a crawfish boil! I'd never seen that done before. It's definitely a southern thing. I think the weirdest thing was that the crawfish were still alive when they went into the pot....
On Friday, Kelly's dad (who owns a fishing charter service) took us deep sea fishing! That was amazing. I'd never been out to sea before, so I was kinda excited, kinda nervous. We all took dramamine before we left, and I didn't get seasick at all. Poor Casey and Josh both did. Chase and I were just naturals at the boat movement, I guess....even Kelly lost it once, but Chase and I slept in the cabin for a lot of the trip out and never felt even slightly nauseous.
We went about 20 miles out and tied up to a natural gas rig. I caught a ~ 12-inch red snapper. Those fish were practically leaping into the boat, but we couldn't keep them because it wasn't their season. We did catch four redfish, which we blackened up for dinner that night. Chase took the big fish prize with a 29-inch redfish.
I left on Saturday with Josh, Chase, and Milan. It was definitely a whirlwind vacation (less than 48 hours), but still worth it. Praise the Lord for good friends! :-)
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
New Toy (Tool) and Heart Thumping
So I got a GPS for my truck yesterday. Call it an impulse buy (it kinda was), but I don't really feel that it was a bad one. If you know me well, you know that I get lost....a lot. It takes me a good six months at least to get familiar with an area before I know it well enough to avoid getting lost. Even then, I usually stick to roads I've driven before and sometimes end up wasting time because I take the long way without knowing it. The Vancouver (WA) metro area is the only location I would say I know fairly well...and I lived there for about 5 years!
This semester alone, I think I've spent a good 4 hours or more trying to get unlost as I've attempted to familiarize myself with the Hampton Roads area. The most frustrating example occurred when I was in downtown Norfolk, got on the wrong freeway, got confused, and ended up clear down by Chesapeake...ultimately a 1.5 hour detour! The obvious cheap solution would be to buy a map, but reading a map and driving at high speeds in insane HR area traffic is a recipe for disaster. Plus as soon as I leave the map, I'm dead in the water.
So I got a GPS. For the price, it's quite efficient. I drove to work with it this morning and it performed wonderfully. It told me when to turn and announced the street name (handy for ambiguous intersections...do I turn in the driveway or the road?). When I took an unexpected turn (a shortcut I knew about), it quickly recalculated my route without missing a beat. I can't wait to test it out tonight.
Ooh boy...speaking of tonight. Um, yeah...it's a dance party. I'm already nervous, ha. I don't know why either. I doubt I'll even be able to dance, what with my knee and all. Probably has to do with the large number of amazingly pretty females my age at that church. Yep, I'm a guy...and when a guy is around beautiful girls, his heart starts pounding. C'est la vie. ;)
Anyways, the purpose of the dance party is actually to learn how to dance, instead of just doing it for the fun of it. There are evidently two weddings in the church coming up quickly, and knowing how to dance is definitely a bonus for the reception. There are a some very good dancers in the church (my friend Gabe is one of them), so a few of them are going to come out and teach us clumsy feet how to groove. Like I mentioned, I doubt I'll be able to actually do anything (stupid knee), but I'll at least be able to watch and hopefully learn academically by others' example. I really need to learn quickly though, because it just occurred to me on Sunday when this was being discussed that I am a groomsman at Caleb's wedding...which means I'll probably have to dance...and possibly with other people watching! Augh...help me! :o
This semester alone, I think I've spent a good 4 hours or more trying to get unlost as I've attempted to familiarize myself with the Hampton Roads area. The most frustrating example occurred when I was in downtown Norfolk, got on the wrong freeway, got confused, and ended up clear down by Chesapeake...ultimately a 1.5 hour detour! The obvious cheap solution would be to buy a map, but reading a map and driving at high speeds in insane HR area traffic is a recipe for disaster. Plus as soon as I leave the map, I'm dead in the water.
So I got a GPS. For the price, it's quite efficient. I drove to work with it this morning and it performed wonderfully. It told me when to turn and announced the street name (handy for ambiguous intersections...do I turn in the driveway or the road?). When I took an unexpected turn (a shortcut I knew about), it quickly recalculated my route without missing a beat. I can't wait to test it out tonight.
Ooh boy...speaking of tonight. Um, yeah...it's a dance party. I'm already nervous, ha. I don't know why either. I doubt I'll even be able to dance, what with my knee and all. Probably has to do with the large number of amazingly pretty females my age at that church. Yep, I'm a guy...and when a guy is around beautiful girls, his heart starts pounding. C'est la vie. ;)
Anyways, the purpose of the dance party is actually to learn how to dance, instead of just doing it for the fun of it. There are evidently two weddings in the church coming up quickly, and knowing how to dance is definitely a bonus for the reception. There are a some very good dancers in the church (my friend Gabe is one of them), so a few of them are going to come out and teach us clumsy feet how to groove. Like I mentioned, I doubt I'll be able to actually do anything (stupid knee), but I'll at least be able to watch and hopefully learn academically by others' example. I really need to learn quickly though, because it just occurred to me on Sunday when this was being discussed that I am a groomsman at Caleb's wedding...which means I'll probably have to dance...and possibly with other people watching! Augh...help me! :o
Monday, March 17, 2008
The Real World
Wow. I realized it's been all of four months since I've posted on this blog. That's reprehensible. The only thing I can say in my defense is to refer to the subtitle of the blog...when it says, "my crazy life", I wasn't joking!
So, a lot has happened in the last four months...a LOT. First and most importantly from a career standpoint: I am currently finishing up the last five weeks of my internship with NASA at Langley Research Center (LaRC) in Hampton, Virginia. Yeah, remember how I was sharing last time about how encouraged I was at the career fair because everyone was so positive? Well, God provided yet again...with the king of internships at NASA! I applied to the program earlier in the year and totally forgot about it until the notification showed up in my inbox.
The program is called the Undergraduate Student Research Project (USRP). It's a fairly good program as far as internships go, although definitely not co-op level. The USRP pays $9,000 for the semester (less in the summer), not including travel costs each way. Obviously the financial benefits aren't too shabby, but the real value is in the experience. I have been working this semester in the Space Mission Analysis Branch of the Systems Analysis and Concepts Directorate (SACD) of LaRC. Some of what I do is sensitive, but I in essence assist with developing and refining tools used for, well, space mission analysis! =)
It's starting to look like I'll probably be here for the summer as well. There's another internship program called Langley Aerospace Research Summer Scholars (LARSS) that I was selected for...the program managers are just waiting for the funding before they offer me the position. If all goes well, I'll be working with the Aeroelasticity Branch of the Research and Technology Directorate (RTD). I contacted my future mentor through the program office earlier this semester and expressed interest in working with him. I tell you what, connections like that are invaluable. He basically guaranteed me the position before anyone else's applications had gone out!
In any case, I'm really looking forward to this summer. I've had some substantial analysis experience now here in the SACD and I should get some experimental experience in the RTD. After this summer, I should be able to make an informed decision about what I want to do permanently. This experience has opened my eyes to the fact that I really don't understand the real difference between theoretical, applied, and experimental physics. I need to find the differences and determine what I want to pursue in order to better plan for my future.
So that's the career side of things. In other news, my grandfather very generously gave me his truck! It's a 2004 Nissan Frontier, but it looks absolutely brand-new. It had all of 4,687 miles on it when I got it...I think he drove it to the feed store a few times per month and that was about it! In any case, he didn't want me to drive my old Jetta all the way to Virginia and back (probably a valid concern), so he decided to gift me the truck now instead of leaving it to me in his inheritance. I was absolutely blown away by the surprise gift...what a blessing! It's by far the nicest car I've ever owned. I put a new stereo in it recently and that was a nice commodity as well. Like I said, that truck has been a huge blessing for me.
In yet other news (not so great this time), my knee has been a real pain (literally, ha!) recently. I injured it for the first time not too long after my last post on this blog. I was playing an intramural soccer game, was playing above my limits (and knew it too), and ended up getting hurt. The first time it happened, I don't know if I've ever felt anything so painful. Yes, I say the first time...I have since re-injured it three times. Ugh. I went to the ERAU nurse for it, but she didn't really have anything to say, so I just kinda shrugged it off. I had nearly full mobility again in about a month...but promptly killed it again. This has continued for the last four months until I finally got sick of it, obtained health insurance, and made an appointment with a Sports Medicine specialist. My friend Stephen (who's played soccer pretty much all his life and knows firsthand about knee injuries) thinks it's the meniscus. In any case, I just hope it's not super-expensive to fix (if it even needs fixing...maybe I just need physical therapy) and that it doesn't involve a long recovery time.
This knee injury has frustrated me to no end because I haven't been able to do really anything active. I injured it the last time by throwing a football. Just that little amount of twist was enough to pop it out. That kills me...I'm a very active guy and not being able to do anything is really frustrating. I'm also in pretty much the worst shape of my life for the same reason. I just hope I don't have any permanent damage and can get back to my active lifestyle. I don't think I'll ever take mobility for granted again!
As far as church life goes, the Sovereign Grace Church here in Chesapeake is great! I just wish it was a bit closer (and maybe just a bit smaller). It's about an hour's drive south of me from Yorktown, where I'm currently living. It took me a while to get to know people, but once I did, they're very nice and very friendly. I find that the same Spirit that is in Daytona is in Chesapeake.
Nevertheless, this has been hands-down one of the darkest times of my life spiritually. This is really the first time I haven't had a circle of support around me during the week. At home, I have my family...at school, I have my friends. Here, I have no one. Yeah, there's church and church friends on Sunday, praise the Lord! But during the week, it's pretty dark. I get dragged down as the week goes on, typically becoming less and less Christ-like and more and more like the world. It's a relief to go to church on Sunday, wash all that off, and get a breath of fresh air.
I'm coming to realize that I rely too much on others for my spiritual well-being....I need to learn to rely on God for that and to supplement my own relationship with Him. My quiet time has been nearly non-existant and I haven't memorized Scripture in a long time. See what I mean? Everyone needs accountability, don't get me wrong...that's a main thing I'm lacking here! But I really find that I need to learn the spiritual disciplines on my own too....because at times like this when I have no encouragement, I have to work extra hard at the relationship. If I haven't built the discipline, the strength isn't there.
So, that's my life in a nutshell right now. Career = better than ever, with more opportunities than I'd ever dreamed I would have at this point. Finances = not bad at all, although not great...but transportation is now not an issue, thanks to Grumpa. Spiritual life = probably one of the darkest times ever, although I am actively trying to find ways to hook up with believers during the week for encouragement, accountability, etc. I could definitely use your prayers for that last issue.
Life. What a challenge! But what a blessing too. The Lord gives and the Lord takes away...blessed be the name of the Lord! =)
So, a lot has happened in the last four months...a LOT. First and most importantly from a career standpoint: I am currently finishing up the last five weeks of my internship with NASA at Langley Research Center (LaRC) in Hampton, Virginia. Yeah, remember how I was sharing last time about how encouraged I was at the career fair because everyone was so positive? Well, God provided yet again...with the king of internships at NASA! I applied to the program earlier in the year and totally forgot about it until the notification showed up in my inbox.
The program is called the Undergraduate Student Research Project (USRP). It's a fairly good program as far as internships go, although definitely not co-op level. The USRP pays $9,000 for the semester (less in the summer), not including travel costs each way. Obviously the financial benefits aren't too shabby, but the real value is in the experience. I have been working this semester in the Space Mission Analysis Branch of the Systems Analysis and Concepts Directorate (SACD) of LaRC. Some of what I do is sensitive, but I in essence assist with developing and refining tools used for, well, space mission analysis! =)
It's starting to look like I'll probably be here for the summer as well. There's another internship program called Langley Aerospace Research Summer Scholars (LARSS) that I was selected for...the program managers are just waiting for the funding before they offer me the position. If all goes well, I'll be working with the Aeroelasticity Branch of the Research and Technology Directorate (RTD). I contacted my future mentor through the program office earlier this semester and expressed interest in working with him. I tell you what, connections like that are invaluable. He basically guaranteed me the position before anyone else's applications had gone out!
In any case, I'm really looking forward to this summer. I've had some substantial analysis experience now here in the SACD and I should get some experimental experience in the RTD. After this summer, I should be able to make an informed decision about what I want to do permanently. This experience has opened my eyes to the fact that I really don't understand the real difference between theoretical, applied, and experimental physics. I need to find the differences and determine what I want to pursue in order to better plan for my future.
So that's the career side of things. In other news, my grandfather very generously gave me his truck! It's a 2004 Nissan Frontier, but it looks absolutely brand-new. It had all of 4,687 miles on it when I got it...I think he drove it to the feed store a few times per month and that was about it! In any case, he didn't want me to drive my old Jetta all the way to Virginia and back (probably a valid concern), so he decided to gift me the truck now instead of leaving it to me in his inheritance. I was absolutely blown away by the surprise gift...what a blessing! It's by far the nicest car I've ever owned. I put a new stereo in it recently and that was a nice commodity as well. Like I said, that truck has been a huge blessing for me.
In yet other news (not so great this time), my knee has been a real pain (literally, ha!) recently. I injured it for the first time not too long after my last post on this blog. I was playing an intramural soccer game, was playing above my limits (and knew it too), and ended up getting hurt. The first time it happened, I don't know if I've ever felt anything so painful. Yes, I say the first time...I have since re-injured it three times. Ugh. I went to the ERAU nurse for it, but she didn't really have anything to say, so I just kinda shrugged it off. I had nearly full mobility again in about a month...but promptly killed it again. This has continued for the last four months until I finally got sick of it, obtained health insurance, and made an appointment with a Sports Medicine specialist. My friend Stephen (who's played soccer pretty much all his life and knows firsthand about knee injuries) thinks it's the meniscus. In any case, I just hope it's not super-expensive to fix (if it even needs fixing...maybe I just need physical therapy) and that it doesn't involve a long recovery time.
This knee injury has frustrated me to no end because I haven't been able to do really anything active. I injured it the last time by throwing a football. Just that little amount of twist was enough to pop it out. That kills me...I'm a very active guy and not being able to do anything is really frustrating. I'm also in pretty much the worst shape of my life for the same reason. I just hope I don't have any permanent damage and can get back to my active lifestyle. I don't think I'll ever take mobility for granted again!
As far as church life goes, the Sovereign Grace Church here in Chesapeake is great! I just wish it was a bit closer (and maybe just a bit smaller). It's about an hour's drive south of me from Yorktown, where I'm currently living. It took me a while to get to know people, but once I did, they're very nice and very friendly. I find that the same Spirit that is in Daytona is in Chesapeake.
Nevertheless, this has been hands-down one of the darkest times of my life spiritually. This is really the first time I haven't had a circle of support around me during the week. At home, I have my family...at school, I have my friends. Here, I have no one. Yeah, there's church and church friends on Sunday, praise the Lord! But during the week, it's pretty dark. I get dragged down as the week goes on, typically becoming less and less Christ-like and more and more like the world. It's a relief to go to church on Sunday, wash all that off, and get a breath of fresh air.
I'm coming to realize that I rely too much on others for my spiritual well-being....I need to learn to rely on God for that and to supplement my own relationship with Him. My quiet time has been nearly non-existant and I haven't memorized Scripture in a long time. See what I mean? Everyone needs accountability, don't get me wrong...that's a main thing I'm lacking here! But I really find that I need to learn the spiritual disciplines on my own too....because at times like this when I have no encouragement, I have to work extra hard at the relationship. If I haven't built the discipline, the strength isn't there.
So, that's my life in a nutshell right now. Career = better than ever, with more opportunities than I'd ever dreamed I would have at this point. Finances = not bad at all, although not great...but transportation is now not an issue, thanks to Grumpa. Spiritual life = probably one of the darkest times ever, although I am actively trying to find ways to hook up with believers during the week for encouragement, accountability, etc. I could definitely use your prayers for that last issue.
Life. What a challenge! But what a blessing too. The Lord gives and the Lord takes away...blessed be the name of the Lord! =)
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