Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Greetings to all. Welcome to our genericized Christmas letter. We're hoping the end of 2008 finds you happy and healthy, if not wealthy. So, let's see what's happening in our Family. The real dilemma in this sort of letter is whether to relate the last year's events chronologically or by family member. We'll try a mixture.

Daughter is now a junior in high school. She's taking the standard college prep classes and continues to play the French horn in the school band and the orchestra. She's singing in the school Treble Ensemble and the youth choir at church, and also takes private singing lessons. She traveled to Boston with the Treble Ensemble last spring to do a little singing. We're starting to think about college a little but not too much. Daughter continues to like to draw, has discovered Facebook and is still fighting getting her driver's license. Go figure.

Son is a senior at Earlham College. After three years, he's decided that maybe he doesn't want to be an economist after all and has decided to double major in math and economics. I think he liked math better all along. He was thinking about graduate school but lately, he's been thinking about working for a while first. He continues to sing in the Concert Choir at Earlham. He also traded off his old girlfriend for a new one, so you can cut out the picture in last year's Christmas letter. This past summer, he worked for local property manager and in the process took over his dad's old Volvo S70, which he took back to college.

Wife continues to use the skill set she obtained in graduate school. She started the year sewing costumes for the church's youth choir spring musical. Then she helped do taxes for her sister-in-law's CPA firm. After April 15, it was back to sewing - this time it was costumes for a Professional Salsa Dance Troupe. Besides getting paid, she and hubby were given VIP treatment at the Salsa Dancing Extravaganza in Durham. In the meantime, she's on the PTA Board, has taken up knitting, vacation planning (see below), and is tutoring math to a Burmese high schooler whose family our church helped relocate from a refugee camp. She does all this and also tries to keep her husband in line. No small feat!

Husband is enjoying another bit of time off. In January we learned that there was a good chance that the small biotech (Serenex) where he worked, might be acquired. Sure enough, in April they were acquired by Pfizer. Pfizer took the intellectual property and dismissed the whole lot of them with some nice parting gifts. We used some of the funds to buy a new car to replace the one that Son took. That was a milestone in our lives since, for the first time in many years, our primary family car is not a minivan. Husband helped with the shutdown at Serenex and left work for good in September. He's enjoying the break but needs to go back to work before too long. He has a few nibbles in a pretty bad job market but nothing for sure yet. He continues to enjoy singing in the church choir and will soon finish his term as a church elder.

To celebrate losing his job, the impending recession and 25 years of marital bliss, husband and wife took off to Europe for two weeks. Wife planned the trip which included BudaPest in Hungary, Vienna, Melk, Salzburg and Zel-am-see in Austria and Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Germany. We had a great time and enjoyed a nice mix of history, art, architecture and nature. We also enjoyed our annual summer and Thanksgiving trips down to Sunset Beach.

Finally, as we close out another year, we thank God for Life, Health and the Joys of friends and family. We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Very Merry New Year.


Husband, Wife, Son and Daughter

Daughter in her Prom Dress


























Sunset at Thanksgiving
















Hiking near Zell Am See with strangers from Isreal



















Our Inn in Garmisch-Partenkirchen

















Some Links:

Ladies in Wife's outfits

Pfizer buys Serenex

Deer Eating Shrubberies

This morning I was upstairs "working" on the computer when I noticed that my coffee cup was empty. So I ran downstairs to the kitchen to get a cup. And what do I see? Four deer directly behind the house, maybe ten feet away, happily munching down on my shrubberies. I ran upstairs and got the camera, took a few pictures, then went outside and shot at them with the BB gun as they were scurrying away. Here's a couple chewing up an azalea. The other two were even closer to the house dining on a camellia.

Something Not Seen in a While

My wife and I jumped in the car today and rode over to visit my sister in Raleigh at her work place. We bought my sister some chocolates in Garmish-Partenkirchen when we were in Europe a few weeks ago as a token of our appreciation for taking care of our daughter for a night while we were gone and it was past time to deliver them. As we left our house, I noticed that the gas was low. My wife said let's wait till Raleigh and see if their gas prices are better than Chapel Hill (ave. 2.0899/gal.). Soon after we got off I-540 and headed into Raleigh on Fall of the Neuse Road, we saw prices a bit lower and then we saw this place with gas for 1.9699/gal. We turned in and I filled up (and took a picture) while my wife went in and bought some chicken salad at Tookies.


After that we went by my sister's place of work and visited for a while. Then we left and went by Costco on the way home. And guess what. Costco had regular for 1.8599/gal. Crap!

Mormon Coke

A few weeks ago a case of cokes in the can showed up in the kitchen on the floor over in a corner. It just sat there. I looked at it and maybe noticed that it had a different color than normal cokes, but I mostly just ignored it. I guess I figured that my wife bought them for some school or church function.

After a number of weeks, the case was still there so I asked my wife where they were going. "Oh, I bought the wrong thing. I guess it's been too long to take it back," she said. So it looks like the case of cokes is ours. It was then that I actually looked at the case. They were regular cokes without the caffeine. "What's the point?" I wondered. Then it hit me. They're cokes for Mormons. So I call it "Mormon Coke." Given that they contain sugar and not an artificial sweetener means that I have to drink them and not my wife. I've been working on them slowly for a couple of weeks and they're about gone. They're not bad, about the same as regular, or should I say, Classic coke.


I wonder if the Mormons are aware of these things.

ps As it turns out, the Mormon view on coffee is not universally held to be about caffeine. Type "Mormon Coke" into Google and have a read (or just hit the link).

Uber Fans

My church is located in downtown Chapel Hill, right across from campus. The pitiful amount of parking that we have, is very valuable. This is especially true on UNC Football Game Days. Being prudent Presbyterians, we sell parking spaces to those out-of-towners who come to the game. The proceeds go to the youth program for various activities. Parents and youth are asked to volunteer to manage the parking and collect money on game days.

I signed up to do the game last Saturday. We were playing Virginia Tech. The youth leader told me that people start showing up as early as 8:30, even for a 3:30 game. Early Saturday morning, I spared my daughter and left her sleeping and headed off for the church. I got there about 8:15. When I arrived, I noticed four cars already in the parking lot. I went into the church and got the signs, which say there is parking at the church and that it's for the youth program and that it cost $15. The $15 dollar part is clearly a sheet of paper with $15 on it taped over the old $10. I also picked up the money bag with change and found some sheets of paper and a marker. I wrote "Tow This Car" in big letters on the sheets of paper and placed one on each of the cars in the parking lot. Then I set up the signs, and sat down and went to work.

Around 8:45, the first customer showed up. A big black Ford Expedition drove up with a bit of Hokie paraphernalia (flags, decals, etc.) attached to the outside and a man and his wife hopped out followed by their daughter. They were dressed in the required glaring burgundy and orange clothing required of Virginia Tech fans. I took their money and sent them off to Franklin street in search of breakfast and shopping.

Next came the first of a regular crowd of Carolina fans. They've been driving from the mountains and setting up shop in the church parking lot for many years. The first ones there buy one parking space and put out chairs to reserve a bunch of spaces for their friends coming later.

Then, as I was going to check on the signs which kept blowing over in the wind, the Uber fans showed up. I think it was a big black GMC Yukon Denali. And it was pulling a big trailer that can only be called a party machine, a big folded up Sports Bar. Before they park, a guy hops out of the SUV and says he needs four spots. He gives me $20 each. "Keep the change, give it to the Church," he says. So they pull in and a bunch of people (six men and four women) hop out and start setting up. Some may have been in another car.

First, they open it up and reveal two large LCD screens, one on either side. Then out come the speakers and associated sound equipment. A long coffin sized stainless steel grill slides out from the middle of the trailer and is wheeled over and set up on one side. Two small LCD screens are bolted from the ceiling on the back above the bright orange bar that folds out from the inside. This is followed by an assortment of flags, tables, chairs, awnings and cabanas, all in that dark burgundy or bright orange color. In the meantime, one guy, who I think is the owner comes over and buys two more parking slots, again for $20 each. Finally, they set up the satellite dish and we're watching ESPN on all four LCD screens.

I walk over to the Carolina crowd, who used to think they had an impressive setup, and tell them they need to up their game. They have a pretty nice functional setup including a little motorized scooter but, well, just look for yourself.



And they do. A lot of Carolina Blue roams over to the Virginia Tech party machine/sports bar. They ask a lot of questions, take a few pictures, and shoot the breeze.


By around 12:30, all the spots are sold out and there's a pretty serious party going on in the church parking lot. The Carolina fans and the Virginia Tech fans are blasting music at each other. One young lady has turned ESPN off one of the LCD's and is playing a game of Wii bowling. It's a pretty festive atmosphere. A lot of people are enjoying a beer and watching the NC State - ECU game on one of the LCDs.



The first family to arrive came back from shopping and set up their station. They said that they met Alexander Julian in his store. They offer me a beer. Since I'm done with parking, I say sure and they give me a beer in burgandy beer jacket with orange dots and fuzzy orange stuff around the bottom. I enjoy the beer, shoot the breeze for a while, watch the State-ECU game and relax for a bit. After a while, I decide it's time to head home. I tell everyone it's last call on the church bathrooms, pick up the signs and the traffic cones, hide the money in the church, then lock up the church and head out. Not a bad job for a Saturday morning.

Lemonade for Obama

Today, I took my daughter to a little party on campus. On the way home, I noticed a group of people gathered at a corner near our house. I thought it was a bunch of kids selling lemonade to make a buck for who knows what. Then I saw the sign:

Lemonade
for
Obama

I drove on home but an hour later, on the way back to pick up my daughter, I stopped. There were a number of mothers and kids. They had run out of lemonade but a new batch arrived just after I did. I asked a few of the kids involved if I could take a picture and they quickly posed for me. I also bought a cup of lemonade and a brownie. I gave them $5 for the cause.


I hope similar things are happening in your neighborhood.

Slow Drying Out

Well it's been about a month since we made the solid balls of g00. As I said, it may take a while for all the acetone to dry out. I began to wonder just how long it would take, so I took a hacksaw and went at the big ball. I cut out a little wedge to get a little cross section of the drying process. As you can see in the picture, the big blob has dried out about 3/8 of an inch from the surface.



Considering that the rate of evaporation will probably slow down, I estimate that it will take about 7o years for this process to finish. That's a real seat-of-the-pants estimate. After that, I took the hacksaw to one of the smaller blobs. I sawed that sucker in half. It's interesting cutting this stuff. When you're cutting through the hard stuff, it cuts well. As you get into the center, it's more like cutting through a squid. It's arduous. Anyhow, just like the big blob, the smaller blob was still pretty acetone rich in the center. In other words, it still reeked of acetone.



So this got me to thinking about mailing off the plastic challa bread to it's maker. I hope the trace of leaking acetone fumes won't set off some alarms and send the Homeland Security guys down on my ass.

By the way, that white bucket with the red lid in the first picture has a fresh batch of melted polystyrene foam for my entertainment.

Bye for now.

Making Blobs

One of the things you do when you lose your job but you haven't quite lost it yet is try to find things to fill your time. You're getting paid but after a while you get tired of sitting on your butt, surfing the web.

One of the neatest things one can do, which fills time and has little or no value, is melt styrofoam with acetone. Actually, it isn't really styrofoam but is instead "expanded polystyrene foam", which everyone who doesn't respect Dow Chemical's trademark, calls styrofoam anyhow. You know it as that white stuff used in coolers and packing material and coffee cups. What it is, is a little polystyrene and a lot of air. By adding acetone, you start to partially dissolve the polystyrene and release a lot of air. It's not really dissolution so much as solvation. No chemisty takes place in the process.

I guess one could argue that melting it makes the "expanded polystyrene foam" take up less space in the landfills and it does that remarkably well. But the real reason to do this is to have fun.

So I decided to do a little. First I enlisted the help of my humble but able assistant. She's always up for something a little off the wall. We started collecting a lot of the stuff. There was the stuff in the solvent boxes, which cushions the glass bottles during shipment. There were lots of coolers from the bio guys and gals. There was a variety of packaging for syringes and tubes and who know what else. Let's just say there's no shortage of "expanded polystyrene foam" to be found in a lab environment.

We gathered up a lot of this white stuff. Then, to get a nice visual effect, we eviscerated a number of Sharpie pens of different colors and dropped the inky insides of each into acetone squirt bottles. This gave us a variety of colored acetone solutions to shoot at the various "expanded polystyrene foam" products. When acetone hits the "expanded polystyrene foam", it melts to a goo, much like the faces in "Raider of the Lost Ark", when they opened up the Ark. If you use colored acetone, you get colored goo. Cool!!

We got a big plastic (polypropylene) tub and poured in a bit of acetone. We then started stuffing the white stuff into the acetone and watched it disappear into goo. After a while we had a good base and the melting slowed up a bit, so we started spraying down the pieces with the squirt bottles of colored acetone. This elicited squeals of glee from some in attendance. Then we squirted designs in the coolers and as they melted, we stuck pieces together to make a variety of creations. If something didn't look quite right, we shoved it into the acetone vat and reduced it to goo.

This process went on for a few weeks. If you got bored, you went down to the lab and melted more "expanded polystyrene foam" into a growing ball of goo. Eventually, this got to be boring, so we stopped and let a lot of the acetone evaporate while my assistant took a few days off. When she returned we had a nice workable blob. All the colors combined gave a dark green hue to the acetone wet goo.

When I say workable, it's important to remember that you're dealing with a ball of goo that resembles taffy but reeks of acetone. So it's important to wear good solvent resistant gloves and work in a hood. After a while, I decided to try something different. I poured off any excess acetone and added a lot of water. This dramatically lowered the acetone fumes and seemed to semi-seal up the surface so the vapors went down a bit and the surface turned into a greyish green. If you squeezed a bit on the goo, you could expose fresh dark green acetone soaked surface. So we pinched off a few bits of the big goo ball to play with. My assistant took one small blob and fashioned a piece of challah bread. I took a couple of small pieces and mushed them around. Right before I went on vacation (see below), I dropped the two smaller blobs into water and filled the vat with the rest of the big blob with water and left them for ten days. I left the challah bread out on the hood surface. When I came back, the two small pieces that I was playing with had hardened and the smell of acetone was essentially gone. The big blob still reeked of acetone. Here's how they looked (click on the pictures for higher resolution):


Although these things look kinda mushy, they're really quite hard at this stage. And here's a closeup on the big blob:


And here's the challah bread:


The challah bread was interesting because it was sitting on the bench instead of in water. Over the week I was at the beach the top got hard but the acetone couldn't escape from the bottom and so it stayed soft and supple. Here's a picture of the bottom:


It almost looks like one of those geode things. When it dries out, I'm going to send it off to it's maker.

And that's all I have to say for now about melting "expanded polystyrene foam". Maybe one day I'll calculate the volume of material that actually went into the big ball but I'll have to wait for all the acetone to escape. That could take a while.

Beach Pictures

We recently went to Sunset Beach for a week. We took some pictures. Here they are:

Beach August 2008

A New Career

Earlier this year, back in February or March, our church's youth group put on a play called the Cotton Patch Gospel. It's a musical that retells the story of Jesus as if in modern day, rural Georgia. In one scene, Jesus is telling a modern version of the Good Samaritan story. One of the groups that comes upon the man recently beat up by robbers and left on the side of the road is a hot gospel singing group, called the Quintessentials. That's because there's five of em. Anyhow, they drafted 5 of us older gentlemen to play the part. This is what it looked like.



It's not hard to tell which of this group is more comfortable performing.

New Car, Old Job

I haven't written in my blog in quite a while. So for a quick update to those who occasionally read it, here's what's happening.

The company where I work got bought by a big pharmaceutical company whose logo appears below. They liked what we had, but they didn't think it would be worthwhile keeping us around so somewhere around August 31, I will be out of work. We'll get a nice severance and some other parting gifts, so if I'm not out of work too long, it won't be a bad thing. If I am, it will.


In the meantime, my son came home and got a job and needed a car. We've already got 2 cars with over 100,000 miles on them so we decided to get an new car with no miles on it. My son gets to use my old car. For the reasons mentioned above, we didn't want to spent too much money and we wanted reasonable gas mileage so we got a new Honda Accord. It looks like the picture below.
And that's all the news I have for now.

Some Art from Philip

Often this blog is about technical things in my life. For example, I recently wrote in detail about the wiring that goes into my computer setup. One thing I didn't write up more recently (OK, back in August 07), was that we got a new computer. Maybe I'll talk about that some day. The new purchase was precipitated by some pretty stupid moves on my part in which I destroyed the Mac Mini.

OK, this blog is about my initial forays into computer art. My daughter likes to draw and she often scans in her artwork so that she can colorize it on the computer. So we got her a new Wacom Intuos3 pen tablet. They sort of let you write or draw or paint or whatever in a more natural way using a pen and the tablet captures your input and puts it into a computer picture. Here's a picture of it.


So I decided to try it out and do a little artwork. First, I did a still life.


It's not bad. I think the fruit is a bit out of proportion. I kind of liked this picture and I use it as a desktop for my computer.

Next I tried a man. Here he is:


My daughter thought he looked a bit creepy. It was something about his eyes.

Finally, I did a beach scene. It's pretty clear that I was getting bored by this point.



Maybe I'll get inspired again some day and embellish this beach scene or try a bit more to hone my skills.

Bye-bye for now.