Burn the midnight oil

I just pulled an all-nighter. Good news is that I finished the bulk of my thesis and I am going to distribute it to all my committee members this afternoon. Bad news is that I am not going to get much sleep today since I will have to go to a lunch thing for our school's external review committee meeting of some sort. Oh well... I need to go home soon and take a shower and get ready for that lunch. Hope I survive today.

Fall pictures

Just wanna share with you all some of the pictures I took today. My suspicion is that a warm and sunny day like today will be in short supply in the near future. I am already missing summer... ha ha... how am I going to get through this long long winter? A professor from Earth and Atmospheric Science told me that we are going to have a really harsh winter this year. The jetstream from Canada will be dipping down really low all winter. Not good. Anyway, enjoy the nice weather while we can.

Halloween Time

Here's a horror sequence that is quite well done. Give it a try.

http://members.thai.net/sinthai/thehouse.htm

To 可可: me no trying to trick you this time. this one is quite scary. be prepared.

孤兒

I just learned that I became an orphan tonight. Sort of in a way. My mom announced at dinner tonight that my dad was reinitiating his courtship of her.

Huh? courtship?

My mom was laughing wholeheartedly and commented that dad would have a hard time winning her heart because he had nothing good to offer. My dad protested and said he had his handsome look and (trying to pull me into the water) that's why he had a good-looking son.

Huh? good-looking?

"Dad," I said "First of all, I don't think I am good looking... and if I am, I don't think I got that from you." (I said that jokingly, of course.) Mom concurred and reminded us all that how weird dad's lips looked, with a much thicker lower lip that bulged out like a sausage.

Huh? a sausage?

Anyway... with my dad going back to square one with my mom... and restarting this dating business again with mom... who am I? A 孤兒?

Hopping on the tree top?

The sandhill cranes seem to aim for a tree top landing... ha ha!

Sandhill Cranes

My parents will be leaving in a week. So I decided to take them sightseeing a bit. I took a half day off from school today and we went to a nature preserve to see these migrating cranes. They are called sandhill cranes... about 3.5 ft tall and have a 8 ft wingspan... mostly grayish white in color ... with a red crown. Every fall they would migrate from the north to the south enroute the Jasper-Pulaski Fish and Wildlife Area. Tens of thousands of sandhill cranes would gather there till around late December before moving on to the south.

We got to the viewing area around 4:30 pm... at first there weren't a lot of them at the pasture. But then as the sun lowered itself down the horizon, thousands of these cranes flew in from all directions. My mom kept commenting on how they would glide and kite themselves down onto the land. They are very vocal too, making this "garooo-a-a-gor-a-a" sound all the time. Good dancers too. Two birds would stretch their necks and jump up and down, face to face... then others would join in. These birds are just magnificent animals.

Coffee Stand

Our beloved Dean of College of Engineering must have a thing with Seattle's Best Coffee. She had apparently decided that there was a need (in the name of students and faculty) for a coffee stand in the northeast side of campus. Without consulting any student organizations, she pressed ahead with her plan and now we have an ugly looking circus tent with a dozen tables and chairs in the atrium of the MSEE building. Steam blew off my nose gasket... when I heard how much she paid for the circus tent..... $55,600! Oh my... oh my... I can open up a Chinese restaurant with only 20 grands. Amazing... considering our Dean is trying to cut 50% of the secretarial staff... cut the number of TAs... and hire an unprecedented number of new faculty members without any increase in resources and funding available to each engineering school. The best of this is that there are already two student lounges in the buildings next door. Those lounges are run by students and for the students. Well... like I said in the previous post... the Dean is trying to build up her resume and move on to a higher position, possibly a presidency in some other school. Her 5-year term is almost over... before it happens, I can't wait for another big achievement during her tenure.

Teaching

I have a passion to teach. Much more so than doing research. I guess I do like to do research... it's just that I didn't find a very good topic for my phd. I got stuck... and I procrastinated... and ... Anyhow, I will be done very soon.

Going back to teaching... I wish I could continue to teach...

Remembering the time when I was a teaching assistant.... I felt good just to see students' reaction when their faces lit up knowing that they had understood a new concept, a new theory, or just a way to solve a homework problem. The satisfication I received from teaching was indescribable. I also loved the interaction with students. My office was always open... they could knock on my door any time when they had a question.

I bribed my student too of course. I think one summer... I had a pizza party for my students at the last day of class.

My major advisor wanted me so bad to go into academia. I hesitated because my love is not so much in research but in teaching. And I was also discouraged by the current trend in almost all colleges in the US that MONEY becomes the bottomline... In fact a college nowadays is run like a big business. A professor's status or success is largely if not solely measured by how much research money he/she can bring to the university. Education is not the primary goal anymore. Deans and all the higher-ups are looking for short-term results that will help increase the ranking of the school. They want things that can stuff their resume with. All the new policies aiming for short-term success have resulted in a really poor morale within the faculty. And then, there is politics. I love politics (ha ha... in another word--gossips), but I hate to be in the thick of it.

So... I'd rather try my luck in the industry. So far so good, I guess. I like my company I work for right now. In fact, I am excited to start full time in December.

If I have a chance... I will consider teaching again... Oh that may be 10 or 15 years down the road... who knows.

一個笑話

copied from somewhere... quite funny!

趙先生一早起來就頭痛的要死......

因為他前一天晚上喝的爛醉回家!他強迫自己把疲憊不堪的眼睛睜開。睜開眼後竟然看到床頭上放了一杯水跟幾顆頭痛藥，然後坐起身後又看到了他的衣服已經燙好、疊好在床邊。 因為一起床就看到這幾樣反常的事，所以他決定要起身看一看房子其他的地方有沒有什麼奇怪的事

他把幾顆頭痛藥吃了。 吃的時候突然發現藥下有一張紙條，紙條上寫著......"親愛的，我出去買菜了，你的早餐我已經做好放在餐桌上~趁熱吃吧~愛你喔~"

趙先生一頭霧水的走進了廚房， 然後就真的看到了熱騰騰的早餐在桌上還有當天的早報。
他看著坐在餐桌吃早餐的兒子問......"兒子啊~昨天到底發生了什麼事?"

趙先生的兒子回答"嗯......你淩晨三點跌跌撞撞、大吼大叫的回了家~把幾個家俱給打壞踹壞~然後又很聰明的在走廊上撞了牆壁幾下、送給自己一個黑眼圈! 趙先生越來越不明白的又問了兒子"那為什麼家裏給打掃的那麼乾淨然後你媽又會煮熱騰騰的早餐給我呢?!"

兒子恍然大悟的說"喔~你是在問那個喔~~~媽昨天看到你醉死的回家，一肚子火的把你拉到房間裏，然後想把你髒衣服換掉，結果在脫你褲子的時候你罵了她一句
"你滾遠一點~我已經結婚了~"

Saturday Morning

It was fun yesterday at the outing. The weather was just perfect though a bit windy. But a sunny autumn day like that... you can't ask for anything better. After the bbq, my boss suggested a few drinks at a local Irish bar. So three of us went... Paul (my boss), Jeff, and I... I learned that Paul has real good vision for his company. I was thinking to myself that I've made a good decision to work for him. He was talking about having Jeff head up the construction management... and me the engineering part... of course... that's in the future when the company grows to a certain size. He even mentioned something about profit sharing. Heh... hope he really meant what he said. I didn't get home until 8:30 pm. I didn't remember how I survived the one and half hour drive home... after downing those few beers.

This morning... I got to school bright and early. (For once I went to bed early last night... probably because of the beers and a day of "hard" work.) There it is... my draft chapter lying in my mailbox. My prof has corrected it and proof read it apparently. It was really nice of my prof to do that so quickly. He mentioned that he would go over it over the weekend. But I guess he knows that I only have time to work on my thesis over the weekend... so he read it early so that I would have time to put my whole thesis together over the weekend. So nice of him.

Campany outing

Oh... can't wait. Getting ready to go now. Whole afternoon... bbq at nearby state park by the river. It'll be fun. Don't have to work but get paid... what else can I ask for?

A List!

I've been thinking about this list for a while. Not like the list of unfinished business I posted last week. This a list of things that I will do in the coming months and perhaps years. Ok... here it is. Let me start with some important stuff first.

• Defense... Nov. 15
• Apply for H-1B visa next April
• Get my PE license in 2 years

Less important stuff... more wants then needs... some wishful thinking too.

• taking pottery lessons again
• write a song... just the music... and have someone do the lyrics :)
• need a piano then... I wish to get one of those Clavinova piano for now, oh maybe just a tiny keyboard would be fine too... but what I really really want is a grand piano.
• go fishing in Canada
• visit both of my grandmothers in Hong Kong... well other relatives and friends as well.
  
• upgrade my computer
• get in touch with my friends who I have neglected for years. :(

Oh.... that's it for now... I am tired, should go to bed.

Almost forgot... My boss is organizing a company outing tomorrow afternoon. BBQ and stuff. Mom suggested I bring a cheese cake. So tonight I made a cheese cake with Mom's help. Hope it taste good.

One step closer

I finished a very rough draft of the last big chapter of my thesis. Thank God! I'll let my advisor read it tomorrow and see what he's got to say.

I am one step closer to my degree. After all these years of procrastination... oh... I feel so ashamed. I should have gotten this thing done back 1 or 2 years ago. But then... I should be happy now. I am almost there.

I think I have accomplished more this semester than I had for the past 2 years. Seriously, I am working 30 hrs a week... plus writing the thesis... and the wetland project... ha... also writing this blog too.

It's not over yet. I still have a bit more than a month to go before I deposit my thesis and be done with. Until then... I will work ever harder. I owe this to my beloved parents.

Time to go home and sleep

I am tired.. real tired. It's 1:45 am. I've been working on my thesis at school since after dinner. OH... still have to write a few more paragraphs for the discussion... then a conclusion... and I'll finish this last chapter. Then I have to begin the painful task of putting the whole thesis together... writing a concluding chapter, an abstract, a vitae... acknowledgement... dedication... blah blah blah. Oh well... But I am getting close... real close. My defense is on Nov 15. I can't wait to get everything over with, but at the same time, I need time... more time.

I was going to write something about Dave... I brought my car to him and had the tires rotated. I ended up spending 3 hours there chatting with him. And he didn't charge me a dime! He's quite a guy. Very honest, dependable, and extremely friendly. I wonder I'll ever find another mechanic as good and as nice as he is once I move to Illinois. I'll probably have to drive 1.5 hours back to Lafayette and have him service my car. I'll write more about him later when I have time. He told me quite a bit of his personal life... his value of life... and things like that. Quite an inspiration for me.

Anyway, I should go home now and get some sleep. I have to work tomorrow... getting up at 5:30 am. Arghh... long drive to work too.

Early Holloween

This is a car advertisement from Great Britain. When they finished filming the ad, the film editor noticed something moving along the side of the car, like a ghostly white mist. They found out that a person had been killed a year earlier in that exact same spot.

The ad was never put on TV because of the unexplained ghostly phenomenon. Watch the front end of the car as it clears the trees in the middle of the screen and you'll see the white mist crossing in front of the car then following it along the road....Spooky!

Is it a ghost, or is it simply mist? You decide. If you listen to the ad, you'll even hear the cameraman whispering in the background about it near the end of the commercial.

A little creepy but pretty cool!

Here's the commercial!

Infatuation

I've been listening to the same CD for the past month. I am sick... definitely sick. Or perhaps, I am just weird. But then I only scored 30% on the weirdness test so.... I know... it must be that I am too geeky. Or...

I fell in love with her voice. Really I did. It's not so much the music... but her voice. I have this thing about voice. My ideal mate must have a good voice. It doesn't matter whether she can sing well or not. But a good voice is a must-have. After all, I think singing is 90% voice and 10% skill. Ha ha... You may disagree.

Stephy Tang.... Coloring Stephy... that's the CD I am referring to, in case you are wondering.

Now you tell me... am I really sick or what? That CD is not going come out of my car CD player for a long while.

Fall foliage

We were talking about the fall foliage...

Mom: Dad told me that the leaves are turning brown because the trees are 謝了!

Me: Oh yeah?

Mom: He's stupid. I say, not enough nutrients... Leaves turned brown.

Me: Well... not quite.

Mom: Dad's so thin and weak.... that's why his hair is turning grey.

Me: Not quite either... His hair is turning grey because he's 謝了!

Fall is here!

Fall is here... so a fall picture is most appropriate!

Unfinished Business

To-do-list:

• finish writing the last chapter of my thesis by some time next week;
• send my car to Dave and have the tires rotated;
• a car wash? The rain kinda took care of it. ;)
• look for an apartment in Bourbonnais.

Only 30% Weird?

You Are 30% Weird

Not enough to scare other people... But sometimes you scare yourself.

How Weird Are You?

A Love Story (7/36)

8/28 morning

I was surprised to receive your call this morning. I really missed your voice. I really missed you.

Your letter... I am eager to receive your letter... but I am not sure if I want to read it. I think I know what you are going to say in the letter.

You know, no matter what, I will still love you. There is no way that I can forget you. There is no way that I can stop loving you.

Fire!

A bit of excitement happened at school today. The fire alarm went off... Man, it was loud. I had to cover my ears until I walked out of the building. Only a handful of people emerged from the building,... oh yeah... today is October Break. Anyway... as soon as I was outside, the fire truck and the emergency vehicle arrived, then a cop car. That was quick, less a minute of response time! Impossible! A few of the professors and I jokingly said that there must have been a conspiracy going on. Anyhow, after a few minutes had passed, we got the "all-clear" signal to go back into the building. The excitement was really over-rated. It turned out that one light switch caught fire... well actually more like smoke all the way. That's it. No fiery fire or splashing water. So much for an excitement.

Purdue Football

We lost yet again. Three times in a row. For some reason I knew this was coming before we even kicked off for the season. Too much preseason hype. Too high of an expectation.

I am not real happy not so much because we are losing and the season seems to be slipping away, but because some fans are already speaking of the "f" word. Firing, it is. They are discontent with the coaches. Tiller and company have revived our football, literally bring it back to life after many years of dormancy. The fans argue that the coaches fail to bring the program to another level, consistently competing for big ten championship and maybe even for the national title. I agree, to a certain extent. To put Purdue at top ten nationally is not easy, however. We certainly lack the history and prestige to attract top recruits. I know the coaches are working on that. All we got at Purdue is perhaps good academics, which I am proud of. It will take a few more years for us to build a even strong football program. Well... patience... a few losing games definitely shot the title hope, but that should not erode our faith in the coaches and the players.

There is more to football than just winning. I am disappointed every time we loose a game, but I still look forward to seeing every Purdue game.

A Love Story (6/36)

8/24 early morning

Everything seems so familiar.

Just like last time. You become so cold to me. That ignoring and neglecting attitude is horrifying.

I can't sleep. I can't sleep any more because I can't stop thinking about you. I love you.

It's all my fault. I pushed it too hard. I scared you. I scared you away. Just like I did last time.

I keep thinking... what did I do wrong? Why didn't you give me a change to prove to you that although you and I are living in two different worlds, we can create a world of our own, together? Our very own world!

You said you wanted to decorate our apartment, our home, but we didn't get a chance to do it. Maybe we should have... you would have felt a little bit more like home when you were here... and none of this would have happened.

An Equation...

Let's consider this hypothesis....

Everything in this world can be described by a single (differential) equation that involves time and space.

Hmm... I am not trying to prove this hypothesis. This hypothesis is actually too far-fetched to be true. But it raises several ideas that I find very interesting.

If you were to solve this equation, you would need an initial condition and a boundary condition. Once these two conditions are specified, you can then describe everything in this world, any sequence of events; in fact, it can even predict what you will eat for dinner tonight. So then my question is---who did set these conditions in the first place? One of the possible answers is that God did it. Perhaps, if you believe God is the Creator (for which I do believe so as a matter of faith), He might have even written this equation Himself.

Ok... here's the problem: once this equation was set in motion when He supplied the initial and boundary conditions, His work was done! finished! What else was there to do if this equation already describes everything and has the ability to predict everything to come. Some people believe that God intervenes actively in our daily life. But if this hypothesis were true, then God would not have to do so. In fact, He already knows what is going to happen; He already did intervene in our life because He wrote the equation to start with.

I guess what I want to point out is that when we pray to God, we often contradict ourselves. We pray that God would open doors for us... that He would watch over us... but then we also claim that He has a plan for us, He knows what has happened and what is going to happen in our life.

Life is full of contradictions, even for the faith that we hold dearly to.

On God and Science

God asked us to take stewardship of our earth and everything within it. What would be a better way to accomplish that than to understand our surroundings, to find out how things work in nature, and to seek the truth--the laws and principles--that governs the physics of this world? Science is a tool and nothing more. Science is a systematic way for studying things and processes. Science tries not to explain God nor to test His existence because of its inability to do. Why, I ask. Why do some people find it so hard to accept the conclusions drawn by science? Is it because there is an inherent uncertainty that lies within the answers provided by science? The lack of an absolute is what some people are afraid of or, to a lesser degree, unwilling to partake. Or is it the fear of the power of science? Fearing that it might, just might, unveiling the truth that contradicts what God has laid down for us. What happen to our faith in Him? If He provides us with a tool, shouldn't we use it to its full extent? But not to fear what the tool will tell us about His creation? Or is it really a fear that rests upon overturning the status-quo? A fear manufactured by the our very own insecurity, lack of knowledge, and lack of understanding of Him and his creation.

My First Post

Everyone seems to be writing his/her own blog these days. I obviously have a late start in this business. Don't really know what exactly motivates me to get my own blog started, amid this craziness of trying to balance work and school at the same time. Anyhow, I might treat this blog as my daily journal. I guess it wouldn't quite exactly be a daily thing. But I do want to jot down my thoughts and ideas every now and then. To share with someone out there, or just for my own amusement.