In the time that I’ve been at Union, I have suffered a number of lab disasters. I’ve had lasers killed in freak power outages. I’ve had lasers die because of odd electrical issues. My lab has flooded not once, not twice, but three different times. I’ve had equipment damaged by idiot contractors, and I’ve had… Continue reading My Doomsday Weapon
Category: Silliness
Silly Poll: Scary Creatures
SteelyKid has a fever, and can’t go to day care, so I’m staying home with her. This pretty much rules out significant serious blogging, so here’s a poll to keep you amused: Which of these threats is most threatening?(survey) Choose only one.
Baseball and Tea Parties
The baseball playoffs are upon us, which means that most of the sports media are consumed with baseball talk. I find this faintly annoying, as I’m not really a fan of baseball. And, really, I can’t be a fan of baseball, for the same reason that I can’t be a conservative Republican activist– I don’t… Continue reading Baseball and Tea Parties
Notes Toward a Master’s Thesis in Sociology of Higher Education
Somebody should look to see if there’s a correlation between the weather on the days of campus visits and the number of prospective students who apply/ enroll at a given school.
Dorky Poll: The Speed of Light
Inspired by yesterday’s post about the speed of light, a poll about c: What do you think of the speed of light?(surveys) So, how do you feel about the speed of light?
Dorky Poll: Photon Operators
Prompted by working on lecture notes for Quantum Optics last night, a Dorky Poll about the mathematical formalism of photon number states What’s your favorite photon operator?(polls) I know it’s hard to pick, but choose only one.
Revenge of the Squirrels
“OK, thanks very much. I’ll pick it up at six, or a little after.” I hang up the phone. I can feel the dog’s eyes on my back. “So what was that about?” she asks. “Oh, that was the Ford dealer,” I say casually. “They’re done with my car.” The dashboard lit up like a… Continue reading Revenge of the Squirrels
Silly Poll: Beverages
I’m a little fried from yesterday’s frantic running around, so while there are a couple of physics things I’d like to write about, I have neither the time nor the brainpower. So here’s a silly little poll, prompted by the large amount of ice I go through at home (I’m trying to lose some weight,… Continue reading Silly Poll: Beverages
Volume Packing of Breakfast Cereal
We’re working on moving SteelyKid from formula to milk (which isn’t going all that well– dairy seems to make her gassy). This has led me to switch over to cereal in the mornings, since we’re buying milk anyway, which frees up the time otherwise spent waiting for the toaster. Cereal-wise, I tend to alternate between… Continue reading Volume Packing of Breakfast Cereal
Quantization of Pants
One of the errands I ran Sunday with SteelyKid was a run to the local Eddie Bauer outlet to pick up a couple more pairs of khakis for work (well, they’re black, actually, but in style the same as the khaki ones). As is often the case, I ended up buying two different sizes– not… Continue reading Quantization of Pants