Well, it is that time of year...the weather is nice for a week, then it snows (for all you who have been enjoying 70 degrees, just wait...). All of the geology classes take field trips (ours was to Honey Lake. I would post pictures, but my camera is out of battery so I can't upload them...maybe later). Spring research conference is in the air. And we have to figure out where we are going to live for the summer and the fall.
So, I spent 4 days this last week on a field trip... 2 days of 10 hour drives, 1 day of field work, 1 day of sight seeing. The drives were long, the field work was good, and the scenery in the Sierra Nevada mountains was excellent. I am sure you don't want to hear about the TDS of thermal springs and where the wells were in relation to the playa and the alluvial fan, so I will spare you. We did do some cool things in the Sierras though. We hiked through a lava tube (don't worry,the lava was long gone). We saw Mount Lassen and Mount Shasta. We visited a cool waterfall called Burney Falls. And we visited the Allen Telescope Array, a SETI run array (definately a highlight of the trip). All in all, a good trip.
So, now it is back to trying to survive until finals are over. On top of school work, I am to the point where I am getting close to finally having a thesis topic, which means writing and research starts soon. We also have to make the difficult decision of where we are going to live for the spring and summer and next year. Always tough, especially now that we are all old guys and are tired of living in young wards. Sometime the search will end, we will sign a contract and be done with it. Until then, just another thing on the plate. Welcome to spring I guess.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Monday, March 9, 2009
More sideways stories...
Due to the popularity of my last post of random thoughts, and because I stay awake at night pondering these things (no, really...), here comes the second installment of random thoughts by Dan Ritter, only this time I am not extremely bored and running a fever.
First off, why in the world is it called "Daylight Savings Time"? I mean, we aren't saving any daylight, just moving it from one place to another. I actually looked it up on reference.com this morning, and it had no answers. I did find out that in Europe it is called "Summer Time", but in Provo that doesn't seem appropriate since the time has already changed and summer is a long way off. I guess "More daylight in the afternoon and less in the morning time" just doesn't have the same ring to it. The funny thing is, the entry at reference.com says that daylight savings time "causes problems for farming, entertainment and other occupations tied to the sun." How exactly does this create problems? We aren't changing the amount of sun in the day, just when it occurs. In fact, wouldn't this benefit people who rely on the sun, since they don't have to get up as early to catch the sunrise? Anytime I lose an hour of sleep, I am going to seriously investigate the process that caused the loss, and daylight savings time seems a little dubious to me.
In other news, sometime this month is the one year anniversary of my last date. This won't really surprise anyone who knows me. I don't know the exact date (that would be a little weird), but I know it is sometime in March. So by now you are wondering, how in the world has he gone a year without going on a date? (Okay, I know, most of you know exactly how it happened, since I am pretty sure everyone that reads this knows me pretty well). The truth of the matter is, I enjoy going on dates, but I hate asking people on dates. I hate calling people on the phone. And with dating, after the first phone call, the pressure just keeps going up. I trace my hatred of phone calls back to an incident in my childhood. As with all little kids, I enjoyed answering the phone. That is, until one fateful day. In my memory, it was in the evening, although it really could have been any time of day (and who knows whether it was during daylight time or standard time). The phone rang, and I ran to answer it. In my haste to answer the phone, proper answering dialogue slipped my mind and instead the words "Dear Heavenly Father" came out. Needless to say, the story was told in my family for years, and answering the phone has never had the same excitement. Now, when I go to make a phone call, I pace around the room, my palms get sweaty, and I have to plan out exactly what I want to say and practice it several times in advance. That is a lot of work for me to go through to go on a date, so I usually won't do it unless I am really motivated. Hence, it has been a year.
First off, why in the world is it called "Daylight Savings Time"? I mean, we aren't saving any daylight, just moving it from one place to another. I actually looked it up on reference.com this morning, and it had no answers. I did find out that in Europe it is called "Summer Time", but in Provo that doesn't seem appropriate since the time has already changed and summer is a long way off. I guess "More daylight in the afternoon and less in the morning time" just doesn't have the same ring to it. The funny thing is, the entry at reference.com says that daylight savings time "causes problems for farming, entertainment and other occupations tied to the sun." How exactly does this create problems? We aren't changing the amount of sun in the day, just when it occurs. In fact, wouldn't this benefit people who rely on the sun, since they don't have to get up as early to catch the sunrise? Anytime I lose an hour of sleep, I am going to seriously investigate the process that caused the loss, and daylight savings time seems a little dubious to me.
In other news, sometime this month is the one year anniversary of my last date. This won't really surprise anyone who knows me. I don't know the exact date (that would be a little weird), but I know it is sometime in March. So by now you are wondering, how in the world has he gone a year without going on a date? (Okay, I know, most of you know exactly how it happened, since I am pretty sure everyone that reads this knows me pretty well). The truth of the matter is, I enjoy going on dates, but I hate asking people on dates. I hate calling people on the phone. And with dating, after the first phone call, the pressure just keeps going up. I trace my hatred of phone calls back to an incident in my childhood. As with all little kids, I enjoyed answering the phone. That is, until one fateful day. In my memory, it was in the evening, although it really could have been any time of day (and who knows whether it was during daylight time or standard time). The phone rang, and I ran to answer it. In my haste to answer the phone, proper answering dialogue slipped my mind and instead the words "Dear Heavenly Father" came out. Needless to say, the story was told in my family for years, and answering the phone has never had the same excitement. Now, when I go to make a phone call, I pace around the room, my palms get sweaty, and I have to plan out exactly what I want to say and practice it several times in advance. That is a lot of work for me to go through to go on a date, so I usually won't do it unless I am really motivated. Hence, it has been a year.
This is an actual picture of me calling someone to ask them on a date. Notice the panicked look on my face. A look of sheer terror, to be sure.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Quarterlife
Well, as anyone reading this probably knows, I turned 25 this past Thursday. That means if I live to be 100 years old, a quarter of my life is gone. I can't say that I regret too much from my first 25 years. Sure, there are things I wish I had done differently, or things I just wish I had done, but overall, my life has been pretty fulfilling so far. I know life has a lot of ups and downs, and probably even more of just the stuff in the middle where you aren't ecstatic but you are in the dumps either, but when you look back at it after the fact and from a distance, the bumps are smoothed out a bit and the bad times are hard for me to remember. Sure, my life hasn't been perfect, but it sure hasn't been bad. Hopefully after the next 25 years things are just as bright.
A few random thoughts about 25...I am the same age my Dad was when I was born, and I am the second child...guess I am a little behind! Also, after you turn 21, there are very few birthdays that give you more freedom, but I guess turning 25 makes your car insurance lower and lets you rent a car cheaper in most states. So, in case you are wondering, I am a safer driver now than I was last week.
P.S. I found out after I posted my last post that I had a fever the night I wrote that, so if there is anything particularly weird in that post, I blame it on the fever.
A few random thoughts about 25...I am the same age my Dad was when I was born, and I am the second child...guess I am a little behind! Also, after you turn 21, there are very few birthdays that give you more freedom, but I guess turning 25 makes your car insurance lower and lets you rent a car cheaper in most states. So, in case you are wondering, I am a safer driver now than I was last week.
P.S. I found out after I posted my last post that I had a fever the night I wrote that, so if there is anything particularly weird in that post, I blame it on the fever.
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