Taking Stock Going into Finals

Two of my classes are not graded on curve, so I can calculate exactly how I am doing, gradewise, and how well I need to do on the final exam.

In Nonlinear Dynamics, I will get a B in the course if I get anything between 2% and 100% on the final exam. Yup. :)

In E&M, I need to get 80% on the final to get an A. Not that it matters, because undergrad classed don't count for me.

And in statistical mechanics, I really have no idea. It's the exam I am probably going to bomb. Hm.

So Patient...

Waiting for their biscuit. This is one of the rare times I can get a photo of Autumn indoors with her ears up. She generally only holds them up outside, preferring indoors to stick them straight out, looking like a very cute version of Yoda.

A warm, dry, mudless walk

The mud is drying up! Here are some photos from today's walk.

The road to Quist Farm is drying up nicely. The main road that serves our neighborhood is unpaved, but has great filler and dries up quickly and nicely and with no ruts. This one is not maintained by the city and takes a bit longer to be tolerable:


The earth is so full of clay, it dries in the exact configuration it was left in when wet:


Different cloud types, for the meteorologists to ponder:


After the snow melted away, I was amazed to see all of this underbrush emerge, taller than the snow level had been. Apparently, after they were relieved of their burden, they straightened themselves right up again!


Blue sky!


Hot dogs! I had never seen their tongues hang out like that before. Poor things!


The only lingering snow is in our own driveway. The girls were only too happy to walk in it and gobble it up.


And it's warm now... High 50s F/ mid-teens C, but it feels even warmer still. I break into a sweat walking the neighborhood. The air is dry, the dogs pant, my fingers swell up like little strings of sausages.

I've made an interesting observation today. Winters here are much, much colder than the SF Bay Area, yet paradoxically it is easier to keep warm. A light down jacket is sufficient, and it's easy enough to warm up once you step inside. In San Francisco on cold days, I would often sit and shiver with this peculiar feeling that I would never be warm again. Of course I knew it was silly, I'd take a hot shower, seasons turn, etc. But I've never felt that way here. So the flip side of this is that even though it gets much warmer in the Sili Valley than it does here, being warm feels more intense here. I pant, I need to drink half a liter of water to walk one hour. When I get back, I feel like a sweaty, disgusting mess. In the Sili Valley, I did feel it was quite warm in Summers, but I used to hike a lot, even when the weather was warm, but I didn't dehydrate as quickly, and I didn't get to sausage-finger stage until it was at least 70F. What gives?

In other news, I have finals this week.

Wednesday's is in my undergrad electromagnetism class. It should be pretty easy, but I still need to compile my notes for it. Thursday's is in Statistical Mechanics, which I'm having a devil of a time with. I am averaging well under 50% in the homeworks and the midterm. I went to talk to the prof, just to let him know that I was indeed trying my darnedest, but was really not comprehending a whole hell of a lot of the material. He shooshed me and said I was doing fine, not to worry, blahblah. I think he overestimates how much I am actually understanding, because I feel pretty blank in his lectures. Anyway, so I'm going to focus on trying to understand more of this stuff over the next few days... And my last exam is Friday, on nonlinear dynamics. That class is very reasonable, not too difficult, not too easy. I have quite a bit of reading to do for that one, but it won't be impossible.

Advanced Mathematical Dogs

It occurred to me last night that my dogs resemble a Lorenz Strange Attractor. Check it out.

Lorenz Attractor:


Lorenz Dogs:


Uncanny, huh?

Breakup photos

I have not been taking a lot of scenery photos lately because the woods haven't been very pretty. Let's face it, in Winter, the only beauty in a forest is snow! Who wants to look at a bunch of skinny nekkid trees? But I thought I should document breakup all the same, lack of beauty notwithstanding. Then maybe you can sympathize more with my mud troubles. :)

The woods as the snow melts away:


This is why we call Spring "breakup." It's not just the rivers and creeks, it's your own feet breaking through muddles of snowmelt, whose surfaces refreeze each night.


Here is the local hay farm. I love their big red barn. It's so picturesque.



Their field is beautiful against the blue sky.


But their road is all mud, as is everyone's!


And here we have Linden and Autumn, all pooped from running circles around me as I take photos in this "heat."


And here is a photo of our beasts taken last month, when I still had a scarf hanging from the closet door. :)

Reindeer Photos

A new baby reindeer was born yesterday! So of course I had to go down and get photos... he wasn't very cooperative... he was snoozing. But when he picked his head up, you could see his sweet little face:


Here is the one that was born last week, nursing:


While I was taking photos, this sweet girl ambled over and stared at us. After she looked us over very carefully, she walked away, but still checked back over her shoulder to make sure of whatever she had decided about us:


And here we have the results of a late Spring storm we got this morning:


This snow is awesome snowman material! It packs so nicely. By evening, most of it had melted off.

Happy May Day, everyone!

It must be Spring!

The geese and swans have been returning! Big honking Vs in the sky! Honk-honk!

Not to mention... Hot Licks has opened their kiosk for summer! Yay!