tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30873943097952600122024-03-19T11:27:35.521-07:00David's ramblingsdosterhousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04750585958809939748noreply@blogger.comBlogger39125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3087394309795260012.post-27821681471653584592009-04-08T19:47:00.000-07:002009-04-08T19:50:52.323-07:00OverkillAnother video from hypertherm, the source of my funding. I love how the beans get so hot they explode out of the can when the lid is cut free.<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/rg8iRyRD3BQ&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/rg8iRyRD3BQ&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>dosterhousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04750585958809939748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3087394309795260012.post-27613556670550525132009-04-06T19:24:00.000-07:002009-04-06T19:44:20.720-07:00Pictures of pictures being takenSo, I'm not normally of the fan of the Hey-I'm-going-to-take-a-picture-of-you-taking-a-picture-of-me type pictures because they seem rather cliche to me. That being said, however, I have a cool one. This happened a while ago when I was at camp counseling the high school retreat. I would have posted this sooner, but I did not get the other half of the pair (the one looking at me) until it showed up on facebook just recently. The pictures were taken during our epic hike. At one point we were climbing off the path and down into a ravine so we could go straight down the bluff. There was a drainage pipe running under the trail so I climbed into the ravine on the uphill side because I thought it might frame a cool picture. Naturally, Amy on the other side also thought it would be fun to take a picture through the pipe, but she was on the downhill side. Without further ado, the pictures...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRSF-ajFXxdtnv4l9t9HljGfl6UMxdJgSUSI-eZCCNk2ELSpUbP3vsZUV_KEiEdPw1Ejc9GS6cUbfnkTiO9ehsFP3cE2cCy3ab-Ut1heKP9C56Cos5JnpgssOtn9Isc4WVQMBgpYFlCjY/s1600-h/DSC00821.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRSF-ajFXxdtnv4l9t9HljGfl6UMxdJgSUSI-eZCCNk2ELSpUbP3vsZUV_KEiEdPw1Ejc9GS6cUbfnkTiO9ehsFP3cE2cCy3ab-Ut1heKP9C56Cos5JnpgssOtn9Isc4WVQMBgpYFlCjY/s400/DSC00821.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321772229348152290" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPhK3nyXjy0fHiupyliB1u2K2hi5Mit2-M44bcmttJE2jVyXJxab4t4JiVH8J-Pgna05rx8Kexc33Ei2ThyORdWj1NFdnmSiHij4ySeE4YpFp5VQkXZIX_SA7WhXLUCsQ5GVQJojqE-aw/s1600-h/2597_523827300848_211702122_31907749_329824_n.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPhK3nyXjy0fHiupyliB1u2K2hi5Mit2-M44bcmttJE2jVyXJxab4t4JiVH8J-Pgna05rx8Kexc33Ei2ThyORdWj1NFdnmSiHij4ySeE4YpFp5VQkXZIX_SA7WhXLUCsQ5GVQJojqE-aw/s400/2597_523827300848_211702122_31907749_329824_n.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5321772223152742770" border="0" /></a><br />In other cool picture taking news. I was biking last Friday night and found the perfect place to set up a night biking shot. However, I was quite a ways into my training ride and very tired, so I did not feel like stopping to dig my camera out and set up the shot.<br /><br />Edit: I know it ruins the set of pictures slightly, but in the name of honesty, it wasn't actually Amy that took that picture of me. Julia took that picture, but I don't have any pictures of Julia taking my picture on the other side of the tube, so I use the one of Amy.dosterhousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04750585958809939748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3087394309795260012.post-27752370522368631012009-04-02T16:21:00.000-07:002009-04-02T16:25:13.631-07:00Plasma torches and researchSo, here's a good video to give on intro on why plasma torches are worthwhile. This is pretty low powered torch, because it's made for garage use. The industrial torches pack more of a punch.<br /><br /><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://widgets.nbc.com/o/47f1317f105123ad/49d5466259a57ae6/47fe70d4555df05a/53873f2e/-cpid/1e7fd28abfd6c81" id="W47f1317f105123ad49d5466259a57ae6" width="384" height="283"><param name="movie" value="http://widgets.nbc.com/o/47f1317f105123ad/49d5466259a57ae6/47fe70d4555df05a/53873f2e/-cpid/1e7fd28abfd6c81"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><param name="allowNetworking" value="all"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></object><br /><br />Notice towards the end, he mentioned an oxidation reaction when cutting mild steel. Currently, I'm trying to get a better understanding of how that works and how it effects the cut quality.dosterhousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04750585958809939748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3087394309795260012.post-26634446348084795162009-03-10T18:24:00.000-07:002009-03-10T19:43:18.039-07:00I was at camp a couple of weekends ago to counsel for a highschool retreat. We ended up with 4 counselors, 2 chaperons and 7 campers, so it was pretty laid back and felt more like just hanging out than actually counseling. In the guys room, the counselors outnumbered the campers, and actually caused more trouble at night.<br /><br />First of all, the drive down was terrific, because Michael and Grace were riding down with me, and it was nice to have other people to talk to.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsrLwB2dnjXGBD2jTU4-Fp5CVVlLGCUBmsNSgfHeVmIxnVwsrMANVdnGFL-mur9j-iB92LNDpgJB90Ro7YqAekI65fas0vHhypCkJfjXUqCP6kuW0zCQZNzGtP6D_SU9-AN763_qwBgaw/s1600-h/DSC00783.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsrLwB2dnjXGBD2jTU4-Fp5CVVlLGCUBmsNSgfHeVmIxnVwsrMANVdnGFL-mur9j-iB92LNDpgJB90Ro7YqAekI65fas0vHhypCkJfjXUqCP6kuW0zCQZNzGtP6D_SU9-AN763_qwBgaw/s400/DSC00783.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311737219363942498" border="0" /></a><br />Then, at camp we had absolutely fantastic weather. The highlight might be the adventure hike on Saturday. We decided to go up "inspiration point" which is actually a route I had never taken. Turns out that there is a reason we never took campers up that route. It pretty much turns into rock climbing at one point.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyLrdrLySUAA4zSiHiuoT5Za4UJTiHUVpX24i0W4udopMDml3eJINEIJlNxZ5AED9BjeEMPLnNDA68ihJrjVcHIELrW8sNXp5E8wOMJj6ft3soIgUTK95jFHv99K2mMpWlHzGAuPyV5u8/s1600-h/DSC00803.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 302px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyLrdrLySUAA4zSiHiuoT5Za4UJTiHUVpX24i0W4udopMDml3eJINEIJlNxZ5AED9BjeEMPLnNDA68ihJrjVcHIELrW8sNXp5E8wOMJj6ft3soIgUTK95jFHv99K2mMpWlHzGAuPyV5u8/s400/DSC00803.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311744874039137842" border="0" /></a><br />But the view from the top was absolutely gorgeous.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEgDWH0is2WlgK4Oxw88cyQnvBYjM6bz0ILS-mwGXwNRvf5IVt8IHFOERGFJtSN_re6xWH913XdJzeeaZzA9k2OuW9ra5HmPdxJ58OXPebq2J35zEohlhZhyPruXxDAQr139QE2UV_UF4/s1600-h/DSC00804.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEgDWH0is2WlgK4Oxw88cyQnvBYjM6bz0ILS-mwGXwNRvf5IVt8IHFOERGFJtSN_re6xWH913XdJzeeaZzA9k2OuW9ra5HmPdxJ58OXPebq2J35zEohlhZhyPruXxDAQr139QE2UV_UF4/s400/DSC00804.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311745605644410450" border="0" /></a><br />Of course, getting back down involved a lot of slipping and sliding because we thought it would be more fun to not follow a path.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcNKl_gE0krCyNqJmQb9UXF5IT8aAOsbf6554ZCsZGKn8m-qRQXqNneUHddfhPCifPCy6eIRB9sBJg0AfNfmW4ihv9rcr9K3nPrvhKesYuwikOqe8LtTDBqVpm73js1BOpqFr09rFqA_4/s1600-h/DSC00818.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcNKl_gE0krCyNqJmQb9UXF5IT8aAOsbf6554ZCsZGKn8m-qRQXqNneUHddfhPCifPCy6eIRB9sBJg0AfNfmW4ihv9rcr9K3nPrvhKesYuwikOqe8LtTDBqVpm73js1BOpqFr09rFqA_4/s400/DSC00818.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311747580299195202" border="0" /></a><br />There was also some great broomball the next day. There wasn't enough people to play a real game, so we played all-on-all against the goalie. Whoever touches the ball last before it goes in the goal scores. I was the goalie. Turns out that nobody was very good, so I was able take pictures while playing goalie.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZnxdzHopLFvu_i7YjM2pIcZAkyMmSPoc24c_-QmPhzGmlSZwHdQb6QXaS7SyEF6h7B_GASPuic_68dPAdXMFSoOFyqcwQBoR5LqwzVKtUg64fHzSdA_1SH7HJg2A4AflmhBdkTRYH0Ao/s1600-h/DSC00867.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 299px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZnxdzHopLFvu_i7YjM2pIcZAkyMmSPoc24c_-QmPhzGmlSZwHdQb6QXaS7SyEF6h7B_GASPuic_68dPAdXMFSoOFyqcwQBoR5LqwzVKtUg64fHzSdA_1SH7HJg2A4AflmhBdkTRYH0Ao/s400/DSC00867.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311749178704776626" border="0" /></a><br />It was also really fun to lead bible studies again. Turns out that leading bible studies is like riding a bike, once you learn how to, you don't forget. It was especially fun because I was tag teaming the bible studies with Grace. Grace and I work off each other really well, although we got a little carried away at times and started talking over the kids heads. I distinctly remember trying to explain the concept that God's allowing for us to sin and hurt ourselves and each other is actually a manifestation of his love. Except I tried to do it in the last 5 minutes of a bible study. I liked it. Grace liked it. The chaperon liked it. I don't know if the kids knew what I was talking about.<br /><br />I leave you with a campfire in the strawbale hut.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcH8WOO6e1BsNeUHTiI4CUfKOgA9qB7IHPtcACqFIGmESIjYoUy_asC109Nk731mfkwBIHnQL8vq9FJNqhlcrnYrpLIE7POTBVcdxAEnr0WpBWCNk05m2-LM0eyeGh-f-BMzonma_wiik/s1600-h/DSC00842.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcH8WOO6e1BsNeUHTiI4CUfKOgA9qB7IHPtcACqFIGmESIjYoUy_asC109Nk731mfkwBIHnQL8vq9FJNqhlcrnYrpLIE7POTBVcdxAEnr0WpBWCNk05m2-LM0eyeGh-f-BMzonma_wiik/s400/DSC00842.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5311754009556164658" border="0" /></a>dosterhousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04750585958809939748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3087394309795260012.post-7152322854789014492009-02-26T11:47:00.000-08:002009-02-26T12:00:07.499-08:00Of offices and asbestosSo, a couple of weeks ago, I decided to work late. However, I then started hearing people running up and down the hall calling for Mike, our custodian. Then water starting running under the door of my office. Turns out a hot water pipe burst a couple of offices down and there was water all over the place. The custodians had arrived and there wasn't really anything for me to do, so I decided to go home. The next day, my office looked fine, but apparently there was asbestos in the water. I was getting conflicting reports on what was going to happen as far as clean up in my office:<br /><br />a) Nothing, my office is fine<br />b)They are going to paint around the base of the walls<br />c)They are going to rip out and replace the drywall and sheetrock on the bottom 2 feet of all the walls.<br /><br />I decided to just keep working in my office and assumed that they would tell me if they were going to do work in my office. But when I came back from class, my office looked like this.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9VBxjLjz2csPwdBeBblfqpEcEDKqkzipm14sghbRYLLNfVaVI12fPnifp2YoPPimNE9Pxj2ZSbQ6zDXhi1_IqhhupqC7W2oZq_boi8doz2s-2Yq5xTEeb7xtE-eGoIWjk-PFVNcTN2lQ/s1600-h/DSC00696.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9VBxjLjz2csPwdBeBblfqpEcEDKqkzipm14sghbRYLLNfVaVI12fPnifp2YoPPimNE9Pxj2ZSbQ6zDXhi1_IqhhupqC7W2oZq_boi8doz2s-2Yq5xTEeb7xtE-eGoIWjk-PFVNcTN2lQ/s400/DSC00696.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307197383545368082" border="0" /></a><br />Turns out they are also removing my sink because it was one of these sinks that caused the initial flood.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrn8cXH_AHMeH-R1ZBgM0e-I1uH7GVfKXry9M_1MXBqJRTMBpe9EplBTCgait6Pa_TVy7KvE5GhZKFa2qFzIOJILn9FsRRgOnFe-x11tVupc2Bpemk784bK_nEdOzCSecOdCWhxoJFSIE/s1600-h/DSC00699.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrn8cXH_AHMeH-R1ZBgM0e-I1uH7GVfKXry9M_1MXBqJRTMBpe9EplBTCgait6Pa_TVy7KvE5GhZKFa2qFzIOJILn9FsRRgOnFe-x11tVupc2Bpemk784bK_nEdOzCSecOdCWhxoJFSIE/s400/DSC00699.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307197391777659234" border="0" /></a><br />I don't know when my office will be restored to working order, but for now, I'm kind of bouncing around between a lab, the library and my apartment. Oh well.dosterhousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04750585958809939748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3087394309795260012.post-22434305614107799052009-02-26T11:20:00.000-08:002009-02-26T11:44:35.313-08:00Valentines DayThis post is coming a bit after the fact, but it was a blog worthy day. I didn't think that the romantic dinner and flowers and chocolates was really the way Cia and I work, but I wanted to do something special. So, instead, I took her to a park. http://www.co.rice.mn.us/parks/cannon.php This is all the information you can find online about the park. Doesn't say exactly where it is; doesn't say how to get there. The only reason I know about it is because I stumbled on it during a training ride a couple summers ago. Because it's such an obscure park, it is fairly rustic and there were only a few other people there. It was a beautiful day and just cold enough that there was lot's of cool ice formations.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkgsqa164k77EUDwj7pCmUBjekVj_yc4AaySyKbynRlL7Xz5Zh5RReJnQicpLtKCjbg15498ijD1CweFfTdvd90ZvqFGC1vtxoaIiiqqbZr7OZdp3kBHQYCTBsXlPUgjzB0DGZSjK-el8/s1600-h/DSC00676.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkgsqa164k77EUDwj7pCmUBjekVj_yc4AaySyKbynRlL7Xz5Zh5RReJnQicpLtKCjbg15498ijD1CweFfTdvd90ZvqFGC1vtxoaIiiqqbZr7OZdp3kBHQYCTBsXlPUgjzB0DGZSjK-el8/s400/DSC00676.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307192067165142290" border="0" /></a><br />Being little kids at heart, we spend quite some time kicking the ice at the edge of the river to watch it break and float off.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicnERhrl5GnjptwPEyHJp4tpaq_MMSwlbmgXwVkF_sUHgHiWy4gJ7d4kYPuMprPCNWDMVl1sTUzXiP9DW-gGj7xr_aSw7ei0ZOi-zMJPgMnCvL3y-dTtYknKTInNaiyvNkxX7-NMjMYPE/s1600-h/DSC00679.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicnERhrl5GnjptwPEyHJp4tpaq_MMSwlbmgXwVkF_sUHgHiWy4gJ7d4kYPuMprPCNWDMVl1sTUzXiP9DW-gGj7xr_aSw7ei0ZOi-zMJPgMnCvL3y-dTtYknKTInNaiyvNkxX7-NMjMYPE/s400/DSC00679.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307192073586859154" border="0" /></a><br />To make the day extra fun, we had a fire, because burning stuff is always good.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBi_iQguK_xtmr-2SGcU3D5Wb0IvbF69QuxQlAbUXea1Xa2h6exS3mvwKZ0XDBspXbQZw9Csju5sNesmiCXjUg73_w7HePd7V3-I0rq9AEihoN2Cfobhx00je12PmQPs5FmJDvXAcZick/s1600-h/DSC00690.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBi_iQguK_xtmr-2SGcU3D5Wb0IvbF69QuxQlAbUXea1Xa2h6exS3mvwKZ0XDBspXbQZw9Csju5sNesmiCXjUg73_w7HePd7V3-I0rq9AEihoN2Cfobhx00je12PmQPs5FmJDvXAcZick/s400/DSC00690.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307192095596434050" border="0" /></a><br />It was a fantastic day. I'm so glad the weather decided to cooperate with my plans.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjre3tTtczNbMwmegT-Hg_vc1MwfY0HOuz28txNwe39zWx5E0DwnUu9GAkEEjSQrFG9DHA1aRh4HPHBgmhIwLLtmbmmkhw9hMtIsubhPEjykfkI486QmpReV44re7nX_iBd5qMC3EVQSJg/s1600-h/DSC00681.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjre3tTtczNbMwmegT-Hg_vc1MwfY0HOuz28txNwe39zWx5E0DwnUu9GAkEEjSQrFG9DHA1aRh4HPHBgmhIwLLtmbmmkhw9hMtIsubhPEjykfkI486QmpReV44re7nX_iBd5qMC3EVQSJg/s400/DSC00681.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5307192089430508098" border="0" /></a>dosterhousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04750585958809939748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3087394309795260012.post-75020318490179518092009-02-02T18:21:00.000-08:002009-02-02T19:15:46.556-08:00MadisonCia has interim break this week, so I drove her home to Madison and then spent the weekend hanging out with her and her family in Madison. It was a wonderful weekend for a number of reasons. Obviously, it was fun because I got to hang out with Cia and her family was just as enjoyable. To make things even better, the weather was absolutely beautiful.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbOIx3ohy8ZHa31MSefQ9Hrzle612igT6Ofrh3bNKJCRyeuo8-0sMkE-qDJa8MlkIJ7KiGVpJr7Kx_TlZ_MdlahWzw0GT8xYAfbig__ScinihmKyBmh7Ut3AtLH-SaCC2QxciEeyLDTtg/s1600-h/DSC00634.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbOIx3ohy8ZHa31MSefQ9Hrzle612igT6Ofrh3bNKJCRyeuo8-0sMkE-qDJa8MlkIJ7KiGVpJr7Kx_TlZ_MdlahWzw0GT8xYAfbig__ScinihmKyBmh7Ut3AtLH-SaCC2QxciEeyLDTtg/s400/DSC00634.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5298395812673587714" border="0" /></a><br />On Saturday, we went into downtown Madison and walked around. Wisconsin has pretty much the coolest capital building ever. It has 4 axis of symmetry. When you stand in the center, the different branches of the building look so similar that they have to be labeled with the compass directions so you don't get lost. There is also a really cool art museum. One part of the building had glass walls and a glass staircase.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwqdDzNmB4jAiV21Logpify3rjCMuYyYtJ475yg1wOJs7xO-ivKUkPBP69C3711QDBKAb7f03GX9IwEfAkEgV3LEI0iLXFJugrxuEssFNmBE0VPQZPkzsX7JE0VpUun2-fqwfWtz7Wd2I/s1600-h/DSC00640.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwqdDzNmB4jAiV21Logpify3rjCMuYyYtJ475yg1wOJs7xO-ivKUkPBP69C3711QDBKAb7f03GX9IwEfAkEgV3LEI0iLXFJugrxuEssFNmBE0VPQZPkzsX7JE0VpUun2-fqwfWtz7Wd2I/s400/DSC00640.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5298395822476664562" border="0" /></a><br />Among the other neat buildings there was a picnic shelter at a park near the Cia's house. I think it totally looks like a sniper tower, but I might have an overactive imagination.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixEA3ALYtkiNOGlDQqeui-ODZXffE1LXRDYpBu1gIgCLVIesIdUCeMT05AVoVa2kgwZuo3Ke-z9QAH_rLnWp3QNQutBv-r2HBMISuR2FcmiXmhqWLqW5xaS6W5rKJJ-JUXh6GV4G8_mtc/s1600-h/DSC00663.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixEA3ALYtkiNOGlDQqeui-ODZXffE1LXRDYpBu1gIgCLVIesIdUCeMT05AVoVa2kgwZuo3Ke-z9QAH_rLnWp3QNQutBv-r2HBMISuR2FcmiXmhqWLqW5xaS6W5rKJJ-JUXh6GV4G8_mtc/s400/DSC00663.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5298395834947762626" border="0" /></a><br />Of course, I had to climb it.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4fvzZ6qLFhfgHAvhZsJFbaSSAAWFBiV69xNTYI73V5riUkbtK0Dx7ZjDs_BMAVw8qx-IxNUjm-tViM6LWIE_Wp3mU0ggsV-VvRkL1qHExcAQ-v6o8-OgNzA6xqZc3BgNum443f8F2VCI/s1600-h/DSC00666.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4fvzZ6qLFhfgHAvhZsJFbaSSAAWFBiV69xNTYI73V5riUkbtK0Dx7ZjDs_BMAVw8qx-IxNUjm-tViM6LWIE_Wp3mU0ggsV-VvRkL1qHExcAQ-v6o8-OgNzA6xqZc3BgNum443f8F2VCI/s400/DSC00666.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5298401793346031986" border="0" /></a><br />We also walked out on a frozen lake, which I always enjoy for some reason.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2RrTjJbGkXs9jmcVsx7kcMYqtJ5Mp8lLgCN0nvbNyVPQjI7cj6T4d_B4kzyX1ItAwvA1zmkR3AkzaxbxJ2YTzYe2ZfsqrIB428XAN1NvejU3lBVzppavL4JeaEnBO9OhIwXpF5JajMF8/s1600-h/DSC00650.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2RrTjJbGkXs9jmcVsx7kcMYqtJ5Mp8lLgCN0nvbNyVPQjI7cj6T4d_B4kzyX1ItAwvA1zmkR3AkzaxbxJ2YTzYe2ZfsqrIB428XAN1NvejU3lBVzppavL4JeaEnBO9OhIwXpF5JajMF8/s400/DSC00650.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5298401795583311714" border="0" /></a><br />It was a beautiful weekend.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8LYp8fNLz_xiRmW6s35sHi2ATArU7MjXxUvHSoRBTLXttgD8iAt5auI_K-XUnc32YQtKbbAnR9Gp5V5JpUbftMj6vdWBIHVRe87XpfUaMeK5j-v6hdvoIhHPxWsDdtDcdKpPitoICtAU/s1600-h/DSC00660.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8LYp8fNLz_xiRmW6s35sHi2ATArU7MjXxUvHSoRBTLXttgD8iAt5auI_K-XUnc32YQtKbbAnR9Gp5V5JpUbftMj6vdWBIHVRe87XpfUaMeK5j-v6hdvoIhHPxWsDdtDcdKpPitoICtAU/s400/DSC00660.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5298402651983777282" border="0" /></a>dosterhousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04750585958809939748noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3087394309795260012.post-86985892988520674802009-01-19T17:42:00.000-08:002009-01-19T18:41:34.408-08:00Weekend of goodnessThis weekend has been a quality weekend. On Friday, I officially started my on-the-bike training for this season. I did a 2 hour ride, which isn't too long, but at this time of year, is quite brutal. I haven't ridden that long for a few months and to make it harder, the temperatures were in the single digits and there was snow on the ground. Half way through the ride, I was already really tired and by the time I finished, I was so tired that I just laid down on the floor. But, it reminded me how much I enjoy biking and how much I love the endorphin high I get from it. This is what I looked like after the ride.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfZTyqgj0PbBzxyg9RJSyHmFxfEBdD2dLXqpyAyCA1cwkMXdwAg6rXehb4f4ThBDNPS98tXauePcLPX2TEx9TPeGuwgpept2IoBSGcRyaLJLHbCxMFHWbRwIPfOVAMn59Hq0jYvW2ZieA/s1600-h/DSC00592.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfZTyqgj0PbBzxyg9RJSyHmFxfEBdD2dLXqpyAyCA1cwkMXdwAg6rXehb4f4ThBDNPS98tXauePcLPX2TEx9TPeGuwgpept2IoBSGcRyaLJLHbCxMFHWbRwIPfOVAMn59Hq0jYvW2ZieA/s400/DSC00592.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5293197563809537154" border="0" /></a><br />Then, on Saturday, I went down to Saint Olaf and did a Lord of the Rings marathon with Cia. Yes, we watched all three of them. We wanted to watch extended edition of all three, but Cia was missing the 2nd disc from Return of the King, so we had to watch the regular edition for the last half of Return of the King. It was epic. It took all day. We had to take food breaks, although for dinner we ate pizza while we continued to watch.<br /><br />Then, on Sunday, I decided to visit some friends in dinky town, because it had been far to long since I had seen them. It turned out that there was a sledding expedition planned, to which I was very amenable, because I love playing, and playing in the snow is one of the best. Immediatly upon arrival at the park, a woodchip pile was discovered and climbed.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiveZvjA6mKa94_bRM11K_U9tckokR-hdS1Tti37dgX-h1nFOtomTmMR_7t9ees6GqyOb1_t5T2xny6mg_XZ3ZKTj7w7TRPzi084glyQIsFw0vMR3Re2zbAjcWZ71jw7_Af48-pYMiGXDQ/s1600-h/DSC00596.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiveZvjA6mKa94_bRM11K_U9tckokR-hdS1Tti37dgX-h1nFOtomTmMR_7t9ees6GqyOb1_t5T2xny6mg_XZ3ZKTj7w7TRPzi084glyQIsFw0vMR3Re2zbAjcWZ71jw7_Af48-pYMiGXDQ/s400/DSC00596.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5293196779949506242" border="0" /></a><br />Then, of course, there was some sledding. May I introduce you to Flaming Death, which is being ridden by Nicole. <br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyGUKJgbzsnjwqJbenGbhpIv8AIpHMG-vVx3VYHI6EvBcNIpbh_C4J04oX0mjyOaz6aw8CfAz2AIwR_THByuI9IjqzRYkms6WPLS3TavVU97ne-inYcaMdI_WlTzCHwofigkX_0hyphenhyphenO_Xc/s1600-h/DSC00600.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyGUKJgbzsnjwqJbenGbhpIv8AIpHMG-vVx3VYHI6EvBcNIpbh_C4J04oX0mjyOaz6aw8CfAz2AIwR_THByuI9IjqzRYkms6WPLS3TavVU97ne-inYcaMdI_WlTzCHwofigkX_0hyphenhyphenO_Xc/s400/DSC00600.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5293196790855852050" border="0" /></a><br />We ended up wandering around the park (I think it was a golf course) for a long time before we finally found the big hill.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdbHsNxVriG3k4VbI2jwK_TyYgEy12l8M9y7QdDfkBcYw0Gpdbd9yYuq_FM6jHbxJBdW9Sxrxqdooqjoup3hCP41bs2zyd-DS1lIjTQwEmF93GG2Hd0qYH_xX2yhbrwHc5a_m6hEqveBk/s1600-h/DSC00606.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdbHsNxVriG3k4VbI2jwK_TyYgEy12l8M9y7QdDfkBcYw0Gpdbd9yYuq_FM6jHbxJBdW9Sxrxqdooqjoup3hCP41bs2zyd-DS1lIjTQwEmF93GG2Hd0qYH_xX2yhbrwHc5a_m6hEqveBk/s400/DSC00606.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5293197237085161954" border="0" /></a><br />And of course, it is always fun to put too many people on one sled.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBXKJBzQZTJhiVrgMM7bR1ejZzaYsFdVxSzoPExYMHptXMRSTQvMeElxSnmzWOi9DIp_Lk50HkeacP6H9yWqzccmCLUfZALMST3sdaBueWvKlhZ7ialx7iyW9oFiUee0M3o4alIGouGU4/s1600-h/DSC00611.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBXKJBzQZTJhiVrgMM7bR1ejZzaYsFdVxSzoPExYMHptXMRSTQvMeElxSnmzWOi9DIp_Lk50HkeacP6H9yWqzccmCLUfZALMST3sdaBueWvKlhZ7ialx7iyW9oFiUee0M3o4alIGouGU4/s400/DSC00611.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5293197246105546674" border="0" /></a>dosterhousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04750585958809939748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3087394309795260012.post-17352106353660374032009-01-16T08:07:00.000-08:002009-01-16T08:19:16.162-08:00Fun facts for the dayThis morning was an even colder walk than yesterday. Fun facts about dressing for the cold:<br /><br />I wear ~14 pounds of clothing. I was at the gym yesterday and weighed myself with just a towel and while fully dressed for the outdoors.<br /><br />I wear ~$500 worth of clothing. I worked it out while sitting at the bus stop this morning. Most of that cost came from the boots (insulated hiking boots), the lobster gloves (which actually did quite well in -24 degree temps today), the biking tights (windproof, waterproof, uber warm long underwear), and the 2 jackets.<br /><br />If I pull my hat low enough and my face mask high enough, it makes my vision slit small enough that my breath keeps moving warm air through the entire opening, which keeps my eyelashes from frosting up and freezing my eyes shut. It also means that I have essentially no skin exposure, because there is always warm air moving through the opening for my eyes.<br /><br />When it get's this cold, snow does not stick to my boots. It is quite convenient because my office floor stays dry.<br /><br />I have worn my face mask enough this winter that it is starting to smell like decomposing food and stinky breath when I wear it. It is not very bad yet, but I should probably wash it.dosterhousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04750585958809939748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3087394309795260012.post-84716665884088428592009-01-15T08:00:00.000-08:002009-01-15T08:28:10.020-08:00Adventures in CommutingListen to this song while reading this post. I will explain it later. (You can watch the video too, if you want, but the song is the important part.)<br /><br /><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Cq6dmMF0r1E&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Cq6dmMF0r1E&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object><br /><br />It was -21 degrees with a -40 degree windchill for my commute this morning. It was epic. I wore 2 skin tight baselayers, a t-shirt, a long sleeve shirt, a sweater, a fleece, a softshell jacket, biking tights, long underwear, jeans, wool socks, insulated hiking boots, a balaclava, a hat, and lobster gloves. I was actually decently warm, although it was a little hard to move with that many layers on. My hands, however, were a little cold, so now we know the limit of lobster gloves.<br /><br />Between my facemask being pulled up high and my hat pulled low, my vision was reduced to a horizontal slit. It was actually rather surreal. There where crystals of ice floating in the air that sparkled in the sun. Also, as the sun was coming up, there was almost a rainbow type thing that formed on the horizon to either side of the sun, probably due to the ice crystals. As I was walking my vision started to blur as ice crystals formed in my eyelashes and on my hat and facemask. To really top it off, I was listening to Andy Hunter during the walk (the exact song that you are listening to right now if you followed my instructions). I wish I could have gotten a picture, but I didn't have my camera with me, and even if I did, there was no way I was going to take my gloves off.<br /><br />On the bus, I had a rather silly adventure. Somehow I ended up making eye contact with a lady across the aisle (which is weird in and of itself because nobody makes eye contact on the bus.) Being a rather nice person, I smiled at her. Then I realized that I still had my facemask on, so she couldn't see me smile and probably thought I was just some creeper that was staring at her. Whoops!dosterhousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04750585958809939748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3087394309795260012.post-43835558573490289872009-01-13T18:44:00.000-08:002009-01-13T19:09:29.383-08:00Camp ReunionOver the weekend, I went to the camp staff reunion at Sugar Creek. It was a wonderful time and made me realize just how much I like the people that I met at camp and how much I miss them. Take for example, Mandy, it is impossible to not be happy around her...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlBfZRkga-TIY13M_ODSo9gbp9x6-tMTAm-AGSltKEmCqMan1d9ljYLVuPubeJ9omooRCPvtCrQEkbSf8EILXjNEmWQS7DZ4L88EhfenWkHeAqY92OsfFFTvEhDxpMd60zfe_jpeCTUQc/s1600-h/DSC00518.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlBfZRkga-TIY13M_ODSo9gbp9x6-tMTAm-AGSltKEmCqMan1d9ljYLVuPubeJ9omooRCPvtCrQEkbSf8EILXjNEmWQS7DZ4L88EhfenWkHeAqY92OsfFFTvEhDxpMd60zfe_jpeCTUQc/s400/DSC00518.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5290977326211405618" border="0" /></a><br />It has been quite rare in the last few months that I have been able to just goof around and play. At St. Olaf, there were people that still liked to play, but it seems like nobody does now that I'm in grad school. Or else I just haven't found the people that like to play. As such, I had to get my fill of playing over the weekend.<br /><br />This is the new dining hall that is being build at camp. We definitely explored it.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-nNF-_EyhsRRRxXsoAspjA-KROw9a90J4K1WoSZ6NA1rBC1pgJNsS9-T47rvnNeHxVqmRIhaEqtU0hXr_t5f53yoX2SVKCnmJKz1UNkqr3_CrnnhaTqO6iDZW6Wj8JrDB3WzZ5fcdN0Y/s1600-h/DSC00570.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-nNF-_EyhsRRRxXsoAspjA-KROw9a90J4K1WoSZ6NA1rBC1pgJNsS9-T47rvnNeHxVqmRIhaEqtU0hXr_t5f53yoX2SVKCnmJKz1UNkqr3_CrnnhaTqO6iDZW6Wj8JrDB3WzZ5fcdN0Y/s400/DSC00570.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5290977340531718786" border="0" /></a><br />While in the new dinning hall, some people thought it would be a good idea to lick the wall (because there was ice on the wall).<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWGptWAd5oLI9WX_ZnyP2jhyphenhyphenmvOnBbRz8ZMh09d_AnNDJlDSHjF_eMChdcJU0znsqgl2wEORtAyB_c3xw2LAp9TIGhX2nfi6aWl-a48ASbLW1njOvDyI-hulHQjtAWzX9RYjj9pC_Yih4/s1600-h/DSC00545.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWGptWAd5oLI9WX_ZnyP2jhyphenhyphenmvOnBbRz8ZMh09d_AnNDJlDSHjF_eMChdcJU0znsqgl2wEORtAyB_c3xw2LAp9TIGhX2nfi6aWl-a48ASbLW1njOvDyI-hulHQjtAWzX9RYjj9pC_Yih4/s400/DSC00545.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5290977336408114578" border="0" /></a><br />Tim, Patrick, and I hiked up to Jesus Point after exploring the dining hall. While up on Jesus Point, we decided to take a picture in the "Pilgrims Pee Pose". This refers to the manner in which 3rd grade boys (the pilgrims age group) go about peeing outdoors.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKw-bKI1ObsVEhxESZX_8iB8N046AhXEvqEKaTO1-q5vSe-5AKDhNx71He-TdjQpUtMmS21koNpmaspZvQ63fFS2mEhXWmYtR1odw1EXyy8_YUGL7IQ5yS7w_o8TaPGrXUlnic1tzIUt8/s1600-h/DSC00557.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKw-bKI1ObsVEhxESZX_8iB8N046AhXEvqEKaTO1-q5vSe-5AKDhNx71He-TdjQpUtMmS21koNpmaspZvQ63fFS2mEhXWmYtR1odw1EXyy8_YUGL7IQ5yS7w_o8TaPGrXUlnic1tzIUt8/s400/DSC00557.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5290977915096698242" border="0" /></a><br />We also decided to do a "tackling Patrick off of Jesus Point" picture.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFx42OwMuav26TaknBwGUvs8jrydKoRIOEX88jgFsOa2SBpgNsq8OqOxT7gUn23qWzXofTEACwyJq199IcTtRmoiUbDRE8kvaI4yMYJlRXWpNaWZJfRg0PJjcpg5Gra79p3C89Mm8o7Ts/s1600-h/DSC00566.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFx42OwMuav26TaknBwGUvs8jrydKoRIOEX88jgFsOa2SBpgNsq8OqOxT7gUn23qWzXofTEACwyJq199IcTtRmoiUbDRE8kvaI4yMYJlRXWpNaWZJfRg0PJjcpg5Gra79p3C89Mm8o7Ts/s400/DSC00566.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5290977917553477794" border="0" /></a><br />Yay for friends!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQXhMDE970-208wCzSWgYWVjvxiJolbk45LGGM1ehFBnOefe6tajYhv0RPsnkdmV6_9Ts62K6JFZWx3utxAnCWG6kQrr0jNaDTSMPNOaG8dJTz4btYJjBWs6X2MULK61DoM8z0KtTUgAM/s1600-h/DSC00558.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQXhMDE970-208wCzSWgYWVjvxiJolbk45LGGM1ehFBnOefe6tajYhv0RPsnkdmV6_9Ts62K6JFZWx3utxAnCWG6kQrr0jNaDTSMPNOaG8dJTz4btYJjBWs6X2MULK61DoM8z0KtTUgAM/s400/DSC00558.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5290980218084330946" border="0" /></a>dosterhousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04750585958809939748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3087394309795260012.post-63477727389238584642008-12-27T14:19:00.000-08:002008-12-27T14:28:54.900-08:00Cool picturesLast night I was out for a walk late at night because it was really warm. It also was quite foggy, which made for the possibility of some really cool pictures. I took a lot of pictures, most of which are not very good, but I managed to take a couple of the coolest pictures I've taken in a while. They were a little difficult as they involved figuring out where the shadows fall, propping my camera in the right spot with a 10 sec timer and then getting myself into the right place.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU5Jm-AHHRzaNbh3DA9aqJPNTLQhhGsm7o4VzeDnwphWgOp2cvyRHFEg7aD33NrkkWgUiUaP0lA4EDj_Ds4qNCxlX_BkayQyo7G7msp67pP8syXrrFv8qSYK2NcA4KORxy-H4kiIN70hg/s1600-h/DSC00437.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 299px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU5Jm-AHHRzaNbh3DA9aqJPNTLQhhGsm7o4VzeDnwphWgOp2cvyRHFEg7aD33NrkkWgUiUaP0lA4EDj_Ds4qNCxlX_BkayQyo7G7msp67pP8syXrrFv8qSYK2NcA4KORxy-H4kiIN70hg/s400/DSC00437.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5284598364618822610" border="0" /></a><br />It looks a little bit egotistical that I've used myself as the subject, but, honestly, I was walking alone. There was nobody else to use as a subject, and these kinds of conditions don't happen very often.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyFLth11O4yJZQnjTD3RsT4gsPG-tasJXgqokBfOQYFPRMl7PszMQFJq5eXn6hU9w3ry5swsaBdn6i3HM-_Fn7EMjnleK_7OnwqnVT1pP1rktIl3lPxYQ_4jhxz4W0Sy8axamclzacK6I/s1600-h/DSC00420.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyFLth11O4yJZQnjTD3RsT4gsPG-tasJXgqokBfOQYFPRMl7PszMQFJq5eXn6hU9w3ry5swsaBdn6i3HM-_Fn7EMjnleK_7OnwqnVT1pP1rktIl3lPxYQ_4jhxz4W0Sy8axamclzacK6I/s400/DSC00420.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5284598354378684082" border="0" /></a>dosterhousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04750585958809939748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3087394309795260012.post-46120498370667435132008-12-26T15:37:00.000-08:002008-12-26T17:39:06.510-08:00ChristmasUpon arriving home for Christmas break, we had a neighborhood party at our house, which involved this heirloom punch bowl...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgULEBMpbfQ1g9di72PgR1AEJG4mT8kr6ErMaRqnWph7NaTNtaJTvXlQqoAHQUiKQvtxpys7bND7c7xlejgMMhQYGlHV1nNULM74BgRilcD3j3VccmhZsGj6nDjM4iSqRT5TGhjjB7GOtQ/s1600-h/DSC00382.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgULEBMpbfQ1g9di72PgR1AEJG4mT8kr6ErMaRqnWph7NaTNtaJTvXlQqoAHQUiKQvtxpys7bND7c7xlejgMMhQYGlHV1nNULM74BgRilcD3j3VccmhZsGj6nDjM4iSqRT5TGhjjB7GOtQ/s400/DSC00382.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5284251774271679346" border="0" /></a><br />... and the coolest looking plate of cookies I have ever seen. The girl that lives next door made this.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtUhuph6-phVHa7JOEWkrq1x8UYDXI7uWN3XY9MzMZWJxGmnldga0N7gURcWepx90KMeJA6sb1GBQBy76hJ6ngR00QNAiE_fWQDYj4_hwhMD2sToRHHR9HZtukofjVtPhKcOyMZ8UMDbA/s1600-h/DSC00384.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtUhuph6-phVHa7JOEWkrq1x8UYDXI7uWN3XY9MzMZWJxGmnldga0N7gURcWepx90KMeJA6sb1GBQBy76hJ6ngR00QNAiE_fWQDYj4_hwhMD2sToRHHR9HZtukofjVtPhKcOyMZ8UMDbA/s400/DSC00384.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5284251792023832162" border="0" /></a><br />Overall, the party was a good time and I got to know my parents neighbors a little. I even talked to my t-ball coach (at least, I'm told he was my t-ball coach, I don't actually remember him). Turns out he is actually a really great guy; works in Aerospace engineering and bike commutes along my favorite highschool bike route; my kind of guy.<br /><br />We celebrated Christmas eve early because the parents and Rachel had gigs on the real Christmas eve. Here is the spread of food we had.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPk1R0oZ76pG3Ft8jYBWOkWONqdut93y-Avr2ni5TkVhSpl7PFum45PXgvdJj0AIVbM9_NsDpRp-gWkLS3ndhUoPb_Lhzl2nkMWhdKvLonVOoKNpKfW9phlSfjxjxcpcXGTrGnoPGPdaQ/s1600-h/DSC00388.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPk1R0oZ76pG3Ft8jYBWOkWONqdut93y-Avr2ni5TkVhSpl7PFum45PXgvdJj0AIVbM9_NsDpRp-gWkLS3ndhUoPb_Lhzl2nkMWhdKvLonVOoKNpKfW9phlSfjxjxcpcXGTrGnoPGPdaQ/s400/DSC00388.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5284255547020237122" border="0" /></a><br />Note that the china and silver here are also heirlooms. The heirlooms seem to come out around the holidays.<br /><br />Christmas morning was relatively unexciting, as the parents had another gig. Rachel and I made chocolate chip pancakes ...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAFf7APeIVcF7Z2qCweGx5LjYinfukZS474FT17dCDzOCpTSuQq56C8mJ0VqEXb57TPSMvIdaCTU_1OxYs2SOz4Z-zRNgHvsmhiOfjBd-THVEyhTZ7ykPvoTF6fuADdJFNp0gxyvTE_Bk/s1600-h/DSC00394.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAFf7APeIVcF7Z2qCweGx5LjYinfukZS474FT17dCDzOCpTSuQq56C8mJ0VqEXb57TPSMvIdaCTU_1OxYs2SOz4Z-zRNgHvsmhiOfjBd-THVEyhTZ7ykPvoTF6fuADdJFNp0gxyvTE_Bk/s400/DSC00394.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5284255552715602834" border="0" /></a><br />... and Rachel made a Christmas tree out of the chocolate chips ...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz9Td6amoWcwJ0OkciPi7t-joDuoFl2Wkt5rJWWg9wg6gzyT_U9H23HGAJSSE3a1NcRtGqxdEi4307IeVoB0zR8ZUhLZ7zHmhTd6NaYEkxN6hDTyuczSUT8l_TaIkZBfCmQYF9R8xnKLk/s1600-h/DSC00396.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz9Td6amoWcwJ0OkciPi7t-joDuoFl2Wkt5rJWWg9wg6gzyT_U9H23HGAJSSE3a1NcRtGqxdEi4307IeVoB0zR8ZUhLZ7zHmhTd6NaYEkxN6hDTyuczSUT8l_TaIkZBfCmQYF9R8xnKLk/s400/DSC00396.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5284255569118816338" border="0" /></a><br />... and Jeremy tried to flambe cheese.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8TMXhIsY9fO9fw162ijzIa_OOgoBQyyZdwMMhpSk7fo7ve2d6Es9Q1932QI91wzxjC503E9kwvbu6D6OZPMMuIvQKx_tf7XLAbHX3xyoK5rdSEDtdcZ90JKB95_WmWPZiBnb6Exsn6ck/s1600-h/DSC00398.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8TMXhIsY9fO9fw162ijzIa_OOgoBQyyZdwMMhpSk7fo7ve2d6Es9Q1932QI91wzxjC503E9kwvbu6D6OZPMMuIvQKx_tf7XLAbHX3xyoK5rdSEDtdcZ90JKB95_WmWPZiBnb6Exsn6ck/s400/DSC00398.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5284255572045202034" border="0" /></a><br />The morning's shenanigans also included playing dominoes with the presents. (Turns out that one of them actually contained a glass picture frame. Luckily it didn't break)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOVtfq87tWe-8a0aw4jLJWHkn9GhhXr3i2eVBYdJrZupKW9LzEFWsiJJQwG_YQA4owghkr2qp5SbD0oRsnSfBnxEg5MVFFu6NApQA5kfBiMUT1lG45uFXISIDGPbbZkMB_I2WFn-o5PTg/s1600-h/DSC00405.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOVtfq87tWe-8a0aw4jLJWHkn9GhhXr3i2eVBYdJrZupKW9LzEFWsiJJQwG_YQA4owghkr2qp5SbD0oRsnSfBnxEg5MVFFu6NApQA5kfBiMUT1lG45uFXISIDGPbbZkMB_I2WFn-o5PTg/s400/DSC00405.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5284266604805563266" border="0" /></a><br />Overall, a nice day to just sit around and chill with the family.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_L5IygDkLV8BoJWgZ9HpKwUjKV1Yc2Q_gb-Nmx4xR-grYWO2YFf04_0w_xNH9lrydd_w0XhEUvbUyWnc6K1Scdn0OIFjJmJEQPw7waPvuIySAgBcU8MY-6KeiUYkqbHgF77GlxfmIauE/s1600-h/DSC00399.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_L5IygDkLV8BoJWgZ9HpKwUjKV1Yc2Q_gb-Nmx4xR-grYWO2YFf04_0w_xNH9lrydd_w0XhEUvbUyWnc6K1Scdn0OIFjJmJEQPw7waPvuIySAgBcU8MY-6KeiUYkqbHgF77GlxfmIauE/s400/DSC00399.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5284266597117029362" border="0" /></a>dosterhousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04750585958809939748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3087394309795260012.post-48698081958035919032008-12-26T15:15:00.000-08:002008-12-26T15:37:02.465-08:00ResearchI have been quite lazy about updating my blog lately, but now that I'm on Christmas break, I have time, so I will have to catch up. The obvious things have happened: I was really busy at the end of the semester ... I finished finals ... It snowed ... It was cold ...<br /><br />The exiting news, however, is that I am finally on a research project. My original understanding was that I would be doing the numerical modeling for the cutting surface in a plasma cutting situation. However, because of the way funding is working out, it looks like I might also be doing experimental work for it, which I find quite exciting, because both the modeling and the experimental work look really interesting. The only downside (or benefit, depending on how you look at it) is that I now have a lot of stuff to do over break. I am reading the theses of my predecessors to get familiar with the project. I also need to learn as much as possible about the equipment from another student before he graduates in a few months.<br /><br />A rather exciting perk that came with the research position is that now I have an office in the Mech E building. I feel like I'm really moving up in the world now. It isn't a particularily nice office but still, it is nice to have a place to dump my stuff when I come in to school. I also don't have to carry everything back and forth between my apartment and school anymore. I also have 2 office mates, which I've found that I really enjoy. Previously, I never talked to anybody at school. It was a classic case of being very alone even though there are a lot of people around. But now, I have someone to say hi too in the morning (other than the bus driver). Unfortunatly both of my officemates will be gone within a few months.<br /><br />Speaking of people at my school, another exiting thing about my research group is that I am the only American. It is kind of a weird experiance after being at St. Olaf, where "diversity" means only a different color of skin. Here, my advisor is German and the other students in the group are Korean, Indian, Egyptian, and Japanese. Communication sometimes takes a little effort because they have varying degrees of fluency in English.dosterhousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04750585958809939748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3087394309795260012.post-46370324364296609622008-11-23T19:07:00.000-08:002008-11-23T19:20:11.343-08:00StudyingThis was pretty much my week...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim_TrbkHThnkd-0j7hYEm_wPk_2jUPjjYwChC3ce-Z1sryld-MbHop3q6QA6nqV-ybbB7prgLX2IUTzmDIHIsHDjHZbYchFzxsxElPjry0XtbzUiW9qEuth0imptHKdFsroqVkyP9zjUY/s1600-h/DSC00099.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim_TrbkHThnkd-0j7hYEm_wPk_2jUPjjYwChC3ce-Z1sryld-MbHop3q6QA6nqV-ybbB7prgLX2IUTzmDIHIsHDjHZbYchFzxsxElPjry0XtbzUiW9qEuth0imptHKdFsroqVkyP9zjUY/s400/DSC00099.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5272056771711640610" border="0" /></a><br />...and some of this...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjym2KJAuxSZ2hnfQr1kMQsmv6i9YbCseHjceayMtPvN4EUz1oqKeYuFl21r4ibN3XnRKbaKjsUu_VSpHJ10_gPH-n8euR6Ws07n8L8qK7knStAYNg3DVr8pjbSIQBPhBx-dPyesWRB0WI/s1600-h/DSC00138.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjym2KJAuxSZ2hnfQr1kMQsmv6i9YbCseHjceayMtPvN4EUz1oqKeYuFl21r4ibN3XnRKbaKjsUu_VSpHJ10_gPH-n8euR6Ws07n8L8qK7knStAYNg3DVr8pjbSIQBPhBx-dPyesWRB0WI/s400/DSC00138.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5272056781220109554" border="0" /></a><br />... and a little bit of this ...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioIShNullsKvOhSNQB6DyPL_K2U3RVQlUsw4uFrzFrdQx5onzl-dNJGTlIgVEexqBt1BlZsT6ppr5sJqaMKSnA_KFunAckbHUemkECDvAGuaYnRFxWYvfr_9f74apeAFb9EoYNiefwi2U/s1600-h/DSC00126.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioIShNullsKvOhSNQB6DyPL_K2U3RVQlUsw4uFrzFrdQx5onzl-dNJGTlIgVEexqBt1BlZsT6ppr5sJqaMKSnA_KFunAckbHUemkECDvAGuaYnRFxWYvfr_9f74apeAFb9EoYNiefwi2U/s400/DSC00126.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5272057216765758258" border="0" /></a><br />I am getting to that point in the semester where there is a lot to be done, so I pretty much just spent the week/weekend studying. It's also been getting cold enough that I haven't been biking to school because I don't have anywhere to dump my cold weather riding gear. On the plus side, I'm starting to enjoy walking more and more, for some reason. It is .8 miles to the bus. Then on the way home, I take the bus all the way into the St. Paul campus and go to the gym. Then it is a 1.3 mile walk home. I discovered that this actually saves me about an hour or time versus going straight home and then biking to the gym.dosterhousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04750585958809939748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3087394309795260012.post-49751045125167842012008-11-17T09:53:00.000-08:002008-11-17T10:11:16.637-08:00BenI was at my parents house for the weekend, both because there was a potluck/hymnsing on Saturday and because my brother was playing a concert on Sunday. It was a nice weekend (and I managed to get a fair bit of work done in between those things.) And, somehow, I ended up taking 77 pictures of Ben (yes, I counted them.)<br /><br />First, we find Ben in a cowboy costume...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDGzJty72cAzmd7fLiul7gUJ5uuYRVvKa7Gw3A0pUdKdDaNnNpb08RabX0cjcb1MXFKFtnqzvZpmvShweq7jZCUhAM1I8haJQFZFrbNu7b3ZXnaRs_Tiw24J7cHChsvzSmN4XsoSFRJ3Q/s1600-h/DSC00230.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDGzJty72cAzmd7fLiul7gUJ5uuYRVvKa7Gw3A0pUdKdDaNnNpb08RabX0cjcb1MXFKFtnqzvZpmvShweq7jZCUhAM1I8haJQFZFrbNu7b3ZXnaRs_Tiw24J7cHChsvzSmN4XsoSFRJ3Q/s400/DSC00230.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269688351622923746" border="0" /></a><br />...complete with a gun...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-IUnPqbmyLwm0jcxSc6HY9TjSkzNP6_GuuLEOG0T84NyHL8jhTsnHH91bulZ8XhDWdEmYOsaExZq92ASTSdlF4yUqjUNBUQQkcE7yP1EeWWj8oDDPHltKLn9tBQopeMq59kQZM7o9jlM/s1600-h/DSC00233.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-IUnPqbmyLwm0jcxSc6HY9TjSkzNP6_GuuLEOG0T84NyHL8jhTsnHH91bulZ8XhDWdEmYOsaExZq92ASTSdlF4yUqjUNBUQQkcE7yP1EeWWj8oDDPHltKLn9tBQopeMq59kQZM7o9jlM/s400/DSC00233.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269688378278999426" border="0" /></a><br />...and he can go gangsta style with his gun...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKsWttdtqbWvH21TYkMmb-Rm8r6q5h3HYfUjv8XikxUpTef3sPGU_t_PiL24HCNB2gHlTd41kCAE5LTOBbc870nONxSjfxYNoxTnQe4yNLx2XNUuXp8chfjpe-kXZaviVbPChanFhs9tQ/s1600-h/DSC00296.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKsWttdtqbWvH21TYkMmb-Rm8r6q5h3HYfUjv8XikxUpTef3sPGU_t_PiL24HCNB2gHlTd41kCAE5LTOBbc870nONxSjfxYNoxTnQe4yNLx2XNUuXp8chfjpe-kXZaviVbPChanFhs9tQ/s400/DSC00296.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269688400012507458" border="0" /></a><br />...but wait, he also has a cello...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIndWSHCJ90ZlZkiRVHvonISZTEFeJqZbWKdrcYKJdXnRevRYwrBCOyUeyixZxhJGO9FmL9Dz38AmKkDJ_LSTSQurmmGkH_yLsnuUM7AB_TNBMpt1xFMETAbnSRVVkSeHPeMB91GD8px4/s1600-h/DSC00302.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIndWSHCJ90ZlZkiRVHvonISZTEFeJqZbWKdrcYKJdXnRevRYwrBCOyUeyixZxhJGO9FmL9Dz38AmKkDJ_LSTSQurmmGkH_yLsnuUM7AB_TNBMpt1xFMETAbnSRVVkSeHPeMB91GD8px4/s400/DSC00302.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269688421669011730" border="0" /></a><br />...turns out that his orchestra was dressing up as cowboys for the concert because they were playing Copeland. (If that doesn't make sense, ask a classical musician and they can explain it.)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVYq1BAySIbUtSCA5ruIn5bIp9XRynSnwGDpQj_vQds_3-V97Ajydrh6h_GyHPFU8IH9LVPHjjaZAGGmgDTulnXRddqZHafsEkTPA8Jtr5M72DRdHZok1fixIDA-OHz6AmH2F8CbrTniA/s1600-h/DSC00305.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVYq1BAySIbUtSCA5ruIn5bIp9XRynSnwGDpQj_vQds_3-V97Ajydrh6h_GyHPFU8IH9LVPHjjaZAGGmgDTulnXRddqZHafsEkTPA8Jtr5M72DRdHZok1fixIDA-OHz6AmH2F8CbrTniA/s400/DSC00305.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269688442586916962" border="0" /></a><br />He was also practicing piano for a while. Because he only had one light on in the room, and because most of the stuff there was already black or white, it was perfect for black and white photography.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQt2aplsCsaZr3PVMWN9an3zYU0yS4Qk5GbqA8b2OyoCvJuXgqQPhKauPfDLAw1O137Jl4hVPx9XNd0k6T6peVUgL948anSADJgtxRwvsKcOzJtcpdGE3hMR0oh1gDVc7xbxYB6OCkOxI/s1600-h/DSC00285.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQt2aplsCsaZr3PVMWN9an3zYU0yS4Qk5GbqA8b2OyoCvJuXgqQPhKauPfDLAw1O137Jl4hVPx9XNd0k6T6peVUgL948anSADJgtxRwvsKcOzJtcpdGE3hMR0oh1gDVc7xbxYB6OCkOxI/s400/DSC00285.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269690335127826882" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm34cW6-LNlZKWNiH30Hh28zfPeg0bnMbVWhBWtMI8vj0MT0I3tuYvPjik-i5lUNVFliKMOGf1DqQWiC0s2FlWV46_y99xqlHb0C7DRdRHs1-g-vh69odZ0_ZXm8EjtVkQHf1brpjVSkw/s1600-h/DSC00260.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm34cW6-LNlZKWNiH30Hh28zfPeg0bnMbVWhBWtMI8vj0MT0I3tuYvPjik-i5lUNVFliKMOGf1DqQWiC0s2FlWV46_y99xqlHb0C7DRdRHs1-g-vh69odZ0_ZXm8EjtVkQHf1brpjVSkw/s400/DSC00260.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269690319781978994" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-v9tads-cq93wwaYqpsYxZuN5uH7iPuJniC01jlbqoRDLrJw42vTkgA3m6vLRpZXGxC25-c5lbD6-9LQDGYhMzOQEKe7fGIoxQC_xmx-VIIFBYeydqHrGoGhGDNSB1x3ETBXZG4Jm-eE/s1600-h/DSC00255.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-v9tads-cq93wwaYqpsYxZuN5uH7iPuJniC01jlbqoRDLrJw42vTkgA3m6vLRpZXGxC25-c5lbD6-9LQDGYhMzOQEKe7fGIoxQC_xmx-VIIFBYeydqHrGoGhGDNSB1x3ETBXZG4Jm-eE/s400/DSC00255.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269690317751374402" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKYMWutaS8fMakPvaQZKlrm7XNZCTwzBcBbujsKAHYKGSuF2AZxcUKbvxCTxOZM8qPXjURG03j9KT2PX9aWgF26CV7B3RFSqRIKrbNxSpo4AZf3OB0WG2mbDN8QPI8pcaDCom0eJ29YCw/s1600-h/DSC00242.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKYMWutaS8fMakPvaQZKlrm7XNZCTwzBcBbujsKAHYKGSuF2AZxcUKbvxCTxOZM8qPXjURG03j9KT2PX9aWgF26CV7B3RFSqRIKrbNxSpo4AZf3OB0WG2mbDN8QPI8pcaDCom0eJ29YCw/s400/DSC00242.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5269690309986430578" border="0" /></a>dosterhousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04750585958809939748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3087394309795260012.post-53577307194200221952008-11-09T17:51:00.000-08:002008-11-09T19:46:40.220-08:00St. Olaf visitI haven't been down to St. Olaf in ~6 weeks, so I decided that I was due to take a trip down and visit some people. I let some people know I was coming, biked to my parents house, borrowed a car and heading down to St. Olaf for the day on Saturday. It was an excellent trip and I'm so glad I went. I got to catch up with a lot of people I haven't seen for a while.<br /><br />Upon arrival, I discovered that my chapel buddies were camping out for the day in the fireside room, so they were conveniently gathered in one place. I briefly chatted with them, but they were heading off to lunch. (Apparently they were allowed to leave the fireside room to get food.)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmSC778TdvoUuHWLCgLgOR0QPWAIT07_b21urjht2_c6hYWSN3REi0CXD0R1DjXMcagvH65m7aF4wLWT1Y2h-70z6j9XmfxrUA8lGfklb6QKjQ7x1GiuKBIV3pvPvWPb9jyLKeSNe67P8/s1600-h/DSC00157.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmSC778TdvoUuHWLCgLgOR0QPWAIT07_b21urjht2_c6hYWSN3REi0CXD0R1DjXMcagvH65m7aF4wLWT1Y2h-70z6j9XmfxrUA8lGfklb6QKjQ7x1GiuKBIV3pvPvWPb9jyLKeSNe67P8/s400/DSC00157.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5266842840484096850" border="0" /></a><br />Then, I went and sat in the chapel for a while because I really like being there and I figured everybody would be at lunch. While there, I finished reading Ezekiel, which was cool, because I have a history of getting stuck in the major prophets when I try to read through the bible, but now I'm through them. Upon leaving the chapel I called Beth to find her, and ironically, she had been sitting in the chapel too. So I we chatted for a while. (Note: this is an older picture of Beth)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6THuS1-enz9O8yG2cMgESV2DRX2QjSU3afCvyewCXegqU9gIgxvXa5ZaDZo8y4VIctpLVfT2-VrBmNXYwAadQZ9WfoBbTTgJ7Y4dj3jHk4Rcbggk7FQHkxp1a2cfff2Ocmxl5fuFO5KM/s1600-h/DSC01108.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6THuS1-enz9O8yG2cMgESV2DRX2QjSU3afCvyewCXegqU9gIgxvXa5ZaDZo8y4VIctpLVfT2-VrBmNXYwAadQZ9WfoBbTTgJ7Y4dj3jHk4Rcbggk7FQHkxp1a2cfff2Ocmxl5fuFO5KM/s400/DSC01108.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5266843708721511778" border="0" /></a><br />Next on the list, I visited my former Hoyme residents and discovered them preparing to put on a Vaudeville style act for Am Con. It involved April trying to dress as a dude...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhytMIr7Ua0ANoB_7Ck2oSx6E2b_dwubAESKPKp-IH41SalUaNWYvcg2Rw2yy-r3L8Typ-hTFhF4PcX6SbHMjZZU89khAu0yedBHXJcyJcZaF5q72FQTtHJcKV3foA8Bnbmz1zKNsGTO2U/s1600-h/DSC00162.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhytMIr7Ua0ANoB_7Ck2oSx6E2b_dwubAESKPKp-IH41SalUaNWYvcg2Rw2yy-r3L8Typ-hTFhF4PcX6SbHMjZZU89khAu0yedBHXJcyJcZaF5q72FQTtHJcKV3foA8Bnbmz1zKNsGTO2U/s400/DSC00162.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5266844463784581634" border="0" /></a><br />...and Kevin trying to dress as a midget...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJfxfO9dgllQkX47XlFGSb_W4SPWXciiQASsbxJ4GhPKopfGYG4rIjSQDAwBrz9Xz9x5GlpRrglVaHKvJH27S2aPH77y2qcUkft9uRR0DEZbyG5J3bTu1PhmSeMIru9WJhTL_JBd5Aapw/s1600-h/DSC00165.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJfxfO9dgllQkX47XlFGSb_W4SPWXciiQASsbxJ4GhPKopfGYG4rIjSQDAwBrz9Xz9x5GlpRrglVaHKvJH27S2aPH77y2qcUkft9uRR0DEZbyG5J3bTu1PhmSeMIru9WJhTL_JBd5Aapw/s400/DSC00165.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5266844472247770002" border="0" /></a><br />Next, I visited, in order, Scott (former resident now a JC), Kathryn (former camp co-counselor), and Lindsey and Grace (former residents now JCs).<br /><br />Then, it was on to the main event. I was joining Sarah, Cheno, and Susan for dinner at Hogan Bros. and hopefully some sort of shenanigans (at least, I was hoping for some sort of shenanigans.) Happily, I was not disappointed. Hogan Bros involved some mild silliness...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUV_fyOZy-au4NDiUeIZLzvpZITwCcIwZ1TUs2lY0Fn4UT9Jw0TEbvaP0Odr0ocavqL24H2lQk1AMNa7wedVl49Un5LTn92xxZexbYbd71zx9FqpI5cxM6U88R36bMkoIXiIFq_2WYc3M/s1600-h/DSC00172.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUV_fyOZy-au4NDiUeIZLzvpZITwCcIwZ1TUs2lY0Fn4UT9Jw0TEbvaP0Odr0ocavqL24H2lQk1AMNa7wedVl49Un5LTn92xxZexbYbd71zx9FqpI5cxM6U88R36bMkoIXiIFq_2WYc3M/s400/DSC00172.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5266854066285838306" border="0" /></a><br />Later in the night we decided to roam campus and visited the new science center, because I wanted to see it. There, Chenoa, got herself stuck in a hole in the middle of a table.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiW81CJxUu6PeiDrA4nI6JmXy3PJ5FSnBNgnXNHuredSVWB28SWsdsemTFs6Rg3-ZLDfX-DQr-YQxSzB6jG_Oz0UkZdaj_KmX6xnglUKUFrHUy3_B48cq91tkSP48HmvY1h8C4FaiaO-A/s1600-h/DSC00205.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiW81CJxUu6PeiDrA4nI6JmXy3PJ5FSnBNgnXNHuredSVWB28SWsdsemTFs6Rg3-ZLDfX-DQr-YQxSzB6jG_Oz0UkZdaj_KmX6xnglUKUFrHUy3_B48cq91tkSP48HmvY1h8C4FaiaO-A/s400/DSC00205.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5266854473158734066" border="0" /></a><br />I was also excited to discover that we can go on the roof. There is a deck type opening where there was biology type of stuff going on. We also discovered how to take a picture of a ghost...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkUvL3ovytkwBcygBV1yilqeA5UX8rjNQxxV7NuEN6Ium0c0E6ylSx9AMcPa-4BZLi9ytSW6NJ-NZhoYzN4aqR2GaausvROm-xmI5xeuzyrofxzcmepx-zawX7tDZI0hVKZKr12GrCXZs/s1600-h/DSC00192.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkUvL3ovytkwBcygBV1yilqeA5UX8rjNQxxV7NuEN6Ium0c0E6ylSx9AMcPa-4BZLi9ytSW6NJ-NZhoYzN4aqR2GaausvROm-xmI5xeuzyrofxzcmepx-zawX7tDZI0hVKZKr12GrCXZs/s400/DSC00192.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5266854075374765954" border="0" /></a><br />Overall, it was a wonderful outing with these three...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmlPMvPSR6A0M5JSdIZnFp26AnY8MrZf6fVIF7pDSiHa_BBiACEnfwkHd6tpU-Nzcl708OLdRqesXG3MJWaxezfua62MuYUOO9znVqHBbbvOkBBq5MpG9Oud3ZJo1izUwl4teCTwa82x8/s1600-h/DSC00209.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmlPMvPSR6A0M5JSdIZnFp26AnY8MrZf6fVIF7pDSiHa_BBiACEnfwkHd6tpU-Nzcl708OLdRqesXG3MJWaxezfua62MuYUOO9znVqHBbbvOkBBq5MpG9Oud3ZJo1izUwl4teCTwa82x8/s400/DSC00209.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5266854850637981458" border="0" /></a><br />The whole trip was great, although I wish that I had gotten down for a visit earlier. Seeing all my old friends made we want to make sure that I don't lose touch with people. I should probably get down to St. Olaf more often. I like how I can act like a kid around my friends there. I normally feel like I have to act too grown up these days. I can't just goof around and be silly.dosterhousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04750585958809939748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3087394309795260012.post-59096063799459526262008-10-26T17:47:00.000-07:002008-10-26T18:04:56.489-07:00Shiny Toy GunsI am writing this post immediately after the last post, but it is such a vast change of topic that I thought it should go in a different post.<br /><br />On Friday, for some reason, I really wanted to do something fun and hang out with St. Olaf friends. So I pretty much sat around all morning moping and trying to bury the feeling with homework. Then, I finally got out of my pajamas around lunch time and in the process looked at my cell phone (which was in the pocket of my jeans) and discovered that I had gotten a call from Scott, one of my St. Olaf friends. I called him back and discovered that he had an extra ticket to a Shiny Toy Guns concert that night. So all of a sudden, I had plans for the evening, going to a concert of a band I like a lot, with a friend that I haven't seen for a while. It doesn't get much better than that.<br /><br />The concert was at the Varsity Theater in Dinky town, so I biked over and met Scott. We had a chance to catch up for a while before the concert, which was really nice. I was his JC when he was a freshman, and now he is a JC, so we were able to swap JC stories, which was fun. The concert was also excellent, although my ears were ringing for a while afterwards. Overall, it was really nice to just let go and forget about grad school and just hang out with old friends for an evening.<br /><br />There was a lot of lights at the concert.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO7OVCiuSpda_5AU79SPsWzgOb0PeOSqcgxiC-FcYZTKG6CTkXIAvhyphenhyphen_mYxy9lYKmRp5dEO40HyV1WxQsNWGAO5mcitcCQHw3AzPuj7QLK1aNMLhd1kJVSqUe6uvf_QhufVmG7n88-DFk/s1600-h/DSC00109.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO7OVCiuSpda_5AU79SPsWzgOb0PeOSqcgxiC-FcYZTKG6CTkXIAvhyphenhyphen_mYxy9lYKmRp5dEO40HyV1WxQsNWGAO5mcitcCQHw3AzPuj7QLK1aNMLhd1kJVSqUe6uvf_QhufVmG7n88-DFk/s400/DSC00109.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5261632928716427234" border="0" /></a><br />There was also a lot of smoke.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7S_vB4trnp8WWjMJrIUm8TVqsJwRDiNSvvc_Jz7LhOLMoRrvdrW6ZdxwpFo66587pAIGkXYN1W3aREgKo7wa3pVBRQ4XfD_jjOdpUP3wZLmhXNOXjv23xE2uc7AaPKZzdKOypg9e50zU/s1600-h/DSC00115.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7S_vB4trnp8WWjMJrIUm8TVqsJwRDiNSvvc_Jz7LhOLMoRrvdrW6ZdxwpFo66587pAIGkXYN1W3aREgKo7wa3pVBRQ4XfD_jjOdpUP3wZLmhXNOXjv23xE2uc7AaPKZzdKOypg9e50zU/s400/DSC00115.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5261632942431686514" border="0" /></a><br />It was good.dosterhousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04750585958809939748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3087394309795260012.post-49397161181162155792008-10-26T17:13:00.000-07:002008-10-26T17:45:05.896-07:00Reformation dayHAPPY REFORMATION DAY EVERYBODY!!!!!<br /><br />For those that are unaware, today is reformation Sunday, which is a day to celebrate the heritage of the Lutheran church. I remember my first reformation Sunday when I was going to church at St. Olaf. It felt a little weird and I felt a little a bit like an outsider, because I was still pretty new to the Lutheran church. Church today felt quite a bit different than that reformation Sunday. I no longer feel at all like an outsider to the Lutheran church and especially not at my particular congregation (Como Park Luther Church) even though I have only been going there for a couple of months. I realized today that I've become more and more Lutheran.<br /><br />For one, the Lutheran liturgy feels very comfortable and familiar. This is especially the case because there are a lot of Ole's at my current congregation, including one of the pastors. The stained glass windows even came out of the same shop as the windows in the St. Olaf chapel, so it isn't really a "new" congregation for me per se, just an extension of one I was already part of.<br /><br />My Lutheranization, is not merely an aesthetic though. I find myself affiliating more and more with their doctrines and ways of looking at Christianity. Working at a Lutheran camp probably did a lot to contribute to this. In particular, the way I read scripture is falling more into line with the Lutheran approach, where scripture is generally categorized in Law or Gospel (although both can often be found in the same verse). Here, Law serves to tell us the way we should act, although there is no way we are actually able to fulfill the Law. Gospel on the other hand is "good news" that tells us about salvation from our fallen state. (Of course what exactly does that fallen state look like? Good question. Read C.S. Lewis.)<br /><br />The other aspect of Lutheran doctrine that I have grown to embrace is the emphasis on vocation. That is, part of our life as Christians is to find what we are called to do and to use our gifts from God. Thus, the vocation of Mechanical Engineer glorifies God just as much as the vocation of Pastor. Granted, that makes doing my homework an issue of being a good Christian. Makes homework seem pretty darn important if you think about it too much.<br /><br />So, yep, I guess I'm a Lutheran now. I guess I better get baptized, cause that's a big deal in the Lutheran church.dosterhousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04750585958809939748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3087394309795260012.post-72517539969357166512008-10-18T17:04:00.000-07:002008-10-19T18:24:48.450-07:00CommutingOne of the best parts about where I currently live is the commute. When I don't want to bike, I have the campus connector bus. Now, while some people may not consider walking 15 min to a bus as the ideal morning commute, I actually quite enjoy it. The walk is across the fair grounds, which, for the most part are empty. With the fall colors, it is especially beautiful and inspired me to bring my camera along for one commute.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6bnortG8xgBdn4W0hqwZ9xmDxqa2dzPJvXOHzyXW4kFvZ7M4pRkWNDbvo1kZ9WvvptAmhuFadUjQLmsXGq_TceZTiOJS0s4ebjQ7zxWegh0Gv1AcCWDGzqqvWPL2Kg38Zf82a5ylNvpM/s1600-h/DSC00071.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6bnortG8xgBdn4W0hqwZ9xmDxqa2dzPJvXOHzyXW4kFvZ7M4pRkWNDbvo1kZ9WvvptAmhuFadUjQLmsXGq_TceZTiOJS0s4ebjQ7zxWegh0Gv1AcCWDGzqqvWPL2Kg38Zf82a5ylNvpM/s400/DSC00071.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5259039985277243026" border="0" /></a>There are chainsaw sculptures all over the fair grounds. Sometimes they startle me at night, because it looks like there is a person standing next to the sidewalk.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM_CuBYlq_Cd01ljXLMmzJoZXdguy0lf_EifBhGHcLTZkHysa2jCGHC8GsWwyDJSefc7AlldPKsGoR_kaHRfTFYXGJwmYZ5xtJjfRwXCpCSYcPapIHYusgcPbcLirPGP2tRL_HZfjm304/s1600-h/DSC00070.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiM_CuBYlq_Cd01ljXLMmzJoZXdguy0lf_EifBhGHcLTZkHysa2jCGHC8GsWwyDJSefc7AlldPKsGoR_kaHRfTFYXGJwmYZ5xtJjfRwXCpCSYcPapIHYusgcPbcLirPGP2tRL_HZfjm304/s400/DSC00070.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5259039988107399106" border="0" /></a>Why do they line the road with concrete sphere's? I don't know, but they look kind of cool.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOSDulxWImBbq6fY8nHTOS0JDJi4MqcgIDJg5LDz1Z4irx7fjMTjY_UOSTexdLAJSejqbVI3J4x2Cq8OSM6uXUh4DZOcAMNsL2F4bhaIxkz4VAisMGNTOAJZv2aaEEBA4Y0wUlMD6LxRI/s1600-h/DSC00066.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOSDulxWImBbq6fY8nHTOS0JDJi4MqcgIDJg5LDz1Z4irx7fjMTjY_UOSTexdLAJSejqbVI3J4x2Cq8OSM6uXUh4DZOcAMNsL2F4bhaIxkz4VAisMGNTOAJZv2aaEEBA4Y0wUlMD6LxRI/s400/DSC00066.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5258652147782063154" border="0" /></a>The last five minutes of the walk are along this fence which is not the most pretty...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkEz69_kdSF43AWu9wJzCAmUzi7gxYbEtmZ3jVLmvgL5nyeCpTYxbj6pMAKUTV9Pvn2u4GWGZuhRt2uwB7QtIvxpBnwquxUVJvIBpDnWO4K6lKYZHkYOVO1FExJaZf_XUjxKGlxvUx3CE/s1600-h/DSC00067.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkEz69_kdSF43AWu9wJzCAmUzi7gxYbEtmZ3jVLmvgL5nyeCpTYxbj6pMAKUTV9Pvn2u4GWGZuhRt2uwB7QtIvxpBnwquxUVJvIBpDnWO4K6lKYZHkYOVO1FExJaZf_XUjxKGlxvUx3CE/s400/DSC00067.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5258652158926157026" border="0" /></a>...except that now the leaves are bright yellow.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwUHjQ7ZMKH6JAjrmROeRtheXb9wgoOaleWo3EaDnDYNBLucqWnaWpvFyuY1DLaIdWs9xH7VLyRqiAXpwO0jU2Jx_i5rKCVqcdnzmWz7adlCSasflQmhZujOx7o8vahc-d41BAvGWsNtk/s1600-h/DSC00068.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwUHjQ7ZMKH6JAjrmROeRtheXb9wgoOaleWo3EaDnDYNBLucqWnaWpvFyuY1DLaIdWs9xH7VLyRqiAXpwO0jU2Jx_i5rKCVqcdnzmWz7adlCSasflQmhZujOx7o8vahc-d41BAvGWsNtk/s400/DSC00068.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5258652171503200050" border="0" /></a><br />Surprisingly, this is one of the few pieces of litter I have seen. I would have expected a little bit more on the fair grounds.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQHjhmlJ-DkSVIAYdKb6SMgI5Svo13WW4fHGslbF9y_YDNZi3tZje8k4gtk5odbAgxqYJLIPT3uZ5bRXFepmGkFLpDXNufOhMesmxgkl-wwWh3UbmW7up1dQWw7L7Bct5nJqMh7ZkbeEs/s1600-h/DSC00063.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQHjhmlJ-DkSVIAYdKb6SMgI5Svo13WW4fHGslbF9y_YDNZi3tZje8k4gtk5odbAgxqYJLIPT3uZ5bRXFepmGkFLpDXNufOhMesmxgkl-wwWh3UbmW7up1dQWw7L7Bct5nJqMh7ZkbeEs/s400/DSC00063.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5258652138146048658" border="0" /></a>At the end of the walk is the bus, which runs every 5 minutes, so there is never a very long wait for the bus.dosterhousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04750585958809939748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3087394309795260012.post-5052332673124932862008-10-15T08:40:00.001-07:002008-10-15T08:46:50.820-07:00A role modelI aspire to be a little bit like <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/14/sports/othersports/14cycling.html?_r=1&oref=slogin">Dave Weins</a> when I am in my 40's. Nice family, nice friends, able to take down the most popular racer in the country.dosterhousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04750585958809939748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3087394309795260012.post-49030285446229430512008-10-12T11:45:00.000-07:002008-10-12T12:30:28.693-07:00DogsI had my first exam in grad school last Thursday. It was in Digital/Analog Control, which, so far, has essentially been a math class. I'm not sure how well it went, because I'm not used to in-class exams. It was all stuff that I could do relatively easy if I had a enough time to work through it, but because we had limited time, I choked on some stuff. I probably should have done more review so that I would have all the stuff in the front of my mind instead of having to dig for it. Oh well, I'll have to keep that in mind for future in-class exams. I'm used to the Physics take-homes from St. Olaf which where ridiculously hard, but I could crank on them for 15+ hours.<br /><br />I've been dog sitting for the girls that live downstairs this weekend. It has been loads of fun because the two dogs are really nice dogs. (It might help that girls are in vet school, so they know how to take care of animals.) The dogs totally know the routine better than I do. So when I walked in this morning and let them out of their kennels, they promptly went to their food bowls. After I fed them and they ate, they went over to the door because I needed to let them out. Outside I was sitting on the stairs letting them run around. As soon as I stood up they ran to the door so I could let them back in. Once inside they promptly went into their kennels. I thought it was really cute.<br /><br />This afternoon, I took the dogs for a walk, which was an adventure. The dogs were tugging on the leashes the whole time. Either they were trying to run ahead, or they were trying to stop and sniff at stuff. If one dog stopped to look at something, the other would immediately run back to see it. I must have looked ridiculous because I was laughing and getting pulled around by the dogs for most of the walk.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpgnD3Rj_qH9Mgh79zx44TmmfuhWEngH3IjAm_EjDUtdc_Id_uBP3XIOI8DMtpP1LI6PyklHMQ8yvQGjG3G3D1-WntoIyeRffuBUI2m6P7Fv6KTp5iQrPqtg2hmiDF44nsgEdTFDhJcbM/s1600-h/DSC00081.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpgnD3Rj_qH9Mgh79zx44TmmfuhWEngH3IjAm_EjDUtdc_Id_uBP3XIOI8DMtpP1LI6PyklHMQ8yvQGjG3G3D1-WntoIyeRffuBUI2m6P7Fv6KTp5iQrPqtg2hmiDF44nsgEdTFDhJcbM/s400/DSC00081.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5256350434610779474" border="0" /></a><br />I wanted to stop and sit down for a little at a picnic table but then the dogs promptly climbed onto the picnic table. It was really funny, because one of the dogs climbed up first and then the other dog didn't want to be out done, so he climbed up too.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBTWQWjrk-_znDk3nON3ceEDImxHlvMV5kpOvwelbfbv24LDuqv6B72O1OZGtnZIU6ZD_c9Xuy0pwQ3Bnk73FcAXGTzqYyqlayqe4Ih707VKS8chRRpMkicKlx_CiBM403Xsps2b1S9R8/s1600-h/DSC00085.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBTWQWjrk-_znDk3nON3ceEDImxHlvMV5kpOvwelbfbv24LDuqv6B72O1OZGtnZIU6ZD_c9Xuy0pwQ3Bnk73FcAXGTzqYyqlayqe4Ih707VKS8chRRpMkicKlx_CiBM403Xsps2b1S9R8/s400/DSC00085.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5256350441612641426" border="0" /></a>dosterhousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04750585958809939748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3087394309795260012.post-59922968769564693882008-10-04T20:32:00.000-07:002008-10-04T20:57:20.431-07:00BoringVery little excitement happened this week. The only thing out of the ordinary was that on Wednesday I hung out with a lot of St. Olaf people that I haven't seen for a long time. That was really nice. I also managed to put in 50 miles of commuting in 2 days.<br /><br />For the weekend I'm at my parents house, because it seemed like a nice place to go to study for the weekend. I brought my camera along for the ride home and got some good pictures.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisFz-wpzWRELHu-uYYHCaxoi1TbTjSascsrEMsGcP4wDYwIu8ScsPWd767B6niuHph0fjH9fOEqCd2zsHS6yGS69H6eOqi7wT3ESZD6K5ZD4xpsEfQtbyEqxKF1IhSDOr4IwdKfmgDduQ/s1600-h/DSC00010.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisFz-wpzWRELHu-uYYHCaxoi1TbTjSascsrEMsGcP4wDYwIu8ScsPWd767B6niuHph0fjH9fOEqCd2zsHS6yGS69H6eOqi7wT3ESZD6K5ZD4xpsEfQtbyEqxKF1IhSDOr4IwdKfmgDduQ/s400/DSC00010.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5253511988121939586" border="0" /></a><br />My new bike commuter image. T-shirt, rolled up jeans, sketchers (more wind proof that running shoes), and a big bag.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5-ldVpRP0YodrTM3UZ_ob1h1KhQjOymEl6ihBGIvCjormHNkLWQX_WIv7xm_u5DgW8AMONqwSiNJ7XpAAJiTKRwkfG_8GnUUfFvd0X50mM1__tCiNZhx2jFy2c9OTIQy8K48WiDpc2u4/s1600-h/DSC00015.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5-ldVpRP0YodrTM3UZ_ob1h1KhQjOymEl6ihBGIvCjormHNkLWQX_WIv7xm_u5DgW8AMONqwSiNJ7XpAAJiTKRwkfG_8GnUUfFvd0X50mM1__tCiNZhx2jFy2c9OTIQy8K48WiDpc2u4/s400/DSC00015.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5253511991064423810" border="0" /></a><br />A somewhat artsy picture through some kind of construction frame. Note, this and the previous picture where taken by putting the camera on a 10 second timer while using burst mode.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXL6fYMtQ3qPKVarGYRyMJQGxqXfXfLtkp8JFU4wmy0UZreTT-ChfaSeGz0cMyW14n28AU5r8klAY5Jjy6XluSD14GPvGpUv-WiqfljfcP4UpcJqI5gnGvc9-T1Qxpl8U5UP7trGkt3Q8/s1600-h/DSC00034.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXL6fYMtQ3qPKVarGYRyMJQGxqXfXfLtkp8JFU4wmy0UZreTT-ChfaSeGz0cMyW14n28AU5r8klAY5Jjy6XluSD14GPvGpUv-WiqfljfcP4UpcJqI5gnGvc9-T1Qxpl8U5UP7trGkt3Q8/s400/DSC00034.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5253512001313565010" border="0" /></a><br />The sun was setting over Saint Paul as I headed through Indian Mounds park on top of the bluffs.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDNUxC12IVFOOqI6Ks52zFeZtPlhiXGNbRtkPhi9_LAT_-PBD9MnTJdEhGmHImGfmkD4tVs3NmhZV8eYxWAIHS_-VeSQ8c6j9PmlOhbcxIogRjQr1_GOOMHuWQPmprxzivBHrEEHj8k98/s1600-h/DSC00042.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDNUxC12IVFOOqI6Ks52zFeZtPlhiXGNbRtkPhi9_LAT_-PBD9MnTJdEhGmHImGfmkD4tVs3NmhZV8eYxWAIHS_-VeSQ8c6j9PmlOhbcxIogRjQr1_GOOMHuWQPmprxzivBHrEEHj8k98/s400/DSC00042.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5253511996276821330" border="0" /></a>dosterhousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04750585958809939748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3087394309795260012.post-316873398133399972008-09-28T20:19:00.000-07:002008-10-12T12:31:01.609-07:00CutenessToday, I saw one of the cutest things ever. I wanted to get out of the apartment and get some fresh air, so I went to a little park that is just down the street and sat on a bench to read. (Was reading Jeremiah, which is kind of tough going, but it was next in the endeavor to read through the bible.) Anyways, there was an old couple sitting on another bench in the park talking. They where probably in their 70's. So that was nice, an old couple sitting in a park on a Sunday afternoon. Then, the best part is that I looked up a little later and noticed them walk over to the swing set and playing on the swings. They where behaving just like little kids, but they where quite old. It was so cute.<br /><br />I also spent a large part of the weekend trying to get linux working on my computer. I had already installed Ubuntu using a dual boot so that I could keep using windows. Ubuntu, however, does not support my wireless card, so this weekend, I found a workaround that lets me use a Windows XP driver for my wireless card. It's up and running, but it's still really flaky and only works sometimes. I also discovered that a lot of programs that can be downloaded for linux are not compatible with my architecture (AMD 64). So, alas, it looks like I still won't be a linux user.<br /><br />In fitness news, I have been doing a little training for the possibility of a return to 24 hour racing next summer. This has manifested itself as going to the gym 3 times a week to work on strength and flexibility. Well, because of knee problems, I have been taking it easy when doing squats, but on Friday, I was feeling good and decided to push myself. So I upped the weight from 100lbs to 150lbs and did 2 sets. It was amazing. My muscles felt like they had a ton of tiny cramps or like they where ripping or something. When I got home, I ate 2 cans of tuna and iced my quads to try to limit the soreness. The icing worked pretty well on my quads but my hamstrings and butt were still sore because I didn't ice them.<br /><br />In the interest of sharing some beauty, (because that's part of what I try to do with my blog) here is a picture from the U of M ...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx5jbtvK6NZHF_fNktW1xjPgXcLe60og8EedpmJgMusVFlXBb7DnmiMhHW-MVOTU4FFujARVATBlnR-RVChza1zBS31UbWxLjVGojUVwx9-hE5bzfgdujbss7Bh4SK5K-kFx_6afu9V5c/s1600-h/DSC03625.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx5jbtvK6NZHF_fNktW1xjPgXcLe60og8EedpmJgMusVFlXBb7DnmiMhHW-MVOTU4FFujARVATBlnR-RVChza1zBS31UbWxLjVGojUVwx9-hE5bzfgdujbss7Bh4SK5K-kFx_6afu9V5c/s400/DSC03625.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5251282212623572306" border="0" /></a>... and a picture from St. Olaf.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju0p1oTkzcQBEj23lfFUNmIfGzYztOBAvn_yelgTi24ZNHE782jvZwgi-gU7EQ6Cfb_nIE35N8NS-nhrI1ZcpSYCtrNyt9CKucuNY27PzfhHdj_IIz7Tjb6EuJ44XBqcWg5bXgTdvp5ew/s1600-h/DSC03600.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEju0p1oTkzcQBEj23lfFUNmIfGzYztOBAvn_yelgTi24ZNHE782jvZwgi-gU7EQ6Cfb_nIE35N8NS-nhrI1ZcpSYCtrNyt9CKucuNY27PzfhHdj_IIz7Tjb6EuJ44XBqcWg5bXgTdvp5ew/s400/DSC03600.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5251282406620380290" border="0" /></a>dosterhousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04750585958809939748noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3087394309795260012.post-65073269711222157062008-09-21T10:29:00.000-07:002008-09-21T17:20:08.699-07:00Visiting St. OlafThis weekend I decided to visit St. Olaf. Furthermore, I decided that I was going to bike commute down. It was quite an adventure because it's 45 mile ride, one way. I left at 3:30 on Friday and it took about 3.5 hours to get there. By the time I got to St. Olaf the sun was setting.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirrUX5USfwUcEWb3hMrSpVxhDQM1MlcS3tTPA45K6NO4LJYGT04EGtmGdLIH4wQ7cD45WEgOyGJaK9iRrb_f7NfBLesFXa7SR4qkDMJ06B7zVsi_dTdrUb30E9tKvcmB8mA5kUBaGJIYk/s1600-h/DSC03628.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirrUX5USfwUcEWb3hMrSpVxhDQM1MlcS3tTPA45K6NO4LJYGT04EGtmGdLIH4wQ7cD45WEgOyGJaK9iRrb_f7NfBLesFXa7SR4qkDMJ06B7zVsi_dTdrUb30E9tKvcmB8mA5kUBaGJIYk/s400/DSC03628.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5248602273793279922" border="0" /></a><br />Unfortunately, the flash on my camera stopped working, so this was the last picture of the evening. It was really nice visiting people and talking to people at St. Olaf. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see everybody that I wanted to. I guess I will just have to visit again sometime soon.<br /><br />I stayed the night in a friends room and the next morning, I was up early (because I'm on an early schedule from grad school). I wasn't sure how late people would be sleeping, so I didn't want to call anybody too early in the morning. So, to kill some time I went and sat in the chapel and read the bible. It was somewhat nostalgic because I used to go to morning chapel early to sit and read the bible. I also made some serious headway on my project of reading the bible cover to cover. I read the larger part of Jeremiah in the chapel, which is good because last time I read through the bible, I got bogged down in the prophets.<br /><br />The ride home was like a long, drawn out train wreck. Before I even got off campus, I managed to sprain my hand when I went over a curb while trying to adjust my bag. Luckily, that didn't hurt to much until the next day. Then, because I haven't done much distance riding recently, I made some dumb nutrition mistakes, waiting too long to start eating. Then, when I realized I'd waited too long and desperately needed food, I shoved down ~1200 calories, which left me feeling kind of sick for the rest of the ride. On top of that, I am not in nearly as good of shape as I was when I was racing, and I was carrying 15-20 lbs of gear in my bag, so the 45 miles the day before had already taken a hefty toll on my body. By the time I got home my vision was starting to blur and I was becoming incoherent. I went to bed before 8:00 and was out cold for 11 hours.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl_dxfyKIMB7j3HS8xSboVpi9g6LStHuHqMyUOvgHHZsUVGxLr_BCk0KM9T9ycG1t2SERDl2Dd5PXfy-cHzER1Nr90y3irbohzo53ArJBmIDWOUjF4S7YI1di1FwpsUSxfIg46VdRqGPA/s1600-h/DSC03643.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl_dxfyKIMB7j3HS8xSboVpi9g6LStHuHqMyUOvgHHZsUVGxLr_BCk0KM9T9ycG1t2SERDl2Dd5PXfy-cHzER1Nr90y3irbohzo53ArJBmIDWOUjF4S7YI1di1FwpsUSxfIg46VdRqGPA/s400/DSC03643.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5248633787936660706" border="0" /></a>dosterhousehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04750585958809939748noreply@blogger.com0