Well, this is my last day at ACP.  I will spend the remainder of the week at NRL, and a few days next week as well, then back to Texas on the 13th.  It's been a fantastic summer, and I feel like I've gotten a lot done, both on the collection and at NRL.  Working with the interns has been great, too.  I am looking forward to getting back to Texas and teaching again, though.  I will continue to interact with y'all here, but this is the last entry in this thread.  Rock on!

Dave

Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value -- Albert Einstein

We discovered at the end of last week that we were having some problems with the laser, so we spent the first part of this week trying to sort them out.  I did manage to get some data on cyclohexane on Tuesday.  Results look interesting, but that's all I can say.  Wednesday I was at ACP.  Spent the day working on a flier for the Syracuse AAPT meeting and thinking about contests.  Wednesday night my mother-in-law was supposed to get in to BWI around 10, so Michele and the kids met me here and we went to dinner, and then to Arundel Mill shopping center to kill some time.  MIL's plae was delayed in Dallas, so we went to see You, Me, and Dupree.  Not a bad movie, and not what the trailers indicate.  MIL landed around 12:00, and we got back to Alexandria around 2:00 am.  Needless to say, I'm a little groggy today.  Thank goodness for coffee!  Off tomorrow, Monday and Tuesday, so next week will be a short week.  More later.

Dave

Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value -- Albert Einstein

Back on the usual schedule this week.  We're in data taking mode in the lab, so my days were spent taking lots and lots of data.  Worked late every day.  Today I was back at ACP working on ComPADRE stuff.  Also heard a presentation by a winner of and SPS research award.  They got to fly on the "vomit comet".  Looked like a lot of fun.  We will try to get some of the video up for people to see.  This weekend we're off to Hershey.  More next week.

Dave

Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value -- Albert Einstein

Last week was a little off, so I missed my usual Friday post.  The weekend of the Fourth was a lot of fun.  Went to the zoo on Saturday, and stopped at the airport on the way home to pick up my sister, who was visiting from California.  Sunday we went to Mount Vernon (George and Martha's place).  A fun visit, and we made it home before the rain started.  I took Monday off, so we went took it easy in the morning, then went to the Natural History Museum in the afternoon to see the "Aliens of the Deep" IMAX film.  Very interesting.  Tuesday was the fourth, so we headed down to the Mall around 4:00 to just hang out and watch the fireworks.  We got caught in the storm, but rode it out in a grove of tree on Constitution Ave. (got very wet but otherwise fine).  The fireworks were very impressive (even better than Disney, and that's saying something).

Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday I was back at NRL.  We couldn't get samples, so the week was spent taking calibration data on the spectrometer.  I little tedious but definitely necessary.  We take real data this week.

This past weekend was pretty low key after my sister's visit.  We played a little tennis on Saturday, then went to see Pirates of the Carribean 2 (very fun movie!).  Sunday we played more tennis and watched the soccer game.  I will post again on Friday, and try to be back on schedule again.

Dave

Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value -- Albert Einstein

Last weekend was pretty good despite the rain.  Slept in both days.  On Saturday, my son and I watched the early soccer game.  The whole family then went down to the mall to look around.  We started in the east building of the national gallery.  Way cool.  The Calder mobile in the lobby is awesome, and the modern art was great.  After that we walked over to the American Indian Museum and looked around for a while, then to the national botanical garden, then a quick visit to the air and space museum.  Sunday was pretty rainy, so we stayed in most of the day, but went to the natural history museum for a while.  It was really crowded, and my wife wasn't feeling well, so we went home after a couple of hours.

Monday through Wednesday I was at NRL.  We have gotten all of the details sorted out and are in data-acquisition mode, so all three days were spend in the lab doing long data runs.  The data looks good, and is consistent between runs, though, so we will keep going.

Thursday and Friday was the ComPADRE project meeting at ACP.  Lots of discussion of future plans for all of the collections, including The Nucleus.  Look for significant changes starting in the fall.  Of course, if you have any opinions about how the site should look, we'd be happy the hear them.  That's about it for now.  The 4th of July is this week, and I'm taking Monday off.  More later.

Dave

Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value -- Albert Einstein

Lots going on this week.  Saturday we went sailing on the Potomac with a friend of ours (I work with him at NRL).  It was a beautiful day, and it was fun.  I even got to drive the boat.  Sunday the kids flew in from their travels, so we spent the day in Maryland.  We picked my son up around 2:00, and spent the time we had to kill before my daughter arrived at Arundel Mills.

Monday through Thursday I was at NRL.  Some of the time was spent dealing with security issues.  The military is fairly particular about who is allowed on their facilities.  Monday I got fingerprinted, and then had to provide a copy of my birth certificate.  Finally on Tuesday, I was given a badge that allows me into NRL without an escort.  Next, I have to do the same for Bolling AFB (this is where the experiment is located).  The rest of the time at NRL was spent familiarizing myself with spectroscopy system I'll be working with.  The laser is pretty impressive, but the system is pretty similar to things I've wroked with in the past.  I have also had to learn a little biology and chemistry.

Today I'm at ACP working on The Nucleus with Katherine.  This weekend I think we will head down to the Mall and go to some museums.   More next week...

Dave

Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value -- Albert Einstein

Sorry for being remiss about posting here.  I will try to post more frequently this week.  Here's what's been going on since my last post.

Friday I attended the meeting of the executive committee of SPS, and gave a presentation on the current state of The Nucleus, and plans for the future.  Also on Friday, my daughter left to spend time with my stepmother in California, so my wife joined me at ACP in the evening for a dinner welcoming the interns and also with some Sigma Pi Sigma donors.

The weekend was fairly low key, since the kids weren't here.  A little shopping in anticipation of moving into our apartment this week.  We also went to the apartment and finalized the lease.

Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday I was at NRL.  Most of the time was spent familiarizing myself with the experimental set-up I will be using (resonant Raman scattering), and taking some preliminary data.  I also met with the other folks on the project to discuss plans for the summer.

Also on Tuesday, we moved into our new apartment in Alexandria.  I say we, but it was really my wife that did most of the work, since I was working in the lab.  It's a nice place, although it's not very close to the Metro.  I'm still sorting out the transportation issues.

Thursday and today I am at ACP wrking on ComPADRE tasks, among other things.  I am trying to make sure Katherine has enough work to keep busy while I'm at NRL, and keeping things moving forward on the project.  We met with Matt to discuss the Lounge, and it's coming along well.  Look for a roll-out in the fall.

That's about it for this week.  I will try to make another post early next week.  The kids fly in on Sunday, so things will start getting interesting.

Dave

Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value -- Albert Einstein

Greetings.  My name is Dave Donnelly.  Some of you may know me through my work as the editor of The Nucleus, and posts in other threads on this discussion board.  I am writing this journal (or blog if you prefer) because I have a pretty unique opportunity this summer and wanted to share my experiences.

I will be working in the DC area this summer on two different projects.  One of the projects I will be working on is development of The Nucleus.  look for some new things by the end of the summer.  In that capacity, I will be working with Katherine, and some of the other interns at ACP.  The other project I will be working on is a bio-sensor project at the Naval Research laboratory.  I will try to share my experiences both places here.  With that introduction, let me bring you up to date on how the summer has gone so far.

The journey started last Saturday (3 June), when we left Texas to drive to DC.  My son stayed behind and will join us in a week or so.  The drive took three days, but was otherwise uneventful (lots of time sitting - 1600 miles worth).  We arrived in Alexandria VA on the afternoon of 5 June.

On 6 June I wnet to NRL to start working on the research part of my summer.  Even though my paperwork had been submitted many weeks in advance, I still didn't have clearance to enter the facility by myself, and had to brought in as a visitor.  I spent the next two days acquainting myself witht he details of the project I'll be working on.  I need to check with the folks I'm working with before I post too many details, but I will try to describe the project once I have done that.

Today (8 June) I came to ACP to start working on ComPADRE related things.  The day was kind of screwed up when they shut the building down because of a water leak.  We left for a while and are now back, and I'm continuing work on ComPADRE things.  Tomorrow is the SPS executinve council meeting.  More on that later.

Dave

Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value -- Albert Einstein