Ok! I'll go next then! This is Kb and I'm also an intern working at the AIP this summer at the ComPADRE project getting new ideas for this very own website-Nucleus. So far, everything's going smooth except the Metro- Man it gets so busy at some stops that its virtually impossible to get in and outta the trains without having to push somebody in the process. But it has its rewards, meaning I get to work in a lively atmosphere with staff always extending their hands to help you! That's a PLUS! I say I could envision this being a very worthwhile experience.

Hey, I'm Allison, but you can call me Al. Go ahead and sing. I'll wait:

If you'll be my bodyguard
I can be your long lost pal
I can call you Betty
And Betty when you call me
You can call me Al

Ok now that we got that out of our system, let me tell you about me an my internship. I just graduated from the University of Louisville with my BS in Physics and minor in Math. I'm here in Washington DC at AAPT working on the ComPADRE collection. Basically, they have a whole buncha online resources and they said "Allison, we want you to look at this and tell us what we have." So I have been looking at numbers for the past 2 days, playing with excel out the wazoo. You give me a set of data and I can make you a butt-kicking graph in about 3 second. I've also, just a little bit, been helping out KB who is working on this site(expect great things!), brainstorming ideas and stuff for improving the site.

Outside of work has been cool...My dorm is pretty nifty. I'm one of two interns that is staying by themselves, and I think I like it. My room is mine and I don't have to clean it if I don't want to (shhh, don't tell mom). All us interns pretty much hang out together in the evenings for a bit. We tried to go see Reagan's procession yesterday, but we missed him by about 10 minutes (I told you we should have gotten off at Federal Triangle. That's the last time we listen to a local).

Well back to my excel, no more slacking! I'm almost done though. whew! I'll post again later.

-al

-al

It's now 7:58am and I'm at work. Here I will proceed with my only whining about the internship. Proceed with caution :)

I'm the only intern that has to work today!! How crappy is that. It wouldn't be so bad, except Christine, Anthony and I went down to the Laying in State of Reagan's body and were standing in line for 6, yes that's right, I said 6 hours! (More on this to come later). We got home at 4:30!! I got about 2 hours sleep, and I haven't eaten since noon yesterday. So I'm tired, hungry, and achy...

Ok I'm done, sorry about that.

So the three of us went down there last night around 9:30, thinking that the wait was only going to be 3-4 hours, and that it would shorten as the night rolled on...NO! People kept getting in line! And it was 8-10 hours at the point when we got in line. You'd think that at one point, people would say, "I'll never make it now, I'll just turn around an head back" I was wrong. By the time we got out, it was still wrapped amusement park style for two block (each block is about 2-2.5 hours). So we waited...and waited...and, oh yeah, we waited some more. The rescue people were giving away water. I don't know how much they went through; an ungodly amount. But in the end it was all worth it. While we couldn't take cameras inside, we did make it into the rotunda to see the changing of the guards, which happens every 30 minutes, so we couldn't have timed it better. All in all I'd say it was a crazy, but well-spent evening. I bonded with Chris and Anthony a little more, which is good, since I never see them. And how striking is it that I just happened to be interning in Washington when all this is going on. As bad as it sounds, we couldn't have asked for a better opportunity. Good times, good timessssssssss...::snort:: huh, what? oh sorry, I must have dozed off. Time to work. Later

-al

Now it's Tuesday.  I was kinda busy yesterday, so I didn't post.  I'm gonna try to do this every morning when I get to work, just to kick-start another day.

The weekend was cool.  After I got off work early on Friday (Yeah, Thad is the man!), I went back to the dorm, where I was planning on going back to bed to catch up on all that sleep.  However the Reagan funeral was on and I then had every intention of watching that.  I ended up somehow doing both.  I dozed in and out, so didn't really get any sleep, but can't say I seriously watched the funeral either.  Oh well.  Later on, Gary and Liz took all us interns out to dinner.  It was good!  Then Matt Heather and I spent way to much time in Clair's, where I got my ears peirced again (#7&8).  

Saturday, Heather and I did way too much shopping, but we had a good time.  I had spagetti with the girls (mmmmm), and hung out with the guys (they read more Cosmo than me).

Sunday, me and Heather did a little more shopping, and later I went to mass at the Basilica, on Catholic University's Campus.  Man that place is HUGE!!!  Then I came home and just hung around while some of the guys went to a movie.  Me Heather and KB went to Friday's and had fun.

Yesterday was overall uneventful.  Thad and I had that conference call with Bruce Mason.  Sure the graphs are great and all, but what about the analysis...umm, I dunno.  I'll come up with something.  Then of course went to the store, as always.  Then we just hung around.  Like I said, uneventful.

Now it's time for another day.  I need to remember to mail my check home so I have some money in my account.  Until tomorrow...

-al

-al

So yesterday was really really really exciting!  I got to write an Analysis of the ComPADRE survey!  How lucky am I??  (You can just hear the sarcasm, can't you.)  So I put together a rough draft and worked on a few other things.  Roman from the Statistics department bought us interns lunch yesterday.  He's really nice!

After work, I had slight drama.  I walked in and it felt like someone had broken into my room.  A drawer was open that I haven't opened, and a picture wallet was open on the bed, but nothing was missing as far as I could tell.  I called campus police anyway, just so I can say I reported it if anything turns up missing.  He said that they'd had a few other call just like it today; a drawer open here and there, and that housekeeping comes in and cleans the windows.  Ok, the people at UofL never cleaned our windows.  And why would cleaning need to get in my drawers?!  Strange!

After that, I just hung around, ate Pizza, ironed my pants and watched Footloose (The greated Kevin Bacon movie besides Tremors!)

Today, I worked on the analysis some more and got some feedback.  Now on to my Super-Cool Visuals!

-al

So I worked on the Analysis a bunch more yesterday, and I think I'll have it done by the end of the day.  Bruce wants me to add more about the background of ComPADRE and the PSRC.  I'll do that after lunch today.  i got my Super-Cool Visuals done today as well.  Yippee

After work yesterday was a lazy day.  I took those flip-flops back that I wore to work monday that cut up my feet.  Darn those leather straps.  Then we ate at the food court and I came back to the dorm...alone, all by myself :(  Then I just sat around and talked to Nik online.

So yeah, Nik's coming to visit me the weekend after 4th of July!  I can't wait!!  It'll be so great to see him.

Well, I'm off to get some grub.  Until later...

-al

Allison's Excellent Site of the Day:

http://www.funderstanding.com/k12/coaster/

This is awesome!!

-al

So let's see, what happened this past weekend?  Well Friday night, I went out with Heather and met up with Chris from work and one of the interns from last year and a few other people, that, now I can't remember.  We had a "good time", and walked back to the dorm about midnight...I went straight to bed.  

Saturday, we got up early and went down to the Smithsonian to the Nat. Air and Space Museum.  It was pretty neat.  They have a really great cosmology exhibit.  We saw a few planetarium shows and then us girls hit the gift shop.  Bought a couple things and headed home.  I finished my book finally around 7:00 (Richard Preston is a great author!  If you're interested in books biological weapons and virus stuff, his three books, The Hot Zone, The Cobra Effect, and Demon in the Freezer are excellent!) and then I did lots of laundry and burn a bunch of quesadillas.  

Sunday, Heather and I went rollerblading.  Coming out of GW, crossing the street in front of Foggy Bottom Metro Stop, it happened.  I fell flat on my butt!  oh man it hurt.  It was like those gag movies you see when your feet just fly out from under you.  I hit the bump and Wheee!  Down I went.  I bladed for another 20 minues or so, then put my shoes back on.  My ankle was bothering me...not to mention my butt!  OWWWW!  We went through Georgetown and I bought another book, at the recomendation of Thad called "The Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxie".  After we went through Georgetown, we headed back and I went to church.  When I got back, had me some dinner and Heather and I watched "The Life of David Gale"...Great Movie!!  I love Kevin Spacey!  Then, it was bed time.

Thats my weekend in a nutshell...soar butt and new book.  Until later...

-al

Yesterday...what happened yesterday?  I finished the Analysis!  About dang time.  I submitted a few Fluid Dynamics resources to the PSRC site. I also found this cool cool simulation site too.

When I got home and went to the store and bought some chicken and made some chicken and gravy with Stove Top and Mashed Potatoes...yummy!  I don't know how dad does it.  I didn't stop moving for like an hour, and I think I slightly overcooked it, but oh well, it was good anyway.  Then I made some cookies.  I'm a regular Emeril.

Then I talked to Nik and headed to bed about 12:30.  It's amazing how early I'm going to bed out here.  Normally I'm up till 3 or 4 am, but I just can't do it if I have to get up at 6am to be at work by 8...well I could, but I wouldn't be happy.

I'm eating a bagel...blueberry with cream cheese...and it is yummy...

-al

Yesterday day was kinda boring.  I got my next assignment.  (1) Go to other collection and see their organization, structure, features, etc.  (2) Take a random sample of sources from out catelog and check for consistency in the metadata....not the most exciting, but it needs to be done.  So I basically surfed the web yesterday.  not too exciting.  Thad had me check out t-shirts for the meeting in Sacramento.  I think I wanna go to Sacramento as a poster presenter.  The more I hear about it up here in AAPT, the more I want to be in on it.

Along the same lines, I went to the CNSF event last night.  It was pretty neat.  There are a lot of great programs out there.  KB and I walked around checking out the different programs and promoting comPadre.  I was amazed how many people have never heard of it.  I think a poster presenter at the AAPT meeting specifically about comPADRE would be well received.  We'll see what happens.

After that, I came home and made spagetti and watched tv with Matt and KB.  It was a lazy night around the tv.

Until later...

-al

So I forgot to post yesterday.  My bad.

So Wednesday was not too exciting.  I surfed the web for a bit and tried to check out other collections.  This is probably the most boring part of the job.  Don't get me wrong, I love being here.  But staring at a screen isn't what I'd call the best thing for the eyes.  Then Thad gave me a more exciting project.  Finding the cheapest polos and T-shirts for the AAPT meeting.  Speaking of which, I'm going to Sacramento for the meeting!  I'm excited about that.  I'm going to participate in a poster session, which should be good experience for me.  I can't wait!!!  Then Wednesday night, Heather, Matt and I went to this little hole-in-the-wall lounge/bar, which looks like someone had converted their house into.  We met up with some people H&M know from Mersec.  That was fun, but I didn't know anyone and got home later than I wanted.  which leads me into yesterday.

Yesterday I got to work, did a little project of coming up with wrong physics equations for a t-shirt "Don't Drink and Derive" :)  Then I surfed the web a bit more, and a little more...Then I realized "Hey I can start on my slide show.  That will be more exciting."  So I did.  And that's pretty much all I did until I left work.

Afterwork was a nightmare.  It took me 90 minutes to get home!!  There was something wrong with the blue and orange lines, so when I got off at L'Enfant Plaza, there were 80000000 other people waiting to.  About 20 minutes later, the train arrived.  I worked my way toward the front of the crowd and managed to find my little-bitty space to cram into.  It was nuts.. When we got to Metro Center, which is probably the most busy, people were shoving themselves in.  "THERE'S NO MORE ROOM PEOPLE!  QUIT PUSHING!!"  At one point, the conductor threatened to off-load the whole train if people didn't quit pushing the doors.  So I eventually got home...at 6:00!!  So I called Nik and talked to him for about a half hour, then took my highly anticipated nap.  I slept until 7:30 when I told Nik to call and wake me up.  But I went back to sleep until mom called at 9:00.  I talked to her and had a bowl of cereal for dinner.  I talked to Nik again for a bit and went back to bed about 10:30.  I slept straight through the night.  Not bad to sleep from 6:30pm-6:00am, give or take an hour.  So today I feel rested, but I have a slight headache.  I'm sure it'll go away soon.  

I hope to get to do something tonight, don't know what yet.  Until monday...

-al

So hello everyone.  It's Monday.  Yucky, stinkin' Mondays.  I think they should rename the first day of the work week Fonday, because it would sound like Funday and put everyone in a better mood.

So besides being Monday, today is me and Nik's 14 Month Anniversary (ok yeah, we celebrate months).  I'm so glad we've been together this long.  I can't wait till he comes to visit :)

ok enough of that mushy stuff.  I had a lazy weekend.

Friday I sat around all night, then went to eat with Matt and Joe and then we came back and watched Bad Santa...That's a funny movie!

Saturday, I woke up about 9:30 and went to the grocery, did laundry and sat around and watched the Real World allllll day.  Then me and the guys went to Bertucci's and and got back and watched Zoolander.

Sunday, another lazy day.  Went out to Georgetown with Matt, KB, and Joe.  Then went to church, then sat around.  I did a lot of sitting around!  I bought some Henna at the bookstore sunday.  bad idea.  This was the worst Henna I've ever used.  It was runny and the tip they give you was too big.  I left it on all night and it didn't do anything.  Oh well.  That's what I get for buying henna from Barnes and Noble.

Well, until tomorrow...

-al

Lets see what happened yesterday.

I worked on the powerpoint for a bit, and I surfed the collections a bit.  I registered for housing for Sacramento and I checked out airfare, which I need to do this morning.  Thad and I had a conference call with Bruce for about an hour, and then I browsed the catalog a bit more.  That is without a doubt the most boring thing I have to do...surf the web basically.  I mean I do that on my own anyway, but when it's not very exciting, it's not very exciting.  But you gotta go one step at a time.

I got an email from my cousin Peter yesterday.  Hopefully he'll get down here to Washington while I'm here.  I haven't seen him in a while, but with his crazy job, we'll see.  

Last night I decided I wanted to cook for everyone, and by everyone, I mean KB, Matt and Joe.  We had spagetti and garlic bread, which was really good, if I do say so myself.  I think I'll make a big helping of it again and take leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

I went to bed early last night, around 10:30.  What is wrong with me?!?  That's about 5 hours before I normally would go to bed.  You'd think sitting at a desk all day wouldn't make you tired, but by the end of the day, I'm exhausted.  You know it's gotten really bad when you're sitting around watching TV and someone says, "oh man, I can't believe it's 10:00, I need to go to bed."

Anyway, time to work now.  I didn't grab a bagel today, so I'm hungry...::rumble rumble::  Don't worry that was just my stomach.

-al

I'll second that the food was quite good, three cheers for the chef. Hip hip hooray, hip hip hooray, hip hip hooray.

Vote Matt!

Let see, what happened yesterday?

I reserved my flight for Sacramento.  Exciting.  I finished reading "The Hitchikers Guide..." and now I'm going to start (for the 4th time) the third Harry Potter book.  It's about time I read it.

Other than that, not too much yesterday.  Went to Pentagon City with Matt, KB, and Joe.  I had a good time.  They are fun guys, even if they check out short skirts on the escalator...tisk tisk boys.  I bought a couple of shirts for work, the 3rd Lord of the Rings Soundtrack, and the new DMB cd (How come I didn't know this was even coming out?!)

9 days and counting!!

Until later...

-al

A new month!  Hooray!  An Janet (the lady behind me at work) just told me it's Thursday, when I've been thinking it's Wednesday all morning.  God bless Janet!

So yesterday, I did more web surfing.  I mainly focused on the simulations.  Man there are some fun ones in there!!  I played on this site forever!  

http://www.falstad.com/mathphysics.html

Later, I "helped" Lyle set up his presentation in the conference room, but I didn't attend the meeting, since it was a little over my head.

When I got home, I made spagetti and meat sauce (mmm leftovers for lunch today :) and read some more of Harry Potter.  I got about 1/3 of the way through yesterday.  It reads really fast, so I'll probably be done by this weekend.  I've read more this week than I've read since high school, and those were just Cliffs Notes.  Today, I'm going to finish the abstract for the poster presentation, which will take me all of five minutes, maybe work on my poster a bit, and scan through some more resoures types.  Fun Fun.  I can't wait til lunch!  Mmmmmm Pasta...

-al

It's Friday!!!  Hooray!!  Only 7 more days!!!

So I left the dorm a few minutes early, got a seat on the first train that came by, stated reading my book....

::insert complete moron here::
AND COMPLETELY MISSED L'ENFANT PLAZA!!!

I had to back track a stop and wait about 4 minutes for the next green one.  

::beware of whining::
So I finally made it to college park, at normal time, since I left the dorm a few minutes early.  it was 7:45 when I got off the rail, so I started walking, since I missed the shuttle.  BUT NOOOOOO, about 3 minute into my walking, here comes the shuttle heading for the metro stop.  What happened to it being at the metro stop at :00,:20, and :40??  So I walked for no reason, because by the time it got to ACP, I was still walking.  GRRRR!!  They pay for this service and it's never on time!!!!

Yesterday, I set up contact with UofL to have them as the featured chapter on the new Nucleus re-design when it rolls out in a few weeks.  I worked on my poster a bit, I completed my abstract for Sacramento, and worked on looking at the metedata some more.

Fun stuff!

Time to work...

-al

So it's Tuesday!  Think I skipped a day of work?  Nope!  We had Monday off.  Days off are nice.  So let's see, let's sum up the weekend, shall we?

Friday night: Went and saw Spiderman 2.  Pretty good movie!  After that, just came back and hung around and went to bed

Saturday:  I, again, hung around the dorm in the morning.  Then Anthony, Matt and I went to Ruby Tuedays for Lunch/Dinner.  We came back around 4 and I went to Mass at this little church on K st.  I dont' like it.  The architecture was cool, but I don't care for the priest much.  When I ot home, I fixed some food, and me, Matt, Heather and her boyfriend watched Monster, which is a very good movie about how ugly they can make Charlize Theron.  I decided that I was going to finish Harry Potter 3, and succeeded around 2:00am.  It was really good.

So Sunday, July 4th!  I got up around 10, went to Pentagon City and got the 4th Potter book, and some other groceries.  Later, Matt and I went and saw Harry Potter 3.  Also a very good movie.  Having just finished the book, I was disappointed that ::::Warning: Upcoming Movie Plot Give-Away::::  they didn't touch the Quiddich matches except the one in the rain, and they added that little part where Harry sees Pettigru on the map.  But other than that, it was really good.  Later in the evening, Heather, her b/f and I went down to the Mall and watched the fireworks.  They were really good!!  It was rainy and muddy, but fun.

Yesterday was laundry day for me.  I did laundry all morning.  Fun stuff!!  LAter we went to Pentagon City...again.  I got a new pair of jeans.

::incoming whining::

I hate shopping went the people that work there hate their job and let you know that they don't want to be there.  So I asked this girl if they had any jeans that weren't really really tight.  All the ones I have are ridiculously second-skin-esque.  So I want some slightly relaxed, none stretchy jeans.  She asked me "did you look over there?" pointing to the huge jeans section.  "No, I completely missed all those racks of jeans over there!  Of course I did! Stupid"  ok so I didn't say that, but I wanted to.  So went over and she tried to act like they had tons of non-stretch, but everyone said stretch.  Then she said the worst thing, in the worst phrasing that you can say to a customer..."Maybe you need a bigger size"  :: Insert female explative here::  You never say that...ever!  You can say, "Some are sized small, so you might need to look for a bigger tag, even though it sounds like they'd be too big"  Something like that, but never "Maybe you need a bigger size" @#$%&@!!!  So I eventually found some as she was talking to me while walking away.  Don't walk away while your talking to a customer.  Then I found some that fit and went up to the counter where I had to wait a few minutes for a clerk to ring me up.  Finally this girl walks up and speaking to me like I'm a mind reader snottily says "The registers are down".  Like I'm supposed to know!  @#$%&#$!!  I hate people like that!  Get some better people skills!  Your job is to be nice and helpful.  Not a complete....Ok I'll stop.

::whining complete::

So I took my jeans home and watched reality tv all night long.  Then, time for bed.  And today is a new day.  3 more days!!

And it's not raining.

-al

2 More Days!!

Allison Coolest Sight of the Day:  Guy at the metro stop with the "Miami Vice" t-shirt and pink button up shirt over.

So lets see, what'd I do yesterday?

I worked on more metadata. I think I found a better system than what I was using, so that helps.  I also looked at Merlot, another collection like ours and checked out what they've got.  I'll probably spend a good portion of today submitting mew resources that they have that we don't.  I started working a little bit on my final presentation for the internship.  I had dad email me some pics from graduation for my "Who am I" page.  I hadn't seen them yet and they turned out really good.  God bless Mystic Tan! (see the pic in my profile).  I worked late yesterday and I'm working late every day this week and next Monday so that I can leave early this Friday.  After work, we went to Pentagon City and got some stuff.  I bought a cake mix, so I'm baking a cake sometime this week :)  After that, I just hung around the room.  I tried rearranging it, but that didn't work too well at all.  Just probably annoyed the people downstairs.  My alarm went off too early this morning.  Ok, so it was regualr time, but it felt early.  Anyway.  Time to do something productive.  Later...

-al

Good Morning.  Today, I'm going to keep this short and sweet.  

Yesterday, I worked on the UofL Featured Chapter stuff.  I worked on my Final Presentation a little bit.  I did some beta-testing on the Nucleus site, and I played with a little bit of Merlot and metadata.  The funnest (like that grammar?) thing I did yesterday was create a ComPADRE animated icon (see left).  It was fun, and took like 5 minutes!

I left work around 5:30 and went home.  I made a cake (mmmm chocolate) and a pizza.  I sat around and watched tv with Matt, talked to Nik for a bit, played some Starcraft, and went to bed.

I forgot to set my alarm, but magically woke up at 5:15, set it, and went back to bed.  Still managed to get up late, but then still managed to get to work right on time.  Craziness.  I think I might work on creating more icons for comPADRE, if Thad thinks its a good idea.  Other than that, I WILL FINISH THE METADATA TODAY!!!  I'm only here half the day tomorrow, and with it being Friday and casual dress, I'm not going to be motivated to look at metadata!

Oh yeah!!

::Tune: Annie::

Tomorrow! Tomorrow!  He's coming tomorrow!  He's only a day away!!!!!

-al

Ok, so I didn't finish the metadata like I planned.  I worked on some little odds and ends in the morning, looked at the collections and giving thad questions and ideas about profiles and discussion forums.  About 11:30, Thad gives me the task of getting thumbnails for the textbook section.  I worked on that until lunch and finish up after lunch.  2:30 we had our weekly meeting with Gary, KB and Tracy until about 3:30.  After that, I came back upstairs and set out to resize all the icons, which was a pain in the buttocks!  But I just about finished by the time 5:30 rolled around and I went home.  Long days are yucky!

So I got home and iced the cake I made yesterday.  It looks yummy!!!  Then...the dreaded event!  I was folding up some paper grocery bags that had been on the floor for a few days.  I picked up one and there was a roach the size of a small child clinging on for dear life.

-al

What the...?  I never hit submit!!

Ok so there I was, just the roach and me.  I freaked out and threw it in the sink.  Then, this roach is stuggling to get out of the sink while i'm stuggling to wash it down the drain.  Finally I prevail!  Garbage disposal: ON!  I put the stopper in, filled the sink with some water, and flushed it all down, I think he's gone.  ::shiver:: I hate Roaches!!!!!!

Then I get a text message.  Nik's stuck in traffic leaving Louisville.  Stupid tractor-trailer has to go and get it's rear axel ripped out and mees up his plans.  He missed the 9:00 bus in Cinci, so he had to wait for the next one at 2am.  He's not getting in town until 4pm instead of 11am.  I worked long days so I could leave early for no reason!!  I'm still leaving early.  

Today will be the least productive day so far.  We had a meeting at 9:00, that lasted until almost 11:00.  We have pizza coming at 11:30 or 12:00 and after I eat, I'm gonna leave.  Not to bad for a 1/2 days work :)

So whenever Nik gets in, I'm gonna meet him and we're gonna go to Georgetown, have lunch/dinner and then go see a movie.  Tomorrow I think we're hitting the Smithsonian and the Mall.  We're gonna fix dad's Chicken & Gravy tomorrow night too...It's so good!  Sunday, I think we're gona hit the Bacilica for mass and also the Holocaust Museum.  He leaves really early Monday morning, so the weekend will go by really fast.  It'll be great though

4.75 hours and counting!!!!

-al

So here was my fabulous weekend with my man:

Nik got in town around 4:00. I met him at Union Station...he brought me most beautiful white roses. He told me they (the bus) had been hit by a drunk driver while they were on the road...He had the craziest trip! We went back to the dorm and hung out there for a bit. Around 6:00 we went to Georgetown and walked around there looking for a steak place. We found one, steak was ok. Then we walked down to the movie theater, bought tickets to the 11:40 showing of the Notebook. We went back to the dorm (since it was only 8:00) planned on taking a nap until 10, so we could get up and head back to the theater, but the alarm never went off and we missed the show. $13 down the drain...oh well.

Saturday, we went to the US Holocaust Museum. That place was crazy...really disturbing, but very well done. We were there most of the day. We headed to Pentagon City and got some chicken fixins and had the best dinner...mmmm mmmm. After dinner we went back to the theater and finally saw The Notebook (Ladies, take a kleenex.  Gentlemen, your girlfriend will love you forever if you go see this movie with her). Great movie!!

Sunday, we went to the Air & Space Museum and saw a planetaruim show, noon Mass at the Basilica, back to Air & Space and saw an IMAX, then to the American History Museum. By the time we were done, it was almost 6:30, so we headed home. We ordered chinese and watched the Count of Monte Cristo. Then, time for bed.

He left EARLY this morning. We're talking he had to wait for the metro to open. I walked him to the stop, then went back to bed. I'm pretty sleepy today, but it was a great weekend. I'm glad he came to visit me :)

-al

So yesterday, I worked on my final presentation most of the day.  I spend forever looking for and editing clip art...Pain in the buttocks if you ask me!  I also, 5 weeks into the internship, got all my papers that I've collected (meeting notes, analysis drafts, etc) organized into folders.  I'm now thinking about how to set up my poster.  They give me a 4x4 space, and I'm guessing a table as well.  I think I'm going to have my comPADRE Powerpoint running on the table on my laptop and maybe a wireless laptop that people can use to surf the collection, as well as my poster, which I'm slowly working the layout on.  I'M GOING TO FINISH THE METADATA TODAY!!!  I WILL BEGIN WRITING THE ANALYSIS ON THAT METADATA TODAY!!!!  IT WILL BE COMPLETED TODAY!!

After work yesterday, guess what I did?  Nothing!  That's right, I sat around and watched tv.  I watched MAD TV, The Blue Collar Comedy Tour (hilarious stuff), then I (Heart) the 90's until 11:00, then i was sleepy, so it was off the dreamy land for me.  I haven't been sleeping well lately.  I keep waking up to early, and not sleeping as deep as I usually do...not sure why.  Nerves, I dunno.  Anyway...I WILL FINISH THE METADATA!!!  (just as soon as I eat a muffin :)  later...

-al

I'm heading to a Senate hearing...I'll post about yesterday later.

-al

So Tueday, what did I do Tuesday.  Work, blah blah, poster, blah blah, powerpoint, blah blah.  Had a short meeting with Thad, Tracy, Gary, KB and Dave, who's in town for three weeks.  We talked about comPADRE a bit, about the student lounge and what should be in there (::cough::  Chat!!  ::cough::)

I then went to PC on the way home, did dishes, and fixed mac and cheese...yum!  Just sat around and watched tv and read some Harry Potter (Dave, I'm READING the 4th book.  None of that wimpy book-on-tape for me) :)  Then I went to bed.  Uneventful day.

-al

So yesterday, I actually, get this, WORKED ON SOME METADATA!  A little bit anyway.  I started to realize that, in order to have anything to talk about for my presentation and all that, I have to actually get through the grunt work.  In actuality, if I didn't think it was so ugh, it wouldn't have taken me so long.  I just kept putting it off with other little things, like the poster and the final presentation, and other stuff.  But now, I'm kicking myself that I've only got 2 (oh gosh!) weeks left to finish everything.  I leave for Sacramento 2 weeks from tomorrow...oh god, I'm scaring myself.  I gotta get to work!

So I left work at 1:00 and me, matt, heather, KB, christine, and brett went to a Senate hearing about Adult Stem Cell Research.  Overall, it was interesting.  I've never been to a Senate heaing, so I didn't know what to expect.  We had to stand the whole time...It was packed.  There were two panels, the first was doctors and scientist, and the second was doctors and patients.  The second panel was the more interesting of the two, however the Senator grilling the woman on the first panel about whether or not her not wanting to answer whether she's pro-life or pro-choice would be contempt of court was kinda amusing.  And the senator that based his entire arguement off of a website...granted it was a gov website, but still, do better research!  The patients testamonies though were the most moving and inspiring.  I'm glad we stayed for those.  It's amazing to see people with such life and determination as the two girls and the gentleman on the panel.  I found it funny that the gentleman with parkinson's disease was shaking and was talking about his improvement and said that his shaking had greatly decreased and only resurfaced if he was upset or nervous.  The whole room laughed :)

After that, I went home, played a little starcraft, and made some nasty pizza.  Then I sat around and watched tv and then went to bed about 10:30.  I'm never going to be able to stay up till 3am again ::sigh::

We're going to NIST today, so I'm leaving at 12:30.  I also have a meeting with Thad later on and have to take a few pics for my final presentation.  I better go so I can get some work done.  Until tomorrow...

-al

Slow day on the message board today, huh?  I think all the interns here realized that our presentations have to be completed in less than a week!  AHHHH!

So yesterday was cool.  I worked for a bit on the metadata.  I'm actually making bigger dents and getting ideas of how I want to present the material.  After Lunch we went out to NIST.  It was pretty neat: big underground buildings, clean rooms, nanowires.  All in all a interesting trip.

After that, I got home, played with the Starcraft Campaign Editor, did laundry and had Heather show me how to knit a little.  I'm making a really thin scarf...more like a belt, but I'll be so proud!

Today has been very productive.   I got quite a bit of metadata ideas and some of it completed.  I'm coming up with some statistics for the taggers to see where they need to tighten up on their tagging and maybe have a better training setup.  I also sent out a survey to a few other collections like comPADRE asking them some questions about their collections so we can find out where we stand in comparison.  I'm hoping to hear back from them by monday.

Now I'm going to do my weekly journal for SPS and then head home.  Until later...

-al

I've been really slacking lately, huh?  I've been really busy.  Finishing the presentation, and the poster, getting ready for the final presentation tomorrow and Sacramento on Friday.  I'm excited about Sacramento, but I have a feeling I'm gonna be little Ky Allison, lost in big California.  And Carol just told me that the girl i was supposed to room with canceled today, so I'm prolly by myself. I've been by myself for the past 2 months!  Just wish I knew that I was gonna have someone to hang out with while I'm out there.  I'm gonna get so lost, I can just feel it!

Other than that, I'm just about done with my summer stuff.  I have to add the metadata stuff to the analysis paper and finish that all up.  Then it'll be good to go, whereever they want to use it.  Hopefully, it'll be useful somewhere.

Well, I'm gonna go find something to do.  Until later...

-al

(This is from this past monday)

It's Monday again. Last week was really busy. I finalized the metadata, finally!! I finished up my "first draft" of my presentation, and worked on my poster. It's 99% finished and then I have to get it printed by Thursday night.

Last Thursday, we had the rehearsal for our presentations, and it went really well. We got really good feedback, and nobody's presentation sucked, so that's always good. I have to make a few more changes to it today and finish the poster. It just has to be done today! I have to get that thing to Kinko's and printed.

Also on Thurday we went to NASA. It was great! Our first tour guy was awesome. We got to see all kinds of cool stuff, like a satellite that is supposed to be shipped to Cape Canaveral this week and launched in October. Then we got to gown up and go into a cleaning room. My hood was way too tight for my big fat head, so that wasn't fun, but overall I had a great day. Like a kid in a candy store! It's funny, but my horoscope in the Express that morning said something to the effect of "things that happen today will re-enforce your dreams" or something like that. How true, how true!

So this weekend was good too. Saturday I had to ride out to ACP to get the floppy disk that I left when I rushed out to catch the shuttle. Did you know that I don't have access on the weekends. I didn't. I had to have the security guard let me in and he had to follow me upstairs, since my pass key wouldn't let me in anywhere. Thank you, Mr Security Guard! Then Saturday night, we went to Gary White's house and had a cook out and kicked around the soccer ball. Those little kids wore me out! Fun Fun Fun!

Sunday was lazy. Got up, went to mass, swung passed Pentagon City, did ton and tons of laundry, cooked spagetti for Heather and Matt, worked on my poster, and went to bed. Exciting huh?

So now it's Monday. my last day of actual being-in-the-office work is this Friday (I'll give you a second to grab a Kleenex) I leave after lunch Friday to head to Sacramento, and then I get back Tuesday night. Not entirely sure why I'm flying out Friday instead of Saturday, since I'm not going to any of the workshops Saturday. Oh well.

Well I better get to work. Lots to do, lots to do! Until later...

-al

So today is Wednesday, and I'm able to resume posting daily (I'll give you a second to throw your own little party).

This week has been stressful.  Monday I left work a little early to beat the 5:00 rush (I still hit it head on) and got to Kinko's to find out about gtting my poster printed for sacramento.  $150!!  I turned around and left.  I called a bunch of other places.  One wanted $16 per square foot...for you math idiots out there, that's $192 for 12 square feet.  But then!  Just when I'd given up all hope, I called Fast Copy and Printing and she said $85!  Sold!  So I went there after the presentations and AGU (which I'll get to in a sec) and told the lady I wanted to get a poster printed.  She walked to the back do do something and I walked over to the poster samples and prices.  The one for 36x48 said $120!  So I told the lady that they had quoted me $85 on the phone the day before.  She said, "OK, that's fine!"  Yeah, I'm a negotiator!  So I asked her when i could pic it up, praying she wasn't going to say not until friday.  She looked up at the clock and said, "If you need it, you can come back at 6"  Whaaaaaaat?  It was already 5:30!  This lady is awesome!!  So that's Fast Copy and Printing, 18th and Pennsylvania!  I'm gonna leave work early again today and go pick it up.

So yesterday, we had our presentations.  I am my biggest critic, I think.  And unfortunately, I put extra pressure on myself for being the oldest intern.  Stupid, I know.  To me, it was awful!  I couldn't find any of the words and I said "specifically" 8000 times in 10 minutes.  Half way through, I just kept thinking "This is bombing so bad!"  But everyone said they were all really good, so I'll take their word for it.  After that the interns all went to AGU for Brett's tour.  We talked to a few poeple at AGU, mostly about the political side of the organization.  After that, dod that whole poster thing, and hung out in my dorm.  Nothing exciting.

Tonight, we're going to see "Crowns", a show that Jack got us tickets for.  It should be fun.  I love going to the theater.

I also have to get some cardboard boxes so I can ship some stuff home.  Oooo, maybe I can get one from work.  There's boxes everywhere.  I may just go to kinko's and buy one.

Ok, gotta work on the analysis paper and get some stuff printed off for Sacramento.  Until later...

-al

So today is it...my last day at work.  This summer has gone by so fast.  It's hard to believe its been almost 8 weeks.

Yesterday was busy.  I got a final rough draft of the paper done.  I'm gonna proof read it and make some changes and tie up some other loose ends here.  I have to write up some documentation for next years interns too, but that won't be too hard.

I went and picked up my poster yesterday.  It's looks really good.  Not the highest quality (I'd have been mad if I paid $120 instead of $85) but still good.  I'm gonna call Kinko's and see how much they charge to laminate because the paper is kinda thin and I'm afraid I'm gonna rip it.

After that, we went to see Crowns.  Jack got us tickets to the play and it was really really good.  It was about church women and their hats.  Sounds like a weird idea, but it was really fabulous.

After that we all went to Fridays since it was our last night together.  I'm gonna miss everyone.  It's been so much fun and I'm so glad I have 7 new friends.  We didn't get in until about midnight, so I came home and went to bed.

So today is my last day here at AAPT.  Tomorrow is packing, shipping, organizing, and traveling day.  I hope Harry Potter gets here today, so I have something to read over the weekend.

Ok off to finish work so I can get out of here after lunch!

until later...

-al

I only have a few minutes, since I'm using the one computer kiosk that the student union has....darn my wireful computer.  

Sacramento is nice.  I don't know so much about how hot everyone says it is.  I've warn a jacket all weekend.  I had my poster presentation last night, which went well I suppose.

I've kinda walked around and done my own thing the last few days.  Saturday I went to Old Sacramento, which was old shops and stuff...Not too exciting.  Other than that I've been in the union or in the dorm reading Harry Potter 5.  I've met a few people that are really nice.  Gabe and, crap, i can't remember her name!! Maire??  I think.

Well I better go.  I'm gonna copy this onto the sacrmento thread.  Do people involved in ComPADRE get a prize?  I better get a polo since I practically designed them :)

until later!!

-al

I don't know why I felt the need to post this at 5:45 am, but I felt I needed to let everyone know that I have finally finished the 5th Harry Potter book.   All I have to say is that Ms. Rowlings better hurry up and get number 6 done soon, or I'm gonna explode.  I you've never gotten into the Harry Potter series, good lord, you're missing out!  Ok now I must go to bed.  Night!

-al

So I bought a kitten tonight.  It is an early b-day present for my b-friend.  Rigel is a 10 week old black and white domestic short hair.  He's adorable :)  OK bed time for me.

-al

Big announcement regarding our W/D store!  9 more days until it's owned by another company!!  Woo hoo, no more Lottery, western union, money orders, and thank goodness, no more CHECKS!

Other cool news.  I bought myself a new laptop...with wireless!  I'll actually be able to log on in Albuquerque.  Now I just have to figure it all out.  Thad?

-al

Here I am in New Mexico.  We went to the Trinity Site today and it was really cool...well, not cool, but really interesting.  It's hard to believe that that whole area was incinerated and melted into a layer of glass.  And lunch was yummy too.  I slept on the bus most of the way up and back...I just couldn't stay awake.  I get sleepy on buses.  I've just been hanging out in the hotel since I got back.  I haven't seen Suzanne and Alyssa left just as soon as she came in.  So I hang by myself :(  ::insert self pity here::

But hey, I got the wireless to work in the hotel!  Woohoo.  I love this!  There's no cords!!!

Anyway, I'm out. Until later...

-al

I can't believe it's November already.  I guess I'll do a little updating.

Kerry lost the election...pooper!

Winn-Dixie closed and reopened as Buehler's Fresh market.  I like it so far.

I got a Motorcycle permit today.  I needed a second ID to retake the Physics GRE since my student ID is expired, and KY won't just issue you a state ID card anymore.  So if anyone has a motocycle, I get to drive :)

I'm heading to NYC the week before X-mas to go see Phantom of the Opera! I can't wait.  NYC in the winter is awesome!  I can't wait.  Ice skating and Central Park and FAO Schwartz :)

I got my baby kitty, Rigel, declawed yesterday.  If i had known what was actually involved in declawing before I took him, I never would have.  I think its mean.  I hope he forgives me :(

Other than that, life is normal.

Until later...

-al

So Allison decided yesterday to become a Mary Kay consultant.  I'm really excited aboiut making lots of money, but I'm kinda nervous about getting started.  We'll see how it goes.

Any ladies need some Mary Kay?!

-al

I forgot to post this the other day.

Happy Birthday Matt!

Hope you had a good one!

-al

Just wanted to say hey to the new SPS interns.  I hope you have a great time in DC.  Here's a few pointers:

1.  Don't wait until the last minute to visit all the monuments and stuff in DC.  You'll run out of time.

2.  Pentagon City (blue line, Franconia/Springfield) has a cool mall and an ok grocery store (Harris Teeter).  You'll find you spend a lot of time there.

3.  If you have any interns without a roommate, hang out with them.  They get lonely.

4.  Watch the 4th of July fireworks from the mall grounds.  It's pretty cool!

5.  Go up to AAPT and ask about "chicken friday".  There's this great little hole-in-the-wall mexican-ish place that they used to go to with good fajitas.

6.  There's a movie theater in Georgetown.

7.  Visit the Holocaust Museum, even if you don't want to.

8.  If you have family coming in town.  Tell them to park at Franconia/Springfield and take the metro into town.  Driving in DC is suicide.

Ok I can't think of any other pointers.  I hope you have a great time in DC.  You are there to work, but make sure you have a great time taking in the amazing city.  And get to know the other interns.  They can be friends for life!

Best wishes!

-al

Beware of Quantum Ducks
Quark! Quark!

-al

Wow, I haven't been on here in quite a while.  I've got some cool news...

I got engaged April 9th, 2006!!  I'm so excited!  Everyone is invited!  We're planning on end of June/early July 2007.  I graduate in May and I'll be coming out of my student teaching semester, so during school is definately a no-go.  I don't want to be planning physics lessons and wedding plans at the same time.  Anytime later in the summer and I'm gonna hopefully be looking for a job, so june/july seems perfect.

We went and checked out a place yesterday for the reception (www.nunnlea.com).  We're definately having it there and if you can get their website to work, check it out.  Other than that we haven't really made any major decisions.  I don't even know my colors yet.  Ahh, planning :)

Hope everyone is doing well.  I'll update this periodically and keep you all posted, even though "you all" seems to be just the administrators :)

until later....

-al

Just a quick hello to all the new interns at SPS!

"Hello"

I hope you all have such a great time out there.  I noticed one of you posted that you went to church.  If any of you is looking for a neat catholic church, check out the Basilica.  Its one the red line at the Brookland/Brooklawn something-or-other stop.  Its a good 30-35 minute ride, but its worth it.

Theres a really good smoothie place in the plaza by Harris Teeter Grocery(hopefully you've found that already).

Lastly, eat at Lindy's Red Lion.  It's just a block or so from GW.  Good food, great atmosphere!

OK well that's all my advice for now.  Best of luck with your summers!  We who came before you expect great things :)

Best Wishes!

-al