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Saturday, December 13, 2008
2008 Lists
I'm sure you've all started to see the best of 2008 lists. Here's one from Rolling Stone with the top albums of '08. Illegally download on 3. 1...2...
Introducing the Multiple Kill Vehicle
This is absurd. I like how a futuristic weapons system that can hover and destroy multiple objects autonomously gets cheezy 80's music previously used to explain the solar system to 8 year olds.
Where has December Gone?
Hello Everyone. All 9 of you. Been a little while since I've posted. Unfortunately, I received no hate mail or anything about lack of posting. Been a pretty busy week, I'll get to everything.
I'm waiting to listen to the Heisman ceremony while beginning to post. That's right, listening. I've got a 19inch radio now that I've beaten the picture out of the TV. Originally, it was lightly tap the left side of the TV, then smack it, which escalated into shaking it the entire TV, now its a good combo of moves to get it work. Moves like Pacquiao. Anybody watch the fight?? Thought it was pretty good, I'm interested to see what the Filipino crew thinks of their fighter. Funny, Filipino people are from the Philippines. Only got a few more days with the blank TV. The tech I'm replacing is about to leave the island, so much is getting left behind, most importantly a working TV.
On the topic of living arrangements, I will be moving out of this studio. Mooooving on up, on up to the third floor. Housing wants to turn this studio into a one-bedroom, which means opening up a door on my wall and then asking for 150 more bucks a month. I don't really see the importance of a bedroom when I'd having nothing in it. Honestly, living in anything semi-clean is a step up from 930 Church in Ann Arbor. The year before that 716 Arch was a declared, "worse than some of what the crack addicts homes in Detroit" by a concerned mother. And I guarantee 930 Church was four to fucking sixty times worse than 716. A racoon's paradise would appropriately describe it. It could also support a population of about 5 to 6 anteaters.
So, I declined to stay in this studio and will move up to the third floor in January. This one's not bad, I like being on the ground floor and there's a little light, but I honestly don't spend much time in the apartment, so what gives. Noise isn't too much of a problem. 3rd will be nice, it's out of the way of any traffic and will have a great view of BIOS.
So, what's been going on the past week. Let's start with last Friday, when I hung out with the Wailers.
Yep, last Friday a few of the Wailers were hanging out a social club in St. George's. One of them were friends with a club member and the club invited them to come drink, eat, and Jam for them while they were in town playing with one of the Marley sons. Ky-lani. He's one of 20 or something, I have no clue. Biologically, Bob did a fantastic job with offspring production.
All started off, waiting to go see Ky-lani play in Hamilton. We weren't expecting much because it was said he was playing with some Pipe Band and only making an appearance. Luckily, a friend notified myself and another that the Wailers were going to be playing at a bar/club that his girlfriend bartends at. I had to ask him, wait the Wailers...as in Bob Marley AND the Wailers. Yep. We were pumped, I didn't know what to expect with the layout of this dinghy club, but we headed there immediately.
When we got there, we grabbed a drink and headed out to the back porch to check everything out. Sure enough, 20-30 club members were standing, chatting while 3 of the Wailers and 2 others were jamming on a guitar, singing, and tapping a couple of conga drums. Pretty crazy, after 30 minutes or so, people starting to congregate around their small circle on the porch and they started to jam the classics. Sat right next to them. The highlights were I Shot the Sherriff and Jammin, but Buffalo Soldier was the best. Got everyone singing.
Not a bad experience, to say the least.
That was Friday, the rest of the weekend included kayaking and playing some lax. Weather has been great until today. Still shorts weather, however, I'm dying to throw a snowball.
Living in a warm climate around Christmas time is a little strange. I haven't gotten into the mood. There was an attempt by my mother to instill X-mas memories with an advent calender. Sorry, mom, but I think I've opened 4 or 5...and its only when I feel like chocolate. You know, I'd prefer it if it was filled with baby jesus stuff. Here's a question, did Jesus gain his ability to walk on water at birth or around the age of 18 months or so? Was it only when he could walk on his own? Hypothetically, if baby Jesus had a walker/pusher and tried to walk on water, the walker would sink and baby Jesus would fucked and drown? I'd like to see Jesus run across water and then rise for a elbow drop and a swimmer. Sorry, off topic.
BIOS has done some things for the staff for the Holidays. A wine tasting gathering. I started to glorified slap the bag to a few other staff. Nobody was impressed with this idea. Anyway, I bought a bottle of Pinot Noir and Paso Blanco. No idea what they are besides being red and white.
Monday, BIOS put on a staff lunch. It lasted for 1pm to 8pm at a good tavern in St. George's. Basically a nice day off with plently of wine.
The rest of the week has been busy. I've slowly taken over mostly all the duties of the previous tech. I'm not quite extremely proficcient at everything, but things are going well. I'm also excited to start getting into data analysis. From the previous grant, we've got about 3-4 years of data to look at. It will add to the work load and is fairly daunting, but it should be fun. It will potentially mean I will be getting a publication as a lead author. The research will look into phosphate concentration profiles in the North Atlantic. Rock on, Science.
ALSO, I finally have a Bike. 50cc. Get about 75 miles a gallon on this hog. Not sure about that. Still pending is the actual payment for the Bike, but I've ridden it around a little bit. Still gotta get my license. I hear the transportation department(TCD) is much worse than the DMV. I will be very happy to finally have somewhat quick access to the island, rather than depending on the bus. I am predicting that in January I will actually get the license, but for the time being it will be used for illegal street racing.
Anyway, everything is good. I'm still alive. Looking forward to getting back to Michigan for the Holidays. Paid vacation. I still can't believe I'm employed and have a full time job. Where the hell did time go...where the hell did December go, can't believe I've lived in BDA for 2 months now.
Hope people are enjoying the snow.
Cheers,
DB
I'm waiting to listen to the Heisman ceremony while beginning to post. That's right, listening. I've got a 19inch radio now that I've beaten the picture out of the TV. Originally, it was lightly tap the left side of the TV, then smack it, which escalated into shaking it the entire TV, now its a good combo of moves to get it work. Moves like Pacquiao. Anybody watch the fight?? Thought it was pretty good, I'm interested to see what the Filipino crew thinks of their fighter. Funny, Filipino people are from the Philippines. Only got a few more days with the blank TV. The tech I'm replacing is about to leave the island, so much is getting left behind, most importantly a working TV.
On the topic of living arrangements, I will be moving out of this studio. Mooooving on up, on up to the third floor. Housing wants to turn this studio into a one-bedroom, which means opening up a door on my wall and then asking for 150 more bucks a month. I don't really see the importance of a bedroom when I'd having nothing in it. Honestly, living in anything semi-clean is a step up from 930 Church in Ann Arbor. The year before that 716 Arch was a declared, "worse than some of what the crack addicts homes in Detroit" by a concerned mother. And I guarantee 930 Church was four to fucking sixty times worse than 716. A racoon's paradise would appropriately describe it. It could also support a population of about 5 to 6 anteaters.
So, I declined to stay in this studio and will move up to the third floor in January. This one's not bad, I like being on the ground floor and there's a little light, but I honestly don't spend much time in the apartment, so what gives. Noise isn't too much of a problem. 3rd will be nice, it's out of the way of any traffic and will have a great view of BIOS.
So, what's been going on the past week. Let's start with last Friday, when I hung out with the Wailers.
Yep, last Friday a few of the Wailers were hanging out a social club in St. George's. One of them were friends with a club member and the club invited them to come drink, eat, and Jam for them while they were in town playing with one of the Marley sons. Ky-lani. He's one of 20 or something, I have no clue. Biologically, Bob did a fantastic job with offspring production.
All started off, waiting to go see Ky-lani play in Hamilton. We weren't expecting much because it was said he was playing with some Pipe Band and only making an appearance. Luckily, a friend notified myself and another that the Wailers were going to be playing at a bar/club that his girlfriend bartends at. I had to ask him, wait the Wailers...as in Bob Marley AND the Wailers. Yep. We were pumped, I didn't know what to expect with the layout of this dinghy club, but we headed there immediately.
When we got there, we grabbed a drink and headed out to the back porch to check everything out. Sure enough, 20-30 club members were standing, chatting while 3 of the Wailers and 2 others were jamming on a guitar, singing, and tapping a couple of conga drums. Pretty crazy, after 30 minutes or so, people starting to congregate around their small circle on the porch and they started to jam the classics. Sat right next to them. The highlights were I Shot the Sherriff and Jammin, but Buffalo Soldier was the best. Got everyone singing.
Not a bad experience, to say the least.
That was Friday, the rest of the weekend included kayaking and playing some lax. Weather has been great until today. Still shorts weather, however, I'm dying to throw a snowball.
Living in a warm climate around Christmas time is a little strange. I haven't gotten into the mood. There was an attempt by my mother to instill X-mas memories with an advent calender. Sorry, mom, but I think I've opened 4 or 5...and its only when I feel like chocolate. You know, I'd prefer it if it was filled with baby jesus stuff. Here's a question, did Jesus gain his ability to walk on water at birth or around the age of 18 months or so? Was it only when he could walk on his own? Hypothetically, if baby Jesus had a walker/pusher and tried to walk on water, the walker would sink and baby Jesus would fucked and drown? I'd like to see Jesus run across water and then rise for a elbow drop and a swimmer. Sorry, off topic.
BIOS has done some things for the staff for the Holidays. A wine tasting gathering. I started to glorified slap the bag to a few other staff. Nobody was impressed with this idea. Anyway, I bought a bottle of Pinot Noir and Paso Blanco. No idea what they are besides being red and white.
Monday, BIOS put on a staff lunch. It lasted for 1pm to 8pm at a good tavern in St. George's. Basically a nice day off with plently of wine.
The rest of the week has been busy. I've slowly taken over mostly all the duties of the previous tech. I'm not quite extremely proficcient at everything, but things are going well. I'm also excited to start getting into data analysis. From the previous grant, we've got about 3-4 years of data to look at. It will add to the work load and is fairly daunting, but it should be fun. It will potentially mean I will be getting a publication as a lead author. The research will look into phosphate concentration profiles in the North Atlantic. Rock on, Science.
ALSO, I finally have a Bike. 50cc. Get about 75 miles a gallon on this hog. Not sure about that. Still pending is the actual payment for the Bike, but I've ridden it around a little bit. Still gotta get my license. I hear the transportation department(TCD) is much worse than the DMV. I will be very happy to finally have somewhat quick access to the island, rather than depending on the bus. I am predicting that in January I will actually get the license, but for the time being it will be used for illegal street racing.
Anyway, everything is good. I'm still alive. Looking forward to getting back to Michigan for the Holidays. Paid vacation. I still can't believe I'm employed and have a full time job. Where the hell did time go...where the hell did December go, can't believe I've lived in BDA for 2 months now.
Hope people are enjoying the snow.
Cheers,
DB
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Reading Material
Here are a few articles I thought might be of some interest...haven't read them all.
It's also important, that radiation(more species) occurred when ice was thawed. Relating this topic to melting ice in the poles and you have opportunities for bacterial communities to grow, potentially altering the ecosystem. Science is neat.
3,000 Person Mob Attacks Govt. Offices to Protest
Is Plaxico Burress an Anomaly?
The Sushi Wars: Can the Bluefin Tuna Be Saved?
Scientists Discover 21st Century Plague
Astronomers find hints of water on Saturn moon
^I thought the above article pretty interesting. I recently read a paper dealing with biological activity(DNA) after being frozen for millions of years. Research was done in the artic where core samples were taken from like 45mil and 150mil or so years ago and believe it or not biological activity was found. This means, extreme temperatures of let's say Mars, could hypothetically have potential sources for growth and evolution.It's also important, that radiation(more species) occurred when ice was thawed. Relating this topic to melting ice in the poles and you have opportunities for bacterial communities to grow, potentially altering the ecosystem. Science is neat.
3,000 Person Mob Attacks Govt. Offices to Protest
Crackdown on Illegal Amazon Logging
Stress Advice
I now realize that you probably read the posts top from bottom, however, my train of thought and composition of each set of posts is bottom up. So, below is something to do with fiscal responsibility and this right here is how to avoid responsibility at all....
See more funny videos at Funny or Die
I Will Teach you to be Rich
One of my favorite blogs, is one on personal finance, done by Ramit Sethi. His site, Iwillteachyoutoberich, is quite a popular online financial advice site and I believe he's made some appearances on CNN and what not. However, one of the great parts about it, is that it focuses on a young adult and financial responsibility. Right now, he's doing a series of posts on how to save 1,000 in 30 days. Take a look at the website here at.... I will teach you to be rich . It's not a link to its main page, but to an article I found pretty insightful, dealing with conscious spending.
Lasers
Recently, the military has just test the capabilities of a 747 Boeing with an airborne laser missile. I repeat....747's have lasers....that can shoot down missiles.
This is way too cool. I didn't even know lasers were that advanced yet. Now, I'm picturing this..remember back in the old Western days where cowboys would just shoot their guns up in the air "bang, bang, bang" for the hell of it.... 15 years from now, laser guns.....pew, pew, pew. Just because we fucking can.
This is way too cool. I didn't even know lasers were that advanced yet. Now, I'm picturing this..remember back in the old Western days where cowboys would just shoot their guns up in the air "bang, bang, bang" for the hell of it.... 15 years from now, laser guns.....pew, pew, pew. Just because we fucking can.
The Denver Tacos
This post is for Joe. Apparently, the Rockies were giving away a free taco for every 7+ runs a game and the people were eating it up, literally. From 4pm to 6pm you could drive around and probably get between 5-6 tacos if you really tried. Fans loved it, employees hated it. No surprise. I'd really like to go through a taco bell interview. Anyway, now the Denver Nuggets are promoting a deal that gives away 3 free tacos every time the Nuggets score 103. Check out the story, here.
Che
As most of you know, I'm a big fan of trailer and usually see any that make it to a theaters about a year in advance. I argue with some people about how they hate trailers because it shows all the good stuff and things like that. Yeah, shitty movies show all their good stuff in the trailers and I know to avoid them, while seeing incredible trailers, gets the anticipation going for some great movies. And I think this movie of Che, starring Benecio Del Toro will be a very good one....check out the trailer at first showing........CHE.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Weekly Post, Number Whatever
What's up yall.
I feel like I just posted, but apparently it's been a week or so. Cool. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Hopefully saw all your not-so-close high school friends and reminded why they've got the prefix not-so-close. Just kidding, everybody is great. I would of liked to be back for it.
I don't really have too much going on here. I guess I'm becoming boring, we'll see, I'll think of something good to post.
I was able to go golfing this weekend. Bermuda has a few excellent golf courses, recently some PGA event was here when I arrived. But just like everything else here, they are extremely expensive. I actually think it's an arm and leg for 18 holes. Of course you get the cart with the 18. But for 9 holes, it's just a few kidney shots and they bad mouth for a while about your lack of golf prowess. Then 90 bucks.
HOWEVER, St. George's Golf Course is under construction right now and open to the public, except the fairways and greens are relatively upkept. Free golf in Bermuda...whatup. I don't have any clubs here, but borrowed a set. I went with another researcher here, coincidently his name is Steve Bell. I have an uncle Steve, but that uncle is not from Tazmania.
It was a good time, 9 holes with about one or two with pictureseque views of the Atlantic(note, I spelled pictureseque correctly without spellcheck correcting...fairly impressed with myself). The best part about it was Steve's comments w/ the accent. Every missed putt was a Shockah(shocker), the best was when there were 3 maybe 4 shockahs in a row.
Weather was great as well this weekend. I heard it's 28 and snowing back in Michigan. Hilarious. I went snorkeling on Sunday. Water was a little cold but perfectly clear, didn't see anything much though.
Not much else is new, I'm close to getting a bike(i think), but I've gotta go through a bunch of bullshit for getting a license. I'm assuming I'll be legally riding the hog in January.
I'll be posting a few more videos, articles I've found in the past few days, but now it's time for a brewdog.
Cheers,
Douglas
I feel like I just posted, but apparently it's been a week or so. Cool. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Hopefully saw all your not-so-close high school friends and reminded why they've got the prefix not-so-close. Just kidding, everybody is great. I would of liked to be back for it.
I don't really have too much going on here. I guess I'm becoming boring, we'll see, I'll think of something good to post.
I was able to go golfing this weekend. Bermuda has a few excellent golf courses, recently some PGA event was here when I arrived. But just like everything else here, they are extremely expensive. I actually think it's an arm and leg for 18 holes. Of course you get the cart with the 18. But for 9 holes, it's just a few kidney shots and they bad mouth for a while about your lack of golf prowess. Then 90 bucks.
HOWEVER, St. George's Golf Course is under construction right now and open to the public, except the fairways and greens are relatively upkept. Free golf in Bermuda...whatup. I don't have any clubs here, but borrowed a set. I went with another researcher here, coincidently his name is Steve Bell. I have an uncle Steve, but that uncle is not from Tazmania.
It was a good time, 9 holes with about one or two with pictureseque views of the Atlantic(note, I spelled pictureseque correctly without spellcheck correcting...fairly impressed with myself). The best part about it was Steve's comments w/ the accent. Every missed putt was a Shockah(shocker), the best was when there were 3 maybe 4 shockahs in a row.
Weather was great as well this weekend. I heard it's 28 and snowing back in Michigan. Hilarious. I went snorkeling on Sunday. Water was a little cold but perfectly clear, didn't see anything much though.
Not much else is new, I'm close to getting a bike(i think), but I've gotta go through a bunch of bullshit for getting a license. I'm assuming I'll be legally riding the hog in January.
I'll be posting a few more videos, articles I've found in the past few days, but now it's time for a brewdog.
Cheers,
Douglas
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
101 Posting Ideas: No.3
Continuing with my goal of finishing all 101 of GREAT BLOG IDEAS.
Numero 3 is write a tutorial:
Being an excellent chef like myself, how about a tutorial for Thanksgiving dinner. So just say, "Mom, Gramma...fuck off.....I got this one."
Tutorial: How to make a great Thanksgiving Dinner:
1. Go to the store and purchase the following items: Large Turkey, Gravy, Cranberry Sauce (can form), Potatoes or Squash or Both, Pre-made Stuffing, 2 or 3 30 racks of either Milwaukee's Best or PBR, Green Beans, Pre-made Pie, and Fireworks(A trip to Indiana may be required).
2. Before Lions game make sure you are least half way through your first case.
3. Finish Case. Now you are ready to cook.
4. Start cooking prep, one hour before eating.
5. First, rinse and prepare green beans for steaming.
6. Steam Green Beans.
7. While beans are getting prepared, start your prep for turkey.
8. Punch a large hole into the turkey.
9. Insert, potatoes, cranberry sauce, squash, stuffing into Turkey. Insert a long, thick wire through turkey.
10. Set up a rack 18inches above ground, outside for the turkey.
11. Place Fireworks under grill rack.
12. Place stuffed turkey onto of grill rack.
13. Light fireworks. Because fireworks, like sparklers, burn at 2000 degrees C, your turkey will cook fast. Use wire to turn. Turn once after 10 minutes.
*you should buy enough fireworks to last 20 minutes or more.
14. While watching fireworks, finish 2nd case.
15. After firework cooking, your turkey should be nice, crisp, and tender with all of your fixin's cooked with it!!
16. Serve with Green Beans and pie.
Numero 3 is write a tutorial:
Being an excellent chef like myself, how about a tutorial for Thanksgiving dinner. So just say, "Mom, Gramma...fuck off.....I got this one."
Tutorial: How to make a great Thanksgiving Dinner:
1. Go to the store and purchase the following items: Large Turkey, Gravy, Cranberry Sauce (can form), Potatoes or Squash or Both, Pre-made Stuffing, 2 or 3 30 racks of either Milwaukee's Best or PBR, Green Beans, Pre-made Pie, and Fireworks(A trip to Indiana may be required).
2. Before Lions game make sure you are least half way through your first case.
3. Finish Case. Now you are ready to cook.
4. Start cooking prep, one hour before eating.
5. First, rinse and prepare green beans for steaming.
6. Steam Green Beans.
7. While beans are getting prepared, start your prep for turkey.
8. Punch a large hole into the turkey.
9. Insert, potatoes, cranberry sauce, squash, stuffing into Turkey. Insert a long, thick wire through turkey.
10. Set up a rack 18inches above ground, outside for the turkey.
11. Place Fireworks under grill rack.
12. Place stuffed turkey onto of grill rack.
13. Light fireworks. Because fireworks, like sparklers, burn at 2000 degrees C, your turkey will cook fast. Use wire to turn. Turn once after 10 minutes.
*you should buy enough fireworks to last 20 minutes or more.
14. While watching fireworks, finish 2nd case.
15. After firework cooking, your turkey should be nice, crisp, and tender with all of your fixin's cooked with it!!
16. Serve with Green Beans and pie.
Bermuda Lacrosse
BDA Laxxxx, the chillest place to lax it up. At least that's what the website says:
Battling a cold, last Sunday, I finally got to play lacrosse. One of the first things I did when I began my packing for Bermuda was seeing if lacrosse was played down here. So and behold, I found the website and checked it out. The roster wasn't too impressive with the sole D-1 guy being 6-0, 275 and the majority having Bermuda Lacrosse listed as experience. But they had just recently played in the world games and as well sponsored a few tournaments on the island. It looked well organized, so I contacted the guy and let him know I'd be moving down here.
Few emails later since I've been here, the past weekend was the first time I was able to play. Luckily enough, they were having a tournament within they're "club". Aparently, there's about 60-70 guys involved with BDA lax and about 20 or so show up regularly on Sunday mornings to play. However, this weekend, they divided up the club into Canadians, Bermudians, and Americans calling it the Tri-Nations tournament. It happens once a year. Perfect. I showed up around 11:30am to Bermuda college and watched the women's team finish they're scrimmage. Found my contact and he introduced me to a few guys and let the Americans know I'd be playing with them. They were happy to hear that I had some experience. All of the guys were real friendly.
The Canadians and Bermudians played first, it was alright lacrosse. Most of the guys are over 26 or so(some are way over) and a lot haven't played for too long, but the balls not on the ground too much which is the best thing to see. After waiting and waiting, team USA got to play team Bermuda. Team USA won; after, we played Canada and won again. It was a lot of fun. It was especially a lot of fun doing whatever I wanted out on the field.
After the game, I had a few beers with some of the guys from the team and chatted to see what the hell other people on the island do. I've got diving lessons and squash match set up for the future. I've also got an unofficial invite to play on the National team for the World Games in 2010. Pretty pumped about that if everything works out.
http://bermudalacrosse.com/index.html
Battling a cold, last Sunday, I finally got to play lacrosse. One of the first things I did when I began my packing for Bermuda was seeing if lacrosse was played down here. So and behold, I found the website and checked it out. The roster wasn't too impressive with the sole D-1 guy being 6-0, 275 and the majority having Bermuda Lacrosse listed as experience. But they had just recently played in the world games and as well sponsored a few tournaments on the island. It looked well organized, so I contacted the guy and let him know I'd be moving down here.
Few emails later since I've been here, the past weekend was the first time I was able to play. Luckily enough, they were having a tournament within they're "club". Aparently, there's about 60-70 guys involved with BDA lax and about 20 or so show up regularly on Sunday mornings to play. However, this weekend, they divided up the club into Canadians, Bermudians, and Americans calling it the Tri-Nations tournament. It happens once a year. Perfect. I showed up around 11:30am to Bermuda college and watched the women's team finish they're scrimmage. Found my contact and he introduced me to a few guys and let the Americans know I'd be playing with them. They were happy to hear that I had some experience. All of the guys were real friendly.
The Canadians and Bermudians played first, it was alright lacrosse. Most of the guys are over 26 or so(some are way over) and a lot haven't played for too long, but the balls not on the ground too much which is the best thing to see. After waiting and waiting, team USA got to play team Bermuda. Team USA won; after, we played Canada and won again. It was a lot of fun. It was especially a lot of fun doing whatever I wanted out on the field.
After the game, I had a few beers with some of the guys from the team and chatted to see what the hell other people on the island do. I've got diving lessons and squash match set up for the future. I've also got an unofficial invite to play on the National team for the World Games in 2010. Pretty pumped about that if everything works out.
Holidays: Round 1
Hey all,
So, Wednesday, Thanksgiving Eve kick-starts the "biggest days of" trifecta. I'm talking about the Biggest Bar night of the year, Biggest Feast of the year, and Biggest Shopping day of the year. Just what mostly every single American lives for, boozing, eating, and spending money. Yayyy.
However, here in Bermuda, I have work tomorrow. Bermuda picks and chooses which holidays to celebrate and American Thanksgiving isn't one of them, but I do get a holiday called Boxing Day. Until a few months ago, I never heard of it, but it's the day after Christmas and something to do with giving gifts to employees after their day of Christmas. UK's version of bonuses. I personally think it means you get in a fight with whoever gave you the worst gift.
While you're all enjoying your couches watching the Lions get run over by the Titans and then suffer again through the Cowboys game, I will be staring into a microscopic picking out zooplankton for half the day. Looks like they've added another game to Thanksgiving too, Eagles vs. Cardinals. Perfect, another 6hrs of post-ESPN coverage force feeding us FatNabb.
You'll be happy to know that I will indeed be eating Turkey and all the fixin's. Our Dining Hall is fixing together a feast. You've gotta understand that there's not too many of Americans here at BIOS. Besides my boss and his family, there are about 4-5 staff members present at BIOS that are American, plus 15 or so Fall Students. Many people are gone on a cruise or off taking vacation time. So besides the dinner, it feels nothing like thanksgiving at all. The only way I'm getting a whiff of all the Turkey day activies is through facebook statuses.
Anyway, things around here are starting to die down severely. A cruise is gone, several staff are vacationing, and the Fall research interns have returned to college. There was a sendoff last night with dinner downtown in Hamilton and I gotta be honest, the city looks pretty nice prepping for Christmas time. I have just found out and scheduled my vacation back to the states for the christmas holidays.
I return Dec. 23rd to Troy. I leave for Bermuda on Jan. 4th.
The next few months should be particularly quiet, though. No more students around and the worst time of year, weather wise, so many Bermudians are off of the Island. Just in general, Bermuda has no major events.
I'm looking at it two ways. I will be bored...I think. But I'm also looking forward to it. The weeks I've been here have resulted in work, fixing myself in, and The Wind/hanging around. One of my main reasons for working in Bermuda was education, but on my own time. There's shit tons of materials for a better understanding of all the work in the marine science field and it will be a great time to do so.
I'm also excited to start getting involved with the Aquarium. I've always wanted to see what working at an Aquarium is like and Bermuda Aquarium Museum and Zoo(BAMZ) is the perfect spot to do so. They've got sharks.
That's all for this post.
Happy Bar Night and Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.
Cheers,
Doug
So, Wednesday, Thanksgiving Eve kick-starts the "biggest days of" trifecta. I'm talking about the Biggest Bar night of the year, Biggest Feast of the year, and Biggest Shopping day of the year. Just what mostly every single American lives for, boozing, eating, and spending money. Yayyy.
However, here in Bermuda, I have work tomorrow. Bermuda picks and chooses which holidays to celebrate and American Thanksgiving isn't one of them, but I do get a holiday called Boxing Day. Until a few months ago, I never heard of it, but it's the day after Christmas and something to do with giving gifts to employees after their day of Christmas. UK's version of bonuses. I personally think it means you get in a fight with whoever gave you the worst gift.
While you're all enjoying your couches watching the Lions get run over by the Titans and then suffer again through the Cowboys game, I will be staring into a microscopic picking out zooplankton for half the day. Looks like they've added another game to Thanksgiving too, Eagles vs. Cardinals. Perfect, another 6hrs of post-ESPN coverage force feeding us FatNabb.
You'll be happy to know that I will indeed be eating Turkey and all the fixin's. Our Dining Hall is fixing together a feast. You've gotta understand that there's not too many of Americans here at BIOS. Besides my boss and his family, there are about 4-5 staff members present at BIOS that are American, plus 15 or so Fall Students. Many people are gone on a cruise or off taking vacation time. So besides the dinner, it feels nothing like thanksgiving at all. The only way I'm getting a whiff of all the Turkey day activies is through facebook statuses.
Anyway, things around here are starting to die down severely. A cruise is gone, several staff are vacationing, and the Fall research interns have returned to college. There was a sendoff last night with dinner downtown in Hamilton and I gotta be honest, the city looks pretty nice prepping for Christmas time. I have just found out and scheduled my vacation back to the states for the christmas holidays.
I return Dec. 23rd to Troy. I leave for Bermuda on Jan. 4th.
The next few months should be particularly quiet, though. No more students around and the worst time of year, weather wise, so many Bermudians are off of the Island. Just in general, Bermuda has no major events.
I'm looking at it two ways. I will be bored...I think. But I'm also looking forward to it. The weeks I've been here have resulted in work, fixing myself in, and The Wind/hanging around. One of my main reasons for working in Bermuda was education, but on my own time. There's shit tons of materials for a better understanding of all the work in the marine science field and it will be a great time to do so.
I'm also excited to start getting involved with the Aquarium. I've always wanted to see what working at an Aquarium is like and Bermuda Aquarium Museum and Zoo(BAMZ) is the perfect spot to do so. They've got sharks.
That's all for this post.
Happy Bar Night and Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.
Cheers,
Doug
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Blogs, Blogs, Blogs
I've spent a good amount of time finding websites/blogs that are fairly easy to navigate and always have interesting stuff, usually daily, and usually only 15minutes or so are required to look it over. I was searching for the best blogs ranked by CNN or something, but I came across this blog and its post, 101 Great Posting Ideas that Will Make Your Blog Sizzle. Haha, how hilarious is this. I think my next goal will be to find really, really shitty blogs in both content and writing styles with the authors taking it very seriously.
How the hell does a blog even sizzle. Don't you want your blog to become popular? Something sizzlin' should only be used to describe bacon fat. Nothing else. Not women, not a football player who's rushed for 200yds, not even how I look on a Saturday night.
But in respect to 101 Posting Ideas, I'll try to get through a couple each day. Starting with...
1.Brainstorm by matching up your readers wants and needs using the Visitor Grid method of brainstorming.
I have no idea what Visitor Grid method of brainstorming. If someone can tell me, I'd appreciate and still not use it because I already know what you want. Sizzlin photos of me. I mean photos of me that have been heated on a greased frying pan.
2. Write a post by examining the pros and cons of an issue.
Issue: Watching the entire trilogy of Jurassic Park instead of doing work.
Pros: Increased Stamina
Sharper Vision
Raised IQ
....MOVIE ABOUT DINOSAURS
Cons: It is only a trilogy.
Jeff Goldblum is not in the third.
I'm gonna tear through these Posting Ideas.
How the hell does a blog even sizzle. Don't you want your blog to become popular? Something sizzlin' should only be used to describe bacon fat. Nothing else. Not women, not a football player who's rushed for 200yds, not even how I look on a Saturday night.
But in respect to 101 Posting Ideas, I'll try to get through a couple each day. Starting with...
1.Brainstorm by matching up your readers wants and needs using the Visitor Grid method of brainstorming.
I have no idea what Visitor Grid method of brainstorming. If someone can tell me, I'd appreciate and still not use it because I already know what you want. Sizzlin photos of me. I mean photos of me that have been heated on a greased frying pan.
2. Write a post by examining the pros and cons of an issue.
Issue: Watching the entire trilogy of Jurassic Park instead of doing work.
Pros: Increased Stamina
Sharper Vision
Raised IQ
....MOVIE ABOUT DINOSAURS
Cons: It is only a trilogy.
Jeff Goldblum is not in the third.
I'm gonna tear through these Posting Ideas.
McBride
McBride on the left
If you got a chance, look up more videos if you can find online. I guarantee you will enjoy them.
He's also about to come out with a movie called Land of the Lost co-starring Ferrel.
Plot Synopsis: "A forest ranger along with his two children inadvertently stumble into a mysterious land populated by dinosaurs and other creatures, including the mysterious and dangerous race of Sleestak."
The Manchurian Microchip
"The myth: Chinese intelligence services have concealed a microchip in every computer everywhere, programmed to “call home” if and when activated."God, this would be kind of freak if it were true.
Oh, Hi Mr. Ehringer. You just wrote an article about this actually being a reality. Great. Where's the link?
Manchurian Microchip
The U.S. has to have some ridiculous intelligence operations going on in China. Guess we'll just have to wait 20 years for them to make a movie about them.
Pirates
Here's a link to a story regarding a recent pirate attack. Kiddnapping a 1000ft long supertanker with up to 100 million dollars worth of crude oil.
I'm curious to see how many damage one of those rockets would do to a tanker? Aparently Somali pirates usually attack in a few bottles between 6-8 people. If I'm a 500ft long tanker, which SHOULD be supplied by some crew dedication to watch and defense there is no reason I should be afraid of this dinghy.
I honestly think this is near the beginning of more and more pirate attacks. There is little defense out in the open ocean and with more and more fishing vessels getting retired they can be easily bought(or stolen). And it's not like RPG and automatic weapons are hard to find in Africa and SE asia.
I'm curious to see how many damage one of those rockets would do to a tanker? Aparently Somali pirates usually attack in a few bottles between 6-8 people. If I'm a 500ft long tanker, which SHOULD be supplied by some crew dedication to watch and defense there is no reason I should be afraid of this dinghy.
I honestly think this is near the beginning of more and more pirate attacks. There is little defense out in the open ocean and with more and more fishing vessels getting retired they can be easily bought(or stolen). And it's not like RPG and automatic weapons are hard to find in Africa and SE asia.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Back Home
Yo, yo. It's good to be back. I've put off writing the past few days just because the past 1o days or so kind of wore me out. Also, I've been putting the posts up because I've learned that people are actually reading this. And I'm assuming when they tell me they're reading this is that they've read it once or twice. But a thank you too a Mr. Elyachar that reads it everyday no matter what. I think that may put him into competition with DBell on Bermuda's biggest fan.
Just a recap of the past week.
Sat(11-8)-Wed(11-12): 60miles south of Bermuda. On a ship. In the Atlantic. I learned how to tie 3 knots.
Thur(11-13): Back to Detroit. Within an hour, ate McDonalds.
Friday(11-14): I got a ring.
Saturday(11-15): Sat in the rain and sleet to watch UM football. Left to see Bond. Ricks for 5+ hours.
Sunday(11-16): Back to Bermuda. No sleep for 30 hrs.
Monday(11-17): 74 degrees. How's the snow MI?
I guess I'll go into more detail on the Cruise and the Weekend in MI, but to start watch this video........see now you're already laughing.
B241 - BATS Cruise #241------Leg 1: Saturday(11/08) - Wednesday(11-12)
Work Deck, waiting to leave
Just a recap of the past week.
Sat(11-8)-Wed(11-12): 60miles south of Bermuda. On a ship. In the Atlantic. I learned how to tie 3 knots.
Thur(11-13): Back to Detroit. Within an hour, ate McDonalds.
Friday(11-14): I got a ring.
Saturday(11-15): Sat in the rain and sleet to watch UM football. Left to see Bond. Ricks for 5+ hours.
Sunday(11-16): Back to Bermuda. No sleep for 30 hrs.
Monday(11-17): 74 degrees. How's the snow MI?
I guess I'll go into more detail on the Cruise and the Weekend in MI, but to start watch this video........see now you're already laughing.
B241 - BATS Cruise #241------Leg 1: Saturday(11/08) - Wednesday(11-12)
Work Deck, waiting to leave
I think another FAQ will be the best way to recap the trip.
Q: Doug! How was your cruise??
A: It was fucking awesome.
Q: Oh...well what'd you do?
A: Um. Saturday, we departed early around 8am or so. It took us about 6 hours to cruise out to our first deployment site. Ship traveled at 10knots. 1 knot = 1 nautical mile/hour. Nautical mile is a little farther than a mile. At our first station(station as in general lat/long, we have stations for multiple research areas) we threw in a CTD. Conductivy, Temperature, Depth. It looks like this:
So basically at each station or so we'd drop this big CTD down in the water. It gets dropped down to whatever depth, let's say 500m. Once it gets to its maximum depth it will start to be pulled up. At a specified depth, a large bottle, is "fired" or closed from the boat remotely and retains about 12L of water. There are 24 bottles attached to the CTD, CTDs are dropped multiple times at each station if necessary, and sampling depths ranged from 4200m(about half of Mt. Everest) to 150m. It took about 4hrs for the CTD to hit 4200m.
Besides many CTDs, we worked on the Main Deck to deploy several buoys. For CTD's scientists don't do anything with lowering it or bringing it back up. So working on the Main Deck was more enjoyable because I got to do shit with a workvest and a hard hat on. On a boat. In the Ocean.
Sorry, I've gotten off track with the FAQ.
Q: What did you do on the work deck.
A: I wore a work vest and a hard hat. On a boat. In the Ocean.
Q: That's it?
A: Basically, I didn't do too much, but help out and hold lines...just being taught safety stuff and what basically they're doing. A few crew members help out to operate the A frame(big thing that holds the line. Directly above the photographer in the photo) and the winch(yellow thing, center of photo) that pulls line in. The chief scientist works with the crew and is in charge of the 1 or 2 other scientists helping with the deployment. So, I held lines, helped pull buoys in, attached instruments to line. I also learned how to tie off the line to a cleat. Never really did that before, but I got the hang of it after having the crew/sci's wait on me for fumbling around with the line and knot for the first few times. After much practice, I got a round of appluase when I did it quickly and flawlessly. Jojo, the philipino crew member operating the main winch bet me I couldn't tie one down in under 3 seconds. I made it in 1 second. What up Jojo.
Q: How long were you working?
A: Not long, each scientist has his or her own deployments and occasionally helps out others, but you might have to work 2 hrs deploying. Maybe 2hrs prepping and 1hr collecting water from a CTD. Somedays you have nothing going on, somedays more. They were relatively easy work days though.
Q: What did you do besides work?
A: I slept about 12 hrs a day. The seas were calm, so it gave the boat a nice rocking motion that puts you right to sleep and makes you not want to get up. I ate a lot. The two cooks, Greg and Buddy were phenomenol. Huge breakfasts everyday and great lunches and dinners. Plus they had a huge drawer or candy, with those candies with the strawberry on top and the liquidish center. Also, lots of movies and tv series were watched in our lounge. The lounge made me realize, leather couches aren't comforable, unless you like having an itchy, sweaty back after 2 hours sitting, watching a movie. And of course, I did a lot of time just hanging out on the top deck with a few other students, that were accompanying us on the trip. Very relaxing.
Q: Did you see anything cool?
A: Flying Fish. I was hoping for a pod of dolphins to swim by. Then have one get attacked by a shark, but as the dolphin is getting taken down, his dolphriends come back and start jumping out of the water to dive bomb the shark. Doing tons of crazy flips like in seaworld. The shark can't take it and starts swimming away, ONLY TO RETURN WITH MORE SHARKS. I think I got a shot to see it next cruise.
Q: Can you swim while out there?
A: No aparently, some lady got her leg ripped off by a shark. I think this made me want to jump in the water even more.
ahhhhhh. No more swimming off research vessels.
Q: Anything else interesting?
A: Of course, I wouldn't of written that if nothing happened. When we were returning to Bermuda we got a Mayday call from a sinking Sailboat. I guess we had seen the Sailboat at about 3am the previous night and never radioed to them(wasn't neccessary at the time). So, we had to get off the Atlantic Exploer to hop on to the pilot boat(directs big cruise ships into Bermuda) about a half-mile off from Bermuda. The group was rescued by a Chinese Tanker who was much closer than our R/V Atlantic Explorer, so the it was not neccessary for our ship to respond to the Mayday call.
Anyways, the trip was great, I'm excited to go back out there which will probably be in January or Feb. Its pretty cool to think that this is my job.
Back to MI
Ughhhh, more writing. Aparently this is the time to give shoutouts. We'll see.
I flew back in Thursday for the weekend return to Ann Arbor. I immeidately was rushed to a McDonalds by my parents. I think I didn't order maybe 2 or 3 things on the Dollar Menu.
Thursday and Friday consisted of getting more things together for my apartment. I now have a shower curtain.
Friday night, was the big reason I flew in. Championship rings.
It was real, real good to see everyone. I was very happy to hear Robert has a job and that Lehman still has one. I forgot how large Graham is, jesus. How the hell was I cool with standing next to you for 4 years?
As soon as the rings were receieved and the congradulations were said the weekend turned into a blur. Starting with Ricks and ending with Ricks. In between was a return to the lacrosse house. A sleety, miserably bad football game by Michigan. And the new Bond. All in all a great weekend.
Returning to Bermuda was long and tiring, but I noticed something as soon as I got there. I was home. And I was happy to be there. It was great to see everybody and return to real home, but it made me relieved to know that I made the right decision to commit 2 years of my life to Bermuda.
So that's it for catching up. I can now get back to post more crap a find online and make you read. Thanks for reading Ely. You're the only one that would read this far.
Cheers,
Doug
Q: Doug! How was your cruise??
A: It was fucking awesome.
Q: Oh...well what'd you do?
A: Um. Saturday, we departed early around 8am or so. It took us about 6 hours to cruise out to our first deployment site. Ship traveled at 10knots. 1 knot = 1 nautical mile/hour. Nautical mile is a little farther than a mile. At our first station(station as in general lat/long, we have stations for multiple research areas) we threw in a CTD. Conductivy, Temperature, Depth. It looks like this:
So basically at each station or so we'd drop this big CTD down in the water. It gets dropped down to whatever depth, let's say 500m. Once it gets to its maximum depth it will start to be pulled up. At a specified depth, a large bottle, is "fired" or closed from the boat remotely and retains about 12L of water. There are 24 bottles attached to the CTD, CTDs are dropped multiple times at each station if necessary, and sampling depths ranged from 4200m(about half of Mt. Everest) to 150m. It took about 4hrs for the CTD to hit 4200m.
Besides many CTDs, we worked on the Main Deck to deploy several buoys. For CTD's scientists don't do anything with lowering it or bringing it back up. So working on the Main Deck was more enjoyable because I got to do shit with a workvest and a hard hat on. On a boat. In the Ocean.
Sorry, I've gotten off track with the FAQ.Q: What did you do on the work deck.
A: I wore a work vest and a hard hat. On a boat. In the Ocean.
Q: That's it?
A: Basically, I didn't do too much, but help out and hold lines...just being taught safety stuff and what basically they're doing. A few crew members help out to operate the A frame(big thing that holds the line. Directly above the photographer in the photo) and the winch(yellow thing, center of photo) that pulls line in. The chief scientist works with the crew and is in charge of the 1 or 2 other scientists helping with the deployment. So, I held lines, helped pull buoys in, attached instruments to line. I also learned how to tie off the line to a cleat. Never really did that before, but I got the hang of it after having the crew/sci's wait on me for fumbling around with the line and knot for the first few times. After much practice, I got a round of appluase when I did it quickly and flawlessly. Jojo, the philipino crew member operating the main winch bet me I couldn't tie one down in under 3 seconds. I made it in 1 second. What up Jojo.
Q: How long were you working?
A: Not long, each scientist has his or her own deployments and occasionally helps out others, but you might have to work 2 hrs deploying. Maybe 2hrs prepping and 1hr collecting water from a CTD. Somedays you have nothing going on, somedays more. They were relatively easy work days though.
Q: What did you do besides work?
A: I slept about 12 hrs a day. The seas were calm, so it gave the boat a nice rocking motion that puts you right to sleep and makes you not want to get up. I ate a lot. The two cooks, Greg and Buddy were phenomenol. Huge breakfasts everyday and great lunches and dinners. Plus they had a huge drawer or candy, with those candies with the strawberry on top and the liquidish center. Also, lots of movies and tv series were watched in our lounge. The lounge made me realize, leather couches aren't comforable, unless you like having an itchy, sweaty back after 2 hours sitting, watching a movie. And of course, I did a lot of time just hanging out on the top deck with a few other students, that were accompanying us on the trip. Very relaxing.
Q: Did you see anything cool?
A: Flying Fish. I was hoping for a pod of dolphins to swim by. Then have one get attacked by a shark, but as the dolphin is getting taken down, his dolphriends come back and start jumping out of the water to dive bomb the shark. Doing tons of crazy flips like in seaworld. The shark can't take it and starts swimming away, ONLY TO RETURN WITH MORE SHARKS. I think I got a shot to see it next cruise.
Q: Can you swim while out there?
A: No aparently, some lady got her leg ripped off by a shark. I think this made me want to jump in the water even more.
ahhhhhh. No more swimming off research vessels.
Q: Anything else interesting?
A: Of course, I wouldn't of written that if nothing happened. When we were returning to Bermuda we got a Mayday call from a sinking Sailboat. I guess we had seen the Sailboat at about 3am the previous night and never radioed to them(wasn't neccessary at the time). So, we had to get off the Atlantic Exploer to hop on to the pilot boat(directs big cruise ships into Bermuda) about a half-mile off from Bermuda. The group was rescued by a Chinese Tanker who was much closer than our R/V Atlantic Explorer, so the it was not neccessary for our ship to respond to the Mayday call.
Anyways, the trip was great, I'm excited to go back out there which will probably be in January or Feb. Its pretty cool to think that this is my job.
Back to MI
Ughhhh, more writing. Aparently this is the time to give shoutouts. We'll see.
I flew back in Thursday for the weekend return to Ann Arbor. I immeidately was rushed to a McDonalds by my parents. I think I didn't order maybe 2 or 3 things on the Dollar Menu.
Thursday and Friday consisted of getting more things together for my apartment. I now have a shower curtain.
Friday night, was the big reason I flew in. Championship rings.
It was real, real good to see everyone. I was very happy to hear Robert has a job and that Lehman still has one. I forgot how large Graham is, jesus. How the hell was I cool with standing next to you for 4 years?
As soon as the rings were receieved and the congradulations were said the weekend turned into a blur. Starting with Ricks and ending with Ricks. In between was a return to the lacrosse house. A sleety, miserably bad football game by Michigan. And the new Bond. All in all a great weekend.
Returning to Bermuda was long and tiring, but I noticed something as soon as I got there. I was home. And I was happy to be there. It was great to see everybody and return to real home, but it made me relieved to know that I made the right decision to commit 2 years of my life to Bermuda.
So that's it for catching up. I can now get back to post more crap a find online and make you read. Thanks for reading Ely. You're the only one that would read this far.
Cheers,
Doug
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
World is Flat
If someone told me 500 years ago that the world was round, I would knock him out...or maybe just try to exclude him from my groups of friends. Flat or round, I was pretty blown away by finally being out in the open water. It's somewhat of a difficult feeling to explain, it's nothing spiritual or awe-inspiring, but just really, really cool. Seas were relatively calm, the work was fun, the crew was great, and the food was delicious. So I have much to talk about, but it is nearing bedtime and also an early wake up, so the blog on the cruise will have to wait until tomorrow where I have a long block of time to type away.
Rainbow is for Zenga
CTD - I forget the Acronym, something like Conductivy Temperature and not Depth. Each little bottle holds 12L. It gets lowered to a depth and on the ascent each bottle gets water at a certain depth. CTD depths ranged from 150m-500m to up to 4200m deep(2.6 miles)
Flatness
Moon
Rainbow is for Zenga
CTD - I forget the Acronym, something like Conductivy Temperature and not Depth. Each little bottle holds 12L. It gets lowered to a depth and on the ascent each bottle gets water at a certain depth. CTD depths ranged from 150m-500m to up to 4200m deep(2.6 miles)
Flatness
MoonI worked a little on the cruise too.
Cheers
Cheers
Friday, November 7, 2008
B241
I'm pretty tired right now so this post will be nice and short.
I will be leaving on my first cruise in a few hours or so for 5 days at sea. This cruise is part of BATS. Again, Bermuda Atlantic Time Series. I'm very excited, it feels like some discovery channel shit.
On Thursday, we spent the day going through ship protocols and what will be needed for our sampling and measurements. Today, was hauling our stuff out to St. George's and tying everything down. I will give a nice long boring description of everything once I return on Wednesday.
But right now, I'm grabbing my last few things and taking a bus in to St. George's to spend the night on the boat, so I won't have to deal with arranging a taxi in the morning. Anyways, should be a great trip.
Cheers
Oh yeah, bonus cheers for the new president elect, wish I could of been in the states to witness it.
I will be leaving on my first cruise in a few hours or so for 5 days at sea. This cruise is part of BATS. Again, Bermuda Atlantic Time Series. I'm very excited, it feels like some discovery channel shit.
On Thursday, we spent the day going through ship protocols and what will be needed for our sampling and measurements. Today, was hauling our stuff out to St. George's and tying everything down. I will give a nice long boring description of everything once I return on Wednesday.
But right now, I'm grabbing my last few things and taking a bus in to St. George's to spend the night on the boat, so I won't have to deal with arranging a taxi in the morning. Anyways, should be a great trip.
Cheers
Oh yeah, bonus cheers for the new president elect, wish I could of been in the states to witness it.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Cymothoa exigua
Here's a link to something pretty out there. A ridiculous parasite/crustacean that replaces a fishes tongue. Check it out....Cymothoa exigua
Bacconaise
Too good to be true or too disgusting. I'm not a big fan of Mayo, but if I try this, there's probably a 140% chance it's going on everything.
Fat Cats
Found this story about Goldman Sachs, wasn't sure if it'd a topic in the States. GS has a 7 billion in pounds devoted to salary and bonuses....AFTER its 6 billion pound bailout. Now, I've got no fucking clue how contracts and salaries work in the financial world, but this is absurd. 3 million on average for each partner..........I just don't know what to say. But please read the story of the fat cats
Halloween
Halloween!!!! You know what that means, time to change your Facebook picture. Gotta let everybody know what you were for Halloween.
I wasn't satisfied at all with my choice of costume this year. I didn't think about bringing anything down, so last minute I went into Hamilton to look at what they had. All the Adult costumes were ridiculous, who the hell wants to be Barney Rubble or your classic "Pimp"... are you kidding me? The morons who are making the costumes must have a ridiculous surplus. Also, I wasn't going to be paying 70 bucks for a costume, plus all the sweet costumes like an Eyore jumpsuit were for kids. I debated for about 7 minutes deciding whether or not I could fit into it. Anyway, I grabbed a box, cut a hole in for my head, taped on an alarm clock and book and made some drawers with marker and boom, and you got your One-Night Stand. I wasn't going to be going out into the city, so I felt it was appropriate to wear it to the Wind. I wouldn't dare be caught out with it on at a club or bar. The Wind suprisingly had a pretty good turnout, 50 or so total which is large for the place. A good amount of the younger staff, plus 20 or so Fall08 Students, and a group of Freshmen Princeton kids were here for the week. They started a dance party. One-Night Stand guy immediately found a reason to be obnoxious.
Tobacco Bay
On Saturday, I headed to Tobacco Bay with a few people to hit up another snorkeling spot in St. George's. I was pretty impressed by it. You can see from the pic that the beach is on the right and the sandy bottom extends out midway into the bay before it starts to get deeper. There's also a bar right by the beach, but I think it's closed down for the year. When I first checked out the Bay it was packed by Tourists. On Saturday, the cruise ships are gone so the beach was nice and quiet. Another good thing about Tobacco is the big rock formations, they were great for climbing up and jumping off into the sea. For some reason I saw a few golf balls lying maybe 5m or so deep and wondered what the hell...apparently you drop a golf ball to see how deep it is before you jump off into a spot. It's like a tiny round Secchi Disk(used for determing visible light depth). I don't know, I wouldn't really trust a golf ball before jumping in. Anyway, an octupus was spotted as well as an underwater cave was found. The geek that I am, I'm itching to get my hands on a field guide to start IDing what I've been seeing.
BATS Cruise
So I got some pretty cool news a few days ago. I'm going on my sampling cruise, which will be departing on Sat. November 8 and returing on 12th. Only a short cruise, but it gives me time to learn some basics while the Research Tech I'm replacing still has time to teach me a few things. I guess this is an appropriate time to talk about the research that I will be associated with.
I will be the tech for analyzing samples of almost everything phosphorus, this includes...Total Dissolved Phosphorus, Soluble Reactive P, Particulate Organic P, and I think a few more P analyses. All of this is part of BATS, an acronym for the Bermuda Atlantic Time Series. It is a long-term sampling effort to gain a better understanding of the biological and chemical cycles of the Deep Ocean. It is extremely relevant to Climate Change, particularly understanding carbon exchange between the oceans and atomosphere. My work with phosphorus relates to biology of phytoplankton, a major component for removing carbon from the atomosphere. An overview: http://www.bios.edu/research/bats.html
But enough with the scientific crap, I'm jacked to go on this...
The crew is mostly Philippine, I've met a few of them after the ship returned Wednesday. They usually have parties on the dock when the return. They've got a hoop on the dock, I think I might be taller than all of them. Apparently great cooks as well.
Somewhat of a short-post, but I've got a few links to post. I'll try to post more this week and keep a few notes on my days at sea.
Cheers,
Db
I wasn't satisfied at all with my choice of costume this year. I didn't think about bringing anything down, so last minute I went into Hamilton to look at what they had. All the Adult costumes were ridiculous, who the hell wants to be Barney Rubble or your classic "Pimp"... are you kidding me? The morons who are making the costumes must have a ridiculous surplus. Also, I wasn't going to be paying 70 bucks for a costume, plus all the sweet costumes like an Eyore jumpsuit were for kids. I debated for about 7 minutes deciding whether or not I could fit into it. Anyway, I grabbed a box, cut a hole in for my head, taped on an alarm clock and book and made some drawers with marker and boom, and you got your One-Night Stand. I wasn't going to be going out into the city, so I felt it was appropriate to wear it to the Wind. I wouldn't dare be caught out with it on at a club or bar. The Wind suprisingly had a pretty good turnout, 50 or so total which is large for the place. A good amount of the younger staff, plus 20 or so Fall08 Students, and a group of Freshmen Princeton kids were here for the week. They started a dance party. One-Night Stand guy immediately found a reason to be obnoxious.
Tobacco Bay
On Saturday, I headed to Tobacco Bay with a few people to hit up another snorkeling spot in St. George's. I was pretty impressed by it. You can see from the pic that the beach is on the right and the sandy bottom extends out midway into the bay before it starts to get deeper. There's also a bar right by the beach, but I think it's closed down for the year. When I first checked out the Bay it was packed by Tourists. On Saturday, the cruise ships are gone so the beach was nice and quiet. Another good thing about Tobacco is the big rock formations, they were great for climbing up and jumping off into the sea. For some reason I saw a few golf balls lying maybe 5m or so deep and wondered what the hell...apparently you drop a golf ball to see how deep it is before you jump off into a spot. It's like a tiny round Secchi Disk(used for determing visible light depth). I don't know, I wouldn't really trust a golf ball before jumping in. Anyway, an octupus was spotted as well as an underwater cave was found. The geek that I am, I'm itching to get my hands on a field guide to start IDing what I've been seeing.
BATS Cruise
So I got some pretty cool news a few days ago. I'm going on my sampling cruise, which will be departing on Sat. November 8 and returing on 12th. Only a short cruise, but it gives me time to learn some basics while the Research Tech I'm replacing still has time to teach me a few things. I guess this is an appropriate time to talk about the research that I will be associated with.
I will be the tech for analyzing samples of almost everything phosphorus, this includes...Total Dissolved Phosphorus, Soluble Reactive P, Particulate Organic P, and I think a few more P analyses. All of this is part of BATS, an acronym for the Bermuda Atlantic Time Series. It is a long-term sampling effort to gain a better understanding of the biological and chemical cycles of the Deep Ocean. It is extremely relevant to Climate Change, particularly understanding carbon exchange between the oceans and atomosphere. My work with phosphorus relates to biology of phytoplankton, a major component for removing carbon from the atomosphere. An overview: http://www.bios.edu/research/bats.html
But enough with the scientific crap, I'm jacked to go on this...
The crew is mostly Philippine, I've met a few of them after the ship returned Wednesday. They usually have parties on the dock when the return. They've got a hoop on the dock, I think I might be taller than all of them. Apparently great cooks as well.Somewhat of a short-post, but I've got a few links to post. I'll try to post more this week and keep a few notes on my days at sea.
Cheers,
Db
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Monday, October 27, 2008
Geography
I'm not exactly sure how large this map is gonna be, but hopefully large enough. Just to give you all a little bit of where I'm located. The Bermuda Institute of Science(BIOS) is located in St. George's Parish. The farthest two the east, which includes the island of St. George's and the island of St. David's.
From the Map, you can see that the Airport is on St. Davids. Directly north of the airport, across the water(Ferry Reach) is BIOS. I haven't checked out barely any of St. David's, but so far I've explored the town of St. George's on St. George island in St. George Parish. Got it?
The two bays I have been to so far is Tobacco Bay, on the northern most tip of St. George and Whale Bone Bay, which is a part of the little green area the most western part of St. George's island. There is a nice path right along the ocean to get to Whale Bone. It takes me about 25min to walk from BIOS to Whale Bone, about a third of the length of St. Georges. Here's two shots of it...
American Gladiators
This is a classic bit for some dude applying for a spot on the new American Gladiators...it's Snake!!"Texans are raised to do three things: Pound Beers, Arm Wrestle, and Fuckin' Gladiate"
Half Blood Prince
For all you Harry Potter Fans, here's the first full international Trailer for the Half Blood Prince.
Saturday, October 25, 2008
The Dangerous Temptation of Cheap Stocks
The Dangerous Temptation of Cheap Stocks - Time MagazineAlso - I was talking with another new tech here. He's fresh out college as well and from the UK. I started to talk about how the apartment doesn't have a garbage disposal and was just talking about how amazing they are. He informed me, he's never seen on and had no idea what one was. I called him a liar. He made it sound to me as that very few people in the UK have garbage disposals. If anyone else can confirm the "fact" that very few people in UK or Europe have garbage disposals in their own home, I'd be very interested in hearing.
The Wolverines
Finally got hooked up with TV and cable. The TV was donated to me by a guy in the apartment complex. It's alright, I got to beat the shit out of it every day or so, usually on the left hand side for it to stop being scratchy. So now I'm once again able to follow all the news and U.S. sports coverage. Also, I don't have to pay 20 bucks to sip on a few beers and watch college football.
Michigan - Michigan State
A few things I take as positives away from the game. Brandon Graham. Cissosko is improving. And I honestly think Threet is improving, but that doesn't matter, he's still terrible and still won't be starting next year. So by the time he's maybe the 10th worst QB in the Big Ten, we'll be 2-8.
A few questions from the game as well. How do you not stop Blair White...seriously. And how was Michigan's first td a touchdown?? That's basically like jumping out of bounds at the two and then kicking the pile-on while you and the ball are completely out of bounds.
Anways, at least it wasn't a blow out and a loss to state every six years is alright by me. I think Dantonio is the right guy for the job and will continue to make progress as long as they can keep getting guys like Ringer to become studs.
Michigan - Michigan State
A few things I take as positives away from the game. Brandon Graham. Cissosko is improving. And I honestly think Threet is improving, but that doesn't matter, he's still terrible and still won't be starting next year. So by the time he's maybe the 10th worst QB in the Big Ten, we'll be 2-8.
A few questions from the game as well. How do you not stop Blair White...seriously. And how was Michigan's first td a touchdown?? That's basically like jumping out of bounds at the two and then kicking the pile-on while you and the ball are completely out of bounds.
Anways, at least it wasn't a blow out and a loss to state every six years is alright by me. I think Dantonio is the right guy for the job and will continue to make progress as long as they can keep getting guys like Ringer to become studs.
Whale Bone Bay
Went snorkeling for my first time here Friday over at Whale Bone Bay, about 2km away from the station. It's a nice, small bay that nobody really knows about because of its location at the far end of St. George. 
The bay doesn't really have a beach, mostly just rocky and right now its completely covered in algae, about 10 ft out into the water as well. It's kind of gross, but apparently its only there for a few months. The snorkeling was very good though and I'm very pleased with my new equipment.
I went out for the swim around 5:00pm or so and I got freaking tired quickly. Swimming for 30 minutes wore me out especially after not doing anything since my defeat to Mr. Green in the Joshua Buddies 5k. That was in June. It's now late October. I've got some abnormal growth going on between my hips and neck, I'm not sure what it is but hopefully it will go away soon.
Lookin at the picture above, I followed the right shoreline looking out to the ocean; the tide was coming in. There were a few schools of smaller fish, not really sure what they were. Some parrotfish and long slender brown and white banded fish. Depth was about 8-15ft mostly. Then I saw something pretty ridiculous.
I swam back into the middle near to the "beach" and saw pretty large school of fish, probably about 20 ft in length with each fish about an inch or so. That was cool to see, so I swam toward it to break it up and to see the movement. But fish schooling like that typically do it for one reason - predator avoidance. As soon as I hit the fish and they started breaking and a MASSIVE fish swam behind them. The fish was about 5-6 ft in length, a large Tarpon. A second came right after.
I was honestly freaked out a little, swimming by myself and then seeing these two huge fish, thicker and larger than myself, I decided to observe from far away. Unfortunately the bay was pretty turbid and I couldn't see more than 10 ft in front of me, so I swam back looking for the tarpon. The day before, I was informed that there was a school of tarpon, so I was kind hoping I'd run into a few. I didn't last much longer swimming around and called it quits. Fairly large Barracuda hang out in Whale Bone so I expect to make frequent visits.
It will take me a while to make the rounds of all the beaches/bays and snorkeling locales. Next on my list is Tobacco Bay and Clearwater Beach.
The bay doesn't really have a beach, mostly just rocky and right now its completely covered in algae, about 10 ft out into the water as well. It's kind of gross, but apparently its only there for a few months. The snorkeling was very good though and I'm very pleased with my new equipment.
I went out for the swim around 5:00pm or so and I got freaking tired quickly. Swimming for 30 minutes wore me out especially after not doing anything since my defeat to Mr. Green in the Joshua Buddies 5k. That was in June. It's now late October. I've got some abnormal growth going on between my hips and neck, I'm not sure what it is but hopefully it will go away soon.
Lookin at the picture above, I followed the right shoreline looking out to the ocean; the tide was coming in. There were a few schools of smaller fish, not really sure what they were. Some parrotfish and long slender brown and white banded fish. Depth was about 8-15ft mostly. Then I saw something pretty ridiculous.
I swam back into the middle near to the "beach" and saw pretty large school of fish, probably about 20 ft in length with each fish about an inch or so. That was cool to see, so I swam toward it to break it up and to see the movement. But fish schooling like that typically do it for one reason - predator avoidance. As soon as I hit the fish and they started breaking and a MASSIVE fish swam behind them. The fish was about 5-6 ft in length, a large Tarpon. A second came right after.
I was honestly freaked out a little, swimming by myself and then seeing these two huge fish, thicker and larger than myself, I decided to observe from far away. Unfortunately the bay was pretty turbid and I couldn't see more than 10 ft in front of me, so I swam back looking for the tarpon. The day before, I was informed that there was a school of tarpon, so I was kind hoping I'd run into a few. I didn't last much longer swimming around and called it quits. Fairly large Barracuda hang out in Whale Bone so I expect to make frequent visits.
It will take me a while to make the rounds of all the beaches/bays and snorkeling locales. Next on my list is Tobacco Bay and Clearwater Beach.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Shark Water
I was just able to see a phenomenal documentary on something very serious that is happening in our seas.
Right now, Sharks are becoming more and more overfished, a tremendous threat to the species and as a top-predator, on the entire ecosystem and trophic dynamics underneath them.
Millions are killed each year in a growing industry related mostly to food and in the Eastern World, medicine. Sharks have extremely good immune systems and many countries in the east sell Shark Fin or related parts as health supplements. Shark-Fin is a delicacy and used as a status symbol. Being so sought after, a shark fin can be around 100 american dollars for a lb of shark fin. Fisherman slaughter and cut fins off sharks and finish by dumping the carcasses into the sea. This is a BILLION dollar industry that does not look like it is slowly down and is a serious threat to sharks.
Please check out this trailer and I strongly recommend to see this film, it will definetly open your outlook on our oceans.
SHARKWATER
Right now, Sharks are becoming more and more overfished, a tremendous threat to the species and as a top-predator, on the entire ecosystem and trophic dynamics underneath them.
Millions are killed each year in a growing industry related mostly to food and in the Eastern World, medicine. Sharks have extremely good immune systems and many countries in the east sell Shark Fin or related parts as health supplements. Shark-Fin is a delicacy and used as a status symbol. Being so sought after, a shark fin can be around 100 american dollars for a lb of shark fin. Fisherman slaughter and cut fins off sharks and finish by dumping the carcasses into the sea. This is a BILLION dollar industry that does not look like it is slowly down and is a serious threat to sharks.
Please check out this trailer and I strongly recommend to see this film, it will definetly open your outlook on our oceans.
SHARKWATER
Week 1 Anny
Hi All,
I apologize for not updating more regularly, but work has started to kick in as well as still exploring the island. But I wanted to do a few quick posts.
I've got a phone and within a few days my international account will be activated, so I can actually get on the phone with some of you. I'm pleased with how cheap it is, but still would like to mess around on Skype.
Dealing with business like my provider makes Bermuda very...interesting. I've found it incredibly hard to get anything done over the phone, such as asking TBI to email me their plan so I could get set up, but after three days nothing and calling again did no good. So, I was forced to head into Hamilton to figure it out. But not like the states where you can jump in your car and head 2 seconds to where ever, it takes me 45 minute on a bus to Hamilton to deal with something that took under 10 minutes. Kind of a pain in the ass, but that's just how it is, very slow and "relaxed?"
Luckily the buses here are phenomenol and you can basically grab one anytime, anywhere for relatively cheap. Riding the bus is interesting as well, some locals will come on the bus and greet every single person. Another time, I had a kid pass out on me while he in his mother's lap. Like head into my side and arm over my backpack(in lap). I looked at the woman and she just smiled at me to let me know her kid wasn't moving and she wasn't gonna doing anything about it.
Work has been going good. I've been cleaning an absurd amount of tubes and vials and then learning where stuff is around the lab and complex. Protocol, NBD. Everyone at BIOS is so far...great to work with and be around.
Friday Night
This is kind of an amusing story...
So I went into town Friday with someone from the lab to meet up with another guy from BIOS. We went to a place called Lemon Tree and I was introducted to Bermuda's yuppie, knicker and long socks accountants. Mostly a white crowd, Ex-Pats, is what they are called, being from outside of Bermuda. Good amount of Canadians, all them liked to drink...I was happy. Also, since so many people come and go on the island, I had random people coming up and introducing and themselves. Very friendly.
Anyway the place was an outside bar and thus closes at 12am, unfortunately. We headed to a few other places and ran into another guy who had a car. Now it's about 2am and we're driving further west out of Hamilton(away from St. George's-home) looking for some hotel bar or something. It was strange...we had to walk down a bunch of hotel corridors before we got to this very tiny bar, with a small pool room and a tiny dance floor.
I walked in and there must of been 20 or some people, mostly black, dancing a little and just hanging out. All of a sudden Eddie Griffin walks out of pool room with a beret and walks by. I'm a little dumbfounded because
a) it's Eddie Griffin, a celebrity, but not really.
b) it's 230am
c) what is he doing in some random bar in Bermuda???
Anyways I nodded and he said "wazz happening". He was pretty messed up. So we hung out and played pool while Eddie was dancing with the wait staff. Then, a little later, Mr Griffin, grabbed the mic and started rapping(horribly) with most of his rap trying to encourage everybody in the tiny bar to come and dance. Of course, we did. Eddie spent the next 20min grinding the hotel staff.
So, that was my Friday night.
I'll write more tomorrow, but right now there is a keg of Guinness at the Wind for a going away party for a fellow who's been here about 6 years...should be a good night.
Cheers!
DB
I apologize for not updating more regularly, but work has started to kick in as well as still exploring the island. But I wanted to do a few quick posts.
I've got a phone and within a few days my international account will be activated, so I can actually get on the phone with some of you. I'm pleased with how cheap it is, but still would like to mess around on Skype.
Dealing with business like my provider makes Bermuda very...interesting. I've found it incredibly hard to get anything done over the phone, such as asking TBI to email me their plan so I could get set up, but after three days nothing and calling again did no good. So, I was forced to head into Hamilton to figure it out. But not like the states where you can jump in your car and head 2 seconds to where ever, it takes me 45 minute on a bus to Hamilton to deal with something that took under 10 minutes. Kind of a pain in the ass, but that's just how it is, very slow and "relaxed?"
Luckily the buses here are phenomenol and you can basically grab one anytime, anywhere for relatively cheap. Riding the bus is interesting as well, some locals will come on the bus and greet every single person. Another time, I had a kid pass out on me while he in his mother's lap. Like head into my side and arm over my backpack(in lap). I looked at the woman and she just smiled at me to let me know her kid wasn't moving and she wasn't gonna doing anything about it.
Work has been going good. I've been cleaning an absurd amount of tubes and vials and then learning where stuff is around the lab and complex. Protocol, NBD. Everyone at BIOS is so far...great to work with and be around.
Friday Night
This is kind of an amusing story...
So I went into town Friday with someone from the lab to meet up with another guy from BIOS. We went to a place called Lemon Tree and I was introducted to Bermuda's yuppie, knicker and long socks accountants. Mostly a white crowd, Ex-Pats, is what they are called, being from outside of Bermuda. Good amount of Canadians, all them liked to drink...I was happy. Also, since so many people come and go on the island, I had random people coming up and introducing and themselves. Very friendly.
Anyway the place was an outside bar and thus closes at 12am, unfortunately. We headed to a few other places and ran into another guy who had a car. Now it's about 2am and we're driving further west out of Hamilton(away from St. George's-home) looking for some hotel bar or something. It was strange...we had to walk down a bunch of hotel corridors before we got to this very tiny bar, with a small pool room and a tiny dance floor.
I walked in and there must of been 20 or some people, mostly black, dancing a little and just hanging out. All of a sudden Eddie Griffin walks out of pool room with a beret and walks by. I'm a little dumbfounded because
a) it's Eddie Griffin, a celebrity, but not really.
b) it's 230am
c) what is he doing in some random bar in Bermuda???
Anyways I nodded and he said "wazz happening". He was pretty messed up. So we hung out and played pool while Eddie was dancing with the wait staff. Then, a little later, Mr Griffin, grabbed the mic and started rapping(horribly) with most of his rap trying to encourage everybody in the tiny bar to come and dance. Of course, we did. Eddie spent the next 20min grinding the hotel staff.
So, that was my Friday night.
I'll write more tomorrow, but right now there is a keg of Guinness at the Wind for a going away party for a fellow who's been here about 6 years...should be a good night.
Cheers!
DB
Monday, October 20, 2008
Flix on the Horizon
5 Good Movies to come
1. Defiance
There are a few solid looking WWII movies coming out within the next few months. Besides Defiance, Valkyrie and Inglorious Bastards are the other two. There are no trailers for Inglorious, but the cast includes Pitt and it's Tarantino's next flick.
Defiance is about three Polish brothers who lead a group of Jews into the forest to escape and ultimately fight back against the Nazis.
DEFIANCE
2. Valkyrie
Another WWII movie coming out. Plot involves a group of Nazi officers that initiate Operation Valkyrie, the assignation of Adolf Hitler. Stars T. Cruise.
VALKYRIE
3. Quantum of Solace
For those that haven't seen the newest trailer for the next Bond movie...
QUANTUM OF SOLACE
4. Role Models
Starring McLovin, Paul Rudd, and Seann William Scott. Scott and Rudd have to serve community service time or it's jail. It leads them to be Big Brothers for McLovin and another kid. For those that have seen and enjoyed Wet Hot American Summer, it's directed by the same guy.
ROLE MODELS
5. The Spirit
Frank Miller's got a new movie coming out. Don't know too much about it, but the trailer looks pretty good. Reminds me of Sin City and includes another random role to put down for Sam Jackson.
THE SPIRIT
1. Defiance
There are a few solid looking WWII movies coming out within the next few months. Besides Defiance, Valkyrie and Inglorious Bastards are the other two. There are no trailers for Inglorious, but the cast includes Pitt and it's Tarantino's next flick.
Defiance is about three Polish brothers who lead a group of Jews into the forest to escape and ultimately fight back against the Nazis.
DEFIANCE
2. Valkyrie
Another WWII movie coming out. Plot involves a group of Nazi officers that initiate Operation Valkyrie, the assignation of Adolf Hitler. Stars T. Cruise.
VALKYRIE
3. Quantum of Solace
For those that haven't seen the newest trailer for the next Bond movie...
QUANTUM OF SOLACE
4. Role Models
Starring McLovin, Paul Rudd, and Seann William Scott. Scott and Rudd have to serve community service time or it's jail. It leads them to be Big Brothers for McLovin and another kid. For those that have seen and enjoyed Wet Hot American Summer, it's directed by the same guy.
ROLE MODELS
5. The Spirit
Frank Miller's got a new movie coming out. Don't know too much about it, but the trailer looks pretty good. Reminds me of Sin City and includes another random role to put down for Sam Jackson.
THE SPIRIT
Friday, October 17, 2008
Weekend is here
Whatddduuupp
I apologize for not posting? Apparently some of you are actually reading this. Sorry for the delay, it's been a fairly busy first four days or so.
Working Man
They haven't really had me do much yet. On Tuesday there was a Cruise leaving on the Atlantic Explorer and the scientists seemed a little flustered having like a day and a half to prep for a 2 week long voyage. So I kind of followed along, was showed some things and helped load the boat as well get a tour. Wednesday, I was shown around the office and lab and explained a few things, how to clean vials/tubes and so I've spent the past two afternoons cleaning and stuff. My boss is in Alaska for meeting about a Bering Sea sampling effort, and the tech I'm replaced just left for the weekend. So I've been hanging out and working only a few hours a day.
The Batman
My work will be done mostly for BATS, the Bermuda Atlantic Time Series. BATS does a number of things related to nutrients, trace metals and some other things, so phosphorus is what my main priority will be. Potentially, I'll be able to go out on a cruise for training in November.
A Millie, a millie, a millie.
For anybody that's worked in a lab DI or Deionized water is called Milli-Q. Nobody I asked could explain to me why it was called that...
The Bio Station
So without much work, I've been slowly getting used to how everything works around here and the island. My mornings have been dealing with paperwork and searching around for people to answer questions that pop up. Just until yesterday, Thursday, I was able to get into the Town of St. George.
St. Georgies
The town has about 2 main cobbled little streets, with about 80 or so small shops that deal mostly with tourism clothing. I really like it though, its really clean, people are very friendly, and of course, its beautiful from the photo above.
Digicel
So I needed to get a phone since I'm gonna be here for like 2 years or so. So I went into this store called Alltalk and had my first experience with a resident Bermudian. It took me about an hour and a half to get my phone. It's hilarious, no matter who came in, he knew them chatted with them for a couple minutes, came back to me, chatted with more. They just freaking love to talk. I've never seen a person get so distracted. Maybe Wes.
But finally got a phone. I forget the number, but I'll let you know what it is soon. You'll be able to call me as soon as I get my international provider to hook me up. Unlimited talking after 7pm. BOOYAH.
Expenses
Its hit me now that I'm paying for all my stuff now, which is nice. I've been sick of borrowing money and being on the typical college student "allowance".
Prices. Prices are absolutely insane. Just a few...Digornio Frozen Pizza, small, $9. Peanuts, $7. On a lot of things its about double as it is in the States, some not as much or almost normal. I was able to get to a relatively nice supermarket on St. Davids, the other island on St. Geroge's Parish. Theres like 9 Parishes on Bermuda, parish just divides them up into communities. I got a ride from another apartment resident. Oh yeah, there's cars here, I was told none, but nope all tiny little things. Back on track....going through the grocery store I was amazed at prices and I ended up spending about 170 on bare essentials. My Dad and I had debated on what to bring, like shampoo and stuff like that, and I should've brough an entire box of my toiletry items. I still don't have shower curtain. My floor is soaked and I managed to soak an old Time magazine in there. Price was on it too still, 7.80...for a magazine.
Nightlife
Past three nights, I've gone out drinking. Tuesday into St. George's and Thursday night into some place called the Swizzle. Thursdays at Swizzle is trivia and live entertainment. Feels like College a little...nice. The guy who plays at Swiz is somewhat of a legend. I've been told that he gets so shitfaced on jaeger that he'll strip and play naked. I saw him take about 8 or so shots of the stuff and nothing. He was a large enough man to polish off a couple bottles. Also, our table won trivia, we got 4 bottles of Dissorgno. Anyway, the man's name is Ray and he can play. And drink.
At the table, there was a visitor of one of the Biostation staff from Britain that I chatted with a little. Or tried to, I honestly couldn't understand a word she was saying. Something like Iom Frum Dublparish en Noreigh. I had to ask her so many times to repeat what she was saying that she started laughing at me. I felt retarded. After Swizzle we headed back to our own bar...
The Winds
So we actually have a bar on the station. It's unreal, self serve bar, with 1.75 bottles of anything, all good stuff too. So staff constantly drinks here because everything else is so expensive. The past 3 nights have ended up at the Winds, which is about 100yds from my office/lab and 3 minute walk or so back to my apartment. Its got a dart board, foos, nice big flatscreen. It's really, really unhealthy of how convenient this place is. A lot more to talk about, especially with the winds, but I wanted to post a few things.
Out of touch
I'm kind of behind on sports, news, and everything else. Although, it should be easy to follow once I get into a routine. I saw parts of the debate, but didn't really pay attention, my votes already in. Schwartzenger. My vote would of been for Obama had he taken Will Smith has his running mate.
T-Rex
This is the sole reason why nobody should be voting for the McCain/Palin ticket. Palin doesn't believe in Dinosaurs. Why on earth would you rob yourself of such a fantastic fact. Her childhood must of been terrible. I think I might mail a copy of the Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and maybe a few fossils to her newborn, Tractor.
Also, just to remind everyone...Jurassic Park 2: The Lost World is still the greatest movie of all time.
I'm F*&king ...
Haha, this refers to a few short clips done by Sarah Silverman and Jimmy Kimmel. Hilarious, watch em.
I'm F*&ing Matt Damon
I'm F*&king Ben Affleck
Most of you know, I wasted hours finding clips online during college, I'm very excited to start sharing them with you. Like this one...learn to pop and break!!
Cheers!
I'm out, I guess this was a long post. More to come and hopefully more often. With more links, more pictures, and more stories.
I apologize for not posting? Apparently some of you are actually reading this. Sorry for the delay, it's been a fairly busy first four days or so.
Working Man
They haven't really had me do much yet. On Tuesday there was a Cruise leaving on the Atlantic Explorer and the scientists seemed a little flustered having like a day and a half to prep for a 2 week long voyage. So I kind of followed along, was showed some things and helped load the boat as well get a tour. Wednesday, I was shown around the office and lab and explained a few things, how to clean vials/tubes and so I've spent the past two afternoons cleaning and stuff. My boss is in Alaska for meeting about a Bering Sea sampling effort, and the tech I'm replaced just left for the weekend. So I've been hanging out and working only a few hours a day.
The Batman
My work will be done mostly for BATS, the Bermuda Atlantic Time Series. BATS does a number of things related to nutrients, trace metals and some other things, so phosphorus is what my main priority will be. Potentially, I'll be able to go out on a cruise for training in November.
A Millie, a millie, a millie.
For anybody that's worked in a lab DI or Deionized water is called Milli-Q. Nobody I asked could explain to me why it was called that...
The Bio Station
So without much work, I've been slowly getting used to how everything works around here and the island. My mornings have been dealing with paperwork and searching around for people to answer questions that pop up. Just until yesterday, Thursday, I was able to get into the Town of St. George.
St. Georgies
The town has about 2 main cobbled little streets, with about 80 or so small shops that deal mostly with tourism clothing. I really like it though, its really clean, people are very friendly, and of course, its beautiful from the photo above.
Digicel
So I needed to get a phone since I'm gonna be here for like 2 years or so. So I went into this store called Alltalk and had my first experience with a resident Bermudian. It took me about an hour and a half to get my phone. It's hilarious, no matter who came in, he knew them chatted with them for a couple minutes, came back to me, chatted with more. They just freaking love to talk. I've never seen a person get so distracted. Maybe Wes.
But finally got a phone. I forget the number, but I'll let you know what it is soon. You'll be able to call me as soon as I get my international provider to hook me up. Unlimited talking after 7pm. BOOYAH.
Expenses
Its hit me now that I'm paying for all my stuff now, which is nice. I've been sick of borrowing money and being on the typical college student "allowance".
Prices. Prices are absolutely insane. Just a few...Digornio Frozen Pizza, small, $9. Peanuts, $7. On a lot of things its about double as it is in the States, some not as much or almost normal. I was able to get to a relatively nice supermarket on St. Davids, the other island on St. Geroge's Parish. Theres like 9 Parishes on Bermuda, parish just divides them up into communities. I got a ride from another apartment resident. Oh yeah, there's cars here, I was told none, but nope all tiny little things. Back on track....going through the grocery store I was amazed at prices and I ended up spending about 170 on bare essentials. My Dad and I had debated on what to bring, like shampoo and stuff like that, and I should've brough an entire box of my toiletry items. I still don't have shower curtain. My floor is soaked and I managed to soak an old Time magazine in there. Price was on it too still, 7.80...for a magazine.
Nightlife
Past three nights, I've gone out drinking. Tuesday into St. George's and Thursday night into some place called the Swizzle. Thursdays at Swizzle is trivia and live entertainment. Feels like College a little...nice. The guy who plays at Swiz is somewhat of a legend. I've been told that he gets so shitfaced on jaeger that he'll strip and play naked. I saw him take about 8 or so shots of the stuff and nothing. He was a large enough man to polish off a couple bottles. Also, our table won trivia, we got 4 bottles of Dissorgno. Anyway, the man's name is Ray and he can play. And drink.
At the table, there was a visitor of one of the Biostation staff from Britain that I chatted with a little. Or tried to, I honestly couldn't understand a word she was saying. Something like Iom Frum Dublparish en Noreigh. I had to ask her so many times to repeat what she was saying that she started laughing at me. I felt retarded. After Swizzle we headed back to our own bar...
The Winds
So we actually have a bar on the station. It's unreal, self serve bar, with 1.75 bottles of anything, all good stuff too. So staff constantly drinks here because everything else is so expensive. The past 3 nights have ended up at the Winds, which is about 100yds from my office/lab and 3 minute walk or so back to my apartment. Its got a dart board, foos, nice big flatscreen. It's really, really unhealthy of how convenient this place is. A lot more to talk about, especially with the winds, but I wanted to post a few things.
Out of touch
I'm kind of behind on sports, news, and everything else. Although, it should be easy to follow once I get into a routine. I saw parts of the debate, but didn't really pay attention, my votes already in. Schwartzenger. My vote would of been for Obama had he taken Will Smith has his running mate.
T-Rex
This is the sole reason why nobody should be voting for the McCain/Palin ticket. Palin doesn't believe in Dinosaurs. Why on earth would you rob yourself of such a fantastic fact. Her childhood must of been terrible. I think I might mail a copy of the Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and maybe a few fossils to her newborn, Tractor.
Also, just to remind everyone...Jurassic Park 2: The Lost World is still the greatest movie of all time.
I'm F*&king ...
Haha, this refers to a few short clips done by Sarah Silverman and Jimmy Kimmel. Hilarious, watch em.
I'm F*&ing Matt Damon
I'm F*&king Ben Affleck
Most of you know, I wasted hours finding clips online during college, I'm very excited to start sharing them with you. Like this one...learn to pop and break!!
Cheers!
I'm out, I guess this was a long post. More to come and hopefully more often. With more links, more pictures, and more stories.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
D Bell is on Bermuda
Finally here. It’s been a pretty long day, I woke up at 400am or so and after a stop in Atlanta I arrived in Bermuda around 2pm. On the flight to Atlanta there was a walking skeleton on my flight. I was literally blown away by how frail this woman looked, think like, an Indian female Mick Jagger plus 230 years. So, I arrived to Bermuda, went through customs and what not. They took some time searching for my temporary work permit, but eventually grabbed it and then I went to grab my huge duffels from baggage claims.
Then, I got introduced to one of the worst things ever…duties. Not poop, but taxes. If you ever have to do this process and make claims on what you are bringing in is either personal or relatively new, ALWAYS say everything you have is about a year old and bullshit them. Because I’m an idiot and was honest, my five month old mac book had a duty of 250 dollars. 25% of my predicted cost of 1000. All I needed to do was say it was about a year old and no problems, no 250 dollars. I understand that you don’t want people buying and bringing in stuff from the U.S. constantly, but there should be sort of initial free of charge transportation for new residents.
However, everybody working in the immigration services was really friendly and helpful. One woman saw my Umich bags and started making fun of UM/ND game and our fumbles, I was impressed with her knowledge.
You Taulk Loike Yo Frum London
I haven’t had a solid conversation with anybody from Bermuda besides my short cab ride to the station, but it sounds like a mellow carribean/jaimacian accent with a little british thrown in, but isn’t that how a carribean accent is formed as well?
Research Paradise
The compound is pretty large, buildings are kind of old school colonial. Lots of labs and a pretty nice dining hall, communal area. I don’t feel like describing the whole station, so I’ll just throw up a few pictures.
The research vessel is absurd. Its only a couple years old and donated by the Royal Bank of Bermuda. Its located right at the end of the station…on a dock.
The Quarters
So I got to the station around 3pm or so(Bermuda is an hour ahead of the Eastern Time Zone) and picked up my apartment key and that’s it. Nobody was around too much and nobody greeted me besides the housing lady. It was a holiday so apparently people were scattered. Second, I found out later that I had gone extremely fast through security and my greeters missed me when I picked up my housing stuff.
The apartment is solid. Seems pretty new. I’m on the ground floor, corner of a staff apartment complex that is probably the farthest building away from the labs and offices. Its about 18 seconds of Bobby’s sprinting distance away from each other.
So I got setup and unpacked. I got AC which is cool(NOTE THE PUN). Queen bed, awesome couch, little dinner table and a couple of stools, closet, and a dresser was what the studio came with.
The apartment isn’t really missing anything besides TP, something to put garbage in, and a shower curtain. I think I’ll just steal as much TP as possible from all the common bathrooms. Save costs. I don’t really think a shower curtain is necessary. Long as I don’t point the shower head to the bathroom floor, completely away from me it should be fine.
Goodnight
There’s a lot more, but I feel like I’m going into too much detail and I’m tired. I plan to get around to some of the urban parts of Bermuda maybe Wednesday or Thursday, I’ll be checking out the lab and doing paper work stuff tomorrow and I’ll need to recruit somebody to accompany me so it may not happen until maybe even the weekend.
Its 1030pm right now, though it won’t get posted right now. I’m about to refresh my oceanography mindset for tomorrow morning and be prepped to have some sort of resemblance of biological knowledge. For tonight, Ocean Chemistry and Phytoplankton.
I’ve got some positive responses for the blog thus far. Fuck yeah. You love it…..more to come.
Cheers,
DB
Finally here. It’s been a pretty long day, I woke up at 400am or so and after a stop in Atlanta I arrived in Bermuda around 2pm. On the flight to Atlanta there was a walking skeleton on my flight. I was literally blown away by how frail this woman looked, think like, an Indian female Mick Jagger plus 230 years. So, I arrived to Bermuda, went through customs and what not. They took some time searching for my temporary work permit, but eventually grabbed it and then I went to grab my huge duffels from baggage claims.
Then, I got introduced to one of the worst things ever…duties. Not poop, but taxes. If you ever have to do this process and make claims on what you are bringing in is either personal or relatively new, ALWAYS say everything you have is about a year old and bullshit them. Because I’m an idiot and was honest, my five month old mac book had a duty of 250 dollars. 25% of my predicted cost of 1000. All I needed to do was say it was about a year old and no problems, no 250 dollars. I understand that you don’t want people buying and bringing in stuff from the U.S. constantly, but there should be sort of initial free of charge transportation for new residents.
However, everybody working in the immigration services was really friendly and helpful. One woman saw my Umich bags and started making fun of UM/ND game and our fumbles, I was impressed with her knowledge.
You Taulk Loike Yo Frum London
I haven’t had a solid conversation with anybody from Bermuda besides my short cab ride to the station, but it sounds like a mellow carribean/jaimacian accent with a little british thrown in, but isn’t that how a carribean accent is formed as well?
Research Paradise
The compound is pretty large, buildings are kind of old school colonial. Lots of labs and a pretty nice dining hall, communal area. I don’t feel like describing the whole station, so I’ll just throw up a few pictures.
The research vessel is absurd. Its only a couple years old and donated by the Royal Bank of Bermuda. Its located right at the end of the station…on a dock.
The Quarters
So I got to the station around 3pm or so(Bermuda is an hour ahead of the Eastern Time Zone) and picked up my apartment key and that’s it. Nobody was around too much and nobody greeted me besides the housing lady. It was a holiday so apparently people were scattered. Second, I found out later that I had gone extremely fast through security and my greeters missed me when I picked up my housing stuff.
The apartment is solid. Seems pretty new. I’m on the ground floor, corner of a staff apartment complex that is probably the farthest building away from the labs and offices. Its about 18 seconds of Bobby’s sprinting distance away from each other.
So I got setup and unpacked. I got AC which is cool(NOTE THE PUN). Queen bed, awesome couch, little dinner table and a couple of stools, closet, and a dresser was what the studio came with.
The apartment isn’t really missing anything besides TP, something to put garbage in, and a shower curtain. I think I’ll just steal as much TP as possible from all the common bathrooms. Save costs. I don’t really think a shower curtain is necessary. Long as I don’t point the shower head to the bathroom floor, completely away from me it should be fine.
Goodnight
There’s a lot more, but I feel like I’m going into too much detail and I’m tired. I plan to get around to some of the urban parts of Bermuda maybe Wednesday or Thursday, I’ll be checking out the lab and doing paper work stuff tomorrow and I’ll need to recruit somebody to accompany me so it may not happen until maybe even the weekend.
Its 1030pm right now, though it won’t get posted right now. I’m about to refresh my oceanography mindset for tomorrow morning and be prepped to have some sort of resemblance of biological knowledge. For tonight, Ocean Chemistry and Phytoplankton.
I’ve got some positive responses for the blog thus far. Fuck yeah. You love it…..more to come.
Cheers,
DB
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Peace Out
Gone for good
Alright now it's time to go. My flight is in a few hours(7am), so I've got to get to the airport around 5 or so. Packing is finished. I've got three bags weighing in at around 50 lbs each. Should be enough for the next few months.
Anyways not a lot on this post. Just had a nice dinner with the parents tonight and I'm really, really ready to get going. I don't start work until the 20th, so I've got a week or so to get accustomed to Bermuda before work starts. Luckily, Monday is a holiday, so nobody will be working and hopefully someone will be able to show me around and get drunk. Hopefully.
Again, hope you enjoy the posts and keep in touch...
Doug
Alright now it's time to go. My flight is in a few hours(7am), so I've got to get to the airport around 5 or so. Packing is finished. I've got three bags weighing in at around 50 lbs each. Should be enough for the next few months.
Anyways not a lot on this post. Just had a nice dinner with the parents tonight and I'm really, really ready to get going. I don't start work until the 20th, so I've got a week or so to get accustomed to Bermuda before work starts. Luckily, Monday is a holiday, so nobody will be working and hopefully someone will be able to show me around and get drunk. Hopefully.
Again, hope you enjoy the posts and keep in touch...
Doug
Bon Voyage
Yooooooooo.
Welcome to the blog. I'm going to apologize in advance for my writing. I guarantee that I will leave many words out of a sentence and ramble on at in appropriate times and I fucking love to overuse the comma, but hopefully you all will enjoy this. I don't think I've improved at all at writing since about 10th grade. I wrote a poem that my teacher wanted to send in for some contest or something, I don't know. It was on the destruction of Hiroshima...no big deal. But in writing this blog I have a few goals.
1. Stay in touch with Friends and the Family. Given this, I will most likely be true to my friends and keep the blog professional, but hopefully littered with inappropriate and perhaps vulgar comments. We'll see.
2. Improve my writing. Nope.
3. Document the experiences I have during my stay on the island...(Brag)
4. Add humor and whit to your daily lives. No. But maybe just comment on things like sports and other current events.
Honestly, I don't really know what to expect. I'm pretty excited as expected, but very curious to see the outcome of the next couple years. So to start, I'll write a few updates on where I'm at, maybe I'll write it as a FAQ. Also, I'll mess around with the layout and shit like that, put a few photos up and write a sweet profile about myself. Alright...
How on earth did you get this job?
I want to say luck and it was, but I also spend a lot of time searching for it. I finished up working in Ann Arbor around the 20th of August and was prepared to move back to Troy. My intentions were to move back and spend the next month searching for a job and studying for the GRE. With biological/ecological jobs, universities, research institutes, federal agencies do a lot of online posting, so this requires endless searching and looking through tons of potential jobs and then realizing I don't know how to drive a manual or I'm not familiar with fish species of the northwest atlantic, you know, bullshit like that. But I want to say in my third or so week back at home(third week of my parents doubting my job hunting skillz) I came across a posting on website for atomospheric and oceanic sciences. Hell yeah.
*Minor side note* I had made the decision to be looking for something related to aquatic biology--->want to go to graduate school in marine ecology----->that's why I was studying for GRE---->planning to start next year.
So...came across the job for Phosphorus Oceanic Chemical Anlaysis or something like that on this job posting forum. What??? Jackpot! Description was basically everything I was fairly familar with except with using freshwater instead of seawater. For those that don't know, I spend the past 4-5 months analyzing phosphorus with a fantastic professor at U of M, Dr. John Lehman. Immediately, wrote a letter for the position and sent my resume in and the next day, boom, heard back from a Dr. Michael Lomas and it was positive and a few follow ups(previous employer, Dr. Lehman, was such a tremendous help, I really can't thank him enough) later and a phone conversation and I had been offered a job at the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences as a research technician for 2 years.
What will you be doing?
Not exactly sure yet, but I know most of the work will focus on nutrient cycling and phytoplankton biological processes. So, lab work and sampling from what looks to be a pretty serious research vessel. I'm excited to work on it. I'll know more when I get to Bermuda.
When do you leave?
Monday, October 13th. Like 7:00am. US Airways. What up.
What has packing been like?
Packing has been interesting. I'm first required to get a ton of documents for Bermuda's immigration offices and a work permit that states I'm allowed to work here even though I'm not Bermudian. Aparently, the government does a pretty good job at not outsourcing jobs. The employer must show that nobody on the island can fill the position and that the applicant is of quality charcter, extremely attractive, super jacked and yadda yadda.
So, I've acquired police document of a clear record, medical clearance, chest x-ray, character and employer references, certified qualifications for the job(Supervised bench press and a notarized picture of my ripped triceps). All that stuff is taken care of.
Now for the actual packing, there's not much. I'm taking three big bags with me. Big lacrosse duffels. Shipping stuff to Bermuda is outrageous...like 150 dollars for 10lbs for Fedex. So, I've cut a lot of things down and managing to fit what's soon to be my whole life into a few bags.
On the packing list, there are usual: clothes, sheets, pillow, mattress pad, towels. A few plates, bowls, silverware, and cups to get me started. Then other random stuff like books, small DVD player, DVDs really not much at all considering I'm moving to live in this place for 2 years.
There are a few purchases I was excited to make though. Ipod Speaker set. Altec Lansing IMT 702. If anyone is ever considering getting one of these things and want a good one, take a look. I figured I'd invest into something that is portable, good sound quality, and nice and compact so I didn't have to bother bringing up any computer speakers, but still wanted to rock the F out. Second, snorkeling gear, another investment. I can't wait to get into the water and see some feeeesh.
How can I contact you?
That might be hard. I(Clark) bought a phone at verizon the other day, a pay as you go phone. So as of Monday the 321-3138 number and the legendary 6+yr phone I had will be gone. I've got a new phone when I get back to the states to contact any of you folks. In Bermuda, my plan is to get another phone with a cheap local plan and then match it up with another cheap international plan to chat with the family and maybe some other lucky people once in a while. So...this means you will not able to text me. Also, I'm unfamiliar with Skype, but I'll look into it and if anybody has a Mac/Video thing that will work as well and as always....I'll be happy to take the shirt off during the conversation.
How much longer is this post going to be?
I don't know. Hopefully not much longer...I am tired. Tired of watching Michigan fart all around the field today. I'm convinced the Threet/Sheridan combo is in the top ten for worst QB situations in Division 1. Pathetic, I'm happy to escape the horrendous football fall that the Lions and Wolverines are causing for me. Also, Red River Shootout was a pretty good one to watch today.
Doug, is there lacrosse in Bermuda?
Hey. Great question, yes in fact there is. Bermuda lacrosse has a mens team and a U19 team. Not really sure how they are, but looked at their roster and had a few guys from D3, but in general not a lot of experience. Wes, I packed the SickLax shirt to try to sell to the local Bermudians. So congrats, a couple hundred people will again pass on buying your shirts.
The mens team will play in the 2010 World games and as a resident I should be able to play for them, but who knows with the work schedule. I'm damn excited to keep playing to get some new gear. I've got so much UMich Lax stuff I dont know what to do with.
What are you most excited about?
Easy. I hear there are Tiger Sharks right around the island...
Where are you living on Bermuda?
BIOS has their own apartment complex on the station, so as of right now, I have a studio apartment. Luckily, I get a pretty sweet deal on it because housing is so ridiculous on the Island. I've been told like parts of Manhattan. In general, Bermuda is expensive, not sure how much yet but I expect to be in a little shock.
When can I come visit, Doug?
Again not sure. It will have to depend on the work schedule and the status of our friendship. For example, if you are Alex Mazzenga, you have a slim to none chance of coming to visit and even if I do agree you can come, I will make sure to lie to you and be off on a sampling cruise and you will be left with purchasing very, very expensive nights at a hotel.
Here is a short list of who can come visit:
Charlie Sheen
Paul Rudd
Megan Fox
The dude who plays Tony Soprano
Either Cuddihy or Townsend...never at same time.
Jeff Goldblum
President Bush(only because I honestly want to see what he's gonna be like after he's done. He's going to get hammered as hard and as often as possible)
Definetly more, but I'm not feeling very creative
END of FAQ
That's about it. I'm guessing there may be a few things I've left unanswered, but let's be serious, I'm guessing a total of 4 people will read this, including myself.
All in all, I'm very excited. I'm excited to finally start a professional career and attack one of my great interests. It should be an unreal learning experience, academically/professionally and couldn't be a better spot to do it in.
I'll be posting quite rapidly to start off and please keep in touch!
Cheers,
Doug
Welcome to the blog. I'm going to apologize in advance for my writing. I guarantee that I will leave many words out of a sentence and ramble on at in appropriate times and I fucking love to overuse the comma, but hopefully you all will enjoy this. I don't think I've improved at all at writing since about 10th grade. I wrote a poem that my teacher wanted to send in for some contest or something, I don't know. It was on the destruction of Hiroshima...no big deal. But in writing this blog I have a few goals.
1. Stay in touch with Friends and the Family. Given this, I will most likely be true to my friends and keep the blog professional, but hopefully littered with inappropriate and perhaps vulgar comments. We'll see.
2. Improve my writing. Nope.
3. Document the experiences I have during my stay on the island...(Brag)
4. Add humor and whit to your daily lives. No. But maybe just comment on things like sports and other current events.
Honestly, I don't really know what to expect. I'm pretty excited as expected, but very curious to see the outcome of the next couple years. So to start, I'll write a few updates on where I'm at, maybe I'll write it as a FAQ. Also, I'll mess around with the layout and shit like that, put a few photos up and write a sweet profile about myself. Alright...
How on earth did you get this job?
I want to say luck and it was, but I also spend a lot of time searching for it. I finished up working in Ann Arbor around the 20th of August and was prepared to move back to Troy. My intentions were to move back and spend the next month searching for a job and studying for the GRE. With biological/ecological jobs, universities, research institutes, federal agencies do a lot of online posting, so this requires endless searching and looking through tons of potential jobs and then realizing I don't know how to drive a manual or I'm not familiar with fish species of the northwest atlantic, you know, bullshit like that. But I want to say in my third or so week back at home(third week of my parents doubting my job hunting skillz) I came across a posting on website for atomospheric and oceanic sciences. Hell yeah.
*Minor side note* I had made the decision to be looking for something related to aquatic biology--->want to go to graduate school in marine ecology----->that's why I was studying for GRE---->planning to start next year.
So...came across the job for Phosphorus Oceanic Chemical Anlaysis or something like that on this job posting forum. What??? Jackpot! Description was basically everything I was fairly familar with except with using freshwater instead of seawater. For those that don't know, I spend the past 4-5 months analyzing phosphorus with a fantastic professor at U of M, Dr. John Lehman. Immediately, wrote a letter for the position and sent my resume in and the next day, boom, heard back from a Dr. Michael Lomas and it was positive and a few follow ups(previous employer, Dr. Lehman, was such a tremendous help, I really can't thank him enough) later and a phone conversation and I had been offered a job at the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences as a research technician for 2 years.
What will you be doing?
Not exactly sure yet, but I know most of the work will focus on nutrient cycling and phytoplankton biological processes. So, lab work and sampling from what looks to be a pretty serious research vessel. I'm excited to work on it. I'll know more when I get to Bermuda.
When do you leave?
Monday, October 13th. Like 7:00am. US Airways. What up.
What has packing been like?
Packing has been interesting. I'm first required to get a ton of documents for Bermuda's immigration offices and a work permit that states I'm allowed to work here even though I'm not Bermudian. Aparently, the government does a pretty good job at not outsourcing jobs. The employer must show that nobody on the island can fill the position and that the applicant is of quality charcter, extremely attractive, super jacked and yadda yadda.
So, I've acquired police document of a clear record, medical clearance, chest x-ray, character and employer references, certified qualifications for the job(Supervised bench press and a notarized picture of my ripped triceps). All that stuff is taken care of.
Now for the actual packing, there's not much. I'm taking three big bags with me. Big lacrosse duffels. Shipping stuff to Bermuda is outrageous...like 150 dollars for 10lbs for Fedex. So, I've cut a lot of things down and managing to fit what's soon to be my whole life into a few bags.
On the packing list, there are usual: clothes, sheets, pillow, mattress pad, towels. A few plates, bowls, silverware, and cups to get me started. Then other random stuff like books, small DVD player, DVDs really not much at all considering I'm moving to live in this place for 2 years.
There are a few purchases I was excited to make though. Ipod Speaker set. Altec Lansing IMT 702. If anyone is ever considering getting one of these things and want a good one, take a look. I figured I'd invest into something that is portable, good sound quality, and nice and compact so I didn't have to bother bringing up any computer speakers, but still wanted to rock the F out. Second, snorkeling gear, another investment. I can't wait to get into the water and see some feeeesh.
How can I contact you?
That might be hard. I(Clark) bought a phone at verizon the other day, a pay as you go phone. So as of Monday the 321-3138 number and the legendary 6+yr phone I had will be gone. I've got a new phone when I get back to the states to contact any of you folks. In Bermuda, my plan is to get another phone with a cheap local plan and then match it up with another cheap international plan to chat with the family and maybe some other lucky people once in a while. So...this means you will not able to text me. Also, I'm unfamiliar with Skype, but I'll look into it and if anybody has a Mac/Video thing that will work as well and as always....I'll be happy to take the shirt off during the conversation.
How much longer is this post going to be?
I don't know. Hopefully not much longer...I am tired. Tired of watching Michigan fart all around the field today. I'm convinced the Threet/Sheridan combo is in the top ten for worst QB situations in Division 1. Pathetic, I'm happy to escape the horrendous football fall that the Lions and Wolverines are causing for me. Also, Red River Shootout was a pretty good one to watch today.
Doug, is there lacrosse in Bermuda?
Hey. Great question, yes in fact there is. Bermuda lacrosse has a mens team and a U19 team. Not really sure how they are, but looked at their roster and had a few guys from D3, but in general not a lot of experience. Wes, I packed the SickLax shirt to try to sell to the local Bermudians. So congrats, a couple hundred people will again pass on buying your shirts.
The mens team will play in the 2010 World games and as a resident I should be able to play for them, but who knows with the work schedule. I'm damn excited to keep playing to get some new gear. I've got so much UMich Lax stuff I dont know what to do with.
What are you most excited about?
Easy. I hear there are Tiger Sharks right around the island...
Where are you living on Bermuda?
BIOS has their own apartment complex on the station, so as of right now, I have a studio apartment. Luckily, I get a pretty sweet deal on it because housing is so ridiculous on the Island. I've been told like parts of Manhattan. In general, Bermuda is expensive, not sure how much yet but I expect to be in a little shock.
When can I come visit, Doug?
Again not sure. It will have to depend on the work schedule and the status of our friendship. For example, if you are Alex Mazzenga, you have a slim to none chance of coming to visit and even if I do agree you can come, I will make sure to lie to you and be off on a sampling cruise and you will be left with purchasing very, very expensive nights at a hotel.
Here is a short list of who can come visit:
Charlie Sheen
Paul Rudd
Megan Fox
The dude who plays Tony Soprano
Either Cuddihy or Townsend...never at same time.
Jeff Goldblum
President Bush(only because I honestly want to see what he's gonna be like after he's done. He's going to get hammered as hard and as often as possible)
Definetly more, but I'm not feeling very creative
END of FAQ
That's about it. I'm guessing there may be a few things I've left unanswered, but let's be serious, I'm guessing a total of 4 people will read this, including myself.
All in all, I'm very excited. I'm excited to finally start a professional career and attack one of my great interests. It should be an unreal learning experience, academically/professionally and couldn't be a better spot to do it in.
I'll be posting quite rapidly to start off and please keep in touch!
Cheers,
Doug
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