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Thursday, February 19, 2009
Argentina
I think I mentioned this a while back. The Argentina Women's Field Hockey team was staying at BIOS for two weeks while they competed for the Pan-Am Field Hockey Cup. The winner gets a spot in the 2010 World Cup of field Hockey. Exhilarating, I know.
Their stay at BIOS was initially exhilarating for us males here at BIOS. You've got to understand, the ratio of males to females(my age group) are about 5 to 1. In St. George's, seeing an attractive, normal female is like seeing Big Foot...doing lines of blow off his tree stump. You just won't see it. So, when 20 athletic, hispanic, mysterious, good-looking females showed up at BIOS, we were pretty happy. We've got a big visitor housing that usually holds students, but they needed a cheap place to stay and hold their meetings.
However, through the grapevine, we heard the women were not allowed to speak to BIOS employees due to coaches orders. You could see this too, almost anytime you'd approach to say hello or walk by, it was usually eye contact avoidance and nothing else. I mean, if any team was in a foreign place with friendly people, you'd start a conversation and be interested in what was going on at your temporary place of residence.
After the initial disappointment, I went on the cruise, came back, and nothing had changed. They had started their tournament games. They are a very good team, actually won the Olympics this year.
This weekend, was the semi-final and final. A few of us, went to watch the matches and I gotta say Field Hockey at the level, was pretty fun to watch. U.S. played Trinadad and Tobago in one semi-final and Argentina played Chile in the other. Chile was pretty good looking and friendlier than Argentina...why couldn't they have stayed at BIOS. Its pretty fun to cheer for your country in another, there were quite a few Americans there too.
Its amusing to chat with them too:
American: So, who are following here.
Me: Oh, just came to watch the games.
American: You came all the way out here for just the tournament?
Me: Oh, no sorry. I live here. Argentina is staying where I work, so that's how I knew.
American: Ohhhh.
American: What do you do here(What the fuck are you doing living in Bermuda?)
Me: I work for Ocean Science Research place.
American: Really, that's cool.
Me: Haha. (Yeah, I know it is)
American: So what do you do at your job.
Me: I pretty much look at water (I don't want to get into this with you)
American: Oh ok.
No offense to the majority of people, but if I start getting into my job, I can fucking see it in their eyes that they don't have a clue what I'm talking about. Oh well.
The finals between Argentina and U.S. was awesome. It went into double OT than a shootout or what I called a slapoff. Argentina won after going 6 shots. Pretty epic. Here's a picture of the loser team from the tournament.
I'm no longer a fan of Argentina. Neutral before, now there's beef. Except for you Messi, you rock.
Their stay at BIOS was initially exhilarating for us males here at BIOS. You've got to understand, the ratio of males to females(my age group) are about 5 to 1. In St. George's, seeing an attractive, normal female is like seeing Big Foot...doing lines of blow off his tree stump. You just won't see it. So, when 20 athletic, hispanic, mysterious, good-looking females showed up at BIOS, we were pretty happy. We've got a big visitor housing that usually holds students, but they needed a cheap place to stay and hold their meetings.
However, through the grapevine, we heard the women were not allowed to speak to BIOS employees due to coaches orders. You could see this too, almost anytime you'd approach to say hello or walk by, it was usually eye contact avoidance and nothing else. I mean, if any team was in a foreign place with friendly people, you'd start a conversation and be interested in what was going on at your temporary place of residence.
After the initial disappointment, I went on the cruise, came back, and nothing had changed. They had started their tournament games. They are a very good team, actually won the Olympics this year.
This weekend, was the semi-final and final. A few of us, went to watch the matches and I gotta say Field Hockey at the level, was pretty fun to watch. U.S. played Trinadad and Tobago in one semi-final and Argentina played Chile in the other. Chile was pretty good looking and friendlier than Argentina...why couldn't they have stayed at BIOS. Its pretty fun to cheer for your country in another, there were quite a few Americans there too.
Its amusing to chat with them too:
American: So, who are following here.
Me: Oh, just came to watch the games.
American: You came all the way out here for just the tournament?
Me: Oh, no sorry. I live here. Argentina is staying where I work, so that's how I knew.
American: Ohhhh.
American: What do you do here(What the fuck are you doing living in Bermuda?)
Me: I work for Ocean Science Research place.
American: Really, that's cool.
Me: Haha. (Yeah, I know it is)
American: So what do you do at your job.
Me: I pretty much look at water (I don't want to get into this with you)
American: Oh ok.
No offense to the majority of people, but if I start getting into my job, I can fucking see it in their eyes that they don't have a clue what I'm talking about. Oh well.
The finals between Argentina and U.S. was awesome. It went into double OT than a shootout or what I called a slapoff. Argentina won after going 6 shots. Pretty epic. Here's a picture of the loser team from the tournament.
I'm no longer a fan of Argentina. Neutral before, now there's beef. Except for you Messi, you rock.
Width
Does anybody know how to change the width in the main column. I must be an idiot, if I can't figure this out.
B243
Recalling to about two weeks ago I was able to go out on my second BATS cruise. It had been delayed and delayed and little bit more delayed. After leaving Norfolk from its winter repairs the Atlantic Explorer made its to Bermuda initially with two engines then down to one. So not only that caused delays, but they needed to fly a engineer out to repair it. He was around a few nights, so I was able to drink with him a little bit. I've never been around a "redneck" and I don't mean that in a stupid, stereotypical way...its just if I described him as scraggly looking with a major southern drawl, wearing a dirty 'Bama hat and had teeth worse than most Brits around here you'd come to the conclusion that he is related to the Genus "redneck". Note, from what I've seen, most Brits have perfectly normal teeth. That being said, the visiting engineer was very friendly, got drunk very easily(to my surprise) and was not dumb at all. And fixed the boat.
So, we were able to depart from St. George's wharf around 800 on Saturday, the 7th. The first part of the cruise is relatively nice because I do basically jack shit. It takes maybe an hour or so to depart to our first station, Hydrostation S. BATS drops a CTD down to get a profile(for temp, chlorophyll, salinity, O2) and for a few samples. Then we departed to our next station.
I'm still learning what goes on at each station. It took me a while during this cruise to kind of get things figured out. I was basically on my own with all of the sampling for Phosphate and as well as samples for project with Arizona State. Luckily, a couple of grad students from ASU were there to help and actually see how their samples are taken. It took a while and luckily, another tech from our lab was there to answer any questions. There are sometimes several parts to sampling. First, is how to take water from the big CTD. Sometimes, the sample goes straight into a freezer. In other cases, chemicals need be added for preservation or the sample may need to be filtered. All of this takes time understanding the protocol and bumps and questions that go along the way.
Working during a cruise is a nice change of pace from the morning to evening routine. Because we try to fit as much as possible during the cruise, science is almost always going on, if not steaming from station to station. I don't have the schedule from the past cruise, but here is a sample of the short cruise(B243a) leaving Friday...
Day 2: Saturday 21 February sunrise: 0655, sunset: 1810
0000 Deploy Neuer PITS
0100 Depart for BATS, on station by 0400
0430 CTD cast (0-1000m, production), BATS, BBOP
0630 Deploy production array
0730 SPMR
0900 SPMR
CTD (0-500m, shallow core) BATS, BBOP
1300 Zooplankton tows (x2, 0-250m)
CTD (0-1200m), BBOP optics, MO timeshare
1500 Kadko surface water collection (science SW, or surface CTD)
1700 SPMR
1800 Recover production array
CTD (0-500m) profile
2000 Relocate on PITS
2100 Recover Neuer PITS
2200 Relocate to Hydrostation
So you can see at any part of the day, you may be called to duty. Looking at this schedule, the only thing I'm doing on this cruise is related to PITS. So, I will most likely take samples around Midnight, deploy the sediment trap, and then further take care of samples. Most likely working from 11pm to 2am. Nice to do things different. The last 2 days of B243, my work hours were 2200 to 300-400 or so.
The rest of the cruise is eating, sleeping, and hanging out in the lounge. Hours work each day can be light or heavy and late or mid-day.
I actually didn't snap any photos during the cruise. It wasn't calm, but it also wasn't bad weather. Top wind speeds were maybe 30+ knots or so, enough to cancel only a few hours of science. I'll bring the camera for the next cruise.
Overall, the cruise went well. I'm pretty confident with all of our lab's Sea Operations.
So, we were able to depart from St. George's wharf around 800 on Saturday, the 7th. The first part of the cruise is relatively nice because I do basically jack shit. It takes maybe an hour or so to depart to our first station, Hydrostation S. BATS drops a CTD down to get a profile(for temp, chlorophyll, salinity, O2) and for a few samples. Then we departed to our next station.
I'm still learning what goes on at each station. It took me a while during this cruise to kind of get things figured out. I was basically on my own with all of the sampling for Phosphate and as well as samples for project with Arizona State. Luckily, a couple of grad students from ASU were there to help and actually see how their samples are taken. It took a while and luckily, another tech from our lab was there to answer any questions. There are sometimes several parts to sampling. First, is how to take water from the big CTD. Sometimes, the sample goes straight into a freezer. In other cases, chemicals need be added for preservation or the sample may need to be filtered. All of this takes time understanding the protocol and bumps and questions that go along the way.
Working during a cruise is a nice change of pace from the morning to evening routine. Because we try to fit as much as possible during the cruise, science is almost always going on, if not steaming from station to station. I don't have the schedule from the past cruise, but here is a sample of the short cruise(B243a) leaving Friday...
Day 2: Saturday 21 February sunrise: 0655, sunset: 1810
0000 Deploy Neuer PITS
0100 Depart for BATS, on station by 0400
0430 CTD cast (0-1000m, production), BATS, BBOP
0630 Deploy production array
0730 SPMR
0900 SPMR
CTD (0-500m, shallow core) BATS, BBOP
1300 Zooplankton tows (x2, 0-250m)
CTD (0-1200m), BBOP optics, MO timeshare
1500 Kadko surface water collection (science SW, or surface CTD)
1700 SPMR
1800 Recover production array
CTD (0-500m) profile
2000 Relocate on PITS
2100 Recover Neuer PITS
2200 Relocate to Hydrostation
So you can see at any part of the day, you may be called to duty. Looking at this schedule, the only thing I'm doing on this cruise is related to PITS. So, I will most likely take samples around Midnight, deploy the sediment trap, and then further take care of samples. Most likely working from 11pm to 2am. Nice to do things different. The last 2 days of B243, my work hours were 2200 to 300-400 or so.
The rest of the cruise is eating, sleeping, and hanging out in the lounge. Hours work each day can be light or heavy and late or mid-day.
I actually didn't snap any photos during the cruise. It wasn't calm, but it also wasn't bad weather. Top wind speeds were maybe 30+ knots or so, enough to cancel only a few hours of science. I'll bring the camera for the next cruise.
Overall, the cruise went well. I'm pretty confident with all of our lab's Sea Operations.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Windy
Been a while, hasn't it.
I got back from the BATS core cruise, last......Thursday, I believe. It went well, I plan on writing a post about it, but this one will be short. I just wanted to satisfy you quick update.
It's been extremely windy lately. Power got cut down late last night and luckily it came back on early in the morning. I've never really been around that strong of wind, at least not that I can remember. It's about low 50's too, so it's not exactly the most pleasant place and I'm far from a suntan. I get pretty upset when I'm forced to wear pants.
The wind has caused another problem. There was a scheduled cruise from Tues-Thurs that is an added sampling cruise for BATS that only occurs during the bloom season(after winter mixing, lots of nutrients for phytoplankton to grow). I was scheduled to go on it to do some sample collection for somebody at ASU, but it looks like I won't be going on it because of scheduling. Oh well.
I'll post about the cruise and about the Argnetinians and a big Field Hockey tournament that was here the past two weeks. Later.
Check these out for now.
Update on how insane Joaquin Phoenix is....
Two big movies coming out soon.
This is Tarantino's new movie, Inglorious Basterds. If its Tarantino, it'll be good no matter what, but I still don't like Brad Pitt and his accent in the preview.
Normally, I watch almost every possible preview for a certain movie, but I won't for Transformers 2. This one hasn't gotten me too excited, but Robots with lasers and rocket launchers will be extremely far from suck. Oh yeah, and Megan Fox is in it.
I got back from the BATS core cruise, last......Thursday, I believe. It went well, I plan on writing a post about it, but this one will be short. I just wanted to satisfy you quick update.
It's been extremely windy lately. Power got cut down late last night and luckily it came back on early in the morning. I've never really been around that strong of wind, at least not that I can remember. It's about low 50's too, so it's not exactly the most pleasant place and I'm far from a suntan. I get pretty upset when I'm forced to wear pants.
The wind has caused another problem. There was a scheduled cruise from Tues-Thurs that is an added sampling cruise for BATS that only occurs during the bloom season(after winter mixing, lots of nutrients for phytoplankton to grow). I was scheduled to go on it to do some sample collection for somebody at ASU, but it looks like I won't be going on it because of scheduling. Oh well.
I'll post about the cruise and about the Argnetinians and a big Field Hockey tournament that was here the past two weeks. Later.
Check these out for now.
Update on how insane Joaquin Phoenix is....
Joaquin Phoenix On Letterman 2-11-09 - watch more funny videos
Two big movies coming out soon.
This is Tarantino's new movie, Inglorious Basterds. If its Tarantino, it'll be good no matter what, but I still don't like Brad Pitt and his accent in the preview.
Normally, I watch almost every possible preview for a certain movie, but I won't for Transformers 2. This one hasn't gotten me too excited, but Robots with lasers and rocket launchers will be extremely far from suck. Oh yeah, and Megan Fox is in it.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Ex-Extinctions
Recently, an extinct species of mountain goat, the Ibex was resurrected by cloning, but dyed in 7 seconds due to collapsed lungs. Of course, it brings about the discussion of whether or not I will be able to have a pet T-rex in 30 years or not. Doubtful, but I'm optimistic.
Today, CNN posted a story on a pretty cool, Ice Cube, related archaeological discovery. Scientists discovered a snake that would have been LARGER than the snake depicted in Cube's Andaconda movie.
The snake, named, Titanboa, probably AVERAGED 42.7 feet and at its greatest width would have reached your hip. Now how about resurrecting THAT. Literally, would make Zenga's nightmare a reality.
Another interesting thing is that based on its size, scientists are able to calculate the average temperature of its environment of the tropical rainforests of Columbia. The average temp would of have been 91 degrees, 10 degrees warmer than now. Whether or not "global warming" is happening, Earth has seen an extremely wide range of climates.
Today, CNN posted a story on a pretty cool, Ice Cube, related archaeological discovery. Scientists discovered a snake that would have been LARGER than the snake depicted in Cube's Andaconda movie.
The snake, named, Titanboa, probably AVERAGED 42.7 feet and at its greatest width would have reached your hip. Now how about resurrecting THAT. Literally, would make Zenga's nightmare a reality.
Another interesting thing is that based on its size, scientists are able to calculate the average temperature of its environment of the tropical rainforests of Columbia. The average temp would of have been 91 degrees, 10 degrees warmer than now. Whether or not "global warming" is happening, Earth has seen an extremely wide range of climates.
Worst Music Video
I Found it. Found the worst music video of recent memory. You look at a Music Video now, like Milli Vanilli, and you think, man, this is garbage. Don't get me wrong, it's filth, but it was also a music video 20 years ago. All music videos were bad back then. But this one, Mavado: "I'm so Special" is easily one of the worst I have ever seen. Watch it below.
I'm not surprised either that you couldn't finish it. There's so many things are ridiculous. This got Video of the Week on MTV Hits. Jaw-dropping. Mavado's definitely special, the special kind that rides a short bus instead of his computer generated convertible.
I'm not surprised either that you couldn't finish it. There's so many things are ridiculous. This got Video of the Week on MTV Hits. Jaw-dropping. Mavado's definitely special, the special kind that rides a short bus instead of his computer generated convertible.
"Mek we special, I'm so special so special so special
Dats why mi strap wid mi .45 special dem waan pree mi
Fi gal and dem waan chase like petal but jah
I'm so special, I'm so special so special so special
Dats why mi strap wid mi .45 special ha ha ha"
Dats why mi strap wid mi .45 special dem waan pree mi
Fi gal and dem waan chase like petal but jah
I'm so special, I'm so special so special so special
Dats why mi strap wid mi .45 special ha ha ha"
Delayed
The cruise has been delayed and delayed each day, starting from Tuesday. Again, this is for the February BATS cruise that are five days long, each month, out to our BATS sampling station.
Apparently, the month and a half long maintenance was not enough. One of the engines broke down on their way back to Bermuda, so the crew and cruise has been waiting for parts and an engineer to arrive and be replaced.
This has left the week fairly boring, but easy, all I've really had to do is prep for the cruise.
I don't know how everybody else feels, but I thought the Superbowl was pretty nice to watch. I really don't remember any commercials, besides MC Hammer yelling "We meltin' gold Baby!" Game was good, disappointed Cardinals didn't pull it out and a Buckeye got the MVP award, but at least I won squares. $100 big ones.
Maybe a week ago I posted that I received my official Bermuda License and after comparing it with a few others, I've discovered something pretty awesome. Because Bermuda is pretty anal about getting certain licenses for certain vehicles like needing a different test a 50cc, 125cc, and a car. So they've put "classes" that you're allowed to drive. Usually this is either a 50cc bike, Motorcycle, car. Another thing that is bullshit is a British Driver's license is no good in Bermuda, however a Bermuda driver's license is alright to drive in the UK.
Back to my license, in my "classes" section it lists a 7. Turning the license over, 7 matches up with an Ambulance, meaning, the only vehicle I'm legally able to drive in Bermuda...is an Ambulance. There's Bermuda for you. I'm not even going to bother changing it, they'll probably charge me for whatever. It's easier to just act dumb about it. Or if an officer ever pulls me over for speeding on my bike that is incapable of going 7mph over the speed limit, I'll just tell him the hospital is borrowing my ride, so I'm stuck with this....Sorry.
(Yeah, I know, great photo of the license)
It's gotten in the low 50's now, feels pretty cold. The cold and wind will make for an interesting cruise. I'll let you know how it all goes.
Apparently, the month and a half long maintenance was not enough. One of the engines broke down on their way back to Bermuda, so the crew and cruise has been waiting for parts and an engineer to arrive and be replaced.
This has left the week fairly boring, but easy, all I've really had to do is prep for the cruise.
I don't know how everybody else feels, but I thought the Superbowl was pretty nice to watch. I really don't remember any commercials, besides MC Hammer yelling "We meltin' gold Baby!" Game was good, disappointed Cardinals didn't pull it out and a Buckeye got the MVP award, but at least I won squares. $100 big ones.
Maybe a week ago I posted that I received my official Bermuda License and after comparing it with a few others, I've discovered something pretty awesome. Because Bermuda is pretty anal about getting certain licenses for certain vehicles like needing a different test a 50cc, 125cc, and a car. So they've put "classes" that you're allowed to drive. Usually this is either a 50cc bike, Motorcycle, car. Another thing that is bullshit is a British Driver's license is no good in Bermuda, however a Bermuda driver's license is alright to drive in the UK.
Back to my license, in my "classes" section it lists a 7. Turning the license over, 7 matches up with an Ambulance, meaning, the only vehicle I'm legally able to drive in Bermuda...is an Ambulance. There's Bermuda for you. I'm not even going to bother changing it, they'll probably charge me for whatever. It's easier to just act dumb about it. Or if an officer ever pulls me over for speeding on my bike that is incapable of going 7mph over the speed limit, I'll just tell him the hospital is borrowing my ride, so I'm stuck with this....Sorry.
(Yeah, I know, great photo of the license)
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