Today, since it seems like a reasonably average day, I'm going to "Tweet" throughout the day!
7:15
Phone alarm goes off. Don't want to get out of bed, so I hit snooze for 10 more minutes.
8:10
Breakfast in kitchen consisting of a maple pecan croissant thing, some Tropicana Orange + Raspberry juice, and a yogurt.
8:20
Leave my dorm. It's the first proper dank, drizzly morning since I've been in England.
8:24
Arrive at my desk, in the building across the street. I'm the first one in. After checking e-mail, I turn to MATLAB, a mathematical programming software, where I continue my attempts to model a pedestrian's shifting center of mass:
y= u+(yo-u+A*sin(wb*(to-tau)))*cosh(OMp*(t-to)) + (vo/OMp + (wb/OMp)*A*cos(wb*(to-tau)))*sinh(OMp*(t-to)) - A*sin(wb*(t-tau))
where A=P/(1+(OMp/wb)^2) (MacDonald, 2008)
...it's going to be a long day.
8:50
The second person arrives, and we discuss the overcast skies.
10:00
Bathroom break! This is mainly to blow the massive amounts of snot out of my nose. Today is the first day that I can definitively say I'm not sick any more, thank goodness. Eight days was quite enough. Now I'm just in that awkward period where I experience diminishing (but annoying) residual drainage and the occasional cough.
10:30
Tea time!
11:30
Discuss research topics (and life in New Zealand) with a couple other students
12:00
Lunch time at Taylor's Deli & Sandwich Co with the Houston girl who just finished her DPhil in structural dynamics.
13:00
Presentation by the Laing O'Rourke construction firm about the Leadenhall building (i.e. the Cheesegrater) soon to be built in London.
14:10
Return to lab, only to realize that my wireless network VPN software has corrupted. Time to reinstall...
14:35
Success! Now back to MATLAB!
15:45
....still working on MATLAB.... convincing myself to stay focused... anyone know how to find vo??
16:15
Taking a lap around the inside of the lab to clear my head. Talking to other students about the infamous cello problem.
16:35
Only 25 minutes until freedom, but I'm getting back to work for the moment. Kind of skeptical that inspiration will strike in time.
17:00
Sure enough, it never came to me. In fact, I realized that my time steps are wrong too. Looks like vo and to will have to wait for tomorrow.
17:05
Back in my dorm.
17:30
Laundry in; debating dinner
18:05
Laundry moved; dinner (salad w/ hard boiled egg, feta, etc) underway
18:30
Leaving dorm, in the drizzling rain, for Latin dance practice.
18:55
Arrive at dance practice (yes, it's a really long way away, esp. by foot.)
19:00
Dance practice! 2 hours of cha cha, an hour of jive, and some exercises!
22:15
Dance lets out, I walk back towards the MCR.
22:40
Arrive at the MCR for a mojito. Most of the grads had been there for over an hour and were on the way out to a pub or somewhere. I chose to head back to the dorm with a small group.
23:00
Tea and biscuits in the dorm kitchen after taking my laundry out of the dryer!
00:00
Back to my room to fold laundry and catch the latest news online.
1:00
In bed, going to sleep. (Usually I go to bed between 23:30 and 00:30, but laundry didn't help)
Well, that was fun! Time to rest up so I can do it all again tomorrow.
WORD OF THE DAY: mate n. Someone's close friend of either gender. e.g. The other day I went out to grab a sandwich with my best mate, Joe. It was really great seeing him again after we went to (upper) school together.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
On the 9th day of Michaelmas, my true love gave to me...
Wednesday, 2nd Week of Michaelmas Term
Current conditions: 2 degrees C, lightly overcast, moderate wind
I've recently come to find out that there is a strange condition that hovers around Oxford every year known as 'Freshers Flu.' As you can guess, freshers flu is the strange sickness (not necessarily an actual flu) that is a result of gathering people from around the world while the climate heads south for the winter. Thankfully, I have avoided said terrible beast as it scuttled from one person to the next... until today. Sure enough, I woke up this morning with the tell-tale stuffy nose. I'm hoping it's not going to be very bad, but nonetheless, I need to take an early bed time. I happen to also be long overdue for a blog post, so here I am responding to duty. I think I'll "try" to keep it short, but we'll see what happens.
I suppose the question everyone most wants to hear about is research. After all, that is supposedly what I came to Oxford to do. Having met with my supervisors a couple times, I am now heading down the road en route to defining my research topic. Broadly speaking, my research will concern the study of pedestrian footbridges and understanding the cause and effects of significant, synchronized crowd movement. Essentially, that means I will be seeking to (1) understand why crowds of people seem to lock step with each other, (2) determine if such behavior affects bridge displacement, and (3) learn about how bridges can be constructed to minimize such effects. As my preliminary study progresses, I will certainly be limiting the scope of this project, but it seems to be a very interesting and exciting structural dynamics problem. The topic came about largely as a result of the London Millennium Bridge (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAXVa__XWZ8), though such behavior has been observed on other footbridges as well.
Ok moving along here... The past week has been full of many enjoyable social events as well. Our MCR evidently has a reputation as being great for social interaction, and I definitely understand why. On most nights, some event has been available for everyone to come socialize and hear about each others research. From movie nights to wine & cheese with the Warden to gathering around a chocolate fountain, the events have been varied and fun. On Saturday, we all dressed up in our fancy 'sub fusc' (gown, black suit, white bow tie) for matriculation. This university-wide ceremony was our official induction into Oxford. The Vice Chancellor read a script in Latin which essentially boiled down to, "The academic dean has asked that you [the students] be accepted into Oxford by your meeting the entry level qualifications of the university. I now hereby admit you as a student of Oxford University." We then paraded out of the Sheldonian Theatre (more on the theatre in a later post) and headed back to Keble for lots of pictures and lunch. It was a bright, beautiful day, and we were quite happy to be officially inducted.
Another particularly notable event has transpired since my last post. At the freshers fair (where all the university clubs and societies vie for innocent students' time), I found the Keble rowing club. Excited, I inquired... dejected, I learned that practice was essentially every evening and every weekend day. Not wishing to lose my entire social life, I moved on from rowing to dancesport. What's that? Basically, it's Oxford's ballroom/latin dance team. Since the freshers fair, I attended a couple free sessions and decided that it would be fantastic to try out for the beginners team... which was the best overall team in the UK last year. Typically, they accept about 100 new beginners each year since many drop out. Optimistic of my chances, I showed up at the trials and got on the team! Ok... so they actually admitted every male who tried out (40) in a feeble attempt to offset the many ladies who showed up (70 admitted, many others rejected). So what does that mean? For 150 pounds for the year, I get 10 hours of dance training per week(!), the chance to compete in six competitions, I meet lots of people, I learn a great skill, and I get my weekly exercise in! First team practice is tomorrow and I'm psyched!
So the last major topic for today is food related! Having been formally educated on English biscuits (what we would call sandwich cookies) and tea (I'm a huge fan), I decided to treat 15 of my many new MCR friends to American cooking tonight.... a southern fried chicken dinner! I found recipes online for fried chicken and homemade (American) biscuits and executed them to perfection. Everyone was quite thrilled. The most interesting I found, however, is that buttermilk and shortening are foreign concepts here! As I ran from store to store today, desperately trying to find ingredients, I found exactly one brand of lard, which I had to substitute for the Crisco, and no buttermilk at all. Thankfully, it all worked out well using the lard and regular milk, and everyone was quite happy. Thus, I think I might start cooking on a weekly or fortnightly basis... woo hoo!
CULTURAL CORNER:
Since I need to get to bed, the cultural corner is going to be limited to the word of the day. Next time, it will be better...
WORD OF THE DAY: dodgy. adj. Something that is of questionable quality or origin. Also, an area or place that may not be safe or clean. Syn: Sketchy (US), Scuzzy. Example: "The common kitchen is due to be cleaned out. After weeks of use, it has become a bit dodgy looking."
Current conditions: 2 degrees C, lightly overcast, moderate wind
I've recently come to find out that there is a strange condition that hovers around Oxford every year known as 'Freshers Flu.' As you can guess, freshers flu is the strange sickness (not necessarily an actual flu) that is a result of gathering people from around the world while the climate heads south for the winter. Thankfully, I have avoided said terrible beast as it scuttled from one person to the next... until today. Sure enough, I woke up this morning with the tell-tale stuffy nose. I'm hoping it's not going to be very bad, but nonetheless, I need to take an early bed time. I happen to also be long overdue for a blog post, so here I am responding to duty. I think I'll "try" to keep it short, but we'll see what happens.
I suppose the question everyone most wants to hear about is research. After all, that is supposedly what I came to Oxford to do. Having met with my supervisors a couple times, I am now heading down the road en route to defining my research topic. Broadly speaking, my research will concern the study of pedestrian footbridges and understanding the cause and effects of significant, synchronized crowd movement. Essentially, that means I will be seeking to (1) understand why crowds of people seem to lock step with each other, (2) determine if such behavior affects bridge displacement, and (3) learn about how bridges can be constructed to minimize such effects. As my preliminary study progresses, I will certainly be limiting the scope of this project, but it seems to be a very interesting and exciting structural dynamics problem. The topic came about largely as a result of the London Millennium Bridge (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAXVa__XWZ8), though such behavior has been observed on other footbridges as well.
Ok moving along here... The past week has been full of many enjoyable social events as well. Our MCR evidently has a reputation as being great for social interaction, and I definitely understand why. On most nights, some event has been available for everyone to come socialize and hear about each others research. From movie nights to wine & cheese with the Warden to gathering around a chocolate fountain, the events have been varied and fun. On Saturday, we all dressed up in our fancy 'sub fusc' (gown, black suit, white bow tie) for matriculation. This university-wide ceremony was our official induction into Oxford. The Vice Chancellor read a script in Latin which essentially boiled down to, "The academic dean has asked that you [the students] be accepted into Oxford by your meeting the entry level qualifications of the university. I now hereby admit you as a student of Oxford University." We then paraded out of the Sheldonian Theatre (more on the theatre in a later post) and headed back to Keble for lots of pictures and lunch. It was a bright, beautiful day, and we were quite happy to be officially inducted.
Another particularly notable event has transpired since my last post. At the freshers fair (where all the university clubs and societies vie for innocent students' time), I found the Keble rowing club. Excited, I inquired... dejected, I learned that practice was essentially every evening and every weekend day. Not wishing to lose my entire social life, I moved on from rowing to dancesport. What's that? Basically, it's Oxford's ballroom/latin dance team. Since the freshers fair, I attended a couple free sessions and decided that it would be fantastic to try out for the beginners team... which was the best overall team in the UK last year. Typically, they accept about 100 new beginners each year since many drop out. Optimistic of my chances, I showed up at the trials and got on the team! Ok... so they actually admitted every male who tried out (40) in a feeble attempt to offset the many ladies who showed up (70 admitted, many others rejected). So what does that mean? For 150 pounds for the year, I get 10 hours of dance training per week(!), the chance to compete in six competitions, I meet lots of people, I learn a great skill, and I get my weekly exercise in! First team practice is tomorrow and I'm psyched!
So the last major topic for today is food related! Having been formally educated on English biscuits (what we would call sandwich cookies) and tea (I'm a huge fan), I decided to treat 15 of my many new MCR friends to American cooking tonight.... a southern fried chicken dinner! I found recipes online for fried chicken and homemade (American) biscuits and executed them to perfection. Everyone was quite thrilled. The most interesting I found, however, is that buttermilk and shortening are foreign concepts here! As I ran from store to store today, desperately trying to find ingredients, I found exactly one brand of lard, which I had to substitute for the Crisco, and no buttermilk at all. Thankfully, it all worked out well using the lard and regular milk, and everyone was quite happy. Thus, I think I might start cooking on a weekly or fortnightly basis... woo hoo!
CULTURAL CORNER:
Since I need to get to bed, the cultural corner is going to be limited to the word of the day. Next time, it will be better...
WORD OF THE DAY: dodgy. adj. Something that is of questionable quality or origin. Also, an area or place that may not be safe or clean. Syn: Sketchy (US), Scuzzy. Example: "The common kitchen is due to be cleaned out. After weeks of use, it has become a bit dodgy looking."
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