The Three Big Stories
1. Tropical Conference
Besides arriving later and leaving earlier than I would have liked thanks to having to take an airport shuttle, I had a smooth trip. I didn't think I prepared enough for my talk on Wednesday (less than 18 hours after I arrived), but it went OK. Only one person asked a question, and it was because we were talking about the prediction of cyclogenesis but never set a criterion to what that was. I didn't get a lot of feedback on my topic, but several people told me I did a good job. NC State had a large group there, and while none of my old friends attended, there were a few familiar faces, including one of my former professors. I hung out with that group some, and through them, I met some cool people from the University of Alabama-Huntsville. I played putt-putt with them one night, and then went with them to Disney on Friday. We were only able to do a half day at Magic Kingdom, but we hit all the major rides and sites, and it was a lot of fun. We were planning to go to Downtown Disney, but transportation and time issues forced us back to eating pizza poolside at the hotel. There were way too many Hawaiian shirts at this conference. It was cool to put famous names with faces though, and see the latest research in the field. Obviously I didn't get as much qual studying done as I had planned.
2. The Qual
I can't remember too much about classes other than I passed and the forecasting lab was a lot of fun and a good learning experience. So the main event: the qualification exam. I survived all the studying and pressure. The math killed me since I can't do a derivation to save my life, but most of the other questions weren't too bad. But I passed (or they had enough sympathy to keep me around), and I am glad to have that weight off my shoulders. We had a cookout afterwards, and then a little etc. to round the night out.
3. Camping Trip
Five of us headed down to the San Rafael Swell (I've been told some people call it the "Little Grand Canyon") for a little post-qual relaxation. This area is located in central Utah about 2.5 hours from SLC. I dropped a ton of money on equipment and hiking boots, but they will obviously serve me well in the future. Our campsite was about 20 miles down a dirt road from civilization (yet we still had cell service!). You're driving across a barren desert landscape when all of a sudden you're at the edge of a huge canyon. Our campsite (which was fee-free) was literally on the edge of a cliff. We did a lot of exploring of the area, although I don't think I would have been climbing up and down steep rocky canyon walls if it weren't for my crazy outdoorsy friends. We even found a hidden cave in one of the walls. There were also several ancient pictographs that are still visible on the walls. These canyons were jaw-dropping amazing. I had seen pictures of similar ones, but it's completely different in person. It got a little chilly at night, but otherwise it was a really fun trip, and I was only slightly sore afterwards.
All pictures have been posted on the Webshots page.
Besides arriving later and leaving earlier than I would have liked thanks to having to take an airport shuttle, I had a smooth trip. I didn't think I prepared enough for my talk on Wednesday (less than 18 hours after I arrived), but it went OK. Only one person asked a question, and it was because we were talking about the prediction of cyclogenesis but never set a criterion to what that was. I didn't get a lot of feedback on my topic, but several people told me I did a good job. NC State had a large group there, and while none of my old friends attended, there were a few familiar faces, including one of my former professors. I hung out with that group some, and through them, I met some cool people from the University of Alabama-Huntsville. I played putt-putt with them one night, and then went with them to Disney on Friday. We were only able to do a half day at Magic Kingdom, but we hit all the major rides and sites, and it was a lot of fun. We were planning to go to Downtown Disney, but transportation and time issues forced us back to eating pizza poolside at the hotel. There were way too many Hawaiian shirts at this conference. It was cool to put famous names with faces though, and see the latest research in the field. Obviously I didn't get as much qual studying done as I had planned.
2. The Qual
I can't remember too much about classes other than I passed and the forecasting lab was a lot of fun and a good learning experience. So the main event: the qualification exam. I survived all the studying and pressure. The math killed me since I can't do a derivation to save my life, but most of the other questions weren't too bad. But I passed (or they had enough sympathy to keep me around), and I am glad to have that weight off my shoulders. We had a cookout afterwards, and then a little etc. to round the night out.
3. Camping Trip
Five of us headed down to the San Rafael Swell (I've been told some people call it the "Little Grand Canyon") for a little post-qual relaxation. This area is located in central Utah about 2.5 hours from SLC. I dropped a ton of money on equipment and hiking boots, but they will obviously serve me well in the future. Our campsite was about 20 miles down a dirt road from civilization (yet we still had cell service!). You're driving across a barren desert landscape when all of a sudden you're at the edge of a huge canyon. Our campsite (which was fee-free) was literally on the edge of a cliff. We did a lot of exploring of the area, although I don't think I would have been climbing up and down steep rocky canyon walls if it weren't for my crazy outdoorsy friends. We even found a hidden cave in one of the walls. There were also several ancient pictographs that are still visible on the walls. These canyons were jaw-dropping amazing. I had seen pictures of similar ones, but it's completely different in person. It got a little chilly at night, but otherwise it was a really fun trip, and I was only slightly sore afterwards.
All pictures have been posted on the Webshots page.
posted by Andrew at 8:27 PM
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