I'm Still Here

This semester is rough, but I'm surviving. All of my paperwork for graduation has been completed and my finals are coming up faster than I want to think about. But I have to think about it and deal with the fact that I am not studying enough. So, I am going to reduce my work hours a little more. I mentioned in my previous post that I reduced my hours to 32 hours a week. Instead I have been working 35 hours. Starting next week I will work 30 hours per week for 3 weeks and then take off the first week of November. I hope that will give me enough time to study.

Very few students in this program have taken 3 of the finals in one semester. I know of only two others who have done that; one suffered from cramps in their hand from all the writing and the other turned into a basket case at the end. What will happen to me, I wonder?

Looking on the Bright Side of Life

In spite of the fact that 25% of the Angeles National Forest is in ruins, life goes on. Some of the positive things in my life are:

1. I did not know that Mt. Wilson had a TowerCam until the fire occurred. Not only do I like to look at it, several others do as well. So, I have placed a link on the right side of my blog under "Links". It will be there as long as either the TowerCam exists or as long as I have this blog.

2. Having a few posts about the fire has increased the readership of my blog and that makes me happy.

3. I made and acted upon the decision to reduce my work hours. I was working 40 hrs a week and it was too much. It left me with very little time to study for my finals. So I have reduced my hours to 32 hrs per week with the agreement and support of my supervisors. I was apprehensive about telling them that I needed to work less, but I did it and the outcome was positive.

4. I am moving toward the finish line of my doctoral program.

5. I gave my final seminar last week and it was very well received. It was a relief to get it done.

6. I have started studying now for my three remaining finals: two written and one oral. This is a positive because I haven't had time to study until now and that was causing me a lot of anxiety. So the anxiety has diminished and I am studying.

Life consists of both negative and positive things. It's up to us to choose what we are going to focus on.

Angeles Crest Highway After the Station Fire

This is a video of the drive that Hal McAlister, Director of the Mt. Wilson Observatory, and his wife Susan, took to reach Mt. Wilson after the fire. Words that are being used to describe the Angeles National Forest along the Angeles Crest Highway are: utter desolation, a moonscape, and a landscape in an ashen gray winter.

I have gone skiing, hiking, and camping in this forest and now it's all gone. It will take decades for it to regenerate back to the way it looked the last time I was there. That will not happen in my lifetime.

The Mt. Wilson Solar TowerCam

The Mt. Wilson TowerCam is working again. I'm not sure what direction it is oriented; it looks like it might be facing towards the northeast. There is still some smoke, but there is also some blue sky. Best of all, the threat to Mt. Wilson is much less than in my previous post. Enjoy the view!

The Hills Are Burning

My home city is Los Angeles, CA and I am not at all happy about the fire that is going on in the Angeles National Forest. As I post this, 21,000 acres have burned and thousands of homes are threatened. I could rant about the wisdom (or lack of it) in building homes on the hillsides, but I won't. I could rant about the lack of a controlled burn program in the Angeles National Forest (ANF), but I won't.

Mt. Wilson is a mountain in the ANF at an elevation of 5,700 ft. From the top, you can see most of the Los Angeles metropolitan area to the Pacific Ocean and Catalina Island. The Mt. Wilson Observatory has a 150 ft. solar tower with a TowerCam. The link is here. The fire is getting very close to Mt. Wilson, so I'm not sure how much longer this TowerCam will be operational. It is kind of interesting to look at.

This Is My World

I was working on my job application today in the building where our program study room is located. I had to take a break, so I went outside and took this picture. This is what it looked like outside the back door of the building. It was just starting to drizzle.


Then I had to go back inside and continue on with the application. This is what I had to look at.

I guess I wasn't standing straight.

The Pressure Is On

The summer semester is over and I have only one more semester to go before I graduate. So the rush to get everything done in time has begun. I have to complete registration for the fall, which involves filling out paperwork for internships, filling out a degree application, turning in my final program of study, making sure my graduate records are accurate, turning in my paperwork for the remaining competency finals, and studying for the finals. During the fall semester, I will also be presenting at 2 seminars, and taking 3 internships which total to 40 hours of work per week. How I am going to manage all this, I do not know.

To add to everything, I have to look for a job. I have already been looking and just saw tonight that a position with my favorite government agency has come open. It is located in my home state! It is in a city that is about 115 miles from my home city. Best of all, the pay is very good!!! I have to apply. The deadline to apply is Monday, Aug. 17. So I have one week and I'm sure it will be a very hectic one for me. These particular positions do not come open very often. The scientists that occupy these positions are so happy in them, that they stay until they are way past retirement age. So the only time this type of position comes up is when someone finally retires. The competition is fierce and there is no guarantee that I will even get to the interview stage.

I have to wonder whether it is wise for me to pursue this position when I have so much that has to be accomplished to graduate in December. But like I mentioned above, these positions do not come open very often and I don't know when another one will open up. Another reason in favor of applying now is that several faculty at the university have told me that I needed to be looking for this position title in my government job searches, because I am very skilled in this particular area. Or so they say. I don't quite know how that happened. I did not try to be skilled in that area, it just came naturally, I guess.

So, a busy week ahead for me here, but I just don't think I can pass up the opportunity to apply.