Goodbye To New England July 31, 2008
Posted by physics309 in Old Lyme.add a comment
On July 15th, I got in my car and drove the 400 miles from Rhode Island to Annapolis, Maryland. It was almost exactly three years since I had first arrived in New England, and what a great three years it was!
I first applied for the position at the Coast Guard Academy mostly on a lark. I had never spent very much time in New England, had been away from the ocean for many years and had a brother in Rhode Island that I hadn’t seen for a while. I thought it would be nice to work in the area, never really thinking I would get the position. But, surprise! I not only got the position, but I ended up getting the third year of what was advertised as a two-year position with a possible third year.
The job at the Coast Guard Academy was a great one. The people I worked with were great and my supervisor was one of the best I’ve ever had. I made some friends there that I plan on keeping in contact with and, hopefully, I’ll be seeing all of them on occasion. I left New London with a great deal of respect for the Coast Guard and the people that serve in it.
I also leave with a deep love for New England. I really can’t say anything bad about the region or the people I met. I met many people that I am glad to have met and truly enjoyed exploring the region. The area really is just drop-dead gorgeous. And, all of this talk I’ve always heard about how rude the people are in New England is something I never saw or experienced. I actually experienced exactly the opposite. I found the people to be warm and gracious and a pleasure to be with. The culture, the restaurants, the outdoor activities, the wonderful weather, the very pleasant lifestyle, all of this added up to a remarkable experience. With New York a daytrip away in one direction and Boston a daytrip away in the other, there was never a shortage of things to do or see. In fact, despite being very active, I was unable to get to all of the things I wanted to. I guess that means I’ll have to go back.
I wanted to stay in New England, but that’s not the way it worked out. So, I’ll leave with very fond memories of my three years there and think about how much I’m looking forward to the next three years here in Maryland. And, who knows what will happen three years from now.
Recall Orders Processing July 11, 2008
Posted by physics309 in Arnold.add a comment
There is a solitaire game that I love to play, called ‘FreeCell.’ In this variant, you deal out all 52 cards in 8 rows with 4 blank spots that you can move any top card into. It’s stated that any game can be solved. The reason I enjoy this game so much is that all of the cards are right out where you can see them. I can look at the layout and see all of the permutations, all of the moves. I’ll examine the possibilities and map out a dozen or more moves in my head before I move a single card. My longest winning streak is 110 games in a row (not all in one sitting).
At first, this sounds like a waste of time. But, it isn’t. For me, it’s a real Zen thing. I’ll focus my mind on the simple permutations of the game and fall into a trance that frees up my mind to work on other problems at the same time. When I finish playing I feel refreshed and with the solution to some problem that’s been bothering me. If only life were as simple as FreeCell.
When I was selected back in April for recall to go to the Naval Academy, I thought it would be a pretty simple matter. I would submit my application and the personnel people would do their thing. I expected to have my orders in hand by the beginning of June. This wasn’t unreasonable because I was told it would take 4 to 6 weeks to get my orders and June was six weeks after I submitted my request. Well, here it is, the middle of July, and I still don’t have my orders.
The first problem was the first person that touched my request. What a way to start. He told me it would take one to two weeks for him to get everything ready before routing it to all of the appropriate individuals. I called him on a regular basis to see how things were going and if I needed to do anything. I was told everything was fine and, after two weeks, he said he was going to start routing it around. I had a lot of other things going on at that time, so I waited a couple of weeks before checking back only to find out my package was still on his desk! He had some excuses, but that’s all they were. Excuses! He said he would start routing it that day, but I didn’t trust him. I called back the next day and, sure enough, it was still on his desk! I said I wanted to talk to his supervisor and while we were on the phone I was told me that it was now being routed. It was that simple! But, it sat on that first guy’s desk for a whole month!
There were some regulation issues I was concerned with, such as too many years of service and the fact that I was asking to be recalled to so something (teach physics) other than what the Navy trained and pays me to do (Intelligence). But, we worked through all of these issues and my request was approved. That was a good day when I got that news. I thought everything was over and was told the orders would be in my hands within a couple of weeks. This was important because I’m buying a house in Maryland and the mortgage company won’t approve my loan until they see my orders.
When I hadn’t received a copy of my orders two weeks later I became concerned enough that I started calling around to find the person responsible for writing my orders. It took some calling, but I finally found the person and learned that they had just received my approved request the previous day. It took two weeks for my request to go from one office to another in the same building! They could have put it in an envelope and dropped it in the mail and it would have gotten there faster than that.
But, that wasn’t the end of it. They didn’t know who was supposed to pay for my orders or who was supposed to write them. They had to spend a few days tracking that down before they could actually write them. So, Wednesday, I was told they had all of that information and would write my orders. I should have them by Friday, I was told.
Hah! I was on to them by that time. The only time things have gotten done is when I was calling people and pushing the issue forward.
I called again today and was told a hold has been placed on all new orders. They ran out of money for this fiscal year and they aren’t authorized to write new orders until the new fiscal year, beginning October 1.
Well, I really wanted to rant and rave at this point, but I realized that I could rant and rave all I wanted and the answer was going to be the same. So, I remained calm and had pleasant visions about going to the gym after work to find something I could beat the crap out of. I talked to the person about the possibilities available to me and was told they are arguing, on my behalf, that the Naval Academy needs me in time for the beginning of the semester, not October. That’s something, but I haven’t heard back from them about this so I still don’t know if I’ll get the funding, or not. I suspect that I will, but I don’t know for sure.
I was completely blindsided by this new problem. When I considered all the possibilities and made contingency plans, this wasn’t one of the possibilities on my list and I didn’t have any contingency plans for this scenario. I tried to concentrate on my work for the rest of the day and put this out of my head because I really needed some time to collect myself. I guess I was pretty successful at this because I walked by a blood pressure measuring station before I left this evening and measured my blood pressure at a very reasonable 117 over 73. I got some grim satisfaction that my blood pressure was that low while my world was collapsing around my ears.
I went to the Officer’s Club on base for dinner while looking out across Narragansett Bay at the Newport Bridge. It was a beautiful sight in the evening sunlight. It also gave me a chance to relax and review my situation. The cards were right in front of me and all I had to do was examine all of the permutations, just like FreeCell. I thought about all of my options and followed them for a dozen steps, or so. Some were promising, some were dead ends. By the time I had finished dinner, I had a course of action and some fall back plans in my pocket. I’ll have to change some dates and give some things up, but I can still make this whole thing work.
The thing that bothers me is that if they had written my orders just one day sooner, I wouldn’t need to be thinking about any of this at all.
Running of the Bulls July 10, 2008
Posted by physics309 in Milan.add a comment
I’ve seen some news articles about people being gored at the running of the bulls this year in Pamplona, Spain. I’m really not surpised by this. I went to the running of the bulls in 1974 while traveling around Europe on a rail pass and it was great. It was one of the biggest parties I’ve ever been to with plenty of song and dance to go around. And there lies the problem. Like I said, it was a big party. So, when morning came and they ran the bulls up the street, the place was packed like you wouldn’t believe. It was so crowded I was stuck in one of the side streets and never even saw a bull. I could hear people yelling and cheering, but I couldn’t see anything except masses of people all around me. From what I could tell, I would expect people to get gored simply because they’re in front of a charging bull and neither they nor the bull has anywhere to go. If a bull is running up the street and the street is filled with an unmoving mass of humanity, you gotta figure someone is going to get gored. Then, throw in the fact that most of the people are either hung-over from drinking too much, or actually still drunk from drinking too much. And, that was 34 years ago. I’m sure the crowds have only gotten worse and the drinking heavier. As hard as it is for me to imagine, I have to believe they have squished even more people into those little streets. Just a bunch of more obstacles for the bulls to get through.
It was a good time, though. Even with all the crowds.
Martha’s Vineyard July 8, 2008
Posted by physics309 in Old Lyme.1 comment so far
I had some time off for the Fourth of July weekend and decided to go to Martha’s Vineyard, just to relax and see what was out there. Martha’s Vineyard is a triangular shaped island within sight of the southern coast of Massachusetts and is roughly 30 miles east-west by about 15 miles north-south. Although the water is shallow around it, there are no bridges to it and the only way to get to the island is by air or ferry.
I didn’t know what time I would be getting off of work Thursday, so I didn’t make any reservations in advance. By the time I started making my reservations I didn’t even know if I could get on the ferry going over. This put me in the situation where I didn’t want to make a hotel reservation until I knew I could get a ticket on the ferry. But, I didn’t want to buy a ticket on the ferry until I knew I could get a place to stay. To solve this quandary, I got online and opened up windows for both the ferry and a hotel listing. Then I started calling around.
All of the first hotels I called were booked up, but I finally found a place for an acceptable price and made all of my reservations. I’m glad I don’t do this kind of thing often because it cost a ton of money between the ferry and hotel room. But, I’m not paying any rent right now, so it was OK. I was talking to a guy on the way out and he reminded me that Martha’s Vineyard was the setting for the film Jaws. Not only that, but the movie took place on the Fourth of July weekend. We both got a laugh out of that.
The ferry was one of the best parts of the weekend, at least for me, because it gave me a great viewpoint of the coastline and the islands. The weather was bad and the seas were rough, so it was about 45 minutes late. When we finally got underway, they went through the eastern channel to stay out of the open waters as much as possible. This wasn’t their normal course and it took us under the beautiful Newport Bridge. I was up on the weather decks and had a great view as we went underneath it. I have really enjoyed looking at that bridge over the last three years and it was a real treat to see it from this vantage point.
Out at sea, they hugged the coastline to get some shelter provided by the smaller islands along the coast and the geology of these islands was nicely visible. Martha’s Vineyard, Nantucket Island, Cape Cod, Long Island, and going on down into New Jersey are all remnants of the last ice age. This is where the glacier stopped before retreating, piling up all of the sand, clay and stones that make up these formations and leaving them behind when it melted. They are all eroding now at a furious rate and will last only a few more centuries before being washed away.
When we got to the town of Oak Bluffs I followed the directions to the hotel, only to find out there wasn’t a hotel there. This is when I discovered the first flaw in my plan. I thought I was being clever getting a hotel that advertised that it was only a block and a half from the ferry landing. Problem was, it was the wrong ferry. They were talking about the ferry in Vineyard Haven, not Oak Bluffs. So, I had to find my way over there, which was only a small problem, but then I found the second flaw in my plans.
It was getting kind of late by then and I hadn’t had any dinner, so I went walking around the little town and found out there was only one restaurant in the whole town. There were diners and sandwich shops, but only one restaurant (and now there is one fewer diners because I saw one of them burn to the ground while I was there). So, with limited choices, I decided the one restaurant was the place to eat and ordered a glass of wine with my dinner. That’s when I found out Vineyard Haven is dry. DRY????!!!!!!!! Apparently, a tribe of Cromagnums escaped extinction and is now residing in Vineyard Haven.
Suddenly, things became clear. I now understood why there was only one restaurant in the town. I also understood why my hotel still had a vacancy the afternoon of my arrival and why several other places had vacancy signs up. No one wanted to eat or stay there! I didn’t blame them and thought about checking out and going to another town. Then, I understood something else. Now I knew why my hotel required everyone to book two nights minimum. I’m sure that people check in and then want to move on once they find out the town is dry. Since I was looking forward to some anonymous drunken debauchery, this really forced me to change my plans.
But, I survived.
The next day I got a day pass for the buses and a map and I was off sight seeing. The bus system there is quite efficient and I was able to go from north to south and east to west on the island. There’s a lot to see there. I didn’t get the benefits of having a tour guide tell me about everything I was looking at, but I did things at my own pace and I figured out enough. At one point, I spotted a quiet, country road and just took a long walk down it. The air was very fragrant with the smell of all of the blooming flowers and the clean sea air and there was no traffic or noise. It was a wonderful walk and I could see why someone would want to live out there. Unfortunately, housing costs are 100% higher than the country average and the cost of living is over 60% higher.
One of the interesting things I noticed was how many trees had that swept appearance trees get when they are in frequent storms. The wind strips small branches off one side and allows them to grow only downwind. As a result, the branches on the trees are windswept and point in the direction of the prevailing wind. This told me they must have a lot of severe storms in the winter. I learned later that the winter storms are so bad there is a real problem with alcoholism on the island. Storms are so frequent and so severe that people just stay inside and get drunk. I’m guessing its not such a problem in Vineyard Haven.
I ended up in Edgartown at the end of the day to watch the Independence Day parade and then the fireworks that evening. With all of the crowd, it took a long time to get out of there and it was way past midnight before I finally got back to my hotel room, tired and dirty, but pleased.
Then, I went back to the mainland on Saturday. One day was enough for me. It was a pleasant place, but the world is full of pleasant places and most of them are a whole lot cheaper than Martha’s Vineyard. It was a good time and I’m glad I went. Now, its time to move on.
