Scary

And now for one of the most interesting posts in recent (or, really, long term) memory.

Tonight, I was drinking beer outside at a bar in Tucson called "No Anchovies". The name of the bar is actually irrelevant. But this wouldn't be a Shane Bussmann post if I didn't give you irrelevant information. I was drinking beer with some of my fellow grad students in the Astronomy department, and having a generally decent time not being lonely by myself.

Suddenly, two (or more, I don't really know) guys start fighting on the ground about fifteen feet away from our table. At first, I think it's just some simple brawl between drunken frat boys, or something. Then, I hear a sound that is reminiscent of a loud pop or bang. And the next thing I know, I see a gun pointing in my general direction. A gun. At this point, people are starting to scramble behind walls, trees, anything that will provide protection. I decide to do likewise, jumping behind a tree while starting to become very, very afraid.

Over the next minute or two (although it seemed much longer), I peeked around the tree to see what was going on. Eventually, it seemed like the threat was gone (I believe the shooter of the gun ran from the bar) as people came outside to investigate what was going on. Once it seemed like the coast was legitimately clear, I stepped away from the tree to get a better look at what was going on.

It appeared there was a man lying on the ground who had been shot in the leg. Another man, who had apparently wrestled with the gunman, had been bitten on one of his wrists. Other than that, there were no injuries (as far as I could tell), the gunman had left the scene, and only one bullet had been fired. But it was still a very scary thing for me.

This is the closest I've ever been to something like this involving guns, and it scared me. It really makes me think that there are a lot of people out there who have guns that really shouldn't have guns, and it makes me think that we should enforce much more strict gun control laws. Ah, but I guess we need our freedoms...

The questioning afterwards by the police made me think of the only time I've been involved in an accident while snowboarding. I was making sharp turns on the mountain, and another snowboarder came down fast on my left. I tried to swerve hard to my left, but he hit me on the back of my right leg. At least, as far as I can remember it. What I really remember about it, though, is what he said immediately after the accident; that he collided with a skier. You would think that of all things, he would recognize that I was on a snowboard, not skis. But he did not, and to me this illustrates how chaotic a traumatic scene can become. People's memories of the traumatic event are NOT reliable.

That is why, tonight, when most of the other grad students were talking amongst each other about what they saw, I remained silent (for the most part). It seems to me that what I remember is nearly a complete blur, and anything that isn't probably isn't trustworthy anyway.

What I'll really take away, though, is a nervous feeling about Tucson bars. I think I'll be much more up for buying a six-pack at the store and drinking at someone's house than going to a bar.

Praise Allah

The swamp cooling in my house has been fixed! Finally, spending time at home is pleasant.

Other than that, it's been a fairly non-descript day.

My Bike

At the request of Mr. Pendleton himself, here it is:

You can even see my reflection against the back of the house!

In other news, I am officially adding to my list of "incredibly irritating things people can do during class" the act of audibly picking at one's teeth. Aagh! Sitting next to the constant pricking noise of fingernail on teeth for fifty minutes is one of the truly unpleasant ordeals of life.

One Difference

One difference between physics and astronomy classes at Arizona is the emphasis placed on the importance of the class compared to research. I'm taking a plasma physics class that is cross-listed in both physics and astronomy, but is being taught by a physics professor. That class seems to be much more like a standard class, where you are expected to spend hours and hours on the problems sets, and then hours and hours preparing for the final exam. However, things are different in astronomy. In that class (that I just got back from), the professor stressed a couple of times that research is the most important thing, and we shouldn't be spending more than 5-6 hours per week on our homework. I think the difference is pretty interesting, and it makes me even more glad I'm in astronomy rather than physics.

Of course, the main reason astronomy is better is because physics grad students suck (compared to astronomy grad students anyway).

Anime and Guacamole

Anime night at the Bussmann/Nielsen residence just finished. While the anime that we watched was fairly good (Crest of the Sun, or something like that. Not that you'd know the difference anyway.), the highlight of the evening was definitely homemade, kickass, guacamole that I made with help from Eric and Christian. Avocadoes, tomatoes, garlic, lime juice, salt, and red onions added up to make some killer guacamole. Too bad there was only a total of four people to consume this beautiful concoction. Well, once word of this awesome guac spreads throughout the department (as I'm sure it will!) people will start lining up for anime night.

In other news, my room is almost entirely set up now, with the exception of my posters and a dresser (which I still I have to purchase). The walls in my bedroom are extremely impervious to pushpins, so I may be forced to resort to poster tape. We'll see how that pans out.

Sore

Yesterday I played racquetball (with my officemate) and then ultimate frisbee (with a bunch of people from Steward). Needless to say, I'm pretty darn sore today. To all the Berkeley people out there, you might be interested to know that we ate at a place called Zachary's Pizza for dinner. Although the pizza was really good deep dish style, it wasn't quite Berkeley Zachary's quality.

My roommate and I spent some time last night thinking about buying a house instead of renting one. I think we have the money, I think it's a good investment, and the only thing to do is do it. But that's far off in the distance, probably around January or so.

Today there's a BBQ at one of the new grad student's place. Then tomorrow it's errands at Costco and anime night thanks to my roommate's extremely large sized anime collection.

How Is Life in Arizona?

I'm glad you asked. I've found a professor in the U of A Astronomy Department to work with, testing the first ever 315-380 GHz 7-element array receiver. Actually, all I do right now is follow around this post-doc who does everything. Occasionally, I eat some grapes I brought from home. Less frequently, I actually help out by holding an awkwardly heavy object for the post-doc. It is truly a distinguished honor. Well, I guess that's the way it starts out for everyone.

In other news, as you might expect, it's hot. However, the buildings are well air-conditioned, so once I'm at work it's not a problem. Also, I recently bought a mountain bike that makes getting to the department a nice easy joyride. The worst part about the heat, unfortunately, is the rest of the day that I spend at home. The swamp cooling has been broken since I arrived (Aug. 15) and it's almost always hotter inside than it is outside. It's very unpleasant, and it seems like the landlord is going to take her time about fixing it. Somehow my roommate doesn't seem as bothered by it as me---maybe because he's been here for a year already.

Classes start on Monday. So far I'm happy with most everything, the exception being a few things about the place I'm living in.

The Next Lance

I bought a bike today. It's good. Maybe sometime I'll be able to take a picture of it and post it here. Biking to and from school will be eight billion times better than walking.

In Arizona

After about 14 hours of driving with four stops along the way, I arrived in Arizona around midnight last night. I'm still tired right now, in fact. It's been a busy morning, as I've been taking care of various errands like getting keys, a student ID card, an office, a computer, etc. I talked to one professor already about working with him, and I think he's got a project that would be a good one to start with. It's setting up and testing an instrument that has already run once in the field, so it would be a nice introduction to the basics of instrumentation.

In a few minutes I'm going to get lunch with a few other grad students, and then head home to finish unpacking my car and setting up stuff in my room.

The 2004 Summer Road Trip

At long last, I have uploaded pictures and journal entries from my trip around the western half of the US with Tiffany. I still haven't provided captions for any of the 750+ pictures. That may or may not happen in the future, we'll see. However, I have done a few extra things to help you, my loyal reader, digest all this information. First, this page is where you'll links to all the stuff (pictures/journal entries) that is available on the road trip. On that page, you'll find a map showing the basic route we followed on our trip. Warning: the large version of the map is about 4.6 MB big. Also, I've linked to pages containing my journal entries for each of the days, including one or two pictures for each day that have been cropped and re-sized for your viewing pleasure. Next to each journal link is a link to the corresponding picture gallery, so that way you can look at 30-40 pictures at a time, instead of 750. See, aren't I a nice guy? Finally, at the bottom of the page are a couple of lists showing what states and national parks we visited.

Now that I've got that finished, it's time to start packing the car.

Uf!

I just now turned in my keys to the Astronomy department and the Physics department at Berkeley. It was a traumatic event. As I exited Campbell, I thought to myself that I won't be returning there for a long time. It's very sad. But that's the way it goes. I'm very sad about leaving Berkeley on the whole actually. But it must be done.

Purchasing Complete

Well, folks, it's a done deal. I bought a new 2004 Ford Focus LX today. It came with manual transmission, A/C, a PZEV (partial zero emissions engine), and just about no other options. I got all that for the price of $11,792, pending a $400 recent college graduate rebate. It was a great deal on the car (which was pretty hard to find with manual transmission) and I'm fairly certain it was the right car to buy. The only other car I was considering was the Hyundai Elantra, but in the end I decided the Focus was the better car for me.

Below, you can see a picture of me posing with my new car (and holding Tucker at the same time).

What Could Be Worse

The person next door is blasting Lynyrd Skynyrd Sweet Home Alabama and some N'Sync crap on REPEAT. Once is bad enough, but on repeat? Ok, so Sweet Home Alabama isn't that bad, once. But on repeat? At 9:43 in the morning? Ugh!

I'm visiting more dealerships today in the ever-converging saga of Shane buying a car. Probably won't buy anything until tomorrow though.

Car Update

The 2004 Ford Focus LX manual transmission with A/C is very hard to find. I found one place that has it, except that it's a "rollback", meaning that it was sold, but is now back in stock. I was informed that this is usually due to the previous buyer's financing failing. I sent an email asking what the specific reason for it returning to stock as well as trying to get the mileage. One other dealership seems to have them, and that's about it.

However, the 2004 Toyota Corolla CE is even harder to find. It seems most dealerships have sold out all their 2004 models. I test drove one last weekend, so I'm pretty sure there's at least one available, but I was hoping to get multiple quotes, not just one.

Finally, the 2004 Hyundai Elantra is slightly more promising. I've already gotten one decent quote from a dealer, although the rest still haven't responded to my quote request. However, I test drove an Elantra with manual transmission the same day I drove the Corolla, so I know there's at least one more out there.

Relativity Explained

It turns out the theory of special relativity is an effect explained by the difference in time zones. At least, that's the way it is according to Calvin's Dad. Someday I'm going to scan all the excellently accurate explanations for various natural occurences from Calvin & Hobbes. Someday...

I've whittled it down to the '04 Ford Focus, '04 Hyundai Elantra, and '04 Toyota Corolla. I'm starting the process of getting quotes from a bunch of dealers over the internet now. I hope to buy by the end of next weekend.