My apologies for the long silence… exam week is only 10 days away, and I really hope to post more actively afterwards. I got tons of stuff to tell you about…
For now, just a quick reminder that the Atlanta/Home Park crime summer season has started:
A real estate agent was killed last February showing a man a luxury Midtown high rise condo.
whereas the following is just hilarious:
…and the three bandits rummaged through the home, stealing two handguns, a shotgun, several laptops, …
So much for “I own a gun so I can defend myself”
UPDATE:
See what message just arrived here:
4/23/10 @ about midnight, a carjacking and robbery occurred on Lynch Street near McMillan Street in the Home Park neighborhood. Two male suspects with weapons were last seen headed southbound on Center Street from Lynch Street, in the victim’s gold 4 door Honda Civic bearing Georgia tag 8969ARX.
Yesterday around 2 pm most of the public life in Atlanta shut down. Reason: snowfall. Campus closed, employees were sent home, stores and restaurants closed and the whole metropolitan area reached a virtual lock down on virtually all major highways.
Yet this morning, the two and a half inches of snow were mostly still there. And it’s beautiful!
Have a nice weekend, y’all!
Michael
UPDATE: Attached some pictures from campus as well. Oh, and just for y’all out there who think that Atlanta should announce a state of snow emergency right now: Please look at the pictures from my home town Gerlingen.
It is Friday, February 6th, and some guy is in his graduate student lab, preparing for the weekly adviser meeting. Hard-working as usual, he checks out Facebook to get the details for the weekend. That’s when he stumbles across an entry on his live feed (yeah guys and girls, back then we had a division into “News Feed” and “Live Feed”…), that a college friend from Stuttgart is counting down: “T minus 1 day, 15 hours, 23 minutes”. It’s the countdown for the last night launch of a Space Shuttle ever. Now, instead of letting it go, the guy relays the news to the rest of the lab. And so it begins…
In the end, it took us roughly half an hour to decide that we would too go down to Florida to watch the launch on Sunday morning. After a quick debate, four people were found and the starting date was set to Saturday, 11 am. After a good night of partying the road trip began (by then we were already in two cars, since two more people had signed up). Eight hours later we were in Titusville, FL and said high to the group of Americans and Germans from Kansas, the group that had inspired us to be there in the first place. And so the waiting began, until at around 4:30 am…
…Kathy Winters, the Shuttle Launch Weather Officer, called off the launch due to the cloud cover and postponed it for roughly 24 hours. ARGH! But, thanks to the tight group of people we came with, and probably due to the increased levels of adrenaline (and maybe one or two beers) in our veins, another quick decision was made: let’s find a motel to crash and come back next night.
After getting a few hours of shut eye (the motel receptionist couldn’t believe why we want to check-in at 9 am and check out at 1 am ) and a shower, some of us met again with the folks from Kansas and watched the Super Bowl. It didn’t come as a surprise that most of us weren’t really in the mood but had their thoughts already at the activities around launch pad 39A. Later that night we reclaimed our viewing spot in the William J Menzo Park and crossed our fingers for the launch to happen. Up until 2 am the weather was still at “no-go”, but then at around 2:30 am we finally good the good news: clouds were clearing up, outlook yet again optimistic.
And at 4:14 am it happened: the white flash, the sky lit like at sunrise, the rockets propelling the spacecraft into the air. 57.6 seconds later: we get hit by the sound waves. Amazing! A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!
Needless to say, we were all exhausted and tired, but thanks to our excellent driver Matt (who had slept a whole lot more than most, but then again not that much in total) we immediately started our return trip and arrived safely back in Atlanta by 1 pm.
To summarize it: It was a little irresponsible to blow out all that fuel just to watch another vehicle blow even more fuel, but the feeling, the scenery and the atmosphere over the whole weekend were totally worth it!
Yesterday a former Georgia Tech student stabbed a post-doctoral fellow with a katana and injured a police officer when he tried to arrest him. All that happened inside the Weber Space Science and Technology Building on campus – right across the street from my lab, where I was working at that time! If you want to check, here are some news bits from AJC and the ‘nique. Luckily both victims already seemed to be alright last night (for the circumstances, that is), and I really hope that they will recover fully and soon.
Besides that (this seems to be really trivial now, but then again, this is my blog) I went to my first college basketball game ever! Georgia Tech beat Wake Forest in a crushing 79-58 victory – GO JACKETS! Afterwards Jan and I went for dinner at Rocky Mountain’s, so all in all it was an awesome day During the weekend I went to Metalsome, an awesome karaoke bar that lets you perform in front of your own live rock band!
Anywho, I’m looking forward to the weekend since it’s just too darn long since I last didn’t do anything
First things first: All of you who I haven’t talked to yet, I hope you had an awesome holiday time and I wish y’all the best for 2010!
Now, after almost a month back in good old Europe I am yet again in the midst of this chaotic and work-filled life they refer to as grad school. Christmas with the family was nice, the following time spent with the girlfriend even better, but I won’t go into details here.
So far there’s not much to report, except that only today I found out that there’s no policy on how to correctly dispose used batteries in the U.S. Since I was brought up with used battery containers everywhere, and the knowledge that should I put old batteries in the regular garbage I would be slapped silly by the Eco God, at first I couldn’t believe my ears and the Internet and kept asking around. One of the conversations I had:
“Hey, do you know where I can rid of my empty AA batteries? Like, where to bring them for recycling?” – “I would suggest: the garbage. Haha!”
Here’s a plea to all of you out there: If you know of a better way to treat batteries in the Georgia Tech area, please let me know!
So much for today, I’ve got to do some grocery shopping and then some more homework to take care of.
Michael
P.S.: You might wonder why this post is both in the USA and the Switzerland category (ok, most of you probably don’t even know there are categories, but still). Just have a look at the pictures and you know…
Sunday night I returned to Atlanta from my short road trip to North Carolina. I had visited a friend in Chapel Hill and we had planned to visit Asheville, NC. However, due to the weather we had to cancel our original itinerary and instead visited Wilmington for a day. Let me put it like this: There are not an awful lot of tourists in Wilmington, NC this time of the year…
Bigger and better news? Today I’m flying back to Germany for Christmas! 2.5 hours to go… So unless I feel really bored, this is going to be the last post for a while. Come back for more updates starting in mid-January. Until then, I wish y’all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Finally, after four months of hard work, the Fall 2009 term comes to an end. I’ve learned a lot, but I also worked more than I’ve ever worked for a single term at college. Last week was finals week, and the three exams I had to take went very well. After my last exam on Thursday evening I immediately went into holiday mode and reduced my activities to hanging out with friends and actively doing nothing.
Before I’m going to fly home on the 22nd I’m going to travel North Carolina, together with a fellow Fulbrighter, for the next couple of days. Today I already arrived in Chapel Hill, where we visited the UNC campus and walked around in this beautiful university town. Tomorrow we’re going to move to Asheville, an uber-famous town located in the Smoky Mountains. But more about this in the next few days.
Only 6 days till home… and only 9 till I meet some very special
Michael
P.S.: ACC Championship Game on December 5th: It was an awesome game, full of suspense and a real thriller. Don’t want to brag too much, but we kicked Clemson back to SC
Another nail in the coffin for enjoyable living in Atlanta, but read for yourself:
Students robbed in armed home invasion
By Emily Chambers, Editor-in-Chief
The Georgia Tech Police Department released a report yesterday that a house in the Home Park neighborhood was subjected to a forceful home invasion. The house was on Ethel Street near Hemphill Avenue. The invasion took place at approximately 11:55 p.m. when six people were in the house.
Three men who were described as black males wearing ski masks and bearing firearms kicked in the door to the apartment. The men made the six victims lie face-down on the ground while they searched the home for electronics, grabbing cash, cell phones and a laptop.
According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution at least four of the victims are Tech students. No-one was hurt during the incident, and the three men were last seen fleeing the apartment in a white, four-door compact car.
As a teenager (especially back in the late nineties [yes, THAT old already)) I was always wondering about the great fuzz people generated on the use of plastic bags, how plastic bags are bad for the environment, how to reduce plastic bag trash etc. I never really understood it, as my family only had a very limited amount of plastic bags in use (and reused them), and groceries were usually brought back home in a wicker basket or a sturdy foldible plastic case.
However, coming to the US was an eye-opener: The first few times I went grocery shopping here, I returned with a lot (and I mean - a LOT) of small plastic bags. And it gets worse. If you opt to pay your groceries at the cashier (as opposed to bagging everything yourself), they will sometimes use two bags at the same time, especially for heavier items.
When I look around the check-out area these days, it seems like I am almost the only customer who brings in his used plastic bags for a second or third time. I will continue with this practice (and since even my roommates don't, I never run out of fresh plastic bags). But I'm surely going to remember this revelation next time I stumble across some issue that just doesn't make sense.
Besides that, a few updates on what's been going on in the ATL these days:
This week is dead week. Mostly applicable to undergraduates, it's the week before finals week when everyone tries to study as much as possible and therefore roams the campus looking, talking and smelling like a zombie. Or so I've been told. As a grad student it's a little better for me, but I'm still looking forward to next Thursday when I will have my last final.
I also finished my Viscous Fluid Flow (AE6009) project: Solutions of Self-Similar and Non-Similar Boundary Layer. We had to look at and analzye three self-similar flows (Blasius and two Falkner-Skan solutions) and choose two non-similar boundary layers to compare them with (I used the flow along a flat plate in a convergent and a divergent channel). I have to admit that I learned quite a lot over the course of this project, but most of the time I was just annoyed by the huge amount of time I had to put in (especially compared to the impact on the final grade). Anyways, here's the little gem: Solutions of Self-Similar and Non-Similar Boundary Layers
Finally, last Saturday we had the big football game against the U[sic]GA (University of Georgia) dawgs. Unfortunately, we lost. *
Now that the weekend’s coming up, I hope I be disciplined enough to study for my three finals next week. Alas, we’ll see.
Michael
* Believe me, this solemn statement was only possible almost a week after the game. Had I posted this three days ago, I probably would’ve been more explicit about my feelings… Grrrrr!
Today is one of the most important holidays of the American year. Maybe it’s even the most important one, since it is a non-religious event (unlike the German Erntedankfest), and all stores are closed – something that is truly remarkable here, believe me! Even the ever busy campus was almost completely empty, the CRC at 4 pm (the usual prime time) looked like Sunday morning and you could actually find a parking spot on Ferst Drive.
The best part of the day, however, was certainly the invitation from our friend Ashley, that we (Jan and me) could spend Thanksgiving with her family. Without wanting to go into details here, let me just say that we had a terrific time: the family was unbelievably welcoming, the food was great, and no matter we’re a few thousand miles away from it, we felt like being HOME.
Alas…
This event certainly marked the peak of the month so far (the Georgia game on Saturday still has a shot on toppling it), but there were other things going on as well:
Last Saturday I went to my first fencing tournament as a foilist in this decade! It was a beginner’s tournament, and although I did well in the beginning I later stupidly dropped out after having a 9-2 lead… Grrr. It was still a fun day and I hope I’ll be able to attend a few more tournament while I’m here in the US. And I got my E rating!
But the biggest surprise came again from Georgia Tech’s crime reports: A woman was shot in a Home Park robbery!!! Can you believe it? Well, you might not, but I have to, since this more or less happened in my backyard! It won’t change my routine, but with all the – mostly silly – arrests for indecent exposure, or the hilarous rash offender, it seems that you can never underestimate the severance of the situation for many people here these days. Or maybe they’re just a lot of crackheads running around, who knows…
The best part was when we discussed the violent hold-up in our lab: While the foreigners unanimously condemned the robbers, the reaction of the Americans was “why did they have to walk around in the morning hours anyways?”
