Ch-ch-changes...

Yeah, there are a lot of those going on around here. First, have left Limbo-land, and plan on being permanent residents of San Diego. Chris is loving his new job and the career opportunities there. Although we are remaining in San Diego, we will be moving within the area again (because 5 times in 6 1/2 years wasn't enough), because starting this fall our family will be bigger by 1. (And not because Nick will need a break from Russian winters.) We are expecting our first child to arrive around November 3, and are super excited!

Hooray for Sunshine Dollars!

Why you ask? Because that is what our currency will continue to be. After a year of searching, applying, flying, interviewing, wondering, praying and a lot of waiting, Chris has now embarked on an amazing career here in sunny San Diego. He started with a company called Illumina on Monday, and has loved every minute so far. So for all of you who never made it out (or didn't come often enough) we'll still be here when you finally decide to come see why we love it so much. Of course, because we get paid in sunshine dollars, (and landlords like real dollars) accommodations may be tight/limited, but we'd love to see you!

Sucker Shot

See here's the thing- I don't like these shots (Color spotting in a B&W, either by pseudocoloration or resaturating a spot) in wedding portfolios cause they're WAYYYYYYY over used (that and the fact that 99% of the people that shoot and publish B&W didn't compose the shot to be B&W to begin with).

That being said I couldn't help myself on this great B&W surf shot I took last year.

~ Chris

How soon is too soon?

**I apologize there was an error in the HTML that made this movie a link for some time. Sorry for those of you that suffered. I fixed it.

Not having children of mine own, I can't speak. That being said, I feel that the sooner kids know the safer they'll be.

We often times feel that PSAs are "preachy," or that they don't mean anything to us, I for one feel that this PSA is perfect.

Chris

Graffiti or Art?

So I vote for art (I think Inky, Pinky, Blinky and Clyde would agree with me). Let's face it- it's an ugly storage container on the side of a hill- painted in drab and rust; or, it is a source of a smile everyday for me and others as we walk to work.

Why I hate working late @ SIO

So many of you know that I work down at the Scripps Institute of Oceanography @ UCSD sometimes. This involves some very boring work in a lonely dungeon of a room. It is worsened by the fact that if I turn down the hall I am greeted by a wall of windows looking out over the beach and the pier. Combine that with the beautiful sunset and the idea of me still being here for another 3 hours and you know why I don't like being here in the evening.

**On a side note: This is what sunset on Nov. 9th looks like in SD- beats snow any day!

Why?

So the question I pose is not, "Why does this area exist?" It is instead, "Why do we need a sign reminding us what is not allowed in there (keep in mind the lactation area should be in a clean area, one would hope) since, in theory, that stuff is not allowed in ANY clean area?"

'Course maybe it's just a nice reminder not to walk in if you don't want an awkward encounter. Especially if you come bearing bad stuff.

Junker Car

So last year when Lish wrecked the Aveo (yeah, yeah, not her fault) we got an awesome situation- we got back 99.x% of the original value of the car. Essentially we had equity in the car. So we bought a new car. As is the norm when you buy a new car we had a work order on it, including tint and such. So during that time the dealer put us in a rental car. PIECE OF JUNK!

It was an '08 Chev Cobalt bare-bones. It couldn't have been more stock had it tried. So I decided to enjoy it. The plastic (not vinyl, straight up blown mold plastic) dash was awesome. I'm pretty sure I could have sanded a 2x4 on it, it was so "texturized."The ghetto trash plastic E-brake surround and the super sweet shifter with vinyl boot that was coming off was just the icing on the garbage cake.

It's a shame that the car bottoms out so easily at 75 and it's also a shame that it'll only go 55ish in 3rd with an RPM around 4K... little things to think about.

Updates...

Yes, it really has been 5 months since we posted anything. It's not for lack of doing or, even for that matter, lack of writing (we have several half-posts sitting, waiting to be finished). So over the next few days we'll hopefully get the pictures and stories up. In the mean time welcome to November.

Oh, by the way, you may have noticed that we fixed the background to be more SD appropriate.

Chris & Lish

Graduation...

Okay, so after 5 1/2 years of long, hard, work, Chris was hooded last Saturday. Here are a couple pictures of his really cool robes...

Why I need a GPS

So I try to avoid posting too much crap on the blog that really doesn't belong there (All my Star Wars crap, etc.) but I've found a new reason to get a GPS

TomTom

(Be sure to stay till the end as there is a great musical moment in the last 10 secs)

I can say this: I know what I want for Christmas.

Chris

Done and Done and Done

It's all over. I'm a doctor now (yes, technically I am really a doctor!). The good news is I got my PhD without any difficulty (I mean to say that the day of things went smoothly) and now I just need to find a job. I continue down that road and hope that maybe one of these applications will finally pay off. In the mean time I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who called, wrote, came down, etc. to cheer me on, it was awesome. I'm just glad it's over. Worst part about all of this is that as of right now, nothing has changed, same title, same jobs needs, same everything.

~Chris

Empire

So for everyone out there who is not me- this Friday is the 30th Anniversary of the Empire Strikes Back- the best, in my opinion, of the Star Wars saga.

In honor of that, I found the following:

Empire (premake)

Interestingly, other than the starting roll of words and text all the scenes are from other movies from the 40's - 60's. Nice to see the roots of such an awesome movie.

All things Star Warsey

First is quite possibly the best wedding cake I've seen in a long time.

Bridepop

The other one is a great site that I followed for the better part of a year. The guy who did it is a great photographer. Good use of macro (close-ups) and the juxtaposition of subject matter was just awesome. I recommend you take the time to look through the whole album at some point.

Stormtroopers 365

May 20th

So I am defending my PhD dissertation that morning.

As is required it is a public defense. So that means that anyone and everyone is invited- don't worry you won't be the only non-scientist as I know for a fact several of our friends and family will be there as such here are the details:

Moores UCSD Cancer Center

Goldberg Auditorium

May 20th, 9:00 AM

3855 Health Sciences Dr. 92093

It will last about 1 hour (maybe a few minutes over)

after the defense we'll be having food and such in the next room over, so...

If you're gonna come and want to eat please just RSVP us by any means (Text, IM, here on the blog, facebook, etc.)

Thanks to all the well wishers and everyone for the help.

Really!?!

So I saw this story on yahoo this morning and all I could say was, "Really!?!" I must be living in the wrong country...

Yahoo Video

And we're done!

That's right I'm finally going to receive my PhD. May 20th I have the final public defense of my dissertation and then it's only a few pages of paper work and, presto, PhD. Until then it's kinda strange cause I am still working but am job hunting from my desk all day. Hope I get something soon.

Chris

Vocab for 4/6/10

Dissertasteless

adj. Having no dissertation or being without much dissertation. Lacking in essential material for graduation (e.g. a thesis or dissertation, requisite to completion of an advanced degree).

e.g. I have found my life to be rather dissertasteless as of recent, and am becoming more scared about the next month.

Easter Quake

In brief. Yes, we felt it - very much so. It lasted about 40 seconds and there was enough time for us to recognize it and leave the apartment. Yes it continued to shake for a few minutes after. Then we got to feel a few aftershocks. No it hasn't stopped, twice in the night it was strong enough to wake us up. Yes, we're safe.

And yup, we went straight to work this morning, cause in CA if it isn't currently shaking it doesn't count.

On 2 side notes:

1) It was 3x the strength of the Haiti quake and was ~100 miles from us

2) This is the 2nd strongest quake in CA in 100 years and the strongest ever felt in SD.

As for house vs work. I'd rather be at work. My building is 5 years old and thus is the most advanced in seismic safety, far superior to my crappy apartment.

~Chris

At some point in my life...

So for as long as I can remember cars have always been a huge part of my life. Heck at last count I've owned 2 dozen cars in my short driving life. My dad is one of the greatest mechanics I know and can probably fix anything pre-2000 without the manual. For years I have slowly tried to glean as much out of him as I can. I remember many times when my sister and I were younger my dad would take us off-roading in whatever we happened to own. In fact he and I beat the crap out of a Suzuki Sidekick multiple times out past Kamas (ask me for details). And if it's of any doubt, just ask all my friends about the crappy jeeps I've hauled to and from Moab, around Logan, and even throughout UT.

My dad and I have always wanted to race in a SCORE-style race (think Baja 500 and Baja 1000) and a few years ago I came about a league that I may get into, but that's for another day. Then I went South for a couple years and came into Rally Cross. I drove and rode in several Rally Racers and even saw a WRC event while I was down there. It's roughly the same as baja, just in cars.

So where is all this going? Well see I read this article and all I could think is- someday I want to drag my dad down there and pull something this crazy off for ourselves. In the meantime I will just enjoy that somewhere there's a guy living his dream and writing enough about it for the rest of us to laugh at.

This is the article.

~Chris