Back from sunny California!
Yep, I'm back! A few days early, unfortunately.
For those who don't know where I vanished to, I was in Los Angeles area for the last 5 days or so, helping Roberto (no, that's not "our" Robert) run a LIDAR campaign. Basically, what was SUPPOSED to happen was that we'd set up the laser and other equipment in an ADORABLE little airplane and then fly down the beach toward Mexico for a few days, mapping the coastline and seeing where erosion ate away at it, etc. Unfortunately, we ran into technical difficulties where the scanner (a mirror that tilts the laser beam sideways) wasn't sending a signal to the computer. It's probably a loose connection somewhere, but we spent 3 days looking for it and couldn't find it. Grr... Intermittent electrical problems SUCK! They only work when you go to prove that they DON'T work!
So anyhow, the second time we got the thing working and went up in the airplane to test it, it failed to work AGAIN (we figure takeoff must jar the system enough to shake the faulty connection loose). So after growling a bit and having me shake and bang on the equipment (yes, literally!!), Roberto (my adopted boss) and Ed (our cool pilot) looked at each other and said, "Well, let's give her a ride at least!" So I shut off the laser and we took a relaxing 1/2-hour ride over the Ventura area. REALLY pretty scenery, especially from ~1000 feet. MUCH better than riding in a big plane! Oh -- and "touch and go landings" are AWESOME -- like the best sudden start on a rollercoaster ride ever! ;)
So I spent most of the time there keeping Roberto from getting too depressed and mopey. Mostly this entailed me saying things like, "Well, we can't do anything about the scanner, right? So let's go to the beach!" Which we did. And yes, I went in for a good 1/2-hour, in just my swimsuit, even though all the wimpy surfers were in wetsuits! :) It was cool and refreshing -- and WONDERFUL waves! (Now I've just got to learn to surf.) We also went to the Getty Art Museum, prompting Roberto to moan "This is what I get for inviting an engineer to an art museum". This about an hour after he paused to examine the rock sitting benches in the central fountain area -- "See, those are limestone but this one's a marble because of the crystalization". (Mock and mock alike, I say!) We also did a lot of driving along the coastline and into the mountains, which were really pretty. Oh, and we stopped to look at rockslides and areas which will likely BECOME rockslides in the future -- this is what happens when you travel with a geologist!
In any case, I'm back now (thanks for picking me up, Amanda!). I need to do groceries and such and then *sigh* it'll be back to work for me. Alas! At least I had a week off!
For those who don't know where I vanished to, I was in Los Angeles area for the last 5 days or so, helping Roberto (no, that's not "our" Robert) run a LIDAR campaign. Basically, what was SUPPOSED to happen was that we'd set up the laser and other equipment in an ADORABLE little airplane and then fly down the beach toward Mexico for a few days, mapping the coastline and seeing where erosion ate away at it, etc. Unfortunately, we ran into technical difficulties where the scanner (a mirror that tilts the laser beam sideways) wasn't sending a signal to the computer. It's probably a loose connection somewhere, but we spent 3 days looking for it and couldn't find it. Grr... Intermittent electrical problems SUCK! They only work when you go to prove that they DON'T work!
So anyhow, the second time we got the thing working and went up in the airplane to test it, it failed to work AGAIN (we figure takeoff must jar the system enough to shake the faulty connection loose). So after growling a bit and having me shake and bang on the equipment (yes, literally!!), Roberto (my adopted boss) and Ed (our cool pilot) looked at each other and said, "Well, let's give her a ride at least!" So I shut off the laser and we took a relaxing 1/2-hour ride over the Ventura area. REALLY pretty scenery, especially from ~1000 feet. MUCH better than riding in a big plane! Oh -- and "touch and go landings" are AWESOME -- like the best sudden start on a rollercoaster ride ever! ;)
So I spent most of the time there keeping Roberto from getting too depressed and mopey. Mostly this entailed me saying things like, "Well, we can't do anything about the scanner, right? So let's go to the beach!" Which we did. And yes, I went in for a good 1/2-hour, in just my swimsuit, even though all the wimpy surfers were in wetsuits! :) It was cool and refreshing -- and WONDERFUL waves! (Now I've just got to learn to surf.) We also went to the Getty Art Museum, prompting Roberto to moan "This is what I get for inviting an engineer to an art museum". This about an hour after he paused to examine the rock sitting benches in the central fountain area -- "See, those are limestone but this one's a marble because of the crystalization". (Mock and mock alike, I say!) We also did a lot of driving along the coastline and into the mountains, which were really pretty. Oh, and we stopped to look at rockslides and areas which will likely BECOME rockslides in the future -- this is what happens when you travel with a geologist!
In any case, I'm back now (thanks for picking me up, Amanda!). I need to do groceries and such and then *sigh* it'll be back to work for me. Alas! At least I had a week off!