Week 1 in Dayton: Yes, I Live in a Hotel
Well, I have now finished one week of my internship in Dayton. Some random thoughts which I have acquired over the week:
* I live literally within walking distance of a Quaker Steak and Lube. This is the fulfillment one of my goals in life.
* There are Canadian geese *everywhere* in Dayton. I was running on Wednesday (by Quaker Steak) and one of them hissed at me. So I punted it. Not really. I ran away. Another interesting thing: they allow the Canadian geese on base despite being foreign nationals. Whenever Canada suddenly has flapping-wing technology out of the blue, we know who to blame. Damn geese.
* The thought of geese stealing flapping-wing aerodynamic data from us is ironic. You'd think the geese would already know it all.
* I live in a hotel, which surprises everyone. But hey, it doesn't cost me anything. (Thank you, housing stipend!) And I have a kitchen, so I can cook / heat up Lean Cuisine for dinner. Not many people know where the hotel is, so I have to say something like, "You know where the Meijer on Col. Glenn is?" Which is probably a pretty well-known location to everyone. It'd be like a Michigan student asking me, "Where's your apartment next year?" and me replying, "Do you know where the Big House is?" No, Sherlock. Is that on North Campus?
* I met this one professor, Prof. Aaron, from U Dayton. He was giving me some papers to read and he noticed that I had a woodworking plan for a porch swing on my flash drive. He then offered me the use of his woodworking shop at home. He even said that he and his wife would be out of town for some weekends, and he'd just give me a garage door opener. I had talked with this guy for a total of maybe 10 minutes on 2 occasions, and he's offering to let me use his woodworking equipment unsupervised. That's pretty sweet. I should probably be extra careful. I wouldn't want to call him and leave a message like, "Um, Prof. Aaron, do you have a first aid kit anywhere nearby? Also, if you find a finger in your garage, could you please bring it into work for me?"
* I spoke of me running earlier. I am very much out of shape. The first day I ran, I almost passed out. Then I finished and I was really lightheaded and I tried to drive home. Man, was that fun.
* C5-Galaxies will routinely fly overhead, which is pretty cool, especially when you're running? You know that scene in "Top Gun" where Tom Cruise is riding his motorcycle and the fighter jet flies by him and he pumps his fist and goes something like, "Woohoo! I am so frickin' cool right now! I think I'll go have sex with Kelly McGillis right now because I'm reckless and hotheaded, just like my father, which will change once my friend dies here in a little bit!" (But in not so many words.)? Well, that's what me running with the C5 overhead is like. Except I don't have sex with Kelly McGillis afterwards. I come home and watch "Scrubs" online. Oh well. Anyways, to recap:
Fighter jet : Tom Cruise on a motorcycle :: C5 : Aaron Johnson running
* Ok. So one serious thing. It is kind-of lonely here. Granted, it's not too bad. I'm usually pretty good on my own. But I am missing my friends and family. Especially on nights like tonight. It's going to be a gorgeous night. If I were back in Ann Arbor, I'd be sitting on the porch, watching the sun go down with my friends. Just relaxing. We probably wouldn't be saying anything, just hanging out. Another thing I'd really like to do on an evening like this is just go for a walk with Gretchen. You know, just spend time together. It's a perfect night for that. But, I can't. That's really when the fact that I'm all alone hits. Other than that, it's not too bad. But man, I wish I could sit on the porch / go for a walk right now. I guess I'll just appreciate it more when I get back with everyone.
Well, that's my collection of random thoughts for the week. It's going pretty well so far. The area isn't too bad, the work is getting more interesting, the overall project (UAVs that fly like animals) is sweet, and I've met a lot of nice people. In fact, I really haven't met that many Ohio State fans on base. I guess that's because the Air Force hires smart people.
* I live literally within walking distance of a Quaker Steak and Lube. This is the fulfillment one of my goals in life.
* There are Canadian geese *everywhere* in Dayton. I was running on Wednesday (by Quaker Steak) and one of them hissed at me. So I punted it. Not really. I ran away. Another interesting thing: they allow the Canadian geese on base despite being foreign nationals. Whenever Canada suddenly has flapping-wing technology out of the blue, we know who to blame. Damn geese.
* The thought of geese stealing flapping-wing aerodynamic data from us is ironic. You'd think the geese would already know it all.
* I live in a hotel, which surprises everyone. But hey, it doesn't cost me anything. (Thank you, housing stipend!) And I have a kitchen, so I can cook / heat up Lean Cuisine for dinner. Not many people know where the hotel is, so I have to say something like, "You know where the Meijer on Col. Glenn is?" Which is probably a pretty well-known location to everyone. It'd be like a Michigan student asking me, "Where's your apartment next year?" and me replying, "Do you know where the Big House is?" No, Sherlock. Is that on North Campus?
* I met this one professor, Prof. Aaron, from U Dayton. He was giving me some papers to read and he noticed that I had a woodworking plan for a porch swing on my flash drive. He then offered me the use of his woodworking shop at home. He even said that he and his wife would be out of town for some weekends, and he'd just give me a garage door opener. I had talked with this guy for a total of maybe 10 minutes on 2 occasions, and he's offering to let me use his woodworking equipment unsupervised. That's pretty sweet. I should probably be extra careful. I wouldn't want to call him and leave a message like, "Um, Prof. Aaron, do you have a first aid kit anywhere nearby? Also, if you find a finger in your garage, could you please bring it into work for me?"
* I spoke of me running earlier. I am very much out of shape. The first day I ran, I almost passed out. Then I finished and I was really lightheaded and I tried to drive home. Man, was that fun.
* C5-Galaxies will routinely fly overhead, which is pretty cool, especially when you're running? You know that scene in "Top Gun" where Tom Cruise is riding his motorcycle and the fighter jet flies by him and he pumps his fist and goes something like, "Woohoo! I am so frickin' cool right now! I think I'll go have sex with Kelly McGillis right now because I'm reckless and hotheaded, just like my father, which will change once my friend dies here in a little bit!" (But in not so many words.)? Well, that's what me running with the C5 overhead is like. Except I don't have sex with Kelly McGillis afterwards. I come home and watch "Scrubs" online. Oh well. Anyways, to recap:
Fighter jet : Tom Cruise on a motorcycle :: C5 : Aaron Johnson running
* Ok. So one serious thing. It is kind-of lonely here. Granted, it's not too bad. I'm usually pretty good on my own. But I am missing my friends and family. Especially on nights like tonight. It's going to be a gorgeous night. If I were back in Ann Arbor, I'd be sitting on the porch, watching the sun go down with my friends. Just relaxing. We probably wouldn't be saying anything, just hanging out. Another thing I'd really like to do on an evening like this is just go for a walk with Gretchen. You know, just spend time together. It's a perfect night for that. But, I can't. That's really when the fact that I'm all alone hits. Other than that, it's not too bad. But man, I wish I could sit on the porch / go for a walk right now. I guess I'll just appreciate it more when I get back with everyone.
Well, that's my collection of random thoughts for the week. It's going pretty well so far. The area isn't too bad, the work is getting more interesting, the overall project (UAVs that fly like animals) is sweet, and I've met a lot of nice people. In fact, I really haven't met that many Ohio State fans on base. I guess that's because the Air Force hires smart people.