…or diein tryin
Tomorrow I am going on a tour of a SSGN (Guided-missile Nuclear Submarine). I can’t wait, it’s going to be amazing! Hopefully I’ll get some good info for the Sub we’re designing for senior design.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The SSGN tour actually happened 2 days ago.  After a brief stint of the 24 hour flu, I’m back to finish this blog post.  The SSGN was sweet.  It’s 540 long, has 4 decks and I went through every compartment that wasn’t sealed off (and they were only sealed off cause of the radiation hazard).  Talk about information overload.  The LT that showed me around told me about nearly every piece of equipment on board.  One thing about submarines that I had forgotten about has to do with the initial arrangement.  A sub in drydock, or on the surface has a different shape then a sub at a greater depth.  At greater depths, the outer radius of a sub can change by several inches.  While you wouldn’t think that a few inches would be that much… on a sub it’s everything.  If the radius changes by 6 inches (quite possible), then the overall change is about half a foot… and on a submarine that is a lot of missing space.

Walkways were about 2-2.5 feet wide.  The deck height was probably about 7 feet tall, including cabling and pipes above which took at least a foot of that.  The Georgia’s bridge was smaller than a Virginia class, but that’s because it is located right below the sail, and they don’t use photonics masts (so it’s a restriction based on the periscope, and we won’t have that problem).

Hydraulics are a big issue on board.  The Control surfaces have their own hydraulics, but are also tied into the boats other hydraulic systems for backups.

Cooling was another heavily stressed item.  Refrigeration needs it and computers definately need it.  Really everything needs it.

All in all, it was quite an amazing tour.  I was very impressed and overwhelmed at the shear complexity of submarine arrangement.

Can I write this cryptic enough to be published publicly? We’ll see

There are times when you come to a fork in the road. In my case you have 4 decisions… All of which would be the wrong one. Which do you take and how do you decide? Do you take the safe bet? Do you take the chance? Do you try and balance the two? Do you do nothing?

Reading peoples minds would be one of those critical components here. Everyone knows (or should know) that I’m in over my head (not really true, just a song lyric I was listening to at the moment). It’s just good that none of these decisions are life threatening. They all could be wrong answers, but if I am wrong it’s not the end of the world, and I can always change. That’s what I particularly like about myself… my ability to change easily. One of the things I’m proud of (about myself) is being dynamic. That’s why I want to do research. That’s why I want to be in an innovative field… so that I can adapt to any situation I’m in and solve any problem (or at least make a fair attempt at it).

Sweet dreams

From my last post, I talked about what I’ll be buying over the next few months.  This post is more for my own benefit to organize my thought on what order I should buy things in.

I will be getting a Macbook Pro w/3 gigs of RAM, but most likely not until summer or spring break at the very earliest (after I get my tax return).  So I’ve chosen to start with List 2.  Since my last post I’ve also decided that I will be buying a snowboard.  I’ve been tinkering with the idea since last semester about buying skis.  Then the summer happened and I wakeboarded for the first time, and it was awesome.  I understand there are a few parallels between snowboarding and wakeboarding, so I figure I should give it a shot.  I’ve done some research and priced boards/bindings/boots and whatnot.  I can get a decent board/bindings/boots for just under $300, which is a very good price.  Then I’d need to buy pants and a jacket, but I could probably use those anyways.

The watch I will be getting.  I need a change.  I have a sweet watch now, but I’ve also had it for about 4 years now so I just want something new.  No one seems to like number 2 below.  I have about equal votes for 1 and 3.  People either really like or really hate the rectangular face.  I just need to see it on my wrist before I buy it.

For now I’ve removed the xbox 360 from my list.  I’ll wait til Halo 3 comes out.  Instead over christmas break I’ll buy a Wii and an extra controller.  I figure it’ll be a fun console to play with the parents too.

For the new suit, I’ll probably be getting a charcoal grey suit, or a pinstripe one.  Surprisingly, from Target, assuming they have my size and it looks good and all the typical stuff.  GQ rated them one of the top 10 suits under $500, so I’ll give them a shot.  It’s gotta be wool though.

As for the order for my shopping list.  Over thanksgiving break I’ll probably get a watch and the suit.  I figure I could use the suit in december when I have the presentation to the admirals for the design competition.  I MAY even get the Wii then, if I can get my hands on one, but it’d probably safer grade-wise for me to get it after exams.  The snowboard will come sometime after christmas break.  I’m going to try and go on a snowboarding trip with JC and the Mond (a little Maroondez trip 2k6/7 depending on which year it happens in.  So I cut my expenses from $3000+ to about $1000.  Granted christmas is around the corner, but that would be good for new clothes and stuff (which I can almost always use).
If by chance you’re looking for Christmas ideas… gift certificates are always good (cash is better though).  Other than the expensive things below I don’t really have anything in particular on my list (at least nothing that wouldn’t require my input before purchasing).
Winter List:

• Fossil Watch:$100 This one (1) , this one (2), or this one(3).
• New Suit: $150
• Nintendo Wii: ~$300
• Snowboard: $400 incl. Outerwear