29 January, 2006
25 January, 2006
Research update
On Day 132 (Dec. 3), entitled "2.5 degree error" I wrote about my progress on the forecast model I've been working on for my Ph.D. I wrote that the average error was around 2.5°C. My goal was to reduce that error to 1.5°C.Update: For the months I wrote about on Day 132, the error is now 1.37°C. For some summer months the average error is as low as 0.89°C, with almost every night having an error below 1°C. Perhaps the best part is that there's still room for improvement -- I'm still using the same (bad) soil scheme, the surface properties are identical from month-to-month (which is unrealistic), and advection (a very important process) is completely ignored.
During November I was thinking "This better improve a lot or else my dissertation is in bad shape". During December I was thinking "Okay, now this is good enough for a pretty good dissertation. Any improvement would be really nice but not necessary." During the past week I've been thinking "I can make millions of dollars from this, I just gotta figure out how".
So what does this have to do with England? I think my last response is typically American, and might've been a little different if I grew up in England. It's not that my goal in life is to make millions of dollars. But it's something I think I can do.
I don't get the impression that many Europeans actually believe they can make millions of dollars or euros or whatever. They're either more pessimistic or more realistic or both. They (wich some exceptions of course) seem to think more about the possibility of losing their jobs and needing government assistance than the possibility of making it big. And the ones who have made millions (and I met several there) seem to hang on to it (i.e., not spend it, live in modest houses, etc.) as if they're afraid of losing it.
I'm not saying either way of thinking is better or worse. They're just different.
19 January, 2006
London movies
Last night I saw a movie that was set in London. Wow, it brought back so many memories, and so much of it was so familiar. I even remember some of the exact intersections, shops, signs, fences, and even some of the same trees that I saw in the movie. It was kinda like when I saw Flubber (part of which was filmed in my Humanities classroom at San Jose State) but even more familiar -- and this one reminded me of a place where I acutally enjoyed being (as opposed to those long Humanities lectures at SJSU). It's great to think about how many movies were filmed there. I'm sure I'll see another one before too long.17 January, 2006
Best of 2005
I recently entered a photo contest where we were to select our best photo of 2005.In a year that I visited 17 countries and taken nearly 10,000 photos of some of the most spectacular places in the world, the one I selected was from the Berkeley hills, exactly halfway between where I was born and where I was raised.
Now I'm not saying that the Bay Area is THE most spectacular place in all the 18 countries and 47 states I've been to. But I do believe it's up near the top. If San Francisco were in Europe, it would certainly belong in the first tier of destination cities along with London, Paris, Venice, and Rome.
As I've said before, it's very hard to compare american and European cities. There's nothing in Europe quite like San Francisco, though Plymouth, England may come the closest. And there's nothing in America quite like London, Paris, Venice, or Rome.
I feel extremely blessed to have had the opportunity to visit these places, and to have grown up in an area that can be mentioned in the same sentence as some of these places I've visited. The latter I never really appreciated until now.
14 January, 2006
European cities - word association
Here are some adjectives and European cities that come to my mind for each (in no particular order):Friendly
Birmingham, Cardiff, Szczecin, Dublin, Derby, Liverpool, Frankfurt, Glasgow
Scenic
Bregenz, Venice, Sargans, Drammen, Aberystwyth, Monaco, Dover, Bath
Clean
Oslo, Manchester, Cardiff, Belfast, Frankfurt, Edinburgh
Exciting
Marseille, Naples, Paris, London, Birmingham
Boring
Bern, Hamburg, Norwich, Slough, Milan
Attractive (architecturally)
Durham, Edinburgh, Zurich, Paris, Florence, Venice, Cambridge
Attractive (girls)
Paris, Newcastle, Edinburgh, Oslo, Munich, Reading
Unique
Venice, Penzance, Monaco, Pisa, Berlin
Modern
Dublin, Manchester, Belfast, Cardiff, Oslo, Frankfurt
Dirty
Genoa, Naples, Rome, Marseille, Paris
Foreign
Szczecin, Marseille, Berlin, Paris
Surprising (in a good way)
Marseille, Newcastle, Szczecin, Frankfurt, Berlin, Leeds, Belfast, Plymouth
Frustrating
Oxford, Rome, Venice, Bern, Naples
Awesome
Venice, Edinburgh, London, Paris, Rome
10 January, 2006
No more Tesco
For lunch today I wanted one of my favorite sandwiches that I used to make in England. So I went to Albertsons to look for similar bread and meat. I couldn't find either.I never thought I'd be saying I miss British food. I still can easily do without the restaurants and fast food places there. But I'm really missing some of the great food available at Tesco and (to a lesser extent) Sainsbury's and Asda.
09 January, 2006
Small World
Last night I was in Texas and happened to meet someone who studied at the Univ. of Reading back in 2000, lived in Bridges Hall, and attended Greyfriars Church (all quite familiar to me). And it wasn't even a meteorology student. Then today I met someone from the Nottingham area whose brother is marrying someone from my Oklahoma church.As I may have mentioned earlier, I knew a few people in Reading who had friends or relatives in San Jose and someone in San Jose with relatives in Reading (not the same people).
It's amazing how small of a world this is.
06 January, 2006
Las Vegas America
I've returned from my trip to California (and Las Vegas) and finally have regular internet access again, so I will be posting more often from now on.Las Vegas is a great city. It reminded me of everything I love about America, and of some reasons I felt out of place in Europe. Las Vegas is big, bold, excessive, and flashy, and it makes no apologies for what it is. It's a place where you can win big or lose big. It says "anything is possible", and it's full of people with big dreams who are willing to take big risks.
Las Vegas is everything that Europe is not. Europe is not flashy, it's not bold or extreme, and it doesn't believe anything is possible. It's not me.
It's obvious that Europe at one time was more like Las Vegas. Europe has some spectacular buildings. But they all are very old. Modern Europe seems very conservative and practical. It's not a continent where you can find ridiculous (and awesome) hotels with bowling alleys, 14 screen cinemas, large roller coasters, and half size replicas of famous landmarks from other places.
As for the Vegas hotels that replicate places in Europe (i.e., Paris, Venice, etc.), now that I've been to both I can say that they to a pretty good job of replicating the look and feel of those places, but the experience is totally different. In a few cases, the fake Vegas versions are even more impressive than the real thing.
And in case you're wondering, Las Vegas is nothing like Blackpool or anywhere else in England. But if you want a small taste of what a Vegas hotel is like, I think the closest thing might be the Trafford Centre in Manchester, especially the food court.