Rain and Hail

A good day; again, very tiring. There were so many plans, but one by one they were cancelled.  Here is what was plannedand what actually happened ...

Setting up Wifi
I was up blogging late last night, so it was hard to wake up in the morning. We were to meet the IT specialist and set up our pins, but there was a conference call, so that didn't happen.  Instead we proceeded to get breakfast.

Library Tour

Free Books Outside the Library

We did get the library tour that we had scheduled for 10:30.  Their library is very nice, with a lot of technology.  Yet I could not help but compare it to our library which is much newer.  It was a short tour, followed by a small lecture on how to use the online resources to find what I am looking for.  This small portion was the most valuable part of the tour for me.  I learned that I really didn't know how to find scholarly papers efficiently.  Until then, I was using Google Scholar and going to individual websites on my own.  It turns out that my library has all of this, plus a person to help me, at my reach.  I went from learning how to use the MSU online search to learning how to use the UWM online search.  Since UWM is bigger, it has even more subscriptions and resources available to me.  I am surprised that I never really thought that I had these great resources there for me - I am even shy to admit it here. The reference librarian who was helping me was happy that she was able to help me understand what a powerful resource I have here and back at UWM.

Lunch and Reading
Kate and I grabbed lunch at the SUB (Strand Union Building), and took some time to do a bit of the readings.  The second meeting with the advising professor was a continuation of the last, talking more about the problem and how we should prepare to tackle it. After the meeting, I was ready to go to the dorms, but it was raining and hailing very badly.  So I stood and stared outside for as long as it kept going.  The sun came out and it was still hailing.  But it passed, and we were free to move about again.  

Transit of Venus
If you were not aware, today Venus traveled across the sun.  There was a program held at the football stadium of the university, which I biked to.  It was to take place from 3:30 to 7:30, with panel speakers and a live feed of the NASA image of the sun. Everyone was given glasses for looking directly at the sun.  However, the cloud cover did not allow us to see the sun at all.  The live feed was nice, when it was up.  

The crowd at the stadium & A line of telescopes                       

Children's Activities

Various Booths & A small subset of our group

Some time into the transit, a student speaker began talking about the connection between the sun and the earth.  As his talk continued, the dark clouds came closer and closer, bringing with them the sound of thunder and flashes of lightning.  That is when people started leaving.  At first, I wanted to wait for it to end, but then I decided to try to beat it on the bicycle.  I reached the dorms quickly, and only hit hail the last block.

Student Speaker

We waited the storm out, and I told the girls a little bit about the Baha'i faith.  Once it was clear again, we had a short period of time when the sun was out to try and see Venus.  I attempted to get a picture, but this image is all I could get - Venus is not visible.

Image of the sun through the glasses

Farmer's Market
I had plans of going to the farmer's market.  My fruit supply is almost out, and I thought it would be great to get some local produce.  But with all the hail and rain, I decided that it would not be a good idea.  I might get caught in another burst of heavy rain.  So the plan is now to go shopping tomorrow at the grocery store.  The farmer's market takes place every Tuesday, so I will give it a shot again next week.

Handicapped Troll parking only.

Dinner, REI, and Small tour
None of this was planned, but this is how the evening winded down.  First, we went to dinner at the Hedges Dining hall.  Then, we went to REI to buy hiking shoes.  There was a plan to go on a 5 mile hike tomorrow morning at 6AM, and some of us (including me) lacked proper footwear.  Clem gave us a ride to REI, and discussed with us the possibility of bad weather tomorrow.  So, we decided to cancel it.  At REI, the shoes were very expensive, so no one bought anything.  We all decided to wait until the grand opening of a shoe store that will have good sales.  This will take place Friday. Before taking us back, Clem gave us a tour of a ritzy part of town called Triple Tree Ranch.  Million-Dollar homes set in the valley with amazing views.  And he finally dropped us off at the dorms.

Insanity
Once again, we did a session of insanity, and I realized how out of shape I really am.  This second work out was 40 minutes!  This workout is seriously insane ... and I am so very sore.  It is very hard to walk up stairs.  But it's fun because three of us do it together.