What's important enough to break the 9 month long silence on this page?
http://spacex.com/multimedia/videos.php?id=31
Clearly, we handle flight hardware very carefully at the launch site. It's hard to believe that I was sitting on something that's now orbiting the Earth.
We're the first privately funded liquid-fuel rocket to orbit the Earth.
A lot has happened in the past month. I've started some meaningful posts, but never got around to finishing any of them. Here's the cliffnotes version, which will be quicker for you to read and quicker for me to write (everyone wins!):
Graduation: Being back in Pittsburgh was fun, but strange. It was great to see everyone again (hopefully not for the last time!) but all the little things that had changed since I left back in December left me feeling a little out of the loop. Staying at Bloodshaw wasn't as awkward as I thought it would be, but I can only speak for myself. The weekend gave me a wicked hangover that lasted through Monday evening (seriously, I’m not exaggerating), most likely due to the combined effects of alcohol, sleep deprivation, and, um, other things.
Las Vegas: Spent a weekend in Vegas to celebrate Bulent's birthday, which was fun and depressing and expensive and exhausting. Spent the entire weekend either drinking, tanning, or sleeping. The group of about 16 people was made up of coworkers and colleages from work and the kickball team that a bunch of SpaceX people play on. It was my first time “doing” Vegas, my only previous stay was mid-week while driving from Pittsburgh to the Bay Area. I guess I did it right, considering that the first night ended in a shady strip club, the first morning was spent sick and sleeping until 1:30, and the second night ended in a suite at MGM with a canadian bacholor party. I definitely have a weakness for foreign accents ;)
FSAE West: Last weekend was FSAE west, which was held about an hour away from here. I went out to "recruit" for SpaceX and to see the CMU SAE boys. The weekend was alright; it was good to see the guys, and although I wasn’t exciting about recruiting in the beginning it was a good excuse for me to be more outgoing than normal and strike up conversations with people I would otherwise not talk to. Saturday night the guys wanted to go go-karting, which lead us to a small outdoor track that obviously wasn’t expecting a large group of 20-something year old car nuts who think they’re pro racecar drivers. They almost got kicked out; their first race was stopped short since they were all trying to run each other off the track and one guy crashed head first into a fencepost. I didn’t participate, but I did meet a local guy who seemed cool- he gave me his condolences for having to put with the sae guys, and his business card.
Work has been busy. I can’t believe I started over two months ago- the weeks have been passing so much faster than when I was a student or intern. Now summer’s in full swing, which means it’s time to get out and enjoy the sunny days and warm nights.
I drove down to LA last Thursday, to search for housing before starting work. So far I've visited 6 places, of which only 2 were places I would consider. I was hoping to live with girls, but there seems to be a gender imbalance on craigslist and most of the posts are made by guys. Luckily, work will pay for up to a month in a hotel while I search, so I'm in no huge rush to find a place right away but I do worry that the condo I'm currently considering will be taken by someone else if I wait too long.
The past few days have been relaxed, most of my time has been spent looking at housing and shopping and stocking up on groceries (my hotel room has a kitchen). I saw Helen and Flo on Thursday night, they're sharing a condo a block off the sand in Manhattan Beach. I'd like to find a place in that area, but rent prices are outrageous and parking is scarce.
My family's cat is 15 and we recently found he is blind- one detached retina, and one torn retina. My mom was planning on selling the townhouse this summer, but now she claims she can't move the cat anywhere since he's blind and won't know his way around the new house. She's already put down money for having carpets put in and storage space rented, which she's going to lose. A couple of days ago, she tried to convince her health care provider that the cat is her dependent and thus his blood thinner meds (cats are given the same meds as people) should be covered by her health care. My mom means well, even though she's crazy.
First day of work tomorrow. I'm nervous, excited, and anxious.
I start work tomorrow. I'm anxious, but also excited. Orientation is from 10AM to 3:30PM, so the day should not be too challenging- just getting settled in and meeting everyone and such.
Graduation '06 was yesterday. It's scary to think that our graduation is only a year away. Even more frightening, I'll be done with my degree in about 7 months.
California is even nicer than I remember, I appreciate it a lot more now that I have been away for a few years. I miss Matt and my friends, but we'll all be back in Pittsburgh soon.
The summer will be spent building rockets and tanning on beaches. I feel good about this decision. Even if the company goes under in a couple of years, the work experience I'll get makes it worth it. Who needs job security when you're in your early 20's? I don't have loans to pay off or dependents to support. If there ever was a time to take a chance with my career, now is the time.
At work we have a friction stir welder. I believe it is one of three set-ups in the US.
Best. Internship. Ever.
Arrived back in the US on Sunday afternoon. My flight was a whole half hour early, which is always a nice surprise. I got back to campus and into my room with no problems, and collected the critical things I really need right now from Stu's to hold me over until I can con someone with a car into helping me move the rest of it.
I started work the next morning; needless to say, it was a long day. I had woken up at 5:30 due to jetlag (at least I slept though the night...), and ended up staying at work longer than I intended, especially considering I had to make a run after work to g'eagle since I had no food. By the time I was on my way to g'eagle I had a huge headache, which made grocery shopping even less fun than it normally is. By the time I got back to my room I barely had the energy to put away the groceries before collapsing into bed.
I hope to update about my trip soon, but right now isn't really the time (I've been up since 5:30AM, due to jetlag, and I have to be at work soon). Look for an entry this week, hopefully, highlighting the past three weeks of bumming around Eastern Europe. Until then, here are a few of the pictures I took:
