Warm Weather is Here!

We finally have warm biking weather again! Though it was 20 F in the morning, the air was forecast to be up to 30 F by my ride home. Since my ski jacket is too hot above 15-20 F, I packed my heavy cotton jacket instead, and I was still too warm in that on my way home! I had to unzip it all the way down. I probably could have gone with my ear covering band instead of my balaclava too. I could live with this! -5 was rough, though I'm proud that I biked it every work day except the one when my gear shift froze entirely.

My internally geared hub has been jumping gears a bit. I was worried that there was something wrong with the innards, but sources online suggested it just needed a cable adjustment to account for stretch over the past few months. There are two marks that are visible through a small window in the hub that must be aligned with each other for proper operation. I couldn't find the window under all the road salt and dirt at first, but I uncovered it with a nylon brush and fiddled with the barrel adjuster on the gearshift while I watched. I did it late last night and didn't do a test ride, so I was very pleased that the problem was just about eliminated in the morning. Instead of fifth gear randomly deciding to jump to fourth and back every once in a while, it drops in with a solid 'clunk'. I approve. And my transit time is down a few minutes since I'm pedaling harder. Now I just need to figure out why my rear brake occasionally jams on. I think it's probably winter grit and salt. I let it thaw overnight, though, and it was fine again today. I'll disassemble everything and clean it once it's time to switch to my Summer bike.

One more application to finish up today....

Units of Frequency Smaller than 1 Hertz?

Also, I was thinking about the functioning of the Kenosha bus system in terms of its clock speed in hertz. If buses leave the central station every half hour, the system is running at one cycle per half-hour. Megahertz and gigahertz are used frequently as measurements, but I've never seen the related terms for measurements smaller than one cycle per second. I did math in my head while riding and decided that Kenosha's buses have a clock speed of 1/1800 hertz. At first I thought that was 1.8 milihertz, but that's not right, is it? It would be a smaller value than 1 milihertz, because 1/2000 hertz would be .5 milihertz. I ought to be able to figure this out, but can a math person tell me how to calculate this?

Does anybody use such terminology? It doesn't seem like it would have wide application, but it's kind of fun.

Applications are Done! Geeky Kids are Cute. Back to the Grind

My last grad school application is on its way, which is a huge relief. Yay! I also got my first half-acceptance, which is pretty neat. All my prospective programs are in geology, with the exception of UW-Milwaukee's dual degree MLIS/MS Urban Studies program. Yesterday, I was notified of my acceptance to the MLIS half of the program. This is also the only program I applied to that does not have high potential for funding, but I also feel that it may have higher likelihood of earning money than the others. I guess I'll wait and see if the Urban Studies program likes me too.

I have a huge amount of financial catch-up work to do tonight. I haven't been tracking expenses since before Christmas. With all the application fees and my car repair, I know the number it all comes out to will be rather lower than I'd like. Fortunately, next semester's student loan disbursement is ahead, and I'm also working more hours at the archives.

Speaking of the archives, some children from the Racine Montessori School were in over the last few days doing research into local history. I worked with a kid who very much reminds me of me; a fifth-grader who is really into air raid sirens in Racine. Where they are, what models are there, how long they've been there, what they sound and look like.... Together, we found records of the Racine Common Council detailing bids made for their purchase and installation, as well as site locations, info about money contributed by the VFW, and other stuff. I think he was really happy to have found it.

I think we spent half the time doing research, while the other half of the time he was showing me websites and fora where people who are also really into these have posted pictures and maps and historical documents and movies all about air raid sirens. This is one of the things that is truly wonderful about modern communication. People who are have a passion like this can find each other and collaborate. (I know, that's a two-edged sword....) Anyway, I had such a fun time, and I hope zie comes to visit again. (I'm told that, before the second day, zie asked, hopefully, whether "that guy from last time" would be there, so the feeling is mutual. *grins*) It kind of makes me want a kid of my own, to go researching down strange tangents with, or with whom to go on road trips photographing bunches of whatever oddities catch zir interest.

I played a game of Dominion with Serinthia Kelberry, her partner, and my mother tonight. I was feeling time-stressy and didn't want to go out for our usual Thursday get-together, but invited them over instead so I could feel more in control of my time and space. I'm glad they came; it's always nice to see them.

What else? Now that applications are done, I really need to start working on my presentations for AAG and Madison in April. But first things first. Finances.