More notes from the bike path

This morning, on my morning commute (this is Greg again), I saw 2 things I haven't yet seen on the Minuteman: a rollerblader wearing a helmet (a lacrosse helmet, no less - she must have been expecting a blind-sided hit at any moment!), and the aftermath of a biker/runner accident. While seeing a rollerblader with a full-face shield nearly blew me off my seat, I sadly presumed it would only be a matter of time before I saw a wreck/crash/or remnants thereof. Yesterday afternoon, in fact, I nearly plowed into an older man who was crossing the trail. I slammed on the brakes, which sent out a horrific screach, and I think I nearly scared the poor man half to death! As for this morning's accident, I was surprised to see it so early (it must have happened around 615am, as I passed the scene around 630am and there were already cops there). I would have expected most run-in's to occur in the afternoon.

Calling it a "scene" is really quite an exaggeration - a female jogger was sitting on the curb massaging her leg, while a male cyclist was nearby chatting with 2 cops. They seemed to be giving him a gentle lecture on why you shouldn't haul-ass through intersections. It seemed quite friendly and congenial all around (the runner didn't seem pissed, nor were the cops scowling) and I was tempted to stop for a chat myself.

This afternoon, at school, we had another math 'quiz'. For some reason, they don't call them 'exams' or 'tests' here at MIT. Everything is a 'quiz'. Perhaps its an attempt to downgrade the competitiveness that MIT has a reputation for. Their thinking must be: how can you get competitive about a QUIZ? You should enjoy taking the quizzes in much the same manner one enjoys a gentle tropical spa.
Well, today's quiz was about as un-spa-like as you can get. But I try not to get too worked up about it. The course is designed to get us Navy guys, who haven't cracked an academic book in, say, 13 years in my case, back into the academic swing of things. And hopefully I'll re-learn some of the math tools that we'll use later in the program.

More about life at MIT: Every morning, after I drop off my bike in my little office (which I share w/ 2 other people I hardly see), I trot across the street to the gym. After a quick clean up & change into something other than bib shorts (which I realize is a rare thing, eh Ryan?), I grab some lunch/snacks at a small deli near the gym, and trot back to the office. Crossing the street, however, suddenly becomes difficult as the first of a myriad of tour buses spew their tour groups right in front of the building I'm heading to, starting a rotation of photographs of each other that's impossible to avoid. So, somewhere in China, people are going to be looking at their beloved photo albums from their trip to the US and wonder "why couldn't that tall American just wait until after we were done taking our photo??"

The tour groups come fast and furious throughout the day. Some are led by students, who share insights into what life is REALLY like at MIT. One day, I dashed into a computer lab just as a group stopped by to discuss computing at MIT. Now, there are a lot of really smart computer folks at MIT, who utilize the immense computing power that is accessible in these labs, but I'm not one of them. I use the labs to look at e-mail and printout HW assignments for my classes. The computing power of MIT is wasted on me.

But tour groups don't know that. I can imagine some of them thinking, "wow, I wonder what amazing algorithms THAT geek is working on? I better check my credit card statement when I get home!" To add to the allure of massive computing competence, I make sure to squint at the sunlight, muss up my hair, and look haggard and distracted as I exit the lab, mumbling 'scuse me' to the biological entities that are in my way.

Enough for now - tomorrow is the 4th of July and we're going to spend the afternoon with our friends Kira and Zack and their sons Aidan and Logan. So Louise and I will miss the warzone that Kailua becomes during any fireworks festival (which is blessedly only July 4th and New Years). This New Years, we came home from a trip and thought it was raining on the windward side. But it wasn't - the smoke from the fireworks blocked out all the lights from view while we drove down the highway. But I digress.