Tuesday, May 17, 2005

Gone

Well i'm gone for 60 days. Wish me luck!

Hello New York

Well I finally landed a job. It's only a temporary one, but it definitely sounds interesting. I'll be sailing aboard the T.S. EMPIRE STATE, the training ship of the State University of New York (SUNY), as a licensed watch officer. Yep, a training cruise...on the OTHER side of the grades!!!

Only this time, I'll be sailing in the Atlantic instead of the Pacific Ocean!
Ports they will be visiting:
Fort Schuyler, NY (home port)
Antwerp, Belgium
Istanbul, Turkey
Cesme, Turkey
Palma, Mallorca
Lisbon, Portugal
Fort Schuyler, NY (home port)

trippy eh?

Thursday, May 12, 2005

Angels & Demons

Well I just finished both of Brown's famous controversial books:
The Da Vinci Code
Angels & Demons
This guy is a novelist, not an historian. I especially ran across it in certain elements on Angels & Demons. This guy, maybe doing a little research, didn't do enough. On page 5, I discovered discrepancies! I have a slight bit of knowledge that, when used, easily refutes what he used about hypersonic (above Mach 5) jets. The X-33 was a research vehicle that was supposed to be a RLV, or Reusible-Launch-Vehicle. Not like the shuttles of today, but more like an airliner, a space-liner, if you will. There were numerous problems with the X-33 R&D, and the project was cancelled in 2001. There even is a conspiracy theory surrounding the whole project. As of now, fastest air-breathing manned vehicle is the SR-71 Blackbird, traveling at speeds of up to Mach 3.3. The fastest air-breathing unmanned vehicle was the X-43a, reaching speeds of Mach 9.8, so speeds of Mach 15 (as mentioned in the book) by any manned vehicle are a definite problem.

I'm still reading the "Secrets of" series for both books, and its interesting, they pretty much call Brown's bluff and obliterate his "this is entirely factual" references.

you should check them out yourself.

Saturday, May 07, 2005

Pictures are in!



go here to see pictures of my graduation from The California Maritime Academy.

I guess I should rewrite my title sometime soon, eh?

Thursday, May 05, 2005

job apps

well currently I'm waitin on msc, I just filled out an application for open third's positions for NOAA in Seattle, so who knows where i'll sail out of. The worst part is the timing of everything. I have to wait 2 weeks up to a month before anyone can actually decide ANYTHING.

oh well. back to filling out thank you notes for all my checks and gifts!

Sunday, May 01, 2005

I dun gradiated

A few things I am now:

-Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering
-3rd assistant engineer available to sail on any steam, motor, or gas turbine vessels of any horsepower
-Engineer-in-Training #121595
-Certified Plant Engineer-in-Training

I walked on Saturday...I will post pictures as soon as I get them from my dad.

Update1:
Thanks to Jihad Jimmy from the SHoP, welcoming me into the ranks of Engineer-in-Trainings. Thanks to all of you who have wished me congratuations (especially you, amy, I miss you!)

Update 2:
Don't worry, the pictures WILL come, and yes I'll be wearing "choker whites" the common name of the dress whites.