Statistics and Mishaps

The theme lately has been small mishaps that in the solitude of "bachelorhood" seem like a big deal (at least for a little while). First one was me trying out my "Food Network" skills when I needed to flip over an egg I was frying. My one spatula was dirty so I thought instead I would just flip it using the pan the way I see all the cooks on TV. I have done it before with other food items so it seemed like the right move. Well, I missed judged the trajectory and the egg ended up flush on the burner. At least I was smart enough to NOT reach to try to catch it or grab it off the burner. Cremated eggs linger a lot longer than I would have figured. It has been cleaned up now, but there seems to be some iota that remains and relights each time I use that burner (it is only large one I have. The second little mishap came on my first workout in the apartment complex pool. A little back story. The brochure said the complex has an "Olympic Size Pool." Hotel and Campground signs that advertised such aquatic facilities were ubiquitous back in days of our family vacationing via travel trailer and not once did the pool measure up to the claim. Well in turns out that Easy Bay/Pelican Bay actually has a four lane, 25 yard pool. Not a Beijing Olympic Pool, but that is pretty close to the dimensions of the pool used for the 1904 games in St. Louis. In this election year, that counts as a lead pipe fact compared to some of the spin we have witnessed. Anyway, I manage to get in a very slow and lumbering 2000 yards before I got cocky and decided to do some backstroke. It has been a while since I have been in an outdoor pool with few sight lines and no backstroke flags so despite what I thought were my best efforts, I cracked my head on the wall on the second length of back. Fortunately I am no worse for the wear. The statistics goes with the dissertations I mention in the last post. Statistics, along with Calculus and being fluent in a foreign language are the big regrets of my life at this point. Anyway, I have spent the better part of the last two days trying to figure out a compromise for a student's statistical analysis that doesn't match the data he collected so that he can still answer the research questions he intended. I have found myself shoulders deep in the literature that features the dispute about whether replies to surveys with Likert Scale answers. These are the surveys that ask you to reply with things like Strongly Agree, Agree, Neutral, Disagree, Strongly Disagree, but they have you circle a number such as 1 - 5 instead. Long story short some statisticians argue that you can use those "numbers" like real integers and other argue that they are really categories and are not numbers that can be manipulated mathematically. I fall squarely with the latter group. The big problem is that many social scientists and most certainly graduate students have cast their lots with the former group; not because they understand what they are doing, but because the "saw someone else do it some where." As with most graduate student stories we are under a huge time crunch with really high stakes for completion. The solution clearly includes a fancy mathematical manipulation, the proofs of which are making my head hurt. I do think I have figured out a way to get all the pieces in place so we can finish him up. Tomorrow will tell. I am off to work on my spanish.

My time with the Thais

Much of the previous week's events centered around the visit by the Sport Authority of Thailand (SAT). A delegation of 18 of Thailand's sports leaders were touring various aspects of the American sports landscape. In bit of serendipity, they were in Los Angeles touring the athletic facilities of the University of Southern California (I know many of you think USC stands for something else, but I digress) the Monday after the featured football game against Ohio State and then where in Auburn, AL on the Monday following the featured game between Auburn and LSU. The tour had been scheduled months in advance. It appears as though ESPN's Game Day Live sponsored by Home Depot was copying the SAT travel itinerary. They also visited several sports facilities in Chula Vista, Mobile, Daphne, and Washington, DC. My participation was marked by giving a presentation on the status of youth sport in the USA and serving a van driver around Mobile Bay and then up and east to Auburn. We got a very cool tour of the facilities at Auburn. They are very nice. We even got a chance to go inside the football stadium that is on the TV as I type this. We didn't go on the field, but I was close enough to hover my foot over the turf. So now I have started my check off list of SEC campuses. Some of you might remember my visit to Univ. of South Carolina in 1988, but that USC did not join the SEC until 1991. So I am keeping my list at one, Auburn. This is to go along with my 9 of 11 Big Ten campuses (Iowa and Northwestern missing); and six Pac-10 schools (I seem to be adverse to institutions that have State in their name. the four I am missing are Washington St., Oregon St., Arizona St. and I am probably the only member of my family that has not been on campus at USC. So this part of the update has come full circle. After the tour at Auburn we drove to Atlanta so the group could get on a plane to DC. The gas lines you see on the TV news are for real. Getting gas for the vans was a bit of an adventure and it was definitely expensive. Fortunately for us here in Daphne the gas shortages start a couple of hours north of us (at least for now). I am doing my part in conserving gas with my own vehicle. I have been to the gas station twice in the last couple of weeks ... to put air in my tires (I have a slow leak in two tires). The weather here on the eastern shore has been absolutely a Chamber of Commerce special order. Beautiful blue skies, low humidity, high 60s in the morning topping out in the low 80s. I have been making the 1.2 mile round trip walk to the office twice a day (I come home for lunch). Gas lasts a long time that way. Work has been mostly reading and editing papers. Journal submissions, Dissertations, and other student assignments. Tomorrow's mission...laundry.

North wind

Overnight we had the first "cold front" that has occurred since my arrival. Temperatures have dropped some during the day (highs are in the mid-80s), but the big changes are over night (lows now down around 60) and much of the humidity has retreated. Today was a real Chamber of Commerce Special. With no threat of rain for the first time in over a week. I got to walk home for lunch. Very pleasant. I am hoping that the cooler weather will slow down some of the bugs. Again, contrary to popular belief, they are not all that bad where I am at, with two exceptions: 1) the bugs that do seem to like to be around humans seem to be in a constant state of mating. I am sure that I should know what kind of bugs they are, but all I know is that they fly around in pairs attached tail to tail. So they look awkward in addition to doubling their size and their pestering factor. It seems as though they just get tired of flying around that way and are happy to rest on any none moving surface they can find. If you are in motion, they are not much of a bother, but sit down and you become a landing pad; 2) the spiders are big. I swear if they could eat humans I would have been a goner a couple of weeks ago. I have walked into a couple of spider webs and instantly looked around for the spinner to find prehistoric looking creatures. Apparently they can sense that whatever just stumbled into their web is too big to wind up, because both times they have headed in the opposite direction. Besides those two things, (and neither of them are really that big of deal), I have had much bigger problems with bugs in Central PA and in places like Yosemite.
Another observation, is that they like their beer down here. I had heard about the south's affection for all things Budweiser, and that appears to hold up, but you can also find the widest variety I have ever seen in places like the grocery store. The Winn Dixie has three different sections of the store devoted to beer. For those of you with a connection to PA, you will be happy to know that Yuengling is available on tap here. Now the people from Bloomsburg, Mountaintop, and Pottsville have no excuse for not coming to visit me.
This is my first night trying to go with the TV. it turned out easier than I thought it would be as I had three very cool phone calls. Another set of refreshing breezes from the North.

Yes I live in the south now

For all of my loved ones that are scattered around the country that are curious what is up with me. I have decided to kick the Sunday Chat up a notch and put my my thoughts, news, and questions on this new blog. If you are wondering about the title it comes from my realization that I have now lived in a state that borders the body of water that marks the edge of a compass point for this country. Some my want to quibble about Pennsylvania. I respond with two points (a) The southeastern tip of the state has a look at the Atlantic Ocean, (b) Most of southern New Jersey is really part of Philadelphia anyway, (c) 3.75 compass points doesn't sound as good.

A few early observations of my new state of residence.

- Contrary to popular believe, this part of the south (the Gulf Coast Area to be specific) has an incredible density of Catholic churches. A masstimes.org search lists more that a dozen Cathedrals, Parishes, Shrines, and Missions that are within about 15 miles. Christ the King is the closest to me and has been the one I have attended the most so far, but I am planning a trip to the Cathedral in Mobile in the near future.

-Everything you have heard about football and Alabama is true. At tonight's 5:30 mass, the pastor made note that attendance was a little light and attributed in to the fact that the Auburn Game was set to kick off at 6:00. At the end of mass he concluded the blessing by letting the congregation know that the game was on ESPN. Almost everyone was gone before the recessional was finished. Add to that, the CAthloic school for the area, McGill-Toonan, plays in the same stadium where the GMAC Bowl and the Senior Bowl take place. For the opportunity to get Season tickets (yes for the high school team) you have to join the Booster Club. I have found out how much the membership dues are. There is a different call in talk show about either Auburn, Alabama, or both each night of the week on the local Sports Talk Radio Station. Grandmothers call in to argue how should be third verses fourth on the Quarterback depth chart. Finally, I have been told (although I have not independently confirmed this) that a school district was FORCED by the state to build a new high school, because the original school had appeared in too many State Championship Finals.

- This part of the country has a disproportionate representation in the military. It takes almost five minutes to read the names of parishioners that are currently serving in Iraq or Afghanistan. That is the case at both of the parishes where I have attended mass.

-Yes it is hot. This was driven home, when the Cooling system failed at the Academy.

-It gets dark early here. Makes me sleepy. Good thing that Prime time TV starts at 7:00 or I wouldn't be awake for any of it.

-The Weather Channel is one or the other channel that you can get to with the "switch" button on your remote. We have been very lucky so far, those around us have not been so lucky.

Other than the lack of air conditioning for about a week, work has been good. My minimalist living experiment continues. It turns out you can survive without a microwave, but it is amazing the percentage of items in the grocery store that require a microwave. I will provide some pictures soon.

Don't want to use up all my obs in the first post. So that is all.