Entered on 18 May 2004 at 9:09 a.m..
Math
This semester is my re-introduction to math semester. I has been almost 3 years since I've had to think about math in any structured way (except for a month in Cranfield where I taught myself spherical geometry). Needless to say my brain hurts. But it's not just my brain, since I've spent almost 6 hours doing my optimization homework, my hand hurts too. And I need a new eraser. In fact I think I should buy the economy size pack.
In weather news, it is raining. The front that had been stalled out over TX and then AL is now parked over us. Not that we don't need the rain, mind you. Its just that we didn't need the rain all in one week.
For those of you who've been following the Iraq war, I thought I'd mention a somewhat older veteran, whom you have all heard of, but whose name is probably unfamiliar. The Commander of the Memphis Belle (B-17) died over the weekend. I am sure you know the story, first B-17 to survive 25 missions over Europe in WWII. They flew from November 1942 to June 1943 if my Father's memory serves him correctly and then came home to do recruiting. Lost a total of nine engines, had both wings replaced, had the tail replaced, lost four crew members, and was hit by every kind of weapons fire imaginable.
The pilot, Colonel Bob Morgan, was 85. If you "do the math" he was only 24 in 1943 which means he commanded the Memphis Belle when he was 23. And he was probably flying out of airfields like Cranfield. Same age I was when I was there, just different circumstances. Same age Steve is now.
So you see, young people have always been the backbone of our armed forces. The only thing that has changed is our expectations of what they are capable of.