Shall We Work Straight Through The Night?

Whew -- what a day!

Woke up this morning, came into the University, and started the liquid helium transfer for the latest cooldown of the K-400. Shortly after this was done, I went home to take a nap, having not slept very much last night.

When I woke up again, cheshcat and I put Foxy into a carrier and attempted to drive her to the vet. This very simple plan was foiled by Oxford's rush hour traffic. Although the drive is only two and a half miles, and although we left twenty minutes in advance, we got so backed up as to miss our entire appointment. This is why I greatly prefer not to use Peter as a form of transportation within Oxford. Said veterinary appointment has now been rescheduled for Friday morning.

After the aborted vet visit, I came back to the University to check on the helium fill. Confident that all was proceeding well, I made my way to Mary Mag to ring bells for the learners' practice. These Wednesday practices basically consist of ringing rounds (i.e., a descending scale) on six bells. Four bells are rung by more experienced ringers, while two learners take the remaining bells, each guided by a non-ringing experienced person. During Trinity Term last year, I joined in as one of the learners. This time, I am both pleased and amused to say that I am attending to help out as one of the "experienced" ringers. Actually, I like this quite a lot, as I get to ring much more this way. I rang on the #5 bell for the entire practice, rather than only half or a third of the time. Rounds are pretty easy, but it gives me time to practice my ringing technique -- something that is more challenging when I am trying to keep in the correct place during Grandsire Triples or Plain Bob Minor at St. Giles.

When practice ended, I cycled back to Skullcrusher Mountain and sat down to dinner with cheshcat. It was good to get in a little downtime, and specifically to do it with her. After dinner, I hopped back on my cycle and rode to Summertown. First I returned a DVD, then I went to the Ferry Sports Centre, hopped in the pool, and swam a mile. This was my first swim of 2008 and it felt very good to be back in the water. I almost was not able to get my full mile in, as several minor delays had prevented me from getting into the pool as soon as I would have liked. To successfully swim a full mile, I had to really push myself for most of the session... which can actually be viewed as a positive thing. My arms and legs feel tired now, but it was worth it!

Left the water, dried off, and cycled back to the University. Forgot my ID card, though, so I had to wait for somebody to let me into the building. The helium fill had gone as far as could be done unattended, with the use of a diaphragm pump, and I had to take a more active role for the final stages. As of about fifteen minutes ago, the main bath is now full of liquid helium.

Although I have been at the lab three times today, my work is not yet done. The inner vacuum chamber needs to sit in the helium bath for three or four hours before the exchange gas is pumped out. The pumping takes many hours. Thus, after posting this entry, I will cycle home and come back in a few hours to start the pumps and let them run overnight. This will make for a very late night -- once again -- but there are a variety of things that I can do in this time. I need a shave and a shower, and I also promised a call to the adorable squeektoy42. And if cheshcat is still awake, we can always spend a little quality time together.

So that was my Wednesday. I did say that term time was going to make my life busier! Let's see what my Thursday will bring...

Shall We Work Straight Through The Night?

Whew -- what a day!

Woke up this morning, came into the University, and started the liquid helium transfer for the latest cooldown of the K-400. Shortly after this was done, I went home to take a nap, having not slept very much last night.

When I woke up again, cheshcat and I put Foxy into a carrier and attempted to drive her to the vet. This very simple plan was foiled by Oxford's rush hour traffic. Although the drive is only two and a half miles, and although we left twenty minutes in advance, we got so backed up as to miss our entire appointment. This is why I greatly prefer not to use Peter as a form of transportation within Oxford. Said veterinary appointment has now been rescheduled for Friday morning.

After the aborted vet visit, I came back to the University to check on the helium fill. Confident that all was proceeding well, I made my way to Mary Mag to ring bells for the learners' practice. These Wednesday practices basically consist of ringing rounds (i.e., a descending scale) on six bells. Four bells are rung by more experienced ringers, while two learners take the remaining bells, each guided by a non-ringing experienced person. During Trinity Term last year, I joined in as one of the learners. This time, I am both pleased and amused to say that I am attending to help out as one of the "experienced" ringers. Actually, I like this quite a lot, as I get to ring much more this way. I rang on the #5 bell for the entire practice, rather than only half or a third of the time. Rounds are pretty easy, but it gives me time to practice my ringing technique -- something that is more challenging when I am trying to keep in the correct place during Grandsire Triples or Plain Bob Minor at St. Giles.

When practice ended, I cycled back to Skullcrusher Mountain and sat down to dinner with cheshcat. It was good to get in a little downtime, and specifically to do it with her. After dinner, I hopped back on my cycle and rode to Summertown. First I returned a DVD, then I went to the Ferry Sports Centre, hopped in the pool, and swam a mile. This was my first swim of 2008 and it felt very good to be back in the water. I almost was not able to get my full mile in, as several minor delays had prevented me from getting into the pool as soon as I would have liked. To successfully swim a full mile, I had to really push myself for most of the session... which can actually be viewed as a positive thing. My arms and legs feel tired now, but it was worth it!

Left the water, dried off, and cycled back to the University. Forgot my ID card, though, so I had to wait for somebody to let me into the building. The helium fill had gone as far as could be done unattended, with the use of a diaphragm pump, and I had to take a more active role for the final stages. As of about fifteen minutes ago, the main bath is now full of liquid helium.

Although I have been at the lab three times today, my work is not yet done. The inner vacuum chamber needs to sit in the helium bath for three or four hours before the exchange gas is pumped out. The pumping takes many hours. Thus, after posting this entry, I will cycle home and come back in a few hours to start the pumps and let them run overnight. This will make for a very late night -- once again -- but there are a variety of things that I can do in this time. I need a shave and a shower, and I also promised a call to the adorable squeektoy42. And if cheshcat is still awake, we can always spend a little quality time together.

So that was my Wednesday. I did say that term time was going to make my life busier! Let's see what my Thursday will bring...