andy reagan only the interesting stuff

24Jan/12

Vermont

Having been back from the Boston trip for just over two weeks, I'm getting fairly settled in Burlington and in my classes at UVM now. Sam came up for the weekend of the 14th, which was fun, and I went to visit her in Brockport this past weekend. Altogether, these past couple weeks I've went a little overboard with beer brewing (building a kegerator, mash tun for AG, propane boiler, and counterflow chiller), got in some decent training despite the cold weather, and am liking my classes so far.

Highlights of Burlington are the hike up Camels Hump which I've done twice in the snow now (once at night), a cool bike shop, amazing views, and possibly the best food co-op ever.

Beer: I had quite a bit of free time getting settled in before classes start, and made the plunge into all-grain brewing finally. To accomplish this, I made a mash tun out of a 10-gallon cooler, and bought a turkey fryer to use as brewing pot. The mash tun is necessary to soak the crushed barley at 153deg F for an hour to extract the sugars, modified so that it filters out just the yummy wort. And the turkey fryer encompasses the ability to boil 6.5 gallons of water, and bring that to a boil for 60 minutes. In addition, I built a counter flow chiller that cools the wort from the boil in preparation for fermentation, which is useful for all types and all scales of brewing due to it's continuous nature. And to put it over the top, I bought and modified a mini fridge into a dual tap kegerator for serving the goods in top style.

I put all of this equipment to use last night to brew my first all grain beer: NB's Oatmeal Stout. The mash and boiling went flawlessly, with the exception of some boil over (30 quarts isn't a big enough pot to leave a 6.5 gallon boil unattended), and a highlight was the amazing performance of the chiller. I achieved a OG of 1.044 which was actually 2 points higher than the kit's stated 1.042 so that is amazing, and my mash tun worked well that means. And the chiller brought the wort straight from a boil to less than 67deg F!! I turned down the flow on cold water because that's actually a little cold, if anything. And as I type this (while riding my trainer in the basement), the oatmeal stout is happily fermenting upstairs at 72deg F.

Hiking: I took an invitation from fellow grad student Kameron Harris to hike up Camel's Hump at night, the first Monday after coming back from Boston. It was in the 20's, and that was more than warm enough for the way up and down. At the top, however, it was quite windy and we didn't spend more than a couple minutes up there, and the clouds didn't allow us to see much more than a glow from Burlington.

view from the night hike, 10sec exposure

I enjoyed the hike so much that when Sam came up, we attempted the summit with a daily high of 7F. It was 2F when we started the hike! The trail was again thick snow, but we didn't need crampons to make it up, having a ski pole was useful though. Plenty warm going up at the bottom, it started to get cold near the top, and at the final clearing before the summit it was super cold. I had to periodically put my hands in balls inside my gloves when my fingers hurt though. Sam was tired, but nevertheless we readied for our sprint to the summit and return. Silly of me for not pulling my bala clava all the way up over my face, but I hadn't. As we cleared the treeline, the wind was so strong that it didn't really matter what you were wearing, but it better not be exposed skin. I hurried to the very top, and waited a few second for Sam to bag the peak before I took off sprinting down. Those few second on the top were probably the coldest I have ever felt in my life, it was just straight painful. Sam took a little bit longer coming down from the very top, as she didn't want to fall off the mountain (a fear I tossed out when my face was frozen). I took slight refuge behind some brush and attempted to lift up my clava. Couldn't do it with my gloves and immobile fingers, so I yanked one glove off and raised it. Terrible decision. I couldnt get the glove back on my frozen hand, and it quickly was mmensely painfully cold. I caught sight of Sam behind me, and tried to quote Tyler Durton's power animal and say "slide!" because that was also the fastest and probably safest way down that steep part. I then shoved my hand in my jacket, which didn't help much, and took off running down so I didn't freeze it off. Making it back down to the clearing I was not in great shape, but hadn't frost bit anything either. Sam was no more than a minute behind and we set off on our descent. At the top, we saw a woman with the coolest sled ever for going down, and I bought a couple that we used last weekend at Letchworth actually, they're sweet. The hike down was fun, and it wasn't actually too long before I warmed up to a comfortable temperature. The disappointing part is that for all that, it was snowing at the top in the wind, so there was no hope of seeing anything, not that I could've looked for more than 10 seconds anyway ha, but it was still worth it.

Food: could not be better at all. I joined the food co-op and am eating a big salad with lots of stuff in it for lunch every day, and free range eggs and homemade bread toast for breakfast. I get the whole wheat flour in bulk as well. For dinner, I've been doing pasta w mom's sauce, bean burritos, and fish and all have turned out really good. Now that I've got the salad down as a habit, and a handful of assorted nuts throughout the day as a snack, it's literally no harder to do than grabbing a mcdonalds burger, its just routine. I haven't bought meat yet, and I'm not going veg, but I don't feel like preparing it and don't think I need it for any particular reason at all.

Training: right now. I've been typing this whole post (and some emails, and signing up for a conference) while riding my bike trainer. The weather here is suckily much worse than Blacksburg. Temps here are in the teens and overcast while it's 50 and sunny in Blacksburg, I sure do miss the weather and my friends there to train with. So far, I've spent a good bit of time inside on the trainer, went on a pair of snowshoe runs, a few other runs, and one failed attempt at riding outside. Perhaps the (second) coolest training tool is the pull up bar in our hallway that I've been using a lot and maybe I'll be able to do 20 by the summer. Indeed the coolest new training gadget are the new Dion running snowshoes that I've picked up. They're super fun to run in so far, and I'm excited at taking them out to the Bolton backcountry this weekend for a long run (I just thought of this plan), and maybe I can Peter Dodds to come with, I saw that he went out there last weekend and he was the one who talked me into getting these contraptions!

Classes: so far my load is a lighter than it was last semester at Tech, but that's just because I haven't started doing the homework yet. (I lie, I finished the analysis that's due Friday today.)  I'm taking Complex Analysis with Dr. Foote who is an awesome guy and I love that class so far. Definitely going to be my fav. He's the one who wrote my algebra text that I used back at Tech, and he's really funny, sometimes plugging his book too haha. I'm also take Real Analysis II which is off to a slow start, finishing off differentiation which we got through at Tech, and I really  don't like the textbook so far....compared to Rudin. The definitions suck, IMHO. I was just frustrated with how unclear they are today. But I have no doubts that it will pick up, since we'll be hitting new material in just two weeks. My third (and final) class is Nonlinear PDE's, and so far I've gotten sufficiently confused in class but it should be tolerable... no HW there yet.

That is going to be all for this update, stay tuned for more as I get into tune with Burlington and get my taps flowing!!

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8Jan/12

2012 Joint Mathematics Meeting

This year the JMM, held by the American Math Society (AMS) and Math Association of America (MAA) took place in Boston, MA and my summer MSSB REU project was selected to present a poster at the Undergrad Poster Session. This was my first experience at a big conference (the JMM is touted online as the largest math conference in the world at 7K+ registrants), and it was definitely a learning one. I got to see a handful of interesting talks, present my poster, explore Boston, and catch up with friends that I hadn't seen since the summer.

Here's the day by day of what I was up to. I talk mostly about the food.

Wednesday

I carpooled down with my advisor Chris Danforth and also along for the ride were Lewis Mitchell (postdoc in climate at UVM) and Kameron Harris (masters student at UVM). We left bright and early from Burlington, at 7AM while temperatures lingered in the 2F range.

Arriving at about 11, it was extremely daunting at first trying to find talks to attend. Turned out that there weren't any going on until lunch, so we checked out the conference center and then all got lunch at Legal Sea Foods.

In the afternoon, I was able to attend some interesting talks, get in a speedy 4 mile run on some great trails with outstanding views, and then that night Jim, Paul and I met up with Lewis and Kam and two of Kam's friends for dinner at this really hip place called The Other Side Cafe. They had Left Hand Milk Stout on tap! And delicious veggie burritos.

Thursday

The four of us, and Chris's former teacher at Bates College, Chip Ross at lunch at the Top of the Hub which was on top of the very tall Prudential Building. The views were great, and we talked a lot about bifurcations which I understand, but not at the level that these guys do who've been studying dynamical systems for some time. Views from the top:

boston!!!

Everyone from the REU from the summer were in town for dinner, except for Laurel who was still on her way, so we all got together for dinner at restaurant recommended by Jim called The King and I. It was great thai food and company! That was pretty much it for that night.

the dinner invitation I texted out

Friday

The theme of the this post is definitely feeling to me like food and travel, and not as much math, but this is more interesting for the most part. The first day I grabbed breakfast, I got two eggs on a wheat bagel at ABP and it was real good. I first went to support a fellow hokie, Scott Burton, present his research from the past summer on graph theory stuff. I went to a few other talks after that were actually not what I expected, and I guess that happens.

Now that the entire REU gang was in, except that John and Hussein bailed for lunch, we took the T up to the North End to see historic Boston and get some great food. We ate a really small italian place, and it was just us. It felt just like we were eating in the kitchen of an italian lady's kitchen, and the spinach ravioli come recommended by me!

the old north church

laurel was happy!

my bro Paul

Emily (right) inside Mike's Pastry

I tried again to find some interesting talks, and sort-of did. But before long it was time for me to do what it was that I'd come to do, present my poster! The ugrad poster session was nuts, with over 300 posters being presented. It turned out to not work very well having all four us man one poster, so we took 30min turns at explaining what we did this past summer.

the poster session, huge!!

After the poster session, Laurel and I headed out for what turned out to be an amazinggg run. Check it out. Here is the view we had from the trail on the Charles River, looking back at Boston where we'd come from:

water like glass, dirt trail, awesome

I was late for dinner at the Back Bay Social Club, where I got the dirtiest look I ever have from a bartender, when I didn't tip on a $8 beer. I've never paid that much, and actually had out $6, ready to leave a dollar tip even if it cost 5. But 8!? Sticker shock I guess. But looking on the menu later, the beer I ordered was actually only supposed to be 7...whatever.

Kam, Lewis and I ended up heading to BU for drinks w Kam's friend again, and it was a fun night up there. I forget the name of the little town.

Saturday

Perhaps the most interesting talks of the conference from the group that I came with took place on Sat morning. We heard from experts in the field on Data Assimilation and Dynamical Systems, and I learned quite a bit. I also got to meet Chris Jones, who gave an excellent talk, and is the head of the MCRN that is offering a course this spring that I am considering attending.

I had to check out of the Westin, and carried all of my stuff (with some help) to lunch at the Cafetaria Boston w Laurel, Paul, Lewis, and Kam. Their fish tacos were great.

The afternoon was the session on Mathematics of Climate Change and Sustainability which was chaired by Chris and he spoke in first. The first three talks were great, and after that more educations based and less mathie. I learned from each of the first three. Apparently it got a little more heated later, about the challenges and obligation to teach mathematics with applications in the classroom. I had dipped out to haul my luggage two miles across Boston to Lewis' hotel, the Omni Parker.

I had some free time while the talks were over, and Kam and Lewis were at the hockey game so I grabbed my laptop and headed to find a coffee shop with wireless. I stopped at Jos A Bank to ask why my shoes seemed to be falling apart on the bottom, but apparently it's normal wear for dress shoes.

wasn't sure they were supposed to wear like this

I ended up stopping at the ABP, where I got a little package of grapes and little bag of assorted nuts to hold me over till dinner which I was actually quite productive and researched for, then registered for my classes this spring.

That night, we got dinner again at The Other Side and I got the other veggie burrito which was also excellent. And I had the Avery Salvation Ale, a belgian strong ale and it was reallyyy good.

We met up with a couple other mathematicians after at some bars called the Dead Author's Club, and then Boston Beer Works. They were home to more really good beer, in particular the Slumbrew Porter Squared Porter was amazing. It was pretty neat for me to be by far the least educated in the group, the other guys were post-docs at MIT and on fellowships. All in all, it was a really great night out on the town and to cap off a great week in Boston.

Sunday

We headed out of Boston at like 11AM, and Chris had picked up some more amazing canolies from Mike's Pastry to cure Lewis, Kam and my hangovers. I felt fine, but the canoli was much appreciated. Upon returning "home," I've been able to rest up, get groceries and make dinner, write this up and get ready to head into the office tomorrow.

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1Jan/12

Ushering in a new year

Beginning with a look at this past year, I cannot be much happier. A list of highlights would only do disservice.

An update since moving out of BBurg and being in limbo at home: I have had two full weeks at home to rest up before moving to Burlington, VT. Safe to say that I've definitely caught up on sleep, having slept in till 11AM almost every day. Got in some good, and not so good, training and got to spend lots of time with great friends, the best.

It's only natural that I'll announce my resolution for this year, in a [not really so] public manner. I started by examining the resolutions of 2011: vegetarian, biking miles > driving miles, and no big beer. For more detail on each: http://andyreagan.com/2010/12/28/christmas-update/. I held the first for 2.5 months, drove home too many times to get the second I'm pretty sure (although I didn't really keep good track), and definitely succeeded at limiting myself to craft brews.

Resolution 1: Eat healthy

It's so hard to be specific with diet, but how can I get more vague than this? Well, I'm not going to go veg again, but am going to try to eat better for my overall health (including my heart). With @rumblinstumblin having a heart attack earlier this year, it was no doubt a wake up call to me that I do have a family history and I need to watch what I eat NOW because it will have an effect down the road. So, more recently, I have tried to cut back on my sat fats, and haven't eaten red meat (with the exception of grilling fillet mignon once a week ago) in a few months.

My dad has really into this health phase, focusing his passion on eating well and it has been both amazing and pretty inspiring. My mother likes to call him "110% or nothing" and there isn't a much better description. Be it stocks, raising me, looking at colleges, or now eating healthy he can really get into something that motivates him. And most recently, he's radically changed the way he eats, exercises every day, and is in pretty amazing shape.

Looking into the modern science of heart health, there is a great deal of information and it's very confusing (most recently reading Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes). The answers to the question of what we should eat are not as good as we'd hope for something so basic. But, I do think that it can be boiled down to some pretty simple facts (e.g. Michael Pollan's Food Rules). I had a great convo w Carrie Carlton abt all this, and she sent me to a blog that has a food pyramid that most accurately describes my goals: (via http://www.diseaseproof.com/)

Resolution 2: Tracking my mobility

Considering that my girlfriend is 5 hours away, and I'm driving to Burlington tomorrow, I don't think that I'll be able to bike more miles than I drive this year. But, I intend to keep track! I've got a Garmin that I'm going to put on my commuter bike as well, and I'm going to track my driving miles at fuelly.com (thx @rbsherfy for the tip).

I'm very interested in how we design our built environment to encourage sustainable mobility and active lifestyles, so by keeping track of how I move myself, we'll see if I put the miles where my mind is.

Resolution 3: Crush it

I know I'm stealing Gary V's punchline, and I don't actually know how he used it, but by 'crush it' I mean to live this year with focus and drive. After getting a short break at home, I'm really ready to go back to school and spend the next year learning everything I can, and contributing to research. I suppose this resolution falls under the 'goals' category, but the resolution part is to just keep working hard and smart. If this were a goal last year, I more than succeeded, and I intend to keep it up!

Since I've been procrastinating packing for my move tomorrow (I haven't started, it's midnight, and I want to leave early tomorrow...) I should probably move along. Have a great 2012 my motivated blog followers!

 

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My name is Andy Reagan, welcome to my website. I'm a hokie, an aspiring mathematician, and am into racing bikes, running, adventures, living sustainably, and am enjoying every minute.

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