4:45 PM
I am running code. In fact, I'm waiting for it to finish. I'm also trying to figure out what time would be normal to leave, since I'm now at KNMI instead of on campus. Also, this code is hella sexy. Seriously, it's amazing. This is FORTRAN with a GUI, running on a ton of processors. Sometimes. I got an error today because the code (doing some sort of finite element analysis over a fair chunk of the coastline over a 6 hour period) was running on too many processors. I hadn't made the simulation complicated enough for it to use all the processing power available. Which means the code is efficient too. Awesome.
Anyway, I hope the Aeroboys read this, because no one else will relate to the geekiness in that first paragraph.
It's been an exciting day here in science research land! Having gotten used to the routine of going to campus every day, today I switched it up and took two trains to Utrecht. I usually like having routines, especially considering how crazy everything else is currently, so the morning was a little stressful. I made the train connection and got to Utrecht with plenty of time, and then I got help from CS finding bus tickets. I met an entirely new batch of people, even though I'm still working on names from my uni dept, and around 2pm I finally had a computer set up.
The downside of meeting new people today is that they're all significantly taller than me. Like, way way taller. Three of the people in this group have hit the 2m (that's about 6' 7") mark. It's ridiculous.
Getting on the train at all was pretty exciting, since it's nearly impossible to buy train tickets for the nearby station without a Dutch bank account. The smaller station only has machines, and they only take debit cards and coins. I certainly didn't have €21 in coins! My debit card doesn't work because US cards use a different format than EU ones. Most ATMs can handle both, but not a lot of other machines. I cannot wait to get a bank account! E bought the train tickets online for me, which was super nice of her.
I can knit about 2 inches of sock on the train ride from Rotterdam to Utrecht, so the new coffee break socks are growing pretty fast. I might need to rename them train socks, since I've been doing most of the knitting on the trains instead of during the coffee breaks.
The bus ticket thing is an elegant bit of technology, I think. I got a plastic card, and loaded it with a chosen amount of money, and then I just hold it up to a scanner (this takes like 2 seconds) when I get on the bus, hold it up again when I get off, and it deducts the fare for however far I went. You don't even have to slide the card, just hold it by the machine. It's quick and easy, both good when dealing with public transportation. I *think* I can put more money on it online, although I bet I need a bank account for that.
Code's still running. Yay for running code!
I've applied for a bank account at a local bank. It was pretty hard comparing banks online, because they don't have much in the way of English pages. They all seem pretty similar. I picked based on ease of understanding the Dutch, bank locations, and the fact that I could start the process online, which is helpful when banks aren't open on the weekends, when I could actually go to one. According to F, I picked the one most like a credit union, which I'm somewhat amused by.
I think the code finished! Why, in fact it did! And it worked! You wouldn't BELIEVE how much data this puts out. This is a huge improvement from last week. As it's now 6PM and I have an hour train ride to go, I think I shall be heading home.
Happy birthday to J!
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