Flying with Differential Equations

Apparently, solving differential equations on a flight now can raise suspicion. Grrrrr....

In an attempt to try to turn some lemons into lemonade (and to be snarky), here is a tweet I wrote for DynamicalSystemsSIAM.

Let us know if you want us to suggest any differential equations for you to solve on your next flight. #flyingwithDiffEqus

— DynamicalSystemsSIAM (@DynamicsSIAM) May 7, 2016

(Tip of the cap to Physics Girl for the news story.)

I Guess the UK Doesn't Want Me to Pay My Taxes?

And for at least the second time (and possibly the third?), Barclays has blocked my debit card as a result of my attempt to pay my UK taxes. I think that I should take this as a sign that I shouldn't pay taxes...

Sigh... I will never get those 30 minutes of my life back.

Irony: Part N

I suppose I ought to appreciate the irony of several birds dive-bombing me while I am marking ballistics problems on my students' dynamics homework.

(But, really, I am annoyed that I now need to wash my jacket and take a bath. The first bird already forced that, but after the second and the positive feedback loop that might be occurring, I just needed to escape inside.)

I ought to design a homework problem based on this, though...

Why Can't it Just be Labeled "Soap"?

I just went to quickly buy some shampoo, and I am continually frustrated by the fact that there seem to be millions of different products with names like "bathing cream" and the like that I fundamentally don't understand. Then when I look at the descriptions, I read how it's supposed to reduce my stress, make me relax, and so on. I don't see any descriptions about how it's supposed to make me clean, which is why I want to buy the bloody thing in the first place! There are just all these damn words I don't understand and with long, meaningless descriptions that don't explain anything ("full of sound and fury, signifying nothing"). I can't tell which product is which. Grrr. Why can't it just be labeled "soap"?

Suggestions for Alternative Use for Underwear?

I accidentally bought underwear of the wrong size. Damnit. Now I'm going to need to find an alternative use for them. Maybe to use as flags on some stray flagpole?

Does anybody have any good ideas? I'm willing to take suggestions.

I don't have the time to go and return them, so I figure it's better to find some alternative usage for them. You might think of this as turning underwear into underwear-ade.

(I'm sure there is a peanut gallery out there who can give some creative suggestions.)

A Brief Comment about Somerville's Website Blocking

Unfortunately, Somerville College in Oxford blocks certain websites. That's really annoying as a matter of principle, but I am especially annoyed by what I just found out: That websites are blocked if they are classified as "tasteless." WTF? That's not for them to decide!

(For what it's worth, what I wanted to take a look at was a webcomic that looked like it would be interesting. It wasn't my personal website that was blocked or anything, so I'll continue to happily make my snarky remarks.)

Grrr.... I'm annoyed

In addition to my general grumpiness from being exhausted (I took a red-eye flight from Montreal), I seem to have misplaced about 100 pounds worth of bills that I had with me. They must have fallen out of my wallet at some point. I hope that whoever picked them up is a poor person who can really use them. This could have happened as much as a week ago, but I only just noticed upon my return (as I had been using Canadian currency for the last week). Basically, this is not enough to affect my life in any way, but it is enough to annoy me.

I'm writing this entry because I needed a small rant. It's my own fault because whether it was technically lost or stolen, it was absolutely carelessness on my part. Maybe I should pretend this was caused by a previously-unheard-of form of Canadian taxation?

Se la vie. If this is the worst thing that happens to me in the next (say) year, then I think I'm in pretty good shape. Must...put...this...in...perspective.