Today I woke up rather late. I arrived at work dressed in a white shirt and black pants in preparation for the Burgerfest that evening. I sat down with Tim and went through my report as it stands and proceeded to tear it apart bit by bit. Eventually I went to run a test on the Rheometer. Lunch was lasagna, but not very good lasagna. Since Bianka and Mirko were both gone today, it was just Flo and myself. After lunch I went and sat in the Rheometer room while the next test was going. Suddenly, the machine started to hum, so we had to stop the test to figure out what was going on. Hopefully it isn't too serious. Given this, and the fact that it was a Friday, I decided to make my Feierabend just after 3:30.
After work, I headed over to the Burgerfest and started helping to sell wine with the Men's chorus. It started with sitting down and tasting the wine for a while so I knew what I was selling, it was really good wine. After this, I helped to sell the wine. Which meant that I was running between tables taking orders, delivering glasses of wine, or bottles of wine or water, and what not. Three times I was asked for a "Chardonney and a song". So I had to come up with a song to sing which proved difficult to do (coming up with a song for the occasion that is). Apparently word has gotten around that I am the youngest singer in the Men's Choir, and also quite fleissig (many talented, capable).
Heiner approached me later and asked me if I would be willing to stop by his house at some point for an interview and dinner. He is thinking of writing a newspaper article about me, and wanted to have some background information. It aught to be interesting. By the time we were done with selling wine, it was about 1 in the morning, and we had boxes and boxes of empty bottles. It was a nice evening.
Samstag, 31. Juli 2010
Post 80: Organ Practice
Today was Thursday. It was the first Thursday without Men's choir rehearsal, but still fun. After work, I went to St. Wolfgang and practiced Organ for a while. It was nice and relaxing.
Post 79: Dinner with the Church choir
Today was Wednesday. Work was a fairly normal affair. We got four bonsai trees in the Diplomanten Room because they weren't getting enough sun in their other location. Then we got 8 other trees that were placed just outside our windows so now we live in a veritable forrest.
After work, we had our last church choir practice. It was also the celebration dinner for Anton and Simone Bier after their wedding. So we had plenty of leberkaes, bread, pretzles, and bier. During the course of the meal, Erika stood up and made some announcements regarding the early schedule after the summer break. Then she said that she had prepared something for her best singers. She had tallied up how many times people were present, and how many times people were absent so the top 4 or 5 got bowls made by Erika with the words "Fleissigste Singer/in" depending on man or women. Then she said that she had one more as a memento from the choir, so she had prepared a plate for me with the words "Zur Errinnerung - Kirchenchor Meitingen" (To Memories - Church choir Meitingen). Then everybody signed the plate. After this, they wanted to hear some of the recordings that I'd made of the choir, so I played one of them. Then they asked me to play trombone for them, then piano. It was an interesting night. I'd never performed after having two drinks before, but they enjoyed it, so that is good.
After work, we had our last church choir practice. It was also the celebration dinner for Anton and Simone Bier after their wedding. So we had plenty of leberkaes, bread, pretzles, and bier. During the course of the meal, Erika stood up and made some announcements regarding the early schedule after the summer break. Then she said that she had prepared something for her best singers. She had tallied up how many times people were present, and how many times people were absent so the top 4 or 5 got bowls made by Erika with the words "Fleissigste Singer/in" depending on man or women. Then she said that she had one more as a memento from the choir, so she had prepared a plate for me with the words "Zur Errinnerung - Kirchenchor Meitingen" (To Memories - Church choir Meitingen). Then everybody signed the plate. After this, they wanted to hear some of the recordings that I'd made of the choir, so I played one of them. Then they asked me to play trombone for them, then piano. It was an interesting night. I'd never performed after having two drinks before, but they enjoyed it, so that is good.
Post 78: Reaction between Novolak and Hexa
Today was a very normal day at work. I had to go back to Haferfeldstrasse to pick up my bike before going to work. Then I managed to find an explanation of the reaction between the Novolak and hexa, so I spent a fair amount of time reading through the explanation. We went to the Thai restaurant today because from everything that I've heard is SGL Tortelini not that great for lunch. I went and practiced trombone and organ after work.
Post 77: Farewell to Herbert, Dinner with Theo
Today was Monday. I ran some tests, and eventually talked with Tim for a while about the theory behind the Pre-Preg assignment. We discussed whether the representative equation should be composed of one, two, or three exponential functions. So now I get to think through the whole thing and find out if it is one two or three exponential functions. The reaction means one, side reactions mean another, and there is probably something else that I haven't thought of yet. So, I get to figure all that out. I had promised Herber Klemisch that I would meet him at 5 for a "bierchen". So I went over to the Alte Post and had a bier with him while he was packing up the trailer for their fishing trip in Norway. It was a nice farewell. After this, I went home, had something small to eat, then went to Theo's house in Haferfeldstrasse for a dinner get together. It was really nice, we had a pasta salad, meat from South Africa (because Theo's brother who lives in S. Africa and is in Meitingen for now), and we had very fresh baguettes. After this we had pork on rice for the main course. It was a very nice evening. We had a schnapps called Willi from the bayrische Wald. It was very good. Because it was raining, Heiner offered to drive me home. So that meant I have to come back tomorrow morning to pick up my bike.
Post 76: cutting music
I spent most of the day cutting the music from the hochzeit. I also played trombone in the church for a while.
Post 75: Anton und Simone Bier Hochzeit
Today was Saturday. This was the day of the wedding. So I went early to practice the Organ a little bit and set up the Microphone. So I now have a recording of the wedding. The biggest issue was the creaking floorboard just in front of the microphone. The solo went well, but during the second verse, a baby started crying really loudly. But everybody did very well. Now I have about 3 hours worth of cutting to do. In the afternoon, it started to rain quite a bit. I then went to Augsburg and checked e-mail and internet and what not.
All in all it was a nice day.
All in all it was a nice day.
Post 74: Short day at work
Today, I decided that I would go home a little early because I wasn't able to work with the Rheometer, so I worked primarily on my report. After that, I went home.
Post 73: Trying to fix the Rheometer
Today, I got a call from Frau Klein wishing me a happy birthday. Then we tried to remove the broken screw from the Rheometer part. In the attempt to do this, we broke off the tip of two different screw removers and the tip of another metal piece. Just as they were raising the hammer to try to put a hole into the screw so we could use the screw removers, my boss told them that this piece cost 5000 Euro.
Once we were done trying to fix it, we had then 3 different parts stuck in the screw hole.
After work, I went to the Men's chorus rehearsal. Once we wanted to start up, Herbert stood up for a "Bekanntmachung!" and he told everybody that yesterday was my birthday, so they then sang for me. At the end of the rehearsal, they said an official good bye to me and gave me a glass plated picture from the Mass that we did in the forest and they all signed it on the back.
Once we were done trying to fix it, we had then 3 different parts stuck in the screw hole.
After work, I went to the Men's chorus rehearsal. Once we wanted to start up, Herbert stood up for a "Bekanntmachung!" and he told everybody that yesterday was my birthday, so they then sang for me. At the end of the rehearsal, they said an official good bye to me and gave me a glass plated picture from the Mass that we did in the forest and they all signed it on the back.
Post 72: My Birthday
Today was my Birthday. I arrived at SGL at the normal time. Flo, Mirko, and Bianka wished me "Alles Gutes zum Geburtstag!" Tim called me and asked me to bring the part from the Rheometer up to his desk. So I took it up and he wished me "Alles Gutes zum Geburtstag". Then he gave me a Business Card container made of Stainless Steel with an inlaid carbon fiber weave. It is quite nice. I got an e-mail from Frau Gierl as well (the person from the PR department) wishing me a happy birthday as well. This was also the day that the new Pre-Preg production machine was handed over to the company and so we went and saw it in action, which was pretty cool.
Once I came back down, I found out that Mirko and Bianka had bought 4 muffins for us all. It was good.
After that we went to lunch. We came back and I went on to work on the Rheometer. I decided that I was done around 4:30.
After that I went to St. Wolfgang, and played the Organ for a while. It was a lot of fun. At 7:45 the choir started to arrive. Fortunately, I had my microphone there so I recorded the choir rehearsal. At the beginning, they sang a birthday song for me "Schön dass Du geboren bist". It was really, really cool. After that, we went and practiced the music for the Wedding. Following the rehearsal, I helped Erika out by recording her solo, and then went to the Neue Post for a drink with Herbert.
Once I came back down, I found out that Mirko and Bianka had bought 4 muffins for us all. It was good.
After that we went to lunch. We came back and I went on to work on the Rheometer. I decided that I was done around 4:30.
After that I went to St. Wolfgang, and played the Organ for a while. It was a lot of fun. At 7:45 the choir started to arrive. Fortunately, I had my microphone there so I recorded the choir rehearsal. At the beginning, they sang a birthday song for me "Schön dass Du geboren bist". It was really, really cool. After that, we went and practiced the music for the Wedding. Following the rehearsal, I helped Erika out by recording her solo, and then went to the Neue Post for a drink with Herbert.
Post 71: More Rheometer trouble
Today was a nice day at work. Except for the fact that one of the screws that holds the aluminum plates i the rheometer broke in the hole, so now I only have one screw in the Rheometer and part of a screw in the other hole. It was not great.
Post 70: Relaxing Day
Today, I managed to get 5 different tests done at work. I also worked on my final report for Tim. After work, I went home and relaxed.
Post 69: Visit to München
Today I started a little later than I'd hoped. I'd hoped to be able to make it to München with time to spare before meeting Gunter (from BMW) at 12 on Marienplatz. Unfortunately, I missed the train I'd needed by about 5 minutes which meant that I had to wait for the next train in an hour. After arriving in München, I went to Marienplatz and found that there was a great number of people there, so I called Gunter and told him to meet me on the North side of the plaza under the tower. After waiting for a while, I saw him walking up. He told me that I was on the wrong side of Marienplatz, that North was in "that" direction (pointing East). I pointed out that Ludwigstraße goes in "this" direction. Then he said "Ohhhh, you're right." and we went off to wander around a bit. He has developed his professional photography hobby a bit more, and now has his own studio and takes pictures of just about everything. It was a fun time. Turns out that he picked up piano 4 months ago and has progressed pretty far.
After we parted, I went on a reconaissance mission to scope out our hotel for the Max Kade trip next Spring Break so that we know how it looks and if it will suit our needs. It looks like a nice hotel.
After we parted, I went on a reconaissance mission to scope out our hotel for the Max Kade trip next Spring Break so that we know how it looks and if it will suit our needs. It looks like a nice hotel.
Post 68: The Sänngerausflug to Königsee
Today was the Sängerausflug to Königsee. We started the day bright and early at 6am boarding the bus. We left and got stuck in traffic, but eventually made it to our breakfast destination. For breakfast, I had Weißwurst, Weißbier, and a pretzel. It was a good breakfast with a gorgeous view of the valley. There was a castle off in the distance, a small town with a tall church spire and tall alps in the background. They had a name, and it ended in "wand", but I can't recall exactly what it was. On the way to the Gasthof, we had to drive down a road where there was about 2-3cm space between either mirror on the bus and the trees on either side of the road. And of course, we had to take this same road back out of the Gasthof. it was quite impressive. While on the bus, Michael Mayr told us a joke in German. It was about a vampire who had just attacked two bikers (auf deutsch "Radler". "Radler" can also refer to a mixture of bier and sprite). The vampire got pulled over by a police officer for suspected drunk driving. The officer asked "What have you had to drink?" and the Vampire responded "Zwei Radler". It is funnier in German.
Along the way we drove past Chiemsee which was quite nice. We arrived just in time to catch our boat across the lake to St. Bartholomä. It took about 20 minutes to get there, and along the way, we had stopped so that the boat driver could play his flugelhorn across the lake at the mountains so we could hear the echo. It was quite nice. Then Helga Ortner tried yodeling across the lake, but we couldn't hear an echo.
After arriving at the church, we went inside and sang a little bit. We started with "Heilige Berge", went on to a part of the Bavarian Mass, and then ended with the "Dona Nobis Pacem" round by somebody. The last two were from memory, so that was interesting. All in all, it was quite a nice church and it sounded really good.
After the church, we went to the lake. A few people had brought swim suits and went swimming in Königsee. I took off my shoes and rolled up my shorts so I could step in. It felt wonderful. The water was still quite light thanks to the rain, and wasn't too cold thanks to the several days of very warm weather. It was quite a beautiful lake. After the lake we went on to the Biergarten. While we were there, a butterfly flew in and landed on my watch. It then stayed there for about 5 minutes before flying off, around and landing on my thumb. It then stayed there for the next 15 minutes, despite everything that we tried to convince it to go away. After the Biergarten we went on to wandering around a bit. We walked up to the Eisenbach (Ice stream). It was a nice area and there was even a small chapel there. We then hurried back because we were pushing our time limit to catch the boat back. We made it on there and made it back to the bus. We took a slightly different route back home through the Alps which were quite nice. We arrived at the Gasthof Wagner near Thierhaupten near Meitingen where we had dinner. It was a very nice Gasthof. I had schweinebraten and it was very good. We then hurried home because the bus driver had to be back before 9pm so that he didn't get into trouble with the police. For the rest of the evening, I relaxed a little. It was a fun trip. I'll try to get some pictures up.
Along the way we drove past Chiemsee which was quite nice. We arrived just in time to catch our boat across the lake to St. Bartholomä. It took about 20 minutes to get there, and along the way, we had stopped so that the boat driver could play his flugelhorn across the lake at the mountains so we could hear the echo. It was quite nice. Then Helga Ortner tried yodeling across the lake, but we couldn't hear an echo.
After arriving at the church, we went inside and sang a little bit. We started with "Heilige Berge", went on to a part of the Bavarian Mass, and then ended with the "Dona Nobis Pacem" round by somebody. The last two were from memory, so that was interesting. All in all, it was quite a nice church and it sounded really good.
After the church, we went to the lake. A few people had brought swim suits and went swimming in Königsee. I took off my shoes and rolled up my shorts so I could step in. It felt wonderful. The water was still quite light thanks to the rain, and wasn't too cold thanks to the several days of very warm weather. It was quite a beautiful lake. After the lake we went on to the Biergarten. While we were there, a butterfly flew in and landed on my watch. It then stayed there for about 5 minutes before flying off, around and landing on my thumb. It then stayed there for the next 15 minutes, despite everything that we tried to convince it to go away. After the Biergarten we went on to wandering around a bit. We walked up to the Eisenbach (Ice stream). It was a nice area and there was even a small chapel there. We then hurried back because we were pushing our time limit to catch the boat back. We made it on there and made it back to the bus. We took a slightly different route back home through the Alps which were quite nice. We arrived at the Gasthof Wagner near Thierhaupten near Meitingen where we had dinner. It was a very nice Gasthof. I had schweinebraten and it was very good. We then hurried home because the bus driver had to be back before 9pm so that he didn't get into trouble with the police. For the rest of the evening, I relaxed a little. It was a fun trip. I'll try to get some pictures up.
Post 67: A Third short post
Today was a fairly normal day at work. Ran some tests, worked on my final report for SGL, and went back home to practice trombone for a bit.
Post 66: Another short post
Today was again a normal day at work. I ran some tests, and spent a lot of the day working on the outline of my final report for SGL
Post 65: Short Post
Today was Wednesday and rather relaxed at work. After work, we had choir rehearsal which went well.
Post 64: Snooze Button
Today, I went to work a little later than I'd hoped because I kept hitting the "Schnooz" button on my cell phone alarm clock. I still managed to get in a fair amount of testing. After work, I came home and practiced Trombone for a bit.
Post 63: Running (this time in the Forest)
Today I ran the third batch of 9 tests. It was 5:30 and the option was there to run the 10th test or not so I chose not and saved it for tuesday. It was still a very long day and a very hot day. Much too warm for my tastes. In the evening, I went for a bike ride to Langweid Lech and went for a short run in the forest there. It was nice, though the trails there aren't as good as they appeared at first. They don't connect together so there was a lot of turning around and running back in the direction I'd started in.
Post 62: Dinner with the Kaziks
Today was Sunday, so we started with Mass at St. Wolfgang. After Mass somebody from the Männerchor invited me over to his house for a Grillabend at 3. So he showed me where he lived and then drove me back to the Bergmeirs. Frau Bergmeir invited me out to the porch for a while, so we talked for a bit. After that, due to the heat, I went back to my room to cool off for a bit before heading out at 3. I arrived and found out that I was the first person there. So I talked for a bit with Inga about anything and everything. She made a Colaweizen for us both. Half cola, half white bier.
Eventually other people showed up. In the end there was an Ulrich, Inga, myself, Wolfgang, Maria, Herbert, Albert, and two people whom I don't know. We had grilled fish to start, then we had steak and Wurst. The son of the host came by toward the end of the night, and offered to exchange cell numbers to do something in Augsburg sometime. At the end we watched the Final in the World Cup, Spain v. Netherlands. It was an OK game. 0-0 into over time. At that point I didn't feel like watching much more knowing that I would be up early the next day for a long day at work.
Eventually other people showed up. In the end there was an Ulrich, Inga, myself, Wolfgang, Maria, Herbert, Albert, and two people whom I don't know. We had grilled fish to start, then we had steak and Wurst. The son of the host came by toward the end of the night, and offered to exchange cell numbers to do something in Augsburg sometime. At the end we watched the Final in the World Cup, Spain v. Netherlands. It was an OK game. 0-0 into over time. At that point I didn't feel like watching much more knowing that I would be up early the next day for a long day at work.
Post 61: Last game of Germany's WM
Today I went to Augsburg to take care of stuff on the internet. Otherwise, it was too warm to do much of anything else outside. I did watch the German v. Uruguay game, which was an interesting game, even though there were a few new faces out on the field. For example, Phillip Lahm was not out there, Mirko Klose was not there, and Bastian Schweinsteiger was the acting Captain. It was a good game, even though it wasn't for the World Cup.
Samstag, 10. Juli 2010
Post 60: A member of the family
Today was a rather long day at work. Total of 10 hours. In those 10 hours, I ran another 9 tests out of the 28 that I have to do, so hopefully, I'll be able to get the next 10 done on Monday. Should be doable. They finally had the AC working in the T&I building (where I have my desk) but it was warm as ever in the building where my Rheometer is. (not to mention the 5 or 6 ovens that they have there). This evening we had our Halbjahres Abschlussfeier (celebrating the first half of the year). It was a lot of fun. The person who owns the gasthof where we rehearse brought food and drink for us to the Sängerheim. It is a small plot of land just north of Meitingen where 20 years ago, the choir built a pavillion over the cement circle that covered the old waste water treatment plant. This pavillion then has benches, tables and a walkway into the house that is there left over from the treatment plant. It is owned by the männerchor, but they rent it out to people for their own festivities, such as weddings, and what not. It is a really nice location. At one point during the evening we congratulated Heiner and Helga on their 44th wedding anniversary. They also had a music director made out of a birch tree with a wooden music stand (made by Helmut Ortner. Very nice person, had me over for dinner on Jun 26 (updated blog entry for 26. Jun I thought I'd written about it, but apparently not.) We then got up to sing the song about the watchful rooster again. So I got to demonstrate an American Rooster again. Heiner started to ask about what name we should give the new wooden director. The choices were Joachim, Franz, or Clemens. Joachim and Clemens had very similar votes, so we decided to name him Joachle. They took the hat off his head and poured a quarter liter Bier over his head to chrisen him "Joachle". After this, Theo started to speak and menetioned that "We have a guest singing with us today, the third, american, Rooster in this song as demonstrated by our guest. Ryan, who is a work-student at SGL this summer and stumbled upon the Männerchor and has sung with us for the last 8 weeks. A very friendly open person, and a great singer, we will be sorry to see him go in a short while. So we want to give him our honorary membership pin on behalf of all of us." So I now have the honorary membership pin of the Liederkranz Meitingen. After thanking a few other people (the people who catered for us, the person who made the wooden director), Theo ended. Afterward, I had a lot of people shaking my hand. Eduard (who at one point was the fußball trainer for our director Josef) told me that "Nie zuvor hat jemand so schnell unsre Herzen erobert. Du bist so offen und freundlich. Es ist schön Dich in unsre familie zu haben." "Never before has somebody won our hearts so quickly. You are so open and friendlich. It is great to have you in our family." In talking with other people he recalled the first time we met. He had leaned over to me, asked me if I knew this piece of music. I said no, but I will in a minute or so. He was quite impressed that I can "vom Blatt singen" (sight-sing). Since that time, he enjoyed sitting next to me at rehearsals (such as when we were singing through the bavarian mass and trying to decifer how to pronounce the various words that were there). In talking then with more people, they told me that whenever I am around in the area, I should look them up and come back whenever I can. "Bring your family over when you have one. When you visit the area, remember us." They also said that when I am back in February, if I need lodging for the night, that can be easily arranged. In talking with Theo's wife, she asked if I was already 22, or if my birthday was yet to come. I said that it was yet to come, on the 21st. She said that she would then have to see if she could get something arranged with some people for a little celebration for me. Now I just have to find a good way to thank them.
Post 59: "Die Fledermaus" with the Männerchor
Today, I started a run of 28 tests on the mixtures that I made a month ago on the Rheometer. We needed to see at which temperature they foam which means that the reaction was going on and releasing gases to cause bubbles to appear. I got through 9 of them today. After this, I went to the men's choir rehearsal. We sang the "Brüderlein und Schwesterlein" from Johann Strauß "Die Fledermaus". It was a lot of fun. We then sang a few other folk songs, and two american spirituals; "Go Down Moses" and "Deep River". I'd never rightly heard either of them, but it was a lot of fun to sing them. Then I got to explain to somebody what the term "chillin' " means.
Post 58: Dinner with the Kirchenchor at the Neue Post
Today Tim came to me and said that my values for the density and what not for the plates were all off from the ones that he had. He had made a plate out of the same stuff that I have been, but it wound up being completely different from the one that I had. The reason being that the pre-preg that I've been using was produced at a slightly higher temperature than his, which meant that the reaction had already set in during the production process giving it different characteristics. So I took a sample of both pre-pregs, and scratched the matrix off from the carbon fiber fabric that it was on, and ran a test on the rheometer on both of them (now that the rheometer is back and declared "healthy"). These tests showed that there was indeed a difference between the two samples, namely the viscosity of mine is much higher than Tims due to having already begun the reaction. So we'll see where we go from here.
We had dinner with the choir tonight, courtesy of one of the members who had declared that she was quitting the choir. It was really good. We went to the Neue Post and had dinner there, I had their schweizer wurstsalat (swiss wurst salat). It was a thinly sliced lean wurst layered in two concentric circles, covered with onions, a pickle, and cucumbers and served in a sauce of vinegar, salt, pepper, and oil. It was very good. And it was especially good because it is a cold dish and it was warm outside. We watched the game between germany and spain up until intermission at which point I went home to watch the rest there. There were two boys who were sitting in front of us who each had vuvuzelas and a tendancy to get up to their feet whenever something good (or bad) was happening, which meant that we couldn't see during the most important parts of the game. But, I learned a bayrisch expression "Sehi nit" (Sehe ich nichts = I can't see, or "Down in front"). Unfortunately, we lost today, but it was a very good game to watch.
We had dinner with the choir tonight, courtesy of one of the members who had declared that she was quitting the choir. It was really good. We went to the Neue Post and had dinner there, I had their schweizer wurstsalat (swiss wurst salat). It was a thinly sliced lean wurst layered in two concentric circles, covered with onions, a pickle, and cucumbers and served in a sauce of vinegar, salt, pepper, and oil. It was very good. And it was especially good because it is a cold dish and it was warm outside. We watched the game between germany and spain up until intermission at which point I went home to watch the rest there. There were two boys who were sitting in front of us who each had vuvuzelas and a tendancy to get up to their feet whenever something good (or bad) was happening, which meant that we couldn't see during the most important parts of the game. But, I learned a bayrisch expression "Sehi nit" (Sehe ich nichts = I can't see, or "Down in front"). Unfortunately, we lost today, but it was a very good game to watch.
Post 57: Density of Prepreg Plates
Today at work, I was occupied mostly with measuring the density of the plates of pre-preg that I've made thus far. The density is a good way to see if the plates are properly impregnated. During lunch, there was a bank at the cafeteria trying to get people to sign up for an account with them. They were giving away lays in the german colors. I thought it was interesting.
Post 56: Trip to Langweid am Lech
Today was a rather nice day at work. Not a whole lot special going on, but nice all the same. Once I got home, I tood a bike ride to Langweid am Lech. It was a nice ride. Along the way, just south of Herbertshofen, there is a steel manufacturing plant, and a forest with a variety of trails there. Eventually, I'll have to go back and wander around for a while.
Post 55: 4th July and Germany vs. Argentina
Today was another rather laid back day. I went to Mass in the morning, then went for a walk along the Lech in the afternoon but made sure that I was back in time for the fußball game against Argentina. It was a good game, though at the end I felt bad for the Argentinians. Losing 4-0 in the quarter finals. It is definitely interesting being in Germany during the Weltmeisterschaft. After every win that we've had, there have been people celebrating in the streets for hours after the end of the game. They drive around Meitingen honking their horns, waving flags, and "playing" their vuvuzelas. It is quite impressive even if it does get a little annoying after a while. Definitely not something that you see back home.
Post 54: Tabellenbuch Chemietechnik - 3. Juli
Today was a rather laid back day. I went to Augsburg and walked around for a bit. I found the tourist info offic and picked up a brochure for what there is to do in Augsburg and about the various tours offered in the hopes of finding something that Dad would like to do while I am at work on the last day. After this I went and wandered a bit more. I found a bookstore and found a fairly cool book. It is called the Tabellenbuch Chemietechnik, (the Book of Tables of Technical Chemistry, or something like that). It coveres everything from general engineering tables, to detailed information on all of the elements, the most common radioactive isotopes and their half lives, and the most common solutions. (even a list separated into things like separating agents, drying agents). It has sections covering Fluid Mechanics, physical chemistry, and a whole section on the "Fordern von Stoffen" (the movement of stuff) with diagrams of various pipe diagrams, pump diagrams, and various connectors. Heat transfer, separations process, reaction engineering, tables of construction materials and what they are good for, corrosion, the most common DIN (Deutsche Industrie Normen = german industrial norms) for piping and instrumentation diagrams, as well as industrial measuring techniques and process control. And of course, a large section on safety at the back. Basically, anything and everything a chemical engineer could need, in one book. And it is all in German. it is quite an impressive book.
After this purchase, I went home for the rest of the day.
After this purchase, I went home for the rest of the day.
Samstag, 3. Juli 2010
Post 53: Reservations at Neue Post
Friday was a pretty normal day. For one reason or another I was unusually tired the whole day, so I went home a little early to relax, and do a bit of reading. I managed to make reservations with the Gasthof Neue Post for myself and my Dad in August. We will be staying in the new building part of the complex in Room 21. (Nice room with Shower and Toilet).
Now I just have to get the reservation down for Ruhpolding....
Now I just have to get the reservation down for Ruhpolding....
Post 52: "It wasn't me!"... Finally
Hard to believe that it is already July. I cannot say that it feels like "yesterday" that I first arrived here, but it doesn't feel like a month and a half ago. Anyway, today was much more of the same. Only today, for one reason or another, Flo couldn't get the Press to work properly. He said he tried three times turning it on and off again to get the press to close while it heated to the desired temperatur. Unfortunately, for him it wouldn't budge. So he came back and told me about it. I went over there, and tried it and got it to work first time. After he went back there to put his plate in, he still couldn't get it to work. So I went back there and got it to work. So Mirko took to calling me the "Press Whisperer" implying that only I could get it to work properly today. Today, I found two online resources that the University of Michigan offers. Through the library system, we have access to two very useful sites: Knovel, and SpringerLink. Both of them have PDF versions of a variety of technical books, resources, magazines, newspapers, etc. So I managed to find several books on interesting topics and browsed through them for a while today.
Tonight I went to the men's chorus rehearsal a little early and practiced "Varsity" and "The Victors" on the piano. As people came in, they recognized the melodies, but they couldn't say where from. At one point in the past, somebody mentioned that "The Victors" was originally a drinking song out of Germany, which is why I was wanting them to comment on the songs, to see if this is true.
Tonight I went to the men's chorus rehearsal a little early and practiced "Varsity" and "The Victors" on the piano. As people came in, they recognized the melodies, but they couldn't say where from. At one point in the past, somebody mentioned that "The Victors" was originally a drinking song out of Germany, which is why I was wanting them to comment on the songs, to see if this is true.
Post 51: Choir Rehearsal on Election Day
Today was a rather normal day at work. I did a lot with my prepreg assignment because the rheometer is out of commission for the next two weeks. For the Choir Rehearsal, we determined that "when" Germany wins the game on Saturday, we will need to push the rehearsal for next week back a little bit. After rehearsal on my bike ride home, I was passing the Neue Post and heard somebody calling my name, so I did a quick turn around and went for a drink with Heiner, Herbert, and the Deputy Mayor of Meitingen (whose name I should know, but can't recall at the moment). It was a nice discussion. The new German president had been elected earlier today, so they talked about that for a while. Then we discussed my return trip to Meitingen in February during the Max Kade Trip to München.
Post 50: Augenkrebs und Kohlefasern
Today the repair man came back. This time, it was he who caused the Rheometer to pop. So he decided to take it back to the factory so he didn't need to keep coming to SGL every week. Bianca was making graphs today and was trying to make them display as much information as possible, such that there were a lot of colors, columns, and dots all over the graph. She stopped, looked at it and said "Wer diese Grafik anschaut wird Augenkrebs davon kriegen." (Whoever looks at this graph will get eye-cancer from it." Looking at it, it was neat and orderly, but crowded and very colorful. We also started to speculate about carbon fibers. We'd already proven (twice) that carbon fibers will completely destroy electrical circuits just by touching them (we blew the electrical circuits for our work room twice), and that it is possible that they can destroy instruments as well (such as my Rheometer). Our thoughts then went to "What would happen if a carbon fiber found its way into the human brain?" Needless to say, we were all pretty bored today.
Post 49: Another visit from the Rheometer Repair man
Today was the day that the repair person for the Rheometer was supposed to come and repair it. He did, it worked for a while, then as I tried to heat it up, it popped again, and so he will have to come back tomorrow to try and fix it. Otherwise, Monday was a rather normal day.
Post 48: Gottesdienst und Liederkranz
Well, today was an all in all interesting day. To start, I woke up quite early knowing that I would be needing to be at the Alte Post circa 7:45. The Männerchor was to be singing at a mass outside. Once per year, (generally near the summer solstice, which is also the Johannisfeier in Germany). It was in a chapel way far out of Meitingen that a family had built some years ago. We went and sang a mass in Bavarian (not German). It was quite interesting, but fun nonetheless. Afterward, we had Brotzeit with the other mass goers. It was Leberkäs, Bretzen, Senf, and Bier. It was also really good. I had the chance to chat with a lot of people: people that I knew before, and people that I didn't. I got the comment a lot that when people planned to come to this mass, they didn't think they'd be in discussion with an "Ami". Helmut Ortner brought me an old jacket from the men's chorus, including their official patch, that says "Liederkranz Meitingen". He also brought me the old official tie of the group. Theo, the group leader also told me that I could keep the music from the Mass and bring it back to Michigan if I wanted to. Once I came back, I went and practiced piano for a while. It was fun.
After that, I came home to watch the Germany England game. It was quite exciting to see how well the Germans played. Then, for about 3 hours after the end of the game, there were people driving and walking through Meitingen honking their horns and playing Vuvuzelas. Kind of annoying, but it was interesting all the same. After catching some dinner, I went for a bike ride northward and westward.
After that, I came home to watch the Germany England game. It was quite exciting to see how well the Germans played. Then, for about 3 hours after the end of the game, there were people driving and walking through Meitingen honking their horns and playing Vuvuzelas. Kind of annoying, but it was interesting all the same. After catching some dinner, I went for a bike ride northward and westward.
Post. 47: Walking to Ellgau
Today, after arriving back in Meitingen from my trip to Augsburg to update my blog, I went for a walk along the Lech toward Ellgau. It is nice 3 hour walk. A nice way to relax and let your mind wander as much as your feet.
Samstag, 26. Juni 2010
Post 46: Johannisfeier
Today, Friday was a pretty laid back day at work. Since I've run out of sample plates, I have to wait until the new ones come in, (which they did over lunch time). Both Flo and Mirko were away for today. Mirko was home writing his Mastersarbeit, and Flo was somewhere. So, I spent most of today catching up on the documentation of what I've done (compiling a list of completed tests, importing the raw data into a data analysis program, and analyzing the results that I have, etc.). Today, Tim came back from his 3 week vacation, so we talked through what I'd done thus far. When we were done, he was quite impressed, and said that he could go off for another 3 weeks and not have to worry about me. He also said that I was quite "Vorbildlich" (= having the quality of being a role model, kind of). Otherwise, not a whole lot happened today. Tonight was the Johannisfeier or the Sonnwendfeier. This was the celebration of the switch from days lengthening to days shortening. It was a nice celebration. There was bier, bratwurst, semmel, etc. And a really big fire. It took a while to light, but it was easily 15m tall at its highest. I got to talk with several people for a while. I got several compliments on my german abilities.
Post 45: US wins into the Achtelfinale
Today was a pretty normal, busy day. I ran a test on the press, ran three on the Rheometer, and figured out that I'd been doing something wrong with the Press. I'd forgotten to change the area needed by the sample, so instead of being 25 x 25 cm square, it was programmed in the computer as something else. I got to use the saw in the next building over to saw the edges of the plate when I was done with the press so that the edges would be clean. This helps with how the plate sounds when it is hit, and makes it a cleaner tone. For lunch we went over to the Doener place again. I was congratulated today several times by people due to the US win last night, and being first place in our group (which unfortunately, means we won't play Germany, but we will be playing Ghana). Josh and I were asked by Frau Ute Klein (the secretary for T&I) to put together a box cart for her. I had expected it to take a while, (small parts, assembling a cart etc. ) but it took about 5 minutes because it came shipped in 2 parts, making it really easy to put together.
Post 44: Biking around the Werk
This was a pretty normal day at work. Ran some tests on the Rheometer, ran a test with the press. I took a few minutes to wander the Werk on my bike. I found where the central boilers are that are then connected to various buildings via large metal pipes supported on concrete colums above the street level similar to a monorail. I found where the new batch of graphite cathode/anodes was being stored until it cooled. From about 20 m away, I could see the heat rising from them, and by about 10 m, I could feel it. They are big cylinders (about 25 cm diameter and 1,5 meters long, solid) completely made out of graphite. Apparently, they are used to help with the steel industry. A screw is inserted inside a cylinder (similar to a wine cork) and electricity is sent through it so that it heats up and melts the steel to make it molten. The pile that I was looking at had probably 200 of these sitting outside on heavy metal racks. I rode past several buildings that looked like they contained big ovens and had more stacks of cylinders, or fragments of cylinders, or bags of graphite, or parts for heat exchangers, etc. It was an interesting bike ride.
The choir rehearsal started at 7 so that we would have time to rehearse and make it home to watch the Fussball game against Ghana. It was a good game. In the end both USA, and Deutschland made it into the Achtelfinale (1/8th finals)
The choir rehearsal started at 7 so that we would have time to rehearse and make it home to watch the Fussball game against Ghana. It was a good game. In the end both USA, and Deutschland made it into the Achtelfinale (1/8th finals)
Post 43: Rheometer tests
Today was a fairly regular day. I showed up at work pretty early so I could get the various tests started. For the rheometer tests, each sample has to be dried for 2 hours prior to the almost 2 hour long test. So I went, turned on the oven, made the sample, and put it in for two hours. Just before the two hours are over, I go and make the next sample and set up the Rheometer for the first test. Then I place the second sample in the oven, the first in the Rheometer, and start the process over. Just before two hours later, I make the third sample and put it in the oven, the second in the Rheometer, and the first I take out, label, and set out on the table to cool (150°C aluminum is quite hot). Then two hours later the second sample is done, then another two for the third. If I am feeling particularly ambitious, I do four per day, but not often because that is 10 hours plus about an hours worth of cumulative time between the tests and set up and shut down. This is all in the attempt to complete 3 or 4 times 28 tests in the course of the internship.
Post 42: Monday with the Pre-Preg Press
Today, Flo told me that he would be leaving for a work trip for two days. So, we went and set up a test with the Press. It is a pretty big machine on the other side of the Werk. The basic idea is that material can be placed between the two hydrolic and heated plates and pressed at high pressures. Our use for it was to test the impregnation of a specific type of pre-preg (or pre-impregnated carbon fibers). Basically turning sheets of carbon fiber weave which has come into contact with a liquid matrix into plates which will be used as light weight high strength material. These plates will then eventually be placed in an oven for 3 days at 1000°C so that the matrix can be carbonized making the entire piece almost exclusively carbon. Pretty interesting stuff. Then after the days worth of Rheometer tests, I was done, and headed home rather late due to the time required by the tests. After watching some Fußball, I went to sleep.
Post 41: Sunday with a 90 year old birthday
Today, Sunday, I woke up early enough to make it to church for Mass. After Mass was over, the Männerchor had to head out a bit early to make ti to the Neue Post for the 90th birthday celebration for somebody in Meitingen. It was a nice lunch. Wienerschnitzel, kartoffelsalat, pommes fritz, and bier. We sang a few songs, then I got to meet the Mayor of Meitingen. It was an interesting conversation. Other than that, there wasn't anything unique that happened today.
Post 40: Saturday in Augsburg
Today was Saturday, so Joshua and I went to Augsburg because he wanted to make it to a store called Sportscheck in the search for a swiss soccer jersey. Once we got back, we watched some Fußball, then I went for a walk north of Meitingen through Waltershofen and Ostendorf. It was a nice long walk.
Samstag, 19. Juni 2010
Post 39: German Fußball with Germans
Today I went in early to work so I could get a sample in the oven to dry before putting it in the Rheometer. Unfortunately, the Watch man last night locked the door, so I had to wait for Herr Bistram for the key. Fortunately, that wasn't all that long of a wait. I took a few minutes to plan out when I would be starting each test and when I would then need to put the next samples in the oven. I wanted to make sure that I was on the right schedule so that I would be able to change out the tests during the half time of Deutschland gegen Serbien game. Frau Ute Klein, the secretary for T&I had booked the conference room next to my desk for an "Internal Meeting" from 12.30 to 16.00. So, once 12.30 came around practically everybody who was still there stopped working and came down to the conference room to watch the game together. It was a bad game, (0-1 Serbien), but a good experience to get to watch a game with Germans.
Before the game though, Flo took me to see the new Prepreg manufacturing thing. It was quite impressive. We also saw where they weave the carbon fibers for the Prepreg manufacturing thing.
After the game, ther wasn't a whole lot of work being done and a lot of people left right after the game. I was there until about 6.30 finishing up a test, but once it was done, I was out of there. I came home, had dinner, then went for a walk through Meitingen.
Before the game though, Flo took me to see the new Prepreg manufacturing thing. It was quite impressive. We also saw where they weave the carbon fibers for the Prepreg manufacturing thing.
After the game, ther wasn't a whole lot of work being done and a lot of people left right after the game. I was there until about 6.30 finishing up a test, but once it was done, I was out of there. I came home, had dinner, then went for a walk through Meitingen.
Post 38: Clucking in German
Today, Thursday, was a fairly normal day. The Männerchor was set to perform later in the evening, so I was dressed in my best, and ready to leave work at the 5 s I could make it to the Old Post in time to leave. The event was the 60th birthday celebration of somebody named Helmut in Langereichen. It was a fun evening. We sang a version of the Hungarian Dance Nr. 6, it was pretty cool. We then enjoyed a bavarian dish, but I can't recall what it was called. Afterward, we sang a song "Von Wachsammen Hahn" (Of the watchful Rooster). This song calls for individual people during the refrain to cluck like a rooster. In German, it is (Ki kiKI kiKI). So for the first two verses, two people had that opportunity, then they wanted an "authentic American rooster" for the 3rd. So I got to cluck like a rooster during the third refrain. Half the choir couldn't continue singing because they were laughing so hard. The choir director almost lost it during the rest of the song. It was pretty cool. I got to talking with one of the wives there and as it turns out, the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp summer international Program stopped several times in Meitingen (choir, jazz band, orchestra). So we got to talk about that for a while.
Post 37: Conversations with Dr. Gojny, tailgating and choir
Wednesday was a pretty normal day. Today and tomorrow, Max is going to be away for a while, so I was told to direct any questions to Dr. Florian Gojny, the project leader. I ran into several problems with the rheometer, namely the temperature control had a mind of its own. So I went to talk to Dr. Gojny about it and he said that the repair person would be here next thursday. During lunch we got to talking about tailgating for American Football. Tonight at the choir rehearsal, I got the music for the solo for the wedding whenever that is supposed to be.
Post 36: Tuesday with the WLF Equation
Today was a very normal day. Other than several tests, I didn't do all that much. So, for the WLF Equation, I have to do a frequency sweep for each material at 5 different temperatures, and the line fitting the viscosities read by the Rheometer and use that to get the equation constants.
Post 35: Lots of Time with the WLF Equation
Today was a fairly regular day. Not a whole lot of stuff going on. I spent a lot of time researching the theory behind rheology, and the best way to handle my project. I have to find the Williams-Landy-Ferry Equation constants. Each material has its own pair of constants, and I get to find them for each one of 28 mixtures.
Post 34: Germany vs. Australia
Today, the church bells rang again at 8:30. So I made it off to Church early thinking that the choir would be singing, but they weren't. In fact, Herbert, the person who first met me to practice Organ, was playing Organ for the mass. Afterward, he let me practice for a while. I went back home afterward to grab some music, headed back to the church and continued to practice. It was fun. After 2 hours of that, I went to Augsburg again and completed a few more things on the Internet. After that I came home and watched the Germany v. Australia game. It was a very good game. Germany won 4-0. I felt kinda bad for the Australians.
Post 33: Rent-a-Trombone
Today I went to Augsburg early to rent a trombone. The store was pretty narrow, but they had a lot of various brass instruments. Including a trumpet "kit" where they had one set of valves, a bell out of Brass and rose Brass, as well as various other trumpet parts in both kinds of brass so that the player can change parts of their instruments at will instead of changing the instrument. On the way back, I got a little bit lost and asked an older couple to point me in the way to the train station. They did and I made it there and stopped by the BK to check e-mail (and update my blog). I came back to Meitingen and watched the USA v. England game. it wasn't as good a game as I had hoped, but it was OK.
Samstag, 12. Juni 2010
Post 32: Not so much fun at work, WM* openner, and a night at the movies
Fairly annoying day at work. The Rheometer is repaired, so I started testing again. My samples got stuck in the sample press 5 times today, meaning that I wasted 5 times 0,6 grams of my 10,0 grams of material. It wasn't all that much fun. That and the fact that it was so warm out today all day. And that one of my tests crashed the computer. And another provided me with results that my temporary boss (Herr Dr. Max von Bistram) looked at and just started laughing. No comment like (Hmm, komisch), just started laughing.
So, on the way home I stopped at the Pfarrheim and practiced piano for a while. I arrived home, and saw the last 15 minutes of the Mexico v. South Africa opening Fußballspiel of the World Championships. It ended in a 1:1 tie. At 19:30 Josua and I went to the Cindarella cinema and watched "Robin Hood". Joshua and I were two of three people in the theater. The cashier warned us beforehand that it was likely to be a private showing. It was a very good film. It was also completely in German. After the movie, we went for a short bike ride to and from Herbertshofen discussing various things: the movie, the difference between "Sie", "euch", and "Du" as used in the movie, and a bit about the history of Meitingen. (Sie, is a formal form of "you". For instance, an employee talking with the president of a company would use Sie. Euch is a plural form of "you". Commonly used as the english "y'all". However, in the context of the film, "euch" was used when talking to the King; the royal plural. In this case, you is plural because, as the king said, "The kingship was given to him by God." So when talking with the King or any member of the royal household, the plural is used because you are talking to the person and to God. Du, is then an informal form of "you" used mostly among friends, or people who you have known for a while.
I'll write more about the history of Meitingen when I get the chance.
*WM stands for Weltmeisterschaft which is the German name for the FIFA World Cup Soccer.
So, on the way home I stopped at the Pfarrheim and practiced piano for a while. I arrived home, and saw the last 15 minutes of the Mexico v. South Africa opening Fußballspiel of the World Championships. It ended in a 1:1 tie. At 19:30 Josua and I went to the Cindarella cinema and watched "Robin Hood". Joshua and I were two of three people in the theater. The cashier warned us beforehand that it was likely to be a private showing. It was a very good film. It was also completely in German. After the movie, we went for a short bike ride to and from Herbertshofen discussing various things: the movie, the difference between "Sie", "euch", and "Du" as used in the movie, and a bit about the history of Meitingen. (Sie, is a formal form of "you". For instance, an employee talking with the president of a company would use Sie. Euch is a plural form of "you". Commonly used as the english "y'all". However, in the context of the film, "euch" was used when talking to the King; the royal plural. In this case, you is plural because, as the king said, "The kingship was given to him by God." So when talking with the King or any member of the royal household, the plural is used because you are talking to the person and to God. Du, is then an informal form of "you" used mostly among friends, or people who you have known for a while.
I'll write more about the history of Meitingen when I get the chance.
*WM stands for Weltmeisterschaft which is the German name for the FIFA World Cup Soccer.
Post 31: Thursday haircut and a new word in Bayrisch
Today the rheometer was repaired. And I found out that in Bayrish the number Fünfzehn (15) is pronounced Fuchzehn. Flo and I set up and ran a test with the Prepreg press on the other side of the plant. This wasn't all that much fun because the press was 190°C and it was 32°C outside. For lunch, we went to a Döner place next to the Thai restaurant. After work, I went and got a haircut. I was quite impressed. The person was done in 10 minutes, and it looks really good. Very impressive. After this I went to the rehearsal for the Men's Chorus again. They talked about their trip to Königsee on July 17th, so I'll be joining them for that trip. Aught to be fun. Provided the weather is good.
Post 30: Wednesday in choir rehearsal
So today was a very enjoyable day at SGL. I forget exactly how it all started, but we wound up laughing practically the whole day. I think it started when I looked over to Bianka and she was pouring 5 packets of sugar in her hot chocolate, and it just went downhill from there. For lunch we went over to a Thai restaurant for lunch. It was really good. I think somebody had duck, so that provided plenty of laughs when we went over to the grocery store next door. "Poor duck, how are you going to explain that to his family that you ate a family member" and etc. At that point we had an argument over whether we wanted to buy a box of fruit ice cream, or a box of chocolate ice cream for desert. two people voted for chocolate, and two for fruit, so everybody turned to me for the deciding vote. After voting for chocolate, two people were humorously disappointed, and two were quite happy. It was nice. It was also a lot of ice cream, but since it was 34°C out, (80 something), nobody really minded. We got back, and went up to the third floor to give a few Euros for Tim's Fatherhood gift ( I think I heard something about a washer), and to sign his card. On the way back, Herr Bistram stopped Florian (Flo) and myself for a quick "What are your goals?" interview for a presentation that he was going to give. That was pretty impromptu but it went well. Upon getting back to the Diplomanten room, we got talking again, and for one reason Flo made a chicken noise just as somebody walked by. This person did the typical double take and "What on earth was that?" facial expression. Flo couldn't breath for the next 5 minutes because he was laughing so hard, but then we all were. It was spectacular.
After work, I went to the Church choir practice. I got there early, and everybody else arrived promptly at 8. After talking for about 20 minutes, we finally started rehearsal. The director told us that her brother would be getting married soon and as such, she wanted to prepare a suprise song for him. She thought it would take a while to learn because it was in English. Then she realized that I was there, and it dawned on her that it is actually a tenor solo (and because German's singing English never really works, let alone an entire german tenor section singing English,) she asked me if I would be willing to sing it as a solo. So I'll be singing "Can you feel the love tonight?" (not the Lion King version "And if he falls in love tonight, it can be assumed, his every-days with us are history, in short our pal is dooooooooomed", etc., but the actual version.) for somebody's wedding in a few weeks or so. That made me feel really good, and aught to be fun.
After work, I went to the Church choir practice. I got there early, and everybody else arrived promptly at 8. After talking for about 20 minutes, we finally started rehearsal. The director told us that her brother would be getting married soon and as such, she wanted to prepare a suprise song for him. She thought it would take a while to learn because it was in English. Then she realized that I was there, and it dawned on her that it is actually a tenor solo (and because German's singing English never really works, let alone an entire german tenor section singing English,) she asked me if I would be willing to sing it as a solo. So I'll be singing "Can you feel the love tonight?" (not the Lion King version "And if he falls in love tonight, it can be assumed, his every-days with us are history, in short our pal is dooooooooomed", etc., but the actual version.) for somebody's wedding in a few weeks or so. That made me feel really good, and aught to be fun.
Post 29: Bayern History and broken doors
Yesterday, I delivered my 24 bottles of powder to Frau Dunja Sailer to run through DSC and TGA (Differential Scanning Calorimetry and ThermoGravitational Analysis, or something like that.*) Other than that, I had very little to do until the Rheometer is repaired. So today, I wound up browsing Wikipedia for random things. I landed on a whole category for the Habsburg and the Wittelsbacher families (Ruled practically all of Europe for about 1000 years ending with the First World War.) It will be interesting to read through a lot of that. I think I landed on this information while on the search for the history of Meitingen and Bayern for information for my German 351 paper. Eventually, I'll have to put some of it here.
And for the entire day today until about 4:30 the door was beeping (meaning that it wasn't shut and locked properly) even though it was shut. At 4:30 they finally fixed it. We, the other Diplomanten and myself were going crazy hearing it beeping for so long.
*DSC = a test where a reference and a sample are placed on "heaters" (for lack of a better word). The sample is usually something that has a well defined heat capacity over a wide range of temperatures. Both samples are heated at the same rate and the computer records how much energy is required per gram of sample to keep the sample at the same temperature as the reference. In this way it is possible to see where the sample melts (requires more energy to melt), where it crystallizes (requires less energy), where there is a reaction (a peak marking the exothermic, or endothermic reaction, and how much energy is needed), and etc.
*TGA = a test where a sample is heated (from room temperature to 1000°C usually) and the difference in mass is recorded by the computer. In this way, you can see when solvents and other miscellaneous substances leave the sample, and you can see how much of the sample is left at 1000°C, which is usually mostly carbon. For me since I am working on a matrix fr Carbon Reinforced Carbon Fibers, this is important, because after 1000°C the matrix should leave behind the maximum possible amount of carbon to bind the carbon fibers together.
It is also possible to set these two tests over each other, and get more information from them. Say that a reaction occurs at 150°C (DSC) and there is a large reduction in weight (TGA) you can know that it is an exothermic reaction (because it requires large amounts of heat to release gases from the liquid/solid state to a gaseous state. etc.
And for the entire day today until about 4:30 the door was beeping (meaning that it wasn't shut and locked properly) even though it was shut. At 4:30 they finally fixed it. We, the other Diplomanten and myself were going crazy hearing it beeping for so long.
*DSC = a test where a reference and a sample are placed on "heaters" (for lack of a better word). The sample is usually something that has a well defined heat capacity over a wide range of temperatures. Both samples are heated at the same rate and the computer records how much energy is required per gram of sample to keep the sample at the same temperature as the reference. In this way it is possible to see where the sample melts (requires more energy to melt), where it crystallizes (requires less energy), where there is a reaction (a peak marking the exothermic, or endothermic reaction, and how much energy is needed), and etc.
*TGA = a test where a sample is heated (from room temperature to 1000°C usually) and the difference in mass is recorded by the computer. In this way, you can see when solvents and other miscellaneous substances leave the sample, and you can see how much of the sample is left at 1000°C, which is usually mostly carbon. For me since I am working on a matrix fr Carbon Reinforced Carbon Fibers, this is important, because after 1000°C the matrix should leave behind the maximum possible amount of carbon to bind the carbon fibers together.
It is also possible to set these two tests over each other, and get more information from them. Say that a reaction occurs at 150°C (DSC) and there is a large reduction in weight (TGA) you can know that it is an exothermic reaction (because it requires large amounts of heat to release gases from the liquid/solid state to a gaseous state. etc.
Post 28: Monday with a broken Rheometer
Today Herr Dr. Max von Bistram and I tried to fix the Rheometer ourselves with a vacuum in the attempt to suck out any carbon fibers (which are quite deadly for electronic equipment, by the way) It didn't work, so we called the technician to repair it. As it turns out the power supply was completely shot. Other than that, there really weren't a whole lot of interesting things that went on.
Post 27: Sunday with a Harmonium
Today I woke up early and made it over to the Johannisheim across the street from the Rewe to meet with Herr Dirr, with whom I had set up an appointment to have a look at the Harmonium there. So for about an hour, I played the Harmonium. Frau Bier was quite impressed with my ability to play and asked how long I'd played Harmonium. So I told her "Well, about 10 minutes." She said that if I was willing, I could plaz the Harmonium for their masses on Sundays, however that would conflict with singing with the church choir at St. Wolfgang's. After that, we went to Augsburg and had lunch at a cafe before checking e-mail and such online. We then made it back to Meitingen around 5. I decided to take a bike ride to Gersthofen and back. All in all about 30 km. It was a very relaxing trip, though I had to turn around a few times and go to the other shore of the Lech, or Lechkanal because the road ended on that side of the water. It was a fun trip.
Sonntag, 6. Juni 2010
Post 26: Saturday in Munich with Josh
Today, Josh and I decided to head to Munich. We arrived fairly early and I went on the search for the Münchner Blech shop where I rented my trombone from last year. After searching for about 45 minutes, I finally found it, but they didn't have the trombone from last year. They had one that would have been twice as much as the one from last year, but that would have been too much. So, I'm going to try with a brass shop hear in Augsburg. After this shop, we went to the Biergarten am Chinesischer Turm for lunch. I had the Schweinerollbraten. It was really good. From there, we walked past the University and into the center of town to look around for a while. Then we went out to Nymphenburg park for a short bit. I'd almost forgotton just how nice it is in that park. From there, we headed back to the center of town and, because of the immense amount of walking that we'd done, we headed back to Meitingen.
Post 25: Day after Frohnleichnam
Today was back to work for me. I had planned to leave a little earlier than usual so I could head to Munich to see about renting a trombone for the summer. I started by going to the Rheometer room to start it up for a test. After loading the sample plates I saw a white flash and heard a snap and the rheometer didn't work after that. So, in the hopes that somebody would be able to help me get it fixed soon, I sent an e-mail to both Herr Witzke and Her Bistrom (the person that I'm supposed to go to while Tim is on Dad-vacation), but since neither of them were in today, I never got an answer. So, I spent the bulk of the day making the mixtures that I will be testing over the course of the summer. Which meant 6 hours of turning pellets of hardener into powder. (Now, 2 days later, my hand is still sore from grinding those pellets.) After grinding the pellets, I had to mix another powder in with the first to give it a slightly different composition. But now they are all made and waiting for testing. All 28 of them.
Post 24: Frohnleichnam
Today is Frohnleichnam. We get the day off from work, so I slept in until 8 then got up. "Northern Exposure" "Ferien Zu Dritte" (the movie that ends with the bear that is bald on both ends) with John Candy was on in German, so we watched that for a while. Then "Spies Like Us" "Spionen Wie Wir" was on so we watched that for a bit. After this we went into Augsburg in the hopes that the rain would let up. The train was about an hour later than it should have been arriving at Meitingen. We arrived in Augsburg and went in search of food. We found the 1516 brewery near the train station so we stopped there to have lunch. I had schweinebraten and we both had a bier. It was pretty good; had a hint of sweet to it. After this we went to check e-mail. We arrived home around 4, so I sat out on the porch and read for a while.
Post 23: Wednesday June 3
Today was a very laid back day at work. A lot of people left early today. Reason being that since tomorrow is Frohnleichnam we don't have to go to work, and since it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to come back to work for one day, a lot of people will be taking Friday off as well meaning that it is a nice long weekend.
I had a few Rheology tests during the day, but more than that was nothing. I had a meeting with Tim and Flo to discuss what will happen in the next few weeks. (Tim will be a father and will likely have the next 3 weeks off from work.) After this, I read a little bit more in "The Rheology Handbook" to try to find out what kind of tests are best for determining the WLF equation constants for each powder mixture. It was "fun".
I had a few Rheology tests during the day, but more than that was nothing. I had a meeting with Tim and Flo to discuss what will happen in the next few weeks. (Tim will be a father and will likely have the next 3 weeks off from work.) After this, I read a little bit more in "The Rheology Handbook" to try to find out what kind of tests are best for determining the WLF equation constants for each powder mixture. It was "fun".
Post 22: Tuesday of Week 3: Presentation day
Today was the day for Bianka and Mirko's presentations in English. They did very well. After their presentations, we went to a Pizza/Döner joint just outside of Meitingen as a way to "celebrate" the completion of their presentations (they have been fretting over them ever since I arrived at SGL.) All in all, it was a fairly enjoyable day. Today was also Josh's day to go and register with the city of Meitingen, and to get the Aufenthaltstitel in Augsburg.
Post 21: Monday of Week 3
Today was a fairly normal day. I helped Josh get everything situated with SGL (meeting with the finance people, ID, doctor's appointment, etc.). Otherwise, it was a pretty normal day. That evening, I figured out which train I needed to make it to Munich in time to meet with John and caught it. Unfortunately, there was a 20 minute delay due to a downed powerline. But the fact that it was fixed within 20 minutes was quite impressive.
I met up with John and the Leahy's in Munich on Marienplatz. They asked for a good recommendation for a place to eat, so we went to the Hofbraeuhaus and sat upstairs. We talked quite a bit and had a very nice dinner. Afterward, we went down to the gift shop so they could pick up a souvenier. On our way back to Marienplatz, we stopped at one of the Gelato stores that I frequented when I was there. We then proceeded to the train station so they could make it back to their hotel (which was located near the stop Harras) and I made my way back to the Hauptbahnhof to catch the train at 23.00. I arrived back in Meitingen around 00.15 and went to sleep.
I met up with John and the Leahy's in Munich on Marienplatz. They asked for a good recommendation for a place to eat, so we went to the Hofbraeuhaus and sat upstairs. We talked quite a bit and had a very nice dinner. Afterward, we went down to the gift shop so they could pick up a souvenier. On our way back to Marienplatz, we stopped at one of the Gelato stores that I frequented when I was there. We then proceeded to the train station so they could make it back to their hotel (which was located near the stop Harras) and I made my way back to the Hauptbahnhof to catch the train at 23.00. I arrived back in Meitingen around 00.15 and went to sleep.
Post 20: Sunday of Josh's Ankunft
Today was a rather laid back day. The church bells rang earlier than normal, signaling that the mass in Meitingen would start at 8:30 instead of 10 like usual. This meant that I had to miss the 8:30 mass, but rather went to Herbertshofen at 10 for their mass at 10. It was a nice church, much smaller than the one in Meitingen. Very pink. It was fairly richly decorated, though it had a very low roof leaving very little room for the organ.
After mass, I went back home then left for the cafe in town to see if they had wireless internet. So I had lunch there: Kaesespaten mit Salat und Heisse Schokolade. Since they didn't have internet, I went back to Augsburg to double check when Joshua would arrive. After reaffirming that he would be arriving around 5, I came back to Meitingen to wait for him. Due to a delay in Nuernberg, he only arrived around 7, so I brought him back to the Bergmeirs and we dropped his stuff off before making a quick walking tour of Meitingen.
After mass, I went back home then left for the cafe in town to see if they had wireless internet. So I had lunch there: Kaesespaten mit Salat und Heisse Schokolade. Since they didn't have internet, I went back to Augsburg to double check when Joshua would arrive. After reaffirming that he would be arriving around 5, I came back to Meitingen to wait for him. Due to a delay in Nuernberg, he only arrived around 7, so I brought him back to the Bergmeirs and we dropped his stuff off before making a quick walking tour of Meitingen.
Post 19: Saturday 29. Mai
Today, Saturday was a relaxing day. I left fairly early to go into Augsburg. I had a few things that I needed to take care of on the Internet, and since the Burger King at the trainstation has free wireless, I sat there for a few hours. I found out that my friend John Leahy is on vacation this week with his family and that on Monday he will be in Munich. So I sent him an e-mail to try to set up a time to meet there. Hopefully it works out.
Samstag, 29. Mai 2010
Post 18: Friday of Week 2 at SGL
Today, I had a relatively short day, (I'd only needed to work 32 hours this week, which meant that after the previous 3 days, all I needed was to work until 12:18). After running two rheometer tests, each time burning the tests, in addition to the other tests that were being done in the building, there were a whole lot various fumes going on, so I was done working in that building for the day. I came back after lunch (spaghetti bolognaser Art), and Mirko and Bianca wanted to go through their presentations (in English). They asked me to help them out and look through to correct any English errors. It was a nice break from the regular daily work.
Once we were done with all that, I decided that I would browse the internet for a while and went through several www.nichtlustig.de comics. Turns out, Bianca loves Nichtlustig as well, so we spent some time laughing at that for a while. Around 3:30, I left and went home.
After getting home, I decided to take a bike ride. I went and visited the Burg in Markt, then south to Biberbach, then back to Meitingen because it looked like it was threatening to rain, again. Eventually, Hr. and Fr. arrived back home, so Hr. and I sat and talked for a while together. Topics ranged from the names of American Football teams vs. the names of German Fussball teams. Football teams tend to be named after fierce animals (except for the Schwabing Unicorns and the Toledo Rockets) and theirs after the name of the sport club (FCA Bayern München = Fussball Club A___ Bayern München) etc. We also took out a Globe and looked at where we were in Germany and compared it to North America. Turns out, we are at a similar latitude as southern Canada. (Lansing is roughly equal to Florence in Italy).
Once we were done with all that, I decided that I would browse the internet for a while and went through several www.nichtlustig.de comics. Turns out, Bianca loves Nichtlustig as well, so we spent some time laughing at that for a while. Around 3:30, I left and went home.
After getting home, I decided to take a bike ride. I went and visited the Burg in Markt, then south to Biberbach, then back to Meitingen because it looked like it was threatening to rain, again. Eventually, Hr. and Fr. arrived back home, so Hr. and I sat and talked for a while together. Topics ranged from the names of American Football teams vs. the names of German Fussball teams. Football teams tend to be named after fierce animals (except for the Schwabing Unicorns and the Toledo Rockets) and theirs after the name of the sport club (FCA Bayern München = Fussball Club A___ Bayern München) etc. We also took out a Globe and looked at where we were in Germany and compared it to North America. Turns out, we are at a similar latitude as southern Canada. (Lansing is roughly equal to Florence in Italy).
Post 17: Thursday of Week 2
Today was Flo's birthday. He baked a cake for everybody and his mother baked a cake for everybody. They were good. Other than that, there really wasn't a whole lot that happened today. One of my Rheometer tests burned in the oven today, so the room was filled with a light smoke for a while until the windows were opened. It rained a lot today. It rained while I was on my bike home, literally, until I got home. I arrived home and it stopped raining.
Today, Tim sent me an e-mail regarding a "pre preg" (pre (resin) impregnated carbon fibers) assignment. Basically, once I have some values from the rheometer, I'll be able to use an equation that some guy came up with in 2000 to determine the best time and pressure to press the prepreg together to create a thicker piece. It aught to be interesting to figure out how that all will work out, and how I will get to understanding what I am doing.
Today, Tim sent me an e-mail regarding a "pre preg" (pre (resin) impregnated carbon fibers) assignment. Basically, once I have some values from the rheometer, I'll be able to use an equation that some guy came up with in 2000 to determine the best time and pressure to press the prepreg together to create a thicker piece. It aught to be interesting to figure out how that all will work out, and how I will get to understanding what I am doing.
Post 16: Wednesday at SGL
Got an e-mail from Fr. Gierl regarding both the Lohnsteuerkarte and the possibility of loaning a bike for the summer. After getting a call from the person in charge of everything to do with payment and taxes, I found out that I didn't need to have a Lohnsteuerkarte at all since I will be here for less than 6 months. So I won't have to pay taxes. And I got a bike from Herr Schwarzbart for the summer. It is one of the company bikes. It doesn't have any more than one gear setting.
When I got the call from the guy in the finance department, I noticed that my phone didn't make any sounds when it "rang". So I asked Bionca if she knew how to get it working properly. She said that she did, so we got it working properly after searching through all 48 possible ring tones. So, I currently have "the Flintstones" as my ringtone. We also found out that you can set different pictures as your background. So I now have Tux the linux penguin as my phone background picture. We all had quite a laugh together going through it all. It was a lot of fun.
Later on in the day, I got to have a lot of fun playing with Excel and a program called Origin. lots of "fun. Bionca and Mirko (two of the other Diplomanten) have presentations next week on Tuesday to discuss their projects. Their presentations are supposed to be in English, so I've gotten several questions regarding particular translations. I took a short bike ride through Herbertshofen and Meitingen for about 40 minutes.
When I got the call from the guy in the finance department, I noticed that my phone didn't make any sounds when it "rang". So I asked Bionca if she knew how to get it working properly. She said that she did, so we got it working properly after searching through all 48 possible ring tones. So, I currently have "the Flintstones" as my ringtone. We also found out that you can set different pictures as your background. So I now have Tux the linux penguin as my phone background picture. We all had quite a laugh together going through it all. It was a lot of fun.
Later on in the day, I got to have a lot of fun playing with Excel and a program called Origin. lots of "fun. Bionca and Mirko (two of the other Diplomanten) have presentations next week on Tuesday to discuss their projects. Their presentations are supposed to be in English, so I've gotten several questions regarding particular translations. I took a short bike ride through Herbertshofen and Meitingen for about 40 minutes.
Entry 15: Tuesday of Week 2 at SGL
Well, back to work today. I started off at the Gemeinde Meitingen (Meitingen's town hall) to get my Lohnsteuerkarte (income tax card). They told me that I needed to get that from SGL. So after arriving at work, I sent off an e-mail to my contact in the Personnelabteilung (HR department). I spent a lot of time today reading up on various things. Other than that, I really didn't do a whole lot today at work. After I arrived back home, I had dinner then watched probably my new favorite Fernsehsendung (=TV episode) Galileo. For those who don't know, Galileo is a show where somebody asks a question of the team, then they go about finding the answer.
Today, it started with everything you ever wanted to know about the Chili pepper (which part of the pepper causes the most heat (the seeds)? What is the name of the scale used to measure hotness (serville scale sp)? and does hot food A. Put you in a good mood, B. Help you lose weight, or C. Increase the Libido (turns out, it's all three). ) The second part was based off of the question, what is under Berlin (U-bahn, Wasserleitung (=water system), and ice/bier cellars. Apparently, on one level, they store boxes of ice, the next level down is a cellar for the bier. In this way, they were able to keep bier cool during the summer before refrigerators. Third part was a study looking for the world's strongest glue. They tried store bought glue to glue a car to the ground, which didn't quite work. They used instant glue, which required the strength of a car to remove. They then found a specific type of glue (specially made) which they used to clamp two pieces of steel together (with only 0,2 mm of glue). They brought in two tow trucks that were designed each to carry 20 tons and latched them both up to both plates and started to pull. And with a combined force of 40 tons, the glue held, but one of the tow trucks was being pulled toward the other one. It was quite impressive.
Today, it started with everything you ever wanted to know about the Chili pepper (which part of the pepper causes the most heat (the seeds)? What is the name of the scale used to measure hotness (serville scale sp)? and does hot food A. Put you in a good mood, B. Help you lose weight, or C. Increase the Libido (turns out, it's all three). ) The second part was based off of the question, what is under Berlin (U-bahn, Wasserleitung (=water system), and ice/bier cellars. Apparently, on one level, they store boxes of ice, the next level down is a cellar for the bier. In this way, they were able to keep bier cool during the summer before refrigerators. Third part was a study looking for the world's strongest glue. They tried store bought glue to glue a car to the ground, which didn't quite work. They used instant glue, which required the strength of a car to remove. They then found a specific type of glue (specially made) which they used to clamp two pieces of steel together (with only 0,2 mm of glue). They brought in two tow trucks that were designed each to carry 20 tons and latched them both up to both plates and started to pull. And with a combined force of 40 tons, the glue held, but one of the tow trucks was being pulled toward the other one. It was quite impressive.
Post 14: Monday Pfingstmontag
Today, Monday, is Pfingstmontag, aka Pentecost Monday. Same as last year with BMW, nobody at SGL had to go to work. It was a good day off. We started with mass at 10am. Afterward, I practiced a little more organ for about an hour before heading back home. After arriving home, Hr. Bergmeir asked if I wanted to go for a bike ride. I agreed and so Hr. Bergmeir loaned me his bike while he took Fr. Bergmeir's. Unfortunately, the one that I had was several inches too tall and my feet wouldn't touch the ground which wasn't exactly ideal.
So, we started off at a pace of about 18 kmph north toward Donauwoerth. 45 km later, we arrived back home. When I was asked about a bike ride, I wasn't expecting 45 km. So, again it was a long time out in the sun without sunblock. Half way through we stopped at Rain am Lech for the flower sale and exhibition that they had there. It was a very interesting ordeal. Loads of tents, lots of flowers, and plenty of tents with wares for sale ranging from pottery to stone bathtubs. And of course, as an event in Bayern, they had a tent with food, bier, and live music. It was an enjoyable stop. After arriving home, we sat out on the porch again for a while.
So, we started off at a pace of about 18 kmph north toward Donauwoerth. 45 km later, we arrived back home. When I was asked about a bike ride, I wasn't expecting 45 km. So, again it was a long time out in the sun without sunblock. Half way through we stopped at Rain am Lech for the flower sale and exhibition that they had there. It was a very interesting ordeal. Loads of tents, lots of flowers, and plenty of tents with wares for sale ranging from pottery to stone bathtubs. And of course, as an event in Bayern, they had a tent with food, bier, and live music. It was an enjoyable stop. After arriving home, we sat out on the porch again for a while.
Entry 13: Sunday walk along the Lech
This day was a very nice day with regard to the weather. The sun was shining quite brightly, and there was a slight breeze. As it was a Sunday, we had Church at 10 am. The church choir was to practice at 9am that morning. It was a fun rehearsal, though a lot of the latin was stuff that I'd never heard before. After Mass, we came back home. I went downstairs to prepare a little bit of lunch for myself. I had planned to take a walk this afternoon, so I packed the lunch into my bookbag. For my walk I first went North toward SGL to see if maybe one of their bikes were available for use, but the gate was locked. So I continued on the road until the point where I met up with the bridge after crossing over a cornfield.
Once I got to the bridge, I turned North along the river Lech and walked until the river and canal joined together. At this point there was a bridge to cross over the canal, so I crossed over to the other side of the canal and continued North. I reached the Wasserkraftwerk Ellgau (hydro power plant of Ellgau) and crossed over the Lech at that point. Once on the other side, I continued south with the intent to take the next bridge after the one in Meitingen. I continued through the nature preserve area and south along the Lech until I came to the next bridge across; which was located 8 km south of the one in Meitingen at Langweid. Conveniently, at this point there was a place where you could stop and get a drink. So, I stopped for some Apfelschorle (an amazing drink) before continuing. So, I crossed the Lech, and then proceeded North until I got to Meitingen.
After arriving back home, I sat down with Hr. and Fr. Bergmeir and little Timon on the patio to chat. At this point, I found out that I'd walked more than 20 km in the course of 6 hours. Though, 6 hours in the sun without sunblock is not a good thing. Admittedly, I'd expected it to be shorter, and expected for there to be a bridge quicker after the one in Meitingen than 8 km. Had I known that the next one would be in 8 km, i would not have gone as far. Anyway, the new shoes are pretty well broken in, and my feet were doing well all things considered.
Once I got to the bridge, I turned North along the river Lech and walked until the river and canal joined together. At this point there was a bridge to cross over the canal, so I crossed over to the other side of the canal and continued North. I reached the Wasserkraftwerk Ellgau (hydro power plant of Ellgau) and crossed over the Lech at that point. Once on the other side, I continued south with the intent to take the next bridge after the one in Meitingen. I continued through the nature preserve area and south along the Lech until I came to the next bridge across; which was located 8 km south of the one in Meitingen at Langweid. Conveniently, at this point there was a place where you could stop and get a drink. So, I stopped for some Apfelschorle (an amazing drink) before continuing. So, I crossed the Lech, and then proceeded North until I got to Meitingen.
After arriving back home, I sat down with Hr. and Fr. Bergmeir and little Timon on the patio to chat. At this point, I found out that I'd walked more than 20 km in the course of 6 hours. Though, 6 hours in the sun without sunblock is not a good thing. Admittedly, I'd expected it to be shorter, and expected for there to be a bridge quicker after the one in Meitingen than 8 km. Had I known that the next one would be in 8 km, i would not have gone as far. Anyway, the new shoes are pretty well broken in, and my feet were doing well all things considered.
Entry 12: Saturday in Augsburg and Meitingen
Today, Saturday was an interesting day. I'd arranged that at 10 am today, Herbert from the Maennerchor would let me in to the Organ loft at St. Wolfgang's so that I could practice for a little bit. I arrived at the church with plenty of time to spare before 10am, but as it turned out there was a wedding going on at the Church that was going to start at 1pm, so the musicians had already arrived to practice. That meant that we needed to postpone my practice time until later that day. Specifically 2:30.
Between the morning and my practice time, I went in to Augsburg. After picking up a new pair of shoes (ones that I would be able to wear next year at Marching Band without having water seep in all sides, or being able to look through a hole in my sole). Following this, I stopped by the local burger king where they had unlimited free wireless so that I could post my blog posts from the previous week. Unfortunately, due to not having internet at Schurbeinstrasse 10 and not exactly being allowed to post in a blog while at work, this was the easiest (and cheapest) way that I could make my posts. After taking care of that, I went back to Meitingen for the practice time. As I arrived they were just finishing the ceremony.
After waiting a while, Herbert arrived and I was able to go up to the loft and start practicing. I practiced the "Carillon de Westminster" by Vierne, and "Sortie in E-Flat" by some guy with a whole bunch of last names (but it's a really cool piece and a lot of fun to play), and followed it up with "Tocatta and Fuge in d minor" by J.S. Bach. It was a lot of fun. The organ was (according to Fr. Bergmeir) newly re-built in the last few years. The console was part digital/pneumatic and part manual. The stops (=Registern) are digital/pneumatic but then the keys (=Tasten) are manual (such that the more stops pulled for one of the three keyboards, the heavier the keys are to press). It was a lot of fun to play. Herbert pointed out that the Church Choir would be singing Mozart's Missa Brevis in C Major the next morning at Mass. After this, I came back home for dinner. This weekend, Timon (Fr. Bergmeir's grandson) was staying for a visit. (seems to be about 3-4 years old and has better German than I do :-/ )
Between the morning and my practice time, I went in to Augsburg. After picking up a new pair of shoes (ones that I would be able to wear next year at Marching Band without having water seep in all sides, or being able to look through a hole in my sole). Following this, I stopped by the local burger king where they had unlimited free wireless so that I could post my blog posts from the previous week. Unfortunately, due to not having internet at Schurbeinstrasse 10 and not exactly being allowed to post in a blog while at work, this was the easiest (and cheapest) way that I could make my posts. After taking care of that, I went back to Meitingen for the practice time. As I arrived they were just finishing the ceremony.
After waiting a while, Herbert arrived and I was able to go up to the loft and start practicing. I practiced the "Carillon de Westminster" by Vierne, and "Sortie in E-Flat" by some guy with a whole bunch of last names (but it's a really cool piece and a lot of fun to play), and followed it up with "Tocatta and Fuge in d minor" by J.S. Bach. It was a lot of fun. The organ was (according to Fr. Bergmeir) newly re-built in the last few years. The console was part digital/pneumatic and part manual. The stops (=Registern) are digital/pneumatic but then the keys (=Tasten) are manual (such that the more stops pulled for one of the three keyboards, the heavier the keys are to press). It was a lot of fun to play. Herbert pointed out that the Church Choir would be singing Mozart's Missa Brevis in C Major the next morning at Mass. After this, I came back home for dinner. This weekend, Timon (Fr. Bergmeir's grandson) was staying for a visit. (seems to be about 3-4 years old and has better German than I do :-/ )
Samstag, 22. Mai 2010
Post 11: Friday, end of my first week in Meitingen
Today I arrived quite early to work so that I could get a few tests in through the day. I got a lot of tests done today. The other Diplomanten didn't arrive until about 10. For lunch, Flo (Florian) had gotten some Leberkäs for the department. So we had normal Leberkäs, we had pepperoni Leberkäs, we had Breze, and some really spicy mustard. The spicy mustard and the pepperoni Leberkäs made one person cry. I tried it and it was indeed quite spicy. I wound up staying quite late today as well. Until about 6. I had expecte to get some nice results from my last test, but the program had crashed during the last 30 minutes meaning that my 3 hour test only had values for 2,5 hours and the file was not saved properly, so it opens, but doesn't show the proper lines. Ah well....
I came home and went off for a walk. It was a nice walk. I found the Freibad Meitingen, so perhaps I'll be able to make it there sometime.
I came home and went off for a walk. It was a nice walk. I found the Freibad Meitingen, so perhaps I'll be able to make it there sometime.
Post 10: Thursday; Aufenthaltstitel try two
There wasn't a whole lot that went on today. I ran a few tests, read some more stuff and what not. There was a presentation given by Christian on Carbon Fiber Reenforced Carbon. It was an interesting presentation. At 4 I headed off so that I could take care of my Aufenthaltstitel in Augsburg. It took a while to get there due to the train only coming every 20 minutes. After this, I went for a little bit of a walk through Augsburg before heading back to Meitingen.
After arriving back in Meitingen I headed off quickly to the Alte Post (old post office) where the Männerchor hold their weekly practice. We sang a lot of different pieces, including one from Die Fledermaus. After practice, we all went downstairs to have a bier. It was interesting talking with them. As it turns out, a fair number of them had previously worked with SGL as well. It was nice to find such a musical group, but I felt a little out of place being the only person without grey hair.
After arriving back in Meitingen I headed off quickly to the Alte Post (old post office) where the Männerchor hold their weekly practice. We sang a lot of different pieces, including one from Die Fledermaus. After practice, we all went downstairs to have a bier. It was interesting talking with them. As it turns out, a fair number of them had previously worked with SGL as well. It was nice to find such a musical group, but I felt a little out of place being the only person without grey hair.
Post 9: Wednesday
Today was spent mostly reading and building up to being able to do the work that I need to do.
I spent many hours reading today. The day started early (7:40 there) and I started with evaluating some data that Tim sent to me. Around 8:20-8:50 Tim and I were sitting at my computer trying to get a program installed while on the phone with one of the computer administrators. Eventually we got it to work, and I spent a while getting to know the program and to be able to work with it to more accurately evaluate the data that Tim sent to me. After lunch, I read some more before my 14:15 doctor's follow-up appointment. The doctor told me that I was healthy, and that a 3 hour drive from my home to "Michigansee" (lake michigan) is a really long way to a German and that Americans don't want to learn a language other than American, and that for Americans the world ends at the coasts. He then told me that my German was quite good.
Tim came down around 14:40 and we went over and prepared and ran a test program with the Rheometer. That took just a little bit trying to find everything; he mostly let me try to figure it out myself. After this, I got the data and tried analyzing it on my computer station which worked out pretty well. I pulled out the Rheology book that I was loaned and flipped through it until I found what I needed.
I had a nice conversation with Bionca about the differences in the German-American education systems. They don't have to do the homework that they are assigned unless they need to. They don't really have an equivalent to the FE exam that we have to be a Professional Engineer. They have what is termed Diplomarbeit. In other words, 6 months of them working in their field, and at the end they submit at 60-120+ page paper on the topic.
I wound up staying quite late at work, but eventually came home and chilled for the rest of the evening.
I spent many hours reading today. The day started early (7:40 there) and I started with evaluating some data that Tim sent to me. Around 8:20-8:50 Tim and I were sitting at my computer trying to get a program installed while on the phone with one of the computer administrators. Eventually we got it to work, and I spent a while getting to know the program and to be able to work with it to more accurately evaluate the data that Tim sent to me. After lunch, I read some more before my 14:15 doctor's follow-up appointment. The doctor told me that I was healthy, and that a 3 hour drive from my home to "Michigansee" (lake michigan) is a really long way to a German and that Americans don't want to learn a language other than American, and that for Americans the world ends at the coasts. He then told me that my German was quite good.
Tim came down around 14:40 and we went over and prepared and ran a test program with the Rheometer. That took just a little bit trying to find everything; he mostly let me try to figure it out myself. After this, I got the data and tried analyzing it on my computer station which worked out pretty well. I pulled out the Rheology book that I was loaned and flipped through it until I found what I needed.
I had a nice conversation with Bionca about the differences in the German-American education systems. They don't have to do the homework that they are assigned unless they need to. They don't really have an equivalent to the FE exam that we have to be a Professional Engineer. They have what is termed Diplomarbeit. In other words, 6 months of them working in their field, and at the end they submit at 60-120+ page paper on the topic.
I wound up staying quite late at work, but eventually came home and chilled for the rest of the evening.
Post 8: Anmelden, Aufenthaltstitel, Lohnsteuerkarte, usw.
I had a very early start to the day and had to move my follow-up appointment with the SGL doctor to 14:15 on Wednesday, because...
Today I registered with the city of Meitingen
First, I went to the Auslandsbehörde in Augsburg in the hopes of registering there (Anmelden), getting my Residency Permit (Aufenthaltstitel), and my Income Tax card (Lohnsteuerkarte). I filled out the forms that they gave to me, got my appointment to meet with one of their workers at 9:00 that morning then went to wait outside of their room. They were late and I didn't actually meet with them until 9:15.
He made copies of my stuff, then noticed that my address was Meitingen. He told me that I needed to register at the Landratsamt if I live in Meitingen (because Meitingen is in the Landkreis Augsburg, but not in the city of Augsburg).
I made my way to the Landratsamt, (which I had passed on my way from the Hauptbahnhof to the Auslandsbehörde). There they told me that I needed to register with the Gemeinde in Meigingen before I could get my Aufenthaltstitel in the Landratsamt which I need in order to get the Lohnsteuerkarte in Meitingen. In order to get the Aufenthaltstitel, though, they need to get some paper from München from last year in order to be able to complete it correctly.
So I arrived at Meitingen, and it took all of about 20 minutes to register, and I needed to give them the address that I had lived at in München as part of the registration process.
After this fun adventure, I went back to SGL, picked up my ID badge and got back to my work station in time for lunch. While at lunch with Bionca, Mirko, and Flo, the Choir that was in town on a cultural tour through Europe came in to have lunch. I was able to impress my collegues by knowing that this was a choir from Indonesia, and that there was a concert that night.
After this, I went on a bit of a walk around tour through the plant with Tim so that he could explain the Rheometer Room to me, and where I could find everything. Eventually, I was done, and went on my way home.
The Choir from Indonesia (Mia Patria) gave a concert at 19.30 in the Bürgersaal (town hall). (very nice room. wood panelling, second floor, with reception room right outside). The concert was amazing. Not only was the music outstanding, but it was also a very colorful group (very colorful clothing, instruments, etc.) The second half of the concert was a display of various dances that are part of their culture. It was all quite amazing.
During Intermission, I purchased a CD from them and Fr. Burgmeir bought a glass of Champange for each of us. At the end of the concert, the choir played a song on their bamboo instruments. It was really cool. It's name was "An der Schönen Blauen Donau". Quite cool. Afterward, they sang a German song about a Fischerei an der Bodensee that I'd never heard before. Then they sang "Guten Abend, Guten Nacht". Probably better known as "Lullaby, and good night" to us. All in all, the concert was a little longer than 2 hours. The Burgermeister was invited up to dance for one of the dances. This one had four women, and four bamboo sticks. They were paired in a cross fashion on the floor. The women would tap the sticks on the floor twice, then lift them up about 10cm and tap them together twice, then repeat in rhythmn with the song. The dancers were to then dance between them, and put their foot in and out of the sticks quick enough so as not to disrupt the rhythmn.
Of course, the whole thing started with a Frau welcoming all of us, Hr. Burgermeister, Fr. Burgermeister, and their daughter, the Pastor, the Vicar, the person who helped coordinate everything for the choir to be there, the choir, a Frau who housed 18 of the choir members, and about 4 other people. Then the person who helped coordinate everything for the choir to be there got up to speak and welcomed all of us, Hr. Burgermeister, Fr. Burgermeister, and their daughter, the Pastor, the Vicar, the choir, a Frau who housed 18 of the choir members, and about 4 other people. Then the Pastor got up and welcomed all of us, Hr. Burgermeister, Fr. Burgermeister, and their daughter, the Vicar, the person who helped coordinate everything for the choir to be there, the choir, a Frau who housed 18 of the choir members, and about 4 other people. It was a long and drawn out ordeal.
It was a long day.
Today I registered with the city of Meitingen
First, I went to the Auslandsbehörde in Augsburg in the hopes of registering there (Anmelden), getting my Residency Permit (Aufenthaltstitel), and my Income Tax card (Lohnsteuerkarte). I filled out the forms that they gave to me, got my appointment to meet with one of their workers at 9:00 that morning then went to wait outside of their room. They were late and I didn't actually meet with them until 9:15.
He made copies of my stuff, then noticed that my address was Meitingen. He told me that I needed to register at the Landratsamt if I live in Meitingen (because Meitingen is in the Landkreis Augsburg, but not in the city of Augsburg).
I made my way to the Landratsamt, (which I had passed on my way from the Hauptbahnhof to the Auslandsbehörde). There they told me that I needed to register with the Gemeinde in Meigingen before I could get my Aufenthaltstitel in the Landratsamt which I need in order to get the Lohnsteuerkarte in Meitingen. In order to get the Aufenthaltstitel, though, they need to get some paper from München from last year in order to be able to complete it correctly.
So I arrived at Meitingen, and it took all of about 20 minutes to register, and I needed to give them the address that I had lived at in München as part of the registration process.
After this fun adventure, I went back to SGL, picked up my ID badge and got back to my work station in time for lunch. While at lunch with Bionca, Mirko, and Flo, the Choir that was in town on a cultural tour through Europe came in to have lunch. I was able to impress my collegues by knowing that this was a choir from Indonesia, and that there was a concert that night.
After this, I went on a bit of a walk around tour through the plant with Tim so that he could explain the Rheometer Room to me, and where I could find everything. Eventually, I was done, and went on my way home.
The Choir from Indonesia (Mia Patria) gave a concert at 19.30 in the Bürgersaal (town hall). (very nice room. wood panelling, second floor, with reception room right outside). The concert was amazing. Not only was the music outstanding, but it was also a very colorful group (very colorful clothing, instruments, etc.) The second half of the concert was a display of various dances that are part of their culture. It was all quite amazing.
During Intermission, I purchased a CD from them and Fr. Burgmeir bought a glass of Champange for each of us. At the end of the concert, the choir played a song on their bamboo instruments. It was really cool. It's name was "An der Schönen Blauen Donau". Quite cool. Afterward, they sang a German song about a Fischerei an der Bodensee that I'd never heard before. Then they sang "Guten Abend, Guten Nacht". Probably better known as "Lullaby, and good night" to us. All in all, the concert was a little longer than 2 hours. The Burgermeister was invited up to dance for one of the dances. This one had four women, and four bamboo sticks. They were paired in a cross fashion on the floor. The women would tap the sticks on the floor twice, then lift them up about 10cm and tap them together twice, then repeat in rhythmn with the song. The dancers were to then dance between them, and put their foot in and out of the sticks quick enough so as not to disrupt the rhythmn.
Of course, the whole thing started with a Frau welcoming all of us, Hr. Burgermeister, Fr. Burgermeister, and their daughter, the Pastor, the Vicar, the person who helped coordinate everything for the choir to be there, the choir, a Frau who housed 18 of the choir members, and about 4 other people. Then the person who helped coordinate everything for the choir to be there got up to speak and welcomed all of us, Hr. Burgermeister, Fr. Burgermeister, and their daughter, the Pastor, the Vicar, the choir, a Frau who housed 18 of the choir members, and about 4 other people. Then the Pastor got up and welcomed all of us, Hr. Burgermeister, Fr. Burgermeister, and their daughter, the Vicar, the person who helped coordinate everything for the choir to be there, the choir, a Frau who housed 18 of the choir members, and about 4 other people. It was a long and drawn out ordeal.
It was a long day.
Post 7: First day of work at SGL
* Note, for now, I'll just copy my notes here, then later I'll go through and expand on them a bit.
Tim picked me up at 8
drove to SGL
got introduced to a lot of people
Florian (G....)
Florian (not there)
Christian
"Der Chef der Chef"
Tobias
Tobias (the other one)
Stefan W....
Mirko (diplomanten)
Christian
Bionca
and several others
Went to Fr. Gierl's office to pick up papers
Signed and filled out a few papers
Gruppenrunde.
9:15 Artzuntersuchung
Drug, Hearing, Eye, Blood pressure tests
Back to gruppenrunde
Came back down to the Diplomanten/praktikanten room
Read some Hintergrundlektuere
Florian (Flo) took me to get arbeitskleidung
Started to rain heavily
ran outside to get back
started to hail
ducked into another building which happened to be the laboratories
made it back
Bionca made cake and cupcakes as her "I'm the new person" thing
Went to lunch
Schwein medallion
there were birds flying in and out of the room
Back to work
finished with the rest of the papers
went on a tour of the labs
rheometer, cellar, ovens, touched carbon fibers
back to D-room
talked with everybody
Quatsch
read
Came home around 5:15
Ate dinner
Went on a walk with Fr. Bergmeier to Herbertshofen and Erlingen
Watched "Vermisst", "Wer will Millionär" and the end of the Rostock/Ingolstadt game
ingolstadt won 2-0
The host of Millionär is much more enthusiastic than his american equivalent
drove to SGL
got introduced to a lot of people
Florian (G....)
Florian (not there)
Christian
"Der Chef der Chef"
Tobias
Tobias (the other one)
Stefan W....
Mirko (diplomanten)
Christian
Bionca
and several others
Went to Fr. Gierl's office to pick up papers
Signed and filled out a few papers
Gruppenrunde.
9:15 Artzuntersuchung
Drug, Hearing, Eye, Blood pressure tests
Back to gruppenrunde
Came back down to the Diplomanten/praktikanten room
Read some Hintergrundlektuere
Florian (Flo) took me to get arbeitskleidung
Started to rain heavily
ran outside to get back
started to hail
ducked into another building which happened to be the laboratories
made it back
Bionca made cake and cupcakes as her "I'm the new person" thing
Went to lunch
Schwein medallion
there were birds flying in and out of the room
Back to work
finished with the rest of the papers
went on a tour of the labs
rheometer, cellar, ovens, touched carbon fibers
back to D-room
talked with everybody
Quatsch
read
Came home around 5:15
Ate dinner
Went on a walk with Fr. Bergmeier to Herbertshofen and Erlingen
Watched "Vermisst", "Wer will Millionär" and the end of the Rostock/Ingolstadt game
ingolstadt won 2-0
The host of Millionär is much more enthusiastic than his american equivalent
Post 6: Sunday with the Bergmeirs
Today, I went to church with the Bergmeirs. The priest came from india and brought a canon that he likes. Faked my way through that with Fr. Bergmeir. I'll have to look at it before next week. The church has a pretty big pipe organ.
Came back and went on a walk with Hr. Bergmeir. We walked for about 2 hours along the Lech river, and the Canal and then came back through Meitingen. We arrived later we were expected. Fr. Bergmeier was not too pleased. She had cooked some roast beef, spaetzle, carrot/pea/broccoli and salad. Tasted wonderful. She then offered that I could stay the rest of the summer if I wanted to.
We then drove out to a small town where there was a street market going on. It was a street market that took up most of the center part of the town. Wandered through for a bit. I saw a sign on a shop that said "Heute bei mir: 50% Rabatt fuer alles (ausser Socken)" (Today, 50% off everything (except socks)) on a shop that only sold socks.
Stopped in a Cafe for a slice of cake and a coffee where I had a piece of cake with Strawberries on it. It was really good. Hr. Bergmeir paid for me. Then we came back to Meitingen for about n hour.
Fr. Bergmeir and I went back out to the church because there was going to be a choir from Indonesia there singing at Mass. It was wonderful. Very colorful,
Came back for about an hour.
Went to mass again and heard a choir from indonesia sing during the mass. We found out that there would be a concert on Tuesday given by this choir in the Bürgersaal (town hall). Fr. Bergmeir introduced me to a member of the Männerchor (men's chorus) and we found out that they sing on Thursdays at 8 at the Alte Post (old post office). That should be an interesting group to be part of for the summer.
Came back and went on a walk with Hr. Bergmeir. We walked for about 2 hours along the Lech river, and the Canal and then came back through Meitingen. We arrived later we were expected. Fr. Bergmeier was not too pleased. She had cooked some roast beef, spaetzle, carrot/pea/broccoli and salad. Tasted wonderful. She then offered that I could stay the rest of the summer if I wanted to.
We then drove out to a small town where there was a street market going on. It was a street market that took up most of the center part of the town. Wandered through for a bit. I saw a sign on a shop that said "Heute bei mir: 50% Rabatt fuer alles (ausser Socken)" (Today, 50% off everything (except socks)) on a shop that only sold socks.
Stopped in a Cafe for a slice of cake and a coffee where I had a piece of cake with Strawberries on it. It was really good. Hr. Bergmeir paid for me. Then we came back to Meitingen for about n hour.
Fr. Bergmeir and I went back out to the church because there was going to be a choir from Indonesia there singing at Mass. It was wonderful. Very colorful,
Came back for about an hour.
Went to mass again and heard a choir from indonesia sing during the mass. We found out that there would be a concert on Tuesday given by this choir in the Bürgersaal (town hall). Fr. Bergmeir introduced me to a member of the Männerchor (men's chorus) and we found out that they sing on Thursdays at 8 at the Alte Post (old post office). That should be an interesting group to be part of for the summer.
Post 5: Saturday in Meitingen
I woke up today around 8, which for the first time was after the Bergmeirs were already awake. I walked around Meitingen for a while. I found the town Friedhof (=cemetary. For those who have heard the story from last year, this cemetary is no where near big enough to run in, so there will be no repeat.) Coincidentally the Friedhof is directly across from SGL. After walking around Meitingen for a while, I went to Augsburg and saw the Rathaus, Dom, Kloster, Theater, and Merkurbruin in a 3 hours walk. They have a hofgarten somewhere that I found that had a fountainstatues, flowers, and a public bookshelf. I thought that was interesting.
I also found out that the correct way to pronounce "Augsburg" is "Augschburg". Yay Bayrisch!
I came back to Meitingen and had dinner with the Bergmeirs. It was wurst, bread and a bier. After this I watched the Bayern / Bremen Fussball game with Herr Bergmeir. It was 4-0 Bayern. The game was played for the DF? Porkal. The champions game should be next weekend.
I also found out that the correct way to pronounce "Augsburg" is "Augschburg". Yay Bayrisch!
I came back to Meitingen and had dinner with the Bergmeirs. It was wurst, bread and a bier. After this I watched the Bayern / Bremen Fussball game with Herr Bergmeir. It was 4-0 Bayern. The game was played for the DF? Porkal. The champions game should be next weekend.
Post 4: First Day in Meitingen
I woke up early expecting that Florian would be there early. Didn't come when I thought he would
Went to Augsburg and found the AVV customer service center to purchase a ticket to go to Universitaet Augsburg. I wanted to visit the Augsburg Studentwerk but they were closed. I did see 3 apartment offers. After contacting all 3, one said "nichts", another set up a meeting for the 17th of May. While there, Florian called me on the phone that I picked up in Frankfurt. So I went back to Meitingen
After a long ride on the train, (on which I wound up chatting with somebody the whole way back to Meitingen about geography, politics, language, etc. He thought I was German until I told him that I didn't just come from America after a short stay. This was about 20 minutes into our conversation that he found out that I was American. He complimented my German. That made me feel happy. )
Florian arrived at 10. Schnurbeinstrasse to pick me up. He brought along another collegue named Bianca. We went to a localGasthaus for a bier with two other colleages. One was Tobias, and the other's name I didn't catch. They all spoke Bayrisch to some extent. They started making fun of the fact that we were all drinking bier, except for Bianca, who was drinking tea, with not 4, not 5, not 6, but 7 spoonfuls of sugar in it.
After 2 hours or so, we left, and I went and crashed for the night.
Went to Augsburg and found the AVV customer service center to purchase a ticket to go to Universitaet Augsburg. I wanted to visit the Augsburg Studentwerk but they were closed. I did see 3 apartment offers. After contacting all 3, one said "nichts", another set up a meeting for the 17th of May. While there, Florian called me on the phone that I picked up in Frankfurt. So I went back to Meitingen
After a long ride on the train, (on which I wound up chatting with somebody the whole way back to Meitingen about geography, politics, language, etc. He thought I was German until I told him that I didn't just come from America after a short stay. This was about 20 minutes into our conversation that he found out that I was American. He complimented my German. That made me feel happy. )
Florian arrived at 10. Schnurbeinstrasse to pick me up. He brought along another collegue named Bianca. We went to a localGasthaus for a bier with two other colleages. One was Tobias, and the other's name I didn't catch. They all spoke Bayrisch to some extent. They started making fun of the fact that we were all drinking bier, except for Bianca, who was drinking tea, with not 4, not 5, not 6, but 7 spoonfuls of sugar in it.
After 2 hours or so, we left, and I went and crashed for the night.
Post 3: Arrival in Meitingen
The flight over was fairly uneventful, though I was literally surrounded by babies. I arrived at the train station with some extra time. So after checking e-mails and what not, I got on the train to Meitingen. On the way there were a bunch of drunk students singing Sweet Caroline by Niel Diamond. It was really bad.
Upon arrival in Meitingen, I found Herr. Witzke on the platform waiting for me. Right off the bat, he asked me to call him Tim. In München last year, it took a few days at least until I could call people by their first names.
He then took me to my apartment, and gave me a box of food because it was a holiday, and as such no where is open. I'll be living with a very nice couple, Herr and Frau Bergmeir. They have two cats; each with a full set of claws and can be a bit touchy if you rub them the wrong way.
Tomorrow, I'll be meeting with one of my coworkers, Florian.
Upon arrival in Meitingen, I found Herr. Witzke on the platform waiting for me. Right off the bat, he asked me to call him Tim. In München last year, it took a few days at least until I could call people by their first names.
He then took me to my apartment, and gave me a box of food because it was a holiday, and as such no where is open. I'll be living with a very nice couple, Herr and Frau Bergmeir. They have two cats; each with a full set of claws and can be a bit touchy if you rub them the wrong way.
Tomorrow, I'll be meeting with one of my coworkers, Florian.
Mittwoch, 5. Mai 2010
Post #2: What I will be doing at SGL this summer
I will be working im Bereich R&D/Faserverbundwerkstoffe (=in the Research and Development area/fiber reinforced materials. I will be working to characterize matrices for the manufacturing of fiber reinforced materials.
My Task
- The creation of a selection of mixtures of various Harz / Haerterkombinationen (fibers / resin combinations). There are four phenol based resins available in various compositions. I am to test them in a Platte-Platte Rheometer (plate plate Rheometer).
- I will be testing these mixtures with lab thermal analysis techniques (DSC, TGA, eventually, DMTA) then analyzing the results myself
- Based on my results I will be selecting the mixture that has the best properties
- Based on my results eine größere Menge (a whole lot) will be produced to achieve the desired properties. I am also to recommend a process profile with process times and temperatures.
For now, I'll leave that at that.
My Task
- The creation of a selection of mixtures of various Harz / Haerterkombinationen (fibers / resin combinations). There are four phenol based resins available in various compositions. I am to test them in a Platte-Platte Rheometer (plate plate Rheometer).
- I will be testing these mixtures with lab thermal analysis techniques (DSC, TGA, eventually, DMTA) then analyzing the results myself
- Based on my results I will be selecting the mixture that has the best properties
- Based on my results eine größere Menge (a whole lot) will be produced to achieve the desired properties. I am also to recommend a process profile with process times and temperatures.
For now, I'll leave that at that.
Sonntag, 2. Mai 2010
Post #1: Blogging - Take 2
The purpose of this blog is to keep friends and family updated on my doings in Germany this summer. It will probably be written in a mixture of English and German, but I'll do what I can to make it understandable in both languages.
I'll be working for a company (=Firma) called SGL TECHNOLOGIES gmbh in the small town of Meitingen, in Bayern (=Bavaria) Germany. This company is a subset of the SGL Group "The Carbon Company". www.sglgroup.com This company works with carbon in the form of carbon fibers (=Kohlenstofffasern), graphite, carbon based alternative energy.
Currently, I am working with Frau Petra Griel of SGL to find housing for the summer in Augsburg Germany.
My task for the summer, as best as I understand it, is to test various mixtures of resin and fibers to create a carbon fiber of sufficient properties through the use of various tests and at the end of the summer suggest a process for the manufacturing of eine grosse Menge (= a whole lot) of the stuff.
My internship will run from May 17th to August 18th. I have been informed that I will be a Rank Leader Candidate for the 2010 season of the Michigan Marching Band. Due to that, I will be starting band on August 20th. I fly out on May 12th.
On Friday, I moved out of my room at Thieme House in Baits 2 for the last time after playing some trombone duets with my big brother in Phi Mu Alpha, Mike Steiger. On Saturday, President Obama spoke at my classmates Graduation ceremony at the Big House, and in August I will be moving to a new room, new building, and new campus: North Quad, on Central Campus.
Pictures of Thieme House and North Quad to come (when I figure out how to post a picture on a blog post.)
I'll be working for a company (=Firma) called SGL TECHNOLOGIES gmbh in the small town of Meitingen, in Bayern (=Bavaria) Germany. This company is a subset of the SGL Group "The Carbon Company". www.sglgroup.com This company works with carbon in the form of carbon fibers (=Kohlenstofffasern), graphite, carbon based alternative energy.
Currently, I am working with Frau Petra Griel of SGL to find housing for the summer in Augsburg Germany.
My task for the summer, as best as I understand it, is to test various mixtures of resin and fibers to create a carbon fiber of sufficient properties through the use of various tests and at the end of the summer suggest a process for the manufacturing of eine grosse Menge (= a whole lot) of the stuff.
My internship will run from May 17th to August 18th. I have been informed that I will be a Rank Leader Candidate for the 2010 season of the Michigan Marching Band. Due to that, I will be starting band on August 20th. I fly out on May 12th.
On Friday, I moved out of my room at Thieme House in Baits 2 for the last time after playing some trombone duets with my big brother in Phi Mu Alpha, Mike Steiger. On Saturday, President Obama spoke at my classmates Graduation ceremony at the Big House, and in August I will be moving to a new room, new building, and new campus: North Quad, on Central Campus.
Pictures of Thieme House and North Quad to come (when I figure out how to post a picture on a blog post.)
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