Unexpected TSA question, and a bitter sweet moment

I'll start in reverse… Currently sitting in the waiting area in Chicago Midway (MDW), waiting for my Southwest flight to Albuquerque, after two Porter flights, YOW to YTZ, YTZ to MDW. The plane I arrived with was the plane David was to fly back to Toronto (and currently is), and I had hoped to catch him for a quick good bye before he took off. But, after customs, bag pickup and checking in again, I came too late to the gate, and he was already hard at work preparing. I had hoped to wave through the window, but of course the windows there are completely dimmed, so you can't see a thing. So I sat there, knowing he was just a few meters away, feeling happy about that, but sad that I wouldn't see him before my last New Mexico sejour (he was unexpectedly called away on a 3 day pairing yesterday). Then I could see the plane from the other end of the building as David was taxiing out to the runway, and a few moments later as he was ascending into the sky. Beautiful plane, the Dash-8 Q400. Toronto was btw extra beautiful this morning, with a low mist surrounding the islands in nice shapes. Sadly my camera was tucked away in the overhead bin, a mistake I rarely make, but when I do, I need it the most. 

After a completely wonderful month in our new home, in the awesomest apartment ever by the St Laurents river in Brockville (strategic position for our respective jobs in Kingston and Ottawa), I now have to return back to Socorro. Only for two weeks, so it's nice. I have mixed feelings about returning, but it will be nice to see all good friends and have a real good bye before leaving for good. The weather will make up for a lot. And the telescopes. And wonderful Winnipeg friends visiting, and the solar eclipse. I hope that these new memories will somewhat remove the taint of the old ones. 

Pinda and Wokkels are two new little creatures in mine and David's custody, and the fresh memory of Pinda's happy little chirp as I kissed her feathery chest early this morning will hopefully help as well (but I still miss Merry and Pippin terribly). 

As for the TSA question (or US immigration/customs not sure if they are the same?), this is the conversation I had when I went through US customs a few hours ago: 

After a few of the normal general questions, I got a few new ones:

TSA: "What kind of research do you do in New Mexico?"

Me: "Astrophysics observations with a large telescope located there"

TSA: "What kind of observations?"

Me: "I work on a project where we observe the gas surrounding galaxies"

TSA: "What do you want to observe on these galaxies?"

Me: "Well.." (wondering in how much detail I should go and embarking on a brief explanation that there are divers goals with the observations)

TSA, glaring suspiciously at me: "Is it dangerous?"

Me: "!?!  …no… these galaxies are very far away…" 

TSA: "What happens if you observe anything dangerous?"

Me, trying to come up with what could possibly be seen as dangerous in my work: "well…"

TSA: "What happens if you observe something dangerous, like UFOs, do you report it, or is kept secret?" 

Me, finally seeing where this is heading: "Ah, that would be an awesome observation! And no, I would definitely not keep it secret…" 

Not that I'd be able to see any UFO's in my continuum observations… But still. Heehee… :) The idea of dangerous galaxies will keep me smiling for a while. 

Hm. The nice free wifi at MDW is gone… I guess I'll post this a bit later. 

Beware of bifenthrin

Friday March 16th, after 3 days of sickness which seemed to affect her nervous system, my wonderful budgie Pippin died on the way to the vet in Albuquerque (she had already visited the vet twice before, the last time when I noticed her new symptoms). She was a fighter, and even that morning had forced herself up on a perch even though she had terrible balance. The night before had been hard, with much pain, so I called the vet to get another appointment, and headed up there in the middle of the day. My wonderful birdsitter Peggy decided to come along as well, and I am so grateful for that - Pippin had a number of seizures on the way, screamed and had a very hard time, so if I had been alone, I would probably have ended up in an accident. When we were half way, suddenly a tangible calm filled the car, and there was peace, and I immediately realised that that was it. She had died. My perfect little bird, not even 6 years old. 

I had already searched the online literature for potential causes and cures to her sickness, and with this new information of symptoms, I continued to search. Two perfectly healthy birds dead in less than 1.5 months, it just did not seem normal. Pippin's neurological symptoms - twisted body, erratic head movements, seizures - seemed to point towards poisoning of sorts. But by what?

A few days later, I ran into the cleaning lady at the guesthouse where I have been staying for 6 months, and I got the thought to ask her if the guesthouse apartments had ever been treated indoors with pesticides at some point. Imagine my astonishment, when she told me that they spray indoors with pesticides every month! She knew I had birds (and she has had birds herself), and yet, she let a company come and treat the apartment once a month, without letting me know? I was devestated, and went to my work place to talk with the people in charge and ask why I had never been notified or asked whether this was ok (NO! Birds and pesticides don't mix at all. People and pesticides don't mix well either.!). 

Apparently I was supposed to be notified, but that had not taken place for years. I also asked to know the name of the substance, and the dates when they had sprayed. 

The substance is called bifenthrin, and in my research, I found a lot of disturbing information about it. Here is a list of some of the things I found: 

• -Excessive exposure to Bifenthrin (poisoning) can cause headache, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, excessive salivation, fatigue (of which I've experienced all except excessive salivation)
• Bifenthrin is suspected to be an endocrine disruptor (i.e interferes with the systems that produce hormones in the body)
• It is classified as a class C carcinogen, i.e. it has shown to be carcinogenic on mice, and thus is possibly a carcinogenic substance towards humans.
• Because of this, Swedish Chemicals Agency (Kemikalieinspektionen) withdrew Bifenthrin already in 1992 in Sweden. The European Union banned it in 2009, and it has since then been withdrawn from all pesticides used in the EU countries.
• It has been shown in tests to be cytotoxic (affecting cells)

I think it is quite clear what killed the birds - with this information, all their strange symptoms suddenly make sense. I don't think I can prove that my symptoms are caused by the pesticide, but it lies close at hand, especially after 6 months of exposure, of a substance that stays active up to 8 months, with monthly exposure boosts... 

This was the report… I have a lot of feelings and opinions about this… Which I aim to express in a future post. So, stay tuned...

Merry, the happy budgie

Merry, my happy little bird

Merry was an amazingly happy little bird, who enriched my life so much. Today, totally out of the blue, something happened (my guess is he choked on something) and I found him on the floor of the cage when I came home. It is amazing how attached you can grow to a little bird... Especially since he should've had so many more years to be happy. I had him 5.5 years, together with Pippin, since the summer day I bought them in Winnipeg, after 2 years of birdlessness (not fun). It was an awesome day, which I remember very well. And every day since then it has been a joy to come home.

During the last year, Merry adopted a few cute habits - such as flying to my head, walking up to the front of my head and bending down saying CHIRP! Then he would slide down the side of my head, hanging onto my hair, and stick his head out in front of my eye (mainly the left side) and start chirping his heart away. Sometimes he was so persistent doing this when I was eating dinner, that I had to put on a hat to be able to get some food into me. He adored playing with my thumb, and if he came with me into the office room, it would be a challenge to type.

During the trip over to New Mexico, I had the birds in a tiny cage inside a bag with star shaped breathing walls. Whenever I opened the side of the bag, two budgies would come and start playing with my fingers, while chirping happily. A most wonderful trip. They did not enjoy being stuck in Albuquerque due to a "snow storm" though. Having to stay in a hotel in that tiny cage made them loudly tell me how annoyed they were... They managed the trip very well though, and were very happy to arrive in their new home in Socorro the next day. A few weeks later, I got to borrow a palace of a cage from my birdsitter friends, which made the sejour even better. The first few weeks, flying was a challenge (due to the thin air), but Merry soon got better at it, and flew as well as ever during his last week. (The photo caption has a link to some Merry photos.)

Speaking of budgie personalities btw, check out this story!

New adventures in New Mexico

It's probably time for an update... Since last time I wrote was in January. Does it take such a long time to get back to normal after a thesis defence? It almost seems so.. Although, there have been webalbum updates. Those do count. Here is a list of some adventures: 

• I can't believe I didn't write about the Florida trip! This was my present to myself for being done: watching a space shuttle launch (STS 133), with my brother Daniel
• Spring in reverse: First Holland, then Sweden
• Summer in Toronto and elsewhere (with a bunch of visitors) - London, Windsor, Bruce Peninsula, Quebec, Palmyra, Girl's camp, Socorro, New York

Whether I'm actually back to normal or not, is another question, but I do have a reason to write! After a spring of trying to rest a bit, I ended up getting a job in the early summer, with a  start date of September 1st. This was good, because when you have a deadline at which you know something good is going to end (spending summer in Toronto with David), you appreciate the time so much more. 

So, the job! It's a postdoc (which is a weird sensation - I'm actually at that point in life? finally?), and the project I'll be working on is pretty awesome! Observing halo radio emission in edge-on galaxies. It's called CHANG-ES (Continuum halos in nearby galaxies - an EVLA survey). My new supervisor is the PI (principal investigator) of the project, and many astronomers from all over the world are part of the CHANG-ES consortium. 

EVLA is the keyword here - it is the newly enhanced VLA observatory (I think E stands for expanded), which is located in New Mexico. 405 hours of observation time was granted to this project, and so, here I am as well. For a year. 

Yikes!

So I'm writing from Socorro, New Mexico, a little town everyone claims to be remote and isolated. Well. I lived 6 years in Winnipeg. Isolation is a matter of perspective. And the nearest big city from here, Albuquerque, is only 1 hr and a bit away. Soon Albuquerque will host the world's biggest hot-air balloon meeting (October 1-9). YEY! (And I just visited one in St Jean sur Richelieu, in Quebec (photos to come)). Anyways, I don't think the isolation will be that much of a problem. David will come often to visit, and I will go to Toronto every now and then as well. And there are mountains. And a HUGE observatory. And loads of astronomers. And, for this size of town, it seems like they are pretty good at coming up with diverse activities. The climate!!! Finally a warm place with short winters. And the FOOD! So far I've only had Sopaipillas with green chile (completely delicious), and some local yummy stuff at a fair with a rodeo, but it's certainly very promising so far. One of my goals of this year will  be to learn the New Mexican cuisine. 

Now for some photos of the surroundings (of course today, when I go out to take pictures, the weather is grey and dull): 

The guesthouse with the courtyard in the middle. A very cute fox often hides under the planks. My room is in the corner straight ahead. The kitchen is on the left (not visible). 

Here's the cute fox! I hope I can catch a less fuzzy version at some point...  

This is a corner of the NRAO building and the view. The building is in a Y-shape (like the EVLA array) 

This is my cubicle. It's on the edge of one of the tips of the Y-shape, so I'm sitting diagonally. And I love the view (usually the weather isn't grey, like today...) 

Hard to take good photos of the rodeo in the dusk light. 

And... I just had to add this one... Awesome photo taken by Sandra, after an awesome good bye lunch just before I left. 

A new year with new chances

This is one  of the most new-yearish new years I've experienced. Defending the thesis and having that DONE, is (albeit still unreal) quite the change in my life. So, this is a year I have great hopes for! And here are a few of the things I'd like to do, as soon as I come home to Toronto:

• Visit the library and read LOADS of books. 
• Put up a shelf for the microwave oven :) 
• Paint a painting of Groot genoeg. And of birds. And of anything really. 
• Make a photo album of the past year (uhm, and the years before that, all the way back to 2004... But one step at a time, I guess....)
• Search for jobs
• Make awesome food... 
• Spend lots of time with the Hobbit-birdies Merry & Pippin (I haven't seen them for soon a month...)
• Start crocheting! I have crazy plans of making a bedspread. But again, should probably start with smaller steps. 
• Just exist, with all what that entails - have a little bit of a social life again, and lots of communication with family

And until then, while in Sweden - enjoy life to the fullest! Which is, of course, with my wonderful family members.

~~~~~

A little bit more than a week later (when I actually post this post), I've returned to Toronto. The first day after my return, we went to the library and I got a library card, and happily discovered that the Canadian library system (well, at least the one in Toronto) is exactly as awesome as the one in Sweden. I borrowed a few books and started reading one. And then it hit. Post-thesis stress or something of that kind. The symptoms are as unpleasant as the symptoms of the week before the defence (i.e. major stress). But then I could at least work (and work I did, seemingly neverendingly, and it did pay off, since everything I worked on was covered during the defence questions), and now it's hard to do anything at all. Apparently this is fairly normal, and so I hope a bit of vacation will cure it. But it is annoying - finally this time has arrived, which I've longed for for so many years, and I can't even appreciate it.

Today was however another special day - my thesis was officially approved by the university, and can be found here. I wonder if that is going to make me believe it's real? I think I'm going to celebrate by watching a bunch of Stargate episodes.