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I work for the University of Chicago Library, Administrative and Desktop Systems (Theme: We Kill Drives) as a NT Systems Analyst. My boss created Doctor Fun.
I entered the University of Chicago in the fall of 1992 intending to graduate with a physics degree (as was the "Chicago way" to entering astronomy) in 1996. Did this happen? No. In the winter of 1993 after failing Classical Mechanics I realized that physics was not the way for me into astronomy and astrophysics. As an elective while failing Mechanics I had been taking a dual astronomy/geophysical science set of classes dealing with cosmochemistry, interstellar processes and stellar dynamics. And my eyes opened up... I had completely been so focused on studying physics (for the future astronomy work only), without getting any practical knowledge whatsoever, that I missed an incredible field of study. Geophysical Sciences, a slightly unwieldy term, encompasses four big fields: atmospheric science, geology, geophysics, and paleontology. The Department is a great set of nice people. I really like it.
Here's some photos from the 1995 field course in Montana, Wyoming, and Utah.
And then in 1996 I went to Iceland for two weeks for yet another field course.
Then....
Then I ran out of money. The University of Chicago sucked me dry. They sucked my parents dry. They sucked my late grandfather's educational fund dry. And I still didn't have enough. At the right time, a job opened up in the department I worked in, which allowed me to try to save up some money. For a while the salary was not enough, but after some serious readjustments to IT salaries I was able to go back to school part-time.
I spend a lot of time in my life with the Ryerson Astronomical Society. Figuring out what minor planet to look at next, maintaining a hundred-year old refractor, and fighting the dual evils of light pollution and human ignorance are part of the job. If you're interested in the Society and what we do, e-mail me or look at the web page.
I was born and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada. Strange as it seems, but, yes, people really do live there. Whether or not that's good is left to the reader. The one really nice thing is has over a lotta places, including here, is sun. Sun all day, all night. Sunny days month after month until you swear you don't remember clouds anymore. At least that's the way it is during the drought years. The normal rainfall is 4 inches of rain *a year*, and in droughts it can be less than two inches. I attended Chaparral High School.
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Dean W. Armstrong 1100 E. 57th Street, Room A-70 Chicago, IL 60637 (773)702-3147 days (773)667-8834 nights (773)931-9400 cell Email: dean+home@uchicago.edu |
Other
links I find fascinating. (And never update.)
Chaparral
photos
