Turmoil everywhere

It’s been a strange several months now. I have a new position at work - I’m in the Systems Engineering Group now and I actually feel more at home with this group although we’ve only had one on one meetings with my manager.

The job entails working with the entire product that will be delivered to the customer, so there is a lot of know, and I know a lot of it.

• There is the camera and pod itself. Know it.

• The Ground Station. Know the old system, coming to terms with the new system.

• Datalink - Physically Know it - but still hard to get to the operational details and figure out the command and control.

Where do I fit in? Well, I understand the system and can operate the entire system, so that is a good thing. I also have been involved with a lot of testing of the pod components, so I can do that as well.

My programming experience with R and Python have been limited so far with only some basic text log parsing - but I need to let my colleagues know that I’m willing to use and work with their existing tools (IDL) before I port all of that to R.

That’s what I’m thinking.

I need to see what they are doing - what data they are using, how they are using it, and port it to R.

Show them how nice and relevant this new language can be for them.

What have I done for our current controls tools?

Can I rewrite the Coverage Tool in R?

Can I make the application stand alone and usable by non-R users?

School

Yesterday Karen and I went to Boston to see some apartments near NorthEastern University. The prices are outrageous.

It really makes me question to need for a degree as well as the gouging process that attending a school entails. Today, Feb - 2022 we are talking about $4000 per month for a 3 bedroom apartment. Not a nice apartment, but just something very basic. Not too run-down, not too-nice…. just a normal blah blah apartment.

I just wonder when the shift will finally occur - when people realize what is the cost and value of an education.

• What does the education provide?

  • Living away from parents, learning to get along with others,partiing (can’t you do this without going to college?)

• Does it guarantee a well paying job? No. At sometimes the student leaves with large debt.

• How much is the ‘college experience’ worth? 25k /yr? 50k/yr?

I think that many of the skills needed can be had on Youtube or Coursera!