(no subject)

[senoritafish]

I scored a 34% on the "How Orange County, CA are you?" Quizie! What about you?

Interesting. Although I wasn't born here (I was born in Whittier, L.A. County), I have spent most of my life here. But I don't really care where the rich and famous live, and I went to Dismalland so much as a teenager, I got rather jaded with it ( I certainly never made out on Pirtates of the Caribbean; being much too nerdy as a teen, no one was interested). It has changed a lot since I spent much time there - California Adventure is interesting, but I don't think people from out-of-state really think so, and therefore it's been losing money since it opened.

Well, I don't know how much got accomplished at that meeting last week - everyone seems bent on doing it their own way (including us, although we have been doing it for 25 years worth of data and the northern regions only for 2). I do think the Nanaimo biologist had a point when he said that the people using the data for growth modeling are the ones that should assign the arbitrary birthday. The upshot was that we are all going to start recording what the edge of the otolith looks like, whether it's transparent or opaque. Which we do, it just hasn't been captured in the database, and while we do have paper data sheets for the last five years, anything before that has been shredded. We were told that's ok, since what we have corresponds to the same time period the other regions have.

My two favorite quotes from the meeting:

"I'm not sure that's a representative sample."
"That's ok, it fits with my preconcieved notion."

and

"Well, I really think it's easier for you to change 25 years worth of data, than for me to change an arbitrary birthdate".

I get a little intimidated at meetings like this where most everyone from other agencies has at least a master's if not a doctorate. But I also have to laugh at some of these people. The Dr. who is the cheif mathematical modeler at that particular NMFS office must wake up fairly vibrating (he's a very intense person), then he goes to Starbuck's for his java ("extra caffeine please") and he literally cannot sit still. He gets up to write on the whiteboard and he's bouncing around on one leg. He often left the room for an hour or so at a time, and I'm sure it was to jog up and down the 2-mile long hill that is La Jolla Shores Drive, just to burn off some energy. He made me tired just watching him.

The other amusing incident occurred after we got back from dinner; we were hoping to go out with some of the other biologists but everyone took off after the meeting. When we got back to the hotel lobby, we found the Canadian biologist talking with the guys from La Paz. He was telling them how he had called his wife to tell how wonderful and warm the weather was, compared to back home on Vancouver Island. The Mexican guys just stared at him in disbelief, shivered and pulled the collars of their jackets a little closer around their necks.

It actually was pretty chilly and windy for San Diego in April, but at least it was weather. And I'm glad it was cool since our room was just a sauna; apparently the entire building does not turn the AC on until May, and the fan blew hot air even when set on cool.

Comments

[bakayaro-onna.livejournal.com]

You are SO correct about California Adventure! We went to Disneyland shortly after it opened and had purchased the Hopper pass. I found the park anything but an adventure. A whole lot of cement ground with no trees - trees are VERY important to Texans who are always dodging the sun's harmful rays.

It was mildly pleasant in the evening with the lit surf fountain but the piped music was too loud.

[senoritafish.livejournal.com]

I think there are trees there, they're still small and haven't had the chance to grow as in the main park. The time I was there, I had a preschooler, a toddler and an infant with me and couldn't go on the rollercoaster. I did really like the marine-themed merry-go-round though, and they had a very nice little center for parents of small children. For all that I grouse about Disney, they are pretty forward thinking in some respects. They are very gay-friendly work practices, and they were some of the first to set aside space for nursing moms - the original park has a parents center that's been there since the place opened.