[Not so] brief update

It's been awhile since I have written here. So, in keeping with my new seven day rule, here is a a rundown on what's been going on in the past week. Need to get it all out now before it becomes too late!

A week ago, I spent the holiday weekend moving The Kiddo from Queens to Bloomington-Normal, Illinois. I flew out to Queens on Friday, where I met up with resourceress at Kiddo's old apartment. We spent the night at Mom's, then took off Saturday afternoon. The trip was done in really good time. We did 2/3 of the driving on Saturday, so we got in much earlier than expected -- before sundown -- on Sunday. The original plan was to drive on Sat and Sun, then unload the truck on Mon. Instead, by the end of Sunday night, we had arrived, unloaded the truck, set up all the major furniture, helped design (and implement) the layout for the living room & dining room, returned the truck, and driven back to the Event Horizon. This was more than we had intended to accomplish... and in less time. Good deal! As a reward, resourceress and The Kiddo and polymorphism and I were able to enjoy a mellow holiday Monday. In the evening, The Kiddo drove himself home and resourceress flew back East. I miss her, of course, but we have plans to have her come back in just a few weeks... which gives me something to look forward to.

( Tuesday, after work, I drove down to Urbana to see Cassiopia )

Wednesday afternoon, there was a very interesting colloquium at the lab entitled Oil and the American Way of Life: Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Many of the commonly held myths that U.S. citizens hold about oil dependence were discussed and exposed, such as why reducing our dependence on foreign oil does not solve anything, why drilling in Alaska is irrelevant to the energy crisis, why a "free market " (read: de-regulated) for oil does not solve anything, and how the depletion of the world oil supply is likely to affect us in the coming decades. Good stuff. (The talk, anyway, not the actual subject matter)

Thursday was a decent day at work, followed by Poly Karaoke. Having been out of town for the first Thursday of the past two months, this was my first time attending the monthly karaoke session since March. I got to see some folks that I had not seen in awhile, which is always good, and I sang three songs (Only the Good Die Young, Who Can it Be Now?, and Take The Long Way Home). Fun times.

Friday, there was a big meeting at the lab with all of our U.S. collaborators. We want to build a second cosmic ray detector in the Northern hemisphere and, for the past two years, there have been two sites contending for the project: Utah and Colorado. Lots of research has been done into environmental impact, land use, infrastructure, political support, atmospheric effects, etc. and this meeting was held to review all this work and choose a site. Local politicians and university representatives had travelled from CO and UT to the lab to help plead the case for their respective states. It was a long day, but a good one, and a decision was indeed made. On a professional level, it was a satisfying day, because I was able to interact and contribute to the discussion in a productive manner. And, on a personal level, it was a good day because Kai had come out to help the Utah contingent in their presentation. I don't get to see Kai nearly as often as I would like since he left Japan. So, even though all we did was walk around the lab grounds a bit and chat, any time I get to see Kai is valuable time.

Friday night, polymorphism and I lit another bonfire in the backyard firepit. I love that my house came with a firepit, and using it makes me very happy. This week, I will admit that I have not slept as much as I have needed and, as a result, I ended up falling asleep outside by the fire. That was really nice.

Saturday, I was supposed to leave town. However, the best laid plans and all that good stuff... Instead, I spent the afternoon being productive and dealing with a lot of household stuff. Nothing so interesting there, I am afraid. At night, polymorphism and I went into the city to attend an Invader Zim party at the home of our beloved dictator, F4E. I will confess that, before getting the invite to this party, I had never even heard of Zim before. But now, I have been fully indoctrinated into the glory that is season one. And, to boot, I've been speaking like Zim (complete w/ hand gestures) all day...

[Other than talking like Invader Zim] Today has been quiet and mellow. Had long conversations with both cheshcat and resourceress. Went for a walk around the neighborhood with polymorphism. After the walk, I brought some comic books outside and sat on the lawn reading Great Lakes Avengers and Green Lantern. I'm still out here now, writing this entry on Arkham (my laptop) via wireless connection to the Event Horizon's network. The sun has just gone down and it is starting to get dark, so soon I will head inside to eat and prepare for the coming week.

So, then. That's my week in review. Much longer than I thought it would be, that's for sure. I need to start updating this thing more frequently, to avoid such behemoth entries. *smile* We'll see if it actually happens, but it is good to have goals...

[Not so] brief update

It's been awhile since I have written here. So, in keeping with my new seven day rule, here is a a rundown on what's been going on in the past week. Need to get it all out now before it becomes too late!

A week ago, I spent the holiday weekend moving The Kiddo from Queens to Bloomington-Normal, Illinois. I flew out to Queens on Friday, where I met up with resourceress at Kiddo's old apartment. We spent the night at Mom's, then took off Saturday afternoon. The trip was done in really good time. We did 2/3 of the driving on Saturday, so we got in much earlier than expected -- before sundown -- on Sunday. The original plan was to drive on Sat and Sun, then unload the truck on Mon. Instead, by the end of Sunday night, we had arrived, unloaded the truck, set up all the major furniture, helped design (and implement) the layout for the living room & dining room, returned the truck, and driven back to the Event Horizon. This was more than we had intended to accomplish... and in less time. Good deal! As a reward, resourceress and The Kiddo and polymorphism and I were able to enjoy a mellow holiday Monday. In the evening, The Kiddo drove himself home and resourceress flew back East. I miss her, of course, but we have plans to have her come back in just a few weeks... which gives me something to look forward to.

( Tuesday, after work, I drove down to Urbana to see Cassiopia )

Wednesday afternoon, there was a very interesting colloquium at the lab entitled Oil and the American Way of Life: Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Many of the commonly held myths that U.S. citizens hold about oil dependence were discussed and exposed, such as why reducing our dependence on foreign oil does not solve anything, why drilling in Alaska is irrelevant to the energy crisis, why a "free market " (read: de-regulated) for oil does not solve anything, and how the depletion of the world oil supply is likely to affect us in the coming decades. Good stuff. (The talk, anyway, not the actual subject matter)

Thursday was a decent day at work, followed by Poly Karaoke. Having been out of town for the first Thursday of the past two months, this was my first time attending the monthly karaoke session since March. I got to see some folks that I had not seen in awhile, which is always good, and I sang three songs (Only the Good Die Young, Who Can it Be Now?, and Take The Long Way Home). Fun times.

Friday, there was a big meeting at the lab with all of our U.S. collaborators. We want to build a second cosmic ray detector in the Northern hemisphere and, for the past two years, there have been two sites contending for the project: Utah and Colorado. Lots of research has been done into environmental impact, land use, infrastructure, political support, atmospheric effects, etc. and this meeting was held to review all this work and choose a site. Local politicians and university representatives had travelled from CO and UT to the lab to help plead the case for their respective states. It was a long day, but a good one, and a decision was indeed made. On a professional level, it was a satisfying day, because I was able to interact and contribute to the discussion in a productive manner. And, on a personal level, it was a good day because Kai had come out to help the Utah contingent in their presentation. I don't get to see Kai nearly as often as I would like since he left Japan. So, even though all we did was walk around the lab grounds a bit and chat, any time I get to see Kai is valuable time.

Friday night, polymorphism and I lit another bonfire in the backyard firepit. I love that my house came with a firepit, and using it makes me very happy. This week, I will admit that I have not slept as much as I have needed and, as a result, I ended up falling asleep outside by the fire. That was really nice.

Saturday, I was supposed to leave town. However, the best laid plans and all that good stuff... Instead, I spent the afternoon being productive and dealing with a lot of household stuff. Nothing so interesting there, I am afraid. At night, polymorphism and I went into the city to attend an Invader Zim party at the home of our beloved dictator, F4E. I will confess that, before getting the invite to this party, I had never even heard of Zim before. But now, I have been fully indoctrinated into the glory that is season one. And, to boot, I've been speaking like Zim (complete w/ hand gestures) all day...

[Other than talking like Invader Zim] Today has been quiet and mellow. Had long conversations with both cheshcat and resourceress. Went for a walk around the neighborhood with polymorphism. After the walk, I brought some comic books outside and sat on the lawn reading Great Lakes Avengers and Green Lantern. I'm still out here now, writing this entry on Arkham (my laptop) via wireless connection to the Event Horizon's network. The sun has just gone down and it is starting to get dark, so soon I will head inside to eat and prepare for the coming week.

So, then. That's my week in review. Much longer than I thought it would be, that's for sure. I need to start updating this thing more frequently, to avoid such behemoth entries. *smile* We'll see if it actually happens, but it is good to have goals...