Winter!

I am psyched! It is about 16 F outside and we had snow showers today. Not too much, but it looks purty. Kind of makes you want to run outside with your camera after midnight. The picture is of our neighbors light display. They had really cool Halloween deco too , but I missed the photo.

The lapse in blogging can partially be blamed on my friend Tak being in town last weekend for his convocation. Congrats, Tak! The rest is due to my continuing obsession with my current project and occasional pauses for bursts of Christmas shopping. The time goes too quickly, but I think I can finish up most of my shopping tomorrow. Hope you all are are gearing up for a nice holiday. Happy holidays and safe travel!

I'll see if I can manage a couple posts from the road. Eric is going to spend some time with his folks after Christmas. Coming back it will be just me and the kitties, sort of a twist on "Travels with Charley". I'm sure much fun will be had by all.

Winter is here! 

Zoom!

Woh! Has it really been that long since I last posted?
Well, life in its predictably twisted way has not been boring in the last month. Let's go to the highlights:
Arizona
- interesting meeting, beautiful part of the country
- flat tire on my rental car up Mt Hopkins in the rain at 11:30 pm during a power failure that killed the security gate...nice 4k walk in the dark up to the dorm. National was really nice about it, too. Because the tire couldn't be patched, they asked me to drive it in on the spare. Yeah, all the way to Tucson at sub-Granny velocities. Fun times.

Thanksgiving
- went to my Aunt and Uncle's place in Ohio
- spent 5 mind-numbing hours creeping through fresh snow in Indiana
- yummy food
- spent lots of quality time with my 10-year-old cousin
- learned the complex history of the Bionicles

Thankfully the return trip was uneventful. We just got our car out of the body shop so seeing the cars accumulating in the ditch on the way out was a little unnerving to say the least.

Other than travelling, I've been completely lame though. I'm still learning the ropes on my new projects and trying to keep on top of things. Hopefully I'll have more interesting news to share now that I'm getting more settled here.

positive energy

Hey football fans! It's Monday night!

Cinci is winning! Yeah! So growing up in southern Ohio I have put up with more than my share of Bengals fans, but it's actually nice to see them doing well. I actually have two Broncos receivers on my fantasy team, but I've already won my match so I can be objective. :-)

Sorry for the previous negative post but last week really sucked. This week is looking up. My office situation at work is rapidly improving and I'm now gearing up for a science meeting. We *might* even be able to have the car repaired while I'm out of town. Hold your breath.

The past weekend showed a resurgence of summerlike weather and I made it out on the bike for a couple hours. Turns out Navy Pier is only a short ride away, but chock full of pedestrians. I have only biked nearby and along the lakefront, but it's really easy to get around so far. I left the shore a couple miles North of home, but found a bike lane South and had an easy ride home. Well, the potholes beat up my shoulders pretty good (no shocks on my road bike), but my arms/hands were fine - gel-padded gloves are the best money I've ever spent.

The main topics of Monday lunch with the high energy physics crowd are physics politics, US politics, and baseball. Today, Jon Stewert's appearance on Crossfire came up. Not surprisingly, the only people at the table familiar with it were myself another younger fellow and one other guy. Is it a terrible thing that the most unbiased and possibly only source of news that many people my age watch is a show on Comedy Central? Is is disturbing that the older generation seems to be entirely disconnected from this phenomenon. Of course, watching the Daily Show is also cable dependent. But sometimes it worries me that most of news is only presented to the over 40 crowd? Do we really have no medium other than the web? Do we really not have the time or energy to care? What is the media? (ha ha, just watched Matrix 3) But really, if everyone I consider a sensible person completely ignores the mainstream media, what does that mean?

Anyway, next week will be interesting. I have two opinions on the outcome depending on whether your'e playing straight or pot odds.

Life is never boring?

Hi all,
I had a super weekend!!
Oh, tonight's beverage is the Yellowtail Shiraz again. Can't beat cheap, good and readily available down the block.
Anyway, Eric and I went back to Maryland this weekend for the wedding of two of our very good friends. It was beuatiful, went off without a hitch, and I had lots of good intentions of blogging when we got back. For the girl party, we went duck pin bowling!...Then heading home we were supposed to fly out Sunday night, but, of course, the reservation was screwed up (tried to use my miles) and we had to stay over at the airport and hop the early flight on standby Monday morning (=barfood at 11 pm get up at 4 am). SO that was annoying and yet completely forgotten because Monday night our (new) car was rear ended by a utility truck and so I spent part of Tuesday duct-taping the rear indicator light and part of the bumper back on. (Have to try to preserve the aerodynamics of our fuel efficient machine!)
And now, Eric is in the air headed back to Maryland for a presentation tomorrow, and so I have regressed to watching bad TV and devouring M&Ms ( and blogging).

What amazes me at this point in our relationship is the speed with which either one of us can rebound instantly to our individual (=spouse-irritating) tendencies when the other is out of town. It's an amazingly flexible response. Like memory wire. There is some part of our lone bachelor/ette selves that will never leave us and snaps back into place at the least reprieve.

I will post a link to photos from the wedding so stay tuned. Hopefully the weekend will be a little less rocky.

Posting

So if you guys want to comment, do the anonymous post and you dont' have to eneter a username. Let me know if this doens't work, but I tried it out from Eric's computer and it seems to be okay. Anybody should be able to comment.

happy land

"When I was a little man
Playdough came in a little can
I was Star Wars' biggest fan
Now I'm stuck without a plan
GI Joe was an action man
Shaggy drove the mystery van
Devo was my favorite band
Take me back to my happy land"

~ The Aquabats

Beverage: Yellow Tail Shiraz 2004

Mmmm...Saturday evening of a beautiful blue sky day...broiled tilapia for dinner...nice glass of red. It all sounds so classy except for what you can't see, which is that for lack of an end table I've set my glass of shiraz on a cat scratch post.

So the blogging petered out for a while because a) I caught a cold, b) I've had a mad amount of stupid errands to fit into my evenings, and c) I learned that apparently you all can't post comments without giving signing in. I think I'll set up a bogus account and post it. That way you can comment without going to the bother or inconvenience. Half the point of this was to keep in touch, so I'll come up with some solution. I was considering moving the blog, but this is one of the better sites. Anyway, to make up for the lag this may run quite long.

I'm not sure what inspired the Happy Land quote other than a recent burst of listening to The Aquabats again. (Seriously, if you have any liking for quirky rock/ska they're pretty dang awesome) It seemed to tie in with my general mood though. Things are going to be good here, but they're not quite there yet. I'm not quite comfortable, don't quite have my offices/work environments set up yet. I'm still acquiring the accounts, information, general knowledge necessary to work and just to function on a daily basis here.

At the same time I struggle with the concept of comfort. Comfort, or more accurately, the pursuit of comfort, can distract from the task at hand. I can always tell when I'm not well focused on what I'm doing because that's when I begin to notice discomfort. If I'm truly absorbed in the problem at hand, comfort issues just don't matter. Comfort is a dangerous thing; it allows us to grow lax and lethargic. Once a person gets comfortable it gets harder and harder to explore, to push the limits of experience. Comfort was most of the reason to leave Maryland. I was really getting quite cozy there. Is that what life is about, the pursuit of comfort? Or is it about the pursuit of discomfort, searching out the unknown, untested, and untried?

Apparently I'm solidly in the discomfort camp. Just ask my mother, I've always been a bit of a stoic. But what's so terrible about comfort? Hasn't the pursuit of comfort, or at the very least, ease, driven much of our technology? And a certain amount of comfort is important for survival and the freedom to spend time on more esoteric endeavors. Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan, but too much comfort makes me uneasy at some fundamental level. Maybe because it's a relative measurement. There is no "too comfortable" just like there's no "too happy". That's why they are pursuits. There is always more and better to be had. How do you judge success? It's like number soup. The more you eat, the hungrier you are.

Also, comfort and happiness have the drawbacks of putting a person in a position where they have something to lose. Doesn't being comfortable just mean you have more to worry about? I don't know, it's all sort of silly, but in some odd way it makes me happy to have put myself in a position where I am not comfortable. But I wonder now if it is going to get harder every time. Am I going to reach an age where I have too much comfort or too much at stake to push my limits and to do new things? I hope not, but it's clear at that there is no path back to Happy Land. Onward and upward, I guess. Well, this is all too serious for a Saturday night, perhaps.

On a lighter note, I really need to go out with the camera. Our neighbor's halloween display simply can't be described in words. Also, fried twinkies are apparently a delicacy aorund here. Anyone ever had one? Oh that's right no one can comment. Maybe I should get that account set up.

Beverage: Navarro Correus Malbec 2002 (Mendoza, Argentina)
Mmmm...excellent finish, but not as rich in aroma as my favorites.

I'm now an Illinois resident. We made the much dreaded trek to the DMV today. Even with driving there, getting title/reg and license (including taking the written exam...perfect score!! woohoo!), and putting the plates on the car, it only took two hours. New record. I feel like I spent significant portions of my life at the VA and MD vehicle centers. Anyway, the important part was getting the voter registration done. IL may not be a swing state, but I'd like to be in the tally all the same. I'm getting tired of "w" putting on that deer in the headlights look every time he gets a question he wasn't prepped for.

work

I started work Monday and am psyched! There is a lot to be done, but I think it's going to be really interesting. I saw the site picked for the prototype telescope for the first time. Not incredibly secluded, but it has some surrounding trees - might help shield from background light. Once there is anything to look at, I'll try to take some pictures. But I think I have to file a form for that...maybe not.

I don't exactly have a desk yet...but I did finish orientation and got a real ID. Also took my first drug test. Interesting process - they go to great extents to protect the integrity of the sample. The tech told me he used to test football players, including the Bears the last time they won the Super Bowl. Never thought I'd have much in common with The Fridge.

Music, music, music

Beverage: Rosemount Estates (Aus.) Shiraz (Thanks, Leora!! Very tasty)

Mission accomplished! I solved my curtain rod holder issue by swapping the short holders with the longer ones I already put up for the windows without blinds that stick out. What a pain though! These walls are real plaster. I think I'm getting screwdriver elbow.

Eric and I wandered downtown for the afternoon. This weekend Chicago is offering both The World Music Festival and The Celtic Festival. Wandering between the two was occassionally confusing, but in general the Celtic side had a lot more beer and hornpipes.

This was my first sight of Millenium Park - the stage looks amazing, but no idea how it sounds yet. No one was playing when we went through. There is another area that will become an Olympic-sized skating rink later in the Fall. It's very reminiscent of the rink at the DC sculpture garden with surrounding eateries and gits shops. There is also a large fountain made of two large rectangular towers with water pouring over the sides and onto the plaza. A gigantic video of a face appears on each of them. It eventually puckers up and spits out water - kids were loving this. Should have had the camera.

One of the things I remember loving about Chicago is the abundance of summer festivals, neighborhood street fairs, and the like. For example, just in our own neighborhood something has been going on ever since we got here. Last weekend was Around the Coyote, a showcase of local art galleries, artists, and studios with a few dance, poetry and theater events thrown in the mix. Oh, and the bike show at the bar around the corner. There must have been several hundred motercycles-old, new, purist, designer, you name it- lined along the street. This weekend is a craft fair which we may check out tomorrow. I fear, however, that most of this may be over soon since the summer is waning. Guess we'll have lots to look forward to next summer.

Party photos!

Pics from Julie's Party
Sorry, the quality on some of these isn't optimal. I didn't do anything fancy with thumbnails yet, so you'll just have to look at each separately for now.

Beverage: Leinenkugel Oktoberfest Lager (Being close to Wisconsin isn't a terrible thing)

Today's goal was to finish hanging curtains, but I was foiled by badly installed blinds. The set in the bedroom are actually the wrong size and extend past the width of the window. They're hung above the window instead of inside the window well. Unfortunately, my hardware for holding the rod doesn't extend far enough from the wall to allow the curtains to hang freely over this setup. I'll have to pick up some longer rod holders at the hardware store first. In the meantime I'll see about getting party pictures up on our website.

Unpacking to be done 

Moving In

We moved in last Thursday. There is still a little unpacking to do...

The movers had an interesting time with our furniture. They tried to put my shaker table together upside down. I shouldn't have been surprised to discover that they did manage put the futon together upside down. Once they left we took it apart again and then once more since the rails were on backwards to boot.

Our place is great - wood floors, high ceilings, and lots of windows. I'll post some pics once we get the worst of the rubble out of sight. We have a big front window and a nice deck out back that gets sun most of the morning. I have hopes for growing peas next spring since our neighbers on the alley have managed a good variety of flowers and vegetables.

I made it out cycling yesterday and found myself downtown in maybe fifteen minutes. Not bad.

Today was the first day we had broadband working. A house just doesn't feel like home without internet access. We didn't even get the phone line installed until today, so I was really stuck all weekend with no e-mail or news except the bits that could be scavanged using neighboring wireless LANs. Thank you whoever you are for not applying the security settings.

This is one of the things I have missed about the midwest - big puffy floaty clouds. This shot is from our back porch.

Going away party . You guys are the best! Thanks to Julie for hosting. The recycling bin was rather impressive the next day.

First Post

Looks like the Windy City just got windier!
How about that. 0 to blog in 15 minutes. Now if I can just figure out how to post pics...