Updates, miscellany, and the Summer Bat Tour Schedule

My life's been boring since my return from Jesustan, er... rural Georgia; that's why I haven't posted anything as of late. But to keep you updated, I submitted my first of two reports for my class ("Modeling of Heat Transfer Through & Around A Building Foundation Using WUFI 2D"); I was relatively happy with it. In case you care, WUFI is a piece of German heat and moisture simulation software that is in relatively common use in the building industry. It's well-known enough that my coworkers smile when I mutter under my breath, "I did it all for the WUFI. For the WUFI..."

Anyway, there are two more weeks of classes, and a three week exam period: I am planning on handing in my final report for this class at the end of that (five weeks from now, around April 21).

After that, my plan for the summer is to mostly be in Waterloo and do research, but I'm going to definitely take advantage of my open grad school schedule to go visiting. For instance, I have an airline credit that I need to burn off before mid-May; I will probably be spending a week in the Bay Area in the window of April 23-May 11. Chez Panisse in Berkeley, anyone?

During the last week of May, my old high school friend Psycho Security Guard will be flying out to Toronto, and we will be road tripping to Boston to go to the wedding of our friend Air Force Guy. My original plan was to drive across New York and Massachusetts. Then I realized: it would be a lot more fun, and a comparable drive, to drive out to Montreal, hang out for a few days, and then come down to Boston via Vermont/New Hampshire ("Hmmm. Buffalo. Montreal. Buffalo. Montreal. Yeeeaaah.... I think we have a plan..."). Crusher and Cat's wedding is also that weekend; I'll probably be spending the week after that in Boston. So if you're flying in for that shindig, extend your trip and hang out in Boston with me!

In August, I'll be back in Boston yet again--my old company has an annual symposium (nicknamed "Summer Camp"), which is both a 3-day seminar, as well as a big barbecue party in the boss's backyard. It's gradually grown over the years, to the point where there are now 200+ people milling about in the yard; culinary accoutrements now include multiple fryolators, a barbecue that could sleep two, and a walk-in beer cooler. Yeah, it's a good party. It means I'll be back in town the first week of August (as well as a window before or after that).

And speaking of travelling--if any of you have a desire to hang out in Toronto, well, I'm more than an hour away, so my offer of crash space is about as useful as saying, "Hey, you're visiting Boston? Sure, come and crash at my apartment in Springfield!" But seriously--I'd be more than glad to host people here in Waterloo.

In other news, I've been up in Canada for over six months now (since the end of August--it was six months at the beginning of the month). Wow. It actually feels both like a long time (i.e., it feels like I've become well and fully settled in), but also short ("Wow... is my grad school career already 1/4 over?"). I've heard that it takes about six months to get one's place all settled and set up to feel "right"--so I'm about on schedule.

Chief Grad Student remarked on the relatively warm weather recently, saying, "Man, this is almost like spring." To which I replied, "Yes, except for the part about the ground still being covered with snow, and the complete lack of greenery. Other than that, why yes, it's exactly like spring."

Sorry, no interesting photos this post--camera is still unhappy. I need to take care of sending it in for repairs.