Proper treatment will cure a cold in seven days, but left to itself, a cold will hang on for a week.
-- Darrell Buff
That's right, I'm sick again. This time it's Manyam's fault; he brought this one back from Las Vegas after Thanksgiving. So, I have a little enforced down-time to catch up on some projects -- some for work, and some (like this) for myself. :)
I also have a chance to re-cap the last few weeks (well, month, actually) of my life, or at least, the highlights. And, just for the record, I really hate being sick.
So, I'll start with an event re-cap. Over Veteran's Day, I went up to Santa Barbara to visit friends. It was a wonderfully quiet weekend. My only regret from that trip is that I didn't get to see James, but I'll try to correct that next week, when I pass through town on the way home for Christmas. My other regret from that weekend is that I didn't even start the homework that was due Tuesday. So, I had a painful two nights after I got back to SD.
The Saturday after that (the weekend before Thanksgiving), was interesting. I spent most of the morning helping Neil and Erica move (again). Argh. Down one flight of stairs, into a truck, over five miles, then back up two flights of stairs. Ungh. Did I mention they have a lot of stuff? I was sore after that one.
It also happens my Mom was in town for a DAR function. (Daughters of the American Revolution) So, after I got back from helping with the move, I had to get dressed in a slightly nicer way, so Mom and I could make our reservations at Piatti's. Mmmmmm. Good Italian food. Oh, yeah -- did I mention my older brother and his fiancee were starting a half-week visit that evening as well? Like I said, that was a full day.
On Sunday, we all went out to lunch before Mom struck out for Upland, and Sharon's home. (Mom and Sharon went to high school together, and as far as I know, they've always been friends. Sharon is practically my second Mom.) After that, Sean, Catherine and I went down to Balboa Park, and wandered around for a few hours. My legs were ready to kill me, what with the moving the previous day.
On Monday, I met one of our collaborators in the quantum computing project. And, I learned that I really do understand exactly what we're trying to do. I don't know what frightens me more -- the fact I had a day-long conversation with a theorist and understood it, or that I was able to make useful contributions to the conversation. Maybe I really am becoming a physicist.
I took Wednesday off, and the three of us here left for Upland. That night for dinner, we went to Medieval Times, a kind of wrestling-acting knights-in-shining-armor tournament / dinner place in Anaheim. The food was terrible, and the tournament was fun to watch. All in all, it was massively overpriced ($40 a head!), but worth the trip. We had a good time.
Thanksgiving. Turkey. Yum. 'nuff said.
I left Upland for San Diego on Saturday (and drove through a rainstorm on the way back down). I stopped off at Neil and Erica's place for dinner and then we went out to see the Harry Potter movie. It was worth the trip. As usual, the book was better, and I was happy to hear a little kid exclaim such after the movie was over.
And, on the Thursday after Thanksgiving, I attended my last required lecture EVER. That's right; I'm finally done with classes, after taking them for almost 21 years straight. From now on, my Ph.D. is nothing but research. I don't think I can put my elation into words. Trust me -- I've tried.
Well, that's what's going on in my life. In terms of other stuff, Neil gave me the Death-gate Cycle to read, and I'm currently putting the finishing touches on Visions of the Past, my wedding gift to Aaron and Jennifer Heisler almost (gulp) 8 and a half months ago.
Also, I'm looking to pick up a hammered dulcimer and teach myself to play the thing. I think it's about time I learned another instrument, so why not try a primitive piano? I'm going down to the House of Strings in downtown this weekend, and if I don't find anything there, there's a little place in Santa Barbara I'm going to try to find on my way through there next week.
And, I promise I'll write one more of these before I go home for Christmas.