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Friday, July 29th, 2011
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5:02 am - Vacating again
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1) Why are there flights at 5h40?
2) Why am I stupid enough to use them when I could fly later?
3) Why do people decide to take 3-year-olds with Existential Demands on these flights?
4) Am I currently suffering from mold allergies or a microcold?
5) Will I be able to spend the next few hours asleep, given the existence of (3) and the fact that (4) prevented all but three hours of sleep last night?
6) Will Tea Party types vote for the next great depression while dressed in 18th century Bostonian clothing?
Hopefully the universe will unfold as it should.
current mood:  tired
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| Thursday, July 7th, 2011
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7:43 am - Last Night's Activities
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1) Discovered lunatic on balcony and could not persuade him to leave (but at least I had moved to Vancouver).
2) Engaged in endless debate over whether or not Tim Horton or Country Style home doughnut making kits (for the frying pan) were better. Discovered that the CS version had killed at least one person. It was in London (Ontario), this time.
Correlated to this, in waking life:
1) move towards more exercise later in the day
2) attempts to start the working day earlier
current mood:  annoyed
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| Tuesday, July 5th, 2011
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7:37 am
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Have spent all night trapped in a city state on the isthmus between Germany and Scandinavia as a result of not being able to understand the train timetables. Was forced to try the local food (two courses, both of which were challenging to think of as being edible) and the local drink (fermented onion juice with lots of salt).
Resolved: not to commit exercism just before going to bed.
current mood: tired
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| Thursday, February 24th, 2011
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10:12 pm - Creative Writing Workshop
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Have just been to first and last non-DexCon creative writing workshop.
1) Instructor bought stacks of own work and talked about it for 12.5% of workshop.
2) Instructor dropped names of famous writing workshops like a pigeon drops shit.
3) Instructor was completely unprepared and basically rambled pointlessly for 4 hrs.
4) Instructor apparently has day job at university teaching creative writing to grad students.
Only worthwhile thing: discovering a particularly good US short story writer [Denis Johnson]
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| Sunday, August 22nd, 2010
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9:48 pm - Things
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1) After looking at coverage of the Islamic Centre Controversy, I am getting the feeling the anti-centre protest marches are the 21st century American equivalent of the Nazi torchlight rallies. This is not to say that the marchers are Nazis, but rather to suggest that they could be those who initiate, support, and defend the next descent of an ostensibly civilized first-world society into homicidal or genocidal madness.
2) After scanning many of my uncle's slides, I was reminded of his meeting with Hitler. While cycling near Wuppertal on a holiday visit to Germany, my uncle was waved at as AH passed by in a car.
3) No other thoughts or feelings re: Hitler or Nazis have otherwise crossed my mind in the last few weeks.
current mood:  distressed
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| Sunday, July 25th, 2010
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10:40 pm - The two greatest heroes in the war on terror (so far)
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Julian Assange and the guy who's waiting until they come and Guantanamoize him.
Soon, more brave men and women must step forward and do their duty, instead of what they are told.
current mood:  impressed
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| Sunday, May 30th, 2010
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10:56 pm - 85% success
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I have managed to remove 85% of the books that were accused of being too heavy. Over the next week, the last 15% will be boxed and the apartment will be dechaosed. On Saturday, a UHaul van will be used to remove the last of the offending material. By Sunday, the total removed will have been counted. Next: getting a house after getting tenured, and not facing financial collapse as a result of being fired.
current mood:  accomplished
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| Friday, May 28th, 2010
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1:04 am - Why I Am Doomed
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What will be done tomorrow:
1) Go to staff meeting
2) Make sure questions are ready for student defence on Monday
3) Begin packing thousands of books, ensuring that all boxed books are Noted in the catalogue.
4) Rent locker and begin loading it by means of many, many car trips.
5) Ensure that approx. 2000 books are removed from the bookcases in the LR by Saturday at 2pm.
What will also be done tomorrow:
6) Best booksale in province, tomorrow at 9h00.
The major worry:
Will the life-wrecking back injury occur tomorrow?
current mood:  worried
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| Wednesday, May 26th, 2010
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5:52 am - Today
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There will be my talk, plus going to the talks of many others. This will be followed by hours of travel, and then hours and hours of heavy lifting.
The food at this con has been Unfortunate, which is sad on account of how easy it is to find good food once one leaves the con. I managed to get a seat at the banquet which was at the end of the room that was 5C warmer than it was at the front (where it was only 30C).
I am beginning to think that the trajectory of my career reflects my tendency to lose to 6-year-olds at chess.
Soon:
rehersals
packing
mystery sausages and imitations of croissants
current mood: busy
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| Tuesday, May 25th, 2010
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11:36 am - The choice at lunch
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1) Brave the 29C and walk 1km to the mall nearby.
2) Eat in AC'd comfort at the deeply disgusting Laval cafeteria.
Given how good food in QC generally is, the breakfasts offered at Laval are beyond appalling.
current mood: annoyed
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| Monday, May 24th, 2010
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9:54 pm - Conferring
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I am conferring.
I have not managed to do anything negative that outweighs the positive (I think), but discovered (after 8hrs of conferring today) that Something (unfixable) Had Happened to my hair. Since I was among the mathematical, I doubt that anyone noticed.
After visiting the street of butchers and bakers in Quebec, I was almost overcome with despair, on account of having to return soon to a lace where food is treated with contempt. Also, the have architecture here and people know how to dress (!!!). Absoluteley no books have been purchased, so far.
Sadly, there has been a heat wave coincident with the con. Walking the endless sunbaked plains between buildings at Laval is ultraunfun, but the buildings are very well conditioned. There is also an abundance of Modernism and Architecture on campus.
Quebec is Advanced. Where I live is Unadvanced. I would prefer to live in a place that was Advanced.
current mood: busy
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(2 comments | comment on this)
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| Friday, May 21st, 2010
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8:34 am - All I need to do before leaving is:
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1) pack
2) vacuum and perform last tidying
3) sign off on student report
4) finish talk
5) save all relevant documents to USB
6) rent storage unit for next Saturday
7) rent U-Haul van for next Saturday
8) make arrangements to have persons come next Saturday and help with moving bookcases
9) dispose of recyclables
10) report on status of restaurant for con this summer
11) Blue Cross for dentist visit fees
12) mail LRB subscription
Once all of this is done, the driving can begin.
current mood: busy
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(comment on this)
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| Tuesday, May 18th, 2010
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10:24 pm - As if I needed something else to worry about...
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The landlord has become Gravely Concerned about the weight of books in my apartment.
What may happen next:
1) May need to get many books put into storage soon. May need to do this instead of going to next meeting. Will need to find a good storage space.
2) May have the option of moving to an apartment downstairs in September, but this may be less than ideal if the apt is smaller.
3) Could seek a larger apt, but there aren't very many.
4) Could get a house, but if I were sacked next year and then appealed, I might have to sell in two years and then may lose money. Then again, a house would have the right amt of storage space. There are currently few houses on the market that meet requirements. One meets structural requirements but is too large and expensive. Another is affordable but in a depressing neighbourhood and would need basement AC. A third is around the corner, but they have been trying to sell it for years and it needs much interior work AND it has a less than ideal interior.
5) May spend part of tomorrow putting together a big donation for the local book sale.
current mood: annoyed
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9:46 am - Continuing to exist in The Endless Wastes
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The Endless Wastes remain endless. I shall be able to escape for the first time in weeks on Friday, this time to Quebec City for the annual meeting. I am expecting to encounter Food for the next week.
I have been tasked with finding a restaurant where 40 can be served without shame in TEW. This has proven to be difficult, as there are only three which would would not cause us to lose face once the last course had been consumed.
Taking pics in RAW means more time spent developing and has also demonstrated the worth of 32GB cards. Over 1100 usable pics were taken over the last 5 weekends. Fortunately, only approx. 40% needed individual attention. Some have been posted in the other place.
Progress towards non-unemployment remains slow. It does not help that I have been captivated by the fact that my methods for checking models for forest fires have greatly wider applicability. Unfortunately, a combination of:
a) lack of concrete results, because
b) I am finding it hard to get researchers to consider using statistics for the first time on their highly varying data because
c) I am not good at selling and
d) many physicists and engineers do not understand the mathematical tools they are using at a basic level (no, really, it's true; watching them model some types of data is like watching a baby play with a loaded pistol, methodology-wise)
means that I may never get any of it published and it will all get re-discovered by someone who is tenured and has a grant.
current mood: aggravated
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| Wednesday, April 28th, 2010
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10:45 am - Sigh
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Not enough is getting done, although some progress is being made. In theory, I should have been able to finish 3 papers by the end of this month that, if published, might save my career. Instead, little progress has been made and I have been obsessed with getting down on paper my One Big Idea which, if I ever get it published, would get me a one-way ticket to Ontario and to a better job.
Soon, there will be meetings and much automobile travel to exotic places such as Quebec City, Lac Sagueneay, and Waterville ME (why? why would anyone hold a scientific conference in Waterville?). There may also be travel to Durham NC, although I still have heard nothing of this. Volunteering will also be forced upon me at various times.
Also, according to the net,
1) the Osborn Mfg Co of Cleveland no longer builds complex foundry machinery but instead is now one of the world's largest suppliers of industrial brushes
2) the vast Osborn Mfg works has a For Sale sign on it
3) this is also true for the vast semi-abandoned complex that once housed Cincinnati Milacron
4) process cheese is more unpleasant than one might have imagined
current mood: apathetic
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| Tuesday, April 13th, 2010
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5:35 pm - The cepelinai
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It consists of mystery meat, lard, and milk curd in a thick potato flour dumpling shell that is served with bacon and a sour cream & butter sauce. The challenging part is to eat a whole one without becoming ill. It was once served to guests at farms in Lithuania before a day of back-breaking manual labour.
Lithuanians also enjoy eating chocolate-covered cottage cheese.
In spite of all of this, I still find the North American jelly roll (whose first two ingredients are corn syrup and hydrogenated vegetable oil) to be worse.
current mood:  nauseated
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(1 comment | comment on this)
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| Saturday, April 3rd, 2010
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11:35 am - Vacating
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I am vacating. Criterion Collection dvds have been scarce, but many Dark Satantic Mills are being encountered. There will be more encounters today and tomorrow. Movie Gallery seems to have clued in that dumping Things at 5/unit is not as good as cleaning out the best stuff and raising the prices n what remains.
current mood:  determined
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| Tuesday, March 30th, 2010
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7:01 pm - Vexed on vacating
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I could spend the Easter weekend away or at work.
Pro work:
1) might be able to get a lot of work done, as I seem to be unusually productive today
2) would save a lot of money by not spending it on car rental, gas, etc.
3) would avoid having a big stack of Things to do when I get back
4) could clear out some work-related logjams which may help save job
5) just came back from a trip and have not been as productive as needed since
Pro vacating:
1) could shoot and film dark satanic mills
2) would disrupt ingrained patterns (but seem to have done that already)
3) could take advantage of possible once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to buy over 100 used DVDs including many Criterion Collection films at rock-bottom prices
4) work-related logjams can be dealt with 4 days later
current mood:  contemplative
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| Monday, March 8th, 2010
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9:57 pm - A cautionary experience
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Yesterday, I visited a used bookstore in a barn where everything was overpriced. Nothing was purchased.
Several miles up the road, I suddenly noticed a sign advertising OLD BOOKS in a location that has not been identified on Google Maps or in various other places (e.g. The Leeper List). There was a large older person outside, unloading boxes and wheezing emphezymatically.
As I entered, I noted that it was almost impossible to identify a way in due to the massive piles of books. When I did manage to get in, all of the narrow aisles were partially blocked with even more stacks of books. The engineering section had some very interesting Things, all of which were overpriced. It was clear that they had been even more overpriced about 20 yrs previously, when the owner would have been able to get inside and reach the shelves (approx. 90% of the store was impossible for the owner to get to, on account of his size). There were more engineering books hidden behind stacks of other books in the aisle, but I could not get to them. There were also books behind the books on the shelves.
I asked the owner if he had any Moody's Industrial Manuals, as this was the kind of place that might have them. He said that he did have one, that it would take 30 mins to dig out, and that it would sell for US 1500. I suggested that I would instead buy a technical report to one of Laurier's Parliamentary Committees which appeared to be the result of an industrial espionage expedition to European metallurgical facilities in 1904. It was pricey (US 35), but so intriguing and esoteric that I could not leave without it.
Conclusions:
1) I must not become that person.
2) If there is a sale at that store at which all books in that store are sold for US 1/each to all who are willing to dig through them, then I will cancel all classes, rent a car, drive all night, and queue to be there at the opening.
current mood: contemplative
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| Friday, March 5th, 2010
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12:50 pm - Urbanizing
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I am enjoying Not Being In The Endless Wastes. Unfortunately, I must continue heading Wastewards and expect to arrive in the Endless Desolation on Sunday. I have just lunchd locally in a way that would not be possible in the Wastes. Next: examining the homes of the rich and the wealth that they collected.
current mood:  enthralled
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