Given the importance/value of some of the pictures for this Web page, I have included a "COSPAR picture archive." Click here for a link to all the pictures taken on this trip, at their original resolution(s).
I flew (And BOY were my arms tired! ( :P :P )) down to Pennsylvania, first—to my parents's place. There, I was able to take a picture of my bike:
The "oil stain" is from my Dad's 57 Chevy—which is something I am going to continue to believe/convince myself. :) (Actually, I don't think the bike IS leakin'—I did all those gaskets, some by hand. . . .)
It's really a remarkable bike—a 1975 Suzuki RE-5. It has a ROTARY ENGINE, 132 h.p. (with the new exhasut), and weighs 902 lbs. (My Dad calls it "the afterburner." :) ;) ) There are probably less than 250 of these bikes left runnin', in North America.
On the drive up to Montreal, I stopped to visit one of my oldest friends (as in, one of the friends I have had the longest—NOT as in, "chronological age," 'n stuff ( :) ;) )). He lives in the Albany area; I knocked on his door at 3:18 PM on a Saturday. (More on why/HOW this could even POSSIBLY be relevant, later. :) ;) ) He wasn't home.
I started driving along—and then realized that I was getting low on petrol. I stopped at an exit for federal route 4. (I have to apologize, here: I MISSED a pic of Albany, shrouded in a remarkable heat haze—like a giant flower. (I was to learn later--from a "native"--that this [location] is the BEST place to photograph Albany.) -I didn't know that at the time . . . I only knew that I missed a REALLY good pic—sorry. :(
Once on route 4, I started seeing signs for a (quite near) Troy, New York—and suddenly realized just where I was, 'n stuff. (I had spent--TOTALLY WASTED--some years of my life—at RPI/HVCC. (. . .))
(WARNING: A "shaggy dog 'ramble'" ensues. -For more interesting stuff, just ignore this next block of text, and go onwards to the (actually) interesting stuff. :) ;) )
In fact, that bit was so pointless, I put in onto another link. Click here if ya' actually want to read it—I wouldn't bother, though. :) ;)
Farther along, I saw a sign for Lake George. Now, I thought—WHO do I know in Lake George? :) :)
I took an unplanned stop . . . and I got to see some doggies. :) :) This is Snowy. For a while, there, Snowy was NOT doing all that well. (. . .) :( :( :( :( I was MORE than happy to see 'im doing MUCH better:
:) :)
And this is Lady Savannah. :) :) She likes to have her head scratched. :) :)
This was the first time I got to meet Savannah. :) :)
And this is Maggie. She's just a puppy—and VERY . . . energetic. :) ;)
And here's like, a dude and dudette. :) :) -They're going to like, get married, 'n stuff:
-I wish 'em luck with that. -My experiences weren't. . . . (DON'T rant about marriage, John—people DON'T want to hear that. . . . ( ~;) ))
Prouder than perhaps anything else (at this conference—if not in my entire LIFE), was my ability to navigate Montreal traffic. It was *HORRENDOUS*. It was chock-a-block (gridlock) at midnight. (!) With little warning, one had to (frequently) change roads [through intersections]—to even keep on the "autoroute" one was on. (!) -And some things one just couldn't DO!! I mean, one had to get over—in less than a quarter mile, and the other lane was just a wall of cars. (. . .) /end rant ~:) :P
Finally, I pulled over, and met this friendly dude (I really wish I couldn't thanked him again/properly, somehow. (. . .)) at a McDonalds. ( :P :P ) HE was able to give me the correct directions to my hotel. For a while, there, I just stood there in the parking lot, relaxing and breathing the air (Air in the cities really IS better in Canada—c.f. "Canadian Bacon." :) ;) )—feeling like I was alive. Having spent the last eight years at the university of alaska fairbanks, it has been a LONG time since I have felt that.
Here is a picture of my hotel room—15 foot french doors, 'n all:
It was called the "XIXe siècle"—which, in faggoty french means, "19th century." The hotel was INCREDIBLE. (!!) -I can't remember staying in a nicer place. Ritzy, remarkable architecture—and the woman behind the counter found it very endearing that I won the 2005 Red Green Regatta. :) ;)
Canada RuLz.
:) :)
On to the actual conference.
Here is a picture of Michael's poster:
(I was like, a co-author, 'n stuff.)
And here is a picture of my poster, 'n stuff:
I haven't felt so good about a poster [presentation] since the one I presented at AGU 2002—and that one won an outstanding student paper award.
Please notice the "package of postcards" off to the left. They were of pictures made by a one Dr. Jon Genetti—our local visualization genius and visionary. I had something like 25--or was it 50?--of these things printed up—and I couldn't "keep them on the shelves." :) :) -Everybody and their brother wanted one. :) :) -Here is what the picture looks like close up:
-Rocks, don't it? (Please note that this picture was generated entirely from simulation results.)
:) :)
And here is a picture of me in front of Michael's poster.
-Better than mortal woman deserves, eh?
:) ;)
Oh. I almost forgot to mention. (. . .) :) :)
The higher one climbs in science, the fewer Americans one sees. The reasons for this I don't care to go into at the moment; however, it is a "fact of [scientific] life." Well, whenever I run into, like, foreign peeps, 'n stuff—I always try to practice my "skills" in their language(s). (I always feel a sense of accomplishment at this. :) ) So, it was my pleasure to say "RHINOCEROS" in:
-Flemish
-Romanian
-(two) dialects of Arabic
-Japanese
-Finnish
-Swedish
-Chinese
-Portugese (It's been a long time since I heard that word.)
:) :) ;) ;)
On to more of the COSPAR 2008 Conference, 'n stuff.
