Willy's memorial service:
Midway through August, Peter and I drove to Ithaca for Willy's memorial service. It was the first time I'd been back since he died, and it was a bit touch and go at parts. His only facebook description was "Love the blues, old rock and Southern rock. Hot cars, fast boats." and we had all of those - and a bunch of friends - down at Myers Park. Even the Corvette came, although dad couldn't exactly figure out how to disable the alarm system. Plus you could even hear some Journey from the next tent over during the sermon (which was welcome). I bet Willy was laughing. It was nice to meet up with Angie's kiddos, plus Florida cousin Jeff brought my great-grandfather up. He did very well for being in his mid-nineties! Made a couple prerequisite stops - wineries, Taughannock Falls, and the old lake house. That last one brought back a lot of memories, especially poking around for lake glass (which, I maintain, is still the best of the beaches I've been to anywhere). I was a very lucky kid, going up there during the summer. Anyway. Amidst what felt like a NY monsoon, Peter and I stopped by the Corning Museum on the way back. Still quite a cool place, considering I didn't remember much about it from my last visit years and years ago. Also we can check off another not-so-scenic overlook off the list. Woop.
Crazy weather lately:
First time the patio as actually flooded into the building! Excitement.
Apartment plumbing fiasco:
I mentioned to Wayne that our tub didn't drain one morning, and after clearing the plug he told us he was surprised at how much water was leaking out of the tap (duh, I've told him that since we moved in), and to move everything away from the plumbing access panel in the bedroom so they could fix it. I believe his words were "we may have to knock a hole in your wall." And they did. But in doing so, instead of being tidy about it like any reasonably person would expect, they sanded the hell out of the wall and didn't cover up anything. So when we came home, everything was gritty and covered in a ton of drywall. Including the sheets. My OCD and I were not happy campers but I think I've gotten most of it up by now. The new faucet isn't a terrible improvement, but it doesn't leak a gallon an hour now so I guess that's good!
All-Clad tour:
I took the All-Clad folks up on the tour they mentioned at the Seconds Sale, and brought 13 SWE (and other) people to check out what was happening. It was a really interesting site, and WAY less automated than I would have guessed. They're apparently working on that, though, and had ordered a huge new machine for the multi-gallon clambake pots and such. A lot of machine oil and a lot of buffing dust in the facility, and a LOT of really shiny awesome cookwear. Not everything is made at that site, but a fair amount is, and I was pretty impressed. I hope to plan one for next summer so we can see the new press!
Dorm burn:
CMU decided to show the efficacy of having a sprinkler in your dorm, so did two burns: one in which a wastebasket fire totally engulfed a mock dorm (complete with sofa and posters) in 2.5 minutes (!), and one in which the sprinkler went off about 30 seconds in. Pretty dramatic, but what's more, I later arranged a meeting with one of the guys in charge to talk about maybe measuring the air quality during next year's burn. He was super excited about it and also told us about other air quality efforts on campus, including what instrumentation they had and that not much of it is done on a regular basis. More interestingly, he said that a lot of the fume hood exhaust is exempt from regulation because it's low-capacity and is a research institution. Interesting! We'll see what else we learn in about a year's time. =)
Incubus concert:
Bought relatively expensive tickets for the recent Incubus concert here... this would be my third or fourth time seeing them, although Peter swore he doesn't recognize any of their songs. I thought it was a good concert, although the new CD is not as good as previous releases. Unfortunately, Peter was bored, and it seemed like every smoker in Pittsburgh was at the show, so it wasn't the greatest time ever. But still. Good.
Health:
I've been curious about a few of my biological details and finally got around to checking off a few. I got my blood sugar, cholesterol, vitamin D and probably other things tested for maybe the first time - everything was fine except that my cholesterol was higher than they would prefer. Since I don't eat that badly, I'm going to blame this one on genes (and possibly too many empty carbs). I also got my eyes tested again and it was pretty consistent with what I heard two years ago. This time I got a prescription, though, and although it's pretty weaksauce, I ordered some cheapo glasses off zenni.com and will have to go see a movie to test them out when they come. Wee!
Also:
As of Friday, I am a new Droid Incredible 2 owner! Yes, I will now be one of those addicted smartphone people. In preparation for my upcoming international travel, I wanted something that A) made international calls and B) could store maps and other useful things that could be zoomed in and out. Having all sorts of fun things to play with stateside didn't hurt either. I am currently in transition from utterly confused to passable noob, but hopefully that kicks in before next Friday.
Yeah, so here's the deal: Sept 16-29 I'll be in Greece meeting my advisor's lab, helping with a new experiment campaign (as much as a modeler can?), working, and sightseeing. I'm back in the burgh for one day, then I'm heading for a week of conferences in Orlando (also, my birthday!). So, busy busy! I now must pack!
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