I've finally settled into my basement room properly. Thanks to Mary and Bryce, I now have a bed! And I cleared the junk off the little desk I bought, and have properly set up my laptop. And got a chair.
One of the things with moving is that you discover some gems that you've had in storage for ages. Now and then I get these writing fits, where I decide I want to write a travel book, or a book of short stories, or a great novel, based loosely on a bunch of the adventures I've been on. Then I start going through my old writing, invariably starting with the Leatherback Turtle story from Ghana, and then get pulled into reading all those adventures again, and no writing happens at all (I found some of my Ghana stuff, that's where this all started today).
For those of you who didn't know me back in undergrad and before, I sent out a roughly weekly e-mail from my time in Ghana. Those e-mails are great. Michelle printed them all off and gave them to me as a booklet when I got back, which was fantastic since I sent all those e-mails from my old uni account which is now long gone. Anyways, reading through them again I noticed my writing style was quite different back then - much more colourful, more entertaining and humourous than most of the stuff I've written since. Maybe the PhD strangled all the fun out of my writing, or maybe California impaired my sense of humour. At any rate, those old e-mails are waaaaay better than anything that's turned up on this blog in the past year. It was also a tough year, though, so maybe that had something to do with it too.
Anywho. I think I'll be doing mass e-mails from Fake Mars again. Two reasons: e-mail is slightly more personal and less public than Facebook or blogging. So if I have a rant about a living situation, I can vent without (hopefully) hurting anyone's feelings on Fake Mars. Second reason: I think I just have a better writing style when I'm writing to a person than to a blog or journal. Not sure why. I think the blog tends more towards my journal writings, which on re-read are like bad fan fiction, and the mass e-mails read more like Bridget Jones' Diary.
Oh, by the way, I am short-listed to be a fake astronaut, living in a habitat on Hawaii for 8 months! I'm pretty pumped about this. I'm doing an outdoor leadership school thing in Wyoming in September as a prep, so will start e-mailing after that. Stay posted!
Showing posts with label Waterloo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Waterloo. Show all posts
Saturday, August 2, 2014
Thursday, July 3, 2014
Waterloo Region Air Show
Jim had 4 spare tickets to the air show that he couldn't use, so he gave them to me and I got to take Big, Little and Danny out to see cool fighter planes and such this past weekend. Here's Little with the Sharkinator, which is what I assume this plane is called:
And another with the Thunder Pig:
And another with the Thunder Pig:
Is It Love Or Toxic Radiation?
Baby it's both, but who cares! Check out what came in the mail today! Thanks Mary!
In other news, I really need to find the battery charger for my proper camera.
Saturday, June 7, 2014
Nephew's make any day a good one
This is a bit late, but wanted to share. After a particularly disgruntling day, I went over to Bob & Nat's to borrow a copy of "The Giver". Little was just getting ready for bed, but hopped out, and we played a bit, and I gave him some coins from Europe which he added to his coin collection. As I was leaving, he called down the stairs "Dr. Mars, I hope you have a GREAT day tomorrow!" Thank you Liam, I hope you have a great day too! "Mommy, I hope you have a GREAT day tomorrow too!"
Thanks Liam!
Thanks Liam!
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
My 'guy' wins!
Ellie, Matthew and Rishi put in a request for Canadian maple syrup from my 'guy'! Waterloo maple syrup for the win! My maple syrup comes in re-purposed whiskey bottles, and is sold out of a neighbourhood garage. It's awesome. And then walking to work one day, I saw this:
Yep, that's someone's tree in their front yard tapped for collecting syrup. So many awesome things about my neighbourhood!
Yep, that's someone's tree in their front yard tapped for collecting syrup. So many awesome things about my neighbourhood!
Thursday, April 3, 2014
First Month Back
So it's been weird. I'm back in Waterloo. Living at home. Working at the Princess. Have met up with high school friends, uni friends, and visiting California friends. I've applied for a variety of jobs. I've hung out with family. Some highlights:
1. Spending 3 days with my nana, cooking for her, crocheting, and watching lots and lots of CTV news.
2. Projecting at the Princess again, and learning the new system there. Also, being introduced to Cheeses Murphy, the Cafe's 12am-3:30am grilled cheese awesomeness for the late night crowd's on the weekends.
3. Tours at the university, talks at CommuniTech and CIGI, and getting involved in the general energy of the region again.
4. Laser Quest, and this LEGO birthday cake for Big Liam's 11th birthday:
5. Rock Climbing at Grand River Rocks, and quality Honey time:
It still feels odd though. Missing my friends around the world, and looking forward to the start of the European adventure next week. It's been too long since I've been in an airport. Four whole weeks!
1. Spending 3 days with my nana, cooking for her, crocheting, and watching lots and lots of CTV news.
2. Projecting at the Princess again, and learning the new system there. Also, being introduced to Cheeses Murphy, the Cafe's 12am-3:30am grilled cheese awesomeness for the late night crowd's on the weekends.
3. Tours at the university, talks at CommuniTech and CIGI, and getting involved in the general energy of the region again.
4. Laser Quest, and this LEGO birthday cake for Big Liam's 11th birthday:
5. Rock Climbing at Grand River Rocks, and quality Honey time:
It still feels odd though. Missing my friends around the world, and looking forward to the start of the European adventure next week. It's been too long since I've been in an airport. Four whole weeks!
Friday, January 3, 2014
2013
2013 has been a crazy year, defined by some incredible highs and
incredible lows. The two defining moments for me were spaced only about 2
weeks apart, and pretty much cut the year in two: graduating from my
PhD in June, and the death of my dad in July.
It's been hard to write this blog again, because one of the main readers of the blog was my dad. He'd always be asking for updates which had been getting more widely spaced now that I'm not in Australia. But I'm going to start it up again. I have been pretty terrible at keeping in touch over the past six months and I have fantastic friends all over the world that I'd like to keep close to if possible. So here goes.
June saw me back in Australia for the PhD grad. Lucy was backpacking around New Zealand, so was able to come over for the ceremony and be the official photographer for the trip. June is generally terrible in Oz, but this week was most excellent. Seven other friends from UNSW also received their PhD's that week, and a number of my old undergrads also finished their bachelor's degrees. I got to stay back in the old house with Yael and Andy and the chickens, go to some of Elham's wedding celebrations, meet Alex and Sarah's new baby, catch up with the soccer ladies, and do all sorts of hanging out and sight seeing with John and Anna and a host of other friends.
I was back in California for about 1 week (in which Rishi & Amy threw me a most excellent birthday party!) and then decided I hadn't been on a plane in a while, and should go home for a long weekend to celebrate my dad's retirement (and Anna & Dylan's wedding, which was a bonus). I was planning on making it a surprise trip, but that kinda got stuffed up, which may have been for the best. My dad retired after 33 years working at Manulife Financial as one of their top IT guys. He'd worked on projects like the Y2K fix, and incorporating the systems of the companies that Manulife took over into their system. Maintaining the mainframes. He'd had a huge lunch in his honour earlier in the week which my mom and my brother got to go to, where there were speeches and thank yous and gifts. After his last day, the family and a couple of his close friends went out for dinner. It was just a good night - one of those perfect weekends. Everyone was having a good time and happy to be together. On the way to drop me at the airport on Sunday my dad was trying to get me to move back to Canada. I was all for quitting my job and moving home, except that I had a shot at going to Antarctica for work, and wanted to see if it would pan out first. He laughed, it was nice.
It's not often that people get a chance to hear all the awesome things about themselves while they're alive. In a way my dad was lucky. It's almost like he was given so much time to do the things he needed to, and when he had completed everything, his time was up. He had just retired, I had finished my PhD, Susan and Bob were both married over the past 2 years, Mary had just been promoted and moved to BC, and Lucy had finished her undergrad and was off in NZ on an adventure. The saddest bit is that him and mom didn't get to enjoy retirement together, but they did have a really fantastic last year together, so that's something to be happy for too.
On July 9th, my neighbour Jim (Waterloo neighbour) messaged me, saying my dad had been taken to the hospital and that I should call my mom. An afternoon of worry ensued, trying to contact my family and neighbours while trying to hold things together at work. My mom called while I was biking home - my dad had had a massive heart attack, and had died. It was very fast. He had gone out to bring in the trash cans, and collapsed. A number of people in the neighbourhood were around and came to his aid immediately, but there was nothing that could be done. It was fast, and he was surrounded by friends, and for that I'm grateful as well.
The next few weeks were difficult. We all flew home immediately, we had grief and sadness and needed each other. But it was also difficult because everyone has their own ways to grieve, and we also had to be strong for everyone around us who was also affected - the neighbours, and friends, and work colleagues - Waterloo is an incredible place, and the people there are amazing, and there are so many people who love my dad and my family.
Going back to California was difficult. I don't know what I would have done without my friends Mary and Mai in particular. Rishi was as good as he knew how, but often I was home alone, and my work project involved a lot of long days alone in the lab. There was a lot of crying on my bike rides to and from work, a number of days crying in the lab (so it was kind of good no one was working closely with me), and then to go home to an empty flat was really tough. Luckily Mary stepped in and came over a lot - one week she was at my place 5 out of 7 days, which was amazing. I couldn't deal with large crowds, but was alright with just one or two people, or in situations where I didn't have to talk.
Being outside also helped. Shortly after coming back to Cali, Mary and our friend Joyce and I did a very needed trip to Yosemite. We drove up to Yosemite after work on Friday night. We arrived at the trailhead to Half Dome at midnight, and started hiking. We hiked all through the night. It was quiet, and cool, and beautiful. We made it to the base of the dome in the pre-dawn light and started climbing up. We reached the top of Half-Dome just as the sun was rising:
It was incredible. The beauty, and the sense of accomplishment, and the physical exhaustion that clears your mind. We spent well into the afternoon getting back down to the valley, and then collapsed in a field, passed out in the tall grass, under the shade of some trees for a few hours.
Our plan had been to camp that night, but we'd had a nap, and were sore and tired and thought that actually sleeping in our own beds would be nice, so we proceeded to drive all the way back to the Bay Area.
I still had some bad weeks after that, but that trip definitely helped me adjust back to California, and give me some sense of my self back.
My dad was cremated, and we planned to bury him up north, near the cottage, so in October we all flew home again. We celebrated Thanksgiving up at the cottage and held my dad's burial in Baysville. This was much nicer than the funeral - fewer people, a nice service done by my mom's cousin Johnny, and a bit more of a celebration. Somehow that week gave me a feeling of closure. I don't think that makes any sense, but I don't know how else to describe the healing that happened in my heart that week. I'm generally a happy person, but until that point I hadn't been happy on the inside really again. After that, I was.
The rest of the year has felt a bit anti-climactic compared to all that. November saw me travel to Japan for the wedding of my friends Stanley and Stacey, and then stop over in Vancouver to visit my sister Mary and all my family and friends there. December saw me traveling home again for Christmas. In the background, at work, I've been working on a major tool installation in our labs as part of the project I'm responsible for. Just before Christmas we finally had completed the installation, commissioning, training, chemical preparation, and the first solar cells were completed using this new tool. Antarctica never materialized (well, we sent panels there, but no people).
With this tool installation now done, I feel as though I've completed all the hard work on my project, and it would be a good time to pass it over to someone else. I've given California a good run, and I've made some good friends that I'll keep for the rest of my life, but I feel the time is up. California has never felt like home to me the way that Canada, Australia, and even Ghana have. I'm not sure what exactly is next - I'd still like to be an astronaut when I grow up after all :-) - but I'm ready to jump off into the unknown again in order to figure it out. One thing about changing your education and career path as much as I feel I have in the last 10 years, is you don't fear change as much. So far it's tended to take me to good places, so I guess I'll just keep doing what feels right, and likely that will end up being right.
So that's the year. I'm sorry I haven't kept in touch as much as I should have. It's been a tough one. But the adventures shall continue in 2014. Stay posted!
It's been hard to write this blog again, because one of the main readers of the blog was my dad. He'd always be asking for updates which had been getting more widely spaced now that I'm not in Australia. But I'm going to start it up again. I have been pretty terrible at keeping in touch over the past six months and I have fantastic friends all over the world that I'd like to keep close to if possible. So here goes.
June saw me back in Australia for the PhD grad. Lucy was backpacking around New Zealand, so was able to come over for the ceremony and be the official photographer for the trip. June is generally terrible in Oz, but this week was most excellent. Seven other friends from UNSW also received their PhD's that week, and a number of my old undergrads also finished their bachelor's degrees. I got to stay back in the old house with Yael and Andy and the chickens, go to some of Elham's wedding celebrations, meet Alex and Sarah's new baby, catch up with the soccer ladies, and do all sorts of hanging out and sight seeing with John and Anna and a host of other friends.
I was back in California for about 1 week (in which Rishi & Amy threw me a most excellent birthday party!) and then decided I hadn't been on a plane in a while, and should go home for a long weekend to celebrate my dad's retirement (and Anna & Dylan's wedding, which was a bonus). I was planning on making it a surprise trip, but that kinda got stuffed up, which may have been for the best. My dad retired after 33 years working at Manulife Financial as one of their top IT guys. He'd worked on projects like the Y2K fix, and incorporating the systems of the companies that Manulife took over into their system. Maintaining the mainframes. He'd had a huge lunch in his honour earlier in the week which my mom and my brother got to go to, where there were speeches and thank yous and gifts. After his last day, the family and a couple of his close friends went out for dinner. It was just a good night - one of those perfect weekends. Everyone was having a good time and happy to be together. On the way to drop me at the airport on Sunday my dad was trying to get me to move back to Canada. I was all for quitting my job and moving home, except that I had a shot at going to Antarctica for work, and wanted to see if it would pan out first. He laughed, it was nice.
It's not often that people get a chance to hear all the awesome things about themselves while they're alive. In a way my dad was lucky. It's almost like he was given so much time to do the things he needed to, and when he had completed everything, his time was up. He had just retired, I had finished my PhD, Susan and Bob were both married over the past 2 years, Mary had just been promoted and moved to BC, and Lucy had finished her undergrad and was off in NZ on an adventure. The saddest bit is that him and mom didn't get to enjoy retirement together, but they did have a really fantastic last year together, so that's something to be happy for too.
On July 9th, my neighbour Jim (Waterloo neighbour) messaged me, saying my dad had been taken to the hospital and that I should call my mom. An afternoon of worry ensued, trying to contact my family and neighbours while trying to hold things together at work. My mom called while I was biking home - my dad had had a massive heart attack, and had died. It was very fast. He had gone out to bring in the trash cans, and collapsed. A number of people in the neighbourhood were around and came to his aid immediately, but there was nothing that could be done. It was fast, and he was surrounded by friends, and for that I'm grateful as well.
The next few weeks were difficult. We all flew home immediately, we had grief and sadness and needed each other. But it was also difficult because everyone has their own ways to grieve, and we also had to be strong for everyone around us who was also affected - the neighbours, and friends, and work colleagues - Waterloo is an incredible place, and the people there are amazing, and there are so many people who love my dad and my family.
Going back to California was difficult. I don't know what I would have done without my friends Mary and Mai in particular. Rishi was as good as he knew how, but often I was home alone, and my work project involved a lot of long days alone in the lab. There was a lot of crying on my bike rides to and from work, a number of days crying in the lab (so it was kind of good no one was working closely with me), and then to go home to an empty flat was really tough. Luckily Mary stepped in and came over a lot - one week she was at my place 5 out of 7 days, which was amazing. I couldn't deal with large crowds, but was alright with just one or two people, or in situations where I didn't have to talk.
Being outside also helped. Shortly after coming back to Cali, Mary and our friend Joyce and I did a very needed trip to Yosemite. We drove up to Yosemite after work on Friday night. We arrived at the trailhead to Half Dome at midnight, and started hiking. We hiked all through the night. It was quiet, and cool, and beautiful. We made it to the base of the dome in the pre-dawn light and started climbing up. We reached the top of Half-Dome just as the sun was rising:
It was incredible. The beauty, and the sense of accomplishment, and the physical exhaustion that clears your mind. We spent well into the afternoon getting back down to the valley, and then collapsed in a field, passed out in the tall grass, under the shade of some trees for a few hours.
Our plan had been to camp that night, but we'd had a nap, and were sore and tired and thought that actually sleeping in our own beds would be nice, so we proceeded to drive all the way back to the Bay Area.
I still had some bad weeks after that, but that trip definitely helped me adjust back to California, and give me some sense of my self back.
My dad was cremated, and we planned to bury him up north, near the cottage, so in October we all flew home again. We celebrated Thanksgiving up at the cottage and held my dad's burial in Baysville. This was much nicer than the funeral - fewer people, a nice service done by my mom's cousin Johnny, and a bit more of a celebration. Somehow that week gave me a feeling of closure. I don't think that makes any sense, but I don't know how else to describe the healing that happened in my heart that week. I'm generally a happy person, but until that point I hadn't been happy on the inside really again. After that, I was.
The rest of the year has felt a bit anti-climactic compared to all that. November saw me travel to Japan for the wedding of my friends Stanley and Stacey, and then stop over in Vancouver to visit my sister Mary and all my family and friends there. December saw me traveling home again for Christmas. In the background, at work, I've been working on a major tool installation in our labs as part of the project I'm responsible for. Just before Christmas we finally had completed the installation, commissioning, training, chemical preparation, and the first solar cells were completed using this new tool. Antarctica never materialized (well, we sent panels there, but no people).
With this tool installation now done, I feel as though I've completed all the hard work on my project, and it would be a good time to pass it over to someone else. I've given California a good run, and I've made some good friends that I'll keep for the rest of my life, but I feel the time is up. California has never felt like home to me the way that Canada, Australia, and even Ghana have. I'm not sure what exactly is next - I'd still like to be an astronaut when I grow up after all :-) - but I'm ready to jump off into the unknown again in order to figure it out. One thing about changing your education and career path as much as I feel I have in the last 10 years, is you don't fear change as much. So far it's tended to take me to good places, so I guess I'll just keep doing what feels right, and likely that will end up being right.
So that's the year. I'm sorry I haven't kept in touch as much as I should have. It's been a tough one. But the adventures shall continue in 2014. Stay posted!
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Waterloo Wedding
Flew home for 6 days at Christmas - 3 days before Sue & Brock's wedding, then 3 days of ridiculously sick over Christmas + recovery.
The wedding was amazing. Brutally cold and windy, but a beautiful wedding all the same. The ceremony took place at the Abraham Erb Grist Mill, with reception next door at the Clay & Glass Art Gallery. Excellent DJ. Excellent food. Excellent speeches. Excellent ceremony. A very good night was had by all.
A couple of the sis's with the bride:
The wedding was amazing. Brutally cold and windy, but a beautiful wedding all the same. The ceremony took place at the Abraham Erb Grist Mill, with reception next door at the Clay & Glass Art Gallery. Excellent DJ. Excellent food. Excellent speeches. Excellent ceremony. A very good night was had by all.
A couple of the sis's with the bride:
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Wedding venues
Part of my trip back to Ontario in June was to check out wedding venues with Sue, and they only thing important enough to take a photo of on my phone was the geese at Waterloo Park. Where the photos may be done, so there was a reason!
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Saturday, November 5, 2011
Hallowe'en Part 1
I don't have any photos from my party here yet, but Dad also did an awesome costume for Hallowe'en at work. Which one is he? I don't know, I can't tell.
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
More wedding photos!
Phil took some photos at the wedding for me, so more wedding! Yay!
Day 11 - Your favourite book that has been made into a film
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
Day 11 - Your favourite book that has been made into a film
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
WEDDING!!!!!!
Yay wedding! This was the first wedding of the Lenio family kids, and heaps of fun.
So this past Saturday Bobby married Natalie, and now have two sons named Liam. In their speech at the reception, Nat promised if they have a little girl they'll call her Lia :)
Both Mary and Lucy were in the bridal party - Mary as a bridesmaid, and Lucy as a groomswoman. The Liams were ringbearers. I was MC. 'Twas lots of fun.
Here are some photos. They're mostly terrible. Phil was my +1 and responsible for photography since I was busy MCing, but my camera sucks (seen here) so he used his camera for the rest of the night, and now I don't have the photos :( Phil! Please send me photos of my brother's wedding!!! k, thnx.
The Clan:
Bob & Nat receiving:
The Liams, Big & Little, looking sharp:
And Justin Beiber, 'cause everyone in Canada knows each other:
Day 10 - A book you’ve always meant to have read and never got round to
Les Miserables
So this past Saturday Bobby married Natalie, and now have two sons named Liam. In their speech at the reception, Nat promised if they have a little girl they'll call her Lia :)
Both Mary and Lucy were in the bridal party - Mary as a bridesmaid, and Lucy as a groomswoman. The Liams were ringbearers. I was MC. 'Twas lots of fun.
Here are some photos. They're mostly terrible. Phil was my +1 and responsible for photography since I was busy MCing, but my camera sucks (seen here) so he used his camera for the rest of the night, and now I don't have the photos :( Phil! Please send me photos of my brother's wedding!!! k, thnx.
The Clan:
Bob & Nat receiving:
The Liams, Big & Little, looking sharp:
And Justin Beiber, 'cause everyone in Canada knows each other:
Day 10 - A book you’ve always meant to have read and never got round to
Les Miserables
Friday, May 6, 2011
And even more visitors!
So Yael and Andy came to visit! First they were both in SF with me, where we went for Mexican food and dueling pianos with a co-worker of mine and a guy from the Michigan solar car team:
Yandy were excited about the red plastic cups:
We also went to Endor, then met up with Mal & Lyndel & Dan in San Jose for the Sharks game:
Andy then had to go back to work, so Yael and I had a few lovely days of hanging around not doing much. This was the day we decided to watch some P&P, eat TimTams, and knit:
Next Up: Yael journeyed to Waterloo with me where we attended a Stag & Doe for my brother and his fiancee. Phil has some photos up on his website. Yael met heaps of my family, Waterloo friends, saw all the embarrassing baby photos, art projects, etc. Then I got to vote on Monday! Then back to work. And then both Andy and I came out to Toronto for Ken's wedding, which is happening tomorrow.
Well, Yael had such a great time in Waterloo that we came back. One of the highlights from last weekend was the mini-Waterloo tour, which encompassed checking out the Waterloo solar race car, Midnight Sun. So we took Andy to check it out too, and Yael managed to get us to work on that car as well:
And to finish, a photo of the notorious UW Canadian geese:
Yandy were excited about the red plastic cups:
We also went to Endor, then met up with Mal & Lyndel & Dan in San Jose for the Sharks game:
Andy then had to go back to work, so Yael and I had a few lovely days of hanging around not doing much. This was the day we decided to watch some P&P, eat TimTams, and knit:
Next Up: Yael journeyed to Waterloo with me where we attended a Stag & Doe for my brother and his fiancee. Phil has some photos up on his website. Yael met heaps of my family, Waterloo friends, saw all the embarrassing baby photos, art projects, etc. Then I got to vote on Monday! Then back to work. And then both Andy and I came out to Toronto for Ken's wedding, which is happening tomorrow.
Well, Yael had such a great time in Waterloo that we came back. One of the highlights from last weekend was the mini-Waterloo tour, which encompassed checking out the Waterloo solar race car, Midnight Sun. So we took Andy to check it out too, and Yael managed to get us to work on that car as well:
And to finish, a photo of the notorious UW Canadian geese:
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
A Little Piece of History
Sadly, Generation X is no more :( By the time I heard the news that they were closing down, I had missed out on all the foreign films, the works of the Cohen Brothers, all of the non-porn anime, all BBC mini-series, the Star Wars Christmas Special, and Apocalypse Pooh. There were a few items left on my list though that were still there, and so Lucy, being the awesome sister that she is, was able to save a bit of Waterloo awesomeness for me:
We shall miss you GenX. Waterloo is less awesome without you.
We shall miss you GenX. Waterloo is less awesome without you.
Sunday, December 26, 2010
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