Kate and I had a very nice time doing touristy things in Bath yesterday during the day– old church, very old hot spring, Georgian architecture– then went on to Bristol where I gave a talk on the forthcoming book, as you can see in the picture above. I would ordinarily include a SlideShare link to… Continue reading Eureka! It’s a Talk!
Category: Travel
UK/ Ireland in August?
Kate and I will be going to the Worldcon in London this August. This will be my first trip to the UK for anything other than changing planes, so we’re going to take a few days on either end to do touristy stuff. The pre-con plan is to stay based in London, maybe taking a… Continue reading UK/ Ireland in August?
Scientific Commuting: When Does It Make Sense to Take Alternate Routes?
I am an inveterate driver of “back ways” to places. My preferred route to campus involves driving through a whole bunch of residential streets, rather than taking the “main” road leading from our neighborhood to campus. I do this because there are four traffic lights on the main-road route, and they’re not well timed, so… Continue reading Scientific Commuting: When Does It Make Sense to Take Alternate Routes?
Hello, Southern Maryland: Talk Wednesday at St. Mary’s College
I’m in last-minute-revision mode here, made mroe frantic by the fact that SteelyKid developed a fever yesterday, and had to be kept home from day care. I did want to pop in to note that I will be giving the Natural Science and Mathematics Colloquium at St. Mary’s College in Maryland tomorrow, Wednesday the 13th.… Continue reading Hello, Southern Maryland: Talk Wednesday at St. Mary’s College
The Internet Makes Everything Better
For one obvious example, I’m typing this on a plane– Southwest has started doing wi-fi on some flights, and it is totally worth $5 to be able to web-surf in flight.It would be even better if the flight wren’t packed, so I could type more comfortably, but I’m ok with just reading (once I post… Continue reading The Internet Makes Everything Better
Ballistic Air Travel
I am in Florida for a meeting this week, having flown from Albany to Ft. Lauderdale. Due to the vagaries of the air travel system, though, this required a change of planes in Orlando. The Orlando-Ft. Lauderdale flight is sufficiently short that I like to think of it as a ballistic route– you’re not cruising… Continue reading Ballistic Air Travel
Invasive Searches and Underage Drinking
Kevin Drum posted an anti-rant about the TSA, which argues that the new scanners and pat-downs aren’t an outrage because they really mean well: I’m not trying to defend everything TSA has put in place. Some of the stuff they do, like the penknife and nail clipper bans, really is stupid. And maybe backscatter scanners… Continue reading Invasive Searches and Underage Drinking
Non-Dorky Polls: Travel Day
I’m going to be spending the bulk of today in transit between Albany and Houston, with a layover in Orlando (whee!), so here’s a pair of related poll questions for you to consider: The most enjoyable way to travel between two cities in the continental US is:customer surveys The least enjoyable way to travel between… Continue reading Non-Dorky Polls: Travel Day
Houston, We Have a Problem
The problem is “What should Chad do/ see in the evenings while he’s at DAMOP next week?” This is the major physics conference in my field, so my days will be pretty well booked up with talks and posters, but there’s not much after 6pm other than food and socializing. If there’s some not-to-be-missed Houston… Continue reading Houston, We Have a Problem
Belated March Meeting Wrap-Up
I did one sketchy update from Portland last Tuesday, but never wrote up my impressions of the rest of the March Meeting– when I got back, I was buried in grading, and then trying to put together Monday’s presentation. And, for reasons that will become apparent, I was unable to write anything up before I… Continue reading Belated March Meeting Wrap-Up