Author: cdwan

Ungh.

Finally home after what was intended to be a quick overnight (Wed night, thanks for asking) and back in the morning software installation. Highly, highly customized cluster. Careful, careful administrative staff. I wound up creating a local build of GCC in /tmp and building my stuff using that, rather than wrestling with the guy about his choices in terms of libraries, permissions, and directories. I wound up pushing back my flight three times as new issues came up. Still, the cluster is up and running with my stuff on it, and they should make a good reference.

On the other hand, the researcher who will be using the system was super cool. We ate awesome indian food last night and had one of those wide-ranging conversations while listening to the Sitar (Citar?) player at the restaurant.

On the drive back to Philadelphia, I heard Terrie Gross interview James Hetfield of Metallica. It was cool.

Off to New Jersey tomorrow to do an install. Wheee. This trip sort of snuck up on me, and I can’t say that I’m thrilled to be visiting the “garden state.” Still, can’t beat the price on SouthWest. $50 one way to Philadelphia, and then an hour drive up to the customer site.

Spent today hacking code with the Computational Genetics Lab (CGL) at Harvard. Cool guys. They’ve got a funky fresh cluster setup. It’s sort of what would happen if you let really smart people build your compute resource.

In other news, I’m playing with a WiKi. Example of the beast is here: http://cdwan.org:8080/phpwiki/index.php/WineList Feel free to add entries if you like. I’m curious to see what it looks like when other people edit it.

I am a Japanese School Teacher.

We’re safely back, no thanks to the EXTREME weather. Apparently New York was closed to inbound air traffic for a while, and they rerouted a lot of flights to Boston. We arrived just as the party was getting started, snow-wise, and then sat in the plane (still technically not in the US, at least so far as immigration was concerned) for about half an hour because the customs area was “overfull.”

Drove the normally one hour trip back to Providence in about two hours. Not so bad, except for the bit right next to home.

Pictures, perhaps, tomorrow. I’ve got them on the computer, but I’m too fried with travel to make up witty captions.

Our last full day on the island. Life is not too rough. Rented a jeep to explore the island on Tues, took a long walk on Wed (like, a really long walk), Snorkled yesterday, and more snorkling today. Today’s episode will be with an eco-tourism company called Big Blue. They employ biology majors who want to lead tours. They rock.

Back tomorrow. I might almost be ready to face my email queue…but nothing can really prepare me for that.

Seems we get about half an hour each morning waiting for the adventure bus to pick us up, during which I get access to the computer in the lobby. Today’s adventure will be the rental of a jeep, and the bouncing down toward the Western tip of the island. Apparently there are some wicked cool cliffs and rugged beaches out there. Plus birds. We all like birds.

Our snorkeling “island BBQ” trip for the day was canceled due to high winds out by the reef. We looked out there with binoculars, and it really seems like a good idea that they canceled it. Hopefully we’ll be able to reschedule for Thursday.

Last night we ate at “Danny Buoy’s,” which is as close to an Irish pub as you’re going to get in the Bahamas.

So far, sunburn and other injury have been avoided, although Jen’s toes are still a little ragged from our initial long walk on the beach. Should have built up to that, I suppose.

A quick post from the computer in the hotel lobby to let folks know that all is well. We’ve been snorkeling and bicycling and all the usual resort beach island stuff. So far the best anecdote involved our visit to “the hole.” This is a limestone sinkhole about 40ft across and 80ft deep. Would have been great for climbing, if we had a rope. As it was, the rope that was there was this piece of frayed nylon from the Nixon era, and I didn’t like it nearly well enough to trust it with my life. The Hole was easily the most potentially lethal, least safety equipped attraction I’ve ever seen. I mean, *nothing* would have been better than this rope.

Today we’re scheduled for an eco-tourism style kayaking trip. On Wed, I think we may tour the “Turks Head” brewery. I mean, why not? It’s the local brewery on the tropical island. Isn’t that every homebrewer’s dream?

Tonight, we drive to Boston to stay in a hotel. Tomorrow, we leave the car at the hotel (thank you http://www.parksleepfly.com) and take a shuttle over to the airport for our beastly early flight. Tomorrow afternoon, we arrive in the Turks and Caicos Islands.

The beautiful Turks and Caicos Islands are situated 575 miles (or 75 minutes) southeast of Miami. Covering 193 square miles of the Atlantic Ocean, the Turks and Caicos Islands has the third largest coral reef system and the best tropical beaches in the world, making it a premier beach, diving and snorkelling destination and an ideal location for romance, family vacations, ecotourism and adventure seekers

I tested for and received my blue belt today. I’m a bit sort from the frenzied karate spree that led up to this test. My instructor and I figured it was better to cram in and test before taking a week off. I have eaten my customary reward for such things: A boston cream doughnut.

iProduct. Buy now, slave. Buy and consume. Then buy again.

Writing an article for a trade rag. The editor’s name is “Doug Eadline”. So that makes his address what? deadline@this.magazine.com. Makes me giggle every time I get email.

Went to a couple of Pilates classes with Jen. Pilates is like “hour of abs” and “core strength on crack.” My gut hurts.

Finally about to stop procrastinating and take down the Christmas tree. Just as soon as I finish editing in this here LiveJournal, and maybe check cnn.com, and…

My climbing skills are coming back. I conquered a 5.9 this Monday. My karate instructor is making good progress too. He’s consistent on 5.6’s, and (more important) is a reliable belay partner. Time to get back to the sit ups and running. I’m carrying too much weight to hoist myself up difficult routes.

Finally got the webserver in the basement stable. An assortment of photo albums from the past couple of years are here.