Imablog Perspectives of a Canadian in the Old/Deep/New/Geographic South: This is where I ramble on about nothing in particular and post a few nice pictures.

Rainy morning jog

Headed out in what I thought would be a brief break in the rain this morning, but ended up getting sprinkled on anyway. Helped keep things nice because it was pretty warm this morning.

Several days of early mornings at work interrupted my training schedule and today was the first chance I had to get out for a jog in a few of days. Boy was I feeling it too. Finished off with a 10 minute cool down walk on the treadmill.

Temp: 18°C
Distance: 3 km/1.8 miles
Time: ~40 min
Pace: ~13:30

A PhD? Maybe.

I've been offered a very tantalizing opportunity to get started on something that's been on my TODO list for a very long time: a PhD.

It's been something I've wanted to do for a long time now, but never really had a good opportunity to do. Medical physics programs are pretty few and far between, with the closest one being offered at Duke. There are a couple other programs in Georgia, but still too far away to be practical, and quitting work to go do a PhD just isn't all that practical for me.

Last year I was starting to consider doing a PhD in the biostats/biometry department at MUSC, but the coursework required didn't really fit my background and I just wasn't all that enthusiastic about it.

Now there's the possibility of doing a PhD through the Clemson/MUSC Joint Bioengineering program. Although it's in bioengineering and the course work still involves a lot of bio, it's much closer to my physics background. I could also do it all here without having to make road trips to Clemson (bonus). There are a few details and administrative things I need to find out (like if they'll let me do it part-time) but so far things are looking pretty promising. This prospect is one I'm much more excited about, and would likely involve me working on doing Monte Carlo simulation/modelling work.

It's been a long time since I did the student thing and I'm pretty sure it's going to be a big shock to the system once I start taking classes again. I doubt I'd be able to do more than 1-2 courses/semester and it wouldn't leave much time for farting around on the computer like I do now. It'll probably take me about 3-4 years to get all the course work done, but I'll be able to do it concurrently with my research as well, so I think I'd still be able to complete a PhD in about 4-5 years.

Now I need to start learning about this GRE thing they make prospective grad students take.

Running on empty

I had barely made it past the ponds up the road before I was gasping for breath and ready to turn back and head home. I was thinking "Crap, I can't still be this out of shape, can I?" when one of the little voices in my head reminded me: "You gave blood two days ago, dummy."

Oh yeah, that's right. No wonder I'm so out of breath. It'll probably be a couple more days before that gets better.

I think all the rain the last few days has brought all the frogs out of their winter hibernation, because the racket they were making as I jogged past the ponds was almost deafening.

Temp: 19°C
Distance: 2.4 km/1.5 miles
Time: ~30 min
Pace: ~20:00

Personal information containment device

The Hutterite made leather wallet that I've been carrying around for the last 20 years finally gave out on me this year with the stitching starting to become undone.

This Wallet has served me well since I bought it at the Old Strathcona Farmer's Market back home 20 years ago. After I moved from Edmonton, it also served as a reminder of home, bringing back memories of my weekly visits to the farmer's market where I would do a good chunk of my grocery shopping (and munch on some phenomenally good sausage sticks, also made by the Hutterites, while shopping).

After the stitching started coming apart, I even entertained the idea of trying to find someone who could restitch it for me (still considering it). Needless to say, The Wallet carries more than a little sentimental value.

When I saw the stainless steel wallet at Thinkgeek.com, I decided that when replacement time finally came, this would be the one to take the place of The Wallet. A couple of days ago, I finally got tired of the loose thread always getting caught on stuff so I decided it was replacement time. Today, New Wallet arrived.

New Wallet is a little larger than I expected, but much thinner too. Since it's made from woven steel threads, it's not nearly as flexible or stretchy as The Wallet is, so I've had to drastically cut down what I stuff in New Wallet to just the essentials. It's fairly light and feels nice. Doesn't look like it's made from stainless steel threads. It's also supposed to protect RFID enabled cards from attempts at drive-by readings. I wonder what kind of reaction I'll get when it goes through an airport x-ray scanner.

Since Thinkgeek was also giving away these cool QR Code shirt as well, I decided to throw one of those in too. This is the code that came on my shirt.

This is not the free t-shirt you are looking for. You can go about your business. Oh, and buy cool stuff at thinkgeek.com. *waves hand*

QR Code post

Into a headwind

It seems like on all my jogs lately, I've been coming back against a headwind. Now that I think about it, that used to happen quite a bit when I went out riding back home as well. At least it wasn't a very strong headwind. Enough for me to feel the extra effort, but helped cool me down a bit.

Took things out a little faster this morning (maybe about a 7:30/km pace), but didn't last long. It's a pace I can do on the treadmill for at least 10 minutes, but on the road I sputtered out in about half that time. Today's run was a mix of jogging a little faster than I was last week (about 8:30/km or so) interspersed with walking breaks. Endurance is starting to get better after last week's blood donation. With 10 days left until the run, I have no illusions that I'll be able to run the whole thing. I'm nowhere near that yet, but I hope to at least not be the last one across the finish line.

Temp: 19°C
Distance: 2.4 km/1.5 miles
Time: ~25 min
Pace: ~16:00

Bai bai Blend again?

Blend's reopening seems to have been short-lived. Their doors have been closed and the restaurant dark all of last week.

So is this the end for Blend?

Green deja vu

All this "trendy" green/environmental stuff going on these days is giving me a serious case of deja vu. In fact there are a lot of things that I was doing back home that have only recently (in the last 5-7 years or so) become more mainstream in the US (debit card purchases come to mind).

Safeway was where I did most of my grocery shopping when I was living on my own back home. It was conveniently located between school and my apartment within easy walking distance. I carried my groceries home white nylon fabric bags with big red Safeway logos on them and only got the plastic bags whenever I had too many groceries or forgot to bring my bags. Got away from reusable bags when I moved to the US because I just got funny looks from the cashiers when I gave them my bags. Now I'm back to using them again and not getting funny looks anymore.

My early childhood was spent in the 70s, and throughout elementary school conservation was the big message. All the light switches had stickers on them reminding people to turn out the lights to save electricity. Walk to save gas, take the stairs, reuse things, etc. Then the 80s came around and most everybody seemed to throw it all out the window and continued to do so in the 90s and well into 2000. Now things seem to have come full circle and conservation is being encouraged again.

Funny how things always seem to repeating themselves.

Blend: So long and thanks for all the sammiches

Heard someone mention Blend had some for sale signs up in their window, so I stopped by this morning to see. Sadly it seems their revival attempt with the new menu was not successful and there are indeed two large "Business for sale" signs in the window.

That's too bad. Back to the cafeteria I suppose.

On the road to a PhD

Got the word that Clemson's Bioengineering department will take me on as a part time PhD student! Yay!

Now to put in an application and sign up to take the GRE.

Countdown: i5k-3

Last week I started adding a 30 minute jog on the treadmill at about a 8:30/km pace in the evenings to help build up my endurance. Last week was full of early mornings and late days, so I didn't get out running nearly as much as I would have liked, but the treadmill workouts helped preserve what little conditioning I've built up so far.

This morning's run felt pretty good, and I can definitely feel my conditioning and endurance improving. The first couple hundred meters or so still feel rough, but once I get out past the ponds, I start getting into a nice stride. The left knee protests though, which is starting to become a somewhat limiting factor in how far I jog before stopping.

Temp: 15°C
Distance: 2.4 km/1.5 miles
Time: ~20 min
Pace: ~13:00

Cover dogs

At PetFest I stopped by the Lowcountry Dog tent and had pictures of the dogs taken for LCD's cover dog contest. They didn't win the contest, but they did make it onto the cover. The 5x7 photos I ordered just came in the mail today and look pretty good. I think I might go back and order 8x10 versions and use them to decorate the office.

Vote for WHLR in The Animal Rescue Site $100,000 Shelter Challenge

Now you can help The Animal Rescue Site choose which eligible Petfinder.com animal rescue organizations will receive special funds to help animals (pick Wild Heir Labrador Rescue)! Participating is simple. You can cast one vote every day for your favorite rescueWild Heir Labrador Rescue.

Eligible organizations with the most votes (pick Wild Heir Labrador Rescue) could receive a weekly prize and/or one of the other grants below! More than 60 grants will be awarded for a total of $100,000 going to eligible Petfinder.com members by the end of July 2009.

Voting begins on April 13th, 2009, and ends at midnight (PST) on July 26th, 2009. The more friends you can rally to vote for your favorite rescue organizationWHLR, the better itsWHLR's chances of winning. Get people involved! Your favorite rescue organization isWild Heir Labrador Rescue is counting on you!

Countdown: i5k-1

Gym bag - Check
Socks - Check
Running clothes - Check
Running shoes - Check
Course map - Check
Everything in gym bag - Check

Now to make sure I don't forget it when I leave tomorrow morning.

Southeast LinuxFest

Coming up in a couple of months is the inaugural Southeast LinuxFest going on at Clemson University on June 13. The event features a number of prominent speakers from the Linux and Open Source world and should hopefully be a fun and informative event.

The SouthEast LinuxFest is a community event for anyone who wants to learn more about Linux and Free & Open Source software. It is part educational conference, and part social gathering. Like Linux itself, it is shared with attendees of all skill levels to communicate tips, ideas, and to benefit all who use Linux/Free and Open Source Software. LinuxFest is the place to learn, to make new friends, to network with new business partners, and most importantly, to have fun!

i5k 2009

Outside of high school track meets, today's i5k was only the second road race I've ever run in, and the first one in probably 20 years or so.

With only about 3 weeks of intermittent training, I actually surprised myself and ran a better time than I expected, although it would have been better had my knee and ankle not started bothering me about half way through the race. Crossed the line in 36:21, not the best I've ever done, but something I'm quite happy with.

My fellow Lowcountry Blogger team mates minus Nick Tompkins, who had to head out after the race for a kickball game.

Post i5k run

Doing the i5k seems to have reignited the running bug in me. I'm still not to the point where I can run as long or as fast as my brain thinks I can. There's still much conditioning and muscle strengthening work that I need to do before my actual physical performance meets what my brain wants to do.

Went out for the first post-i5k run this morning. Started off feeling pretty good heading out at a pretty comfortable 7:00/km pace, but on the way back my left leg started giving me problems, so I finished with a brisk walk back home.

Might be time to re-evaluate the type of running shoe I pick.

Temp: 17°C
Distance: 2.4 km/1.5 miles
Time: ~30 min
Pace: ~15:00

Big Screen, Big Trek

I'm going to be at the Terrace Theater's new Hippodrome (the former Charleston IMAX theater) on May 7 for the new Star Trek movie.

Starts at 7PM. See you there.

Credit limits

Apparently I don't charge enough on my credit card because I got a letter from Bank of America yesterday saying they were cutting the credit limit on one of my cards by half after reviewing my past credit balance history. Including my other credit card, my effective credit limit is now down about 1/3 from where it was before.

And to further wring money out of their customers in the form of fees, another letter came in today to tell me the fees from cash advances and balance transfers and fees for international transactions were going up as well.

CREATESouth

Weekend plans, I haz them.

You can haz them too.

Acoustic treat

A mostly free evening finally coincided with an installment of the Palmetto Acoustic Series at Muddy Waters Coffee Bar so I headed out there and met up with Ian, Kathy and Heidi for what turned out to be an evening full of some very good folksy music. I think I enjoyed the performance by the Barnard Sisters most. They had a fun folksy style that just makes you want to smile. Thoroughly enjoyable.

Hopefully I'll have more free evenings that coincide with future installments of the series.

CREATESouth checklist

• Freshly charged battery for camera - check
• Freshly charged spare battery - check
• Lowcountry bloggers shirt - check
• 5:30AM alarm - check
• Map to Ian's - check

Think I'm all set.

CREATESouth fun

Had a great time at CREATESouth today. There were some excellent keynote talks given by Tiffany Trent on creativity and writing, and Tee Morris on the "social" in social media.

The keynotes were followed by a delicious BBQ lunch prepared by Andre Pope

Following lunch were the breakout sessions, organised into 4 different tracks: Community, Writing, Media and Art. I started off with the Writing track and Marsha Guerard's talk on editing, which I quite enjoyed.

Then popped over to the Community track to catch Chuck's talk about organizing groups using Meetup.com and Jared's meme talk.

Caught part of Kreg Steppe's presentation on digital photography where he talked about what's ok and not ok to photograph, and Creative Commons licensing. A very informative session. Wish I had made it in earlier to catch the first part of his talk.

The final session of the day was the discussion panel in the Community track about geographic communities. There was a pretty good discussion about how the media was starting to use Twitter and some of the benefits and challenges in getting meetups going so that people participating in social media can get together and meet in person.

Overall I had a great time at CREATESouth, meeting and putting faces/voices to more people, and came back a little more refreshed and energized than when I went.

The rest of my CREATESouth photos can be found in my photo gallery and on Picasaweb.

Sea turtle release: DeBordieu

From the SC Aquarium's turtle lady:

I have exciting news to share! Recent findings of DeBordieu, 320-pound adult female loggerhead of the Aquarium's Turtle Hospital since October 2007, have caused us to make some quick decisions concerning her release. DeBordieu is currently producing follicles (yolks) in preparation for the nesting season that is just around the corner. Just in the last week, she has gone into migratory mode with almost constant swimming. She is also completely refusing food. I have just learned that adult female loggerheads have a very small window of mating receptivity. Before and after the small window, the females actually repulse the males. In light of this information, it is very important that DeBordieu get released as soon as possible so that she does not miss that mating window. Mating will allow her to fertilize the follicles and ultimately lead to a productive nesting season. Current water temperatures are in a safe range, especially for an adult animal of Deb's size.

DeBordieu will be released on Saturday, May 2nd at the Isle of Palms (IOP) County Park at 10am. I hope that you will be able to join us for this release, even with the short notice. The IOP County Park parking lot opens at 9am and parking fees will apply. An extra day will be added to the hospital tour schedule this week so folks can get a chance to see Deb before the Saturday morning release (Wednesday, Thursday or Friday at 1pm). Including Deb, there are currently 9 patients in the Turtle Hospital. Tour information can be found on the Aquariums website at www.scaquarium.org.

The release will be wonderfully timed with the start of sea turtle season in South Carolina. The majority of SC barrier island light's out ordinances start May 1 and loggerhead nesting begins soon after.

You can keep up with what's going on with the SC Aquarium's Sea Turtle Rescue on their blog.