Back in Exciting East Lansing Michigan

I have come to East Lansing every year now for the last seven years. It started just before the beginning of my last sabbatical and I have a sabbatical again starting this July. I come for a month to visit Keith Promislow at Michigan State University. We have been colleagues since 1998 when we started working on a fuel cell project with Ballard Power Systems. He was at SFU at the time, moved here eleven years ago. We have different skills but enough overlap we can talk about problems and bring new ideas to the table. We have also become friends. I came a bit early this year and hit the end of their winter.

That is the bicycle I rented from the MSU bike store on the left, part of the routine I have when I am here. I have a hotel suite with a kitchen when I come, favourite stores I shop at for food (Oriental Mart, Meijer, Whole Foods, Quality Dairy), Thursday Gin&Tonic Nights when I invite people over to the suite. There is a great movie theatre, Cinema C, in nearby Okemos. I saw "Pacific Rim #2" there my first weekend. Not great but by no means the worst movie I have seen here (the worst was probably "Valerian" last Summer, the best "Ex Machina" a few years ago). I usually try to time the movie for lunch but I got the time wrong that weekend and had lunch in the nearby Meridian Mall food court. I tried a new fast food place, but it was anything but "fast". I guess it was OK, I had time to kill. 

Last weekend there was an ice storm. I did manage to get to the Mall by bus, but just did food shopping rather than watch a movie in freezing wet clothes. I rented "Ragnarok" instead, which was quite entertaining. This week I noticed they had an "indie" series and I plan to see, "Oh Lucy". I hope my one small contribution to the idea of showing non-mainstream movies will help keep it going. 

It is interesting to think through why I come here every year. I guess the top reason is that I like working with Keith and in general the visit sparks my work productivity, which has been low the last few years. I think the productivity challenge comes from the big changes in my personal life, but my inner workings are not always clear to me. I like seeing Keith and his family, who have become close friends. Being here really feels like camping in a way. Although I have a roof and a bed I have to "make do" with limited clothes and cooking equipment. It is interesting to see that you can make out fine with less material things. There is a little gym in the hotel and it makes it easy to work out. It used to be an escape from my failing marriage, but now that has turned around and it is a drawback to be away from Veronica (she misses me as well). I do have time to sort myself out in various ways, so I guess it was a good idea to come.