First Christmas after Separation

I overthink so many things, but other things come as a complete surprise. Like, how after separating from my wife, Christmas would be quite different than it has been. However, it was mostly pleasant, thanks to friends and family.

The first surprise was a tree in English Bay, just outside my building, that is decorated with lights every year (apparently). It made a big difference to me, because I didn't have a tree myself. I could look at it every day from my window.

I did see the kids and my ex-wife before Christmas. I had them over for dinner before Christmas on two evenings since the work schedules for my children didn't synch. On boxing day, family friends had us all over for lunch "as usual". My ex-wife gave me some turkey leftovers.

Christmas day itself was a bit of a glitch. I woke up alone with no tree and one present, went to the gym to work out, called my aged father in Kamloops early because I was lonely (he got a chuckle from that, but was supportive).  However, after lunch a good friend of mine came over and we went for a walk in Stanley Park and then I made him dinner (not turkey, because he is pescatarian).

The celebration for New Year was actually one of the best I can remember. I spent it with a woman that I have started dating recently that has become serious. She arranged New Year's Eve plans. We went on the Stanley Park train in the early evening. The train route is all decorated with lights and sculptures. It was especially fun for me because I can remember being on that train as a kid with my father. We went to the VSO New Year's day concert together, which I really enjoyed. Good way to start 2017. 

On Monday, the last day of the winter break, my Magic:the Gathering card group came over for lunch and to play. We had some enjoyable games. I ate and drank too much. Now I am ready for the Spring regime of losing weight and getting in shape (at least that is the plan).  

West End conditions poor predictors for cycling to UBC

I came into work today. Let's say light work, as I only have a couple of things I "have" to do. I was supposed to take my daughter out to lunch but she is stuck at the house with the flu. I was going to show her the pottery studio at UBC that she is thinking of joining next term. I'll still take a break during the day and go over to the studio and make something. Starting the day with a break to make this post... maybe I can avoid working altogether!

I was in Ireland during the first snow we had here and when I got back it was clear in the West End where I am living now, and I thought it was fine to cycle into work at UBC. Luckily, I can see UBC from my apartment window (I do love my view) and the West Side hill was covered in snow, so I knew to take transit.

It has been clear in my neighbourhood again for a few days with rain and temperatures above zero. I was happy to cycle in today, first time in several weeks. It was even not raining! Probably should not have, as the conditions are still icy as you come up the UBC hill. Interesting how that little bit of a change in elevation makes such the difference.

I'll have to be more careful about checking conditions for cycling in the winter. In my old neighbourhood, I could go out the front door (North facing) and check the front walkway for ice. That was a good predictor for the worst conditions on my route.

Nostalgia extends to UVIC Physics class 1980-1985

So as I am going through old pictures I am finding some of my undergraduate years at UVIC. These were also good times. I don't mean to say that between grade 3 at Berkeley and UVIC there were no good times, but they were few and far between. At UVIC I found a social circle I could really enjoy again. The first class we took together was Physics 211. Note that John Z (who I don't remember well) is holding up a drop/add form. The instructor took these pictures so that she could remember our names. I so get that now.

We eventually graduated:

And the picture of our honours class got put up on the wall of the Elliot building. As a quirk of human nature, no-one asks why we are in red overalls, they only ask why that one guy (whose name I don't remember) is not in red overalls.  

More pictures of Berkeley 1969-72 buddies

I am going through my collection of pictures, digitizing them. Somewhat sadly, this is because of my separation from my long time partner. There is only one set of negatives and we both want to have records of our time together (notably two great kids, now grown up). I have the job of digitizing everything of interest. Well, Lealle is not interested in these pictures, but I found them in the box, and remembered good times.

Below are Alan (the coolest kid) and Jeff Jones (my best friend):

Roger (who had a pet rat) and Tommy Tamura:

and Utz McKnight:

Apparently, I can only remember last names from back then if they alliterate. Utz is an exception because my mother was close friends with his mother, so I could be reminded of his last name in later years. 

Those three years in Berkeley (grades 1-3) were very formative for me, due in part to the great friendships I had with these guys. 

Brian Wetton Grade 2

In grade 2, I was in Berkeley California and I was in Cornell School. My mother was a graduate student in Resource Economics there. It was 1970, so an interesting time to be in Berkeley. You can see from the class why I ended up being a strong believer in racial tolerance:

Jeff Jones, Utz McKnight, Tommy Tamura, and Roger and Alan (the coolest kid) whose last names I don't remember are in the picture. Here is a close-up of me. It is one of the few good pictures of me as a kid. I was just not photogenic. It was much later when I had hung around my ex-wife's family long enough that their ease in front of the camera rubbed off a bit on me. 

Ireland work trip

Last week I was in Limerick, Ireland, attending a workshop. It was the tenth anniversary for MACSI (Mathematics Applications Consortium for Science and Industry), an industrial mathematics group. I was quite impressed by this group. A former PhD student of mine, Iain Moyles, is a post-doc there and he got the invitation for me based on my own industrial mathematics activity in modelling electrochemical systems. I stayed at Kilmurry Lodge, which had the best breakfast buffet I have ever had. Irish bacon - yum! Below is the view from my room, and Iain and I on the fancy foot bridge that connects the two halves of the University of Limerick campus across the River Shannon. 

I arrived fighting the tag end of the flu, so with jet lag added to the mix, I was not up to much. Iain did take me to Blarney Castle and I kissed the stone and we enjoyed walking the grounds. 

I did do some work, too!

My hotel room was large and a bit old-fashioned (in a good way) but the bathroom was modern. It had one of those bathroom clothesline things I haven't seen in a while. Whenever I get an apartment where I can add things without losing my damage deposit, I am going to put one of these in. 

Ceramic creamer

I have been slowly improving and filling in the gaps in my household items. I have everything I "need" now, but it is nice to have aesthetically pleasing things that you use every day. I upgraded my cutlery (using Airmiles points) and got cloth napkins from Etsy that really work for me (they are swirly patterns of red to orange). My latest purchase was a ceramic creamer that came from a studio in Bulgaria:

https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/StudioRosalina

I hadn't noticed that I didn't have one because I have switched to drinking my coffee black, but I do have a friend that comes over that takes milk. This was going to be for my daughter, who asked for a milk jug, but since I have a use for it now, I am going to keep it. It is tiny, so wouldn't work for my daughter anyway, since she takes a lot of milk in her tea. I made a larger one for her myself at the UBC pottery studio, just need to glaze it.