2007 Recap, 2008 Forecast

Been a long long while since I posted. Much has occurred. First some notes.

This journal was, of course, originally intended as a frequent update on my life for my friends scattered all over the country, and particularly those left in Fredericton after I moved to Calgary. This task has largely been superseded by Facebook, also known as the devil. But it is mighty fun. Don't step in the privacy violations. Anyway, that's the main reason for the neglect.

Reason two is simply that I had a very full field season over the summer, and had too much to write about at any one time. Of course, after that, the amount of stuff to write about simply increased and increased, and as we near the time (April) by which I wish to have the thesis complete, the time I had to blog decreased continually.

The main reason I'm blogging right now is because I saw Mike Morrison's blog, wanted to comment, and thought "well if I do that then he might just mosey on over here and see what a sorry state this blog is in." So here's an update. It's mostly a list, because I have about 6 other things I should be doing. Let's begin.

Events since last blog post:

• Went home in May and surprised sis for birthday. Good times.
• Had a long productive summer field season in Mica Creek. Also went with my supervisor to Trail (again) to look at stuff not too far from the field school area (previous post). See Facebook for some field photos, although last summers' aren't as spectacular as those from 2006.
  
• End Aug and early Sept I moved apartments. The new place is awesome. Haven't spent much time there lately, for reasons that will become clear below.
• Late Sept I bought a car. 2003 Subaru Forester, 65,000 km on it, awd, manual, brilliant. Got it through a dealership and they provided a crazy good warranty. Photos on Facebook.
  
• Sunk, who doesn't check this blog and refuses to succumb to the inevitability that is Facebook, came to visit in early Oct. Great times.
  
• Hosted the Dept of Geoscience Grad Student Society Hallowe'en party. It was not at all nerdy. I met Amy there.
• Spent most of my time between then and Christmas with Amy.
• Went home for the break, saw friends and family. Went with family to the Caribbean on (another) cruise. This one was eastern Caribbean. See Facebook for the photos.

Since I've returned I've arranged a PhD project, submitted an abstract to a conference, and am now working on doctoral scholarships. And spent a lot of time with Amy. Next on the list is creating my map, finishing structural and metamorphic analyses, and building a poster for the aforementioned conference. I have to have that stuff done by late Feb when I present. Meanwhile, I lose a week and a half starting this Thursday when Steve arrives and we go on a ski tour through the Rockies. Mum and Laura then come to visit. Oh God there's no freakin time!!!!

The extended forecast calls for my MSc thesis to be complete by the end of this term, then I write a paper on it and do reading and preparations for my PhD project early in the summer, then run and collect some samples to work on for the PhD through next year in August. The PhD officially starts in September. Projected completion date: August 2012. Supervisor is a new guy here at the department who is great! Really cool project too; I can't wait to get going on it.

Perhaps, someday, I'll post again. Maybe at that point the thesis will be done. Dear future self who has his thesis done: you lucky, lucky, lucky bastard.