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That One Time I Graduated for the Last Time (Probably)

Posted on: 24 December 2015 /
Categories: Doctoral Study, Self

This was back in April. Flew — man, I almost typed “home” — back to Pittsburgh for to graduate finally. I technically graduated in August 2014, but that meant that the next real convocation would be in April 2015. Ergo: this was back in April. Graduation was, I dunno, I guess getting hooded is more exciting

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Scenes from a Conference in Philly

Posted on: 23 December 2015 /
Categories: Cities

They’re actually just scenes from Philly, not from the conference. I barely went to the conference. Well: I went to two sessions, which technically is the same number I attended at ICIS. But anyway: Philly is a large city with good restaurants and an urban rail/subway situation that functions reasonably well, aside from the one

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Oklahoma City Memorial Is (Indeed) Nice, Heavy

Posted on: 22 December 2015 /
Categories: Cities

Every time I’ve asked locals what there is to see and/or do around here, I have been told I need to go to the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial (I don’t think it’s called a bombing memorial, but calling it a city memorial makes it sound like OKC no longer exists). This advice has always seemed strange,

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Eight Really Good Days in Dresden

Posted on: 20 December 2015 /
Categories: Cities, Travel

Last May I went on this trip. My good friend Thomas was getting married to Christine in the vicinity of Stuttgart. I was invited. Then I decided that since I was going to Germany anyway, I might as well spend some time back in the ol’ mission field. I sometimes struggle with vacation. The one

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That One Time When I Bought a Car in New Mexico

Posted on: 8 December 2015 /
Categories: Self

Because they didn’t have any of this car closer than that? Also, I think I got a very good deal on it. I’d seen an almost identical car to this one get bought in SoCal for $23,900 (by “seen”, I mean that I bid $23,500 for it, the guy “accepted” my offer, then 12 hours

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That One Time I Went to New River Gorge and Didn’t Tell Anyone about It

Posted on: 7 December 2015 /
Categories: Travel

Because it’s such an embarrassing place to visit. I don’t even think it’s the highest bridge-over-gorge situation in the US, let alone the world. It may never have been. I don’t remember, though, because it was 2+ years ago. It’s near Beckley, W.V. I took these pictures while I was there. I’m going to type

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DIY: Fixing the Center Dash Bezel on My Truck

Posted on: 6 December 2015 /
Categories: Projects

I recently became intimate with a lot of plastic. And all the dust hidden inside the dashboard. And sometimes little plastic tabs probably aren’t the best solution, even though they are the solution that was chosen for you 11 years ago or whatever and you don’t really get much of a choice about it. My

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New Zealand South Island Road Trip

Posted on: 5 December 2015 /
Categories: Hiking, road trips, Travel

I don’t usually do road trips in foreign countries, but when I do, they apparently can look like this. (You can click on the photos — you’ll get a much bigger version if you do.) So that was it then. Nine days I think? Close to that. We went counter-clockwise. Rained a lot. This was

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Conferences in Exotic Locales: Auckland

Posted on: 3 December 2015 /
Categories: Cities, Travel

Conferences in exotic locales are pretty similar to those in normal locales, just a lot more expensive and time-consuming to reach. And less well-attended. Here are some photos of Auckland. I was there for a non-exotic conference last December. Mostly, though, it looked like this: But standing maybe half the time. Usually with a lot more

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Map for a 2016 (?) Road Trip to Oregon

Posted on: 2 December 2015 /
Categories: road trips, Travel

By way of a lot of places. Map as above. Would cover 4,600 miles, 11 states, maybe 3.5 weeks. Would hit five national parks, including three I’ve never visited. Mostly as preparation for Alaska 2017. And for the national park checklist. And to learn how to fly fish from maybe a professional guide in Oregon. Camping,

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