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2007-02-28
One day trip to Chicago!
Left at 6:30 this morning. The whole trip went
very smooth partly because it's only 4 hours and 250 miles
driving. I actually
have been to the city twice. Once was with Tan and Jay to see the Ansel Adams at 100 Exhibition.
The other one was probably four years ago when I changed bus at
Chicago (yes, grey hound bus, that was a wild trip).
Both of the two visits were short and brief. This time was no
exception: we stayed for only one day. Wish it'd be longer.
We went there primarily to go the consulates at Chicago. After
we were done with that, it was already noon. So we decided to
find this place
"California Pizza Kitchen" recommended by Arun's friend. What
else would you do when you are hungry?
And because Mr. Arun Manoharan "heard" his friend said is at
"54th street", we programmed the GPS and drive
a very *short* distance (only about 15 miles) out of the
Chicago city, and into this complete geddo area at nowhere.
It did not take a china man too long to figure out that we won't find any "best pizza place in town" there.
Totally disoriented, we drove back into the city (thanks to the Garmin). For about five minutes driving around
in the downtown and listening to people hunk at us from everywhere (yeas, Chicago drivers love to hunk), I just
spot this "California Pizza Kitchen" right there on my left side on E. Ohio Street, meaning we drove about
an hour and 30 miles round trip for a place that is only 0.5 miles away from where we started. What a wonderful
story with a happy ending! Have to say though, the pizza tastes good. Probably worth all the troubles....
Strolling down on the Magnificent Mile was great! You actually
get to feel the heartbeat of the city.
A perfect blend of sophisticated architectures, delicate
window display of shopping stores, and well planned street
lights shows the magnificence of this passionate city. Big
cities like Chicago and NYC definitely give you different
experience than those more quiet and natural national parks
do. Very different in a good way. Intelligence designed
sophistication versus natural beauties. I don't know...i
guess you will need both of them to make life more complete.
Oh by the way, the Tiramisu and Key lime cheesecake at the
Cheesecake Factory
under the Tower are good ...
A wintry storm (hail) changed our plan to stay in the city overnight.
Afraid of being stranded in the city next day, we
head back that late afternoon after taking a few pictures at
the Chicago Lake (?) .
Overall, this is a fun trip. Got my things done. That's the
best part. And learned quite some modern history of India,
especially those about Gandhi and Nehru. Very interesting.
I think we will do it again some time
in the summer when the weather gets nicer.
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2007-02-23
Finally, spring break !!!
Submitted this last exam at 5:00 this afternoon. Speaking of
that exam, there is a small scary incidence. The CTools
automatic submission system tagged my submission as being
"late" since I clicked on the "submit" button at the very last
minute after checking my exam paper again and again and again.
Yeah, I was being obsessive. Once I saw that red "late" tag, I was
more of upset than mad. So much time and effect put into this
thing and then end up with this. Yet, a review of the exam policy
made me lol. It says "no later than 5:00pm". What does that
mean? That means technically, my submission was ON TIME!
Forget that "if you are early, you are on time. If you are
on time, you are late!". I AM ON TIME, HOOAH! For the kids
who's reading this, don't try this at home. This is highly
dangerous. I know I won't do
it again. As a matter of fact, I usually submit my homework
and exams quite
early, but this one was rough. If you don't believe me, ask
my fellow classmates, I am sure they have more to tell you....
Thought I could enjoy a few peaceful quiet moments at the
break. Then after looking at my calendar, only to find I had
more stuff to do since I had to put them off during the past
few weeks. So this first spring break could mean more works!
Nice. That's exactly what I *want*!
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2007-01-29
First day on treadmill in 11 weeks!
1.77 miles, 22 minutes, about half of my normal speed. Not bad for a start.
It's been about 11 weeks since the injury. Couldn't really do much at all. It's like a torture.
I can hear every part of my body is groaning like an old man.
Although still feel somewhat small pain when the right foot landed on the belt,
it is definitely a lot better
than what it used to be. I am sure that certain amount of exercise will help the blood circulation and
the recovery, as long as i take it slow and don't overdo it. Starting with a treadmill should be a
good idea for rehab given the soft *jelly* muscle on the leg. Of course, it does not feel as good as
asphalt running trail, but we'll get there ...
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2007-01-28
Hyperfocal is back !
After almost four weeks down time due to the chaos involved in
moving to a new place, hyperfocal now officially comes back.
Of course, this can never be happening without my best buddy, Jay.
As always, he generously offered to host hyperfocal on his
server!
Now, I really need to stop procrastinating and start building a better website!
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2007-01-10
Seminar --- John Quackenbush!
Without any doubt, John Quackenbush is one of the best in the bioinformatics field.
Went to his seminar this afternoon. Have to say, it is the best i have
ever attended all these years. He definitely showed his capability to compile
complicated bioinformatics topics and his intelligence, quick wit, and communication
skills into a fascinating story. As an audience, you are presented with tons and tons of
refreshing comments and ideas.
It was even better for me because I had this opportunity to actually meet him
in person and have a great conversation with him. His incredible knowledge of the subjects
and genuine friendliness are really something. It's fortunate to have someone like him to
be interested and actually work in this field.
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2007-01-01
At 12:00am in the morning, glad to see some fireworks in the sky.
People are celebrating the new year. A new kind of experience for me
to spend the new year on the road.
Arrived at Ann Arbor at 1:30 in the
morning. Surprisingly, things are still going on in this college town.
Lights are on, people are walking on the street. Two college boys
greeted me across the street. After knowing that i just arrived in
town, they told me to go with them to a party next door. It's an eye
opening scene. You see thousands and thousands of alcohol bottles
on the floor, most people are drunk. On top of that, none of the popele
I talked to was actually living in that house! They are from all around
the places, New Jersey, New York, Lansing, you name it. That really
makes me feel very comfortable, since everybody is a stranger for that
matter. Knowing that I should be too comfortable at a new place, I
left the party shortly. After all, I have to unpack my stuff and get
up in the morning. I can't wait to explore this new town.
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2006-11-12
Broken fibula bone
Today turned out to be one of the best Sundays for me ever!
Went to this afternoon soccer
game half an hour ahead of time after hanging out with Richard. I had never had such
good warmup exercise before the game! Ironically, just 5 minutes after the game started, I
fell down and rolled my right ankle in a tackle by a defender. It was like a split second
and all I can remember is that I clearly heard three pop sound from my right leg. That's it!
I have been playing soccer for the past three years playing and never had any serious injury.
Now it all ends. What can you say. I have been blessed for three years on the soccer field
while other people gets injuries all over their bodies. After I got off the pitch, I can,
litterally, see the muscle swell from right foot all the way up to the shin splint in the leg.
Not good. Not good. Later on it turned out to be a broken fibula bone. Fortunately, there
is no displacement of the fracture, meaning that I am screwed but will not have to have metal
screw in my leg for the rest of my life. It seems that I will probably
have to stay on the crutches for weeks and then rehab .... Guess what, my buddy beau has a pair
of crutches that i borrow. How convenient!
What lesson did i learn from this accident?
Try NOT to break any leg while playing soccer. If you absolutely have to,
make sure it is someone else's!
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2006-01-29
Hyperfocal Roadmap
- Travel Logs
Need to jot down some notes about each trip before they are kicked out of my small brain.
- More photos
Re-scan those photos that were lost in the harddrive crash last year.
- Sailing
Upload the capitan logs and get photo of our boat Runaway
- Soccer
Build some pages for our "The United Undesided" soccer team (with photo if possible)
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2006-01-28
Hyperfocal goes live today! It will be my personal website for sharing information
and images with my family and friends all around the world. What is also up today
is some photos I took at the end of last year (2005). These photos are selected
and posted here purely for the purpose of sharing with family and people I know.
They are no way close to be perfect, neither is my technique ;-)
The next step would be building some webpages for sailing and soccer game. I am planning
on getting one to keep track of the sailing race and another one for my soccer team.
Hopefully, I can get it done soon since the sailing season will start at February. But
it looks my Feburary schedule will be very very busy. We will have to see ....
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