Diary
My Life at June 2009
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June 30, 2009(Tuesday)
I was pretty relaxed today because I am done with presentation. I woke up at 8:30 (the first conference presentation starts at 8 so I decided to skip the first section). Then I attended some talk about "Interface between Marketing/Operation" and that is quite interesting. So let's see whether or not I can generate some research in this area. Then during lunch time I originally plan to talk to my advisor about his feedback for my yesterday's presentation. Instead there are other professors from other university were there. Therefore I ended up sitting there listening (and very very occasionally, talking) to them talking. So I am like a tag-along. I also talked to some PhD students afterward.
The conference supposed to end at 4:45, but I decided to skip the last section. I went out for the grand Boston walking tour. I walked endlessly for 3.5 hours, roughly equal to the time and distance it takes from UBC to Burnaby. I first walked from MIT to Harvard. Since I have been to these two places, I simply walk for the sake of walking. Then I took a subway to Boston downtown. I walked to the "TD Banknorth Garden". This is the place that NBA Boston Celtic and NHL Boston Bruins play. I tried to take some nice photo but the area is renovation. Then I walked to the downtown, passing by the Boston Common (a large park inside downtown). Then I walked back to MIT and eventually back to the hotel. Along the way I also took some photo too.
The conference provided free lunch today. I took several lunch boxes so I did not spend any money eating today! I returned to the hotel at 7pm. As if I don’t have enough exercise, I went downstairs to the gym to do an almost-usual-amount workout! I used to do exercise every other day, and the last time I did exercise was last Friday.
June 29, 2009(Monday)
I finally had some (not so good but better than nothing) slept last night, and woke up 7am because my professor will have a paper that his co-author presents at 8am. So I went to the talk, and then after the section, I just talked to other people, mainly PhD students (because it is very hard for a PhD student to break the ceiling and talks to professor).
I left the conference at 11:15 am to go back to the hotel. However it took me 30 mins to wait for the shuttle bus! Then at the hotel, I practiced my presentation twice and got some afternoon nap.
I went back to the conference at 3pm to practice presentation one more time, and my presentation is at 4pm. I am presenting the same paper that I presented during May 1 at Orlando. I thought that there are more attendants, but turns out there are only slightly more people (only 10 or 12 people attending). The presentation is 30 mins, but I only used 22 mins. I tried to go slow, because I have the tendency of speaking very fast especially during presentation. I think that I spoke what I want to speak quite clearly. My professor said that I did a good job, but there is still room for improvement. For example, I use too much "and... and..." or "therefore ... therefore ...". Furthermore, I am too monotone. However these are not major problems. Anyway, I think that I did a pretty good presentation.
At night, the reception was held at the Museum of Fine Art. It is a pretty nice place and I tried to talk to as many people (but still, mainly students) as possible. However, I am able to talk to some people from HKUST. However they said that most people from HKUST are China-Chinese; i.e. they don't speak Cantonese. Surprisingly I got in touch with a professor from Yale that grew up in HK! That is a surprise and is my first time talking Cantonese in this kind of setting! Afterward we had dinner and then I went back to the hotel at 10:50.
June 28, 2009(Sunday)
I had a seriously "not able to go to sleep" last night. I went to bed at mid-night, but even at 2am, I still not able to sleep. Therefore, I woke up, did morning devotion, then had about 35 mins sleep. Last time that I seriously not able to go to sleep was a long time ago! I recalled that before some important exam (e.g. math competition in high school, 8:30 am (physics?) exam during university, CCIE exam, I always tried to go to bed early but ended up seriously lost slept. Then I woke up again at 3:30 and left home at 4am. I flied to Chicago and then to Boston. I got about 2 hours sleep on the flight.
I arrived to the hotel at around 12:30pm. The online transportation schedule in Boston gave me the closest train station from the hotel; however, it turns out that there is a river between the subway station and hotel. Therefore I ended up walking for 25 mins! Luckily there is no rain at that time! Then I went to Chinatown to eat "beef brisket noodle"; it is tasteless! One of the worst that I ever tried! Then I walked around Harvard University and the nearby area for an hour and went back to hotel for 30 mins nap.
I arrived to the conference around 5:45 and attended the reception. This is not the first conference that I have been to, and I am well aware that "small potato" like me would have a hard time finding people to talk to me. However, I still tried to find anyone that is available to let me talk, and I ended up talking to about 9 or 10 people during the three hours! I drank a cup of red wine and half a cup of Margarita and that helps too! Then when I go back to hotel, I talked to my roommate a bit about finding job.
June 27, 2009(Saturday)
We went to our church's friend Andrew/Grace home for BBQ today. They are Cantonese speaking working couple recently relocated to Bloomington. They are living about 30 mins drive, but the house is huge! The lot size is probably equal to the whole football stadium! The house in Bloomington is not as expensive and this is the advantage of living in a small town. During today's gathering, we have to take care Cailyn most of the time. Other people are watching DVD.
June 26, 2009(Friday)
Today is the last day of swimming lesson. The instructor also handed out report card. This is the first time that Cailyn attend a lesson, and this is the first time that she has a report card. I am a bit nervous before receiving her report card. Obviously the instructor gives a "tick" to all events (except "submerge under water for 3 seconds", which is not possible even for 3 years old kid).
Then afternoon I played 2 hours of badminton. At night, I led song at the fellowship, and also led Bible study (Revelation 2). This is a very few time that we talk about revelation in church.
June 25, 2009(Thursday)
This morning we had swim lesson again.
One of the difficulties of studying when having a toddler is that I need to spend time with her. My idea comes and goes and when it comes during the time that Cailyn demands my attention, that is quite frustration. The only time that I can spend more time is after she goes to bed. But sometimes I don't have mood at that time. I need to learn how to force myself to study even when I have no mood.
June 24, 2009(Wednesday)
We had a swim lesson this morning. We had a good time, even though Cailyn is still not very active in swimming. Then in the afternoon I brought Cailyn to school so that I can pick up some feedback from my professor. It is also good to bring Cailyn to school, to add a personal touch to my image in front of professor. At night, we vacuum floor; Cailyn is very afraid of the vacuum cleaner, possibly because it made a lot of noise. To make it worse, I add some funny (or suffering? or serious?) faces when turning on or turning off the vacuum cleaner. May be in the future we can use the vacuum cleaner as something that she is afraid of.
June 23, 2009(Tuesday)
The weather was great this morning; Cailyn and I went to the swimming lesson. However she is not very involved. In fact, out of the class size of 10 kids, she (and the other 10-month old infant) is the two that does not know how to kick water, jump to the pool. She spent most of her time eating her finger and eating the toy duck. Probably she is still too young for real swimming lesson. Now the point is to get her used to water.
At night we went to "Fun Frolic". This is a temporarily place set up at the parking lot of the football stadium, to be the temporarily (June 19 - 27) amusement park. Cailyn was looking at other people playing games. It is a good time to hang out with family.
June 22, 2009(Monday)
There is no swimming class this morning because the weather is not nice. I was doing some homework, but still not much breakthrough. At night I helped church friend Kenneth to move house.
June 21, 2009(Sunday)
Today is Father's day; however Cailyn is too young to recognize the importance of this day. On the other hand, Carmen helped Cailyn prepared a card for me! Then at night we went out to the IU Golf Course again to have some walking time. The weather is nice, but then it is a bit hot and humid so we need to take a shower when we got home.
June 20, 2009(Saturday)
The weather today is very great for swimming again! However we don't have a swimming class today. Instead I went out for a 58 mins jog. It is hot, and not easy for jogging. At night, we went to the IU golf course. Rather than playing golf, we let Cailyn to walk and run around the putting area. This is a great and more importantly, free, place. She can walk on the very nice grass and there are not many people around. I don't think that there is comparable area in Vancouver!
June 19, 2009(Friday)
The weather today is perfect for swimming: around 29degree, sunny! Therefore, we had a great time swimming, even though Cailyn seems not as interested in the middle of the swimming lesson. Carmen also had a phone interview about the government insurance department; they asked so many detail questions, that are quite annoying. But in return, we get some free insurance by the government.
June 18, 2009(Thursday)
We did not go to swim today because it was raining. I did some homework today and played badminton. At night we went to prayer meeting.
June 17, 2009(Wednesday)
The weather is gorgeous and we went to swimming lesson this morning. Then for the other part of today, I read the comic "death notes" and also do some homework.
June 16, 2009(Tuesday)
We did not go to the swim lesson today because the weather is not as good. I went to the gym to full routine workout. For the last couple of weeks I always do some of my routine plus playing basketball or badminton. At night, we went to bookstore to read comic.
June 15, 2009(Monday)
This morning Cailyn had her first swimming (or any exercise-related) lesson. I accompanied her to the pool while Carmen took photo on the side. Cailyn was not scare at all! The instructor asked the students (infant to 3years old) to kick water, or blow air inside the water, or singing some children song. She was too young for that, but nevertheless this is a good experience.
I don't think that we did any real exercise, other than doing some jump and relax inside the water for around 45min. However, we (including myself) are so tired afterward. Cailyn even had a 1.5 hours afternoon nap, then followed by a 2 hour afternoon nap! One of her record! For the rest of today, I did some homework and also went to the dentist for check-up. The nurse asked me to rinse with some small cup of fluoride; I asked her whether this is covered by my insurance, and she said no! It costs $18 for a small cup of fluoride! I am glad that I asked!
June 14, 2009(Sunday)
We had a good afternoon nap. Then we went out for dinner today. I also worked on the revision of the healthcare paper
June 13, 2009(Saturday)
Carmen went to gym for doing a good exercise. Then I went to the gym and played some basketball and badminton too.
June 12, 2009(Friday)
Cailyn had a pretty good and long first-afternoon-nap. So we don't expect her to sleep the second afternoon nap. And even when we put her to bed around 5pm, she does not seem to be tired. However, amazingly, she fell asleep very easily! Our conclusion is that, she was probably passing the point yesterday before the afternoon nap, so she can't fall asleep.
June 11, 2009(Thursday)
For some very strange reason (probably because of personal development), Cailyn just does not want to have her second afternoon nap. She woke up at 7am this morning (which is almost 1.5 hours earlier than what she used to about a month ago), and only had a 1 hour first-nap (Usually she needs around 2 hours nap). Therefore I was hoping her to have her second nap. Carmen was also tired and wants to have the nap at that time. However, even though we know that Cailyn is very tired, she just kept on walking around and making noises. Not willing to sleep. That makes Carmen not able to sleep too, which makes me very frustrating because I want to make sure that Carmen has sufficient rest. Cailyn periodically lie down and try to sleep, but in the next second she stands up and yelling. I had enough and want to take her out so that Carmen can have some sleep. So I brought her to the living room and let her play and also fed her some food. Then when I was feeding her, she almost falls asleep, so I brought her back to the baby crib. Then she lies down, and standup and yells and so on. She was yawning and feels like very tired and able to sleep any moment, but in the next second she seems to be very excited about not sleeping at all! I am glad that after a while, she finally falls asleep! Otherwise, she will be very tired by the end of the prayer meeting!
June 10, 2009(Wednesday)
I was working on that paper for several hours today. Furthermore, I got a "major revision" from the healthcare paper that I submitted Dec 1, 2008. This is certainly great news because many people get rejection instead! So let's see what will happen for the other papers. I also spent some times to play with Cailyn so that Carmen can get some rest.
June 09, 2009(Tuesday)
After about two weeks of no meeting, I finally had a meeting today with my professor about my dissertation. I still have no clue about what I should do. However, we talked about the paper that I did it separately over the last few months. Hopefully I can finish this paper in a month so that I can work on the real thing.
June 08, 2009(Monday)
I played some one-on-one basketball with church friend Elbert. This reminds me about how I used to play basketball with Hansel. Then at night Kenneth went to our house for dinner.
June 07, 2009(Sunday)
Carmen had a fitness assessment test today; similar my result, her physical shape is either above average or well above average, except that she is not too flexible.
At night Chris went to our home for dinner.
June 06, 2009(Saturday)
I played basketball/badminton and exercised for around 3.5 hours. This is a long exercise and even I feel myself to be exhausted!
June 05, 2009(Friday)
Ever since I finished the paper (that I intended to work by myself) several days ago, I am not being productive at all. I am trying to do some literature review. However, ever since several months ago I want to come up with a nice problem but not even now that I have any idea. This is surely very challenging and I hope to have some idea soon. I am still praying for one.
June 04, 2009(Thursday)
This morning Carmen went to the hospital to check about the due date. Then I went to play badminton and exercising. At night, we went to prayer meeting.
We shared the great news with families and church friends. This is certainly an exciting time.
June 03, 2009(Wednesday)
I stayed home today to take care Cailyn while Carmen went out to buy some grocery and also doing some exercise. At night, church friends Jacky and Frank had dinner at our home.
June 02, 2009(Tuesday)
Today we went to the Indianapolis zoo, which is about 1.2 hours drive from our home. This is the first time that we brought Cailyn to zoo. She has heard about various animals (e.g. elephant, lion, tiger, horse, cow, fish, etc) from book already. Therefore she is quite happy to see various animals alive! We are very excited too because she can see the real thing! On the other hand, she is too young to appreciate any "small" or "no-action" or "move too fast" animal. (e.g. monkey is too fast for her eye to catch; lion sits still and is not exciting). So today our focus is elephant (there is an "elephant show"), horse, cow, lamb and carousel (because this is constantly moving).
We forgot to bring the stroller today. Therefore I carried Cailyn most of the time. In general, today is a physical challenge, even more exhausting so than working out. It is because I have to drive there, drive back (tired at that time). Furthermore, I have to carry her for several hours under 28 degrees! It is not easy, but we still had a great time.
We visited Babies R Us afterward. There was a thunderstorm at that time. Carmen went inside the store while Cailyn and I stayed inside the car. At that time, there is a mom with her 4 years old daughter and an infant, trying to get inside her car (which is next to where I parked) with the product that she just purchased. The shopping cart hit our car slightly and alerted me. However, when I go out to check the car (it was pouring rain at that time), I ended up asking her whether or not she needs help. Since the rain is very heavy at that time, she gave me the key and asked me to open the car door for her! And I also volunteered to help her to put the very heavy and large product inside her car. The result is that I got myself quite wet. I hope that I don't catch a flu!
At night, she had a hard time falling asleep, probably because she is too excited today. (Last time when she had problem falling asleep is when after visiting pediatrician two weeks ago, which traumatized her because of the examination).
June 01, 2009(Monday)
Today is a relatively productive day. I passed the Cisco exam in the morning. Then I had a meeting with proofreader about a paper that I am working. Then I had a workout and played some badminton.
At night we had dinner with people from Macedonia group. People in our group pay a bit too much attention to Cailyn. She always steals the spotlight and is the center of attention!