Thursday, January 27, 2005
waterville
yesterday morning (~9am) we left for Waterville, NH on the bus. The snow was pretty crazy, and so everything was delayed (it took us 4 hours to get there, when it normally requires just 2-2.5 hrs). Anyway, I'm glad we decided to take the bus there, rather than rent a car or catch a ride with someone else (the thing is, Michael was going too, since he was giving a presentation as well..and earlier he was thinking of just going up in the evening in his advisor's car, and i had considered tagging along) . The road was pretty sketchy ...on the way there we must have seen like 4 or 5 accidents (one involving a semi), and like 6 or 7 cars stuck on the side of the road. That alone slowed the traffic down by quite a bit...half the time it seemed like we were going 10 miles per hour. :) I guess that's ok though, any faster and we could have slid off the road as well!
We ended up getting to Waterville Valley around ~1pm. We ended up getting rooms in the same condos we stayed in last year (Town House). I luckily ended up getting the master bedroom (with a TV in it!) all to myself! Michael wasn't so lucky though, when he got to his suite someone had already claimed the master bedroom. Oh well, he did get his own room though, with a TV (albeit a very old one).
Anyway, soon after getting there, almost everyone else ran off to go skiing. We didn't go, since it seemed like a waste, since at that point we'd only get about 2 hours of skiing, since there wasn't many daylight hours left (and we'd have to pay for rentals & lift tickets). Plus, we were starving! :) So first thing we did is eat lunch (i brought some of the black bean chili i had made the other day). I also brought this really tasty wheat-free chocolate chip cookie (if you zap it in the microwave for a few seconds, the taste is simply to die for)!!
Later on I just watched some TV, took a nap, and later on ended up going to the athletic center there. I ran 2 miles in an "indoor track" (basically the perimeter of a gym) and later worked out. Skipped out on the dinner & talk at the conference center, and instead went out to dinner at this place above the gym. It was on the pricey side ($13/entree) but whatever...the food was good. I ended up getting something called Tofu, Lentil and Sweet Potato ragout...basically it was those things plus carrots, spinach, and onions in a creamy coconut curry sauce. I swear, it must have been the healthiest meal I have ever eaten (i don't think i've ever eaten that many vegetables in an entire week), yet it was quite tasty, and very filling (no room for dessert, which is saying a lot). :)
The next morning I had to get up early, since we all had to check out before heading off to breakfast. The breakfast served was waaay better than last year (this time, they at least had bacon, eggs and sausage, as compared to a montage of bagels, danishes, and scones that they usually have). Yay. Then the actual conference started, with all the presentations. Some people's were really entertaining, but most were pretty boring. Mine ended up being ok, but i was bit thrown off after the projector stopped working right before i was goign to give my talk (causing a 10-minute delay, while they got another projector). Eek. Oh well, at least I got it over with.
The poster sessions were ok, i ended up explaining my poster to like 5 or 6 people. My poster definitely was the brightest of them all...it was green and blue/purple, with bits of red. I must have used like 3x the ink that others did! :)
Oh, and the ride back was pretty smooth..only took about 2 hours (about half the time as it took on the way there!) The bus driver was pretty cool, he put in a movie for us ("What Lies Beneath") which I ended up watching for the most part. Anyways, got back to MIT around 6pm, to which i ate dinner, unpacked, and later went to play "Cranium: Turbo Edition" @ Roger & Dottie's (along with some SPEC and ex-SPEC peeps). It was really fun...i'd forgotten how hilarious playing board games can be. :)
We ended up getting to Waterville Valley around ~1pm. We ended up getting rooms in the same condos we stayed in last year (Town House). I luckily ended up getting the master bedroom (with a TV in it!) all to myself! Michael wasn't so lucky though, when he got to his suite someone had already claimed the master bedroom. Oh well, he did get his own room though, with a TV (albeit a very old one).
Anyway, soon after getting there, almost everyone else ran off to go skiing. We didn't go, since it seemed like a waste, since at that point we'd only get about 2 hours of skiing, since there wasn't many daylight hours left (and we'd have to pay for rentals & lift tickets). Plus, we were starving! :) So first thing we did is eat lunch (i brought some of the black bean chili i had made the other day). I also brought this really tasty wheat-free chocolate chip cookie (if you zap it in the microwave for a few seconds, the taste is simply to die for)!!
Later on I just watched some TV, took a nap, and later on ended up going to the athletic center there. I ran 2 miles in an "indoor track" (basically the perimeter of a gym) and later worked out. Skipped out on the dinner & talk at the conference center, and instead went out to dinner at this place above the gym. It was on the pricey side ($13/entree) but whatever...the food was good. I ended up getting something called Tofu, Lentil and Sweet Potato ragout...basically it was those things plus carrots, spinach, and onions in a creamy coconut curry sauce. I swear, it must have been the healthiest meal I have ever eaten (i don't think i've ever eaten that many vegetables in an entire week), yet it was quite tasty, and very filling (no room for dessert, which is saying a lot). :)
The next morning I had to get up early, since we all had to check out before heading off to breakfast. The breakfast served was waaay better than last year (this time, they at least had bacon, eggs and sausage, as compared to a montage of bagels, danishes, and scones that they usually have). Yay. Then the actual conference started, with all the presentations. Some people's were really entertaining, but most were pretty boring. Mine ended up being ok, but i was bit thrown off after the projector stopped working right before i was goign to give my talk (causing a 10-minute delay, while they got another projector). Eek. Oh well, at least I got it over with.
The poster sessions were ok, i ended up explaining my poster to like 5 or 6 people. My poster definitely was the brightest of them all...it was green and blue/purple, with bits of red. I must have used like 3x the ink that others did! :)
Oh, and the ride back was pretty smooth..only took about 2 hours (about half the time as it took on the way there!) The bus driver was pretty cool, he put in a movie for us ("What Lies Beneath") which I ended up watching for the most part. Anyways, got back to MIT around 6pm, to which i ate dinner, unpacked, and later went to play "Cranium: Turbo Edition" @ Roger & Dottie's (along with some SPEC and ex-SPEC peeps). It was really fun...i'd forgotten how hilarious playing board games can be. :)
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