Tonight is Earth Hour, a great excuse to hop in the bathtub, turn the lights down and light a few candles. This could become a weekly habit. Have a relaxing evening...

It's Alive!

I am the proud mother of a baby avocado, at long last! I planted this seed while I was still living at my old apartment, around Christmas time. I have grown an avocado before, so I know avocados take forever to sprout, but I had finally given up and planted a jade cutting on top of it (the green leafy bit on the left). Then today, when I remembered to water the jade, I noticed the alien red sprouts with tiny leaves.

Bionics in action!

Meshing around with finite elements

This week marked my first progress report to Big Engineering Co. I gave a presentation in broken German on the work so far - hard to believe 5 months has gone by so fast!

As soon as the presentation was over, I was back in school, literally. I had to dive into a finite element meshing course 1.5 days late - caught up by end of day though, and luckily 2nd course today is one-on-one with instructor, so learning tons. Here is a sample of what a finite element mesh is supposed to look like:

I´m still working on the Banana Leaf Project - nothing but problems! But the fun kind. Ive started a blog to get feedback on some of them, so if youre really interested in math ...

Fröhliche Östern

Happy Easter from Saarland! Saarbrücken is all a-bloom in festive eggs and flowering shrubs, in spite of sub-zero temperatures. Did the Easter Bunny visit? Well, not exactly, but the Easter Frog appeared briefly.


And the Easter cat ...
Today, Ahmet and I found several bakeries open and enjoyed fresh croissants, chocolate pastries and marzipan. We went for a walking tour of my neighbourhood, all the way to the top of Nussbergtreppe, where I think a church used to stand overlooking the city.

I think the "Guest Accommodations" passed the test, if sleeping in till 10 counts. Can you spot the guest bed in my new living room?

Middle age

I am enjoying a weekend exploring my new hometown with my former classmate, Ahmet, who would be the knight in chain mail on the right :-)

We toured the underground ruins at the Saarland Historical Museum next to (or more accurately under) my neighbourhood castle.


It was a trip back to the 1200's ...

... which I suppose explains the caption "female middle age warrior"

We also had a look around the Ludwigskirche, where a small orchestra was practicing for an Easter Bach concert. Now that's ambiance!
Standing here feels a bit like being dipped in white chocolate.

Frühling

Spring in Saarland is somewhat unpredictable. The weather changes by the hour, and I have seen more of the white stuff this week than over the entire winter. Like Canada, the white stuff comes in many forms - snow, sleet, hail - and you can get all that before noon! I've been trying all day to get out the door, but with weather like this, how do you get dressed?

But Saarlandisch flora have adapted. The crocuses and daffodils have been up for a week or more and seem to survive getting periodically flattened by inclement weather. This is a sweet-smelling tree in my yard. A neighbour has flowering jasmine.




At least I got my indoor herb garden started - this is my office window at home. I don't dare hang the windowbox outside in the horizontal hail!

Retirement

My new abode is developing into a den of relaxation. The bedroom is morphing from minor chaos ...



into a simple retreat of quiet and repose.
... nightie-night!

News from Ottawa

image: SpaceforSpecies.ca

I'm not sure if the rest of the world has been following this, but Canada is about to lose a good chunk of our Space technology (MDA) to a US weapons manufacturer (ATK). You can read one side of this debate with quotes from Marc Garneau at
cbc, or a financial take on it at Trading Markets.

I have friends working there and thinking of 'jumping ship' as Paul Cottle did (good application of Space and ethics), but we might still swing our parliament to follow their own guidelines about selling this kind of technology.

MDA owns the technology for the Canadarm and Radarsat, which arguably gives us tangible control of sovereignty in our northern waters (which are rapidly becoming ice-free and a potential shipping route and source of fossil fuels). Then there is the issue of harbouring offices of a company that produces weapons of all calibres. (Note that ATK, "an advanced weapons and space systems company," uses footage of a shuttle launch in conjunction with missile launches on its home page.)

Excuse my ignorance on the issue - this is more complex than can be explained in a couple lines. I am just learning more about it myself, but I would like to hear if anyone is organizing anything to lobby our government.

Regards from a still-voting displaced Canadian
(also posted to ISU Talk)

The Spa

Wow - there is so much to do in my new place, I hardly know where to start. I'll have to prioritize ... I have to move all the old tenant's stuff out (that I don't need), clean everything (still dishes in the sink blech), find new homes for my things, and make a trek to Ikea for lighting (the landlord has rather eclectic tastes ;-)

Where to start ... well, yesterday, I dutifully cleaned the kitchen, including fridge, so I have a source of food that isn't also a source of bochulism. I also sorted everything according to its functional space ... books in the office, pillows on the bed, clothes in the closet. Now that the pressure is off ... I'm thinking of a nice long soak in the bath. It doesn't look like much, but let's build a spa!

My new bathroom has a ton of towels - most of them end up in a pile at the bottom of the stairs, but these new beach towels thanks to the landlord ... nice! How about somewhere to put all the towels etc ... this used to be my "closet".


The bath area is a bit dull - maybe a rack with all my bath accessories (thanks again to the landlord!) ... and my sunflower bathmat.
Not shown - the suntanning area - the landlord has promised me a sunlamp!

Now I've earned that long soak :-D