Get happy and celebrate stuff!

maletero

Since the "Get Whiney" thread is now back on the front page, with new and very legitimate grievances, I thought we could maybe use a thread to celebrate the happy things in life, too. 

I'm celebrating the fact that for the first time in a long, long time, I'm no longer a student! I defended my dissertation a couple weeks back and am headed back to school to turn the thing in to the thesis office tomorrow. I did it! I'm (finally) a rock doctor and can partake in "leisure" activities and spend time with my family without feeling guilty.

So, besides the upcoming cruise, what are people here happy or excited about? What's worth celebrating in your life?

Chaosdreamer

@maletero Congratulations!  I'm excited about my Christmas cruise because it hits 2 out of 3 of the same countries as JCCC4 (and because, well, vacation, yay!)  Hmm, maybe I should go over to the Get Whiney thread so I can complain about the sorry state of my bank account...

chetman

Dear Dr. Maletero: 

Congratulations!

Sparky1961

As a former suffering grad student myself ...congrats. Im impressed you were able to make all the changes the committe wanted in just two weeks..and if that includes the pleasing the formatting beastsat the university with picking thier dang nitsand getting final sign off well..dang.

Now about my pet rock who is seems listless and wan...do you do Rock Doctor Housecalls?

maletero

Thanks, all for the kind words. After the defense, I only had minor edits to fix because I had already been through a few rounds of edits before the defense; the major kinks had already been hammered out of the science. As for the formatting . . . I stopped by the thesis office to ask a simple formatting question and left frustrated. Assuming anyone ever reads what I wrote, is anybody going to care whether multi-line section and chapter titles are arranged in an inverted pyramid? And why doesn't pagination of the thesis handbook reflect the pagination expected in my dissertation? 

Anyway, @Sparky I'd be happy to make a house call, if you're in the intermountain west, but it might not be needed. Your problem is probably related to feeding. Most people overfeed their pet rocks. With few exceptions, they don't need any food at all! If you've been following the recommended feeding schedule, try taking him for a walk down a steep hill. They love that. 

I really didn't start this thread (just) to brag about the end of my dissertating days. So feel free to chime in with your own happy moments!

villicious

Last week my podcast had more downloads than any other week in its history (much to the chagrin of some people who thought the subject matter of the new episodes was "not worth history").

mikesphar

The Haunted Mansion one? I loved those two episodes! Fascinating history of a cultural touchstone.

BrettGlass

@malatero Glad to hear that you're about to put your disspent youth behind you!

villicious

Thanks, Mike!

Angelastic

Congrats, @maletero and @villicious! I've had so many friends take a long, stressful time to get their Ph.D.s and being pretty relieved to finally make it.

I'm happy because I found a temporary apartment (I can eat vegetables again!), and, thanks to the Virtual Linguistics Campus, I've sort of become a student again, in something I always wanted to study but couldn't schedule well with all the maths and such I was doing. I'm also excited because tomorrow evening I will embark on a groupie tour, and see four Marian Call concerts, one or two concerts of another band I like a lot, and a whole lot of friends (some fans of those two bands and/or of JoCo, and some people who left CERN, and some who didn't) I haven't seen for a while. Also, there will be stroopwafels! And no day job for a week. Wheeee!

BrettGlass

One of these days I'll have to take a "groupie tour" of Europe. When I lived there for a year, I heard so many incredible musicians!

Angelastic

It's a great place for groupie tours!

Oboewan

My baby sister, who has been out of the workforce for 10+ years, just got a part time job!!!!  :-)

maletero

Great news, @Oboewan. That's reason to celebrate! 

Oboewan

Cruise is PiF!!!!!!!

midnitesnoopy

I just got asked to be on staff for Denver Comic Con! (not paid, since its a non profit, but its a super exciting thing for me!)

Simalot

We just ended our series of six straight weeks seeing a show:

1. Wil Wheaton vs Paul and Storm
   
2. Thrilling Adventure Hour
3. The Long Winters -- where we also were introduced to Reuben and the Dark, an excellent quartet from Calgary, who were the fourth of five opening acts(!).
4. Marian Call, Scott Barkan, and Sarah Donner
5. Concert of cantors in honor of the same-day birthday of two synagogue members, aged 95 and 97, who have been married 74 years!
   
6. Elvis Costello solo

We got to see sea monkeys at each of the first four shows! We now get a one weekend reprieve before seeing Amanda Palmer and Neil Gaiman, after which we go into hibernation for a while.

autojim

@Simalot: Get thee to Frank Turner! He's heading your way later this week. Between Northhampton, MA (Sunday 24th) Clifton Park, NY (Monday 25th), NYC (Wednesday 27th), several opportunities near you. Boston on the 30th is sold out, but he's in Philly on the 29th.

Great live show. His supporting acts are eclectic (Koo Koo Kanga Roo will appeal to your inner 3rd grader, and The Smith Street Band are straight-ahead Aussie rock & roll). Tons of fun. We saw them in Houston last week.

Simalot

Jim, you are attempting Simchacide-by-proxy :-) He's on my radar, thanks first to NPR (his Newport set is available on their live concert site) and then by multiple Sea Monkeys, but I think we will likely pass until his next time through. None of the locations is closer than 80 minutes away and I've been told no weeknight concerts for a while, except for once-in-a-lifetime events.

JadeSnake

It's okay, Simalot, Frank tours compulsively. You won't have to wait longer than a year to see him.

autojim

@Simalot: Ah. Yeah, the dreaded miles/minutes dichotomy of major metro areas + the northeast. (Example: yesterday morning, my 6 mile commute on surface streets took 80 minutes thanks to a combination of a nasty crash in front of my company's HQ and a major freeway closure elsewhere diverting extra traffic onto my route. There was a good side: listened to my Frank Turner Houston concert setlist on the iPod while sitting in traffic.)

And Jade's right: the guy is on the road a lot.

mikesphar

Back in California in the Silicon Valley, a 20 mile trip was nothing to me. I would drive 20 miles just because I had a craving for a particular place to eat or to buy something from a store that I liked more than more local stores. Since I moved to Chicago, I now consider a 20-mile drive a significant road trip.

BrettGlass

When I lived in the Silicon Valley, 20 miles was nothing at some times of day and an infinite gulf during rush hours, when the traffic was beyond horrible.
 
Now that I live in Laramie, Wyoming, the 45 to 60 miles to Cheyenne or Fort Collins, respectively, is an eyeblink (unless there's a blizzard) because there is NO traffic. Denver is two and a half pleasant hours of driving... unless, again, there's a blizzard or some idiot has caused a pile-up on I-25.
 
We see a lot of shows in Denver (including JoCo on his last tour and Paul and Storm this past Sunday), but are also setting up a permanent house concert venue with 50 seats to try to lure acts to town. Marian Call and Scott Barkan (two musicians well known to the JoCo crowd) have already performed there. Since Laramie is right on I-80 and 6 hours (a day's driving) from both Salt Lake City and Lincoln, NE, we're hoping to attract musicians who want a lucrative and enjoyable stop midway between the two. Or who are traveling up the Front Range (the eastern piedmont of the Rockies) and would like a northern stop.

Oboewan

Gaming weekend!   I'm heading up to Pikesville, MD for Euroquest-  4 Days of boardgaming fun!   Vacation begins in 30min.......

Fizzgig

I just paid off JCCC4. I also survived my first run to Grand Junction... That first set of hills leaving Denver almost made me turn back in a panic attack! I feel accomplished! :-D

BrettGlass

Yes, I-70 going west out of Denver is, uh, a fun drive. ;-) The route was, alas, chosen for the scenery rather than for practical reasons. I bypass many of those huge hills, when coming down from Wyoming, by taking a back route through Steamboat Springs.
 
Because the drive is a pain (though it is pretty), several airlines operate cheap flights to Grand Junction out of Denver International Airport, and many corporations do charters or fly private planes out of Jefferson County (Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport). Thanks to the ski resorts and casinos there is also lots of bus service. And Amtrak goes that way, at least when they are not diverting trains northward through Laramie.

Oboewan

Another Gaming Weekend success!   Just got back from BGGCON out in Dallas and ran into a Sea Monkey or two!

Pre-ordered 5 new games too, some of which will make their way to the boat.

Hollyros1

What games did you order Oboewan?  

Oboewan

Concordia, Caverna, Russian Railroads, Suburbia Inc., Amerigo

Hollyros1

This is my first JCCC, how does the game room work?  Do people just bring their games from home and leave them in the game room during the cruise so people can play?  Just trying to decide how much suitcase space I need to set aside to bring a few games.  Is there a link here somewhere indicating if people are bringing certain games so we don't have to many of a certain game?

Oboewan

@Hollyros1  I was able to find the gist of what Isildur42 set up for us at boardgamegeek.com   It's basically a list of who is bringing what games (prevent duplicates etc..) and whether they will be available (pre-order) at the JoCotel prior to the cruise.   The games live in the game room during the cruise.  I suspect that a boardgames for JCCCIV should surface soon.  In the meantime......

"I setup an account for jococruisecrazy on the website boardgamegeek.com. This can be used to keep track of what games are being brought to the cruise, so we don't have too much overlap or assume somebody else will bring it. I have used this system for several years to keep track of another gathering I participate in.

Simply find the game in question, and "add a copy to the collection" down at the bottom of the page. If you are staying at the jocotel, please mark the game as "pre-ordered" as well. The games marked pre-ordered are ones that will be at the jocotel.

I recommend you put your name/username in the comments so we know who is bringing it.

the username and password are "jococruisecrazy"

"