herbs last stand

New Year's Resolutions

2007-04-16T17:11:00.002-07:00

I made some New Year’s Resolutions for 2007, which many of us do, but actually kept one for almost three months which in my mind makes it worth mentioning. So here are my New Year’s Resolutions and how I’ve done so far:

1) Sleep like a normal person

For those of you who don’t understand the inside joke here, it’s been a long time since I consistently went to bed and woke up at a normal hour with sufficient hours inbetween. Starting at age 13 in middle school, I woke up at 4 am every day to deliver news papers. Since it was unrealistic through middle and high school to go to bed at 8 pm every night and hence get a full night’s sleep, I averaged 4-5 hours a night though high school, with naps now and then (usually in class). Undergrad at Case was no better. I took too many classes and did too many things to go to bed at a reasonable hour. I would say I pulled an all nighter every week or so in undergrad, and did quite a few in high school, too. When I meet people now who say they never have pulled an all-nighter for work, I can only chuckle in envy.

So the running joke in undergrad was that some day I would like to sleep like a normal person, going to sleep at the same time each night, waking up at the same time each morning, and going to bed when I want to, not when I have finished a day’s work or whatever. Didi often told me that I would die by age 30 if I didn’t learn to do this. Sleeping like a normal person has been a new year’s resolution every year since 2001, and although I do progressively better each year, I am still not there.

So how did this year go? Well grad school, especially after your first year when you don’t have to take as many classes, suits itself much better to this. So I definitely have been sleeping more on average. Also, due to my many years of sleep deprivation in high school and undergrad I no longer have the no sleep stamina I used to and do need to get a few hours now and then. But, specific to 2007, I was doing really well until the end of Winter quarter when I had to huge assignments do in my programming class at the same time. This coincided with a week long visit from Mom an dAnnica (she was on spring break), so I tried to work a short day on research, hang out with them in the evening, and then work through the night on getting these projects done. I wrote nearly 100 pages of code, and got my assignments done, but those projects ruined my New Year’s resolutions…

2) Hit the snooze button only once

I haven’t come close at all, probably due to the outcome of number one.

3) Eat better

The specific item I tired to eliminate was soda, in addition to just being more conscious. I like eating too much to realistically succeed at restricting myself too much. We all know the amount of Coke I can down, a lot of extra calories, so I used that as a definite cold turkey thing to eliminate. I tried in the fall to move to both diet coke, coke zero, etc., but none had the taste of good old original coke. So I had a big helping of Coke on New Year’s Eve dinner at Brendan and An’s, and then had none at all… until I had to practically not sleep at all for a week and had to have the sugar and caffeine to survive.

4) Exercise more

This I really have been doing a good job on. I played basketball twice a week, along with volleyball twice a week and skiing or soccer or tennis over the weekends through winter quarter, and am now playing sand volleyball twice a week, soccer once or twice a week and softball once a week. All, though, as IMs or pick-up games (would love to get bball going again). This, however, along with still not eating as well as I could, has not let me lose the 15-20 pounds I would like to lose (I’m at a big 245 right now). Hitting the gym or running in the mornings has not happened, but I’m trying to use turning 25 on Thursday as an impetus to start it. The running is tough right now- may have to be swimming or biking- as I have developed shin splints from all the impact sports I’ve been playing (soccer, skiing, basketball). I had to take time off now and then for those and am hoping they will finally be better.

5) Stay-in touch with people better

I hope this recent outbreak of blogs will help jump start that, or at least seeing many of old friends at Matt and Didi’s wedding. I don’t think I’ll ever be a big IM person- but I still do read/reply to pretty much all emails, eventually. My inbox is a todo list, and I don’t move things out I haven’t read or dealt with. I learned this from Ashish junior year and am still committed to it. So I hope everyone hasn’t given up on me in this respect – I’m trying to do better, but the jury is still out.

6) Update my blog/ personal webpage more regularly

This is a start!

7) Be more productive at work

As I get more knowledgable about my project, this comes. I haven’t been productive lately, but I don’t think this is something you can just fix. I have to learn to be patient- progress is extremely back loaded in research. So this wasn’t the best resolution to begin with…

8) Minimize extra-curricular responsibilities

I have outright failed at this. I tried to not become a member of the recruitment committee, but they really had no one else to turn to. I am still busy with Action Committee stuff (I’m the president of the grad student group in cheme), and take a lot of time coordinating IMs (intramural sports, that is)., pickup sports and other things. Those things are a part of what makes me who I am – I recall how little fun my last summer in Cleveland I spent entirely in lab were – but at some point I have to give all of this away or find a way to double my productivity at work. It’s the only way to survive at work.

This resolution has really concerned me lately as it really conflicts with things I value. I have worked hard as Action Committee to impact changes in the culture of our Department in a number of ways, have had some success, but there’s a lot more to do. This is a very conceited thing to say, but I’m not sure without my leadership that this culture charge toward more involvement and interaction won’t revert to what it was. And to get things where I’d like to see them would take twice the effort I put in this year…

I usually say I will never give up IMs, but maybe I have to? As to the recruitment committee, agreeing to it now makes it actually a 3 year commitment as usually you are an “apprentice” your first year, run the show on your own the next, and then train the next crew your third. Shira and Karen are the other two new members, both from my year and both the two people who I can count on for help with Action Committee stuff. All three of us are in the same boat- we are willing to help but know we can’t forever…

My mantra for IMs has always been that I want to participate and to assure that I can I organize it. I like to say that if you want to participate you should be willing to coordinate, but I can’t be here for 8 years… Maybe I put so much effort into these things because I’m afraid to try and leave a mark in my department from research alone… Well I do have to do better at this, but this is more than just trying to break a bad habit; to some degree, it’s redefining who I am. Ugh.

The great thing about the quarter system, though, once you get over the horribly compacted and way to rushed schedule for classes, is that everything changes 4 times year. You constantly have chances for “New Quarter Resolutions.” This give you lots of chance to establish that new routine, try and break bad habits, etc. Ironically, this is also the worst thing about the quarter system. As your and the university’s schedule seems to change dramatically every 3 months, all the good habits from the previous quarter’s “New Quarter Resolution” are tough to maintain.

Easter eggs, skiing and remorse

2007-04-16T17:11:00.001-07:00

I went home to Denver this Easter weekend with three friends from Stanford (Chris L, Jon V, Jon K). We went skiing for three days at three different resorts: Vail, Breckenridge, and Keystone, where it dumped on us all day and hence was the best snow of the year the last day of the year. The skiing was a lot of fun, minus the traffic and my helmet chin strap sun tan.

I also got to spend some time with my Mom and Annica while at home. For Easter, mom got these chocolate eggs with cellulose based paint for Annica and we enjoyed a little painting competition. See if you can determine which egg was painted by whom. The results may surprise you.

I did not get to see Dad while I was at home because his mother, lovely known by my siblings and I as California Grandma, was very ill and he rushed out to LA to be by her side. She then passed away on Easter Sunday after a long, full life.

The funeral was on Tuesday and unfortunately there was no time for me to get there, but they simulcast the service over cell phone. My Dad spoke for a long time about his mom at the service, something I had never heard him do before. It made me frustrated that I didn't know my grand parents as well as I should have nor do I feel I know enough about my parents childhood and time before me as I should. Time to learn more about my family!

The Older I get

2007-04-16T17:10:00.001-07:00

I recently had an email exchange with Jenny Chan that really made me put my life in perspective. Jenny was requesting donations for Relay for Life, a charity in which people pledge to run many miles to raise awareness and money for the American Cancer society. As Jenny will readily admit, she was not a runner in the past, but now plans to run130 miles between March 1 and May 31. I am really impressed by this, not only her commitment to a charity, but really picking up a new hobby and getting into it.

A recent grad of my lab, Vic, took a job at Exxon in Virginia and is going to dancing classes in the evenings now. Some friends at Stanford are taking Wind Surfing classes, another labmate learned dutch (he is married to a Belgian). Craig always seems to be trying out some new something. Karthik is off in India. And me…

The older I get, the more things I don’t do. I definitely don’t do theatre anymore, and haven’t since 2001. I don’t sing, or really do any music of any kind. I barely read for pleasure, and definitely have written any plays recently or created any short films. I haven’t been as physically fit as I want to be since I left high school, and things only get worse the older I get. I’ve forgotten nearly all the German I learned in Middle School, High School and my first two years of college.

Well, I’m really happy for all of the people I know who are expanding their horizons in some way. Just wish it didn’t put in contrast how close the horizon is feeling to me right now.

Roommate divorce

2007-04-16T17:06:00.001-07:00

As the handful of you (Amy, Josh, Mary Ann) who have been so kind as to visit know, Stanford offers a subsidy to Graduate students to live in area off-campus apartments at more affordable rates. Hence, Vinay and I have lived from September 2005-April 2007 in Sharon Green Apartments, a spacious 2Br, 2 Bath 800 square foot apartment at a price (~900/month) much less than the market value (~1200/month). Stanford was effectively a third roommate for us while we were there. The complex was great, about 2 miles from campus with a shuttle that came every 40 minutes, plenty of parking (not a small thing in this part of the country), a shopping center right across the street with bakery, deli, bank, super market, a couple of restaurants, gas station, and the key ingredient for Vinay, a Starbucks.

Stanford started this subsidized program a few years ago to help the enormous crunch on graduate housing on campus. In fact, one of the only big student demonstrations in the last decade was graduate students protesting for more on campus housing. The program subsidized apartments all over the area, but is now coming to an end for three reasons: 1) the scheduled opening of new graduate residences in 2008; 2) The current excess of on campus graduate housing as more people live off campus; 3) The perceived availability and affordability of off-campus apartments as compared to the past. This all may be true, but for Vinay and I, the only affordable options were quite far from campus, so we decided to move on before the termination of our lease at the end of May.

So know we are living in Studio apartments as we perceived this to be the best way to get more space. I think I have 300 square feet now with private bath and a kitchen and living area. Things are cramped, and moving was a bit of a pain as we go from an unfurnished apartment to a furnished studio. We had two couches which are currently being stored at friend’s places. The desk I had is now in the trunk of my car as I look for an interested party. The foosball table is in my studio, along with the bed I bought for the old apartment. With bed and foosball table, I have about 8 square feet of unoccupied floor space and I have climb over a couch to get into bed. College living at its best- I feel like I’m back in those 6x10’s in Howe.

As to the title of this article, moving out was kind of similar to a divorce. Vinay and I had to figure out how to split up a lot of shared items (dishes, pots and pans, kitchen appliances, TV and other electronics, foosball table, tables and chairs, etc.); determine what to do with shared items that are no longer practical for an individual (couches); and we see each other much less than we used to.

I have some friends at Stanford with whom I will try to live starting in the fall, but for now I really feel like I’m back in undergrad, walking down long hallways of closed doors (I barely see anyone around the studios, actually) to my cramped room with all of my stuff shoved here and there, stacks of boxes in the corners, no free space in the closet. At least the kitchen and bathroom are much nicer than the past, but not my favorite living situation for the time being…

So, yeah, no longer easy for anyone to come visit- I barely have space for myself in my apartment right now- but that doesn’t mean that if you are in the bay area I wouldn’t love to see ya.

Life after qualifying exams

2007-04-16T17:05:00.000-07:00

The Stanford Chemical Engineering Department has a two-pronged qualifying exams approach. After your first two quarters, we take Pre-Qualifying Exams. Thus my classmates and I spent Winter Quarter exam week and spring break of last year (2006) stashed away in the library preparing for them. Then, after Spring and Summer quarters, right before the start of your second year, we have Qualifying Exams. The first year class here (that’s right, I’m a second year now) just went through this, making me realize I hadn’t kept many of you up-to-date on how all of this went for me.

For Pre-Quals, we were each given a current paper from an academic journal in one of four topic areas: 1) Transport phenomena and rheology; 2) Surface science; 3) Polymers; 4) Bioengineering. I choose, naturally, transport and rheology. With our papers in hand, we had two weeks to prepare a twenty minute presentation critiquing this work in front of the faculty, followed by twenty minutes of questions. As qualifying exams go (most of the rest of the country class our “pre-quals” quals and our “quals” a candidacy exam), this is rather unique. MIT, Caltech, Wisconsin and Berkley all have more traditional exams, with written questions. I know MIT has an oral part of the exam, too, but all on the Undergrad ChemE curriculum. The faculty here claim that the questions they ask and what they are looking for in our presentations are also to evaluate our knowledge of ChemE curriculum, but we definitely get a different and I think less stressful environment.

My paper was a 40 pages beast on polymer dynamics theory, modeling and experiment. For all those interested, here’s the reference: “Elasto-capillary thinning and breakup of model elastic liquids.” Anna and McKinley, Journal of Rheology, vol 45, 2001.

As the title suggests, the paper focused on understanding the dynamics and breaking of filaments of polymer fluids. Imagine that you have some undried elmer’s glue sandwiched between two coasters. Now imagine that you are pulling the two coasters apart such that you move one coaster up and the other down. As the coasters are separaterd, the elmer’s glue “stretches,” a thin stream connecting the glob of glue stuck to the top coaster and the bottom coaster. As you pull the coasters even further apart, this stream, or filament, connecting the two coasters will become thinner and longer until eventually it breaks.

Other than being really long and dense, though, my paper wasn’t so bad. And since prequals focus on oral presentation skills primarily, I felt very comfortable going in: my theatre background from High School has given me a lot of confidence for oral presentations. So the talk went well, the questions from the faculty were pretty benign, and I passed with flying colors. Actually, all of my first year class passed Pre-Quals, not un-precedent, but still a big accomplishment. I was really happy for all of my classmates; they have all worked very hard all truly wanted to be here. It’s great that Stanford ChemE has designed it’s qualifying exams such that desire and hard work are the primary criteria for passing, at least from what I can tell.

After Pre-Quals, we were all assigned research advisors and joined labs. I am working with Eric Shaqfeh, a rheologist/ polymer physicist who studies complex fluids (that is, how solutions of polymers or other macromolecules behave) and polymer dynamics (e.g. simulations and flow-trapping and microscope observation of single DNA molecules stretching in flow). I will write an entry describing my project in greater detail at some later point, but quickly my project is investigating the dynamics of DNA fragments in nano-channels toward the application of creating a new DNA size-sorter.

There is a good crop of smart, out-going and generally fun older students (Vic and Dave, who graduated in fall 2006, Brendan, Ajey and Chris, who are will graduate most likely in fall 2008) in Eric’s groups that have all become good friends of mine. We really have a great time at work, although I suppose we would be a little more productive if we didn’t like hanging out so much.

Following prequals, preparations for Quals begins immediately. Like prequals, quals is a 20 minute presentation followed by 20 minutes of questions. This time, however, your presentation is on your progress and future plans in your doctoral research. My advisor really likes his students to give lots of practice talks, so Shikha, another new student to Eric’s group, and I started giving talks in June and kept giving them at least once a month until Quals in the end of September. These practice talks were much more nerve-racking then the actual talk: a lot of times you are unprepared, don’t have many of the results you will have by the end of the summer, and I am much more embarrassed about seeming foolish or unintelligent in front of my peers, who may think otherwise, than the faculty, who already know from classes, exams, etc. how smart I am.

The actual quals went well again. Not all of my first year class took quals right away, but in the end everyone passed, which was a great relief yet again.

Following Quals, we jumped right into fall quarter 2006. I was a teaching assistant for a core class (i.e. a little bit more homework and all the entering ChemE PhD students have to take it) in applied mathematics that my advisor taught. It was a lot of fun- I got to do a 1.5 hour recitation every week in addition to office hours and grading (not much fun) – but a huge time commitment. Getting research done was impossible and I am still trying, now in April 2007, the research momentum I had at the end of the summer that TAing destroyed. Hopefully when I TA this class again in Fall 2007 (that’s usually the way things work), I will be better prepared and better able to balance things.

TAing in the fall also had another interesting side effect. All of the older students talk about the “post-quals slump.” Your first year is pretty intense, with lots of homework and tests the first two quarters, followed by pre quals and quals. Most students get stuck in the research doldrums in the fall at the start of their second year mostly because they need a mental break. Research becomes boring and un-motivating for a while with the next hurdle, graduation, so far away and without day-to-day pressures as you only have to take maybe one class. Well I didn’t have time to relax in the Fall or even the Winter quarter of my second year, with TAing and my other duties I always seem to load up with (coordinating Intramural sports, President of the Action Committee, the ChemE Grad student group, member of the Recruitment committee, so responsible for planning and running all of the recruitment events in early spring). So while my second year classmates enjoyed the fall quarter slump, I slogged on, as busy as ever.

But I think I have finally reached that slump now, Spring quarter of my second year. It’s been hard to get out of bed in the morning recently, and I am moving much slower than I’d like to in my research right now. The older students assure me that this malaise will pass, so for now I’ll just try to slog through and find ways to make my project interesting again. Right now is when I realize what getting a PhD is really all about. Sure you need to be smart, but mostly you need to be willing for a marathon, chipping away for five years, which compared to everything else you’ve done up to that point, is a very, very long time.

Trip to Cleveland and Fall Quarter Impressions

2005-12-07T17:00:00.000-08:00

Trip to Cleveland and impressions on a quarter-

Before discussing the quarter, let me alert everyone to my upcoming trip to Cleveland.

Arrive-Tuesday 1/3/06, 7:55 pm (Continental 2816)
Depart-Sunday 1/8/06, 8:14 am (United 1147)

This is supposed to be somewhat of a business trip—still doing stuff for old Case MS advisor Baskaran—but I would still really like to see people while I’m in town. I hope I can see many of you then.

So one quarter almost finished here at Stanford. I have a final R evening, next W morning and a take home final due next W, along with a homework due this F—one more week and I’m there. I am doing fine in classes- especially since as a PhD student, grades are entirely irrelevant as long as you maintain a very achievable minimum GPA. Graduate classes here, I’m assured, follow the general grad class grading scale:

A= average

B= you’re doing badly

C= a catastrophe

D,F= do not exist (at least never seen)

Inc= probably what you would get instead of a D or F if you found someway to do that poorly.

I am hoping the Graduate Grading Scale (GGS) will help me out in my Partials Differential Equations class that has proven interesting, but too “mathy” and abstract for this engineer at times.

My classmates here, as expected, are very committed and hardworking. I definitely feel like I’ve lost some of my taking classes edge, though. Although my peers still seem to think I’m this infinitely motivated/hard-working individual and gawk at the length of my problem sets, I definitely have never had so much trouble resisting the urge to just sit and watch TV/ read a good book. Perhaps it was the nine month break from taking classes. Hopefully the “undergrad life” I have to maintain for just one more quarter will be more agreeable in the Winter quarter. In the spring I will begin working in a research lab, and probably won’t take more than 1 classes very often there-after.

I have done some of the things I wanted to do here, but few as often as I’d like. I only made one football game- Stanford vs. ND, a TERRIFFIC game, especially since Stanford legend John Elway and others were present at halftime. I’ve made some basketball games and hope to make more in the new year. Our IM football team made the playoffs (a hard thing to do here) and won our first playoff game. The quarters, semis and championship are this upcoming weekend. I definitely haven’t eaten/exercised the way I wanted to and that heads my list of new year’s resolutions. I’ve barely touched my golf clubs, and have not been able to hike/camp at all yet. My older classmates assure me that these things become easier once your primary focus shifts from classes and problem sets to working in a lab. I think my problem remains my limitless appetite for activities coupled with a lot of work to do. If only I good get a job as a “leisure engineer”….

The campus and people have been great. I am impressed by the general level of commitment and intelligence of everyone I’ve met. My interaction with undergraduates has been limited thus far, but I hear that it is a fun place to be an undergraduate.

In addition to being in Cleveland, I will be at home in Denver from 12/17 to 1/3. I was able to go home for Thanksgiving this year- we got a full week off and will again next year- and I have been dreaming of mom’s cooking non-stop ever since I left. Looks like that eating better will just have to wait until the start of Winter Quarter….

Happy Holidays Everybody.

Top Five Reasons Anders is cooler than Craig Snoeyink

2005-10-16T23:18:00.000-07:00

5. My first AND last name are mispronounced and mispelled.

4. On a recent random made-up survey of college age females, 7 out of 10 called me "rugged" and Craig "cute" when given only these two options. (One responded "neither" when she saw Craig's picture, bio and website, but these results were discarded.)

3. I remember the names of everyone I met this week.

2. I give you exhibit A and B.

1. And finally, I give you Lenny the Lobster (below), who is much cooler than Craig's Wycliff the Walrus.

Anders moves to Stanford and Palo Alto and El Camino Real gets his moneys worth

2005-09-23T03:03:00.000-07:00

Time to begin pursuit of my Chemical Engineering PhD at Stanford University!

So Vinay and I are all settled in our apartment. If I haven’t explained my housing situation before, Vinay and are living in a 2BR/2bath off-campus apartment. We would be paying through the nose for such a place, but Stanford has made a deal with the complex and subsidizes the apartments to essentially the same rate as on-campus. PROS of this included larger, nicer spaces, the ability to stay here pretty much as long as we want. CONS include a greater distance from campus (2-3 miles) and no-furnishings. Who knew how much that would cost?

For those that don’t know Vinay Majjigi, we are good friends from Case, meeting as lab partners in honors freshman physics, a class I still must say had a huge impact on my case experience. Vinay’s a electrical engineering first year graduate student at Stanford as well as my roommate (yep he really does have his hands full with that combination).

Well it’s furnished now…. Highlights include the beige leather love seat and sofa set Vinay magically haggled some guy into giving us for cheap. They are quite comfy, but getting them in was quite an experience (front door and closet door off its hinges, removed stuff from most of the cushions and about an 1 ½ hour of shoving). Other highlights include the black and white motif of our living room dining room ikea furniture, dart board complete with card board box wall backing, and the showcase item, our just received/assembled Tornado Cyclone II foosball table. Despite considerable rust (mostly from me), the initial games were everything you could dream of. Vinay is currently leading the series 9 games to 2. I have my work cut out to catch up, but I think it’s only a matter of time.

Academically classes start Monday (quarter system L). Vinay and I will both be taking 3 classes and seminar, the typical load here of 10 “units.” As expected, the ChemE curricula is pretty laid out. I’ll be taking a ChemE math course, a Thermo course, and my chosen elective, the start of a 3 quarter PDE sequence from the math department I’ve heard great things about. Vinay’s curricula, as could be expected from EE’s, is wide-open and mostly up to him, not a good combination for apprehensive incoming graduate students.

Additionally, Stanford has incoming ChemE’s participate in “research rotations” for the first two quarters. Essentially you participate in group activities in a research group (different group each quarter) and have a mini project and presentation. I will be working with Prof. Shaqfeh, a fluid mechanics guy, most likely on a Brownian motion simulation. At the beginning of spring quarter (it goes autumn Sept-Dec, winter Jan-Mar, spring Apr-Jun here), advisor selection and “prequals” occur for me. The have prequals and quals as opposed qualifiers and candidacy exams like much of the rest of the world. Prequals are much like Case qualifiers, a paper on a topic outside your area of expertise and a couple weeks to research and then present. Qualifiers here are, also like Case’s candidacy exam, essentially a presentation on the formulation of your research question/plan and current progress, which will occur about a year from now.

Three of the four PHYS 123 lab group members are here, with myself (part of incoming ChemE class of 20), Vinay (part of EE class of 210, under half of which are Caucasian), and Ken Frank (Mech E class of 55). Perhaps Tom Lally will join us next year to get the whole group back together! Think how proud Starkman must be now….

Outside of living in the ChemE library, I will of course do whatever intramural sports I can, will try to get more exercise (we’ll see about sleep), and have inquired with a tutoring group and camping group at the activities fair. And of course lots of foosball.

Other interesting things about Stanford: They are really web everything (and in a good way) here. Much more so than Case. Also alternate transportation and recycling is GREATLY pushed. I got $200 for agreeing NOT to buy a parking permit. Vinay and I have been biking most places since we bought everything we needed for our apartment, and bikes here are very, very big (bike lanes EVERYWHERE). Stanford’s bookstore has big prices on textbooks, of course, and apparel could be less, but supplies are pretty normal. I noticed Giancoli physics books for the undergrads, as well as the same reactions book for the ChemEs. They learn transport from BSL, though. Stanford also has some great Phys Ed courses that I’ve heard are really good (e.g. golf) that I’m going to try and take if it doesn’t count against my unit limits. And lastly, Stanford campus is a black hole for just about every useful street in the area. I have done my share of getting lost.

Interesting things about CA: Uturns everywhere. They seem to plan everything in huge expanses of the same thing. Some areas are commercial strip mall as far as the eye can see, others residential, and then there are miles and miles of natural beauty. Groceries are perhaps the biggest sticker shock I’ve noticed in terms of things costing more, while gas really is as bad or better than Denver. The weather is quite nice, of course, although it gets surprisingly chilly in the evenings.

My next visit to Cleveland should be sometime in November for those who are still around. Progress on writing my masters thesis has been slow, especially with all the demands and excitement of being at home and now in a new place. I hope to make more headway soon, but at the same time I hope not to totally isolate myself this first quarter. Wish I had had another 2 or 3 weeks of time this summer and I hadn’t been scrambling for results ‘till the very end… Well, I wish a lot of things about my last year at Case…

In closing, from personal experience, one should purchase/use a bike of appropriate size and weight rating. Vinay and my’s first mountain biking venture at an area bike was not so much fun for me on a bike too small and meek for my generous proportions. Imagined it must be like towing a boat with a civic….

Doing my best to stay in touch (although I do a dreadful job of it it seems)

-Anders Berliner

So I have a blog

2005-06-09T19:24:00.000-07:00

Don't expect any updates- did this for KRam and use of his book blog.

Well, who knows. Maybe I'll get into this.... gotta finish some other webpage stuff, first, and would probably put it there.

Good luck to all.
-Anders Berliner