Please Prepare for Landing

So I just returned back from my thanksgiving vacation back in Boston. It was a blast although I probably came back a bit more tired than when I left. It was full of spending time with friends and family, not to mention eating tons of delicious food.

The Fruita / Grand Junction area has definitely thinned since the season has started to change. A lot of people head out of town for the winter. Definitely a bit quieter, if that is even possible. It seems a bit similar to Cape Cod, back in Boston.

As far as the report, I have finished a draft and am awaiting comments from some of my colleagues here at the Monument. It feels really good to have it all almost complete. Now I get to focus on designing my poster for the TRB conference in January. It should be an extremely exciting time.

I will likely post one more time before I head out of the Monument. I am finishing my term on December 15th and then I get a little time off to ski before heading to DC for the conference. After that I will be back into academia, finishing the last year of my masters program. I can't really say enough about how good of an experience this program was.

Deadlines Approaching: Change Lanes in Emergency

Since the last post, I have been diligently working on getting this final report completed so that I can have it reviewed before Thanksgiving, and then have time to edit it during the two weeks I have left upon my return. It is pretty exciting to see all the work over the past six months taking shape in the report, although at the moment it is a bit long. I will be aiming to trim it down a bit, but also want to make sure I include all the necessary analysis.

Outside of work I have begun the process of getting back into an academic state of mind. I recently did my course selection and I have to say I think I am going to enjoy this next semester of coursework. I have also been working towards applying for internships for next summer. The application season starts early.

In other exciting news, it gets dark around 5:30pm now. It stinks. I really didn't notice it that much in more urban areas, since there are a bunch of other things to keep you occupied. But in nature, once the sun sets, most of your options are limited. Still I have found a little time after work to get in a quick run and ski exercises. Sometimes I get a quick game of disc golf in as well.

The weather is still pretty warm here. It still gets into the 60s during the day but it is usually short lived. The neighbors and I have been having more fires than usual. It is quite relaxing.

Also, big news, this weekend we are having the Rimrock Run. It should be really exciting. I will have to see how it stacks up to the Boston Marathon.

Until next time...