The Hirsh-Theriault Jugernaut

We are nearly packed. The movers will come tomorrow, and then we will be out of this place!

This morning, our present landlord called us to remind us that our lease would expire at NOON on the 31st. *rolls eyes* And he would be by today to inspect the apartment. Fine. He never came, but still. This dude ... well ... let's say Mike and I are glad we are moving on SOOOooo many counts, including the landlord and his personality problems.

I have been scurrying about furiously, putting things in boxes and so on and so forth. Michael has done a lot of heavy lifting -- taking things to the car and driving off to Watertown. On Monday, we dropped our suitcases off at the new apartment after returning from the Hirsh Christmas. And now, we are 98% packed and the movies are coming tomorrow! Unstoppable!

Speaking of the Hirsh Christmas, everything went fine. All members of my family (including the two I was worried about) behaved themselves, and no one gave Mike a hard time. Mike's mother gave him an apple corer/peeler/slicer gizmo, which was PERFECT! And she gave me a pi plate. Yes, a pi plate, with pi written on it out to some insane number of decimal places, and a big PI symbol on the bottom. It is ADORABLE!

In not so good news, my mother is back in the hospital. She didn't come to Christmas, because she wasn't feeling well, after having been in the hospital and having blood work done in the previous couple of weeks. Her heart has been fibrillating and running fast, and she has been feeling weak. So, Christmas day, we get this call that she has gotten one of our neighbors to take her to the hospital. They found a blood clot in her heart. They gave her a bunch of drugs, and she said that she was feeling better. I think she would have been discharged today. And my father hasn't called me. So I guess everything is roughly okay.

So, we are mostly packed, and ready to go! Here we go!

My breadmaker has arrived!

I am sorry not to have posted in so long. There has been a flurry of activity and I have been so busy!

Today, my Christmas present from Mike arrived in the lab -- a breadmaker from Woot. Hurray! Now, to get it home on the crowded rush hour train...

In other news, I had another marathon interview with BAE on Monday. I was interviewing with the other group that was interested in me. The sensor fusion group. At the end, they were telling me about how it would be hard to put together an offer package because I need to graduate, and I might miss the June deadline and graduate in September instead -- which would put them in the next fiscal year. So, I should keep them posted about when I am going to graduate. Yesterday, I talked to Jack, the HR guy, and he said that all the feedback he had gotten about me had been positive. He said they hadn't made final decisions yet, but I am hopeful!

Mike has taken this class at work, called "Getting Things Done". I have been slightly startled to find him keeping a lengthy to-do list. We spent all day Sunday trying to find him a palm pilot. First, he was going to buy the Palm TX, but they were out of stock at Microcenter. Then, we were going to get the Treo, because I think Mike would rather have just one gadget in his pocket, and the Treo is an organizer, cell phone, and camera. At the Verizon store, we waited for 45 minutes for them to tell us they couldn't help us because Mike is still on the family plan and doesn't have the authority to change his phone. Boo Verizon! So, we ditched that idea. Monday night, we finally got to a Staples, where the Palm Pilots were prominently displayed (unlike at Best Buy). Mike got his little $99 palm. When we got home he exclaimed "My toy! My toy!" as he dug into the bag for it. He has said that if he is able to keep up this whole "being organized" thing for a month or so, he will buy himself the Treo, and I will get the Palm Pilot. :-)

My Pampered Chef order has arrived with all of MY toys. Too many to describe. But I now have the stocking stuffers for Barb, Barbie, and Christine. I hope you like them!

Mike's Christmas present -- an EZ pass -- has also arrived. I got this for him, loaded with $60 = ~ 2 months of tolls, to mitigate the fact that we are moving closer to Boston and he will have to spend a lot more time on the Mass Pike. Everyone asking me for present ideas for Mike -- I don't know! Silly boy, when he sees something he wants (which doesn't happen too often), he buys it! Leaving nothing for poor slobs like us to buy him for presents. Music, DVDs, clothes (Men's XL), Sports things (football and baseball). Those are my best suggestions.

Last week, we hired movers, and we are officially moving on the 29th. Mike had originally called Gentle Giant -- they wanted $225 an hour!!! I said, heck with this. I went on two of those websites where it was like "Get ten quotes from ten movers for free!" No sooner had I put my information in there than my phone was ringing off the hook! I had like ten phone calls in five minutes. While I was on the phone with one person, two others called! Insane!

There was a flurry of baking last night at Diane's Diner. I was behind schedule on the candy-making, since a batch of caramel (a good batch too, with the right texture and flavor. :-( ) stuck to the wax paper and by the time I had gotten it off the wax paper, my hands had been all over it, and I wasn't comfortable giving it away. So, my presents for the North Carolina Hirshes will be going into the mail today, and hope to get there in time. There will be another flurry of baking tomorrow, as I play hooky from school, preparing candy and gifts for the rest of the Hirshes for Friday.

Mike and I are going to the Hirsh Christmas. I have had serious anxiety about this for some time. Others seem to be a bit puzzled by this -- Mike will be able to handle himself, and the Kennedy's and Theriault's are good families, after all. Yes, I know that. I am more worried about my family being nice to him. I hear that my cousin Madeleine is also bringing her boyfriend. So, I hope it won't be so bad.

And finally, last week, my thesis proposal was rejected AGAIN. Sooo so mad. They complained about things the second time that weren't even mentioned the first time! Argh! I will have to try again for the Jan 6 meeting.

I nailed it!

My interview with BAE yesterday was a full eight hours. I got there at 9:45 (I was supposed to get there at 9:30, but I got very lost). First, I gave my presentation. It was a pretty full crowd. I'd guess about twenty people. Never mind that I am talking about tracking an pseudo kalman filters to a bunch of people who are serious experts with tracking and the kalman filter. Then, I talked to seven or eight people for about an hour each. Phew! I think I did not put my foot in my mouth, and I got positive vibes from everyone.

I also got a perfect score on my test that I took Wednesday!

Unfortunately, my thesis proposal bounced back to me, from the committee that approves thesis proposals. It isn't anything major, they just want me to be more specific.

We signed papers for our apartment on Wednesday.

We are snowed in for the weekend. This means that we will hopefully eat up all of our food so we will not have to move it!

The End is Near!!

Half of the items on my worry list have cleared in the past few days!

My thesis proposals is in.

I turned in the last homework for my class today. The test is Wednesday, but it is open book, notes, and calculator.

I have a job interview with BAE on Thursday.

We have found a place to live. It is in Watertown, on a (very steep) hill. It is a block from a bus stop that will take me to Harvard Square, and half a mile from the Commuter Rail stop at Waverly Square. We will have our own laundry machines in the basement and we will never have to fuss with quarters again. It has a fireplace. We dropped off papers for the place yesterday.


So, who wants to help us move! I'll bake you cookies!

Thesis Propsal is All Clear

I turned in my thesis proposal ahead of schedule and under budget. Ahhhh. I run a tight ship. Not that I *had* a budget, but that's not the point. Its done and signed and turned in.

I will have my interview at BAE next Thursday.

Mike and I have begun looking at apartments in earnest. On Monday I spent like an hour and a half on the internet and on the phone. We looked at something Wednesday, and three places today. We will look at another two Saturday. Then, we will probably be done and make an offer. I will be very glad when I don't have to worry about this any more.

I found out today that my tracking on the tiles is zippy enough that I can toss the ball in the air, and the tracking will keep up. This is in contrast to the way you had to do it before -- where you had to hold the ball and move it in a vertical line slowly. This is very good because it means that I can make the tiles do things in response to natural human actions, like tossing the ball.

I spent most of the day today trying to make the tracking better. It is difficult, because we don't know a priori how the ball will move. With the bats, they were all basically going in the same way, and they kept going that way. The ball is in a person's hand, and can move any way the person likes. It was encouraging that the tracking was working except for strange edge conditions that I had to work very hard to create.

I will probably try to do some usability testing soon. Any volunteers?