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The hectic pace of the last few days illustrates the way this crazy semester refuses to release its
grip and let us transition gradually into the summer months. Last Wednesday I took the train to Philadelphia for a SIAM conference. I woke up before the crack of dawn and biked to the Greenbelt Metro station, from whence I would ride to Union Station and meet the northbound Amtrak train. The conference itself offered stimulating talks and lunchtime conversations, but if an eight-hour round-trip commute is the only way to boost my enthusiasm for the research topic I chose, then I might have gotten into a field where the big contributors and research centers are too decentralized for my liking.
On the train ride home I was getting bored of my Amtrak surroundings, so I hopped off early at New Carrollton, hoping to find a bus that would take me straight to Greenbelt Station. Only a few such buses passed through New Carrollton, and I narrowly missed the one that took a more direct route. I ended up taking a very scenic ride on the T17, which ended its run early and left me stranded at Greenbelt Center. From there I walked to Greenbelt Station, retrieving my bike and riding straight to the co-op for my first bite to eat after an almost five hour return trip.
I spent the next three days on campus, tied up with meetings, exam proctoring, grading, and co-op work. Saturday found me free enough to celebrate Jamie's birthday party at the punk house named Treeswing. Vakil gave me the address and the directions, and I left campus early enough to grade a few stacks of exam papers in the waning daylight hours, by the side of the railroad tracks in Riverdale. At the party, Jamie's friends taught me how to play the board game Carcassonne, which helped us pass the time while waiting for the other dinner guests. When more people arrived, the party spilled over into the living room. Lively conversation and gaming on the Nintendo Wii kept us entertained late into the evening.
Today I'm going to reassemble the exams of my students and finish up the administrative work of my spring semester TA assignment. In the afternoon I'm meeting with Dr. Nochetto to discuss my final project in his finite element class. Then there's a co-op meeting at 18:30, after which I'll try to get a good night's sleep for the first time in almost a week.