January: Nelson, Wellington, other Nelson, and Sydney
14 Feb 2024
I’m really not experiencing large blocks of unstructured time right now, particularly with all the reviewing I’m doing. But it is true that I don’t have any teaching to prepare, at least.
In any case, I haven’t had time to write the January report, or a report on all of 2023, having been in Sydney and then almost immediately onto the Travers-Sabine Circuit in early February. Well, February is only half over! Though at this rate I should start the March report.
Review: On Cold Iron by Dan Levert
11 Feb 2024
About the history of engineering: the Canadian Iron Ring Ceremony and the Quebec Bridge disaster.
December: taking all the courses
4 Jan 2024
Travel month with Wilderness First Responder and Avalanche Skills Training 2, and Christmas in Montreal.
November: almost entirely staying put in Wellington
7 Dec 2023
PLDI submission and trip to New Caledonia. Just the routine.
Review: The Last Front Line by Brendan O'Dwyer
14 Nov 2023
How the sausage is made: Brendan O’Dwyer writes about building the Paparoa Great Walk on NZ’s West Coast.
October: NSERC Discovery Grant writing, and refereeing in Canada
5 Nov 2023
Mostly working on a NSERC Discovery Grant application and travelling to referee in Winnipeg and Scarborough, with a stop in Waterloo.
Museum review: Canadian Human Rights Museum / Musée pour les droits de la personne, Winnipeg
3 Nov 2023
I found myself in Winnipeg for 3 days in 2023 (to referee at the Manitoba Open, which was great) and the museum is now open, so I went for a visit after lunch at the Forks. Human rights is an abstract concept, so I was interested to see how the museum would represent that in the form of exhibits.
Mount Hopeless attempt, August 25-27, 2023
12 Oct 2023
We carried mountaineering gear 50km on a long weekend and had a nice walk in the fluffy snow, but no summit.
Book review: Wellington's Railways: Colonial Steam to Matangi, by David Parsons
8 Oct 2023
David Parsons. Wellington’s Railways: Colonial Steam to Matangi. 2010.
This book is certainly not lacking in detail. It covers the early development of Wellington region rail (different parts of New Zealand, and I guess many other countries, were quite isolated 150 years ago) until 1920; refinements from 1920 to 1970; and the changes from 1970 to 2010. Wellington rail did manage to mostly hang on through the global Reagan-Thatcher neoliberal era. It has relatively recently gotten through to Waikanae and perhaps will reach Levin.
Tourist guide to Wellington
7 Oct 2023
Here’s some tips for visiting Wellington. It is true that living in Wellington one doesn’t necessarily see all the tourist things (true of any place), but we did spend some time touristing when we first came. (Hence many pictures here are from 2020…)
In central Wellington, everything is within walking distance. Wētā Workshop and the Skyline track are a bit farther out and would benefit from transit, though a few hours’ walk would get you there.
