I did the European thing and took a vacation in August - from blogging, not working! Not so European after all, I guess...
August this year was hot, hotter than July, which is unusual for this area (we're told). So whereas last year I knocked myself out trying to run and lose weight and get into shape (and failing), this year I avoided the heat, and only now that it's cooled off have I tried to get back on the bike.
Starting the month, we finally got internet again, and I didn't have to pay a termination fee, thanks God - and Youssef from Free.fr. I just had to pay ungodly online phone support fees...
We also finally found out at the beginning of August what the plan for the LHC is: Originally they were going to shoot for 7TeV per beam, then they amended it to 5TeV per beam, and now they've settled on 3.5TeV per beam, half of the original goal, which hopefully still comes later.
Re: work, it seems I have not reported since June on the paper I've been shepherding towards publication. Well, at the end of July I found out that the review committee flatly rejected it as not publication worthy. It had to be rewritten (apparently quite a few papers that were being prepared in parallel suffered the same fate - they blamed it on young authors). So the first 2-3 weeks of August were consumed mostly with doing the rewrite and getting it into better shape.
Despite this, we managed to fit a few fun things into the first couple weeks of August:
Fete Again
I went to the Fete de Geneve again a couple times. (See last year's blog entry, compare and contrast, write a 1000-word essay, post it as a comment. This will be a fifth of your grade.)
The lakefronts always remind me of the MN State Fair midway - even better, because it's on the lake front! Check out this kewl ride - did they have one of these at the fair this year? It's a swing ride on steroids...Of course the biggest event is the "Feu d'Artifice Pyromelodique" - the fireworks set to music. Every year the Fete has a "host country" that is being celebrated. Last year it was Russia - at exactly the time that they were invading Georgia! This year they picked the Sultanate of Oman - don't ask me why, guess their turn had to come up eventually...
So, logically, the theme of the fireworks had to be 1001 Arabian Nights. It seems that all of Geneva shows up for these. People get their early and stake out a place. I saw a fellow CMS person who got there 4 hours before the fireworks and "took shift" with his friends to hold the spot. Both banks and the bridges are packed with people straining to see. They sell tickets to seats in enclosed areas for the best sightlines.
I had both cameras stocked with sufficient memory. Here are some highlights; I like the middle section zoomed in, which has a Zen feel to it and some funky music too. Jump to the end if you get bored...
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I'll bet you thought that last part was probably the finale. Actually it was only a third of the way through, the finale was...rather more intense. Ironically, same as last year, I completely neglected the camera batteries! Both cameras gave up the ghost on me half-way through the show(should've read last year's blog more carefully myself!).
Too bad, too, because the music for the last part included a lot of favorites from back home - a piece from Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, a foreign language version of Moody Blue's "Knights in White Satin" - sounded like Italian opera - and believe it or not, the Blues Brother's rendition of "You, you, you." After the show was over they said - hey, stick around, enjoy the food booths and rides - and then promptly put on Michael Jackson's "Beat it." I'm sure it was just a tribute...Speaking of American rock music, the band at the Jardin Anglais music stage was tuned in to the 24-hour nonstop cover channel - Toto's "Hold the Line" followed by Guns'N'Roses, then "Smoke On the Water", and Bon Jovi "Livin on a Prayer".
The next day was the air show - you can bet I was more prepared for that. Too bad it was so sedate. No jets, the final act was a trio of experimental pusher-prop aircraft. (Sorry about the shaky camera, I found it particularly difficult to track them when they were far away and/or presenting front/back aspect.)
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Geneva Squares at Night
K and I also went out on a "dinner-and-a-movie" date. I always wanted to be one of those people you see sitting in one of those outdoor restaurants in downtown Geneva, so that's what we did - had French-style tuna pizza while we listened to buskers plying their trade and fended off cute old gypsy grandmothers selling roses. The square we were in has cobblestone, with some of the stones replaced by lights with "Thank you" and "welcome" in many foreign languages. Then we saw the movie "Up", which we highly recommend. My favorite character was Kevin the bird.
K got to take the kids to the Meyrin city pool on a hot August day, along with another mother from church and a shared babysitter to help out with the babies. Here's a buddy boy enjoying the water...
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Once I got the paper rewritten to where our internal reviewers thought it was ready, we resubmitted it to the official review committee for another go, and then the pressure was off a little bit. I could take a breather, tie up some loose odds and ends around the apartment (like finally hanging the kitchen cabinets and curtains!) and take the Fam out for a day of recreation at everyone's favorite place: Annecy. Probably the highlight of our whole summer!
After lunch we did as the locals do and crashed on the green...
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And then took B on a merry-go-'round...
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And then all took a boat-ride.
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We finished up with supper and a leisurely drive back home - because it doesn't matter how many maps, google map instructions, GPS locators, or years of experience you have: you will get lost either coming or going from Annecy.
Greetings and blessings to all y'all,-PKBGD
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