well, I started riding my bike again about a week ago. the plan is to do a few races this spring. i also upgraded to cat. 3 on the road, so i won't have to race with as many sketchballs. we'll see what happens.

There's lots of good riding out here. too many 1 to 2 mile climbs to count, and several 5 to 10 mile climbs. hopefully i'll get into shape one way or another.

As a joke, a couple of us got our advisor, Paul Link, a barbershop quartet for Valentine's Day. They came and sang in the middle of class, and gave him a rose and a box of chocolates. Pretty funny stuff.

Well, I just got back from the Roundup in Vancouver. It was an experience, to say the least. In only 5 days we (myself and two other grad students at ISU) managed to do the following:
-Arrive at our hotel in Vancouver by getting lost in a suburb far to the south and magically driving straight to the hotel
-Have my own bed in a fancy hotel that I paid $0 for (thank you NovaGold)
-Eat free food and have free beer served to us by a waiter on a yacht in Vancouver harbor
-Witness ~27 kegs of free beer be consumed each night at the conference
-Turn in 4 research grants in three days
-Get tickled on the chest - twice - by a 60 year-old gay guy on the dance floor during B.C. night (Each night a different state/province sponsored the festivities - Yukon night, British Columbia night, Alaska night)
-Pay for only 2 or 3 meals the entire time I was in Vancouver (thank you NovaGold)
-Realize that mineral exploration is not the thing for me - though I might try to work a season after I graduate for a company that does work in New Guinea, South America, Pakistan, and elsewhere)

Now I'm back to reality and school.

Except we might build a snowcave outside the department tonight and crash there. You know, cause it's so hard to get up early for those 8am classes.

Ed