A Luniversary

A Luniversary, originally uploaded by mmilway.

July 20th, 2009 marks the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11 landing on the moon. If
you would like to learn more about the moon landing and the Apollo
missions (without reading) you should check out the HBO miniseries
From The Earth To The Moon or the incredible movie In The Shadow Of
The Moon. I wasn't alive but I know where I was when I learned about
it the first time.

PEInniversary

My First PEI Beach.  April 2008

This past week marked my first full year as a resident of PEI.  It seems like the year just flew by but then when I look back at the winter it seems like it really dragged.  I've been wracking my brain trying to decide if it was a good year or a bad year.  When I arrived I knew no one here, my lab was a room filled with boxes, I was stuck in tiny downtown Charlottetown because of my lack of a car and had to deal with a bigger culture shock than I was expecting. I am slowly getting used to the local customs although I still complain about the lack of Sunday shopping.  I am no longer amazed that people here know what seafood is in-season and when the actual seasons begin (Lobster season just began last week and prices are extremely low so I might be indulging a little more this summer).  The laid back lifestyle is readily apparent, (I have had to call my landlord on two different occasions to tell him that I have not paid rent and I owe him cheques.  Right now I don't even have a lease!  He doesn't seem to worried about it) On the work front I feel like the company is on the verge of turning the corner from R&D to actually being on the market.  We have expanded into a second lab,  we are moving into a bigger office (still now window) and I have 300 business cards that I am dying to get rid of.  My algae has suffered through a few contaminant issues but they are still very green.  Personally I feel a lot more comfortable here.  My co-workers are a lot of fun and great to hang out with inside and outside of work.  I am about to get a car so my mobility will increase exponentially.  I assume this will allow me to take advantage of the many beeches and golf courses.

I still miss all my family and friends back in Toronto...but i'm not sure if I miss the Big City Lifestyle.  I definitely miss the public transit, exciting night life, the live music scene and "stuff-to-do" levels.  I don't miss the congestion in general, ten-digit dialing, construction and the boring-coloured gables.

Anyway,  I hope I have a better second year.

Me hanging out (of a car) in PEI, April 2009

40 Years Ago Today

The Beatles on the rooftop happened 40 years ago today.  It was their last live show as a band. Thanks to Youtube we can watch a whole bunch of it.  Check out all the facial hair!  Reminds me of that Simpsons episode where Homer starts a Barber Shop Quartet,  The B-Sharps (Scene not found on Youtube).  According to Chuck Klosterman, The Beatles were the 4 most accurately rated band of all time (that is neither overrated nor underrated).  Also for those of you who have nothing better to do here is an Abbey Road Webcam.

Part 1 (Get Back/Don't Let Me Down)

Part 2 (I've Got a Feeling/One After the 909)

Part 3 (Dig A Pony/Don't Let Me Down (Redux because John screwed up the words in the first part...probably Yoko's fault))

"When I first found out about YouTube I didn't do any work for 5 full days"

Michael Scott (The Office)