Long Day…   I woke this morning at 4:30 so that I could get down to Albany in time to host a phone meeting at 8:30 without having to be still driving.  It was very nice waking and leaving while it was still dark.. There was a beautiful moon set as I drove down the Hinesburg road.

It’s  funny because there was a beautiful  moonrise last night  that I tried to .get a picture of. . how often do you get to see both ends.

   I find that I  really enjoy these solitary drives to and from NY these days. It’s the best thinking time I have.. I turn off the radio . shut off my phone and I just think.. or not think… I often talk to Sam on these drives.. or ask him for help This morning’s meditation was on ‘what do I want to do with my life now’ …  I emphasize want because I’m not finding/making enough time now to do the things I really want to do. I’ve read back over the last several weeks of this journal and I can clearly see the start up of the same cycle of work obligation and stress that I was on before Sam died.. I don’t want to go back there… yet I don’t know how to avoid it.  Just as I hit that train of thought.. I came across the following sign on a stable gate on Route 74..

 

So.. what  IS a view of happiness ? I want to spend time with my family.. I want to make stuff..  I also know that I want more time s working with kids and science… maybe even find a way to do that full time eventually.. Diane has said in the past that  I need to put that intention out   and the opportunities will come to me.. I need to find a way to stay sane in the meanwhile…

   Anyway.. I made it down to the Albany NanoTech Center in time to meet about 30 friends and colleagues  from Burlington and maybe 50 or  so from our sister facility in East Fishkill NY,

We’d arraigned the meeting  both  to allow us to tour the state of the art NanoCenter…and to get in some good bonding time with our brethren and sistern (?) fro down south..  It was great seeing those folks.. many of them are good friends of mine.. s that alone made it worth the  trip. We got some good talks about the Center and how it works… as well as a glimpse of a recent technical breakthrough on ‘air gap dielectrics‘  by my buddy Dan E  that was just being announced in the press today.  The nanocenter helped pioneer this breakthrough with IBM research.     I’m so proud of Dan !!!!

   I had to leave a bit early in order to catch the start of a work call on the drive back. I hijacked my friends David H. and Jason H to keep me company on the drive back. They’re both good friends. We had a great set of technical discussions about one of Dave’s projects always learns stuff when we talk.  . He’s one of the smarted guys I know when it comes to computer algorithms.  The drive  home was really beautiful.. the weather and the company were splendid. I took the guys through the small detour to see the Penfield site in  ‘Ironville’  that’d stumbled across last Sunday on the way home from dropping Max at the train. They thought it was pretty cool

On the way home we happened to drive right by Homer’s place. so I dragged my friends in to see Homer’s latest love.. a 6 year old 17 foot lathe.. The only thing we can figure it was good for was turning cannon barrels. As old as it is, it still works great. Homer is planning on using it to turn columns for a new cabin he hopes to build.  It was good to introduce David Jason ,  and Homer.

   From there I dropped Jason and Dave off in Williston  and scooted out  to watch the end of Gabe’s Lacrosse practice. It was good watching him play.. He’s gotten very fast.   I was freezing so I spent nearly an hour walking around the track hoping to get warm.

After practice, Gabe and I stopped by Zachary’s for sandwiches then came home and did homework.. pretty simple evening. Diane was out with her book group and Max is still in NY.  

  I’m still on less than four hours of sleep from last night.. so I think I’ll close here.. Tomorrow will be another full day.. they all are Sam.

-jc