Leaving Chapel Hill

Byoliveridley

I’ve lived in Chapel Hill for over 10 years, encompassing a Ph. D, a marriage, a few jobs, cats, many wonderful friends and a blog that to this day proceeds in fits and starts. But, my time here is finally at an end. I accepted a job offer to move to Victoria, BC. It’s on Vancouver Island and quite breathtakingly beautiful in an almost throwaway fashion!

Photo Courtesy flickr – Allie Wojtaszek’s photo stream.

I am not kidding, the island’s just incredibly beautiful.

Anyways, I will be heading out for a long vacation in Chennai, back for 10 days or so, then leaving end of March to start work. Blogging for the next week or so should be normal (as in, no rhythm, rhyme or reason!). Once I get to Chennai, blogging will be sporadic as my parents don’t have internet and I am too lazy to set up a connection for a month!

Once I get to Victoria, blogging will, of course, resume, though I guess I’ll still remain pseudo anonymous (not that too many people care!). I will be working for a company that works very closely with the EPA and Environment Canada and things get delicate when you work with the government and criticize them! It will be interesting to see where this blog goes, though I will refrain from the usual gee whiz look at that beautiful scenery posting!

If you know people on Vancouver island you can hook me up with, please email /leave a comment. I don’t move that often, and I can’t rely on seeing familiar faces on Franklin Street and the Weaver Street Market any more!

S. is staying in Chapel Hill for a little longer, she loves her work and just started it!

It’s been fun living here, but all good things must pass.

Blogged with Flock

Similar Posts

  • |

    Choir Performances

    Byoliveridley

    In case you did not know, I am in a choir, The Choir, actually, and we have much fun practicing and performing. We’re doing three shows and an open rehearsal next week, so please come and sing along (or watch and wave).

    The Choir Open Rehearsal at GVPL Downtown – Wednesday Sep 16 – 730
    We’re hosting our (first ever) open rehearsal at the Greater Victoria Public Library Atrium, always an interesting space for music. Join us as we rehearse for Rifflandia. This is a free preview, a rehearsal, so not quite the finished product. But we’ll have as much fun.

    Rifflandia Performances Friday Sep 18 – Sunday Sep 20

    If you’re coming to Rifflandia (and you should if you can spare the money, lots of great acts including A Tribe Called Red, Modest Mouse, Mother Mother, Joey Bada$$ and so much more, and The Choir!) We open the Royal Athletic Park on all days, so come early to the gates, which open half an hour before show time! It can take 10-15 minutes for you to queue up and get in, so come on in and stay. You’ll need a park pass at least.

    Friday – September 18 – Main Stage Royal Park 3 PM.

    Saturday – September 19 – Rifftop tent – Royal Park 12:30 PM

    Sunday – September 20 – Rifftop tent – Royal Park 12:30 PM

    What the choir is about …

    See you next week!

  • A Year in BC

    Byoliveridley

    Or at least, it was when I started this post, now it’s almost 13 months!

    •  It is still beautiful, breathtakingly so
    •  We feel more settled for some reason, even though it is a new place
    •  Definitely more relaxed than I’ve ever been, which is saying a lot
    •  The cat is getting fatter, wait, that’s always been true
    •  Making friends is not easy in a non-university setting, but I’ve managed
    •  Fresh start, new habits, new zeal/drive, new person, not so much!
    •  The cable/cellphone/internet services make me long for the states. Rude monopolists abound and there is no competition/innovation.
    •  The “establishment” is very strong here, and the news media is very deferential
    •  Our famous social safety net is fraying, but it does not have the American charity/philanthropic base to replace the funding cuts
    •  We think we are an environmental leader, we are not and it is getting worse
    •  I worry that we are making no efforts to transition to the 21st century
    •  I still follow Carolina basketball, Go Heels!
    •  Facebook has made it very easy to keep in touch, given I am a terrible phone caller
    •  I still do not get hockey, did I mention I do not like fights?
    •  Let’s just say I’ve gone DIY on alcohol
    •  The BC Liberals are anything, but!
    •  Victoria feels like a slightly more urban Chapel Hill-Carrboro, but needs a Weaver Street Market.
    • Blogging has gotten non-existent, for a number of reasons.

  • Tracking my mail

    Byoliveridley

    On the sidebar, you will find a new donut chart which is a simple cumulative count of the mail we get at home. The measurement started on the 19th of March, 2012, so not much data yet 🙂  Useful – Mail I will find useful (yes, including bills). Solicited – Mail I find marginally useful, but comes from organisations I support, so I guess it is okay? Junk – Well, you know it when you see it; RTS – Return to Sender, addressed to previous occupant. Canada Post charges quite a bit for mail forwarding, whereas the USPS does it free for a year, so people get better at updating addresses and not missing a couple. I have lived in my current place for 18 months now, still get mail for multiple different people.

    My Mail

    No particular reason to do this, I was just curious, and this article about the US postal service starting to solicit more direct mail (what most people regard as junk) customers just triggered me to post the results online. My perception is that the signal/noise ratio on my mail is very low, let’s see… The underlying data is in a simple google spreadsheet and the image is linked dynamically, so should always be current.

    Update: I don’t have a red dot on my mailbox, no particular reason, just supporting my economy and increasing the GDP, perhaps? More seriously, I would like a green dot campaign, where unsolicited mail is not welcome unless I place a green dot on my mail box for all unsolicited mail, and an amber dot for not-for profit, advocacy, political and generally non-commercial mail.

    Update:  Not tracking my mail any more, as you can see. It was remarkably stable at around 58-50% “junk”. Interesting…

    Featured image is of a letter box from Nepal, from flickr user manc72 used under a creative commons licence.

  • Blog Resolutions for 2009

    Byoliveridley
    1. Umm, blog more, perhaps?
    2. Political rants belong on facebook. Yes, I tend to be better informed than most people I know, but the knowledge is derivative and gleaned from reading other blogs. Now unless I have some rare, personal insight, is there any point in venting on a blog, as opposed to just putting it on facebook so your friends can cluck along with you?
    3. Blogs are meant for sharing, if you don’t tell anyone about your blog, there is no point
    4. Science is supposed to be communicated. It behoves all scientists to try their utmost to speak and write in an easy to understand manner and assume no inside information or prior knowledge when speaking to the general public
    5. Did I say, blog more already?
    6. Media, pictures, more colour!
    7. Explore ways of capturing insights when away from a computer, as in, talking in the car into a recorder (yes, looks silly, but I’ve lost that battle a while back!)

    We will see how that goes, anyway, Happy New Year!!

  • Random Fuel Efficiency Note

    Byoliveridley

    Got 45.765 Liters or 12.089 gallons to go 400 miles on my first full tank in Victoria, which works out to 33 mpg, which is about 10% better than anything my car (admittedly not a terribly fuel efficient small car) has ever done. Why? Top speed on my commute’s 90kmph (or 55 mph), and that’s only for 7 km. The first 10-15 minutes is stop and go at 50 kmph which doesn’t do much for gas, but the rest is either 80 or 90 kmph, which is about the most optimum speed for maximizing fuel efficiency.

    Take home message if it hasn’t been proven a million times already, lowering speed most definitely improves fuel efficiency!

    I guess that makes up for the slowish commute. C’mon city of Victoria, get a fast bus across at 7:30 AM, not 7 so I don’t have to wake up at an ungodly hour to take it!

    Blogged with the Flock Browser

6 Comments

  3. ADDENDUM –

    BTW, I will still be around in Chapel-Carrboro for at least a year, if not more.

    Soumya

  5. Bharah,
    a center stone of the “good old times” in Chapel Hill. I will defiantly miss you, specially our Volleyball games, sharing John Irving and knowing that you’re around.
    I’m glad you leave us Soumya here;-)
    I whish you all the best….and hope to see you again sooner or later !!
    Best,
    Nicole

Comments are closed.