Basically, I was on vacation for the second half of August (which is generally when the University of Waterloo is least active as well). In the first half of August, I mostly did service tasks. September will have more research, I hope.
Health news
For a while in the 2000s it seemed like Big Pharma was spending lots of money in marketing and not really getting a lot of new drugs approved. Not every drug approved today is actually useful, but we have certainly seem some new drugs that are unquestionably effective, like GLP-1s. Here’s another one for lowering cholesterol:
Also cancer vaccines (which reduce the rate of recurrences; it’s recurrences that will get you) vs some of the worst types of canccer (melanoma and pancreatic):
- Moderna and Merck with results from Phase 3 clinical trails on cancer vaccines, WaPo article mirrored on MSN on cancer vaccines
And more about the COVID vaccines and myocarditis (overall lowers risk: even if the vaccine might cause myocarditis in a limited number of cases, COVID also causes myocarditis in a larger number of cases):
Professional
Definitely lots of life this month with a true vacation in Greece and North Macedonia. I do bring my computer on vacation and may reply to some emails, but mostly I do pictures. Professional work was SCAM and a tenure letter.
Research
Not much to report: supporting grad students and collaborators.
Teaching
A project for October: ECE 459 and SE 465 updates.
Grad students/mentees/collaborators
Because of the vacation, only talked to people on 2 days, which is definitely below average. Will be much more in September. News to come.
Collegiality/Service
The bulk of the SCAM work was behind me at this point, and the conference was yet to come. I also spent quite a bit of time writing a tenure letter. I think it’s worth it, and I hope that when I do go up for Full, people will spend time writing letters for me.
Trips
Greece/North Macedonia/BC, August 14-27
There is a trip report that I’ve written but not inserted photos for. Coming soon. But this is a good set of photos from the vacation.
Travel Planning
Just a bit of planning for the mother-in-law visit. The Greece and North Macedonia trip had mostly been sorted out ahead of time.
Movement statistics
Well, there were 4 day hikes, so good numbers.
- 🚶 Walking: 177km on 26 days
- 🚲 Biking: 26km on 5 days
- 🚗 Driving: 1341km on 11 days (Ruapehu, Olympus, Thessaloniki, Korab, and Elfin Lakes)
- ⛷ Skiing: 63km on 2 days (Whakapapa, Turoa; in last month’s report)
- ⛴ Boat: 48km (Ohrid semi submarine and ferry to Vancouver Island)
- ✈ Plane: 51878km (WLG-SYD-YVR-YYZ-ATH, SKG-MUC-YYZ-YVR, YYJ-YVR-BNE-WLG)
- 🚗 Taxi: 99km (WLG, Bitola to Florina)
- 🚌 Bus: 290km on 8 days
- 🚆 Train: 360km on 3 days (ATH; to Thessaloniki from Platamon and from Florina)
- 🚆 SkyTrain: 6.2km
- 🚡 Cable car: 0.7km (1×)
Pictures
I was away for half the month. That does mean some flights, which is an opportunity to reduce the backlog. But it also means taking lots of pictures, because I was away on vacation. Some of the Olympus pictures got processed right away and avoided the backlog, but not North Macedonia at all (a great trip).
I’m still just under 2 years’ backlog, through to September 22. It would be good to finish Japan 2024 this month. Net addition for August is 18 sets, though.
The oldest part of the backlog was a trip to the Catlins in NZ in August 2024. I also managed to finish the July 2026 Kaikōura pictures. I’ve been putting up around-Wellington pictures and have a few from July 2026. Continuing to plug away at the TMB, I managed one more day (4 to go). And there are pictures from Christmas 2025 (skiing in Québec) and two sets of pictures from Olympus.
Picture logs available, and, as always, pictures are clickable to go to the full gallery.
- Sets of pictures processed: August=11, July=14, June=18
- Total pictures selected: August=453, July=698, June=574
- Total pictures in selection pool: August=1618, July=3333 (!), June=1868
- Accept rate: 28% (min 11%, max 73%)
- Pictures posted on this page: 127 (28% of selected).
General birds:
Miscellaneous
I never really know what to write in this particular section.
Posts
Acquisitions
- Euro power cable for USB charger
- yet more pants at MEC
- the equivalent of Goo Gone
- more ski goggles
- replacement lens cap
- replacement helmet
Sports
Welp, I made it to Faultline 4 times and then went off to Europe. Much less than 14. And only made it to the judo monthly Blue & White competition. Did go to physio for the pinched nerve.
Volunteering
OAC bylaw (constitution #4 for the two-year period); NZAC snowcraft contributions.
Food
Wellington:
- Saigon Delights Custom House Quay: another good banh mi option
- Octo: are we cool enough? good food and drink
Also had a “Sunday Secret” burger at the Harbourside Market which combined ingredients from different market vendors.
Greece:
- BestoPsito Barbeque: while waiting for the train to Thessaloniki
- Tsir Tsir Meze: yep, a variety of mezes
- El Forate restaurant مطعم الفرات: biryani wasn’t yet available, but tasty grilled meats
- Beetroot House: where to cool down on a hot day in Thessaloniki
North Macedonia:
- Ushqıme Tradicionale (Skopje): fine place for local food, open late
- Sweets Shop Rigara (Skopje): popular dessert place, good cookie
- Migros 2001 (Skopje): great bougatsa
- Te Caka (Tetovo): ugh, smoking inside
- Hotel Trnica: huge amount of food for the dinner special (too much!)
- Pizza Bella (Skopje): deserved high reviews
- Retro 45 cafe (Ohrid): sandwich was OK
- Restaurant Antiko (Ohrid): hopefully non-endangered fish was small and tasty
- Restaurant Aleksandrija (Ohrid): Prime lake-front location
- Food Republic (Bitola): loved the ajvar, but the jazz singing on repeat was a bit much after the 6th time round
- Kus Kus (Bitola): good pasta and pizza; I don’t know if I saw the mom and two teenaged kids at the next table ever look up from their phones
- Marieli Cakes (Bitola): Cake for breakfast, why not?
- Άρωμα Cafe (Florina, Greece): a two-cake day
British Columbia:
- Cafe Crepe Express (Vancouver): needed quick food before proceeding to Elfin Lakes, this was fine
- Choices Market (N Vancouver): pretty decent sandwiches-to-go
- Alice and Brohm Ice Cream (Squamish): Kiwi-style Real Fruit Ice Cream, but I think better than in NZ.
- Sushi Umi (North Vancouver): as always, good Vancouver sushi; maybe less cheap than it used to be, but still reasonable
- Rosemary Rocksalt Bagelry (Richmond): Montreal-style bagels; reviews complain about the bagels being small, but Montreal-style bagels are actually supposed to be small; don’t believe everything you read on the Internet
- TORO Bar&Bar (Victoria): excellent as expected for BC sushi; our server had studied at Queens in Kingston and had moved back to Victoria
- Matadora Taperia (Victoria): a bit too cool for us, but I enjoyed the food; quantities snuck up on us a bit.
- Puerta Vallarta Amigos (Victoria): anyplace called “Fisherman’s Wharf” feels like a bit of a tourist trap, but these tacos exceeded expectations
- Murchie’s Tea & Coffee (Victoria): not really the serious tea place (try Heslaa), but the four-cheese sandwich and cake were good
- Pho Breeze (Sydney): last meal of the trip, an unremarkable banh mi
Conclusion
Writing this summary was a real struggle, but here we are.