Yay!! I finished my thesis and defended last Friday. I think my talk went pretty well. When I arrived 5 min before my talk, my advisor and labmates were already there. Knowing how last minute I am, he has already set up the projector for me. But what he doesn't know was that I am always prepared. I have tested the projector and practiced the talk. I was not a bit nervous, it was after all, my fourth talk. My talk lasted 29.5 min, perhaps the shortest thesis defense ever. After some questions from the general public, I was in the room with my advisor and other thesis committee members. They asked a few questions. There was one question where they wanted to know the actual number, for which I did not have. But I didn't want to have to do that experiment, so I provided a guesstimate, to which they laughed knowing what I was trying to avoid. Thankfully, no extra experiments were needed. But I quote from my thesis section 'future directions and recommendations' '...as with all scientific endeavors, the more we learn about a system, the more question arises....'(as you can see, I got pretty bored from all the writing). Anyway, no changes were required to be done to my thesis either (even though I took 1 week to write it)! I have sent my thesis for proofreading and later to get it bound. Also submitted two papers - finally.
Last Saturday, I went for the much anticipated final Montrose ride. I was to finish riding with the medium paced group without getting dropped. The night before, I didn't sleep well because my little sister snored more than usual. In the morning, I didn't hear my alarm through the ear buds. Thankfully, I got up. Mum said she heard the alarm but since it was nothing important (it's only cycling), she didn't wake me......I hurried and thought that I would be able to make it. I arrived at my usual waiting spot at 8.17 (they passed at 8.20 the last couple of times). But when 8.25 came and went, I had the dreadful suspicion that I probably missed the ride. I rode with another cyclist further up Huntington. After a bit, I saw 2 cyclists waiting by the side and asked if they were waiting for the medium paced group. They were waiting for the fast paced group, the medium one passed 10 min ago :(. I was so disappointed for not having a chance to finish that ride. I talked to these guys a bit, and they said that the fast paced ride is much faster and are generally more experienced cyclists, Cat 3 or above.... I thought oh well, let's see how long I can keep up with the fast group for. A few guys who broke away from the group rode by and we joined them. Soon the group caught up, actually, it engulfed us. There were so many people! The pace was indeed fast. But the ride was smooth and I was pretty confident. At one point, I nearly got dropped but stayed on. Then came the Encanto Park area where I got dropped last time from the medium paced ride. I made a mental note to NOT get dropped there again. However, I just could not keep up. After I got dropped I realized just how fast they were going. Within a few minutes, they were out of sight. Luckily I remembered the route. Soon I caught up with another guy who got dropped. He was quite upset and complained about how the group was faster than usual. I was pretty happy with my accomplishment. I look forward to coming back one day to finish the ride and to perhaps lead it :)
This week has been more tiring than when I was writing up my thesis. I had to finish everything up in the lab, teach and pass on things to others, pack up and sign off, clean up my apartment, sell furniture, send things to the airport (since my car is not big enough)....yet my car was still stuffed full. We drove over from LA to SF this morning, and left everything at a public storage. My mum and sister helped me so much with tidying up the apartment and packing up everything. I am already sad having to come back with my lonesome to unpack things from the storage.
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