Post-Easter

Just a quick catch-up on the events of the last couple of weeks.

The experiments in Melbourne went really well, despite only getting about 20 hours' sleep in 5 days. I used my two complimentary long-haul upgrades to travel business class from San Francisco to Auckland, and let me tell you, it was worth it. Also managed to catch up with my good friends Paul and Marge and spend an evening with them before the experiments started.

Easter I spent at home. Mum and I went to a Good Friday service at a small local Anglican church that was a bit dire, and Easter Sunday service at Knox. I might try there again on Sundays after Trailwalker, and see how things go. It helps that I already know a few people there.

The next big thing however is Trailwalker. Four days to go. I don't know if I'm ready for it, but it's a bit too late now! I'll let you know how I get on in my next blog entry... and that website again if you want to sponsor us is right here.

In transit

So I made the mistake on my trip to NY of watching the new George Clooney movie, 'Up in the Air'. Really, they should not show it on planes. How depressing - a life of transit lounges, waiting, security checkpoints, one hotel room after another, meeting people whom you'll probably never see again. While I'm not a business(wo)man, sometimes my life does resemble the tediousness of travel. It's at this point I have to remind myself that not many people get the opportunities I have been given to travel, and that there's more joy in the destination than the journey itself (thinking of long-haul flights here).

Anyway the experiments in NY worked really well; the samples were much more stable, reproducible, and generally better behaved than when we attempted these experiments nearly 2 years ago. There were 5 of us working which made the shift work a little bit easier, but still the days were long. Now comes the task of analysing the data, but the students should be able to do most of that themselves with a little guidance. Hopefully this won't be too difficult - they are in the UK.

I'm now on my way to Melbourne for the next round of carbon dioxide corrosion of steel experiments. We performed the first ones of these in July last year and are about to submit a paper on that work.

All in all things are quite intense at the moment, and I can't afford to slow down just yet. Better to stay in a state of sleep-deprivation than to let the fallout hit me just yet!

March madness

So it's been a few weeks since I updated this blog; sorry about that - there's been a lot happening.

So I got back from a very successful trip to Stanford and visiting my friend Alison; that was followed by a not-so-inspiring trip to Sydney for a nanotech conference. I don't know quite what it is, but nothing there really seemed to inspire me. Perhaps it was the fact I'd been living out of a suitcase, and the only time I got to spend at home was all used up on Trailwalker training walks.

Anyhow, that saw February out the door, at which point I spent a week and a bit hosting a colleague from Stanford. We met with some people re: science stuff and then took a few days to head up to Taupo to do the Tongariro Northern Circuit (one of the Great Walks). It was fantastic - there's no other word. We had a day in Taupo afterwards to relax a bit, then he took the bus to Auckland and I drove back home. Now I have one more day at work, before heading off to New York on Monday, spending a week there and then heading directly to Melbourne. Both trips for yet more experiments - and yes, I am looking forward to them.

When I get back it'll be Easter and then the following week is Trailwalker. It has come up really fast and it's kind of scary to think that it's less than a month away. Life is being measured in weeks again. But sometimes that's the only way to make things manageable!


View over Mt Tongariro from the top of Mt Ngauruhoe. As you can see, the weather was perfect.

Still on the road

Well I'm still on the road (figuratively), have got to see a lot of different airport lounges in the last month. The latest trip is to Sydney for a conference; hopefully I'll get more out of this than the last one I went to in Waiheke at the beginning of the month.

Wrapping up from the last trip, the experiments worked reasonably well. I haven't had a chance to look through things in any more detail but I may get some time this week. I also had a couple of days afterwards where I went to visit my friend Alison who had to move back to northern CA after her NZ visa ran out. So that was fun.

Managed to get in another long walk last weekend - measured on the map to be about 33 km but it was probably longer than that. However it didn't help my cold any, but hopefully I'll be able to get rid of it in a couple more days.

Goodbye NZ summer, hello CA winter

Once again I have forfeited the good ol' kiwi summer to come to Stanford for some synchrotron experiments. Everything's going well so far - samples arrived on time from two different sources, I've arrived safely, and meeting up with friends is all going to plan. The airline didn't lose my bags and I haven't pranged the rental car. They even gave me a GPS with it. The only thing I forgot was the US cash that work gave me a week beforehand, but I discovered in time and was able to get some more at the airport.

Strange to think that this time in a week I will be heading home again - there's so much to get done between now and then!


Lastly - I shared a plane (and the koru lounge) with some minor celebrities called the NZ rugby sevens team and entourage. Photo proof.

Wedding bells

Today my youngest brother is getting married. Over the last several months, since their engagement, I've struggled to understand my emotions about all of this.

On the one hand, I acknowledge that it is a part of life and it is God-ordained. But on another I'm upset about it, and I don't really know why. Maybe because I'm still single, maybe because it feels like I'm losing him (although I'm not really - on the contrary; I'm gaining a sister!).

I spent some time in prayer last night, on and off. The following passages of Scripture came to mind:

"Jesus replied, Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given. For some are eunuchs because they were born that way; others were made that way by men; and others have renounced marriage because of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can accept this should accept it." (Matt. 19:11-12)

I remember coming across this passage in my 'teens, and thinking even then that somehow it applied to me. Then here is another one:

"I wish that all men were as I am. But each man has his own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that. Now to the unmarried and the widows I say: It is good for them to stay unmarried, as I am. But if they cannot control themselves, they should marry, for it is better to marry than to burn with passion...
"Nevertheless, each one whould retain the place in life that the Lord assigned to him and to which God has called him...
"Now about virgins: I have no command from the Lord, but I give a judgement as one who by the Lord's mercy is trustworthy. Because of the present crisis, I think that it is good for you to remain as you are...
"I would like you to be free from concern. An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord's affairs - how he can please the Lord. But a married man is concerned about the affairs of this world - how he can please his wife - and his interests are divided. An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the Lord's affairs: Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world - how she can please her husband. I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but that you may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord." (1 Cor. 7:1-2, 7-9, 17, 25-26, 32-35)

This whole chapter is relevant, but I've highlighted above the verse that is for me at the present time.

I've known God my entire life. I've known how much He loves me since I can remember anything. I've grown into a fuller and fuller understanding of just what that means, and I'm almost ashamed to think that any human love I might receive could ever compare with that.

For sure, there are great benefits to marriage. It's God's invention for creating families and sharing His love between each other. He said Himself, "It is not good for man to be alone; I will make a helper suitable for him" (Gen. 2:18).

But at this stage in my life, with so many opportunities to travel for work, and so little time to spare, being single does enable me to use that time in God's service and to spend time in prayer and studying the Bible. I'm not alone, because He is with me all the time. He may not be visible, but He's there.

I've already found the love of my life. And some day I will be His bride (2 Cor. 11:2, Rev. 19:7-8).

"I delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels." (Isa 61:10)

Anyway today is not about me. It's about Stu and Nicola and the rest of their life. Congratulations and wishing you all the best.

Planning the next few months

January has been rather quiet, which is just as well since I will be travelling for most of February and March. 2 conferences, 2 trips to the US, 1 trip to Melbourne, and hosting an overseas visitor for a week who wants to do the Tongariro Northern Circuit.
Oh and Stu's wedding is just before all that.
And then in April is Trailwalker.

I'm going to be busy.

Happy New Year 2010!

A big hello to all of you in cyber-world reading this. As is my habit, yesterday I spent a bit of time reflecting on 2009, which naturally led to thinking about 2010. Perhaps the scariest thought is that I'll be 30 this year. But we'll cross that bridge when we get to it, and try not to feel old in the meantime!

One of the things for this year is that I feel like I have a new lease on life church-wise. I was recently stood down from all ministry activities in the church I have been attending for the last 2 1/2 years, and it gave me time to reflect. In the end I realised that I didn't agree with the governance structure (or at least, their interpretation of it) and I've decided to move on and start a new chapter. There are pretty slim pickings for standard Sunday churches around here, but not to worry because I'm part of a home fellowship group that meets every Friday. I've prayed a lot about this and I really feel that God is going to do something awesome through that group. Now I'm just praying that He will give somebody in it the vision that He wants to achieve. I am also beginning to realise how I've been stuck in a spiritual rut for the last few years, so it's all quite exciting really.

Other things coming up in the near future, I'm going to be involved in writing a significant chunk of a major ($2.4m) funding bid at work, which is a big responsibility. On another note there's Stu and Nicola's wedding at the end of January, and on another is the Trailwalker in April. Finally, about the only thing I would count as a new year's resolution would be to visit a friend in Perth sometime this year.

Talking about things of which I know very little

My final trip for the year was to the Australian Neutron Scattering symposium in Sydney earlier this month. I'd been invited to speak for half an hour on something. At first I wondered if they'd contacted the right person, because I've never done any experiments involving neutrons in my life (discounting some data that was collected during my PhD on some of my samples, that we couldn't make head nor tail of). But sure enough, they wanted me.

Over the last 4 years or so I've been working on a computer program that would be of interest to both the neutron and x-ray user communities (as well as being quite useful), so I opted to talk on that. I managed to get a reasonably stable version of the program ready for uploading to the IRL website before the Tekapo trip, and I prepared the talk at the same time. However I didn't have time to practise it until I arrived in Sydney. Just as well my presentation time had been scheduled for the last day. After having about 5 practise runs, I managed to get through it in the right amount of time without too many 'um's or 'don't say that you idiot's. On the day it all went down rather well which was a relief. Getting invited to speak at meetings is a big deal and it looks good on one's CV.

From here on it's just a matter of winding down to the end of the year. This week has been quite productive; next week in between the various Christmas functions I hope to be able to tidy off a lot of loose ends.

In case I don't find the time to write here again before Christmas (or in case you don't have the time to read) let me finish by wishing you all a merry Christmas and happy new year.


A picture of my house; although anyone living locally should really drive past as photos taken at night seldom do justice!

A weekend in Tekapo

Last weekend saw a bunch of us from work start the long drive to Tekapo for the 6th annual get-together of the three major nanoparticle research groups in NZ (from IRL, Vic and Canterbury) on Monday & Tuesday. The IRL lot decided to drive down on Saturday and do some short walks on the way; which we did despite the weather trying to put us off.

The week before I had been tied up with part 2 of a 'leadership development course' at work so had to put in some long hours at the end of each day to get my Tekapo presentations ready. In the end it all came off really well and sparked some quite fruitful discussion. Now I just have to find the time to pursue things...

On both afternoons we drove to Mt Cook village and did some walking: Monday to the Hooker glacier lake and Tuesday up the steep climb to Sealy Tarns. A picture says a thousand words so I will leave you with the following offerings.


Hooker glacier lake, Mt Cook hiding behind the clouds.


View from Sealy Tarns towards Mt Sefton.