Summer, Pre-Europe

So I haven't posted on here for ages, and I'm not going to attempt to describe everything that happened last school year. Instead, I'll just talk about the summer. I was going to just e-mail some friends, but this way I can write something once. Between June 27 and July 10 I was in Europe for a couple academic conferences. This first post will be about the summer before the trip to Europe, and afterwards I will write about the Europe trip and probably a bit about the time afterwards.

At the start of the summer, I went to visit Taylor and then Peoria. I flew Southwest from Raleigh-Durham to Indianapolis by way of Orlando. I had a good time hanging out with TU friends, and we had our annual "Nerd Reunion," since my friend Nathan was in town for his sister-in-law's graduation. I happened to find another Taylor student who was going to East Peoria, so I got a convenient ride there where my dad picked me up on his way home from work. I had a good, but short, time at home with the family. That Friday night I flew United to Lexington, KY for the wedding of Ben and Hannah, two good friends from Taylor. I had a good time seeing more Taylor friends that weekend and finished it up with a visit to the rodeo. The next morning (Sunday) I flew American out to Los Angeles, where I started work on Tuesday.

I'm living in El Segundo, CA at an extended-stay hotel and working for Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems. I have to keep the details very light on a public blog since this is national defense work. I will say there were some hangups at the beginning of the summer related to getting my security clearance. I work in an office where people are required to have a security clearance, but I was able to work there as long as I was constantly escorted, had a flashing light with me at all times, and yelled (or had my escort yell) "Uncleared!" while walking through the hallway. We would sometimes jokingly just say "Unclean!" instead, since it was pretty much the leper yell. Fortunately, my clearance came through within the first few weeks and I don't have to deal with that any more.

After my first week of work, I got a Friday night red-eye on Delta to Columbus, OH. I had a frequent flier free trip as a result of going to Korea last December, so I only paid $10 in fees for the airfare. In Columbus I rented a car and drove to Kenton, OH for the wedding of Jesse and Jessica, another couple of friends from Taylor. I again enjoyed seeing Taylor friends. That night Jessica's parents were kind enough to let me stay with them, and I got to shoot rifles with her brother. Sunday afternoon I flew back to LA and started work again on Monday.

As a result of flying all these airlines, I can tell you that I prefer the Southwest experience over any of the others. You can check bags for free, which means that there is less chaos with the overhead bins when you board and everything goes faster. I would probably fly them more if our group didn't get most of its frequent flier miles through American, which I will do since Southwest doesn't fly international.

Life outside of work was decently busy at the beginning of the summer, because I had to prepare a presentation for ECRTS in Brussels, Belgium. I did have some opportunities to attend church with my cousin Karen who lives out here, and to see my old Taylor roommate Randy who lives in Sherman Oaks, as well as Brianna, another Taylor friend who lives in Pasadena. I actually only made it out to the beach once, for an intern event. I have only gotten to know the other interns a bit, except for Mac (the other UNC student here and my roommate for the summer) and his friend Mariel who he knew from last summer. I've enjoyed hanging out with them. Well, that pretty much brings us to the Europe trip.