Sunday, 28 October 2012

This Week’s Windy Wiles; No West Virginia, No New York City

Filed under: Astronomy,Climbing,New York,Travel,Virginia — Tags: , , — George Privon @ 23:04

If there were a theme for this weekend it would be: “Thwarted by the Weather”! After over a year of saying “we should climb at Seneca“, Ryan and I finally found a mutually agreeable date and planned an outing. Requiring a weekend day not too late in the season, 27 October was the best match. It would have to be that Saturday as I would be leaving for New York City the following day.

As the anointed day drew closer the weather forecast looked more unwelcoming. A “40% chance” of rain seemed to have a more realistic interpretation of “it will rain 40% of the time”, which would take much of the fun out of climbing. With less than 4 hours to go before our intended departure, we scrapped the long drive to West Virginia and agreed to climb locally, where the weather forecast was more promising.

Saturday morning dawned somewhat overcast and ominous but we piled into the car (with Kelly along now too) and started heading Southwest. Around the halfway point of the drive to Wintergreen, the road started looking wet and water began falling from the sky. Seeing the Blue Ridge Mountains wrapped in clouds convinced us of the folly of climbing. We turned the car around.. 0 for 2.

The silver lining of the climbing cancellation was some extra time to spend with Kelly and some extra time to pack for my trip to New York. The initial motivation for the trip was for a concert, but I supplemented the itinerary by arranging to visit astronomers at Columbia University and SUNY Stony Brook. I was planning to give a seminar on my research at Stony Brook and to talk science with people at both places.

All packed and ready to go on Sunday morning, I saw Amtrak had canceled some trains, but not mine. It seemed like I was still set for my visit until I learned that NYC was shutting down the transit systems before I would arrive. Even if I could make it to NYC, I could wind up with no way to get around… With that, plus the potential danger from the storm, canceling the trip seemed prudent.

So, thwarted by the weather this weekend! I’ve just learned that UVa has canceled Monday’s classes due to the storm. I’d already been planning to hang tight at home, but I’m glad to hear that others in the community are being encouraged to stay home as well.

Stay safe everyone!

Tuesday, 21 February 2012

Adirondack Ice Climbing – Lock Ness, Chapel Pond Canyon

Filed under: Climbing,New York — Tags: — George Privon @ 15:17

It’s winter, right? This year, in some places you can only tell by looking at the calendar.

On the first Friday in Feb a group of friends converged on Lake Placid to partake of some ice climbing and to enjoy each other’s company. While the weather and ice coverage wasn’t quite ideal, the companionship was.

(more…)

Monday, 16 January 2012

First Ice of the year

Filed under: Climbing,New York — Tags: , — George Privon @ 17:05

About a week ago, I had my first ice climbing outing of the year (and of the season, since winter has been so late in coming). We spent two and a half days in the high peaks region of the Adirondacks, enjoying the cold weather. The ice was still in early-season condition, but there was plenty of it to climb and we had a good time. I was generally too busy climbing to shoot pictures, but I managed a few:


Chapel Pond Canyon

Mark and Harry

Getting Steep

Homeward bound

Tuesday, 18 August 2009

Wedding Weekend

Filed under: New York — Tags: — George Privon @ 23:49

This past weekend was a busy one, but very fun. Two of my friends were marrying their longtime girlfriends on Saturday in New York. I was fortunate enough to be part of David’s wedding in Geneva. That was Saturday morning with an afternoon reception. It was a very nice ceremony. The reception was outside, fortunately it was under a tent, so it wasn’t as hot as it could’ve been (though it was quite warm!).

As David’s reception was winding down, I changed out of my tuxedo, hopped in the car and drove to the Southwest corner of New York to attend the rest of Lars’s wedding. Sadly, I missed the ceremony, but I managed to make most of the reception (minus dinner, but that’s ok.. I was stuffed from David’s reception). It was a great to see everyone, especially those I hadn’t seen in a long time.

The long drive from Geneva to the resort (200 miles) was absolutely worth it. Great to see friends and catch up.

Monday, 18 May 2009

All over the country

Filed under: Astronomy,Indiana,New York,School — Tags: , , , , , , — George Privon @ 11:41

Despite my lack of posting, I am still around! I am currently at Notre Dame, while my brother moves out of the dorm. We spent the weekend attending graduation ceremonies. There was certainly a lot of controversy surrounding the Commencement, as Obama’s stance on abortion and stem cell research conflict with the teachings of the Catholic Church. However, outside of 4 protestors who attempted to interrupt his speech, the actual ceremony was not derailed.

Overall however, I found it disappointing that there was such a focus on the abortion and stem cell issues as a result of the controversy. All of the major speeches, with the exception of the valedictory address, heavily focused on the strife. It is truly a shame that it distracted from the true purpose of the event: honoring and celebrating the graduates.

I spent last week in Rochester, NY at RIT. I successfully defended my thesis 6 days ago and have spent the intervening time making some relatively minor changes to the text. Moments ago, I emailed out what should be a final draft of the thesis! I am very excited to be done. I got some work done while at RIT, and have some more things to do regarding Cygnus A. That, plus my thesis work will be incorporated into a paper, which will hopefully be written up this summer.

I have another 24 hours or so in Indiana before moving on to the next stop… I am joining my family for a vacation in Ireland! I have never been and am very excited about the trip. As might be expected, I am bringing two cameras and expect to get some good pictures on the trip.

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