Project Edmonton Continues

We've seriously narrowed our housing options down, and are now just creating different designs. We even have fly-through videos of our latest designs, all made with MyVirtualHouse.

We're focusing our efforts on a pie-shaped lot that has a lot of south-eastern exposure. We like it because the house won't be crammed in amongst other enormous houses.

We've also talked with friends and family, and used their feedback to guide us with even more designs. We're also speaking with a builder, and we took some of his ideas to produce the following:

If you can't see videos above, watch them here and here on YouTube. And if you have any opinions, feel free to leave them on Facebook or here. :)

Woodwick Candles for Timothy

So Timothy loves candles. Like really loves candles. Light a candle and he's happy. The same for campfires, and basically anything that burns. (It seems to run in the family, based on my experience with Emily...). So for Christmas, I bought him a few novel Woodwick Candles off eBay.

Woodwick Candles use a thin piece of wood instead of string as the wick. This results in a unique crackling sound while burning. The marketing claims it sounds like a "real fire". To be honest it sounds like a roaring bonfire.... heard through a mobile phone. Or perhaps a big pile of dry kindling going up. It's loud enough to be heard across a quiet room, but it's missing the deep sound of a real fire.

In any case, I was very happy with it and so was Tim. I'm writing this because he just came in to the room holding the one Woodwick and saying "tick-tock". That is Tim-speak for "candle" - it takes too much effort for him to pronounce "candle" properly. We're encouraging him to vocalise, and so if he asks for something we try to give it to him. And we have more than one Woodwick Candle, but if he knew he'd ask us to light all of them together... then blow them out and ask us to light them again. :)

On the topic of pronunciation... he has no problem with other words like dinosaur, ball, bubble, computer, ketchup, mein mein, and fan fan. "Candle" just seems to be one of the few words that he struggles with.

Thesis Paradox

I think it's pretty well known that humans are creatures of habit. We always want to return to the familiar, the things that we know, the life we understand. It's one reason why men marry wives who are like their mothers, and why some prisoners want to return to prison. And I think this is why it's so hard to finish a PhD thesis.

You see, a PhD student has been doing their thesis for years, and you start to develop a habit. "Doing the thesis" is a solid, predictable part of your life. Your lovers can come and go, you can move country or change jobs, but the thesis remains a constant presence in your life.

So when it comes time to "finish" the thesis, you start to worry. What is life going to be like when my thesis is done? Will that piece of paper fill the void it leaves in my life? When I finish, what will I have then? What will I do?

Of course, the obvious answer is "you will have the rest of your life". Once you're finished with your thesis, you'll be able to "anything that has nothing to do with your thesis". We should celebrate! But, when you think about it, this isn't a good answer at all. It leaves the PhD student with two options:

1. Quit doing your thesis, right now. Why bother finishing when that final piece of paper adds nothing to your life? You can quit the thesis right now, and go do something you enjoy.
2. Continue doing your thesis for eternity. It's a constant, it's been in your life for years, it's the evil that you know. It's comforting in a sick, twisted, masochistic way.

There is nothing in human nature that encourages a PhD student to finish their thesis. There's no impact on your life once you finish the thesis, with the exception of having that 'one daily constant' removed from your life. It's ridiculous.

In other news, I found a bug in my thesis code. Re-running all my experiments now. :P

Less Goods, More Services

I've been thinking about how we, as a society, consume and dispose of too much stuff. There's a reasonably good online video (sorry, don't have the link handy) that points out how we're taught to be "good little consumers". The rationale is that the economy will likely grind to a halt if people stop spending. We hear this mantra regularly - "we have to spend our way out of a recession", "buy locally made goods to keep the local economy strong", etc.

But then I started thinking. Why do we have to spend money on goods? Why not just spend it on services? Employment is a means of wealth redistribution, and so I know that it is far better for society and the economy to have maximum employment. But why does this "employment" have to mean more mining, more oil consumption, more pollution, etc?

I really want to reduce the amount of goods that I buy/use/dispose of, but still want to (a) reward myself for hard work and (b) keep money flowing through the economy. So instead of rewarding myself with more food, I could pay $10 for a quick shoulder massage. Instead of buying a new pair of shoes, I could pay someone to fix my old ones. If there are goods that can't be substituted by services, then I still have to buy them. But instead of rewarding myself with the latest electronics, I could get my bicycle tuned and go for a ride.

Just a thought I'm having.

More Psychoanalysis

I have to admit, I like taking the occasional personality test, finding out more about myself, etc. Emily and I just went to a comedy/marriage seminar called "Laugh Your Way To A Better Marriage" and they highly recommended this "Flag Page" test. The idea of this test is not to pin down your skills or abilities, but rather what parts of your personality are important to you. Or alternatively, what kinds of criticisms would hurt you.

For example, the ability to entertain is not important to me. I wouldn't care if someone said "Your blogs are really boring to read". But if someone said "You need to think much more deeply about what you write"... well that would hurt a lot. The theory is that if a couple knows what kind of criticisms would hurt their partner, they can avoid them. They can instead try to encourage and support that side of their partner.

So my most treasured aspects of my personality are:

1. Sincere at Heart
2. Creative
3. Competent
4. Deep Thinker
5. Patient

Now I fully agree with this list. And no, it's not because I think it makes me sound awesome. I just think this is an accurate description of what I like or strive for most. And when you look closer you realise it's not all that fantastic.

For example, I really enjoy being able to do things well... but that also means I get frustrated and give up if I feel completely unskilled at something. If I'm learning to roller-blade and keep falling over, I won't just pick myself back up. I'll need a lot of support and encouragement to get over my own "incompetence".

Also, I treasure these attributes of my personality more than any others. I treasure these more than, say, being empathic to others, or keeping people happy, or being a good leader, or even listening to people. I care more about being creative and skilled than I do about the opinions of others! But hey, at least I do it all because I want to help (ie. sincere at heart)! :)

Anyway, this list also suggests I'd feel pretty hurt by comments like these below. And yes, I've received comments like these, and I have to admit that they do hurt a lot (or I flat out ignore the person from then onwards):

• "You're not compassionate" (yeah, I hear this sometimes)
• "You produce nothing really new" (can get this at work)
• "You have pretty average ability" (my greatest fear in life)
• "You need to think deeper" (common religious defense)
• "You're not waiting for me" (just tell me to wait?)

All in all, it's a pretty interesting test. I've even made the full results available if you want to browse through and see if you want to do the same test. It does cost $12.50, so it's not one of these free/cheap tests.

PS. This test says nothing about the kinds of people I like to hang around with. As they say, opposites often attract. There are aspects of Emily's personality which I utterly treasure... in her. :) But they are virtually non-existent in me, and I honestly feel better that way. This test really just shows what makes me feel good about myself. Now go and hassle Emily to post her results. ;)