The following did not happen:

It was more like:

Then I jogged home, 1/2 an hour, through the snow storm we had going on. Now? Comfortably recovering in my bath robe, drinking some tea (mint and other non-caffeinated stuff) to rehydrate, thinking “Life, pretty good.” Oh, and “ow, my feet and hip.”

Consistency?

But whatever. I wasn’t all that strongly attached to the way things were done in the first place, so the changes won’t take too long to become accustomed to. Plus I’m finding things a little bit more easily.

I think.

But then, love isn’t always about separation. Passion isn’t always misdirected. And when it comes down to it, you only need to make good on one of the chances that come along.

Lets call the two queuing systems “parallel” and “sharked”, ’cause I like those terms.

• In a parallel queuing system, the queuee selects what appears to be the best queue, and then waits for the for all preceding queuees to be processed. For N exits, there are N entrances.
• In a sharked queuing system, all queuees share the same entrance. For N exits, there is only ever 1 entrance.

The advantages of a sharked queue mainly center around the fact that any queuee requiring extra time for processing does not block all following queuees. But does this result in an overall lower queue time for all queuees? I’d instinctively say that the overall average queue time would remain identical, but that the standard deviation would be reduced. This is borne out through anecdotal evidence - in queues where there is a benefit to consistency, like Canadian customs and line ups for fast food, sharked queues have been the norm.

The advantages to parallel queues may be less obvious. Parallel queues are a relatively “natural” development, and therefore do not require real estate to be dedicated to queue organization. This can be a significant benefit. Parallel queues also look smaller, thereby potentially reducing the psychological barrier to joining the queue.

Don’t know what I’m supposed to be wearing at the wedding - or actually where it’s supposed to be. But I’m able to be in Pittsburgh now, and have a place to stay, so it’s all good.

Excited about being in the air again, feel like the continent is compressed. Accessible - more so that it ever has been. I expect that this will reverse itself over the next few years.

In the mean time, the site Farecast.com has been very handy. And I’ve got a local playing a ukulele and singing. It’s great, something you very rarely see in an airport.

Shortly I’ll be seeing my dad again, haven’t seen him in a few months. Also I have houseguests coming, when I get back. No rest for the wicked!

This type of rain reminds my of the first visit to Brisbane, meeting up with Aimee and Daisy and watching the world get washed away from the comfort of a tiny hostel. Although I’m told not to expect the thunder and lightning, here.

It’s been a while but that was the crux of it - that month and a half of uncertainty, of instability and unexpectedness, of sleeping in parking lots, of things left unsaid, of dealing with the moment so far away, those were the last days of my travelling. Those were the last days I was living without the expectations of others on me.

Not to say it won’t happen again. It very possibly will. However, as long as everything goes well, it won’t be until after my 30th birthday. And between then and now, who knows!

Work goes well. The cult of personality persists. There’s always much to do, often just a bit too much. I could keep my head down and not get overloaded, but where would the fun be in that? I have valuable contributions that I can make, I might as well make them.

Oh, and then there’s NaNoWriMo, I can still register, although I haven’t started. Need to check to see if autobiography is permitted.

And I’m ready to get out of Ottawa for a while. I’ve been here for a year, which is a long time. I am going to miss some of my new friends, though.

I want the impossible. I want two polar opposites in one person. I want someone who is there with me, dedicated to me, sharing life’s experiences with me, with whom I can say “remember when?” and she will. I also want someone who is strong, living her own life, who can regale me with fantastic anecdotes, and who I can aspire to be like.

Someone that is with me always, and someone who is living their own life to the fullest.

On a completely different topic, Cory Doctorow put up a discussion “putting the torch to seven straw-men of the meta-utopia“, as he titled the piece, back in 2001. The seven straw-men that he torches are applicable (maybe not all as strongly) to day to day organization and operation, and are an interesting read.

Flipside is that I am very fortunate to have some very caring friends. J offered to travel 450 km to spend time with me, which did bring me to tears, while A spent most of the morning chatting with me, getting my head straightened out. Now I’m waiting for the important contact.