Annnnnnnd IT'S OFFICIAL...
I have earned all the credits and passed all the courses I need for the degree, other than the thesis itself!

[insert sound of Kermit the Frog cheering...]
Thank you, thank you... and I even have one extra credit (about 1/6th of a typical class credit) left over...

Received the last outstanding grade today. In total, a credit-weighted average grade of 7.8. I am very happy to report that of the 14 classes I ended up taking, I anticipate 9 having the strong possibility of being directly useful in my ideal job (whatever that is,) which is an even better rate than I anticipated -- vs. 50% -- and far higher than if I had taken any of the distributed computing degree tracks I saw in the U.S.

So I guess all this means that my time in Amsterdam is winding down. Like most transitions, this is both good and bad, but overall I'm looking forward to getting back.

Sorry for the long hiatus here but, while lots of things have been going on, none of them have been particularly new or noteworthy...

- First, of course, there are the typical winter doldrums which seem to be exacerbated by a near-total lack of sunlight for months on end...
- I took a visit back to NH in February just because I was feeling a bit homesick...
- Continuing struggles with Moxie's health, although I think she's turned the corner and is gaining a bit of weight back...


The exception to the rule: My thesis has started up! I am indeed doing the NEW-TIES related project in Scotland, and will be back and forth there a couple of times -- I've already gone once, but no pictures to speak of. I'll be staying for a weekend at some point and hope to get some shots then. In the meantime, for those interested in following the thesis in detail, there is a new blog at http://pdcs-ttg.livejournal.com/ which I am using to document events, milestones, decisions, etc. for posterior's sake.

But worth posting are these videos I took of Queen's Day celebrations two days ago -- I went out and bought some orange hair and saw some funny stuff...

First, a demonstration of the great respect and affection which the Dutch hold for their royalty: