Katy Dickinson

My Daughter is Going to Carnegie Mellon!

After a difficult 100 hour college visit trip (starting just after midnight last Friday and getting back at 2:30 a.m. on Tuesday), my daughter has decided she wants to attend Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) as an undergraduate in September. After 18 months, I am so happy to be done with the college application process and to have Jessica be accepted by and decide to go to such an excellent school!

Jessica and I spent 3 days visiting the lovely town of Northampton, Massachusetts and Smith College and then went to the Hartford, Connecticut airport (BDL) to fly to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to visit CMU. We had already spent several days at CMU last year (see my "Warren Vache, Carnegie Mellon" blog entry). The Delta flight was delayed in BDL and by the time we reached JFK (New York City) at about 10 p.m., the connecting Delta flight had left (despite our being told in BDL that the connecting flight was also delayed and we could still catch it). There were no more flights that night and Jessica had an 8:30 a.m. meeting the next morning in Pittsburgh, so that night we drove 400 miles.

I called my husband John from the Delta gate and he reserved us a car with a GPS so it was ready by the time we took the JFK airport train to the car rental counter. We started driving at 11 p.m. through New York City (and every NYC borough so far as I could tell), crossed the Allegheny Mountains (lots of tunnels with signs saying Blue Mountain, Tuskaurora Mountain, and Allegheny Mountain but nothing to see in the dark) and got to the Wyndham Garden Hotel in Pittsburgh hotel at 5 a.m. This was the second time we have stayed at the Wyndham near CMU; I recommend it highly. The Garmin Where2 GPS in the rental car gave flawless directions. Where2 lost signal in long tunnels (of which there were many) and sometimes referred to roads by names other than what was on the signs but the directions were perfect.

After sleeping in the car and for 1-1/2 hours at the hotel, Jessica visited classes and had meetings with CMU's Admissions, Humanities, and Music departments. By lunchtime, she had decided that CMU was where she wanted to go. I am very happy with her decision. My satisfaction was not even reduced by Delta deciding suddenly to interrupt our (late again) flight home in Salt Lake City to change flight crews so we arrived back in San Francisco 3 hours late.

Posted at 11:05PM Apr 28, 2007 by katysblog in Home & Family  |  Comments[2]

WP668 Caboose Move Update

This week, we finally got the formal recommendation from our Civil Engineer with regard to securing the WP668 caboose for earthquake safety. His formal report (with an official Registered Professional Engineer seal and everything) gets submitted with John's latest drawings to request the San Jose building permit. The drawings are of the steps and railing which will enclose the entry platform of the caboose, and the associated deck. John will go over to City Hall early next week. Once we have the building permit, we can schedule the crane for the caboose lift onto the wheels and track in our back yard.

Posted at 10:12PM Apr 28, 2007 by katysblog in Caboose Project and Other Trains  |