October 2003

Finally, I'm in the plane now! After a lot of preparations and arrangement I'm going on holiday.

Of course, I'll be still reachable by e-mail (my hotmail address is the best). And for the bad guys: the house is locked and guarded by a nice electronic system.

I'll try to update the website when I'm there; probably not this weekend anymore though.

I've been preparing tomorrow's journey for over a week now: tickets, insurance, appointments.

But, as always, the night-before is a busy one. Daniel and I went to do some shopping (got a power converter for the States), and we had dinner together in Subways, to get into an American mood. The rest of the evening I've been packing my suitcase, and I'm ready to go now!

I've packed everything now and I'm leaving to Schiphol. The most convenient way is to take the Zuidtangent.

It's not the fastest connection (the train is), but I don't have to transfer, which is nice because of the suitcases.

This morning I went to the VU. There was an application I had to make, but the forms are not available electronically. The student office opens at 10:00 o'clock, so I basically spent the whole morning to fill in a single form.

This application has to be sent within 6 weeks after my official graduation date, thus before October 13th. A copy of my graduation bul is required -- which I obviously don't have as my graduation is October the 15th. Marvellous system.

Today I spent a lot of time on my thesis, which is completely finished now. I wrote an abstract and printed 25 copies. This afternoon I brought them to a bindery shop, where they put a plastic front foil, solid back and a coil bind. It really looks nice!

The final, complete version of my thesis is also online (in PDF): A Survey of Co-Design Ideas and Methodologies.

Daniel is staying here a few nights, which is nice. In the mean time I am preparing for the two big events coming up: this Friday I'll fly to Washington and after that there will be my graduation.

I'm going to Washington because Sasha is working there 2 months for the World Bank. I'm very happy for her, but two months being separate is long so I'm glad I can spend 10 days there.

I'll come back in the Netherlands the 14th; one day before my graduation party. A few days ago I sent out the invitations, and I am getting some really nice responses now. I'm sure it will be a great event.