Control/Some things get outta control

I finished my third year exams a few weeks ago; I now have a year and a bit of co-op work at an engineering consulting company before returning to school for the final year. My last exam this year was for the first course in control systems, which seems to have a reputation for being a frequently-failed course, but I had been looking forward to since first year after seeing this demonstration by Steve Brunton:

So I figured I would have a of break between finishing school and starting work. Then, right after I got home from the exam in the evening, I got a call from the Kingston Symphony, desperately looking for someone to play principal on Ravel Piano Concerto due to illness, with the concert the day after next. I said that I would kind of rather not but if they couldn’t find anyone else, if they paid for a rental car I could make it there in time for the dress rehearsal.

The next morning, having squeezed in a half hour of practice for a resounding “good enough,” I showed up at the car rental place and asked for the smallest car they had left, please, which netted me this:

Which looks like the kind of vehicle that is incomplete without a “MY OTHER RIDE IS A CYBERTRUCK” bumper sticker. But it did get me to Kingston, where I played their dress and concert seemingly Good Enough for everyone else too (as far as I can recall the last time I performed the piece– luckily also with the full 3rd mvt solo, as requested here– was on the day of my tenure meeting in Regina, which was also immediately before flying out to play Five Sacred Trees in Niagara, so it’s difficult to imagine a less-pressure situation than saving the day just by being a warm body in a chair.)

Everyone in Kingston was incredibly kind, the orchestra sounded great, and the hall is beautiful– this was the view from the lobby and outside the hall:

So I got a, erm, bonus vacation before starting work. Now I’ve been at CEM Engineering in St. Catharines for two weeks, getting familiar with types of engineering drawings that they do NOT show you in school, listening to podcasts on my commute– which makes me feel a bit like one of those “dogs doing human things” memes, you know

(Photo: Instagram @hugoandursula)

“Ooh, look at me, I’m a human, I drink coffee and listen to Canadaland on my way to the office,” etc.