Last night Aoife and I were in bed about to go to sleep when there was an odd noise outside.  The light shining through the window was an ominous sign as well.  For some reason I wasn’t really paying attention to it being engrossed in reading about the evolution of the carrot family, but Aoife ever astutely asked “is that a helicopter?”  Now it’s not as interesting as somebody getting shot and then riding their bike to fall over on your doorstep, but then what is?

After about a half an hour of them shining the spotlight on the next street over and in our window they took off.  Good thing too, at only around 500pounds an hour+ to operate they must have thought half an hour was enough to suss out whatever hooligan they were after.  Seems a bit unfair to me, kind of like spotlighting for deer.

Just in case any of you had any doubts about how well Ryan is being looked after by his new wife, I thought I’d showcase the latest in baked goods to hit the Haney kitchen. Best banana bread ever. Seriously. You can ask the man himself and he has exceptionally high standards in the banana bread department.

And the recipe (courtesy of Ukrop’s):

Banana Bread Recipe

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (4 oz/113g) margarine or butter, softened
• 1 cup (8 oz/225g) sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups (8.8 oz/250g) all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
• 3 medium-large over-ripe bananas, mashed
• 1/2 cup (2 oz/57g) chopped pecans or walnuts

Preheat oven to 350. With electric mixer on medium speed, cream margarine or butter with sugar until thoroughly creamed. If you don’t have a mixer, you can do it by hand without too much trouble. Add eggs, one at a time; mix until well blended. Sift the next 5 ingredients together; add to creamed mixture, alternating with mashed bananas. Stir in nuts. Do not overmix. Pour batter into a greased loaf pan about 8 1/2 x 4 1/2. Bake for 55 to 60 miutes or until just done. Do not overbake. Allow bread to cool completely in pan before slicing. Yields 1 loaf.

I’ve always loved visiting Germany and this trip was definitely no exception. When I was studying in Freiburg I was counting on making it to Berlin at some stage but alas on a very tight budget I never ended up getting there. This time I didn’t exactly have much of a chance to take in the sights but what I did see I want to see and understand more of and I want Ryan to experience it with me.

The conference was well worth going to with lots of economists from different areas of infrastructure research and regulation. It was difficult for the financial crisis not to feature strongly in discussions of future infrastructure investment; and speculation about the next US president’s role in shaping climate policy abounded. One of the best presentations I went to was by a researcher from the University of Maryland on investments in low-carbon energy research and development in the US; best not only for the content but also for his presentation style. I think a lot of academics really need to learn that less is more with slides. I’ve been getting better at making my presentations more effective (with a little help from my talented husband) but I’d like to learn more and keep putting it in to practice.

My presentation (on smart metering and electricity demand) went pretty well. I was very nervous but I don’t think I let it inhibit me too much. I’m always so much more confident and relaxed during the question and answer session for some reason. You’d think it would be the other way around really. I don’t know what it is but it’s almost as if I’m not even the one talking during the presentation and I suddenly snap out of it and get back to being myself when people start asking me questions. Weird. It was also my first official outing as a Haney, well Brophy Haney to be precise but the Brophy part ended up in small print on my name badge.

Rebecca very kindly let me have the run of her apartment while I was in Berlin. She was off gallivanting in DC until Sunday and I kept myself busy with the conference until then anyway. She lives in a very central part of town, Prenzlauer Berg, and it was so easy to get around by tram, train and bus. What a public transport system; so much to learn from the Germans. I did a good bit of walking around on Friday morning and all day Sunday but have very few photos to show for it. I just wanted to get a feel for the city and how it all fits together really. There’s just so much to think about in every corner of the city and so much recent history to absorb, it’s just incredible.

I fell in love with Ampelmann, the traffic light man found all over East Berlin. They were going to replace him with his boring counterpart from the West after the Wall came down, until a passionate grass roots campaign stood up for him and turned him into quite the little icon (now also featured on our fridge). Rebecca brought me to a Tajikistani tea room on Sunday evening and we indulged ourselves in a Russian tea ceremony for two complete with shots of vodka. It was just great to catch up and relax after such a busy and tiring few days at the conference. I can’t wait to get back over there, next time with Ryan and for fun only not business.

Man, it’s been an incredibly long week.  One that’s ending with me on my own and Aoife still in Germany.  The last few days both of us went to conferences in different countries.  Aoife, to a conference in Berlin to present her long labored paper on Smart Metering, and I to a nerd conference (as Clare liked calling it) about the Future of Web Apps in London.  Although by coincidence there was talk of smart metering and energy policies as well.

Only last week I saw a note that FOWA needed volunteers.  The only other conference I’ve ever been to was one a couple of years ago, and I can’t say that I particularly enjoyed myself at that one and I thought maybe getting involved would be a little more exciting.  I think it was, but I also thought the people at this conference had a little bit more to say.

So for most of the conference I sat in the back helping out with the video production.  Not a bad way to go, I got to see most all the sessions I wanted to see and got to work with some great guys.  You can see a picture of Piyush and I hanging out by the camera stand in the second picture.

Not only did I get to hang out in London for a few days but also got to spend some time chilling with Clare (of the Clare and Greg duo, not to be confused with Claire and James our other friends).  It was really nice as a lot of Aoife’s friends I know from going out the odd time we’re in Dublin but rarely do I get to talk to them one on one and get to know them.  Thanks Clare for your hospitality, hope I wasn’t too much of a hassle taking over your living room.

After two days of hard work I came back to Cambridge yesterday and crashed pretty hard.  It looks like it’s going to be a fairly hard week ahead as well with lots going on.  I’m trying to finish a couple of things and also start building on Jake’s site which I’m really getting excited about.  It will be good to catch up with Aoife tomorrow and we might try to go out and use one of our wedding presents this week which was a gift certificate to a nice restaurant in town.

You can check out what I thought was one of the best talks and one of the sessions I helped film (I use this word loosely, by film I mean I pushed record and changed data cards when needed) with on Simon Wardley’s engaging talk titled “Innovation, the future and why nothing is ever simple.”

Credit: Thanks to tö for putting the photos up on flickr.

Chicago holds a special place in our hearts and always will and now it boasts a special place in our living room too, thanks to Kate, Katie and Lizzie. Girls, the print fits in perfectly over our mantel and it’s a great reminder of the summer of 2003. Thanks for such a thoughtful wedding present and you’ll all have to make it up to Cambridge sometime soon to see it for yourselves. No excuses for you Lizzie, you’re only a short train journey away and bring Nina too while you’re at it.