Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Boston!

So I've not posted as much since I've been here as I would have liked.  I have, however, taken a nice amount of pictures I will post today.
Boston has been fun so far.  My work has been interesting and I feel like I am developing more pieces to put together for my doctorate degree.
To recap the internship so far:
I got in on February 3rd and started at PTC's offices in Needham, about 10 miles outside of Boston on February 4th.  My first four weeks, I worked with the CAD group, the group responsible for designing PTC's CAD product, Creo.  I've learned a lot about CAD, design, and where the technology may be heading.  I've made some good contacts on the team as well.  This month, I'm focused on work in the SLM team and learning about PTC's work there.  Everyone has been so nice and helpful!
On February 9th, the 5th worse blizzard to ever hit Boston came into town.  There was over 2 feet of snow and the offices closed on February 8th in anticipation.  The city shut down on Friday evening and people were not allowed to drive places.  Public transportation shut down at 3pm on Friday and didn't resume until the following Monday.  I stocked up at the local grocery store and hunkered down.  Friday evening, I met up with SVP of Global Education, John Stuart, for a nice dinner nearby where I'm staying.  And, the roads were ok enough by Sunday morning for us to do a long run in the suburbs of Boston.  Here are some pictures.



The view from my tiny apartment on Saturday

You can see the height of the snow, this is the street  where I'm staying

Friday mid-morning at the front of the Library, it had just started




Sunday morning in a street across from where I'm staying

Digging one's car out of the snow took some people hours....

 On Monday morning, I took the T (what they call the Boston subway) into the office.  The trains were running ok. but they had to change trains for us at one of the stops, so it made my commute a bit longer.  While I was waiting, I was interviewed by the local news channel about the T service.  They asked if I had ridden it long, and I said since I got in from the UK a week prior.  Apparently, the clip was on the news, because I heard from several people they saw me, but I never saw it.  After a couple of weeks, Marc, one of the developers on the CAD team, told me that he lived fairly close to me and was willing to give me a ride to and from work every day.  This has cut my daily commute time down from over 2 hours a day on the train/shuttle to less than an hour!
Copley Station

The green line train

 I've been training since I've been here though, despite the weather, because Boston is very much a city for runners.  Last week, I signed up for another marathon in the UK at the end of April, so I can take advantage of all the running I've been doing.  John Stuart has been kind enough to take me along on his long runs for the Boston Marathon and I've really enjoyed them.  We've done most of the Boston Marathon course since I've been here!  Also, the running has helped me see bits of the city.
From a run along the Charles River.  Not Einstein, but some musician called Arthur Felder, apparently.

Cheers bar!  (I've not gone in yet...)

Charles river running trail

Science!

Other side of Science Museum

George.  Boston Common.
The past week, I've gotten my first visitors.  My mom and brother came on my brother's spring break last Tuesday and stayed until Friday.  Unfortunately, I had to work during the day, but I enjoyed my time with them in the evenings.  Then, my best friend Melissa came on Saturday and we had a fun weekend, going shopping, hanging out and eating.  We found a great seafood restaurant in the North End called Neptune's Oysters.  This place was tiny and doesn't take reservations, but the wait is well worth it.  I don't think I've ever eaten anything so wonderful in my life.
Lion in the Library. I went there with Graham and Mom last week.

Dinner at Neptune's Oyster.  Scallops with duck and brussel sprouts.  AH-MAZING!

A restaurant we found in Chinatown.
My friends Justin and Leslie are coming to visit this upcoming weekend.  Sagar sent me some lovely flowers for Valentine's Day at the office last month as well, which was nice.  I've missed him since I've been gone, but he gets to visit me in Boston, then we go to Chicago, Indiana and Michigan for a week in April, so I'm looking forward to that!
Flowers from Sagar.

Well, back to work!  I will try to post again soon!

Thursday, January 31, 2013

Shipping off to Boston!

Well it has been a hectic six weeks since my last post!
Christmas went well.  Even though I wasn't able to visit with my family, I still had a lot of fun.  Sagar and I opened our presents in the morning.  I got him some practical gifts- like a new wallet, watch and cuff links, and a fun gift of remote controlled helicopter.  He got me some lovely earrings, a scarf, and an owl that I wanted that you can warm up in the microwave. 
Sagar's family came for the afternoon at Christmas and we made a nice dinner and played Monopoly.  The British version is totally different from the American version, which was really cool.  However, it ended as all Monopoly games usually end...we just let Sagar's sister Avni win...:)

Christmas Monopoly!

Vegetarian Christmas dinner.  It was very tasty!
Festive beer served in the UK

 A couple of weeks ago, the UK got a ton of snow.  Ok, well for people like me from Michigan, it wasn't really that bad....maybe about a foot...but the country seemed to shut down for a few days.  The university closed on a Friday midday and didn't re-open until the following Monday late afternoon. Even Sagar's work sent him home early.  So there was not much else we could do besides go sledding!!
Sagar, in the hat I made him for Christmas.  There is also a matching scarf...somewhere underneath his coat I think...

Us in the snow!

Sagar, sledding

Sagar, sledding

Kenilworth in the snow

Right before Christmas, I met with John Stuart and Tim Brotherhood from PTC about my EngD project.  Steve had found some grant money available for post-grads to do an internship, but with a catch.  The grant money needed to be spent by the end of March.  The timing could not have worked out better though, because I've gotten to a point in my project where I feel I would like to know a lot more about PTC.  Therefore, this coming Sunday, I am shipping off to PTC's headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts!  I will be working with them for 8 weeks.  I hope to document my experience here on the blog.

This past weekend, Sagar and I went to London on Sunday to meet up with his family and say good-bye before I went away for a couple of months.  There was a lovely double rainbow on our drive.