Humans do make mistakes, but ...

I went to the Toronto airport. After waiting for a long queue, The person asked my name and started to set up my ticket. After a few seconds, she replied:

- Sorry sir we can not find your name on the list of the passengers.
- I have the print of the e-tickets.

She got the documents and gave them to another person. After a few minutes she came back and said:

- Sorry, there is something wrong with your ticket, please contact the organization whom you bought the tickets from!

Well, I should say the place was close, and right after I showed the staff my documents, they told me:

- What are you thinking? Today is 26 of July and your ticket is for 26 of June ...

Yes, I bought a new ticket and went back home. I am still wondering that was that my mistake or the computer's mistake ? ... Well, I am a computer scientist. It is better to blame myself instead of my research field ;)

Montreal

The French district of Canada was more beautiful that I was imagined. Nice city, beautiful tourist areas, and ... you can tell the rest by the pictures.

Google + Map + Driving

When I started my journey from Toronto, I was thinking that with google maps, I dont need to worry about anything. When I was heading back alone to Toronto, I realized that if I try to switch my firefox to google and read the directions, there is no one else to drive the car in the highway!

9 Hours Pleasure and Pain - Part 2

9:30 PM - Boston - Airport - Terminal C - Still Gate 12

Well it was nice to see Pascal there after that much of trouble. We started to talk to each other for awhile and I also get to know his student. Our discussion was suddenly stopped by a note: "Flight 369 to Toronto will be available in gate 15 soon!". We started to shift our stuff to Gate 15.

9:10 PM - Boston - Airport - Terminal C - Gate 15

After a bit of talking, the airport announced an interesting message: "We are sorry for the confusion tonight, but flight 369 will going to dock with Gate 14 and the flight which was supposed to use gate 14 will use 15 instead". I was thinking of laughing out loud, but the clapping crowed excited me more ... I though it was too much of teasing, but it was funny at the same time. We flew about 10:40 PM!

12:00 PM - Toronto - Airport

The airplane arrived at the Toronto safe and sound. After getting my luggage, I decided to go straight forward to my uncle's house and have a nice sleep. The only little problem was that in the address I could not see the number of the house! Well it was not a huge deal. I had the number of my uncle on my laptop. So I opened it, and start writing the numbers, but the number was gone, and the laptop died because of the battery!

I will let you know why ... I searched the address of my uncle on google map. Since it couldn't find the address, I trimmed the part it could not realize and pasted it back over the previous wrong address + phone number!

Now what I have to do? Address is not complete and no contact number.

12:30 AM - Toronto - Airport - Terminal C

Ok. I started to think for awhile and see what options I have:

* Call my friends in Toronto to see if they have my uncle's number
(Note that I had no change, and the airport was like a dead land! I went all around and found a lady who speared me a 25 cent coin.)

-> I called my first friend with that coin, he was could not help me, and he was sleep!
Since I didn't have any more coins I couldn't proceed with the rest of the plan.

* Call my aunt in Baltimore to get the number.
-> I used my credit card, but nobody picked the phone :(

* Call Iran! to get my uncles number.
(You can use your credit card for long distances and international calls, and usually this would cost you a lot, but I could care less in that situation)
-> For some reason the phone did not like Iran's code. It could not connect ...

* Go to Terminal A in order to use a computer with internet.
(I still had my uncle's number on skype!)

I tried to stay out side for a while in order to find a ride. But who might show up on 1:00 AM ?
I got to know a guy with cellphone :D

12:50 AM - Toronto - Airport - Terminal C - Shuttle bus stop

I asked the guy to see if he has some changes but he offered me his cellphone. I started to call my friends. As you might guess, all of them were sleep and they could not help me. I was hopelessly walking inside the room and looking for a miracle and I found one!
I saw a plug, I started to whisper to my god for a sec: "Just make the impossible happen."

I connected my laptop to the plug and it started to charge up. I closed my eyes and asked for another miracle: "Let me get online!" I searched the wireless networks ... It was there! After a few trials I could get connected.

I called my uncle through the skype, and realized that the "Foiltree" term at beginning of the address was "43" actually! I went downstairs and took the cab.

1:00 AM - Toronto - The Cab

He was an Indian driver. At the beginning, he thought that I am a wired guy, dealing drugs or something. After a while we starting to have a relaxing conversation but as you may guess ... We got lost! The driver stopped and ask his friend. After getting the direction, he started riding the car. Meanwhile he said:" I am so unlucky, this is my last trip and I should go through this!"

I started to talk about my story, but I preferred to answer his complain with a simple smile ... I was also too tired to tell him what has happened to me.

I arrived at my uncle's house around 1:45 AM and start writing the previous message around 2:45.

Why?

Why they should start renewing the roof of the house located in front of my window 7:30 AM when I went to bed at 3 AM ... ?

9 Hours Pleasure and Pain - Part 1

Ok. You might think that I am crazy, but I thought that if I dont write this down now, I cant do it later. So here we go.

This is 2:16 AM and I am in Toronto, but lets go back about 9 hours ...

5:00 PM - Boston Seaport Hotel
The conference was finished and I was chilling out with my friends. After a little bit of talk I remembered that I have a flight @ 7:00 PM to Toronto and after a more little of thinking I also noticed that since I am an Iranian so I should register my departure in the airport as well. I grabbed my bag and checked my flight it was 9:00 PM but I thought with myself to not make any risk and lets go straightforward to the airport.

5:20 PM - Boston - The Bus!
I took the Metro-Bus of Boston which usually goes to the airport. One point here: Never trust their Metro system, If you are in a rush, an accident definitely happens! Well, I was not in a rush. I had 3 hours and 40 minutes. The bus was started to move slowly, and after it completely stopped I preferred to take out my earplugs and listen to the sentences of an agent with bright yellow cloths, which seemed to be more important than my ipod. "An accident happend in the tunnel and the bus can not go further. Please use the Metro instead of the bus. The Airport is only 2 stops away" Said the agent. People start complaining, but they started to move since the didn't want to miss their flight.

5:30 PM - Boston - The Metro

It was packed more than you can imagine. Apparently we weren't the only bus! People started to complain to the officer as full trains were leaving the waited passengers behind.
At last I got on. One advise here: "Never carry stuff that you think you might use, only take the stuff that you sure you use." It will make your life way more easier specially when you have to push all of your suitcases inside a train while lots of people are waiting with tired and anxious eyes! I got off at the station. There was a transit bus from there to the airport, and you dont want to know how packed was the bus. Luckily the bus got full right before my eyes, but I mean it luckily since the next bus was right behind the full one: Empty. We left the station with 3 passengers and the cool breeze inside the bus refreshed my tired face.

6:30 PM - Boston - Airport - Terminal C

I had lots of time to waste before my departure, but I didn't risk any of it. I started to check in, but my bag was 53.5 pounds (The limit is 50) so I removed some of the books from my luggage and the lady accepted it. Being asked by the lady for my passport, I opened the luggage again and took out my documents, but wait a minute ... I am an Iranian ... After getting a few hints from the lady there I realized that I have to go to another terminal for this procedure. About 10 min away ... I hate politics!

6:40 PM - Boston - Airport - Terminal E

I found the place: US customs and security of the borders. The guy looked at my passport, asked a few questions, fingerprinted me, and took a picture. It was done and I headed back to Terminal C again.

6:50 PM - Boston - Airport - Terminal C

I checked in, and went towards the security. Right after I passed the gate which scans you for any metallic object, I saw a sparkle in the eyes of the security officer! My boarding pass had a note in the remarks section: "S S S S". I dont know what it is stands for but it caused me to go through the special inspection section ...
They searched my body and finger printed all of my stuff. If you are carious YES I was offended a lot. This actually forced me to ask the officer:

- Why I was not being searched when I was entering the US?
- You either used a local airline, or they forgot to do it ...

I walked away with a slight sadness. Now all I was graving for was a plug and possibly internet, but instead I found burger king. Well, I was hungry as well, but since they run out of the large buns, I ordered a junior (small) whopper combo. I ate the burger, sooner than the time my mind wanted to release the dopamine ;)

7:30 PM - Boston - Airport - Terminal C - Starbucks

I had about one hour before my boarding time and a couple of my favorite anime episodes: NANA 14 and Air Gear 13. It filled my hour with lots of pleasure and I set out to gate 12 hoping to find an outlet to charge my dying laptop.


8:30 PM - Boston - Airport - Terminal C - Gate 12

The first thing that cough my eye was the sign on the back of the staff on gate 12: Toronto 9:30. Well that half an hour could be pain full with a laptop so I searched for an outlet.

I plugged my power adapter and connected it to my laptop, also connected my dying ipod to my laptop in order to revive them all at the same time, but no sign of power ... well since broken outlets can be found anywhere, I started to search for other outlets. It was odd since non of the are working. It got more odd when I connected it to an outlet that a person was using a while ago happily while my laptop was still sad after! I concluded that my power adapter is dead ...

9:00 PM - Boston - Airport - Terminal C - Still Gate 12

Well, no laptop, no ipod ... I bought a magazine called Us which is all about celebrities and stuff but it was better than looking at the waiting faces of the people. While coming back I saw a familiar face. It was Pascal.

To Be Continued ...

It is 3:09 AM. I better go to bed before righting noncense ...

US Memo 18

The poster session was really nice! I got to talk to lots of people: students from MIT, Texas Austin, Duke, and Profs. like Ronald Parr and Michael Lagoudakis.

US Memo 17

Today I have been informed that I have been selected for the "lunch with a AAAI fellow" event. I met Edwina Rissland, and 4 other student. She is currently working in National Source Foundation (NSF) and she could still remember Richard Sutton (My supervisor) when he was a graduate student in UMass!

US Memo 16

AAAI was started with the same announced schadule. I attended a nice tutorial called "Auction-Based Agent Coordination" by Sven Koenig, Michael Lagoudakis, and other CMU people. More information can be found here.

US Memo 15

Sometimes you are in the wrong place at the wrong time, but sometimes something which belongs to you is in the wrong place at the wrong time! I tried to bring out my camera at the airport and here is the picture you can update your blog with, when your camera is laying on the back seat of your uncle's car !! Yes I am in Boston and my camera is in Baltimore :(

Blood+ Opening

US Memo 14: Baltimore Pics

US Memo 13

Isn't it nice to hang out with your cousin with a Mercedes-Benz SL500 in Baltimore :D, well it would be better if it was actually yours ;)

US Memo 12

This is the first time that I see my US cousins in person. They are 21 and 23!

US Memo 11

Have you ever seen a line of people waiting to do something? I bet you did. Now what if I tell you I saw a line of airplains waiting for take off! In the Bush International Airport, my flight waited in a queue of more than 5 planes in order to take off.

US Memo 10

This is the security line in Bush International Airport on 7:30 AM Monday, July 10th. Currently, it is 9:30 AM and I am sitting in the airport updating my blog. The reason that I have so much time in a packed airport is simple: I missed my flight! Fortunately I got the ticket for the next flight which is about two and a half hours from now. Some take-home notes:

* Airports are really busy on Mondays early morning.
* Avoid bringing unnecessary stuff while traveling. If you have a small luggage you can avoid the delays for checking in and checking out luggage phases.
* If possible, print your ticket beforehand. It will make a huge difference sometimes.
* If you are a guest and you know the host might want to offer you the ride to the airport, book your flights at reasonable times!

US Memo 9

Yesterday, I talked to a person in NASA and they hired my with a high salary! Right after, I went to a Lexus dealer and leased this nice car. Well why not? High salary, big credit, working with NASA ... Just kidding :P

US Memo 8

I went to Johnson Space Center in Houston and had a level nine tour. It was just amazing ...

Juggling

I learned how to juggle :P

US Memo 7

San Antonio, a place that you should see in your lifetime. The main river, which was running around the downtown and causing problems, has been restructured and now it turned out to be a neat place for walking and shopping. There are boats running over the river,while giving you a tour about the historical background of the river and stories behind the buildings and trees. The RiverWalk is located near the Alamo which has an interesting historical background by itself. Afterwards, we set out to the Austin. The top two pictures are from the congress of Texas. It was really nice but similar to the legislature in Edmonton.

US Memo 6

Accompanied by my aunt, I set out to a trip towards San Antonio. After meeting my cousin bob's after about 18 years, we decided to pick a hotel: Hampton Inn

Now that I am about to check out I though it would be useful to share my experience. By first look you will find a nice and neat Hotel. It offers high speed internet connection, gym, and breakfast for a low rate of 109$ per night. Well this seems interesting. But lets talk about the other side of the coin.

The service of the hotel is really poor. The internet access was not working through the wire and the wireless one was even slower than a 2.6K modem! Some plugs and lamps where not working and when I notified the reception they informed me that there are more plugs and lamps in the room!

About sleeping, It is enough to mention that you could have counted the number of times your upper neighbor went to the washroom at night and flush the toilet. Windows did not try to repel any kinds of noise, and since the hotel was located near the highway you can imagine the situation.

To be fair, I should add that the breakfast was great. I really mean it, you could have found anything matches to your appetite.

In general: "don't judge places by their first glance ;)"

Kimi Wa Petto

If you have not seen this and you like Japanese live action, you are missing something big! I started to watch this, and after I reached the 4th episode I could not resist. I stayed up till 3:45 AM to finish it and see the ending. It only has 10 Episode but each takes 50 min ;)

The title means "You are my pet", the only interesting part is that the pet is the guy you see in the picture but he is the pet no more and no less!

PS: Thanks Farida for the DVD

US Memo 5

Recently, I visited Rice University and the surrounding areas. The main entrance was really nice. Afterwards we went out for dinner (Garson Restaurant) and drink. Apparently, I had too much of fat to digest ;) For those curious people, the Tshirt is the sign used in FMA, I bought it recently in Houston! :D