Sunday, January 5, 2025

Snow storm!

Winter is coming! And indeed it is. As the polar vortex moved into its position, it was forecasted that we would get 8" - 12" of snow 😰😱. I had been teaching at Bard College in Upstate New York for the past six years, and had never spent January in Manhattan (MHK), Kansas since we moved here. Therefore, I am eager to see how the January snow is like in MHK, but I wasn't expecting to be see the "biggest snow storm" in the last 20 years in MHK.


And just like everyone else, I went to the local Dillon's to get all the necessary supplies to get through the storm safety and comfortably. Well, it seemed that everyone was panic buying! The first sign was that there wasn't any space in the Dillion's car park. Most of the shelves were cleaned out - especially the toilet papers - we blamed COVID for putting the worried thoughts in the mind of people that they would run out of toilet paper! Puzzled to Hannah and I - people were also snatching up meat and vegetables? What were they going to do if the power went out? Lucky for us, I was there to get a couple of candles and some potato chips! 😋




Finally the storm was here!!!! Hannah and I also watched in amazement when we saw our neighbors driving out (where we do not know). The road was icy, and the driving conditions were just horrible. The State of Kansas declared a state of emergency, and I-70 Interstate Highway was closed due to numerous traffic accidents and unsafe driving conditions (I got a few pics from the local facebook group). Hannah and I were warm and cosy in our home, under the throw blankets. 



Through the day, the snow accumulated as much as 20 inches (according to the MHK airport report). We dressed up, and went out to take a few photos. It was very cold (16degF, and feels like -11degC with the wind chill). It was indeed very pretty with the yard and the whole street covered in snow!






While Mona was definitely not a fan of the cold, the dogs couldn't care less about the snow or the chill. They were taking every opportunity to be out in the yard, playing tugs with each other. I even managed to a get a couple of nice selfies for Hannah and I 😍.






Thursday, January 2, 2025

Happy 2025

The last post on "no-off-switch" was in August 2020! I know it has been a long time, and today seems like the second best time to pick this up again! A LOT has happened between August 2020 and January 2025, and I am not going to try to capture every single moments. Rather, I am just going to let you know who "runs" the "no-off-switch" in this post, and I promise to be more on top of things, updating you on Hannah and my adventures. 

Hannah and I were driving back (it was a long 12 hours drive) from visiting mom, and we promised each other to actively seek out adventures in the new year! We will go camping, running, diving, and just pure adventures, AND I will post them here. We are going to Grand Caymans in about a week, so keep a look-out for that write-up!

Professionally, I graduated my second PhD student (Tanner Richie) at the mid of December, just in time for her to celebrate her Christmas and New Year in style :) She is heading to become a post-doc scholar at University of Virginia.

Tanner and I at her hooding ceremony


Hannah is the Director of Operations at SB Pharma Solutions, and also a jet-setter - in 2024 alone, she has travelled to Vienna, LA, Brussels, Chicago (and probably more places that I had forgotten), not just for fun, but for conferences and meetings. She presented to the world leaders in the The United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs meeting - so proud of her!

Hannah being "sneaky", and took a quick pic of herself at the UN meeting in Vienna
 

The SB Pharma Solutions gang!


Meanwhile, here are the "true owners of no-off-switch"... Happy 2025 from Hannah, Mona, Zorya, Rye and I 🎉🎈🎊

Mona

Mona being "tortured" by Hannah

Zorya

Rye