nicfv2024 was a big year! I completed and exceeded both of my New Year's resolutions, did a lot of running, visited 2 new countries, and worked on a lot of cool projects. Let's go over the 2024 recap for this mysterious individual named Nicolas Ventura.
It's crazy to think, but coming up on two years now, I purchased my condo. I absolutely love it and have no regrets, but there are some things I wish I had considered. Here's a short story of what I wished I could tell myself those 2 years ago, and things (specific to me) that are really important in finding a place to live.
Every year, thousands of tech giants, computer nerds, and NERSC staff alike flock to the conference on Supercomputing. Normally, from NERSC there's such high demand to attend that many staff are denied travel assistance. Maybe since it was my first time, I got a free pass. Several of my colleagues went the year prior and only had good things to say, so I wanted to know what it was like for myself, and maybe learn a thing or two along the way.
We just started week 45 of 2024! Isn't it crazy that there are only 58 days left of this year? A bit over 2 months ago, I wrote about my 2024 New Year's resolution progress. I'm pleased to announce that I have made some great progress on this, and I am well on track to fulfilling my resolutions by the end of the year.
I'm fortunate not to need it, but I tried taking public transit to work today! Simply as an experiment. I had mapped out a few different routes and decided on one that would have the fewest transfers, even if it took a bit longer. This will read a bit less like a story and more like a bulleted list of chronological events. So, if that's not your cup of tea, you might want to skip this one.
This weekend, I traveled far and wide within and around the San Francisco Bay Area, locally known as the Bay Area. On Friday through Monday, I traveled over 200 miles, and crossed 6 bridges to visit 5 cities, including my hometown. Despite all this commute, I only ended up paying $14 total in bridge tolls! Let this story be your guide on how to effectively navigate the complex and expensive web of Bay Area FasTrak.
Results: All | Individual | Certificate
On October 6, I raced in the Bay Front Run! This is an annual 5K along the Bay Front Trail in Hercules, CA, which benefits the Hercules Education Foundation. I forgot to write about this achievement, so here it is, well over a month later.
It's that time of year again for HPCOR; the high performance computing operator's review! This time, my colleagues and I went to Sandia Labs in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
I am now part of two different running clubs, both with the same acronym! "MRC," for "Marin Running Club" and "Marina Run Club." I've been going to the Marin Running Club for several months now, but this week was my second week attending the Marina Run Club in San Francisco.
We're nearing the end of August already. At the beginning of 2024, I had 2 simple New Year's resolutions. How am I doing? Did I keep them, or stop after a week, like most people?