I passed by Oral Candidacy exam today (I am actually writing this several days later).

It went well but had to put in plenty of work preparing the presentation... much thanks to Joanna and Jorge for giving me great comments.

Immediately after passing the exam I got my stuff and jumped in a car with two good friends for a 7.5 hour drive to Tennessee for some spooning in the back of an Xterra and good 3 days of climbing.

Timeline to complete the PhD is 1.5 years from now.  Have to work hard!