---
id: 2026-12
title: Weekly — 2026-03-18
type: Weekly
created: 2026-03-18T11:00:00Z
modified: 2026-03-18T11:00:00Z
tags: [weekly]
---

# Weekly - 2026 CW 12 (Wed 2026-03-18)

## Accomplishments

### 🎉 MAJOR MILESTONE: Thesis Proposal V1 Sent to Dan Cole (March 17)
**The big one.** Thesis proposal V1 emailed to advisor at 10:27 PM.
- 13 days overdue on task #48 but completed
- 32 pages, zero LaTeX errors, zero undefined references
- "IT IS DONE. (thunder and lightning) *undertaker music*" — Dane's actual email to his PhD advisor
- Everything downstream (Dan's feedback, revisions, candidacy defense) was waiting on this
- Pressure is off — now waiting for Dan's feedback to iterate

### Thesis Work (All Week)
**Editing & Citations (March 16-17):**
- Fixed all broken citations, cleaned up references.bib (33 entries, all cited)
- Added citations for all mentioned tools: Hybrid automata (Alur 1993), dL (Platzer 2008), KeYmaera X (Fulton 2015), barrier certificates (Prajna 2004), SpaceEx (Frehse 2011), reachability papers
- Converted Zotero biblatex exports to bibtex format
- Addressed all `\dasnote{cite X here}` comments
- Full source verification against Zotero PDFs

**LaTeX Infrastructure:**
- Added .latexmkrc for automatic bibtex cycling
- Fixed 2 compile errors (itemize in dasinline, stray brace)
- Line wrapping cleanup (80 char LaTeX, 60 char MD)
- Connected 2 orphaned figures to prose
- Git cleanup: merged V1 to main, removed build artifacts, updated .gitignore

**Content Revisions:**
- Resolved all 7 splitfix/splitsuggest comments with blue addedprose
- Updated broader impacts math (560 TWh, Ifri 2025 source)
- Fixed Pressburger citation (softened to match source)
- Self-review pass: Dane annotated 55 items on draft branch (DAS = Dane's own comments, not Dan Cole)
- Heaviest feedback sections: Research Approach (41 comments), State of Art (29)

**Created granular editing tasks from draft branch feedback:**
- #55: Revise Research Statement (due 3/19, priority H)
- #56: Revise Goals (due 3/20, priority M)
- #57: Revise State of Art (due 3/21, priority H)
- #58: Revise Research Approach (due 3/24, priority H)
- #59: Revise Metrics (due 3/25, priority L)
- #60: Revise Risks + Impacts (due 3/25, priority L)

### Research Infrastructure
**Plane Project Management Setup (March 17):**
- Installed and audited plane-cli skill from ClawHub
- Set up self-hosted Plane instance at http://split:8080 (Docker)
- Created "The Garage" project with WRX/Z31/CRF tasks
- Documented in tools/plane.md
- Dane considering retiring Taskwarrior for Plane (wants direct task access + agent integration)

**Task Management Research (March 16):**
- Deep research on Taskwarrior alternatives at Dane's request
- Top recommendation: Plane (self-hostable AGPL, native MCP agent support, 180+ API endpoints)
- Also evaluated: Linear (best cloud but not self-hostable), Vikunja (self-hosted w/ TW migration), Taskwarrior-tui

**Projects Documentation:**
- Created projects/ folder for "bring you up to speed" docs
- Started with projects/thesis-proposal.md (branches, comment tally, task mapping, section files, style prefs, key papers)

**Zotero Paper Reading (March 15):**
- Reviewed 5 papers from library at random
- Extremely high relevance: Platzer (dL textbook), Wood et al. (autonomous reactor framework), Prajna-Jadbabaie (barrier certificates), Lin-Antsaklis (switched systems survey), Lazarus et al. (runtime safety assurance)
- Full annotated summaries with relevance assessments, synthesis opportunities, and thesis narrative suggestions

### Personal / Life
**Taxes (March 14):**
- Filed federal and PA returns via FreeTaxUSA ($15 vs $120 for TurboTax)
- **PA fellowship exemption discovery:** Dane's entire $34,608 GSR fellowship is PA tax exempt (PA Code §101.6 — degree candidate, research required for degree)
- Adjusted PA wages to $0 → PA tax dropped from $1,084 owed to ~$0
- Federal refund: $124
- Total saved on taxes: **$1,084**

**WRX Repair + Upgrades (March 13-14):**
- DIY OCV solenoid swap fixed rough idle and P000A code completely
- Also: oil change, Fumoto valve install, brakes all around
- Saved ~$1,800 vs shop quote (no need for $2K walnut blast)
- Ordered Apex EC-7 18x9.5 +38 wheels in Anthracite Gray (flow-formed, ~17.5 lbs, Oregon USA)
- Ordered Continental ExtremeContact Sport 02 summer tires (255/35R18)
- Plan: Summer setup on 18s, keep stock 17s for winter
- Hub bore compatibility discovered: WRX (56.1mm) and Z31 (66.1mm) share 5x114.3 bolt pattern — could share wheels with hub rings

**Other:**
- Drove grandparents to doctor appointment Thursday (cleared thesis blocks that day)
- Emerson formal offer letter received (R&D Engineering Intern, $35/hr, Cranberry Township PA)
- Cron cleanup: disabled old Discord-based morning/evening jobs
- Pi Day 🥧

## Pushed or Rescheduled

**Preliminary Example Work (All tasks due March 15-20):**
- #49: Consolidate point kinetics + coolant temp code (due 3/16, now 2 days overdue)
- #50: Define formal requirements/specs (due 3/17, now 1 day overdue)
- #51: Build discrete automaton abstraction (due 3/18, due TODAY)
- #52: Run reactive synthesis on automaton (due 3/19)
- #53: Write preliminary example section (due 3/20)

**Rationale:** V1 draft took priority. Preliminary example will be filled in while waiting for Dan's feedback on V1.

## Cancelled or Deleted

- Deleted tasks #55-58 (created from wrong branch — main instead of draft)
- Replaced with correct tasks #55-64 based on draft branch feedback

## To Do

**Immediate Priority (This Week):**
- **Wait for Dan's feedback on V1** — this is the big unlock
- Start preliminary example work (5 tasks, most overdue/due this week)
- Address editing tasks from draft branch (#55-60, starting March 19)

**Due This Week:**
- #51: Build discrete automaton abstraction (due TODAY, urgency 10.0)
- #52: Run reactive synthesis (due 3/19, urgency 9.6)
- #53: Write preliminary example section (due 3/20, urgency 9.1)
- #55: Revise Research Statement (due 3/19, priority H, urgency 16.4)

**Overdue:**
- #49: Consolidate point kinetics + coolant temp code (2 days overdue, urgency 10.9)
- #50: Define formal requirements/specs (1 day overdue, urgency 10.5)

**Context:**
- Spring break week was productive despite car detour
- V1 submission is a massive milestone — downstream work can now proceed
- Preliminary example deferred until after V1 but needs attention this week
- Iran conflict Day ~19: major escalation, Hormuz tensions, oil price spikes

**Notes:**
- Dane's self-review methodology: "8% beer editing" — catches bullshit effectively
- Branch structure now clear: `draft` is active working branch with all feedback, `main` has clean V1
- Thesis blocks were disrupted mid-week (WRX repair, grandparents' doctor appointment) but rallied hard on Monday-Tuesday
- Next Cole Group meeting will be about Dan's V1 feedback and preliminary example progress