Hello from Los Angeles. Yep, I'm still here.

What’s up friends, it’s Claude here! Hope everyone is staying safe and healthy during these strange times.

Most of you probably know that America is number one once again. This time with the number of COVID-19 cases. While it is getting worse every day here in Los Angeles, it is not nearly as bad as New York.

Here’s a quick update on what I’ve been up to since the good old SMC days. As soon as I transferred to CSU Long Beach and realized I had no more money to go to school, I joined the US Army. It’s funny to think that I’ve been in the Army for so long that I’m almost done with my service in a little over a year from now. I’ve been mobilized for missions and battle drills several times over the last few years.

I’ve also been working at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena for the past two years. It’s a part time engineering position where I got to work on the Mars 2020 mission (launching around July 2020!) and now working on the Europa Clipper mission. I specifically work for both the Radiation Effects and Autonomous Systems groups. The tasks are varied from software development, to radiation testing, to flight bed analysis.  It has been an awesome experience working here and meeting some of the most intelligent people I’ve ever known.

However, my time at NASA is coming to an end. Later this year, I will quit my job and I will be diving headfirst into filmmaking. That is why this broke-ass Sri Lankan kid came to Los Angeles all those years ago. Now that I’ve been able to help my family back in Sri Lanka and get them to a good place, I’m finally in a position to pursue my goals. I plan to go to grad school for film next year or the year after that, but of course, this damn virus is putting a damper on all our plans and short-term aspirations.

Ayaka and I are engaged now. I went to see here in Okinawa in January. She was supposed to visit LA next month, but the little virus got in the way. We are planning to get married in late 2021. I’ll put up pictures from my trip to Okinawa if I can figure out how. I’m a little more technologically impaired when it comes to these sorts of things than one might think.

Well, that is it for now. Stay safe guys. Many years down the line, I believe we will all look back at this time with astonishment and wonder.