aerogeek.org

No updates for a month. Have a good July!

Yes, I’ve been delinquent in updating this thing. That’s because I’ve been busy planning our upcoming camping trip, a process that has become outrageously expensive and time-consuming. My question is, how do monkeys survive in the wild without portable water filters or solar showers? Don’t they have lightweight, synthetic sleeping bags or Gore-Tex outerwear? I told Rachel that we must camp at least three more times to get a return on our investment, even if we absolutely hate it the first time.

Backing up… Rachel and I are going camping in the southwest for three weeks, following a week-long stint at the lake and a family reunion in Alabama. We’re also going to blow any money we have remaining at the end of the trip by meeting various people in Las Vegas. While this trip should be very exciting, the Big Question is: Will my car make it? Perhaps that should be the next poll.

For those who are interested, here is a map of our planned route. It’s overlaid on a map of current wildfires, since a) this is the best map I could find, and b) the fires are likely to cramp our style.

In other news, we had an action-packed weekend in Maryland, attending a wedding and various social gatherings. Weddings always give me ideas about what to NOT do at mine, i.e., writing my own vows or allowing the DJ to play Chicago songs. My primary concern will be the reception party playlist, which must pass a rigorous inspection before gaining my approval. I couldn’t care less about the color of the bridesmaid dresses or any of that crap those lovely wedding traditions that women get so excited about.

Apparently there is some sort of important soccer tournament happening in Korea right now, judging by the fact that two international students in my office (Bennie and Tomo from South Africa and Japan, respectively) were frantically searching for a diner with cable television at 2:00 am. How sadly ironic that we beat Mexico in the World Cup. Bennie tells me that the streets would be flooded with revelers if this sort of thing happened anywhere else in the world, but our country had maybe four or five guys celebrating in somebody’s basement. We should just cede our victory to Mexico and let them advance out of pity. Are there any objections? Just a cricket chirping? Then the motion is passed.

Just two days until my official summer begins! There is an annual review of our research program on Wednesday, and then it’s smooth sailing. Going home this weekend, going to the lake next weekend, then going out west to camp after that. The nice thing about living on grad student wages is that nobody expects you to take just two weeks of vacation. So I’ll be gone most of July. There’s still that whole “not getting paid in August” thing, but that’s why we’re camping and not jetting to a 5-star resort in Fiji.

Hmm, the funny newspaper story contest didn’t pan out like I had hoped. Thanks for the stories you did submit, but we need more. In case nothing funny happened last week, I will extend the contest another week. So if you have nothing better to do at work, go ahead and read the Vernal Express or the Piggott Times. What could possibly be more important than the news in rural Arkansas?

Well, not really. But you can make points fast! Tammy just alerted me to www.newspaperlinks.com, which contains links to nearly every newspaper in the country, no matter how small. You mission, for up to 15 points, is to find the funniest story before June 18th and submit it here (add it as a comment to this post). The top entries will be voted upon by the vast 15-person readership, and points will be awarded accordingly. Hint: start with small-town newspapers in states like Mississippi and Nevada. This contest is designed to save me from making real updates this week and to distract everyone else from their work.

10 points to Mike for guessing that our plane would lift 20 pounds. In fact, it lifted only 15 pounds.