The Countdown Continues

T-60 Hours and counting… (’til I get on the first plane of the trip to Niger). Lots of packing and finding of items. Strike that, reverse it. I’m still not sure where my old pair of nylon hiking pants are. I used them in March. I’m going to have to double my efforts searching at my apartment, because they aren’t here in Mandeville.

I also couldn’t find my old point-and-shoot Nikon camera, but my father offered to let me use his Yashica FX-2 35mm SLR on the trip. I’m pretty excited about that — I once took some snzzy black-and-whites with that camera. Too bad they now cost 3x as much to develop as color, since nobody has machines to do it on-site anymore. I can’t take my digital because the battery wears out too fast, and it’s a non-standard rechargeable, so I can’t just drop in a replacement. Lesson learned for the next camera purchase I make.

Sleepy now, time for bed. I’m getting a ride back into town tomorrow with my sister, and she has to leave at 07:00.

African Dialects

(11:52:54) David B.: sdfsd sd;lfksdf poweriqtn wet03mfskl
(11:53:03) David B.: I am practicing my african dialects
— EDIT — (more added below)
(12:03:01) David B.: speakers come next
(12:03:02) Brock Tice: *sigh*
(12:03:06) Brock Tice: no kidding
(12:03:10) Brock Tice: not till fall at this point
(12:03:16) Brock Tice: I’m too poor
(12:03:19) David B.: replace those first and then we will do the head unit…..
(12:03:19) Brock Tice: need more paychecks
(12:03:27) David B.: you can beg for money in Africa…..
(12:03:33) Brock Tice: yeah that’ll go well
(12:03:40) Brock Tice: they apparently think all white people are millionaires
(12:03:47) David B.: Poor student needs speakers for car…..
(12:03:49) Brock Tice: or equivalently wealthy, if you get my drift
(12:03:56) Brock Tice: except how do you write that in french?
(12:04:03) David B.: the starving people would love it and feel sorry for you……
(12:04:45) David B.: have fun, I have to meet my mom for lunch…..
(12:04:53) Brock Tice: okay, see you later
(12:06:18) Brock Tice: btw, it’s le pauvre étudiant a besoin de l’argent pour des haut-parleurs de voiture

(David’s a fellow Ph.D. student in the lab)

Countdown

T-120 hours and counting

Well, just under, since it’s now 10:59 and my flight leaves at 10:50 on Saturday. That will begin my journey to Niger. I have a lot of lab-related work to do. I need to get my ascending ramp simulations set up so that I can load them into the queue before I leave. I have to work on the regional ischemia paper. I need to print out the information on how I manage our lab server in case something goes wrong with it.

And then, there’s the Africa stuff. I have to finish my shopping list, go shopping, check inventory, recheck inventory, pack, probably deal with various problems packing, set everything in order at home and lab for a two week absence, arrange for transportation to the airport, pull a couple benjamins in cash, and send myself off.

Put the Lime in the Coconut

I’m giving a 25-minute talk this Thursday, July 14th at 17:00 at the Hilton downtown. I’m pretty sure you have to be registered for the SIAM conference to come see it, but here’s the information just in case you want to know. I’m part of a minisymposium: (schedule).

I have spent most of my time since returning to New Orleans working on this presentation, and it should be nice and sharp by Thursday night. I’ll try to get pictures or something.

It’s late. Bedtime.