Ithaca... er, no, Crete, here I come!

Funny how fast time flies when you're having fun. The time in Iceland flew by and I'm back in Ithaca. Nevertheless, it feels like I've been gone forever. And, thereby, that I was almost for-ev-er in Iceland. Gee, I got there even before we became the biggestest country in the world and won that coveted Olympic silver. Yep, I saw history happen.

The conference went reasonably well (note to self: NEVER again go to a conference without your poster ready and printed!!!), considering I missed all the talks the first two days (see note to self) and in the morning of the third day (darn printshop!). The talks I DID see were awesome (some of them even cited my 2006 paper and while they were at it I felt all self-conscious and didn't know what to do with myself, until I decided it was pretty darn cool and became all pleased with myself :)). The poster session went about as well as was to be expected, given that my topic was somewhat marginal and the poster session itself located quite am Arsch der Welt in the conference frame of reference. The fourth and last day of the conference I can't say too much about either, since I spent it sick in bed, kept company by aching bones and a headful of snot. Charming.

I'm getting a second chance to be present at conferences though, since I finally* got an invitation to attend a workshop for (odd) people interested in soils, to be held in Crete (that's right, Crete) next weekend (that's right, next weekend!!). My credit card is too maxed out after the Iceland trip to accommodate the plane ticket to Crete (2100 dollars minimum with this short notice) so I'm hoping either my department or some benevolent millionaire will step in for me and lend me their credit. Any takers??

One thing I entirely forgot this time around in Iceland: Go to the swimming pools! Shame on me. I did not forget to go to the 'Mercan Embassy and had a surprisingly non-confrontational time there. Quite luvely, actually. Although I couldn't stop myself from audibly laughing when the guy ahead of me in the interview queue answered the first question, "Why do you want to go to the United States" with an eager-to-please "Because I love the US!".

* They somehow managed to lose my application. After suffering some email harassment from me, they extended the invite last Friday. That is, a week before the hulabbaloo begins. Nice!

Iceland, here I come!

Íþaka til Sýrakusu, Sýrakusa-JFK, JFK-Keflavík, ETA 23:40 annað kvöld. Og svo saman allir nú: Húrra! Húrra! Húrra!

Embassy drama - again

Does ANYBODY know how to bypass the receptionist-on-a-power-trip in the 'Mercan Embassy in Reykjavik? As always, all the interview slots are full for when I'm in the country and my honest attempt to get past this woman and talk to someone human over there was in vain (I tried emailing the address they give for consular affairs on the embassy website and apparently, it's power-hungry woman's email). Last year I actually rerouted my travels b/c "there are no interview spots open", only to find out that there were in fact plenty of spots available during the time period I had originally intended to be at home. So, I simply don't believe that all the slots are taken this time. All she had to say in reply to my request for consideration was "I could perhaps put you on the waiting list".

Keep in mind that last year I spent an approximate 1000 dollars on rerouting my travels. Then, please read the post I link to above. Then, let me tell you that when I did in fact get to the embassy I did yell at the receptionist, I did tell her that because of her incompetence and unhelpfulness I had incurred massive expenses and that I would highly recommend to her superiors they have her fired. So, I guess it's no wonder she has no desire to help this time. But it still stinks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGGG!!!!!!!

The sun room

At the bus stop

The wrench

Hey, did any of you guys borrow the 13 mm wrench? I need it!

Stupid error

Gawd! I just discovered a VERY stupid mistake in my calculations. If I'd thought of this earlier I would have saved myself a LOT of agonizing over weird-looking data.

Do you remember the space mission that was a fiasco b/c of engineers forgetting to convert from one system of measurement to another? Well, this was on a similar scale (albeit not in political and financial consequences ;) )

Oh well. I found it and fixing it (now that I know what was wrong the whole time) is fortunately not a big deal.

Yoga goes biodegradable

My old yoga mat became musty-smelling after the moldy-bed ordeal of a few weeks ago so I invested in a new mat which arrived today. It smells funny, not your average plastic-foam smell, though, because it is entirely biodegradable. Yep, I gotta take care it won't get wet because it will quite literally break down! This beauty comes from Manduka yoga gear (the eKo) and is apparently the first yoga mat ever made that will break down completely into natural components at the end of its life. Which is supposed to be very long, as long as I make sure to keep it dry. I can't wait to try it at home tonight, as it is supposed to be completely slide-proof as well!

Library

I just went to the library. In my computer. I needed to verify some equations that I found on Wikipedia (once I didn't and suffered...), so I looked up the whereabouts of the particular reference books cited on Wikipedia to see in what library they were kept. Turns out both of them are kept in the library next door to Snee Hall but are also available online. Of course I just looked at the books online instead of actually raising my a$$ from the seat and walking 30 m in the wonderful weather to the library. No wonder people (myself included) are growing huge butts nowadays!

Friday evening

and I'm in the lab. I just took a 40 minute break and went to the local Starbucks for some hot chocolate and non-work-related reading (Pan by Knut Hamsun, in Norwegian), but even so I wasn't really taking a break since I was just waiting for the machine to warm up the next sample...

The TIMS (thermal ionization mass spectrometer) is working and I'm running samples. They take about 4 hours each and I have about 40 to do before going to Iceland in 13 days so... I better spend every waking hour in the lab! But, it's kinda fun so I don't mind it too much. In fact it feels good to know that I'm making large strides forward with my work.

Speaking of which. As some of you may remember, we've had eternal issues with equipment here and this has caused me a lot of delays in getting my samples processed (i.e., squeezing data out of them). Now I've gotten the go-ahead to go to a well-functioning lab at Boston University in Sept/Oct. I'll be able to hopefully analyze the entire backlog of ~150 samples that I have accumulated. My host is a former Ph.D. student of my own Ph.D. adviser who now is a professor at BU. I can't wait to spend a month or two in Boston! How awesome is that??? Lot's of people to talk science with and ... ratatata... the birthplace of Ravelry!!!