Well, this is the first time that I am heading for a conference with an incomplete presentation! Life’s been busy of late, like I mentioned in my previous entry, becoming hectic in the last 2-3 days. We (Ralph and myself) had to get some calculations done as few slides in the second presentation were empty. It has been a good practice (tradition is a better word, I guess) to have practice-talks before any presentation. It gives enough opportunity to get the timing right, know what should be included and more importantly, what should not be included. Talking to Wil (Slough) about slides has also been quite profitable. I spent about two hours with Mike Mallow (Twin Lakes Java) on Thursday evening about, as usual, variety of topics, when I visited him to get 5 lbs of Mysore coffee for my friends in and around Baltimore. He has worked in a variety of different fields and I always end up knowing something that I didn’t know before.

After Friday morning’s short discussion with Dr. P and Ralph, I set out to get my blood tested - though the test, scheduled initially at the Portage Health, was postponed, my doctor kind of concluded that I was wierd, medically speaking — I did respond quite well to the antibiotics, X-ray image didn’t show any infection but cough just doesn’t seem to let go of me - couple other medications, including steroids, have had no effect. Since the proposed tests were postponed by atleast 10 days, I requested my doctor to re-prescribe the same antibiotics, to help me see through couple of presentations and lot of talking. Much of yesterday’s evening was spent in re-packing my clothes - after couple of visits to the Houghton/Hancock Airport — first one to make sure that no extra paper work was necessary and the second one to make sure that my luggage was under-weight. As 5 lbs of coffee powder had spread its aroma to the clothes, they had to be hot-dried and former had to be taken in a separate bag!

Thanks to Dave, as always, I was in the airport around 5.45 am this morning and my officemates almost missed the flight (they not arrived just 10 minutes before the scheduled start time, but one of them claimed that I was early — instead of them being late!). It has been my personal practice to sit with different / previously unknown people — accidentally, NorthWest put all three of us in the same row and even worse, one of them was right next to me Fortunately though, the Exit / Emergency Row seats weren’t taken and the flight attendant graciously accepted my request for that seat The new carrier (Jet from CanadAir) is neat and Hancock-Minneapolis journey, which is usually a very bumpy ride in the Mesaba carriers, was pretty smooth. There were times when the aircraft seems to have stalled in mid air (variations in engine noise) and that’s when my (as well as others, probably) heart-beat stalls too… Total travel time is still approximately same as Mesaba carriers but the air time is noticeably shorter.

As of now, I am sitting in Minneapolis/St. Paul airport - after having the usual Dunn Bros Mocha (and a Blueberry Muffin). Internet connectivity is pretty fast but $7 for 24 hours, in my opinion, is pretty expensive. With present-day technological advancements, WiFi should be free in all airports — I like Marquette airport for that reason I spoke to several of my friends as well as my parents and read some of my friends’ blogs. More I read them and notice the comment-interaction, more I realize that I am an OutKaste. Hardly anybody reads mine and rarely anybody leaves comments — but I convince/console myself with an assumption that I write because I want to keep a record of my life, not necessarily wanting others to read (and waste their time commenting on my life). Most of my friends write well and emphatically too - one them, Surya, even won a prize in an online contest. Whenever I read their blogs, I usually have a list of HiFi words that I have to look up a dictionary later (and re-read the blog). Most of mine contain a record of mundane things with a rather poor articulation and choice of words. For sure, nobody likes water in a mud-pot when they can drink milk in a golden bowl!

As my next flight won’t start for another hour (or three depending on bump off), I am just getting ready to try StarBucks or Caribou Cafe and take more pictures (I have been very careful not to irritate/piss off/nervousize, if there’s such a word, important people and ask their permission before taking pictures). I will later update this blog (probably from Baltimore) with some nicer pictures taken so far…