Last time I traveled the misadventures at least didn't start until the first day of my vacation. This time it seems they're getting a jump on me.
I began my day with my sister telling me the warning sirens were going off all over Hawaii to evacuate people from the beaches in order to steer clear of the pending tsunami. Of course I immediately assumed she was just messing with me and I'm pretty sure my response was something along the lines of, "Eff off!". It was only after a shower, while eating my breakfast that I realized she was serious when I heard the news on the radio. At that point I entertained the idea that her hoax was a lot more elaborate and she somehow had NewsTalk650 in on the joke, but I'm sure that thought had more to do with lack of caffeine than any realistic option.
I spent my morning replacing ideas of sun-soaked beaches and palm trees with pictures of flattened island coastline and a week spent in the Vancouver airport. Fortunately it seems Hawaii was not seriously affected by the waves. At least not to the extent that north-eastern Japan was.
That being said, Mel's conference is jointly put on by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers so there may be a lot of late or absent Japanese delegates. After seeing images of the destruction in Japan I think a week in the Vancouver airport wouldn't be too bad at all! Maybe I'll email the conference organizers and let them know if they need a speaker to fill some vacant spots that I can get up there and talk about some stuff. Seriously, how hard can it be to present a Japanese professor's paper on thermal engineering? I'll just read the paper, then pretend not to understand any of the audience's questions. I'll let you know how it goes :)
-RF
I began my day with my sister telling me the warning sirens were going off all over Hawaii to evacuate people from the beaches in order to steer clear of the pending tsunami. Of course I immediately assumed she was just messing with me and I'm pretty sure my response was something along the lines of, "Eff off!". It was only after a shower, while eating my breakfast that I realized she was serious when I heard the news on the radio. At that point I entertained the idea that her hoax was a lot more elaborate and she somehow had NewsTalk650 in on the joke, but I'm sure that thought had more to do with lack of caffeine than any realistic option.
I spent my morning replacing ideas of sun-soaked beaches and palm trees with pictures of flattened island coastline and a week spent in the Vancouver airport. Fortunately it seems Hawaii was not seriously affected by the waves. At least not to the extent that north-eastern Japan was.
That being said, Mel's conference is jointly put on by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers so there may be a lot of late or absent Japanese delegates. After seeing images of the destruction in Japan I think a week in the Vancouver airport wouldn't be too bad at all! Maybe I'll email the conference organizers and let them know if they need a speaker to fill some vacant spots that I can get up there and talk about some stuff. Seriously, how hard can it be to present a Japanese professor's paper on thermal engineering? I'll just read the paper, then pretend not to understand any of the audience's questions. I'll let you know how it goes :)
-RF
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