Friday, March 9, 2007

sense of something

Hi everyone, sorry for the late update. I was working on my "science
talk", which finally happened today after several reschedulings. I
wish it had happened earlier in the cruise, as there was some
interesting discussion post-talk that I hope we can keep up. It's
funny the way some talks, though the content is not especially
stimulating and/or new (and this one certainly wasn't to those
familiar with the subject), can at least set the stage for
brainstorming. You get so into the normal cruise schedule and
discussions of ctds/meals/ice condition/etc, that it's hard to break
out of the routine. A talk (and we've had two over the past two
days) seems to reinject a sense of purpose. Definitely to the one
giving it.

Anyway the sense of purpose is not the only thing that I'm getting a
sense of lately. There is a general vibe that this continental shelf-
break transect is the final leg on this adventure. For one,
everything is too easy -- waking up at 3 is not a problem (most of
the time), l haven't broken the lachat lately, sampling functions
like a smoothly honed machine, I'm used to the meal schedule, etc.
We've gotten memos about the packaging and shipping requirements for
our samples from the MST's, we have to arrange our accomodations and
flights for Chile, and last but not least, the pingpong tourney is
getting into the final rounds.

I'm staying up late tonight for a match in which all 4 players are on
a different shift schedule. I'm optimistic but tired. Just in case
you're interested, my game has been uneven in tournament play, but I
have an ongoing afternoon game with the best player I've ever seen,
Ali. I elevate my play to a higher level during these games but I
still get crushed. My goal is to reach double digits against her
before the end of the cruise. I'm hoping the notoriously rough seas
of the Drake Passage may even (uneven?) the playing field.

C

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