Gimmie a Ticket for an Air-o-plane
Ain't got time to take a fast train... lonely days are gone, I'm a goin' home, my baby just-a sent me a letter.
Ok, that's a bit of a stretch but entirely true if by "baby" I mean conference and by letter I mean acceptance of an abstract submission.
You see, I sent out some abstracts to some conferences several months back and just found out that my abstracts were accepted at both conferences. Normally, this would be very exciting news! There is really only one thing that makes these acceptances kind-of a bummer:
The first conference, in San Jose, California, is one week before Linda is due to give birth.
The second conference, in Valencia, Spain, is one week after Linda is due to give birth.
Now, you try and tell a pregnant wife that you are going to plan to be on the left coast the week before the delivery date and will be in a different country the week after the delivery date. Go ahead... find your pregnant wife and tell her... I'll wait.... hmmm... ticktickticktick.... waitwaitwait... Back yet? Left eye swollen a little? Can't quite move that right arm? Now you catch my drift.
I think I can get co-workers to cover for me, no problemo. Nevertheless, it is amusing how the timing of things can often conspire. Personally, I'm no fan of travel so perhaps it was best that I had an excuse to not attend these events. 8)
-Ed
Ok, that's a bit of a stretch but entirely true if by "baby" I mean conference and by letter I mean acceptance of an abstract submission.
You see, I sent out some abstracts to some conferences several months back and just found out that my abstracts were accepted at both conferences. Normally, this would be very exciting news! There is really only one thing that makes these acceptances kind-of a bummer:
The first conference, in San Jose, California, is one week before Linda is due to give birth.
The second conference, in Valencia, Spain, is one week after Linda is due to give birth.
Now, you try and tell a pregnant wife that you are going to plan to be on the left coast the week before the delivery date and will be in a different country the week after the delivery date. Go ahead... find your pregnant wife and tell her... I'll wait.... hmmm... ticktickticktick.... waitwaitwait... Back yet? Left eye swollen a little? Can't quite move that right arm? Now you catch my drift.
I think I can get co-workers to cover for me, no problemo. Nevertheless, it is amusing how the timing of things can often conspire. Personally, I'm no fan of travel so perhaps it was best that I had an excuse to not attend these events. 8)
-Ed
posted by Ed at 1:21 AM
2 Comments:
Uh... tell me you realized this BEFORE you told her? :) Because, then you could say something like, "You know dearest, I love you so much, and you are so important to me, as is this new little life on the way, that I'm finding someone else to go in my place, just so I can be there to support and just be there for you and our child." Although, I'm sure you could come up with something much more eloquent. :)
In any case, congratulations.
And thanks for the imagery. Made my day.
Thankfully, Linda took it well. She was at Valley View Farms at the time and simply informed me that she was just going to spend an extra $100 or so to calm her nerves. 8)
I think I have peer coverage for the papers. They are about thermal and power management on the New Horizons observatory... it gets cold out there in deep space and the amount of power you have available for heat is very limited so you have to strike a smart (and changing) balance between consuming energy and not freezing.
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