Long Burn

2d May

How was your day? Here was mine:

6.05 Woken up by a screaming toddler
6.20 Alarm goes off
7.55 Out the door, take F. to school, have a few minutes to talk with his English teacher. Missy is from Florida and loves to talk, much more than I do. Drive out on the highway-- need to get to Copenhagen to get the signature of the Institute Administrator on a final budget that was due to the funding agency a month ago (they gave me an extension). I don't usually drive to work, today's an exception and it ends up working out pretty well to have the car.
8.40 On the road, approaching the last train station in Sweden. Debate whether to park and take the train into town or drive the whole way and pay the toll for the bridge. It is raining cats and dogs (or as they say in Sweden, it is raining nails), and I figure I can stay dry and save time by driving and that I wouldn't get that much work done on the train anyway and that I can get my job to reimburse me for the toll.
8.45 Pay toll, drive over bridge, across the artificial island they built and through the tunnel. Get caught in rush-hour trafic while driving through the city center.
9.30 to 11.30 Get to work. Lots of things to do. Get that d%&/(#¤/ report signed, copied and sent to Oslo together with appendices. Find out how quickly I can get the external censor to correct the exam papers and end up writing a letter to the administration warning them we will be late in reporting the results. Try to find the gas samples that were sent by overnight express from the US 10 days ago. Turns out the Danish customs office won't release 'toxic gases' and they want to see me about it in person. Try calling the immigration office about my work permit but, just like the last 30 times I called them there is not even room in the phone que for my call. Make some more calls and track my package to the freight terminal at the airport-- arrange to stop by after lunch.
12.00 quick lunch of Danish open faced sandwiches. Whole grain sourdough rye with egg & ham.
12.30 driving again.
13.00 get to the airport and they actually give me the toxic gases rather quickly. I think they were glad to be rid of them. The airport is by the bridge so by 14.00 I am driving back to Sweden.
14.45 get back to Maxlab. Talk to students about the weekend's experiments. Problems with the program that runs the spectrometer. Manage to solve some problems.
17.30 Get home, dinner, kids playing outside then time for bed.

My wife read an article in a parenting magazine where they asked parents what they had given up in order to have a family, and 98 % said 'friends.'

posted by Matt_J @ 9:46 PM