Once again, I've hit the end of the work week, and it's time to summarize what I've done. What's that you say? It's only wednesday? Don't worry, the time zone isn't that far ahead here. I've actually got tomorrow and friday, as well as the following monday, off from work so we can go on our "Big Vacation" to Chiang Mai. Basically, over the next five days or so, I'll be essentially driving across the entire nation of Thailand to reach its second largest (I think) city, located very close to Myanmar. Should be an interesting trip, I know we're planning to watch the entire Lord of the Rings Extended Edition on the ride, but Aeng says that may not cover the whole weekend. I'm considering an epic retelling the "Tisbottle Story" (haven't heard of it? that's probably ok...).
Anyway, back to this week (and last, since I realized I never said anything about my research of last week). Things have been going quite well. I've wrapped up most of my project, and now I'm in the middle of the manuscript writing/editing phase. I'm planning to submit my paper to an IEEE conference on robotics to be held in Seoul, Korea next November. If I get accepted, my professor says I might be able to score another free trip to Asia. Sweet deal!
I've discovered that putting together an official paper for something like this is way more work than it probably should be. I spent all of yesterday and a good portion of today just formatting the thing. IEEE has extremely stringent paper formatting standards, and if your section subheadings are in 10 point Times New Roman instead of 8 point, the nerd gods of engineering may just smite thee asunder. After two days of working on it, I think I've sacrificed enough of my life to appease their unholy formatting desires.
Beyond that, nothing terribly exciting since the last post. Just returned from dinner at the mall (Japanese pork, sushi, and Ice Monster for dessert). As far as future posts are concerned, I'll probably have to enter radio silence for the next few days. I'm leaving my computer here in Bangkok, though I will have my iPod that is internet ready. However, where we're going, I'm guessing that wireless access may not be terribly easy to come by. Maybe I'll type the entries on my iPod as we travel, and then upload them all when I get back. We'll see how plucky my thumbs are feeling, and how bored I get during the car ride.
Speaking of innovative blogging, I've decided that I really like the concept of "liveblogging", where one types a series of short entries on a rapidly updated blog. I've "watched" the Celtics win the NBA title this way, and today I followed all 15 innings of the AL's 12 (or 13th, I can't remember which) consecutive All-Star game triumph (too bad Francona didn't get a chance to pitch J.D. Drew though...) Anything I type from Chiang Mai won't be especially "live" per se, but I might still have to chronicle any especially exciting events that happen as they happen. Check again on monday or tuesday, same Bat time, same Bat channel.
PS: Sorry, I have to add this right now. Joey is looking up Thai idiom online, and just informed me that, according to the website, the equivalent of the phrase "Keeping up with the Joneses" is "hen chang khee khee dtaan chang", which allegedly literally translates to, "you see an elephant, and you want to shit like an elephant."
Learn something new everyday...
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