Sun., June 22: Let the travels begin!

Today has been a great day! It started off early as Rob and I woke up to a for once not-so-annoying alarm clock at 6:15am (let's just say I'm not a "morning person" and his alarm normally goes off at 4:45am! so this wasn't so bad). We made our way to the George Bush Airport snacking on some delicious and juicy cherries Rob had picked up a few days before. I felt like I was forgetting something...but I could not nail it. Come to realize later that I forgot to withdrawl some cash (but don't worry Dad, I used the ATM at the airport). Whew...thank goodness it wasn't my passport!

We arrive at the airport with over an hour to spare (I don't cut it close when a) my dad isn't taking me to the airport (Dad is notorious for getting you there a with at least 2 hours to spare!) b) when someone else paid for my ticket (thanks to the NSF grant). So I grab a McDonald's biscuit and a large coffee (haha, hate that stuff...just the usual water...with some vodka...jk it was just a water...seriously). Suzi called and as I was talking to her...this somewhat awkward and eerie Delta workerman leaned over to me and said in a soft voice, "I've got a deal for you. Come see me when you are done." Kind of freaked out but aware that I was surrounded by others, I hung up with Suz and approached him at the gate desk saying (in a joking voice), "You're overbooked aren't you?", figuring they wanted to over me a Delta voucher to take the next flight. He replied with "yep, we sure are. That is why I want to upgrade you to first class. You look like a nice person." I said HELL YEAH! (actually it was more of a, "yes, that would be great!"). Just the other day I was telling David Piech and Rob that I have never flown first class and now it was happening for free! And let me tell you...it was GLORIOUS! I got a back rub, hot towel, swam in a giant jacuzzi tub, had my hair shampooed, my shoes shined, my upper lip and eyebrows waxed, and the wine and cheese was flowing like the great Mississip! Okay okay, you caught me...but I did sit in row one by myself, had a bloody mary, a blanket and pillow waiting for me, and about four feet of leg room. Like I said...it was glorious. My flight from JFK to Albany was quite the opposite. I got thrown up on by a baby...well actually I didn't but if felt like that after going from first class to coach.

I checked out three books from the public library yesterday. Today I finished the first one "Marley and Me". It is about a man and his dog...yada yada yada...intriguing sounding I know...but really my sister Liz recommended it and if you don't have any intention of getting a dog before you read it, afterward you will. It is a quick read too, but a little warning...if you are a crier, don't finish the book in a crowded public place like on an airplane because people start to stare. And you won't be able to put it down and then it turns into sobbing. Quite embarrassing. Good news though...you probably won't see them again!

Albany is really pretty. Quite different than the only other part of New York I've seen...New York City. It is very lush and green and reminded me of my hometown back in Georgia. It was 68 degrees F when I arrived, which is great because I was kind of scared going from 95F heat to 0F freezing cold.

I took the Holiday Inn shuttle from the airport to Schenectady. After settling in, I met up Jin Liao, a PhD student from GA Tech whom I had never met before. We went to eat at an Italian/Greek restaurant about 1/4 mile from the hotel. There we discovered we have the exact same birthday! Her being born in China and me in Atlanta...grant it, we could have been born on different days depending on the hour of our births, but hey let's not be techincal here!

On our walk back to the hotel, we stopped in at Srewart's quickie mart to get some snacks for tomorrow. We are leaving the hotel at 5am for Stratton Air Force Base. Apparently, the Air Force does not have any flight attendants so we will not be served any snacks or drinks while in the 6 hour flight to Kangerlusack, Greenland. Can you believe that! haha, just kidding. So I loaded up with a banana, apple, freshly made PBJ mmmm, and some Welch's fruit snacks. I also already had a granola bar and half bag of doritos from lunch.

I have received a lot of great feedback from the poll via email. Thanks to my brother-in-law, Dr. David "Jesus" Johnson, I have decided on a sign-off. Because at Summit we are limited to one, yes one, 2 minute shower a week, I am going to sign-off every evening with a smell-o-meter rating from 1 to 10. One being Zestfully clean and ten being I could scare off a rat and put a skunk to shame.

Goodnight everyone!

Smell-ohh-Meter: 3 (mix of airport and Italian/Greek food)