Last US post for a while

Now that I've mass emailed way too many people about this site, I'm even more resolute to make use of it.

So, it's almost time to go. I managed to pull everything together, although somewhat last minute (as usual). Now I've got a spare moment to post before my ride shows up. Weather.com shows that the rain seen by all 3 of my destination cities is going to be clearing up tomorrow. Suits me fine, since Eugene's rainy days will be nearly upon us when I return.

Just got word that my insurance is going to cover my immunizations after all. That's one less bit of debt for me when I get back. Whoo-hoo! If you read that list of things the other day, add to it a smattering of injections.

And speaking of said list, I have to say that it felt really odd to be registering a trip with the Dept. of State. I gave my government exact details of my physical whereabouts while on foriegn soil. Very unlike me, but I think it was a good idea. At a friend's suggestion, if I have time, I'd like to stop into an American Embassy and see if my info found its way into their database at all.

I keep thinking of last minute things to throw in my luggage: index cards for giving addresses to cabbies, eyeglass prescription in case I lose / destroy 2 pair contacts and 1 pair glasses, random little stuff like that.

On a completely unrelated note, according to this article in the Oregon Daily Emerald (campus newspaper), only 14 percent of U. Oregon's funding comes from the legislature. That's just ridiculous.

Okay, well, next post will be from Shanghai.

Pre-Trip Silence

So, I haven't posted in about 2 weeks. That's probably because I leave for China the day after tomorrow. I'm going to be visiting Shanghai, Beijing and Xi-an. Three free days in each, plus an extra 5 days in Shanghai for DC2004.

To give you an idea of the kind of things I've been doing to get ready to go:

• Plane tickets and hotels
• Chinese Business Visa
• Electrical Outlet Adapters
• Assembling first aid kit
• Registering Trip with US State Dept.
• Getting Renter's Insurance
• Finding out China Eastern Airlines baggage policies
• Getting my address book in order
• Letting Credit Card providers know I'll be using my cards in china
• Printing Business Cards
• Buying random supplies (travel belt, compass, flashlight, shoes, other stuff)
• Getting Traveler's Checks
• Trying to learn a bit of Mandarin Chinese
• Making photocopies of important documents
• Packing, cleaning

In addition to all of this, I've been trying to find a new housemate. Plus, I moved my room to the larger one at the end of the hall. All my random crap is so much more spread out here. It's much less cramped.

Plus, I've still been finding time to watch too much football (if there's such a thing).

Hopefully, this is enought to explain my recent silence.

I should be posting here much more regularly while in China.

I've still got to tell lots of people that this blog exists. I'll do that tomorrow.

Football Season's Here

Did almost nothing but football this weekend.

Disappointing Ducks game on Saturday. First non-conference home loss in 10 years. Really shouldn't be losing to Indiana. Nonetheless, the game was fun.

Running a fantasy league with many members of the ol' extended family this year. I'm just barely holding on to a victory over my dad this weekend. Tony Gonzalez can't catch a ball. Pennington had a great game. Martin had a fantastic game, and I had him on the bench. Argh. Play my brother next weekend, which should be a lot of fun.

I love this time of year!

Reception

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Originally uploaded by Wasting Moments.

And another from the reception.

Wedding

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Originally uploaded by Wasting Moments.

John and Hilary got married last weekend. Their ceremony was really nice. I got a bunch of good pictures, and a few blurry lousy ones. Here's one from the ceremony itself.

Trip's coming up soon

Haven't posted in about a week. Been kind of busy. My trip is less than three weeks away! I got myself innoculated against some stuff on Friday. Going to get additional injections on Monday. Good fun.

GMail!

I finally managed to get my hands on a GMail account. Thanks Brandon! I'm hoping to archive important stuff there, and I may take a stab at using it for some discussions that could take advantage of the built in thread association.

I'm itching to play with GMailFS, but that will likely have to wait a while.

Talking to Myself

Haven't updated for a week. Probably because no one's reading, which, in turn, is probably because I've told no one I'm here.
Either way, I'll be letting people know about this site shortly, so thought I'd put up a bit of background info about this trip I'm preparing for. But I think that will be another post. Some family and friends may be sufficiently confused that they'll read the archives.
This weekend was insanely busy.
I finished my Visa application on Friday night and FedExed it on Saturday morning. Sent it to a company that handles visa applications with the PRC Consulate. I bit disconcerting to be sending my passport in the mail. It should be there tomorrow, so I can call them up and find out what info is missing.
Went immediately from Kinkos to my friends Hilary and John's wedding. It was a beautiful ceremony at a beautiful park outside of Springfield. I had no idea said park existed, but it was a perfect choice for a wedding locale. I took a bunch of pictures, and may post one or two here with H&J's permission.
Sunday was the family fantasy football draft. I like my team. My housemates gave me shit for being on the phone talking about football (and computers) to parents, brother, 2 uncles & 3 cousins for about 24 consecutive hours Saturday night until post draft on Sunday. It was fun, and should add another level of cohisiveness to our already strong family bonds.
Spent all day today finishing the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative (DCMI) Bibliography. This is the main reason I get to go to China, which makes working for 10 hours on Labor Day worthwhile. Nonetheless, verifying a couple hundred links is no way to spend an afternoon.
All told, things are coming together. As I said, full explanation of impending travel will come shortly. Until then, I'm the only one here, so I'm really just talking to myself anyway.