Best. Job. Ever.

I wish I had some pictures to show everyone, but I thought someone would be bringing a waterproof digital and no one did. crap. ANYWAY!!! We had a field trip for work today cause we've all been working too hard. We went out to one of the reefs out in Kaneohe Bay (#42) and snorkled with HUGE turtles.... and 3 MANTA RAYS!!!! I thought the rays were going to swim right into me. They were doing this crazy circle dance (apparently that's how they eat, but I prefer to think of it as a dance) and then they came right at me. I was squealing up a storm (if you've ever snorked with me you know what I'm talking about)! As soon as I was in the water, I couldn't help but think about how this is the best job I've ever had. Who gets to go do this for fun at work???? that's right, I do. =)!!

I forgot these!

The first night we were in Houghton Anne, Ackerly, and I had dinner with Peteypoo, Jessica, and Kurt at the Library. It was good fun to be back in a small town. I couldn't help but crack up when I opened the door to the restaurant and the entire (full) bar looked over to see who had come in - you know, cause it's a small town and everyone knows everyone else... remember that? I had forgotten. It was awesome.


So it was wonderful to catch up with Petey since that was the only time we were to see him for the trip (he was off to a family function). We had a good dinner full of girly-ness and a small amount of squealing, but mostly it was big smiles and happiness.

After dinner we headed to the Q to enjoy our growlers and stomp around in the attic (much less scary than the basement).
Pete even let me needle a (singular) point in his leg. Good fun for me, slight discomfort for Pete.

Later I explained to Anne that since we were in a small town and were cute girls in a tiny cute car we had the right to stare at everyone too.. it led to lots of giggling.

APOD Aug. 19 2007

A Sonic Boom
Credit: Ensign John Gay, USS Constellation, US Navy

Explanation: Is this what a sonic boom looks like? When an airplane travels at a speed faster than sound, density waves of sound emitted by the plane cannot precede the plane, and so accumulate in a cone behind the plane. When this shock wave passes, a listener hears all at once the sound emitted over a longer period: a sonic boom. As a plane accelerates to just break the sound barrier, however, an unusual cloud might form. The origin of this cloud is still debated. A leading theory is that a drop in air pressure at the plane described by the Prandtl-Glauert Singularity occurs so that moist air condenses there to form water droplets. Above, an F/A-18 Hornet was photographed just as it broke the sound barrier. Large meteors and the space shuttle frequently produce audible sonic booms before they are slowed below sound speed by the Earth's atmosphere.

Maui

Dave and I have been frolicking and skulking around Haiku, Maui (check his blog for pics). It's been good fun. So far my favorites have been the hobbit/ewok hole springs (Olinda) and the goat wonderland (La Perouse). Today the plans are to go a little ways down the Hana Highway to waterfalls and beach.

Last night I got an infusion of Flight of the Conchords via Youtube and it was wonderful.

Food has been expensive but tasty. Highlights are market veggie omelet and everything we had for dinner last night (greek salad, shiitake mushroom alfredo, happy cow cheeseburger). yum!

Confession

I broke down and joined Facebook the other day... I now have yet another thing to dawdle around doing instead of work, sleep, going outside, reading, poking people with needles, etc.

Anticlimax

I woke up yesterday expecting high winds and heavy rain, but instead got bright blaring sunshine. I know I should be happy that I didn't have to deal with a hurricane, but damn it, I was looking forward to that experience. Not a cat 3 or anything but a weak cat 1, tropical storm remnant, SOMETHING! I got nothing. NOTHING!

Thoughts

It's been interesting watching the goings on about the island with this hurricane coming at us. If I didn't have modern technology and satellite animations at the tips of my fingers, would i have noticed that the weather was a little odd? Would I have any idea that a big potentially nasty storm was heading my way? I've decided that unless I was a surfer or a fisherman or some other kind of sea-faring person that had intimate knowledge of the water, I would have no idea. I mean the clouds are interesting, but not anything that out of the ordinary... I've heard though that the water is different. The currents are stronger, that kind of thing..

Flossie

We might be in for something exciting!!

China

I'm going to China for school! I leave October 31 and return December 2. I'm still a bit overwhelmed, but I think it's a good decision.

Beijing:

Average Data	July	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Average High (F)	87/90	84/88	77/81	66/69	49/52	36/40
Average High (C)	30/32	29/31	25/27	19/21	9/11	2/4
Average Low (F)	69/73	67/71	56/60	43/46	29/33	18/21
Average Low (C)	21/23	20/22	13/15	6/8	-2/0	-8/-6
Max (F)	104	107	92	84	75	66
Max (C)	40.0	41.7	33.3	28.9	23.9	18.9
Min (F)	63	54	36	28	10	6
Min (C)	17.2	12.2	2.2	-2.2	-12.2	-14.4
Rain (in)	8.0/8.1	7.1/7.2	<0.1	0.6/0.7	0.3/0.4	0.1/0.2
Rain (mm)	205/210	180/185	<5	15/20	5/10	<5

Tianjin:

Average Data	July	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Average High (F)	87/90	85/88	78/81	66/70	49/52	36/40
Average High (C)	30/32	29/31	25/27	19/21	9/11	2/4
Average Low (F)	71/74	70/73	60/64	47/50	32/36	20/24
Average Low (C)	22/24	21/23	16/18	8/10	0/2	-6/-4
Rain (in)	6.8/6.9	6.1/6.2	1.7/1.8	0.6/0.7	0.3/0.4	0.1/0.2
Rain (mm)	170/175	155/160	40/45	15/20	10/15	<5

Shenzhen:

Average Data	July	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Average High (F)	88/92	88/91	86/89	82/85	75/79	68/72
Average High (C)	31/33	31/33	30/32	28/30	24/26	20/22
Average Low (F)	76/79	75/79	73/77	67/71	60/63	52/56
Average Low (C)	24/26	24/26	23/25	20/22	15/17	11/13
Rain (in)	12.4/12.5	13.2/13.3	10.4/10.5	1.8/1.9	1.4/1.5	0.9/1.0
Rain (mm)	315/320	335/340	265/270	45/50	35/40	20/25

Hong Kong:

Average Data	July	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Average High (F)	87/90	87/90	85/89	81/85	74/78	68/72
Average High (C)	30/32	30/32	30/32	27/29	23/25	20/22
Average Low (F)	79/82	79/82	77/81	73/76	65/69	58/61
Average Low (C)	26/28	26/28	25/27	23/25	18/20	14/16
Max (F)	97	99	99	91	88	82
Max (C)	36.1	37.2	37.2	32.8	31.1	27.8
Min (F)	70	73	68	57	36	37
Min (C)	21.1	22.8	20.0	13.9	2.2	2.8
Rain (in)	14.3/14.4	14.8/14.9	11.6<11.7	4.7/4.8	1.5/1.6	1.0/1.1
Rain (mm)	360/365	375/380	295/300	120/125	35/40	25/30