You spin me right 'round baby

Yeah, so last Tuesday there was no spinning because of QB's ever-expanding waistline and the need for baby clothes.
Last night, all was put right with the world, as I made this:

out of this:


That is roving from corridale/ romney cross sheep. The color is natural and it is a dream to spin with. There were some dicey moments in the middle, but that will just add character to the yarn that eventually comes out of this endeavor.

Also, I was mistaken and my hopes were falsely raised. I thought last night was the season premiere of House, but alas, not yet.
sigh.
Ciao

in tequila, veritas

Well, as promised, last night included tequila, bacardi limon and multiple cosmos. I was pissed and I got pissed. TSB came along and listened (quite patiently) for the first hour while I ranted about lost time and opportunities. I spewed most of my piss and vinegar and after an hour, the alcohol lull was starting to set in.
Then TSB and I got to have a semi important, semi sensitive discussion. My reserves were lowered by the alcohol, and I managed to say things with the frankness they deserved. There were no misunderstandings, there was no pussy-footing around subjects. Things were addressed and thrashed out and I feel much better.

A benefit of the alcohol is that I actually got to a deeper sleep level last night. My shoulder is not as sore. I am not as tired. I can focus for longer amounts of time today.
Perhaps I should drink more regularly. Not really reasonable on any level, but the short term therapeutic effects cannot be denied.
ciao

SEEEEETHIINNNNGGG!

I just got done talking with (in reverse order) my boss, an organic chem faculty and my other boss, the head of the stoopid lab.
About an hour ago, The Other Boss comes to find me to tell me that he has just finished talking with his colleague, the Organic Chem Faculty in the chemistry department of this fine, esteemed institution. TOB explains that OCF has (possibly) solved a vexing problem pertinent to my research and that I should go talk to him myself.
>>> a little background... I am figuring out all I can about my enzymes, but that requires a substrate (fuel) for the enzymes to work on. Since my enzymes also use oxygen, I need to keep the fuel and the oxygen separate until I am ready to make my measurements. Otherwise, since my fuel is unstable, if there is oxygen around, it will just fall apart (react). It took me a year to figure out how to do this in a REPRODUCIBLE, MEASURABLE, CONTROLLED and QUANTITATIVE way. <<
I wander over to the chemistry building and chat with OCF. He and I are familiar with each other, but not friendly (he is a bit of an old-school chemist). He explains the basics of the synthesis and then says, “Well, we don’t know what to do next. You’re the biochemist. Tell us what to do next.” Really not a problem, I assure him. I just need to know what state my enzymes’ substrate is in. By this point, I have already thought of three experiments. And thought of some of the implications if this really did work. And by all appearances, it did.
We go to find his grad student, but can’t. I leave my email addy and lab phone and OCF promises to have the grad student call. I wander back towards the biochemistry building, dumbfounded at the implications of all that OCF has just told me. It’s a short journey between the buildings, about 2 minutes. By the time I get to my boss’s office, I am more pissed off than I have been in a long time.
I give my boss the headline news edition of all that I learned and she gets it right away. She is quiet for a bit and then we start discussing numbers.
Her, “so they knew about this structure when… ’83? No, not that early. 1987? Yeah. It took somebody 20 years!!?! before asking ‘OCF’ about this? Amazing”
Me, “yeah, I am a little bitter right now. Just thinking of all the time and effort and wasted experiments that were spent trying to optimize this system, and this just makes all that moot. Like, a year’s worth of work.”
Her, "yeah."
Really, it is more than a year's work. I could have been graduated several times over (read: years ago. Seriously) and not be in the throes of this current slump, slogging my way through the sludge that is grad school.
Muthafucka. This will only be aided by tequila. I am pissed. How in the hell can I concentrate on the manuscript revisions when all I am thinking about is wasted time? I thought writing all this out would help, but I am still seething.
ciao

mid week blues

so BossLady came in yesterday to ask for additional written bits to my manuscript and I had to say no. then I had to ask for a deadline.
I have had the intention of writing at home, but there are so many distractions there that my procrastinating streak becomes dominant. So now I am back at work, trying to ignore all those around me while not becoming the ultimate in Hoary Bitchiness.
I did tell TSB that he should call me "HB" for the next couple of months, since that is what I am turning into.
I was going to spin last night as my cool down for not being uber-grad student, but the emergency call came for maternity clothes shopping. That's right, QB is preggers. SC and I saw the little bugger's ultrasounds and many is HE an alien. And while shopping was nice, it left me more cash strapped than I have been in a while, since I just HAD to get a dress for my niece AND some shark jammies for the mutant alien incubating in QB. I really need to not do that. I don't even have the cash to send off the dress to the niece until next week. The way I justify it is that none of it was for me.
I am now about to embark on another couple hours of frustration... er... writing. really, all I want is a really big coffee. maybe coffee before I start writing...
ciao

Science Made Stoopid

I was scolded recently for not writing about my knitting enough. I have been writing too much about science, apparently. Well, foo on you. I just had to post this link to a funny website explaining why we do it.
In short:

What is Science?

Put most simply, science is a way of dealing with the world around us. It is a way of baffling the uninitiated with incomprehensible jargon. It is a way of obtaining fat government grants. It is a way of achieving mastery over the physical world by threatening it with destruction.
Science represents mankind's deepest aspirations - aspirations to power, to wealth, to the satisfaction of sheer animal lusts.
The cornerstone of modern science is the scientific method. Scientists first formulate hypotheses, or predictions, about nature. Then they perform experiments to test their hypotheses.

Really, go to the website. Read all about science for dummies. Then come back and ask me some salient questions.

In other news, I have taken up spinning yarn as my latest, greatest hobby. Seriously, somebody give me another hole in my head. I obviously need more of them. Nevertheless, I am spinning some roving that I bought at the New Hampshire Sheep and Wool Festival a couple of months ago. I am spinning this on Skeintilly Clad's workhorse wheel. (I was there when she bought her new, swanky one, but it has not been delivered yet.) I bought the roving which is a cross between two kinds of sheeps whose breeds I don't recall. But let me tell you, this wool is a dream. Dream. I had been practicing spinning on some of SC's undyed natural wool from some other sheepy, and I found the technique to require concentration and diligence. Not what I was looking for in another hobby. But then, after sufficient practice, I started in on my roving and Holy Sheep was it different!?! And easier! I am hoping to get in weekly spinning until the 2 lbs(!) is yarn. Still cruising for the perfect pattern to knit. I guess I need the yarn first, anyway.
For next time:
pictures and breed names of wools. Let's see if I can remember that...
Ciao

Epilogue 7 August 2006

It has been a week since I arrived in the states. AA managed to squeeze me on a very full 6 PM flight on Monday night. I arrived in Boston at 8:30 local time (3:30 A my time). My bag never made it on the flight (for those of you keeping score, this makes twice) and I didn’t get it until Wednesday morning. The lock was gone, but everything else was intact. I guess my luggage just really did not want to leave the UK.
TSB met me at Logan. I forgot to remind him about immigration and customs. He showed up at 7, fearing traffic and construction because of the Big Dig collapse and didn’t see me until 10 PM. Of course, I had to stand in yet another line after going through immigration and customs to make a claim for my lost luggage.
He drove me home and took care of me the rest of the night and all of Tuesday. I convinced him that staying in bed, sleeping and snuggling, was much more desirable than going to work.
When we got to my place, he told me of the three mice he had killed, the fridge he had cleaned and stocked and the kitchen he had cleaned. On my bed were a dozen roses, a stuffed Emperor penguin, and a lovely card. A new CD was playing (Great ladies of Jazz) and after my shower, he presented me with a simple dinner. I was in heaven. I surprised myself with how much I missed him. We decided that one of the songs on the new CD would be our first dance whenever we tie the knot.

TSB and I traveled to CT on Tuesday night to pick up my dog. It was then that my dad told me about my grandmother, who had had a massive stroke the previous Thursday and passed away Tuesday morning. While this was a surprise, it was not a shock. She was a great lady who had lived 95 full years and I am very glad that she suffered minimally in the end. The funeral was scheduled for Saturday, and I will write about that at a later time.

Halley was very happy to see me and TSB for that matter. Having her home makes my place feel complete again. It was strange to lazed all day on Tuesday and not have her next to me.

The rest of the week was uneventful. TSB and I went out for sushi with a friend of his on Friday night. Saturday I was up at 5:30 to get ready and on the road to CT in time for the family viewing and wake. Friday night, while on my way to meet TSB, my exhaust system broke, so now my car sounds like a GTO until I can get another pipe. Sunday I headed over to Skeintilly Clad’s place for an impromptu get together before her big TV debut (more on that later, as well). TSB and I had planned to picnic on the Boston Common and taking in Shakespeare in the Park, but by the time all was said and done, we decided that next weekend would be a better fit. This weekend (and the past two weeks) has been tough physically and mentally. We packed some food, leashed the dog and went to the center of Waltham for a mini picnic/sudoku fest, with some sorbet from the new place on the corner as a nightcap.

That is all for now.
Ciao.

monday at heathrow

1:30. I didn’t make the 10:55 A to Boston. Mine was the first name they called after the damn plane departed. I am confirmed on the 6 PM flight tomorrow and standby for the 6 PM flight tonight, though the chances of me getting on the 6 flight are nearly impossible, so says the desk agent. Problem is, if I try for the 6 PM flight, I will have to go through security again to get back into the airport if I don’t make it. Except they won’t let me through security until tomorrow, since that is when my next boarding pass is for.
Another call to National and I have an assurance that if I don’t get on the flight to Boston tonight that they will try to get me a hotel room and pay for it. Oh god. This can get worse, but I do not want to know how.

Sunday

Sunday I slept in a bit and after cleaning up, a bit of toast and coffee, Paisano and I walked to the LMB at the MRC. The labs are surprisingly run down for being the flagship research institute for the British Government, but they are undergoing a major building frenzy to put up new research spaces, the benefits of which Paisano will not enjoy (he’ll be long gone.)
Sunday afternoon, after a quick change of clothes (because it was so damned hot!), we went to the house of Ian and Kate. Paisano works with Kate, and her husband works in the ‘iceberg’ building at the MRC. It was an international group, mostly scientists, and I felt right at home. I met Jan, Paisano’s boss, who revealed himself to be a bit of a pyro by the end of the night. As the evening grew darker, Jan and Kate were looking for more and more things to put on the grill cum campfire.
I tried Pimm’s, a traditional English drink, found I liked it and had several more.
Paisano and I walked back to his house, where I finalized my bags in preparation for the trip home and caught a taxi to the center of Cambridge. There I boarded a bus to Heathrow that was supposed to be direct, but we were asked to exchange coaches at Stanstead. All but two pieces of luggage, mine and another couple’s going on holiday to Spain, were transferred to the new bus. We arrived at Heathrow and didn’t have out bags. It took the company (National Express, again) 40 minutes to locate the luggage. Finally, at 4:30 AM, we got confirmation that our bags were on the bus that had been sent to the fueling station.
They put the bags on the next coach out, to arrive at 6 AM. My flight was at 6:40 and when I spoke with American Airlines, they suggested that if I did not want to leave without my bags, then I should go standby. I did not want to leave my bags with the coach company in a foreign country. So now it is 8:30 and I am standby on an overbooked flight to Boston to depart A 10:55. I may get out today and I may not.
All this cost me the original 25 pounds for the ticket and another $200 US to change my flight status. And I have a headache. And it is crowded here. Please let me get to on the plane to Boston.

29 July 2006

Arrived at the Unicorn and had two ½ pints while waiting for Paisano. Unfortunately, he was waiting for me at the bus station. I met a nice couple who started up a conversation. I told them of my travels and they told me about life in Cambridge. Then Nigel introduced himself and we started talking. He was very friendly and it finally dawned on me that I was the object of his hitting. Well I made it very clear that I was taken and he backed off. He did allow me to make a phone call to Paisano off his mobile. That was nice. Paisano immediately called back and showed up 10 minutes later. Thankfully, he showed up soon. We transferred my bags into the house and headed back out, this time to a place called the Red Lion.
Saturday started early for me, but then I went back to sleep. Woke up later and had a great shower. Some coffee and some toast later, I was approximately human.
We headed down to Cambridge Central via bus. Cambridge was teeming with people. We went through one of the colleges – Clare college and I went over the River Cam by bridge (thus Cambridge!).
Paisano and I stopped for gelati after walking around town and sightseeing a bit.
Afterwards, we headed down to the River Cam for ‘punting.’ Punting is a time-honored tradition whereby flattened gondolas are taken up and down stream with a pole to propel you along. Paisano demonstrated the technique down river, and then I gave it a go on the way back. My form left something to be desired, to say the least. In all of the pictures, I am punting backwards.

After returning the boat, we had a pint at the Eagle, where Watson and Crick “worked out” the details of the DNA double helix. Then on to a tour of the original Cavendish labs, which made up the MRC in the beginning.
Dinner was a wonderful Turkish meal at Efe’s, on of Paisano’s favorite places, then on to the Pickerel Inn for several more pints. By the end of the night, I was beat.

28 July 2006

You guessed it. Kids. Marauding, multiplying, maniacal boys, all of them. Swarmed onto the train to Prestwick right after I got on. UGH. What was that I was telling the boss about kids the other night?!?
I am on my way to Glasgow Prestwick Airport – the one in the news for refueling American planes carrying arms to Israel. I am hopping a plane to see Paisano in Cambridge.
I am sitting in the Unicorn Pub with a ½ pint of Stella, waiting for Paisano. I about missed the Prestwick stop on the train, which was why I had to so abruptly stop writing earlier.
I managed to catch my plane with hours to spare, but I screwed up the bus reservations to get back to Heathrow on Monday. I ended up at wit’s end and could feel myself falling into a bit of a panic. The Ryanair flight was less than an hour – up and down – but with a great number of advertisements. Ah, so that is how they make their money.
Got to Stanstead and found the National Express desk, straightened out the silliness on Monday and purchased a ticket to Cambridge. I managed to catch an earlier coach, though I had phoned Paisano and left him two messages (the first 30 p cut me off!) that I wouldn’t be in until 10ishk.
I caught a taxi to his address, but he’s not home, so I sit in the Unicorn, having a second ½ pint.
God I am homesick. I just may be tired, but I have been missing my life, my dog, TSB and my apartment (mice and all) something fierce.
TSB said there was one mouse caught. I can’t wait till I get home and get all the gory details.

Thursday evening

OK, for some reason I did not book the hotel on Argyle St. Maybe that was the hostel and not the hotel. Anyway, I am on the Northern side of the city, on Great Western Rd. The Hotel Lomond in Glasgow’s Chinatown, I think. Tomorrow might demand some Chinese food.
Being on the north side is not bad. I think I am only a short walk to the world-renowned Botanical Gardens, which is on tomorrow’s agenda.

The hotel is nice, though lacking a lift. My room has a TV and a sink and coffee and tea, but no clock. OK, I brought my own. I was careful to set it so that I would not miss breakfast downstairs. I can’t wait to take a photo of the stairwell.
My room’s ceiling must be 15’ and I am on the backside of the hotel away from the street. I think my sleep will be much better tonight.

Thursday 27 July 2006

I am in the Goat having a pint of Stella after a long afternoon of Kelvingrove Gallery.
I skipped out of the afternoon session and it felt a bit like skipping school. Nevertheless, it was a beautiful day in Glasgow – a bit cooler – still humid but with the breeze blowing a bit.
I feel I have a good taste of the West End and can move into the Central city now. I spoke with the nice postdoc from UTSW again at lunch. She is searching for jobs in academia but just told me she is 4.5 months pregnant. She is worried she will not be able to hide anymore and it will affect her job search. Alas, that may be me in four years. Today was her 4th wedding anniversary. Happy anniversary, Carolyn. And good luck.
The Kelvingrove was nice and surprising. Such an eclectic mix of Scottish and world history and culture. They had computers built into the tabletop so I was able to check email one last time. TSB is a sad beluga. I guess that makes me a blue penguin. Just without the waddle.
Cricket is on the tellie. I still do not get it and I have seen it every night. Many say it is just like baseball, but I have my doubts. I’ll take my NYY any day.
The sun’s come out while I have had my sit-down. Towing the luggage is going to be a bit of a pain. I have to go back to the convention center, get my luggage out of hock, head to the train station and go two stops to central. From there, I will have to check.

07.25.06 evening and 07.26.06

And retire early I did. I took the long way home by the tall ship and made it back to the dorm around 9:30. I instantly fell asleep while I had a lie down, trying to figure out what I wanted for dinner. I awoke around midnight, took out my eyes, did five minutes of sudoku by streetlight and fell back asleep. Only to wake up again at 2 AM with a massive bout of insomnia. Not good since I wanted to be up at the convention center by 8 AM for the meeting/ breakfast with the executives of the Biochemical Society. I ran into the Sudanese student, who asked if he could come along. One coffee, one croissant and One Mohammed later, we joined the Brits for a sit down – talking about the conference, the perception in the eyes of the attendees, the future of science and biochemistry. Basically easy stuff.
I learned that this is the second to last large meeting, after which they will revert to smaller focused meetings.
Then on to the talks of the day, in which there were more that I was interested.
Lunch was with a Swedish Professor from the Karolinska who talked ad nauseum about the problem Sweden has with immigrants from Croatia, Serbia and Iraq. Apparently they all refuse to learn Swedish and demand Muslim holidays be observed in the schools. When she learned that I was from Brandeis, she started in on Israel’s bombing of Lebanon and how the Jews were the ones doing the persecuting now.
There was some interest in my poster. I had some walk throughs, not too busy but I was thankful for that because of the heat in the vendor room.

The boss came by and apologized for “abandoning” me this week. What?!? She was concerned about how I was fairing and offered me dinner. I said yes to the dinner but told her I not to worry; I was reveling in being single and independent again – if only for a week.
I rushed back to the dorm to deposit the posters and do a quick change – my shin splints were flaring and I managed to just miss the train that would get me to the boss’s hotel on time. Oops.
We went to a seafood/fish place called Gamba. It was a delicious, albeit pricey, meal.
We had ‘the Talk.’ What do I want to be when I grow up?
She wholeheartedly backs my having a lab, if that is what I want. I told her all about TSB. Her comment was that was everyone’s dream. I agreed, but with so much, there is so much to lose. Alas.
She dashed off after dinner for the Horror tour, sadly no tickets left for me. I am currently sitting in St. George Square in front of the statue of Robert Burns, who died at the tender age of 37.

06.07.25

Today was a much more subdued day – the conference proper started. The first talk of the AM was a prized talk. Then on to the sessions. I was caught in an ubiquitin session and was bored to death. I was not all that excited about either morning or afternoon sessions today. Tomorrow will be better and much more tiring.
Today, however, the boss caught me first thing and said she had put the posters up. Was I supposed to help with that?
Also, since I didn’t sleep very well last night – blasted helicopters – I was tired. Hard not to fall asleep in some of the lectures.
I saw the boss lady nodding off in one of the lectures – must have been one hell of a party last night. Snark.

Right now, I am enjoying the pleasant night – sounds of the river Clyde – the mothers and daughters that just walked by (human and canine) and the odd bicyclist or jogger – making me feel a bit underachieving.
I made hotel reservations for Thursday night. I have all the reservations I nee, I think. Now I can just sit back and relax. I will take in a light meal tonight – I crave veggies and retiring early.

24 July Monday evening

Well Day 1 of the conference is down.
Surprisingly I slept well last night and had no trouble waking up this morning. I slept with the window wide open – it never really got cold last night – maybe 65°F – and there were no bugs. Blessed.

I was off to register for the conference about 8:30. The SECC is about a 15-minute walk. I had meant to pick up a coffee along the way – but opted to get to the center before the first lecture.
Registration was remarkably easy – except that I was stuck with a safety pin for my nametag; by the time I picked up my badge they had run out of lanyards.
Into the first set of lectures and I remember that the ‘first’ day of the conference is a set of invited plenary lecturers- 8 in all – for the BJ 100th birthday. Since these are all the attendees in one lecture hall – I must disagree with my boss that this conference is as big as ASBMB. I remember ASBMB to be about 2000 in Boston last time; there were between 400 and 800 people at today’s lectures.
The boss met up with me at the first coffee break (well, D. Coke for her!) and I was dismayed to learn that the hotel had not passed on my message. She seemed quite anxious. Poor girl. I assured her of my presence intact and continued on to coffee.
Coffee and tea (of course) were served in cups with saucers and teeny tiny spoons. Milk was from pitchers; sugar came in the form of lumps (2, thank you). How quaint! I had coffee with a charming student from Sudan(!) who was in the UK for the first time. Not that I am world traveler, but at least I am from a first world country. Mohammed did his best to convey how overwhelmed he was. I was excited for him but almost sorry for him at the same time. I tried to convince him that the best part of conferences (besides the scientific discourse, obviously) was the free swag from vendors. I left him looking dubious and unbelieving.
Back to the lectures – two more before lunch – where they fed us! Veggie pasta or Chili con Carne with rice!
I ate lunch with a woman from UT Southwestern and her mother, visiting from Ireland. I manage to snag one of eight computers provided by Stratagene for some much needed internet time – namely email – after lunch. No messages from TSB – oh yeah, it is still before nine in Boston. He is not even up yet!
I had a bit of a time getting into email – the UK keyboard differs from the one in the US meaning that my password was not my password – frustrating until I managed to figure it out.
I got a message from my Paisano, whom I will be visiting in a few days and managed to make flight and bus plans for the rest of the week. Now all I need is a place to stay Thursday night.
Dinner tonight was in the west part of the West End, fish and chips and a pint. Quite good except for the fish bones.
I asked the bartender if he could explain cricket in two sentences or less. He replied, “Don’t watch.”

glasgow first night

I slept through most of S. England. Amazingly, it looks exactly like New England. Rollingish hills, depressed towns and dirty cities with smatterings of drought stricken farms. And cows, lots of cows.
The train ride was a generous 6 hours – the first three of which I tried to rest. Getting to King’s Cross from Heathrow was much easier than I had anticipated, as was getting the rail ticket. So there I sat in King’s Cross with every walk-of-life going by.
Everyone smokes. Everywhere. I paid 20p(ence) to pee. At least I haven’t broken anything. It is rather nice traveling alone – only having to worry about me, and not doing a very good job at that – but at the same time I wish TSB of Mom or Skeintilly Clad was here – to point out the amazing engineering of the bridges, the ruins along the way, or the many MANY sheep – respectively.
There are gads of sheep everywhere, especially on the second three-hour leg of the train ride.
I took the GNER from London to Glasgow Central by way of Edinburgh. I didn’t realize the “direct” train actually went up the East Coast and then turned west to terminate in Glasgow. It was beautiful and scenic and everything I had hoped it would be – a chance to rest (the first three hours while revisiting all six states of NE) and a leisurely train ride through quaint villages and past picturesque countryside.
Glasgow Central was pure mayhem. Men – 20-30-somethings – openly drink everywhere. Usually while wearing football jerseys. Connected?
I found my boss’ hotel easier than I found the underground. Once in the underground, I was reminded of all of the parts of the blue line in Boston that are underground. I disembarked at the Kelvinhall station and my adventure continued.
The underground station was two blocks from the University of Glasgow – which was the listed address of the dorm – Kelvinhaugh Gate – in which I was registered.
First off, U. of G is a gated university with a fence the whole way around. And on a Sunday, the gates were all locked. I came upon the South Gate first and walked counter clockwise around the campus, hoping for an open door. In the end, the end coming an hour later and ¾ round the grounds – a very nice university policeman gave me a ride to the Kelvinhaugh Gate. This is of note for several reasons. The dorm is not on the campus; the car ride was ~5 minutes long. I never would have found this on my own. The gentleman had just gotten back from holiday in Toronto and NYC and wanted to talk about the states and driving on the “wrong” side of the road. I told him I was resisting the urge to reach out and correct the steering wheel.

The dorm is only slightly larger than my current apt.’s bathroom, with a full toilet to boot. I cannot imagine being a student here and living in one of these cubicles for any length of time. There are five single rooms off a main corridor with a common kitchen. The room was clean, the bed was saggy, and the shower was crazy.
I had high hopes of going to the convention center to check in for the conference, but once I got into the room, realized my clothes were drenched on account of my lugging my luggage all over the West End of Glasgow at 4 PM while it’s sunny and >85°F (24°C) AND I have had too little sleep – whew – I just stripped and fell asleep.
I awake at 3 PM my time – 8 PM Glasgow time and I realize I need to trek out. Shower, change and head down to the front desk for some much needed directions. I start out on Kelvinhaugh Rd. – I will be hard-pressed to lose track of it now that I have found it – out to Argyle and find a shop. A liter of water, two yogurts and some digestives (at 1.09 pounds!) later and I am walking again. Too late to go to the Convention Center, I head in the direction anyway. There are at least four coffee shops on the way – this bodes well for tomorrow morning. I don’t make it to the convention center though as it begins to rain. Not enough to be annoying, just enough to wash the streets and stain the building sides.
I am now in a place called the Firebird – eating trendy Italian. I think pasta will help soothe my traveling tummy. Not to self – do not eat NC-style BBQ and Texas chili the night before traveling 16 hours. Just don’t.
Eat. Then sleep. Sleep beckons.