Headaches and Logistics

I leave this afternoon for a long weekend at a radio astronomy conference in Assen followed by a weekend in Paris. My life is so hard. But the logistics of this trip are ridiculous:
Wed, 9(today):
              3:00pm bike to Hoogeveen (10 miles)
              4:00pm get train to Assen
              5:00pm get to hotel for start of conference
Thurs, 10:
              Conference (see here for details. It's a really cute hotel, I'm excited.)
Fri, 11:
              9-12:30pm morning session of conference
              1:00pm catch bus to Assen
              2:00pm catch train to Brussels
              before 23:00 check into Hostel
              SLEEP
Sat, 12:
              Wake up early, eat breakfast
              Train to Paris, arrive around 10:30
              Do the tourist bit, then check into hostel for SLEEP
Sun, 13:
              Wander Paris for morning until around 2pm
              Catch train back to Hoogeveen, arrive before 9pm
              Ride bike back to ASTRON

There are so many places in this plan for things to fall apart. I will be amazed if it all goes smoothly. I'm definitely worried about the bike rides. It's been kinda rainy here (read: it decides to mist and then pour and then go back to misting) for the past couple days. I've got my fingers and toes crossed that I don't get caught in a downpour- that would just ruin my hair.Oh, and I forgot a weekend trip size bag to pack, so I had to figure out a way to get four days worth of conference/travel stuff into my timbuk2 messenger bag. AND I DID. I'm so proud of myself. For my trip to Berlin later in July I'm definitely going to buy a duffel bag and request that I take Monday off. Traveling takes more time than I thought.

As for the 'work' I've been doing... I've finally started getting into the spectra. I'm working on getting the calibrations reduced and happy, which is pretty much done. I just have to track down Stephanie (which is nigh impossible) to talk with her about where we go next. That'll probably have to wait until Monday when I get back is my bet.

There are a lot of functions throughout the week here, be it meetings or colloquia or conferences. I'm surprised anyone gets anything done. So sitting in another colloquim yesterday, I was thinking about how Europe has so many languages and cultures and how varied the people are here. I've heard more accents and more languages in the two week that I've been here than I have in years of living in Boulder. It made me think of Marybeth and her ability to slip into accents and this youtube video I found a couple days ago. The speaker had a gorgeous accent that reminded me heavily of Alan Rickman (Snape) in Harry Potter. It was glorious. And then after he was done speaking it was opened up for questions. So a Scottish guy asks a few, then a Dutch, then an Irish man. It's been an hour and there are at least four distinct variations on the English that I call my native language. It's so awesome.

So anyway, I'm going to go pretend to work while I wait for Stephanie to get in today. Promise I'll take lots of pictures over the next couple days. This should be epic.