Sometimes engineers lack common sense

Here is a post that has nothing to do with Europe and actually happened a while ago (as will become obvious) but I just downloaded the pictures onto my computer tonight.


Last January I bought 2 cases of Coke and because I am lazy I left them in the trunk of my car over the weekend not considering that it was to be one of the coldest weekends of the year. I think the high temperature for the entire weekend was about 8 degrees. So needless to say the Coke froze and Coke, like ice, expands when frozen which caused several cans in each case to burst. I remember one of my middle school science teachers saying a can would burst if frozen but had never seen it, until last January that is.

Taking Photos

Last night I was at a birthday party for a friend and everyone was telling me to be sure to take lots of pictures. At one point I kind of laughed at this and a friend made the comment "You would be surprised how often you think 'I don't need a need a picture of this' and I come back not really taking many pictures." My response was, "I took 24 pictures of the Statue of Liberty, I don't think is going to be my problem." In reality I think I took 17 pictures of the Statue of Liberty but I still don't think I am going to come home thinking I didn't take enough pictures. This will be one of the advantages of digital - I can take a ton of photos in the moment and then delete out all ones that don't turn out or are duplicates without ever having to develop them.

This afternoon I got another piece of advice that I should follow. My friend Chrissy said to be sure to take pictures with people in them. She said some of her favorite pictures from her trip to Ireland were ones were she took pictures of random guys wearing kilts. I do manage to get home from trips and have a ton of pictures of the sights and landscapes but no people. So my goal with be to take pictures of people, both random and my friends.

And I wonder how many pictures of our shoes will be taken and how many will remain on the cameras. Suzanne inherited this desire to take pictures of people's shoes from her father. The first time she did it I thought it was crazy but then I started doing it. The tend has passed even farther, then later my friend Lori came over was looking at the pictures on my camera and commented on the pictures of people's shoes and thought it was a little crazy. But then she proceeded to start taking pictures (with my camera) of our shoes. So the tend continues and I can't help wonder if Angie will pick it up and if I come home with pictures of shoes in every city we visit.

The Rafting Trip

Today my company finally put the pictures from our rafting trip on the server. At the time this picture was taken we were going through some rapids backwards. Throughout the day my raft often found ourselves going backwards. The guy in front with his paddle up in the air rather than helping us paddle is Tom, who is one of the company owners. Later in the afternoon I yelled at him for talking and messing around when we were suppose to be paddling. I don't think I am ever going to live that down, yesterday he walked by my desk and said, "Kerri, I will try to remain quiet and stay focused."

The most exciting event of the day was when one of the newest employees at MEP and the only new guy to go on the trip fell out and ended up under the raft. He wasn't in my raft so I didn't experience the excitement first hand but it was entertaining to hear it retold. This may be true of any group of people but I loved watching the engineers recover from their panic and then recount the story. They wavered back and forth from total drama to just facts and complete lack of emotion. The guy who fell out usually seems on the end of panic in office but seemed pretty calm about the whole experience and one of the least emotional guys in the office was the guy in the raft who paniced the most. The joys of watching how your coworkers relate to real life experiences.

Encouraging Verse of the Day

We can make our own plans, but the LORD gives the right answer.
(Proverbs 16:1, NLT)

I get a scripture verse emailed to everyday and this was today's and it made me stop and think more than usual. The first thing that went through my mind based on the first half of the verse was all the times I tried to make my plans but God had something very different in mind, such as my recent career change attempt. Thankfully, the thought made me laugh a little. But I also really liked the end of the verse because although if you had asked me a year ago where I wanted to be today I definitely would have had a different answer but I can rest in peace knowing that I am where I know God wants me, and it's not as bad as I would have expected. (Hey, I am going to Europe in a week and half and my plan wouldn't have allowed that.)

As I was thinking about this verse also made me stop and praise God that he is in control of life despite what I may try to do and is always working for my good.

Expectations & Preparation

This weekend I have been thinking about my expectations for my upcoming trip to Europe and whether or not I am really prepared for this trip.

For instance last week I was looking at a map of Vienna and of course all the street names are in German and this made me realize that this will be my first time traveling in a country where the primary language is not English. Do I expect that we will have problems with this or do I think it will be no big deal? Now that I have been thinking about it I think it will be somewhere in the middle - not a huge problem but it will make things interesting. So am I prepared for this? I am prepared to walk into a restaurant and have the menu be in a different language? What will it be like to have most of the street chatter around me be in a different language?

What do I expect from Austria? I really don't know, I don't really know much about Vienna or Salzburg but sometimes that is more fun. I have had good luck with exploring cities I don't know anything about.

What do I expect from Paris? Really, I am not that interested in Paris so I expect nothing from Paris. So I guess for me Paris can only go up. I guess I expect the people there to be rude because that this all I have ever heard but I am really prepared for that? I don't think so but we'll find out in about two and a half weeks.

What do I expect from England? I expect it be awesome and decide that I want to move to Oxford, Liverpool or some other lovely place there. Have I prepared myself for anything other than this? No but maybe I should.

Do I expect the two friends I am doing this trip with and who have never met each other to really get along? I do. But I am prepared for the moments that they don't? Or the moments where I don't get along with one of them? I don't know that I am prepared for those moments but I should expect them because I don't know that it is possible for 3 people to travel together for 12 days and expect us to get along ALL the time. But prayer is probably a great way to start preparing - that conflict be kept to a minimum and resolved quickly and in a Christ-like manner.

I am trying to keep my expectations a minimum and be as prepared as possible but the more I think about it the harder that is going to be.

A Huge Relief

I just check the status of my passport - it has been mailed and I should receive it on Wednesday! So I don't have to worry about not getting it or calling them, this is their disclaimer about calling:

"We are currently experiencing a very high volume of calls. Please expect delays if you wish to speak to a customer service representative. You may have to call several times before reaching a representative. However, please note that representatives are available from 6:00 a.m. to 12 midnight, ET, Monday-Friday, except federal holidays. Representatives are also available for limited weekend hours for emergency situations in which travelers are leaving in 7 days or less. "

I have already been hung up on by some guy in India who works for Orbitz this weekend so I didn't want to have to call the passport office several times. YEAH!!!

Wireless!

I got my new laptop yesterday and so of course everything I had intended to do with my Saturday got thrown out the window and the day was spent setting up the new computer (and playing with my new toy). I was a little worried about it not going well and being cut off from the Internet. But that didn't happen and I now have a secure wireless Internet network in my home. (Not that I should have worried too much since the old computer is on the network and works just as long it decides to play along.) I am far more proud of myself for this than I should be, especially since the software that came with the router did everything so it was very easy. Now I have to transfer data from the old computer to the new computer and figure out how to print but those are going to projects for later on in the week but for now I am enjoying using the Internet while watching a movie.