capsules and fabric and travel...

[kareina]

Today I finally purchased my train tickets for next week's trip to Zürich for the writing workshop. While there I determined that yes, it would make more sense to purchase plane tickets for the confrence in Vienna in May than to take the train--the train is a 12 hour trip for about twice the cost of a flight. Now I just need to find the energy to wrestle with airline web pages.

While I was at the train station I decided to head to the fabric store that is just across the street. This was the first time I'd been in there, and I was quite impressed with the quantity of natural fibres they have available--silk, linen, and wool. I managed to talk myself out of getting anything on the rolls of fabric, even though the prices were on par with what I've seen in Berkely, San Franscisco, and Sydney in the past year, but the bins of remanants were a bit too tempting. They have them sorted by fibre type (yay!) and I found several nice, Medieval looking wools, in the bin labeled "1.55 €". When I went to pay, it turns out that the remnants are priced by mass, not length (which makes it easy on them, just dump it on the scale. So the roughly 7 or 8 meters of 150 cm wide wool (three different colours/patterns) came to only 36 € total. I'm looking forward to measuring it later and working out exactly what I did pay per meter...

Today's big scare was opening up the collection of salt/graphite/MgO in which my little gold capsules were nested for the experiment and not finding the capsules. I broke it into very small pieces and ruffled through the pile several times, to no avail. I looked at the pile and decided there was less MgO than I thought there should be (that is the part which is in direct contact with the capsules), so I went and checked the little padded chamber under the piston-driven machine with which we push the nest out of the large metal "bomb" in which it gets subjected to pressure during the experimental run. Nope, nothing got left there. Checked the trash can nearest that machine, on the off chance that something had been left there and someone else tossed it. Nope, nothing. Checked the pile of graphite/salt/MgO debris on the piece of paper again. Still no little gold capsules (recall that by "little" I mean a pre-deformed size of 2 mm diameter, and not more than 6 mm long). Checked the padded catching box under the piston machine again. Nope. Checked the trash can again. Nothing. Checked the pile of debris on the paper again. Nope. Checked the floor in that area. Nothing. Gave up, carefully folded the debris into the paper and put it into a box in my drawer of experiments and went looking for a co-worker. Couldn't find him either. E-mailed said co-worker a worried note asking him to please check with me when next he is in--that I'd like nothing better than for someone to say "Are you blind? They are right here".

Shortly thereafter clovis_t came in to uni, and I told him of my plight, and persuaded him to come be a second set of eyes. Showed him the machine (still nothing), and got out the paper, carefully unfolded it, and demonstrated how most of the bits are chunks of compressed salt, and too small to hide the capsules, even if they'd been in contact with them, whcih they weren't. Then, as I pushed aside a really small bit of MgO, pointing out that it was too small to hide the capsules, I suddenly spotted a small hard white thing (the MgO is whiter than is the salt), poked at it, and realized that it was one of my elusive gold capsules. Poked around a bit more and found the second. Yay, clovis_t to the rescue--the darn things weren't there before, I swear it, but they came back when he came to look for them...

Other good news for the day includes receiving the check from the Tasmanian shipping company to pay for the repair of my trike tire. This makes me very happy. Other than the one damaged item I was pretty pleased with their service, and wouldn't have liked it if they'd tried to get out of making that good.

Other work progress includes creating another slide for my talk for the April confrence in France. Yes, one. When one wishes to add a scale bar to the photos, and wants the photos to all be in the same scale these things take longer than when one only wants the slide to be pretty.

It is only 18:30, and I think I'm going to be different and head home and enjoy some non-uni time with the rest of the day. I'm currently averaging 36.7 hours/week of uni work (not counting any breaks to check mail or heat up food or any run to the toilet), so I think I can afford the break.

Comments

[madryn-1960.livejournal.com]

If you're going to Zurich, you'd better take your own advice and pack some food. And a gas-mask. Absolutely everyone smokes, absolutley everywhere!

Funny how a fresh pair of eyes can spot stuff instantly! It happens to us all.

The fabric sounds lovely. Sooo jealous! Speaking of SCA, Betty called me yesterday, and tells me someone now plays with Ynys Fawr who calls herself Madryn. I felt strangely put out! Funny how I think of the name as really being my own.

[kareina.livejournal.com]

Packing food is already planned, though I will need to hit a grocery store at least once, since I'll be there for six days, and don't expect to have a fridge in the hotel room.

Alas, a really high percentage of people in Italy smoke too--they are (technically) not permitted to do so indoors, so only a fraction of them are rude enough to light up inside train stations and hallways of public buildings, but they congregate outside of doorways doing their level best to make one's transition from inside to outside (or vice versa) as unpleasant as possible. I do my best to hold my breath when passing them, but, alas, it isn't always possible.

Hmm. I think that the best cure to the "put out" feeling would be for you to wander out to one of the meetings or events at which she will be attending and meet her--perhaps she chose the name because of a shared interest in the Princess. This could be a kindred spirit you haven't met yet--she certainlly has good taste in names! There is time enough to feel possessive of the name later, if she turns out to be someone you wouldn't like...

[madryn-1960.livejournal.com]

Judging by what you say, the smokers in Switzerland far exceed the Italians. Smoking is allowed, even ENCOURAGED in restaurants (filthy ash-trays piled high on the table amid the food). We dined somewhere quite up-market and were shown to a table where a dirty ash-tray was spilling butts onto a white table cloth! Unbelievable. Then I went to the toilet. Oh Boy! An ashtray bolted to the wall in the actual cubicle (full to the brim and spilling onto the floor) and another at the hand-basin, likewise over-flowing all over the sink. You gotta see it to believe it! It made Hans sick too. He said it was never like that when he lived there.

I'm never likely to meet the new Madryn, as I will never return to the SCA. But you're right - she has very good taste. Just one more reason to get my book published as Madryn Sinclair, to make the name my own in a much stronger sense!LOL!

[kareina.livejournal.com]

Even if you truly resolved to avoid the entire organization because some of the individuals you met have a propensity for gossip (and, honestly, I bet there are hurtful gossips in the Greens, too--it is inevitable anytime you get a group of people together that some of them will choose to display the negative traits the race is capable of), you could still meet the new Madryn if you like. Ask Betty to pass on your contact details and see if she will give you a call or e-mail you (or, if you prefer, ask Betty if she could get the new Madryn's contact details for you. I'd certainlly be curious to meet another Kareina if someone showed up with that name.

I'll keep my fingers crossed that Zürich has woken up since you were there and the smoking inside thing is forbidden there as it is here. At the very least I have a non-smoking room in the hotel, and I don't have to eat in restaurants, I'm content to get my food at a grocery store. If anyone tries to smoke in the classroom I will demand they take it outside.

[madryn-1960.livejournal.com]

I'm sure there are some unplesant people in the Greens. One must be realistic. However my view of the SCA was based on more than one or two unpleasant individuals. I think this comes back to something we've discussed before. You have a lifetime of wide SCA experiences, mostly positive, and I have only experienced Ynys Fawr, where I found a culture of cronyism, hypocracy and falsehood. It wasn't just "one or two gossips" it was the entire clique-controlled culture - a culture which accepts any kind of bad behaviour as long as it emanates from the "right" people. My time is better spent elsewhere. It was only a game, and there's heaps of other more important things I can do with my time. But I am glad I met you there and that you taught me so much. If everyone else shared your attitude of sincere generosity of spirit and warm desire for friendhsip, I'd still be an active member.

[kareina.livejournal.com]

They aren't *all* like that, really. But yes, I do have the advantage in that I've been elsewhere and seen the many hundreds of SCA folk who really do strive to uphold all of the ideals of chivalry, honour, and courtesy on a daily bases. It is a game, but one which can be ever so much fun! Fortunately, there is a very good on-line SCA presence wherin in one can hangout with those individuals who share one's special interests without having to see any of the unpleasant local folk...