Preparing to board the plane

We will be arriving at the airport in four hours, boarding a plane in six and flying for… well, nearly 18 total.

I managed to get all my needs for two weeks in a smallish backpack (with wheels) and a fanny pack. I wonder how much of it I’ll have wished that I left at home and what I haven’t taken will be sorely missed.

Jane is so excited she can hardly keep still. Michael is anxious to board the plane and BE there. I’m sitting here wondering if Jane knows that the next few hours will mark the end of her nights of solid sleep for many months to come. She spends her time with a grin on her face that couldn’t be scrubbed off.

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Diaries make me sick???

According to a newly released report by NewScientist.com news service, keeping a journal increases an individual’s “headaches, sleeplessness, digestive problems and social awkwardness.” Ahhh… so that explains it! So maybe I really DO get headaches, but that since I’ve had one for the last 31 years of my diary and blogging history, I don’t notice it so much anymore.

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Personalized Search Tools: New Privacy Battleground?

Do you want a search engine “personalized” enough to search not only the www, but also your own computer’s hard drive? Where is the line between privacy and convenience drawn?According to Reuters, Microsoft is attempting to recapture the search engine market lost to recently publicly traded Google.

Microsoft recently released a beta version of their new search engine product which not only searches the WWW, but also searches the HD on the resident computer. Continue reading

China Bound

I just received word today that the pending trip to China is now scheduled — for 10 days from now! My friend Jane was informed this afternoon that her lovely new daughter (Madelyn) is now awaiting her arrival.

I’ll be leaving on September 20th to accompany this brand new Mom to pick up the new little Miss and we will all be returning on October 1st. This means that I’ll be in my office and working tomorrow and then next week (through Friday, September 17th). I’ll be out of the office (and completely out of touch) from 5:00 p.m. September 17th through 8 a.m. Monday October 4th.

I’ll be finishing up the projects I have currently open over the next week in preparation for the journey and will reply to any e-mails and phone calls when I return to the office.

I don’t plan to take my computer with me on the trip (can you believe it?!?!!) but I have my website set up now so I can blog about the trip from any computer, anywhere in the world. I plan to do that if the opportunity arises.

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Ok, it’s official… I’m going to have a mid-life crisis now

Today is my father’s birthday (Happy Birthday, Pops!) and I was doing a bit of reflecting on that this a.m., and naturally a bit of reflecting on my own life as his adult daughter, while sorting my e-mail first thing this a.m.

You know, just when you start feeling really good about yourself… someone comes along to point out the stuff you don’t have under control (like a waistline, weight, physical appearance). All that’s bearable so long as the person is younger, on television or anonymous. But, when that person is your high school biology teacher….

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