Packing night tonight

Well, seeing as how it's almost time to go, it's time to make sure I'm all packed up. I'll revisit at the end of the trip and tell you if I realize I forgot something major during the trip (of course, it'll be minor, the major stuff I'll pack, but it's what you don't bring that you miss the most).

The major stuff I've got covered is a variety of clothing and shoes, toiletries, and my computer accessories and plenty of computer accessory cables (hey, when you've got a phone, mobile hard drive, usb drives, camera, and on, and on - you tend to collect a lot of cables) but one cable that I am particularly happy to have when setting out is a power cable for my variable input laptop charger that I'm told is sure to work anywhere in France or Germany. Yay for being prepared. (Actually, I'm taking 2). We'll see just how forward-thinking that ended up being after the trip.

Ok, so if you can think of anything major I might have missed (and if it's not yet Saturday 8am, July 4, 2009) - leave a comment, I'll pack it extra.

And in closing, a travel thought for good luck:

The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page. ~St. Augustine

ISSGC'09 draws near

I guess I should start my first post on this blog with a tad introduction, as this should be for posterity as well as for the trip...

I'm just this guy, ya know? I've been to a half-a-dozen schools, doing this and that, and it wasn't till the last one that I got serious about getting a four-year degree (although I have an AAS as well and have traveled, so take the 6 figure with a grain of salt), but my education is nowhere near complete. As I've struggled with what I would like to do for a graduate degree in my upper-classman years at the University of Houston - Downtown, I got the opportunity to play with clusters and grids, even if that experience was lacking. To say I know anything substantial about clusters and grids would be comparable to saying a person was qualified to compete in the Le Mans tournament merely by having ridden in a motorcoach. But what can I say, I learn quickly.

So, having given you that convoluted back-story (a back-story that I shall try and avoid as much as possible in all my future OSG-EOT posts), let it be sufficient to say that I imagine myself to be one of the most junior participants in this journey. Perhaps calling myself one of the most junior is a bit romantic, but so be it, until this experience is over I should maintain a distinct naïveté.

So what, then, shall we discuss now that we've established that I'm young and inexperienced? What about my expectations of myself in this journey.

I intend to use this blog-space to comment on what:

• We at the school have discussed throughout the day
• I thought was exceptionally interesting
• I still don't understand from the day
• Any pictures that I take that are neat
  
• I think another student in my position might need to know!

I think those would be good enough from my own part, and if I come up with anything else, well, what a wonderful surprise. So with that, I bid you adieu, and let's journey together, shall we?

And I'll part with a oft-quoted quip (seeing as how I'm excited and ready to travel!)

The journey of a thousand miles begins beneath one's feet. - Lao-tzu