The Never-ending List     Print   PDF

	Enlarge Image When next I see the building I work in, I fully expect to see this. (Clark Laboratory, WHOI Quissett campus, year 2003).

Alison Macdonald

Here we are, one day before leaving. I just called my husband to ask him to pick up my son from school, because in spite of the extremely orderly list I made myself this morning, I still have about 15 things to do before I leave today. 

Many of the things I have to get done are associated with my job as chief scientist: e.g. finishing up the list of space/lab requirements for the various science teams; running my program that gives me station timing one more time with the actual expected departure time of the cruise (10 am Brisbane time on the 21^st of November); submitting the final participant list to Scripps, making sure I have absolutely everything I need in my P6 binder before leaving my office tonight; and, of course, making  this journal entry and pressing the buttons so this website is live.

Other items on my list include: export my address book and cruise folders to my laptop, making sure I’ve filled out all the forms I need to fill out for the rest of the year, backing up my disks one last time and notifying friends and colleagues about the duration of my absence. I did manage to do most of my packing last night. I even found my swimsuit as my husband said it would be crime to arrive in Tahiti without one. It’s a balmy 49°F here at the moment. The expected high in Brisbane when I arrive on Sunday is 84°F. I guess I should probably leave my winter coat at home and just hope we don’t have a cold snap in New England the first week in January.

The next message will come from down-under.