nagi_schwarz | Day 1348: Trotting and globes and whatnot

This week was a bit of a crazy one. First two days were work, work, and more work. Then half of Wednesday - starting around 4AM - was travel. Two flights. Renting a car. The car I'd booked was unavailable for whatever reason, so we got a giant black Jeep Safari instead. Which was good, because it fit all three of us and our luggage (Cody's boss traveled with us).

Corning, New York. Pretty little down. Possibly the prettiest little downtown I've ever seen in America. The countryside reminded me of England - green, rolling hills, lots of trees. It was beautiful. More humid than I'm used to, so my hair was frizzy.

We settled in at the hotel, walked the town a bit, and then I went with Cody to the welcoming reception/mixer/networking thing. It was at the glass museum, so there was a live glass blowing demonstration, which was super cool, and we talked to some other scientists (and by we I mostly mean Cody, because as it turns out stories about hurt children frighten people), and then Cody and I bailed when we'd done all the socializing two introverts could handle. Found some really great burgers, then retired.

The next day Cody went to the conference, and I took myself on a walking tour of downtown, which involved lots of silly selfies, pictures of cool old buildings, which I love, and stopping by the first ever farmers market of the season (I would have taken pictures of that but I suspect the Amish people running the donut and pretzel booths might have objected to that). Cody and I had lunch together, and then I took myself off to the glass museum, which was amazing.

Afterward I went back to the hotel, got dressed up, and went to hang out with Cody for his poster session. Which is basically a bunch of grad students and younger scientists standing around a reception room full of posters that are thumbnails of their years of research, ready and waiting to answer questions for anyone who's interested in their research (which of course can lead to collaboration and funding and things). Cody did really well. I'd never seen him in his element before. He's good at public speaking and charming people, introvert that he is. But after we went for food, and then back to the hotel. We changed and took the car down to Pennsylvania to see what it was like down there, saw a lake, watched the sun set. Also Cody's professor got his wedding ring stuck on his right hand (he transferred it because I guess he's headed straight to Europe after his research stint), and we had to swing by a Walmart to get supplies to get the ring unstuck (dental floss, in case you're wondering; both of us were amused that Cody's professor thought he needed to warn the ladies off with an appropriately-placed wedding ring, but whatever).

Friday morning I went back to the glass museum to see some more demonstrations I was interested in, like a guy making glass eyes, and then Cody and I had lunch together. After lunch, we headed up to Watkins Glen state park and had a lot of fun hiking it, and also went to see Seneca Lake, since we'd heard the Finger Lakes were super pretty.

Saturday was...a long day. Had food. Went to the airport. Cody's flight departed four hours before mine, so I spent three hours bored out of my skull at a tiny airport. Had a brief layover between connections - pretty much just enough time to run from one end of the terminal to the other to make my gate, charge my phone for a bit - and then on to home. The drive home always seems faster than the drive away, but in the dark, alone, even with bouncy Kpop to keep me alert, it was a long drive.

Got in late.

Also I was surrounded by sneezy people, so of course I woke up with a runny nose not feeling my best.

All in all it was a good trip. Nice to get away from work - sort of, I was answering calls and emails while I was gone, because someone was covering an entire court docket for me, which is no mean feat.

Impressions of small town New York: the people are super friendly. Everyone was super law-abiding when it came to driving, if a bit quick to lean on the horn. People also just brazenly disregarded crossing signals. Not something you can do in Utah. Granted, Utah drivers are crazy. No one could handle spice. Stuff in a menu marked with three little fire symbols? Would be a mild back here.

The city was cute, and the countryside was lovely. While Cody was at his poster session, one of the scientists was really interested in his research, asked for his CV. And she tried to give me the hard sell about moving to NY and hiring on with the same company, getting my IP classes and bar prep funded so I could work for the company.

Which...made the whole possibility of moving to New York so much more real and terrifying. But Cody and I are willing to do it if it's best for our family. We looked at property prices, talked about renting before buying, and since most rentals don't allow pets as big as ours, letting Cody's parents foster the dogs longterm while we find a place.

Cody went on to Australia - he landed about four hours ago, called me about three hours ago - and he'll be gone for ten days, goes straight to scout camp the day after he gets back, so for two weeks it's me and the dogs (and Baby and Baby G).

I had a fun trip. Back to the grindstone. Here's to surviving that long without my man, because when he's gone I just don't sleep...