PTSD

but, really, there's not much wind (so far)

Following E's lead:

1. Have got bum burn after sitting on a seat for nearly 24 hours for the train trip up from Washington. Due to a derailment, we were 8 hours behind schedule. The good part? I got to see Michigan--Ann Arbor, Jackson and a fantastic-sounding city called "Kalamazoo".

2. Have decided everyone from E's hometown are what may politely be called "eccentric". This was after spending much of said 24 hours learning how to play poker from a kid who was well-versed in Doctor Who and BSG and could have debates about "the UNIT episodes" of the Doctor.

3. Poker is fun, especially when you start winning.

4. People from Wisconsin rival those from E's hometown in eccentricity. As do those from Northern Australia. By 4am on Monday, the poker group had expanded to a fisheries bloke from Madison and two little old ladies from North Queensland (less than an hour from where I went to undergrad!) who called themselves "the gray nomads". I still won.

5. There's a rock, paper, scissors competition planned among various TUWSNBN uni students. The prize is being selected for some conference at which the winner may get to go. I am planning on cheating. But, how does one cheat in rock, paper, scissors? Any ideas?

6. The BNC hotel doesn't have free wireless. Who decides upon these things? How can you not have wireless?

7. I have two presentations tomorrow and have not actually prepared for either one. I'm still on a poker high.

8. Train memories: the bridge outside E's hometown, all lit up; the pink-coloured "exotic dancing and all live nude peep show" shacks dotting the midwest; Kalamazoo; the Kelloggs factory; the Ford factory, with its many foreign flags, looking rather like a United Nations building; Harper's Ferry; and finally getting into Chicago.

9. Realising, after many hours, that E and I were on the sametrain.

More later (including news of dinner at this fun "blues bar" and being chatted to by a lovely older gent on my first few minutes in the Windy City (and having E comment "oh, all Midwesterners are friendly).

My wireless minutes are almost up.

posted by Priya @ 9:23 PM