Travel plans

I've had enough of work for one week. I have acheived next to nothing because someone somewhere, and I don't know who or how, has messed up and I can't do anything in the lab until it's sorted. I really want to start getting some results because there is a conference in California at the end of the year that sounds quite nice (both the subject of the conference and the location). On the subject of conferences, one of the major ones in my particular field is held every two years which meant that a couple of years ago I was sent on a jolly across the Pond to the 'City of Brotherly Love'. This year it's being held in Spain which means that in another two years it will be back on the other side of the Atlantic again. It's not that I have anything against Europe but when I'm not paying for the trip it's nice to get as far as possible. So if I get my preliminary results ready for California I then have another 2 years to get a full set of results to take to the big gig. Now there's just the small matter of finding funding for these plans. Oh and getting the results. Well a girl's gotta have some dreams!


UPDATE: After pondering this post (it's been a slow afternoon) I have decided that actually I'm not much fussed about going to conferences for the following reasons;

1. they're not really about 'seeing the world' but about working
2. I don't really like 'networking' and can never remember peoples names (especially important people)
3. I make page after page of notes on all the interesting talks but then can never read my handwriting making me sitting in a darkened room for hours on end scribbling away a pointless exercise
4. It gets lonely, especially having a big bed all to yourself
5. I have to leave the wife at home (see 4.)
6. I don't have enough hands for carrying a suitcase, a laptop, a poster, a bag with all the junk I need for a flight and all the junk collected from the conference in (and that's me travelling light)
7. I don't do jet-lag very well - I need a week to recover
8. I don't like very hot/very cold weather (I always end up with one extreme)
9. I never get a window seat when I ask for one
10. US Immigration people scare me (the Dutch however I found to be overly friendly)
11. I like my home comforts (see 5).

I'll just read the abstracts when they're published instead.