The Faux Nap

The kids are tired. They even lie down in their bed. Then, thinking we can't hear them (even though we are in the next room and hear everything), they start to whisper. That turns into full-on conversations. Now, it's simply bouncing around.

The thing is they actually slept for an hour yesterday. At 3 1/2, are they done with naps or what?

Astronomy Descends on Seattle

Every year, the first full week after New Year's is consumed for me with an annual astronomy meeting. It's the biggest one in the US and means I get to spend lots of time in a convention center/hotel. This year, coincidentally, the meeting was in Seattle (it rotates through several cities and won't be back here for a while.)

I don't think this meeting was ever in Boston in all of the years while I lived there, so it was a new experience to try to go to the meeting and all of its secondary activities (believe it or not, but astronomers and the press who report on them love to be social) while also being at home. Throw in some sickness in our house and a little snowstorm on Tuesday night and it's been a bit of a messy week.

The 2,000+ astronomers are leaving, however, as we speak. So the astro-geek factor will go down in Seattle by just a little bit very shortly. And I can get back to the day-to-day business of dealing with scientists over the phone and email. Until the next meeting ...