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Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I've been busy with school related work and this does after all take a backseat to my master's degree. I'm taking a break tonight from academia just to relax. I don't have anything due until Friday morning, so I can work tomorrow afternoon/night on the last page or so of my paper on Hyundai, then proof and source it. Then I have something due on Thursday of next week, as well as a presentation on Monday AND a final proposal for my Ghana paper.

I've taken the last of my typhoid fever medicine. Now I give it a week to work through my system and I'm vaccinated against Typhoid Fever for five years. The malaria vaccination I start taking a week before I go, then while I'm there once a week, then for a couple of weeks after I get back. I may actually need a couple more pills, but I'll address that after I get back.

I get another night of house/dog sitting for the Liens. Melissa called my apartment today and sai they're staying at the beach another day. It's not a problem as they said they might end up staying another day. Oh...the good time that must be being had by the soon-to-be interim senior pastor (and by all accounts the Senior Pastor once the congregation can officially offer it to him when Byran leaves).

"I know what you're thinking...did he fire five shots, or six?"

"Do you feel lucky? Well, do ya punk?"

Famous (albeit paraphrased)Clint Eastwood line there from "Dirty Harry" (1971).

Well, they shot me five times today, not six as I had expected. I ended up with an oral vaccination for Typhoid Fever. I was worried about it after talking with Dr. Seth a bit later, but I talked with a lady at the health department, and looked at the CDC website about the oral vaccination and didn't see any reason not to be able to take it. Dr. Seth just e-mailed me a few minutes ago and said that his experiences (he got a mild case of it over there while on Ph.D. research) were based on Canadian pills in the mid 1990s (he got his Ph.D. from the University of Waterloo in Ontario). He said that the other professor going on the trip (who went last year) took the pills and had no problem. I take four pills over the course of about eight days (one every other day). It gradually builds my immunity to typhoid fever. The run-down is available here:
http://www2.ncid.cdc.gov/travel/yb/utils/ybGet.asp?section=dis&obj=typhoid.htm

So what I got today in terms of actual needles:

Yellow Fever (certified by the CDC too, I have a yellow sheet to prove it!)
Meningicoccal (meningitis)
Hepatitis A&B (actually just part one of a three series shot, I can probably get the second one before I go, and probably in Augauga county. Only one is needed, but they recommend three. One today, one a month from now, and one six months from now. The more I have, simply means the more my system is immune. The RN said I could get the second and/or third shots anywhere basically that has it, hence thinking Augauga County Health Dept. a few days before I go, because the next time I could get scheduled with Tuscalooca Health Dept. was the day I leave for Atlanta and subsequently, Ghana)
Polio
Tetanus

That means I have five band-aids on my arms right now. Two on my left, three on my right. I'm not sure what went into what arm, but the RN at the Health Dept. had a system (the weaker ones go in my dominant arm).

So yes, as a matter of fact, I DO feel lucky................punk! (http://www.folloder.com/sounds/punk.wav)

visa

It's a bit of a disappointment. I had anticipated it being a separate document wholly. As it turns out, it is just a sticker (but a full page one) in my passport. I mean, it's official "Republic of Ghana" and has stamps and such on it, but I expected something different. Looking on the bright side, however, I don't have an extra document to keep up with. Goodness knows I have enough with my passport, and proof of vaccinations to keep up with.

Oh! The perils of going to Africa!

paper, visa, and hair cuts

I got my Maury paper back today. I got a 93 on it. Dr. Webster was a little concerned (if that's the appropriate word) about why I had left so much about John Maury in the paper. I thought it was important to link why Matthew decided to join the Navy and establish that he did it against his father's permission. Dr. Webster also made a point to note that it was double the required length. Also, there were some words I changed from the source to my paper (in paraphrased sections) that he wanted clarification that they were my words and not the source's. I added them for some more color is all. I'm not disputing anything, I'm happy with the grade. There was surprisingly little red ink on it. I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing.

And the visa came in today. I don't have it in hand, it's wandering around Tuscaloosa now. I got a notice in my mailbox about an express delivery. It's available after 4pm at the main 35401 post office in downtown. The mailman also called me to let me know. That really means a lot. I guess he has my name on record, or the number was on the package, or in a database attached to the package or something. There's this nice message on my answering machine that he tried to deliver it about 11:30 and that it would be available in downtown at 4pm.

I got a hair cut today. Actually, I got most of them cut (haha). The next time will be right before I go to Ghana. I want a nice short hair cut for the tropical/sub-tropical weather I'll be experiencing for about three weeks.

The vast majority of the afternoon will be studying. Probably at Gorgas. I've spent more time at the library this semester than I have since I studied for my poetry recitation for Sra. Saphore at Spanish Competition during high school. There really is a lot of neat stuff (books!) at libraries. I highly recommend going if you've never gone before.

The Real Thing

Title shamelessly plagarized from Kerry.

My visa didn't come today. The USPS site says it left Birmingham at about 6 this morning. I thought if it didn't come with the actual mail that it might come later. My thinking is it will come in tomorrow ("Overnight" delivery allows for Sunday delivery, but being Easter Sunday, I don't know), or Monday. Just great, I'm not going to be in most of the day. It'll probably have to be picked up on Tuesday. Whatever, just so long as I get it before going.

I've had a craving for Coke all day. Fortunately, I have some Coke around, and for the thrid time in my life, I won a free coke on one of Coke's bottle cap give-away type thingies. So drink up! I can get another 2L bottle (Cherry/Vanilla) for free!

this and that

I checked on my travel visa application today. You see, I have a tracking number on it from the USPS for the overnight delivery. Today was the first day when the USPS site showed something for it. It shipped out of Gaithersburg, MD today. Presumably since it's overnight, it'll be in tomorrow. We'll see. I'm not sure if it's a signature for delivery type thing, and how that works with the USPS and apartment complexes so I'll have to be in through noon tomorrow (I probably would be on Saturday anyway. The mail almost always runs around noon here. If I come back from campus at noon, if the mail hasn't already run, the mailman/woman is usually in the complex distributing the mail to the boxes.

Oh, and I spent a bunch of time last night trying to calculate roadway congestion index (RCI) in Alabama. I kept getting stuck, and until I got that one done in excel, I couldn't do any of the other ones. I e-mailed Dr. Weber today, and he gave me the answers for that one and I played around with the numbers until I got that answer, then applied the formula to the other problems, simply plugging in the appropriate numbers. I had the numbers correct, and the basic idea for the formula correct, it was just too much for me to get in one formula, so I had to calculate the three parts of the final formula separately, then calculate the final formula from the thee subtotals. Doing it that way caused much less gnashing of teeth and I was able to figure out the RCI for the other ones within just a few minutes (once I figured out the numbers I needed for them, which was laborious). All the data for that project is gathered and compiled, all I have to do now is the analysis part, which is easy.

I ate at Mugshots today with Paul. It's a burger joint in downtown. My burger was a tad charred (not overcooked, just charred), but the Swiss cheese, mushrooms and Tobasco sauce all but covered it up. A tad on the pricey side for a struggling graduate student, but not unreasonable. The service was great and quick.

Oh, and I'm probably going to call Liz this weekend at some point to see if she can talk with me about her experiences in the former Zaire. Specifically my main concern now is how she reacted to her vaccinations. I think I'll have similar ones to her, but I just want to see what I should expect on Wednesday morning when they shoot me up with Hepatitis A&B, Typhoid, meningitis, and Yellow Fever vaccinations.

Larry M.

$116 for the drug. Apparently I don't have prescription coverage, but according to the pharmacist, most plans wouldn't cover it anyway. Still, I'd rather spend $116 now than contract the disease. While insurance might cover that, I'd much rather spend $116 now than have to deal with having malaria. Not so much fun.

Here are the possible drug side effects from RxList.com (emphasis mine):

"This medication may cause stomach upset, stomach pain, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, fever, hair loss, ringing in the ears, dizziness, drowsiness, headache, insomnia, strange dreams, or lightheadedness. These effects should subside as your body adjusts to the medication. If these symptoms persist or become severe, contact your doctor or pharmacist promptly."

Lovely, just lovely.

Lip pt. 2: Kerry

Well, since Kerry gave me lip about not posting enough for her tastes, here's a post of my exciting life.

I went to Dr. Lovelady today. Got a larium prescription. They also scheduled an appointment at the health dept for me to get the aforementioned shots. 8am on April 19th. I can do it on my way into work since the health department is (sort of) on my way in. That's what's happening. I'm tired now, kind of headachy. The appointment threw me off. Didn't get lunch until 3:30, then took about a half hour nap. It was one of those where you sleep hard, but wake up harder.

There you have it. An obligitory post. Why haven't you posted today, Kerry? (hahaha)

misc.

I vacuumed today. It's amazing, the carpet looks so much cleaner. I don't know if I actually vacuumed up that much, but having the carpet fibers going in a different direction gives at least the perception of clean. (Also the popcorn kernels are off the floor from last night, so yeah, I think it's clean).

I got my car registered in Tuscaloosa county today. I now have a "63" tag.

I went grocery shopping today. I was proud of myself. I think the least healthy thing I got was the pepper jack cheese. I even had some cookies in my basket, but took them out in favor of Edy's whole fruit popsicles.

Along the lines of health, I have an appointment with Dr. Steve Lovelady tomorrow (of Trinity membership here in Tuscaloosa). This is regards to getting shot (or shots, that wasn't clear) so I can go to Africa. I'm supposed to get:

1. Yellow Fever
2. Hepatitis A&B
3. Meningococcal Vaccination
4. Typhoid shot
5. Make sure Polio and Tetanus are up to date
6. Larium pill regimen

I called the student health center and they said they had the Hepatitis shots, and the meningitis shots (as well as tetanus) around. They told me I'd have to see a doctor about typhoid and Larium and polio (though that should be on record at the student health center) and I'd have to call around about yellow fever. Hopefully he can get it, but at the very least he can tell me where I can get it, and maybe refer me.

Finally, Riverwood has officially dissolved the pastoral relationship with Bryan as of June 30. That means Tim becomes Interim Senior Pastor as of July 1. We also voted nearly unanimously to form a pulpit search committee giving the responsibility over to the session (in accordance with the BCO chapter 20). They're already unofficially offered the full time senior pastor position to Tim, but I think will hold off on the official call until after Bryan leaves officially. If that's the case, they're also going to be on the look out for someone to take over the duties of youth pastor which Tim would vacate upon taking the senior pastor position (or if he leaves Riverwood totally, which is a possibility, then when he leaves).

That's all for now. Time to go eat dinner!

Paper at last!

My Maury paper as it will be turned in in about twenty minutes. I apologize for a couple of random physical gaps in the paper. I had a devil of a time trying to get the images to fit properly and not mess up the formatting too badly. I was (somewhat) pleased with how it ended up (as opposed to having a gap of greater than a half page which I did in one case). So here's the paper. Enjoy!!!

http://www.krgilbert.net/share/Maury_Paper.pdf

Matthew Fontaine Maury

So I have gone through about three "read out louds" of my paper on Maury. The paper requirement was 5-7 pages. With my references page, I have fourteen. No kidding! I don't really think I can take anything out. A lot of the early biographical items set up for why he ended up contributing to Geography, which is what the key part of the paper is. I have yet to digitally fix it yet, but my first paper draft has all sorts of comments of mine on it. I'll have it converted to PDF format and posted here tomorrow night after I get in from class on my webspace (what's the point of paying $5/mo. for webspace if you can't actually use the allotted bandwidth?).

An expert on Maury? Hardly. But I do really now want to learn much more about him. This man from northern Virginia really did help to change the course of the world, and nearly ended up occupying a house just about a block and a half away from where I'll be turning the paper in tomorrow night (Farrah Hall in relation to the President's Mansion).

Oh, Kelly, I used your photo in my paper when talking about Monument Ave. I even gave credit! ("Picture of Maury Monument in Richmond courtesy my sister, Kelly Gilbert, who lives and works in Richmond.")

Air Photo

The grand prize of my respect to whomever recognizes the house in the general area of center of this picture. It's a site I found today at work today http://live.local.com. It's a site run from the old http://www.mapblast.com by Microsoft. This is the best imagery I've seen from a commercial site (and for that matter, any government site I have access to). Similar imagery in Prattville, but not near mom and dad's house.

Who can guess?!?

time change = evil

It just is. Also thunderstorms at 5:30am, and birds at 6:30am. They're ALL evil.

On a side note, my Matthew Fontaine Maury paper has exploded to well beyond what Dr. Webster required. I'm pushing ten pages right now, he only required five. I still have at least two more pages I can attach to it. I'm going to HAVE to slim it down a shade. He really was an interesting character. I'll post a link to the paper after Wednesday evening, just so you can read it, or portions of it if you desire.

First post

I thought I'd jump on the bandwagon that my sisters have apparently also jumped on (although Kerry quite by accident, Kelly did it quite purposefully). We have done this in birth order, which is as it should be I suppose.

I honestly don't know what to say in this first post, but I do look forward to keeping up with Kelly on a more regular basis as opposed to my normal method of one call every couple of months. Kerry, well, I look forward to witty comments that I have come to expect from her. Mom, too, I suppose will read this as well (so I'll keep it clean, hahaha), and this can serve as a way for know what is going on in my life on a semi regular basis. I also know how excited she was about Kelly and Kerry's blogs when first published and I hope to contribute further to it.

That is all for now. I need to go set some clocks forward.