Gratitude, Part 10 (Oct. 19 - 25)

  1. Officially admitted to NOvA (Oct. 19, 2013)
  2. Was able to restore my phone contacts from my Gmail contacts
  3. Remembered by water bottle in time to return to the lab and retrieve it
  4. Listened to a good and encouraging sermon that was recommended by a good friend on the drive from Batavia to Fort Wayne
  5. Steelers defeat Ravens (Oct. 20, 2013)
  6. Packers win, and I was able to listen to part of the game on my drive from Batavia to Fort Wayne.
  7. Safe drive to Fort Wayne
  8. I was able to correct for my wrong turn quickly and easily
  9. My hosts were generous and hospitable
  10. My hosts' three cats were friendly
  11. My hosts let me sleep in their guest room.
  12. I was able to follow my host from his house to the physics building without much trouble
  13. I was able to get my presentation into an acceptable form before I gave it.
  14. My rental car (Kia Soul) had good fuel efficiency (30.8 MPG)
  15. I have the mathematical ability to make the previous calculation
  16. My presentation was well received by the students
  17. I was asked several questions by the students and was able to answer them all
  18. One student even expressed some interest in applying to SDSM&T.
  19. My host asked me if he could have a copy of my slides
  20. A Subway restaurant in the basement of the physics building allowed me to have lunch with enough time to call into a phone meeting one hour after my presentation was finished
  21. My host institution, Indiana University Purdue University - Fort Wayne (IPFW), bought lunch for me.
  22. My host allowed me to use his office for the phone meeting
  23. My presentation at the phone meeting was well received and called "useful."
  24. Despite being lost on campus, I was able to find my rental car
  25. While being lost, I got some needed exercise in the form of walking
  26. The creativity of the painted mastodon mascots at IPFW
  27. The actual mastodon skeleton in the physics building
  28. Safe drive from Fort Wayne to Batavia
  29. Listened to an interested radio program on "tough topics in the Bible" during the drive
  30. Encouraging music for the rest of the drive
  31. Had dinner and good conversation with my hosts in Batavia (Oct. 21, 2013)
  32. I was able to fit everything I wanted to in my luggage
  33. Remembered to retrieve items from my hosts' freezer
  34. My hosts in Batavia allowed me to use their freezer to store groceries I am taking back to Rapid City
  35. Safe drive to the rental car return location
  36. Arrived at the airport in plenty of time for my flight
  37. Checking in with my mobile phone worked
  38. Found a security line without an operational body scanner thanks to tsastatus.net
  39. Informed other passengers of this line via tsastatus.net
  40. Water bottle filling stations at O'Hare
  41. I was able to help my hosts by letting their dogs out (Oct. 19, 2013)
  42. Departed on time from O'Hare
  43. Since I was not really hungry, by God's grace I resisted the temptation to buy unnecessary food in the airport
  44. My laptop's long battery life allows me to work while on the airplane
  45. Important time in prayer before going to bed (Oct. 21, 2013)
  46. Time and quite enough environment to read in the airport before boarding
  47. The end of the federal spending gap removes a great deal of uncertainty about the next few months at Fermilab and for NOvA
  48. Time to rest when I returned home
  49. My wife came to pick me up and take me home from the airport
  50. Ability to drive my wife to the airport
  51. My wife's safe journey from Rapid City to Minneapolis
  52. My wife making her connection to in Minneapolis
  53. My wife's safe journey from Minneapolis to Columbus
  54. Her catching up with friends in Columbus
  55. The opportunity to help a friend move on Friday (Oct. 25, 2013)

Total: 356