07 May 2002 - 20:37

Go to bed at 10 or 11. Get up at 7 or 8. Brush teeth, floss, mouthwash (in the hopes of halting a recent trend to canker sores). Have breakfast. Catch the :20 after bus. Connect on the :45 after bus. I have a bus pass for the rest of the month, yay! Read something lightweight (borth figuratively and literally) on the bus. Just finished Uplift War. Apply sunscreen liberally right after transferring.

Get to the office. Goodmorning to Starr and Raccoon. Carry equiptment to the Nai'a. We speed across the bay looking for dolphins. Everything is sunny and blue skies and the shallow lapping bay and whisps of clouds. And dolphins. Lots of dolphins.

When we see dolphins, I write information on the data sheets, and Raccoon tries to ID them. If they're identified as individuals that have been captured and therefore will have recordings from, and if we can keep track of them, we'll try to do a playback. I work the audio equipment, Starr videotapes from the tower, Raccoon keeps track of the animals, the fourth person (LabLackey so far) drives. We do two or three, then we leave and look for other dolphins. We eat individually whenever we're not too busy. I try to eat lunch around noon, and apply sunscreen at the same time. Final sunscreen at 3.

Decide to head home around 4ish or at end of dolphin follow. Zip across the bay. Get back 5ish. Lug in equiptment. Catch the :20 after bus to the :45 after bus. If I get off at like, 5:30, I'll hang out at the Aquarium or read or walk to the Circle and pick up trash for 50 minutes, until the next (and last) bus.

Get home at 7. Exchange tired words of affection and inquiries about dinner with fiance. Shower off layer of sunscreen, sweat, seasalt, dirt. Eat dinner. Check e-mail accounts, diaryland buddies, wiki. Do small school related things, like hedgehog training or music composition. Sleep. Repeat.

Am living in B-Dorm again this summer. Uhg. It's the cheapest thing I've found so far, even considering (Uhg) storage cost.

There are so many dolphins. It is strange and wonderful. I walk among the godlings of my childhood reading, and they're very human. Today was Starr's birthday, and Lablackey's too. Raccoon is quiet. She has a twin sister who works with the computer software people who make MathLab. I haven't had a chance to ask her about her story--why dolphins, how she came to be here, how she got to be WHOI/MIT. LabMom is pregnant. Dr. HotShot [01] is recently married. Also has a good sense of humor, comforting, since his reputation for being ~severe is also justified.

A lot of boats go out every day. There are 120 dolphins in Sarasota bay, but I think we manage to harass most of them. Makes one wonder. But more on that later.

[01] - Meant with deepest, sincerest respect. It's probably pretty obvious who this is. What level of celebrity do I have to reach before I drop the pseudonyms? If I was discussing one of his papers, I would have used his real name.