Backlogged

I can't see this blog, so I don't know what's going in with all these other folks. However, I'll take a guess that none of them died, and if I'm wrong, my condolences go out to their families.

As for me, I haven't died yet either! and today I saw pandas(xiongmao!). But a lot happened before the pandas, a lot. So I'll back up and mention a few of those. Here's the (comparatively) fast version:

Wednesday, May 7, I left Houghton (freedom!) early and headed towards home, having had about 2 hours of sleep the night before. Arrived in Detroit(represent!) at about 6:30 pm, after being enormously delayed by construction. After a nap, a phone call, and a crisis assessment, gathered some supplies and headed to Chicago around 1am to cause problems at the Chinese consulate until they gave in to my demands. After driving all night and spending the day (Thursday) between the Chinese consulate and the Field Museum, drove out to a friends house, slept between 2am and 4:30am, drove back (Friday) into the city, went to consulate, Sears Tower and the consulate, finally got my papers so I could go to China, and drove back to Detroit. Arrived in Detroit around 9:30pm, saw my family for a few minutes, briefed my brother and cousin on what to pack for China, and went to bed at about 3am. 8am (Saturday), got up, got some things together, did more preparation for China, then headed down to Columbus, Ohio to visit a certain girl that I will really miss. Arrived in the terrible land of the Buckeyes at about 3pm, got bubble tea (nectar of heaven!) and hIndian food, hung out, bought travel supplies, and stayed up late. 3 hours of sleep, a nice breakfast, a goodbye, a long ride north to Flint(Sunday). In Flint at 3:30, visiting family, eating dinner, Detroit at 9pm, sleep for 12 hours (a brief respite), then (Monday) running erands and packing, packing until 4am. 5:30am (Tuesday) up and to the the airport after 1 1/2 hours of sleep; 4 hour flight to Los Angeles, 2 hour layover, 11 hour flight to Tokyo, 2 hour layover, 3 hour flight to Beijing. In China. Mostly Dead.

Damage report for the week:

Distance Traveled:
Driven-Approx. 1,700 miles
Flown-Approx. 8,800 miles
Total: 10,500 miles

Travel time:
By car: Approx. 35 hours
By Plane: Approx. 18 Hours
Total: 53 Hours

Hours Slept
Wednesday:2
Thursday: 3
Friday:5
Saturday:2
Sunday:12
Monday: 1
Tuesday:2
Total: less than 4 hours/day

-jd