The Chapter in Which the Heroine has an Adventure

Well, a couple actually. I have debated chronological order vs. importance, as both are legitimate listing methods. However, my opinion of something's importance undoubtedly differs from yours (I tend to be dramatic, however, you probably already knew this), so I have decided that chronological order is best.

1) America Status
2) The Five Hour Calibration that was actually Eleven Hours
3) Shredded Cheese!!!!
4) Town Adventures (aka...why I don't like Malaysian Clowns)
5) Rain Runs!

1) No update, actually just thought I'd get this one out of the way. I am crossing my fingers for information this week. We will see!

2) How to even start? Well, in the morning, I guess. If you ever want me to explain what a radioactive calibration is, I can do this in detail that would hopefully not make you fall asleep, but that is definitely not for here. To be succint, every time a significant portion of our tools that use radioactive sources is serviced (or every 3 months...whichever is first), we have to recalibrate the tool with the radioactive material to make sure that the readings we get downhole on a job are not wonky. The set-up for a calibration takes 3 to 4 hours depending on tool size so we do it the day  before. Then the cal. itself is supposed to take max about 5 or 6 hours. A significant number of things went not-quite-right, resulting in my longest workday here thus far. It started at 8 am and ended when I got home at 11:30 that night. I was definitely exhausted but it was actually a pretty fulfilling day. It is the first time I've gotten to do what I was hired to do and that feels pretty nice. Also, we got to do part of it in a rainstorm, and you all know how much I adore precipitation :)  High points of the day included eating popcorn on the floor of the radiation shack with the 3 other engineers and laughing about language barrier issues. Also, when the calibration finally passed! Low point was probably the 3rd or 4th hour we spent trying to troubleshoot the issues the tool was having that were resulting in its not passing.

3) During that day we did head to town briefly to get lunch while the electrician was fixing one of the issues we couldn't. In that time I went to a market called "Utama Jaya" and found popcorn in bags, lasagna noodles, and shredded cheese! In a bag! It was an awesome moment in my day. Also, I realized that "minced" beef that I have never tried because no one here could explain to me what minced beef was, is actually ground beef! New meat source is now in existence for me and I am pretty darn excited.

4) As I wondered through town today I found a pineapple in an open air market and a bottle of wine in a duty free shop. Carefree and happy I passed a group of tents selling drinks for one ringgit so I got some Milo (kinda like chocolate milk). Then as I was only 200 feet from the "mall" I saw him; The Malaysian Clown. I will be honest, I liked clowns until I was about 9, and afterwards thought they were a little creepy. Then I saw Supernatural episode with a clown killer. Now, I am just not a fan. I tried to signal politely to the clown that I didn't want to play and instead of nicely taking the hint, he decided to block my way instead. Either side of the sidewalk I moved to he wouldn't let me pass. And it didn't help that this non-clowny buddies (about 5 or 6 of them) were egging him on. So when I was about 2 feet away I leaned forward and said, "You really don't want to do this today." He looked surprised, then sad, then he moved on. I felt momentary guilt for making a clown sad, but then, I expressively and silently indicated I did not want to be interacted with, so I blame it on him :) Also, I am glad there was a peaceful resolution. I really didn't want to lose either my pineapple or bottle of wine from throwing it at him.

5) Finally, I got to run for the first time today in a Malaysian precipitation event! Usually I catch the sprinkles beforehand or the dark clouds and breeze, but never the rain itself. Now I can officially say I have done it!!! I am a Malaysian Rain Runner! And it is so much fun. The rain is not cold, but not hot, and it falls in just the right amounts.  So, all in all, it was a wonderful run.

AND, all in all, my weekend was a success! It contained sleep, work, adventure, and a fun date with Adam, so I can go to work this week and be excited about doing things again (or so I hope!). 

Have a wonderful Sunday and I wish an adventure for everyone!

Love you

Becca