find of the day

I’ve just discovered TripIt.com. The following “blog badge” shows how many miles I’ve travelled since the beginning of 2008 (it updates in real time - if you visit this page while I’m away, it will tell you where I am):

Each time I book a flight/hotel/train/etc, I just forward the confirmation email to plans@tripit.com, and it automatically creates an itinerary that I can carry with me, or email, or check for last minute changes (e.g. flight times). The really smart thing is this forwarding feature. It’s effortless - it works out for itself that anything that’s been booked within the same period is part of the same trip (and if it gets it wrong, it’s almost as effortless to correct). So each trip will show the trains, hotels, flights, etc. all conveniently filed in a single place accessible from the web, or my iPhone. It’s so very easy that I got a bit carried away and forwarded all my trips from 2008. For no good reason, really.

I did think about putting the “badge” into the sidebar on the right, so that people could see when/where my next trips are. But... (a) I’m not sufficiently organized enough to organize all my trips in advance, (b) it’s too wide, and (c) I’m not convinced it’s stylish enough for this blog.

But then neither am I.

Happy Easter.

the good, the bad, and the ugly

The Good

• submissions to the journal are slowing down – in the first 14 weeks of this year, we’ve received only 15% more submissions than we received in the first 14 weeks of last year. Phew. So at this more reasonable rate (after 10 weeks, we were up 30%), I anticipate around 825 submissions this year. We can do that. We can do that. We can do that (if I say it enough times, it sounds almost believable).
• two new Associate Editors are due to join the journal later this year.
• the ducks have laid three eggs in the garden.
• I have never booked a flight for the wrong day, let alone for a date a whole week after I was meant to travel. Unlike some.
• I have been working surprisingly effectively (for me), and even getting some research done, and a bit of writing.
• my new pen.
• my new car.

The Bad

• I still haven’t cleared the queues on the journal - I’m about 10 days out of synch. Oddly the exact time I lost through going to a conference in the US. I’m currently down to four Associate Editors at the journal, which is why my load has been relatively higher in recent weeks.
• The ducks didn’t actually sit on the eggs, and I now regret not swiping them instantly and cooking up a duck omelette...
• It’s Easter, and I’m off chocolate (nothing to do with giving up something for Lent - more to do with not wanting to give up my trousers...)
• Yeah well, I so wish that was my new car. The only thing my new car has in common with a ferrari is the color red... not that I have it yet - apparently no one is crazy enough to want the model with sufficient airbags to cushion anyone other than the driver, so mine’s a special order from the factory (somewhere in France).

The Exhausted

• Yesterday, despite having slept almost 10 hours overnight, I was so exhausted I could barely work, and I in fact slept another 2 hours in the afternoon. My body (and mind) are telling me I need a break.
• Equally exhausted is my bank account.