Though I fully intended to document my central valley testing throughout the summer, I ended up not doing that because it was a lot of “it’s hot and I’m all sticky” and “why do the convoy vehicles all smell funny” and “who left a half-eaten pastrami sandwich in the back of the van GODDAMMIT LOGAN.” I will briefly summarize my findings concerning the Central Valley — I have previously led a very privileged life, always having a toilet when I needed to go (except for that one time in Japan with the squatting hole thing). My life in the central valley quickly became a game of finding the best vines/trees/bushes/corn stalks to pee behind. And thus was invented the Rating System (all categories out of 5 stars): comfort, privacy, and view. Comfort was often impacted by such things as the density of the soil or the presence of fire ants. Privacy, I found, was the best in this lovely corn field that I deemed the most fun place to pee. And the view in the central valley was ok. I plan on making a spreadsheet of bathroom break ratings to fill out throughout my travels.

But enough about that. So here I triumphantly return to my blahg to document what I assume will be more exciting than the central valley. I’ll be traveling abroad for the next few months — with the solar car team for the next 5 weeks or so in Australia for the World Solar Challenge, then some freelance traveling through more of Australia, New Zealand, and Japan. And then London, but we can talk about that later.

OH MY GOSH I JUST HEARD THAT THERE WILL BE SHOWERS ON THE PLANE

just kidding that’s some special VIP lounge thing I’ll go cry over here

To pass the time waiting for my flight at LAX, I delude myself into thinking that there will be lasagna as a meal option, USB charging with be available, and that there are showers on the plane. Also, I ate Panda Express (my second favorite gourmet restaurant, after Subway) and taught Hayden how to make an origami paper crane.

I have officially learned the sad truth that Hayden’s iPhone camera is much better at taking cell phone pictures than my otherwise superior Android. But at least now we know.

Our plane is boarding soon and Hayden is getting nervous because the gate sign says “Boarding: Closed” even though the gate attendant announced earlier that we’ve been delayed by 30 minutes. Time to go.

O K

bye