diversity and more fun with fruit

Well, here I was at the third day of SERMACS 2019
and my second luncheon...
only it wasn't just a luncheon, but also a workshop.
Drats, I should have found out more about it!
That's okay, I was easily at the most-diverse table
of the bunch.

I had my 61-year-young self, Brandon Quillian (black, former sailor, mid-40's, and still teaching), and Rashad (a young Indian researcher at AERI).
Diverse in ethnicity, age, and sex, at the very least.
(smile)
The other tables were all vanilla or all chocolate...
at a diversity luncheon.
There's some irony, n'est-ce pas?

The workshop urged us to acknowledge inherent biases, including those of the leader, Rochelle Williams.
As for the meal, it was a notch above yesterday's.
Again, I created my own variation, placing the grilled onions, peppers, and portobello onto my salad greens, then adding some sausage and peppers on the side.
Had to leave room for black and white tiramisu!
(smile)

Afterward, I was wandering about in the expo area when what to my wondering eyes did appear but the tortured orange.
The woman there motioned me over.
I'd asked yesterday about hooking up other fruit...
and she'd fetched an apple from breakfast so we could look at it in action as a battery!
How absolutely, marvelously, fun!!!
The apple was actually more of a powerhouse than the orange!

What might tickle my fancy after that bit of joviality?
How about some far-out "Astrochemistry in the Southeast and Beyond"?
Well, surprisingly, that was just the ticket!
The three speakers I heard had wonderful senses of humor and one of them even talked about my favorite comet, the Hale-Bopp of 1995.
I sure did like seeing that one in the night sky on my drive home from campus!

Then it was time for the headliner talk on my radar
and of the day: "The Past, The Present, And The Future Of The Periodic Table"!
Except I had gotten my wires crossed (get it?).
Instead of it being a single talk, it was a the title of a collection of presentations!
And now it was almost 4 PM and I had missed almost
all of them - ack!

However, I needn't have been concerned.
I was right in time for the entire talk by E.B. Fox.
Remember him, at last year's SERMACS in Augusta?
He was the one presenting The National Historic Chemical Landmark for the Savannah River Site's work with Plutonium-238!
How enchanting to hear about that again!
i thank You, God!

Now, I'm home again and I'll soon be having my "Tina Tuesday" with the running bear.
Hooray for me!
And we'll be feasting at Olive Garden before "Zombieland: Doutble Tap"!
But before I put away this third day of the conference, let's flash back to Sunday.
Well, kinda sorta.
(Hey, ask the bear... lol!)
See that box in my hand?
It also appeared above, by my plate of delectable dessert.
(smile)
It's a new coffee mug, beaker-style, given to me by Patti in thanks for my weeks of work preparing for the National Chemistry Week event.
How very kind of her!
I look forward to using it tomorrow morning... on Mole Day!
Woohoo!