Forty-three, you know this number. We all know this number.  But just in case, let me tell you about some facts I found about it.

43 is a prime number — it can only be divided by 1 and itself. 

43 is the atomic number of Technetium (Tc) — a radioactive element. It was the first artificially produced element, not found naturally in stable form on Earth, and it is used in medical imaging, especially in nuclear medicine scans. 

Messier 43 (M43) is a nebula located near the famous Orion Nebula. It’s sometimes called De Mairan’s Nebula, discovered in the 1700s.

The 43rd President of the US was George W. Bush (sorry about that).

In numerology, 43 is sometimes associated with creativity + stability (4 = structure, 3 = creativity). Some mathematicians like 43 because it shows up in quirky number patterns and puzzles.

Alright, alright! Enough of that!

None of that matters; what matters is that on March 31st of the year of our lord, 2026, I have turned 43 years old, and it was a very unusual one. First, it landed on a Tuesday! Well, okay, you could make the case is taco Tuesday, so more reason to celebrate or whatever. Second, I had to travel for work that day. Which kind of sucked because that meant I couldn’t spend it with the family, but it is what it is. Where was I traveling, you ask? Well, to Ames, fkn’, Iowa! 😁

And why, you ask? Well, the company that I work for has one of our labs there, and I have been wanting to visit it for years! And finally, the opportunity came. Although probably not under the best circumstances, as all operations for that lab are being moved elsewhere, and all but 3 people are losing their jobs by the end of the year or Q1 of next year. That sucks, very much! IT broke my heart when I heard. I have been working with these people for years, even if it was just via email or Zoom calls. Most of what I do is because of their work. 

This trip to me wasn’t just about learning more about the lab and all the work they do behind the scenes to produce the data I will later be working with; it was to see these people face to face and tell them thank you! To let them know how much I appreciate working with them, for all their help, and their teachings. It was nice to get to spend time with them in the lab and outside of the lab. I got to visit a few of the local breweries and an amazing local Pizza. 

All things considered, it was a good trip. Until it was time to come back. The weather  and the travel lords weren’t as kind to me. First, the driving from Ames to Des Moines was fun, as they say, lots of heavy rain the entire way, but I can handle that. The problem was that the plane inbound that was supposed to go to Minneapolis got delayed by 1 hour, which in turn made me lose my connecting flight from Minneapolis to Boise. Instead, I got rebokked and went from Miniepolist to Salt Lake, from Salt Lake to Boise. Rather than a 10 PM arrival time, it was 1 AM.

So, thank you for reading!

Bye-bye!