Stop and go...

My most recent client wonders as to why my invoice lacks bank information, since you need that kind of stuff to be paid via wire transfer. Since checks seem to be the exclusive method for payment of invoices in the US, however, we typically don't publish our bank data on our invoices.

Doing so seems "wrong" - almost like aiding and abetting identity theft - until you realize that you basically reveal this information to your correspondent when you cash his or her check.

I don't so much mind providing this information to clients, it's just that I've made two calls to my bank and have been given two significantly different sets of information. I tried calling a third time, to the department that deals with foreign currency, but they don't take calls, apparently, they only return them (or say they do; yesterday afternoon's call remains unreturned as of this writing).

As an alternative, I checked the status of my euro account, and was startled to find that I had been charged a whopping sum for account inactivity. I plan to call the bank early in the morning to find out what gives, though I suspect it's all written legibly in black and white somewhere, and that the chances of getting a one-time back-out of the charge are likely nil. Still, one must try.

* * *Today's training session was exactly that: a class. On what are called "EVA small tools.” I kept pressing the instructor for any odd pieces of information, especially the nicknames that astronauts have for various pieces of equipment, which are expressions one is likely to hear over the radio during an EVA (e.g., what is officially known as the “large hook set” is called the “fish stringer”).

* * *I went for a walk with Galina this morning, for about 30 minutes, and then followed with another 10 minutes or so of cycling. Over the past four days, I’ve exercised on three of them. I think I feel better, but it’s too early to tell. My weight, which had dropped markedly during my post-return illness, has bounced back some, to where I’m only 4 pounds lighter than what I weighed upon returning from vacation.

Gotta get to sleep. I have an early telecon.

Cheers...