7-8-12

So this week wasn’t terribly exciting. We didn’t have actual class at all this week since we had Wednesday off for the Fourth. Instead we had a couple tours and some guest lecturers that just gave short presentations on one or two applications of the subject we’re studying (I can’t remember if I’ve said what it is besides the fact it (can) involve(s) some quantum). Two in particular on Thursday were really good. One lady was Australian and the other was actually from the Midwest, only a state away from where I’m from. Both were very interesting and had very good presentations. I think my undergrad research advisor from back home would have liked them even though they weren’t in her area of chemistry. My advisor is also very good with her presentations and has an amazing eye for detail. I’m going to have to think of what I’m going to call her in future posts if I bring her up again since Dr. H. is already taken. Oh, well. That’s a problem for future me. I’m not around her this summer, so I don’t have much to say about her right now. Anyway, besides the lectures, we also had a couple tours. One was of a nuclear reactor at a power plant. It was pretty cool, but the turbine room was super hot and incredibly noisy. We didn’t look at the reactor itself, just the cooling systems and the turbines like I said. Oh, and a mock control room. They don’t use computers to do the controlling, they still have old fashioned lights and switches and dials. They do that because each switch etc is directly wired to the component it controls. There’s nothing to hack into and it can’t get a virus. Security was kinda insane there too. No small group of people is going to get in there by force without a ridiculous number of explosives or gases. And that’s just to get by the guards. I don’t think you could break into where the radioactive material is stored by force in any reasonable amount of time. Apparently after 9-11 this power station got some flak with people saying “what if the planes had flown into the reactors?” They showed us a video of a test doing just that down in NM or somewhere. The wall was a little chipped but otherwise unharmed. The plane was gone. Again, no easy way to get nuclear material from the plant. It’s sad, though, because the people living around there are fighting like crazy to get the plant shut down. People don’t understand nuclear science at all for the most part and just think it’s something to be scared of. The tour guide sounded a little disgusted with the whole thing. Of course he’s retirement age so he’s been having people fight to shut down “his” plant his whole life. Poor guy. Anyone who reads this and is anti-nuclear energy, it’s not something to be scared of. People already knew Fukishima was a bad design before anything even happened to it, so pretty much all plants in the world aren’t vulnerable to something like that. Plus, most places don’t have to worry about tsunamis, which is what caused the problem, not the earthquake.

                The other tour we went on was a giant cancer/research center. We saw a lot of imaging machines, a cyclotron, and heard some talks about what they do there. They kept showing images of people with metastatic bone tumors all over their body. It was kinda depressing, and I sat there thinking “There aren’t any other pictures you can use that aren’t so extreme?” They actually do a lot with mice and rats there, and that was REALLY interesting to hear about. I really like bio and genetics, so I might get involved with something like that in the future. It’d be sweet if I did. The cancer place was in NYC, but a quieter area than we were in last time. That’s not to say it still wasn’t way busier than back home, but it wasn’t solid business buildings. There were a lot of apartments and lots of small shops/restaurants on the street level, and there were some trees around. I kinda liked it, though I don’t know that I could live there. I’m too used to fields and such right outside of cities like we have back home. I’m so sick of forests everywhere outside the city. We had some time to wander around the neighborhood and eat before the tour. I was a little sick of the people in the group I was with, so I pulled a disappearing act. Then they were all calling me trying to figure out where I was. I didn’t go back. Vee really is right: I’m stubborn. I get in a mood and decide I can’t deal with people, and I refuse to change my mind. Of course, it’s never anger when I do a disappearing act. It’s always depression. So I’m not sure how much control I have over it anyway. I really should start meds in the fall with Dr. H. I kinda had a little freak out Monday night where I was scaring myself, but I got through it. It was just disturbing for an hour or so. I’ve also had to walk back to the dorm at night a couple times this week and I’ve been having some anxiety attacks while doing it. It’s not that I’m scared of the dark. It’s only when I’m out in the open at night I sometimes go on super high alert for most of my walk. One of the nights it only lasted about half the way back, but the second was really bad. I about had a heart attack at one point and ended up running the last little bit.

                On to the people. I’ve really been spending a lot of time with St. T this week. He’s fun to talk to and his innocence is kind of hilarious. He should actually be joining me anytime in the classroom to work on a lab report, so if he comes in I might have to finish typing this later. I also talked to St. C a couple nights this week. He’s OK to talk to, but he was one of those people who was pissing me off on Friday in the city. He was a little clingy. It’s like, you know you can talk to someone else too. Oh, well. I’ve had a couple days break from him, so I’ll be able to talk to him tomorrow without him bugging the crap out of me. I learned the reason Da and Ant have been going to the beach with the German girls every chance they get is because they are trying their best to get in their pants. I guess I don’t understand people’s excessive sex drives. I mean, yeah I would like to have sex, but am I going to ruthlessly pursue it? No. My belief is that these people have been raised to think they have to be sexual to be cool and so they talk about it constantly with their friends and they all just reinforce the behavior. I don’t think it’s possible that they honestly have as high of a sex drive as they act. That, or mine is just really low compared to theirs, but I think mine’s at a healthy level, so I’m pretty sure they’re the ones with the problem. Anyway, Ant and Da went to the beach Friday night, Cla stayed in NYC (thank God), and Jus, Sar and St. C stayed in their rooms that night. That left me, Am, Jam, Jul, Sco, St. T, Jef, and Cor to do something, all the people who piss me off the least. We went to Ruby Tuesday’s for supper. I’d never been there, but it was good. We were all crammed in one (rather large, but still…) booth. It was fun though. Our waiter was pretty awesome. After that we went to a hookah bar. I was impressed. The hookah was way cheaper than back home, it tasted way better, but it wasn’t as strong. They also served beer there and didn’t card, so I got thoroughly drunk (not sloppy or blackout, but I was definitely drunk). The bar also had a dance floor, lights, and awesome music. No one else was dancing, but our group did. I don’t think Sco wanted to admit it, but he likes dancing. When we were planning on going he was saying he wanted to go there for the chicks (1. That reminds me of the Dane Cook bit 2. There weren’t really any there). But when we got there he kept saying he wanted to dance. Oh, well. We’ll let him keep his foolish overly-masculine pride, right? One of the girls, Am, really surprised me. She liked grinding. She really reminds me of a friend back home I’ll call Ex (creative name, right?). I don’t know if I’ve mentioned Ex before. I’ll go back through and see later, but I don’t think so. I really should write about her at some point soon. She’s really a large part of my life, for better or worse. That’s another story, though. Anyway, it’s starting to be scary how much Am reminds me of Ex. It was super fun there. I’m a really talkative drunk, and I love people when I’m drunk, and I want everybody to be happy. I play the fool consciously to some extent when I’m drunk just to brighten everyone else’s evening. Some of it isn’t intentional, too, but as long as they have a good time and I can just blame the alcohol, I don’t care. I will say this was my first time getting drunk off beer too. I usually use mixed drinks or shots. I also talked to Jef a bunch that night and bonded with him a little. I think I’m going to have to change my mind about him. He was alright to hang out with.

                Last night the same group of people, minus Sco, went to the new Spiderman movie. Everyone else really liked it, but I only thought it was OK. The physics and biology were just absolutely horrible. Worse than most superhero movies, I thought. Most of the time I can just suspend my disbelief, but this was too over the top. Oh, well. It was worth the money just to go out with a group and relax for part of the evening. We also ate at Chipotle. I hadn’t been there in a while, and it was just what I needed last night. I really need to get some lab reports done today since this is going to be a busy week. St. T still isn’t here, and he has the data I need to get more work done. Oh, well. As long as I get at least one done tonight. Exciting development, I finally figured out my bike lock combination. It wasn’t any of the ones Dr. P told us to try. Instead it was a really random combo that my lock was first set on. It is pure luck that I happened to write it down when I got my bike, since I didn’t think it was the combo. Of course, as I’ve pointed out before, I am ridiculously lucky. Now, after four weeks of walking to class, I can finally take my bike to the classroom. Hooray! This has ended up being really long. Oh well. I enjoy being able to actually look what I did each week. Maybe I should have started keeping a journal a long time ago. Without putting it on the internet lol. Anyway, St. T just got here and went to make photocopies. When he gets back it’ll be time to be productive. Till later.