long time gone

i really do have things to tell and still have pictures to show from my birthday boating in the park. just don't seem to find the time to sit down and type them out in an orderly fashion. so, a small list of things and a promise to elaborate on most of them at a later date:

1) no longer planning to graduate in december, more like march or april now.

2) i had a very nice b-day in nyc where bethany and thomas took me out to the trailer park for a b-day eve dinner and i had champane in a can! (obviously i still have the can). it was really nice getting to see them so regularly during the summer.

3) rach call me on my b-day as well even though 3 days before i had NOT called her on her b-day.

4) kati called me too!

5) stealing an excellent birthday plan from bethany, we took out a rowboat in central park! then we went to a schmancy fondue place and had cheese fondue for dinner! followed by desert at max brenner's chocolate bar. perhaps i was just too full from the cheese, but the chocolate bar wasn't THAT great.

6) ACS was ok. would have been lots better if i had not been left to entertain courtney the entire time (she's completely incapable of being by herself, and would rather hang out with someone she greatly dislikes than go it alone!). neetu was meeting with her future husband, and therefore can not be chastised for leaving me alone with the beast.

7) tejas is moving to midtown this weekend. yay! no more crazy middle aged man (and sometimes wife and 3 kids) to contend with! plus, he has a little front porch area, just the right size for my little patio furniture set from my mom!

8) i'm finally getting back into the swing of things in the lab after the move and ACS and all. my laser set-up is almost complete (this time with properly expanded beam) and a replacement polarlizer arrived yesterday for the one i seem to have burned a hole in!

9) the ~1oz polarizer can in a respectively huge box that weighed 2 lbs. when i opened it up there was this large red box that says LAB SNACKS: A Treat for Humans. and it was filled with SNACKS! its awesome. Thorlabs is the best! there are 2 trail mix bars, cheezits, 2 twizzlers, tic-tacs, roasted almonds, and fruit snacks! obviously, thorlabs is very smart and realizes how easily swayed grad students are by free food!

10) job searching sucks. i applied to a position at sandia. haven't heard anything yet. am going to the job fair on campus next week. don't think i really want an industry job, but i'm gonna give it a go anyway. not that i can even give them a approximate starting date yet. geez.

11) the church is a having a pet blessing for the local community next weekend. i agreed to make homemade doggy biscuits and organize others to make people treats. i'm still a little on the fence with this one, honestly. i think its sort of odd, but i understand why they are doing it. they are trying to meet people where they are. the community is full of pets and pet lovers, so what better way to meet these people and get them to at least know that Epworth exists than through their pets? still, i think its weird. thoughts?

i suppose that's all for know. neetu should be coming in soon and then we will be heading to the gym.