Monsoonal Confessions: Wow I spent a lot of money this month!

Looks like I haven't written in a very long time. So I will try to recap the highlights and skate over the dull/unpleasant portions.

New York

I went to New York to see the Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers in concert. It was worth every penny. The weather in New York was absolutely perfect, the company was great, concert incredible and everything went off pretty much without a hitch.

We spent most of our time in New York getting incredibly lost in Central Park. I had no idea how large that park was. Last year when I went I didn't get nearly as lost as I did this time, and this time I had another navigator and my new phone which has Google maps.

The actual concert was really beyond words. Just imagine being in Radio City Music Hall with a full house that loves Lord of the Rings as much if not more than you. They laugh and cry at all the right parts. The orchestra and singers were so so good. The scene in the end where Gandalf and Eomer appear to save the day where the orchestra is playing full out and the boy-soprano sings was -- transcendent, only way to put it.

We ate very well while we were in the city, here are all the types of food that we had.

Food list: Korean, Irish Pub with Indian fare, French Bistro (the best food was here), Hot Dogs, Tapas Bar, Cinnabon!, Italian

On the last day there Christine and I went to see Ground Zero, it was a very strange experience, but I'm glad that I did it. The memorial is going to be very beautiful.

It was a very quick trip. I can't wait to go back and see the "Return of the King."

Teaching

I starting my teaching duties, in fact I have already gone through one rotation and am halfway through my second group of students. The first rotation was really good, there weren't any big snags along the way. The students aren't as prepared as I would have expected them to be, but I suppose that is why I am there. The students are fun to work with (except my current afternoon session where it is like pulling teeth to get anyone to answer questions). Most of them are over 21 or over so it is a little weird to be teaching and controlling their grades but I'm getting the hang of it. My afternoon session has this one guy who's probably 45 or so. He is so overbearing that none of the other students answer anything. I find him obnoxious. I will be getting my first set of reports back in a week then I'm going to have a lot of grading to do, until then I don't have too much to do outside of labtime. The lab professor told me in confidence that he heard from my first rotation of students that I did a good job, so that was kinda a confidence booster. But then he added more work into the lab because he said I could handle it. "sigh"

Research

So I started my research in earnest. Last week I spent pretty much all of Monday, Wednesday, and Friday in my new chem lab learning their process for making lead sulfide (PbS) quantum dots. They have a much more advanced set up than I did in my lab at Cal Poly so the procedure takes a lot longer, but the end result is much better. I think that I did a pretty good job overall. They gave me a desk of my own, and if I ask really nicely they may buy me a computer.

Since the lab contains a lot of light-sensitive devices they have blocked out all the windows so it makes the environment a little depressing. I went in at 9am and got out at 5:30pm and I only saw the sun during my lunch break. The work was fun though and I think it'll fit me really well in the future.

Weather

I must say Seattle hasn't been as rainy as it has been made out to be (apparently we are having a freak October though) it has been raining down south in LA while up here it has been clear and sunny almost everyday. That trend is coming to an end this weekend though. They are forecasting cloudy skies from now till March!