Create a Vacuum Day

Vacuum desiccator

According to holidayinsights.com, last Friday (February 4) was Create a Vaccuum Day.  Man, if only I had known that sooner!  I would have celebrated on time.  Instead, I guess I celebrated a week late.

Today I vacuum-impregnated my rock core samples from the Klamath Mountains.  You might be thinking, "Huh??"  One of my office buddies (a PhD student) showed me how to set my samples in epoxy and then put them in a vacuum chamber so that all of the tiny little air bubbles get sucked out.  Thus, I'm left with a nice (and bubble-free!) sample to look at under the Scanning Electron Microscope.

Yep, I think this is my nerdiest post to date.  And, by the way, I had no idea that Create a Vacuum Day existed until I stumbled upon it this evening. :)

Thesis stuff...

from PhD Comics

Mine's only a master's thesis, but the folks at PhD Comics are genius.  The goal is to defend my thesis in the summer (assuming I get it mostly written this semester).  But... it's hard to schedule anything with faculty during the summer (let alone 4 of them) due to busy schedules and field work.  And... things always take longer than anticipated.  The other day, I agreed to let my adviser request a TA spot for me in the fall. :(  I don't want to be in Vegas in the fall, but I guess if that happens, it would be nice to be able to pay rent.

My Refrigerator is Happy Now

I'm back in Vegas after having been in MN for about a month.  Last night, I ordered pizza for dinner, because the apartment had basically no food in it.


Pre-shopping refrigerator:  :(

• water
• butter
• various condiments
• sweet and sour mix
• pop
• lemon juice

Post-shopping (and cleaned!) refrigerator:  :)

• all of the above
• milk 
• creamer
• brie cheese
• parmesan cheese
• greek yogurt
• broccoli
• carrots
• tomatoes
• peppers
• onions
• a pomegranate 
• orange juice

Om nom nom nommm...

To a Better Year

Last year really sucked.  Don't get me wrong, some really great things did happen in 2010, but overall it was a tough year and it ended on a horrible note.

In short, I'd like to say here's to a better year in 2011.  And Donnie, get well soon.  Our thoughts of healing are focused on you, friend.

Photo: http://www.terrytheweaver.ie/pages/healing_tree_jpg.htm 

My Poster

The trip to Denver for GSA was over a month ago, but it was so much fun! We got to see lots of friends (friends from undergrad, former professors, field camp buddies) and it was great being able to catch up with everyone. I can't imagine what next year's conference is going to be like. It's going to be in Minneapolis, so I'm guessing that even more awesome MN geology-types will make an appearance.

Aside from all of the fun, I also survived my poster presentation (see above). I got a lot of useful feedback from people. It was also great to hear people suggest things that my adviser and I were already working on (but didn't include on the poster). Presenting on day 1 (which was Halloween, btw) was also very lucky, as I came down with a nasty cold halfway through the conference.

Birthday Season

June, July, and August in my family are pretty much considered to be "Birthday Season." On each side of my family we get together for a big birthday event (usually not too far off from the 4th of July) and celebrate. With our roadtrip this summer and lots o' research time, I completely forgot to post the cards I made.

For the ladies

For the men

And this one for the guy cousins who turned 24

I'm Getting Out of Nevada!!

At least for a few days, that is. :)


I'm headed off to Denver, CO for the Geological Society of America Annual Meeting! There will be some work involved, as I'm presenting my poster on serpentine weathering on the first day and I will also be keeping my eyes open for job opportunities. But, I'm thinking of this as a nice vacation and looking forward to a great time reconnecting with some awesome geologists! (Free beer and wine at the alumni parties is another plus!)

Photo: http://www.c-villecameraclub.org/Larry%20Goss/slides/Big%20Blue%20Bear%20-%20Colorado%20Convention%20Center%20Denver.html

I Need to Get Out of Nevada!

I love the sunlight. I love the warmth. But oh dear god, I need to get out of this state!!! Lately, school has been stressing me out big time. I have a lot of responsibilities, which I agreed to take on, but it's turning out to be a lot of stuff. I don't like to be a bitter and down person, but I need to vent. So here goes:

• People here do not know how to drive! I've complained about this many times, but it never ceases to tick me off. Today Erik and I decided to avoid an exit that is always backed up at a certain time of day. Instead, we end up at a light that says "No turn on red," so logically we stopped to wait for the green light in order to make our right turn. Three, that's right three! cars pulled around us on the shoulder of the road to turn right through the red!! Ugh... so much for taking the less frustrating route home!

• I suspect NV Energy is trying to steal our money. Two months ago we got an electricity bill that was $50 more than the highest bill we'd ever had. We were shocked by it, but figured that it was possible that we used the air conditioning a bit too much that month. So, we took efforts to cut back the following month, and the next bill was back to the normal range. We have not changed those habits. Today I opened our bill to find out that it had skyrocketed again! There's no way we used that much electricity (we even had days without air conditioning because it was cooler outside!).
• Nevada is brown. And dry.
  
• Nevada/Las Vegas makes a bunch of the "This is the worst place to live/Places with the worst water/Most dangerous neighborhoods/Dumbest people" lists. At the same time I see the other sides of those lists with Minnesota near the top for "Best places to live/Cleanest tap water/Smartest people" lists...
• My best friends aren't here. Erik's best friends aren't here.
• There are giant cockroaches. Enough said on that topic.
• I get more headaches here because it's arid and I suck at drinking water.
• Our neighbors have sketchy friends who like to publicly urinate on the tree outside. I am thankful that I realized what was going on, and looked away in time to avoid that image.
• We only get one channel that works all the time here, and it's FOX. Enough said.
• I'm sick of hearing/seeing Sharron Angle and Harry Reid advertisements. Harry Reid, your state is screwed and I don't really think you can fix it. Sharron Angle, you are an extreme moron and should be nowhere near public office.

Oiy... if you made your way through that mess, I apologize for the bitterness and the giant unloading. I'm hoping that things will start shaping up soon, and my outlook on stuff will improve along with it.

Photo: http://www.knowledgerush.com/kr/encyclopedia/Nevada_Test_Site/

Appletini

Erik and I went out to eat at the Yard House on Friday night. They supposedly have the world's largest selection of draft beer, so you can imagine why Erik wanted to go. I, on the other hand, am not a fan of beer so I tested out their martini menu. I love sour-apple-flavored things, and after having one of their apple martinis, we set out to make our own.

1 part sweet & sour mix
1 part citrus vodka
1 1/2 parts sour apple pucker

Shake over ice, and enjoy!

New (Wedding) Blog

I'm starting a new blog: Amethyst, Diamond, & Peridot. It'll be about the adventures (and hopefully no misadventures) that Erik and I come across while planning our wedding.

Enjoy!