Finally

At long last, I am a bona fide physics student. I know this is true because I am, for the first time, eagerly anticipating the end of the semester. During my year at the community college formerly known as NHCTC Stratham/Pease and into my first year at UNH, I met the breaks with a sort of bitter-sweet feeling because I always seemed to get to the end feeling like I hadn't gobbled up every last bit of knowledge within brain's reach. This time around, I both know that I spent a great deal of my free time studying and researching, and that plenty of learnin' awaits me come the end of January.

Here are what sit, smirking and drooling on themselves like idiots, between me and December 19th:

-- The last physics unit test (Friday the 4th). There will be no final. I am so far guaranteed a B+, with which I am hardly satisfied.

-- The Numerical Methods asteroid project (Friday the 4th). This is a great project. We're modeling the movement of a near-Earth asteroid called Apophis that NASA is currently tracking. I'll let you know how it turns out for civilization.

-- The last Linearity unit test (Monday the 7th).

-- The Linearity Final. It's a take-home due the end of finals' week so I'll either have to hammer it out early (ideal) or hand it in when I get home (bestressing).

-- The Numerical Methods final (??). I guess this is during finals week. This may be the one thing I postpone if I'm given the option.

-- AGU! I'm really looking forward to both the conference and the trip to SF. My research is in good shape but I need to put my poster together; that is what I plan to do this weekend.

Oh, I'll get a little hanging out in there, too. Don't you worry.

Melisa and I had a great dinner at Eddie B's in Portsmouth on Saturday night. They do bbq/comfort food and they just opened. For dinner tonight, I made a stewish thing out of leftover ribs and two of their sauces but I can't promise that if you go there, you'll leave with leftovers.

Oh crap it's Tuesday.

I must update once a week at least. If I don't do that, it will mean I am busy and I have waaay too much work to be busy.

School is manageable and ever-enjoyable as usual but I am starting to feel the hot breath of the end of the semester on my neck; I don't think it's going to buy me dinner. Speaking of dinner, though, I am halfway through an onion-garlic-pine nut-avocado scramble (which is to say there are eggs holding the aforementioned components together) with chipotle sauce. All these things were waiting for me in my house when I got home even though I had thoroughly dashed my own hopes of having even a meal whose second cousin twice removed knew a guy who dating a girl who had a dog that had once had a proper dinner. Honestly, my pessimism was supported in part by the fact that I was so epically food-lucky last night that I believed I couldn't possibly repeat the feat: I came home from the lab around 11:30p feeling similarly gloomy about my food sitch when I went fishing in the refrigerator for a beer and saw, faith and begorrah, ten eggs, half an avocado, five strips of turkey bacon and two sandwich rolls. What's more, none of those things were supposed to be used for my lunch today! So I made myself the most delicious egg sandwich I have ever even heard of and gave myself the rest of the night off from homework (mostly because it put me in a satisfaction coma).

Sunday was Turkey Day at Jill's parents' farm. Of course, when I say "Turkey Day", I don't mean Thanksgiving like most people do: I mean the icky, gettin'-up-early stuff that must be done if there are to be turkeys to roast on this coming Thursday. The biggest one of the day came in at 45 pounds dressed! Dad came down as he has the past few years and we had a great time cleaning gizzards (we're getting really good), drinking coffee and, well, doing the other stuff that, if you were really interested, you would witness for yourself; I spare those I love the gritty details.

Just as importantly, Jill and I retrieved Melisa from the airport on our way home. If somebody claims to have a better way to end a long day of hanging around the farm, that person is lying to you and you may give them directions to next year's Turkey Day.

I suppose that's a fair place to end it. I look forward to spending Thanksgiving day in New London because it will be totally devoted to cooling out. Also, I have a bare refrigerator.

Weekend update.

Friday -- The Flunkies killed it at the Pub; all were thoroughly thrilled.

Saturday -- I did a bunch of homework during the day, then went to Melisa's apartment to have DELISH chili and watch Okie Noodling, a documentary about the pastime/sport of "noodling," in which men catch catfish by using their hands as bait. I highly recommend it.

Sunday -- Melisa and I took Mazie for a good walk around Dover then had more chili for breakfast (which is absolutely the way to live) before she had to go to work. Steph and Jason brought Sampson down for a visit around lunchtime so we (the humans) ate at RiRa in market square then stole Melisa from Ganesh and took Sam for a walk around Portsmouth. After Steph and Jason left, I tore through some more homework and went to Jill's friend Thanksgiving party, which was an epic epic hang. There was food beyond measure and all God's chillen (minus a few) was there to enjoy each other's company.

Monday -- Linearity is about to start.

So where was I?

I believe we left off a week ago, when I had just returned from lab. This seems to be a good time for me to update - at least, it is a better time than most other times. If that sounds stressimistic (I hereby stamp my coin flag on that term) it is because today has been an unsettling mix of highs, lows and things to get done but in the larger picture, I have had a pretty enjoyable past few days. My weekends are back and, though I unfailingly arrive at Monday wishing I had spent 1000 hours studying over the course of Saturday and Sunday, I have to admit that I am glad for the relaxation.

Melisa and I met my parents for dinner at the Siam Orchid in Concord on Saturday night and for dessert, my mom gave me a bunch of tulips and two bags of bark mulch so I spent an hour on Sunday weeding and tilling our raised beds, then planting bulbs and tucking them in for winter. I also managed to hang out with "Epic" Eric Stone, who will be leaving us soon.

We took a physics test on Monday and we got the grades back today. That was the low part. I am first and foremost angry at myself for making yet another minor and (hindsight: on) avoidable error but I have to say that this time around, I am irritated that my grade went from 100 to 85 for a factor of two. (I said that a quantity would double when I should have realized that it would quadruple). That's it, though. It's over and in the books so I am not going to say more about it here.

We don't have classes tomorrow and I hope you'll believe me that I look forward to doing just as much work as my little brain and body can handle, which is a lot. Realistically, the day will run out of hours before I run out of motivation (and certainly before I run out of things to do) but I have a really good chance to go into Thursday able to concentrate on the growing pile of AGU-related tasks.

Why press myself so hard? The Funky Flunkies are going to do Thriller at the Pub on Friday (the 13th, of course) and I can guarantee that it will be legit.

Physics is not for weenies.

I just returned from my second brisk jog between Morse and DeMeritt Halls. The first time, I left DeM at 1p for a 1p MIRL meeting and most recently, I used the Morse facilities to print two lab reports five minutes before they were due. Now that I am exercised, I shall eat my dinner and return control to my brain.

I realize that I never updated after Halloween and rest assured, dear reader, it is worth hearing about. Alas, the pictures on facebook tell the story much better than I can but I'll give you the highlights:

-- I dressed up like Bob Ross and many people were a happy little mix of nostalgic and appreciative.

-- Melisa dressed up like a very cute moose and it doesn't matter if not everyone was bright enough to figure out what she was obviously going for.

-- Doctor Gasp played a typically entertaining warm-up set.

-- Nick, Russ, Steve Roy, Jim and F performed as Spinal Tarp; it was one of the greatest theatrical and musical performances that Dover has ever seen and I lived here as a baby so I am qualified to say that. They nailed the costumes and got every note of every song right. Nigel even quit the band part of the way through. Oh! They had a wee stonehenge that descended from the ceiling, too :-)

-- I can't follow that with much except to say that I have excellent friends who know how to do Halloween.

School is. No news is good news but good news would be great news.