A different angle

Goin' to the Moon

It's bizarre to think that this thing took humans to the moon. Well, at least most of the way there:



According to reliable sources, when this thing took off it used 0.5% of all the power being generated on the entire planet at that particular moment:



Each of these engines is tall enough for me to stand inside it. Wow!

Long time...

.. no blogging here. Oh well, such is life.

So, what's been going on? First, my house has been Internet-deprived for the last week and I'm going nuts. Fortunately I can use my cell phone to read my gmail, but that's about the extent of my internet usage during the holidays.

Speaking of the holidays, I had a visitor over Thanksgiving week. My beloved boyfriend Shan came down from frosty Ithaca and we had a nice time. We went on a road trip to Austin where we had coffee at a sidewalk cafe while listening to a live country bluegrass band. We also went to the Johnson Space Center and visited the old mission control and almost froze our ears off in the cold (it was 11°C and windy in Houston that day). Last but not least we had a delicious Thanksgiving dinner with my friend and co-worker Paula and her husband and our friends Patricia and Pascale.

Shan escaped the worst weather of the year by heading back to Ithaca on Friday afternoon. On Saturday it didn't really get light until ~2 pm, such was the heaviness of the clouds. It rained cats and dogs all day and all plans for outings were cancelled in favor of snuggling up in bed with books and knitting. The same applied, more or less, for Sunday.

And now, the last weeks of being an intern. Better roll up them sleeves...

6 pm

and I'm leaving work. It's been one of those days when all you do all day is sit in front of the computer with things happening veeeeerrrrrry slowly... but still happening.

Am headed for the first installment of the Hula program. I wonder what it'll be like. I have to admit I'm a little nervous. What the hell did I get myself into??

Update, 11/13 @ 1 am: Well, I got myself into some seriously sore butt muscles, that's what! Of course the class was fun. I learned to wiggle my arms very gracefully (ehemm...) and do a figure eight with my hips (in theory, at least). I also learned how to tell my lei that it's wonderful fragrance was coaxing the sun into shining on me. Is there anything not to love about this??

Turandot

Yesterday afternoon at my desk was spent listening to Puccini's Turandot on my iPod. Gee, I'm so cultured!

Penetration talk

Well well. All is well. Oil well, that is.

Funny how geologists like to penetrate things. Isn't there's something decidedly phallic about the whole drilling business:

"This was the first penetration of the Kimmeridgian in Alabama"...

Very phallic, I dare say.