I'm getting settled in Corvallis. I went over to the physics department today and got my ID and keys. They even had my office assigned already. It's pretty nice. I think tomorrow I'm meeting with the prof I'm going to TA for. I think it's calc-based physics, so I'll actually have to think. At least it'll be a good refresher, because I haven't done physics in a couple months.
I figured out how to make some of the equipment in the kitchen work, so dinner was hot dogs off the George Foreman grill with fries on the side. From the stove, not the Foreman grill. I'm following up that success by making brownies. It's not going to be fun doing all those dishes though.
11 July 2005
10 July 2005
a pirate's life for me pt. IV
It has been a very hectic couple of days but I am finally moved in to my new apartment in Corvallis and my dad is on his flight home. My new place is very nice, has one of the lower rents we found and is only two blocks from the physics building.
I have the new place furnished to some degree now. I got the electricity hooked up but I haven't gotten around to getting phone, cable or internet. As for the latter, as some of you may have gathered from the title, it seems one of my neighbors has an unprotected DSL network...
Tomorrow I should get some more of the utilities hooked up, and I'm going to drop in on the physics department's office to let them know I'm in town. Today I think I'm just going to chill here and set things up.
I visited some family up in Portland last night, which was fun but I could barely do the drive back. It was supposed to be an hour and a half and I took two hours, including taking two stops to recuperate. Not fun.
I have the new place furnished to some degree now. I got the electricity hooked up but I haven't gotten around to getting phone, cable or internet. As for the latter, as some of you may have gathered from the title, it seems one of my neighbors has an unprotected DSL network...
Tomorrow I should get some more of the utilities hooked up, and I'm going to drop in on the physics department's office to let them know I'm in town. Today I think I'm just going to chill here and set things up.
I visited some family up in Portland last night, which was fun but I could barely do the drive back. It was supposed to be an hour and a half and I took two hours, including taking two stops to recuperate. Not fun.
07 July 2005
06 July 2005
the oregon trail: mission accomplished / refueling
My dad and I are settled into our hotel in Corvallis. Here's a brief summary of the trip: 2500 miles. 10 states. 4 1/2 days. 2 drivers. For the most part, not very fun. I think it was less painful than my drive to Tallahassee though. Probably beucase we didn't go through Southern states. We didn't get into most of our books on CD, but I did get The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Tertiary Phase) radio play and I enjoyed it greatly.
Did you know it's illegal to pump your own gas in Oregon? I thought it was a joke. It's not. I looked it up to figure out why such a stupid law would be in effect. Apparently it was passed in 1951, ostensibly for safety reasons but really to keep gas station attendants employed. And I guess a combination of the powerful gas-station-attendent-lobby and good old inertia keeps it in effect. So this brings two questions up in my mind:
1. How is this law enforcable? I mean, if I pump my own gas is the attendent really going to call the police and have them chase me down when they could be doing something useful instead? Even if they catch me, I can probably play the Michigan card and say I thought the guy was joking.
2. What is the penalty for breaking this law? (I did some research, and several people claim it's a $500 fine or potentially even jail time. I have yet to find the actual law though.)
I've only had one fill-up here in Oregon so far, but if I'm going to live here for two years I'm gonna need some more gas. I think the act of pumping gas includes putting the nozzle back in its slot. So in today's incident when the tank was full and the idiot attendent was 'helping' someone else, I just put the damn thing back, took my receipt and left, effectively making me a lawbreaker. I may be able to get used to having some dolt pump my gas for me, but I'm not going to play their stupid games if it's going to waste my time. My tank is already half empty and I'm rueing the day when I have to go back.
I know it's not a big deal and I'm not really looking for trouble. I just hate it when the government gets involved in stupid day-to-day things like this. Politically I appear to be a moderate, but I really consider myself to be orthogonal to the axis of left vs. right. My projection onto said axis is currently a little left of center. I say that because I hate George W. Bush. I basically have a libertarian position that the government should take care of a handful of certain things, and stay the hell out of everything else.
Bet you didn't expect to see a prolonged rant about pumping gas, eh? Anyway, my new mission is to find an apartment and furnish it, thus establishing a base of operations in Oregon.
Did you know it's illegal to pump your own gas in Oregon? I thought it was a joke. It's not. I looked it up to figure out why such a stupid law would be in effect. Apparently it was passed in 1951, ostensibly for safety reasons but really to keep gas station attendants employed. And I guess a combination of the powerful gas-station-attendent-lobby and good old inertia keeps it in effect. So this brings two questions up in my mind:
1. How is this law enforcable? I mean, if I pump my own gas is the attendent really going to call the police and have them chase me down when they could be doing something useful instead? Even if they catch me, I can probably play the Michigan card and say I thought the guy was joking.
2. What is the penalty for breaking this law? (I did some research, and several people claim it's a $500 fine or potentially even jail time. I have yet to find the actual law though.)
I've only had one fill-up here in Oregon so far, but if I'm going to live here for two years I'm gonna need some more gas. I think the act of pumping gas includes putting the nozzle back in its slot. So in today's incident when the tank was full and the idiot attendent was 'helping' someone else, I just put the damn thing back, took my receipt and left, effectively making me a lawbreaker. I may be able to get used to having some dolt pump my gas for me, but I'm not going to play their stupid games if it's going to waste my time. My tank is already half empty and I'm rueing the day when I have to go back.
I know it's not a big deal and I'm not really looking for trouble. I just hate it when the government gets involved in stupid day-to-day things like this. Politically I appear to be a moderate, but I really consider myself to be orthogonal to the axis of left vs. right. My projection onto said axis is currently a little left of center. I say that because I hate George W. Bush. I basically have a libertarian position that the government should take care of a handful of certain things, and stay the hell out of everything else.
Bet you didn't expect to see a prolonged rant about pumping gas, eh? Anyway, my new mission is to find an apartment and furnish it, thus establishing a base of operations in Oregon.
the oregon trail, day five: corvallis, OR
Well, we finally made it. We can finally stop driving for days on end. I am very eager to find an apartment and get set up in it, but we don't start apartment hunting until tomorrow. Which is just as well because I need a break for a bit.
05 July 2005
the oregon trail, day four: kennewick, WA
We made it to Washington. Our relief was quickly tempered by the revelation that Washington is a damned barren wasteland. Fortunately we are on the Oregon border now and we will be out of this state first thing tomorrow morning. I tried to take the last stretch of driving but the wasteland drained what little energy I had left, so we had to switch drivers.
We could tell we were getting near Washington because we started seeing hybrids again coming from the other direction. We didn't see any in the red states. I saw an Insight and three Priuses in 10 minutes. It was like an oasis in the desert. Or not.
We started this morning in Montana. The place we were staying at smelled like asphault and diesel fuel. Ritzy. The first stop we made after that left a more positive impression. Montana has quite a few impressive hills, but that translated into a highway that was constantly twisting and turning because we had to navigate around them. We also went through about 50 miles of Idaho, which was pretty much the same. Idaho was the last time change, so now we are on Pacific time.
We drove about the same distance as yesterday, but I think my stamina for this crap is dropping. I am very happy that tomorrow we will reach Corvallis. As for right now, we are going to get some dinner at a local restaurant with Manhattan Project theming. Apparently there was a plutonium breeder reactor somewhere in this area.
We could tell we were getting near Washington because we started seeing hybrids again coming from the other direction. We didn't see any in the red states. I saw an Insight and three Priuses in 10 minutes. It was like an oasis in the desert. Or not.
We started this morning in Montana. The place we were staying at smelled like asphault and diesel fuel. Ritzy. The first stop we made after that left a more positive impression. Montana has quite a few impressive hills, but that translated into a highway that was constantly twisting and turning because we had to navigate around them. We also went through about 50 miles of Idaho, which was pretty much the same. Idaho was the last time change, so now we are on Pacific time.
We drove about the same distance as yesterday, but I think my stamina for this crap is dropping. I am very happy that tomorrow we will reach Corvallis. As for right now, we are going to get some dinner at a local restaurant with Manhattan Project theming. Apparently there was a plutonium breeder reactor somewhere in this area.
04 July 2005
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