One Year

Today is the one-year anniversary of my move to Gainesville. I still miss my friends in Los Angeles and my work at the LA Zoo, but I am enjoying my life here. And the weather in Florida isn't as oppressive as I expected. Several times lately I have stepped outside and marveled at how nice it feels and then am surprised to find out that the temperature is in the mid 90s. I guess I have adapated to the hot weather.

My trip to Iowa went well. The other faculty members in my department are great and I have started working on a computational project with one of them. Which means that I am now using some of my start-up funds to contribute to the payment of a student who is doing the data analysis.

Sadly, Agnieszka and Dominika's time in Gainesville is over. Agnieszka flew back to Poland yesterday and Dominika flies back tomorrow. They've been great company and we've had a lot of fun exploring Florida together. They are planning to come back next summer, so hopefully we will have some more adventures before I move to Iowa. There are pictures from our Ichetucknee Springs tubing trip here. Unfortunately, we never had a chance to go back for a second visit. Last weekend we went to Clearwater Beach on the Gulf Coast. It was absolutely beautiful and the logic of the name "Clearwater" is obvious. You could stand in chest-deep water and clearly see the fish swimming around your feet. We also found a Fatburger in Clearwater, so Dominika and Agnieszka had the chance to sample a West Coast chain. There are Clearwater Beach pictures here. And I've tried pasting a video of the fish here.

Last weekend I downloaded the "Dirty Dancing" soundtrack on iTunes and have had a blast listening to it on my iPod. It's been so much fun, that I decided to watch the movie tonight. While it's a little more wooden than I remember, it's still really fun to watch. It's hard to believe that it was released 20 years ago.

I previously reported that the Discovery channel had visited our lab and interviewed my advisor, Lonnie Ingram. We suspect that the show aired this week as "Future Fuels" on the Discovery Science Channel, but unfortunately no one in our lab has access to this channel. But if you do, and you find the program, check it out! But don't look for me, I was never on-camera that day.

back from Denver, off to Iowa

My trip to the SIM conference in Denver went very well. It was good to get to know my co-workers, Ken and Xueli, better and also to meet some new people. The convention was held at the Denver Hyatt, which was lovely. However, I was surprised at the stinginess of the hotel. For example, the room contained a great flat-panel TV, but there was absolutely nothing that I could watch on that TV for free - not even network TV. But on the other hand, the hotel did have a lot of great free amenities, such as a gym, pool and hot tub. It was fun to compare the email updates that I received from my pet sitters. Dominika said that Sheba was "the nicest dog that she ever met", while Tammy said that Cassie growled and hissed at her - embarassing, but not surprising.

This week I'm headed off to Iowa State University for two days. My department (Chemical and Biological Engineering) is having their annual one-day faculty retreat and have invited me to join them. Then I will spend one day doing an inventory on my lab space. The previous professor in my speciality left behind some equipment, so I need to get a feel for what's there and what I still need to order. It's all very exciting! I'm flying to Iowa on Wednesday night and will be back late Friday night.

I am continuing to enjoy the outdoor opportunities here in Florida. Last weekend a few of us made another beach trip. Instead of making a fourth trip to St. Augustine, we decided to try Daytona Beach. The differences between the two beaches were amazing, especially considering that they are only 60 miles apart. The waves at Daytona Beach were much gentler and the water didn't taste as salty or bitter. And NO, we don't intentionally taste the water, but sometimes you just can't help getting some in your mouth. But despite the nice features of Daytona Beach, half of our group ended up getting stung by jellyfish. Luckily, no one was seriously injured and I was NOT one of the people who got stung. Daytona Beach pictures here. Yesterday, Dominika, Agnieszka and I tried "tubing" at Ichetucknee springs. I have previously posted about my kayaking expeditions at Ichetucknee springs (pictures, video), but "tubing" was an entirely new experience. We had a wonderful time and are going to play hookey one day this week and go again. I will post a more detailed description and pictures soon.

I read and enjoyed the newest Harry Potter book last weekend. I thought it was the most exciting of the entire series. To prevent giving anything away, I won't say anything else.

Like most of the country, we are having a heat wave. When I drive home at 5pm, it is often 100F or higher. And one day our overnight low was only 78F! But, it's really not that bad and I am super grateful to finally have a car with functional air conditioning! The worst thing about the heat is it makes it difficult for Sheba and I to get our long walks in. For now, we get up before sunrise and walk 2 miles - but even then it's uncomfortably hot.