A seven mouse day

Here at 4715 Nash we our on our third "creature plague." Creature plagues here, while annoying, are not nearly as bad as in Minnesota because our creatures do not a) bite or b) stink. First came the flies, which we eliminated with sticky fly strips. Second came the fruit flies, which I largely eliminated by pouring cider vinegar over the fly strips. Now we have mice. At first we were content to let the little buggers be, but when they started sleeping in Ali's bed and nibbling the apples on our kitchen counter, we decided it was time to declare war. So out came the snap-traps, and down went the mice. Three overnight last night, and four more today. One trap under the kitchen sink has caught five of the mice, so I'm guessing they are coming in near there. In any case, we plan to keep up the trapping until we have depleted our local mouse population.

I had no academic duties today, so I started collecting research papers on biological hydrogen production and accumulated a list of ~70 or so. Tomorrow between classes I will start reading some of them.

I installed my scanner/antenna this evening, so we've been listening to Union Pacific and the Corvallis police.

Yesterday was the first day of class. I must say I am disappointed at the quality of the teaching here compared to Carleton. I also feel like classes here will require significantly less time commitment, so I will have more time to read and think about my project and to get acquainted with lab work.

Contact information

New house phone: 541-754-1201
Address:
4715 SW Nash Ave.
Corvallis, OR 97333

You can always find this at my contact page.

Feels a bit more like school today after my morning lab meeting and several hours spent reviewing physics. Ali, Kyle, and I stopped by the brew shop this afternoon and picked up the requisite supplies and ingredients to start a batch of beer tomorrow - a porter.

Ebba is cooking some amazing-smelling Indian food for us tonight - the odors of of cardamom and coconut oil are wafting into my room.

Four new photo essays

The Subaru is in the shop today, and the initial report indicates something amiss in the engine (oil and air getting into the coolant). I suspect head gaskets, but I won't know until they take the engine apart tomorrow. If it is a head gasket problem, it will be free (parts and labor are warrantied for one year), but if it is something else (e.g. cracked cylinder head) it could cost me a pile of dough. I should know soon...

Our near-infinite supply of pears all got ripe at once, so we have spent much of the past days slicing, boiling, and canning. We now have many jars of pear butter in both blackberry and lemon-ginger flavors. I find them quite tasty, and if Ebba allows it I may bring some home for Christmas.

I am now registered for classes (physics, microbiology, differential equations, and an introductory grad student seminar), and I just purchased my textbooks to the tune of $474. Money is disappearing...

I added four new photo essays to my website, one from the roadtrip out here, one combining a visit to Eugene with a trip to the coast, one from my backpacking trip with Lily, and one with pictures of my house.

Our dry weather has ended, and it is now cooler (40 degrees at night, 65 during the day) with occasional rain (0.13" so far today). Check out my weather page if you are interested.

I'm in Oregon

I arrived at 10:30 am on Thursday, Sept. 11 after 1800 miles and four days on the road. It was a beautiful drive, and by the third day I was wishing I had farther to go. The Subaru worked well with the exception of an air leak into the coolant system that didn't slow me down but will require some examination.

Since arriving I have:
--spent a night in Eugene with Lily, Tom, Lucy Hodgman, and Liesl van Ryswyk (all Carleton friends)
--visited Lost Valley intentional community
--painted my room
--bought a desk and a dresser for $40 each on Craigslist (I still need a bed but the air mattress works for now.) The dresser was a great deal - probably worth about $150.
--spent a great deal of time talking with my most interesting housemates
--biked to campus three times to get my health insurance, student accounts, and ID cards squared away
--helped Liz (4th year student in my lab) with some hydrogen experiments and had lunch with the grad students in my lab.
--installed my weather station (check it out at http://www.luterra.com/weather)

I *may* have time to post a photo essay from my trip, but at the moment there are more interesting things to do (like driving to the coast and going backpacking with Lily this weekend), as well as more pressing things (like meeting with Roger to discuss class registration and transferring the disheveled mound of stuff on my floor to the new dresser), so it might be awhile. Until then, know that I am well.