bugsii

On our way home from Schenectady today, this is what we ran into! This was near Buffalo (go figure). I kind of felt like a 6th grader that jumps up to stare out of the window when the first snowflake falls. When we got to Columbus, though, it was about 40 and sunny. No snow days in our future.

Today is the first day of the fall quarter. I was still working out whether or not I would be able to take the job at ODE and had to meet with my adviser this morning. She was really serious and told me that getting a doctorate is not just about getting As, it’s about being part of an academic community. She wants me to be able to join groups and attend lectures on campus. It really made me think, I really need to make sure I don’t get take on too much. But, in the end she wrote a really nice letter of support to the Graduate Studies Committee so that I would be able to work there. She said I should evaluate after this quarter and see if it’s going well. That works for me.

While I was waiting for the meeting, I was watching all of the students walk to class. There are definitely a lot more people here now, but it doesn’t seem as crowded as I thought it would be. One thing is for sure though, I cannot ride my bike on the sidewalk anymore. I spend most of the time trying not to hit people, so I guess I have to be a real biker and stick to the street. Here are some students on Woodruff.

I also got to stop by one of the offices and get a key to my office! Yes, I have an office! I have to share with 6 other people, but it’s a pretty nice room. I’ll get pictures of it later. For now, here are the keys… can you see the OSU?

So then at 1:30 I had my first class, which is on qualitative analysis. My professor is the one I TAed for this summer, so it was good to already know what she’s like. She’s pretty funny too, so it should be a good class. While I was waiting for class today, I thought I spotted some yellow on a tree, so I took this picture.

Do you see it? I really want it to be fall. It was 85 degrees today! That’s crazy.

Anyway, my second class was at 4:30 and it’s on using games in education. Seriously, we looked a bunch of online games today and I am really excited about the final project, which is to design my own game in “vaporware.” I was trying to figure out what vaporware was (and was kind of worried about learning it), when my professor said that it was just conceptual. So, not hardware or software, “vaporware” as in “like vapor” or only exists in the air as an idea. I know I’m not explaining it well, but it was pretty funny (and I felt kind of stupid). So, we just have to design the concept and storyboard of how the game would work. I’m psyched!

Now, I’m hanging out with Ben and Matt watching some Dancing with the Stars… and they love it.

This morning, I went for a run, came back and we still didn’t have power. I had to get ready for TA orientation, so I took a shower in the dim light of the bathroom. I felt like I was showering in a dark room (you know, like where you develop photographs). Then, I couldn’t iron my clothes, so I had to put them on wrinkled and drive to Ben’s house with wet hair. It was sucky.

So, we are STILL without power. This is the longest that I have ever been without power and the electric company is saying that it could be as much as a week. Last night, we brought all of the things from the fridge that we were worried about to Ben’s house. Thank God he has power. That’s also where Dan worked today and where I had to dry my hair. This is annoying.

This morning, I went for a run in Goodale Park. There were a lot of limbs down everywhere and there were also a lot of city workers out cleaning up. Here’s what I came across in the park.
I don’t know if you can tell, but the sidewalk was ripped up with the roots of this tree. It was crazy.

I guess I should try to be positive. There are some good things about not having power. For one, it’s a lot quieter in the house. No TV, no computer, no fridge or air conditioning running. I feel like I’m on the top of Mt. Everest. Yay. It also does get you to talk to each other more, since there’s really nothing else to do. I remember once when we lost power when I was in college and I met just about everyone on my floor. It was kind of amazing. And, we must have a generator or something because some of our lights go on really dim and the coffee maker turned on this morning, but took like an hour and half to make gross coffee. My hair dryer also turned on, but it was kind of like hot breath. Haaaa. It was weird. Also, cars are obviously unaffected by power outages, so I can still drive around, listen to the radio and go to stores that are closed due to the power outage. Awesome. I’m also getting to see a lot of Ben and Matt, which is nice… I guess. That’s all the positives I can squeeze out right now.

Yesterday, we drove all day and made it home by about 5pm. I got sick the night before we left, so it wasn’t the most comfortable trip, but I feel better now, so I’m not sure what happened.

This morning, we got up and went to church and then grocery shopping. Then, Ben came over and we were hanging out and right before I was going to make dinner, it got really windy. The lights started flashing and then the power went out. Here’s a video of the action. It reminded me of the Wizard of Oz (and by the way, it’s sideways. Still trying to figure out the video camera on the iPhone).

It was apparently the remnants of Hurricane Ike. If so, I can’t imagine what it was like in Houston. Right now, Dan and I are at Ben’s where we finally headed so that we could actually make dinner. We’re not sure if our power is back on, so I’m blogging from here.

When we were in Maine at the lighthouse, Dan took a video of the scenery, but I forgot about it, so I thought I might as well share now. Better late than never. It was beautiful!