OK so yesterday was a long day. It started at 3AM EST for some reason. Anyway, here's the stream of consciousness recap:
I love standing there in government center seeing the blue train pull up with it's "WONDERLAND" banner on top, because it means that I'm going to the airport and it makes me feel like I'm going on some magical adventure. Taking off in the rain is so great. The jet exhaust does really awesome things to the standing water on the runway, and then you're in the sensory deprivation cloud for several minutes, only to gradually break through and realize that every day is blue skies at 30,000 feet. And clouds are always so beautiful from on top. I love flying.
I spent the flight reading from Dimitri's book about steady shock waves. They served me a "breakfast burrito" which was some sort of sick joke reminding me that I wouldn't be in Los Alamos until after Chiliworks had closed. Yuck. Unfortunately, I was on the wrong side of the plane to see the mountains as I landed in the new Denver airport. But I did see some really interesting ground texture over Nebraska of all places. The crop rotation zones and irrigation circles had blowing snow on them an had accumulated a sort of chiaroscuro effect, making each little section of land appear to be at a different elevation. I took a couple pictures of it. But I need to do some work on them for the effect to come out.
Denver airport is cool from the outside, our plane taxied right by the main water cooling towers. Reminded me of the ones at Harvard, only much larger. The one-hour flight to Albuquerque was much more enjoyable, as I was sitting next to a woman who ended up being a post-doc in atmospheric sciences on her way to a conference. She had done particle physics research as a grad student and caught me reading the rad-hydro book. We had a great discussion and the trip was over in no time. My bag was the first one off the carousel.
Today's rental car: The cherry red ford focus. CD player, freshly washed.
I drove straight to Sandia peak and paid my $14 to go up the tramway and look around. Unfortunately, in the winter the tram is clogged with ski/snowboarder people and it was much less serene than I was hoping for. Also, there wasn't very much snow at all, even at the top. But it was still a great view and very relaxing.
On the road again, I drove up to Los Alamos in record time, arriving an hour and a half before I was supposed to meet John. So I drove around the city, saw the burn damage and how they had leveled most of the dead houses and trees. They're starting to rebuild slowly. I went by TA-55 and saw the landmines and the guard tower and the triple-razor wire. I don't know why I like looking at that facility. I drove to White Rock and went to the overlook, which was completely empty and peaceful. I was too late for the sunset, but it was still fantastic.
Returning to John's, I found him there and with a new car! His new car is way nicer than his crapulent Bronco. Luckily, though, he hadn't thrown the Bronco away. The apartment was pretty much as I left it. In fact, there were still things on the phone message pad in my handwriting. He had accumulated a bunch of mail for me, including four Megaball donations! I forgot to change the address back to Boston!
The two of us went out to meet Dimitri at the Central Ave. Grill. Dimitri, as it turns out, is the single coolest guy ever. I was worried that he would have a stiff upper lip and not be any fun, but he is great. His hair is longer than mine, he's very laid back but gives off this aura of genius. The three of us had a long discussion of various lab projects, my standing, my clearance, my future, etc. Very good things happened. And just by meeting him I'm so incredibly inspired to work like a maniac for him. This is such a good thing. Tomorrow the work starts in ernest.
