The school building I work in is having major construction done on it- general refurbishment, fixing our air conditioning system, and the long overdue revolutionary installation of sprinklers. When I first heard that the sprinkler installation was a first-time thing, I realized how ridiculously outdated this building is. It seems to be a rule that the chemical engineering building at any university (with my three data points >.>) is 1. in a separate building from the other engineering disciplines and 2. in way worse shape than any other building associated with the engineering department. My theory on this is that things explode sometimes and they want to contain that. Why weren’t sprinklers installed before 2013, in a building with dangerous/flammable labs in it? Yeesh.
Anyway, all this construction has made me acquainted with many of the construction workers that have been basically living in our building for the past 2 months. They’ve finally reach our laboratory, 2 weeks behind schedule because they’ve been working around the graduate students’ and professors’ schedules for when we need our offices/labs. This is actually really super nice of them, and after having talked to them for a while I’ve come to know how super friendly they are. Maybe it has to do with the beautiful weather, or the fact that this place is so chill in the summer- all the undergraduates are gone and people aren’t fighting for lab space and walking room- but everyone seems to be in such a good mood. I’ve seen the workers interacting with the researchers, and everyone seems to have a high degree of respect for what the others are doing. We’re all at work, no one is rushed, and everyone is friendly. I never thought I’d witness that sort of dynamic since my idea of people during their work day is harried, grumpy, and indifferent to the tasks of others. I’m still learning.
All that aside, I realized I lied a bit in my last post- I forgot to mention another way I’ve been documenting my life is through long and involved emails and online conversations with my friends. I guess everything happens via written word is technically documentation especially in this day and age, and long email exchanges revealing too many details about our lives is certainly a good way to recall events. I can’t forget about those exchanges, as they are also part of what kept me sane after moving to a new state by myself. Ongoing communication with my friends from “back home” (we are scattered all over the US) through whatever means still helps me when I’m feeling a little bit lost. It’s all a good reference point to remind me of who I am and where I came from.
I really do miss Arizona. Southern AZ, where I grew up, is barren and beautiful in its way, and Tempe is still my favorite city in the world. I’ll go back one day. That said, Colorado is much more obviously beautiful, at least to someone that grew up in the desert. Those I’ve met here from more lush parts of the country think it’s brown and ragged looking, but they’re nuts.
Mill Ave., Tempe, AZ
Fort Collins, CO
My goals for the weekend:
–Read the 2 most important papers of the stack of 11 that I need to be familiar with by the end of the week
-Order gifts for certain people
-Clean my apartment- organize, vacuum, and mop where applicable; my first visitors of the summer arrive on Sunday
-Run at least 3 miles (T_T), go to Yoga, brush up on forms
–Synthesize EEGE monomer
I’m about to shower and then eat overpriced Indian food. Yessss. And then a barbecue/swimming! I’m still surprised that people swim in temperatures less than 90. Crazies.
samuraisock 