This was the first full day. It started off quite early by pacific time standards but didn't feel that way. I dropped Steph off at the
Carousel Center, a giant mall. They happen to be working on it right now so there was a lot of construction going on.
I found my way to campus by feel, after reading how to get to my final destination, the Quad 4 VIP parking. Getting to the lot went pretty smoothly. I walked passed the Quad (which was filling up with people) and headed for the Physics building. Inside I didn't immediately find the people I was looking for because the floor plan was a little odd. On the first floor there is a lecture hall, but on the second floor there is another hall way and more offices- it is hidden behind the free standing wall with the stairs and the elevator.
Once in there I chatted with the people I knew, and was introduced to a few new faces. Then I got a piece of good news. I've been upgraded from a TA to a RA! I'm pretty excited about this because it means I'll be able to keep working on LIGO from the start. I'm not sure how hard exactly, because I need to get the classes taken care of too.
After this I had a 'grad student's lunch'. Six of us, grad students only, went to King David's restaurant. It was an okay place, I think you just have to know what to order.
Next up was a little bit of work- the post-doc and I took the eLIGO telecon. Then it was back to the Carousel Center to pick up Steph and head back to the hotel for some down time.
Dinner is at 6:45 with two professors, the post-doc, and a friend of mine, one of the senior grad students.
The first picture is of the Quad. As you can see, they have rolled in the special weather for visiting students. The sky is blue, there is no snow, and there are a lot of people on the grass. Aparently we are 20 degrees F above average today.
