Blast from the Past

To make a really long story short, I just spent the past week glued to the pages of our mass and energy balances (abbrev'd MEB by my boss, a term i had never thrown around), thermo, and UO books coming up with retarded phase, equilibrium, and vaporization curves for obscure substances for a project that i don't completely understand...this is the first instance of anything chemistry related that i have touched hahaha...but it was an enjoyable blast from the past and my boss and i struggled through it considerably, though i have absolutely no excuse seeing as i have only been out of practice for a couple of months and she abandoned chemE like ten years ago haha...i considered calling some of you when i was having issues with the ideal gas law...kidding...haha

BUT i finally purchased my ticket for sf and have informed everyone at work that i will be taking a personal day to honor the birth of our presidents that monday, so im super excited to see everyone...im not getting in until late on friday so im probably going to have to figure out a way to meet up with you guys, but i'm going to try to go into work for a few hours that friday...jaime that plate is hysterical and i would like to try to acquire one...

also i am posting at 1 am on a work night because i have developed a new plague called i cant sleep, like seriously, and it is starting to affect my life haha.  i decided that, after this phenomenon started, i would try reading for a while every night before going to bed to see if i could make myself tired.  i made the mistake of starting the twilight book series as a part of my home remedy, and although it has not captured my heart in the same way that harry potter did, i stayed up until 3 and 4 in the morning every night for like two weeks reading those stupid books because i couldn't put them down...so my problem continues.  if there are large purple bags under my eyes when i see you all in january, don't be frightened.

yay presents!

   So I don't know how to make it not sideways...but this is what my parents got for me for christmas!  I can't wait to make some pie.

Much love and happy holidays!

ps- like 3 weeks!!

ChemE Humor

Check out this link. This is why you should always write what you mean. Look for the flowrate.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5heCh49kilrODnqGRS3Iovw8E20nAD958HI1O0

ps: if the link doesn't work (or worse, the writer realizes their error and corrects it), here is a copy of the article:



UPDATE: 23 Dec 2008 8:33pm

The flow rate has been decreased to sub-sonic velocities.

My Life is Boring but Read On

Hiiiiiiiiiii!

I haven't checked this blog in so long and was delighted to find so many posts to read, especially because I have gotten up approximately two times all day due to a big night last night (which involved the following occurrences: my asshole friends throwing rotten pumpkins off my balcony into the courtyard; accidentally grinding Scooby Doo fruit snacks into the rug and pouring boiling water on them to dissolve them and get them out of the rug, which actually worked; accidentally breaking the handle off my sliding door because one of my friends was trying to open it like a regular hinged door; finding one of my friends passed out on my bathroom floor using my bath rug as a blanket; allowing one of my friends to attempt to pour red wine into my mouth from a wine glass while I was lying on the floor and wearing a white sweatshirt - not a good idea; and waking up to find that one of my friends had drunkenly done my laundry...?????), so it has given me something to do while being the biggest bum in the history of America...from the previous description, I think it is clear that I am having some issues adjusting to my "grown up" life.  I'm living with one of my roommates from school who is fab...we love our apartment and have a sick view of DC from the rooftop, and we're in a fun area, so the living situation is pretty good, though I would much rather be living a half mile from Olin hall.  Matt D. lives really close to me, and Carly had he and Jenna and I over a while ago for dinner which was really cute...Rachel was down here last weekend, but I didn't end up being able to meet up with them which was really sad...we need to work on hanging out more regularly : )

Work is great, but I am definitely a fake engineer, which is completely okay with me since I really wasn't that good at chemE anyway haha.  I don't get to see any cool equipment, or hear about awesome workplace injuries such as twisted ankles - actually, I did accidentally fall down the stairs myself a month ago, but just took a timeout on the landing and walked it off - but I do get to work on some really cool defense projects and I'm learning a ton about stuff that I know nothing about, some of it engineering related and some not.  I'm thinking about going back to grad school in two years to get a masters in systems engineering, because that is what I am primarily doing at work, and I really like it even though focusing on that after a chemE undergrad could probably be considered equivalent to jumping ship from ChemE to OR, but I'm okay with it haha.  But I love all of the people that I work with, and I have actually gotten to travel A LOT - I get to go overseas in the spring - and I work out of 4 different offices for three different bosses on six different projects, so my weeks FLY by.   All of my bosses are 30ish and really cool, but there aren't any other "young" people at all, so I don't really hang out with people at work.  I'm lucky in that I still have some high school friends in the area, and there are a couple of girls from my sorority in DC, but that has resulted in me not really making an effort to meet any new people, which probably isn't good.  I go home a lot (a 15 minute drive) and to my grandparents' house a lot (25 minute drive) because I love my family, so I'm glad that I decided to stay so close.

I haven't purchased a ticket for January yet, but Kristen informed me that the prices went down a lot today, so hopefully I will have one when the day is over - I'm really excited to see everyone again, I miss everyone's very original sarcastic brand of chemE humor haha : )

Glad to hear that you all are doing well and actually using things you learned at school, unlike slacker me at this point : )  

Miss everyone,

Lindsay

Olbricht Sighting?

Is it him? 

Pike's Place Market, Seattle, WA

2:42 PM, November 9, 2008

Fluid mechanics is awesome

when taught by an Italian professor named Gianluca Iaccarino.  He started his first lecture by writing the phonetic spelling of his name on the board.  Nice.  Seriously though, it's still hard (Ariel, you reading this), but things actually make sense, and the drawings don't look like they were made by a five year old.  The question still remains, why am I taking fluids as an elective when I have to take transport next quarter?  Poor decision.

In other news, Susan Daniel is our colloquium speaker next week.  That's better than the past two weeks, which were students and one of our own professors.  I'll say hi for you if you want.

I know I just posted but...

...my boss just scheduled a meeting next week to go over a SWOT analysis for the process engineering team at my refinery!!! If only Center were here to say "I told you so." That's it, have a good weekend everyone =)

These are a few of my favorite things

I thought I would take this time to fill you all in on my favorites at PSR:

Favorite wipe board (some people say white board…but I think wipe makes more sense):
This one has to go to the one that we call our attention to every morning in our production alignment meeting for our HSSE (EH&S everywhere else) summary. Today it told us that we have been going 218 days sending everyone home safely, and 7 days respecting or environment.

Favorite part of the day:
When we discuss all of the safety issues and injuries of the previous day (I promise I’m not an awful person…). These injuries include when an operator didn’t notice a step down and twisted his ankle, when a contractor threw a wrench to his coworker an accidentally chipped his tooth, when a worker got stung by a bee, and my personal favorite, when a contractor slipped on the steps and skinned his knee.

Favorite part of the week:
Every Wed morning when we discuss crack spreads.

Favorite Operator:
BARRY POTTER, that’s right.

Okay that’s all…clearly I am working REALLY hard. I hope you are all doing well and I miss you all like crazy! Less than 100 days until Jan 16th…that’s right, I counted.

- Jaime

I <3 jdm

Do you appreciate jdm's emails because they make you nostalgic for Olin Hall?

or

Do you hate jdm's emails because you don't use the ChemE servers anymore, and you don't go to Cornell, and he does that weird indenting thing in his emails?

Reply by comment to this post.

no more shopping plz

Hey friends,

I've been in CA for about two days now, and let me tell you: caltech is GORGEOUS. First of all, let's cover the smell upgrade. You may remember the semen trees outside of Olin Hall. Thumbs down to those stinkpots. Outside of Spalding Hall (my new Olin) there are a bunch of trees with pretty pink flowers that I will call fruit loops trees because they smell just like the breakfast cereal. Funny story: my dad saw a bunch of the flowers on the ground that had fallen off the trees. He says "oh, they must have had some sort of ceremony outside your building. maybe a wedding?" and my mom was like "yeah, or maybe the WIND BLEW THEM OFF" and my dad looks up and sees the pink flowers on the trees. Whoopsies.

I met with housing to get my apartment assignment, and the woman at the desk saw my license and she was like "oh you're from Fairport? I used to visit friends there for Thanksgiving every year!" So even in Los Angeles county, I can't escape the Fairport connection. Oh, so housing... thankfully I got a 4-bedroom apt, aka the cheapest on-campus housing option. With all the money I will save, I'll be able to eat more than once a week! I've only met one of my roommates so far, because one (Matt?) is in New Zealand till next week, and the other (Isaac?) is at some 3-week biophysics conference every day from 8am till 11pm, and I haven't seen him yet. I did meet Jeff for all of like 3 minutes... he's a geological sciences grad student who plays the trombone. He already started working for his department and he takes music lessons at night, so I'm the resident slacker/underachiever. From sleuthing around our common space, here's what I've gathered:

• someone loves soy: soymilk, soy ice cream, soy nuggets... yum?
  
• someone loves coronas: I had the urge to put the empty bottles away and say "OH HO HO HO HO!"
  
• someone loves guitar hero: I almost brought mine but I didn't have room in my suitcase. Lucky me, I have roommates with compatible video game tastes.
  
• nobody loves cable TV: I guess I'll have to go without my silly bravo reality shows... or find them online somewhere.

I managed to ship a lot of my things from home: my computer, my textbooks, and a lot of clothes. My coffee pot also arrived... albeit in 2,000 more pieces than I had hoped. Stupid bubble wrap fail. What I couldn't ship or pack, I ended up buying over the past two days. I am shopped out! And poor! I used up a bunch of gift cards that I've been saving since last christmas, and my funds are tapped dry. Time to start making the big bucks as a grad student.

Speaking of the grad students, I went to a chE social today. That's right, we abbreved chemE even further. I don't know how it's pronouced though. chee? chuh-ee? Whatev, I'm still calling myself a chemE. Anyway, the other grad students... I met some of the first years and they seem nice. There are definitely no candidates for Trouble Squad v2.0 as of yet. I'll get to spend more time with them on Monday, when we have our official first meeting with professors. I'm getting nervous!

Ok, I'm going to eat melted Almond Joys and butternut squash ravioli while I look for youtube versions of this past week's project runway & top design. I miss all y'all tons. Come visit southern california! It's delightful! And I need friends!

Whirlpools of You-Know-What

I propose that a quantitative measurement of the nature of our first jobs be expressed as a percent similarity to ChemE 462, Plant Design. For example, downstream refinery jobs like Alison's and Jaime's would measure about 85%. Ariel's truck vibration gig would score in the teens. My job? Well, since the scale ranges from 0 to 100% by definition, and remembering what we learned in Design about the rule-breaking powers of estimation, my job is a FACT-backed 15,000% similar to ChemE 462.

Apologies to those of you who have already heard most of this as I make my case. Words verbatim from my boss multiple times (even an hour ago today), the company is in the business of "plus or minus fifty percent." Anything tighter would be preposterously accurate. Yes, I use Aspen and am now the guy to ask when you don't understand what an error message means, though the only thing I can explain is that Joe did all our Aspen. I size pumps, heat exchangers, compressors, vessels of all orientations, columns, but obviously not valves. I do this taking into account LMTD, NPSH, L/D, % flood (82), and such techniques as:

Me: Morning, Skinny Version of Alf. Center. How was your weekend?
SVAC: [grunt]
Me: For these air coolers, should I use the values HYSYS gave me?
SVAC: Those seem high. Just use 150 for everything.
[SVAC walks away, passing my female cubemate, then stops at her desk.]
SVAC: Oh, so how was your weekend?

Guess I can't say college didn't prepare me. It also gave me ample warning that the real world is extremely strict when it comes to effective presentation of information. I realized this on Day 1 when browsing a DOE report:


But, sarcastic bitterness aside, this is what I expected when I signed up for it, and I think it will turn out well. It is still a little slow, with a lot of background reading on topics that have yet to reach the foreground, but it's picking up. The young people are laid back, the old people are a little quirky. Actual line from an email from my boss:

"BUT countersign per suggested below??? What do you think????"

Number of question marks used is exact. He either has really heavy fingers or is just dying to find out the answer.

Living in SF is also as expected, i.e. fantastic. Ariel and I have an apartment with views (with an S). The giant PFD is hanging in my room. I walk to work in 20 minutes. And this weekend we went to a chili cook-off sponsored by strippers (not the metal columns; the ones that dance on them) followed by museum-hopping. I can get used to that.

You'll have to see for yourself though. Is it January 16 yet?

See you then,
Derrick

Life in the West

With the death of a computer and the reluctance to break down and purchase a new one, I have finally found time during an hour-long library reserved computer-time to post something. Yay.

The summer was busy with trips to CA, NYC, Boston, South Carolina, and Washington, along with the move across the country. California is awesome. I wake up most days thinking "I can't believe I live here." I live in a little cottage in the Berkeley Hills with a view of SF Bay through a window in a back room which I will hopefully take advantage of once the sun stops making the room mad-hot in the afternoons.

Work has been quite design-like. It's pretty cool to see real, huge versions of what we created in design. Within a week of my working there my mentor and office-mate became my boss. There's a guy who looks like Hunter, and my office is right next to a louder version of Angela from The Office. Everyone seems impressed that we finished ChemE in 4 years (I guess it usually takes longer at western schools?) There are lots of young people at work and we've gone out together a few times now. Drinking with co-workers is a risky (though very fun) thing, especially when your boss is present.

For my third week of work my boss sent me to a Intro to Refining course in, oh yes, Ponca City, Oklahoma. I encourage all of you who have an opportunity to visit this place to reject without contemplation. Unfortunately this is where my computer decided to die, leaving me stranded in the middle of no-where with really no contact with the real world. But what nearly made the whole trip worthwhile was the fact that the course was taught by none other than Dr. Gary of Gary and Handwerk, for those of you who used Petroleum Refining: Technology and Economics for design (ahem Coker Distillate). He is extremely knowledgeable and it was an honor to be in his class (I got him to autograph my book.) however the man is 87 years old. A three day class about petroleum refining taught by an 87 year old man. In Oklahoma. Yes, I was pleased to get back home.

My time is nearly up. I hope all of you are surviving the real world all right.
I miss you all,
Alison

Greetings from The Farm

So I recently moved into my new apartment at Stanford ('The Farm', as it is known by some -- not the most endearing nickname, if you as me, but I suppose it's no worse than 'The Hill').  I figure my name is listed under 'Contributors' so I'd best contribute (as should the rest of you) now that I have stories to tell.

This summer brought me the great pleasure of driving across the country.  Ten odd days and near-as-makes-no-difference 4000 miles later, I arrived in Seattle and can now say that I've driven nearly every inch of I-90.  I recommend that everyone drive across the country at least once in his or her lifetime although you might want to wait until gas (electricity? hydrogen?? ethanol?!!) is cheaper.  And when you do, take some time to stop and see the sights.  For me, that meant spending some time in Chicago, the Badlands, the Black Hills and Glacier NP -- all worthwhile stops.  Documenting of this grand adventure can be found on Facebook (of course) and Flickr (www.flickr.com/photos/keithtwong).

Back at home, I spent much of the summer as my mom's free laborer (finish carpentry, painting, yardwork... oh joy!), but also took a break to relax in the San Juan Islands with a certain guest by the name of Alison.  Visiting the San Juans is another thing to put on your list of 'must do before I die' activities -- especially if you work right next to the ferry terminal (::cough:: Jaime).  I also bought a new bike (carbon fiber!), rode up a couple mountains, hiked up one more mountain, did a couple races, etc., etc..

So that concludes the fun and games.  I drove (go figure) down to California last weekend and have been hanging out until orientation starts next week.  Upon moving to CA, one is supposed to register his or her car here.  Of course, the EPA allows CA to have its own stricter emissions requirements.  My car did not hesitate to fail the smog test.  Another few hundred dollars put into a car worth how much?  Why do I have a car?

I'm sure you will all be happy to hear that 3/4ths of the bay area contingent (Derrick, you slacker) managed to meet up last weekend.  Hopefully we can improve attendance in the future.

So... Stanford.  Maybe you have heard me say this before, but my opinion is that they're trying to create a small utopian society.  Not a bad goal I suppose.  The campus looks perfect.  Always.  Everything you could ever need can be found on Stanford property.  Everyone gets around campus on bikes (good thing too -- it's a big campus).  Campus buses are all free.  There is a nice big greenway (well, it's all brown right now) between campus and all of the surroundings.  Sounds great?  Well, I'm glad I went to Cornell for undergrad.  I get the feeling that Cornell is a more humble, down-to-earth place (though far from the most humble, down-to-earth school).  The good news is that the ChE faculty and students I've met here seem like quite reasonable and relaxed people, which is, in fact, largely why I chose to come here.  It will certainly be interesting to get to know a whole new set of profs.  They're an interesting breed.

So, there you go.  A lot of writing from one who says little.  Time for the rest of you to get on your horse and fill everyone in on what's happening in your corner of the world.

Cheers,

Keith

Life at DEI

Aaagh! Real life!

So far it hasn't been so bad, maybe even fun sometimes? Matt D and I are holding it down in northern VA (Jenna and Lindsey are nearby). Its been super having ChemEs nearby... Jenna was a sweetheart and took me car shopping when mine broke the second day here, and Lindsey's parents fed me an intense amount of food yesterday - thank you guys!!!! Um and I think I would've freaked out hardcore if Matt wasn't here too (he's also great about putting up with me talking at him through the cubicle wall all the time when he's actually being productive.)

So rather than try to coherently describe the first four weeks at Dominion, I've condensed it into top ten format. Anyway,

You know you work for Dominion when....

1. Everyone you work with is named Matt, Mark, or Mike. They probably went to MIT.

2. It seems like everyone you work with has a kid. If they don't, they're probably in France, Tokyo, Alabama or Houston.

3. You know better than to finish the coffee pot out of fear of what Mark will do. You are afraid to make a new pot in case you get the grounds/water ratio wrong. So you have another diet pepsi instead.

4. You've read more about nuclear power plant water chemistry than you did about P.Chem, and remember less. Which is a shame, because you had to raise your caffeine levels to sophomore-year-Heatherington levels to get through it.

5. The things that you work on have no names. Just acronyms and random number combinations. Example (real assignment): "Please write a report updating the IF for TT690 v. MA 600 with respect to PWSCC in SGs. Refer to the SOW or EPRI-1013640 if you need guidance."
Translation: Make up something/copy-paste stuff about the improvement factor for thermally treated high-chromium steel over mill-annealed low chromium steel in nuclear steam generators... specifically how much less likely it is to suffer from primary water stress corrosion cracking. Open and stare mindlessly at the scope-of-work or Electrical Power Research Institute report 1013640 if you have no idea what to do. Not like it will help.

6. Matt D's rage pales next to the hurricane of principle officer Bob flying past your cubicle. You eagerly await one of the promised Mark/Glenn showdowns and are considering inciting one yourself (something involving empty coffee pots and flaming bags of poo.)

7. You still don't know where anything in the lab is, but its okay... Aaron does. Besides it's probably moved 5 times since yesterday and is covered in red dust.

8. You're still eating leftovers from last week's BBQ every day for lunch. It basically fills the lab fridge.

9. You can't think about an Olympic sport without how it relates to training for war.

10. You hear far too much about everyone's personal lives through your cubicle wall. And then at happy hour. Thank goodness there are only 27 people (besides you) in the company to talk about.

Also, concentrated NaOH eats through glass. In case you were curious. Hope everyone's having an awesome time, or at least getting adjusted okay and all. Where are the rest of the updates?? Miss you guys!

Cheers and best regards,

Carly (:

I cant do work w/o my design group

hi all!

So I figured I would follow in Jasons footsteps and give a little update post, which everyone else should do!  So anywayyyy, me and Carly and Derrick all got back from SA, which was really awesome and you should all check out our pics on facebook.  

so since i got back, i have officially moved to washington.  i have a 2 bedroom apartment (all alone!) in the center of downtown bellingham, which is exactly where i wanted to live.  I got all my furniture and set everything up and even got cable and internet yesterday!  it is totally a big kid apartment.  It is also right across the street from the farmers market!  and really close to canada/vancouver, which is sweet.

I also started work this past monday, and it has been interesting.  I got assigned a few units; sulfur recovery, amine regeneration, and waste water strippers.  Apparently the sulfur recovery unit smells really bad, like rotten eggs.  And it looks like someone puked sulfur all over them, its crazy.  and everything is so big, like when we did design on that shit, i never really thought about how big it all was, but its really cool!

In terms of work, i like, havent done anything productive.  I have no idea what is going on, and my boss "doesnt like dealing with people" so he hasnt really spoken to me yet.  but everyone else in the office has been real friendly and helpful.  Ive already used PFDs, plot plans, and P&I Ds.  We also talked about crack spreads (coker dist groups!) in our morning meeting this morning.  So i ordered my jumpsuits and jackets and stuff with my name on, and i already got my hard hat, H2S leak detector, safety glasses and steel toed shoes.  i feel like a little kid pretending that im an adult or something.  Well im getting to distracted to write anymore.  i hope you are all doing wonderfully and come to washington, youll love it!

missing you all,

Jaime

Under the seaweed it's always greener...

Greetings Fellow ChemEs,

As the group elder, I feel it is only right that I relay all that has happened to me on the cusp of my 22nd and 23rd years of life.

As I prepared to leave for a voyage of 10 days and 9 nights beginning at port in the Earthly bound tourist trap, Atlantis, my ACS superior informed me that I shall be working in West Point, PA at Merck. (This will only occur if an interview scheduled for this Wednesday goes well.) Leaving for the Bahamas with that knowledge, I could finally enjoy myself.


After three days, my family rendezvoused with the other travelers at the catamaran which assumes the name "Aqua Cat". The voyage was an attempted replacement of a trip made many times before on a vessel whose birth was Ft. Lauderdale and whose destination was Bimini. There, we had many encounters with cetaceans more commonly known as spotted dolphins. However, upon reaching the ship, we were informed that dolphins were rare in these parts of the Caribbean. Alas, this trip had transfigured itself into a snorkel and beach adventure, with a little SCUBA.

The following are some of the encounters that I had:

- Thunderball Cave: A grotto formed from limestone was the filming location of one of Sean Connery's better Bond Films: Thunderball. The grotto formed by a reaction we may be familiar with: limestone + H2O --> Carbonic Acid + calcium (aq)

- A cocaine smuggling plane wreck belonging to Pablo Escobar: As seen in the movie Blow, Escobar was at one time responsible for a significant portion of the cocaine in the US. This plane crashed due to being too heavy. An interesting fact is that the plane would have a twin with identical markings take off from Miami and cross paths. When the plane full of drugs landed, no one questioned its contents, as it had just taken off from Miami and couldn't have possibly traveled to and from the islands.


- Reef Shark feeding (Called Golden Grotto Sharks in Thunderball): While SCUBA diving, I was able to watch these sharks attack a chum ball. While the sharks are aggressive, their mouths are sized for small fish, so as long as you keep your fingers by your side, you need not worry.

- Remoras: While drift snorkeling through a reef with the occasional nurse sharks and barracudas, I found these ever ready scavengers checking out the bigger fish in case they have any extra food floating around. The fish actually swims upside down, to be able to attach to the bottom of the bigger creatures (though the turtles are not too keen to have hitchhikers).


- Southern Atlantic Stingray: This bottom feeder can kill if his poisonous barb sticks you in the wrong place.


- Swimming Pigs: More like wading pigs, the reason why they were on a island is still uncertain to me, but the creatures were wild enough to scare those watching and tame enough to eat food we brought for them.

- Bahamian Iguanas: More feeding of animals, this time a reptile with claws.

- Bananaquits (small yellow and black bird) : Feeding sugar to these little finch-sized birds from the palm of my hand...just amazing. The only feeding this trip that didn't scare people.

- Sand Dollars: Below you will see the dead skeleton of this urchin-like creature surrounded by its furry living counterparts


- Sponges: I just really liked this photo. I call it: "Sponges on Death Bed"...the simplest of animals, yet such amazing structures. (This is not photoshopped.)


Well, tomorrow I begin planning my moving in and the next step in life. It makes me sad to think that most of you have already started. Why can't we have a 5th year in ChemE called "all the time we would've had, but didn't because of our major" (maybe a little shorter name would be better).

Until my next entry, I bid thee adieu.

Humbly yours,
J. Bro

The Lower Hudson Valley is almost as much fun as Europe...

Hi all! So all summer long, my brother Dorian and I have been building a hovercraft. Its quite intense. But then Rachael and Cassie moved near me, so I had a break from working on the hovercraft. We went mini-golfing and laser-tagging last weekend. Here is the scorecard from laser-tagging. Its easier to see if you click on it for the larger version. And I don't know how to rotate it (sorry).

It was oodles of fun, except that there were these two little kids who were incredibly annoying who kept shooting at us, and then covering up their reflectors so we couldn't shoot back. It wasn't very nice. Also, when we were playing mini-golf, it was about 1000 degrees out. Just thought everyone should know.

Then on Tuesday we all went to eat dinner in Tarrytown. We went to a Greek restaurant. Our waiter was very Greek, and we have confirmed that the correct pronunciation of 'gyro' is like 'year-o.' And afterwards, we went out for ice cream. Cassie's flavor was 'cookie monster.' It was really really blue:

Hope everyone is having fun at work/school/neither yet!

I'm Still Jetlagged

Hi!!!

So I don't think my post will be as witty and thorough as Jason's or as random and exciting as Carly, Derrick, and Jaime's, but I have just arrived back from a 3 week whirlwind tour of Europe with my sister that included stops in London, Paris, Lucerne, Florence, Venice, Rome, Hopfgarten, Munich, Vienna, Prague, St. Goar, and Amsterdam.  I'm tres tired but I had some of the best three weeks of my life and saw some amazing places.  I wasn't planning on drinking at all on my trip in the interest of being able to find my way back to the hotels each night and catch the bus in the morning, and as those of you who have experienced my idiocy know, I am even more of re re when shitfaced than when sober, but it ended up that my tour group of 32 included 12 Australians and 3 Kiwi's, all of whom could drink Matt Hetherington under the table in about 0.5 seconds, as well as some Americans and Canadians who were also ridiculous people, so not only did I culturally enrich myself while overseas, but I also had a fucking fab time, and made it home without losing my passport or any money!  

Some highlights, in bullet form for ease of reading:

Climbed to the top of the Eiffel tower and by divine providence ended up waiting in line long enough to get up to the top just as the sun was setting so it was ridiculously beautiful.

Was in Vienna the night before the European soccer final and was attacked by outrageously drunk German and Spanish fans - so much fun.

Got to watch the soccer final in the Old Town Square of Prague with thousands of Czech people.

Went on a 30 km bike ride through the Alps.

Watched a friend trip out on mushrooms and another on a space cake in Amsterdam and it was like the most entertaining 2 hours of my life up to this point.

Walked through the Red Light District in Amsterdam and saw all of the prostitutes in their windows beckoning old men to knock on the glass (they are like for real like self employed "businesswomen" that have to pay taxes on every "act" they perform though haha, Amsterdam is really liberal...)

Went to a "cultural evening" as phrased by my tour manager, also in Amsterdam, which turned out to be a live porno, one of the highlights of which was watching a girl smoke a cigar through her vag.  I'm not lying.  Sorry for those of you with sensitive stomachs haha.  I am sure she will be developing some rare form of cancer in the near future.

Swam in the French Riveria, the Rhine River, and the Adriatic sea as well as a lake in Bracciano, Italy under the castle where TomKat got married hahaha.

Sooooooooooooo in short summary, Amsterdam was definitely my favorite, followed by Prague, Vienna, Rome, and Paris.  Lucerne and St. Goar were beautiful and really chill.  The people on my tour were fab, which was a good thing because my sister and I started fighting on day 2 and had to be separated on the bus, so it was nice to have other people to hang out with.  And finally, I have decided that I would like to become Australian, because they are much more fun and open than Americans.

Miss everyone and hope life is good, especially for those of you who have already started working : )  I'm not looking forward to it...

carly and jaime and derrick are rockin out in SA

dudes!!!!!!

so we´re in la paz, bolivia right now, and its the fourth, and its wicked smoggy, and we´re trying to stay up late enough to catch some of the other crazy americans let of some fireworks.

its been a pretty sweet trip so far (apart from the days spent on sketchy peruvian/bolivian buses). we began our journey in Cusco, Peru, where we spent the first night in a sewer and almost confused the Cuscoian flag for gay pride (dont be fooled-its quite similar.) We hiked our butts off over mountains and through cloud forests and jungle to Machu Picchu... on the way, we beat some locals in a mad intense soccer game (Jaime almost took out a 10 year old) (he looked like he was 3). We watched the sunrise over Machu Picchu, and tried to do some urban running but had to beat it from the authorities.

We wandered into a school in Cusco after we got back, and got invited into this dude´s classroom of 9-12 year old boys in semi-military regalia. They sang us songs (Oh Susanna and for hes a jolly good fellow) and made fun of Derrick for being Chinese (hardcore. WTF.)

Then we went to Arequipa. Lame. but we saw some condors.

We headed for Bolivia, and they let us across the border. We went to Copacabana (seriously right?) on Lake Titicaca. hahaha. This dude let us take out his sailboat, even though we told him we had NEVER sailed before. It was a fun two hours, then the family came out to rescue us.

Now we´re in La Paz. Carly has been dying the last two days, and Derrick´s friend missed his flight but now all is now cool and we are leaving for the salt flats tomorrow. In the meantime we need to watch some fireworks. Love from all of us, ciao!

Sincerestly,
Carly, Jaime and Derrick

Where's my portkey when I need it?

Hey all,

I wonder if anyone is checking this, but I'll update none-the-less. For those of you who missed my complaining, I have the remedy :)

I got back from London last Monday, and I've been recovering since then from the trip. Needless to say (those of you who know my travel partner will understand) the trip was not as pleasant as I'd hoped.

The weather was wonderful, and the locals were very welcoming. The sights we saw were interesting and meaningful, though I discovered that my travel partner was not as interested in learning.


I discovered that the definition of cultured varies from person to person. I believe that culture is derived from gaining an understanding and respect for the knowledge passed on to you via any medium, such as the power of the Rosetta Stone or a chair made from guns remaining from the war in Mozambique.

My partner, however, found that culture was something you gain from breathing in and being around said medium.


Luckily, I gave up trying to make amends and planned the trip as I saw fit. I made sure to stop at Harrod's, where I saw quite the display of mushrooms for sale (a. non-hallucinogenic, and b. I noticed because of my humanities course).

I was also able to make it to the London Eye, where I saw many sights that I was unable to attend due to the brevity of my trip and the weight attached to my legs. On a side note, keep a look out for a number of new "eyes" to be popping up around the world (including Orlando, who'd've thunk it).


There was some time to stop by some previous filming locations for a few of the Harry Potter films.


I stopped by Platform 9 3/4, only to find it was outside of King's Cross and not even close to platform used during filming (platform 3.5). On a side note, that trolley (the British name for carts, apparently) really is halfway "through" the wall.

I then made my way to this little covered shopping area, where I found the Leaky Cauldron.

It's not quite the way I remembered it from the movie, but with the new Optometrist front, it looks like the way to Diagon Alley is easier on the eyes.


Finally, I saw a few things that only a ChemE could respect. First, outside of this shopping area, there was a building that looked like a stainless steel nightmare (ahh, modern architecture juxtaposing historical areas). Then, in the British Museum, there was an etching of a unit we all should be familiar with.

While London has expanded my horizons, I am glad to have found a way out. If I see you at Jaime's party, I can fill in more details. Until then, this blog will be the portkey to Olin Basement as we remember it.

hey from the other america!!

hi friends!!!
i hope all of you are having a good summer so far, and not missing cornell/olin too much yet!
right now im in huaraz, peru and i am having a really great time, it is so pretty here!! some random updates about my trip so far:
i went on like, one and a half treks and they were both wonderful...it gets really cold here at night, like 10 degrees cold (thats like -8829 scarfons) but everything is so pretty thata it is hard to complain
on our first trek we got attacked by bulls, not actually but might as well have, they were so close! i could hear them breathing from inside my tent, very scary!!
there actually isnt really too much to say without writting way too much...im going to Lima tonight and carly and derrick will be meeting me there in less than a week, im real excitted!!

ok hope you are all doing well, post and let me know whats going on in your lives!!!

Only in Texas

Somewhere around Amarillo...
I think this should be Matt's next challenge.

the only way to start a cheme blog

My sister gave me a graduation gift.


8.5x11 stream table included for size comparison. Harry Potter collection included for good taste.

Take 2 on Cheme Blog

hey guys!  so nick tried to do this a while ago, but it sort of fizzled, so here is try number two.  If you wanna invite someone else send me their email and I can add them  =)