Elk...

Yeah, that is one big elk outside my apartment.  

That's Why I Go To School Here...

Yesterday was the perfect example of why I chose to go to Mines instead of a different engineering school.  After the school day had technically ended, about 15 students and two professors ordered pizza and had homemade cookies while working on homework.  Not only were we studying hard, but we were able to have a great time doing it.  After the studying was over, the two physics professors stayed to talk with Kory, Devyn and me about majors and what we can do with our life.  That lasted another 45 minutes or so.  Then Devyn and one professor left while the other stayed with Kory and I to continue our discussion.  Kory was really struggling to decide on a major, so he patiently answered her questions and told us about his own experiences for another hour and a half.  What other engineering school can you go to where the professors will do that?  My professors know me by first and last name, they stay after school to help the students for another 4 extra hours and they are willing to do whatever they can to help out.  It's absolutely wonderful!

Smoking Magnets...

When discussing magnets in physics today, our professor brought out a little demonstration.  It was a superconductor.  Most superconductors currently only work in cold temperatures, so this one was in dry ice.  Trust me, there was fog everywhere.  Above it he placed a small magnet which promptly began to levitate!  Very cool to see a magnet floating in mid-air.  Afterward we were creating electromagnets in studio.  The group beside me decided to crank up the voltage way past the recommended amount.  When they weren't looking, their connections began to smoke like crazy.  It was great fun to watch the panic on their faces!

Tag

Last night we played with a tiny baby bunny.  It was out in the center of the parking lot, so we (the girls in my apartment) sat in the parking lot and played with it.  It was a rather curious little thing and kept hopping up, touching my hand with its little nose and hopping away.  He let us pick him up and play with him for quite a while.  When we released him, all his siblings were out.  They wanted to play too!  All of them kept coming up to explore and be petted.  It was rather cool.  

A Physics Birthday...

This weekend a friend caught wind that it was our physics teacher's birthday, so several of us decided to celebrate.  The physics girls (Kory, Alex, Devyn and I) got him a card and present, which we gave to him before the test today.  The card sang 'We Will Rock You!' when opened, much to his surprise.  Dr. Kuo was totally blown away and it was a great way to celebrate before taking our painful physics test.  

Big Comfy Chairs...

This is a picture of what I call the Mural Room.  Its actually the end of a hallway on a balcony.  There are some comfortable chairs and a table in the area.  Very few people ever go there, so it's my favourite place to study.  To go to the physics studio for class, you have to pass this little alcove.  The day before my midterm, I decided to curl up in one of the chairs and take a nap.  I hadn't being sleeping well and was tired in between classes, so it made sense to me.  Two different physics professors happened to pass by as I was sleeping however, and haven't let up since.  Every time I see them now, they crack jokes about me sleeping in the hallway.  Hey, at least it was easier to pay attention in class and I did well on my midterm!

Because You Are Mines Students...

That's how the physics lab started today.  We were supposed to be building circuits to do some chemistry stuff (turns out the two subjects are related).  However, if you hook up the capacitor backwards, things go BOOM!  Our professor knew that Mines students do have a fascination will blowing things up in geeky ways.  Therefore, he decided to blow up a capacitor for us so we could see it and not have to satisfy our curiosity by doing it ourselves.  The funny thing was, he hooked it up backwards, put full current through it and it would not blow!  Our professor was incapable of blowing up  the capacitor.  While he went to the back room to get a different capacitor, our other physics professor went up to try.  He had no trouble whatsoever.  None of us were paying attention and expecting it though, so we all jumped a mile at the resultant BOOM!  

Hard Lessons to Learn When Bored Out of Skull...

I had a three day weekend with absolutely nothing to do this week.  As a result, I took the time to not think completely through my actions and try some experiments.  Here are the results...

• Cleaning the stove can't be that hard, can it?  I would guess around 6 tenants of this apartment have been here before me, cooked and never cleaned the stove.  Four hours of scrubbing later, I realized just how hard the stove can be.  
• How many equations does one really need to know for physics?  My bathroom mirror is now covered in equations I need to memorize before the test Monday.
• I decided to use Ramen noodles to make homemade mac and cheese.  Um yeah, I'll pick the box stuff over that experiment any day!
• No matter how bored you are, never watch a scary/intense movie like I Am Legend late at night alone, knowing you will be alone for the next couple days.  I didn't get much sleep that night, which left lots of extra time for calculus!
• The one thing worse then a scary movie alone at night?  Vitamins.  After years of debate with my Mom, she finally convinces me to take vitamins and they promptly make me ill.  Bad plan and I think next time I should win that debate.  Who ever said vitamins were good for you?  They were wrong!
• Ever tried cleaning out a vacuum by hand?  GROSS!

And the list just keeps going.  It's crazy what you will do with no one to talk to for three straight days and nothing to do!

Beauty of the Moment...

Asking For Words...

You never really know where GOD is going to pop into a conversation.  While chatting with a friend today, he randomly asked, "So what do you think about GOD?".  That is a huge, very open question.  I am very thankful that while I am prepared to answer that question, I don't have to be.  GOD promised to give us the words if we ask HIM, so that's what I prefer to do.  Cool, huh?  So next time you get a big question about GOD out of nowhere, ask HIM for the words.  Judging by my conversation with my friend this afternoon, it really works.  

GOD's Playful and Sleepy Creatures...

I love my dog, Annie, I really do.  But other than her, I am not an animal person.  It's not that I don't like them, its just that I don't adore them either.  However, they seem to like me.  This morning as I was walking along the scenic route to work, about 30 little white butterflies flew around me, escorting me on my way.  Then when I arrived at physics, there was Dr. Kuo's cat.  He was gone for several days until 5:00 this evening, so one of the TA's had been watching the little thing (Mia was her name).  Mia decided to curl up in my lab and sleep for 2 hours while I tried to work on my physics lab.  When Dr. Kuo finally arrived to get her, she refused to go to him and went back to sleep for another half hour in my lap.  Finally I had to dump her out of my lap into his arms.  After physics, on my home once again along the scenic route, there were a couple deer playing.  When they saw me, they stopped and one of them decided to come over and see who I was.  This one in the picture is about 8 feet away.  It walked with me for a bit.  Then when I stopped and called to it, it came over, danced around some, and wagged its little tail.  We played for a few minutes, and then it pranced away.  It was a very unusual day, but a lot of fun to see some of GOD's adorable creation up close.