Vacation, Weekend and Work

The rest of my vacation (Days 4 and 5) were spent running errands, holiday shopping and finishing the things that I wanted to do but just never got to. I went to Ikea for one. Odd to go the giant store during the holidays but it's totally empty (on account of it being 2pm on a Thursday). It was also a bit weird being off from work, but still having house chores. Kind of a disconnect -- I can make a mess in the kitchen, but I have to clean it, too. Nothing different than normal life but still odd for vacation mentality. In all, it was an awesome week and I will do my best to take time off between every job, if I have the means to do so. The weekend was spent with Santacon, a Festivus party at a friend's house, Ken's football, baking bread and more chores.

And nerves.

Nerves because my new job was about to start. Nerves that Ken was gone all week in Seattle and that I'd be minding the homestead. Which also meant I'd have to wake up on my own (I do like to sleep, especially in the morning).

But everything worked out. I LOVE my new job. Love it. I heard the big picture on Monday, met everyone in the department and got settled in my office. In the past two days, I've looked a bit at website design, figured out how to work the giant Mac, worked on my first project/exhibit and learned how to splice together digital movies to create DVDs. All in the name of science and teaching. Pretty cool. Creativity, tech and science. I love it. And the people with whom I work are wonderful. In the big picture orientation, I asked if they kept a portfolio of events or stats on the number of people they've reached. They had both. As for the stats -- Here is your math question for today: How many people has my department (3 people) reached in the past year (July 1, 2006- June 30, 2007)?





Do you have your number?








Scroll down.










Almost there.











Was it 268,068 people? If so, congratulations. You've guessed right. I was shocked by the number and so excited. I don't think even 68 people read my last research paper. This is going to be a good year.