Sad Partings

Life is changing for everyone this summer. I just got back from a visit to the grad office where I used to have my desk. I finally got to see my friend Falene, who I haven't seen since the end of June! She is still alive, about as much as I am. She is moving out of her desk, and moving across the pass to the Paradise Valley. Bonde already moved out of his desk and is working at home. I already moved out of my desk too, but I'm stationed at my two other desks on campus. Soon those other grad students who are finishing field seasons will have to move out of their desks too. Only a very few grad students are staying in there. The desks will be filled with all new first-years. Wow. It'll be like a whole different world.

There is a bunch of crummy politics going on in my department. I guess I just wanted to mention that - I don't want to go into any detail. It stinks for us grad students though, who often get caught in the midst of politics. I was chatting with my friend online this morning and mentioning that I don't like my project and I wish I could do something else, and she asked me if there is someone else I could work with here. I thought about it and decided that it is a possibility, but the department is so bad that I'm not sure I want to stay. However, crummy politics happens everywhere, so at some point you just have to deal.

While I was visiting I found out that the department now has a small collection of plant fossils - all identified and catalogged! Cool! This might be a good thing. I looked at a couple, and they're pretty nice. Bonde is catalogging them, and I told him if he needs some help with the plants he should tell me. I looove plant fossils. Paleobotany is my real passion, I only wish I was working on that instead of icky lake sediment. I like real rocks. And real fossils.