Ida was here but I'm not totally

I always tell my friends that the kind of life I'd like to have is one where I can work hard and play hard. It seems that it is comming into a reality. I suffer from lack of sleep.

I took Friday and Saturday off (you read that right about the Saturday), after pulling in some late hours during the week to retrofit one of the machines I use at the lab. Having a friend to show how carbon nanotube growth works was well worth the incentive to get the machine going (it worked ok before, I wanted to install a bunch of things into it). We also got to play with an electron microscope too!



We hit Matsushima, a region famous in Japan for it's views. I'd describe the place with islands with trees growing on them that looks exactly like bonsai. We got to cook our won fish cakes and try out the local oyster.

We then hit Yamadera, the mountain temple (which is starting to become a favorite spot for me). And of course, I had to have her take a picture with the famous post box on top of the mountain.



Finally, the next day (day 3 really), we hung out at the dorms and Ida got to ride my scooter.



If you're reading Ida, the scooter is more stable when you go faster :P. But you did good anyways, 30km/h on your first day is about what I did at first too. Ps. Thanks for the dried mangoes and almond chocolate from COSTCO! I didn't even realize how much I missed those!

The morning Ida headed home. I had a farewell party to attend for the lab for the students graudating out of the lab. We would head out to a ski and onsen resort to spend to days. Needless to say, I didn't sleep much.



We skiied, soaked in hot springs, talked, played games and then soaked in hot springs some more. I got all of 3 hours of sleep on that adventure.

Yesterday, I would not come home till 4 am from lab after going though a full day tutorial (ie. 24 hours+ over 2 days) and then teaching electronic circuits to a friend at the lab. I called it early today and came home at 5 pm to get some sleep. I will go to the gym tonight to unwind.

I start moving this weekend to my new appartment with friends, 2 weeks after I have an in house presentation to give on Saturday to the lab. I'll be spending next week getting results and the week after writing a presentation up (presentation is April 1st, heh heh heh). After that, classes start. Life is intense. Hope I can keep up.