In Which we Learn not to Give In to Peer Pressure

I went to my career skills class on Wednesday, comfortable in the knowledge that I could totally take anything that class could hand me. Then the teacher announced that we will be doing technical presentations, and all needed to choose a topic to talk about for twenty minutes. Now, this past summer I went to Wales, and everybody else in my graduating class got internships and did research. So, they all started listing the things they were going to talk about: Building silicone chips using lithography and etch, Vasoconstrictive technology in artificial organs, and various other long and difficult to pronounce project names.
At this point, I was fairly panicked. Everything I know that is remotely technical, everybody else in my class knows also. So, I did the only thing I could--gave in to peer pressure. I decided I had to choose a legitimate, intelligent-sounding topic. So I chose a topic a chemistry grad student I used to share an office with once gave a presentation on. He practiced the presentation on me, so I knew about the topic. It was Electronic Modeling of Protein Structures. The teacher was impressed, and asked if it's something I do research in. I thought that sounded fairly smart, and planned to switch topics fairly soon.
My justification for switching was going to be that it turned out to be more chemistry than chemical engineering. This came back to bite me, which I suppose was fairly predictable. It turns out there is an entire chemical engineering class called Molecular Modeling. So, I suppose electronic modeling of protein structures is about to be something I do research in.

Awesome

Today is a momentous day. In fact, it is the day that I finally did something about my lousy computer, which I have been complaining about for months. What I did was buy a new computer. I am now the proud owner of one of those mini computers you may have seen advertised. It has a 10.1"screen, and is about 80 times faster than my old computer.
I am happy.

Thought of the Day

This comes straight from my P-Chem textbook, and is for your consideration.
"Hence, the rotational energy is doubly degenerate. Note that the degeneracy is doubly degenerate but not infinitely degenerate."
I hope you got more out of that than I did.

Oreo

Today I overheard an interesting conversation. I was sitting in the office of Dr. Solen, the professor I TA for. Dr. Solen is an amazing man. He has been teaching at BYU for years, has written several textbooks and taught several of the other professors. I overheard him talking with one of the secretaries. The secretary said, "Would you like an Oreo?" Dr. Solen said, "Yes, I never turn down free food."
My world was kind of rocked--I know students never turn down free food, but Dr. Solen? Eating free Oreos because they're free? Consider me flabbergasted.

Happiness is

Taking Welsh classes instead of religion classes.
Returning my $87 book to the bookstore because the teacher told us we can use an old edition, which only costs $30.
Not having any classes on Thursdays.
Less than happiness is:
Still having work early on Thursdays.
Realizing I left all my dishes at home.
Realizing I also left my cell phone charger at home.
Paying rent for September.

Sometimes...

Things just work out. This is the case with my job this semester. I had hoped to be working about 15-20 hours per week for the chemistry department, because they pay really well. Unfortunately, they also are really slow about offering you a job, so by the time they did, I had already accepted a different job with the chemical engineering department.
The problem with the job I had accepted was that it is only for 11 hours per week, which is not really enough to keep me fed and not homeless (despite the fun I had being a hobo in London, it is not something I want to make a habit of). The other problem is that it didn't work with my schedule. So, the last I heard, I may or may not have had an eleven hour job. I also had applied for a 3-5 hour per week job, also with the chemical engineering department, but hadn't heard anything from them. I had sent a bunch of emails, but never gotten any replies. This was basically my status as of yesterday morning.
Then, yesterday, everything just kind of fell into place. I got several emails, informing me that:
1. A different professor wanted me as his TA because he wants a woman, and this severely limits his options in the chemical engineering program.
2. This job would require working hours that I actually am available.
3. They do actually want me to work the 3-5 hour/week job. I am going to get trained for that today.
I don't know exactly what the message in this is, but I'm guessing it's something along the lines of "Things will work out if you have faith and make a reasonable effort on your own."

Fortune Cookie

We went out for Chinese food last night. My fortune cookie told me "Take a trip with a friend." I think this is fantastic advice. My mom thinks it's a bit outdated, but I think the timing is great. The only problem is that I no longer have any money or time for travel.