Gingerbear

With more than a foot of blowing snow outside, a polar bear sighting was not entirely unexpected.

Doh-notopia

Two dozen pots of Play Doh transformed into a Jurassic landscape.

Merry Christmas

"Peat"... that's not total unlike coal - maybe someone didn't quite make the "nice" list this year?

You know you're in WY when...

...you're fenced in by horse-riding cowboy silhouettes.

Ski Eldora, CO

First trails of the season in Colorado - a small detour on our cross-country trek to Casper, WY. Our ski legs were surprisingly functional for their first outing - perhaps helped by the local microbrew.

Made some new friends too...

In the Heights: a New Musical

Part Rent, part rap, part West Side Story = less than the sum of its parts.

Noah & Melissa

Now 7, Noah was overdue for his first visit to Chicago, and arrived for a weekend of fun, bringing his mum along for the ride. We started off the day with a little work experience where Noah quickly located the pile of surplus Halloween candy.

We then headed downtown to the Shedd Aquarium where the fish always seem to be upstaged by the other aquatic life. Favorites this time included this colorful snake and friendly Beluga whales who obligingly popped their heads to say hello. Who would have thought that they change the shape of their forehead to make different sounds?

We secured seats early for the new Fantasea show in the oceanarium which meant a long wait for the show to start... While Noah enjoyed the dolphin tricks, most of our party thought it was quite overproduced.

We concluded our kid-friendly day in Chicago with a visit to the Lego store on Michigan Ave.

X7b-user

I scarcely landed in Chicago before taking off again for Long Island. We're visiting Jon at the NSLS to help him break in his oh-so-shiny new detector.

Les Egouts de Paris

Having visited Paris on several previous occasions, an alternative perspective of this beautiful city's history seemed like a good idea. And so we ended up in the Paris Sewer museum - a series of displays in underground tunnels with only metal grates between the soles of your shoes and the running effluent.
The guide book's description as "oderiferous" was accurate.

(Free) Museum Sunday

Entry to the big Parisian museums is free on the first Sunday of the month, i.e. today. Despite throwing the doors open, the entry queues were still long... something to do with the rainy weather no doubt.

Square eyes

Clearly an indication of too many hours spent in front of the computer.

DrG's guests

The following smile-filled photo can be considered as an endorsement of the fantastic mexican food and margaritas on this month's menu at Frontera Grill.

Dr G and special guests by the Chicago river.

I Heart MV, Menemsha ed.

Somehow I never get tired of Menemsha. This old fishing village provides endless points of interest with a constant rotation of rusty boats, fishermen unloading their catch, and cormorants diving through schools of minnows.

MV '09

Two days into the new job (Assistant Chemist) and I feel that a vacation is necessary.

All good things...

...come to an end, and so too have my carefree postdoc days without responsibilities. So long freedom. Tomorrow I start a real job.

Automotive Acquisition

It's not the first time that we've said that we're going to buy a new car, but you don't want to rush these things. Anyway, this time we really mean it.

The Car. It has been clear from the start that we would get a 5-door Honda. So once the minivans and supersized trucks were eliminated, that meant a Fit/Jazz, an Insight (the new Hybrid) or a CR-V. In a close race, the CR-V edged out nearest rival, the Fit, with the option of all wheel drive. Its not really for taking us off-road but for better traction on-road-on-snow when driving to ski fields etc).

The Color. A tough choice, with all options available at the local dealer. Navigating a maze of Green Tea and Urban Titanium our minds changed constantly before arriving at Tango Red Pearl.

The Deal was easier than I expected based on the how-to-negotiate-a-car-price articles I read online and good/great according to truecar.com. Internet quotes rock!
The Drama. No sooner had we paid our deposit and driven away in the faithful old Civic (to pick up the car and the loan on Monday when the credit union opened) than several engine warning lights appeared. Maybe we should have traded it in...
The Delivery. We immediately returned to the dealership to expedite the purchase, taking delivery of the new car and dropping off the other at the service center for repair.

It's a new car!

Ambi-navigatious

I am now legal to drive on both sides of the road.

If it's Friday...

Apparently it takes 6 weeks to recover from cardiothorasic surgery. As such I MUST officially be better now.

Hit 'n Run

The DrG-mobile feels the force of Wisconsin drivers while "safely" stowed in the hotel parking lot.