back in birmingham

i am back in birmingham and trying to distract myself from working on an exam, so i figured i would post here and see if anyone still reads this. i started a master's degree in physics at uab this fall, and it has been fun to get back into the university setting. i don't think i will every get off of the academic calendar. i'm taking electricity and magnetism and classical mechanics along with some other smaller classes. i also have a cat. his name is Leonard Euler "Lenny" Remington. i decided Schrödinger was simply too obvious. Emily got her old job back so it is very much back to old times. if any of you guys is coming to bham be sure to let us know. and thanks for distracting me.

The 626

So I was in Birmingham on Saturday and Kimberly and I decided to stop and Samford to walk around for a while. I avoided the house for a while, but in the end I couldn't keep myself from making a quick visit. You all should see what the new guys have done to our house. Sadly it kinda puts us to shame what with the ping pong table, the plasma screen TV, XBox 360 with Halo 3, legit artwork on the walls, the mini recording studio in the room where we killed people. Yeah, they kinda turned the place around.

Even with all their new stuff though I couldn't help but wish we were back to the old days with 4 of us around the TV with Aaron yelling "bugger" every time he was killed, and Jen and Will in the other room singing "Rain"...good times.

Studying for test....need three minute break.

Who would imagine humor in the problem section of a textbook. This is word for word.

From Hecht: Problem 5.8) Locate the image of an object 1.2m from the vertex of a gypsy's crystal ball, which has a 20-cm diameter (n=1.5). Make a sketch(of the rays, not the gypsy).

So I was kinda in the hospital

I'm not sure how many of you knew that i had spent the last three and a half days in th hospital but for those of you who didnt this is what happened. Last tuesday morning i woke up and my heart was beating really quickly, and I went to the doctor to see what the problem was. My doctor said that the problem was that my heart was in an irregular rythm and that was thy it was beating so rapidly. The doctors said that there was no real way to know what had caused it, but they though that it might be a combination of my allergy medicine (which had ephedrine in it). The same stuff that was in all of those diet pills. Anyways they got my heart back into rythm and were going to release me after one more test, an echo cardiogram which is sorta like a sonogram of your heart. Well when the did this test, they found out that I was born with only two leaflets in one of my heart valves instead of three. This means that one of my heart valves leaks slightly. What this means is that for a while I have to take some medicine and for the next week I have to give myself shots. But really this won't change my life and I will be able to live a full life. Honestly I', ok. The reason I didnt tell ya'll is because I wasnt sure exactly what was wrong, and I was just really tired and didn't want to answer the phone alot. Its not that I don't love you people because I do, anyways I am at home now doing fine and feel free to call me if you want.

[cricket]

Well, it sure is quiet around here since thirty travelers took off... Is that good or bad? It's not like we were posting big secrets or boy only stuff anyway ... But we could start. I mean we could let "Thirty Travelers" be our public mouthpiece, and let this be kind of private. What do you guys think?

Do we even want anything private?

ok, but seriously...

just got off the phone w/ the director of the dual-degree program at UAB, and she said she'd be happy if i got at least a 19 on the DAT tomorrow. so if you like specifics when you pray... that's pretty specific. 19 or higher. thanks yall.

you can all do your part

Here's the deal-- I'm finally taking the DAT, saturday at 1:00 (pm, not am... eastern, not cenral). I could use some help. Here's what I need from each of you:

eric- some post-test Scotch

steven- a few newly-Reformed prayers (you're Reformed now, right?)

john- a copy of a Piper sermon dealing with test-day anxiety

pat- some post-test Beer

will- two Ryan Adams mix cd's... a pump-up one for pre-test, and a party one for post-test

david- a wake-up call when i sleep through my alarm

mike- written notice on official letterhead (get some) for the test to "get in line"

ryan- at exactly 12:55pm, i need you to walk in with your shirt off so i can sneak a cheat-sheet in

cheese- some input on how the reading comprehension section might "borrow from French New Wave cinema"

sims- a pre-release copy of the test from Bit Torrent

miss you dudes.