On the verge of hopefully non-explosive action

Well I don't have any exciting news like buying a car...though I will be selling a car in the somewhat-near future. I do ALMOST have interesting news, it just hasn't happened yet - I've just been working lately.

Tomorrow my friend/housemate from Missouri is visiting, she's in town for a bat conference in York so we're going to get together to catch up. Probably go hiking if the weather is nice, which it is supposed to be. I haven't seen her for two years but we e-mail every now and then.

Wednesday I'm going to some govt agency down in Sheffield to get fingerprinted and other "biometrics"...I don't know what, maybe retina scan, ha ha ha.

Wednesday evening, until NEXT wednesday evening, my labmate and I are babysitting my supervisor's younglings. A 7 year old and a 2 year old. This should be interesting. I'll see if I can tire them out by having them dig a trench or something.

Mobile camera

I took these photos with my mobile phone camera while my 'real' camera was in the shop. I think the lighting looks really interesting though. This is my shortcut home from work, behind the business school. Sometimes I take the Pie there to run around as well. Occasionally there are foxes present when we go at night.

This is a serious charity.

For real! Check out the website!

I see this Land Rover parked along the street on my way to work sometimes. HAD to get a photo!

...

Photo from Peaks walk

Here is a photo of our team at the end of the walk. As you can see, the charity we were fundraising for was the British Heart Foundation. Since Tasha didn't get a t-shirt I let her wear my completion medallion, tee hee.

I just noticed at least one person is missing from this picture, there was another female involved and the other guy who rode up in Carl. Hmm. Where could they be? I suppose they had not finished yet.

I believe that is one the three peaks, Pen-y-ghent, in the background. Not 100% sure though...

And yes, that is a Honda Integra Type R in the background :D It followed us around during the race it seems, it might have been carrying the BHF official photographer or something.

Crayfish costume!

Not too surprisingly, I was hired to manufacture two crayfish costumes for a Zoo. Yes! One of my major life goals = accomplished! Here are photos of the mostly-done costume in the lab:

Front view

Back view:

Crazy person wearing costume view:

'Natural' view:

The costume is made from two inch thick foam, covered in a wool/viscose blend and cotton. The main pieces are the carapace (body), legs, claws, and the tail piece. For the finishing touches, I added detailing to the claws and carapace, but I didn't get photos of that. Also, the wearer is supposed to have a black shirt and tight black leggings...and I'm wearing...not that. And I put it on sloppily! Terrible! So I'm hoping to get some better photos of the next costume!

So, now I have to make costume number two! Yay!

In other news, I went on a massive 25 mile hike over some big ol' hills, for a Heart Foundation charity. It was lots of fun and I took Tasha as well. I didn't have a camera, so no photos, but you can read a bit about the hike route here: http://www.walkingenglishman.com/dales1.htm There was lots of running and mud involved, so overall a good experience. Now my legs are very very sore, but only the muscles it seems, which is good news!

Beautiful life

Today I had a nice quote from Frank Lloyd Wright on my jasmine teabag.

"The longer I live the more beautiful life becomes."

I wholeheartedly agree with his sentiment, being of great cheer myself. Plus, everytime I come home the first thing I see is an adorable guinea pig sleeping in its hammock, followed by the Pie. And everything, really, is so beautiful and fascinating, even a wee scrap of paper is so full of promise. The tea was delicious. And not laced with any kind of mood enhancer, I promise. Unless jasmine is a mood enhancer? Hmm.

In other news, I heard back from Olympus regarding my camera - it will cost about 100 pounds to fix it, so I'm gonna send the form in and have it done.

Finally, this weekend two labmates and I went to Oxford for some crayfish sampling/birthday partying/sightseeing. Both of them went there for undergrad. I will make a post with pictures from the trip later. I have my cameraphone pictures but will probably hold out for when I can get some of their pictures to put up. Here are two they will not have, though -

Carl in the hotel parking lot; looks like someone was getting dangerously close in the night:

Cute van:

I hope you all have a beautiful day!