First week

I've had a few people ask about my first day at "work" and my "work hours" and I can't help but chuckle. Right now I'm in the beginning stages of my graduate research project, which means I'm putting together a list of equipment I will need, trying to guess at a schedule for field season (fair weather days are not very predictable), and doing some literature research.  I pretty much can do this all from my apartment, but I go to campus a few hours every day just in case something comes to mind that I need to ask someone else about and so I'm there in person "working".

Monday I did get to meet my major professor, make sure I was good to go on payroll, get keys to an "office" and the building, get certified to drive a university vehicle, and meet other graduate students. I say "office" because right now there is no office space available at this moment. Once field season is over there should be an actual spot for me to put down as my own for the duration of graduate school. Campus at SFA is much smaller than Auburn's, but the forestry school has the same "small town" vibe to it. Everyone seems very nice and super helpful! 

 This is just one of the many mounted animals in the building. This guy stares me down when I go downstairs to take a break from staring at scientific journals and have a quick smoke.

 This is my "office space" for now. It's inside the wildlife specimen storage room. I can't help but get a feeling like I'm being watched.

More specimens and this is only half the room! 

Wednesday Dr. Comer and I took a trip through deep east Texas (apparently there is a difference) into Merryville, Louisiana to look at some of the sites we will be using during field season with the professor from LSU that is heading the vegetation portion of the study and the head forester who helps manage the sites. The forester happens to also be an Auburn grad and an Alabama fan! That adds one more to the club. (Yes, we do exist) It was pretty amazing to see how fast eucalyptus grows.

Part of a eucalyptus plantation that has two years of growth! It was already over head height! 

The species of eucalyptus they have chosen to grow is supposed to be the most cold tolerant and hardy; however, this has been the coldest winter the south has seen in about 30 so odd years. These trees are leaning a bit from cold damage, but we were told they were touching the ground the day before. Hopefully it'll start getting warmer and these guys will spring back up some more. 

Other than this, our first week in Texas has been pretty uneventful, except for the kitty cold fiasco. It's not really a fiasco, but I have been worried about my poor Georgiepuss. She really hasn't been eating but has been drinking a ton of water and has been sneezing constantly. I even bought canned cat food today just to get her to eat something. Hopefully she'll start feeling better soon. 

While I'm here too I just have to say, beer prices and margaritas are awesome here in Texas!

This is in Kroger! You can make your own six pack for $7!! Or you can get a six pack of 16 oz PBR for $6!

 Last night we celebrated surviving our first week with Mexican food right here in Texas. It was pretty damn good. So good in fact I had to take an acid reducer as soon as we walked in our door at home. This margarita beat the pants off of the ones I used to get at Durango's, who have pretty awesome margaritas. I was going to complain about the size of the drink until I took a sip out of the straw. So yummy!! 

So here's to a week of being Texas residents! I can't wait to see what the rest of our journey may bring.