Saturday, January 10, 2009

Miscellaneous and Sundries

Finally, some real snow. I hear a lot of people complain about how cold it is in Pennsylvania, but I disagree. I think that the winters here are far too warm. When it's really cold, like in upstate New York, the only kind of precipitation that you see is snow. And when it's cold enough, the snow doesn't melt on top of your hat. Here I've seen rain, sleet, freezing rain, hail, and snow all within the last month. Of course, all of that stuff melted and refroze when it hit the ground making for treacherous roads and sidewalks. I need to get back up north.
I should have that opportunity soon enough. Yesterday, my boss has said that he wants me gone by the end of the semester. Sounds good to me. The only problem is that the job market is terrible right now. I think I've resigned myself to applying for post-doc positions, as if a million other people weren't going to be doing the same thing. Maybe the big oil companies have a few industrial post-docs open. They're the only ones with any money. On the bright side, the DOE will probably be well funded under the Obama administration.
Now for something completely different: I watched the end of The Office (US) season three last night and it was awesome. I had watched the UK version and loved it, but really been disappointed in the first season of the US remake. It had basically the same scripts as the UK version, but they didn't really fit the style of Steve Carell who had taken over for the brilliantly dry Ricky Gervais (who is now producing). However, I was persuaded to try the second season and it was far better. The writers seem to have taken it in their own direction, a little more slapstick, for US audiences and it works. I'm laughing my head off and still feeling the pathos of the characters. I've grown to like them all and I was totally stoked at the end of season three when Jim asked Pam out to dinner. Now I'm faced with a dilemma. I could go on and watch seasons four and five, which will be hilarious, or I could stop. If I stop now, I'll always believe that Jim and Pam lived happily ever after. Does anybody have any advice?