9:45 pm – Thursday 19th January 2006

Close your eyes, open your mind.

Well, it has been quite a busy few days. Wednesday was busy, but I was feeling very good about myself. I was busy at the lab, talking on the phone with one of the engineering professors, and then it was off to my biochemistry class at noon. From there I came back to the lab to work on my lecture notes for the afternoon lecture. The lecture was terrifying, and it demonstrated that I really should practice before I give any more. The dozen or so students were polite, and so even when I made some mistakes they didn't gripe too much.

The other important thing that happened was that I called the department head at the Arizona University. I told him I accepted his offer, and that I looked forward to working in his department. He seemed quite relieved and we talked about a few minor points. I need to fill out the paperwork and get it back to them in the near future. So now I have my location and job determined for the next few years at least.

Kadie came by at about 6 pm and we went for a run in the gym for about twenty minutes. We were stiff from Tuesday's run, and so we took it gently. Afterwards she came back to my place and I cooked dinner while she worked on her homework. Dinner was pasta with stir-fried vegetables and a Corona. Afterwards she started on the dishes, but I was feeling amorous and couldn't help but distract her. One thing led to another, and before you knew it we were in the shower and all soapy. *big grin* We did at least get the dishes done eventually. She had to go home around 10 pm, although parting was indeed such sweet sorrow.

Today I woke up around 7:15 am and I had to take some extra time to get some of my documentation together. I arrived at work at around 8:30 am, and got my usual list of tasks out of the way. Around 10:30 am I cycled down to the Social Security office, I had been putting off informing them of my surgery for a long time. I wanted to make sure my personal details were in order before Arizona did their background check. There was hardly any wait, and the woman behind the counter was very nice about it. Imagine my happy surprise when it turned out I was already in their database as an "F".

This buoyed me considerably and so I cycled over to the DMV. Usually there is an enormous queue there, so imagine my ongoing happiness when there was no line. I took my motorcycle written exam for $3, and passed! Then I showed the certificate for the motorcycle safety course I'd taken in the summer, and I had my full motorcycle license! I cycled back up to campus very happy indeed.

Back on campus I received a call from my doctor's nurse. We had talked about augmenting my testosterone levels that had previously been demonstrated as being incredibly low. After some discussion my doctor agreed on a combined oestrogen/testosterone pill, and called in the prescription.

In the afternoon I had a new undergraduate student come by the laboratory. I worked with her between 1 pm and 4 pm. After that Kadie came by the lab and we eventually went for coffee. It was nice to hang out and chat, and we bumped into Kendra who we know. Kadie headed off a little after 5 pm, and I went back to the laboratory. I prepared for my phone interview with Cal State University (East Bay).

The phone interview started at 7:30 pm and ran for almost an hour. I think it went quite well, but they won't make a decision about on campus interviews for 2-3 weeks. I am therefore quite glad that I accepted the offer from Arizona. Being in the Bay Area would have many perks, but as I saw at Xmas time the trade off involving living expenses, crime and local weather meant that I was happy with my decision to choose Arizona. I will probably go down to San Francisco if they offer me an on campus interview, but they have left their search so late that I don't know how they expect to find good people.

I think I have been bouncing around the last two days because of reinvigorating my personal supply of "T", DMSO being a very effective transdermal conductor of biomolecules.

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