Second series of rotations at Cal State Fullerton

We had Saturday off after the first round of rotations. I took the opportunity to go see a dear friend from college Sean Bolger. Sean came out to LA to try to make it as an actor about a year and a half ago. I hadn’t had much contact with him since then and before so this was a great opportunity. Sean’s arm will be seen in “The Jersey Boys”, handing a guitar to someone. Seriously though, he is a great actor and is getting noticed. I figure I got to hang out with him RIGHT before he got famous. So, I rented a car, drove from Fullerton to the other side of LA and *poof*, there I was. We had pastrami sandwiches at an LA classic restaurant, Canter’s Deli. Guns ‘N Roses used to hang out there I am told. It was great and we got a chance to catch up. 

Then we went to see Dan O’Dair, another friend from college. It was a great break from the course and I got more thrilling LA driving time!

Today, the second rotation began. We are not doing one, so instead we are finishing preparing our samples from the week and getting ready to send them to get sequenced (read: lots more work in a week). I got a chance to focus on some work that is badly needing attention and look around and smell the roses. Very nice.

Here is a valencia orange tree on campus. All of the oranges within picking height are gone, I tried. 

I also took a picture of a Magnolia tree, they get so big here. No fair. 

The students continue to amaze me. They are on week 3 or so and going strong. Here is a picture I took when I called a group on excessive cooperation.

And last, a picture of some of the samples that are being prepped for chemical analysis. We extracted DNA, which took mucky and rocky samples and turned them into small volumes of clear liquid (containing DNA), the geologists still work with what looks like rocks but ground up. It will be interesting to see what they find and compare it to our work.