end of the week!!

its been a crazy week. I still cant even talk about the election without getting depressed and angry, so I wont even try.

Yesterday I did my first support shift on the beam line, and helped a group from Singapore solve a new structure. It was a lot of fun, and I'm proud that my first shift went so well! It would have been a shame for them to have come so far and not gotten good data.

Fog has been rolling through the valley all day long, coating everything with a fine mist, and generally making it very difficult to stay dry. There is a memorial to the resistance right near where we work at which there are ceremonies a few times a year. Unfortunately for the participants, tonight was one of those occasions. There were two military jeeps and two buses full of french soldiers in full processional regalia with their bizarre looking FAMAS rifles casually slung over their shoulders. They were reluctantly making their way over towards the memorial, where two huge globe shaped lights (almost like hanging japanese paper lights) illuminated a set of misty chairs. No one looked very happy.