From the Ground

I've finally been paid for delivering the phone books, and getting over the touch of flu. Also, my parents got me a certified copy of my birth certificate and sent it to me, so I can now start the process of getting a photo ID, which will make a number of other things easier. Sometimes, a little bit goes a long way.

I've reached a point in my scientific studies that requires increasing amounts of mathematics, so I'm picking up a basic calculator. Computing amounts of energy available from chemical reactions, theoretical planetary temperatures, and converting astronomical coordinates to a different mapping system (for science-fiction purposes), and simple mathematical models of natural systems all are much too slow with paper and pencil only.