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Writing from home as I stare out the large glass doors at the harbor. Its twighlight out and the rain and fog is slowly rolling in. With the street lights on before dusk and the broad view over Dunedin it somehow manages to avoid looking gloomy. It doesn't look cozy though either. Its easy to describe how the city doesn't look. Withdrawn is a word that springs to mind. Perhaps a bit homesick.

Feeling a bit stressed at the moment, as I have been applying for scholarships again. Otherwise life is pretty good.

I found myself missing Home Depot today. Home Depot is pretty much the last thing I would expect to miss about the states, just slightly behind Wal-Mart. Here in Dunedin the Mega Mitre 10 is meant to fill the DIY home and building niche, but unfortunately it doesn't quite live up to home depot.

Mega Mitre 10 is stocked with dozens of things that are close but not quite what you want. For example, I wanted to add a towel rack or towel hook to my bathroom, and could find various racks and hooks, all of which totally suck. The have only one size of PVC pipe, and no threaded end caps. They sell really nice circular power saws, but stock only the crappiest hacksaws. However, they have a lovely cafe inside the store near the garden section. I ate at the Mitre 10 cafe with my flatmates this morning and had quite a lovely breakfast. Scrambled eggs on ciabbata toast with a perfectly done hollandaise sauce. Funny that the best thing at the hardware store is the food.

I miss Boston a lot too, especially because summer in Massachussetts is lovely. I think what I really miss is the easy access to shore diving -- even if there is hardly anything to see. Last year at this time I was spending most of my free time up in Gloucester, MA scuba diving in lovely Folly Cove (don't mind the garbage on the shore, its nice underwater).

Went for a walk with my flatties after breakfast to climb Mt. Cargill (690m), but the weather quickly turned gray and rainy. Its nice getting out, and I've always maintained that exercise is the best hangover cure (Drank a bit too much last night). I love the cloud forests here. And the bellbirds are definitely my favorite birds to listen to.

My PhD is now in full swing and its becoming tricky to stay afloat. I have never worked this hard on anything in my life, but I'm thoroughly enjoying it too. When I was in school I only did the minimal amount of work that I had to do to get by. I could do less here and still get by, but I wouldn't be satisfied -- its my project and its success, failure, and quality ultimately depend on me. I know many people get burnt out when doing their PhD and I can totally see how that happens. I'm not close to burning out yet, but there is no shortage of work ahead for me and I can't see how I'll ever actually finish it all.

To Lazentaters and BS King (names not changed to protect the innocent), I enjoy reading your blogs very much. Its easy to read and pretend I'm in the same room. Makes me laugh a lot too. Good stuff. Wish I could be funny too, but sadly I'm only funny when I try to be serious.

Tried to take a picture of a rainbow as viewed from my porch, but it came out crappy. Photography is tricky for me, and I have much respect for those who are good at it.

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