Half a snow day!

Maybe you look at this and think "pretty," but I mainly think "I am not getting stuck in this, it's time to go home!"

Winter wonderland

Well, work is certainly pretty this morning. Cold, though! 

The AIP this week

The AIP - Schwarzschild Haus and our library - with a lovely sky.

Back at AIP

It seems while I was gone, spring started at AIP at last. This is from yesterday (and I'll try to remember to post today's tonight):

Spring green?

The building is Schwarzschildhaus at the AIP, but I really took the picture because there are finally some buds on the trees! 

Infrequent bus is infrequent

Just a picture of the bus schedule at my work stop to illustrate the point: 

Not yet spring

I was waiting for the bus with a coworker this morning and she said she felt Berlin doesn't get spring - that we transition from winter to summer rather abruptly. 

I said that maybe we should instead think about the hours of spring we get in the afternoon. Today I wore my winter coat in the morning, but comfortably walked around outside in a sweater in the afternoon. And it's only a little cloudy. 

Misplaced

If you look closely, you might see the bolt sitting on the statue. 

Foxy!

Today, we saw a fox wandering through the AIP campus!

Sunset

When I walked out of my office at 5 today, I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't fully dark! It's still pretty cold, though. 

Research mascots

These characters have followed me from desk to desk, ostensibly to assist me with science. 

Except Jane Austen. She helps with writing.

Dome in the sunshine

It was sunny today, and I noticed how incredibly long the shadows were pretty much all day - the sun doesn't rise very high. Here is a picture in the morning sun: 

And the afternoon sun:

Lights Everywhere

It's very dark by the time I leave work - that's the hazard of a 10-6 schedule this far north. At the beginning of this week, I was surprised to see lights on one of the trees at AIP as I was headed to the bus. The campus is clearly set up so that you can stargaze - note the absence of other sources of light. 

When the sun sets before 4:00 pm, holiday lights are extra nice. 

Self-cleaning kitchen

This sign appeared in the kitchen at work. I looked at the English translation and thought "even google translate can do better," so I typed it in to check. It turns out that's probably exactly what Google translate did to the text. 

Of course, I got the general idea and was tidier than usual while microwaving my soup.

Coffee machine

My office at the AIP is about a 20 minute walk from the nearest coffee shop. If I forget my cold brew (or run out), the main option is a coffee machine in the lobby of one of the buildings. It is pretty terrible. I usually go for the bohnenkaffee weiss. I tried the choccoccino once and regretted it.

I have no plans to try the soup. 

Fensterputzer

Our office was visited by window cleaners today. Apparently, every year they spend about a week at AIP cleaning the windows. They were super efficient.

Note the serious science happening on my laptop...

The crane

I didn't manage to get a very good picture of it, but this morning, I was surprised to find a giant crane in front of our building at work. It entirely removed the doors to the dome over my office, and as long as it was light out, there were workmen outside our office attaching loads of wood to the crane to be hauled up to the dome. Apparently they'll be working on it all month...

Fall at the AIP

From work this morning. Plenty of autumn leaves and a statue in repose.

At AIP

I don't start at the Astrophysics Institute until a week from Monday, but I dropped by today to check it out. This is one of the buildings on the campus - the one I'll be working on is more historic than modern.