Purdue University, presented by TxDOT, OkDOT, Hank the cowdog, MoDOT, Bass Pro Shops, LBJ’s Andrew Jackson Expansion Memorial (aka the Gateway Arch), IlDOT, construction, Neil Armstrong, Home Depot, tornados, and the letter R (reserved).

Some pictures:

Springfield, MO: Bass Pro Shops - the largest one in the world and the only game in town

Springfield, MO: Bass Pro Shops - the largest one in the world and the only game in town

St. Louis Science Center: I want one of these in my room. Talk about an aid to procrastination!

St. Louis Science Center: I want one of these in my room. Talk about an aid to procrastination!

St. Louis Gateway Arch: Officially the Andrew Jackson Westward Expansion Memorial, or something like that. (AJWEM a good acronym, possibly?)

St. Louis Gateway Arch: Officially the Andrew Jackson Westward Expansion Memorial, or something like that. (AJWEM a good acronym, possibly?)

St Louis Gateway Arch: a little spatter on the arc welding

St Louis Gateway Arch: a little spatter on the arc welding

St. Louis Gateway Arch: Sunset from the top of the arch, in between thunderstorms. I really like this one.

St. Louis Gateway Arch: Sunset from the top of the arch, in between thunderstorms. I really like this one.

Purdue apartment: My DIY set of room furniture - see below for details

Purdue apartment: My DIY set of room furniture - see below for details

My bed frame, courtesy Home Depot. It was quite entertaining walking in and garnering quite a few Excuse me, do you need help finding anything?s within the first few minutes. I obviously dont look like I know my way around a Home Depot.

My bed frame, courtesy Home Depot. It was quite entertaining walking in and garnering quite a few "Excuse me, do you need help finding anything?"s within the first few minutes. I obviously don't look like I know my way around a Home Depot.

Does your desk do this? Thx to E for the suggestion, although large whiteboards are more expensive than I thought.

Does your desk do this? Thx to E for the suggestion, although large whiteboards are more expensive than I thought.

I also need to mention that we’ve felt that labeling the distance down our very long hallway was necessary; frame of reference is the handle of the fridge. Can you think of anything more worth knowing the distance from? I don’t think so.

This week has been spent setting up the apartment, going to orientations, registering, etc. And playing ultimate and saying “y’all” as much as possible. My roommate is kind of awesome. Oh, and the payroll orientation and forms were, IMHO, solely to make sure we knew how to write our names and Purdue ID numbers – roughly a hundred times. I mean, there must be some reason behind this incredibly pointless bureaucratic exercise. Or maybe I’m giving them too much credit.

As to classes, I’m swinging between cynical anticipation, enthusiasm, and wondering what new hell is in store for me. I have Math I, Rocket Propulsion, and Orbital Mechanics, as well as TAing  “Jet Propulsion Powerplants”. I think I need to start doing some major reading.