started work in the ex-lab (no, for the last time, i'm not back on vacation). things weren't as weird as i thought they might be -- i was a bit afraid that it would be like overstaying my welcome, or like one too many trips to the buffet table -- but almost everyone's new and it's refreshing to know that the obligation to work is entirely my own. the scanner is new and shiny, and i have a bigger desk than before, and have to make huge important decisions that will change the landscape of science itself (not really).

met minz for lunch. two lunches actually: i was ravenous and her tiny fish burger left a lot to be desired, so we went scampering off to satisfy prata cravings immediately afterward. i am warned that once we become almost-colleagues this may be a regular occurrence (first-lunch, not second), and that i have to be socialized so as to treat her in a proper gentlemanly way (snerk). on the one hand, the tenor of our relationship has long been established, and it would be a shame to change that. on the other, she did present me with a set of coasters with quotations about coffee on them, one of them being:

Many people claim coffee inspires them, but, as everybody knows, coffee only makes boring people even more boring. ~~Balzac

which is awesome, and earns maybe 2.5 days of gentlemanliness. i shall keep a running tally.