Espresso Wars

So todays update is a bit briefer. Yesterday we received our
Semestertickets which allow us to go basically anywhere in an 50-80km
radius (32-50 miles) from Ludwigshafen on the train for free until
september. It is a pretty amazing ticket and it cost only 110 euros.
This is a great deal considering the train ticket to work cost 2.10
each way. The best part of this, perhaps, is a town in france
Wissembourg is within this region of service. So after work I can bike
down to france have a nice glass of vin rouge (rot wein, red wine),
effortless converse with the locals, and take a relaxing train ride
home, jealous? There are quite a few interesting regions around here
to explore and apparently the Napa Valley of germany is right under
us. My next goal is to find some cyclists to accompany me, but based
on the number of spandex outfits in the shower room in the basement of
my building that shouldnt prove too hard.

Today, I engaged the espresso machine in battle. I was trying to put a
shot of espresso in my hotchocolate, of course the cups the provide
are not large enough for both hot chocolate and espresso, and the
machine checks to make sure the correct cup is inserted. So I tried
putting the valid cup in clicking the button and immediately switching
my cup in. Unfortunately this machine was cleverer than I and
proceeded to spit boiling water and foamy milk product everywhere. I
had to leave the room in shame and luckily no one else was there to
witness my incompetence. I did manage to figure out how to do it by
holding the correct lever down. So I can finally enjoy espresso and
hot chocolate together.

Also today marked another step of my climbing of the german ladder. I
answered the phone in our lab because no one else was here and I
figured why not, worse case scenerio I just hang up. Anyways they
would probably ask for someone else and I would just say 'Er ist nicht
hier', as it happened the person did want someone, but when I told
them he wasnt here they had quite a bit left to say. They started
speaking fast and after some time/frustration I was able to get out of
them their name and the number this person should call, conducted all
in german, I had a little party in my head afterwards.

Also we are beginning to plan trips and a number of people, naturally,
are interested in going to paris. I recently realized paris is
probably the most reachable of TDF destinations and given they will
roll onto the Champs Elysees on sunday the 27th Julliet, I am thinking
I can try to push my agenda. It is only a 3.5 hour train ride from
here and going there could be as cheap as 38 euros

Also in terms of my PhD it looks like the guy I am working with at
PSI, Marco will be my actual advisor and my PhD will now be from the
department of Electrical Engineering. Which is a tiny bit
disappointing (a PhD in physics would be cool), but I know I can pass
qualifiers in EE, they would be tougher in Physics, plus I can say my
PhD is anything I want anyway. Sorry that actually was not a bit
briefer at all, teddy is working on a team blog for us, then you can
just check one spot.