Settling in

The sun rises noticably later here in the "west"(6:49 am today) than in Peoria (5:55 am). It also sets later here (8:24 vs 8:12), and, for now, Peoria's days are longer. Found an Inoceramus fossil shell (common clam shell from the Cretaceous era) just outside my apartment door this morning - how cool is that! Turned in the rental car and caught the bus to campus (its free to faculty, staff, and students). Battled through IT bureaucracy for a good portion of the day, but actually did some reading, too. Tonight on the way home I got cocky and did not have my street map out. The bus took an unexpected turn that I did not recognize from Sunday; I panicked and thought I overshot my stop somehow. Immediately got off the bus to minimize the damage, dug out the map to find that the bus had diverted to Austin Community College (apparently does not do that on Sundays) BEFORE my stop, and wound up walking 3/4 mile to the apartment. Ah well. Cooked my first meal in the apartment - mac and cheese and mixed veggies and tuna all mixed together. The pic is of a turtle in a pond near the clock tower.