Back to Badass

Well what do you know. I went out there and took some photos of trains. Last time I did that was five million years ago, or so it feels.

We had beautiful weather today, the sun shining, not a cloud in the clear blue sky, probably for the first time this year. Or so it feels.

Left work early, took my camera, and went on a spontaneous tour. Didn't catch much, but what I did catch was quite interesting, starting with the well known green V200 from the 1950s that I've shot a few times before, the driver even greeting me by waving and blowing his horn. Now that's a nice start! Sadly though, the photos didn't turn out well, since I had only seconds to get ready before it arrived. The second victim was an Alstom FRET T 031 traveling solo, which turned out nicely, but as we know, FRETs are rather ugly. And this was the third catch, a monstrous and badass Ludmilla, rumbling through the bend in Leverkusen Opladen. Yes, I realize it's heading away from me. But I still like it. Somewhat of a typical shenanigan87 photo, containing some rubbish, some awesome, but mostly locomotive. And the Soviet-made Ludmilla is probably the most badass locomotive you can find in Germany, with some re-engined variants (class 241) producing 4000hp! Here's some sound porn in case you're interested.

Generally speaking, it was just nice to be out and about again. And I got to wear my shades while driving home. They make me feel pretty.

As for the general state of affairs, my grandmother started feeling better all of a sudden, but now her strenght is declining again. It looks like she won't leave the hospital alive, but perhaps we're underestimating her will to survive. In any case, this situation is far from solving itself. And other family issues still persist, smoldering, buried under the carpet, which is not a good place to keep them.

Work-wise, things are going well, with me getting more confident as far as handling our equipment goes. Had to go in on Saturday to install a new sample, which involves removing the previous one from our SQUID (superconducting quantum interference device), taking it upstairs, putting it in our argon-filled glovebox, taking out the new sample, and fitting it in the SQUID's sample holder, followed by new measurements. And the "putting it in the glovebox" part is rather fiddly, which everyone knows who ever stuck their arms in long rubber sleeves while the apparatus is under higher than ambient pressure. Quite fiddly. I'm sure people with a rubber fetish enjoy this kind of work.

It also feels really good if there are sudden and unexpected challenges or workloads that you manage to handle just fine. Guess that's the advantage of not having specific hours of work. You can stay at home if you think you can do your stuff alone, and you can stay at the uni all night if you prefer sleeping under your desk, everything is possible in science land. And yes, I'm a bit deranged. Also, I still take a lot of photos, but mostly with my cellphone, and they mostly end up on Twitter instead of dA, so please excuse the lack of submissions.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy a fresh pic from someone who hasn't railfanned for a while. Time to get back into the groove I'd say.