Excitement and Exhaustion

It's funny how often those two come as a pair for me. Anyway, got back from quick trip home, and hence the exhaustion. The excitement is that the money has appeared that will allow us to call in one of the mystical class of Wizards who work magic on the laser. And part of this is exciting because it means that we will get to learn from him while he works, and the other part is that in the end, I will have a very well functioning laser, at last!

More on the laser, since such has consumed most of my life again

The autocorrelator was agreeable to alignment, which was very nice of it. The only problem now is that the signal (which I can see, so I know it's there) is so weak that I don't think that the PMT can tell it from the random noise of the room. There are a few different reasons why this could be, some of them happier than others. I'm fairly sure that this just means that the pulse is too long, and thus we are not only getting a little bit because it's long and squished, but we probably aren't at the peak either, where the two pulses arrive at the same time. My first attempt to get the width down didn't meet with resounding success, and the other idea involves the new lab person, and he isn't in today, so I am updating lab manuals and playing here as I watch the clock and try to figure out what else I could do that doesn't involve starting up the laser again.

Laser update

For those of you who were wondering, I've gotten much closer on the quest to achieve dominance over those pesky bits of glass and metal that are called laser. :) And have apparently been spending too much time back alone in the laser room, since I'm playing with words more exuberantly than usual. So I'm mostly out on the table again, which is the part I enjoy working on more, and there is hope that it shall be done soon-ish. :)

Harry Potter

So, I'm looking forward to the last Harry Potter book coming out. And for the first time I'm going to be going to the opening night party thing. As it will be the first and last of these parties that I am going to, I've decided to dress up for it. I've found all of the things I'll need in my closet... except a tie. So now I'm trying to figure out where I might find an approximately correct tie to wear. We'll see how I do. Wish me luck! :)