SLAC

Today I went to SLAC, the Stanford Linear Accelerator near Palo Alto! There is a theory seminar twice per week and Howie (the prof who supervises my project here) always drives there. He offered my flatmate TJ, his PhD student Eddie and me to give us a ride so that we could also attend the talk.
It took us about an hour to get there. The road leads through the forest and mountains which were partly hidden in gray clouds. It rained a lot today. However, Howie proudly presented his hybrid car which runs on battery up to roughly 20 mph and switches on the gas engine only at higher velocities. When braking, the battery is recharged.
The talk on Dark Matter was interesting and I knew the speaker from last year at Fermilab :-)
The UCSC theory group even has an office at SLAC so we could work there in the afternoon. On the way back, Howie explained me the system of the carpool lane: At rush-hours, only cars with at least two passengers may use the left lane which is significantly emptier than the other lanes! This should encourage people not to drive alone. The fine for using the lane unauthorized is $271.
It was an interesting day, but I would have liked to see more of SLAC! I hope that I'll have a chance after one of the next theory seminars.