Well I am back from my exciting adventures in Albany, NY. I was actually a really fun trip. The main point was to go to a 3 day class on FTIR that was taught by Brian Smith (who is a FTIR big wig). The class it self was really good. A good deal of it was review for us but of stuff we learned YEARS ago so it was good to hear it all again. Albany is self was nice, sense the whole thing was paid for by some grant we got like 45$ a day for meals so we ate out every night. Luckily there were a whole bunch of good places right around the hotel so we ate well.
Alas all vacations must come to an end. Tomorrow I have to go back to work and actually do cases….ugh! Been so long I hope I can remember how still! 
The horrors of cave addiction »« Between Vacations
Jacksonville was a great vacation! It was nice to get away for a week and get to spend time with my girl. We did a bunch of tourist stuff (trip to St. Augustine and the beach), but we also spent a good amount of time just hanging out watching TV (and my new Family Guy Season 3 DVD that Meg got me for my B-day). I should have some pictures up at some point, I don’t have time now because I am going on a trip to Albany for a FTIR training class tomorrow and wont be back till Thursday. The State is putting us up for 3 nights at the Holiday Inn…woo! So after having a week off of work I had to work one day (Saturday, blah!) and will be in for a big two or so hours tomorrow before we leave, then I won’t be back there till Friday. Yah its going to be a hard week!
On an unrelated note, today is Easter and the family came up to NY for easter dinner at my apartment. They also did birthday stuff for me, cheese cake sampler as a birthday cake and a bookstore gift card, Good Eats cookbook, and a nice new pizza pan, as gifts. So we fooded muchly, and then went geocaching (and found one in Forest Park), then stopped by and pestered Houdini’s grave on the way home so the family could see it (yah were weird like that).
It’s been a crazy week, and is not quite over yet. All I can say is next weekend the plan is to sleep for most of it
After Albany »« one more day
Yep just one day left till I am off to spend a week in sunny Florida with Meg! W00T! I will be nice to see the girl again and get out of the cold north east. Its about 50 here today which is a far cry from the 70′s and 80′s that Meg’s been getting in FL. I am still at work right now, but am done with all my cases for the day and just have to finish up some minor paperwork stuff before I cut out of here early at 4 so I can go home and pack and stuff.
I may make use of the girl’s computer down in FL for a minor update or two but more likely there won’t be much till after I get back next weekend.
Between Vacations »« …in which our hero pesters a dead magician
I decided to enjoy the nice weather today and went for a little walk. As part of my walk I checked out where Harry Houdini was buried. It turns out that his grave is less then 20 minute walk from my apartment. The cemetery is self was actually a touch creepy, mostly because it was totally deserted. As far as I can tell I was the only person there, and while it was the middle of the day and everything I just decided that it may not of been the best idea to be wondering around alone in a totally deserted cemetery. Plus the lighting was bad at that time of day so I was shooting into the sun and the glare was really bad. I got a few alright pictures but definitely think another trip, some time this summer, is in order for some better shots. Creepy or not!
Anyway this is the best picture I got today, even with the sun glare I think it came out good:
one more day »« Nothing Much
It’s been another slow week. No real excitement at work, sad to say. Glad it is finally the weekend though. I am totally doing nothing this weekend because the next two weeks promise to be kinda crazy. Monday I am getting one of the new trainees shadowing me for most of the day, which could be fun actually. I guess I am supposed not to crush their optimism with the realities of casework…but we’ll see what happens.
Then Saturday I am leaving for Florida to go visit teh_girl. I really can’t wait to escape the wonderful cold of NYC for the relative sunny warmness of Florida (and it will be nice to see Meg too.) Then when I get back I am stuck working Easter Saturday and because of that Easter Sunday my family is coming down here for Easter dinner, So I get to cook a ham. Mmmm…..ham….
Then it is back to work for Monday but that night will be a trip up to Albany for a 3 day training conference on FTIR. We are getting put up in a hotel and everything so thats a plus and the class it self should be interesting. It’s just going to be a packed two weeks. Which is how things seem to be for me as of late, a few months of relative quiet with a massive burst of activity all at once.
So it goes.
ps. for anyone who notices/cares I had to take down some of my pictures from work, I realized they were the first hit on google for NYPD Crime Lab and decided, career wise, that may not of been the best thing.
pps. WTF is it with Xanga people sticking mp3′s from my site onto their journal’s?!? I mean take the files, thats why they are there, but don’t go and directly link to them off of my server and pilfer my bandwidth. I’d like to think that its just that they don’t know better as opposed to just blatantly doing it and not caring. Bah!
…in which our hero pesters a dead magician »« 2$
So I went for a little walk today down Myrtle Avenue, just to get out for a little bit really, and maybe see if there was anything I needed to pick up (there are a lot of stores down that way). Well I ended up spending a total of 2$. 1$ on a bag of sugar roasted peanuts from a street vendor (Mmmmmm…..) always a treat. The other 1$ was spent on a copy of the 2004 Physicians’ Desk Reference that I found sitting outside a beauty supply shop. This one store usually has assorted paperback books and stuff, all for a 1$, sitting outside the store windows. I usually give a quick look when I pass by but this time the PDR caught my eye. This is the same book and Edition that we use at work, retails somewhere around 90$ new, I paid 1$! So yah it was quite a find. The guy inside said he has some friend who’s a Dr. that gives him the books when he gets the new editions. Given that a person working in a beauty supply shop really has no use for a PDR he just stuck it out on the sale pile to get rid of it (its a dictionary sized book so it was just taking up space he said). For those not in the know the PDR is a Drug Reference and Identification Guide, at the lab we use it to help identify tablets that come into the lab. It’s not the only source we use, but it gives some idea of where to go when analyzing a tablet. My plan is to bring it to work with me and keep it at my desk so I never have to go hunting for our copy when needed. Just goes to show you never know what you will find for sale here in NY.
Nothing Much »« Post Court
Well yesterday I finally went and testified. Had to go down to Manhattan Court yesterday morning (luckily Bob from work was able to come along to show me where exactly to go). After a few false starts we finally found where the trial was and I got to meet and prep with the ADA. Court is a lot of “hurry up and wait”. Ended up sitting around for an hour or so at least before it was time for me to testify. The case it self (which is public record now so I can talk about it a bit) was a cocaine case over 1/2 oz. Which was actually the main focus of the defense, the weight that is. So most of my hour and a half on the stand (which is quite a long time to be on the stand), the questioning centered about the weights of things, and the accuracy of the scales we use and things like that. All in all it went fine, or so I was told by Bob who has been in court quite a few times by this point. I was a bit nervous before hand but once I got up on the stand I felt fine.
So my first trip to court is finally over and I didn’t make a fool out of or perjure my self hehehe. Other then that excitement work has been quite this week, nothing too exciting. Got an interesting case earlier in the week from the Airport but sadly like usual I really can’t go into details. Also still been working a good amount of OT, which is good because I will have more vacation money FL in 3 weeks. W00T!
2$ »« Court…whee!
Have court tomorrow. Whee! On the one hand will be good to finally get it over with for the first time, on the other I don’t want to go testify, it will be scary!
In theory I should be able to make a good post tomorrow with full details. Have to double check but as far as I know once a case goes to trial it becomes public record so I can talk about it here with out, you know, loosing my job or anything. Stay tuned!
Post Court »« Stupid Snow
