So earlier today (or yesterday, if you want to be technical) I final dragged myself down to Stratton to pick up my MIT student ID and tell the orientation dudes that I'm here, even though I've already been here for two months. I ended up being tackled by a rep from Bank of America as soon as I stepped into the building, who assumed I was Not A Freshman™ when I mentioned that I in fact am already the possessor of not one but two Bank of America bank accounts. The wearing of the bike helmet probably helped there, since I doubt many other freshmen are biking to orientation.

The ID itself is, to put it shortly, kind of rediculous looking. What with the bubbly background and the shiny "MIT" holograms all over it. It's definitely better than my currently-used-as-ID New York State driver's permit though, which has "UNDER 21" plastered all over it in rather large letters and a rediculously old photo. Which can get pretty annoying sometimes.

Now, I just hope I can get the card activated for access to the Media Lab pretty quickly so I'll stop locking myself out trying to go to the bathroom by the elevator after 6 PM or so. I don't know about you, but I found that pretty annoying. And I never did manage to figure out exactly what time they started locking the doors, so I did it at least three or so times.

Even though my last day of work was technically Friday, I'll probably go in for a couple hours on a day or two next week. I plan on being a real UROP there during term anyway.

Other than the ID, the other major things I picked up were "The Hitchhiker's Guide to Orientation" which actually does mention some things that may end up being fun during orientation, a t-shirt that just screams frosh, and a book called How to Get Around MIT which actually isn't really a whole lot about getting around MIT, and looks like it may even have some useful info in it. I blame it on the fact that the book's written by students.

Orientation starts Sunday, but I'm skipping that day to go on a 50-ish mile bike ride on a rather sexy borrowed touring bike. Word.