My boss got me a new toy today.

This is one of the perks of working for a well-funded research group, I guess. And a new research group. It’s not often that you get your foot in the door right when they’re buying equipment.

It’s also a perk of being a phenomenologist (which is like being a theorist but sometimes we measure things we can’t calculate). Unlike experimental physicists, who have to spend their budgets on all sorts of exotic lab equipment (which I’m given to understand means obscene amounts of duct tape and aluminum foil), all you need for phenomenology is a computer, pencil and paper, and a place to sit. So there’s really no reason not to blow as much money as possible on nice equipment. And this is nice equipment. It’s literally the best Apple computer you can buy over here, featuring a 27 inch display (oooooh) and OS X Yosemite, the newest update to the operating system.

Not that I don’t have reason to complain. The system stalled twice before I even managed to finish the setup procedure.

I guess I have to start making offerings to the Apple Gods now? Or the spirit of Steve Jobs?