1. Renovations will start in Jan in the facility. The removal of the 251 may even start sooner than that. Current plan is to move the EA and Delta-Ad. to where the 251 is now, then renovate the old EA room, balance room and half the gas line lab. Work will also be done in the back furnace room too. Once the renovations are done, the EA and Delta-Ad will be moved to the it's new location in the gas line lab and the new mass specs will be installed. We may or may not move the other delta, and there is still the outside chance of another hire with another instrument.
2. Down time will be minimized, we hope. If we have to shut down power to all the mass specs, it would be a good time to change the pump oil. Also, we'll need to redo the gas lines.
3. New hire. The advertisement is now out.
4. Computer upgrades. All systems have both MS Office and Open Office? on them. More memory has been installed on most systems, the Delta-XP has a new monitor. Yes, you can finally see what you're doing--and it only took 5 years.
5. Printers. The default printer for both Delta's is the HP printer now on the workstation computer. The Dell printer died. You just have to turn the printer on to use it--though it is starting to act up now that I brought it in from home (printers don't like the lab I guess). Yes, it also scans and copies (no fax though).
6. Arc Gis? doesn't want to play anymore--I'll try to get the new key

Sorry, been a bit busy...

EA back up and running and still in C and N mode. Will switch over to S mode in about a week or so.

GCC back up in 13C mode--and standards are being tested now. Will switch over to DH in a week or two.

Delta XP in Gasbench mode, flushing line connected to 0.3% CO2 in He line off gasbench, valve should still be open, tank is in back of room. Double check to make sure line is flushing your valves--at start and end. The connection on the gas bench side sometimes pulls loose.

Spare He and O2 tanks on wall. The He flushing tank, gasbench table, can also be used in an emergency.

I'll be out for a few days, so room will be locked. Your ID card should let you in, we hope. Diane has spare access card. Prospective students will be around this Fri and Sat.

Thanksgiving Holiday!!!
Gerry will be out Tues. until Mon. Instruments will be up and should be ok to use. EA is in standard mode, H-device is running on 253 and Gasbench will be running on XP. E-mail Gerry if anything comes up.

Will will be leaving soon--basically out of the office by the 30th--and Cathy Skinner will be organizing a party in early December.

H-device now running again.
GCC down for now--will be switched to 13C mode once done with H-device
EA has new oxidation reactor and reduction tube, backgrounds now ok
EA also has new O2 tank--with N2 contamination at ~150 15N
TC/EA down, but should be back up shortly--apparently just a switch gone bad.
TC/EA will also have new CO tank shortly--hopefully with better 18O values.
TC/EA conflo unit cleaned--shouldn't have dilution or reference gas capillaries sticking anymore.
Clocks are now up in the labs.
Gasbench doing ok.
Cross check of water values with outside labs did ok (Alison in Ron Smith's lab sent out lab standards and samples--18O well within error, HD showed some drift, but within reason for HD)

New balance in weighing room for larger stuff, up to 200g
Brett setting up extraction line for getting water from sticks on vacuum line.
Phosphate drying on vacuum line moved to line next to wall.
Values for standards now in our online manual, along with templates for data processing (water and DIC runs so far, click on Std Values on left)

H-device decommissioned (finally used up).
Replumbing GC/GCC for DH studies.
Sulfur request for EA--probably end of Jan.
Expect oil changes in Dec. (scheduled instrument down time)
Billing out soon.
Check out the "online manual"--feel free to correct it (Escsis Manual on left).
Also, helpful hints are on our main website, http://www.geology.yale.edu/escsis
including a link to the new Isogeochem wiki, http://isogeochem.wikispaces.com/
(still a work in progess)
Motion sensor removed, so push green button to get out (or sneak out backway) when doors are locked.
Remember, you are responsible for backing up your data. Blank CD's are available if you'd like to burn them--or you can send the raw data (not just the spreadsheet) to yourself via the internet (e-mail, ftp, whatever works for you). Off site storage is recommended.

Yes, all but GCC ok, and we're running in H-dev mode anyway.
Painting Hallway today, so no work tonight.
sorry I've not been keeping this updated
Please remember to log in the log books and acknowledge using the center in publications

Most everything working ok--new Gasbench sampling needle being tested (homemade).

He shortage!!!!!
We will be lowering He flows on instruments not currently running.
Remember to check the gas pressure levels before starting a run.
Current plan is to switch EA over to sulfur at the end of the month.

Card swipe access working. We can also unlock the door, so outside door will usually be closed and unlock during the day. Motion sensor will be removed, so use push to unlock button to exit.

Most everything back online.
GCC operating in 13C mode
EA ok for N and C
Gasbench ok for looking at CO2

Will have to retune for TC/EA work and for H-device.

N.B. We do have a back exit (exit only). The main door controls do not always work, and yes, I have been asking politely for the complete removal of these controls since we have moved in.

ALL SYSTEMS VENTED
Air compressor shut off, pneumatics all failed, valves open, system vents

Advantage (EA) has to be cleaned--swapping out filament not enough. Should be done shortly.

GCC: New column still needs a little more baking out--but it is getting better.

New He tank on Gasbench.

I'm still running away today, will be back next week.

Arc GIS? up and running on Workstation computer--along with script to map GIS data onto Google Earth (Thanks to Kevin Martin and the City of Portland).

Gasbench working in CO2 mode (keep eye on He).

GCC switch to oxidation (13C) mode with new VB1 column (like DB1, but made by Valco). May not be behaving well yet, but I won't be able to look at it futher until I get back.

Grant Time!!!
We're going for some new toys: Micromill, another Combipal autosampler along with tube furnaces, new style endfittings on the TC/EA and amplifiers. You may be asked for help

I'll be away June 9th 'till June 14th--Gerry

Gasbench is in CO2 mode

GCC still in HD mode

EA out of labelled mode--ok for running natural abundance samples