November 30, 2002
I'm going to rant about my pay raise (or lack thereof) and how President Bush is an idiot now (though, since he's my boss, I have to still respsect the office, etc. etc.).
Feel free to tune me out if you're one of those "President seems like a good guy to have a brewsky with, so it makes him a great president"-folks, or if you're one of those "Its a national crisis, so President Bush is allowed to become a supreme dictator"-folks.
Apparently they have to take away from my meager salary, in a time of recession when the goal is to ENCOURAGE spending, in order to "fight" the "war" on terrorism (I hope you can read in between the lines to how I'm dripping with sarcasm).
Today on Washington Post, I read:
In a letter addressed to congressional leaders, Bush said "full statutory civilian pay increases in 2003 would interfere with our nation's ability to pursue the war on terrorism." The letter was released last night.
So, prior to this announcement, I was supposed to get a 4.77% raise starting the first pay period in January. 3.1% was the "base" increase, and the rest of the difference was a "locality" increase to make my salary competitive with other engineering jobs in the Houston area. Now ALL salary increases, no matter where you live, will be limited to 3.1%.
The locality increases are extremely important, because they are there to close a current 20% gap in pay between the private and public sectors (before they started doing locality increases, the gap was 30%).
I know my complaining about the raise thing sounds rather selfish (even though I add it to the reasons why I think Bush is a really bad president, who had enough dumb-luck to be president during a period of time when large events occured). But this has much larger implications than you think. There are a lot of government agencies that are already having an enormous personnel crisis (and the military too, but they're not effected, because we need them to hunt down males between the ages of 18-35 with dark skin who wear turbins and ride on camels, so they get their full raise -- I don't mean to be sarcastic here because they have to do what they are told and probably don't enjoy that particular task anymore than it sounds like you would, and the military is so underpaid for their jobs its embarrassing).
Take NASA, over 60% of its employees are scheduled to retire in the next ten years. When highly trained, exceptional people see they can make 20% more in the private sector, the government loses its ability to recruit the "best and the brightest". And at a time when the government NEEDS good people (remember, "national crisis" and all). Some people will still take government jobs, like I did, because of decidedly more idealistic reasons, but you can't count on that to keep things running. And, as I've said before, government "benefits" are very much a myth, and large corporations seem to offer fairly comparable benefits, plus other tangibles, like bonuses and perks, that government employees don't get.
Luckily, I think Congress is going to fight this, in one's words:
Rep. Frank R. Wolf (R-Va.) said last night that he would continue the effort to obtain the 4.1 percent increase. "The budget numbers we had been following are all based on 4.1 [percent], so there would be no reason not to have the 4.1 percent," Wolf said. He also said civilian employees should get the same increase as the military, noting the participation of civilian employees in the war against terrorism.
In his 8 years in office (I'm really not doubting that Bush won't get a second term, most unfortunately, especially since he seems intent to make our "national crisis" last indefinitely), I get the feeling he is going to run us into the ground.
(If you're interested in this topic, don't even bother to read the article about it on CNN, it completely misrepresents the amount of the pay raises).
As a final note, all this saves the government an estimated $1 billion next year. That's it. Practically nothing to the government, but a huge step backwards for keeping quality people working for the government. Bush's much-cheered tax cuts are supposed to keep hundreds of billions of dollars in the hands of spenders. Couldn't he just take a hundredth of a percentage point off the tax cut and use it as pay for civil servants? That money would still end up out there in the market place ("improving" the economy) either way.
November 29, 2002
3 p.m. Update
In the boredome, I went to amazon.com, and, as you may know, amazon.com gives "featured recommendations" based on your previous purchases and your wish lists and books you've viewed. Anyway, today's feature was a book entitled "Quaternions and Rotation Sequences." (Ever since the Irish mathematician William Rowan Hamilton introduced quaternions in the nineteenth century--a feat he celebrated by carving the founding equations into a stone bridge--mathematicians and engineers have been fascinated by these mathematical objects). I am such a nerd. And even amazon.com knows I am a nerd.
And, on e-bay, I found the most random thing: Up for sale is some of GODS neatest WESTERN ART. You have read about them in the books of the WEST and seen them in the WESTERN MOVIES. Now you can own one or more of them. They tumbly, they roll, they can be all kinds of things. Buy three and stack them and have a WESTERN CHRISTMAS TREE. Stack them in the yard and have a WESTERN SNOWMAN, or just set them around the house and have that great WESTERN OUT DOOR LOOK. Organically grown in the OKLAHOMA BAD LANDS where the BUFFALO and the INDIANS ONCE roamed. This piece of GREAT WESTERN ART comes packed in a 16X16X16 box and deliverd to your door by UPS. Each of these WESTERN ART TUMBLE WEEDS have there own CHARACTERISTIC, and no two are alike. Yours will differ some from the one in the pitcure. My promise to each of you is IF THEY WON'T TUMBLE WE DON'T BUNDLE.
Woe is me
Woe is me. I am at work, while everyone else is on vacation. I imagine shortly Sarah will join me in this should-be-a-day-off kind of day. Its eerily quiet. I was also disappointed to read Karen's journal entry today. She didn't make a single comment on how she left her turkey unattended and nearly burnt down her friend's house in a grease fire. Gosh. That would've been funny. I know this because Karen called me. I miss talking with Karen. I need to call her more -- make this my Thanksgiving resolution. But I am so bad with calling people (at least since high school -- when back in the day, all I did, when I wasn't doing homework, at home was talk on the phone).
Gobble Gobble
So, what did I do yesterday? I missed the Cutri-party in Cleveland; the Dad&Waif-Child-Slut-party at Yardley; and the Slightly-More-Sane-Kohart gathering, wherever that might have been held.
In the morning I ran a 5K (The Uptown Turkey Trot). Yes, you heard me folks. 3.1 miles. Ok, I admit, I walked for about 3-4 minutes of the total race. But, still, I think that's pretty damned good! I'm not going to tell you the embarrassing time it took me to complete it. I kept running, though, even when people were walking faster than my pace. And the best part is, I could gorge the rest of the day without feeling guilty one bit.
Then I went over to Kennda's for Thanksgiving Brunch and drank mimosa's and ate smoked fish and chilled veggies and brie. Mmmmm. I rushed home to make the cherry pie. May I never ever ever ever attempt to make my own pie crust. After 3 attempts, I finally had the dough of the right consistancy and the right shape and size to put in the pie pan. Even then, when I put the second (top) crust on, it wasn't quite even. Part of the edge broke, letting filling poor out into the pan. But I baked it anyway. I didn't actually eat any of it at the party last night, but I warned them about the potential for the crust not to be very good, but I got compliments anyway -- of course, there's no way to know, especially when the cook complains, that they weren't trying to make me feel better. But it turned out ok. And I also have to say that my stuffing was smashingly good.
All I have to say is that you would think something with only THREE ingredients (which is all there is in pie crust) wouldn't be so complicated!
Today's boring work babble
I wonder if I will actually get anything accomplished today. Last week I modified this MATLAB script I had written a while back to extract some new data from a project I did a while back. But I was really sloppy and nested about 7 really long loops in it, one inside the other. In non-technobabble, it means that the code takes like a million years to run once (it didn't finish after 6 hours on Wednesday), and I need to run it about 7 times. So, the question is, do I leave this "brute force" approach, or start from the drawing board again today to actually attempt to write pretty-optimized code. I really wish I had taken some good "How To Code WELL" classes that would give me some better ideas of how to logically do things like this. I remember Irwin and George always laughing at my Matlab scripts. They should see my Fortran, its even scarier. But Fortran sucks. So I don't care how those scripts look. Well, maybe I'll try to make my code prettier (i.e. faster and more flexible) today. That would be progress. And there will be no distractions, I think.
November 27, 2002
I've been thinking of Switzerland this morning. Why, you ask? Well, what set it off was probably the weather. They say smells can trigger memory - so if smells can, so can touch, and my skin is prickling with the weather, which is cold, damp and cloudy and the sun setting before I leave work (there when I was a slacker and left at 4:15 every day because I took "short" 1 hour lunches) and here when I leave after 5. Ah, a true Swiss fall right here in Houston.
Add to that, I've been following Karen (and now Brian's) attempts to have Thanksgiving in Europe. I've been reading Nick's Page du Jour. Of and on, I've heard Buzz talk about her three years in England. Last year at this time, my mom and I were trotting around the nether-regions of Switzerland, visiting city (Bern), town and lac (Montreux), and mountains and alpsee's (Zermatt). It was weird last year, when I stopped in to say "Happy Thanksgiving" to the one American full-time engineer and he had completely forgotten Thanksgiving was even coming up.
So, anyway, that's what set me off thinking about Switzerland and living in Europe and living in Houston. They give us this lecture here at training academy about adjusting to other cultures, and how people go through phases -- honeymoon, hostility, habit, and home. The Canadian co-ops there had gotten a similar lecture about how it takes a full year to adjust to another culture (it was complete with this roller coaster-like diagram, which I can REALLY relate to). I think when I left Switzerland I had just transitioned from hostility to habit. There were LOTS of praktikants who started with me that were still in hostility mode, and you'd here lots of muttering (in various languages) "DAMNED SWISS... F*cking pricks anal retentive rules no laundry on Sunday stupid stadt haus fines damned polizi freakin' Frau Schmidt Closed from 9 to noon on Monday and at 5 every day not open Sunday Religion tax nonesense."
Ok, I digress. Even remembering all this, reading about everyone else's experiences makes me want to go live abroad again. If nothing else, it was exciting (nerve racking, emotionally draining...) -- it was a challenge, with really wonderful rewards. Now, I've long since decided that I don't think I could live abroad permanently. I think something like an alternating assignment - 1 year in America, 1 year abroad, a year back in America, blah blah blah, would be awesome. I think part of the reason is, I've finally gone through all four phases of being reindoctrinated into America. When I first got back (nearly a year ago) I revelled in things like watching TV, going to the grocery store at 2 a.m. and ordering pizza to be delivered. Hostility came with the summer weather. And now this is home.
So I'm balanced, and I need something to upset my equilibrium. So, I'm getting itchy feet again. I don't know if I can wait for Greece to be my next trip to Europe. I've decided to put away some money for a cheap springtime airfare, and I'll either go there. Or Mexico. Or the Carribean. Oh, I'm so undecided.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!
Now, I just need to figure out how to make a cherry pie.
November 26, 2002
Read this on the Bush twins' 21st birthday:
As the young Bushes know only too well, the United States is country with an unforgiving attitude to alcohol.
In "the land of the free" there are still some people who seem to yearn for the days of prohibition.
The police in Washington have been known to snoop outside private gardens to check there are no 20-year-olds going anywhere near a drink.
On one BBC office outing the waiters in a downtown restaurant insisted on "carding" the whole party, demanding to see proof of age from all the team, including one correspondent who was about to retire, and had the grey hair to prove it !
A columnist in the New York Daily News suggests the twins burn the fake ID cards and pay a victorious visit to the bar in Texas where they were busted a year ago.
Leaves are brown and the sky is a hazy shade of winter
So, I went out to water my plants this morning, and I think I've decided to declare my exotic hanging plant permanently dead. It was suffering during the first bout of cold weather, but seemed to burst back into semi-life last week in the sun. But the last couple of days finally did her in.
A moment of silence please.
You know, I really shouldn't complain about the "winter", its not much of a winter at 60 degrees. I mean the clouds are kind of unpleasant and threatening (I do agree with Sarah, they were just outright WEIRD yesterday). And its depressing to leave work in the dark. But I remember how active mom and I were in Switzerland last year at this time, and it was snowing and you needed to wear hats and gloves. Still let me complain, because my poor plant is in rigor mortis. But the bonus is the colors on the leaves are pretty -- that's the best part of fall!
Provence
I want to go to Provence. I want to get the scholarship Nick is on (of course, I'd actually have to go to an English speaking country -- ahhh Australia). Look at his Page Du Jour picture today. I love olives. Mmmmmmmm. My mouth is watering. It makes me want to go back to Europe on the next flight.
Time, time, time
See whatīs become of me...
Time, time, time
See whatīs become of me
While I looked around
For my possibilities
I was so hard to please
Look around
Leaves are brown
And the sky
Is a Hazy Shade of Winter
Hear the Salvation Army Band
Down by the riverside
Itīs bound to be a better ride
Than what youīve got planned
Carry a cup in your hand
Look around
Leaves are brown
And the sky
Is a Hazy Shade of Winter
Hang onto your hopes my friend
Thatīs an easy thing to say
But if your hopes should pass away
Simply pretend
That you can build them again
Look around
Grass is high
Fields are ripe
Itīs the springtime of my life
Seasons change with their scenery
Weaving time in a tapestry
Wonīt you stop and remember me
Look around
Leaves are brown
And the sky
Is a Hazy Shade of Winter
Look around
Leaves are brown
Thereīs a patch of snow on the ground
Look around
Leaves are brown
Thereīs a patch of snow on the ground
Look around
Leaves are brown
Thereīs a patch of snow on the ground
November 25, 2002
I had a great weekend. On Friday I gloriously did nothing but sit on my patio and read and watch the boats coming in and out. I'm going to miss my little marina when I move.
On Saturday, I went to see Cabaret, the musical. I liked it. I like musicals in general, and this was no exception. I have to admit, though, there were certain parts that were full of imagery and symbolism that I could catch had double-meanings, but I couldn't figure out what those meanings were. Good thing I am not a career critic. I also went door shopping for the French doors for my study. (Now that the inspection was a success I can officially start getting my hopes up and look for new house toys - Yes, they accepted my amendment in full). What a huge range of prices between The Door Store, Doors Doors Doors! and the Home Depot. I am so boring.
On Sunday, my big goal was to clean my embarrasingly messy apartment. Instead, I slept until 11 a.m. Then I sat on my patio and read the newspaper. Then I walked up to Starbucks and read the NYTimes. Then I took Apache to obedience class (she mastered "stay" for a duration of 45 seconds while I walked in circles around her - yippee!). Then I took a nap. At around 6 p.m. I decided to clean, and I at least made it through my living room and kitchen, but no farther. Then I watched Runaway Bride, which was even dumber the second time (though Richard Gere is HOT), and curled up in bed to read.
November 22, 2002
I shouldn't cook with wine. You see, what happens is that I open the bottle of wine to cook, and then have a glass (or two) on an empty stomach while I'm cooking. And then by the time dinner is done, I am in no state to pick up the mess that usually results from me cooking. Anyway, you get the idea.
Since I'm talking about messes, my whole apartment is an unholy mess. It really needs to be cleaned. Yet I keep avoiding it.
On the house front, I still haven't heard from the seller's about my contract amendments.
November 21, 2002
I am such a grown-up. I am so disappointed in myself. I could not, for the life of me, have an intelligent conversation about Nintendo with the kid that I'm tutoring! I am so disappointed in myself. He asked me what my favorite game was, and I was like, "Um, Legend of Zelda.. I think they still make that."
So now, I need to go out and buy myself a video game system. I don't want to be a nerdy asocial grownup.
So, my mom's response to my video game quagmire:
so you NEED a video game system? nooo... it's OK to get OLD... just tell
kids you are into yoga or something and that video games lead to violent and
antisocial behavior and, what's the matter with them anyway, they should be
reading classic literature - fill in the blanks to sound like an adult: "At
YOUR age, I was...." (i.e. reading a book a day, walking to school in the
rain uphill with no shoes, volunteering at the local soup kitchen 40 hrs. per
week AFTER SCHOOL, working 2 parttime jobs to help pay the bills at home and
doing homework at 2am when household chores were done.... get the idea?)
November 20, 2002
Ah.
This morning jogging felt really good. It was a pretty sunrise and full moon setting. There were deer grazing in the baseball field (only at JSC with our pet deer!). The air was crisp and it was just the right temperature, making my skin feel all tingle-y. I even ran an extra 1/2 mile just for the hell of it. I liked this mornings (as much as I can like a morning, considering I still hate mornings).
The tax collector
Karen had a hilarious experience with the t.v. enforcement patrol yesterday. It reminds me so much of Switzerland. Except for the fact that you probably couldn't pay your fine on the spot with the Swiss police. And even if you did have a t.v. license, and the Swiss police didn't believe you, they could still fine you if they felt like it, because that's just the way they are and you are a lowly American who knows 10 words of German and 25 words of French. And of course, you'd have to pay court costs to dispute it. So I guess the moral of the story is that Karen got lucky and the Swiss police are anal retentive dorks. I love America.
Bated breath
I left the home inspection to the end of this entry because I know you are all waiting to hear about it with bated breath. It went really well (not to say there aren't some problems, but, I'm sure we can arrange to have them fixed). When my inspector sent the report, he said "THIS IS A NICE HOUSE AND ALL ITEMS ARE MINOR AND REPAIRABLE." Which certainly beats the last house, which was "Run, don't walk away." Now I just have to wait for the termite inspection to be finished. I met one of the neighbours last night too. She's a teacher at Bay Area Christian high school, and she was telling (warning) me about her school's tradition of toilet papering their favorite teachers' houses on Homecoming night and the last couple years, they had a hard time figuring out which house was hers, so they just got the whole street. She told me not to worry, because she made her students come out and clean up the houses that weren't hers, and she made her husband and son clean her house (I liked this woman already). The house next door to me is lived in by two young single men apparently. With my luck, they're probably gay.
November 19, 2002
I woke up at 3:30 to go watch the meteors. At one point I saw three in the sky all at the same time. I've seen some pretty impressive celestial events before (including two showings of the Aurora/Northern Lights, ecplipses, and many many satellites and meteors), but this is the first time I've really sat up for a meteor shower in someplace dark and saw them come pouring from the sky. If we could've found someplace even more desolate than west NASA Road 1 and cleared the clouds out, it would've been even cooler. But still. Awesome.
Sometimes I think it would've been cool to be an astronomer and learn the night sky inside and out (as it is, I can pick out about 4 constellations and that's about it), and live like a vampire and spend part of each year fighting for telescope time in some exotic location on the top of a mountain (like the one in Zermatt, Switzerland! Or Hawaii...).
As for the house, well, I couldn't get it inspected yesterday because the owners (who aren't living there anymore) forgot to have the gas turned back on. So, instead, it will get done this afternoon. Thanks from all the well-wishers! I will keep you updated. Though I would appreciate if people on the west coast (you know who you are!) call me before 10 p.m. my time to see how things are going.
I am totally obsessing over Skater Boy, which has actually been playing on the radio for a little while now, but I've decided I really like it. So, in my random lyrics mode:
He was a boy, she was a girl
Can I make it anymore obvious?
He was a punk,she did ballet
What more can I say?
He wanted her, she'd never tell
secretly she wanted him as well.
But all of her friends stuck up there nose
they had a problem with his baggy clothes.
He was a skater boy, she said see ya later boy
he wasn't good enought for her
She had a pritty face, but her head was up in space
she needed to come back down to earth.
five years from now, she sits at home
feeding the baby
she's all alone
she turns on tv
guess who she sees
skater boy rockin' up MTV.
she calles up her friends,they already know
and they've all got tickets to see his show
she tags along and stands in the crowd
looks up at the man that she turned down.
He was a skater boy,she said see ya later boy
he wasn't good enought for her
now he's a super star
slamin' on his guitar
does your pritty face see what he's worth?
sorry girl but you missed out
well tuff luck that boys mine now
we are more than just good friends
this is how the story ends
too bad that you couldn't see
see that man that boy could be
there is more that meets the eye
I see the soul that is inside
He's just a boy, and i'm just a girl
can I make it anymore obvious?
we are in love, haven't you heard
how we rock eachothers world
I'm with the skater boy, I said see ya later boy
i'll be back stage after the show
i'll be at a studio
singing the song we wrote
about a girl you used to know
November 18, 2002
The weather this week is making up for weeks of rain. It is so pleasant and sunny, it makes you wonder why people complain about Houston weather. Apache was treated to many hours of walks this weekend (I love my marina!) and people watching at Starbucks (the usual destination of my walks).
I saw Harry Potter on Friday night with like a million people. Somehow there were different groups of people planning on going at different times on Friday, but with the launch slip and the sim. schedule, all the groups somehow converged on the 10:30 p.m. show. It gets my two-thumbs up for being true to the book. Though I do wish they had spent a little more time on characterization and little details that weren't entirely related to the end-climax - a lot of those details are what makes the books special and magical. I also think they should have let Ginny have a little bit more character, she was just kind of thrown in to her fairly pivotal role. But it was Harry Potter and it was awesome. I wish I could've seen it in England, but, well... c'est la vie.
This afternoon my potential new house is being inspected. Wish it luck. I had to restrain myself all weekend from shopping for paint colors and French doors for my "study"/guest room, because, well, I don't want to fall in love with ANY house until after it has been inspected, just in case I have to terminate the contract AGAIN. This time I haven't even started shopping for homeowners' insurance, I figure why waste the time if I am not sure I have the house. Yuck.
Am I boring? Sarah said she may shorten her journal entries because she is getting boring. Which made me realize, my life is pretty boring. Or at least mundane. The great mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. Hm...
November 15, 2002
Half the dogs in America will receive Christmas presents this year, yet few of us pause to consider the miserable life of the pig -- an animal easily as intelligent as a dog -- that becomes the Christmas ham. (From last week's NY Times magazine)
This morning I went to visit Rice University (where I am going to be getting my Master's degree...). I got there at 8:30 or so, and campus was so dead, the only people out were joggers on Rice Blvd. That was my first flashback of when life didn't start until 11 a.m. (even when I had early morning classes that I didn't sleep through, I just kind of drifted until lunch time. Ah, that was nice.
Anyway, I really like Rice. It had pretty buildings, nice professors, green space, and a funny school paper. All of those components are essential, of course, to my education.
If you're worried about Apache, she's fine, she just has some sort of colon infection (the worst the vet has ever seen) and she's on about a week of drugs and special high-fiber diet. The unfortunate part is that she is contagious, at least for the next few days, and cannot be kept in her crate (lest she has an "accident" on herself). So, she is currently in "doggy day care" at $5/day at the vet so that she gets walked regularly and frequently. This kind of kills any possibility of plans for the weekend (I was hoping to scare up people to go to the Renaissance Faire tomorrow) as I can't leave her alone for more than several hours at a time (grumble). Having a dog is such a good form of birth control.
Tonight: Harry Potter. Not as exciting as Cantebury or the Odeon in London, like last year, but it will have to do.
November 14, 2002
This morning I was a good citizen and went to tutor at a local elementary school and I had a great time. I am signed up to tutor for an hour every Thursday morning from now until forever.
I am tutoring Uriel and his word for the day (yes, it was tied around his neck) is "Wonderous", as in (he informed me, matter of factly, when we started): "Its wonderous that a spider knows how to spell". We read a chapter from Charlotte's Web, which is one of my all-time favorite children's books, and, therefore, a much better way to spend a morning than actually being at work. I also managed to convince Uriel that the Constitution was one of the coolest things in the world.
I also dropped Apache at the vet this morning. After another night of stomach distress, I noticed this morning there was blood (and lots of it) in her stool, and so I called it in, and they told me that I should get her diagnosed. Ah, my dog, the money sink. I am hoping there is nothing seriously wrong, but its better to check.
And I made an offer on a house last night. I still haven't heard back. I'll keep you updated.
November 13, 2002
Why I love D.C.!
So, I know this is long awaited, the summary of my fun-filled weekend.
1. Aunt Diane.
(See look, you made number 1 on the list!) Going to visit Aunt Diane is all about getting "mommy-ed" up, its very entertaining (to the point of being ludicrious when she brings you a blanket while you are watching t.v. on the couch) and a nice feeling.
I also ate more and better than I had in a month. My friends went over to her house (her beautiful new townhouse), and we were content with ordering in or whatever. When Aunt Diane offered to cook, I was thinking something simple (probably grilled). Instead we had hummus and grape leaves for appetizers, an incredible salad (who would have thought to put dried cranberries, pistachios, grapes and goat cheese in a salad, but it was delicious!), and salmon in yougart sauce. (Which made the twins admit they actually do like salmon). Yum! The only other food weirdness was my mom sent Aunt Di a list of foods with iron in it, because she heard I was slightly anemic. To all you concerned mommies out there, I am taking a daily viteman. It has 100% of my daily iron. A doctor is montoring me. Don't be concerned!
2. My friends are there.
I visited Melissa and Sharon (commonly referred to as the twins), they are doing great. They have a beautiful condo about ten minutes away from my Aunt Diane's with a killer balcony. It made me long to be able to buy a condo here in Houston, but, alas, that is not in our culture. Maayan and her boyfriend Fred drove in from Pittsburgh. We like Fred. He is nice and funny and smart and cute and he has opinions, yet he is not at all obnoxious and clingy - making me very happy for Maayan. And I met Heather and her boyfriend Henry. Heather was Heather and Henry was Heather's boyfriend. Just what you'd expect. Its nice to see that nothing has changed there. I even saw Eric Schwartz, long lost elementary school friend. I was worried that I wouldn't recognize him, but I did, and he seems very happy. Hopefully we'll be able to keep in closer touch for the future. All of us (minus Heather) had a great lunch at a tapas bar and exchanged gossip.
3. Tourist stuff
I actually had time to be a tourist. I saw the Space Station IMAX (which I would highly recommend to anyone). I went to the Air & Space Musuem (more importantly I went shopping at their gift store). I went to the National Botanic Garden (yes, that's how its spelled and pronounced). I went to see Man of Le Manche (the musical about Don Quxiote (sp?) which I highly recommend)
4. Because I want to live there.
Ok, so I've decided now that I really want to live in D.C. for a little while. Its such an awesome city. I could picture myself living there.
Really long, awful morning
So, Apache contracted some sort of stomach virus from the kennel this weekend, which would probably explain why she was so low energy last night. I discovered this at 1 a.m. when she started whimpering. I figured this was her being weird (as usual) after being away in a kennel, so I just crated her up to stop her from pacing and tunneling under my bed. As it turns out she was whimpering because she needed to go out. Badly. Instead, she went in her crate. Lovely. GROSS!
Anyway, she started crying about every hour on the hour and tunneling under my bed (I can only assume she does this because she can hold it in easier like that), so I took her out, repeatedly, and everytime she went, I didn't know she had that much room in her digestive system. I'm worried about her being in her crate all day, I didn't feed her this morning though, so hopefully she'll be ok.
So, around 5 a.m. walk time, I couldn't get back to sleep, so I did my morning jog. I was all proud of myself, because at that rate I cold be at work by 7 a.m. No such luck. The tire on my rental car was flat. I had noticed it low before (or, let me say, Matt noticed it low before) and had added air. It must have been a slow leak.
So now
So in a feet only I could accomplish I have not one, but TWO cars in the shop. It seems that I actually have the last rental car in the greater Clear Lake Area. I waited until 8 a.m. when Enterprise opened and took the car back to them, and asked for a new one. They didn't have one, neither did the three other Enterprise's and two National's they called. Finally we settled on them driving me to work, getting the car fixed, and dropping it off. This worked out well, but made me fairly late, rather than early, and required me to take a trek across site (breaking in one of the new pairs of shoes I got this weekend!).
And its only 9 a.m. What a day.
November 12, 2002
Ok, ok, don't be so impatient, some times I can't update first thing in the morning. Anyway, a lot to say today.
I am oh, so popular
For a change, I am the oh, so popular one. I received not one but four contacts from President's Scholars at Georgia Tech looking to interview me because they need to speak to a professional aerospace engineer. How cool! Sarah was very insulted that they aren't calling her (most likely cause she's still listed as a Stanford student). This resulted in a very funny e-mail exchange to Randy McDow, the scholarship coordinator.
Sarah: Hey Randy, Becca's got *four* freshman PS's contacting her for information and I have none. And since I sit in the same cubicle as her, her bragging is getting annoying. What gives? :)
Randy:Cutri comes before Graybeal. Tell Becca to share and play nice. :-)
Anyway, it made me feel old.
Oh, I want a house and a yard and a garage and space
Tomorrow I am going back to see a house I looked at last Thursday that I really liked. I wanted to wait it out, because I was afraid I was just liking it because I was starting to get itchy about buying a house, but after thinking about it all weekend, I still like it. Anyway, the things I noticed while looking at the house that I didn't like are still making me a little concerned, but... so, those things are: its a one-story with the hot water heater in the attic (major flood risk if I don't check the pan often enough and it explodes or whatever they do when they fail); there's some random little hairline cracks in different ceiling spots (which I've spotted in almost every house, I guess it comes from settling and just needs to be caulked, but still); the cabinets are white (very modern) but its really a laminate over wood and one a couple of the dozen+ cabinets the laminate is kind of chipping off on the corners (my realtor said she mentioned it to the other realtor and the owners didn't even know this was happening and are going to fix it, whatever that means).
Anyway, I'm bringing some friends tomorrow to look at it with me before I make an offer. If you want to look at it and give me your opinion, go to www.har.com and search for a single family home with MLS#7501093. The family has already moved out, they were the original owners, it was built in 1995 and is still under the builder's warranty.
D.C. Rocks
D.C. Rocks for many reasons and I will list them later, but I actually have to get some work done.
November 07, 2002
Gr. Flight Docs. That's my rant for the day. Its not like I am asking persmission to fly the space shuttle for crying out loud! Just a Cessna. Yet, the flight docs seem to think that every time I go in, I need just one more freakin' follow-up before they can sign my form "just to be sure." Grumble grumble. I don't know why I opted for the government-military flight docs - its awful, but other pilots (with significant military experience) have told me just to outright lie to them about my health (never offer anything, never mention anything, and always tell them, "oh, my regular doctor looked at that and he said it was fine."...) I've never had to do that, but now, I see the temptation.
November 06, 2002
The name game. Sarah's was right on. I don't necessarily agree with mine (I've put those parts in italics). Hmm.
Rebecca:
You make impersonal decisions quickly, but not so with personal concerns. You like to think things over carefully, but tend to be indecisive. You can be quite inventive and quite curious. You are a constructive thinker. You have a need for monetary security. You need to learn to be expressive. You are a person who cannot tolerate being misunderstood. You are clever, inventive, imaginative and youthful. You enjoy socializing. You need to learn concentration and not to scatter your mental energies. You have much enthusiasm with a driving attitude toward achievement in life.
Marie:
You want to be productive and feel useful, and enjoy helping solve problems. You like to be busy and not waste time. You have a need to be up front. You have a lack of confidence in your mental abilities and do not like being forced into giving your opinion. You are relatively demonstrative in your affections. You enjoy being stroked verbally and physically. You need to learn to be expressive. You are a person who cannot tolerate being misunderstood.
Cutri-Kohart:
You are clever, inventive, imaginative and youthful. You enjoy socializing. You are soft-hearted with a charitable nature. Your privacy is important to you. You have a rich inner life. You have a lack of confidence in your mental abilities and do not like being forced into giving your opinion. You need to learn to give and receive love for love's sake. You have a need to be assured of affection. You have good recuperative abilities. You are determined. You have a great deal of loyalty to those you love. You have much inner strength. You work hard to achieve material success through your own efforts. You have a need to be up front. You have a lack of confidence in your mental abilities and do not like being forced into giving your opinion. You need to learn faith in place of fear.
It's a beautiful day
Sky falls, you feel like
It's a beautiful day
Don't let it get away
Yes, the sun is finally out. The sky is clear. The air is crisp. Its perfect.
Other people's lives
Poor Karen. She found out today her advisor is switching schools in April. This means she will either have to move with him, or find a new advisor at Cranfield to work with while still communicating with her current advisor long distance. She didn't make mention of where the potential new school is (that's kind of an important thing to leave out, don't you think?). Anyway, my mind is brimming with possibilities for her - possibly some place more exciting than Cranfield (that's almost anywhere)? Or more in the middle of no where? She's had a hard time finding friends in Cranfield, maybe she'll have better luck at new school - but then she'd have to give up everyone she met at Cranfield? Maybe new school will have undergrads (and therefore more active extracurriculars)? Hm. Possibilities!
And, on another people's life, this morning Sarah didn't come to class, and Greta told me that I am supposed to tease her for it and tell her that she has an unexcused absense unless she was at Boot Camp again, and then she's just gone crazy.
I have the weirdest mind sometimes
I bought a pomegranite at the grocery store the other day. I guess I was in the mood, because I had just read an article in the NYTimes saying that it was pomegranite season and they are good for you (they have antioxidants, someone will have to explain why that is good for me). I just like the bitter sweet taste.
Anyway, last night, after dinner, I started eating the seeds for desert. For each seed I ate, I couldn't help thinking that I was condemmed to an additional month at the Queen of the Dead (a la Persephone). You shouldn't have to think that while eating desert (though if you had to do that while eating chocolate cake, the whole world would be thinner)!
Elections
Well, my vote didn't count, 'cause the Republicans basically swept Texas. I don't understand why the papers and such kept saying all the races were hotly contested and all the votes were too close to call - because nearly every major candidate won by over 10%. What was funny was the news last night was calling races with only 4 or 5% of the precincts even reporting in. I think that's just a BIT presumptious.
I feel since this was my first in-person voting experience, I should say *something* about it. First of all, talk about unsecure! All I had to do was sign a roll of paper, and then they gave me a scantron form (you know the sheets of paper that you use a number 2 pencil to bubble things in?) Then I went and sat down at a desk (with the like 4 other people who were actually voting at the same time I was) and was barely shetlered from peaking over next to me by a sheet of cardboard. There was no curtain or anything, so basically anyone walking through the door could look over my shoulder and see who I was voting for. I was very disappointed not to have a lever or a punch card or something (let alone one of the fancy computer slates or touch screens they are apparently phasing in for more civilized districts). And then I just slid my ballot into this big locked tin box.
It was all very dodgey.
The heart is a bloom
Shoots up through the stony ground
There's no room
No space to rent in this town
You're out of luck
And the reason that you had to care
The traffic is stuck
And you're not moving anywhere
You thought you'd found a friend
To take you out of this place
Someone you could lend a hand
In return for grace
It's a beautiful day
Sky falls, you feel like
It's a beautiful day
Don't let it get away
You're on the road
But you've got no destination
You're in the mud
In the maze of her imagination
You love this town
Even if that doesn't ring true
You've been all over
And it's been all over you
It's a beautiful day
Don't let it get away
It's a beautiful day
Touch me
Take me to that other place
Teach me
I know I'm not a hopeless case
See the world in green and blue
See China right in front of you
See the canyons broken by cloud
See the tuna fleets clearing the sea out
See the Bedouin fires at night
See the oil fields at first light
And see the bird with a leaf in her mouth
After the flood all the colors came out
It was a beautiful day
Don't let it get away
Beautiful day
Touch me
Take me to that other place
Reach me
I know I'm not a hopeless case
What you don't have you don't need it now
What you don't know you can feel it somehow
What you don't have you don't need it now
Don't need it now
Was a beautiful day
November 05, 2002
It is election day. Its very weird, this is the first ever election that I will get to vote *in person*. I don't even know how to use the machines. I guess it doesn't take a rocket scientist. In the past, I've always had my ballot in front of me and carefully researched each issue (on the Internet) before casting my vote. Because I am voting in person, I actually have to decide before I go vote. Ugh, early planning. Though some of it wasn't hard, because I am voting against stupid ads :) (for instance "John Sharp - Evil. Liberal. Wrong for Texas" - I am personally offended by anyone who would link the words Evil and Liberal, so therefore I will vote against that person - Dewhurst).
I'm voting mostly Democrat(especially for Governor, Senator, Congress and State Attorney General), one Republican (agriculture commissioner), and several greens and libertarians (for misc. judicial and local offices - I find it weird that almost the entire judicial branch in Texas is elected rather than appointed). The reason I am going for third parties for judges is because they are the only ones who've taken a clear stand against the death penalty and the other racist/sexist/unjust behavior that seems to be present in the TX judicial system.
Ok, that's my political rant. Go out and vote!
November 04, 2002
Today was exactly the right kind of weekend. It was a good mix of me being productive, lazy, and social. If it wasn't cold and rainy (will the rain never stop??), it would have been perfect. It is still cold and rainy now, I could bring myself to go to class this morning and jog in this muck, but I don't feel lazy at all, cause I jogged the last 3 days in a row during breaks in the weather.
Friday night, right after work, a group of us went to see The Ring. You have to laugh at yourself for being scared of a PG-13 movie, but it was scary. The suspenseful, intelligent kind of scary, not the ugly-moster-jumping-out-of-a-corner-at-you scary. Afterwards was dinner. When I finally got home, I had a message on my machine with a whispered "Seven Days." If you had seen The Ring, you would understand the significance of it, I was totally freaked out. I figured it was Matt who left the message, because that is totally something he would do (he is our group's prankster). As it turned out, it was Gavin and Jen. Poor Matt, always accused of all the trouble. Anyway, before I resolved who it was, I took Apache on the fastest walk in the world.
On Saturday, I was very productive, I cleaned, paid bills, etc. Then I vegged out in front of t.v. We went on a Haunted Tour of Houston, too. The last stop was the freakiest, an old hospital, completely in pieces (no walls on the inside), with a cremetoreum, and 10,000 dead bodies buried below it (it was built on the site of a mass grave). I didn't need ghosts to be freaked out. You won't catch me going back there (especially, since the haunted hospital also appeared to double as a crack house).
The funniest line of the night was when we were stopped at the cemetary where the Houston city -founders are buried, a woman on the tour sitting in front of me said "I haven't been to this one before." I sarcastically replied "Oh, and you frequently visit cemetaries." And she said, "Yep, especially when I hung out at them in high school." And I thought MY high school experiences were weird.
The scariest part of the night was after the tour when we ate dinner in the spaghetti factory, which was our first haunted site, it used to be an apothecary, among other things. Anyway, just the 6 of us went back upstairs to where our tour had taken us as a group. This time the lights were out and no one was there, as we checked out the places in the room our tourguides said were centers of activity. No, we didn't see any ghosts. But I was freaked out.
And, finally, on Sunday, I slept in a bit, then ran errands (grocery store, frame store, book store, etc.) and made a lovely dinner of scallops and tomato sauce over spinach fettucine. MMM. It was awesome - a new recipe, only took 30 minutes, all normal ingredients (except bay leaves.. who the heck uses bay leaves?!), but required 4 pans (I hate doing dishes). So it ranks 5-stars on the "yum" scale, 4-stars on the "easiness" scale, and 1 star on the "clean-up/set-up" scale.
November 01, 2002
I love Halloween. Its so much fun. I got to give out candy at Gavin and Jen's house. Towards the end of the party I talked to some of their neighbours, all young people who basically just purchased their houses, and it was very reassuring. I was kind of getting depressed because I was supposed to close on that other house yesterday, and I am no closer to finding one that I was in September. But they seem to all have gone through the similar ups and downs of the experience that I am, and it worked out for them, so it will work out for me too, I'm sure.
I ended up taking Cari's dog Bennett home with me after the party (long story), and that was fun too. Bennett is still a young puppy, and is such, more cuddly than squirmy (I'm sure that phase won't last long). But I have to say, walking two dogs (especially since Bennett isn't very good on a leash) is most definitely NOT easy.
And, for the song lyrics of the week, I am actually very inspired by this Eminem song - scary. Normally, I'm not one for rap at ALL. Especially not one for nasty idiots like Eminem. But this I like.
Look, if you had one shot, one opportunity
To seize everything you ever wanted
One moment
Would you capture it or just let it slip?
His palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy
There'ss vomit on his sweater already, mom's spaghetti
He's nervous, but on the surface he looks calm and ready
To drop bombs, but he keeps on forgettin
What he wrote down, the whole crowd goes so loud
He opens his mouth, but the words won't come out
He's chokin, how everybody's jokin now
The clocks run out, times up over, bloah!
Snap back to reality, Oh there goes gravity
Oh, there goes Rabbit, he choked
Hes so mad, but he wont give up that
Is he? No
He wont have it , he knows his whole back citys ropes
It dont matter, hes dope
He knows that, but hes broke
Hes so stacked that he knows
When he goes back to his mobile home, thats when its
Back to the lab again yo
This whole rap shit
He better go capture this moment and hope it dont pass him
HOOK:
You better lose yourself in the music, the moment
You own it, you better never let it go
You only get one shot, do not miss your chance to blow
This opportunity comes once in a lifetime yo
The souls escaping, through this hole that its gaping
This world is mine for the taking
Make me king, as we move toward a, new world order
A normal life is borin, but superstardoms close to post mortar
It only grows harder, only grows hotter
He blows us all over these hoes is all on him
Coast to coast shows, hes know as the globetrotter
Lonely roads, God only knows
Hes grown farther from home, hes no father
He goes home and barely knows his own daughter
But hold your nose cuz here goes the cold water
His bosses dont want him no mo, hes cold product
They moved on to the next schmoe who flows
He nose dove and sold nada
So the soap opera is told and unfolds
I suppose its old potna, but the beat goes on
Da da dum da dum da da
HOOK
No more games, Ima change what you call rage
Tear this mothafuckin roof off like 2 dogs caged
I was playin in the beginnin, the mood all changed
I been chewed up and spit out and booed off stage
But I kept rhymin and stepwritin the next cypher
Best believe somebodys payin the pied piper
All the pain inside amplified by the fact
That I cant get by with my 9 to 5
And I cant provide the right type of life for my family
Cuz man, these goddam food stamps dont buy diapers
And its no movie, theres no Mekhi Phifer, this is my life
And these times are so hard and it's getting even harder
Tryin to feed and water my seed, plus
See dishonor caught up bein a father and a prima donna
Baby mama drama screamin on and
Too much for me to wanna
Stay in one spot, another jam or not
Has gotten me to the point, I'm like a snail
I've got to formulate a plot fore I end up in jail or shot
Success is my only mothafuckin option, failures not
Mom, I love you, but this trail has got to go
I cannot grow old in Salems lot
So here I go is my shot.
Feet fail me not cuz maybe the only opportunity that I got
HOOK
You can do anything you set your mind to, man
