You should check out yesterday's entry, because while I was running code, late afternoon, I did a whole host of stupid surveys and put the results up.
And, for the amusement of the entire family (at least until someone protests and orders me to take them down), here are some of the best pictures from this Christmas, all photographed by Aunt Diane:
Lauren (it was hard to pick which pictures of her, because she's absolutely adorable!)
Grandmother & Laurent (this is classic - look fast, I am sure Grandmother is going to have me take this one down!)
Grandmother and Granddad (At the Mai Tai Tiki house - yes, we did in fact have Christmas dinner at the Tiki House)
Aunt Joy and Lauren (Being a Tiki house, the drinks were served in pineapples, among other things)
Allie (Yep, pineapples)
Aunt Joy and Lauren (told you she was cute)
Ok, I took an obnoxious number of online quizes while waiting for MATLAB to run something for me. Personally, I am very excited about being a Bavarian. That's perfect for me. I decided that the graphics were WAY too flashy, so here are the results:
What inner color are you?
You are blue. You are somewhat innocent, in the fact that your genius only extends to the physical world. You have a false sense of contentness. You are usually the quiet one, the genius. Everyone can count on you to help when they have problems, but you only fall short of being able to solve your own.
What Is Your Animal Personality?
The Wolf. You're independent, strong-willed, and often misunderstood. Very few people truely understand you. You're extremely attached to the significant few you love and respect. You often find yourself as a loner, but you eagerly seek the comfort of your packmates.
What element would you rein over? (For Girls)
Goddess of green. You probably prefer to be outside where you can get some fresh air!
What's your Inner European?
You are a Bavarian.
Where Did Your Soul Originate?
You come from the Ocean. You've always been drawn to the sea, the sound of the waves, the crystal blue water, near the sea is where you belong.
What Is Your True Aura Colour?
Violets are the inspirational visionaries, leaders and teachers who are here to help save the planet. Most Violets feel drawn to educate the masses, to inspire higher ideals, to improve the quality of life on the planet, or to help save people, animals and the environment.
This entry may bore you a little bit, but, you know, I'm a geek at heart.
In class last night, I once again had the opportunity to witness first-hand the massive difference between mathematicians and engineers. The professor simplified a model, by substituting variables, to a simple linear function of one variable. Extremely easy to solve, plug the answer into a few other equations and get the rest of the details. To get to this nice pretty simple equation, he went through about 4 steps.
So, he declared a vote, which problem was "best" to solve. I voted for the 4th step. This simple, pretty, nice equation was a good solution for me. Two Mech Eng collegues voted the same way as I did. The mathematicians divided their votes among step 2 and 3. Weird, I thought. So he asked us to justify ourselves. The mathematician justification was that the 2nd and 3rd step give you a better description of the entire system. Whereas the 4th step doesn't describe everything (because so many variables had been removed from the model). What crap! Obviously these people have never actually had to find a solution to a problem in their life, because I don't care about a set of equations that I can figure out a system from - I want to get the fastest, simplest, most correct method to find the answer.
I'm just weird like that. Instead we spent the next hour solving the problem from step 2, which was a function of about 4 variables, and resulted in a topographic crazy looking plot that we had to read gradients off of. It took me a 15 minute discussion after class to even understand this plot. And for some reason, the math people though this was so much better than a nice, neat line. Go figure!
My horoscope was so weird today:
Drink plenty of water, dear Pisces, in order to keep your system properly hydrated. Water is the most important part of your diet, and it is likely that you are not drinking nearly enough. Being a water sign means that this element is the foundation of your being, making you extremely emotional, caring, and sensitive. Make sure to distance yourself from people who try to suck this life force from you.
I don't even know what to say. It starts out with a rather obvious tip about drinking water. And then it says there are people trying to suck the life force from me. This is hilarious. I should be a horoscope writer, I could do a much better job.
Other news, we lost again at volleyball (which is a given). Actually, we lost faster than we usually do. But we mixed up the teams after the real game and played again and that was even more fun. It was even more exciting, because, for the purposes of that particular game at least, it turns out I was actually a kind of successful spiker. Who would've guessed? Now, I could just grow about 6 inches and maybe I would demonstrate actual talent in it. Three words: Fists Of Power. Of course, all those other parts of the game, I still have to figure out :).
I need to start going to bed at a normal hour again. Until the last few weeks, I had been going to bed before 11 p.m., which is perfect to wake up well-rested in time to get into work by 8:30. However, lately, I haven't been going to sleep until 1 or 2, because it takes me that long to wind down. I wake up tired and spend a lot of time rolling around in my bed before dragging myself into the shower. Then I don't get into work until 9:30, then I have to work enormously long hours and LATE (especially to make up for leaving at 3 p.m. on Mon/Wed). And so because I work late, then I don't get to sleep until late, and then I wake up late. Its a vicious cycle.
Today will be a long day at work. I've decided not to go home before my 9 p.m. volleyball game, in an attempt to make my schedule for the rest of the week more reasonable (taking 4-6 hours off the normal workweek to go to class and then earning them back is not as easy as it sounds).
Holding onto a concrete block
Class last night was really good. Though I've been following the lecture fairly well, I keep getting lost whenever anyone raises their hand with a question -- when they talk about common techniques or models that haven't been lectured on that I haven't ever heard of. The point is that I was beginning to get worried that the other students in the class were several levels above me and the lectures were going to turn hard overnight and I would be sinking faster than I could swim.
The professor called me and a few other MechE students to him after class. Anyway, the professor assured us that we shouldn't worry, but that a lot of the CAAM students in the class had taken courses in optimization before and some worked with him on optimization. He said that as long as we knew how to find the minimums of functions (from calculus) and understood the usefulness of optimization problems (which I did) than we would be fine and not to worry. He also kindly offered to spend as much extra time as we needed outside of class to get us to the level where we feel comfortable. Then he proceeded to tell us not to worry because there were only going to be a couple of easy homework assignments and a project that he would be HAPPY to help us with step-by-step if we needed to get us through it. Then he said the magic words "Don't worry, this is a graduate class, just come, and put effort into it, and you'll do fine."
Self-Actualization
Aunt Diane asked me last night how getting my masters degree in engineering was going to help me own a bookstore on the side of a mountain and write the great American novel. Ah, the voice of reason. The same voice that suggested I take a year off school and work for some under-funded relief program in Africa somewhere. The voice that all mothers hope are not whispering in their child's ear.
Anyway, she asked me if I was on the path to self-fulfillment/self-actualization. I don't know. Am I? Are you? Thoughts are welcome.
4:35 pm
I think I've missed my calling. My calling is to be the granddaughter of Aristotle Onassis and inherit a few billion dollars for my birthday (including companies in 5 countries, a sky scraper, and two Greek islands).
Last night, I interviewed President's Scholars candidates, something I was wholly unqualified to do. As it turns out, most of them weren't actually very impressive, so it wasn't as hard as I thought it was going to be. I wonder if that's how I sounded in high school -- just chanting the litinany of honor societies I belonged to without actually doing anything but attending meetings. I'd like to think I wasn't like that. But who knows.
Afterwards, Super Bowl party. As usual, the commercials were better than the game. In particular, I liked the FedEx one.
Castaway: "Ma'am, I was marooned on an island for 5 years with this package. I swore if I ever got off, I would deliver it to you because I'm a FedEx employeee."
Lady: "Thanks, its so nice of you"
Castaway: "Out of curiousity, what's in it?"
Lady: "Oh, its nothing, just a satellite phone, a GPS reciever, some water purifier tablets, ooh and some seeds."
He he he...
Teacher-in-Space
In case you haven't caught the news, NASA is recruiting school-teachers again as astronauts. They started a web site where anyone could log in and nominate a teacher they think is qualified for the job. Anyway, I read this article about it that made me laugh so hard I almost fell off my chair. The highlights of one student nomination:
"Because we all hate him and want him to leave, please take him," one student wrote.
Since then, the nomination form has been changed to say: "Remember, you're nominating your teacher for a round trip. It's not a one-way."
If I caught the world in a bottle
And everything was still beneath the moon
Without your love would it shine for me?
If I was as smart as Aristotle
And understood the rings around the moon
What would it all matter if you loved me?
Here in your arms where the world is impossibly still
With a million dreams to fulfil
And a matter of moments until the dancing ends
Here in your arms when everything seems to be clear
Not a solitary thing would I fear
Except when this moment comes near the dancing's end
If I caught the world in an hourglass
Saddled up the moon so we could ride
Until the stars grew dim, Until…
One day you’ll meet a stranger
And all the noise is silenced in the room
You’ll feel that your close to some mystery
In the moonlight and everything shatters
You feel as if you’ve known her all your life
The world’s oldest lesson in history
Here in your arms where the world is impossibly still
With a million dreams to fulfil
And a matter of moments until the dancing ends
Here in your arms when everything seems to be clear
Not a solitary thing do I fear
Except when this moment comes near the dancing’s end
Oh, if I caught the world in an hourglass
Saddled up the moon and we would ride
Until the stars grew dim
Until the time that time stands still,
Until…
(Sting, "Until", from Kate and Leopold, cheesy romantic comedy)
I'm feeling a bit better today. Well, at least, I'm feeling very well rested, since I spent most of yesterday attempting to sleep. And now, well, I'm back at work. Not quite on the ball, but close enough.
I hate credit cards. Maybe I'm just feeling cash strapped today because I paid all my bills this week, and practically every one had some stupid deposit associated with new service starting up in my house. I'm just so tempted to charge things and I must-not-do-it! Will power, will power..
I am officially ill. Like really ill. I didn't sleep at all last night because I was so feverish (I was hot, I was cold, I was hot, I was cold...) So this morning I called in sick sick sick. Now I still can't sleep, despite being completely exhausted because I didn't sleep last night. What a waste of a day off. And the worst is, despite actually being sick, I totally feel like I'm playing hooky today. It just feels weird to be home, not on vacation, on a work day. The dog and cat think its weird too. They keep staring at me accusingly. Or maybe I'm just delusional from fever.
Class went well last night. I met the other masters student my prof. advises. He's in my class - he's cool, he used to work out at NASA Ames until our advisor dragged him out here to get his graduate degrees (his word was "dragged" not mine). Its good that he's in class with me, because we've both decided we can suffer through the class being way over our heads together. Turns out "much more practicle and modern" really means "taught by big-wig researcher for Exxon". So, in addition to being more practical, it is also littered with oil industry examples (resevoirs, oil pumps, etc.) rather than airplane control systems. The theory is the same, but still... And the class is also packed with all these people that heard through the Exxon-grapevine that said-researcher was teaching a class and decided they wanted the honor of taking it. Meaning poor little aerospace peoples like Jose and I are forced to wade through ultra thick oil industry terminology in order to figure out what we're actually being taught. But at least I have a study buddy now.
Ok, I'm going back to bed. I need to figure out if Yuri's Night people are going to meet at my house tonight so I will know whether I should freshen up. Too bad I never figured out how to check my work email from home.
(6:32 pm)
Just when you thought TV couldn't sink any lower - after a encore presentation of Joe Millionaire tonight, Fox will show "Man vs. Beast": Who can pull an airplane farther, an elephant or 50 little people? That is SO wrong.
I wish I were still in Vermont, depsite the bitter cold issue. Its like the air there tastes better or something. And I don't have to drug myself up on Allegra to walk outside the front door. Not to mention, Nick showed me a really good time this weekend. And now I'm back. Sigh. I'm just having a sick day. I woke up feverish. I am drinking a cup of tea now rather than my usual morning coffee and that's definitely making me feel better.
I am really nervous about my class tonight. Mostly because I switched classes, so now I haven't been to the first week. I wrote the professor an e-mail to let him know I was coming and to see if I could get a copy of the syllabus and such and he hasn't responded which makes me even more nervous.
Sarah is going to see an aqueduct today. But not a Roman one. An 1850 one. I wish I were in France. Or even better, Switzerland. The air was lovely there too.
I got off the plane last night in snow boots and a wool, turtle-neck sweater. Unfortunately, I was very inappropriately dressed - despite it being below freezing here when I left last Friday, it is now 70+ degrees again. Ah, Houston.
Today I am judging an elementary school science fair. I find this so funny, since my science fair projects used to be lazy, last-minute things! But I guess as a rocket scientist, this makes me qualified. Tonight, volleyball.
Feminist rant of the day
I had a conversation that really annoyed me. It started as a conversation about all-girls schools (which I philosophically disagree with the need for, but in reality, I think they do a really good job). That boy told me it was a "proven fact" (because he read it in his psychology book) that girls, as a whole, didn't have the aptitude that boys did for math and science because our brains work differently. He concluded, then, that there will never be as many women engineers than men, because there are far fewer women with a natural aptitude for math and science. He was completely unwilling to accept that the reason there were fewer women in science-related fields because they are discouraged from pursuing this type of career from a very early age, leading to a massive inferiority complex. Personally, I think such attitudes should be criminal, because they just serve to prevent more and more girls from going into lucrative and growing fields that really need their talents.
I don't know what's worse, the idiotic psychology book that is perpetuating the stereotype that leads society to discourage girls from pursuing math and science (thus becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy) or the boy disappointing me in his complete inability (despite knowing women engineers, scientists and mathematicians) to accept that girls' minds are equally capable of doing this work as boys are.
Vermont is still exciting. Nick and I slept in and then we went to Stowe. I have never worn so many layers of clothes in preparation for teh frigid cold (possibly only a high in the single digits). Usually when I ski, I wear: ski socks, silk long underwear pants and shirt, ski pants, a turtle neck and either just a waterproof shell of a jacket or fleece + shell, gloves, neck warmer, and headband.
Today I added to that: an extra lining pant between the ski pants and long underwear, and extra sweater, thin glove liners, goggles and a hat.
As it turns out, the weather was very hospitable, the sun was out, and the mountain was in great shape (the most snow I've seen at Stowe in a long time).
Afterwards we stopped at Cabbot's and FEASTED on all the different varieties of cheddar cheese samples. I love cheddar cheese! My favorite was horseradish cheddar, 5 pepper cheddar, and of course, the original extra sharp cheddar. Yum yum yum.
After a lovely shower, I am sitting here waiting for pizza delivery. I'm enjoying being lazy, I think Nick is trying to decide between also being a vegetable and going to a party at his fraternity. I am beginning to understand why Georgia Tech beat BYU (the MORMON college) out for "Most Stone-Cold-Sober Campus" with the Princeton Review.
Anyway, here are some photos:
Well, Burlington is definitely cold. But its sunny and nice. I am really loving this town -- the houses are all beautiful Vermont houses, there are pretty walking streets, and mountains in every direction, and of course Lake Champlain. Nick and I slept in (well, I considered it sleeping in until 10:30, I think he probably felt like I woke him at the crack of dawn), went to lunch, took a tour of campus, walked around downtown to little nicknack shops, and now I'm back at his dorm.
I could totally see myself living here. Its so cozy. Maybe after retirement when I open up my used bookstore at the base of a mountain.
As for UVM - its a lovely campus. The dorm is a typical slum -- its so weird being in an honest-to-goodness dorm again. Especially when we came in last night and random people were constantly stumbling in VERY enebriated.
Nick has a digital camera, so hopefully I'll be able to post pictures (though I totally can't remember the password and login to Irwin's server where I store such things).
Tomorrow the plan is skiing. Yeah!
And for other entertainment, make sure to read Sarah's journal. She's in Provence, France. How exotic!
I now NEED this t-shirt: The front reads "When you find yourself in the company of a halfling and an ill-tempered Dragon, remember, you do not have to outrun the Dragon..." and the back of the shirt reads "...you just have to outrun the halfling."
Every University Has its Bureaucracy
So, yesterday, I had my adventures in Rice beauracracy. Let's go through the system:
1. I show up to register for classes, which requires me to meet with my advisor. My advisor proceeds to talk me out of one optimization class and into another - all the while expressing profound disappointment that I was limiting myself to 1-2 classes per semester and not yet picked a topic for the PhD he is sure I am going to start in three years from now while expressing excitement that I was interested in taking on a research project for 6 credits possibly this summer (very free labor). I wonder how much paperwork I will create at NASA by agreeing to switching classes, but decide to go for it.
2. I go back down and get a new registration form. Yes, you heard me, a form. Because first semester students are required to manually fill out a form, get it signed by there advisor, and hand deliver it to the Registrar's Office.
2. I head to the Registrar's Office, expecting it to be not such a big deal, because returning students were allowed to register the previous semester and there aren't many students who start school in the Spring. How wrong I was! There was about a 30 minute line.
3. Confused, I query some of the waiting students why there is a line. Finally I strike up a conversation with a cute, but bitter, 5th year senior from Idaho (who informs me that there are less than 20 5th year seniors for all of Rice - I guess when you charge $30,000 per year and the vast majority of people there study completely unemployable things like Southeast Asian Basket Weaving Philosophy, there is more impitus to graduate on time).
4. There is apparently an online registration system. By online, it means the students type in their course requests on a web page, and then PRINT IT OUT. They take it to their advisor to sign it. Then they hand carry it to the Registrar's Office, and the registrar manually enters everything (including a semesterly address update) into the computers. The students were gushing about what an improvement this was over the previous system. I am confused and wonder if they don't understand the concept of the world wide web. I am also told that I came to the line at a very opportune time, because it was between classes (apparently the Friday line - the last day of registration - will like involve a 3+ hour wait).
5. When I finally get my turn, I discover that my account has a "billing" and "health insurance" hold. But I can't resolve them, because, well, the Cashier's Office closes at 3 p.m. (but, gushes the Registrar, they open "really early" at 8:30). They manage to pre-enroll me for the class though.
6. Frustrated, I head back to the Mech Eng. building to set up my computer account because I can't fix my enrollment status without it. Now, you have to apply for an email account from a campus computer on the internal network. However, the vast majority of campus computers require you to LOG IN with your email account to use. This seems to be a paradox to me. However, the secretary politely informs me that most clusters have one or two old Macintosh's (of the AE library variety) that don't require a log in, so I can use them to apply for my account. I visited 4 computer labs and have yet to find one of these Macintosh's that work well enough for me to use Netscape 4 on (the only web browser that can accept the certificates from the e-mail account server). I leave unsuccessful.
7. I decide to head to the next marvel of campus efficiency, the Police Station -- who happens to also dole out student ID's and parking permits. I don't understand the necessity of parking permits as there were several free visitors lots EXACTLY next to the paid ($50) commuter lots which all service Rice stadium. There are only about 5,000 people in the whole campus community and about 10,000 spots for the stadium. I don't understand charging for parking when it obviously wasn't a commodity and there were tons of open spots (including free visitor parking).
8. After deciding to wait on a parking permit to figure out if NASA will buy me one or not (they will, as it turns out), I go to get my student ID. Now you may have read about the con-artist who impersonated a Rice student for weeks, eating at the cafeteria, getting a student ID, and walking on to the track team -- well, I now understand how this is possible. The graduate advisor gave me a letter to take to get an ID, saying I was a new student. She didn't sign the letter, and it was printing on a white sheet of paper. I hand this over to the police officer, and without even asking me to show her photo ID or even reading the letter, she snaps my pictures, prints up the ID, and sets it to key into multiple buildings (no, they don't have online registration but they have managed to do away with silly key locks, something GT never was able to accomplish while I was there).
So, that was my adventure. For this waste of time, NASA is paying $3,500. Next week: how to drop a class (the first one I registered for before my prof changed his mind) and setting up e-mail #2.
Cold weather seems to be in my destiny this weekend. The temperature in Houston is supposed to drop into the 20's tonight and stay that way for the next few days. Thankfully, it will be dry, because I can't imagine what Houston would do if it actually snow or there was ice on the road! But, of course, I'm going to be in Vermont, where, according to this morning's weather is 2 degrees (wind chill of -8). Lovely.
I am really tired today and its going to be a long day. The drive to Rice on Tuesday was 45 minutes there but 1.5 hours back, I need to figure out a better route so I don't spend 2.5 hours in the car during my commute. Unfortunately, my class ends at the start of rush hour. Right now I'm not doing much, but, excitingly, STS-107 is launching today -- and as an added bonus, I finally have the software on my computer so I can listen to the Mission Control audio loops and here the guys here in Houston talking to the astronauts on Columbia. Its very cool.
I can't wait to go to Stowe (which will be a definite destination when I visit Nick this weekend)!! Fresh powder... hmmm.. I also got new snow boats (much needed as I was going to wear completely inappropriate sneakers) - they are currently in LOUISVILLE after traveling through Illinois and Indiana. Somehow they are scheduled for delivery to me tomorrow - UPS tracker is amazing! As for Stowe, look here and here to see what I am looking forward too.
This morning was really quite entertaining. I woke up fairly early for me (about 6:45) and went outside to play a little bit of fetch with Apache before I got ready and noticed this pipe sticking up out of my ground in one of Apache's holes (I'm working on getting her to stop digging up my yard..).
The saga
The pipe was weird 'cause it was kind of bent out of shape and brittle, and had a fitting at the end like it was supposed to attach to something. It was hollow - meaning it could be for gas or water. I figured it was construction debris, and went to dig the rest of it out, but about 6 inches away from the hole, the pipe was connected to a GOOD pipe, one that was in good shape, strong, and, as I continued digging (I dug about 4 feet of the length of the pipe up) was going in the direction of my house. Uh oh.
(Picture this, here I am, with the shovel my mom just mailed me as a Christmas gift, in the backyard, digging up pipe, in MY BATHROBE -thank god for six foot privacy fences - and my dog was watching me with a "what the hell are you doing" look, at 7 a.m. I felt like I was reliving a scene from the movie The 'Burbs, and I was the crazy neighbor burying bodies in my backyard.)
Now, I get worried, this is actually a good pipe, and judging by the fittings, should be attached to something. Did Apache unattach it? So I enlarged my lovely hole even MORE in the other direction to try to figure out what it should be attached to. No luck. In a panic, I spoke to Mom, Mom's boyfriend David, and my father. No ideas there. Finally, I called the utility company (which as a public service, apparently, inspects things like this for free), and came to work. (All the time, trying not to be annoyed by repeating the mantra "I love my house, I love my house, I love my house" and hoping that it was a non-exploding water line rather than an exploding gas line!)
The Punchline
So, I was telling my co-workers about my morning adventure. Matt laughed at me and said I should just put a match on Apache's coller and send her digging and see what catches on fire. Then, wise George, said "It has a fitting on the end? Hm. I bet you its right next to the concrete patio slab?" Yes, it is, George, how did you know that? "Silly Becca, its a gas line for a built-in gas grill!" This is where Gavin chirps in "That's a really common option in new houses here!"
The Conslusion
Now, why didn't I think of that? First of all, WHO, in the realm of normal people, HAS A BUILT-IN GAS GRILL IN THEIR BACKYARD? Apparently its a "very common option" in the hobunk land that is Houston, Texas. Now I'm wrestling with the desire to say "well, now that I know I have a line, I NEED to get a built-in grill". That is, for all the meat I eat :). I am also kicking myself for not figuring this whole thing out ahead of time -- on my disclosure the Sellers checked "Yes" to the Built-In grill question, since there obviously was no grill in the backyard, I asked my realtor to call and see what they meant, and they didn't know. So this means they pretty much copied the disclosure from the people who owned the house before them (they only lived there 1 year), who were the ones who opted to build in a gas line for the grill. I also think its funny that, for all the patio slab, Apache decided to dig a hole in the one place that the grill line was -- it must've smelled like meat or other good people-food or something.
This week is massive-volleyball week. Last night we went to practice but people who were actually good were occupying the court. So we went for beers at Molly's and returned an hour later. Beer actually seems to improve my volleyball skills. Sad.
Tonight, our team has a double-header game. One game at 6 pm and one at 7 pm. If our lack of zest after an hour practice last night is any indicator -- well, its going to be a long night.
Today is also my first day of class up in the remote nether-world of Rice University. I just talked to a co-worker who's been going to Rice for a couple years now about this class, and, according to rumor, this isn't one of the more rigorous ones, so my feet will be wet, but I won't be in the deep end.
I'm getting excited about going to Vermont this weekend. Nick is trying to find a girl who resembles me so that I can use her season ticket rather than pay a fortune on lift tickets. Me, on the other hand, I'm just trying to psychologically brace myself for the arctic temperatures. Today's forecast for Burlington, VT: Currently 2deg Farenheit. (Feels like -5 degrees!) with a high of 11 degrees. 11 degrees! Farenheit!! By Saturday its supposed to warm up to a balmy 20 degrees. That's freakin' freezin'!
As a historical reference: as of today, I've been working one full year. I started work on January 14, 2002 - I have been physically present, at work, for 239 days at NASA JSC.
I read this article about Avril Levine today, you know, the kind of manifactured but still entertaining anti-Brittany Spears gal who sings Sk8tr Boi which is a song that entertains me everytime I hear it? Well, anyway, take my word for it. Anyway, the article says : "Lavigne comes from a town in Ontario called Napanee, population 5,000." What I find hilarious about this is I actually know where Napanee is. I've actually been to Napanee, population 5,000. Multiple times (because conveniently, it was where my seaplane instructor is based back in the day when someone else paid to feed my flying habit). I can't even count the number of Canadian towns with population < 5,000 I've been to. A scary number. I'm glad my adulthood has led me to go on more civilized vacations (like small sahara town in Morocco, population 100).
 | You are Stupendous Man! You are simply amazing, whether you are battling your arch-nemesis Mom Lady, the nefarious Babysitter Girl, or the fiendish Annoying Girl. And you have absolutely nothing to do with mild-mannered Calvin. Take the What Calvin are You? Quiz by contessina_2000@yahoo.com! |
The weekend: MISERABLE weather (it was 36 degrees when I drove to work this morning), Rockets run (finished mid-court on the basketball court), Slept the Day away, Rockets game, Amy's ice cream (yum!), Slept in Sunday, talked to Karen, emptied all the boxes in my study, another trip to Home Depot (my home away from home) and the grocery store, planted crocuses (purple is my color of the week), watched t.v., made guacomole, and here I am again...
I also obsessively listened to the soundtrack from Man of La Manche all weekend, and now have "the Impossible Dream" running through my head. And "I am Don Quixote!... I am Sancho!" I hope Sarah doesn't look at me in too funny away if I burst out into song mid-way through the day.
The Sellers of my house reported my home inspector to the BBB and asked for him to pay them $1000 to recover the costs they lost fixing things he found wrong during the inspection. What idiots! They agreed to the contract Amendment, its their problem not his, he was just my hired sub-contracter. They're suing my termite inspector too. What a litigious society we live in. It makes me angry.
Sorry dismayed readers who look for this first thing in the morning! I haven't had much to say lately. Last night I cleaned because the cleaning lady is coming today. Funny how I used to make fun of homeowners who did that. Irwin says it makes her the "re-cleaning" lady. That made me laugh.
Tomorrow I am running in the Rockets Run (it comes with tickets to the Rockets basketball game). Somehow, I don't think I'll make it running all 5K, based on the fact that in the last three weeks, yesterday and Wednesday were the only days I've run, and I didn't make it nearly half as far/long as I was doing before Christmas laziness set in.
The trip to Breckinridge is planned and booked. Three ski trips this year - I'm so excited!
Last night I assembled my new desk for the imminent start of class next week.
That's about all the boringness I have.
Oh, check out Sarah's journal for a picture of my purple study.
Yippee, do da, I'm going to Breckinridge the first weekend of April for skiing and a baseball game. I don't know who's coming with me, but someone's going to, since yesterday there were 9 people fairly interested in coming. I just can't turn down a $150 RT plane ticket. Can't beat that!
Last night we had our first volleyball practice. I suck. I mean, I suck even more than the others who, like me, protested that the last time they played volleyball was in middle school. Anyway, it was fun, and hopefully I'll get better.
My neighbor cookie count is up to 4 plates. Last night Bill and Meredith from 305 Vantage Point stopped by with oatmeal chocolate chip. Yes, I live in suburban hell.
I slept really well last night. So well, apparently, that my alarm might as well have not gone off, because I didn't hear it. Luckily I have a back up alarm in the form a large, licking, fuzz ball named Apache that got me out of bed in time to make it to work at around 9 a.m.
Last night was fun. We (well, I should say Sarah, Cari and Kennda) finished painting my very purple study. I made dinner (Ceasar salad) and took the masking tape off the molding in the dining room (yes, some touching up will definitely be in order this weekend, sigh). Then we all had dinner in the Ralph Lauren room (you know how fancy restraunts always name each room -- well, I've started to do the same in my house), which was very reminiscent of one of the few really good aspects of the nunnery, random girls sitting around the table talking about decidedly un-girly things. I like those conversations.
Tonight: I am going to practice volleyball. Jen put together a team of people that live in the South Shore Village area for the NASA recreational league (we're called the Village People he he). However, like a couple other members on the team, I haven't played volleyball since middle school gym and don't remember any of the rules. We are so going to lose EVERY game.
Make sure you look at my weekend entries for pictures of my big painting project. It was definitely fun. I did blue in the dining room (dark blue below the chair railing, light blue above the railing). I didn't have any ideas for the study, so I told Sarah she could have the room if she painted it. So she painted it purple. Well, lavendar. You get the idea. The colors were kind of shocking, but I actually like the shades, so it makes me happy. Sarah, Kennda and Irwin seem to like them too. However, I think Gavin and Jen were a little shocked when they saw the rooms - definitely speechless. I guess that means I will have to paint the rooms white again when I move. Oh well, not selling the house any time soon anyway.
I am working on writing my "extended" abstract for the paper that Sarah and I are authoring this afternoon. I'm two pages down and haven't even started with the charts yet. I actually have a really long to-do list and I've been a slacker for the last two weeks, so this will be a busy week.
I am totally in love with wireless Internet. I feel like I'm in a science fiction movie, connected to the world wherever I choose to be. Irwin tells me that Microsoft has a wireless umbrella thingy over its campus. NASA needs one. Then I can sit under a tree outside and work in the sun. Wouldn't that be nice?
Now, as you all may be wondering about the painting progress. I went to IKEA today and braved the mobs going to the twice a year sale and got a desk. Yeah me! Then we went to a cute little Italian place with good bread for dinner. Finally we made it back to paint. Sarah was too sick to start the study, so she's going to start tomorrow morning.
Irwin and I did do the first coat of both above and below the chair rail. I am totally in love with the blue below the chair rail. Its so dark and bright and BOLD. I can't imagine how I ever convinced myself to pick this color as it isn't my usual neutral me. But I really like it.
Here we go the room and my Assistant Painter (he's been promoted from Tape Master):
This is SO weird. I'm updating from Irwin's laptop which is currently wirelessly on my home network. Meaning it doesn't have any wires going to or from it and its just picking up the signal from my router. Totally weird. I feel like all these signals flying around my house are going to give me cancer or something. But its just RF. We have RF all around us every day. No problems yet. Weird. I have to encrypt everything, though, because Irwin says I should worry about someone parking in front of my house and "stealing" my bandwith wirelessly.
So, we primed the dining room tonight. I'm kind of disturbed, as the primer appears darker currently than the planned light blue that is going to go above the chair rail (I'm going light blue above the rail and dark blue below the rail).
What do you think? Advice ASAP (call me!).. I was hoping for a more subdued grey tone, perhaps, or at least a formal blue. Also it is much darker than I was planning for the area above the chair rail. Irwin and I have pretty much decided to continue painting as planned tomorrow and if we still don't like it, well, then, there's always white and try again..
We're doing the study in a complimentary purple color. Sarah's choice. Honestly I didn't know what to do with the study and didn't have any strong preferences, so something vibrant seemeed to be a good idea for a fun room. Anyway, look how many books I have. Weird.
And here is my little worker bee, Irwin, masking tape the walls. I'm sorry, Irwin prefers to be called the "Tape Master".
And here is Apache who has been exiled to the backyard for the duration of painting, because, well, I really don't want little black hairs on my pretty walls.
And for future reference for decorating advice..
My mantel:
My curtains
And the UGLY ivy wall paper that doesn't match the tile.
Click previous for the real entry. Here are some pics.
Sarah and I in our office:
Our group (george, gil, ray (group lead), rich (my mentor), gavin, and sarah. front row: matt, me, and laura, the co-op who just finished her tour):
Irwin is at home sleeping for an indefinite amount of time. I am so jealous.
Today is a jealous day. I just read about Sarah's plans for her trip to visit Nick in France. I want to go. Desperately. Actually, my desperation isn't even limited to France. I just have itchy feet. Need to travel. Need to travel. One week in Greece next year just isn't enough. Maybe I will suceed in finding a long weekend in Rome yet to visit Kris. Probably not. But I can hope. And I can satisfy myself with Vermont in two weeks - and Vermont is a beautiful place. If I were a European visiting America, Vermont would definitely be on my list of places to go, so I guess its ok.
Until then, I will just have to live vicariously. Sarah better send me at least one postcard!
That is until I quit this whole space program thing, sell my house and move to Australia. Or New Zealand. That's where I'll write the great American novel. Yep. That's the ticket.
Instead, I'll just write a paper on DPS jettison design so I can go to a conference at the exotic locale of Austin, Texas. That's an unenthusiastic cheer "yeah me!".
I need to stop eating and start running. Its been over two weeks since I've gone running. Lazy me. And I've eaten more food in the last two weeks than I thought possible. I am so full I probably don't need to eat again for at least three or four days. Irwin asked me this morning about dinner plans and I was too full to even think about it.
The List
Last night I bought a wireless router. Now I have this irrational need for a laptop so I can surf the Internet while I watch t.v. The wireless router was actually rather inexpensive (about the same price as a wired router). I am VERY happy with my purchase.
I've also put Ir to work when he wakes up today, he's going replace the stopper in one of my bathroom sinks (it doesn't work right now). He's going to put a new massaging shower head in my shower (he couldn't understand why poor-me would splurge on something that obviously wasn't a necessity in his mind - the $20 was more than worth it though!). And he's going to figure out a way to reroute the rain runoff in my yard so I don't need to surround the gate of my fence with bricks to keep the dirt from washing away.
The decision has been made about painting. We're going to do the dining room. In the absense of evening plans, hopefully we will be able to prime the room tonight. Then the primer will HOPEFULLY be dry tomorrow to do at least one coat of paint. I'm going with a dark rose/burgundy below the chair-level molding and then a really really light (practically white) rose above the molding. Now the challenge is that I told Sarah she could pick do the study ANY way she wanted (because that's the room that I don't really have a clear picture in my mind of how I want it). I think she's obsessed with purple, which is great. So now we have to find a purple that matches the burgundy at least enough, since the two rooms face each other.
I am updating this journal from home. FROM HOME. 1.5 years without Internet at home - and now I'm back. Scary. I'm trying to stay unaddicted. I am not at work because I am waiting for Irwin to dress and drive me there. I should get back about just in time to leave for lunch again at this rate. But I'm not in a rush, really, truly.
It feels more like a Monday than a Friday. New Years was fun - the Eve went in this order: napped in front of the GT bowl game (we lost embarrassingly), tried to do household chores (ended up replacing the disposal), went out to see Two Weeks Notice (cute), had cheese fondue (yum), watched the NY ball drop at 11 p.m. (surreal), went to a random persons's house to celebrate real midnight by watching the ball drop on a Spanish channel (yippeee!).
I didn't really make any resolutions this year. I'm not feeling particularly introspective. Anyway, in the last year, a lot has changed with or without me resolving to change it. I expect the same from this year.
The list
The list is driving me into bancruptcy this week.
I ended up replacing the disposal (which already looked yucky and rusty -- odd that they didn't use stainless steel or something) that was obviously not grinding anything up and resulted in regular yucky stuff getting stuck in the pipe. So thanks to Irwin, its all installed.
I bought new gargage door openers (no I didn't already have any, I was opening the door by hand) -- I hope parking my car in the garage saves me from SOME sort of expensive repair (hail damage, perhaps?) to make this all worth while! I decided to pop for having them professionally installed - it seemed like a obnoxious task for Irwin and I to do (and the refrigerator is still fresh in my memory).
I am going to buy paints soon and do at least one room before Irwin leaves, now which room will it be?
Things are getting more unpacked - within a week or so it may look like I actually live here...
