Friday, September 26, 2008

Utter randomosity.

It definitely sounded like hail this morning. It was only raining by the time I had to go outside to get to work, but the wind was not going to let me go without a fight. Especially on First Ave., where it's mostly exposed to the water. My rain jacket wouldn't zipper, a fact I discovered after I got outside, so while trying to juggle my hat brim, my zipper, the rest of my rain coat, my tea mug AND my bag, it was just kind of getting funny.

Despite the weather, I was warm enough on the bus and my pants weren't THAT wet.

I feel strangely invigorated this morning. Maybe the change in weather... it's been just kind of sunny, partly cloudy since about April. Don't get me wrong, that's really nice, but I do like having seasons and even though rain is a pain in the butt, it reminds me that I do have to pay attention to the world outside of my head.

Yesterday was pretty insane. Maybe that's why I feel so much better today. I was on the bus going to work at 7:15 (an hour earlier than usual) and actually had a lot to do in the morning. Lots of measuring and data analysis and making of graphs. Then I had a nice little conversation with the boss about the other day's fiasco (see below...) and felt much better about it. **Note: always better to get it off your chest than let it fester and annoy you forever.**

I had a doctor's appointment at 2:15 and was going to try to fit it into my lunch break since I've had a LOT of them recently and I don't like pissing off my boss and would rather like to keep my relative job hours flexibility. Timing-wise, it worked out extremely well. I left at 1:58 and got back at 2:57. The only thing is, the sandwich that Adam got the past night for that day's lunch... had... only lettuce in it. Which I found out power-walking down the street, trying not to get blown over by the wind into the many open manholes and passing the 10,000 cops all lined up for the UN summit meeting. I thought that maybe the meat and other goodies were hidden behind the arugala (yeech) and spinach (gack... well, it was cold, ok!), but oh no. And once I had taken a bite, there was no turning back. I couldn't exactly spit it onto a policeman's shoe. It was disgusting. I threw it away in the garbage can of the waiting room but could taste it all day. And what's worse, I didn't have time to eat anything else and didn't have any food on me, so the only time I could get food was later at 4:50!!! It was not good.

The doctor's appointment was really good, they definitely make it faster and better if you work in an affiliated building (remember, this is in the hospital, since I get awesome health care for working for NYUMC). It was for a mole on my back that had kind of... like... grown. They said it was nothing, but they could take it off if I wanted them to. I said sure, why not. Then I asked how they would do it, and the guy kind of laughed and was like, you don't want to know. I said um, yes, I do, I just asked you. Derrr. But he was sort of right, lol. "I'm going to inject you with some painkillers, then snip it off with really sharp scissors and cauterize it." Cauterize it?! So that's what that weird looking machine with the temperature gauge on the wall was. Interesting...
It didn't hurt at all (except the injection bit), but then it started to wear off at around 5:30 and I started feeling it. It's fine now, though.
So, I basically underwent minor surgery during my lunch break! Cool!

Then ran to class, sat through a full 2.5hr lecture (the first full one we've had, because the other teachers couldn't stand to talk for that long), got home and made some amazing pasta. Here it is:

Ingredients (in no particular amounts, just to taste/how hungry you are)
linguine
shrimp, peeled and deveined
sweet onion
garlic
olive oil
butter
capers
salt
parmesan cheese

Boil the water for the linguine
While the water is heating up, chop 1-2 slices of onion and 1 garlic clove
Put linguine into water
Heat up small frying pan on medium, putting equal amounts of olive oil and butter into it
Stir fry the onion, garlic and capers until browned
Add shrimp and whatever else you feel like (green peppers, sun-dried tomatoes?)
Drain linguine, plate
Add whole frying pan mix, including and especially the liquid portion
Add salt and parmesan cheese to taste, toss

DELICIOUS
I'm still testing this out, I've figured out the timing and experimented the capers this time. Sun-dried tomatoes are next.

Jeez, just thinking about this makes me super hungry. I could eat this every day. MMM.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Pissed.

For the past 3 full months, I've been randomly answering the other side's phone if 1) they're not there, 2) I'm not busy and 3) it keeps ringing a million times and gets on my nerves.
All of these three criteria are usually in play, although I have let it ring if I'm in the middle of something. Obviously. Since it's not really my phone anyway.
Also, if I'm talking to the boss and it rings, I always ask, should I get it? Just to stop it from ringing because the other people aren't here and the front desk will keep calling it a hundred times without stopping. And he ALWAYS says, sure. I've ALWAYS done this. And I've also ASKED a BUNCH of times.
This morning, same deal, blah dee blah.
Then he comes storming out of his office saying how "we have to talk about something" and that he "REALLY doesn't like it when I pick up the other phone" and "this is our phone, that is their phone, it's their responsibility" and "we've talked about this multiple times" (which we haven't, btw, at least not this specific thing, unless he meant we talked about it BEING OKAY FOR ME TO DO).
I had NO idea this was coming, and am seriously angry now. It is not my fault if he is not clear and gives mixed signals about what to do in a certain situation. I've asked him many times if it's all right if I pick up their phone, and he says yes. WHY THE HELL IS IT DIFFERENT NOW and HOW THE CRAP WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW.

Ugh.

I want to smack something.

Later today:
I've gotten over it, just want to make sure he knows I didn't do it on purpose. Going to address that right before I leave and then high-tail it outta there.

Monday, September 22, 2008

I'm feeling rather science-y today...

I'm fairly sure I've already recorded a bunch of these, but they're so good!

I think science has enjoyed an extraordinary success because it has such a limited and narrow realm in which to focus its efforts. Namely, the physical universe. ~Ken Jenkins

If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate. ~Henry J. Tillman

The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds the most discoveries, is not "Eureka!" (I found it!) but "That's funny..." ~Isaac Asimov

Research is what I'm doing when I don't know what I'm doing. ~Wernher Von Braun

The capacity to blunder slightly is the real marvel of DNA. Without this special attribute, we would still be anaerobic bacteria and there would be no music. ~Lewis Thomas

Even if the open windows of science at first make us shiver after the cozy indoor warmth of traditional humanizing myths, in the end the fresh air brings vigor, and the great spaces have a splendor of their own. ~Bertrand Russell, What I Believe, 1925

In a manner which matches the fortuity, if not the consequence, of Archimedes' bath and Newton's apple, the [3.6 million year old] fossil footprints were eventually noticed one evening in September 1976 by the paleontologist Andrew Hill, who fell while avoiding a ball of elephant dung hurled at him by the ecologist David Western. ~John Reader, Missing Links: The Hunt for Earliest Man

If it's green or wriggles, it's biology.
If it stinks, it's chemistry.
If it doesn't work, it's physics.~Handy Guide to Science

An experiment is a question which science poses to Nature, and a measurement is the recording of Nature's answer. ~Max Planck, Scientific Autobiography and Other Papers, 1949

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Experiment v.2

Mine won't be as pretty, but oh well.

1. I think about you almost every day and I fervently hope you're all right, even though I'll never find out.
2. In some ways, I'm glad you moved. I realized my jealousy when you were gone.
3. Talking to you has become a chore, but deep down I'm glad for it.
4. I wish you could have more self-control... it'd be so much easier to be your friend.
5. Your big and only fault is your lack of self-esteem, and it sometimes makes you ugly when all you are is beautiful.
6. I wish I could be like you and so does everybody else.
7. I know you talk to me because I won't pull a protective line, but I silently pray you watch out for yourself. I am also intensely and irrevocably proud of you.
8. I feel like your mother. Grow up.
9. Even after all the silly missteps in the long past, I will always love you and be there for you. You are my longest and truest friend. I dearly hope you will be happy.
10. Sorry. No one knew what to do, so I did the only thing I could.
11. I can no longer comprehend a future without you. I know we'll make it, and we'll make it good.


That was actually way more than I thought I could think of. I'm kind of surprised...
Only one person is referred to twice. Alot of people mentioned do not read this.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

School stuff, for multiple people

It was only at 6:23 this morning that I remembered that on Thursdays I have to be in at work at 8 instead of 9. I had my alarm set for 7:15, which is actually the time that I needed to be outside waiting for the bus. At least I remembered, and there was no fiasco like last week (roommate's girlfriend sneaking into the bathroom at 7:10 to stay in there for 20 minutes, bus being late, car accident on the way) so I got into work bright-eyed and cheery at 8:03. On the way here, though, I remembered that I forgot my calculator (even though its batteries are dead) for my quiz/test later today. I'm resolved to steal one of the two Dark Ages calculators from the "dead instruments" drawer. I checked them both, and it took me 5 tries to get an answer of 25 when I divided 260 by 10.4. It kept giving me 2.5, or 0.009284793, or 40. Obviously not right. These things are 6x4", solar-powered, addition-subtraction-multiplication-division only beasts. I hope it goes well.
I also forgot my "note-taking" notebook. I have my "practice problems" one with me. This whole once-a-week class thing is not helping me with my memory of what I need to bring.

And I couldn't write an entry without discussing an unfortunate but also predictable event, one which has its own pros and cons. Jared took his GMAT yesterday and even though he only said he did poorly and gave no one a number, he said he fell well below the range he was getting on his practice tests and to me that translates as sub-600. He said he's going to take it again, and that that was "normal", which I doubt. He's been studying on and off for this for literally months. I can't remember when he hasn't been. It's at least been since May. He kept putting it off one week after another, and that is just way too long to wait. To give him credit, when he was studying on the weekend, he got in some good long hours per day. But he was nowhere near the dedication level needed to get above 700 or better.
Pros: A slight told-you-so feeling (even though that's mean), since we kept telling him to study more and he kept watching his wine tasting videos and movies all day. A chance that he'll finally realize that he needs to put more effort into it. Some humbling action.
Cons: More of Jared studying, and even more of Jared not-studying. More of one-sided conversations about specific problems and test-taking strategies for prolonged periods. More of "oh, can't do anything this weekend, have to study", and then seeing him just watch a movie in his room instead of hanging out with us.
So it's a mixed bag. I do feel bad for him because I know that a lot of people have difficulty preparing for an exam like this, but you have to choose if this really is for you or not. If you did that poorly after attempting to study for SO long, there's obviously something going on here that you should pay attention to. Adam is a little meaner about it than I am, but then again he is a show-off and despises non-motivationed people. It also has something to do with the fact that it took Jared a month and continual pressure to get the wall up, did nothing for finding a couch (he did help move it, thank you!), only kicked in for the apartment search at the very end, and hasn't showed any interest in locating a tv stand. Non-motivated, you say? Everyone's different, and it can be frustrating, but Adam can be frustrating, too. He gets way too picky, which also hinders the process of apartment/couch/tv stand selection. *shrug

I've met up with a friend from BU down here twice, hope to keep in touch with her more often. Yael lives on the Upper East Side, which is very far away from me but easily reached by subway. We've had lunch and I went to her place for homemade lasagna and challah bread, where I met her other friend Kristen, a NYC public middle school science teacher. It was weird because she's our age, and I don't ever remember a teacher that young that I've ever had. Maybe it was just skewed because back when you're 10, everyone older than 15 looks like an adult.
I sat next to a girl called Laura in class, and we talked during the break a little bit. Like everyone else, she's older than me, but only by a year. She went to UPENN undergrad and works in a lab, too. I hope she sits near me again so there isnt any more awkwardity, but then again meeting a bunch of other people is always good - plus she seemed to know some girls behind us and might sit with them instead. Oh well. Class is for class, not socializing, especially since I probably won't stay on the same track as most of the people. We'll see!

Wow. Long post.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Umm...


Good thing I brought my raincoat. It's badass, completely rubber with no air vents. I could inflate it and float along in a flood.
I might need to utilize this ability...

I love other locquacious people.

"People I hate, football version - 1.) Bernard Pollard. Obviously. 2.) My mom. Ma Dukes was the one who brought this on us, with her jinxes and evil devilwoman magic. I'm seriously considering feeding her contact information to the marauding Patriot Death Squads, just to wash this karma from my bloodline. Sorry Momz, but you forced my hand. 3.) Tom Brady's mom. Clearly, while dipping her demigod offspring in the river Styx, she held him by his left knee rather than his heel. 4.) Raj Manoharan. For those of you that know Raj, it's easy to regard him as a genuinely lovable guy, a sort of Indian teddy bear. Unfortunately, this Indian teddy bear is stuffed with nothing but malice and the mangled souls of fallen children. He is the only one to send a taunting message, which I find highly amusing since he backs the Eagles, a team championed by a QB who spends more time being hurt than I do thinking up ways to slander people in an AIM away message. I hate you Raj. 5.) God. This one is two-fold. I hate God for A.) creating the ACL in an obvious bid to prevent Tom Brady from growing too powerful, and B.) apparently being the latest to dickride Brett Favre and jump on the Jets bandwagon. Go ahead and try to keep Tom down, God - Dustin Pedroia is still coming up in your rearview mirror. 6.) Any euphoric Bills fan (Will George) or Jets fan (I would say Christian Villamor, but that flip-flopper has been relegated to New York fan since he's one bad Favre start away from buying a vintage Shockey jersey and waxing poetic about the 'good ol' days') who applaud the injury and relish the opportunity to be relevant again. Mind you, neither of these teams did not just win the Superbowl, make the playoffs or even finish with a winning record; no, they are merely ecstatic at having the shot to be more than speed bumps. Onwards and upwards, boys, because this is the last gasp before the mediocrity and shame set in again."

Matty M.

Monday, September 8, 2008

Gripe

I've never been one to litter. Hell, I can't even slyly toss a little gum wrapper out of my pocket and onto the street without feeling like everyone in a ten-mile radius saw me and became angered with my nonchalant trash discarding. I literally save small clear plastic packaging pieces so I can throw them away in a garbage can. In other words, I'm lame.

But then on the bus this morning this .... woman ... if you can call her that, judging by her base ingratitude and overall whimsically sickening way she took advantage of public transportation... was eating pieces of apple and spitting out the skins onto the floor of the bus under her chair. What the hell! First of all, you can and are supposed to EAT the skin of the apple, especially since it wasn't even cut up yet. Second of all, she was talking to her friend as she manipulated the little bits around in her mouth, with pieces of chewed-up apple skin sticking way out of her mouth most of the time. And juice running down her chin. Please, please have the decency to cover your mouth or, hey, how bout this, DON'T spit your half-eaten, masticated food onto the floor of the bus where other people are going to have to put their (god forbid, sandalled) feet.

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Labor Day Weekend

I'm pretty sure that the longer breaks are, the faster they seem to pass. But I did figure something out that's good about a quick 3-day weekend: it makes the following week quick, too! It's Tuesday, yey!
If I actually go back and think about what we did, it's rather lame. But I did get some things done that I'm pretty proud of, so here goes:
Friday - something stupid like sitting around and watching tv shows, but it was good because Adam was home all day and so was there when I got back (early!). We made tacos!! YUM
Saturday - Woke up late, and watched The Office basically all afternoon. That was pretty disgustingly lazy, but I rarely ever do it, so whatever. Dinner: homemade pizza. Delish.
Sunday - Went to Home Depot and got a bunch of stuff to set up the track lighting in our living room, because there are no lamps at all in there. It was essentially a fiasco. I am officially more of a handyman than Jared is, by far. Jared ended up drilling 5 (yes, 5) holes into the wall, taking about an hour due to lots of "oops!" and "ahh damn!" and "crap! shit!", instead of the 2 holes that were needed. He also drilled them so that they were WAY too big for the screws, and we had to go out and get some spackle to fix them back up. I drilled the others on the other wall, taking no more than 5 minutes. I also affixed the tracking to the wall and slid electric box into the sides. We finally got the other massacred bit up and plugged them in. It looked terrific, other than we had 9 50-watt bulbs burning at full blast all at the same time. Next move: buy a dimmer.
Dinner: italian hot sausage, egg noodles and beer.
Monday: More light adjustments, including the dimmer. Now our living room has a big plush red couch, a glass coffee table and sexy dimmed lights. Love it! And also, Adam managed to not electrocute himself when he dug into the wall and the circuit breaker to wire the damn thing. How can they not make that easier to do? You basically need an electrician. Good thing we sort of have one... I also had lunch with a girlfriend! (*gasp* how often does that happen? um, like, never) I met Yael freshman year in gen chem lab. Oh yeah, fun times. I didn't stay too up to date with her because she's environmental science, so we didn't have any classes besides that. But one day at the end of first semester senior year we saw each other walking across COM lawn and ended up standing there talking about after grad plans for almost an hour. She's living uptown in the city now, and it was really nice to have someone to talk to other than the boys I live with. She's planning on keeping this a regular thing, which I'm glad for, and she even lives right next to Jared's girlfriend and her roommate, our other friend, so maybe we can even get her into that circle. Exciting! Dinner: gnocchi fried with butter, garlic, capers and sun dried tomatoes