Thursday, March 30, 2006
the week is almost over
What a week! My experiments are not turning out as I expect them. I am certain to develop a repetitive strain injury from pipetting all day long. Hunching over a bench full of petri dishes sounds glamorous but it's no cup of tea. And what is the deal with everyone thinking researchers make bank?? It is a MYTH. Luckily I like what I do so I will tolerate it for a while.

I found out this week I am NOT eligible for the statewide public employee pay raise. Major bummer. Apparently I am destined to be scraping the bottom of the salary barrel for a while longer.

I also set some paper towels on fire earlier this week. Sounds wimpy...except that they were soaked in Ethanol and my (gloved) hand was on them when they ignited. Luckily it was early and nobody was in the lab quite yet. Luckily I have set things on fire before and have had practice extinguishing flames with odd objects that lie nearby. Luckily ethanol removes the dark ashy burn color off of the linoleum!!! And lastly, luckily, we have air freshener in the lab so I can make a quick recovery.

Evan and I have an eye appointment tomorrow and maybe I will be getting contacts. I've never worn them before so its a bit scary. But maybe if I could see what I was doing...I wouldn't be quite a walking hazard.


Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Random
So I was on the phone with an old high school friend and I casually mentioned I was going out to dinner with Heather. She asks where I met her. I was honest and told this friend I met her online in a wedding/home forum type website and that she too had recently moved from Detroit to AZ. She then proceeded to make fun of me for meeting people on the internet.

Dear Friend,

Remember how you did online DATING more than once? Remember that second to last boyfriend you had...yep, the one you MET ONLINE and then LIED to your parents about where you met him? Yeah, go ahead and keep making fun of me. At least I've never slept with anyone from the internet!!!

Love,

Christine


Oh and here is a bonus: RE the Lingerie Superstore post from earlier.



















Sorry it's a bit uneven. I got caught at the light and actually had my camera in the bag. I whipped it out and clicked the shutter as the green light came on...Talent!!!!

PS i still wouldn't buy foundations from a place like that!!


Wednesday, March 22, 2006
How Average are You?
So I got Exam #2 back today in my Micro class. If you've forgotten, this is the class that kills my soul a little bit more 3x a week and I last discussed in February when I got back Exam #1.

The class was even more angry today. Before we found out the class average, the professor conveyed to us that we had done better than the first exam, although there was a group of students who did worse. Good, right? Hmm WRONG!

I will just say that I did better than the AVERAGE which was a whopping 55.2% (compared with our previous test average of 63.1%. I didn't even see averages quite that low in Organic Chemistry. Needless to say, the students are pissed, and rightfully so. The professor basically said that people didn't study AT ALL. Now how would he know if we studied or not if the whole class is basically failing together? I hope he curves it. I hope he never passes in front of my car on my way home too.


Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Rocket Scientist
Congratulations to Heather for securing a fancy engineering job! Hopefully Ken will get a job soon and you can move out of BFE.

-heather, if you get tired or if you need to replenish your provisions you are always welcome to stop by on your way home. Your car would probably welcome the break. Can sugar-mommas afford helicopters??


Tuesday, March 14, 2006
two things
1. it rained/snowed a lot in arizona. you all know i don't "do" snow. So here is a pic of snow from a safe distance. notice the palm trees in the foreground. that's how we do it out here.
















(click for larger view)


2. I cut my hairs. no more pony-tails for me!





















pretty good for a mug shot eh?


Sunday, March 12, 2006
VALPOfund
I got a letter from Valpo's student body president today. He was soliciting gifts to the VALPOfund. Did YOU know that tuition only pays for 65% of a Valpo education?

The letter was ended with this sentence:


"I ask you to make an investment in my generation, and those to come, by offering a gift to the Valpofund of $250, $150, $50, or any amount that reflects your faith in the mission of VU."

Hmm ANY amount that reflects my faith in the mission....? The last time I checked, my diploma still had a misspelled word on it. I guess my faith in the mission is still at -($23,000x 3.5 years).



Saturday, March 11, 2006
When it rains, It pours!
It is raining today in Phoenix. For the first time in 143 days! According to the news we have had 20 consecutive Saturdays of perfect weather. Totally true. It is rarely even cloudy here, let alone rain. And Evan isn't even here to see it!!

It's a good thing the rain finally came because they were really worried about fires starting because everything is so dry. I hit a tumbleweed with my car yesterday (big one) and it was so dry that it shattered off my bumper!


Friday, March 10, 2006
This whole post is dedicated to Lisa K
I don't know which is worse:
  1. the fact that i wrote all these down
  2. the fact that i typed them into my computer after writing them down
  3. the fact that they are saved forever in a word file
  4. or the fact that they still bring tears to my eyes.

you decide.


Dr. Davis, Electron microscopy:

"It's like building a house….riding a bi-cycle"
"I hope everyone knows how a sink works…let me explain it to you."
"OsO4 will kill you instantly, and you'll know it."
"Now that’s nice and jagged…"
"Some people might come in here and drink [lab alcohol] and there are problems with that."
"[200 proof ethanol] is a marvelous carcinogen. Drink this stuff. Drink a lot. Your liver will suffer."
"I would not drink either of these. This is a college town. If you like to drink, go out and buy some."
"Damn, I'm a teacher"
"You can smell the solvent coming out of that lacquer," Dr. Davis, huffing nail polish
"If it doesn't…then you can try something that probably doesn't work."
"Herd the specimens!"
"We'll get to the end of the day and there'll be jellybeans with your name on them."
"It's radioactive…don't worry about it."
"Looks like I have enough gold to buy off Mr. T."


Dr. Silliman, Organic chemistry I(Texas A&M):

"Noble gases are the Michael Jordans of the elements."
"This is like the sumo-wrestler version"
"These are brother electrons, 'take some of my electrons here.'"
"It looks stupid, doesn't it?"
"Did everybody get an eyeball of terror?" (halloween candy)
"Hey this is better than WWF…or whatever it is."
"If no one shows up, I can't hold class, can I?"
"Raise your hands if you're cold… Sissies! This is like Canada!"



Dr. Watters, genetics:

"Meiosis is cool! Fun!"
"If you turn into a tumor at age 3 you won't reproduce and have babies…"
"Mmm, yum, sugar…"
"Your cells complain…you die."
"Telomeres - where the action is."

"'Where is my pairing partner?' DNA- on the hunt for the homologous chromosome."
"Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium NOT Henry Weinhard [west coast beer brand]"
"Everything causes cancer."



Dr. DeMaris, Theology:

"I love mucking around in P."
"I can run with the big dogs, I can piss as far as you."
"It's like dueling penises."
"He's an old, blind Rabbi, probably plays the blues too."
"I don't mind breaking copyright laws."
"He's kinda a Jumbo Jesus."
"Don't use cocaine…go to Sunday school."
"Mary is sleeping around with God."
"If men could conceive, birth control would be a sacrament."
"Jesus has dry skin…well, it IS winter."
"…get pregnant and DELIVER."
"'…Shut up, bitch!' theology."
"She's a sinner, a SIN-NER!!"
"Jesus said, 'Drink my blood, eat my flesh.' Yuk! That's cannibalism!!"



Dr. Hicks, Macroevolution:

"You can go down to the 7-11 in France and buy a Homo Erectus."
"Maybe Homo Erectus is a nicer person than we are."
"I lie all the time, people. Get used to it."
"Hey you! You want a piece of DNA?!" -bacterial cell
"Sears- the place to buy a Homo Habilis."
"…a creationist in a cheap tuxedo."
"A cow does an awful lot of belching."



Dr. Engerer, General Chemistry:

"I don’t know what minimum amount of 02 we need to stay conscious but we need to make sure we have whatever that minimum is."
"Regular cocaine is very water soluble and crack cocaine is more organic-like."

Dr. Goyne, Biochemistry:

“Engineers do a number of things that irritate chemists.”
“We have now officially beaten restriction mapping to death.”
“It looks like I’m bleeding here but it’s actually my pen…falling apart.”
“It’s OK if you do physics [homework] in here. I would feel bad if it were humanities.”
“It’s not a good idea to have a diet composed of completely saturated fat.”


Delivery Exception
I finally caved to the calling of the Ipod. I can listen to music in the lab all day so i figure its a joint business/pleasure purchase and thereby a justifiable expenditure.

In February I decided to order a refurbished Ipod mini. They don't make the mini one anymore, just the huge one and the nano; hence the refurbished Ipod. I don't need a huge fancy expensive one. And the nano is so small i'd lose it or break it. The mini is metal and a little larger so its more resilient and all that stuff.

Apple provides you with a FedEx tracking number. Originally they said it wasn't even going to ship until mid march...so i was a little bummed...until i checked the tracking and it said it shipped on Feb 28!! So i check and it says it made it to Phoenix on March 1. Score!

But then days later...nothing. Until yesterday:


Mar 9, 2006
6:22 PM
Delivery exception
PHOENIX, AZ
Damaged, handling per shipper instructions
Mar 1, 2006
9:47 PM
Departed FedEx location
PHOENIX, AZ



Apparently "delivery exception" and "damaged" are code for "some bastard stole your Ipod and left an empty box." What kind of jerk steals packages? Lame!

Does this mean it was an inside job?? Apparently I will get another Ipod and they will investigate what happened to the original one. As if they're gonna find it. Some punk is rocking out with MY IPOD somewhere in Phoenix.



***********UPDATE**********
Apple just sent me a new tracking number for an Ipod they are sending to me via OVERNIGHT FedEx. But since it was a friday night I should get it on monday. Yay!


Saturday, March 04, 2006
Grand Canyon Trip
We went to the Grand Canyon last month with the Canadians. We took the Grand Canyon Railway, which was kind of fun. Here are the pics:


























the pic of Dawn and the Elk(? is it elk???) shows how close we were to the wildlife...no fences here!!! It was very cold that day too...


Friday, March 03, 2006
There is a place called "Lingerie Superstore" on the way to work. It looks like a medical clinic. Who wants to buy lingerie at a superstore?? Is that like the wal-mart of underwear?? It sounds just as bad a "Brown Bag Lingerie" in Michigan. Nothin' sexier than some brown paper to cover up your favorite foundations!


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