Rock Lobster
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Sunday, October 26th, 2008We did quite a bit of geocaching this weekend. I introduced my friend Tracey to the sport (is it really a sport? I’m not actually sure). That means I’ve converted 3 people now: Josh, Robb, and Tracey. Someone give me a cookie or something.
Mmm…Jello
Monday, April 16th, 200710 days left at the University! Let the countdown begin!
Boy, I have got my work cut out for me for these next 10 workdays. I probably shouldn’t even be blogging, but my brain doesn’t get in work mode until 9am. That leaves me an hour to goof off and guzzle my coffee like it’s going [...]
Bag - cat = "I got a new job"
Thursday, April 12th, 2007So. I turned in my formal letter of resignation to my boss this morning. There’s something I’ve never done before. I can tell I’m ready to leave: I feel no emotional ties to this job anymore. I simply handed him the letter, told him I was leaving, and that was that. [...]
Cheers!
Wednesday, April 11th, 2007Second post in one day? Oh yes. And I have a good reason for it, too: I got the job at the internet! A round of cyberbeers for everyone, courtesy of me!
At the Masters
Wednesday, April 11th, 2007[Still no word on the job. I'm not surprised, though. I'm starting to wonder exactly what kind of management I'd be under at The Company because the guy who'd be my boss (same guy who interviewed me) is starting to seem like a flake. Did I tell you about how he left me waiting for [...]
About depression: Epilogue
Monday, April 9th, 2007So I have to say I was floored by the response I got to that last post. I just figured la, la, la, here are some thoughts, maybe people will read them, maybe not, and I’ll be on my merry way. And even before I got any responses from anyone, I immediately felt about 100 [...]
About depression
Friday, April 6th, 2007So I’m going out on a limb by posting this. It kind of makes me nervous to write about this (I am literally shaking now that I’m done editing and about to hit the “publish” button), and I may take it down shortly after posting it. I thought about disabling comments, but that [...]
Sweater, Version 2.0
Wednesday, April 4th, 2007I keep meaning to post pictures of some of the knitting projects I’ve done in the past couple of months, but I keep forgetting. And now my computer is at home (where the pictures are), and I’m here at work. I do have a few pictures on hand of what I’m working on now. Here [...]
A moment of weakness
Friday, March 30th, 2007I have done absolutely nothing productive today. Mostly I am sitting around daydreaming about cheese-covered tatertots and pints of Harp (which is how we will be celebrating my friend’s birthday tonight). If you have never had the cheesy tots at The Highlander, you are sorely missing out. They are cheesy and greasy and piled high [...]
Melon juice
Thursday, March 29th, 2007Since I seem to be on a random thoughts kick the past few days, here are some more–straight from the ol’ melon:
In the process of buying a car, I found out my credit score. We knew my credit was better than Josh’s, so my name had to go down as purchaser of the car (to [...]
RIP: Jeep of Death
Monday, March 26th, 2007Believe it or not, I actually have lots of things to write about today. I can’t promise that any of those things are interesting, but at least it will give you something to read about for maybe 10 minutes. Depending on how fast you read.
Thursday and Friday were a nice reprieve from the normal I-want-to-stab-my-eyes-out-with-a-pencil [...]
Not pictured: the Jeep of Death
Wednesday, March 21st, 2007I might die this week. Josh and I have two cars. One is my trusty little Ford Escort, the other is his Jeep Cherokee thing. Josh has some training thing out in the ‘burbs this week, and since he has to leave the city, he gets the more reliable car: the Escort. I get the [...]
This is how it works
Monday, March 19th, 2007I am getting pretty good at channeling my job unhappiness into applying for new jobs. I’ve already applied for one today–a customer support engineer position with some HPLC company I’ve never heard of. I was spurred to it by someone ganking my roto-vap when I wasn’t looking. Grr.
Anyway, I’ve been on a Regina Spektor kick [...]
An email I sent
Wednesday, March 14th, 2007I believe I mentioned recently that my work email address is very similar to one of the intro biology TA’s address. I keep getting misguided emails from the students, and normally I just say, “I am not your TA. His email address is ____.” Today I felt like being a little more creative:
Subject: Bio 2108 [...]
No knitted thongs in this post
Tuesday, March 13th, 2007Some random thoughts for a random Tuesday:
It pays to go rifling through old crap in the lab. I found an autosampler (!) and a fraction collector (!!) that can connect to the HPLC. This means I can totally automate the HPLC crap I’ve been doing lately…provided I can hook everything up correctly. Oh, and the [...]
Words have failed me utterly
Monday, March 12th, 2007So my knitting friends are definitely familiar with the Stitch ‘n Bitch books. For the uninitiated, these books are somewhat responsible for the revival of the knitting craze in twenty-somethings. I own one of the books and also the page-a-day calendar. The books have great tips and whatnot, but I’m not a [...]
Props to the double X chromosomes
Thursday, March 8th, 2007Last Sunday, I went to a baby shower for my friend Jenna. She’s having a baby in April. I volunteered to cook for the shower. When I volunteered, I thought there were only a few people coming, but in the end I was told to plan for 30. I’ve never cooked for that many people [...]
This one’s for the ladies
Wednesday, March 7th, 2007It’s too bad I didn’t win the lottery last night–one of the winning tickets was even sold in GA. I can think of a lot of useful things I could do with $355 million.
So I left work early yesterday because I was feeling particularly pathetic and lame. I’ve come to realize that my current job [...]
All the cool kids have themes
Monday, March 5th, 2007Currently, I am resisting the urge to rant about my job for the 1223576th time. Lucky for you I made the resolution to complain less. I need something to return me to a zen-like state when I discover that a co-worker–hypothetically, of course–has gone through my stuff over the weekend and made off with one [...]
I am a chemistry rock star.
Friday, March 2nd, 2007Sometimes my job is bad. Sometimes it is good. And let me tell you, when it is good, it is very, very good.
When I was a grad student, I made a goal in life: to one day find a novel compound and get to name it. In fact, I wanted to establish a whole class [...]
Happy because I had cookies for breakfast
Thursday, March 1st, 2007Random thoughts for a rainy Thursday, and I promise to keep them un-melancholy this time:
My second favorite time of the year has arrived. What is so special about spring, you ask? Two reasons: Girl Scout cookies and good thunderstorms. Both of which I have already experienced this morning. Thin mints totally make a decent breakfast, [...]
Hold onto your socks, it’s a weekend recap
Monday, February 26th, 2007Here’s an interesting website that you can use to waste time. It’s a site that lets you go back in time and see what your favorite websites used to look like. I spent some time perusing the September 11th archived sites from CNN.com and the like. Interesting, but creepy. Really creepy. So creepy, in fact, [...]
LOST is lost, pretty much.
Friday, February 23rd, 2007Hey, so does anybody besides me still watch LOST? Just curious. After last night’s episode, however, I may not be watching for much longer because, geez. Talk about boring. Boring and also lamer than FDR’s legs (sorry, couldn’t resist). An entire episode dedicated to Jack’s tattoos? Seriously. I [...]
The job search: Round 2
Wednesday, February 21st, 2007[A sad way to start the morning: ordering cheese grits then discovering there is no cheese in the grits when you get to your office. A bland breakfast for what will probably be an equally bland day.]
You see, I have been doing a lot of HPLC lately. High Performance Liquid Chromatography (in case you care) [...]
Some people have children. We have fish.
Monday, February 19th, 2007We upgraded our fish tank yet again. But before I show you what we did with it, here is a summary of the pre-upgrade dynamics in the tank:
We have one big male opaline gourami who has established himself as Boss of the Gouramis. He cannot stand any of his brethren to be near [...]
Funny bunny
Friday, February 16th, 2007I was surfing the web tonight and looking at knitting stuff when I came across the most awesome picture in the entire world. This, my friends, is an Angora rabbit.
I can’t stop laughing. Three cheers for Wikipedia. If you would like to see more Angoras, you can go here.
Hell is wearing corduroy in an elevator while drinking sweet tea
Wednesday, February 14th, 2007Let’s see: it’s 8am, I’m alone in the lab, and I have absolutely nothing to write about. Hey, I know! How about a meme? According to this one meme I saw somewhere (exactly where, I don’t remember), I’m supposed to tell you 6 weird things about myself. Hoo boy, I am definitely running low on [...]
Some guy says what I’ve been thinking for the past 6 months
Tuesday, February 13th, 2007This article–written by a scientist for scientists–may interest some of you. It’s a little on the pessimistic side, but I’d have to say it sums up EXACTLY my feelings/thoughts about why science is not a feasible career for everyone.
A few lines I particularly enjoyed:
“Young Americans have generally woken up to the bad prospects and absence [...]
I [heart] my crabs
Monday, February 12th, 2007No time to write, so this one goes out to my crabs. You know, the blue ones who live in tanks that I do experiments on. Maybe you should go read the previous entry if you are confused.
I’ve got crabs. And they are blindfolded.
Wednesday, February 7th, 2007The most exciting thing to happen so far today is that our ceiling here in the lab is leaking. The ceiling tile from where the leak originates is bulging from all the water. I am watching it like a hawk because when it finally gives, it should be a good show. It is awfully close [...]
Sniblets
Saturday, February 3rd, 2007Hot dog, it’s Friday! Well, for 40 more minutes, at least. And then? It will be SATURDAY! Far better than Friday.
Some sniblets for you:
Oh, check it out over there on the right: streaming music that you can listen to. And if I remember to do so, perhaps I will change [...]
Notes from a hospital room
Thursday, February 1st, 2007Mom had her surgery today. Her ovaries were (presumably) unceremoniously plucked from her abdomen and tossed in the garbage (or wherever they put body parts after they take them out). Luckily, the things growing in her insides were not cancerous tumors but rather mucus-producing adenomas. I tried to find some links for [...]
Snits and knits
Monday, January 29th, 2007Yeah, so I deleted a post I made here a little while ago because it was me being in a grumpy mood. And if you’re wondering, yes, I sent the undergrad her assignment. Honestly, I did it mostly because I felt guilty, not because I felt like being a “butterfly” or whatever. Say what you [...]
Stinky molecules and EXPLOSIONS: my job is full of thrills
Tuesday, January 23rd, 2007I’ve often wondered if my job will one day cause me health problems. Especially when I do something dumb in the lab, like what I just did 10 minutes ago.
I was drying down a sample that was in solution in deuterated pyridine:1
There’s a pyridine molecule for you, looking all cute and cuddly and ringy, right? [...]
Blech, some reviews, and a baby picture
Monday, January 22nd, 2007I unfortunately lack the mental fortitude this morning to write a coherent post because I feel like puking. I feel like puking because on mornings when there is no traffic, Josh drives like a flippin’ maniac on our way to work–lots of sudden stopping, starting, and sharp, quick turns. And frankly, that’s too much for [...]
The more fish, the merrier
Friday, January 19th, 2007We upgraded our fish tank again:
We bought two Leporinus fish, or “stripeys” as I call them. They like to hang out together, and sometimes they’ll swim vertically (Google tells me this is common for this species). We also bought four opaline gouramis. They like to swim around at the top, and they’re all shimmery and [...]
If Melon Hat Cat could talk, he’d say, "Bite me."
Wednesday, January 17th, 20077:20am: Purchased sausage-egg-cheese croissant and very large coffee from Heavenly Cafe.7:30am: Arrived in the lab, caught up on my daily blog reading.8:00am: My “boss” arrived an hour earlier than usual; I groaned internally at not having the extra hour to slack off.8:30am: Got the FPLC started on cranking out some samples.9:30am: Discovered I needed to [...]
Mmm, snarky needlepoint.
Tuesday, January 16th, 2007So nothing much exciting to report on today. Let’s hear it for MLK Day and a free day off from work. I could’ve spent it doing something constructive, but instead, I slept in, played a little Zelda on Josh’s Wii, upgraded our aquarium, ate some really good sushi, did some laundry, and knitted a little [...]
"Drive by…Miami-style."
Friday, January 12th, 2007Alright, so I can’t think of one cohesive subject to write about today, and so I give you…Random Thoughts!
My coffee habit? Totally out of control these days. If you’re counting by 8oz cups, I am probably on Cup #4 by now. It’s only 10:30am. Every addict needs to blame something or someone for their habit, [...]
Everything minus the gold teeth
Wednesday, January 10th, 2007With the anniversary of my trip to the Far Side of the World (that would be New Zealand and Australia) last Friday, I’ve been so terribly nostalgic the past few days. My “1000 Places to See Before You Die” calendar featured Marlborough Sound in NZ yesterday, and even though I didn’t make it to the [...]
Nerdy shop-talk and some good natured whining
Tuesday, January 9th, 2007Today is looking to be an exciting day. I have been instructed to read and study a 30-page booklet entitled, “Basic Principles of Pulse Fourier Transform NMR.” Seriously. Thirty pages of page-turning formulas and theories regarding nuclear magnetic resonance And then after I study it, I get tested on it. And THEN, if I pass [...]
Meet the Bobs
Monday, January 8th, 2007It’s 7:57am, and I’m at work. Can you believe it? I’m having to be a morning person by proxy: Josh has an 8am class this semester. That means I have to get to work before 8am. I really need a freaking parking pass already. Anyway, I have (loudly) voiced my disgust over being pried out [...]
Oh snap, it’s linear tetrapyrroles and a VW commercial
Friday, January 5th, 2007You know what I like? Linear tetrapyrroles, that’s what.
That’s bilirubin. It’s in your blood, in the hemoglobin. I don’t really know what it does. I just wanted a nice picture of a linear tetrapyrrole. You might be asking yourself at this point why I have this sudden fascination with linear tetrapyrroles. Here is my response:
Saying [...]
The coffee cup is half full
Thursday, January 4th, 2007So I subscribe to the GSU weekly crime report email because with so many nutcases and druggies in this area, there’s always something amusing/crazy going on. Remember the car accident I told you about yesterday?
1/2/07Decatur St.07-0003 Officer arrests a non-GSU individual for Hit and Run. At 11:40 am the [...]
The coffee cup is half-empty
Wednesday, January 3rd, 2007I swear, coming back to work after a week of being off is about the hardest thing I’ve had to do in awhile. My brain is in a total fog. Yesterday was my first day back after the holidays, and I spent my first hour in the lab trying to figure out just what the [...]
A very grown-up Christmas…and a skull
Saturday, December 30th, 2006So Christmas was good. Very grown-up this year. Now that I’m married, both of my families have decided to do the joint present thing–meaning any presents Josh and/or I received were really for both of us. Everyone gave us things we needed, which is good because we, well, needed those things. And the gifts we [...]
ITP, OTP, and MCP (that stands for "Merry Christmas, People")
Friday, December 22nd, 2006Reason #34346 why it’s better to be ITP than OTP: Coffee shops in Gwinnett county close at 9pm, as Jenna and I discovered last night when we arrived at 9 at a certain worldwide coffee chain franchise that rhymes with “Car Ducks” and the barista let us purchase what was probably a total of $10 [...]
2006 in 39 questions
Thursday, December 21st, 2006I borrowed this from All & Sundry’s blog archives (link to the right) who borrowed it from someone else’s blog who probably borrowed it from someone else’s blog. These things spread like viruses. Since I haven’t got much else to write about today, I will indulge my inner teen and, like, tOtalLy dO a qUIzz!!1! [...]
A Merry TiVo Christmas
Wednesday, December 20th, 2006So the problem with posting so often is that I don’t always have anything interesting to write about. Work has been slow this week. Nobody much is in the lab, and that makes it awfully hard to concentrate and be productive. Christmas is Monday. We’ll be spending Christmas Eve at my parents’ house in Lawrenceville [...]
Riding under the influence
Tuesday, December 19th, 2006Happily, the FPLC is still running this morning, as it should be. No explosions, no floods of solvents. The only mishap yesterday as I was setting it up was what I like to call an “ink malfunction.” That means the sea hare ink I was loading somehow managed to get all over my hands and [...]
Two stories about nothing in particular
Monday, December 18th, 2006Last week, I went to have dinner with my pseudo-boss from the Oz/NZ trip and several of his co-workers and friends. Our goal was to teach him how to knit. I hopped into my car after work and quickly discovered that I had a flat tire. So Saturday I was lucky enough to purchase two [...]
A little something(s) to keep you occupied
Friday, December 15th, 2006[Oooh, check it out--third day in a row of posting! I told you I'd keep up with the "posting more often" thing.]
I feel like I need to pass on some things that have made me happy lately so that perhaps they may make you happy, too. So here are some reviews. And links, too, if [...]
Blog-o-riffic
Thursday, December 14th, 2006So I’m here at work at 8am–an hour before usual. Josh had an 8am final, and since he’s my ride to MARTA that means I too have to extract myself from our bed and slog my way to work at 8am. But there is a silver lining: a coffee big enough to swim in and [...]
Hell, thy name is "A Merry Disney Christmas"
Wednesday, December 13th, 2006Just to make me hate my job a little more, the nice quiet Chinese girl has been kind enough to put on the new CD that she won in our lab Christmas gift swap.
It’s “A Merry Disney Christmas.”
I am contemplating shoving Pasteur pipets in my eardrums to make the pain stop.
Jobs. And pirates.
Wednesday, December 6th, 2006I haven’t been so frequent in my posting lately–sorry about that. I’ve been in sort of a morale slump lately, and I knew if I started writing on here, that would all come out. And it would probably make me sound more pathetic and whiny than I actually am. The “morale slump” has come mostly [...]
I’m an aunt!
Tuesday, November 28th, 2006So last night, on my 25 and 1/2 birthday AND the day which marks Josh’s and my fifth year of togetherness, my sister-in-law gave birth to twin boys: Graysen and Riley. Meaning I’m an aunt twice over! So very exciting. Hopefully we will get to go see them this weekend if they’re [...]
Ok Go
Thursday, November 16th, 2006Wish I had time to write a real post, but since I don’t and I have to keep you entertained so you keep coming back here, I have provided a video to keep you occupied until I can write more:
Ok Go - Here It Goes Again
Best. Video. Ever. And their album is pretty good, too.
Birds!
Wednesday, November 8th, 2006Astonishingly, the “next blog” button has brought me something good.
The Swedish Bird-of-the-Day Blog
If you’re a fan of birds, you’ll like this one–lots of very nice pictures. The birds are Swedish birds, so I’m not familiar with a lot of them. But really, the pictures are just lovely, and it makes me smile. I’m putting a [...]
Yes, I am aware that I’m a HUGE nerd
Tuesday, October 31st, 2006This entry’s for my knitting friends:
I have discovered the Knitter’s Geek Code. Thus, I give you my knitting identity, in code.
KER++ Exp(+) SPM+ Boye+++ Wood+ Steel– Pl– Syn– !Nov Cot Wool++ Lux Stash++ Scale+ Fin+ Ent– Int? !Felt Tex+High-fives to anyone who can figure it out…and even more high-fives if you post me a [...]
Woot!
Saturday, October 14th, 2006I just got married. AND I just made dinner reservations under my new name.
I am so happy. Heeeeee!
(See you all after the honeymoon!)
Rum and a bum
Friday, September 22nd, 2006[I would first like to say that my new lab is cool. Why? Because at our 9am meeting, my boss brought in a bottle of rum, and we all did shots to celebrate various good things that had happened in the lab (e.g. acceptance of a paper, etc.). Oh, yes: 9am. And do you know [...]
Snippets
Thursday, September 14th, 2006My previous entry is one of probably 3 entries spotlighting the fauna of Decatur Street. I plan on continuing them soon. Stay tuned for upcoming stories on an iguana and some fiesty crabs. But for now, I feel the need to post a few snippets of things that make me happy, excited, or otherwise moved [...]
Meet Sandy
Monday, September 11th, 2006There is an aquarium in the lab in which I spend most of my time. In this fishtank lives one fish. Its name is Sandy. Sandy is possibly the smallest fish in the world and definitely on the list of the top 50 cutest. Sandy is a dwarf pufferfish.
Up until I started working here, the [...]
Do you like chemistry and procrastination?
Wednesday, September 6th, 2006In between injecting crap into the HPLC and blowing my nose (I have the mother of all colds), I have spent my day perusing this blog:
blog.tenderbutton.com
Thanks to Tracey for alerting me to this amusing chemophile’s blog. A lot of it is over my head since he’s a synthetic chemist, but I can appreciate entries like [...]
Crikey, how tragic.
Tuesday, September 5th, 2006Rest in Peace, Steve.
Adjusting
Wednesday, August 30th, 2006So some of the habits of my new lab are a little, well, disturbing.
They have a coffee maker (with which they routinely make jet-fuel-tasting coffee)…sitting on the lab bench…next to HPLCs and all other manners of solvent-related equipment. Coffee laced with methanol. Mmm.
EVERYTHING when I got here was broken (or so it seemed). The roto-vap [...]
My first week on the job
Wednesday, August 23rd, 2006Day 1: Was handed an empty column, a bottle of chromatography powder, and a beaker of sea hare ink and told to run a column. Hurrah! Something I could do. It made me feel very smart to be able to say, “Sure thing,” and not need someone to hold my hand.
Day 2: The post-doc I’m [...]
Knitting with razors
Tuesday, August 15th, 2006One of the things I enjoy about knitting is that it becomes more fun in the company of other people. To celebrate the ending of my freedom (yes, the ending of my freedom) and reentry into the workforce, I went to visit my good friend Jenna in Athens. We met for dinner, then retreated to [...]
Today’s events
Tuesday, August 8th, 2006Several exciting things happened today. Here they are, in no particular order:
(1) I discovered Lite Cool-Whip tastes just as good as the regular stuff.(2) I pulled off an sizeable healthy meal for myself and my parents.(3) I got a job.
The meal consisted of lemon-rosemary tilapia (a recipe I concocted myself) baked in a little foil [...]
The Trifecta
Sunday, July 30th, 2006Incident the First: Friday night. I’m taking a shower because I was gross and smelly from helping my friend Tracey move all day. I get done shampooing my hair and glance down at my engagement ring. To my absolute horror, the diamond is completely gone. I immediately have a heart attack, switch off the water, [...]
Four random paragraphs
Wednesday, July 26th, 2006First: Have any of you seen the new Geico commerical with Charo in it? Holy crap, it cracks me up.
Second (for my knitting friends): I just stumbled across the DiY network’s knitting show. It’s actually quite interesting, and I think it’s useful to actually watch someone DO these techniques (as opposed to scrutinizing drawings in [...]
Postcards from Suburbia
Tuesday, July 25th, 2006So I’ve moved back into my parents’ house. I’ve been trying to come up with good things about being 25, broke, and living at home:
(1) No rent to pay.(2) Free food.(3) Access to free exercise equipment (in our basement) so I can work off the 15 lbs I gained in grad school.(4) Free food.(5) Mom [...]
Of pirates and scientists
Friday, June 30th, 2006Because of a brief disappearance of my contraband wireless internet (hey, it’s not my fault my neighbors don’t secure their wireless networks), I’ve not posted anything since last week. Now the *ahem* free internet has returned, and I have many recent occurrences that need to be written about. These include a job interview at the [...]
Mmm…dirt.
Tuesday, June 20th, 2006I have recently rekindled a forgotten love for a television show: Discovery Channel’s “Dirty Jobs.” While staying up late last night to chug water for my blood donation today (which, incidentally, never happened as my iron level was too low. Too bad, because I was really looking forward to those Nutter Butters), I flipped to [...]
A veritable lobster bisque of pictures
Monday, June 19th, 2006[I happen to be watching this thing on TV about those two divers that a few years ago got left on the Great Barrier Reef. It's a little creepy. When I was diving south of Sydney, I got separated from my buddy and the rest of the group because I got absorbed in looking at [...]
"Here comes an average-sized girl in blue jeeeeeeeeans!!"
Thursday, June 15th, 2006I’m in the middle of overhauling my blog, so if anything looks funny/ugly/weird, that would be why. I got tired of the canned templates that blogger offers, so I made my own. Let me know if you don’t like it or if anything is too hard to read.
On a random notion, I googled the term [...]
And the fork ran away with the spoon…
Tuesday, June 13th, 2006So I recently updated my Blogger profile (over there on the right–you can read the whole version if you click on it), and reupdated my “random question.” The random question is generated–randomly, of course–by Blogger. My previous random question was “That can’t be a fish you’re standing on, can it?” which was pretty relevant, considering [...]
Detergents, dancing, and dog-in-a-barrel
Friday, June 9th, 2006Here are a collection of random thoughts in lieu of a regular, rambling entry.
I decided this evening that perhaps my most favorite smell may be detergent. Especially laundry and dishwasher powder detergent. It’s probably a good thing you can’t get high from sniffing a box of laundry detergent.
I secretly do not like the Georgia Aquarium, [...]
You’re stuck in a niche (and you can’t get out of it)
Wednesday, May 31st, 2006(High-fives to anyone who gets the pop reference in my title.)
So in an effort to avoid having to move back into my parents’ house, I’ve started looking for random, everyday jobs because it’s looking like this science thing isn’t working out for me. I found some part-time teller positions open at SunTrust in downtown Atlanta. [...]
Peeking out of the shoebox
Friday, May 19th, 2006I am going stir crazy. I need to get out of my house. Knitting isn’t working anymore. I’ve cleaned the house thoroughly twice in the past month (I clean when I’m stressed–the cleaner the house is, the more stressed I am). I need a new hobby. Or better yet, I need a freaking job.
In case [...]
Picture and a story II: This turd’s for you
Tuesday, May 2nd, 2006[First, I just have to tell you I had another job interview today down at Georgia State. It went well, I think. The people were nice and the research was interesting. However, it didn't pay much and I'm vastly overqualified for it. But guess what I would be doing if I got the job? Cracking [...]
Picture and a story I: The Wellington cable car
Friday, April 28th, 2006So I’m going to try to refrain from more whiny, I-don’t-have-a-job posts. Those kinds of posts don’t earn readers. Instead I’ve hit upon a more reader-friendly, entertaining method of posting. I promised you more stories from my trip, right? So instead of just boringly regaling you with tales, I’ll post a picture and then boringly [...]
Knitting away the stress
Monday, April 24th, 2006I didn’t get the job at Emory, and I still haven’t heard back from any of the other jobs I’ve applied for. So in an effort to not become utterly despondant, I’ve started knitting again since that helped me maintain my sanity in NZ/AU.
After I finished my sweater in AU, with my leftover yarn I [...]
Good readin’
Sunday, April 16th, 2006So in my massive amounts of free time, I’ve decided to accomplish several things, which include…
- Cleaning my living space- Writing a book (subject undetermined)- Learning more local bird songs- Knitting another sweater- Losing about 10 lbs- Reading more books with plots- Finishing the furniture renovation project I started about a year ago
I started working [...]
I got off my bum to write you this entry
Tuesday, April 11th, 2006“There were so many fewer questions when stars were still just the holes to heaven.” –Jack Johnson, “Holes to Heaven”[Remind me later to write my thoughts on the American coffee shop. I thought of them just now, and I think they're worthy of writing down. But later.]
I do my best work under the influence of [...]
The REAL beginning of life after grad school
Tuesday, April 4th, 2006[I am working on getting all of my pictures uploaded somewhere so those of you from out of town can see them. Will post a link here eventually, so check back often.]
After about 24 hours worth of traveling, here I am back in Atlanta. Highlights of the trip back include: TVs in the backs of [...]
Leaving a sunburnt country
Friday, March 31st, 2006[My title came from this poem.]This is my last post from Down Under and my last post of my trip (but never fear–I’m not demolishing this blog…the posts will just be a lot less interesting and frequent from now on). My plane leaves early tomorrow morning. April 1st looks like this for me:
Depart BrisbaneFly to [...]
Last days in Oz
Thursday, March 30th, 2006So I was going to continue my Adventurs in Cairns, but I’m tired of writing such long entries, so I will sum up my last day in Cairns for you:
Rented a car. Drove as far up the coast as I could get before dark. Drove back down the coast because nothing was open because of [...]
Adventures in Cairns, Part III
Sunday, March 26th, 2006First of all, good luck to my friends (who may or may not be reading this) who have defenses this week or are finishing up their theses. I’m sending good luck brainwaves across the Pacific for you.
Second of all, I finally finished the sweater I’ve been working on for most of the trip. Check it [...]
Quote of the Day
Saturday, March 25th, 2006“I’m sick of following my dreams. I’m just going to ask them where they’re going and hook up with them later.”
-Mitch Hedberg
(I [heart] Mitch Hedburg, God rest his comedic soul)
Adventures in Cairns, Part II
Friday, March 24th, 2006Before I start in on chapter 2 of the Great Cairns Adventure, I would just like to make a general observation. Here it is:
Do you know what I’m finding? I’m finding that the transition between school and job is a lot harder than I expected it to be. The uncertainty of everything is throwing me [...]
Adventures in Cairns, Part I
Wednesday, March 22nd, 2006So I was offered a job the other day: to do the same thing I’m doing now but in Europe this summer.
I turned it down. It was the grown-up thing to do. No details now, but it was a hard decision to make.
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I’m going to have to split the stories from last weekend into multiple [...]
So long, Larry
Tuesday, March 21st, 2006After 72 hours on the GBR, 5 days in Cairns, and 1 cyclone later, I’ve made it back to Brisbane in one piece. Too pooped to write now, but suffice to say it was a very strange long weekend. Thanks to those of you who were worried about me and emailed/commented.
(By the way, the link [...]
Katie, bar the door!
Sunday, March 19th, 2006I’m in Cairns at the moment, having just finished my liveaboard dive trip on the reef. See if you can find Cairns on this map:
Where is Melissa now?
Couldn’t get a flight out, so I’ll be battening down the hatches and riding this out…
Viva la Reef
Wednesday, March 15th, 2006Schedule for the day:
7:30am: Depart for the Australia Zoo (the one the Crocodile Hunter runs)Between 9am and 1:30pm: Have picture taken with Harriet, a Galapagos tortoise that Darwin personally collected (in other words, a freaking old turtle)3pm: Arrive back in Brisbane5pm: Depart for Cairns
What’s Cairns, you ask? Only the port for all the liveaboards that [...]
Coffee in the River City
Tuesday, March 14th, 2006I keep trying to figure out why I think Brisbane is vastly superior to Sydney. Maybe because it’s less cramped. I dunno. And oddly enough, it sort of reminds me of Key Largo (but much bigger, fewer rednecks, and a river instead of the ocean). It’s got a tropical feel to it, much like Florida. [...]
"B" is for Brisbane
Sunday, March 12th, 2006So here I am in Brisbane. Three weeks left. New boss is here. Not sure how he’ll be compared to my other boss.
There’s an awesome BBC show on TV right now about bees and wasps and other eusocial insects. Right now they are showing wood ants that can squirt formic acid out of their abdomens. [...]
Polly vs. Polly
Thursday, March 9th, 20061 more day of Sydney left, then it’s off to Brisbane for me. And then 3 weeks, and then I’m home again. Here are the travel phases that I’ve encountered:
1. Euphoria. That “Woooo, I’m in [insert exotic location]!” feeling.2. Homesickness. Wanting your own bed and to see your cat.3. Perpetual nomadism. Feeling like you’ve always [...]
Today’s nugget of irony
Tuesday, March 7th, 2006Wanna hear (read) something funny?
The study abroad program has offered me this same job for next year. Apparently my photocopying skillz are bloody brilliant.
I find it hugely ironic that here I am, being offered another expense-paid trip to the South Pacific, and I’ll most likely turn it down (unless I’m dirt-poor and jobless this time [...]
A day at the market
Saturday, March 4th, 2006You ever have one of those days where you just feel like a 16th century Chinese empress? I have those days all the time. Take yesterday, for example (see pic at left). It just so happens that you can channel your inner empress or emperor at the Sydney Chinese Garden of Friendship. They loan you [...]
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