Requisite Before-The-Holidays Post

Well, this is my last post before the holidays, so first off I'd like to wish any readers I have a happy whatever-it-is-you-celebrate! And now some random musings:

- It totally does not feel anything like Christmas to me. It's too warm and there's no snow. Of course, it doesn't help that the year is going so quickly for me that I can't believe that in just under two weeks it's going to be 2007. Plus, not being a student anymore is throwing off my sense of time. I've been a student for so long that I'm used to having a well-defined break for the holidays, but now I just keep working (ahem, "working") and don't have a specified few weeks off. So, it's just weird. But don't get me wrong, I don't miss being a student whatsoever.

- Karen has gotten me addicted to weffriddles. I like them because they can be quite tough unless you think about them a certain way. I'm now on Level 47.

- I've been applying for more jobs recently. I just applied to two government jobs, one for the Department of Labor and one for the Census Bureau. Both of these are statistician jobs, which works for me, since I have a B.S. in math. Plus, they both are based in Chicago, which is ideal for me. One, it's a large city. Two, it's really close to home. That is, it's three hours from home, which might sound far for some people, but that's a hell of a lot closer than I am now.

- The reason I'm applying for the jobs mentioned above is that I'm almost certain that I want a job that isn't specifically in this field. Unless, of course, it's one of the teaching jobs I applied for. I've just been getting more and more disenchanted with meteorology, or really, atmospheric science. I don't feel a passion for it, which means that I probably shouldn't get a job in it.

- The sad thing is that I'm still not sure what I want to do with my life. I had this grand notion that after I was finished with grad school, I'd be able to get a great job in the field and really like what I was doing. I'm not saying that this couldn't happen yet. I'm just thinking that it probably won't because of the mentioned lack of passion. But, as my therapist has told me, it's not like I have to get a job using my master's degree. Having it just makes me a more interesting person. Or at least, it will to other people. I don't think I'm that interesting myself, but other people might.

- So, yeah, no job yet, but I'm applying, which is at least hopeful. If nothing else, come next spring or summer, depending on how long the funding lasts, I'll just move back home if I don't have a job.

- I'm still sad about my bunny. It's weird how much I miss her even though a lot of the time she annoyed the crap out of me. I've even had dreams that she's still alive. But, I'm bringing her home and am going to bury her there once the ground thaws.

- I'm surprised by the lack of Christmas cards I've received. I wasn't expecting a lot to begin with, but I've only gotten two this year so far. Well, technically one card and one family photo. I guess it isn't just me that isn't entirely in the Christmas spirit.

- I am, however, really looking forward to being at home for a while. I need a vacation again. It seems like not that long ago I was home for Thanksgiving. This time, though, I'll be home a bit longer. I'm home for about a week and a half, mainly because my sister's birthday is New Year's Eve and she's turning 21, so it should be lots of fun.

Well, I guess that's about it from me. This is probably my last post before the holidays, so again, have a wonderful celebration (I'm trying to be too P.C., aren't I?) and probably a happy new year too, since I won't be around the internet too much while I'm at home. Cheers!

Short Update

Just a few quick updates to my blog:

1.) I've created a new blog dedicated to TV show commentary here. It's a work in progress, but hopefully something that other people will enjoy. I'll keep posting on it unless I don't get any readers, so anyone that reads this blog is welcome to head on over there and check it out, and if you like it tell some friends. I like having an audience.

2.) In making the blog mentioned above, I noticed some new templates available for Blogger. Thus, visitors to this blog will notice a new background. I love lighthouses, so I decided that this background is perfect for me. If you have any comments about it, preferably good (but I'll deal with bad ones as well), let me know.

That is all for now. What can I say? My title said it would be a short update.

RIP Anya

Today while I was at work, my rabbit died. I've been worried about her for about a week now, mainly since I've gotten back from Thanksgiving at home. I'm not sure what happened, really. She was a bit off when I got home, but I attributed that to the stress of the ride home. She seemed to get better, though.

On the trip back, though, she seemed to get worse. Well, not really worse, but she had been acting strangely. First she wasn't eating as much as she normally does, but again, I just thought that she needed to calm down from the stress of the trip home. But, I got more and more worried as the days went on because she was lethargic. Unfortunately, I didn't have the money to take her to a vet, so I just did whatever I could, which wasn't much since I don't know a whole lot about rabbits.

Over the last couple days she'd been acting really weird, though. A lot of the time, I found her with her two front paws in her water dish, just standing there. I didn't know what to make of that, so I just let her be, and petted her when I could. Yesterday she was very slow moving, so I held her a bit and tried to comfort her. I think on some level I knew she wasn't doing too well. Especially this morning. She really looked to be on her last legs, and I was worried that I'd come home to find her not living anymore. That turned out to be the case. She had died sometime while I was at work.

At this point, I'm wondering if there was more I could have done. I realize that there probably wasn't, or at least there wasn't anything I could have done that wouldn't have been terribly expensive. Reading that over, it sounds really bad, and I don't mean to sound incredibly cheap, but that's the way it is.

Anyway, I just really hope that she wasn't in too much pain when she died. I'll never be certain because I don't know what was wrong with her, but at least she's not in pain anymore. I'll miss you, Anya.

Ramblings from Thanksgiving

I really need to learn how to update this a bit more often. I guess I just have nothing interesting to say lately. However, I did go home for Thanksgiving, so I now have things to say, in no particular order.

- I've been sick for the past couple weeks. Well, not really sick, so much as having a hacking cough. So, once Mom heard it, she decided that I should go see a doctor. It turns out that I had bronchitis. I was put on antibiotics and some cough syrup, and I'm starting to get better. I still have a little bit of cough, but overall, I'm feeling much better.

- Thanksgiving itself was fun. We went down to my aunt and uncle's house in Kenosha and had a huge dinner, and then just chatted and played games, and overall had a good time. It's always nice to have a little downtime. Unfortunately on the way back home it was incredibly foggy. There were times where I could hardly see the side of the road from the back seat of the car. It was kind of scary. We made it home safely, luckily. It was just quite freaky.

- Mom and I actually did the Black Friday thing, except we weren't crazy enough to get up before the crack of dawn to fight the mobs. We decided to go later on that night, around 5pm. It was really nice. Most of the people in Green Bay had done all their shopping already, so we didn't have to fight crowds, and the sales staff didn't work that morning, so they were fresh and happy as opposed to bitter and cranky, so it was actually pleasant. Mom also offered to buy me things, so I have a new pair of slippers and a new sweatshirt.

- Since I was at home and sick, I decided that I would sleep in most days. (Of course, if I was healthy I would have done the same thing, because I like sleep.) Friday I slept until after noon, because my body apparently needed it. I rarely sleep that long, so I was pretty surprised. It helped my body, but I also think that it was also partially the codeine in the cough syrup I was prescribed.

- My hometown now has its first Starbucks. It even has a drive-thru. The store is conveniently located near the highway, so those people that drink coffee can grab a cup to go and head out of town. I won't be frequenting the store often because I'm not a coffee drinker, but I'm sure it will make good money anyway.

- I kept seeing commercials and signs telling people in my county to shop in the county. In most places that wouldn't be a problem, but my county doesn't have a lot to offer. Yes, there are plenty of grocery stores, and a Wal-Mart, but if you want any type of gift store or a Target or Kohl's, you have to go out of town. But the thing that really bothered me was that the sign on one of the grocery stores said "Shop Local." That is just grammatically incorrect. It should be "locally." I know grammar isn't a high priority to most people, but it bugs me when it's wrong in print. When people are speaking, I don't typically have a problem (except with the way central Pennsylvanians never use a form of "to be" when something needs to be done), but in writing it just grates my nerves. I don't know why, it just does.

Well, I guess that's about it from me for now. I keep saying that I'll update this more often, and I hope to, but to the few readers I have out there, don't count on it. But, keep checking. You never know when a new entry will be posted.

Professional Identity Crisis

In therapy today I talked a lot about how I really don't know what I want to do with my life at the moment. I had always thought that when you go to grad school, you start to develop some sort of professional identity and will find a job in that field afterwards. It never occurred to me that I wouldn't want to stick in this field when I finished grad school.

Well, that's not entirely true. It's not that I don't want to stay in this field particularly. It's just that I'm tending to be fairly choosy about what projects I'd like to work on. I'm still stuck on the question of how/why anoxia develops on the ocean floor in some areas, which was going to be the heart of my dissertation, had I still been able to go on for my PhD. (Yes, I'm still slightly bitter about this.) So, I'd really like to find a job that involves studying this problem. Granted, it's not a widely studied problem yet, even though I think it should be. I am slightly biased, though, so you may want to take my opinion with a grain of salt.

Of course, this whole identity crisis I'm having also sort of stems from the fact that I finally heard from Rutgers, and I didn't have the job. They were nice enough to say that I was ranked highly in the applicant pool, but they ultimately decided to go with someone with more experience doing the types of things the job required. I kind of figured that I wouldn't get the job, because of my lack of experience, but it's still disappointing.

That makes me go back to the time when I was looking for a part-time job when I was in high school. I had applied all over the place (grocery stores, department stores, restaurants) and most of those places wanted people with experience in whatever job I had applied for. I never really understood that. How is one supposed to get experience in a certain job if no place of business hires someone with no experience? I just can't get a good grasp of that. Eventually I did get a job as a busperson at Perkins, which was not ideal, but it helped me pay for my trip to France my senior year, so I can't complain too much.

Anyway, now I'm back to searching for jobs, not really knowing what kind of job I want to do. I have found a few teaching jobs in the midwest (Madison, WI and Springfield, IL) that I'm applying for. I think those would be the most ideal, because I actually like teaching, and they're much closer to home. I'm hoping those will pan out well for me, but I'm trying not to get my hopes up too much.

I've also been thinking of just moving home for a while and getting a crap job in retail or something while I figure out what I want to do with my life. It would be nice to have a roof over my head that I wouldn't have to directly pay for. Sure, I'd help out with groceries and such, but it would be nice to live somewhere rent free for a while.

I'm also playing around with the idea of not doing anything related to meteorology or oceanography. The main idea floating through my head at the moment is being a writer. Not in the novel sense, but more like writing reviews of TV shows and the like. I mean, I watch entirely too much TV, and I have lots of thoughts about the various shows I watch (especially Lost), so I think I'd be pretty good at it. Granted, I don't have a journalism degree, but who says you need one of those to be a writer? Again, it's just an idea right now. In fact, I'm seriously considering launching a second blog and try my hand at writing about the TV shows I watch. If I do that, I'll post another entry on here linking to that blog.

Anyway, my main point in this entry is that I have no idea what I want to do with my life. I feel like I'm in this quarter-life crisis I've heard about. At this point, I just want a full-time job that pays relatively well so I can not have to live paycheck to paycheck.

In other news, I finally converted my driver license to Pennsylvania. I was actually surprised at how efficient the DMV is here. It took me less than an hour to go through the line, fill out the paperwork and get the license printed. It probably helped that I went relatively early in the day, but still, I was impressed.

And to end this post, I got a Halloween card from my mom earlier this week that I keep chuckling about. On the front there are three ghosts, and they're all yelling "OOB!" Underneath, the text says, "Dyslexic ghosts," and inside it says, "Halloween Happy." I got a kick out of it, because it's from my mom, and sometimes she talks somewhat dyslexicly (if that's a word). In writing this, I realize it's probably not funny to anyone else, but I don't care. It's funny to me, and that's all that matters.

A Card Hallmark Doesn't Make

Tomorrow is my grandparents' anniversary, and I've spent the better part of this month trying to find a card for them. Granted, it's difficult anyway because my grandma isn't the world's easiest person to shop for, even when just looking for a card. Anyway, I've spent several hours of time in various Hallmarks trying to find anniversary cards specifically for grandparents. You wouldn't think that would be difficult, would you? Well, apparently it's become passe to actually send grandparents an anniversary card. In most Hallmarks I was lucky if I could find one card for grandparents, and usually that was in the section labeled "Cards for Unique Needs." So, it's unique to want to send your grandparents an anniversary card?! What, do they just assume that grandparents don't stay together? I know the divorce rate is 50%, but this is slightly ridiculous.

I ended up just getting a non-special (or non-unique) anniversary card for them, because I didn't have much choice in the matter. I just find it odd that something that special, like my grandparents' anniversary, doesn't have a variety of cards devoted to it while other so-called holidays (Sweetest Day, Bosses Day, etc.) have entire racks of cards for them. Am I the only one bothered by this? Probably, but I needed to vent a bit...

In other news, no word yet on the Rutgers job. I'm not sure how to feel about that. They said I should know by last week. I'm guessing that I may still be in the running only because they didn't say that I didn't have the job right away. But, I'm also guessing that I'm not their first choice, and they're waiting for whoever was their first choice to make a decision. So, we'll see. Hopefully I'll find out soon. In either case, though, I may as well start putting in my application elsewhere. Of course, once I start doing that, I'll end up hearing from them, because that's just the way it works for me.

I definitely need to get a job soon. I just got my first bill to start repaying my student loans, and that's an extra bill I wasn't planning on getting quite yet. So, we'll see what happens. It's definitely a good thing I have some money put away in savings, though. I'd be totally screwed without that cushion.

Other than that, not much else is new. Tonight is big TV night. Ugly Betty and two repeats of Grey's Anatomy, which I'll watch anyway because that show is freakin' awesome. I could watch it over and over again and not get tired of it. OK, that may be a slight exaggeration, but not by much. So, I'm off to go hunker down in front of the TV.

Randomness from NJ and the rest of last week

I'm just really crappy at updating this thing lately, mainly because I don't have a very interesting life at the moment. However, since it has been a month since my last post, I feel that I should make some sort of entry, and this one is going to be just random thoughts, mainly from my trip to New Jersey.

- For those that don't know, I had an interview for a programming job at Rutgers last week. It was my first interview in a long time, and I think it went fairly well. I mean, it's probably not the best interview I had, but I don't feel completely ashamed by it. I'm really hoping to get the job, though. I'll find out sometime this week, hopefully.

- The drive to New Brunswick was fun. (Note the sarcasm.) I've been on Highway 22 pretty much throughout the state of PA, and I can say with certainty that for the most part, it sucks. The only good parts of 22 are when it's merged with an interstate. Then it isn't so bad. Construction was just horrible last Monday, though. I was at a standstill numerous times. Once right outside of State College when the road was down to just one lane for traffic in both directions, another time at a merge point in eastern PA. It's just really annoying dealing with construction. I didn't think there would be any work done last Monday because it was a holiday. But, hey, what do I know?

- Also on my way there, I was behind a vehicle that was smoking. Smoke was coming from somewhere near the front of the camper. It was trying to be nice to let me pass it by moving as far right as it could, but every time I would try to pass it (where it was legal.... PA doesn't seem to have very many large stretches of straight road), it would start to move back into the lane. I was so happy when I got to a part of the road that had two lanes for each direction of traffic.

- As is customary when I drive to a new place, I got lost in New Brunswick. I started off going in the correct direction once I got off the highway, but because the directions I got weren't clear about how long it would take to get to my next turn-off, I turned around. Then I had to turn around again, and finally I found the highway I was supposed to get on. Then when I got off that highway, I came to one of the smallest roundabouts I've ever seen, and I missed the point I was supposed to veer off of it toward the hotel, so I ended up taking a slight detour. Eventually, I made it to the hotel, and I was thrilled to be able to get out of the car.

- I hate that you can't pump your own gas in New Jersey.

- The night before my interview, I walked on campus a bit to get food. (I certainly didn't want to get back into my car again.) I must say that the campus center food I got there wasn't half bad. And I got a lot of food for a relatively cheap price. Especially French fries. I got so many I couldn't eat them all.

- The selection of TV channels in the hotel I stayed aren't wasn't great, but I did get to see Fashion House on what used to be UPN. It's basically an American telenovela, the equivalent of a nighttime soap. It was so wonderfully campy, I enjoyed it tremendously. There were catfights and high drama. And I must say that Morgan Fairchild plays an excellent bitch. Of course I knew that from her days on The City, but she's great on this show, too.

- I will admit that I thought I looked very nice for my interview. I got quite a bit of help deciding on what to wear from some friends in the meteo department. The only bad part about the outfit I wore was that it was mostly black, and it just happened to be in the mid-70s that day. However, I did look very nice, I think. That's saying something, too, because I rarely think I look good. Most of the time I have very low self-esteem, but dressing up seems to give me some confidence.

- Rutgers has a very beautiful campus. I think it's one of the prettiest campuses I've ever been on. Plus, the building I interviewed in was nice-looking. I don't think I've ever worked in a nice-looking building on a campus before. Usually I'm in the hideous eyesores.

- I was surprised to see one of the guys that was at the last team meeting I went to in an office right across the hall from the guy I interviewed with. It was a pleasant surprise. He's a very nice guy, and not bad to look at either. I even stopped back after walking around campus a bit to chat and say hi. Just another reason I wouldn't mind having a job there. (Yes, I have a shallow side, too....)

- Once I got back from Jersey, I had my work cut out for me because there was another team meeting this week. I didn't get to go, because Ray said it wouldn't be a good use of my time, which at the time, I agreed with. I'm only working part time anyway. However, this week I've been VERY unproductive. I think I may have burned myself out a little bit last week. I think both yesterday and today combined, I've worked about a half-hour. I'm slightly ashamed by that, but yet not really. I'm back to feeling like I'm just frittering my time away until I get a real job. Maybe I'll get back to having some motivation this week, but I'm not counting on it.

I guess that's about it for now. Hopefully my next entry won't be too far in the future. I'm also hoping I'll have good news to report. I'm trying not to get my hopes up too high for this job, but I can't help but feel a little excited by it. Only time will tell, I guess....

Morbid Curiosity

I've been thinking a bit about death lately. This time it's not because I've been depressed, though. About a week and a half ago I called Mom and she told me that her cousin's daughter had been killed in a car accident. Apparently she was driving to work from Manitowoc to Green Bay and for some reason her car crossed the median on I-43 and collided with a semi. Her car and the semi burst into flames, but the semi driver got out fine. She was not so lucky.

Since then, I've had this rather morbid desire to find out any and all information I can about what exactly happened. An autopsy was done and that showed no medical reason for the accident to have happened. I'm still a little surprised that they could actually do an autopsy on a burnt body, but I know next to nothing about forensics. The thing is that there doesn't seem to be any reason for it to have happened. The weather was fine and she was going to work, so alcohol shouldn't be a factor. It's just all very confusing.

I think part of why this is hitting me so hard is that she was only 20 years old. Plus, she's distantly related to me, and she went to school with my sister, who is also only 20. It's just so tragic that this happened. It causes me to worry just a little bit more about my sister, and basically everyone that I care about that drives on a regular basis.

I really wish there were some answers as to why this happened. And, of course, now that more than a week has passed, all the news stations back home aren't even covering the story anymore, so I don't think that there will be any answers coming anytime soon.

There has been some speculation, from what I've heard from Mom. Some people think it was a suicide, which I can't believe. I don't really know her all that well, but Mom says that she seemed very full of life and had no reason to want to kill herself. Mom even told me that there supposedly is a website that is basically saying horrible things, speculating on reasons that this could have been a suicide. I've always made it clear that I will never understand people, but this just makes me sick. Why would people do that? Why badmouth the dead when there are so many live people out there that can actually defend themselves against stuff like this? I just don't get it.

Another thing that I've been thinking about is how horrible it would be to die that way. I kind of hope that she died before the fire broke out, only because I wouldn't want her to suffer. Mom told me about an accident that happened a year or two ago back home where people were joyriding and weaving in and out of construction barrels. I don't know exactly how the accident happened, but she said that something happened to the car (which isn't a huge surprise seeing as the people were drunk) and it burst into flames. Apparently the people couldn't get out of the car, and Mom told me that people said they could hear the screaming from the people in the car a good distance away. It's simply unimaginable how horrible that must have been. That's why I hope, in this case, she was dead before the fire started.

Anyway, that's just been on my mind a lot recently, and I figured that writing about it might help. I still wish there were some way to find answers about this, but I'm guessing there isn't. It's just very sad, and it's probably not something that I'm going to forget about anytime soon.

Good Day

I've actually been in a good mood for most of the day today, which is a really nice change from the way I've been feeling for the past couple months or so. It's been a rather spontaneous change, and actually kind of surprising since I haven't been sleeping all that well this week. So, since my mind has been in a good place recently, I have lots of random thoughts, and will put them in list form for this post.

- It's that time of year when the undergrads are coming back to town and clogging up traffic anywhere near the university. Most of the time I'd find it incredibly annoying, but this year it's not so bad. I think it's because I'm finally not a student, so I don't have to take classes, and thus I can kind of gloat about it to those people who do have to take classes. Plus, having all the undergrads back presents a lot more eye candy in town. Even though today wasn't a particularly good day for it, being cloudy and all, it was still fun to look around.

- Now this may just be me, and I'm not all that fashion conscious, but what is the point of wearing pants if you're going to let them hang halfway down your ass? I just don't get it, especially if one is wearing a belt too. A belt is supposed to hold your pants up. Am I the only one that is bugged by this? I also don't get buying jeans that have holes fashionably put in them. I wouldn't spend large amounts of money on pants like that when I could buy a crappy pair of jeans and tear holes in them myself. But that's just me....

- I've discovered that I really like taking the bus to campus. First it saves me gas money, which is always a good thing. Plus, it's nice to be able to go to and from campus at a somewhat regular schedule. Sure, it takes about a half hour to take the bus from Toftrees to campus, but it's nice not having to drive myself. Plus, I get a little time to read during the day (finished HP6 again yesterday) which is kind of relaxing, although sometimes I get a little nauseous feeling because the bus drivers don't know that they should slow down a bit for sharp turns. But overall, it's a good thing. What was especially nice was that the bus this morning was one of the fancier buses with nice fabric and very cushy seats. I wouldn't mind having that one come by everyday. The only bad thing about taking the bus is that a bus stop isn't exactly convenient from where I live. But it does give me a little exercise during the day, so I can't complain too much.

- I'm seriously considering buying a Bowflex, only because I want to get into better shape. Yes, I could go to one of the various gyms on campus, but they now cost money to get into. Sure, that would probably still be cheaper than getting an actual piece of equipment, but it's much less convenient. Plus, most of the gyms I'd have to wait in line for quite some time before I could even get in, and I just don't have the patience for that. I'm still uncertain if getting equipment is the right thing to do. If anyone has any strong feelings about this, specifically about the Bowflex products, and wants to enlighten me, I'm more than willing to hear comments.

- I've been very tense lately, and I think it's mainly because I'm accepting that I'm no longer a student and have to start looking for a job. The idea of job hunting does not really appeal to me at all. I'd much rather just have a job fall in my lap, but I'm not lucky like some people (coughKarencough). I can really tell that I'm tense though, because I feel like I'm squeezing in on myself. I've even been clenching my jaw a bit more than normal. But, hopefully once I really start the process of looking for a job, it'll get better. If not, I may just have to go get a massage again.

Well, I guess that's about it for now. At least that's all I can think of at the moment, but my mind's been all over the place lately, so there's probably more there, but it's not coming to me right now. It probably doesn't help that my sleep pattern has been quite irregular lately, so my brain is in a fog, but I think this is a long enough entry. So, with that I'll end and pick up again at some other time....

Escapes

I've been meaning to do a semi-philosophical post for some time now, but never had the energy or time. Well, that's not entirely true. I had time last night, but the site was down so I couldn't do a damn thing. But, today I have time, mainly because I'm waiting for data to process yet again.

So, lately I've been having a rough time coming to work and actually doing work. Who can blame me, though? I've been feeling sucker-punched by the whole candidacy thing basically since I've found out that I didn't pass. It's really hard to want to do productive work when you're feeling like you're useless to the department, which is how I've been feeling lately. I realize that the department doesn't really feel that way, otherwise they wouldn't be keeping me on for an extra six months to help pad my way to finding a job. But, still, it's hard to feel like I'm a worthwhile member of the department.

Last week was a particularly rough week. I truly wanted to be anywhere but State College for most of last week. I just felt like giving up on the whole Penn State thing. I'm completely serious about wanting to be anywhere else, too. It wouldn't have mattered if it were in a different city in PA, a different state, a different country, hell, even the moon. And I guess it isn't too surprising that I'd be in that state of mind finally. It took a while for me to get over the shock and then the denial of everything. Last week I just couldn't take it anymore.

Because of all this, I've been doing a lot of escaping lately. Mainly figuratively, of course. I watch my soaps everyday, which I did before, but lately it's been especially nice to escape into other people's lives and see them have bigger problems than I have.

Besides that I've been doing other things just to keep my mind occupied. The last few weekends when I haven't been visiting with friends I've been playing my Super Nintendo. (I'm really, really old school when it comes to video games.) That's a nice escape, too, because it brings me back to when I was younger and didn't have so much on my plate. I've discovered that it doesn't seem to take as long to beat some of the games as I used to think it did. I beat Super Mario 3 in four hours and Super Mario World in six hours (approximately). Of course, I did both of these without much interruption, which doesn't usually happen. I'll be doing a bit more of this next week while I'm home. I'm bringing it home and my sister and I are going to play a bit, just to have some down time.

I also escape by going to the bookstore or the mall. I like to be around a large mass of people, but not necessarily know anyone where I am. It kind of makes me feel invisible, or at least like I don't have to hide what I'm feeling quite as much. I guess it's easier to be myself when I'm surrounded by strangers. With people I know, I typically feel like I have to pretend to be something that I'm not. What that is I'm not entirely sure, and it varies depending on the people. That's why I've been more antisocial than normal the past week or so.

This weekend, though, I became more social. I went to visit Ingrid in Uniontown, just to get away from State College for a while. It was nice, because I didn't have to make decisions about what to do for the most part, and I could let me guard down a bit. Plus, we went and did stuff, which helped to keep my mind occupied. I think that helped me make a relatively quick upswing in my mood.

Of course, knowing that I'm going on vacation in a couple days is also helping. I'm especially looking forward to this trip home. I usually like getting away, but I think I really deserve it this time. Plus, I've been pretty productive considering everything that's happened lately, so I don't feel too bad about taking a week off.

I guess this wasn't as philosophical as I thought it was going to be, or at least as what I had mapped in my head. Either way, though, I think this is a very good way to celebrate my 100th post. I can't believe that I have that many posts. Time flies when you're incredibly busy I guess.

Anyway, I guess that's all. Now I have to find something else to occupy my mind while I wait for data to process. Happy 100th post to me, and here's to 100 more!

Bush on Israel/Lebanon conflict

I've been meaning to write a post for some time now, but I just haven't felt motivated to write one about anything going on in my personal life. However, since it's the end of July and and I want to have more than one post for this month, I'm writing about the latest fighting in the Middle East, mainly about what Bush has to say about it.

Here's a quote from him from CNN.com: "We want there to be a long-lasting peace, one that is sustainable." Really? My gut reaction is, of course we do. I mean, come on. Who's going to say that we want the peace to only last a short time?! But, of course, this is Bush, so we have to expect him to say what's completely obvious to the rest of us.

However, the one major thing that is bugging me about this is that Bush wants to work with people to create a plan for peace between these two countries. That's nice and all, but we're supposed to think that he can actually come up with a plan to create this peace? Has he even thought about Iraq recently? He's famous for going in, blowing things up, and then wondering why the hell that isn't working! It's sad that I have so little faith in the leader of this country. Wait.... That's implying that I do have faith in the leader of this country. We all know that's not true.

I also think that his desire for peace is just his outward persona. Deep down, we all know that he wants to take down Hezbollah himself. He wants to bring down all forms of tyranny in the world and spread democracy. That sounds great in the grand scheme of things. But the fact that Bush couldn't plan his way out of a paper bag is what gets him in trouble.

I guess I should tone it down before I go too far. Who knows who's reading this? I may be charged with something.....

Usually I'm not this cynical. Well, not this outwardly cynical anyway. I know partially it's because my mind is set at "pissed off at the world." (More on that in a future entry, possibly....) Basically, take what I've written with a grain of salt. I guess I just needed to vent about the completely contradictory messages from Bush.

Three Strikes

It's been a while since I've posted anything on my blog, so, since I have a little time today, I'm going to post about the mian news that's going on in my life at the moment. Some of you that know about my life pretty well may be able to guess what this entry is about just by the title. Anyway, before I start going off on tangents, I'll get to the meat of this post.

I'm officially no longer a PhD student here. That's right, I wasn't able to pass the physics section of the candidacy exam, so now I have to figure out what to do with my life. I'm having a very hard time getting a grip on the fact that I'm not continuing on. This was never even a possibility when considering a game plan. I had thought that just by sticking it out and taking the stupid exam three times in a row would be enough to qualify me as a PhD student. The fact that I hadn't gone completely insane during this academic hazing is practically a miracle.

The thing that is really bugging me about the whole thing is that I thought I had the exam in the bag when I walked out of it in May. I had seen one of the questions on the undergrad thermo homework so I was feeling relatively confident that I did really well on that question. The other two questions I was less confident about, but I thought I made a good enough effort that I could at least get a conditional pass out of the faculty. Apparently, I was completely mistaken, though. It's actually quite silly of me to think that I would be able to stick around, especially since after my masters' defense, I was told that my committee didn't think I should pursue a PhD. But being part German, part Bohemian, and all scorpio makes me a very stubborn, persistent person. So, I thought, to hell with them, I'm going to do this and shove it in their faces. So much for that idea.

Here I was starting to feel like I was making my own place in the department, and starting to make real progress on my research, and then I get the rug pulled out from under me with this news. Luckily, I was planning on leaving for home immediately after I heard the news, so I had a chance to process it a little on my drive home. (The drive is incredibly boring up until Chicago, so I had lots of time where my brain was hardly working.) Then, while I was at home, I was very very good at denying that the news even happened. Well, not so much denying as it was not really facing the truth. Coming back here was difficult, and it was even harder to go into work the Monday before last. I was really thinking of various ways to kill time so I wouldn't have to be there for all that long. But, I stuck it out and chatted with Ray, and thankfully he was giving me the space I needed to really sort things out.

Another lucky thing for me is that Ray's able to keep me supported through the fall semester, so it's not like I'm being shoved out the department's door right away. I really do want to finish whatever I can with the research I'm doing, but yet a significant part of me just wants to tell the department to fuck off. I know I can't do this, or at least I shouldn't if I want to get any decent letters of recommendation from them. But it's incredibly tempting to just leave them in a lurch.

It's also pissing me off that I was making a place in the department for me and I was seriously motivated to do the research I signed on for as well as moving forward into my own project. I really did want to see if I could see what causes periods of oxygen depletion on the east coast continental shelf. I figured it would be a really interesting thing to work on, and it may even be helpful in making environmental policy. But now I can't work on it, or at least I wouldn't be funded to work on it. I was doing some really good things because I felt like I'd be around for quite some time to work on the project.

And yes, I realize that I wasn't exactly doing exceptional research, and that was something that Ray couldn't really use in my benefit, and he told me so when he came down with the news. The problem I have with that is that it's very hard for me to be really motivated to do work when I'm not even sure that I'm going to be in the department for that long. It was all based on if I would pass the candidacy exam. The only reason I was starting to be really motivated is that I figured that the department wouldn't just cut me loose after investing in me for four years. I had just assumed that I'd be sticking around, and that was enough for me to actually start trying to accomplish something.

Now that I know I'm no longer going to be doing research beyond December, my motivation has taken a rather sharp nosedive. Most days it's hard enough for me to even get to Walker much less do anything productive. I'm hoping that once I get over this melancholy (for lack of a better word) I can be productive enough to have something worth publishing.

The one thing that I may have going for me is that I have made enough contacts through various places that I'm hoping I'll be able to find a job relatively soon. I'm planning on contacting my old profs from undergrad to see if they can keep their ears open for any teaching opportunities in the midwest area, just so I can be closer to home, which will make it less of a hassle to plan when I can come home. There are also people that work at NASA and NOAA in the group dealing with the carbon cycle that I'm a part of. So, just in those two areas, I have a decent number of sources I can go to to look for jobs.

There is one thing, though, that is bringing me immediate satisfaction, and that's the fact that I'm no longer a student. To be honest, I was really getting burnt out with the whole school thing. I mean, I've been in school in some fashion since I was five. So, to not have to think about taking tests, doing homework, and just the normal stresses of being a student is kind of nice. At least in the long run it will be. Right now, I'm having a hard time looking at the bright side of things, which should surprise no one that knows me relatively well.

But, anyway, that's my life in a nutshell. I'm just trying to make it through each day and picking up the pieces of my overturned life. And now, I'm going to start getting ready to go see the fireworks. Or at least, I'll attempt to. I've had a headache almost all day, and it feels like it's going away, but we'll see what happens in the next half-hour or so. I'm just hoping it doesn't rain, and that I can find a decent spot to watch them from. It would be nice to have people to go with, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen, so just going will have to do for me.

Happy Independence Day, everyone!

Presentations

So, tomorrow I get to present something at the group meeting again. The last time I did, the prof (I mentioned him in my rants during that time) absolutely hated my presentation just because it wasn't really focused enough and pretty short. And the only reason for that is that I had to teach about a half hour after the group meeting starts. When the person actually starts to speak it's ten minutes later, so really I had 15-20 minutes to present a ton of stuff I learned at the OS meeting a few weeks before.

This time, my presentation is much more organized, much longer, and more focused. It damn well better be since I've spent a large chunk of time on it. Yesterday was 4-5 hours and today was 8 hours at the office (minus about 30-45 minutes to eat lunch), a break from 5:30-7:30 (coming home and eating), then 3.5 hours after that. I finished around 11pm. I think that's more than enough time to create a good presentation. So, if this certain prof still doesn't like it, f*%& him.

In other news, I've finally found a purpose for Google Earth beyond just playing with it. I put an image from that in my presentation to show the region I'm calculating mixed layer depth for. It was fun getting it to do what I wanted, although when it zoomed in on exact coordinates, it went pretty fast, making me feel like I was skydiving. That wasn't exactly a pleasant feeling. Anyway, I'm happy that I found a practical use for it.

I guess that's all for now. I'm exhausted and heading to bed pretty soon. I need to get enough rest so I'm not feeling like a zombie while I'm giving my presentation.

Hodgepodge

I have many random thoughts in my head right now, and I figure, why not put them in my blog.
First, yesterday when I was walking to therapy, I went past the Days Inn on Pugh Street and an Allegheny Power vehicle was there. That doesn't sound like much. However, the vehicle happened to be an SUV of some sort. It just seemed a little strange to me that the power company would be driving a rather nice SUV. Of couse, they do make loads of money, so they can afford a vehicle that gets less than 20 miles per gallon. I guess it just kind of irked me a little.

Another thing that's annoying me is the president's reinforced campaign to ban gay marriage in the country. First of all, is that really the most pressing issue to come to a conclusion on? I was reading Lou Dobbs commentary on CNN.com this morning, and he brings up many other more important things that should be tackled first. Some examples: the war in Iraq (more on that in a bit), immigration, poverty, and that's all I can think of at the moment. I just don't understand why it's such a big deal to let gays get married. I know I'm a bit biased in this argument, so take it with a grain of salt. The main argument for amending the Constitution is that marriage is a sacred institution and thus should only be allowed for couples that have a different gender. If marriage is so sacred, why do 50% of marriages end in divorce? Hell, most celebrities have five-minute marriages (can we say J-Lo?). I just don't see the point of saying that some couples that are devoted to each other shouldn't be allowed to get married. If you all want to see a great clip from the Daily Show where Jon Stewart skewers the Republican argument against gay marriage, google the key words "daily show" and "gay marriage." I found that debate frustrating, yet enjoyable.

Back to the war in Iraq: Apparently one of the main terrorist plotters was bombed today. I can't say that I'm sad that he died. However, even with this event, there seems to be no resolution as to how this war will end, if it ever does. (I'm still not entirely convinced that it will ever be done.) And I know that Republicans will tout this event happening even more than usual because it's a mid-term election year. Yes, it's one good thing that happened in the war. That doesn't make up for having no exit strategy at all. I just have this feeling that Republicans are going to stay in power just by riding the coattails of this killing. I sound very cynical, but I wouldn't be surprised if that happened. And I wouldn't be surprised if Bush's approval rating climbed a bit in the next few days. But, what can I do? I did my part in voting in the last presidential election (not that it did any good), so I have the right to complain about the direction this country is headed in.

A few other tidbits:

- For those of you in grad school, or those that have been in grad school at some moment, take a look at the comic in Karen's LJ (link in sidebar). It's hilarious because it's true.

- One week from tomorrow I find out whether the faculty like me enough to keep me in the program. That's basically what the candidacy exam measures. It's just a hurdle that they're forcing the grad students to jump over. Frankly, I'm sick of it. Plus, it's not like I'm going to use much of the information that I had to spit out during the exam. I think that's the most frustrating part. However, I am confident that they'll let me stick around, if for no other reason than that I'm very persistent.

- I've figured that stud is the poker game of choice for me. The last seven card stud night I won, and the one this week I was second. That's usually better than I do in Hold 'Em.

- I've also found myself thinking more like a researcher lately. I've been motivated to do work, more so than I have been in several years. That I attribute to feeling like I'm going to stick around. For the past year and a half, I've been in a limbo state, unsure of if I'd be staying in the department. I've also been thinking more about getting papers published, which seems to be the surest sign that I'm becoming a scientist. Right now, I have several things on my plate. One paper is on sea level rise projections, which I'm likely to be third author on. The second paper is dealing with my masters work, which Ray has been encouraging me to do. The third paper is still in its infancy, though. I'm calculating mixed layer depth along the east coast, and I think given the right angle, I could get a paper out of that as well.

- The last thing I'll mention is that I'm going home next weekend! It's been about three months since I've been home, and longer than that since I've taken a break from work, so I'm thrilled to be getting away.

Alrighty, I think I've exhausted all the random thoughts in my head. Hopefully this will allow me to sleep better tonight than I have in quite some time.

Controversy

I just got done watching Larry King Live tonight. His guests were the Dixie Chicks. I had to watch because I love their music. Now, I'm not much of a country music person, but their stuff I like.

Anyway, the focus of the interview was on the "incident" in 2003 when Natalie said that they were ashamed that Bush is from Texas. I still don't really understand why so many people got their knickers in a twist about that comment. Heck, I liked them even more after that was said. Of course, I'm typically anti-Bush about most everything, so I may be just a little bit biased.

This comment got way too blown out of proportion in my opinion. What happened to freedom of speech? I know that there are a lot of die-hard Republicans out there. The last presidential election confirmed that for me. But to take one tiny comment and blow it into saying the Dixie Chicks are unpatriotic and are on Saddam's side is ridiculous. Natalie even had a death threat made against her. I mean, I know there are closed-minded people out there (again, see the 2004 election), but to think out any sort of attack on someone, well, is exactly what is going on in Iraq, on both sides. The insurgents continue to plan attacks against Americans, and America is continuing to plan out attacks against the insurgents.

So, I guess I shouldn't be all that surprised by the outcry of this one little comment. That sounds a lot more cynical than I had intended this post to be. I guess I've lived enough in my 26 years on the planet to basically have no faith in the human population in general, especially considering all the psychotic things happening all over the place. I don't just mean the war in Iraq, but everywhere in general. It always seems like there's some crazy person that does completely horrid things to other people. I have one such story, but that will be saved for a different post.

Getting back to my main point, the whole backlash against the Dixie Chicks in incredibly uncalled for. I don't mind that people disagree with what they said. I think disagreement is essential in democracy (even in the state it's in in America at the moment). I just think that sending death threats and having what basically amounts to a party crushing the CDs they've made. I remember seeing that on the news when it first happened and being appalled, because they were bringing bulldozers to crush the CDs. That's just pathetic. I would have more respect for people if they said they didn't agree with what the Dixie Chicks said and that's why they wouldn't buy their music. That's completely fine. But the fact that they crushed CDs just out of spite is totally useless in the long run. I simply cannot understand the motive for these types of things. Well, besides the fact that most people are followers, so if they see one idiot doing something and they have any agreement whatsoever with that idiot, they'll join in. Again, I sound incredibly jaded, which is just sad because I'm only 26. I'm supposed to still be able to see the good in people and be optimistic about the general public. But when people are teaching their kids to hate (as was referenced on Larry King tonight) it's just mind-numbingly sad.

When I started this post I thought it was going to be venting anger at the general public. I really didn't mean for this to turn philosophical and cynical, but that's where I ended up.

Three Posts in One

Now that I've somewhat recovered from studying non-stop for at least three weeks, I have several things to write about.

1. Candidacy Exam Take 3

Yesterday was, what will definitely be, the last time I'll ever have to take the candidacy exam. I'm just so relieved that it's over. I was starting to crack under the pressure of it all. However, I actually think I did pretty well on it. Usually that would be a bad sign for me, because (especially in grad school) when I usually feel great coming out of test, I get it back to find out that I did horribly. Not this time, though. What really helped me out was going over the thermo class notes, and especially working through all the problem sets. The best thing was that one question on the candidacy exam was assigned on a problem set to undergrads this semester. And since I had worked through them, I knew that I could really nail that problem. That's the reason I'm content. It always helps when you see a question that you know you can do. So, the least I expect is to conditionally pass. At least, that's what had better happen. I've put in too much time here to be shoved out the door. And I know I'll have Ray in my corner, too, provided that he's actually around when the faculty meet to discuss the results.

All in all, I finally have some confidence that I will be able to continue on to get my PhD. And it's really nice to relax, finally, after being completely stressed out for the better part of the last month. I actually forgot what it feels like to not have stress, which is incredibly sad now that I think about it.

2. Immigration

Last night I was too exhausted to basically do anything, so I plopped on the couch and just laid there most of the night, flipping through channels until Grey's Anatomy came on. I ended up watching part of Bush's speech on immigration. The thing that really surprised me is that I agree that something should be done. It is very liberal of Bush to want to do something like this, since the Republican Party basically is for big business. I have a real problem with companies that bring in illegal aliens just to get some cheap labor. The same thing goes for factories that move operations to another country. All the upper echelon people in any company are looking for ways that they can line their pockets. I know that's jaded and cynical, but it's true for the most part.

Even though I agree with Bush that something should be done, I don't know if I agree with the way he's planning on going about it. First of all, he has a plan. Considering that he went to war with Iraq with basically no strategy nor plan to win the war, it surprises me that he carefully worked out a plan on this. I think it's a good thing, but he should have been doing something like this since before we went to war.

There are some steps in his plan that seem, at this point, like they'll be next to impossible to actually execute. He brought up having tamper-proof cards for immigrants that use fingerprints or retina scans or something of that nature. Now, I'm not sure if this is already being done in places, but it sounds like a lot of labor would need to be done just to implement this idea.

I also have a problem with this guest worker plan. I know he said it was not amnesty, but it really sounds like it to me.

One other thing that kind of pissed me off is that he wanted to uphold the ideals of America being a melting pot and that all people should be equal and blah blah blah. I may be paraphrasing a bit (or possibly putting words in his mouth). But that sentiment goes completely against one of his platforms. Basically he says that anyone can come into the country and have all the rights that Americans have, which I'm not saying is a bad thing. But, it does contradict his "moral issues" about gay marriage. So basically he's saying that anyone can become an American, but if one is gay they won't get the same rights that all other people do. Maybe I'm reading too much into this, and maybe I'm not. I just feel that Bush is creating a double standard here.

I do think that this whole issue needs to be resolved, and I know that this is basically a way to remind people that he's a good man so the red states will continue to support him and keep Congress in Republican hands.

3. Loan Consolidation Companies

This is just a rant about getting so many phone calls from companies wanting to save me money on my loans. That's all well and good, but it's gotten to the point where I screen my calls, for the most part. But, I usually figure that telemarketers (which is basically what they are) will not call after a certain time of night. For example, at about 8:50 my phone rings. Usually that would be Mom calling me, so I picked up. I knew I should have hung up when I heard the delay before someone started talking to me. However, I stayed on for too long and ended up having this guy trying to convince me to re-consolidate my loans. So, I basically cut him off by saying that I have already consolidated my loans. Of course, that doesn't stop him. He keeps going on as I'm saying, repetitively, that I'm not interested. I then told him that I'll be doing it through the company with whom I've already consolidated my loans and I wasn't interested. So as I'm continuously trying to shut him up, he goes on to say something to the effect of, "So you're just going to stick with what you know and not see what else is out there." So I said yes I am. Seriously, does he really think he's going to win any customers with that kind of attitude?

I just don't get it. How many damn student loan consolidation companies are there in the country. Considering I usually get a phone call from one every other day and they all seem to say that they're a different company. I'm tempted to start writing down names when I pick up just as a little experiment. This reason is why I'm very tempted to get caller ID on my land line. It's not like I get that many calls from non-telemarketers to begin with, but it would be a lot better than screening my calls.

The other thing I'm tempted to do is when I do happen to answer my phone when it's a telemarketer is after they ask if they can speak with me (and typically butcher my last name) I'll tell them that he just dropped dead. Or something to that effect. Maybe that would get them to stop calling me.

Anyway, those are the three things I've been wanting to post about, and now I'm done ranting, at least for now.

Quote of the Day

I'm borrowing this type of entry from Karen. I actully went in to campus this morning, which is where this took place. Adam came in to talk to Tim, and then as he was leaving, this is the conversation that took place:

Adam: How's the studying going?
Me: (sullenly) OK.
Adam: That was a very Eeyore type response.

I had to laugh at that one because my favorite Pooh character is Eeyore. So, it was a very good description of me.

There is just one other thing I want to write about. I went to Target the other day and bought a pair of the Dr. Scholl gel insoles because the insoles that originally came with the shoe were getting quite worn. (There was even a hole that formed in one of them.) So, I put them in before I went on a hike on the trail behind my apartment, thinking that they would be great. It didn't work out quite that nicely. By the time I got back, I had a blister on the bottom of my right foot. So, I was not happy, and I couldn't understand how that could happen. It took me quite some time to actually size them for my shoe, and I figured I'd just need those without the original insoles. The originals, as I said, were very, very worn. Maybe I should have put them on top of the originals. Of course, it's too late for that now, since I threw the originals away.

My point is that the insoles didn't comfort my foot so I wasn't "gellin'." Perhaps I should have gotten the sport pair. I just don't know. The only thing I do know is that I wasted some money and I have to go buy a new pair of tennis shoes. Damn Dr. Scholl.

Alright, I suppose I should work up some ambition to actually study tonight. I'm feeling very sleepy right now, so maybe a nap is in order before that. We'll see.....

Deal or No Deal

Last night, I put in one of my multitude of tapes I've recorded my soaps on, and I was flipping through channels to see what was on TV before I pushed play. I hadn't gotten very far before I came upon Deal or No Deal, the new game show with Howie Mandel hosting it. This isn't the first time I've watched it, but I'll get more into that later.

When I first heard about this game show where people pick cases and potential win a lot of money, I thought it was a stupid idea, because it took no skill whatsoever. When I watch a game show, I like some sort of thought that goes into winning money. Even Wheel of Fortune contestants need to know, well, the alphabet for starters, as well as filling in the blanks with words that make sense.

However, when I first saw Deal or No Deal a couple of weeks ago, I kept watching it for really no apparent reason. And this last time, I watched an entire episode. There's something strangely addicting about this particular game show. I haven't quite put my finger on it, though. I think part of it is just watching the adrenalin rush of the contestants. You wouldn't think that a show like this would be all that difficult, but it certainly seems like it is. Another part of the addicting nature of the show is that some people lose out on making a lot of money because they still have a chance to make even more, like the contestant last night. At one point she could have walked away with $299,000. But she got greedy and by the end, she only took home $25,000. I realize that $25,000 sounds like a lot, especially to a grad student on a stipend, but the fact that she could have walked away with ten times that amount and she turned it down is mind-boggling.

I think the show has an element of the "horrible car wreck" scenario to it. You know how you see a bad accident, cars totaled, windows broken, and maybe some blood, and as you're passing it, you don't want to look at it, but you still end up slowing down just to take a quick peek. This game show is kind of like that. Watching the woman on it last night was very similar. OK, not similar life-or-death-wise, but similar in that it's the same kind of feeling. You don't want to see her lose a lot of money, but you keep watching to see if she actually does.

Anyway, my point is that a game show with what sounds like a silly concept which needs no skill (beyond knowing numbers) seems like it shouldn't be all that exciting to watch. At least in theory, that is. I actually find it very fascinating, although I'd never want to be on the show myself. I don't think I could handle that type of pressure. (Sadly, it seems just as (or more) nerve-wracking as my masters defense.)

Has anyone out there watched it at all? If you have, do you find it as addicting as I do? I'm just putting out questions here to see if one of the few people that read my blog has any comments on this particular subject. Feel free to let me know. I always like seeing comments!

Cingular

I keep seeing these commercials on TV about how Cingular has the fewest dropped calls of any wireless carrier nationwide. I even got a little flyer about it in my mailbox today. I have a big problem with this group of people that did the research. I know they're supposed to be separate from Cingular itself, but I'm beginning to wonder about that.

My main problem with the whole idea that they have the fewest dropped calls is that I have a large number of dropped calls. One even happened tonight while I was talking to my mom. So, I'm thinking that either I'm an outlier in the population considered, or they're lying with their statistics. Yes, I live in a woodsy area, and it's kind of a crapshoot as to whether I get a decent signal or not. I still tend to lean that the sample of the populations considered probably avoids areas like central PA, for example.

Of course, I may be wrong. If anyone out there that lives in central PA and has Cingular as their wireless service (mainly Karen, but others are welcome as well) wants to comment on my thoughts, feel free. Comments are also welcome from people who have had Cingular in the past and may have switched to a competitor or have never had Cingular at all. I'm just trying to get my own sample, which obviously will be biased due to the region I'm looking at, but I'd like to see if Cingular is actually being honest with their "independent research".

Pronunciation

I was looking at cnn.com this morning to see what was in the news and discovered this link. I was immediately drawn to it because I'm from Wisconsin. I tried to access missprouncer.com, but I kept getting an error page. But still, I thought it was kind of fun to read the article, even though I would hardly consider that front page material on a national news website. Back home, I'm sure it's one of the top news stories. Anyway, I just wanted to share this with anyone that reads my blog.

Epiphany

I've been studying thermodynamics the past couple weeks, since I have very little knowledge of that particular subject. I'm going through Maria's notes (she's a TA for thermo) and it's actually helping, even though I didn't start sitting in on the class until last week. And this is only because Jerry is teaching it. He's such a good teacher because he effectively brings the subject matter down to a level that people can understand.

But, I digress. My point is this. As I was copying the notes (I could have photocopied them, but I retain information better if I write it down), there was a lecture about the attractive forces between molecules. There was a short table listing different molecules (N2, O2, CO2, and H2O) and a value measuring the attractive forces between them. It turns out that H2O has a much larger attractive force than any of the other gases, and this is why H2O can change phase from vapor to liquid. I know this may not sound like much, and I'm sure other people knew this, but I didn't. (Or if I did, I didn't retain it.) It's just something I never really thought about, and to see it there made total sense to me. I had always just taken for granted that H2O could be in any phase, because that's what I've seen.

See, this is one of the things about grad school that sucks. (Yes, I know there are many, but I'm sticking around because I'm a masochist.) In the core classes, at least in the meteorology department, they don't focus on giving physical examples a lot of the time. The main focus is deriving equations, which is all well and good (I like equations, but I was a math major, so that's a given). But deriving equations just for the sake of deriving equations is not all that helpful. That's the problem I had with being a math major. In the upper-level classes we were proving things for the sake of proving them, and I didn't really see the point in that. Basically what I'm saying is that I need some sort of motivation as to why the equations are important. Physical examples help out so much.

Of course, it would also help if the profs realized that we all didn't come from a meteorological background, so they would keep going and going and expect us to follow what they're talking about. True, in our acceptance packets they recommend us reading a textbook on meteorology. And I didn't even buy that book because I was trying to save all the money I was earning to actually be able to move out here. (Isn't that a silly reason not to buy a textbook?) They also offer a intro to meteo course for new grads, which is somewhat helpful, but it's still cramming a BS in meteorology into one semester. So, we hit on topics very lightly and quickly.

My point in all this is that the department should highly encourage people to sit in on undergrad classes. That would have been so useful for me, because it's in undergrad classes that things are explained in physical terms as well as equations. But, anyway, I wanted to share my epiphany with the world, or at least the people who read my blog regularly.

Tree Sweater

I was looking on cuteoverload.com (see link in sidebar) and at the top of the page was the following picture:


There's more to this story on a blog (click here) from someone in Seattle. I don't know why I was struck by this, but I do think it's cute, in a strange sort of way. Anyway, that's all for now.

Even More Randomness

I know that I should write an actual blog entry at some point, but lately a lot of random things have happened, and none of them would make for a long (or cohesive) entry, hence the random thoughts.

- Last night was poker night. Instead of Texas Hold 'Em, we played seven card stud. I think I like stud better than Hold 'Em. It requires a bit more strategy and some luck, but not as much as in Hold 'Em. Of course, I may be a little biased because I won the small tournament last night, which was fun. I just kept getting lucky, and semi-bluffing at some pots. The only bad thing is that it was a limit game and at the beginning the limits weren't going up all that fast, so it took a long time to actually finish the game. I think we started a little after 8:00 and I ended up leaving at 12:45.

- After the game, as I was driving home, there was an amazing thunderstorm. Lots of lightning, some nice cracks of thunder, basically very impressive. I love thunderstorms anyway, I always have. In fact, when there's a severe thunderstorm watch/warning, instead of going someplace safe, I sit by the window and watch. Anyway, last night was cool, and we had another one this afternoon. It wasn't quite as impressive, but still nice enough to comment on.

- I'm getting really tired of the bus drivers in this town. I got on a blue loop when I left Walker Building, and there was this woman bus driver. I've seen her before, so that wasn't the shocking part. First of all, she never really seems all that happy. I mean, I know that people who drive bus probably had higher expectations out of life and probably didn't think they'd end up doing that. Still, though, people should at least be friendly, or be able to moderately fake it. That didn't really surprise me either because she always looks pissed off about something. But today, she was just a horrid driver. Every stop we came to she seemed to slam on the brakes. Luckily, I got a seat, but there were some times where I had to brace myself on the back of the seat in front of me. Seriously, if you're going to drive a bus, you need to realize that it is a big vehicle and needs more time to stop than that. It's not that hard to realize. Plus, bus drivers should at least take enough care to not have people being thrown all over the place. It was just awful.

- One more random thought. This one about a commercial. It's for those EPT pregnancy tests. Specifically I'm talking about the one where this woman is running and a voiceover of her says, "I can't concentrate lately. Could I be pregnant?" OK, it may just be me, but I don't see how those two thoughts connect at all. Maybe it's because I'm a guy that I find that odd. If any women readers out there want to enlighten me, I'd love to hear about it. But, for me, I can't concentrate a lot of the time, and I'm fairly certain I'm not pregnant. Of course, if I were, I'd be exploiting it, getting as much money as I can. I'm going off on a tangent here, which is getting a little weird, so I'm going to stop and ask again for women's opinions on this commercial.

Well, I think that's it for now. At least that's all I can think of, but I'm sure more will come to me sooner or later.

More randomness

It seems like lately all I've been having is random thoughts. I don't know why I want to share them in my blog, but I do. So here are some more.

- I keep forgetting Easter is this Sunday. One of my students today came up at the end of lab and told me to enjoy my holiday weekend and I think I must have looked funny or dazed or something. Then he said something about Easter, so that helped me to remember. I hardly consider it a holiday anymore, mainly because I can't go home for it. And the fact that we don't even get Good Friday off here. So, it just comes and goes, and I don't really make a big deal of it.

- I've been having this craving for milkshakes lately. I don't really understand it. But, I've had one from many different places in town, but nothing can compare to Culvers, which hasn't quite made it this far east. Those are SO good.

- I'm so glad it's finally starting to feel like spring. It's nice to go outside with no jacket on. The only problem is it's still chilly when I leave for campus, so I wear pants instead of shorts. And then when I leave, I'm really warm. I think I need to have a separate wardrobe for Walker Building.

- I don't know if this is just me, but sometimes when I'm looking at words, they seem not to be spelled right or just kind of look funny, even though they are correctly spelled. I'm thinking it's just me. Of course, if anyone else feels the same way, I'd really like to know I'm not alone.

- I skipped my second group meeting in two weeks. Damn. I'm so upset. (I apologize for the sarcasm dripping down your screen.) Seriously, I don't really care about them anymore. Ever since He-who-must-not-be-named (no, not Voldemort) basically said that my presentation wasn't up to snuff, I couldn't care less. In fact, I was intending on having him on my committee, but now, that's not going to happen. I'm sure Ray won't be thrilled, but I don't care. I've just about lost all respect for You-know-who (again, not Voldemort), and I don't think I could deal with having a committee member that I don't respect. So, that's just my theory on the whole thing. I suppose I'll have to talk to Ray about it soon, and I'm just going to be honest.

- It seems like all the undergraduates have so much energy when it's nice out. I tried to teach a little bit today (very little since it was another video day) and I couldn't get them to shut up. I even asked them if they could shut up, and some people laughed, while others just kept yammering away. But, I think they were relatively pleased having a video day, and it was short as well. Only about a half-hour. I can totally deal with that.

- Yesterday I had to mail some stuff, so as I left work, I walked to the mailbox on campus and then walked up to catch a bus to the BJC (after getting a shake at the Creamery). I was waiting there for some time when someone walked up to those of us that were waiting and told us that there had been an accident by the library and no traffic was getting through. To be honest, I was shocked! People in Pennsylvania are such good drivers! (Yeah, I'm sorry about the sarcasm dripping down your screen again.) I know that there are bad drivers in every state, but PA seems to have a lot of them.

- I just read an article about the Dixie Chicks and how the first single they released from the newest CD is called "Not Ready to Make Nice." This is in reference to the comment Natalie made about being ashamed to share a state with the President. I loved their music before that, and I loved them even more after that. And I'm thinking I'll be loving them even more with this new CD. But, what I find really sad is that a lot of stations refuse to play the single because they don't want to open old wounds. I, personally, didn't know there were old wounds. I thought they were still fresh. Anyway, I do like that they aren't backing away from what they said. And the fact that stations and people are refusing to listen to their music just shows how closed-minded some can be.

Well, I think that's about it for now. It's almost time for Gilmore Girls, and I should try to get some studying done, but we know that's not going to happen anymore tonight, don't we? Oh, well. The exam is still about a month away. The fact that I'm already studying surprised the hell out of me. And on that note, I'm off.

Some Randomness

It's been so long since I've written an entry on here. I feel like the past month was just a blur. But in this entry, I'm just going to throw some random thoughts out there, and next time (which hopefully won't be so far away) I'll have a proper entry.

- OK, I know the Oscars were a long time ago, and I had intended on writing an entire entry commenting on what I thought. So, I'll just summarize it here. The best movie won. That's my opinion. Yes, Brokeback Mountain was groundbreaking, and it was a good movie. But when I left the theater, it didn't make that much of an impression on me. Crash, however, left me thinking long after I saw it. Plus, with Brokeback, it wasn't like there were a lot of instances where you could tell that Jack and Ennis were a couple: one sex scene, one lengthy makeout scene, but that's about all. That doesn't really equal love for me. But, it's just my opinion, and I'll leave it at that.

- The other day, I was clipping a stray hair from my eyebrows and I was left wondering what is the point of having eyebrows. They really don't seem to have a real purpose. If anyone wants to clue me in, feel free.

- Last week was incredibly tiring. The other TA for METEO 3 had to have emergency surgery, which I found out about Monday night, so I volunteered to cover her classes last week. Unfortunately, there are three labs on Tuesday and they are back to back from 11:15 until 5:30. So, I was very, very tired at the end of the day. Then I had to teach two more on Wednesday. I think I'm just too nice for my own good. And that I seriously overestimate my endurance for teaching. It's finally been worked out that I won't have to do that for the rest of the semester, so I'm happy about that, but I do think I should get some sort of bonus. Or something more than a "thank you" for doing twice the amount of work that I should have done. Of course, I may be being just a little selfish....

- Speaking of teaching, there was this one kid in my morning lab on Wednesday who was being quite the bitch. I took two points off of her lab because she forgot to label her isopleths, but she had everything else perfect. And she has the gall to try to get those points back. Well, I wasn't about to back down, and then she just sat in a huff and complained that she doesn't care anymore. Well, boo-freakin-hoo. I don't know how many times I've told people to label their isopleths, but still people forget. Of course, as I was grading her lab this weekend, I took a little more pleasure in taking off points. And if she doesn't watch it, I may just make a little mistake in calculating the grades. The lesson here: don't piss me off. I'm a scorpio, and once people get on my bad side, they stay there for a good long time.

- I finally got to play poker again on Thursday. It's been such a long time. We were supposed to play seven card stud, but we didn't really have enough people. So we went back to Texas Hold 'Em. Unfortunately, I wasn't catching any cards, so I didn't make it as far as I would have liked. What can I do, though? Luck wasn't with me that night.

- I had a team meeting a week ago, with everyone that is working on the carbon budget on the east coast continental shelf. I gave a presentation, and I seemed to get good reviews and feedback from people. That made me feel validated, and not like an utter waste of space that a certain other professor made me feel. I'm still a little bitter about that. Seriously, he bases his email on one presentation. I'd like to see him make another conclusion in his research using one data point. He would never do that! But whatever. I don't have to please him. This whole debacle made me decide not to have him on my committee. That's all there is to it. I'd rather have people who will give constructive criticism, and he doesn't really do that well. To paraphrase Rory from Gilmore Girls, he had all the tact of a Nazi storm trooper. (That's a double insult because he is German.)

- I can't believe it's April already. Where has the time gone? It seems like time goes faster and faster as I get older. I'd love for it to slow down a bit. I know it won't, but it would be nice.

- I've become addicted to playing speed online. It's at superarcade.com. It's just like what I used to play as an undergrad with a friend between our lecture class and the lab. So much fun! It doesn't take a whole lot of strategy, just speed (hence the name) and luck. One time I was playing it online and I got nearly to level 30. I haven't been able to get nearly that far lately, though.

Well, I guess that's it. I'm toying with the idea of creating another blog for some commentary I write about the soaps I watch. (Yes, I like daytime dramas.... ) We'll see, though. I may not have enough time to keep it going, but I think it would be fun, as long as it doesn't get to drama filled between commentors. I'll put it in the sidebar if I do create one. And with that, I'm going to stop typing.

Another Rant

It's been a while since I posted, and I feel compelled to write this out in order to get over it. So, here goes.

Today I had to give a group meeting talk, which is usually no big deal. We get up there, talk about whatever we're doing, and get feedback from the group (usually only the professors). So, today I decided to present stuff on the various talks I went to at the Ocean Science meeting. This was mainly because since I got back, I've either been teaching or grading, with a week off for spring break (I had to go visit my family since I haven't been home since Christmas). So, I put together what was a pretty good talk about the different causes of hypoxia and regions where hypoxia was prevalent.

So, I finished arranging the slides for my talk at about noon, and the meeting starts at 12:30. Usually I'm a bit more prepared, but having the meetings on Tuesday is throwing me off a bit. The first thing that pissed me off was that the one professor there (I'm not naming names to avoid that professor accidentally stumbling across my blog, not that he would do anything for fun on the internet) was basically not paying any attention to what I was saying. He'd be looking around the room, looking incredibly disinterested. I think that's incredibly rude. The least he could do is pay attention or zone out while facing the front.

Anyway, I had to rush back from the meeting to get ready to teach. Damn them for making the meeting later so I have to rush around like a chicken with it's head cut off. I taught what I felt was one of the best lectures I've given, and then I go back to my office. A student came with me because she wanted help on the lab, which I'm always willing to do. After helping her, I went to check my email, and one of the messages is from the professor in question. He basically wrote that we should be better prepared for our talks and make them relevant to our research. I'm thinking that the message was directed at me, but sent to the entire group that goes to these meetings (about 10 people in all). And then, as a final little jab, he says that "many of [us] give excellent talks."

Now, I don't care if he doesn't like my talk. I thought it was interesting, and it actually garnered more questions than the typical presentations. Especially this professor's, who like to make people feel ignorant at the end of the talk. The thing that irks me most is that he didn't have to common courtesy to confront me one on one. Nor did he have the tact to state things a little more nicely. And the fact that he sent it to everyone in the group is a bit cowardly.

So, frankly, I'm pretty pissed off at him at the moment. I'm starting to calm down about it, but it just annoys me when people make me feel less than worthy of their support, or even attention. It's not like I need any help in that department, with the depression and all.

But, basically my feeling that I don't care if he likes my talk or not. My feeling is that the talk, while being scientific, should also be interesting. Most of the time I see talks that meet the first goal, but overall, the majority of the talks I've seen aren't all that interesting. Basically, he can go *&#% himself for all I care.

OK, I'm done ranting now. I return you to your regular programming.

Teaching Rant

My first post back from spring break was actually going to be about the Oscars, but I just have to put in a little rant about the labs I'm teaching. So, here goes.

I'm catching up on my grading because I was out of town on a conference for a week and then there was spring break. So, I had three labs to grade during spring break, which I didn't quite get done because I wanted to enjoy my break a little bit. Anyway, while I was gone, my labs had two assignments to do, and I was being nice and giving them until I got back to do them and turn them in. At least I thought I was being nice to them. They, however, proceeded to punish me by either not doing the labs and still handing them in, or by doing them so convolutedly that I can't tell what the hell they're thinking.

I realize that all humans beings are natural procrastinators. I wouldn't have the Procrastinator's Creed on the wall above my computer if I didn't know that. However, I would have thought that by the time people reach the college level, they'd at least be able to realize how much time they're going to need to spend on any given assignment and devote that much of their lives to getting it done well. Of course, this is a general education course I'm talking about, so most of the students are just taking it to fulfill university requirements and therefore don't give a flying rat's ass about how well they do in it, so long as they pass the course. So, I guess I'm not completely surprised that many people didn't finish their assignments.

I think the thing that irritates me the most is that people didn't even ask for help. I told them that lab was optional the week I was gone, and they probably stopped listening to me list the times and places the lecturer was going to be there, thus not even knowing that there was going to be help available. And, from what he told me, two people showed up to each of the three available times. I also told them I'd be checking my email regularly while I was away, and I hardly heard anything from anyone. So, the opportunity to have questions answered passed by and they ended up screwing themselves, and pissing me off in the process. And there, they are screwing themselves even more because when I get irritated by what I'm grading, I tend to become less impartial and less forgiving of mistakes. I know I shouldn't be like that, but I can't help it. I'm a hard grader to begin with. I know this well, because I always get students complaining on the evaluations about how tough I grade (and some even grudgingly admit that they learned from it, even though that was only in the dynamics class.... the kids I teach this semester probably don't care if they learn from my grading). But, they're just making it harder for themselves.

Anyway, I just had to rant about that. I told my lab today that I was pretty disappointed with them and their performance. And my labs during the next two days are going to be hearing the same thing because I am disappointed. I realize the labs that they had to do while I was gone aren't exactly using easy to understand concepts, but they still could have made better use of their numerous resources instead of waiting until the last minute to do the lab.

Well, after all that, I'm heading to bed and hoping tomorrow brings a better round of grading. I don't have a lot of hope, but I do have some, which is good, I guess.

Passing on a meme....

I've kind of been putting this off for a while now. I've been memed by Josh, and this is the first time that I've had a lot of time to search for pictures to use in it. Here's what this particular meme is asking for:

The person who's been memed thinks of 3-5 movies that make them weep. Like really weep. Then that person goes to Google images and finds a pic from the movie that doesn't totally give it away, and paste the image into his/her blog. Then, the memed one highlights the pic and creates a link to the movie's IMDB page (that way, if someone doesn't know what movie the pic is from, they can click on the picture and it'll take them to IMDB so they can find out!). The final step is that the memed becomes the memer.

I'm modifying this a bit. Instead of limiting it to movies, I'm including pictures from episodes of TV shows that have made me cry. There are a couple reasons for this. One, I don't want to copy other people's movies that they've already used. Two, I tend to be much more invested in the characters on longer-running TV shows than I am in movies. Three, I've seen some sad movies recently, but none of them have made me cry. I just haven't been able to recently for some reason. I'm also not linking these to the IMDB pages. I'll have people make guesses for them and then tell them if they're right. (The TV episodes should be really easy for Karen, especially, since we both have the same fondness for a show in particular.)

I only have three pictures for this. I wanted to include more, but it's damn near impossible to find images from the soap episodes that have made me really cry.

I guess I have to pass this meme on to some people. Since there are only two people whose blogs I link to that actually know they're linked on my blog, this meme goes to:

Karen

Steve

So, on with the pictures....

1.) Even though I am not a huge fan of this movie, it did still make me cry.....


2.) TV show episode #1: I don't know how anyone couldn't cry during this episode....


3.) TV episode #2: Same show, different episode....

OK, have fun with this! :)

What I did on my trip to Hawaii

I got back from Hawaii late this afternoon. Overall it was a pretty nice trip, although there were a few rough patches here and there, which I'll outline in detail in this entry.

I left last Saturday at 6 AM. If you know me, you know that I'm not a morning person whatsoever. So, the whole being up and coherent enough to board a plane was a bit difficult. But, once I got on (after going through security twice because I left a shaving knife in my travel grooming kit completely unintentionally) the flights themselves went fairly smoothly. I flew to Detroit, which isn't new to me. I've been to that airport several times. From there I went to LAX. I always pictured LAX to be this really big airport with hundreds of gates spanning as far as the eye can see. I was rather disappointed with the reality. The terminal I was in had maybe eight gates, and not a whole lot to choose from foodwise. I did have to eat something, though, because apparently serving meals on a longish flight has become a thing of the past. So, I bought some terribly overpriced Burger King food, and then went to a gift shop to buy some snacky-type foods for the flight to Honolulu. I had plenty of time to do all this because my flight from LAX was delayed. So, even with getting there an hour later than anticipated (due to strong headwinds), I ended up having a longer layover than I was originally intended to have. After that, the flight to Honolulu was pretty smooth as well. I slept for part of it, because I just couldn't stay awake much longer. When I got to Honolulu, I had to wait quite some time for my luggage to make it to the baggage claim, and then I took a shuttle, which apparently stops at just about every hotel in Waikiki. I think I got to the hotel around 10 PM Hawaii time, which would be 3 AM eastern. So, I was pretty damn tired and all I wanted to do was curl up in bed and sleep.

The following day was just a relaxing walk around Waikiki day. I went to the Honolulu zoo (which isn't very impressive compared to the Milwaukee County Zoo or the NEW (Northeast Wisconsin) Zoo) and spent some time looking at animals and taking pictures, because I tend to be very touristy when I go places. They were also having an art show along the beach, so I walked around there to see the different things that were available. Following that, Katie and I, since I was sharing the hotel room with her, went to the opening reception for the Ocean Science meeting, which involved free beer. I couldn't pass up anything free. I am a college student after all. Then I tried to get my materials for the meeting, which at first I thought would be a breeze because the "S" line was very short. This was very impressive since last names that begin with S seem to be very, very common. However, when I got there, after spelling my name to the person manning that line at least five times, my registration was nowhere to be found. So, I went to the Information booth and asked about it. The girl at that booth told me that just because I submitted an abstract doesn't mean I've registered. I thought to myself, "No shit, Sherlock." She then proceeded to tell me, in a very condescending, bitchy way, that I needed to bring proof of my registration in order to actually register. So, I was a bit flustered, and pissed off that I couldn't just register nice and neatly and be done with it. After that, Katie and I met up with someone she met on the plane, who was also going to the same conference and we (with some of his friends) went to TGIFridays for dinner. I wasn't all that hungry because I had lunch at the Cheesecake Factory, so I just had a drink and watched them all eat. That ended that evening.

Monday morning I was up relatively early and on the phone with Diane from the Meteo Department to get her to fax me the webpage that said I had registered. I did that and went to the convention center and showed it to the people at the information booth. This time the actual organizer of the meeting was there, and it was determined that just because I had that page didn't mean I actually registered. Basically, something happened with the transaction so that the fee didn't get submitted to them. So, they made me fill out a lost registration form and I'll have to email them telling them that they should contact Diane for payment. That took up most of the morning. Because of that, I missed out on going to Pearl Harbor, but I wasn't going to let it completely ruin my day. I decided, on the spur of the moment, that I would take a bus to the North Shore to see what the beaches looked like up there. It's so much nicer there than in Waikiki, mainly because it's less touristy. I went to Sunset Beach that day and took several pictures of the scenery and avoided some rain. Then I went back and caught a bus that had the same number route as the one I rode there on, expecting it to go back the way it came. Little did I know that the bus changed route numbers and went around the island on the other side. So, I unfortunately missed out on the poster session that day (although I did look at the important ones before I left, those being Katie's and Kathy's) but it was worth it. Plus, it's a very cheap way to see much of the island. That took up the rest of my day.

Tuesday was my day in the spotlight to present my poster. Unfortunately, I had to have it put up by 8:30 AM. But, that gave me time to talk with some of the US ECoS people beforehand. I talked extensively with one of the team members and we're collaborating to write a paper together describing the climatologies of oxygen along much of the east coast of North America. So, that was pretty cool. Then in between the oral carbon cycle sessions (which I didn't really gain a lot from) I was chatting with one of the other team members that I just connected with the first time I met her. So, that was pretty fun. Then, all of a sudden, it was time to go to stand by my poster. I had a pretty steady flow of people that wanted to chat about my work, which was nice. I even talked to a prominent NSF guy who basically encouraged me to keep going with my work, which was very nice. The two hours for the poster session seemed to go very fast, though. After that, I went out to eat with some members of the US ECoS team, and we got caught in a significant downpour. I even saw some flashes of lightning. Seriously, the first few days I was there, I felt like I was in a warmer version of State College, because it seemed to be cloudy all the time. Dinner was fun, though. Then we went to Cold Stone Creamery for dessert, and then I caught a bus to get back to the hotel room.

Wednesday was another day I needed to go to the oral session on the carbon cycle. So, I did that for most of the day and then went to the poster session to look at what other people were doing. I found a couple posters on turbulence that I found very interesting, so I chatted with those people for a bit. Then I went to the exhibitioners to see what sorts of free stuff I could collect. It was a little disappointing, though. I only got a couple pens, some pamphlets, and a small fish and dolphin (fake, of course). After that, Katie and I went out for Thai food, which was nice. It was sort of a bonding moment, where we chatted about lots of different things. It was definitely a good time. Then we got back to the hotel room in time to watch a repeat of the pilot of Lost, which happened to be pretty much the only TV we watched, but since Lost is filmed on Oahu, we wanted to see it. Plus, Katie hadn't become addicted to Lost yet, although she's gottened hooked just by the pilot.

Thursday I decided to take the morning off and go back to the North Shore. There wasn't much going on at the conference that I was incredibly interested in. Plus, I saw that there was a high surf advisory for the northern parts of all the islands of Hawaii, so I figured the waves would be pretty impressive. They definitely were. I sat on the beach and got lost in them, not literally, though. I even kind of ignored the book I brought along to read and just watched the water. It's such a calming thing. It made me realize that I really need to live near a body of water after I finish grad school. Some of the waves were so impressive that I climbed up on some of the rocks to get a good picture of a splash hitting them. I hope those turn out well. After the beach, I went to the poster session and had a wonderful discussion with a professor sutdying hypoxia in the Hood Canal in Washington. It was really nice, and I even got her card so we could continue to correspond with each other. Since my research is hopefully going to go in that direction, it was very good to make contact with someone whose doing similar research as I am. After the poster session, they had an aloha reception on the roof of the convention center. I went there because it was free food. They had some wonderful fruit and several roasted pigs. It was very yummy food. After that, since it was a beautiful night, I walked back to the hotel on the main street by the beach. There were some interesting sights there, mainly from various street performers. It was pretty cool.

Friday was a relatively slow day. I only went to the couple afternoon oral sessions, which were very interesting, dealing with hypoxia and how it's model, some data that's been analyzed, and how it affects biology across the food chain. It was very interesting stuff. After that, Katie and I were planning on going to dinner and see a jazz show. We went to dinner at Ciao Mein, and Italian/Chinese restaurant. Very good food, but my eyes were bigger than my stomach. Then the club we wanted to go to had a dress code (collared shirt and pants for a guy), so we walked along the main drag and went into various stores looking for a cheap collared shirt for me. We were having so much fun window shopping that we lost track of time and never made it to the jazz show.

Saturday was my last day in Hawaii. I had a late afternoon flight out, so I wanted to wear myself out a bit. I decided that I'd go climb Diamond Head, a dormant volcano from the top of which you get a 360 degree few of Oahu. That was quite the hike, proving that I should probably get in better shape. But the view from the top was totally worth it. After that, I went back to the hotel and got ready for my shuttle to take me to the airport.

This is when things started to get a little frustrating. First of all, I looked at my itinerary and saw that I was flying Northwest again on the way home. So, I told the shuttle driver to drop me off at the Northwest check-in gate. So, I ran my checked bag through their agriculture scanner (the Hawaiians are very particular about letting their fruit out of the country). Then I went up and tried to check in for my flight, but the self-serve screen wasn't working for me. So, the lady came up to me and said that I had to go to Delta because that's who was flying to Atlanta instead of Northwest (which is just confusing for me). Delta, of course, was way on the other end of the airport. So, I'm scurrying there and get to the self-check-in kiosks, and they tell me that I have to run my checked luggage through the agriculture scanner for Delta now, because apparently I can get fruit somewhere between those two gates. So, I did that and got all checked in. Then I went through security and got asked if my carry-on could be opened. I had no idea why they'd need to do this, since I left the grooming kit in my checked bag. So, I said fine, and the guy that went through it took out my keys and said that that may be what was confusing the person looking at the x-ray, and he specifically held the bottle opener on my keyring. So, he ran the bag and my keys through separately, and then told me I was fine to go. Why he needed to do that is beyond me. I mean, seriously, what harm am I going to do with a bottle opener?!?! So, then I finally make it to my gate and find out that the flight is full, so I can only have two carry-on bags. So, I ended up having to check my poster in since I didn't want to check anything else. After all that I get on the plane and we take off for Atlanta. This time we got a meal and everything was pretty good. I tried to sleep as much as possible, even with a kid crying in the background and the parents apparently doing nothing to shut the kid up. But, I must have slept some, because I was woken up by the attendants serving a breakfast snack. My layover in Atlanta was a bit long, but not too hectic, except that the staff couldn't decide which gate we were really leaving from. Once I got on the plane, I pretty much passed out because I needed more sleep. Suddenly we were in Detroit. I had a semi-long layover there, and then boarded the plane to State College. This is where things get pretty hairy. Once we got in the air, things were fine, not too turbulent. But, when we were landing in State College, things got really bumpy, and due to probably a combination of factors, including jet lag, not enough sleep, and having just enough food to make me queasy, I got airsick. Pretty badly, I must say. It came on all of a sudden, too. Plus, I don't think there was a bag in the pouch in front of me. Of course, it came on so suddenly (and I was trying very hard not to actually vomit) that I couldn't have been sure. But, yeah, that was a great capper to the whole airline experience. Luckily, the people sitting across the aisle from me (I was alone on one side of the plane, fortunately) were very helpful, and the guy even gave me his jacket because mine was kind of ruined. So, needless to say, I'm not planning any flying adventures anytime in the near future, not only because I got sick, but because I've seen way too many airplanes and airports in the past week.

So, that was my trip to Hawaii. Most of it was fun, but I'm really glad to be home. Now, I need to get enough sleep tonight so that I'm sort of coherent enough to teach tomorrow. With that, I'm off to bed!