At a glance:
Hours worked: ~10
Cups of tea consumed: 6
Number of times kitchen flooded: 2 (and there is still no sign of the dishwasher repairman)
Phone calls made: 5< n < 10
Hours of movie/clips watched: ~4
Items destroyed by animals other than human: 0
Number of disputes with roommate: 0
All in all: so far, so good. Now let's see what happens when classes start on the 28th.
Had to go in for work yesterday as Friday was VERY windy and we couldn't plant anything (and by "windy" I meant the roadcrew telling me I have to take a detour because "the trees are coming down and you want to be careful"). Still getting to know my coworkers (three, so far), and am reaching the conclusion that you meet much more interesting people at work than at school (though all of them do go to school here).
In a series of comments and conversations religion and homosexuals again surfaced. One of my coworkers reaccounted how she met one of her friends while the friend was dating a guy and now the friend's dating a girl. This coworker grew up in the middle of the desert and has referred to herself as a Christian and a red-neck. She said something along the lines of that 'she doesn't approve of what her friend's doing, but if her friend is really..you know...she's not going to stop being friends of her because of it.' Which then made me think of Annie's grandmother, who's convinced that Annie's going to hell because she's studying evolution biology. It begs to differ between the ideas OF religion and the ideas IN religion.
I repeat: I have nothing against religion in general, or anything specific type of religion. I think that it'd be wonderful to have that much faith in something but frankly, religious fanatics tend to scare me.
Meanwhile, from NY Times we give you this article:
Spy Agencies Say Iraq War Worsens Terror Threat
By MARK MAZZETTI
A stark assessment has found that the American invasion and occupation of Iraq has helped spawn a new generation of Islamic radicalism and that the overall terrorist threat has grown since the Sept. 11 attacks.
Give the agencies a medal, will you?
20060924
20060921
Recap: People, impending school, and dust
This would be the second "Oh look I have internet at home again" entry I've typed in the past three months, which means that, by default, it wouldn't be as interesting as the first entry (which wasn't that interesting either) and therefore, to avoid that, we'll just sum up the entire thing in one sentence and be done with it so the time that you'd normally expect to spend on the rant of the virtues of cyberspace can now be devoted to some other random form of rambling.
The apartment now has internet access.
Okay. Now, moving on.
[Warning: long post.]
A description of the apartment is, I suppose, in order. The apartment is large and very airy-seeming because of the vaulted ceiling in the living room and the MILLIONS of windows. Okay, that's an exaggeration. But there ARE a lot of windows. Two per room and five in the living room/dining room area (they're connected). That's not taking into account the glass door to the balcony and the window in the kitchen. The windows themselves are very unique, being the up-down kind instead of the slide-sideways kind and always letting out a monstrous squawking noise when you let it down. We also have lots of shelves, most of which we have discovered and a few of which may still be hidden. We'll eventually have to make acquaintances with all the shelves just to make sure that the previous owner didn't leave something evolving away in a backwards cabinet.
Annie was here all the way until Monday, during which we went through our joint possession and discovered that we had three cheese graters and the odd mayo-maker (I kid you not; and then later Kate used the mayo-maker and made mashed potatos). Kate's been here and will continue to be here, exercising her increasingly frayed self-control over the numerous phone calls from her relatives. Just during lunch today we discussed whether or not she was in denial still, as she originally said she was, after she pointed out that she's not finding anything to freak out over at all. I pointed out that if there's nothing for her to freak out over then there shouldn't be anything for her to be in denial about, either, so we hypothesized that she's in denial about being in denial.
My new job started this Tuesday, more or less to my surprise (especially given that I've just contacted the professor on Monday) and so far it has involved a lot of labels. I've successfully wrote the word 'SPINACH' 120 times and noticed that it is in fact similar to the word 'SPANISH'. I've also in the course of my employment (i.e., Tuesday and today) tried a piece of smoked salmon. That was interesting.
Layout? Yes. I did say that school's starting, didn't I?
Just to mention: clicking squirrels. If anyone's curious, ask Kate.
The apartment now has internet access.
Okay. Now, moving on.
[Warning: long post.]
A description of the apartment is, I suppose, in order. The apartment is large and very airy-seeming because of the vaulted ceiling in the living room and the MILLIONS of windows. Okay, that's an exaggeration. But there ARE a lot of windows. Two per room and five in the living room/dining room area (they're connected). That's not taking into account the glass door to the balcony and the window in the kitchen. The windows themselves are very unique, being the up-down kind instead of the slide-sideways kind and always letting out a monstrous squawking noise when you let it down. We also have lots of shelves, most of which we have discovered and a few of which may still be hidden. We'll eventually have to make acquaintances with all the shelves just to make sure that the previous owner didn't leave something evolving away in a backwards cabinet.
Annie was here all the way until Monday, during which we went through our joint possession and discovered that we had three cheese graters and the odd mayo-maker (I kid you not; and then later Kate used the mayo-maker and made mashed potatos). Kate's been here and will continue to be here, exercising her increasingly frayed self-control over the numerous phone calls from her relatives. Just during lunch today we discussed whether or not she was in denial still, as she originally said she was, after she pointed out that she's not finding anything to freak out over at all. I pointed out that if there's nothing for her to freak out over then there shouldn't be anything for her to be in denial about, either, so we hypothesized that she's in denial about being in denial.
My new job started this Tuesday, more or less to my surprise (especially given that I've just contacted the professor on Monday) and so far it has involved a lot of labels. I've successfully wrote the word 'SPINACH' 120 times and noticed that it is in fact similar to the word 'SPANISH'. I've also in the course of my employment (i.e., Tuesday and today) tried a piece of smoked salmon. That was interesting.
Layout? Yes. I did say that school's starting, didn't I?
Just to mention: clicking squirrels. If anyone's curious, ask Kate.
20060914
Recap: On your marks
Tumbling blocks-wise, this's going to be very interesting.
My conclusions so far:
A.) That inside the house internet will not be possible until 20th the earliest.
B.) Davis is currently at the stage where the temperature can be anywhere from 70-something (high point of the day) to 90-something.
C.) I'll need to learn how to operate the dishwasher. Which shouldn't be too bad, considering I had to deal with the dishmachine in the DC and I don't have to take apart the dishwasher each night after I'm done using it. I hope.
D.) Cats and plants do not mix, so I'll need to start adapting whatever plants possible to outdoor weather.
It turns out that all three of us (my roommates and I) are going to be there on the Saturday, so that our first night together will really be our first night together. And the furniture dragging that will ensue. Oh yes.
My conclusions so far:
A.) That inside the house internet will not be possible until 20th the earliest.
B.) Davis is currently at the stage where the temperature can be anywhere from 70-something (high point of the day) to 90-something.
C.) I'll need to learn how to operate the dishwasher. Which shouldn't be too bad, considering I had to deal with the dishmachine in the DC and I don't have to take apart the dishwasher each night after I'm done using it. I hope.
D.) Cats and plants do not mix, so I'll need to start adapting whatever plants possible to outdoor weather.
It turns out that all three of us (my roommates and I) are going to be there on the Saturday, so that our first night together will really be our first night together. And the furniture dragging that will ensue. Oh yes.
20060912
Recap: A little of this and that
Taken from NEW YORK TIMES today:
Interviews found voters expressing degrees of skepticism
about President Bush's motives in delivering a set of
high-profile speeches on terrorism.
-"In Unpredictable District, Some Say Bush Is Politicizing
Terrorism" By CARL HULSE
You know what's better yet? The fact that THAT article was followed by THIS:
President Bush sought to place the war in Iraq in the
context of an epic battle between tyranny and freedom.
-"In Prime-Time Address, Bush Says Safety of U.S. Hinges on Iraq" By JIM RUTENBERG and SHERYL GAY STOLBERG
Well well. Some of those who chose to remain blind are so because they don't know any other way of existing, and some of those who choose to be blind chose with their eyes wide open. The latter are always the ones who baffle me but, as the saying goes, there's no accounting for taste, i.e. opinions, i.e. I'm sometimes so incredibly bewildered by people and am even more bewildered to find out how NOT alone I am.
But those who pay any marginal kind of attention do notice things. That's good to know.
I'll wager that the region here-abouts would be listed as one of those "unpredictable districts"-- oh wait, nevermind, we're predictable. We're predictable enough that Mr. President wants to avoid SF at all costs which is still, I think, showing an remarkable deal of forethought for him (or for his counsellors, who knows?). Or maybe that was self-preservation. In the present era, it's often hard to tell them about.
In terms of Davis preparation, I'm at the stage of "Okay all my stuff except for my laptop and my sketchbook are in boxes now so those are the two things that I will waste all my time on". (It's a very long name for a stage, but it's also a very important stage in what I'm now going to call my Yearly Migration Period.)
Meanwhile, according to ENN, global warming will bring back dinosaur-era-like weather (though, as far as I know, no dinosaurs). Which makes me wonder what some of the fast-evolving species, the drosophila (fruitfly) for example, will look like by then. Then again, it probably wouldn't look THAT different. Bugs (Hexapoda/ Insecta, specifically) have very resilient design and the majority of it's always kept the same, as can be seen in those bug-containing ambers. Maybe we'll see a return of the giant dragonflies? Or maybe ants and cockroaches will finally take over the world. Species extinction is imminent, anyhow.
Not-so-subliminal message made yet more obvious: global warming is no cause for joy.
The cacti live on. Mom's afraid she might accidentally kill it, so I might be bring THOSE with me to Davis as well.
Interviews found voters expressing degrees of skepticism
about President Bush's motives in delivering a set of
high-profile speeches on terrorism.
-"In Unpredictable District, Some Say Bush Is Politicizing
Terrorism" By CARL HULSE
You know what's better yet? The fact that THAT article was followed by THIS:
President Bush sought to place the war in Iraq in the
context of an epic battle between tyranny and freedom.
-"In Prime-Time Address, Bush Says Safety of U.S. Hinges on Iraq" By JIM RUTENBERG and SHERYL GAY STOLBERG
Well well. Some of those who chose to remain blind are so because they don't know any other way of existing, and some of those who choose to be blind chose with their eyes wide open. The latter are always the ones who baffle me but, as the saying goes, there's no accounting for taste, i.e. opinions, i.e. I'm sometimes so incredibly bewildered by people and am even more bewildered to find out how NOT alone I am.
But those who pay any marginal kind of attention do notice things. That's good to know.
I'll wager that the region here-abouts would be listed as one of those "unpredictable districts"-- oh wait, nevermind, we're predictable. We're predictable enough that Mr. President wants to avoid SF at all costs which is still, I think, showing an remarkable deal of forethought for him (or for his counsellors, who knows?). Or maybe that was self-preservation. In the present era, it's often hard to tell them about.
In terms of Davis preparation, I'm at the stage of "Okay all my stuff except for my laptop and my sketchbook are in boxes now so those are the two things that I will waste all my time on". (It's a very long name for a stage, but it's also a very important stage in what I'm now going to call my Yearly Migration Period.)
Meanwhile, according to ENN, global warming will bring back dinosaur-era-like weather (though, as far as I know, no dinosaurs). Which makes me wonder what some of the fast-evolving species, the drosophila (fruitfly) for example, will look like by then. Then again, it probably wouldn't look THAT different. Bugs (Hexapoda/ Insecta, specifically) have very resilient design and the majority of it's always kept the same, as can be seen in those bug-containing ambers. Maybe we'll see a return of the giant dragonflies? Or maybe ants and cockroaches will finally take over the world. Species extinction is imminent, anyhow.
Not-so-subliminal message made yet more obvious: global warming is no cause for joy.
The cacti live on. Mom's afraid she might accidentally kill it, so I might be bring THOSE with me to Davis as well.
20060907
Recap: Phones? Phones.
The joy of explaining the same thing to three different people after thirty minute waits is namely this: there isn't any. I tried to get some information for setting up the phone-internet at the soon-to-be apartment-home and was sent from the original phone reception center to the online service reception center and finally to an online service specialist. On the other hand, I got to listen to some very impressive guitar playing over the phone (the style of the waiting music varies greatly from company to company, as I've learned), though half way through I think it's switched over to saxophone.
I don't know, I wasn't entirely paying attention, having been deriving immense pleasure in drawing phones being zapped afire by a certain floaty-type robot. Drawing is a very good way to channel impatience. I even drew a waiting-for-phone Nick comic which might show up somewhere, eventually.
Why the three people? Namely because the apartment place made an error with the zipcode and the phone company disagreed with the error in zipcode, but it took a specialist to figure out the disagreement with the error in zipcode. There was a lot of numbers involved this morning and, if I were to look over my random scribbling (which I won't, because it looks ...alarming is an understatement) it'd look like I was trying to solve a calc related-rates problem. There're less pertinent drawings, however.
Mostly it came down to "Huh, okay. Moving on and THANK GOD that it's over."
I have located a tea kettle and it's roughly the size of a grapefruit.
A bloggy entry, isn't it?
I don't know, I wasn't entirely paying attention, having been deriving immense pleasure in drawing phones being zapped afire by a certain floaty-type robot. Drawing is a very good way to channel impatience. I even drew a waiting-for-phone Nick comic which might show up somewhere, eventually.
Why the three people? Namely because the apartment place made an error with the zipcode and the phone company disagreed with the error in zipcode, but it took a specialist to figure out the disagreement with the error in zipcode. There was a lot of numbers involved this morning and, if I were to look over my random scribbling (which I won't, because it looks ...alarming is an understatement) it'd look like I was trying to solve a calc related-rates problem. There're less pertinent drawings, however.
Mostly it came down to "Huh, okay. Moving on and THANK GOD that it's over."
I have located a tea kettle and it's roughly the size of a grapefruit.
A bloggy entry, isn't it?
20060903
Random: Rubber duckies
I don't know how many of you have heard this, but it's a pretty interesting story.
Once upon a time, a cargo of twenty-something thousand rubber duckies (and frogs, and other things) accidentally went overboard in the middle of the ocean.
Some of them drifted so far north that they froze, and then the mass of frozen things hang around for a bit until the ice finally melted and soem of the rubber adventurers then bobbed up on the beaches of eastern US. (More info see here.)
The drift path of the duckies, as indicated by the large arrows. Smaller arrows indicate the ocean currents. As expected, the oceanographers fell in love with the duckies.
When asked how a rubber ducky can survive eleven years of ocean-traveling, the company that makes them made a comment about how the duckies were made to endure the bathtime of two-year-olds which, apparently, will inflict the same amount of strain as ocean salinity levels coupled with Atlantic ocean storms coupled with being frozen in the artic circle for up to five years.
Ah the hardy ducks. Just imagine the sight: thousands of rubber duckies bobbing up and down in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.
Once upon a time, a cargo of twenty-something thousand rubber duckies (and frogs, and other things) accidentally went overboard in the middle of the ocean.
Some of them drifted so far north that they froze, and then the mass of frozen things hang around for a bit until the ice finally melted and soem of the rubber adventurers then bobbed up on the beaches of eastern US. (More info see here.)
The drift path of the duckies, as indicated by the large arrows. Smaller arrows indicate the ocean currents. As expected, the oceanographers fell in love with the duckies.
When asked how a rubber ducky can survive eleven years of ocean-traveling, the company that makes them made a comment about how the duckies were made to endure the bathtime of two-year-olds which, apparently, will inflict the same amount of strain as ocean salinity levels coupled with Atlantic ocean storms coupled with being frozen in the artic circle for up to five years.
Ah the hardy ducks. Just imagine the sight: thousands of rubber duckies bobbing up and down in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.
20060901
Recap: Count downs, yet again
Yesterday was a very productive day. I congratulated myself and made a cup of tea.
Today is a counter point to yesterday. There are, at this point, no more items on the immediate to-do list. My job today as charged by my parents is, strictly, to "take some time and think if you'll need anything else for Davis." When my parents tell me to "take some time and think" I will, inevitably, sit down and think. The result usually involves a headache and more lists (speaking of which, I've quite a number of THOSE already). Then the list will lead to more tea which will lead to more thinking and therefore more tea and...the cycle will go on until I recall that there's a life outside of tea and list-making and I wander off to do something else. Usually also involving paper.
Currently nine cacti have sprouted under my care, though more will be coming. According to the manual some of the seeds are timed so that they take a year to germinate. Quite a test of patience there. The spiders have made their entry into the household and I flattened two while reading the other day (they crawled over my book, I was trying to read, and ergo-). The battle against the wasps had been fought and won, and the ants haven't tried anything funny...yet. (When 10% of the biomass are them, you're bound to be a little wary.)
Off to do more thinking then.
Also, "ladies, please come and pick up your gents".
Today is a counter point to yesterday. There are, at this point, no more items on the immediate to-do list. My job today as charged by my parents is, strictly, to "take some time and think if you'll need anything else for Davis." When my parents tell me to "take some time and think" I will, inevitably, sit down and think. The result usually involves a headache and more lists (speaking of which, I've quite a number of THOSE already). Then the list will lead to more tea which will lead to more thinking and therefore more tea and...the cycle will go on until I recall that there's a life outside of tea and list-making and I wander off to do something else. Usually also involving paper.
Currently nine cacti have sprouted under my care, though more will be coming. According to the manual some of the seeds are timed so that they take a year to germinate. Quite a test of patience there. The spiders have made their entry into the household and I flattened two while reading the other day (they crawled over my book, I was trying to read, and ergo-). The battle against the wasps had been fought and won, and the ants haven't tried anything funny...yet. (When 10% of the biomass are them, you're bound to be a little wary.)
Off to do more thinking then.
Also, "ladies, please come and pick up your gents".
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