Time To Move On...And Remember The Things Worth Remembering

It is finally time to start getting real about this Warrior Dash race I have next month and actually try to run faster every day as opposed to 'i'll just go run around for a half hour and call it a day' exercise thing I've been doing. It's good that I'm running, but aimlessly prancing around does not training make!

But, another reason I've been 'running' and not 'training' is that in order to use the stopwatch function on my watch I would have to clear the times from my marathon; something I've been hesitant to do. It mostly stems from me not being able to throw away anything...ever...EVER.

But if I want to be serious I have to start running for time again and for that I need my stopwatch! So, in order to save the times I'm gonna post them here so I will have them forever! Because we all know that the Internet is the dusty back closet for everything, and the world.

Acadia Marathon 2011:

Mile 1: 9.49.57

Mile 2: 10.17.19

Mile 3: 10.14.53

Mile 4: 9.26.22

Mile 5: 9.43.88

Mile 6: 10.24.98

Mile 7: 9.42.92

Mile 8: 9.46.69

Mile 9: 10.27.47

Mile 10: 10.25.40

Mile 11: 10.09.47

Mile 12: 10.51.32

Mile 13: 10.31.01

Mile 14: 11.15.03

Mile 15: 11.03.96

Mile 16: 13.08.21

Mile 17: 11.15.79

Mile 18: 11.00.21

Mile 19: 11.21.54

Mile 20: 11.39.34

Mile 21: 12.08.40

Mile 22: 12.24.94

Mile 23: 12.39.45

Mile 24: 13.19.04

Mile 25: 18.13.89

Mile 26: 11.34.05

Mile 26.2: 2.44.12

Total time: 4 hours 55 minutes 38 seconds

And now that it is saved for posterity I can go run...for time!

Finally...the 8th

So I did work all day Tuesday and into the night. Worked a bit today too, but not as much as I should have.

And now we're going to whine about something else...

I finally have all of the Mahler Symphonies on my iTunes!!! This is something I've been trying to do forever and today I thought I was going to complete my dream. But first, as with everything, a little story.

Freshman year of college I was introduced to Mahler by playing French Horn in my University orchestra's performance of Mahler's 4th. It was a moving piece of work, a little obscure considering I was used to hearing only about the earlier composers, but it came to define the semester and year for me. When ever I hear it I am transported back to those confusing, exhilarating, stressful, and fun days of freshman year.

Since then I had found that my parent's collection contained most of the Mahler symphonies, including a version of his unfinished 10th. They are great to listen to because they are long and they take their time and the first four connect together very well (read as: sound the same).

I was lacking the 6th and 8th. So this year, since I wanted to be able to listen to all of them I asked for the 6th and 8th as birthday gifts, with the caveat being that of all the things I wanted for my birthday, those two recordings were the ones I wanted the most. I got the 6th, but not the 8th.

I had really been looking forward to the 8th the most because of its nick name "Symphony of a Thousand". The sheer audacity to perform such a large orchestration excited me and I've been waiting to hear what such a large group would sound like. I got the 8th for Christmas...best gift ever, aside from the books I also received.

So today, in some down time, I decided to add the CD of the 8th to my iTunes. Well, I tried to at least. My CD drive on my laptop is... temperamental. It likes to work when it feels like it. I've never really experienced an electronic with such personality...lucky me.

Being so close to finally having the complete collection and then being foiled by the silliest hang-up was infuriating! Clearly causing me to be unproductive for the rest of the day.

But now, a little past midnight, I've finally massaged the drive into working and have the complete 1-10 collection!!! I can't wait to listen to it all together for the first time! I put off listening to the 6th until I had the 8th because I wanted to listen to the full evolution of Mahler's composing.

Truly the next few days will be aural heaven.

:-)

Aim For Glorious Plans And When I Was Batman

The wonderful thing about Tuesdays for me is that I have no class, so I can spend the whole day working on other things.

Now stop laughing.

This is especially important now as I plan to make a huge dent in both a section of my thesis today, but more importantly (read as: the lower hanging fruit) I plan to do most of my work of my lab class today which will mean only a little work for me to do later. Planning ahead and all that good stuff.

I've also decided to permanently stop working at home. It isn't really working out and I need to separate my quiet home area from my work area. This will just mean longer and more hours in lab, but that's what I did last year an it worked out just fine. Sometimes familiarity breeds contempt, but sometimes it's that familiarity that makes you feel at home...home, in this case of course, is working at a computer for hours on end.

I also has a really trippy dream last night. I was in my town and there was a snowstorm or one had just happened, but there was a layer of snow on everything and there was no blacktop to be seen. I was driving some sort of large vehicle (Batmobile) and lost control and crashed. Well, I was going rather fast and not trying to slow down.

I hit one car that appeared to be totally fine even though I'm pretty sure I should have destroyed the thing. Another car, a new Mercedes SLS was totally blown apart. All I saw was the front end and the rest of the cars was...I dunno?

Then I walk around to the grill of my vehicle (Batmobile) and notice a car stuck in it with a woman bleeding from some head wound. At this point I try and dial 911, but I'm super clumsy and keep screwing it up. At this point there are a couple of people starting to gather and wonder what is going on.

(Now this is where things are a little fuzzy) Then the people I was with and I hijack a parked snow plow and start driving up the streets to get to my house. I'm still decked out like Batman; cape and all. Then we are on one of the last streets and I'm trying to work the front plow so it doesn't steer us off the road and totally rip off the front of someone's parked car. A quick look at the shattered front bumper and it looks like a Corvette nose.

So I park the truck and get out to look and the people who own the car take a look also, and at this point I realize I'm gonna have to pay for this and start to get worried. So there is like a dozen people around this car that turns out to just be some piece of shit Chevy truck with a custom grill. At this point I calm down as I make sure the front radiators are still in place and that I didn't do any mechanical damage to the car.

Then my mother shows up (dressed like Bat Woman) in a Bat-Sled (jet powered of course) and tells me to not worry about it, and that she'll drive the truck and I should get in the sled and get everyone home.

So I jump in the sled turn it on and start leading the way back to my house. Suddenly this hill wen from a couple blocks long to like a couple hundred blocks long and there's people shooting at us (well, me since the Batsled had an open cockpit) and I have one arm up to protect my face and I feel a couple hit me in the chest and ricochet off the armor. The problem is that I'm also using my arms to propel myself up-hill and to steer. So I'm not going too fast and not very maneuverable, so putting my hand up to not get shot in the face is troublesome.

Then I hear my mom over the speaker tell me that I have the jets on minimum thrust and that I should be steering with the wheel not my hands. So I hit the jets, grab the wheel, and everything becomes SO MUCH easier! And then we start to pull onto my street...

And then I woke up.

The Extra Hour

Someone once told me that the most useful work one can do every day is the little extra they do at the end of the day. The little extra so that what ever you were working on is finished so you don't leave it for the next day.

It is this little bit that everyone tends to leave off. It isn't the end of the world to leave it behind, but it weighs on you. You'll go into work the next day and your first thought will be, "Damn, I still have to work on this?!" and not, "Boy am I glad I got that out of the way yesterday, now I can concentrate on this."

Tonight I mustered up the will power to spend the past hour-ish after the Super Bowl to work on this data gathering thing I've been putting off and don't really have time to do tomorrow either. The best part is that now I can move forward now it's out of the way.

Late nights will perhaps become a new norm this week. We shall see.

Now That You Ask, It Was A Bad Day

I went out to lunch with a friend of mine today and she asked me how my day was going. Up until then I hadn't really thought about it. Let's recap starting with the night before:

- After finishing writing the last section of thesis for the night, I went searching on Pandora for one more rock ballad to power me into the kitchen and join my house mates for some Thursday night bonding/revelry only to have Pandora fail. I reset, opened new windows, but nothing worked. So instead of being jazzed to hangout I was pissed off! Turns out the cable/Internet was down in the house...which was why everyone was not watching TV or on their computers. At least it wasn't my computer that was fucking up.

- I then awoke, a little late, to a hangover. The result of mixing that shot of whiskey into my 4th beer no doubt. That just put a huge damper on the day cause I kinda felt like crap and hadn't really planned on feeling like shit all day. Some nights you just go into it knowing 'well shit, i'm gonna feel like crap in the morning...oh well, let's have fun!' and that's ok, because you plan on it and the hangover acts like a stamp from a club. A little reminder that you did have fun, but there's always a tax.

- Then I found I had three parking tickets for leaving my car in a student lot for the past few days because of the snow. There is money I won't have anymore!

- Then while driving into town for lunch I nearly skidded out of control into an intersection. It was one of those 'i'm being dumb and this will totally be my fault because i'm dumb' moments. i may have been going a little fast down a hill on slushy roads, but I thought I would have enough traction. NAY! The laws of physics said to me, so I did the only thing I could do: I beached myself on the nearest snowbank. The crossing guard saw me and literally face-palmed at my obvious fuck up. One minute of slick rocking and I got Opis free to...

- ...find no parking anywhere! Between the snow and construction crews there was no where to park. I ended up driving around for ten minutes just looking for a spot. No fun.

So when my friend asked me how my day was going, I was inclined to say good or fine, the normal canned response, but after thinking about it for a few seconds I had to say that my day wasn't going well at all!

Cabin Feverish

Spent the last two days inside working on my thesis. Yesterday went well. Today was slightly less productive.

I now remember why I would work in lab and leave my laptop there: my home has to be the safe place fro, my thesis. Getting up walking three feet and working is awful. I need need need to work from lab tomorrow.

But the weather is soooooooooooo shity! I know, suck it up bitch, welcome to winter, but really this is almost too much to deal with. I really can't stand being couped up in my house all the time working. Working sucks and I would rather be doing ANYTHING ELSE!

Tomorrow I have to start really working...more like work consistently. Monday I dicked off, yesterday I made graphs, today I wrote about graphs, tomorrow I will have to do some combination of that. I also have to do real work this weekend, which I can do since I will be here at University as opposed to visiting people...damned ice storm!

But it should be good. I'm on track to hit 2 out of 3 goals for this week so that's cool and with the weekend I should be able to make up for that lost third.

I just really have to get the fuck out of my house.

Budget Review: January

One of my resolutions for this year was to make, keep, and stick to a budget. Let's see how I did:

- Groceries: I went over budget on groceries for a variety of reasons. The first being I tried to buy a month's worth of groceries in a day and then needed to go back constantly to buy things that were perishable. Additionally, buying in bulk doesn't work as well when things can go bad. Some of the things I bought I still have though, so I see January as more of a pantry building month. As such I am increasing my February budget by a modest $25 to match my new buying schedule, which I intend to buy every week instead of every month to hit more sales, increase my variety of food eaten, and to buy perishables weekly.

- Booze: Surprise, surprise! It is possible to buy a month's worth of booze in one outing and stay under budget! That being said, I will also be buying booze on a more weekly or bi-monthly basis so that I can give myself a bit more variety in my purchases. I also don't think I need to have as much money budgeted for booze, so a -$20 reduction for this month.

- Gas: Only filled up once. I had budgeted for two fill ups, so I'm good on that one. -$10 reduction based on most likely driving habits over the next few weeks (it's a short month after all).

- Entertainment: $0 dollars spent. this was to be my "going to the movies" fund with the idea of one movie a weekend or if there was a concert on campus I would use this part of my budget. I never did any of that soooooooo, yeah. No change for this month since this ends up being where the "Other" category takes it's money from.

- Going out: I only went over budget by a little bit on this one so I am confident that I don't need to adjust this category.

- Rent: Flat rate, no further comments.

- Utilities: This was a tricky one because I hadn't anticipated our electric bill o be as much as it was, so this ended up going over budget. I increased this for this month, but hopefully it won't have to be changed again.

Other: the stuff you don't budget for, but an interesting category all the same because it shows how much "extra" spending one does every month. The thing about "Other" is that you can plan for it, but it usually only happens once so it's not the end of the world.

So, all-in-all, I'm increasing my budget for this month by $15 to accommodate the more realistic spending habits as identified last month.

Until next time!

Tomorrow And Eggs And Hair

It will snow in the north east tomorrow. This may come as a surprise to no one as it will snow over about a third of the country tomorrow. This wonderful, now weekly, storm will be followed swiftly on Wednesday with ice. Guaranteed to bring down trees and power lines.

Fun.

I was sorta planning on meeting my mom's boy friend's eldest daughter and her two kids on Wednesday, but it seems as if that might have to wait until...

In other news, I bought eggs today. This pretty much commits me to using them, like most perishable items do. You buy them, they have an expiration date, and you try an use them before then...unless you can freeze what ever it is you bought. Then it can be eaten at some indefinite point in the future. Which is great!

But eggs...you need to eat them. They can go bad. So this week will be an experiment in types of eggs. Fried eggs. Scrambled eggs. I might even be adventurous and try eggs in a basket!

To be sure, I will get more protein and be better for it, or so the thing I read online today said.

One thing I also need to start thinking about is my hair. Hair. I've been growing my beard for a month and it is lookin' pretty good. Definitely at the point where it isn't gross and doesn't sting me anymore. It isn't particularly scratchy. It has some shape to it and feels like a layer rather than a chia-pet.

But all good things must come to an end, but what end? Last year I grew my beard and hair for about a month while I wrote my thesis with the proclamation that I'd shave when my thesis was done. This year I have to adjust that thinking.

The due date is more amorphous this time. Unlike last year where there was a set date, this year there are more like hard targets for drafts. I don't really want to keep everything indefinitely, as fun as that would be. Mostly I am concerned about my hair, it's kinda long. But I don't wanna cut my hair and leave the beard! I want it to be an effect. A clear transition.

But when...

An Internship, Grabbing Life By The Balls, The King's Speech, And The Gibson I Didn't Have

So the past few days have been very interesting for me...or I should say week.

On Wednesday I had a phone interview for an internship that I was then offered on Thursday and accepted on Friday. It is with Nexen, a Canadian based oil and natural gas company. The internship will be in Dallas from June-ish to September-ish, and hopefully it will turn into more than just an internship

Getting this is a really big deal for me on many levels. The first is knowing that I will have something after I graduate. So many of my friends from high school all now live at or near home with their parents, which is something that terrifies me.

My whole life I have always thought that one leaves home for college and then after that gets a job elsewhere. The thought that I would go home after college to "find myself" or "figure out what i'm doing" was absurd and just not in the cards for me. I can only move forward not back.

The second thing that made this a big deal was kind of two fold: whether my education could get me a job in the petroleum industry. On the one hand, I've been told time and time again by some people that I was going about it all wrong. That because I didn't go to a big oil school for grad school, I was already a step behind everyone else I was competing against. That because I was from an unfamiliar school, no one would want me. On, and on, and on, and on.

Also, a friend of mine who was a year ahead of me went on a similar track I was heading towards and didn't get a job. So with that precedent I was a little pessimistic going into the whole process. But by getting the internship I feel vindicated. I feel that I have proven my self-worth, the usefulness of my degree, and shown that I can in fact stand on my own merit.

This also gives me more focus for my thesis. The rest of life is starting.

I feel as if I've been walking through a long dark tunnel and I've been feeling my way along the walls, always knowing I'm going forward, but not seeing the end. But now I can see a light, a pin prick in the darkness and with every day that I get closer to graduation that pin prick gets larger. The excitement of the next real stage of my life is exhilarating. i don't usually get excited about things, but this is something I am truly excited about.

But of course there is still the thesis. And with a goal to run towards I am determined now more than ever to work towards finishing. I met on Friday with my advisor to go over my "progress". Always a fun thing to do, but I decided to grab the meeting by the balls and give the best song and dance I could. I set the agenda for the meeting. I outlined what I'd done, what I had to do, and a schedule (the key bit) of how I would finish my thesis. My advisor was impressed and happy with the fact that I was on top of my shit. And I was happy that she didn't have anything else to talk with me about.

After the meeting it was of back to home to visit mama and celebrate the internship. And I ate steak. So. Much. Steak. It was fantastic.

However, the whole time I wanted to have a Gibson. A Gibson is a martini with cocktail onions instead of olives. Nothing special, but I wanted to try one and be special.

Instead I got a gin drink off the special menu and enjoyed it very much. The Gibson will have to wait.

My mother and I also saw The King's Speech, which has to be the very best move I have seen in years. The acting, the story, everything was spectacular. If you haven't seen it yet, please do. It is truly one of the very best.

Small Steps To Glorious Future And Betterment

Graphs. I made some today.

Every journey begins with a small step.

Lost In The Woods While Making The Map

Today my advisor gave me the old, "We should meet to see how things are going."

Oh fuck.

Luckily that's not until Friday. It would have been today, but I was able to leverage barely-there nostalgia to make it Friday, 'like we always have'.

Oh dear, so it is time to kick things into high gear. The new problem I face is not a lack of motivation. I certainly have that now! Now the issue is just letting the wheels touch the ground and go!

This afternoon/evening I tried working on the section that will prove I did something. But I got bogged down in small details. Trying to analyze little details and thinking of what they mean and searching for explanations for things and over stepping what I've done or haven't done.

I came to the realization that I couldn't see the forest for the trees, but I just really wanna burn the forest down and not have to deal with the trees. If life were only that simple. Luckily I got lost on a small tirade about something that is ultimately fundamental to my thesis, but, as I found out, not something I can get to just yet. I have to build my argument first (hmmmm, thesis writing 101 anyone?).

So tomorrow I will get to what I should have done today while I was lost in the woods trying to see how big the forest was.

Meat And Sleep, Or The Lack There Of

This was a meat heavy weekend and I am so totally ok with that.

It started Friday. Casual drinks to celebrate a professor's birthday aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand burgers. Hooray bar food! It was actually pretty good and you can't argue good beer.

But doing burgers on Friday meant I had to do ribs on Saturday! Such a difficult life. I found this recipe online that called for 2 hours of slow cooking and then 30 min of high heat with BBQ sauce (we used Sweet Baby Ray's) and it was to die for. Clearly there isn't too much to this whole cooking tasty meat thing, otherwise I would be waaaaaay less satisfied with my meals.

And then of course...there was...today. Sunday. Football Sunday. I had prepared for this day. Two large pizzas and four pounds of wings (2 BBQ, 2 General Tso's). It was truly epic and I will probably be constipated for days due to lack of vegetable food-stuffs in this weekend's diet.

And now a humorous story: I was fraught with two choices last night. One of them, the safe one and the one I thought I should choose. The other, the adventurous one, and the one I thought I shouldn't choose...it was also the one I wanted to do.

Both choices were equally available; like sitting at a table with an apple and an orange and trying to decide which to eat. The problem was my moral compass was spinning as if I were standing on the North Pole about whether the adventurous choice was indeed an ok one to make.

So I phoned a friend. And her boyfriend picked up. And I said I was having a moment of morale ambiguity and needed some advice. To which he responded, and I love him for it, "Oh dude, you don't wanna talk to me. I'd probably give you terrible advice!" To which I responded, "That's why I didn't call you and called your girlfriend instead!"

Gotta love your friends, they're usually better at justifying things that you want to do than you are and they usually have your best interests in mind.

As I Sit Amongst Magic and Beer

Waste of a day. I would have stayed in...well, let us begin with the beginning.

It was snowing this morning. That blows. Plus, my bed was warm, I was comfy, and goddamn I didn't wanna get up. But there was one thing preventing me from being prevented from leaving to join the rest of the world: I was awake.

Now, had I been hung-over, I would have stayed in bed. That would have been the final nail in the coffin of me staying in house and not being productive.

Instead...I went into lab and was...unproductive. To be fair, I could spin the minor thing I did today into the most amazing productivity ever. That being said, I still did nothing.

I did listen to the most amazing thing ever! And took a two hour lunch.

End of story, I didn't do anything, but it was a chill day.

Death, Silliness, and Honda

After a busy, yet unproductive day (martini to be had soon), let's take a look at the world of cars, specifically the news on Autoblog:

- Mitsubishi is killing the Galant, Endeavor, and the Eclipse...finally! Mitsubishi has been struggling in the auto market due to old cars and are now trying to right the ship that is being barely kept afloat by sales of the sharp, yet unspectacular Lancer. Now, I am not saying the Lancer is a bad car, but in a segment where fuel economy is king and Mazda dominates in the realm of excitement, yo need something better than being like Mazda, but cheaper inside and out.

I always liked the Galant. I thought it had a very muscular, yet bland look from the rear and with some nice refreshes it could have been made relevant. But being slow, old, and thirsty doesn't win you anything these days.

The Eclipse was a car that no one really wanted and a segment that even Hyundai doesn't play in since they removed their Tiberon from market: the FWD, semi-performance coupe. It didn't really have any go power and went from edgy styling to soft and bland and was left to rot on the vine. Here's to hoping Mitsu can pull off a miracle, cause otherwise they've got no reason being here and should get while the goings good. As should Suzuki.

- Aston Martin Cygnet. A $50K re-badge of a Toyota city car. This car will really push the limits of "compact luxury" because until now no other luxury auto maker has ventured into the ultra compact segment. Sure, BMW have their city car coming out soon, Benz had its hand in Smart and have their A and B Class cars, but all of those vehicles scaled down price with size. If Aston can really pull off charging that much for leather and a badge, this might signal a real change in the way the rich spend their money...on expensive things they don't need, regardless of size!

Ultimately, the car is ridiculous, unnecessary, and taps onto a market that may or may not exist.

- Honda. Autoblog, usually known for playing nice, showed some really stomach with its editorial about whether Honda has lost its way as of late. This is something that I've been hearing and thinking and now finally even the tame Autobloggers have taken up the mantle. So what of Honda?

They recently unveiled their new Civic concept, which at this point is industry speak for "near production model" and it is...the same as what's on the road. It is so similar I am going to have to wait until photos are released to see how different it really is from the current model. Ford went from middle of the pack to top of the class with it's refreshes of the Fusion and Edge, so the ability for an automaker to win big on something as benign as a refresh is out there, but this isn't supposed to be a refresh. This is supposed to be a "new" and "redesigned" car. Though Porsche is the spokesman for the "evolution" of a model through it's years of constant, mild updates to the 911, the Civic is not a 911. The current model isn't even that special...though it was hip years ago when it came out, the public is ready for something new from Honda. Especially in a segment where there is new competition from a strong Ford (Focus) and Chevy (Cruze), not to mention the Hyundai Elantra (now featured in two new Super Bowl ads).

But the trouble doesn't stop there. Honda hasn't had a hit for years. Its hybrid cars never really lit up the charts, to the point of being removed from the market (Accord Hybrid), and the current Insight was supposed to push over the Prius, but never really managed to make a dent.

And then we have the Crosstour. My mother was smitten with this car, until she did the important right shoulder test and left the dealer faster than I could! In addition to the poor visibility, it is the cure for which there was no disease. Saddled with only a V6 and no real improvements in interior volume over the Accord or its own SUVs, the Crosstour was truly an example of a niche too far.

Then the CR-Z with its sport-hybrid ideal has come and already we are about to get a turbo'd four model with the heavy hybrid bits removed. Excellent fuel economy and sports car. The two don't yet go hand in hand. Porsche has shocked the world with its 918 concept, but Porsche made it fast. The CR-Z is slow, handles great, and doesn't get noticeably better mileage than any comparable car, especially with the 40 mpg Hyundai Elantra around the corner.

Honda needs a shot in the arm.

The innovation leader is now playing catch up on several fronts, most embarrassingly is engine design. The house of VTEC needs to get its act together and remind the world why kids ride around in riced up Civics and Integras.

How should it do this? A new engine or transmission would be a start. A return of the affordable sports car wouldn't hurt either, since the loss of the RX-8 and S2000.

Bring it back Honda, cause the CR-V and Accord won't be sell forever.

Retract Claws, Now Pounce

So I worked on this thing for my advisor, as I may have mentioned, and I had written this email about the different ways in which I think she's going about this thing wrong, but I had to check something from a book in my lab so I held off sending it until I could double-check a fact.

Fact checking.

So, I check my facts and reread the email and realize that it is a tad more mean spirited and defeatist than I want it to be. So I deleted everything that was overly critical and left it with the simple greeting that I started with before I went off on a rant. I then met with her later to go over my reservations about the technique and she was busy, but understood that I had taken the task as far as I could and it was now in her hands.

After savaging the food left over from the faculty lunch meeting the afternoon was one of those whirlwinds of activity that end up flat. One of those times when you are running around with a thousand things to do and you're really busy, but don't actually accomplish much even though you're exhausted.

On of those.

I've also come to the sudden realization that class starts tomorrow and I didn't complete nearly as much as I had hopped to finish over break and now really have to be on my toes to get everything done by the end of next month. This means no more leaving work at work...well, I'll still leave work at work, but I'll just start pulling night time in the lab. Also splitting my day up so I work on one thesis section during the day and a different part at night.

I remember this from last year. It sucked then too.

Shit fuck.

Spinning Opis' Tires

Today we got a little bit of an ice storm here in University land. It started like most do: couple inches of snow turning to sleet turning to freezing rain turning to rain.

In the end everything was coated in a nice layer of ice...and not an inconsequential amount either! So since I was parked on the wrong side of the street for tomorrow's alternate side parking bs, I had to move the ole girl.

So I went about with my normal turn the car into an oven and every thing ice-wise just sorta falls away. After I had done this I decided to drive around the block to let the engine do more than heat up and then get cold.

I quickly found that the traction control was more of a hindrance than a driving aid, so it went off. The reason I did this was because the system cuts power when the wheels are slipping. The whole "wheels that slip to the wheels that grip" ideal. Except when none of the wheels grip you just cut power to the whole car. So turning off the TC allows the wheels to slip and search for grip more and use what little grip they have.

So I took advantage of the situation to drive around town and experience first hand the worst driving conditions imaginable...for experience, ya know?

After driving around for a bit I decided to park in my snow and ice drenched drive-way. Which was followed by the realization that if I ever EVER wanted to drive again for the rest of the winter I shouldn't park there.

After fucking around for a few minutes I was close to giving up and then remembered back to something I learned way back when..."rock the car"...

So I rocked the car forward and backward. Using the momentum and quick clutch drops to push myself out. I was stuck with one final spot, but luckily my friend Ross came by and with his man-O-steel arms pushed me out and I was able to drive my house-mate to get food to feed himself!

And the driving was excellent, due to practice of course!

Two Shots To Paradise

Yesterday was a particularly frustrating day in lab for multiple reasons. First, I didn't even want to be there. It was MLK Day and, like I said Sunday, it's a holiday and I didn't want to go into lab.

But then...

My lab mate was going to come in for work, so I didn't want to leave her here all alone, plus I hadn't seen her for a week. So I went it.

But then...

My advisor also came in. No big deal, I usually go days without ever seeing her, but I had sent her a short write-up of something I had worked on over the weekend and hadn't heard back from her.

But then...

She emailed me back to let me know that what I had done was not specific to her liking. You see she wants to use this machine to see if we can find out something that, in the literature, the machine has never done. So it's up to me to figure out what we expect to find, when no one has done it before, and when I don't know what we can find.

But then...

I had made a suggestion last week when we met about a possible use for the machine which she shot down then, but magically it is now an acceptable route of possible research.

But then...

She first had me find samples to be sent out to this guy so he can do this thing (so descriptive I am during this wonderfully cold/rainy morning). The problem was this guy wanted fresh samples so we had to go looking through all of them to find them.

And then...

I called it a day. It was after 5. I went home. Poured myself two shots of whiskey. Knocked them both back in rapid succession. Grabbed a beer. Sat myself down in front of the TV.

And then...proceeded to have a wonderfully pleasant evening. I even had a dream about driving a 2012 Mustang Boss 302. It twas a good evening indeed.

Wings And Things

Had wings for the first time in forever tonight. Teriyaki style. They were delicious.

However, 10 is so not enough and now I must scrounge around for some equally good dessert-esque food. This challenge is massive and the consequences severe, but when the power of Christ compels you, one can do anything.

In other news, tomorrow is MLK day and I'm undecided what to do about it. Officially it is a holiday, but as a grad student "holiday" doesn't mean a whole lot. I think I might just stay home and do work/laundry as opposed to actually going into lab. I don't need to be there anyway...so?

I've been driving very aggressively as of late, especially at night, and feel that I should take steps to rectify this so that I don't get in trouble. It's no big deal to speed, but this tank of gas was supposed to last a while!

I'm going to read tonight as opposed to Internet/netflix. I feel that this is a solid choice since I've been waking up around noon this whole weekend and that will not cut it once tomorrow rolls around.

I should do good work tomorrow. I know what I need to do, it is all about just friggin' doing it. Plus I've been putting off finishing this bit of writing since the snow storm and should really get my act together and finish it without anyone looking over my shoulder. Sometimes it is good to have a gun to your head to get things done, but other times you just wanna work at your own pace and not be reminded of your procrastination!

Good rant.

Future Planing Of Marriage Adorableness

Tonight I went to a going away party for a couple of friends of mine that are moving across the country. They are married (to each other) and I met the both of them about a year or so ago and since then I've spent more time with them and really grown to like them a lot.

Tonight was really the epitome of what I love about them and what I hope my married life will some day be like. Here are a few highlights in wonderful list form:

- Games. We played games and I feel that game nights are a real big thing with married people and as a person who enjoys the competitiveness I had a TON OF FUN!!! We played Catch Phrase and Scene-it (the DVD based game) with the other people that were there (a recently engage couple and another couple who is very serious with each other) and it was a blast. I admit I probably missed out on raunchiness and inebriation on campus, but I was with people who were genuinely nice to their core and having good, wholesome fun...while drinking of course.

- Coupled friends. I never really appreciated the double date while I was dating my last two significant others, but having seen a group of couples interact I do see the draw and want in. The play between individuals and the couple-to-couple interactions are just priceless.

- Finger foods. I was reluctant at first to eat anything because I had just come from dinner, but they were fantastic. Definitely going to be a staple when I am hosting something small with my (future) significant other.

- Punch. This is the second time I've gone to a party that these people have thrown and both times they had a "drink of choice". Last time it was a bowl of champagne punch, this time it was a pitcher of Tom Collins. Either way, having a full bar and a set punch for everyone is a great idea and do want to include.

- Scented bathroom candle. It's the little things. I walk into the bathroom, turn on the light, and pee, and suddenly smell this wonderful field of flowers. It only took a match to change a bland room into an intimate, comfortable space. Smart, brilliant.

- Not getting old. The husband half of the couple got very drunk, though he held it together while everyone left, but after all the guests had left and it was just the couple of us left he was stumbling and drunk. I thought it was great; a true sign that one doesn't stop getting plastered just because they have a few more years and a ring. I admit to fond memories of girlfriends past helping me to be because I was very drunk. Some things don't change.

So I am sure I am missing a few, but I have to go to bed so I can play volleyball with these people tomorrow..errrrr, this afternoon.

Opis Is Free Yet Again

Opis is the Roman goddess who was the wife of the god Saturn. Simple then that I call my Saturn by the name: Opis.

So here in New England, we got slammed Tuesday night and Wednesday with a monster storm that seemed to drop snow only where I live. So like any good person I dug my car out today so I wouldn't be immobile.

Oh wait, today isn't Wednesday. Yeah, I let the snow sit there for a few days and finally got my car out today!

It was quite easy: remove snow from behind the car, remove snow from rear windshield, turn on all the defrosters, turn off the traction control, and power out! I really love freeing Opis from the snow because it is one of the few times I can act like a complete ass in my car and have it be totally ok, because I'm just trying to get free like everyone else, even if that includes spinning the tires, revving the engine, and bumping into snow banks.

Fun.

Resolve To Be Resolute Resistive

One of my New Years resolutions was to create and stick to a budget so I wouldn't piss money away like I've been doing for the last 6 months.

So I made my budget and if I stick too it I won't necessarily be saving very much...at all, but I'll at least I won't be spending more than I'm making, which is the real goal.

The problem with my budget is that i mentally feel I must spend all of the money in each of the allotted categories. This is an issue because saving money is still the main goal of this whole shin-dig.

So last night I bought my booze...for the month. It was a very impulsive trip to the liquor store because I felt compelled to spend what I had budgeted, but at the same time I shouldn't spend everything in the budget, since the money I don't spend just stays with me and makes me lose less every month.

Moral of the story: I bought a lot of beer and am starting to think I should buy what I need when I need it rather than preparing for a second coming of prohibition every month.

Over Saturated

Movies for me are like super rich chocolate truffles. I get immersed in the experience of the movie and usually I come away from it emotionally effected for a little bit (happy if it was a comedy, energized if it was an action movie, etc.).

However, if one eats a whole bowl of truffles the experience becomes less special. You just have the same taste over and over again and it just ends up tasting almost bland, because you're over saturation the taste in your mouth.

And that's pretty much what happened to me after this weekend. I spent the whole time watching movies that by the end of it the experience wasn't special anymore.

So this week I'm going to change it up a bit by reading more and watching more tv (sports particularly). Give myself a break from the constant onslaught/overdose I had this weekend.

When You Plan To Sit On Your Ass

Today was a glorious day. Glorious means having splendor, brilliant, deserving of glory. Today was indeed deserving of glory.

I didn't do anything, but I did watch a bunch of movies. Moved outside my comfort zone and found some there were really quite good. Let us go through them shall we? Luckily lovely Netflix records your viewing history.

The morning began with Eric Bana's Love the Beast. Which was a nice documentary about his Ford Falcon coupe that he has rebuilt with his mates for years and how he crashed out during a rally race and his personal search for whether he should restore it again or just leave it this time. It was a good documentary about a man's love of his car and really dives into the whole emotional connection people have with cars. Why people connect with cars and what cars represent.

This was followed by the animated film Dead Space: Downfall. It is set as a prequel to the video game Dead Space. It's basically Alien, but they had to be original so they threw in some neat religion and people going crazy to spice it up. Ultimately, I have to say it was quite good. Really an excellent sci-fi film, with very realistic dialog and when I say realistic I means everyone was swearing. This might not seem like a big deal, but in real life real people swear, especially when shit gets crazy like it does in this movie. There is also a lot of blood and human versus alien violence which I would be cheering, but in this case it was a bit over kill. Blood was all over everything all the time except the characters, which was a bit unrealistic even for a cartoon. Additionally, the first time a creature brutally stabs and rips a person apart it's gruesome, the fifteenth time it happens it's boring.

After the space slasher I moved to something a little lighter: Chaos Theory with Ryan Renyolds. This was a movie about a man who bases his whole life on preset lists and schedules and then one day his wife sets the clocks forward ten minutes and hilarity ensues! Or at least that's the tag line the studio sells. In reality there is a lot more to the story that the simple premise doesn't touch upon. Yes, things get out of hand when he is suddenly ten minutes late, but what is really impressive is the chain reaction of events that happen as this man's formerly structured life unravels. It is a really sweet (as in awwwwwww) movie about finding out that when everything seems lost you realize you never lost anything to begin with.

And then I think I had lunch. Left-overs, which it pretty much the number one reason to make big dinners.

Then the uplifting cheeriness was enough for me so I watched Brick. Having just plowed through the first season of Veronica Mars, I was a little reluctant to watch a film about a teenager trying to solve the death of his former girlfriend. The movie, however, is not nearly that simple. It took me a little bit to realize the film was noir and not just weird, and once I made that realization I loved it. It has been a long time since I've watched a noir film period, and this was great. The main character Brendon navigates the seedy underworld of his high school and the local drug trade to figure out who killed his ex, why they did it, and who set her up. Really an excellent film, if you're into the whole hard-boiled detective story set up.

Then having done drama I wanted something lighter and a bit more romantic (clearly I was running the gamut of genres today) and watched Conversations With Other Women starring Aaron Eckhart and playing a normal person: Helena Bonham Carter. The film is about a man and a woman who meet at a wedding reception and togetherness ensues. What is interesting is the constant split screen showing each actor at the same time instead of cutting between them talking. It was really interesting to be able to see their constant in time interactions with each other without the use of cutting between each of them. Really an interesting way to shoot a film. That and dialog was objectively fantastic. I wouldn't recommend it if you're on your second marriage or dating a divorced person or...well...it is a very mature relationship that the two get entangled in...aw hell, just see it. I do recommend it.

And from that I was ready for real comedy and watched Dracula: Dead and Loving It. I didn't watch the whole thing. It was pretty shitty. Not one of Mel Brooks' best. Don't watch this one unless you're a die-hard Mel Brooks fan, and even if you are you're better off re-watching Spaceballs for the two hundredth time.

After that I was back in the mood for some information: documentary time! I watched America The Beautiful, which was all about how body image in this country is really messed up and plastic surgery and eating disorders; the movie ran the gamut. It focused on this one girl who had started modelling at age 12. Throughout the journey she learns to hate herself and think she is ugly from working in the industry. The documentary really did a good job at covering the whole story about body image issues and as a person who has known people with body issues, I do understand how real the perception of ugliness is for people. Like any good documentary they present an issue, but don't give a solution. In this case however the solution is non-existent. Every photo is airbrushed to perfection in the media and people know this, but the double zero six foot tall figure is still the female goal. Ultimately the solution is self-esteem boosting and making it clear that what people see in the media isn't real and shouldn't be the standard for everyone to aspire to. The other side of the coin that isn't touched upon in the film is the growing obesity epidemic in this country. Though everyone should love the skin they're in, there is need for balance. Now this wasn't the goal of the documentary and what the film maker did was great, but there should be an understanding of both ends of the spectrum of the issue.

And now I'm going to give my eyes a rest and read a book. Such a novel concept I know.

See what I did there?

Hot Off The E-Presses!

Since the Internet decided to slow down and my netflix is taking forever to rebuffer, why not do something that I've always wanted to do with this blog: give my opinion of the car blog-o-sphere's stories.

First up: apparently the good ol' boys and girls at Ford have turned out 16 City and 22 Highway out of the turbo-charge 3.5 liter V6 in the new F-150. This bests the competition's (and Ford's own 5-oh!) V8 engines in power, towing and MPG, and is now the most powerful engine available, with the exception of the large displacement V8s. Those are still the powerhouses of the model ranges. This raises several interesting questions: with the proliferation of forced induction engines (specifically V6s) turning out better fuel economy and power than their V8 brethren, has the truck no longer become the last bastion of safety for the V8? Will a turbo charged four eventually make its way into the F-150 or other full size truck offering superior fuel economy and thus ending the light truck segment?

Second on the block today: also from Ford, the new, soon to be released Focus Electric. Ford is touting it's first EV as a true all electric vehicle, which is in line with the Nissan Leaf (similar battery range), but doesn't get rid of the range anxiety that the Volts dispels with it's gas engine. To be fair, the Volt is a clever hybrid while the Focus and Leaf are 100% EV. Will this be the car to push GM into going full EV? When will an automaker truly step up and make an EV not based on a preexisting model (Volt-Cruze, Focus-Focus, Leaf-Versa)? Regardless, it is another step forward in the electrification of the road...or at least the three or four people who will buy the car (don't I sound optimistic?).

And finally to wrap things up: TTAC's review of the Land Rover LR4. A good review by Mr. Michael Karesh, a man who I have only growing respect for since his recent trip in a totalled RX-8. The review covers the usual and doesn't really spike any new items, until the end when he smacks the lux-SUV crowd in the face by saying the car is not necessary for the grocery-getter set. He does say that the performance would be spectacular off-road, but who really does that anyway in a $50K+ SUV?

The Taste Of A Brick Wall

Today, for the first time in recent memory, I completely flaked on all of my responsibilities...except Opis, she needed an oil change and a man has to have some priorities in life (contradiction alert!!!).

I didn't do anything today. I set up a new email account for dealing with job applications and sent my resume to a friend's father to give me feedback about it so I could apply with the best foot forward.

And watched several hours of netflix.

I am mildly ashamed, but the fact that I'm not more ashamed just shows me how easy it was to do and how much easier life would be if I just said fuck it and watch movies all day long.

It's weird. I could say that I feel unmotivated, but it is more than that. It's as if every time I sit down at my computer to work or do something productive in my job search I feel as if I've fallen in a vat of glue and the more I resist the urge to procrastinate the tighter and thicker the glue is and it becomes harder and harder to will myself to work.

I don't like to do things for myself. I don't care about letting me down. I've always done things, major things, because of someone else. The triathlon and the marathon I did for my friend Mags. Writing my thesis I did because my friend Amanda had a deadline and I promised her I'd make the same deadline. These things I've done I didn't do it because I wanted to do it for me, it was because I did it for other people. I shifted my motivation to them and I didn't want to let them down because they were my friends and I love them and wouldn't want to let them down.

That's what I'm missing: someone who I'm writing this thesis for. Someone I respect and love and don't want to let down ever because they mean that much to me. People like that are hard to come by, because you actually have to care.

I need to be doing it for someone. I have to find someone to do it for, cause god knows I don't give a shit about doing it for myself.

Late Nights Do Lead To Late Mornings

A few important things learned from last night:

- Minivans are still awesome.

- Chris Nolan loves wide angle shots...and wider angle shots.

- Smiling really does suppress the gag reflex; useful knowledge when doing shots.

- Sometimes just providing a warm place to hangout is enough to make good friends.

- Two AM is really late if midnight is your normal bed time.

- If you smile and wait long enough, your guest eventually leave...eventually.

- Cheerios can take a surprisingly long time to eat.

- I kinda like cheap beer.

- Always go with your gut, cause everyone else might turn out to be an idiot.

- Dresden wasn't and still isn't a country.

- I need to watch Bladerunner, without falling asleep.

- Living with people makes finding reasons for procrastinating so much easier.

When Roses Wither

My lab mate is several steps ahead of me in the job hunt, but as the first start of the new year comes so does the rejection letters.

I've felt the sting before. Getting knocked down a peg when the elitist assumption of my university's name being able to float me further than I can carry myself doesn't hold water and I find myself having to reach for the nearest life jacket.

But one person's misfortune is my wake-up call. I realize that I need to get my act into high gear and apply as if my job depended on it...which it does.

I skated by on nepotism in the past, but there comes a time when even friends and connections run out and you have to get your own foot in the door...and that time is now.

Err, well, tomorrow.

Procrastination still wins...until I'm unemployed that is.

Little Sunday Life Facts

- When you follow all the directions, it actually turns out the way it's supposed to!

- Procrastination will always be the easy option...so just make the tasks easier.

- Cooking for people is always waaaaaaaaaaay more fulfilling than cooking for just yourself.

- A clean toilet can change the decor of an entire apartment.

- When cleaning the toilet makes the rest of the apartment seem cleaner you know it's time to clean the apartment.

- Self control can beat out hunger...but don't go shopping on an empty stomach.

- Six week old booze is still booze.

- It's a true step in your life when you adjust your mini fridge from beer-only duty to real food duty.

- Your 20's: when the couple who invited you to play volleyball a month ago tells you after tonight's game that they're moving a thousand miles away...at the end of the month!

- If you don't remember it, could it really have been that important?

Is it hello New Year?

On the radio, which one listens to often when driving around the north-east visiting friends, they were asking people to call in to answer the question: Is it hello 2011 or good-bye 2010?

It's not a simple question.

When I look back on my 2010, there certainly were high points and there were low points, but on the whole the year just was.

So for me it's hello 2011...you aren't really following a tough act!