The American Gladiators taping was a lot of fun. We got to see Hulk Hogan stare lovingly into the giant screen as old wrestling clips of himself were shown. We got to see Layla Ali tell a contestant that they should do more pull-ups so that they don't lose so badly next time. Oh and we got to see the new gladiators.
The competition we saw was hang tough. That's the one where the contestant tries to make it across the rings before the Gladiator catches them and makes them fall. If you remember the American Gladiators from the early nineties, picture all the times they fell onto pads and replace the pads with water. The action was pretty cool but I have to say that the thing I enjoyed the most were the contestants responses to the questions they were being asked. A sampling is:
"I just tried to keep her legs as far apart as possible."
"I just wanted to avoid the wetness"
"Once her legs wrapped around me I knew I had to take a dive."
Dirty minds!
Anyway, my first semester of grad school is done. I am pretty sure that I got two B's. Not exactly what I was hoping for, but this semester was the most challenging one I have ever gone through. I spoke with the dean of the math department before I left and he helped put it all in perspective. He said that the two classes I took were among the hardest that they offered and that I struggled not because I took time off but because the classes are genuinely difficult. I am just glad that I finished and am focusing on next semester.
For now I am home in Jersey enjoying family and friends. See you in the new year!
Monday, December 24, 2007
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Three Does Not Equal Four
A couple of weeks before Thanksgiving my friends from the now defunct UPS Store came out for a visit. The week was full of excitement.
First was the trip to Universal Studios. I feel like I need to put this trip into a little bit of context. Technically, it wasn't my first time at Universal Studios. The first time I was around 7 or 8 and my family was in Orlando FL. We met up with my Aunt Janet, Uncle Mark, and two cousins to experience the amazing newly opened Universal Studios. We go on the ET ride which was fun and then my mom suggested the Murder She Wrote tour. Being a seven year old I never really watched the show but I do remember that every Sunday when I went in to kiss my mom good night good ole Angela Lansbury was solving some mystery on screen. Anyway, I don't remember much about the ride until the end. Everyone was getting up to leave but the doors wouldn't open. Turns out the computers in the brand new park were still a little glitchy and one of the glitch's was that when the computers froze or shut down the doors would remained closed and locked. Great. A comedian from the audience seized his chance to make his big break and have a captive audience fall in love with him...that is until he realized that there were children in the room and his schtick probably wouldn't be appropriate. We eventually did get out, only to find that the computer glitch had shut down the whole park. Well my Aunt Janet found that unacceptable and found some manager and gave them a piece of her mind. It must have been a pretty upset piece since we were escorted out the back way. We left to the sounds of the Jetsons theme song playing and my Aunt yelling to the song to shut up.
So again, technically this wasn't my first time at Universal. The first thing we do is go to the Fear Factor live show. Well we go to the show but Charlie, Michele's husband decides to be a contestant on the show. We not only get to see Charlie in spandex but we also get to see him eat something disgusting, pull flags out of eel-infested waters, AND get shocked! To top it all off, he won the contest! This time at Universal instead of being escorted out, we got escorted to the front of every line! I got to go on all of the rides I wanted and we got an awesome picture of the us all screaming on a ride. I feel like my journey with Universal Studios has come full circle.
The next night me and Steph went to an Anaheim Ducks game. I have issues. Their chants are ridiculous and they are too nice. Let's start with the chants. Let's Go Ducks has three syllables and yet the crowd tried to fit it into the Let's Go Rangers chant. Three doesn't equal four! Chanting "Let's Go Duh-ucks" does not create an extra syllable it just makes it sound like everyone forgot who they were cheering for in the middle of the chant. Take an example from the Mets or Jets, they know they are a syllable short and thus can't use that chant. Instead they made up their own. How about "Do it Ducks?" or you can still use the Ranger chant but instead speed it up. Instead of "Let's Go Rangers" in the same amount of time say "Let's Go Ducks Let's Go Ducks." This is the method I prefer and the chant I used at the game.
Onto the niceness. The Ducks were playing the Sharks and there were some Shark fans by us who were being pretty obnoxious. At one point one of them fell into the seat in front of him. Instead of the Ducks fans getting mad and chanting "Throw him Out" they helped him up and a little while later took his picture for him. Are you kidding me?! To make matters worse, the refs made a bad call. Instead of the typical "A**hole" chant that I know I love I was stuck with "You suck Ref." Lame.
I know what you're thinking, this niceness is that thing called good sportsmanship but like the man in the parking lot said after the Ducks win, "This is hockey not figure skating."
Steph and Michele came and went and then I went on to spend Thanksgiving with my friends Rachel and Keri, who I lived with for a year when I moved back to MA after New Zealand. Thanksgiving was great and relaxing, a perfect break before the final leg of the semester. I have one more week and then I am done with my first semester. Lots of things need to get done by the time I leave for home: finals, projects, holiday parties, Disneyland, Yosemite, American Gladiator live taping....
First was the trip to Universal Studios. I feel like I need to put this trip into a little bit of context. Technically, it wasn't my first time at Universal Studios. The first time I was around 7 or 8 and my family was in Orlando FL. We met up with my Aunt Janet, Uncle Mark, and two cousins to experience the amazing newly opened Universal Studios. We go on the ET ride which was fun and then my mom suggested the Murder She Wrote tour. Being a seven year old I never really watched the show but I do remember that every Sunday when I went in to kiss my mom good night good ole Angela Lansbury was solving some mystery on screen. Anyway, I don't remember much about the ride until the end. Everyone was getting up to leave but the doors wouldn't open. Turns out the computers in the brand new park were still a little glitchy and one of the glitch's was that when the computers froze or shut down the doors would remained closed and locked. Great. A comedian from the audience seized his chance to make his big break and have a captive audience fall in love with him...that is until he realized that there were children in the room and his schtick probably wouldn't be appropriate. We eventually did get out, only to find that the computer glitch had shut down the whole park. Well my Aunt Janet found that unacceptable and found some manager and gave them a piece of her mind. It must have been a pretty upset piece since we were escorted out the back way. We left to the sounds of the Jetsons theme song playing and my Aunt yelling to the song to shut up.
So again, technically this wasn't my first time at Universal. The first thing we do is go to the Fear Factor live show. Well we go to the show but Charlie, Michele's husband decides to be a contestant on the show. We not only get to see Charlie in spandex but we also get to see him eat something disgusting, pull flags out of eel-infested waters, AND get shocked! To top it all off, he won the contest! This time at Universal instead of being escorted out, we got escorted to the front of every line! I got to go on all of the rides I wanted and we got an awesome picture of the us all screaming on a ride. I feel like my journey with Universal Studios has come full circle.
The next night me and Steph went to an Anaheim Ducks game. I have issues. Their chants are ridiculous and they are too nice. Let's start with the chants. Let's Go Ducks has three syllables and yet the crowd tried to fit it into the Let's Go Rangers chant. Three doesn't equal four! Chanting "Let's Go Duh-ucks" does not create an extra syllable it just makes it sound like everyone forgot who they were cheering for in the middle of the chant. Take an example from the Mets or Jets, they know they are a syllable short and thus can't use that chant. Instead they made up their own. How about "Do it Ducks?" or you can still use the Ranger chant but instead speed it up. Instead of "Let's Go Rangers" in the same amount of time say "Let's Go Ducks Let's Go Ducks." This is the method I prefer and the chant I used at the game.
Onto the niceness. The Ducks were playing the Sharks and there were some Shark fans by us who were being pretty obnoxious. At one point one of them fell into the seat in front of him. Instead of the Ducks fans getting mad and chanting "Throw him Out" they helped him up and a little while later took his picture for him. Are you kidding me?! To make matters worse, the refs made a bad call. Instead of the typical "A**hole" chant that I know I love I was stuck with "You suck Ref." Lame.
I know what you're thinking, this niceness is that thing called good sportsmanship but like the man in the parking lot said after the Ducks win, "This is hockey not figure skating."
Steph and Michele came and went and then I went on to spend Thanksgiving with my friends Rachel and Keri, who I lived with for a year when I moved back to MA after New Zealand. Thanksgiving was great and relaxing, a perfect break before the final leg of the semester. I have one more week and then I am done with my first semester. Lots of things need to get done by the time I leave for home: finals, projects, holiday parties, Disneyland, Yosemite, American Gladiator live taping....
Saturday, October 27, 2007
An Oldy But Goodie
I am getting ready to go out to a Halloween party and I can't help thinking back to my last Halloween at UMass. I can't remember whose been told this story but I htink its pretty funny I think it deserves to be posted. So here it goes...
It was my senior year at UMass and I was Mary Catherine Gallagher from SNL (think hands in armpits and superstar) for Halloween. My friend Calen called me up and invited me to a Halloween party out on a farm. So I hopped in the car with my knee highs, plaid skirt, yellow polo shirt, red vest and black rimmed glasses. There was a lot of people at this party and a couple of kegs had already been picked when me and my friends went on the last haunted hay ride of the night. It had been raining for a couple of hours so I ran back to the car to get my jacket. By the time I got to the tractor my friends were up at the front so I just hopped onto the back.
We started moving and right away you can just feel that this tractor is just full, almost too full. We start plodding away into the dark muddy trail. We can hear chainsaws in the distance but we really don't see much of anything.
We start heading up this hill and the tractor stalls. Well I'm the last person on the tractor so as we stop I fall off, heals over my head, skirt up in the air, into the muddy trail. As I am trying to get up, the tractor starts rolling backwards toward me, so yet a again I fall backwards into the mud. Everyone was yelling at the driver, Molly, to stop so she did, and then she started going forward again. This is a multi-acre farm, it's dark and muddy, the last thing I need is to be left in the middle of it. Eventually Molly catches on to what is going and stops and I hop back on.
Thankfully, the only thing that was hurt was my ego, but we still had to get through the rest of the hayride. There was a 40-something man sitting next to me who reeked like a distillery. He puts his arm around me and says in a gruff MA accent "I'm not trying to hit on ya hun, we just can't have you falling off again."
We get done with the ride and I meet back up with my friends and like good friends they handed me a beer and then just laughed at me. I was a pretty sad sight. There was mud caked all over me, and it wasn't like we were leaving any time soon. It also turns out that the players of the haunted hayride were drunk and thought that the rides were over so we never actually did get haunted.
Whenever Melissa, Paul, or Calen introduce me to new people this is the story that is told about me and I'm ok with that. In the words of the 40-something man that sat next to me, "It could have been worse, it could have been cow shit."
Happy Halloween!
It was my senior year at UMass and I was Mary Catherine Gallagher from SNL (think hands in armpits and superstar) for Halloween. My friend Calen called me up and invited me to a Halloween party out on a farm. So I hopped in the car with my knee highs, plaid skirt, yellow polo shirt, red vest and black rimmed glasses. There was a lot of people at this party and a couple of kegs had already been picked when me and my friends went on the last haunted hay ride of the night. It had been raining for a couple of hours so I ran back to the car to get my jacket. By the time I got to the tractor my friends were up at the front so I just hopped onto the back.
We started moving and right away you can just feel that this tractor is just full, almost too full. We start plodding away into the dark muddy trail. We can hear chainsaws in the distance but we really don't see much of anything.
We start heading up this hill and the tractor stalls. Well I'm the last person on the tractor so as we stop I fall off, heals over my head, skirt up in the air, into the muddy trail. As I am trying to get up, the tractor starts rolling backwards toward me, so yet a again I fall backwards into the mud. Everyone was yelling at the driver, Molly, to stop so she did, and then she started going forward again. This is a multi-acre farm, it's dark and muddy, the last thing I need is to be left in the middle of it. Eventually Molly catches on to what is going and stops and I hop back on.
Thankfully, the only thing that was hurt was my ego, but we still had to get through the rest of the hayride. There was a 40-something man sitting next to me who reeked like a distillery. He puts his arm around me and says in a gruff MA accent "I'm not trying to hit on ya hun, we just can't have you falling off again."
We get done with the ride and I meet back up with my friends and like good friends they handed me a beer and then just laughed at me. I was a pretty sad sight. There was mud caked all over me, and it wasn't like we were leaving any time soon. It also turns out that the players of the haunted hayride were drunk and thought that the rides were over so we never actually did get haunted.
Whenever Melissa, Paul, or Calen introduce me to new people this is the story that is told about me and I'm ok with that. In the words of the 40-something man that sat next to me, "It could have been worse, it could have been cow shit."
Happy Halloween!
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Yoga, Fires, and Friends, Oh My!
So Yoga is...interesting. I've gone to two classes so far and I am kind of on the fence about it. It's a lot of breathing and stretching which I knew it would be and I like. What I didn't realize is that there is a lot of chanting. And like any religion or spiritual tenet, there are some things I just don't agree with. My teacher likes to talk about using the law of attraction. For those who don't know there is a self-help book that's been out on the shelves for awhile called "The Secret." I haven't read it but I do know that it deals with the idea of the law attraction. Basically the gist from what I understand is that if you emit positive "attractive" thoughts the things you would like to happen will happen. So if I want to get my masters all I have to do is think about it and imagine the process and poof the diploma will appear, no late night studying or stressing needed. I'm sure there' more to it then my summary but I don't care, it ain't for me. So when I am relaxing during yoga and my instructor starts talking about the laws of attraction I have to bite my tongue to keep from arguing about it. Despite the law of attraction I do enjoy the yoga. I go on Wednesdays and it is a nice way to kind of break the stress of the week up.
I am sure by now everyone has heard about the fires that are ravaging the Southern California area. Luckily the fires are not very close to me. I can smell the fires in the air and there was ash on my car today but other than that I haven't been affected. From talking to other people it turns out that these have been the worst fires in awhile. The conditions are prime for them too, we haven't had substantial rain since I moved here and there has been no humidity, great for my hair, bad for fire season.
It's taken a little while but I have finally started meeting some people. I met some through a flag football get-together. We have since decided that football is overrated and happy hour is way better. Classes are keeping me pretty busy since its about mid-semester and it's nice to be able to get away and just hang with some peeps.
This weekend should prove interesting. I am going to a Halloween Party hosted by one of my co-workers and on Sunday I just might make my first trip to Disneyland which I am wicked excited about. In between all of that fun I am going to find the time to finish up my homework assignments that are due on Monday. The fabulous life of a grad student.
I am sure by now everyone has heard about the fires that are ravaging the Southern California area. Luckily the fires are not very close to me. I can smell the fires in the air and there was ash on my car today but other than that I haven't been affected. From talking to other people it turns out that these have been the worst fires in awhile. The conditions are prime for them too, we haven't had substantial rain since I moved here and there has been no humidity, great for my hair, bad for fire season.
It's taken a little while but I have finally started meeting some people. I met some through a flag football get-together. We have since decided that football is overrated and happy hour is way better. Classes are keeping me pretty busy since its about mid-semester and it's nice to be able to get away and just hang with some peeps.
This weekend should prove interesting. I am going to a Halloween Party hosted by one of my co-workers and on Sunday I just might make my first trip to Disneyland which I am wicked excited about. In between all of that fun I am going to find the time to finish up my homework assignments that are due on Monday. The fabulous life of a grad student.
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Math By Day, Sushi By Night
I am in the full swing of things with classes right now and boy are they challenging. One class is particularly rough and is keeping me busy. For the first assignment I worked continuously on it for ten days just to hand something in. Because of the time consuming nature of the homework I was a little anxious about this week since I would have not only this classes homework due but also the other class's hw.
Surprisingly though, it was all pretty manageable. The one problem I had was that I had to remember how to code in Matlab. And by remember I mean learn because even though I thought I had learned Matlab before I definetly hadn't. The coding I was doing was terrible. I kept on getting these infinite loops which freeze my computer and make me very upset. I was trudging away at all of this in the lounge on campus when I talked to my friend Briana. She lives about an hour away from me and she had the great idea of going to get sushi. I told her I just wanted to work on the program for a little while longer and then I would head out. I was getting pretty frustrated when suddenly I heard the magical voices of two males disputing the null hypothesis of a statistical inference. If they knew what a null hypothesis was then they probably knew a little about Matlab too. So I turned around and explained to them my problem and asked if they could help. One of them said that they knew the code and could email it to me. Sweet! I am getting homework and help and meeting more people on campus. Now that's multitasking.
I packed up my belongings and headed out to Fusion Sushi in Manhattan Beach and ate until my stomach hurt. And since Briana is a happy enabler of my need for material items we then went to ikea where I bought a really sweet chair. Then I decided that I needed a flat screen tv. Off we went to Circuit City. There was a really good one on sale but of course the Circuit City we were at was out of stock. Have no fear, Briana is on a mission. We hop in the car, find the nearest Circuit City, and buy me a new tv 2 minutes before closing. Now that's shopping.
Surprisingly though, it was all pretty manageable. The one problem I had was that I had to remember how to code in Matlab. And by remember I mean learn because even though I thought I had learned Matlab before I definetly hadn't. The coding I was doing was terrible. I kept on getting these infinite loops which freeze my computer and make me very upset. I was trudging away at all of this in the lounge on campus when I talked to my friend Briana. She lives about an hour away from me and she had the great idea of going to get sushi. I told her I just wanted to work on the program for a little while longer and then I would head out. I was getting pretty frustrated when suddenly I heard the magical voices of two males disputing the null hypothesis of a statistical inference. If they knew what a null hypothesis was then they probably knew a little about Matlab too. So I turned around and explained to them my problem and asked if they could help. One of them said that they knew the code and could email it to me. Sweet! I am getting homework and help and meeting more people on campus. Now that's multitasking.
I packed up my belongings and headed out to Fusion Sushi in Manhattan Beach and ate until my stomach hurt. And since Briana is a happy enabler of my need for material items we then went to ikea where I bought a really sweet chair. Then I decided that I needed a flat screen tv. Off we went to Circuit City. There was a really good one on sale but of course the Circuit City we were at was out of stock. Have no fear, Briana is on a mission. We hop in the car, find the nearest Circuit City, and buy me a new tv 2 minutes before closing. Now that's shopping.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
And Another Week Down
This week was the first full week for me, I went to class and worked 20 hours. Since I have both of my classes on Monday I basically spend the rest of the week doing the homework. I am putting a lot of effort into this first homework because I want to make sure my proofs are right. This homework is kind of like my first impression on the professor. He's heard me talk about math experience and now it's time for me to show it. I know, I know, it's just one homework assignment, but this is me and this is how I roll.
My job is pretty great. For fifteen hours of the week I just get to mess around a computer looking for articles and burning picture cds whenever anybody asks. The other five I do filing and apparently I am really good at it. The other intern went up to the boss and mentioned how fast I was. Who knew that was something I could put on my resume? Really fast filer.
The only downside to the job is that I have to dress up. By dress up I mean no jeans, no plaid shorts, no t-shirts. I have come a long way from 365 in '05*.
Tomorrow I am going to the LA County Fair again. This time I am going to try fried coke (the soda not the controlled substance; no Hollywood nose bleeds for me thanks). OH and I signed up for Yoga classes. The first one is next Wednesday...I will let you know how that goes...let's just say I'll be taking bean-o to circumvent my fears.
*365 in '05 was a dream of mine for my senior year of college. I hated to doing laundry throughout my undergrad. You never knew who was peeing or puking in the machines the night before. It got to the point that I would go an entire semester without doing laundry. If I ran out of something, like socks, I would just buy more. I also have a love of free t-shirts. Part of the reason I became an RA was because I knew that I would get lots of free t-shirts. I volunteered because each new project usually meant a free t-shirt. Let me break the math down for you:
Hatred of Laundry + Love of Free T-Shirts = 365 in '05,
an idea that I would wear a different t-shirt everyday for the entire year of 2005. The stipulation was that these t-shirts had to be free or bought at a salvation army. I did manage to acquire about 100 t-shirts but then a lack of closet space and a love for certain t-shirts caused me to stop the campaign.
My job is pretty great. For fifteen hours of the week I just get to mess around a computer looking for articles and burning picture cds whenever anybody asks. The other five I do filing and apparently I am really good at it. The other intern went up to the boss and mentioned how fast I was. Who knew that was something I could put on my resume? Really fast filer.
The only downside to the job is that I have to dress up. By dress up I mean no jeans, no plaid shorts, no t-shirts. I have come a long way from 365 in '05*.
Tomorrow I am going to the LA County Fair again. This time I am going to try fried coke (the soda not the controlled substance; no Hollywood nose bleeds for me thanks). OH and I signed up for Yoga classes. The first one is next Wednesday...I will let you know how that goes...let's just say I'll be taking bean-o to circumvent my fears.
*365 in '05 was a dream of mine for my senior year of college. I hated to doing laundry throughout my undergrad. You never knew who was peeing or puking in the machines the night before. It got to the point that I would go an entire semester without doing laundry. If I ran out of something, like socks, I would just buy more. I also have a love of free t-shirts. Part of the reason I became an RA was because I knew that I would get lots of free t-shirts. I volunteered because each new project usually meant a free t-shirt. Let me break the math down for you:
Hatred of Laundry + Love of Free T-Shirts = 365 in '05,
an idea that I would wear a different t-shirt everyday for the entire year of 2005. The stipulation was that these t-shirts had to be free or bought at a salvation army. I did manage to acquire about 100 t-shirts but then a lack of closet space and a love for certain t-shirts caused me to stop the campaign.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
Things I love right now
Private Schools:
They apologized for making me wait five minutes to see a financial aid officer AND they gave me a cookie while I waited. Then I actually met with the woman and she knew my name and pointed me into the direction of where I could find a job on campus. Poof! Two days later I am employed.
I work for the Office of Communications and primary job is to search the web for stories that mention CGU or any of our professors. I also upkeep their photo database and provide the photos for the brochures and things that are made for the campus. I also get to help proof read the university magazine and apparently I might have to write for it too (yikes). The people are ok. They are a little stand-offish right now but I think what it is is that they are just low key people who don't talk a lot, boy are they in for a surprise with me. Everyone working there is a student which means they are really flexible around class schedules, always a bonus.
BBQs at Private Schools:
Yeah the burgers were burnt and the cookies were a little stale, but there was beer! and wine! As much of it that you wanted to drink for free! I also got to meet some more people on campus. Everyone seems really nice and a lot of people are in the same boat that I am in, just adjusting to moving here and trying to find our respective niches. It's always good to have a few more people know your name.
My Landlady:
She hasn't rented her house out before and you can tell. She's trying to find that line between hovering mother and responsible landlady. I didn't come home one night and she told me the next day that she decided not to worry unless I didn't come home for three days in a row. I told her I appreciate her worry and her restraint on panicking. All I can picture now is me out and about and she frantically calling Jersey saying I am lost. Oy.
She also is on every health kick published on the internet. She bought this jug of Aloe Juice. I thought it was something that you pour down clogged drains but apparently you drink it to encourage something or other in your body. I watched her drink it and let me tell you, it did not look appetizing. It looked like she just too her first tequila shot of the night. A day later she sent me an email about the bad effects of sodium benzoate which is in the lovely diet soda that I drink constantly. Fortunately, sodium benzoate is also in that aloe juice so she had a reason to throw the jug out without drinking the whole nasty substance.
TiVo:
I've always loved tivo but now I have one of my very own.
Beaches:
They are everywhere! I got to make my own work schedule and it just so happens that I get off of work by noon on Fridays. Thus Friday is my beach day. I got to the beach, sleep, tan, read, do anything I want. It's pretty glorious. The great weather everyday isn't bad either, I try to spend a couple of hours outside everyday. There's this great walking trail right by the house that I've been using that's pretty good. I don't mind exercising, as long as I am getting a tan to boot.
Oh and I guess classes:
My classes seem pretty interesting. They are def going to be challenging but I think(hope) I can do it. The profs seem really accessible so I just need to utilize them. I am taking two classes, both are stats and one has to do with using stats to predict the functions of certain molecules in the body based on their molecular composition. It sounds pretty interesting.
I guess you can say I am settling in quite nicely.
They apologized for making me wait five minutes to see a financial aid officer AND they gave me a cookie while I waited. Then I actually met with the woman and she knew my name and pointed me into the direction of where I could find a job on campus. Poof! Two days later I am employed.
I work for the Office of Communications and primary job is to search the web for stories that mention CGU or any of our professors. I also upkeep their photo database and provide the photos for the brochures and things that are made for the campus. I also get to help proof read the university magazine and apparently I might have to write for it too (yikes). The people are ok. They are a little stand-offish right now but I think what it is is that they are just low key people who don't talk a lot, boy are they in for a surprise with me. Everyone working there is a student which means they are really flexible around class schedules, always a bonus.
BBQs at Private Schools:
Yeah the burgers were burnt and the cookies were a little stale, but there was beer! and wine! As much of it that you wanted to drink for free! I also got to meet some more people on campus. Everyone seems really nice and a lot of people are in the same boat that I am in, just adjusting to moving here and trying to find our respective niches. It's always good to have a few more people know your name.
My Landlady:
She hasn't rented her house out before and you can tell. She's trying to find that line between hovering mother and responsible landlady. I didn't come home one night and she told me the next day that she decided not to worry unless I didn't come home for three days in a row. I told her I appreciate her worry and her restraint on panicking. All I can picture now is me out and about and she frantically calling Jersey saying I am lost. Oy.
She also is on every health kick published on the internet. She bought this jug of Aloe Juice. I thought it was something that you pour down clogged drains but apparently you drink it to encourage something or other in your body. I watched her drink it and let me tell you, it did not look appetizing. It looked like she just too her first tequila shot of the night. A day later she sent me an email about the bad effects of sodium benzoate which is in the lovely diet soda that I drink constantly. Fortunately, sodium benzoate is also in that aloe juice so she had a reason to throw the jug out without drinking the whole nasty substance.
TiVo:
I've always loved tivo but now I have one of my very own.
Beaches:
They are everywhere! I got to make my own work schedule and it just so happens that I get off of work by noon on Fridays. Thus Friday is my beach day. I got to the beach, sleep, tan, read, do anything I want. It's pretty glorious. The great weather everyday isn't bad either, I try to spend a couple of hours outside everyday. There's this great walking trail right by the house that I've been using that's pretty good. I don't mind exercising, as long as I am getting a tan to boot.
Oh and I guess classes:
My classes seem pretty interesting. They are def going to be challenging but I think(hope) I can do it. The profs seem really accessible so I just need to utilize them. I am taking two classes, both are stats and one has to do with using stats to predict the functions of certain molecules in the body based on their molecular composition. It sounds pretty interesting.
I guess you can say I am settling in quite nicely.
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
It's my turn
Meryl and Harold are back on the east coast and not sweating nearly as much as they were this past week. They picked me up at the airport on Tuesday and since then it's been a whirlwind. I will let them fill everyone in on our sightseeing adventures.
The first thing we did was go to the house where I am renting a room. I found the room for rent online and agreed to rent it sight unseen. Needless to say I was pretty anxious about finally seeing it. The move has been pretty effortless on my part so I was waiting for the downside, such as I mistakenly rented a room in a crack den and my room would be a cardboard box. Luckily this was not the case. The house is beautiful, a typical California ranch, and my room is pretty awesome. I knew it was fully furnished, one of its major selling points, but what I didn't know was that my landlady was nice enough to supply me with pillows, sheets, and a comforter,...and a tv....and satelitte connection...and a dvd player....and a walk in closet. Whoo hoo!! I was relieved.
The people I am sharing the house with are pretty cool. One is a junior and the other is a senior at undergrad. Then there's my landlady and the two dogs. It's pretty cozy. I only share a bathroom with one other person which is really nice. All in all, as of right now, I really lucked out.
My parents met my landlady, Kim, and they really liked her. When my mom got up from the couch she did her typical "Oy". Later that night Kim knocked on my door and asked me some random question then she hesitated and asked "are you Jewish?" I replied my usual way where i say it's kind of complicated and that my mom is Jewish but I was baptised and confirmed Christian but we basically still celebrate everything. She then told me that she is Jewish and that maybe that would make my mom feel better about leaving me here. ha! so cute.
I've been to orientation and have already picked classes. I am taking two classes and they are both on Monday and since this past Monday was labor day I don't have classes until next Monday, pretty sweet. Now the question is what to do with my time? I have thought about walking around with a sandwich board around my neck that reads "From New Jersey, need friends." but I decided that that is pretty tacky and ranks up there with the time my parents walked around a store up at UMass and shouted "This is our daughter, will you be her friend?" Instead I will bide my time looking for a job AND laying on the beach. We are in the middle of a heat wave right now...It hasn't been under 100 degrees since I got here so I am either in air conditioning or driving to the coast, where it is at least 20 degrees cooler, no lie.
I am still trying to work out the internet kinks at the house so my access is spotty at best but that should be figured out by the end of this week. Miss me lots!
The first thing we did was go to the house where I am renting a room. I found the room for rent online and agreed to rent it sight unseen. Needless to say I was pretty anxious about finally seeing it. The move has been pretty effortless on my part so I was waiting for the downside, such as I mistakenly rented a room in a crack den and my room would be a cardboard box. Luckily this was not the case. The house is beautiful, a typical California ranch, and my room is pretty awesome. I knew it was fully furnished, one of its major selling points, but what I didn't know was that my landlady was nice enough to supply me with pillows, sheets, and a comforter,...and a tv....and satelitte connection...and a dvd player....and a walk in closet. Whoo hoo!! I was relieved.
The people I am sharing the house with are pretty cool. One is a junior and the other is a senior at undergrad. Then there's my landlady and the two dogs. It's pretty cozy. I only share a bathroom with one other person which is really nice. All in all, as of right now, I really lucked out.
My parents met my landlady, Kim, and they really liked her. When my mom got up from the couch she did her typical "Oy". Later that night Kim knocked on my door and asked me some random question then she hesitated and asked "are you Jewish?" I replied my usual way where i say it's kind of complicated and that my mom is Jewish but I was baptised and confirmed Christian but we basically still celebrate everything. She then told me that she is Jewish and that maybe that would make my mom feel better about leaving me here. ha! so cute.
I've been to orientation and have already picked classes. I am taking two classes and they are both on Monday and since this past Monday was labor day I don't have classes until next Monday, pretty sweet. Now the question is what to do with my time? I have thought about walking around with a sandwich board around my neck that reads "From New Jersey, need friends." but I decided that that is pretty tacky and ranks up there with the time my parents walked around a store up at UMass and shouted "This is our daughter, will you be her friend?" Instead I will bide my time looking for a job AND laying on the beach. We are in the middle of a heat wave right now...It hasn't been under 100 degrees since I got here so I am either in air conditioning or driving to the coast, where it is at least 20 degrees cooler, no lie.
I am still trying to work out the internet kinks at the house so my access is spotty at best but that should be figured out by the end of this week. Miss me lots!
Monday, August 27, 2007
Meryl & Harold Road Trip - What stays in Vegas
Well, some of you may have noticed it has been a couple of days (nights) since our last blog. We busted our horns driving 13 hours on Thursday so we only had a 5 hour drive on Friday to reach LAS VEGAS. And after checking in to the Excelsior (don't do it), we found there is a $13.95 charge to connect to the secure internet. Being extremely cheap, I decide you would just have to wait to read about our further adventures.
After checking in, Meryl's stomach started acting up. We decide to try a buffet in the hotel for dinner. It turned out the only thing Meryl was able to eat was Apple Pie and Vanilla Ice Cream, go figure. $15.99 for dessert (notice a pattern). We walked around the casino for a bit and decided it was like being in Disney World on Steroids.
Saturday morning Meryl is reading this Entertainment Magizine and sees that Earth, Wind & Fire are playing at the Hilton that night. She then recalls her former coworker, Darryl, was supposed to go with them as their road manager. So she finds his phone number and when he answers asked him where he was. "Vegas," he replied. "Me too," she says. Turns out he could have gotten us front row seats BUT I had already purchased 2 tickets for Penn & Teller for that night.
So what the heck, we'll meet up with him after the show. The Penn & Teller show is at the Rio, so we decide to go there for dinner so we can pick up our tickets 1 hour before the show starts at 9:00. Meryl's stomach still beibg a bit squeamish, we go to the All American Cafe at the Rio for a $9.95 Burger. While we are waiting, we go through the casino and they have a show in the middle of it. Blaring music male dancers with no shirts, female dancers in skimpy costumes, and Mardi Gras floats moving along tracks from the ceiling.
Penn & Teller put on a great show. A lot of laughs, magic tricks, and some pointed observations. And they take pictures with any and all as the audience leaves. We then go over to the Hilton and meet up with Darryl around 11:30. All the shows have ended so we go to a Deli/Diner for some desserts. Next thing we know its 1:30 am. Those of you who know Meryl know this is way past her bed time.
As we are heading up to our room, one of the guards mentions to us that Sunday morning check out at 11:00am is a mad house. And leads to a huge amount of traffic on I15 headind south to California. So with this in mind we get up aand check out by 8:00am. We get on the road, and there is some traffic but we are traveling across the Mojave at the 75MPH speed limit, which is sweet. We made it to our next and last Holiday Inn in Corona California. And here we shall stay for the rest of the week.
Oh, and by now you should have figured out that what stays in Vegas is your money. We played a couple of slots. Quarters, Nickels, and even Penny. And I won. I even have a pay-out ticket to prove that I, Harold the cheap, won 4 cents on a penny slot.
After checking in, Meryl's stomach started acting up. We decide to try a buffet in the hotel for dinner. It turned out the only thing Meryl was able to eat was Apple Pie and Vanilla Ice Cream, go figure. $15.99 for dessert (notice a pattern). We walked around the casino for a bit and decided it was like being in Disney World on Steroids.
Saturday morning Meryl is reading this Entertainment Magizine and sees that Earth, Wind & Fire are playing at the Hilton that night. She then recalls her former coworker, Darryl, was supposed to go with them as their road manager. So she finds his phone number and when he answers asked him where he was. "Vegas," he replied. "Me too," she says. Turns out he could have gotten us front row seats BUT I had already purchased 2 tickets for Penn & Teller for that night.
So what the heck, we'll meet up with him after the show. The Penn & Teller show is at the Rio, so we decide to go there for dinner so we can pick up our tickets 1 hour before the show starts at 9:00. Meryl's stomach still beibg a bit squeamish, we go to the All American Cafe at the Rio for a $9.95 Burger. While we are waiting, we go through the casino and they have a show in the middle of it. Blaring music male dancers with no shirts, female dancers in skimpy costumes, and Mardi Gras floats moving along tracks from the ceiling.
Penn & Teller put on a great show. A lot of laughs, magic tricks, and some pointed observations. And they take pictures with any and all as the audience leaves. We then go over to the Hilton and meet up with Darryl around 11:30. All the shows have ended so we go to a Deli/Diner for some desserts. Next thing we know its 1:30 am. Those of you who know Meryl know this is way past her bed time.
As we are heading up to our room, one of the guards mentions to us that Sunday morning check out at 11:00am is a mad house. And leads to a huge amount of traffic on I15 headind south to California. So with this in mind we get up aand check out by 8:00am. We get on the road, and there is some traffic but we are traveling across the Mojave at the 75MPH speed limit, which is sweet. We made it to our next and last Holiday Inn in Corona California. And here we shall stay for the rest of the week.
Oh, and by now you should have figured out that what stays in Vegas is your money. We played a couple of slots. Quarters, Nickels, and even Penny. And I won. I even have a pay-out ticket to prove that I, Harold the cheap, won 4 cents on a penny slot.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Road Trip - We're Not In Kansas Anymore
So, last night we checked into a HOLIDAY INN across the road from Arrowhead Stadium, home of the Kansas City Chiefs. Who knew it was not in Kansas but in Missouri. Anyway, Meryl and I decided we would add a couple of hours and miles to today's drive. We figured we would drive through Denver and head on down to Grand Junction Colorado.
So we hit the rode at 7AM and headed west on I70. It was 15-20 minutes we were in Kansas, and began our big trek. Seven(7) hours later we were crossing into Colorado. Kansas you may have heard is flat. That does not tell you the truth. The eastern end of the state has some rolling hills, but by the time you are mid-way you realize the only time you are climbing any type of grade, it is for an over pass. I mean it was flat!
And another thing, it seems in the middle of these farms and cattle ranchs, at every cross roads about every 10-15 miles, there is an Adult Book store. And in the field behind each of these stores there is a billboard with a Bible quote about the evils of porn. As we were driving past one of these stores, the truck driver in front of us nearly ran off the road as he read they give a special discount to truckers with a certain type of license.
Anyway, we finally crossed over into Colorado. which is just as flat as Kansas on its eastern border. it then became rolling hills, which is what it was as we drove into Denver. Meryl was driving at that point. We had decided to switch every 2 hours, which was working pretty good. Then Meryl decided to drive through Denver. I think the 75 MPH Speed Limit had something to do with this.
WELL, the western side of Denver is right into the Rocky Mountains. She did pretty godd until we came to a down grade that had warnings for the trucker to put it into their lowest gear, that the grade was 7%, and winding. And we are in a rain storm at this point. About midway down I heard Meryl saying "oh, S**t!" As if answering her prayer an exit appeared and we were off the hill. At the traffic light at the bottom of the exit she asked me which way to turn, and I replied "I don't know. I've never been here before." Lucky, my door was locked because Ithink she would have left me there if she could have.
We changed positions and I took over the driving for the rest of the trip. All I can was is that I70 from Denver to Grand Junction is possibly the most beautiful road I have driven on. The roadway hugs the sides of canyons formed by a creek, then the Eagle River and then the Colorado. Denver is known as the Mile High City at 5,340 feet above sea level. The roadway climbed to 11,300 feet where we went through a tunnel and then began decending a 6% downgrade, without the rain this time. Beautiful.
So we hit the rode at 7AM and headed west on I70. It was 15-20 minutes we were in Kansas, and began our big trek. Seven(7) hours later we were crossing into Colorado. Kansas you may have heard is flat. That does not tell you the truth. The eastern end of the state has some rolling hills, but by the time you are mid-way you realize the only time you are climbing any type of grade, it is for an over pass. I mean it was flat!
And another thing, it seems in the middle of these farms and cattle ranchs, at every cross roads about every 10-15 miles, there is an Adult Book store. And in the field behind each of these stores there is a billboard with a Bible quote about the evils of porn. As we were driving past one of these stores, the truck driver in front of us nearly ran off the road as he read they give a special discount to truckers with a certain type of license.
Anyway, we finally crossed over into Colorado. which is just as flat as Kansas on its eastern border. it then became rolling hills, which is what it was as we drove into Denver. Meryl was driving at that point. We had decided to switch every 2 hours, which was working pretty good. Then Meryl decided to drive through Denver. I think the 75 MPH Speed Limit had something to do with this.
WELL, the western side of Denver is right into the Rocky Mountains. She did pretty godd until we came to a down grade that had warnings for the trucker to put it into their lowest gear, that the grade was 7%, and winding. And we are in a rain storm at this point. About midway down I heard Meryl saying "oh, S**t!" As if answering her prayer an exit appeared and we were off the hill. At the traffic light at the bottom of the exit she asked me which way to turn, and I replied "I don't know. I've never been here before." Lucky, my door was locked because Ithink she would have left me there if she could have.
We changed positions and I took over the driving for the rest of the trip. All I can was is that I70 from Denver to Grand Junction is possibly the most beautiful road I have driven on. The roadway hugs the sides of canyons formed by a creek, then the Eagle River and then the Colorado. Denver is known as the Mile High City at 5,340 feet above sea level. The roadway climbed to 11,300 feet where we went through a tunnel and then began decending a 6% downgrade, without the rain this time. Beautiful.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Meryl & Harold Take a Road Trip - Part Deux
Ok sooo to set the record striaight I read the stupid map...I gave Harold the name and exit to get off ONCE. Those of you that know Harold well , know that if yiou tell hi something more than once he tends to get a little testy...so I thought I was done and did go into my world.
Heres day two: We got up very early to get a jump on the day.I went to go take a shower and there was no hot water. To say the least I was not very happy and.............upon checking out voiced my concern about the lack of hot water. Moral those who complain necley don't get chrged for the night. ( Harold was vwerrrrry happy about that)
Our mission was to get to Kansas City. We left columbus around 7am ( Oh almost forgot I only had a 1/2 cup of coffee)
This part are for my two favorite ladies in Dayton Ohio. Harold said that we wouldn't be near Dayton. Guess what he was WRONG this morning we drove past Dayton. He feels very bad we would have loved to have dinner with you two. Hope all is well and that you love being home.
On with the story: Harold started driving, so,, around 10 I started whining coffee (thank goodness we needed to get gas so we stopped and again I was very Happy. I then took over driving we drove from Ohio thru West Virgina (speed Limit 75 miles an hour Yippeee, Indiana, Illionois, Missouri ONLY PROBLEM IS THE STATES KEPT CHANGING SPEED LIMITS. BUT THEY DIDN'T GET ME, I PAID ATTENTION!!! I got to drive on Route 66 how cool is that, then over the Mississippi River. It was really pretty uneventful. We are really having a good time and I can't believe we are getting the opportunity to drive cross country. We haven't even tried to drive off leaving one of us at the rest stop. So I think all in all we are getting along pretty good.
We arrived in Kansas. the hotel is right across the street from The Kansas City Chiefs football Stadium.We will be hitting the road again in the morning. I think Colorado is the next stop....but I have to check with my tour director.
Meryl,
Heres day two: We got up very early to get a jump on the day.I went to go take a shower and there was no hot water. To say the least I was not very happy and.............upon checking out voiced my concern about the lack of hot water. Moral those who complain necley don't get chrged for the night. ( Harold was vwerrrrry happy about that)
Our mission was to get to Kansas City. We left columbus around 7am ( Oh almost forgot I only had a 1/2 cup of coffee)
This part are for my two favorite ladies in Dayton Ohio. Harold said that we wouldn't be near Dayton. Guess what he was WRONG this morning we drove past Dayton. He feels very bad we would have loved to have dinner with you two. Hope all is well and that you love being home.
On with the story: Harold started driving, so,, around 10 I started whining coffee (thank goodness we needed to get gas so we stopped and again I was very Happy. I then took over driving we drove from Ohio thru West Virgina (speed Limit 75 miles an hour Yippeee, Indiana, Illionois, Missouri ONLY PROBLEM IS THE STATES KEPT CHANGING SPEED LIMITS. BUT THEY DIDN'T GET ME, I PAID ATTENTION!!! I got to drive on Route 66 how cool is that, then over the Mississippi River. It was really pretty uneventful. We are really having a good time and I can't believe we are getting the opportunity to drive cross country. We haven't even tried to drive off leaving one of us at the rest stop. So I think all in all we are getting along pretty good.
We arrived in Kansas. the hotel is right across the street from The Kansas City Chiefs football Stadium.We will be hitting the road again in the morning. I think Colorado is the next stop....but I have to check with my tour director.
Meryl,
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Meryl & Harold Take a Road Trip - In the Beginning
So, many of you know Elyse is enrolled in Grad School in California. Why you ask? Because she did not enough money to return to New Zealand, and California was as far away from us that she can go, without leaving the continental U.S. So I volunteered to drive her car, with all her worldly goods out to California, rather than having her make the drive by herself. But Meryl would not let me go by myself, She was afraid I would just buy a couple of bucket of KFC and drive straight through, as if. Anyway that is how Meryl and I came to be driving across the country, together, , , for a week, , , so we can be at the airport in Ontario CA when Eylse lands.
So today, August 21st, we left Middlesex at 7:00 AM. The middle of August is called the "Dog Days" because it is Hot and Humid. Except it was 58 degrees this morning and raining. As we drove through the mountains in Pennsylvania the clouds were so low we were above the rain and it was falling up!
So I am driving the first leg of the trip, and Meryl is so proud og herself because she has finally figured out how to read a road map. True it was a AAA Road Trip Map but she was reading it. And she knew what highway we were on, and which one we were looking for, and even knew the exit number. real good right. Except she took a side triop to "Meryl's World." You that place where the bunny rabbits all sit at the side of the road sign to you as you go by. So that is where Meryl was when I asked "What was the exit number again." She start fumbling with the papers and turns and points out the side window and says "That one."
Meryl of course denies this version of the events and will have her chance to tell her side of the story later. More to follow. - Harold
So today, August 21st, we left Middlesex at 7:00 AM. The middle of August is called the "Dog Days" because it is Hot and Humid. Except it was 58 degrees this morning and raining. As we drove through the mountains in Pennsylvania the clouds were so low we were above the rain and it was falling up!
So I am driving the first leg of the trip, and Meryl is so proud og herself because she has finally figured out how to read a road map. True it was a AAA Road Trip Map but she was reading it. And she knew what highway we were on, and which one we were looking for, and even knew the exit number. real good right. Except she took a side triop to "Meryl's World." You that place where the bunny rabbits all sit at the side of the road sign to you as you go by. So that is where Meryl was when I asked "What was the exit number again." She start fumbling with the papers and turns and points out the side window and says "That one."
Meryl of course denies this version of the events and will have her chance to tell her side of the story later. More to follow. - Harold
Saturday, June 09, 2007
It's been awhile
I had all the intentions of writing these amazing blog posts about my vacation and work and moving.....but I am a Fosse and procrastination and lack of internet got to me. Hence a really condensed version follows:
I took two weeks off in April and I tried to make the most of it. Amanda and I took a trip to Niagara Falls. It was amazing. The falls were beautiful and the area itself is like a jersey boardwalk that threw up over five city blocks. Casinos, unhealthy food, ferris wheels, Ripley's Believe it or Not, screaming kids with soft serve. I was in heaven.
After the Niagara trip I drove to Jersey and then flew to Cali to hang with Briana for a couple of days. I had found out that I got accepted to Claremont Graduate School about a week before and the Dean of the school was able to meet with me during my stay wth Briana. So basically I got off of the plane, went to B's, borrowed her nice clothes and then she drove me to Claremont. She also sat in on the meeting with the Dean and I thank my lucky stars she was there. I was asking all the academic questions and I was getting wicked excited about the program and I completely forgot to ask the other important questions like housing. But luckily B-diggs was there to throw on her former supervisor cape and save the day. After the meeting I knew I was going to go to Claremont. The area is very cute and collegiate, like a mini Northampton. With the meeting over with me and B enjoyed my next three days by going on a much deserved shopping spree.
After Cali I stayed in Jersey for the rest of my break and caught up with friends and family. Cinqo de Mayo occurred. Jenna graduated. It was good times.
AND I walked in the MS Walk with the UPS Store clan. We were called the Fighting Fitzgerald's and it was a fun time. It had everything a walk should have...hair transplants, lost 12 year olds, irate mothers, and cookies.
The last month has been a whirlwind of graduations and trumpets. The international trumpet guild decided to hold their annual conference at Umass this year. Two days after graduation 1000 trumpeters descended upon the campus. Because I was finishing my year long job and starting my summer job I got hit with a double whammy. Not only did I have to help register all of these horn blowers I had to house them too. I don't mind my job and I like the details of it, but I do mind how sometimes we lose perspective and start to think that our job is the most important in the world. It's not like anyone will ever not be able to go the conference or not be housed. I mean no one is ever going to have to sleep outside of the dorm because of a mistake. Everyone gets housed and registered whether or not we have an aneurysm. Therefore I prefer to not have one whereas sometimes my bosses like to put on that song and dance. But hey it's just a summer job and after August 17th it will all be memories.
So until August 17th my life is a string of work days, usually 15 in a row and then one or 2 off. Yes it sucks and is tiring but I have dollar signs in my eyes.
So there it is, the past couple of months of my life condensed like Campbells tomato soup.
AND I almost forgot the best thing...I bought my ONE WAY plane ticket to Cali a couple of days ago. I will be moving on August 28th. I don't have an apartment yet but that will fall into place. It always does.
I took two weeks off in April and I tried to make the most of it. Amanda and I took a trip to Niagara Falls. It was amazing. The falls were beautiful and the area itself is like a jersey boardwalk that threw up over five city blocks. Casinos, unhealthy food, ferris wheels, Ripley's Believe it or Not, screaming kids with soft serve. I was in heaven.
After the Niagara trip I drove to Jersey and then flew to Cali to hang with Briana for a couple of days. I had found out that I got accepted to Claremont Graduate School about a week before and the Dean of the school was able to meet with me during my stay wth Briana. So basically I got off of the plane, went to B's, borrowed her nice clothes and then she drove me to Claremont. She also sat in on the meeting with the Dean and I thank my lucky stars she was there. I was asking all the academic questions and I was getting wicked excited about the program and I completely forgot to ask the other important questions like housing. But luckily B-diggs was there to throw on her former supervisor cape and save the day. After the meeting I knew I was going to go to Claremont. The area is very cute and collegiate, like a mini Northampton. With the meeting over with me and B enjoyed my next three days by going on a much deserved shopping spree.
After Cali I stayed in Jersey for the rest of my break and caught up with friends and family. Cinqo de Mayo occurred. Jenna graduated. It was good times.
AND I walked in the MS Walk with the UPS Store clan. We were called the Fighting Fitzgerald's and it was a fun time. It had everything a walk should have...hair transplants, lost 12 year olds, irate mothers, and cookies.
The last month has been a whirlwind of graduations and trumpets. The international trumpet guild decided to hold their annual conference at Umass this year. Two days after graduation 1000 trumpeters descended upon the campus. Because I was finishing my year long job and starting my summer job I got hit with a double whammy. Not only did I have to help register all of these horn blowers I had to house them too. I don't mind my job and I like the details of it, but I do mind how sometimes we lose perspective and start to think that our job is the most important in the world. It's not like anyone will ever not be able to go the conference or not be housed. I mean no one is ever going to have to sleep outside of the dorm because of a mistake. Everyone gets housed and registered whether or not we have an aneurysm. Therefore I prefer to not have one whereas sometimes my bosses like to put on that song and dance. But hey it's just a summer job and after August 17th it will all be memories.
So until August 17th my life is a string of work days, usually 15 in a row and then one or 2 off. Yes it sucks and is tiring but I have dollar signs in my eyes.
So there it is, the past couple of months of my life condensed like Campbells tomato soup.
AND I almost forgot the best thing...I bought my ONE WAY plane ticket to Cali a couple of days ago. I will be moving on August 28th. I don't have an apartment yet but that will fall into place. It always does.
Friday, March 23, 2007
Yes this is a work rant
I am going to admit right off that in the grand scheme of the universe my job isn't that bad. I sit, I answer phones, I work on the computer and I get paid. There are worse jobs...like cleaning out a sewer or working retail BUT this job does have it's moments.
There are conferences that come to the University and part of my job is to print name badges for each person. In order to do that I need the perforated name badge paper. My boss ordered the paper and a week later it was delivered. I signed for it and put it on the side of my desk. I week after all of this my boss asked me where the box of paper was and I looked at the side of my desk and the box was no longer then. The rest of my day went like this:
Person: "What are you looking for?"
Me: "A box."
Person: "What was in the box?"
Me: "Paper."
Person: "You lost a box of paper?"
Me: "Yeah, I can't find a box full of paper." (in my head at this point I am repeating the words "go away" as fast as I can)
The next day went a little like this:
Person: "Did you ever find that box of paper?"
Me: "Nope"
For two days my conversations for eight hours revolved around a box of friggin paper. It turns out that the person who cleans the office mistook the box of paper for recycling and dontated $130 worth of name badge paper to the Head Start program at the local school. So we ordered more and that box never came. Here we are now two weeks later and we just found out that the box was delivered and has been sitting downstairs. I don't know if the absurdity of this story translates very well but MY LIFE HAS REVOLVED AROUND A BOX OF PERFORATED PAPER FOR MORE THAN TWO WEEKS.
I think the thing that scares me the most about this story is that my boss became obsesessed about this box of paper. Everday I would get asked if I signed for the box of paper and everyday she would ponder for at least five minutes about where it could have gone. A new person has started at the office and the first thing he was told about was this box of paper and how it got donated and how we are waiting for the second box of paper. It's paper. Yes, it's colored and perforated so it's semi-special in the pecking order of paper but it's still just a sliver of tree that has been refined and dyed. And it has ruled my work life and now is worthy of a blog posting. A true sign that I should not work here much longer (another sign is that I flat out told my boss that if I was staying in the area for another year I would be looking for a different job right now).
Luckily it's spring and when it's May I will be switching back to Summer Conference Housing...still not my dream job but at least I get to rock plaid shorts and a maroon shirt AND there are no name badges. I am clearly movin on up.
There are conferences that come to the University and part of my job is to print name badges for each person. In order to do that I need the perforated name badge paper. My boss ordered the paper and a week later it was delivered. I signed for it and put it on the side of my desk. I week after all of this my boss asked me where the box of paper was and I looked at the side of my desk and the box was no longer then. The rest of my day went like this:
Person: "What are you looking for?"
Me: "A box."
Person: "What was in the box?"
Me: "Paper."
Person: "You lost a box of paper?"
Me: "Yeah, I can't find a box full of paper." (in my head at this point I am repeating the words "go away" as fast as I can)
The next day went a little like this:
Person: "Did you ever find that box of paper?"
Me: "Nope"
For two days my conversations for eight hours revolved around a box of friggin paper. It turns out that the person who cleans the office mistook the box of paper for recycling and dontated $130 worth of name badge paper to the Head Start program at the local school. So we ordered more and that box never came. Here we are now two weeks later and we just found out that the box was delivered and has been sitting downstairs. I don't know if the absurdity of this story translates very well but MY LIFE HAS REVOLVED AROUND A BOX OF PERFORATED PAPER FOR MORE THAN TWO WEEKS.
I think the thing that scares me the most about this story is that my boss became obsesessed about this box of paper. Everday I would get asked if I signed for the box of paper and everyday she would ponder for at least five minutes about where it could have gone. A new person has started at the office and the first thing he was told about was this box of paper and how it got donated and how we are waiting for the second box of paper. It's paper. Yes, it's colored and perforated so it's semi-special in the pecking order of paper but it's still just a sliver of tree that has been refined and dyed. And it has ruled my work life and now is worthy of a blog posting. A true sign that I should not work here much longer (another sign is that I flat out told my boss that if I was staying in the area for another year I would be looking for a different job right now).
Luckily it's spring and when it's May I will be switching back to Summer Conference Housing...still not my dream job but at least I get to rock plaid shorts and a maroon shirt AND there are no name badges. I am clearly movin on up.
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Snow Day
True sign that I am becoming a grown up: There is a snow day at the University but I still had to go to work. Sadness.
Monday, February 05, 2007
Thank you Wikipedia
Friends...our debate is solved. Read this exerpt from Wikipedia and rest assured that in the end we were ALL right.
"For many years, Big Bird was the only character on the show who saw him (he only came along when Big Bird was alone). The main adult characters teased Big Bird when he said he had seen the Snuffleupagus, because they didn't believe there was such an animal, often despite evidence to the contrary (such as an oversized teddy bear that Snuffy had left behind or segments in which Snuffy interacted with other characters, such as a street scene where Snuffy was seen playing London Bridge with some of the neighborhood kids). This was modeled in part on the imaginary friends some young children have.
By the late-1970s, the storylines had the adult characters becoming increasingly frustrated with Big Bird using Snuffleupagus as a scapegoat whenever something went wrong while they were out of the room. In one episode, newspapers on Sesame Street carried the front page headline, "Snuffy's got to go!"
Revelation
This running gag ended with the November 18, 1985 episode of Sesame Street, which was also episode 2096 and the 17th season premiere, when the adults finally met Snuffy. Big Bird is sick and tired of not having the grown-ups believing him when he tells them about Snuffy. So he decides to arrange for them to come to his nest when he yells the signaling word, "Food". When Big Bird calls out the word, Snuffy runs off to tell his mother about it, so once again the grown-ups just miss him. Gordon tells Big Bird he needs someone to help him keep Snuffy in his nest and Elmo offers to be the one. So when Snuffy returns, Elmo holds on to his snuffle so he can't go, Big Bird yells, "Food", and one by one the adults come and see Snuffy for the first time ever. After Snuffy introduces himself, Big Bird does an "I told you so" routine, prompting the adults to apologize profusely.
The Children's Television Workshop decided on this storyline largely after high-profile (and sometimes, graphic) stories on pedophilia and sexual abuse of children on shows such as 60 Minutes and 20/20. Concerns were raised that the running Snuffleupagus gag, where the adults refused to believe in Snuffleupagus despite Big Bird telling them about it and despite the fact that Snuffy had already been revealed to other Muppets, children, and even a few celebrity guest stars, could make children fear that they would similarly not be believed and therefore make them reluctant to tell an adult if they have been sexually abused."
So there you have it.
"For many years, Big Bird was the only character on the show who saw him (he only came along when Big Bird was alone). The main adult characters teased Big Bird when he said he had seen the Snuffleupagus, because they didn't believe there was such an animal, often despite evidence to the contrary (such as an oversized teddy bear that Snuffy had left behind or segments in which Snuffy interacted with other characters, such as a street scene where Snuffy was seen playing London Bridge with some of the neighborhood kids). This was modeled in part on the imaginary friends some young children have.
By the late-1970s, the storylines had the adult characters becoming increasingly frustrated with Big Bird using Snuffleupagus as a scapegoat whenever something went wrong while they were out of the room. In one episode, newspapers on Sesame Street carried the front page headline, "Snuffy's got to go!"
Revelation
This running gag ended with the November 18, 1985 episode of Sesame Street, which was also episode 2096 and the 17th season premiere, when the adults finally met Snuffy. Big Bird is sick and tired of not having the grown-ups believing him when he tells them about Snuffy. So he decides to arrange for them to come to his nest when he yells the signaling word, "Food". When Big Bird calls out the word, Snuffy runs off to tell his mother about it, so once again the grown-ups just miss him. Gordon tells Big Bird he needs someone to help him keep Snuffy in his nest and Elmo offers to be the one. So when Snuffy returns, Elmo holds on to his snuffle so he can't go, Big Bird yells, "Food", and one by one the adults come and see Snuffy for the first time ever. After Snuffy introduces himself, Big Bird does an "I told you so" routine, prompting the adults to apologize profusely.
The Children's Television Workshop decided on this storyline largely after high-profile (and sometimes, graphic) stories on pedophilia and sexual abuse of children on shows such as 60 Minutes and 20/20. Concerns were raised that the running Snuffleupagus gag, where the adults refused to believe in Snuffleupagus despite Big Bird telling them about it and despite the fact that Snuffy had already been revealed to other Muppets, children, and even a few celebrity guest stars, could make children fear that they would similarly not be believed and therefore make them reluctant to tell an adult if they have been sexually abused."
So there you have it.
Thursday, February 01, 2007
Imaginary Friend
After I got back from dinner last night I mindlessly turned on the tv and started flipping channels. "Sesame Street Presents: Follow That Bird" caught my attention. This is the movie where the bird social worker thinks it's in Big Birds best interest to go live with a bird family- the Dodos who live in Illinois. Big Bird dislikes it there and decideds to walk home (he/she also decides that it should only take three hours since it took two hours to fly there). While Big Bird starts walking home the Sesame Street crew divide up into groups and travel different routes to see if they can find Big Bird. The point of this post is not to talk about how great this movie is or about the cameos in it that you only get when you are older, but rather the point is to discuss a very important question that hit me while watching a scene in the move: is Snuffalupagus Big Bird's imaginary friend?
I'll admit. The thought never crossed my mind that Snuffalupagus was imaginary until someone informed me about it very matter-of-factly about a year ago. They told me in such confidence that I didn't dare think that I was right. Now, though, I am not so sure. As I was watching the movie I texted a very important question to some friends: If Snuffalupagus was Big Bird's imaginary friend then how come he couldn't follow Big Bird to Illinois? Some of the responses I got were:
"I'm peeing"
"Thought Snuffy was real"
"R u sober?"
"He wasn't imaginary and the bird was advised that he/she was on a one bird mission."
"Imaginary friends...unlike invisible friends need two forms of id to cross state lines and Oscoar was always hiding the dmv shit because he was difficult...obviously"
Through these comments I re-affirmed my original childhood assumption that Snuffy was real and that everyone could see him. Then I thought about a little to long and fell into another trap. If everyone could see Snuffy then when a letter from Big Bird came why didn't anyone tell Snuffy? Instead he overheard the letter through a wall. If I sent a letter to everyone on the block I know someone would holler to my best friend to let them know about it. Also, if I remember correctly, Snuffy wasn't divided up into one of the groups to go find Big Bird. Now that could be just because he already decided to go visit Big Bird (he wrote Big Bird a post card which a mailman delivered...which is proof towards the idea that Snuffy is real). So is Snuffy real or not?
Some light was shed onto the subject by a friend's girlfriend who said that snuffy was imaginary in the beginning but eventually the character changed so that everyone could see him. So a child psychologist is to blame for the confusion. Someone at some point thought it was unhealthy for Big Bird to have an imaginary best friend and changed him to so that everyone could see him. This is the theory that lets me sleep at night and I am sticking to it.
I'll admit. The thought never crossed my mind that Snuffalupagus was imaginary until someone informed me about it very matter-of-factly about a year ago. They told me in such confidence that I didn't dare think that I was right. Now, though, I am not so sure. As I was watching the movie I texted a very important question to some friends: If Snuffalupagus was Big Bird's imaginary friend then how come he couldn't follow Big Bird to Illinois? Some of the responses I got were:
"I'm peeing"
"Thought Snuffy was real"
"R u sober?"
"He wasn't imaginary and the bird was advised that he/she was on a one bird mission."
"Imaginary friends...unlike invisible friends need two forms of id to cross state lines and Oscoar was always hiding the dmv shit because he was difficult...obviously"
Through these comments I re-affirmed my original childhood assumption that Snuffy was real and that everyone could see him. Then I thought about a little to long and fell into another trap. If everyone could see Snuffy then when a letter from Big Bird came why didn't anyone tell Snuffy? Instead he overheard the letter through a wall. If I sent a letter to everyone on the block I know someone would holler to my best friend to let them know about it. Also, if I remember correctly, Snuffy wasn't divided up into one of the groups to go find Big Bird. Now that could be just because he already decided to go visit Big Bird (he wrote Big Bird a post card which a mailman delivered...which is proof towards the idea that Snuffy is real). So is Snuffy real or not?
Some light was shed onto the subject by a friend's girlfriend who said that snuffy was imaginary in the beginning but eventually the character changed so that everyone could see him. So a child psychologist is to blame for the confusion. Someone at some point thought it was unhealthy for Big Bird to have an imaginary best friend and changed him to so that everyone could see him. This is the theory that lets me sleep at night and I am sticking to it.
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
The "Mall" thing
To Whom It May Concern,
Recently I was driving around in my automobile trying to get to the Edison train station. There is no way to do this without having to pass by the so-called Middlesex “Mall”. I put mall in quotations because I truly believe that we are kidding ourselves and doing a great injustice to the mall industry by labeling the set of stores on Stelton Road a mall.
One obvious reason why this “mall” isn’t really a mall is that you don’t have to go inside to access any stores. People go to malls not just to shop in the stores they see from the outside but also to explore the smaller stores inside. There’s no excitement when one enters the Middlesex “Mall.” No merry-go-round, no random Irish store, nothing. One already knows what stores are in the “Mall” without having to go inside. Where’s the excitement in that? Even the dirt mall deserves the mall designation more than the Middlesex “Mall.” There’s always excitement there.
Thinking of this persuasion leads one to believe that the Middlesex “Mall” could just be re-classified as a strip mall but problems still exist. The electric sign, for example. The sign stands proudly over Stelton Road, supposedly letting consumers know that this is the place to shop. Well, see, the thing is…the sign is NEVER fully lit. I have lived in Middlesex for 13 years now and I have yet to see that sign glowing brightly with all of the letters lit up. I am sure I am not the only one who giggled with their friends when we drove by and saw “SEX ALL” lighting up the night sky. When the sign says “MID MLL” why bother to even light it? Therefore, if we let the “mall” be re-designated a strip mall the sign would still have every right to burn brightly and wrongly for eternity.
Furthermore, why does this “mall” have to tarnish the name of Middlesex Borough? I get it that it’s named for Middlesex County but still I can’t help but think that our little 3.5 mile2 town does not need the added burden of trying to explain away this “mall.” Our mascot is the frigging blue jay for goodness sake. Rename it the Stelton Strip Mall. There’s alliteration and 3 more letters that can be lit or not lit, depending on how the sign lighting gods feel. Or if Middlesex must be in the name why not Promenade instead of Mall? It worked for Bridgewater.
People living in New Jersey can name at least three malls that are within a half hour of them. I don’t know one person within a half hour driving radius of the Middlesex “Mall” that would actually count it as one of their three. Just try to compare the Middlesex “Mall” to a real mall like Menlo Park. It’s like comparing a White Castle cheeseburger to a three-course meal. They just aren’t of the same caliber.
As a New Jerseyian I am proud of our malls and for that reason I take the mall designation very seriously. We must join together and do what we can to eliminate such false idols that mar the image of our malls. No more “SEX ALL”!!
Recently I was driving around in my automobile trying to get to the Edison train station. There is no way to do this without having to pass by the so-called Middlesex “Mall”. I put mall in quotations because I truly believe that we are kidding ourselves and doing a great injustice to the mall industry by labeling the set of stores on Stelton Road a mall.
One obvious reason why this “mall” isn’t really a mall is that you don’t have to go inside to access any stores. People go to malls not just to shop in the stores they see from the outside but also to explore the smaller stores inside. There’s no excitement when one enters the Middlesex “Mall.” No merry-go-round, no random Irish store, nothing. One already knows what stores are in the “Mall” without having to go inside. Where’s the excitement in that? Even the dirt mall deserves the mall designation more than the Middlesex “Mall.” There’s always excitement there.
Thinking of this persuasion leads one to believe that the Middlesex “Mall” could just be re-classified as a strip mall but problems still exist. The electric sign, for example. The sign stands proudly over Stelton Road, supposedly letting consumers know that this is the place to shop. Well, see, the thing is…the sign is NEVER fully lit. I have lived in Middlesex for 13 years now and I have yet to see that sign glowing brightly with all of the letters lit up. I am sure I am not the only one who giggled with their friends when we drove by and saw “SEX ALL” lighting up the night sky. When the sign says “MID MLL” why bother to even light it? Therefore, if we let the “mall” be re-designated a strip mall the sign would still have every right to burn brightly and wrongly for eternity.
Furthermore, why does this “mall” have to tarnish the name of Middlesex Borough? I get it that it’s named for Middlesex County but still I can’t help but think that our little 3.5 mile2 town does not need the added burden of trying to explain away this “mall.” Our mascot is the frigging blue jay for goodness sake. Rename it the Stelton Strip Mall. There’s alliteration and 3 more letters that can be lit or not lit, depending on how the sign lighting gods feel. Or if Middlesex must be in the name why not Promenade instead of Mall? It worked for Bridgewater.
People living in New Jersey can name at least three malls that are within a half hour of them. I don’t know one person within a half hour driving radius of the Middlesex “Mall” that would actually count it as one of their three. Just try to compare the Middlesex “Mall” to a real mall like Menlo Park. It’s like comparing a White Castle cheeseburger to a three-course meal. They just aren’t of the same caliber.
As a New Jerseyian I am proud of our malls and for that reason I take the mall designation very seriously. We must join together and do what we can to eliminate such false idols that mar the image of our malls. No more “SEX ALL”!!
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