i can't believe it's friday. it's been one *cRaZy* week.
* monday: REU field trip... lots of fun... also 7+ hours blocked out of my day before i did anything else. :P
* tuesday: met students on campus in the morning... studied with baxter for his qualifying exam all afternoon
* wednesday: meeting for my 2nd job, and sticking around all afternoon to learn more of the ropes so i really CAN take over in august.
* thursday: misc studying on campus, writing a lecture, REU seminar, and other such fun.... and for my first break all week: i got a much needed haircut (first in 3 months), and ate pizza with leigh and sara.
summary: every day, running for at least 10 hours straight, in many different places... at least my life ain't boring!! :P
today is off to an interesting start... for as busy as i've been, it's better told from leigh's perspective.
leigh was home visiting family in TX for the past two weeks. she was supposed to fly from TX to NJ directly on wednesday afternoon. due to crazy storms, her 3 hour flight became a 12 hour flight with a several hour stall in washington dulles, and she arrived home exhausted and hungry (the plane had no food or drink either!) at 5am on thursday.
leigh spent all day unpacking and repacking... she's in MN for the next couple weeks for a canoe trip with colleen and others... then flying directly to maine to work at a math camp for the rest of the summer... she had stuff to package up to ship, stuff to pack for the canoe adventure, etc... all on no sleep. already a long day... she locked herself out of her car and i had to rescue her... she forgot to lock the house when she went out (so i guess there's balance in the world)... point is, she was exhausted.
*then*, last night happened.
leigh was supposed to fly out of newark airport (on the same airline as wednesday) at 10:30 am this morning. with all her ridiculous amounts of baggage, i was just going to drive her door to door, leaving our house at 8am. instead...
12:30am: i'm getting ready for bed, when leigh goes to online checkin for her flight and announces that it's cancelled.
1am: after being on hold with non-helpful employees for half an hour, leigh finds out that all flights from newark to chicago on her airline are cancelled for today... she can wait til saturday (not good for the canoe trip)... multitasking like crazy, leigh searches online and suggests to the airline phone people that she could fly out of any NYC airport and into any city within 100 miles of minneapolis/st. paul... she gets booked on a 8:30am flight out of laguardia.
1:05am: leigh announces her new schedule and says she doesn't want to put me out by making me drive all the way into the city... she'll struggle with her own bags gladly if i can get her to the local train station in time for the 4:15am train. i announce skepticism about the availability of connections from penn station (where our train comes into NYC) to laguardia.
1:30am: after 20 more minutes of research, leigh realizes that yes, she can get into manhattan but there's no good way from manhattan to laguardia that early in the morning (needing to arrive by 6:30) without just getting a cab. i offer to drive her, and she accepts, sad about putting me out.
4:30am: after 1.5 hours of sleep for me, and 45 minutes of sleep for leigh, we load the car, get hot drinks and a full tank of gas and head off
6:45am: after 2 hours of ridiculously stupid drivers on the BQE, i drop leigh off at laguardia
8:15am: after a slightly less stressful 1.5 hour return drive i come back home to crash
9am: i realize that i really can't sleep when it's light outside, so i'm destined to be awake and running on 1.5 hours of sleep all day... woot!
never fear, fun is coming... i have a meeting at noon, errands to run, etc.... but tonight i invited all the REU students over for board games and movies... i'm looking forward to it! (provided i really do stay awake and coherent that long!!!)
tomorrow, i don't care what happens, I'M SLEEPING IN!. so indeed... back to the title... THANK GOODNESS IT'S FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
the end.
Friday, June 29, 2007
Monday, June 25, 2007
i just can't wait...
to see Lion King on Broadway!!!
my friend jessica and i bought tickets for a week from saturday... i'm EXCITED! :)
my friend jessica and i bought tickets for a week from saturday... i'm EXCITED! :)
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
too funny...
so, after a long busy 12 hour day of running around campus, i headed 30 minutes away to my church for the last women's Bible study meeting before we stop for the summer. several people remembered that my birthday is tomorrow and hollered "happy birthday!" as i came in the room, but agreed not to sing.... that is, until sonia came, bearing a giant tupperware container. she explained "tomorrow is lara's birthday, and cupcakes are so outdated, so i wanted to bring something more fun... share, but the leftovers are for lara to take home."... and then since i had a candle to blow out, they did indeed sing.... but tell me, have *you* ever blown out candles on fruit before? i thought this was great:
happy lara day eve! ;)
be parties one and all!
happy lara day eve! ;)
be parties one and all!
Sunday, June 17, 2007
i am a victim...
... of identity theft! holy freakin crap (pardon the language)
some of my friends make fun of me for how OCD i am about shredding any paper with anything about me on it, etc., but it still happened.
i logged into my bank website this morning to compare what it said against my checkbook (and because transactions from foreign countries depend on the exchange rate of the day)... there was a charge of $75 in georgia from friday, when i was obviously nowhere near georgia this week!
i called up the bank, and they looked into it and said whoever did it had a physical copy of my card and spent $75 on gas.
so i'm out of a debit card until i get to the bank in person this week to get a temporary one while the fraud claim/investigation goes through.
the commercials about identity theft protection are funny, and i thought i was being good by being careful with my card and by shredding stuff, but apparently that's not enough.... not cool.
ergh....
some of my friends make fun of me for how OCD i am about shredding any paper with anything about me on it, etc., but it still happened.
i logged into my bank website this morning to compare what it said against my checkbook (and because transactions from foreign countries depend on the exchange rate of the day)... there was a charge of $75 in georgia from friday, when i was obviously nowhere near georgia this week!
i called up the bank, and they looked into it and said whoever did it had a physical copy of my card and spent $75 on gas.
so i'm out of a debit card until i get to the bank in person this week to get a temporary one while the fraud claim/investigation goes through.
the commercials about identity theft protection are funny, and i thought i was being good by being careful with my card and by shredding stuff, but apparently that's not enough.... not cool.
ergh....
Monday, June 11, 2007
scotland, at last!
alright, so the longer version of yesterday was:
(1) i was supposed to depart newark airport at 9:30 saturday night, arrive in london heathrow at 9am sunday local time
(2) then, i had an 11:50am flight from heathrow to glasgow scotland, landing me there at 1:20pm
(3) from there, me and my friend cathy were supposed to catch a shuttle bus to the main train station, catch a train to edinburgh, then another up the east coast of scotland to a small town called leuchars, and then another bus from there into st. andrews (where i currently am for a conference).
(4) all my travel supplies were supposed to work fine, i would practice my talk for this afternoon, we'd get dinner, and we'd crash for some much deserved rest.
instead
(1) the newark plane didn't leave until 10:45pm. apparently some people missed the flight connection but their bags made it through. apparently regulations said they had to take all the bags off the plane, find those to remove, and reload the plane again.
(2) because of the delay getting going (sitting for 1.5 hours next to a crying baby is NOT fun), we got into london heathrow at 10:20am... one would think 1.5 hours is enough time to transfer flights, BUT....
(3) our connecting flight was in a different terminal, and the workers at heathrow, though plenty nice are not the most efficient, so there were a lot of people missing connections left and right... we made it through express security and ticketing (after begging nicely), and got to the counter for our 11:50 flight at 11:20... they denied us boarding and scheduled us on a 3:15-departing flight instead
(4) our 3:15 flight didn't take off until 4pm due to backlogs of british airways flights taking off from heathrow... we landed in glasgow a little after 5pm
(5) already exhausted and grumpy just taking our carry on luggage, cathy and i decided that we just didn't have it in us to try 4 more kinds of transportation while lugging our checked luggage too, so instead of the 30 pound ($60) each trains/buses options, we hired a car for 105 pounds total (about $110 each) to pick us up at the airport and drop us off at our apartment for the conference. frankly, with how tired and sore we were and all the delays, the fact that we could go door to door, not deal with our luggage, and actually sleep on the way was worth it. (what i did see of driving from the west coast of scotland clear across to the east was beautiful... and there's a freakin lot of sheep around here)
(6) you'd think that that's enough of an adventure, but here's one more. i've had the same international voltage converter for 5 years, and it can deal with any kind of plug on earth. however, i never paid attention to the fact that it only accepts 2 prong american plugs (i've never travelled with anything but a battery charger and an ipod charger that needs it). unfortuately the plug for my laptop is 3 prong. i could plug it into the charger, but without the grounding prong plugged in, you could literally feel the field of static electricity around my computer if you got within a couple inches of it... so instead of practicing my talk and looking over my slides last night, i was too scared of blowing up my computer, so i crashed, and woke up super early to go buy an extra 3-prong adapter just for the week... fun, right?
needless to say, it's been an interesting start to the week. i'm glad i'm here. i'm glad to see old math friends from last year, and i'll be even more happy when my talk is over in 2 hours!
hopefully much better stories and much better pictures as the week progresses!
be parties one and all! :)
(1) i was supposed to depart newark airport at 9:30 saturday night, arrive in london heathrow at 9am sunday local time
(2) then, i had an 11:50am flight from heathrow to glasgow scotland, landing me there at 1:20pm
(3) from there, me and my friend cathy were supposed to catch a shuttle bus to the main train station, catch a train to edinburgh, then another up the east coast of scotland to a small town called leuchars, and then another bus from there into st. andrews (where i currently am for a conference).
(4) all my travel supplies were supposed to work fine, i would practice my talk for this afternoon, we'd get dinner, and we'd crash for some much deserved rest.
instead
(1) the newark plane didn't leave until 10:45pm. apparently some people missed the flight connection but their bags made it through. apparently regulations said they had to take all the bags off the plane, find those to remove, and reload the plane again.
(2) because of the delay getting going (sitting for 1.5 hours next to a crying baby is NOT fun), we got into london heathrow at 10:20am... one would think 1.5 hours is enough time to transfer flights, BUT....
(3) our connecting flight was in a different terminal, and the workers at heathrow, though plenty nice are not the most efficient, so there were a lot of people missing connections left and right... we made it through express security and ticketing (after begging nicely), and got to the counter for our 11:50 flight at 11:20... they denied us boarding and scheduled us on a 3:15-departing flight instead
(4) our 3:15 flight didn't take off until 4pm due to backlogs of british airways flights taking off from heathrow... we landed in glasgow a little after 5pm
(5) already exhausted and grumpy just taking our carry on luggage, cathy and i decided that we just didn't have it in us to try 4 more kinds of transportation while lugging our checked luggage too, so instead of the 30 pound ($60) each trains/buses options, we hired a car for 105 pounds total (about $110 each) to pick us up at the airport and drop us off at our apartment for the conference. frankly, with how tired and sore we were and all the delays, the fact that we could go door to door, not deal with our luggage, and actually sleep on the way was worth it. (what i did see of driving from the west coast of scotland clear across to the east was beautiful... and there's a freakin lot of sheep around here)
(6) you'd think that that's enough of an adventure, but here's one more. i've had the same international voltage converter for 5 years, and it can deal with any kind of plug on earth. however, i never paid attention to the fact that it only accepts 2 prong american plugs (i've never travelled with anything but a battery charger and an ipod charger that needs it). unfortuately the plug for my laptop is 3 prong. i could plug it into the charger, but without the grounding prong plugged in, you could literally feel the field of static electricity around my computer if you got within a couple inches of it... so instead of practicing my talk and looking over my slides last night, i was too scared of blowing up my computer, so i crashed, and woke up super early to go buy an extra 3-prong adapter just for the week... fun, right?
needless to say, it's been an interesting start to the week. i'm glad i'm here. i'm glad to see old math friends from last year, and i'll be even more happy when my talk is over in 2 hours!
hopefully much better stories and much better pictures as the week progresses!
be parties one and all! :)
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Saturday, June 09, 2007
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
this made me smile :)
me (4:41:28 PM): dude, so i found out today WHY i have a job at the dean's office
dave (4:41:40 PM): aside from you're awesome?
dave (4:41:50 PM): and interview well with gauze in your mouth?
me (4:44:49 PM): am i awesome?
dave (4:44:52 PM): yeah
me (4:45:02 PM): why thanks
oh, and this too... although for as good as it makes me sound, you have to wonder just how much is true. ;P
happy almost-thursday!
dave (4:41:40 PM): aside from you're awesome?
dave (4:41:50 PM): and interview well with gauze in your mouth?
me (4:44:49 PM): am i awesome?
dave (4:44:52 PM): yeah
me (4:45:02 PM): why thanks
oh, and this too... although for as good as it makes me sound, you have to wonder just how much is true. ;P
happy almost-thursday!
Sunday, June 03, 2007
no more drugs...
(...or hopefully almost back to normal!)
what a day! for the first time in a week, i did something besides just watch TV with 80% of my day.
* tooth update: i finished my last dose of penicillin this morning... thankfully, the dull ear/jaw ache i've had since getting my teeth out finally seems to have gone away. my gums are still a little swollen though, so i'm not quite feeling up to solid food yet.... miraculously, i haven't gotten tired of applesauce yet, which is fantastic. :P unfortunately my jaw is still a bit sore to the touch if i bump into anything even slightly... cross your fingers that i get back to feeling totally normal soon! in the meantime, i'm just slow.
* today though, i actually left the house. my friend dave was at a wedding 2 hours away yesterday, and since his return flight was out of philly late tonight, he came to spend the day with me in jersey. it was easily filled between church (with 19 kids getting confirmed, it was a 2 hour service), lunch (i opted for a cheese omelet: look at me moving up in the food world ever so slightly!), and this art exhibit i'd been wanting to see (because i'm ever so exciting. :P). i was quieter than normal since my jaw still hurts, but it was nice to have an excuse to go out with a friend. plus hugs are never a bad thing. :P
this week, the real fun starts though:
* monday (tomorrow!): all my summer REU (research experience for undergrads) students arrive. i'm glad this is my 3rd time around so that i feel like things are under control... hopefully they really will be all day! also, first meeting with my advisor in a month... hopefully he'll be happy with what i've written up in the past month... we'll see.
* tuesday: tooth checkup, and REU orientation dinner... and lots of working on my slides for next week's conference.
* wednesday: my first meeting for the new 2nd job (the one i got hired for friday). not sure how detailed this will be or how quickly i'll assume responsibilities, but i'll find out quickly!
* thursday: first REU seminar, and probably lots of other helping students settle in kind of stuff
* friday: if i haven't yet, spending the day locked in an undisclosed location writing my talk for next week's conference
* saturday: flying to SCOTLAND!!!!!! for a permutations conference. my talk is on monday, and then i can actually enjoy the rest of the week.
with a week like this, and still living mostly off of applesauce and potatoes, i'm gonna need all the luck i can get.
... and THAT is the end of my needlessly long and uninteresting play-by-play of the week... thanks for reading... be parties one and all! (and wish me luck...)
what a day! for the first time in a week, i did something besides just watch TV with 80% of my day.
* tooth update: i finished my last dose of penicillin this morning... thankfully, the dull ear/jaw ache i've had since getting my teeth out finally seems to have gone away. my gums are still a little swollen though, so i'm not quite feeling up to solid food yet.... miraculously, i haven't gotten tired of applesauce yet, which is fantastic. :P unfortunately my jaw is still a bit sore to the touch if i bump into anything even slightly... cross your fingers that i get back to feeling totally normal soon! in the meantime, i'm just slow.
* today though, i actually left the house. my friend dave was at a wedding 2 hours away yesterday, and since his return flight was out of philly late tonight, he came to spend the day with me in jersey. it was easily filled between church (with 19 kids getting confirmed, it was a 2 hour service), lunch (i opted for a cheese omelet: look at me moving up in the food world ever so slightly!), and this art exhibit i'd been wanting to see (because i'm ever so exciting. :P). i was quieter than normal since my jaw still hurts, but it was nice to have an excuse to go out with a friend. plus hugs are never a bad thing. :P
this week, the real fun starts though:
* monday (tomorrow!): all my summer REU (research experience for undergrads) students arrive. i'm glad this is my 3rd time around so that i feel like things are under control... hopefully they really will be all day! also, first meeting with my advisor in a month... hopefully he'll be happy with what i've written up in the past month... we'll see.
* tuesday: tooth checkup, and REU orientation dinner... and lots of working on my slides for next week's conference.
* wednesday: my first meeting for the new 2nd job (the one i got hired for friday). not sure how detailed this will be or how quickly i'll assume responsibilities, but i'll find out quickly!
* thursday: first REU seminar, and probably lots of other helping students settle in kind of stuff
* friday: if i haven't yet, spending the day locked in an undisclosed location writing my talk for next week's conference
* saturday: flying to SCOTLAND!!!!!! for a permutations conference. my talk is on monday, and then i can actually enjoy the rest of the week.
with a week like this, and still living mostly off of applesauce and potatoes, i'm gonna need all the luck i can get.
... and THAT is the end of my needlessly long and uninteresting play-by-play of the week... thanks for reading... be parties one and all! (and wish me luck...)
Friday, June 01, 2007
hired!
so apparently i can still make a favorable impression with a mouth full of gauze and while still on drugs.
i interviewed this morning with the university dean's office for a job that will last this summer through when i graduate, on top of all the other things i'm doing.
it's for a program that runs workshops, writes publications, etc. to help TAs throughout the university. it's kinda unique in how inter-departmental it is.
and it's really exciting that i got the job since they only hire 2 graduate students at a time to help run the program.
first meeting is next week. loads of fun to come :P
hooray.
the end.
i interviewed this morning with the university dean's office for a job that will last this summer through when i graduate, on top of all the other things i'm doing.
it's for a program that runs workshops, writes publications, etc. to help TAs throughout the university. it's kinda unique in how inter-departmental it is.
and it's really exciting that i got the job since they only hire 2 graduate students at a time to help run the program.
first meeting is next week. loads of fun to come :P
hooray.
the end.
