you know, for not having work, etc. to do today, i've done a lot.
i helped colleen sort through apartment ads and called several for us this morning... caught up on some email... read 2 magazines cover to cover (the life special issue of the 7 wonders of the world -- only they have 5 lists of 7... 7 ancient wonders, 7 medieval wonders, 7 natural wonders, 7 modern wonders, and 7 animal wonders -- and the national geographic special issue of "exploring outerspace -- our universe in pictures)... paid all my unpaid bills that i have for the month of june... bought and mailed a father's day card on time =P... and repotted plants
it's this last part that's the mess... i have 4 plants... 2 pothoses (long vine-y climbing plants), and 2 euphorbias (tall leafy things)... i'd left them in the same pots since i moved in august, so all of the above were really outgrowing their current space... so they all graduated today from a 6inch pot and three 4inch pots to an 8 inch and three 6 inchers... for those of you unfamiliar with the art of repotting plants, let me tell you... it does make a most glorious mess...
first you have to put soil in the new pot (which probably drops some specks on the ground... then you have to get the plant out of its old pot (which generally involves some turning the pot on its side and banging so as to get the roots out all at once instead of tearing them... i.e. more dirt spilled), then you have to roughen up the ball of roots so that they're more inclined to grow out into their new space instead of in on themselves (i.e. even more mess), place plant in new pot, and fill around it... as if that isn't enough, after all is done, you water the plant and the soil compacts probably meaning you still need to add some more to fill in gaps (i.e. even more mess)... it's a good thing amanda's gone for now, because if she came home to how the floor looks right now (soil and dead leaves from trimming the plants up) all over the floor, even if it is mostly on newspaper, she'd have a cow... at least i did all this on the kitchen tile floor instead of on the white carpet everywhere else, right? ;-P
now, back to reading, or plotting, or something =P
later dudes =P
Tuesday, June 15, 2004
go yahoo
opened my yahoo email account this morning to notice several changes... first was interface, and then later in the morning an upgrade from 6MB of storage to 100MB...
my guess is that they're trying to be more competative with other email servers (such as the new gmail from google)... i've had my yahoo account the longest of any of my email addresses and i don't plan on ever getting rid of it... i just appreciate the significant updates from time to time. =)
end of blurb =P
my guess is that they're trying to be more competative with other email servers (such as the new gmail from google)... i've had my yahoo account the longest of any of my email addresses and i don't plan on ever getting rid of it... i just appreciate the significant updates from time to time. =)
end of blurb =P
the long version
as promised... as if this is exciting... heh
(1) road construction: going less than 10 miles in 2 hours on the interstate is pretty outrageous... whoever's in charge of pennsylvania interstate construction should know better than to filter 3 lanes of harrisburg interstate traffic through a rest area PARKING LOT! it's one thing to merge everyone into one lane, (which some people can't handle already!) it's a totally other thing to filter that one lane through a parking lot where people are pulling in and out and blocking the one lane of traffic... summary: i was incredibly annoyed friday afternoon.
(2) best lunch for $1.35 ever made up for the construction though =) to get to g-ma's i drove the better part of 200 miles on the PA turnpike... a few of the travel plazas have farmers markets and this trip was the first i'd noticed any of them being open.. for $1.35 i got two huge green bell peppers and a cucumber and ate them as i drove for lunch... it was a party :-)
(3) i rambled about the g-ma thing already before i left... i guess the weird part is, although she's been in the nursing home for 4 years now, for the first 3 or so, whenever we visited her behavior was consistent... not really better, not really worse.... from my most recent visits (june 2003, august 2003, november 2003, january 2004, this weekend) there's been noticeable changes from june/aug to nov/jan and from nov/jan to now... last summer g-ma was slow to respond and didn't speak clearly (half her vocal chords are paralyzed and half her mouth muscles too so that's how it is), but she answered the questions you asked her, and remembered things.... in november she started acting kind of weird... like would have me push her in her wheelchair "to my other room" or "to the room at the end of the hallway" giving me directions as we went and then she'd end us up at a fire escape or something and seem extremely disoriented... but at least in november she was happy to see us and had a "good day" the first day or two we were around even if she got tired later in the visit... this time, the first 3 of the 4 days we were around the response to "how are you?" was "miserable"... reaching for things that weren't there... responding to different questions than we asked, or completely neglecting to notice someone had asked her something... and just about every time she did answer what was asked of her, the answer was completely false (e.g. mom asked her how church was last week and g-ma's response was "i didn't go... my stomach hurt too bad"... but mom's sister debbee was up for the weekend and took her to church!)... mostly it's weird to see someone who you remember clearly as who they used to be become trapped in a physical and mental prison and slowly slip away from you... i have issues with this and i'm not sure how to phrase my thoughts... i have a hard time with the fact that i'm the only grandchild who has opportunity to visit her reasonably regularly and isn't "afraid" of her like my younger cousins are... i have a hard time with myself that i feel like i need to bring "props" (e.g. my photo albums) to be able to talk to her... i feel ridiculous when g-ma tries to speak and we all have to ask her to repeat multiple times before anyone has a clue what she said... i miss the friend of a grandparent she once was and have a hard time responding within myself to how she is now, even if my mom and her sisters compliment me on how i respond to her and engage her on the outside. yeah, i have issues with this
(4) mom and i had planned to see "raising helen" on saturday, since she wanted to and i was willing to see it again for her sake... turns out though that the time we showed up for (based on friday's posted times) turned out to be a sneak preview of "the notebook" which doesn't come out for 2 more weeks... it was remarkably serendipitous that that's what happened and that we got to see it together... basically an old man is reading a story to an old woman and it flashes back and forth between him reading to her now and to the story he's telling about the 1940s... it comes out eventually that they're married and he's reading their life story to her because she can't remember it because she has senile dementia... the ending is a tearjerker, even for me, who reacts, but doesn't usually *cry* at movies... best line?
alli: (lady with senile dementia, in a rare state of knowing what's going on) "so what are you going to do when i don't remember anything at all? how will you deal with it?"
noah: (her husband): "i'll still love you and still be here for you... even then"
considering we had just been talking about changes with g-ma over dinner right before it, it hit especially close to home to watch that later on... duuude.
(5) besides taking my step g-pa out to lunch on sunday after church (which is interesting b/c out of mom's generation, he talks most freely with her, and out of the grandkid generation, he seems to have the most idea of what to say to me), mom had plans to have lunch with her best friend from high school... i'd heard lots about karen but never met her, which was entertaining since mom considers her to be one of her closest 3 friends, and i know the other 2 extremely well... very cool lady... it was fun... and entertaining to see another side of mom for a bit.
(6) today, after visiting w/ g-ma for a bit, mom and i drove up to alleghany cemetary... my g-pa, his parents, and my uncle (mom's brother who died of cancer at age 6) are all buried there at the top of the highest hill in the place... to put it in context, this place is hundred of acres huge and has graves dating back for hundreds and hundreds of years... impressive mausoleums and war monuments in many parts... all my schumann relatives are buried though at the top of a hill overlooking the city, with a huge statue of jesus holding up a dove to the sky in the middle of their section... it's kinda nice... no one had been up there to clean off the headstones since christmas time, so we worked on that for a bit, talked a bit, and then headed back to aunt pris's before mom had to fly and i had to drive home... i guess in summary it's been kinda a death/old age oriented weekend...
(7) on a cheerier note, when we got back to aunt pris's place, i chatted with her for an hour while mom read, and then headed home to jersey... i like chatting with aunt pris... she talks to me as an equal and relates to me and vice versa, and i like that. =) plus she's not nosy in a mom/other aunts kind of way... maybe it's the she's the youngest in her generation of the family and i'm the oldest of the next generation thing, but whatever it is, i like her. =)
(8) upon returning, ben and i saw "stepford wives" which i enjoyed, but a couple parts freaked me out to jumping halfway out of my seat... doht... also noted a new starbucks on the way, which is the 3rd one within a 5 minute drive of my place... this makes me happy! =)
(9) no new project for work yet... i guess this means tomorrow i read and convince myself to start preparing my dreaded talk for the REU kids for next tuesday... yikes!
(10) amanda basically moved out yesterday since she's done with her summer internship... she'll be in and out but mostly out for the rest of the summer, so i'll probably read a lot and be nocturnal by choice... by all means, please call and entertain me :-)
yeah, that really *is* the loong version, eh?
i'm done, really, i am.
night y'all. =P
(1) road construction: going less than 10 miles in 2 hours on the interstate is pretty outrageous... whoever's in charge of pennsylvania interstate construction should know better than to filter 3 lanes of harrisburg interstate traffic through a rest area PARKING LOT! it's one thing to merge everyone into one lane, (which some people can't handle already!) it's a totally other thing to filter that one lane through a parking lot where people are pulling in and out and blocking the one lane of traffic... summary: i was incredibly annoyed friday afternoon.
(2) best lunch for $1.35 ever made up for the construction though =) to get to g-ma's i drove the better part of 200 miles on the PA turnpike... a few of the travel plazas have farmers markets and this trip was the first i'd noticed any of them being open.. for $1.35 i got two huge green bell peppers and a cucumber and ate them as i drove for lunch... it was a party :-)
(3) i rambled about the g-ma thing already before i left... i guess the weird part is, although she's been in the nursing home for 4 years now, for the first 3 or so, whenever we visited her behavior was consistent... not really better, not really worse.... from my most recent visits (june 2003, august 2003, november 2003, january 2004, this weekend) there's been noticeable changes from june/aug to nov/jan and from nov/jan to now... last summer g-ma was slow to respond and didn't speak clearly (half her vocal chords are paralyzed and half her mouth muscles too so that's how it is), but she answered the questions you asked her, and remembered things.... in november she started acting kind of weird... like would have me push her in her wheelchair "to my other room" or "to the room at the end of the hallway" giving me directions as we went and then she'd end us up at a fire escape or something and seem extremely disoriented... but at least in november she was happy to see us and had a "good day" the first day or two we were around even if she got tired later in the visit... this time, the first 3 of the 4 days we were around the response to "how are you?" was "miserable"... reaching for things that weren't there... responding to different questions than we asked, or completely neglecting to notice someone had asked her something... and just about every time she did answer what was asked of her, the answer was completely false (e.g. mom asked her how church was last week and g-ma's response was "i didn't go... my stomach hurt too bad"... but mom's sister debbee was up for the weekend and took her to church!)... mostly it's weird to see someone who you remember clearly as who they used to be become trapped in a physical and mental prison and slowly slip away from you... i have issues with this and i'm not sure how to phrase my thoughts... i have a hard time with the fact that i'm the only grandchild who has opportunity to visit her reasonably regularly and isn't "afraid" of her like my younger cousins are... i have a hard time with myself that i feel like i need to bring "props" (e.g. my photo albums) to be able to talk to her... i feel ridiculous when g-ma tries to speak and we all have to ask her to repeat multiple times before anyone has a clue what she said... i miss the friend of a grandparent she once was and have a hard time responding within myself to how she is now, even if my mom and her sisters compliment me on how i respond to her and engage her on the outside. yeah, i have issues with this
(4) mom and i had planned to see "raising helen" on saturday, since she wanted to and i was willing to see it again for her sake... turns out though that the time we showed up for (based on friday's posted times) turned out to be a sneak preview of "the notebook" which doesn't come out for 2 more weeks... it was remarkably serendipitous that that's what happened and that we got to see it together... basically an old man is reading a story to an old woman and it flashes back and forth between him reading to her now and to the story he's telling about the 1940s... it comes out eventually that they're married and he's reading their life story to her because she can't remember it because she has senile dementia... the ending is a tearjerker, even for me, who reacts, but doesn't usually *cry* at movies... best line?
alli: (lady with senile dementia, in a rare state of knowing what's going on) "so what are you going to do when i don't remember anything at all? how will you deal with it?"
noah: (her husband): "i'll still love you and still be here for you... even then"
considering we had just been talking about changes with g-ma over dinner right before it, it hit especially close to home to watch that later on... duuude.
(5) besides taking my step g-pa out to lunch on sunday after church (which is interesting b/c out of mom's generation, he talks most freely with her, and out of the grandkid generation, he seems to have the most idea of what to say to me), mom had plans to have lunch with her best friend from high school... i'd heard lots about karen but never met her, which was entertaining since mom considers her to be one of her closest 3 friends, and i know the other 2 extremely well... very cool lady... it was fun... and entertaining to see another side of mom for a bit.
(6) today, after visiting w/ g-ma for a bit, mom and i drove up to alleghany cemetary... my g-pa, his parents, and my uncle (mom's brother who died of cancer at age 6) are all buried there at the top of the highest hill in the place... to put it in context, this place is hundred of acres huge and has graves dating back for hundreds and hundreds of years... impressive mausoleums and war monuments in many parts... all my schumann relatives are buried though at the top of a hill overlooking the city, with a huge statue of jesus holding up a dove to the sky in the middle of their section... it's kinda nice... no one had been up there to clean off the headstones since christmas time, so we worked on that for a bit, talked a bit, and then headed back to aunt pris's before mom had to fly and i had to drive home... i guess in summary it's been kinda a death/old age oriented weekend...
(7) on a cheerier note, when we got back to aunt pris's place, i chatted with her for an hour while mom read, and then headed home to jersey... i like chatting with aunt pris... she talks to me as an equal and relates to me and vice versa, and i like that. =) plus she's not nosy in a mom/other aunts kind of way... maybe it's the she's the youngest in her generation of the family and i'm the oldest of the next generation thing, but whatever it is, i like her. =)
(8) upon returning, ben and i saw "stepford wives" which i enjoyed, but a couple parts freaked me out to jumping halfway out of my seat... doht... also noted a new starbucks on the way, which is the 3rd one within a 5 minute drive of my place... this makes me happy! =)
(9) no new project for work yet... i guess this means tomorrow i read and convince myself to start preparing my dreaded talk for the REU kids for next tuesday... yikes!
(10) amanda basically moved out yesterday since she's done with her summer internship... she'll be in and out but mostly out for the rest of the summer, so i'll probably read a lot and be nocturnal by choice... by all means, please call and entertain me :-)
yeah, that really *is* the loong version, eh?
i'm done, really, i am.
night y'all. =P
Monday, June 14, 2004
there and back again
750 miles round trip this weekend and i'm back in jersey:
the short version?
*road construction stinks
*farmers markets provide the best cheapest lunch ever
*it's weird to have a bit more of grandma "missing" every time i visit... i did a lot of thinking
*"the notebook" is a very good movie
*i got to meet my mom's best friend from high school... *that* was entertaining
*highlight of today? cleaning off my grandpa, my uncle, and my great grandparents headstones at the huge 100s of acres big cemetary in pittsburgh
*i really like chatting with my aunt priscilla
that said, the long version comes later
happy evening dudes
the short version?
*road construction stinks
*farmers markets provide the best cheapest lunch ever
*it's weird to have a bit more of grandma "missing" every time i visit... i did a lot of thinking
*"the notebook" is a very good movie
*i got to meet my mom's best friend from high school... *that* was entertaining
*highlight of today? cleaning off my grandpa, my uncle, and my great grandparents headstones at the huge 100s of acres big cemetary in pittsburgh
*i really like chatting with my aunt priscilla
that said, the long version comes later
happy evening dudes
Friday, June 11, 2004
Thursday, June 10, 2004
visontlatasra
heading off for pittsburgh in the morning; bound to be an interesting weekend. i've seen g-ma on "good" days and on "bad" days, and apparently she's on a bad streak lately, although usually the first day we visit she usually is excited enough to see us that it's a "good" day, no matter how she's really feeling. nonetheless, it's always a mental battle of how to cope with how she is now until i actually get there... once i'm there with mom, it'll be fine... until then, i think too much about it... mostly i just miss who she was before her strokes... so i guess in a way i've been missing her for 4 years even though i've seen her regularly all that time.
4 days in a nursing/retirement home... woo hoo.
catch y'all on monday.
4 days in a nursing/retirement home... woo hoo.
catch y'all on monday.
cousin update
re: prayer request from yesterday
so my 12 year old cousin is presently in surgery... she hasn't been able to eat or drink anything all week, so they're putting in a stent (sp?) now, and she'll have to have another surgery next week to follow up unless they miraculously catch the stone today.... she's been in intense pain the past couple days and not responding to any medication... here's to hoping it all turns out ok...
so my 12 year old cousin is presently in surgery... she hasn't been able to eat or drink anything all week, so they're putting in a stent (sp?) now, and she'll have to have another surgery next week to follow up unless they miraculously catch the stone today.... she's been in intense pain the past couple days and not responding to any medication... here's to hoping it all turns out ok...
the good, the bad, and the ugly
well, not precisely, but it was the most appropriate cliche i could think of for a title...
ugly first... amanda's anti-air conditioning... however, i live and work in our 90+ degree apartment 24/7, whereas she goes away to a nice air-conditioned office during the day... i've started turning on the a/c in the den, and setting up a fan aimed from there into my room when she's not around (start yesterday), and turning it off enough before she gets home that she can't tell.... heh... don't tell amanda.
the good: colleen and i visited an apartment this afternoon... it was one of the only complexes offering 3 bedroom places that have openings for august... with construction it took us 30 minutes from the complex back to campus, but without construction it would be more like 15-20 minutes... we should look into alternate routes...
pluses? our own washer/dryer.... 3 bedrooms and 3 full baths... for less than $550/month/person... only drawback besides distance is that one of the "bedrooms" is really labeled a "study" and has no windows, except for the ones on the french doors to it... so option 1: someone gets a windowless room with curtains on the doors, or option 2: two of us share the master bedroom which is more than twice the size of the study anyhow... spacewise/new-ness for the money it's by far the best deal we've seen... see floorplan below (clickable for readable version =P):
the bad: talked to mom about things she should copy before she comes to pitt tomorrow so she can be our cosigner (instead of mailing forms, i'll have them instantly over the weekend!)... she said that g-ma's been feeling worse lately and getting sores (these things happen when you've been paralyzed for 4 years and do nothing but sit) that they haven't been able to get rid of yet... mom and her sisters are worried about infection due to her diabetes... that all doesn't sound very good, and i'm a little worried about her now too...
and that's my day so far.... jenny (memphis jenny)'s apparently ordering my birthday present right now and told me if i can find any $5 item on amazon i want in addition to what she's already picked out, then she gets free shipping, so it's complementary birthday present shopping time :-)... then back to work... just 65 more contacts to go!
later dudes =P
ugly first... amanda's anti-air conditioning... however, i live and work in our 90+ degree apartment 24/7, whereas she goes away to a nice air-conditioned office during the day... i've started turning on the a/c in the den, and setting up a fan aimed from there into my room when she's not around (start yesterday), and turning it off enough before she gets home that she can't tell.... heh... don't tell amanda.
the good: colleen and i visited an apartment this afternoon... it was one of the only complexes offering 3 bedroom places that have openings for august... with construction it took us 30 minutes from the complex back to campus, but without construction it would be more like 15-20 minutes... we should look into alternate routes...
pluses? our own washer/dryer.... 3 bedrooms and 3 full baths... for less than $550/month/person... only drawback besides distance is that one of the "bedrooms" is really labeled a "study" and has no windows, except for the ones on the french doors to it... so option 1: someone gets a windowless room with curtains on the doors, or option 2: two of us share the master bedroom which is more than twice the size of the study anyhow... spacewise/new-ness for the money it's by far the best deal we've seen... see floorplan below (clickable for readable version =P):
the bad: talked to mom about things she should copy before she comes to pitt tomorrow so she can be our cosigner (instead of mailing forms, i'll have them instantly over the weekend!)... she said that g-ma's been feeling worse lately and getting sores (these things happen when you've been paralyzed for 4 years and do nothing but sit) that they haven't been able to get rid of yet... mom and her sisters are worried about infection due to her diabetes... that all doesn't sound very good, and i'm a little worried about her now too...
and that's my day so far.... jenny (memphis jenny)'s apparently ordering my birthday present right now and told me if i can find any $5 item on amazon i want in addition to what she's already picked out, then she gets free shipping, so it's complementary birthday present shopping time :-)... then back to work... just 65 more contacts to go!
later dudes =P
Wednesday, June 09, 2004
beating the heat
it might be hot if...
the popsicles you took out of the freezer melt to liquid within 10 minutes of when you took them out... and you're inside!
current temp 91, heat index 97, lows in the 70s... and does my roommate believe in air conditioning? um nope..
after 4 hours of working with the windows open and a fan and still having a headache despite drinking like 2 liters of water already today, i gave up, shut the windows, and turned on the AC... too bad it's not in my room!
now, back to work... goal of 850 today, currently at 769... wish me luck =P
later dudes
the popsicles you took out of the freezer melt to liquid within 10 minutes of when you took them out... and you're inside!
current temp 91, heat index 97, lows in the 70s... and does my roommate believe in air conditioning? um nope..
after 4 hours of working with the windows open and a fan and still having a headache despite drinking like 2 liters of water already today, i gave up, shut the windows, and turned on the AC... too bad it's not in my room!
now, back to work... goal of 850 today, currently at 769... wish me luck =P
later dudes
2 prayer requests
I was all excited to have 3 emails when I woke up, but turns out only 1 of them was happy... 2 prayer requests
(1) for my 12 year old cousin... her stomach hurt yesterday, so they figured she had caught the stomach flu from my other cousin.... when the pain changed and got worse, they ended up taking her to the ER last night to find out that she has a kidney stone! this usually doesn't happen til people are adult age, but apparently she inherited the problem from her genetic father (who my aunt isn't with anymore)... it'll be fine once she passes it, but how long that takes can be variable, and she's in intense pain in the meantime... so yeah, prayers for rachel.
(2) sue nathan, the staffworker for valpo's IVCF (intervarsity christian fellowship) chapter wrote a mass email last night/this morning as well... apaprently charles (her husband)'s mother (who lives in india) is in ICU for seizures, etc., and the doctors aren't giving them too much hope (but they aren't giving up hope either...)... charles's father just died earlier this spring so prayers for comfort/healing/etc. in that situation.
the end.
now i work.
(1) for my 12 year old cousin... her stomach hurt yesterday, so they figured she had caught the stomach flu from my other cousin.... when the pain changed and got worse, they ended up taking her to the ER last night to find out that she has a kidney stone! this usually doesn't happen til people are adult age, but apparently she inherited the problem from her genetic father (who my aunt isn't with anymore)... it'll be fine once she passes it, but how long that takes can be variable, and she's in intense pain in the meantime... so yeah, prayers for rachel.
(2) sue nathan, the staffworker for valpo's IVCF (intervarsity christian fellowship) chapter wrote a mass email last night/this morning as well... apaprently charles (her husband)'s mother (who lives in india) is in ICU for seizures, etc., and the doctors aren't giving them too much hope (but they aren't giving up hope either...)... charles's father just died earlier this spring so prayers for comfort/healing/etc. in that situation.
the end.
now i work.
end of day brain-spin
here it is nearly 1am... looks like 2am is my new official bedtime -- joy.
i did make it to 700 contacts tonight... around 11:30... and since then i've been doing the usual catch up with all 5 email addresses and with all my friends' blogs deal... fun fun... i can't wait til the weekend when i have some time to read! (true i'll be visiting but there comes points of time, when you spend a weekend at a nursing/retirement home that things get dull and you're just sitting there no matter how much you like who you're there to see)
now, here's a little something for everyone:
if you read this to see what i've been up to / what i've felt like rambling my head off about today, you should be satisfied
if you read to vicariously get amanda stories (amanda being my roommate), here's one for you:
(we actually chatted for like an hour tonight while we were both making our own dinner, etc.)
so ron, her boyfriend of 3 years, broke up with her just after he graduated last month (while i was on my roadtrip), and in the last week she'd had like 4 different guys ask her out... one of them she just had to tell me about...
so now that it's summer, people sit on the doorstoops in my apartment complex and chat the evening away... there's a mother of a 5-year old next door who's usually sitting outside my door with a guy from a couple units the other direction on any nights when it's not raining... when i come home i say hi, and ask how they are, then come upstairs to do whatever... amanda on the other hand will chat with them for half an hour before coming up... they know where she does her internship right now (at a local drug store pharmacy) and that ron broke up with her... so the guy came into her store today to get a prescription filled and she tried to hide because she really didn't want to deal with him... it didn't work though, and then apparently told her "so we'll probably be out chatting again tonight... and how about dinner sometime next week?"...
as soon as amanda came home today she came to my room to tell me the story, and then asked me to guess how old the guy was.... until she checked in the pharmacy computer to find out he's 25, she was convinced he was in his 40s and completely grossed out! (and still does not want to do dinner with him anyhow)
i guess it's more amusing how she told it, but nonetheless, there's your amanda update of the day =P
for those of you who read this to live vicariously and get roommate (kristin) updates: (well, who does that... you either know her or you don't?)
i'm amazed at what she's doing this summer... she's called me a few times to say hi, and unfortunately usually i'm still working when she calls so we don't talk as long as i'd like, but we did chat for nearly half an hour earlier and that was nice...
anyhow, she's on an internship for being a hospital chaplain this summer in houston, texas... during the days they shadow people and do group classes together and stuff, but during the night, the interns all take turns being *the* on-call chaplain for the hospital... i.e. spending the night, and getting paged everytime someone dies or something else warranting a chaplain's presence happens... her first night is tomorrow... but for the intern who covered last night... 7 deaths between 8pm and 4am... *hopefully* she'll have a bit calmer of an evening for her first go around... i just can't imagine doing that... makes me thankful for my 11 hour work days of talking to myself!
finally... now that there's an abstract on the rutgers reu page http://dimacs.rutgers.edu/REU i'm starting to freak out a little about my talk for 2 weeks from now... blah.
ok, really, time to chill *away* from the computer =P
night y'all!
i did make it to 700 contacts tonight... around 11:30... and since then i've been doing the usual catch up with all 5 email addresses and with all my friends' blogs deal... fun fun... i can't wait til the weekend when i have some time to read! (true i'll be visiting but there comes points of time, when you spend a weekend at a nursing/retirement home that things get dull and you're just sitting there no matter how much you like who you're there to see)
now, here's a little something for everyone:
if you read this to see what i've been up to / what i've felt like rambling my head off about today, you should be satisfied
if you read to vicariously get amanda stories (amanda being my roommate), here's one for you:
(we actually chatted for like an hour tonight while we were both making our own dinner, etc.)
so ron, her boyfriend of 3 years, broke up with her just after he graduated last month (while i was on my roadtrip), and in the last week she'd had like 4 different guys ask her out... one of them she just had to tell me about...
so now that it's summer, people sit on the doorstoops in my apartment complex and chat the evening away... there's a mother of a 5-year old next door who's usually sitting outside my door with a guy from a couple units the other direction on any nights when it's not raining... when i come home i say hi, and ask how they are, then come upstairs to do whatever... amanda on the other hand will chat with them for half an hour before coming up... they know where she does her internship right now (at a local drug store pharmacy) and that ron broke up with her... so the guy came into her store today to get a prescription filled and she tried to hide because she really didn't want to deal with him... it didn't work though, and then apparently told her "so we'll probably be out chatting again tonight... and how about dinner sometime next week?"...
as soon as amanda came home today she came to my room to tell me the story, and then asked me to guess how old the guy was.... until she checked in the pharmacy computer to find out he's 25, she was convinced he was in his 40s and completely grossed out! (and still does not want to do dinner with him anyhow)
i guess it's more amusing how she told it, but nonetheless, there's your amanda update of the day =P
for those of you who read this to live vicariously and get roommate (kristin) updates: (well, who does that... you either know her or you don't?)
i'm amazed at what she's doing this summer... she's called me a few times to say hi, and unfortunately usually i'm still working when she calls so we don't talk as long as i'd like, but we did chat for nearly half an hour earlier and that was nice...
anyhow, she's on an internship for being a hospital chaplain this summer in houston, texas... during the days they shadow people and do group classes together and stuff, but during the night, the interns all take turns being *the* on-call chaplain for the hospital... i.e. spending the night, and getting paged everytime someone dies or something else warranting a chaplain's presence happens... her first night is tomorrow... but for the intern who covered last night... 7 deaths between 8pm and 4am... *hopefully* she'll have a bit calmer of an evening for her first go around... i just can't imagine doing that... makes me thankful for my 11 hour work days of talking to myself!
finally... now that there's an abstract on the rutgers reu page http://dimacs.rutgers.edu/REU i'm starting to freak out a little about my talk for 2 weeks from now... blah.
ok, really, time to chill *away* from the computer =P
night y'all!
Tuesday, June 08, 2004
a very long day
so my boss approves of me going out of town for the weekend if i can if at all possible, finish getting my 1000 contacts by thursday night before i leave...
today's draining though...
(1) i've spent $11 on laundry because the machines are that bad and i had that much to wash... ai yai yai
(2) my goal is 700 contacts by the time i quit today... i started this morning with 550 and told myself lunch was when i got to 600... here it is, 4:15pm, and i'm just up to 592, and not for any lack of trying on my part! i'd go by hours and not get frustrated, except for the needing to finish by thursday night bit... blah
(3)laptop's being weird so i'm working at the desktop which isn't quite as fun as watching movies in the background while i work, but so it goes :-P
in happier news -- i got back the motor for my telescope from the manufacturer... it had busted the first or second time we took the scope outside, and was covered under warranty... now, when i'm not working 11-12 hour days, i can go stargazing with style again ;-P
back to work
later dudes
today's draining though...
(1) i've spent $11 on laundry because the machines are that bad and i had that much to wash... ai yai yai
(2) my goal is 700 contacts by the time i quit today... i started this morning with 550 and told myself lunch was when i got to 600... here it is, 4:15pm, and i'm just up to 592, and not for any lack of trying on my part! i'd go by hours and not get frustrated, except for the needing to finish by thursday night bit... blah
(3)laptop's being weird so i'm working at the desktop which isn't quite as fun as watching movies in the background while i work, but so it goes :-P
in happier news -- i got back the motor for my telescope from the manufacturer... it had busted the first or second time we took the scope outside, and was covered under warranty... now, when i'm not working 11-12 hour days, i can go stargazing with style again ;-P
back to work
later dudes
Monday, June 07, 2004
it's a small world after all
been working away, and now taking a dinner break -- shrimp primavera... and it's at an almost normal dinner time too... i can be good on occasion :-P
obviously, that's not the small world part...
so amanda came home and immediately started cleaning all around me... i felt a little bad, but i was working and i want to get at least 50 more contacts than i presently have before i quit tonight, so i just kept going...
anyhow, while she was cleaning the stairs, some guy showed up... and i recognized his voice! he's the guy who's been around when i've known it's not ron amanda's hanging out with.... mystery solved
what's even funnier... so i'm sitting in front of the TV with my laptop, working away when they come in and then...
amanda: so this is lara, and lara this is my friend ron... yeah, another ron, we're going out to dinner, see you later
ron: hi, actually i think you know one of my roommates
me: really? who?
ron: ben bunting
me: huh... small world
indeed. now i wonder who figured out the connection? as far as i know amanda doesn't know my friends names other than eric, but i could be wrong... maybe it was just the "we both have math graduate roommates" connection... nonetheless, i was amused.
dinnertime.
later dudes. =P
obviously, that's not the small world part...
so amanda came home and immediately started cleaning all around me... i felt a little bad, but i was working and i want to get at least 50 more contacts than i presently have before i quit tonight, so i just kept going...
anyhow, while she was cleaning the stairs, some guy showed up... and i recognized his voice! he's the guy who's been around when i've known it's not ron amanda's hanging out with.... mystery solved
what's even funnier... so i'm sitting in front of the TV with my laptop, working away when they come in and then...
amanda: so this is lara, and lara this is my friend ron... yeah, another ron, we're going out to dinner, see you later
ron: hi, actually i think you know one of my roommates
me: really? who?
ron: ben bunting
me: huh... small world
indeed. now i wonder who figured out the connection? as far as i know amanda doesn't know my friends names other than eric, but i could be wrong... maybe it was just the "we both have math graduate roommates" connection... nonetheless, i was amused.
dinnertime.
later dudes. =P
it's a small world after all
been working away, and now taking a dinner break -- shrimp primavera... and it's at an almost normal dinner time too... i can be good on occasion :-P
obviously, that's not the small world part...
so amanda came home and immediately started cleaning all around me... i felt a little bad, but i was working and i want to get at least 50 more contacts than i presently have before i quit tonight, so i just kept going...
anyhow, while she was cleaning the stairs, some guy showed up... and i recognized his voice! he's the guy who's been around when i've known it's not ron amanda's hanging out with.... mystery solved
what's even funnier... so i'm sitting in front of the TV with my laptop, working away when they come in and then...
amanda: so this is lara, and lara this is my friend ron... yeah, another ron, we're going out to dinner, see you later
ron: hi, actually i think you know one of my roommates
me: really? who?
ron: ben bunting
me: huh... small world
indeed. now i wonder who figured out the connection? as far as i know amanda doesn't know my friends names other than eric, but i could be wrong... maybe it was just the "we both have math graduate roommates" connection... nonetheless, i was amused.
dinnertime.
later dudes. =P
obviously, that's not the small world part...
so amanda came home and immediately started cleaning all around me... i felt a little bad, but i was working and i want to get at least 50 more contacts than i presently have before i quit tonight, so i just kept going...
anyhow, while she was cleaning the stairs, some guy showed up... and i recognized his voice! he's the guy who's been around when i've known it's not ron amanda's hanging out with.... mystery solved
what's even funnier... so i'm sitting in front of the TV with my laptop, working away when they come in and then...
amanda: so this is lara, and lara this is my friend ron... yeah, another ron, we're going out to dinner, see you later
ron: hi, actually i think you know one of my roommates
me: really? who?
ron: ben bunting
me: huh... small world
indeed. now i wonder who figured out the connection? as far as i know amanda doesn't know my friends names other than eric, but i could be wrong... maybe it was just the "we both have math graduate roommates" connection... nonetheless, i was amused.
dinnertime.
later dudes. =P
it's a small world after all
been working away, and now taking a dinner break -- shrimp primavera... and it's at an almost normal dinner time too... i can be good on occasion :-P
obviously, that's not the small world part...
so amanda came home and immediately started cleaning all around me... i felt a little bad, but i was working and i want to get at least 50 more contacts than i presently have before i quit tonight, so i just kept going...
anyhow, while she was cleaning the stairs, some guy showed up... and i recognized his voice! he's the guy who's been around when i've known it's not ron amanda's hanging out with.... mystery solved
what's even funnier... so i'm sitting in front of the TV with my laptop, working away when they come in and then...
amanda: so this is lara, and lara this is my friend ron... yeah, another ron, we're going out to dinner, see you later
ron: hi, actually i think you know one of my roommates
me: really? who?
ron: ben bunting
me: huh... small world
indeed. now i wonder who figured out the connection? as far as i know amanda doesn't know my friends names other than eric, but i could be wrong... maybe it was just the "we both have math graduate roommates" connection... nonetheless, i was amused.
dinnertime.
later dudes. =P
obviously, that's not the small world part...
so amanda came home and immediately started cleaning all around me... i felt a little bad, but i was working and i want to get at least 50 more contacts than i presently have before i quit tonight, so i just kept going...
anyhow, while she was cleaning the stairs, some guy showed up... and i recognized his voice! he's the guy who's been around when i've known it's not ron amanda's hanging out with.... mystery solved
what's even funnier... so i'm sitting in front of the TV with my laptop, working away when they come in and then...
amanda: so this is lara, and lara this is my friend ron... yeah, another ron, we're going out to dinner, see you later
ron: hi, actually i think you know one of my roommates
me: really? who?
ron: ben bunting
me: huh... small world
indeed. now i wonder who figured out the connection? as far as i know amanda doesn't know my friends names other than eric, but i could be wrong... maybe it was just the "we both have math graduate roommates" connection... nonetheless, i was amused.
dinnertime.
later dudes. =P
oh boy oh boy
another one of those days...
this week is looking like unless i make excuses to run errands, i won't leave the house for 3 days again -- how much fun is that?
read til 2am last night (finished leigh's favorite book yesterday afternoon, and then last night i started the millenium problems (about the top 7 most high profile unsolved math problems of today, written in laymen's (i.e. including math people who haven't studie those areas in depth) terms), then slept til 10:30 today, and since then it's been a work in front of the TV day... i'm nearly up to 450 contacts before the site i was working off of had its server go down and my computers started acting retarded... i guess that's a hint that it's breakfast/lunch time?
movie of the AM (was on TV earlier, and started just as i turned the TV on)... "herman USA"... real life story about a town in minnesota who had dozens of single guys and about 6 single girls so they had a huge dance/picnic to attract new blood into town... it was entertaining...
have seen bits and pieces of the memorial stuff being done for president reagan's funeral as i flip through too...
in happy news, i got 2 back issues of "mental floss" in the mail just now... "the spy issue" and "the saints and sinners issue"... they even stuck in a personalized hand-written thank you note for my order :-P when i finish these, (the only 2 issues not sold out from 2002, their first year in print), i'll start ordering the 2003, and the 2004 issues in 2s and 3s as well =P party indeed. exciting articles? "fear of all sums: 3 math theories explained to you in plain english", "for the sake of sake" (2nd sake = japanese wine), and "20 to 30 interesting things you never knew before about japan (but who's counting?)".... party indeed...
now for the texas trophy hunters site to come back up.... ah well... lunch!
this week is looking like unless i make excuses to run errands, i won't leave the house for 3 days again -- how much fun is that?
read til 2am last night (finished leigh's favorite book yesterday afternoon, and then last night i started the millenium problems (about the top 7 most high profile unsolved math problems of today, written in laymen's (i.e. including math people who haven't studie those areas in depth) terms), then slept til 10:30 today, and since then it's been a work in front of the TV day... i'm nearly up to 450 contacts before the site i was working off of had its server go down and my computers started acting retarded... i guess that's a hint that it's breakfast/lunch time?
movie of the AM (was on TV earlier, and started just as i turned the TV on)... "herman USA"... real life story about a town in minnesota who had dozens of single guys and about 6 single girls so they had a huge dance/picnic to attract new blood into town... it was entertaining...
have seen bits and pieces of the memorial stuff being done for president reagan's funeral as i flip through too...
in happy news, i got 2 back issues of "mental floss" in the mail just now... "the spy issue" and "the saints and sinners issue"... they even stuck in a personalized hand-written thank you note for my order :-P when i finish these, (the only 2 issues not sold out from 2002, their first year in print), i'll start ordering the 2003, and the 2004 issues in 2s and 3s as well =P party indeed. exciting articles? "fear of all sums: 3 math theories explained to you in plain english", "for the sake of sake" (2nd sake = japanese wine), and "20 to 30 interesting things you never knew before about japan (but who's counting?)".... party indeed...
now for the texas trophy hunters site to come back up.... ah well... lunch!
Sunday, June 06, 2004
on bravery... ;-P
lkp 42 42 42 (me): dude freak out!
lkp 42 42 42: i just caught a big scary bug in a cup!
lkp 42 42 42: without screaming
Galois1105 (eric): *freaking*
lkp 42 42 42: now to toss it ouside... brb
lkp 42 42 42: you didn't *actually* freak did you? :-(
Galois1105: no, i didn't actually freak :-)
lkp 42 42 42: i just caught a big scary bug in a cup!
lkp 42 42 42: without screaming
Galois1105 (eric): *freaking*
lkp 42 42 42: now to toss it ouside... brb
lkp 42 42 42: you didn't *actually* freak did you? :-(
Galois1105: no, i didn't actually freak :-)
up and down (and vice versa)
had a plant question for my dad earlier, but he's visiting g-ma pudwell for her 79th birthday this weekend... so i figured i'd call and say hi to everyone (parents and the grandmother) all at once... however, it ended up being the weirdest discussion i've ever had with my grandma... ever
me: hi grandma! how are you?
g-ma: oh hi, how are you? what's wrong?
me: nothing, i was just calling to say hi and see how you're doing
g-ma: oh, well, lar, then i have terrible news
me: what's that?
g-ma: luella died on friday... i don't know what i'm gonna do.
luella is g-ma's best friend in her apartment complex... when i was on my roadtrip, i went over to visit with her for an hour and show her pictures as well... when g-ma and g-pa moved to g-ma's current place (when i was in 9th grade), luella and orville were the other couple close in age to my grandparents who had similar ideas of how to spend their time, so they had a lot of fun as a group of 4... then g-pa died so dynamics changed by lu was still g-ma's best friend... now with lu gone, orville's at a complete loss and i'm not sure how long he'll last without her... g-ma's at a loss in her own way too, although she seems to go strong through everything... at least she still has bob (her boyfriend) around...
at any rate... a little bummed about luella... not that i knew her exceedingly well, but i visited with her a bit every time i was around g-mas for the last 9 years and i'm sad for g-ma and for orville that she's gone now...
on the flip side of the coin....
happy quotes of the day
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
pastor j: (in the kids' sermon, holding up an egg): so if i broke this open, i'd have two things... a yoke and....?
kid: and a mess!!!
so yeah i dropped my computer the other day and saw some sparks and some smoke come out of it, and so i called gateway and asked them if that was normal and they were like 'no, not at all, what have you done to it?'" ~eric
no, so here's what you do instead... you call up scott and say 'hey, scott, i need to make a phone call and i don't want to', eric says get me some tequila. ~eric
yeah, that transition didn't work so well, but they're still quality quotes, right? =P
time for "lunch"... later dudes
me: hi grandma! how are you?
g-ma: oh hi, how are you? what's wrong?
me: nothing, i was just calling to say hi and see how you're doing
g-ma: oh, well, lar, then i have terrible news
me: what's that?
g-ma: luella died on friday... i don't know what i'm gonna do.
luella is g-ma's best friend in her apartment complex... when i was on my roadtrip, i went over to visit with her for an hour and show her pictures as well... when g-ma and g-pa moved to g-ma's current place (when i was in 9th grade), luella and orville were the other couple close in age to my grandparents who had similar ideas of how to spend their time, so they had a lot of fun as a group of 4... then g-pa died so dynamics changed by lu was still g-ma's best friend... now with lu gone, orville's at a complete loss and i'm not sure how long he'll last without her... g-ma's at a loss in her own way too, although she seems to go strong through everything... at least she still has bob (her boyfriend) around...
at any rate... a little bummed about luella... not that i knew her exceedingly well, but i visited with her a bit every time i was around g-mas for the last 9 years and i'm sad for g-ma and for orville that she's gone now...
on the flip side of the coin....
happy quotes of the day
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
pastor j: (in the kids' sermon, holding up an egg): so if i broke this open, i'd have two things... a yoke and....?
kid: and a mess!!!
so yeah i dropped my computer the other day and saw some sparks and some smoke come out of it, and so i called gateway and asked them if that was normal and they were like 'no, not at all, what have you done to it?'" ~eric
no, so here's what you do instead... you call up scott and say 'hey, scott, i need to make a phone call and i don't want to', eric says get me some tequila. ~eric
yeah, that transition didn't work so well, but they're still quality quotes, right? =P
time for "lunch"... later dudes
warning labels
this is a fun game... i put several variations on my "names" in for maximum dramatic effect ;-P enjoy =P
From Go-Quiz.com
now go see if you can get a warning label i haven't happened across yet -- enjoy! =P
| lara may explode without warning |
| M EXPLOSIVE |
| NOTE: z |
| No smoking around lkp42. Thankyou for your co-operation. |
| UCAUTION |
| IN THE INTEREST OF SAFETY IT IS ADVISABLE TO KEEP LKP424242 AWAY FROM FIRE AND FLAMES. |
| THIS WAY UP รก |
| la has fragile contents which may break! |
| > WARNING |
| mathematicalmeanderer is radioactive. Wear protective clothing at all times. |
From Go-Quiz.com
now go see if you can get a warning label i haven't happened across yet -- enjoy! =P
