Ups and Downs

OK, so today was a good day...I think. It was an entertaining day at work, but that is not the subject of this post.

I talked with my parents about my intention to save up for an iBook. I had never mentioned it before, I had no reason to. So I brought it up. They asked why I wanted it and wished me luck in saving up.

Today I came home from work. Here's how it went down:

Dad: So how much was the computer you were looking at?
Me : $1266
Dad: [Lists specs for an IBM laptop] ... and all for $1224.
Me: But I wanted a Mac for a reason [Lists specs and reasons for wanting iBook]
Mom: What we thought we would do is pay half if you match it for the other half.
Me: [Utter shock, forces mouth shut]

They had just offered to pay half of the cost of my iBook. I was in Heaven.

Then we talked some more after dinner. My dad is hesitant all of a sudden to spend so much on something that he doesn't seem to think I really need. I think he's disappointed - he thought I was intending on getting this and ditching my desktop, meaning he'd get it for the family computer (a major upgrade from the 1997 machine we have that runs Windows 98 - gag me).

Then I told him I wanted to keep my IBM desktop and have the Mac to do other, different, things. Which I proceeded to list. He looked unimpressed and said we would talk about it more tomorrow.

How can they do this to me? Promise me something something so important, then change their mind. If they go back on this, I won't forgive them for as long as I can imagine. To snatch away something they know I've wanted for months.

Comments and thoughts welcome.

Busy Day

Well, I've been busy today...I think a list will do.

1. Work - did pH titrations, hardness titrations (EDTA titrant), BOD out.
Finished all of that by 10:30 AM
2. Got off work an hour early because everyone was going to a retirement social thing for the retiring General Manager. So I cut out, and I'll only miss out on like $6.00 from my paycheck, which will be made up for by the overtime hours I did two weekends ago.
3. Researched some quantum mechanics. I finally learned what the hell the Hamiltonian Operator is!
4. Worked out for about an hour. That felt great: leg lifts, bench, biceps, triceps, and took a nice, leisurely half-mile jog.
5. Cleaned the bathroom. *gasp*
6. Learned implicit differentiation for functions of multiple variables - Not as easy as it sounds ;)
7. Listened to the President mispronounce "nuclear" for the 4,576,930,476.5 time (I think he once stopped himself mid-word to change his mind and say "Saddam Hussein.")
8. Did a bit more exercise with the normal nightly stuff - pushups and situps/crunches.

That exercise really makes me feel good. It was an odd combination of lassitude and energy when I finished. Invigoration is not what I expected to feel, especially since it was a fairly light workout (about 50 reps of everything involving weights with moderate weight)

I'm finally sticking to the goal I've had for the last few summers: to get in shape. This is luckily made fairly easy for me, since I have absolutely zero body fat to lose; I can go straight to the muscle-toning phase. I'm getting back that four-pack that I almost once had.

The only thing I didn't accomplish that I kind of wanted to was to get some work done on my songs. I actually started writing something new last night, it's the first time I've actively written (not just revamped old stuff) in a while. I also discovered a couple of verses that I'm hell-bent on using for something. I don't know how they got lost in the mix; I think they're pretty good.

Updates to come - hopefully the next one will involve successes in songwriting.

Tired now. G'night all.

Strange Dreams and Other Stuff

Ugh, it's been a long week already and it's only Monday. I guess I'm kinda pissed because it's the 8th inning and the O's have just lost a 3-run lead to the Yankees, and have lost 5 in a row (looking like 6, but anything's possible).

Well, that's not all of it. I've been having really troubling dreams lately. I don't want to go into specifics, but in them, everything in my life and the lives of a few of my close friends seems to go wrong. Here's the thing: I never remember dreams. As a kid, I always dreamt, remembering them vividly. They were mostly nightmares. Go figure. Then, within the last few years, probably since the last year or two of high school, I almost stopped dreaming altogether. That's when the persistent deja vu started. And I don't mean just weird feelings of "Whoa, this seems familiar," but I actually physically, consciously feel like I've been there before, done that before, and then sometimes, I can anticipate the next few seconds of what's going to happen...what the person is going to say next if I'm having a conversation, what the next song on the radio is going to be, you get the idea. It's not all the time, only when the feeling is especially strong.

At this point, you probably think that I'm off my nut. Well, I would have agreed with you until a fairly recent conversation with my grandmother (my dad's mother). She has (no shit) predicted the death of each of her siblings and her husband. She has dreams a day or two before they die, regardless of their condition (relatively healthy or sick). This amazed me. I talked to my dad about it, and he said, "Yep, she can do a lot of things that you don't know about and most people wouldn't believe." I didn't exactly know what that meant, but I sensed that there was some weird shit going on in my family behind the scenes that I didn't know about.

OK, so back to my dreams. I remember dreaming about becoming valedictorian. Not during senior year when it was almost imminent (and on my mind), but during sophomore year. I got everything right except the setting. In my dream, we were outside in the football stadium, not in the gym where we actually graduated due to the threat of rain. (But hey, the weatherman can't even get it right the day before, so what do you expect?)

Now, I'm not claiming to be psychic, but I think there is some merit to my dreams, when I have them. And I remember them. That's significant. So, I know that I'll leave you all hanging as to what my dreams are about, but I'm not going to talk about them. I'm not going to let anything freak anyone out. If they come true, well, then that's another story. I'll talk about 'em if they happen. No one's in any danger, so don't freak out at that either. I don't predict deaths, I'll leave that to my grandmother.

Enough.

Damn, the O's are down 6-4 in the 9th. Not looking good...

The Latest in Everything

So it's been three days since my last update, and I decided to keep you all (how many are there?) posted on my latest exploits.

My songwriting is progessing well. I was able to write out rough ideas for music for about 5 songs today. They'll need some tweaking, but it gives me a structure to build off of. I still need to work on my lyrics, some of the old stuff needs some definite work. I don't know what I was thinking with some of this stuff. I guess my motto was, "If it rhymes, use it," because there's definitely some crap to sift through ;)

The general ideas for all the songs I'm working on are there, I like their messages/themes/whatever. I just don't necessarily like every single line of them. I've been listening very closely to some of my favorite songs lately, trying to read into the lyrical style. What I've noticed is that they tend to ramble, not exactly remain on any obvious, distinct idea, but they always wind up back at the core idea by the chorus. I had always tried to make each verse an explicit part of the theme, contributing piece to a larger picture. That didn't always work, and I often found my songs being redundant and repetitive.

It felt good to write music again. It's been far too long. I did all of the writing on my electric; I find I'm more creative, more explorative (is that a word?), less bound by convention, if I write on the electric. That, and I'm more apt to use effects. I revamped a chord progression from long ago, and ended up adding echo, phaser, and a subtle flange. I never thought a Bm-D-A-G progression could sound so full. Also add in the fact that I'm throwing in some suspensions to the mix (add4's and the like). Thank you, Mr. Hendrix. Yoink!

In other news, today was pay day. A little bit more in the bank, a few steps closer to an iBook G4.

Damn, I'm beginning to sound like a broken record, aren't I? Get used to it, there' s not that much going on :)

Good Times

So I finally got to hang out with Thom tonight. And by finally, I mean that I always got exhausted from work and forgot to call him for a little while. But anyway, it was good times. Hence the title. We chilled, jammed, listened to some music, and took a mini-roadtrip to the gas station which involved more music.

Do you see a theme here?

Anyway, that's what we do. I've never known someone so on the same page about music. We have such similar tastes, but such different writing styles. We can be totally honest with each other's skills and songwriting. If he says, "Dude, that was awful," I don't take it personally, because he's just being honest, and I know that it's true. And I can say the same things to him. But I had been playing around with a simple arpeggiated chord progression for a while, and I played it for him.

Me: (playing)
Thom: "Dude, that's fucking beautiful"

Score. I'm going to use it for something.

The violin playing continues, and I tackled J.S. Bach's "Brandenburg Concerto No.2, Mvt II," which was one of my favorite baroque pieces from junior year (and of all time). It totally kicked my ass the first time through. I kept at it, and am playing it pretty well. Certainly not as well as I used to, but that's to be expected. Shifts are tough, my hand isn't used to a smaller, fretless instrument.

I've concluded that playing the violin is like riding a bicycle. Sometimes you climb on, get going, and then totally wipe out.

Or something like that...

Just Because

Another day, another dollar...maybe two. I say that because apparently I was misinformed about overtime. I only get paid for the hours I was actually there, contrary to what I had been told. That sucks. So I got paid for four hours. I guess that's not bad.

I've got to stop getting my hopes up about such things.

Tomorrow everyone's pretty much gone from the lab; they're going to some class about lab techniques or something. So there will be three of us, meaning we'll all be busting our asses. I'll be doing a few extra things, although it shouldn't be that bad. Nothing hard at all, just a long day.

I guess there's not much else to say other than that I'm exhausted. I've got to get some more sleep. I'll be in bed early tonight, probably about 9:30 or so, and that's why I'm posting now. Sleep will be a priority come the normal online time.

Later.

Weekend Recap

So I guess enough stuff has happened to justify an update. Oh hell, who am I kidding, I update when there's nothing to say. Saturday I got a lot done, although not much worth mentioning, except that I got a haircut for about the first time in two months. That felt great. I had entirely too much hair. OK, enough of that...

I've been working on some old songs, re-writing them and finally composing some music. Updates to come if I ever record/plan on playing a gig or anything.

Today was Father's Day, which began with me waking up at 5:45 to go to work. I only did it for the overtime. I spent about four hours there and got paid for a full day at time and a half rate. Score!

That waking up thing wouldn't have been so bad except that our neighbors two houses down had a little pool party last night. And by little, I mean big. And by pool party, I mean full-blown all night outdoor shindig. Damn people kept me up till 1 in the morning with their loud music and pool-diving. And that's saying something, I lived in a dorm and was able to sleep.

We went to Olive Garden for lunch/dinner (whatever you want to call a 3:00 pm meal). This was awesome, and led to one of the greatest quotes I have ever heard from my brother-in-law, Will (egging me on, trying to get me to finish a huge mousse cake):

Will: "Come on, be a man. Finish it!"
Me: "You didn't even finish yours, and you had Jen helping you! What kind of man do you call yourself?"
Will: "I don't have to be a man, I'm married."

And by Jen helping, that means she had one bite...but I was making a point.

After dinner, we came home and I played my violin for the first time since May of 2003. Damn, it felt good to play again. My fingering needs a bit of work, but my sense of intonation is still spot-on and my vibrato hasn't diminshed noticeably.

Watched a movie with the 'rents, and now I'm headed to bed to rest up for another exciting week of work at the Poop Plant. (Yes, that's what the permanent employees call it.) I'll be the only working stiff in my house, Mom is done for the summer now that school is out, and Dad has the week off. They're planning all these fun day trips and motorcycle rides while I'll be away at work. That sucks. Oh well, saving up for the iBook is keeping me going. To speed up the process, donations are happily accepted ;)

Um...yea

So to satisfy my burning desire to keep the world updated on my many exploits, I am taking the time to tell everyone that nothing of any interest whatsoever has happened since my last post. I do believe I'm becoming addicted to this blog thing, I just felt the need to update it, even if there's nothing to report.

I'm working one day this weekend (Sunday) for some sweet overtime money. It works out nicely, no matter how long I'm actually in the lab, I get paid for a full day...that's over a hundred bucks for just a few short hours of mindless work. Sweet! And apparently, there will be more opportunities to work weekends like this due to a new mandatory overtime policy. I'll get to take a few more turns earning some extra $. Maybe, just maybe, there's some hope that I'll be able to get my iBook sooner rather than later (fingers crossed, but not counting on anything).

I want the 14" combo drive model:

• Check it out

That doesn't show the student discount I'll get. If only I can put away $1266 (and then justify spending it)...

Well, so much for not having anything to say. Although none of what I said was of much consequence.

Until the next one...

PS - Message to E: I called you back, but my phone is occasionally screwy, so I don't know if I actually left you a message. So if you're stalking my as I think you are, give me a call sometime.

The Adventure Continues...

A catchy title for a day in which only one thing of interest truly occurred...

It was a day like any other at work, except for the fact that the pH meter was possessed. It took most of the morning to get the stupid thing calibrated and reading acceptably for known standards. We still don't know what was wrong with the stupid thing, we changed out everything we could think of - electrode, temperature compensation probe, electrolyte, buffers...nothing worked until so many things were changed that we had no idea what the real problem was. Oh well, it works. And it gave me something to do (stand around, scratch my head, and look busy).

And, after many days of telephone tag and working around work schedules, Nikki and I finally got to hang out. It was great to see her, the last time we really talked was two years ago at graduation. We had dinner and caught up on the last two years (after coming to terms with the fact that indeed that much time had passed). Strange to realize just how fleeting time is. So much has gone on in both of our lives, as is probably the case with all of us, but it doesn't seem like that much time has passed.

I miss my VT crew, but looking at the calendar, it doesn't seem like there's much left of the summer (I count in terms of work days - it makes it seem shorter), so I'll be seeing all of them soon, moving into my awesome apartment, and again busying myself with the challenges of Biochemistry.

Time for bed! Huzzah! (Is it sad that bedtime is generally my favorite time of day?)

Tough Day

Ugh...it was a long day today, full of ups and downs. The day started with the all too clear recollection that it has been two years since the greatest day of my life, the day I graduated high school. An important day in everyone's life, to be sure, but for me, it was the culmination of everything I had ever wanted and worked for. Everything came together in one perfect week that led up to one perfect day. I won't bore you with the details and/or make you feel sorry for me, but I can honestly say that I had never been happier, and can't say that I've been as happy since. Not to say I'm not happy, but you get what I mean...

Then I came across my old Calculus stuff today (FYI - in case you didn't know, I'm teaching myself Differential Equations and Multivariable Calculus to satisfy the burning desire within to learn something and not just sit on my ass after getting home from work.) In it was a letter of recommendation my teacher had written for my application to the University Honors Program. I remember the day he gave me that copy, I had never been so honored, to have someone for whom I held such respect say such things about me. Reading it was another shot to the heart when I didn't need it...

Work was kind of a pain in the ass today. It was slow, not much to do...as Mondays tend to go. I managed to run a perfect Quality Control test the other day, and the results had just come in (it's a five-day test). It's called the Glucose/Glutamic Acid test, and an acceptable score is 200 +/- 30.5. A perfect 200 earns you a spot on the "Wall of Fame" and a free lunch from John, the assistant lab supervisor. Well, I nailed it. So I get a free lunch. :-D

The day went downhill from there.

In the Solids test, one sample gets duplicated for QC purposes. Mine are usually good (hell, they're great), but today everything went to hell. They were about as far apart as can be, and I had to do that sample again. That meant, instead of being able to busy myself while waiting on samples in various ovens and dryers, I had to sit around all afternoon and wait for one stupid sample to run. That's 2.5 hours of doing nothing but staring at the clock, all the while pissed off at myself that it had turned out badly. The Lab Summary Sheet was late because my data was the last bit to get entered, and the boss hovered a bit to make sure I didn't screw it up again. I hate that. Argh. Frustration.

Not much else to say. Goodnight, dear Reader. Until the next update...

PS - Coldplay still rules, and has made this day bearable.

Re: Picasa

Alright, so after a brief evaluation of Picasa, I have decided that it is awesome. I haven't used all of its features yet, but I can say that I am thusfar impressed. It doesn't have all the capabilities of something such as, say, PhotoShop, but it's a hell of a lot better than the stuff that comes with most digital cameras and scanners. And the full version is completely free! If you're looking for an awesome photo editor, check out:

http://www.google.com/picasa

You won't be disappointed.

Picasa

Something I'm going to try - Google's Picasa. I just downloaded it after reading about it for a while. I'll let you all know how it goes, although unfortunately I will not be able to utilize all of its features as I am not connected with high-speed Internet here at home, so everything I would try to do online would be a pain in the ass.

Other recommended software (all free!):
Mozilla Firefox (makes IE look stupid)
ObjectDock
WindowsBlinds

First Post

OK, so here's my attempt at creating something interesting. This first entry will do nothing to accomplish this goal, but it's a start. I'm bored with nothing else to do right now, so I'm creating my own little piece of the Internet. I'm spending the summer here in Manassas, VA. I work as a lab technician for the Prince William County Service Authority, a water reclamation facility that takes sewage, purifies it, and releases it back into the environment. It's not glamorous work, but it's steady and pays well. I basically test crap for a living, literally (along with some other stuff). I do solids testing (how much crap there is), chlorine, pH titration, biochemical oxygen demand, and making reagents and buffers. Right up my alley (minus the poop part).

The music this summer has been great. The first week I was home, Dave Matthews released a new CD. It's pretty good. The next week, Oasis came out with a new CD, which is definitely awesome. But, by far, the best new music comes from Coldplay. Their newest album, "X and Y," is one of the most powerful albums I have ever listened to. "Speed of Sound" is a good single, but the rest of the CD makes it sound totally insignificant. Buy this album, or at the very least, get the songs "Fix You" (incredibly moving!), "Swallowed in the Sea," and "A Message." I promise you won't be disappointed.

Aside from my music, I'm pretty bored while at home, but things should be picking up soon. My friend Thom just got back from Phoenix, where he has finished school. Crap, I forgot to call him; we're gonna hang out and jam. Dave is supposed to be passing through town on his way up to Jersey, so hopefully we'll get to hang out for a while. I'm also going to chill with Nikki from high school on Tuesday, it will be really cool to catch up on the last few years. Haven't seen her since graduation.

Speaking of which, damn, my high school's graduation was today. This makes me feel old. Two years have passed since the greatest day of my life. Wow. I don't really know how that makes me feel...

So I'm keeping busy here at home (not) biding my time until school starts again. I can't wait. I'll move into an awesome apartment with three great friends. Classes look to be good. And I'll get to see a certain someone who is spending all of her summer in Cali :)