Synopsis of Week One

So I've gotten through one full week of my junior year in biochemistry. I've survived...pretty well I might add. I'm only taking three serious classes, but they keep me busy. General Biochemistry, Analytical Chemistry (and lab), and Genetics.

The professors all seem awesome, although I think AChem could prove a bit challenging. The prof seems really nice, but I think he's going to expect a lot out of us. That's cool, I like a challenge.

Biochem is going to be my favorite class. Yea, sounds crazy, I know, but Dr. Gregory is awesome! His lectures are full of useful info and he keeps us all laughing at the same time. He even made his lecture on water seem interesting. I mean, water, come on...but yes, he made it stimulating.

The Genetics prof also ranks right up there. He's cancelled class for the second time in a row now. We knew he'd be out of town last Thursday, but it turns out he got stuck in Wisconsin and is cancelling class tomorrow too. Score!

My research project in my lab is progressing well (I'm actually on a project now). I'm working with short sequences of DNA in odd configurations in an attempt to analyze nanotechnological potential. Layman's terms - make DNA twist to make tiny machines for pharmaceutical transport. If you want the jargon version of that, I'll happily tell you. It makes me feel smart.

I've spent a good amount of time hanging out with The Crew (Skye, Will, and Lindsey). Studying and chilling. That's what we do, and I think we're damn good at balancing the learning with the laughs.

Skye and I just celebrated 6 months together :)

The apartment situation is great. Living with these guys is going to prove to be a fun year. We get along great, and it's really cool living with three good friends. We've begun decorating (!) and making the place home. It doesn't look too bad, actually. I think we're going to turn the living room into the Retro Lounge or something ;)

That's about it. I'm going to spend the rest of the night with my guitar and perhaps some video games. I'm long overdue for some mindless entertainment. Hey, I'm allowed - all my work is done for about the next week (at least).

Overachiever alert! Run for your lives!

The Complete Life Soundtrack

As promised, here's the new and updated Life Soundtrack. Modifications may follow as I think of more over time, but here's what I think defines me, in terms of music (in no particular order):

"Champagne Supernova" - Oasis
"Wonderwall" - Oasis
"Live Forever" - Oasis
"Fire" - Jimi Hendrix
"Voodoo Child (Slight Return)" - Jimi Hendrix
"Purple Haze" - Jimi Hendrix
"The Stone" - Dave Matthews Band
"Rapunzel" - Dave Matthews Band
"Grey Street" - Dave Matthews Band
"Lie in Our Graves" - Dave Matthews Band
"The Scientist" - Coldplay
"Life is For Living" - Coldplay
"Where I End and You Begin" - Radiohead
"Fake Plastic Trees" - Radiohead
"3 x 5" - John Mayer
"Rock n Roll" - Led Zeppelin
"Stairway to Heaven" - Led Zeppelin
"Whole Lotta Love" - Led Zeppelin
"Berceuse and Finale (from the Firebird Suite)" - Igor Stravinsky
"Canon in D" - Johann Pachelbel
"Yesterday" - The Beatles
"Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" - The Beatles
"Across the Universe" - The Beatles
"Just What I Needed" - The Cars
"Hold on Loosely" - 38 Special
"Listen to the Music" - The Doobie Brothers
"Bohemian Rhapsody" - Queen
"Sweet Home Alabama" - Lynyrd Skynyrd
"More Than a Feeling" - Boston
"Don't Look Back" - Boston
"Nights in White Satin" - The Moody Blues
"Semi-Charmed Life" - Third Eye Blind
"Jumper" - Third Eye Blind
"Graduate" - Third Eye Blind
"Name" - Goo Goo Dolls
"Flake" - Jack Johnson
"Gimme Shelter" - The Rolling Stones
Anything else by the Rolling Stones

That'll about do it, I think. Look for updates in the future, if you care. This may change.

Back in the 'Burg

Ahhh, it's good to be back. I'm all settled in at my new place in Collegiate Suites. Everyone needs to come by and hang out, it's a cool place. The roommates are finishing up moving in, aside from Dave, who is currently MIA but probably on his way. Poor guy, he's had a lot of difficulties getting down here.

Anyway, I got here on Thursday with the 'rents. We picked up books, software, etc. and I actually got to move in that day (one day early - score!) Everybody started coming in on Friday. They left yesterday, and I spent the day hanging out with Skye, Lindsey, and Will. Good times. I succeeded in buying groceries so I won't starve thanks to Lindsey, who also estimated the cost of my stuff so accurately that she was only $0.75 off. Blame it on the bananas ;)

The same crew went to Midnight Mayhem last night to get everyone geared up for another year of winning athletics and school tradition. Great fun, got to see Megan there too, but it was so freakin' hot that we left early.

I've been going to everybody else's new places too, and they all seem really cool. Trying to keep everyone's roommates' names straight is a bit tough, but I'll get it.

Classes start tomorrow, and how's this for crappy - I already have homework in Genetics! Something is due Thursday, but the prof will tell us more in class on Tuesday. Ridiculous.

I've been doing a lot of thinking during this changing time in my life, and I'm going to revamp the "Life Soundtrack" I have in my AIM profile, which everyone has very much enjoyed. I'm going to expand it and publish it here. I'm not going to limit myself to songs that I connect with specific feelings or emotions, but I'm just going to list every song that means something to me or which I connect with something important. Look for it in the next update, probably sometime soon, as I have been thinking about this for a while.

Busy Days

It's been quite hectic lately, making all the final preparations for the return to Tech. I spent most of today packing, after a morning full of errands, most of which involved buying more essential stuff.

Yesterday was a very guitarrific day. I got the chance to jam with Thom for a few hours, just chill and play some music. We whipped out some of the old classics, mostly Oasis and whatnot. I came home and gave my Strat some tender loving care. The reason? The poor girl has been sounding quite miserable lately. I was playing it the night before, and it just frustrated me how out of tune it was. Not the strings, mind you, the intonation up the neck. I had been tweaking the bridge saddles, trying to get a lock on it, and then it finally dawned on me. I bet the neck was warped. And I'll be damned, the thing was a banana. So here's what I did yesterday:

1. tremolo adjustment (tension and height)
2. bridge saddle length adjustment
3. truss rod tightening (nerve-wracking, but I managed)
4. string height (measuring 4/64" is hard, even with the right ruler)
5. pickup height adjustment
6. fine intonation adjustment (bridge saddles got tweaked again)
7. polish

That felt good. 3 hours or so of work, but my beloved electric has never been in better shape, and is ready for its first trip down to the 'Burg.

Today, like I said, was very full of errands. Banking, haircuts, buying a jacket, Costco for some stuff...then I came home and packed all day. I didn't really unpack much when I came home, but I accumulated a lot of stuff for the apartment, so getting it all together took a while. I'm just about set, but I've still got clothes to pack.

Tomorrow looks to be more of the same, with a couple of errands to do and a visit to the dentist (ick), and the last of the packing that I can do. Wednesday will be spent doing last-minute stuff, and washing and waxing my car.

I've gotta arrive in style, you know.

Been a While

Well, it's been a while since my last post, so here I am, updating the world (potentially) on all of the latest exploits in the Adventures of Justin. Tell me, does that sound like:

A. a B-movie
B. a drug store brand comic book
C. a self-published, two-copy selling book

Just curious.

So I've gotten a few things accomplished in the last few days. I finally was able to sign up for a new A-Chem Lab section, and I'm actually warming up to the idea of having it on Thursday. I thought having a totally open Wednesday afternoon would be terrible, but there's actually a big perk to it. Historically, the Biochem tests have been given during the Wednesday evening section. So, instead of worrying about a potentially GPA-wrecking test all throughout lab, I can seclude myself somewhere with my most excellent study group and hit the books. I'm also glad that all the members of said study group got into the same lab section.

I also went down to the DMV today, prepared to take the test and get my license. A funny thing happened. I didn't have to take the test. I handed the lady a form, my old license, and twenty bucks, and she sent me down to the other end of the counter, where my picture was taken and I got a new license. Odd, I thought, but hey, I told them I got two speeding tickets; it said so right on my form that I turned in to her. So it's not my fault that they screwed up. It worked out in my favor. My picture now looks like me, the signature somewhat resembles my true signature (damn near impossible to write on that mangled pad), and my SSN no longer appears on the license. They still didn't update my height...even though I told them it had changed...and that annoying red lettering is there saying "Under 18 until Oct. 23, 2003." I would've thought that would've gone away, but whatever. I don't care.

Four more days of work. That's right, four. I volunteered to come in on Saturday for some sweet, sweet overtime $. We have additional testing we're running for ten days, and it has increased the workload almost to the breaking point of the lab. We're all tearing our hair out with new methods for samples we've never tested before. It keeps things interesting, I suppose. And I've had no difficulties. I ran something extra today for the hell of it, and it ended up helping. I concluded that the orange color in the Filter Backwash was a result of high organic content, not from ferric chloride, so we could determine a dilution factor for the TKN/PO4 test.

That meant nothing to anyone but me.

It felt good to help at a time when pretty much everyone was at their wit's end, and I happened to interject with the fact that I had some useful information. I wasn't required to run volatiles on the sample, but something in the back of my brain told me to run it. I'm glad I listen to the voices in my head ;)

I guess that's it, just figured I would keep my loyal readers posted on all my latest exploits.

Can't wait to get back to the 'burg - just over a week. VT here I come!

Ridiculous

So here's a royal screw-job for ya. I get an email late this afternoon from the Chemistry Undergrad Coordinator today informing me that my Analytical Chemistry Lab section has been canceled. Not the standard message: "You've been bumped out of the class," but instead, "the class section is gone altogether, so sign up for another section."

I see a few problems with this situation:

1. The reason I signed up for the section I did is because I have Biochem at 5 on Wednesday, and the lab filled the afternoon nicely; now, no such convenience.
2. There is one section with no one in it, and another with 6 people in it. How about dropping those sections to conserve the "insufficient lab resources" (or something like that) and stop screwing 24 people?
3. Drop/Add is not open until the first week of school, leaving us all scrambling to add this necessary class, and adjust the rest of our schedules to fit it.

I'll think of more.

Until then, I've contacted said Coordinator, the Head of the Honors Program, and the Lab Coordinator, in hopes that someone will help me rectify this situation with minimal pain. I would hope that my section might be reinstated, but as my good friend Thom said, "it's easier to live life without expectations, that way, I'm never let down."

DMV Sucks

Alright, time to vent. DMV sucks. I got a letter from them the other day saying it was time to renew my license (it's going to expire in October). I knew this. It then listed the many ways I could renew - by mail, phone, or online. "This is odd," I thought. I have two tickets on my record, and I knew this meant I would have to take the knowledge exam again. Then I thought, "Maybe I don't have to take it."

So, silly me, I decided to check online. Sure enough, the knowledge exam awaits me. This isn't what I'm bitching about. I just aced a few of their practice exams, so I'm not sweating it. What pisses me off is that they say online that anyone "under 21 with one or more conviction must reapply for a license." Now what the hell does that mean? Furthermore, they state that "alternative methods for reapplying are not valid." This should have been stated in the letter I got, right? One would think.

Therefore, as we all know, DMV is a piece of crap, and nothing they say really means anything until you are holding your license.

So one day after work (probably this week) I'm going to try to head down there and get it all squared away. This sucks, but is the only way to do it. If they've made some sort of mistake by not informing me that I have to reapply and take the test, they'll undoubtedly realize it soon after issuing my new one and will probably do something stupid like revoke my license, even though it's their fault. Major overhaul necessary? I think so.

It's not that bad, I guess. My picture looks nothing like me (it was taken when I was 15 - bad hair, thick glasses, bad shirt, and braces). My weight and height are wrong. My license number is my SSN. My signature didn't come out right because their machine screwed up. Damn, my license really should be invalid, shouldn't it?

Anyway, tomorrow is August and that excites me. 10 more days of work as of right now, and less than three weeks until I move into my new apartment. Ouch, that also means that three weeks from tomorrow classes start up again.