Blarg

not blog. blarg. my stomach is keeping me at home this morning, and kept me up for much of last night. if it's food poisoning it's not too severe, but it's not getting better as quickly as i'd expect, either. i'm guessing that it's some sort of bug, since it came on slowly during the day yesterday, and still hasn't let go as of noon today. interesting, isn't it? just what people want to read about on a random blog, i'm sure.

I went to the Texans game yesterday with B, her brother in law M, and his friend and Houston radio personality Maria Todd. I don't really listen to the radio, but I'm sure to now. The Texans actually won against the Cardinals, too! Not a bad day, all in all. Now I just have to get over this stupid bug and get the week started.

So much to do...

... So little time. Actually, I'm more nervous about things I've ordered online getting here on time. I still haven't heard about a specific package yet, and it's making me very nervous that it hasn't even shipped yet. Ah well. All I can do is wait at the moment. Work calls. Short post.

I almost forgot

... to mention that I got my TLS back. Woot! It handles and rides better than when I first bought it from its previous owner. Andy at Metric suggests a different brake pad compound, but I'll save that for when I actually have money. (seemingly never, at this rate.) That's all. I've been riding it to school and back, but not much further. My shoulder still aches when I ride, and I don't think long rides are possible as of yet. I'm using that as a mark of being 100% healed from surgery. I'll know I'm better when I can ride for a few hours without noticing my shoulder.

Christmas is coming

Doing: writing emails, prepping samples and experimental setup
Listening to: Trans-Siberian Orchestra
Thinking: I need some more traditional Christmas music, too
Feeling: pretty good, for a Monday

It's nearly seventy today. Less than a week ago the high was in the low forties. What the hell?

I got a haircut this weekend. I also shaved for the first time in a week. I'm so freaking clean-cut! I'm also much more aerodynamic.

I still don't have a present for B. grrr... I'm really bad at this this year.

I wish I remembered all the French I've learned and since forgotten over the years. Then I could converse with the people in the Croissant Brioche like the real French who eat there. That would be fun. Plus girls would think I was cool.

Brrr

It's cold today. Brilliant observation, I know, but below freezing is really cold for Houston. It usually goes near freezing about 4 times a year, and at Rice the high today has only hit 37, with a low of 31. At least I've got a real winter coat down here, unlike a lot of Houstonians. I only get to wear it a couple times a year, but when I do, I really appreciate it. Now if it would only snow, and some mountains would magically grow about an hour away, then I could go snowboarding again! Of course I'd have to win the lottery, too, since I'm so broke. Hooray for self-induced poverty! Nobody forced me to be a grad student.

64 years ago today

...2,390 people lost their lives at Pearl Harbor. Let's not forget.

I saw an old man yesterday wearing USS Arizona hat, and suddenly came down with a heavy feeling of inadequacy. I hope that I can live my life in ways worthy of the incredible sacrifices that these, and many other people have made in the course of defending our country and the things it stands for. In that vein, I also hope to have the courage and conviction to do what's right and necessary to guarantee that our country continues to embody all those ideas and ideals that these people died for. Let's not slip into complacency in the face of national moral and ideological quandaries, but let days like today remind us that we need to be constantly vigilant, both internally and externally, against that which would threaten the basic tenants of our country.

Free Tickets

... to see the Rockets take on the Celtics at the Toyota Center tonight. Sweet. Free parking again, too. Man, B. has the hookups, and I'm getting spoiled. It's not in a party suite this time, so no free food and beer, but I guess I'll get by somehow.

Aside from that, nothing really new. Of course, I'm getting about $600-$700 worth of work done on my TL in trade for my broken Bandit. Seems like a good deal to me, since Andy said it's probably only worth about $500 to him, cash. Of course, with some elbow grease I could probably part it out on Ebay for a good deal more, but it's such a hassle that the trade-off seems worth it. Who knows. Maybe I'll kick myself later, but it will be good to have my TL back in better shape than even when I bought it.

edit: section C107, row 7, seat 7. face value of tickets: $185 per.

Bartering Bandits, Being Broke, and Burgers

I finally bit the bullet and got rid of the bandit. My first motorcycle, a 1992 suzuki Bandit 400 (GSF 400,) just wouldn't stay running for me, no matter how much money I poured into it. It was a fun little bike, but I hadn't ridden it in months, mostly due to its unreliable nature. I didn't want to get stranded on the side of I-45 again. So, seeing as my everyday commuter, the bigger, badder, and generally more useful and fun motorcycle, the Suzuki TL1000s had started having electrical problems, I decided it was just stupid to have two broken bikes. So in a deal with Andy at Metric Motorcycles (a good guy who owns a local bike garage) I've bartered my bandit for his services fixing and tuning up the TL. That required a Uhaul rental, two trips across Houston, and many hours out of the day, but it was worth it. I even stopped for a Bubbas burger with B. for lunch. mmm... Bubbas.

Really, I had no other choice. Seeing as the problem with the TL is electrical, and I have no way of accurately diagnosing, much less fixing the problem on my own, added to the fact that I'm broke, have almost $3k in medical bills (not counting physical therapy bills which haven't even come in yet) and a poorly-aging car, I can't afford to pay for the repairs, and really can't afford not to have my TL working. So there it is. It's been fun, little Bandit. I'm sure Andy will take much better care of you than I have.

Yesterday was a slow day with a bunch of Half-Life-2 on the X-box. It's a great 1st person shooter, with a story as much fun as I remember the first Half-Life to be. Later in the evening, I went with B. to her parents house up 290 in Fairfield for some burgers her dad cooked on the grill. I'm such a sucker for cheeseburgers. Her family is really nice, and Fairfield reminded me of parts of Delaware. It was cold and rainy most of the evening, with a low in the low forties last night. Nice contrast to the 84 degrees we hit on Saturday, when I was lugging bikes in and out of the uhaul motorcycle trailor. Yeesh. I wish it'd just stay cold already.

Friday at last

Doing: Reading and writing emails
Listening to: Jurassic 5 / Daft Punk
Feeling: Full - I just finished eating a breakfast taco. mmmm.... eggy-licious.
Thinking: Is scanning today really going to accomplish anything? (no.)

Physical therapy again today. Hopefully it won't hurt as much as last time. For some reason I was more sore than usual after last session. Then it's the weekend! It looks like I'll be taking my bike to get fixed tomorrow if I get my act together and get a u-haul bike trailor. Maybe some bartering will be an order, too. I was invited to go to B's parent's house on Sunday, too, for some burgers and family fun. mmm... burgers. I can't resist.

And just for fun, here are some pictures I took on the train back from Manhattan to Philadelphia last weekend. Using my little ghetto-digy (2Mp point and shoot, less than $100 over a year ago from Target) the pictures didn't come out so bad.


Who wants to go to Secaucus!!?!?

I liked these lamp posts, for some reason.

I don't think that there was a right side of the tracks around here.

Walk the Line

...was fantastic! I saw it last night with B. finally, and it really surpassed what I was expecting. One of my favorite elements was that nearly every song was performed in whole - not just montage-y snippets of a number of different numbers or something like that. I see what everyone means when they talk about oscar contention.

Thanksgiving and Travel update

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I haven't written anything in nearly a week. Not like anyone reads this thing anyway. But what the hell. Have an update on my oh-so-interesting life anyway.

I got to my mom's house in the Philadelphia suburbs on Tuesday night, and though I was busy for the whole trip, it turned out to be just what I needed. Wednesday I was home alone, and ended up doing a bunch of inconsequential yard work in the 35 degree weather. Wednesday night my sister came back from school, and Thursday morning (5am) my brother got in from the red-eye from LA. The big meal had 11 of us gorging ourselves on my mom's fantastic cooking - Mom, bro, sis, me, Nana & Papa, Aunt K. and Uncle D. Cousin S. and her daughter C. and mom's BF, J. It was great to relax in front of the fire with a few football games I didn't care about, and be glad I wasn't outside in the incredible wind.

After everyone left, the wind got so bad that we actually lost power for a few hours, which is always nice, as long as it's not out too long. That night bro, sis and I went out to a few different bars (always fun with them) but nearly got stranded in West Chester when mom's Impala wouldn't start. It ended up being a problem with the ignition security system, but we avoided a tow the next day when it just randomly decided to work in a last-ditch attempt.

Friday saw Mom, bro and I looking at motorcycles for mom and buying a chainsaw to cut up a tree that fell directly onto the bonfire burn pile in Thurday's wind storm. How fortuitous, since we'd planned on collecting wood for a bonfire that night anyway! The bonfire drew quite a crowd, including a friend of my brother's from Boston, another from San Diego, (obviously not just for the bonfire) my good friend J. from NYC, and a bunch of my sister's friends from high school days. All in all really cool.

My good college friend J. and I then trained back up to NYC on Saturday so I could finally see her place in Manhattan. It's fantastically central to everything, and even though we decided not to go out that night, we had some great Tibetan food and some bubble tea afterwards, though the chocolate cake wasn't all that good. Sunday I trained back down to philly, but due to me missing the 10:15 at Penn Station by literally less than a minute, and a broken down Amtrack in front of the Septa I was on, didn't get into 30th street till after 2, and was close to making my bro late for his flight back to LA. We did get to see Grandma O. before he had to leave, though, and though it was too short, it was still nice to see her. My flight left monday morning at 6, so i was up shortly after 3, but waiting at IAH for over an hour for my ride. Yesterday also had some progress in physical therapy, a broken motorcycle (electrical problem i can't seem to even find, much less fix) and finally some sleep at around 10. Apparently bro interviewed last night (again) for a kick-ass job he really deserves, so I hope that went well.

How's that for way too much information?

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's always nice to see my family, especially mixed with tons of fantastic home-made grub. A cold, windy day, with a nice warm fire in the fireplace, bunches of full, happy people, and some of the stupidest, most interesting conversations are what today was all about. It's really nice. And tomorrow I get to see J. for the first time in almost two years and have a bon fire too boot! Great trip so far, I'd say.

Nearly Thanksgiving!

And that means I'm getting on a plane for Philly in just over five hours to go see my family! How exciting is that? I just printed out my boarding pass, but I think I'm checking a bag so it won't save me that much time. I could have gotten everything into a carry-on, but with an undoubtedly crowded flight, I don't really want to worry about having the space. It'll mean some extra time in the airport, but it seems worth it.

I'm excited to see everyone - aunt and uncle, grandparents, mother and brother and sister, among some other's, no doubt. I'm going to try really hard to get up to NYC to visit my good college friend J, since it's been completely too long since I've seen her, and I really want to see her place in Manhattan. I think the last time I saw her was over a year and a half ago when she came down for the rodeo, and that's certainly far too long.

I really can't wait for my mom's fantastic cooking. She's like Betty Crocker, only better. You think I'm joking. I'll see what I can do to help out, but it's never much. Things like taking the rolls out of the oven when the timer goes off don't take much skill, but it's better than letting me ruin the bird. (Last year's thanksgiving at my house had a fried turkey from a restaurant. best turkey i've ever done.) All the food and family and coziness is always cathartic, and I'm really looking forward to it all. Philadelphia, here I come!

It's been a while

...since I last rapped at ya, but not much of great import has happened since then. Come to think of it, not much of import ever happens with me, but I write about it anyway. So here's some more. My second physical therapy visit on Friday completely kicked my ass. If it had boots I'd still have the tread imprint. I still ache from it, and Saturday was just painful. I've got another session today, and hopefully they'll go a bit easier, but I doubt it.

I bought myself a little palm sander Saturday to do some projects I have around the house, and it works great, just not for what I want it to do. I'll keep trying, though, and see what comes of it. Sunday was all about tailgating and watching the Texans humiliate themselves yet again, but not before driving roomie A. to the airport at 6am. (I was back home and asleep by 7:15, though, thanks to the complete lack of traffic.) My tall cousin C. came into town for the game again, and brought me his extra ticket - Thanks again - but didn't get there early enough to enjoy the 4 hours of great tailgating before the game. Sounds like a bit much, but really it's just a big party with lots of food and beer. What else are Texans fans supposed to do?

Physical Therapy Day 1

I just got back to lab from my first physical therapy appointment. Ouch. They were amazed at my extremely constrained range of motion, which seemed to make them push me that much harder. I know it's for my own good in the long run, but I'm gonna be sore tonight. This time took about an hour and a half, and next time should only take about an hour. 3 times a week for a month and I should be ready to weight-train to get my strength back. 4 months and the doc says I should be good as new.

Appointment

I was supposed to get my final follow-up appointment yesterday, but the doc had to do emergency surgery so it was rescheduled for today. I haven't worn my sling since Saturday, and it's amazing how much my mobility is restricted. I don't know when physical therapy will start, but hopefully it won't take another few weeks to schedule. I rode my bike (motorcycle) to school yesterday and today, and it was uncomfortable and tenuous at best, but still ten times better than driving my car. I certainly won't be doing any track days anytime soon, either.

Deja Vu

I'd swear I've done this exact thing once already. I'm dumb enough to do it again, as if once wasn't enough, and I didn't learn from the first time. This time, though, I botched it even worse than before. What kind of idiot doesn't learn from his mistakes? The worst part of it is that I've hurt even more people than before, much worse than before, myself included. F-ing idiot.

Today I am...

Angry. Angry because I am hurt.
I don't like being angry and want it to go away, but it won't.

Veterans Day

I just want to say how greatful I am for all the selfless people who have donned a uniform of the United States of America. With their committment to a cause greater than themselves the entire world benefits. While people of the past, present, and future debate the nuances of military actions, it is because of the people responsible for those actions that they have the freedoms to do so. And while a miniscule minority are in charge of those debated decisions, are remembered in history, or are named in the news, it is by the courageous actions of the countless unnamed veterans that any of it is acheived or remembered at all. So thank you all you veterans for the countless benefits the world reaps because you chose to don that uniform, and all the responsibilities and sacrifices that come with it.

Stone cold illin'

that's right. i just went oldschool.

i feel like crap today. all over achy, woozy, and slightly nauseous. I went back and forth between freezing and sweating like a pig all night, so I'm guessing a fever's running its course. fun. i've been fighting something for the last few days, but it decided to hit full force last night. perfect timing.

sometimes, sometimes, sometimes

... I feel like i just can't handle it
any more.
like what's the point?
I want to believe, but
it just won't come,
looking for life
in desperation.
I'm no good at this
never really was
but scrape along fooling
myself, that it's all good
enough: that I'll get by
just as I am now -
the hollowed
looking for the hallowed,
avoiding the nothing
but looking for something
within.

Motorcyclists are evil

It's stupid sh*t like this informative article about motorcyclists and their noisy machines that helps propagate the stereotype of the selfish, stupid, dangerous bikers out there. Admittedly, there are tons of squids on sportbikes who do nothing but help that same stereotype, but that's a minority of riders I know. Either way, I can't wait to get back on my bike after more than a month. There's a bike show this weekend that's close enough to walk to, that ends a day before I get my sling off. I figure by Monday I'll be foaming at the mouth I wanna ride so badly. Granted, it may be a while till I am physically able to ride my big beautiful beast of a bike (2001 Suzuki TL1000S, slightly modded,) but I'll certainly try as soon as it's safe.

Back to the future of the past

Saw a Delorean the other day and thought it warranted a quick pic. They're basically crappy cars, but still look cool and make me wonder where the flux capacitor goes. This one had a handicapped tag hanging from the rearview, which makes me kind of sad. I guess doc brown's deteriorated more than I thought.

What the hell is wrong with people?

This story in the Houston Chronicle is too similar to a number of others I've read in the past few years I've been here. What the hell is wrong with people that they could do that to a six-month-old?!? I know that crushing stupidity affects an alarmingly huge number of people in the world, but it takes something extra to account for these parents' actions. I'm not religious, and not one prone to dramatization, but this type of thing really just strikes me as evil. There's some part of human nature that is still so animalistic as to be frightening, and it seems to be a measure of civilization how effectively people can reason with, or often supress those base, animal aspects of themselves. These people are just fucking neanderthals and should be painfully sterilized so as to never be able to reproduce again. There's just no room in a decent world for people like these. Lucky for them we don't live in that world.

Know anyone in jail?

Just as I was about to leave for work this morning, I got a call from a number I didn't recognize. I think, "strange. who would call me at this time of the morning?" (I don't think in capital letters.) So I pick it up to hear a recording.

"You have received a collect call from .... Fort Bend County Jail ... Fort Bend County Jail ... To accept these charges..."

It went on to repeat, but it might as well have been in Klingon because I was no longer paying attention. All I could think of was who the hell would call me if they got thrown in jail? I'm not really that one phone call guy on anyone's list that I know of, and I thought that your first phone call didn't have to be collect, anyway. Lucky for me I didn't have to make the decision to accept or reject the charges because my stupid signal faded and the call was dropped. Thanks for your wonderful service, Sprint!

Restless Thoughts

Why is it I always start thinking about the tough questions right before I want to go to sleep? Inevitably the thought process keeps me up - probably a big part of my trouble sleeping since I can remember. My mind always seems most active right before bed. Maybe I need to make a conscious effort to have a good hour of down time before I want to be asleep - starting before ten thirty at night. From things like research problems and difficulties, to personal issues and worries, if it's something I couldn't figure out or get squared away during the day (or days past) it comes back to the surface as I lie in bed. I suppose this is normal, but I always have trouble quieting my thoughts in the dark.

I like the idea of an hour of dedicated, electronic-stimulation-free down time every night. I'll see how easy it is to actually do.

Relaxing weekends

... are necessary every once in a while. I finally did a bunch of cleaning that I've been meaning to do forever, including getting my nasty-ass bathroom sparkling once again. There's something incredibly satisfying about having everything clean and in order, and it makes me wonder why I don't do it more often. I might have gone a bit farther than usual when I organized my science fiction books alphabetically by author, but what the hell. I like it. Next cleaning / organizing project is my closet. That should be fun.

It actually wasn't too bad coming in to work this morning. I think I was dreading it more last night than I was after getting out of bed today. It's still stupidly hot and humid, though, making me wish I could see some gorgeous northern foliage like some of my friends got to this weekend. That's one thing I'd change about Houston - I'd put it far enough north to shorten the summer and give us some nice fall foliage. I certainly miss that about the Philadelphia area.

Uneventful Saturday

Laundry, some house cleaning, some barbeque at the hickory pit with roomie A. and friend J. He came over earlier to wash his bike. It's killing me that I still can't ride, especially in weather like this. (88 today, with mostly sunny skies and cool breezes.) We played some Crimson Skies on X-Box before heading out to Gingerman with A. for a couple drinks, but we called it an early night as none of us were in the mood to try our non-existant game in the Village. All in all, a good day, but I may have made a mistake by caving in to a rather emotional decision. It was great for a short while, but afterwards I'm just more sad and uncertain than ever. Is there ever really a right answer?

umm... no.

so live with it.

Decisions

I've never been very good at making up my mind about things I think are important. I certainly have a tendency to over-analyze, which often makes unimportant decisions seem so much more than they really are. So now I'm in a place where I'm once again over-analyzing possibilities, probably making things more difficult than they need be. It's not really an easy decision even if I weren't prone to agonizing over the process, but it's still basically a should I or shouldn't I. Of course, if you know how much I can drag out stupid decisions like which pair of shoes to buy, you can get an idea of how long any emotionally-based decision can take. Boo-freakin'-hoo. There are a couple of avenues to choose from, and I'm ignoring the least pleasant ones for now, so all that's left is to sack up and stick with one. If only it were as easy as the Bush administration wants it to sound. Stay the course. HA! If it doesn't work here, how can it work in any sort of political situation? That's right. It can't. But I don't care about that at the moment. I'm too self-absorbed.

Work, or the lack there-of

So at the moment I'm waiting for the turbopump to pump down the load lock chamber on the RHK UHV system I use, and it's taking forever. It's not really surprising since it hasn't been used in over a week, and the nitrogen vent gas had run out, so the LL chamber was most likely contaminated last time the dosing valve was switched (not by me, btw.) Still, It's been pumping since noon, and as of 2:20 isn't even close to the pressure I need it to reach before I can sputter and anneal the gold sample I have in the chamber. That's all I really want to do today - get everything ready to dose a more diluted sample of nanocars (.pdf) on Sunday or Monday. Looks like it may be a late evening, though, if the LL chamber doesn't get down to pressure soon. Grrr. So I'm back at my desk avoiding working on the papers I should get out ASAP.

Slings and Things

Listening to: "O Brother, Where art Thou" soundtrack
Doing: Finding and Processing image data for new papers / editing
Feeling: :( Good Lord, why isn't it Friday?!?
Thinking: I don't really have anything planned this weekend, but at least it won't be a work day.
Also: I may just take off the sling before my Dr.s appointment, but also before I go crazy. It's so freakin' annoying, and starting to get me down.
And: Gorgeous weather and no motorcycle riding makes Andrew a dull boy.

Thursday Nonsense

Nothing new to report today, except that I finally got my shaggy, hippie, hair cut. Oh yeah, and I shaved for the second time in a month. (Not easy for me to do left-handed.) Egads. I'm so clean cut Boyscouts look like ruffians by comparison. I also look like I'm about 20.

This just in: I'm looking at a movie of a molecular dynamics simulation that shows the fullerenes rotating on the trimer molecules in my research. It's hard to say just how much motion is due to the rotation of the fullerene wheels themselves, but at least they're rotating. This is incredibly exciting. I can't wait to see the simulations of the nanocar molecules. Woot!

Time to do some work.

The more things stay the same

Looks like B.'s out of the picture. ( Lil' John's for her.) I know I'm not ready for a relationship, but I could have handled things better from the beginning - at least known my own feelings better. Now I've somehow turned into that typical guy: the guy women talk about when they say all men suck. Maybe not turned into, maybe just now realized. I'm getting lots of practice driving great women away. Seems like a recurring theme with me. My luck's bound to run out sooner or later.

Time, debris in heavy winds, and airplanes

They all fly. On the way back from picking up my friend J. from Intercontinental airport yesterday, I ran into some of the heaviest rain I've ever had the displeasure to drive in. The winds were crazy, too, before it got too dark to see. There was cyclonic wind activity on the ground and what looked like funnel clouds overhead. But then the rain really started and there was nothing else to see. Going 30 mph on a major highway and still passing people is sort of freaky, but at times I literally couldn't see anything but the tail lights ahead of me: no lines on the road, no sides of the road, nothing that wasn't itself a source of light. I eventually found my way off an exit and stopped at a gas station for about 20 minutes to wait for the worst of it to pass, and for my windows to defog. Neither really worked so well, but I slogged back to the city for over an hour in what should have been a 20 minute trip. That was definitely the least fun I think I've ever had in a car.

And I've just realized just how fast this fall has gone. It's November already. I haven't talked with E. in nearly six weeks. (Can it really be that long? It seems impossible, but forever at the same time.) Thanksgiving is coming up in just over 3 weeks. My arm is still in a sling for 2 more weeks, but the dislocation that started it all was 7 weeks ago. I can't bring myself to care about my research any more, and writing my 2 papers seems impossible. (That has nothing to do with the topic, but needed saying.) The mornings are finally cool, even though it still goes to 75 almost every day. I've been back to Philly once, will go again in 3 weeks, and again less than a month after that. WTF. This has turned into nonsensical spewing. More later.

Happy Haloween!

And I almost forgot!

U2, Texans 1st win, weekend update

Friday night's U2 concert was fantastic, just as expected. B. got free tickets from a business associate throwing a shindig in a party suite. That meant great seats, free beer and wine, and free food - all of it really good. My favorite was the 1/2 lb hotdog. Not only was it enormous, but probably the best hot dog ever! And we got really pimp parking, to boot - right across the street in spots that typically go for $40. U2 did a lot of their popular stuff, so I was singing my head off most of the concert, not that I could even hear myself. Afterwards we met a couple of B's friends at The Harp, where I think I embarrased them (or myself) with my knowledge of Vanilla Ice and the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. (I bet you didn't know that James Avery, known as Judge Philip Banks on the Fresh Prince of Bel Air, was the voice of Shredder in the animated TMNT series. Weird, huh.)

Saturday was a pretty low-key day, including some shoe shopping at DSW. B. was steamed that I got some shoes and she didn't. But then again, I really am a shoe whore. Later in the evening we hit a couple low-key places, including Marfreless. Sunday saw a bunch of football nonsense. The Texans actually beat the Browns for their first win of the season, and the Eagles lost to the Broncos, for their third of the season. I couldn't watch the whole game, even in HD, and had to go to Texadelphia for a consolation cheesesteak. In all it was a good weekend, though a Philadelphia win would have been a good end note.

U2 at the Toyota Center tonight!

Yeah. The title pretty much tells the whole story. I'm going with B. Comped tickets. Sweet!

That 2nd X chromosome

is responsible for keeping me up nights recently, one way or another. A long-ex-girlfriend (T.) recently told me I was the love of her life, and all I could muster was "Wow. that really makes me feel good." Umm... what else was I supposed to say? I owe her a phone call that I'm sort of avoiding.

I've also been thinking a lot about the next ex (K.) who's in quite the happy state with her current serious boyfriend - the guy she started seeing after I broke up with her in ways that still make me feel like a schmuck. I talked with her recently, and was reminded what a great person she is, but also what drove me nuts about her. Still, there's a small part of me that entertains the remotest of possibilities of getting back together with her if the opportunity ever arose.

Then there's the most recent ex (E.) that I broke up with six weeks ago. In some ways it seems like yesterday, and I still can't believe that she's not a part of my life. In other ways it feels like a million years ago, and that the trip to New Mexico and everything else didn't really happen. I miss her most when I'm lying in bed at night, rethinking just what happened that night we broke up, still wondering if I did the right thing. I suppose it's a moot point, but I can't get myself to let it go yet. I find myself thinking of excuses to call her, but know that it wouldn't change anything, except make me feel worse for longer. Of course, I also don't really know what I'd do if she called me, wanting to talk. I don't think I have to worry about that one, though, due to why we broke up in the first place.

It's over for the Astros

... but it was one hell of a ride. They didn't play to their potential against the White Sox, and didn't deserve to win, especially after having so many missed opportunities in each of the four games. Ah well. Time to focus on the Eagles and the NFL. The Texans are a lost cause, after all.

Happy Birthday Dad

Today would be my dad's 59th birthday. I find myself often missing him, wanting to ask him something, and wondering how things would be different if he were still around. Everybody has to go at some point, but I wish he could have stuck around a bit longer so I could have gotten to know him better. I think I was just getting to the point 5 years ago where he started becoming more of a person to know in my perception, and not just "dad." So here's to you, dad, and all your positive influences that helped shape who I've become.

Nanocars

More and more places keep publishing stories on my nanocar research. The list so far:

C & E News: Nanocar Rolls Into Action

Slashdot: The World’s Smallest Car

New York Times: Scientists build tiny vehicles for molecular passengers

MIT Technology Review (www.technologyreview.com): coming soon

PhysOrg.com: Scientists build world's first single-molecule car

CNET (news.com.com): Here come the nanocars, Hot wheels

Instapundit.com: Nanotechnology update

Popular Mechanics: World’s Smallest Car

PC Magazine: Researcher Develops World's Smallest Car

Nature: Nanocar takes a test drive

Science Daily: Rice Scientists Build World's First Single-molecule Car

Science News (www.sciencenews.org): coming soon

E4: The Engineer Online: Motoring on molecules

Scenta (UK): World’s first nanocar

KHOU 11News Blog: Rice scientist’s build world’s first single-molecule car

Foresight Nanotech Institute: Light-driven motorized nanocar built at Rice

Live Science: The World's Smallest Car

Small Times (www.smalltimes.com): Inside Rice, A Tiny Car

The Engineer (De Ingenieur, Netherlands): coming soon

Platinum Today: Palladium catalyst launches first nanocar

C2W (Royal Netherlands Chemical Society): Nanomobiel

Nanotechnology Now: Rice Scientists Build World's First Single-molecule Car

Eureka Alert: Rice scientists build world's first single-molecule car

United Press International: Scientists build a single molecule nanocar

Monsters & Critics: Scientists build a single molecule nanocar

AZoNano: Single Molecule "Nanocar"-Chassis, Axles and Four Buckyball Wheels

Betterhumans: Nanocar built from a single molecule

Red Herring: The Buckymobile is Born

WebIndia: Now, a nanocar 20000 times smaller than a human hair!

NewKerala: Now, a nanocar 20000 times smaller than a human hair!

Doctor Fun (Nanotruck cartoon): Battle of the Monster Nano Trucks

LoneStarTimes: Rice researchers build ‘nanocar’

BoingBoing: Nanocar

Zoo Magazine (UK): coming soon

JKM Media (Germany): coming soon

ZietWissen Magazine (Germany): coming soon

Spiegel Online (Germany): coming soon

Space Ref: Rice scientists build world's first single-molecule car

MSNBC: The World’s Smallest Car

P2Pnet: World’s Smallest Car

ExtremeNano: Researcher develops world’s smallest car

All Headline News: World’s Smallest Car Revealed

Environment News Service: World’s Smallest Car Built from a Single Molecule

Digg: Scientists build world’s first nanocar

AutoBlog: Nanocar redines ‘subcompact’

Dvorak Uncensored: Great for driving short distances

ExtremeTech: Researcher develops world’s smallest car (link to PC Magazine story)

What’s Next in Science and Technology: Scientists build world’s first single-molecule car

ABC News: Researcher develops world’s smallest car (copy of PC Magazine story)

Technology News Daily: Single-molecule car, Nanocar

The Washington Times: Scientists build a single molecule nanocar (UPI feed)

Science Blog: Scientists build first single-molecule car

Chemlin (Germany): Nanocar with Buckyball wheels paves way for other molecular machines

Scienceticker.info (Germany): Erstes Nanoauto vorgestellt

AMA TechTel: Scientists build a single molecule nanocar

TruckBlog: Scientists build world’s first single-molecule truck

Red Nova: Scientists build world’s first single-molecule car

NanoApex: World’s first molecular car zips about on fullerene wheels

Softpedia: The World's First Single-Molecule Car

icWales: Nanocar takes 'Mini' to a new dimension

Virgin.net: Nanocar takes 'mini' to new level

LinuxElectrons: Rice Scientists Build World's First Single-Molecule Car

I4U: Nanotechnology – World’s smallest car

Times Online (UK): The car that really is a mini

opening line: “It looks like a pair of dumb-bells...” (Are they talking about the car or the PI’s?)

Multimedia:

Texas State Radio Network: Interview with Jim Tour

ScienCentral: TV interview with Jim and Kevin (this week or next?)

NPR: mentioned in broadcast

Top Twenty Insights about the Nanocar (adopted from Slashdot.com discussions):

1) Sorry I'm late coming home, honey. I lost the car again.

2) Only 4 nanometers across and yet it still holds 10 clowns! Go figure.

3) A nanocar is no problem; the hard part is making a really small Midas muffler shop.

4) You feel like a giant because you can easily hold millions of them in the palm of your hand.

5) But you feel a little silly because you have no idea how to change a tire.

6) Oh great! Now half the parking lot will be marked off for nanocar parking. Had enough trouble parking the hummer in the compact car spots now I have to jocky it into half a billion nanocar spots.

7) Finally, the perfect solution for men that have really large reproductive organs.

8) We’ve finally figured out what to use Buckyballs for...We’re living the dream folks.

9) It’s not ready to be the new Bluesmobile, until you add a cigarette lighter.

10) It’s not the size of the car, but how you use it.

11) The biggest problem driving it around Texas, ground clearance sucks.

12) If your nanocar is broken, you’ll have to send it to a quantum mechanic!

13) Oops, made the same mistake as Ford and we only offered it in black.

14) It is so typical that when developing the industrial nano-cities of the future they chose to develop nano-cars instead of a sensible atomic mass transit system. If this policy continues the consumption of nano-gas will raise nano-oil prices so high that soon we will have to invade nano-arabia. I for one will continue to endorse nano-carpooling and the use of nano-bikes whenever possible...

15) Great, a new oxymoron for the English language: Nano-SUV.

16) Well sir, the car you just purchased has no doors, no airbags, nothing to use as a seat, no radio, and a horrible AC package... but I got good news. You just saved a fortune by switching to Geico!

17) Beginner drivers will still have trouble parallel parking it.

18) The Rice Univ. Police Department “booted” it using an ion.

19) You can pimp your nanocar by adding radioactive atoms to give it a nice green glow.

20) A little tricky for the science team when they have to ask for funding...

Funding Agency: What's the problem?

Scientists: Well, we need to be able to move atoms and molecules around in precise ways.

Funding Agency: How can we help?

Scientists: We need some funding to build little, tiny trucks to carry them around in.

[long pause]

Funding Agency: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! No really guys, what did you need?

Revelry

Another night and another few bars. It's funny how locals here all look like I should know them. If I saw any of the people in the last bar last night in a bar in houston, I'd feel compelled to go up and start talking like I knew them. There's just a certain style and type that is specific to this area that you can't really distinguish till you've been somewhere completely different for a few years. Houston certainly fits that bill.

East Coast in the House!

Yeah, or rather, I'm in a house on the east coast. My mother's house, to be exact. I got in a bit early last night and was picked up at the airport by my bro and mom. Bro M. and I went out to Kildaires for a few hours, and met up with sister E. on her way back from Syracuse. I realized that I haven't seen her since Christmas, which is way too long. I haven't seen my brother since I went out to LA in March, either. This is a disturbing trend in my life that I have to try to reverse. Family and friends are important, and it's a shame when money and a busy schedule can keep you from seeing people who you care about. It's an unfortunate excuse that I don't want to fall back on any more.

In other news, my research is being picked up by a bunch of news outlets this week and next. Here's the current list:

Rice scientists build world's first single-molecule car:

'Nanocar' with buckyball wheels paves way for other molecular machines

C & E News: Nanocar Rolls Into Action

Platinum Today: Palladium catalyst launches first nanocar - 19th October 2005

C2W (Royal Netherlands Chemical Society): Nanomobiel

Nanotechnology Now: Rice Scientists Build World's First Single-molecule Car

Eureka Alert: Rice scientists build world's first single-molecule car

Live Science: The World's Smallest Car

Small Times (www.smalltimes.com): coming soon

MIT Technology Review (www.technologyreview.com): coming soon

PhysOrg.com (www.physorg.com): coming soon

Science News (www.sciencenews.org): coming soon

The Engineer ( De Ingenieur): coming soon

CNET (news.com.com): coming soon

New York Times (www.nytimes.com): coming soon

And may I just say...

To hell with all the doubters. They made it to the World series, and now they're gonna win. Go Astros! (Anyone wanna give me some world series tickets?)

Ready to go

My boarding pass is printed and my bags are packed for Philadelphia. My flight leaves Bush Intercontinental at 5:30, and I should be getting in around 9:45. I can't wait! A short day of work and I'm off!

Research

Chemical Engineering News has an article about my research, and everyone involved seems to think it will be news elsewhere as well. Rumor has it that the New York Times and the MIT Technology review have expresed interest.

Sleep and follow up appointments

I met with the surgeon yesterday for my follow-up appointment, and the nurse took off the visible part of my stitches. The inner parts will eventually dissolve, and for the next week I've got some steril strips glued on to keep the tiny incisions closed tightly. I got to see my surgery pics and he explained what I was looking at - they're hard to interpret as you'll see when I can scan and post them. I also got a perscription for ultracet since the vicodin wasn't really helping, and a week's worth of ambien so I can finally get some decent sleep. Even though I still woke up a few times, last night was the first good night's sleep I've had in about a week, and I feel so much better today it's amazing. A few more nights like that and I'll be back to normal, save for the sling.

Back at work

I woke up this morning in a ton of pain, and so far the vicodin hasn't really touched it. The usual long hot shower did nothing but get me clean, and there's a persistent low-level dizzyness and nausea that makes reading a chore. I think Saturday was the best day so far, though it's nice to try to get back into the routine of things. Nothing much I can do at work, really, but I'll try to catch up on the journals. Follow-up appointment at 1:30 with Dr. Labbe, then I'll probably go home to try to sleep. I think much of how I feel has to do with the few hours of poor sleep I've been getting every night. It's all compounding now such that overall I feel worse than just my shoulder alone. Grrr. It's gonna be a long day.

Birthdays!

Happiest of birthday wishes go out today to two of the coolest people I know. First, my biggest of brothers is 29 today, and partying it up on the east coast with family and friends. I'm excited that I'll get to join him next weekend for more festivities. Happy birthday, Bro! Also my cousin Jar-head Silverware turns 26 today. It's been far too long since we've seen each other - I wish we could party today. Happy birthday, you old fart!

3 Stitches

That's all folks. Only three stitches. Two in front and one in back. I've been trying to post these since yesterday, but blogger's been annoying. I'm still sore, especially in the mornings, but vicodin's keeping things managable. Sleeping's still a chore, and I'm trying to nap in the middle of the day to keep alert, though it's a losing battle with the drugs. Still, I've been so bored I'm actually ready to get back to work.

Progress

About noon today my nerve block pump started beeping at me, telling me it was empty. Argh! About damn time! That tape on my neck was about to drive me certfiably nuts, and the nerve block was acting a lot like the Texan's offensive line. The tape itself must be one of 3M's proudest acheivements, because that crap just wouldn't let go. After about ten minutes of cautious pulling I was nearly resigned to losing some skin, but persistence prevailed there, as with the rest of the dressings. Pulling the catheter out of my neck was a bit strange, but could have been a lot worse, considering a good 3 to 4 inches was stuck under the skin. It's pretty thin, though, as you can see in the first picture.
The gauze was a bit more gorey than I expected, but not too bad, either.

Distractions

It's hard to find time-consuming distractions when you've got a ton of vicodin running through your system. Reading isn't really an option since I can't concentrate, and TV makes me nauseous after a short time. Today's been a really long day, and as much as I want to sleep, I'm not looking forward to turning off the lights. I think the nerve block's going to run out in the middle of the night, and even though it's not as effective as it seemed to be yesterday, I'm going to miss it for sure. Yeesh. It's going to be a long couple of days.

SORE!

My soreness is getting worse as the day goes on. A push of the nerve block button and a vicodin are helping a bit, but it's certainly worse than yesterday.


This is the nerve block pump. A bit bigger than I thought it would be. Gives me 5ml an hour of whatever chemical it is - not enough today.


Here's my attempt at wearing a shirt without the ice-water pack. A bit better, but still not exactly presentable.


Here's my dressing. The bandages are a sort of rubbery sticky plastic. Strange but effective. My neck tape is driving me nuts today. Hopefully some more vicodin will help me not care as much.

Bionic man

Click on the pics for larger versions. The blue part is just a big ice-water pack, and the red part on my neck is where the nerve-block catheter goes in. The most annoying thing now is the tape on my neck won't let me straighten it all the way.

They amputated my right arm

Not really, but it got your attention, eh? everything went just fine, though they did have to try twice to get the nerve-block catheter into the right place. It involves running a small plastic tube in through my neck and stimulating the nerves witha series of small electrical impluses. My right arm was spasming like rhythmic fish on a hook. The funny thing is that the nerve path for the diaphram is very close - less than a millimeter - from all those arm & shoulder nerves, so they'd hit those occasionally, too. Weirdest thing I've ever felt, for sure. I've been trying to post some pictures, but Blogger keeps crashing Firefox every time it seems to be done, so you'll have to wait.

All in all I feel fine, but still slightly woozy and a bit sore. I'll try geting some pics up soon, but one-handed typing is slow.

Surgery Tomorrow

Getting up at 5:15 to get to surgery by 6:30 so the doc can begin the slicing by 8. Should be done by around noon. I'll update again as soon as I'm lucid enough to write.

Sports Overload

This weekend, thanks to B, my weekend was a complete sports overload - but in an entirely good way. Saturday she got comped tickets through work to the first Astros home game against the Braves. They kicked some serious ass, too. A great game to go to. Sunday I got up insanely early to go tailgate at 8am when the parking lots at reliant opened. Steak and potatoes and cookies for breakfast, not to mention screwdrivers and beer. mmm... steak. The Texans played absolutely horrendously, even though they got their season's high score, and lost to the Titans who they were supposed to beat by 3. Sad. By the end of the game the only cheers were heard when they updated the Astros-Braves game 4 score.

Now that was the game to have seen. In game 4, Astros up 2-1 in the best of 5 series, both teams had grand slams, and the Astros had a single home run in the bottom of the ninth to tie it up at 6. Then no one scored for the next EIGHT and a half innings. In the bottom of the 18th inning, breaking the record for longest post season game ever played, with Roger Clemens in as relief and no one else in the bullpen, Burke had a walk-off homer to end what was possibly one fo the best baseball games ever played.

Oy. I'm tired. Some great baseball, some really horrible football - the Eagles decided to suck this weekend against the cowboys - and I'm suffering from sports overload.

Blarg...

I can't figure out just why I had such an intense stomache ache last night, but it kept me up through most of it. It's getting slowly better as the day goes on, but I only came into lab at about 1, and plan to go home again soon. I really feel like crap. A much less severe bout hit me Monday night, but it was gone by the time I got to work. If this is a trend then I fully expect to have an alien burst through my stomache tonight - or implode. I can't figure out which.

On another note, Advisor boss-man left today for a short trip, which I totally forgot about till I saw his email at home at about 9:30 this AM. He wanted another copy some work I've been doing - stuff that I already gave him on USB-key and hard copy, just to be sure. But no. So somehow he's cranky with me because he managed to misplace both a real and electronic copy of my work. WTF? Would three copies and an engraved master die have done the trick? No. Simply because I wasn't at work at my normal time this morning (about an hour and a half earlier than everyone else, usually) he was determined to need something from me. If not that, then something else. That's just how these things work. And today of all days, when he hasn't said 2 words to me in nearly a week. Jyearsh. Let me just have this alien baby already.

Experimental Decorating

Went to Target yesterday after work looking for an area rug and maybe some curtains. Both were a gamble, but the curtains still have incredible suck potential. I haven't made up my mind yet, except for the fact that they need some sort of holdback hooks to bunch them in about mid-window. I'll re-evaluate after i get those up, but it doesn't look promising. I'll probably be taking them back pretty soon. The curtains look a lot darker in my place, but it's really the pattern I'm not too sure about.

The rug I like a lot better. It's a 5x8 that nicely covers up the worn rug under the coffee table in front of the sofa. This one I'llalmost certainly keep, at least till I move. Click on either picture for a larger view.

Friday Shenanigans

Got to see mom briefly yesterday at the airport on her way to south Padre Island for a long weekend. It was only a 2 hour layover, but long enough that we could grab a bite to eat at the Marriot's restaurant and chat for a while. Even though I headed up there during rush hour on a Friday, the HOV lane and my motorcycle were the perfect way to go. It was a bit strange riding around the airport on a motorcycle, not laden down with bags and worrying about missing a flight.

Saw A History of Violence with B. last night. It had potential, but seemed to miss something again and again in the key moments. It had some of the most graphic violence and sex I've ever seen in a movie, and neither really was necessary. It wasn't so bad, but at key moments, instead of being caught up in the story, I was thinking - did they really just do that? did that just happen on screen? are they serious?

Had fun with B. as well. Went to the Volcano for a little bit then back to her place where I'd left my bike. I think today will be low key with maybe some reading by the pool and maybe a nap. But first, I've got to get me some grub.

Drinking on Thursdays

I went out last night with B, a friend of my cousin's, hitting up the Front Porch at about 7:30. It actually got a bit windy on my way there, so I wasn't completely fried as I rode my motorcycle the 4 or 5 miles to midtown. +1 before the night even started. We stay there just long enough to watch the Astros blow it in the bottom of the ninth with a bad call rounding third on a double with two outs. We then went to the Little Woodrows on W. Alabama for a quick drink, but didn't really like the atmosphere, followed by the Gingerman in the Village. Let me just say for the record that the Gingerman has the best hot pretzels this side of Philadelphia. They bake them up just right - a bit crispy on the outside - with the right kind of salt, and they are soooo good. After that snack we headed back to the Front Porch again (I'd left my bike there) but decided it was too early to go home and had another. By the time I left it was about a quarter to 2, and the ride home was actually a bit chilly with my summer jacket on. Joy!

Today it's actually cool for once. As of 11am it's only about 75. It hasn't been this cool this late in the day since early May! I'm loving it. Last night was a lot of fun, but I'm definitely not used to going out on weeknights. I'm wallowing around in that slow, stuffy headed realm where all I want to do is fall asleep, but it was completely worth it. Maybe we'll go see A History of Violence tonight.

Surgery Scheduled

My shoulder surgery is now scheduled for October 12 at 7am, and I have to be there at 6. Why so early, I ask? My pre-op appointment is the day before at 1:40, where I get to ask some final questions, get my meds, and so on. Boy this is gonna be fun!

I've got two weeks before I'm a one-armed gimp for more than a month. So what do I do to make sure I enjoy my bi-manuality? One thing's for sure - I'm gonna ride the hell out of my motorcycle before I mothball it till January. Maybe a couple of pushups, too, if my shoulder can take it, just for the hell of it. (I never could do one-armed pushups. Maybe now's the time to start.)

Bone and Joint Clinic

So the follow up visit to the MRI with Dr. Labbe went about as expected. Surgery is still an option, not a necessity, but I've decided that I don't want to go through life worrying if stupid things like jumping jacks or stretching are going to dislocate my shoulder again. So the doc's going to re-attach my labrum to the socket, but to do that they have to drill at least three small holes in the bone to set polymer-composite anchors so they have something to initially attach the labrum to. Yay. At least it's arthroscopic. On top of that, he'll have to effectively score the bone - rough it up and "make it bleed" (his words - can bones really bleed?) so that the labrum can eventually grow back tightly in the right place.

As much fun as the actual surgery sounds, the recovery will be much more of a test. Assuming surgery is on a Wednesday, I could go back to work Monday at the earliest. That's a hell of a lot more initial recovery time than I'd hoped. After that, it's 4 weeks of immobility, then 6-8 weeks of physical therapy to get range of motion and then strength back. Of course, it will be a 6 - 12 months before it's back to normal, but then I hopefully won't have to worry about random silly dislocations any more. Egads, I hope it's worth it.

To be honest, it seems that Dr. Labbe really knows what he's doing. At the Houston Bone and Joint Clinic of 8 or 9 doctors, he's the shoulder, elbow and knee specialist, and is a really nice guy to boot. I'm not worried that he'll screw anything up, just a bit apprehensive in general. As of now, I'm not sure of a surgery date, but October 11 or 12 seem the most likely candidates.

Tuesday Morning

Summer's not letting go of Houston easily. The last few days have had record highs with mid afternoon temperatures hitting 98 - 100 for a good 2-3 hours. The heat index has also been in the 110 - 115 range, which is what really kills you. I'm completely ready for summer to be over in so many ways. Since I spend most of my day in air conditioning, I can't really complain, but with pending shoulder surgery I'm seeing my last few motorcycle-riding days burned up rather quickly.

On that note, my MRI follow-up appointment with the orthopedic surgeon is today, so hopefully I'll find out the details about the expected shoulder surgery and recovery process. I'm really not looking forward to it - one might say dreading it. After all, who wants to scar this perfect body? Right. I'll update later when I'm back from the appointment. I've yet to spend fewer than three hours in this place, and I doubt this will be any shorter a visit.

Rita and the weekend

As of last Wednedsay evening, everyone was forecasting doom and gloom for Houston, with Rita still a category 5 storm and still projected to make landfall in Galveston bay. Basically this would have been pretty bad for Houston - not New Orleans bad, but certainly not a place you'd want to be. Aaron's flight out on Friday morning was canceled, and he was hell bent on leaving, but I had yet to make up my mind as of Thursday morning. With an invitation out to my ex-girlfriend's parent's weekend place outside San Antonio, I couldn't really not go, since Aaron didn't know how to get there. So we foolishly left at about 10:30 Thursday morning, at the height of the hellish traffic.

13 hours later in a drive that should have only taken about 3.5 hours, we got to the golf resort-ish Tapatio just outside Boerne. We went fishing friday morning and evening, each catching 3 or 4 large mouth bass - cool. But spending time with my ex girlfriend is something I really didn't need, especially since the only thing it cleared up is how much she just doesn't care about our breakup. Whatever. It's still too fresh a wound to really start probing it anyway. Her family is all insanely nice and gracious, and I'll miss stupid little things like fishing with her dad, but it's been nice knowing them.

Saturday morning we decided to leave at about 5:30 to beat the traffic back into Houston, since all reports were that the city missed the brunt of the storm. Indeed, after an uneventful 3h 15m drive back, we found nothing damaged, but were without power till early afternoon. Not a big deal. Rice apparently never lost power, which is amazing since it tends to lose power in even moderate thunderstorms.

In other random news, I got an email from my old roomate Quad Pugh this morning. Apparently he's living in Philadelphia now, but I've yet to get more details about how his town of Lafayette La fared in the two hurricanes.

Houston Cheese Steaks

Just for the record, I had a cheese steak for lunch today at Jake's Steaks, and have to say I was not overly impressed. It was closer to a real philly steak than, say, Texadelphia, but just far enough to make it unimpressive. (Didn't use Amaroso roles, for instance) On that note, I have to say that Texadelphia gets my vote. It's not trying to be a real Philly cheese steak, and is better for focusing on its differences.

News update

Since no one reads this I'm not sure why I'm bothering to update, but what the hell. Lots has happened in the last week that I feel I need to share with complete strangers.

I dislocated my shoulder last tuesday while running around at fitness boot camp. Here I am trying to get my lazy ass kicked back into shape finally, and my shoulder decides it's had enough. Jumping jacks did it this time (#6). See if you notice a trend here in how I've managed to dislocate my shoulder so far.

1: Basketball
2: Football
3: Racketball
4: Wakeboarding
5: Stretching (I shit you not)
6: Jumping jacks

Easier and easier to dislocate, it's time for surgery. I got a contrast MRI on monday, and a followup appointment with the orthopedic surgeon tomorrow. I'm 90% sure it will need surgery, and by this point i'm completely willing, even as adamantly as I've refused it in the past.

In other news, Elizabeth and I broke up on Thursday night after a few beers and just over 20 months. It happened so quickly that I'm still questioning myself about it, but It's probably the right thing to do. That sure doesn't make it suck any less at the moment, but any minor consolation is worth holding on to right now. Now I just need to stop questioning myself and be happy with what it was.

Finally, Hurricane Rita has the city in a bit of a tizzy, even though it's forecasted to make landfall almost 150 miles away from Houston. People are leaving (foregoing chances to see the Dalai Lama, for pete's sake) worried not so much about the winds, but more about flooding, lost power, and other inconveniences that will most probably be minor if the forecast is correct. Of course if it decides to turn north at the last minute things could get pretty bad, but that seems less and less likely as time progresses.

Days 8 & 9 (Saturday & Sunday 7/30-31)

So, the pictures for these two days are really quite sparse - not that you'll mind, I'm sure, after the overload of pictures up to this point.

Saturday, the square and surrounding streets in Santa Fe were transformed into a massive pedestrian area to accomodate the influx of people for the yearly Spanish Market. Tons of people, hundreds of booths, and so much high-priced art that I was actually a bit disappointed. Some of the art was really great, but none of it was even remotely close to my price range.



Sunday we got on the road around 7AM for the long drive back. Stopped to see the half-burried cadillacs along the way.


In the middle of Nowhere.


Lots of graffiti overe the years.


But really colorful, and still really cool.