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.