busy...

currently:

moving
packing
working
climbing
running
breathing (prana?)
sitting
typing
thinking far too much on how to deal with specific people in my life
stressing

:)

I received a really awesome complement at the gym a few nights ago:

"Yeah, a couple of us were saying how this route you set is really one of the last classics in the gym".

Someone called a route I set a "classic". A couple of people have begged me not to take it down b/c they're "so close in sending it".

Watching people repeatedly try and do/use/partake something you've created is very gratifying - much more so when they think it's one of the best things they could be doing with their lives at the moment.

Honey... I'm home...

Emotional day today:

1. Boredom: Meeting of all biologists in my lab at 10 am this morning (which accounts for about 60% of personnel. I hate meetings


2. Panic / Depression: 10:10 am the head of the lab (my boss' boss) comes in telling us that we didn't get the grant for a new electron microscope (EM) and that NIH's primary concern was that we weren't fully utilizing our current microscopes. Which basically means that he wants the microscopes to be running for a minimum of 40 hours per week each week and our job reviews are going to be directly tied to the quanity and quality of the data sets we create. My probation is up in 2 more months... and I'm just learning this stuff. crappy. I hoep I have a job in 3 months.


3. Focused concentration: 11:30 am - I started my first day of training on actually collecting data from an EM! I've been bugging the admin for months that I want to learn and finally I get my wish. woo hoo! (but man is there a lot to absorb...)


4. Despair: 12 pm - steph informs me that the landlords of the top two picks from this weekend's rounds of apt searching won't rent us property for one reason or another. At least the reasons didn't have anything to do with our body odor...


5. Fidgety midgety nervousness: 1 pm Steph contacts me and tells me that the landlords of the 1 br studio wants us as tenants. This is good news, but it's also troubling b/c I hope steph and I don't step on each other's toes for the next year.


6. Relaxed movements: 5 pm - climbed at the climbing gym for 45 minutes.


7. Relief: 6:30 pm - signed papers for lease. The place is bigger than I remember - this could be a good year on the beach.


8. Tipsy relaxation: 7 pm - Steph and I celebrated by going to a nearby sushi restaurant and sharing a beer. Sweeeeeet.

New house - approx 400 - 500 sq ft 1 br 1 ba studio with two patios. Detached little cottage thingy on beach property. For those of you who know San Diego, I will soon be living behind Pizza port by the Solana Beach train station. BBQ anyone?

REI Quiz

The REI radio quiz questions made by copacino + fujikado. How many "yes" answers do you get?

REI Radio

Do you consider gorp a food group?
Have you convinced yourself that you look pretty good in bicycle shorts?
Have you ever had a mosquito bite on your buttocks?
Do you consider bear repellant a romantic gift
Do you match your socks to your crampons?
Have you ever named a pet after a climbing equipment (*bark bark*. "sit Twist Lock Carabiner... good boy")
If your kayak due for its 40,000 mile check up?
Do you dream of nyloprene fabrics?
Do you measure happiness with an altimeter?
Have you ever shaved your eyebrows for aerodynamic puroposes?
Do you own more short pants than long pants
Do you think ancient civilizations that worshipped the sun were onto something?
Have you ever had a powerful urge to have moisture wicked from your body?
Do you find yourself wearing your bicycle helmet even though you're sitting in your cubicle?
Does your To Do list include the item "air out the tent"?
Do you feel sap rising?
Is it yours?
Does your bike weigh less than your sack lunch?
Did you bring a kayak to your company picnic?
Is your lucky number SPF 30?
Can you put up a tent faster than you can put up your pants?
Do your games of hide and seek require a GPS unit?
Do you consider s'mores a 3 course meal?
Is the pine scent in your car coming from you?
Do you consider toilet paper a luxury?
Do the pants you're wearing have more than one zipper?
Do you use a headlamp to help you read at night?
Have you been saving snow from last winter in your freezer?
Can you prepare s'mores while wearing gloves?
Have you ever had a runny nose turn into an icicle?
Do you know the difference between a bella clava and a baclava?
Do you own wind blocking underpants?
Did you ever have an occasion where you wished you owned wind blocking underpants?
Have you ever brought freeze dried anything to a pot luck?
Do you own Dress-Snowshoes?
Is your GPS WAAP backtrack enabled?
Can you explain what the previous question means?
Can you use the word "buttress" without giggling?
Do you have a favorite sherpa?
Do you know the difference between a belay device and an ascender?

I get only 11 yes answers... :(

material balancing act

Happy 5.10 day!

About the other stuff -

Got rid of my bed today... sorta. For the last year, a friend of mine has been nice enough to store my bed in her storage closet. I haven't slept in it for over a year now - I've hauled it from San Diego to Mill Valley back to San Diego. She had to empty out her storage unit, and due to the fact that I'm moving in a month, I just told her to give it away to Goodwill.

When I told her that, it was like a weight being lifted from my shoulders! It's one less thing that I have. It's great - I can't explain why it gives me such bliss to be rid of extraneous "stuff" in my life.

Unfortuantely, I went to REI tonight and bought a Suunto watch. So I lost something and replaced it with something else... doh!

I am defined

Obi -- [noun]: A new position involving a machete 'How will you be defined in the sexual dictionary?' at QuizUniverse.com

Of gunpowder treason and plot...

Remember, remember the 5th of November...

If there's one thing that makes me mad these days, it's this totalitarian government that we're living in. Why am I upset with the Bush Admin? Why not?

This government was founded by a group of people who found the stifling control by the Brits to be unbearable. Unfair taxation, forced observation of religion, restrictions upon personal freedoms - the list goes on. Yet, what do I see?

• Domestic spying of US citizens
  
• Administration using the States Secrets Priveledge ruling to deny further litigations into the domestic spying tactics
  
• Complete disregard to environmental concerns
  
• Imperialistic militarism
  
• Economic mismanagement
  
• Foreign policy problems
  
• Killing off scientific spending
  
• Nepotism
  
• Shooting friends in the faces with shotguns

I'll just stop there for now - these were just the things I've seen in the news today. But I think others can add things to do this list. I have no doubt what-so-ever that this blog is now being scanned by the NSA - it's got plenty of keywords in it for their web 'bots.

Where are the calls for impeachment? Censures? A swift kick to the nuts? Bush's most recent polls are at 33%. What's more, 58% think he's doing a crappy job. And it's irritating because this government was formed with the idea that we can speak up and criticize our leaders (right to free assembly, free speach) yet, whether due to formal propaganda or not, it's considered unpatriotic to talk shit about the what this administration is doing.

I saw a bumper sticker the other day - "Blind faith is not true patriotrism". I wanted it - it captured the spirit of our times so well.

We need a V. At least someone who could take over a TV station and broadcast a message of discontent (donning a Guy Fawkes mask would be nice for theatrics). Someone who could rouse the populace into taking action.

As a side note, I think it's wonderful to see a million immigrants protest today. The boycotts of US products was a nice touch. I think it's true - people should not be afraid of their gov'ts (or what would happen without them), but rather gov'ts should fear their people. Bush, and any other president whether Democrat or Republican, should be deeply concerned and worried when 58% of the population don't like how they're doing their job.

58%! Imagine doing your job and you get a 33% job approval rating working at some corporation... (and this country really is turning into a corporation).

I was hoping venting would release this frustration - I think I'm going to go look for some gunpowder, a guy fawkes mask and some knives instead. If you don't hear from me in a while, assume I'm being kept in a dark room by the NSA.