fireshadowed

I have been feeling sick since Saturday (the day after I flew back to CO). I was one of the last people to get on the bus today so there were no seats left ... and just as I was thinking that I was entirely too dizzy to be standing up and keeping my balance in a moving vehicle, a guy stands up and tells me that I could take his seat :)

A while back I bought a "Targus Chill Mat" to stop my computer from overheating (it has turned itself off a few times because of it). I worked great until it didn't. Basically the connection between it and the cord that connects to the computer became loose. I could wiggle it until it started working again, but that became annoying. So tonight I decided to break it open and see what was going on inside. And by break I mean take a screw driver to it until there were little bits of plastic all over my living room. It is completely broken now, but I feel better. I think that next I will buy a little fan and just aim it at my computer.

LINK

Basically a middle school in North Carolina tried to set up a fund raiser where students would get 20 points that they could put to two tests (10 points/test) if they donated $20. How on earth did no one say "THIS IS A BAD IDEA!!" I mean seriously ... teaching kids that it is okay to bribe your way into better grades? What is going to happen to them when they go off to college? I have never had a student try to outright bribe me before (one of my friends once found $20 in his stack of labs to grade ... he donated it to charity). They have made me cakes/cookies and given me cards at the end of the semester, but never any money. I wonder how a teacher would react to knowing that a bunch of students paid to have a test grade in their class raised.

The next experiment that my research group is going to be doing involves strontium. It has been studied before my another group who tries to get the same information about an ion, but using a different type of experiment. They reported results like 12(14) and 1100(1000). We plan on doing better ...

Right now there are a few games that I play on facebook ... I just discovered that within one of the games, there is a mission where you basically get to shoot cars as they go by ... entirely too much fun :)

One of the books that I am reading right now had this joke:

It's important to find a boy who is always willing to help in times of trouble.

It's important to find a boy who makes you laugh when you're feeling blue.

It's important to find a boy who is dependable and doesn't lie.

It's important to find a boy who is a good kisser.

It's important these four boys never meet.

I went to target today. I first noticed that something was wrong while I was checking out when the cashier would scan an item, there would be a beeping noise, and then she would look at the cash register. Sometimes she would scan the item again, but sometimes she would not. My worry was that I was being charged multiple times for the same item. Actually it was the opposite problem. After I left the store, I looked at my receipt and saw that I had NOT been charge for a book ($8), two DVDs ($7.50 and $4.75), and a wall calendar ($1). I am not sure how I feel about this ...

The news has been pretty disturbing lately ... some kids douse another kid with rubbing alcohol and lit on fire, police find 10+ bodies in the home of a rapist, a girl was raped by multiple people for 2+ hours while other people watch ...

What makes people do these sorts of things?

I just found this new number puzzle and it pretty much kicking my butt. It is called Kakuro and it is basically a crossword puzzle, but with numbers (warning: the commercials before each game are annoying). I cannot get anywhere near the people who are at the top of the "best times list", but I keep trying. I have been playing Hidato and Hitori pretty much everyday for awhile now ... I just love number puzzles :)

I have been using last.fm for almost four years now. I forget why I started using it, but I like being able to look at how my listening habits change over time. It is also pretty good at giving recommendations. Since I have started listening to a lot of Alice in Chains, I have had quite a few "random friend requests" from people just because they listen to AiC also. I think it is a great way to talk to people who like the same things that I do. I also really like this other site called lastgraph which takes the information from your last.fm profile and puts it into graph form. It shows that in December I suddenly started listening to Alice in Chains a lot and that it has not stopped yet :)

( lastgraph )

Today was one of those days where I really needed a nap. I think that naptime should be reinstated. Robbie thinks that we should have siestas. Mark thinks that we should be allowed to go home early. I think that I would be okay with any of those ...

The past week has been strange ... daylight savings time + snow storm shutting down campus + still getting over the stress of my prelim means that I have no idea what is going on. I almost forgot to pay my rent for this month, which is not something that I have done before. The only reason why I remembered was because I was going to my manager's office to pick up a package.

Anyways, pictures of the snow ... the first one is from the day that the storm started (looking out my window) and the second one is two days later (one day after the snow stopped). The snow is basically all gone less than a week later.

( pictures )

http://money.cnn.com/2009/11/02/pf/debit_card_pitfalls/

I just read this article about how horrible debit cards are and I was wondering what other people thought. Right now I have my debit card through my bank (Chase, formerly WaMu) and a Capital One card. Neither offer any bonuses. The credit card was mainly because they sent me an offer, there was no annual fee, and I did not have one already. I will also admit that it was pretty. My bank says this about my debit card:

* Real–time fraud monitoring – If a transaction's out of character from your normal spending habits, we'll contact you to make sure it's actually yours.
* Free Security Alerts – Sign up and we'll call or e-mail you if a card purchase or ATM withdrawal exceeds a limit you've set.
* Zero Liability protection — You're not responsible for any unauthorized card transactions.
* Guaranteed credit – Unauthorized purchases and withdrawals are back in your account by the end of the next business day (final credit to your account is subject to verification).

It seems like I am covered on points 1 and 3 in the above article. There is also the part about getting a good credit score. I have no idea about that ...

What do other people do? Use cash? Debit card? Credit card?

Also, any recommendations for credit cards that offer bonuses?

The past year has been rather crazy. I gave my first talk at a conference (DAMOP), published my first paper (in Phys. Rev. A), and passed my preliminary exam. Basically the prelim is the last major thing that I have to do before I write my thesis, defend it, and graduate. It is kind of scary. And unfortunately I am not feeling super motivated right now ... it is like I have been running at full speed the past year and now I am just exhausted.

help!

I want to make a blanket for my mom for mother's day (originally I was thinking for her birthday but that is in two weeks).  I know how to make a blanket on a sewing machine, but I was thinking about knitting or crocheting something instead.  The problem is that I have never done it before and have no idea what I am doing or where to start.

Suggestions?

camera

I am thinking about getting a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ28.  Mainly I was interested in a basic camera that could do well in concert settings (low light with movement).  I was talking to some people that also like to go to shows, and they seem pretty happy with this camera.  Any other suggestions though?

Also trying to decide between black and silver ;)

swllc!!

I bought two swllc shirts today.  Once I get these, I will have five of their shirts.  Really I just need some new shirts and one of my swllc shirts is getting really worn out.  Here are the shirts that I got:

( Read more... )

They also just posted a video of them playing Clones.  Apparently people keep asking for the tabs of various songs, and they decided it would be easier to make a video of them playing the song "together" so people could see how to play the song.  By the way, Dave is Oregon while Misha lives in Vietnam (last I heard).  This video totally made my day.  I really miss seeing these guys play.

...

When I got into the shuttle, an older lady asked me if I had just come from Hawaii.  I told her that I was from California.  She said that was the same thing.  Apparently it is strange to be wearing just jeans and a t-shirt when it is in the 30s and windy ;)

grumble

My flight was supposed to arrive at 2:07 pm.  I reserved a shuttle that left at 3 pm, which should have left me plenty of time.  I got off the plane at 2:45 pm and got to the shuttle counter at 2:55 pm.  There was a long line, but I just walked up to the front, told them that I had a pre-paid reservation and they helped me right there.

According to Flight Stats my flight was four minutes late in leaving and 24 minutes lates in arriving.  I thought that usually a plane could make up time during the flight, but I think part of the problem today was that the descent was kind of bouncy.  It seemed to take a long time and it felt like we circled a bit.  That might have been because they needed to find an opening for us to land.

One thing that was annoying about the flight (to CA and back) was that Frontier no longer offers free snacks and you now have to pay for their livemap that shows where you are, your speed, and your alititude.  I actually liked watching that map.