Every night at 11pm, 98 Rock (Baltimore) has Mandatory Metallica. Every night at 11pm, Rascal and I put on the radio and rock out. This nightly tradition is a long-standing ritual of mine, as 105.7 the X and 98 Rock have both had Mandatory Metallica nightly for years. There was a time when Mandatory Metallica was at 9pm and incredibly difficult to regularly enjoy. The 11pm start time is fabulous for a night owl such as myself and a large part of my winding down process.
Back when I was 13 or so, Becki introduced me to Metallica (or reintroduced as my half-brother listened to them when I was much younger). She liked to listen to the Black Album before bed and subsquently, I began to do the same after many overnights at her house during the summertime. Strangely, my night is not complete without a three-song set of Metallica before bed.
Recently, my shower radio died. I did a little surgery and was able to repair the electronics and new batteries finished the job. Unfortunately, my repair skills are largely amateur, at best, and I have a very limited range of stations compared to the previously functional shower radio. One of my greatest losses is the loss of 98 Rock in the shower. This is disheartening for a night like tonight when I have yet to shower, but must listen to Mandatory Metallica before bed.
Anyway, friends, I realize this is an aimless rambling about a relatively inane part of my life, but I wanted to post something and was at a loss for anything substantial. Hopefully, this week will serve as inspiration for something new and exciting!
Monday, June 30, 2008
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Slacky McSlackerson
At least I forewarned everyone that I would be terrible at this blogging thing. Alas, I feel guilty for not giving you something to ponder in almost an entire week. It is late, however, so this may be short.
Today was a boring day at work. So boring, in fact, that my coworkers bailed at 2:30 and left me all alone for 2 and a half hours! Alone is perfectly ok, as I can meander around the lab at my own leisure and not worry about "looking" busy when clearly, I am not. It also allows me to wander the halls and whatnot, like only I can enjoy.
Lunch, on the other hand, was fabulous. We finally made it to Friscos; I had been intensely craving Friscos after many of my RIID counterparts went on Monday (which coincidentally, was the day Leah and her coworkers also visited). I got the usual Twin Peaks, although felt it was slightly smaller than the last time I was there (in January when Mary and Larry visited). My mistake, though, was allowing my will to succumb to the Way Cool Ice Cream. I could not resist a fresh twist cone. Mmm. But, it was way too big (the regular is huge) and after all the cheese on the potato, my body was not happy with more milk products. Regardless, WAY worth it.
My weekend was wonderful, which I think has helped the week seem less awful. Saturday, I joined 7 of my RIID counterparts and/or spouses at the wine festival. Much fun was had playing dinosaurs with the son of one post-doc and trying to prevent him from rolling on all of the snacks we brought to munch on while absorbing wine. This month's Jazz event was far less crowded than last month's Caribbean festival and consequently, allowed for a pleasant drinking experience. The weather was also fabulous and I was able to wear my newest fabulous sundress. A smaller group of us ventured to Cacique for dinner, where I finally branched out to the Spanish menu and enjoyed a Tilapia dish. All things considering, it was a most wonderful day.
Sunday was my first soccer game in three weeks. We were slated to play a competitive division team (our team is intermediate, but as that division has gotten more competitive, we are somewhat bruised and beaten in the ranks). Saturday, a friend was asking how soccer went and I candidly offered that we hadn't won a game all session (save the two wins by forfeit, although the ensuing games still resulted in losses) and giving the team we were schedule to play Sunday, we'd end the session winless as well. Much to my surprises, we won. The other team did not show. We only had 4 players of our own, but two from a team we will be merging with in the fall. A few competitive players were there for board duty or early for their game, so we played a 4 competitive vs 6 intermediate (us) game with Em's husband, John playing in our goal. We had to shoot on cones in the goal, but only received points if we shot outside the cones placed about 2 feet inside the goal posts...super hard! At the end of a very well played game, and all things considering, we were victorious, 4-3. Imagine how fun it was to tell that friend today that we did, in fact, win our game!
Finally, I drove to PA Sunday evening to have a small birthday celebration for my father. His birthday is actually tomorrow, the 26th, but due to the upcoming crazy weekend planning, I was unsure if I would make it home. His birthday present had come Saturday and I was very excited to share what I found. Dad grew up on Cloverland Dairy Farms that his father managed in Ohio, PA and in Baltimore. On Ebay, I found these burlap cups, encased in plastic, that were promotional containers for cream cheese from the Baltimore dairies in probably the 50s. One lid still has the original label stating it was Cloverland's Baltimore dairy. I try to keep an eye out for rare collectibles from Cloverland for the growing collection at home, that includes a milk box and several milk bottles. With the cups and a bottle of wine from the festival, I was all set to give Dad a sweet surprise. Imagine my disappointment when I mention to my mother that I was excited for Dad to get his present and she says something about whether or not I could pull him away from her present. What did my mother get my father for his birthday, you ask? A tractor. That's what. I cannot compete with a tractor. Alas, the luster and joy of my present was quickly forgotten as the child in my father couldn't wait to show me his newest toy and how he rearranged the barn so it could fit inside away from the elements. At least he did say that he had never seen the cups before and thought they'd be good to set up pudding.
Well, friends, it's that time. Happy Birthday, today, to my high school best friend, Becki. It has been almost an entire year since we spoke, so I hope maybe we can reconnect soon. And tomorrow, birthday wishes to my father, my mom's oldest sister - Aunt Florence (yep girls, I really DO have an Aunt Flo), and my bestest bestest, Susannah. Until next time...
Today was a boring day at work. So boring, in fact, that my coworkers bailed at 2:30 and left me all alone for 2 and a half hours! Alone is perfectly ok, as I can meander around the lab at my own leisure and not worry about "looking" busy when clearly, I am not. It also allows me to wander the halls and whatnot, like only I can enjoy.
Lunch, on the other hand, was fabulous. We finally made it to Friscos; I had been intensely craving Friscos after many of my RIID counterparts went on Monday (which coincidentally, was the day Leah and her coworkers also visited). I got the usual Twin Peaks, although felt it was slightly smaller than the last time I was there (in January when Mary and Larry visited). My mistake, though, was allowing my will to succumb to the Way Cool Ice Cream. I could not resist a fresh twist cone. Mmm. But, it was way too big (the regular is huge) and after all the cheese on the potato, my body was not happy with more milk products. Regardless, WAY worth it.
My weekend was wonderful, which I think has helped the week seem less awful. Saturday, I joined 7 of my RIID counterparts and/or spouses at the wine festival. Much fun was had playing dinosaurs with the son of one post-doc and trying to prevent him from rolling on all of the snacks we brought to munch on while absorbing wine. This month's Jazz event was far less crowded than last month's Caribbean festival and consequently, allowed for a pleasant drinking experience. The weather was also fabulous and I was able to wear my newest fabulous sundress. A smaller group of us ventured to Cacique for dinner, where I finally branched out to the Spanish menu and enjoyed a Tilapia dish. All things considering, it was a most wonderful day.
Sunday was my first soccer game in three weeks. We were slated to play a competitive division team (our team is intermediate, but as that division has gotten more competitive, we are somewhat bruised and beaten in the ranks). Saturday, a friend was asking how soccer went and I candidly offered that we hadn't won a game all session (save the two wins by forfeit, although the ensuing games still resulted in losses) and giving the team we were schedule to play Sunday, we'd end the session winless as well. Much to my surprises, we won. The other team did not show. We only had 4 players of our own, but two from a team we will be merging with in the fall. A few competitive players were there for board duty or early for their game, so we played a 4 competitive vs 6 intermediate (us) game with Em's husband, John playing in our goal. We had to shoot on cones in the goal, but only received points if we shot outside the cones placed about 2 feet inside the goal posts...super hard! At the end of a very well played game, and all things considering, we were victorious, 4-3. Imagine how fun it was to tell that friend today that we did, in fact, win our game!
Finally, I drove to PA Sunday evening to have a small birthday celebration for my father. His birthday is actually tomorrow, the 26th, but due to the upcoming crazy weekend planning, I was unsure if I would make it home. His birthday present had come Saturday and I was very excited to share what I found. Dad grew up on Cloverland Dairy Farms that his father managed in Ohio, PA and in Baltimore. On Ebay, I found these burlap cups, encased in plastic, that were promotional containers for cream cheese from the Baltimore dairies in probably the 50s. One lid still has the original label stating it was Cloverland's Baltimore dairy. I try to keep an eye out for rare collectibles from Cloverland for the growing collection at home, that includes a milk box and several milk bottles. With the cups and a bottle of wine from the festival, I was all set to give Dad a sweet surprise. Imagine my disappointment when I mention to my mother that I was excited for Dad to get his present and she says something about whether or not I could pull him away from her present. What did my mother get my father for his birthday, you ask? A tractor. That's what. I cannot compete with a tractor. Alas, the luster and joy of my present was quickly forgotten as the child in my father couldn't wait to show me his newest toy and how he rearranged the barn so it could fit inside away from the elements. At least he did say that he had never seen the cups before and thought they'd be good to set up pudding.
Well, friends, it's that time. Happy Birthday, today, to my high school best friend, Becki. It has been almost an entire year since we spoke, so I hope maybe we can reconnect soon. And tomorrow, birthday wishes to my father, my mom's oldest sister - Aunt Florence (yep girls, I really DO have an Aunt Flo), and my bestest bestest, Susannah. Until next time...
Friday, June 20, 2008
Tax Dollars Hard at Work
Friday afternoons are notoriously boring here within the walls of a government building. There are a few who think the quiet of Friday boredom is conducive for late working and those of us who completed their work earlier in the week to allow Friday afternoon flexibility. Being one of the latter, I was very excited to see the boys were goofing off as well this afternoon. Considering we are utilizing government time, money and personnel to entertain ourselves, I shall leave the guilty nameless and will not indicate if I had any participation beyond observation. The boys were setting off tubes like little rockets by placing a few pieces of dry ice in the tube, so as to build pressure and pop the tubes up off the ground. The question was raised whether or not a 50mL conical centrifuge tube could be blown apart if enough pressure was built up within the tube by the "melting" dry ice. Given the temperature outdoors, our hypothesis was tested. Unfortunately, we did not achieve success, but there was a nice pop when the cap was removed from the tube about 3 minutes later. A repeat experiment was not attempted at this time. Nevertheless, it was highly amusing to see 6 scientists huddled in an office looking out the window at a conincal tube, hoping it'll pop. That, my friends, are your government tax dollars hard at work!
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Almost Friday!
Today is Thursday. It's almost Friday. Honestly, I used to look forward to Fridays with such an insane amount of gusto that it probably seemed ridiculous. But, who cares, it's almost Friday!
My week has been progressively better than anticipated, and tonight I managed to finish up all I intended to do before Friday. I'm even baking cranberry orange bread for my coffee club breakfast. Coffee club is a bit of a misnomer; we're just a handful of friends who happened to all be coffee snobs and enjoy one another's company first thing in the morning over a cup or, sometimes, even two. Currently, my house is smelling absolutely fabulous from the baking.
Strides were also made this fine Thursday in a bruised friendship. One of my closest guy friends and I had a bit of a scuffle last Friday over broken plans. The situation was rather unfortunate and could have been handled with a little more thought and respect on both our parts. Regardless, we hadn't really spoken since last Friday evening shortly after the occurrence of this incident. But, today, I got a phone call mid-afternoon, out of the blue, and to my surprise and delight, it lasted 15 whole minutes. While time is irrelevant, it struck odd because it was the longest we've ever had a conversation by phone. Time may heal all wounds, but it was as if nothing ever even happened! Those 15 minutes proved one thing...friendship is no matter what. Through thick and thin, countless hours together, or a few days spent apart, friendship is constant. Evidenced by 15 little minutes that made a difference to me and my perception of my awesome friend.
Well, friends, I must attend to my breakfast bread and my little dreaming piggy (who desperately needs a clean cage). Happy almost Friday and here's to something to write about when it comes to an end in 27 hours.
My week has been progressively better than anticipated, and tonight I managed to finish up all I intended to do before Friday. I'm even baking cranberry orange bread for my coffee club breakfast. Coffee club is a bit of a misnomer; we're just a handful of friends who happened to all be coffee snobs and enjoy one another's company first thing in the morning over a cup or, sometimes, even two. Currently, my house is smelling absolutely fabulous from the baking.
Strides were also made this fine Thursday in a bruised friendship. One of my closest guy friends and I had a bit of a scuffle last Friday over broken plans. The situation was rather unfortunate and could have been handled with a little more thought and respect on both our parts. Regardless, we hadn't really spoken since last Friday evening shortly after the occurrence of this incident. But, today, I got a phone call mid-afternoon, out of the blue, and to my surprise and delight, it lasted 15 whole minutes. While time is irrelevant, it struck odd because it was the longest we've ever had a conversation by phone. Time may heal all wounds, but it was as if nothing ever even happened! Those 15 minutes proved one thing...friendship is no matter what. Through thick and thin, countless hours together, or a few days spent apart, friendship is constant. Evidenced by 15 little minutes that made a difference to me and my perception of my awesome friend.
Well, friends, I must attend to my breakfast bread and my little dreaming piggy (who desperately needs a clean cage). Happy almost Friday and here's to something to write about when it comes to an end in 27 hours.
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Tuesday: Trials and Tribulations
They say babies have Terrible Twos...well, friends, I have Terrible Tuesdays. Today was quite honestly, one of the more hellish days I have had in quite a while. I think we can agree, I've certainly had my fair share in the last month!
This morning starts off with unexpected feminine issues. Now, seriously, I don't pay for those little color coded anti-baby pills so that I can have "unexpected", and even more annoyingly, EARLY issues...which, mind you, required a trip to CVS mid-morning to keep things under control. Why, you ask? Good question! And if you find out, let me know. Granted, my life hasn't been exactly uneventful in the past two months and last month wasn't fun with respect to this department either, but mother of goodness, I don't need an extra week of this fabulousness we call being female.
Next, it has been my New Year's Resolution to not attend our weekly lab meeting. It started off as somewhat of a joke, but now I have gotten in the habit of not bothering to attend. I have made one all year, only because I was doing Social Committee things relating to that particular meeting. Unfortunately for me, and my support scientist, today was not the day to skip the meeting. Mike got the wrath of Khan, or Doug, in this case, about not being present for the meetings. And shortly following the wrath of Doug, I was nailed with the wrath of Mike. If you know my working relationship with Mike, you know that you just don't want to deal with the wrath of Mike. Guess I'm going to have to get back into a somewhat regular habit of enjoying that wonderous 30 minutes every Tuesday morning. Ugh.
Let's see...stupidly, we decided to eat outside for lunch. It was, to quote Roxy on Army Wives, "hotter than the hinges of hell". Not as hot as it could have been, as we were in the shade and there was an ever-so-slight breeze, but still darn hot. I lasted about 15 minutes; enough time to shovel in the ravioli and get back into the AC. I hate summer and the humidity and heat! You can always add clothing for warmth, but only so much can come off to assist in the cooling process.
And then we hit rock bottom, which included the wrath coming full circle from the boss to the low man on the totem pole...me. I was asked if I could complete a certain task this week in a manner that was more of a demand than a request. Fantastic. I love being told that I MUST do something yesterday. To add insult to injury, he also sends an email about my Social Committee reorganization meeting and how the Awards Committee should be included on planning. I kindly replied that the Awards Comm. chair and I already chatted and discussed this very point, to which he replied a curt "So I heard...". As if I made the fatal error of discussing something he was thinking up all himself at that very moment. Pfft.
Alas, I spent the better part of the afternoon in quite a tizzy, but must give credit to my awesome friends, the 3 M's - Matt, Michelle, and Monica, for treating me to a nice strawberry Rita's ice. That, if nothing else, saved my afternoon and my sanity. Additionally, I must thank the weather for cooperating and storming right when I wanted it to, in order to knock down the humidity and temperature long enough for me to get in my two mile run. Of course, I ran a good 2/3 of that in a pretty steady rain, but beggers can't be choosy.
Well, friends, this concludes another adventure in the life of (sometimes not so) Happy Girl. Join us next time, for what hopes to be a much more pleasant day at the USDA.
This morning starts off with unexpected feminine issues. Now, seriously, I don't pay for those little color coded anti-baby pills so that I can have "unexpected", and even more annoyingly, EARLY issues...which, mind you, required a trip to CVS mid-morning to keep things under control. Why, you ask? Good question! And if you find out, let me know. Granted, my life hasn't been exactly uneventful in the past two months and last month wasn't fun with respect to this department either, but mother of goodness, I don't need an extra week of this fabulousness we call being female.
Next, it has been my New Year's Resolution to not attend our weekly lab meeting. It started off as somewhat of a joke, but now I have gotten in the habit of not bothering to attend. I have made one all year, only because I was doing Social Committee things relating to that particular meeting. Unfortunately for me, and my support scientist, today was not the day to skip the meeting. Mike got the wrath of Khan, or Doug, in this case, about not being present for the meetings. And shortly following the wrath of Doug, I was nailed with the wrath of Mike. If you know my working relationship with Mike, you know that you just don't want to deal with the wrath of Mike. Guess I'm going to have to get back into a somewhat regular habit of enjoying that wonderous 30 minutes every Tuesday morning. Ugh.
Let's see...stupidly, we decided to eat outside for lunch. It was, to quote Roxy on Army Wives, "hotter than the hinges of hell". Not as hot as it could have been, as we were in the shade and there was an ever-so-slight breeze, but still darn hot. I lasted about 15 minutes; enough time to shovel in the ravioli and get back into the AC. I hate summer and the humidity and heat! You can always add clothing for warmth, but only so much can come off to assist in the cooling process.
And then we hit rock bottom, which included the wrath coming full circle from the boss to the low man on the totem pole...me. I was asked if I could complete a certain task this week in a manner that was more of a demand than a request. Fantastic. I love being told that I MUST do something yesterday. To add insult to injury, he also sends an email about my Social Committee reorganization meeting and how the Awards Committee should be included on planning. I kindly replied that the Awards Comm. chair and I already chatted and discussed this very point, to which he replied a curt "So I heard...". As if I made the fatal error of discussing something he was thinking up all himself at that very moment. Pfft.
Alas, I spent the better part of the afternoon in quite a tizzy, but must give credit to my awesome friends, the 3 M's - Matt, Michelle, and Monica, for treating me to a nice strawberry Rita's ice. That, if nothing else, saved my afternoon and my sanity. Additionally, I must thank the weather for cooperating and storming right when I wanted it to, in order to knock down the humidity and temperature long enough for me to get in my two mile run. Of course, I ran a good 2/3 of that in a pretty steady rain, but beggers can't be choosy.
Well, friends, this concludes another adventure in the life of (sometimes not so) Happy Girl. Join us next time, for what hopes to be a much more pleasant day at the USDA.
Monday, June 9, 2008
A Year Later...
So, more than a year after I began my little blogging space, I shall attempt a second entry. This is terribly amusing to me, as all the entertaining things I could share with people are those which I tend to internalize and share sparingly for the amusement of my nearest and dearest. However, all my friends are doing it, so why can't I?
Today was a typical Monday at work...nothing out of the ordinary. There were not any lab mishaps, as have become commonplace in my "older" age...or should I admit, increasing absent-mindedness. Actually, I lie...one mishap. First, a little background. Jami has picked on me forever about my willingness to do lab chores, so long as it involves my ability to "stalk" those of the male persuasion at the other end of the hall en route to trash dumpsters, waste dumpsters, recycling bins, big blue shed...etc. Hence, Jami picks up the other chores that are not on my standard routes and this is very humorous to her. She never misses an opportunity to point out my flawed reasoning to help out. With that in mind, I decided today to take out lab waste. My thoughts were completely pure, for a change, as there are no subjects currently worthy of my time. As I was transferring waste from one container into another, so as to conserve autoclave bags, my grip slipped on the first bag and I dumped half of the second onto the lab floor, causing more work for myself. As I don some latex gloves and start picking up sick, disgusting, and downright gross used lab supplies off the floor, Jami mocks me..."That's what you get for doing lab chores without good intentions." Of course, I replied, "No, this is what I get for doing lab chores completely innocently...I don't have these problems when I have an ulterior motive." The moral of today's story...even if you don't have an excuse to walk down the hall when doing one's office tasks, take time to come up with one. You'll feel better in the long run.
Well, friends, this seems enough for one post. Check back soon for something more amazing...and feel free to pick on me about my stalkerish tendencies. Just don't report me to the authorities. I haven't done anything illegal...yet. :)
Today was a typical Monday at work...nothing out of the ordinary. There were not any lab mishaps, as have become commonplace in my "older" age...or should I admit, increasing absent-mindedness. Actually, I lie...one mishap. First, a little background. Jami has picked on me forever about my willingness to do lab chores, so long as it involves my ability to "stalk" those of the male persuasion at the other end of the hall en route to trash dumpsters, waste dumpsters, recycling bins, big blue shed...etc. Hence, Jami picks up the other chores that are not on my standard routes and this is very humorous to her. She never misses an opportunity to point out my flawed reasoning to help out. With that in mind, I decided today to take out lab waste. My thoughts were completely pure, for a change, as there are no subjects currently worthy of my time. As I was transferring waste from one container into another, so as to conserve autoclave bags, my grip slipped on the first bag and I dumped half of the second onto the lab floor, causing more work for myself. As I don some latex gloves and start picking up sick, disgusting, and downright gross used lab supplies off the floor, Jami mocks me..."That's what you get for doing lab chores without good intentions." Of course, I replied, "No, this is what I get for doing lab chores completely innocently...I don't have these problems when I have an ulterior motive." The moral of today's story...even if you don't have an excuse to walk down the hall when doing one's office tasks, take time to come up with one. You'll feel better in the long run.
Well, friends, this seems enough for one post. Check back soon for something more amazing...and feel free to pick on me about my stalkerish tendencies. Just don't report me to the authorities. I haven't done anything illegal...yet. :)
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