Stay awake sleepyhead

After staying up until 3:30 to try and finish my assignment I have a bit left to do this AM and then I can hand it in. With any luck I will be left alone and I"ll sort of mostly have it done.

And I've calmed down considerably now. But, really...what else can I do?

Have a good day everyone. I will be keeping the caffeine levels spiked in my blood so I survive today...

I am Geo's sense of ultimate wrath

I cannot express fully how completely pissed off I am.
I am shaking.

I just spent weeks data crunching, working, writing and rewriting a paper and making a presentation for my 6 month meeting around my regular project, regular job and 2 classes with lots of homework. I have had no life for weeks.

I wore a fucking skirt people.

I even came early, helped rebook the talk to a room with a phone jack so that my one supervisor could teleconference in, came early and set it all up....and then sat...and waited for some people to show up...and they never did. They were in another very important meeting that went long...so MINE is going to be rescheduled. After it took me harrassing them to get it scheduled after the first scheduling of it failed back in early November.

But, oh don't worry. It'll happen. You know, sometime soon...

So basically I could have spent all that time on other assignments and NOT slowly going batshit crazy over the last few weeks trying to get everything done (and doing so I might add). I could have spent tim ewith my husband. I could have...oh...I don't know, worked on the freaking huge assignment I have due tomorrow all weekend instead of on my presentation. Knowing I'll be up all night finishing something for no damn reason is just....
There are no words.

I need to calm down so I can get work done.

For a change...

grrrrrrrr..................

Yarrr! This here be the nucleus...

Today is my second bi-annual progress report meeting for my MSc.
I'll be so glad when it's done. I hope hope hope it goes well. My report for it is complete and my talk should be just fine. I'm rather burnt out so I admit I'm just pleased it's coherent :) I have lots to show for my time, but not a lot of analysis yet, and I suspect I'll say the phrase "I'm analyzing that right now, I should know soon" about 6 zillion times as we discuss my speech, but at this point, I'm looking forward to it being done.
You know - so they can give me more to do :)

Wish me luck...I wore my new pirate boots, so it has to go well, right?

Siren call

My mum-in-law made a giant bowl of her delicious rice pudding last night for supper. And the lovely woman sent me home with all the leftovers. Today, every time I am by the fridge I hear it.

It calls to me. I pull out a spoon and have a bit.
The afternoon of what should be determined work on my MSc presentation and some other homework at the table has gone thusly:

work work....
*eat the pudding Geo*

pause. Determined head shake.
work work...

*delicous pudding....just over there!!*

"Nom. OK. No more. I must work on my speech and biostats assignment!"
Determined effort for 10 minutes

*pudding?*
hesitant glance over at fridge
"why just a little bit more wouldn't hurt..."

"now. back to work!"

Determined effort for 10 minutes...

*pudding?*

Lather. Rinse. Repeat.
All delicious afternoon...

I think the entire ~2 L of pudding will be gone by tomorrow. I honestly have no concrete plans for anything else to eat except for pudding today.

I can't get scurvy from one solid day of eating pudding can I?

Hyperbole

This makes me laugh.
A lot.
Because it's true.

In fact this whole website makes me giggle uncontrollably from time to time. The most recent post about their dogs and moving is brilliant.

Have a giggle.
Go on. You know you want to.

It's a mad mad world

I just don't even know what to say about this.

Really?

Really.

Huh....

7

7 days of classes left this semester.
Believe me when I say that I am beside myself with glee about this.

The only problem is trying to focus :)
I've been so *busy* for so long, it's like knowing it will end soon is some sort of ticket that allows me to slack off. I don't want to burn out, but I've still got 4 things due so I need to keep at it so I'm not panicking at the last minute and turning in macaroni pictures!

I bought some organic yogurt and some fresh blueberries last night. Pricey but delicious for breakfast this morning. Something about swimming makes me crave yogurt afterwards. Seeing as this is the last swim of the season before they shut down the pool until January I thought I'd have one final uberposh yogurt fruity deluxe of a breakfast.
Yum.

Have a listen to the song that's been round and round in my head since I got up and have a great day OK? :)

Hope yours goes well. :)

Come onna my house

I feel like I've just discovered a secret.

Rosemary Clooney has an incredible voice. She's like Judy Garland and Billy Holiday to me - one of those perfect sexy voices from the past that I could never tire of listening to...from long ago when women sang from their soul. She sang incredible full songs. Sultry. Some of my favourite ones were Sway and especially Love You Didn't Do Right By Me in the film White Christmas (which some day I would LOVE to sing).
Today I learned it's her voice that sings Come On a My House, of which there is a remix of on the funky Ursadelica Album by Nasty Tales and their Orchestra that has been in my head all morning. Ursula 1000 remixes and spins funky stuff...
Strange how music bumps around and overlaps like that :)

Winter has arrived

I have to give a speech today so I figured I'd wear a skirt to boost my confidence.
I look great, but sweet zombie jesus I picked a cold day for it.

It is only -28 C. -37 with the wind.
Oh my poor frozen legs :).

I can see!

Just got my new specs...I love them.

They're like an updated version of my old pair. J agrees with me that they look like I've always worn them...which to me is just right and proper. To me my specs are a part of my identity. I feel odd without them and it's nice to have them back..all supernew and swanky. I'm looking forward to many years with these :)

weekend off

Begin doing nothing...........................NOW!

Keep hunting after that rainbow!

image

Well, after many 18 hour days in a row, I think I'm done the draft of my bi-annual MSc report for my supervisors to review and almost done my poster on it for presenting. Whew! It's been a busy week, with this and many other assignments to do! After this I have 4 major final assignments, one speech and one exam and then my classes are done so I can relax a bit. I've decided I'm scaling things way back in the end of December once all my classwork is done so I can have a real Christmas. I deserve it! I'll still have some work to do, but not like it's been lately!

It's finally snowed here after being plain cold and windy for ages. It looks so pretty out there now with a few inches of the white stuff all over everything. It was nice to go for a swim this morning after a snowy walk to the pool. It's so warm and humid in there...ah!

Well, I'm off again for round dickety two of crazy days, but the end is in sight and I'm gonna make it :) Have a wonderful day everybody!

Poof!

My head nearly exploded this morning, due to what looked like someone (again) majorly screwing with my project. BUT, we seem to have found a solution.
Thank goodness. I hate relying on other people for things...because I find in my experience, they do not usually have the same vested interest in it as I do...this only reinforces what I try and get away from. I am trying to remind myself that despite these things it is good to rely on other people sometimes. If they have expertise to offer, why reinvent the wheel? Let them help...

It's the home stretch of evil. SO much to do in 3 small days.
Here we go!

77

Today would have been my Mum's 77th birthday. I've been thinking about her a lot the last few days. I used to call her and Dad when I'd get stressed out about things...I miss her. Miss hearing her voice...somehow Mums can make it all OK with just a few words.

Giant celestial hug to you Mum, wherever you may be.

Thinking of you today...and every day.

Rule # 32: enjoy the little things

As much as I whinge...there's little things that keep me going -Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee, hoar frost sparkling in the sun after a foggy night, fresh muffins...

and napping with the Geek :)

I'm hanging in there...slowly hacking away at the work bit by bit.

Take the time to enjoy the little things. It makes all the difference :)

Hear me baby...hold together

I am losing my mind. Toooo many things to do and many annoying people randomly fucking with my life at the precise moment it is not needed. Today's one example of many (and non-work related so I can freely vent it): Like sending in an optomotrists report to get my prescription taken off my license. I called and asked what to send. Confirmed it and then I sent it. Just got a letter saying thanks for what you sent, but could you send *this* too- because that's not what we need at all...

Wankers. All of them...

But. On the very very plus side, my friends Nick and Laurel just had a beautiful baby girl...all sweet and scrunchy and tomatoey faced... and two more wonderfully kind and peaceful people there are not in this world, so I know this baby has a great place to grow.

And I am glad to know that wonderful joyous things still abound...I was starting to wonder.

Netbooks are really spiffy

image
Help me great pulsating brain at the center of the universe...for I am doomed.

I have 3 weeks of insanity coming up in which I have many many assignments due, as well as a poster presentation and my semi-annual MSc paper and lecture. Oh and, you know, just my regular job...and MSc labwork. I am trying not to wig out. Only 4 more weeks until the semester is over and I get my life back for a while.

In an attempt to try and do more I broke down and got a little netbook so I can uplink to my work PC from home and use the PC compatible software I need at home, as well as have my work PC run all my high powered technical stuff from home (because my netbook would freeze if I tried to make it do that). My little robot is a definitely worth the few hundred dollars I paid for it if it does all it is made out to. I didn't want to buy a whole new full computer and so I ignored the whole PC issue until I did a bit of reading up on netbooks and how they're compatible with my work network and just what I could accomplish for a small amount of cash. I kept ignoring the PC issue because my Mac laptop works just fine, but the incompatibility of it, combined with my desire to not spend 18 hours a day here at work (and nearly losing my mind on a few occasions) ended up with me getting this little unit. I am already feeling it was well worth it and I've only just set it up for use. Sure it isn't very powerful, but I have a laptop for anything more than the basics. I have to say it is cool getting just what I need for something to solve my IT problems in such a futuristic way. I am looking forward to seeing how this little guy helps me out with all my work and keeps me sane in my MSc to come.

We shall see...

But at any rate...like i said. Crazy town time.

I will be so busy I cannot even say for the next while. Don't take it personally if I'm not posting.

I'm just working my ass off and trying to keep it together.Please stand by - I may not be back until the semester is over...wish me luck...

LATER: after initial tests the robit does everything it should admirably. Not as super swift as my Mac...but that'll do pig, that'll do.
Plus it has a webcam.
Giggedy...:)

Howls of love

My Geek has steadily been losing his hearing over the past 6 months. At first we thought he'd suddenly decided at the ripe old age of 15 to take up opera. Now that he seems quite thoroughly deaf the howling has let off a lot. Which is good because he really needs to keep his jedi day job...he's not a great singer :) Nothing is wrong with him that can be seen...he just seems to be getting old.
It has made having him about a bit more interesting -it is hard to call or admonish a deaf cat. Often "the voice" was all it took for him to know he was behaving badly. I am finding I accidentally startle him a bit more than I'd like to, and am trying to remember to tap on the floor before I just walk up and pet him from behind. Other than his desire to destroy the back of the downstairs couch I really have nothing to complain about to him. All in all he is a wonderful old man. Geek is a people cat, liking to watch what we do, and still plays like a monkey. He has become something of a snugglecat as he got older and I am home less often, which I love.
He is currently a big purring blob on my lap, keeping me company after a long day in the lab and a few hours out in the yard raking leaves. After a nice hot shower and a crisp gala apple I do believe the Geek and I are going to read a book for a while.
For fun.
One with nothing to do about labwork.

Squeee....

Why do I do this to myself? Gibbely gibbely gibbely...

It could be said that I dislike zombies.
A lot.
When I was 4 I watched the fog.
As a teenager I had the same repeated nightmare involving a horde of zombies...which I can still vividly picture now. Let's just say I have experienced being chased and attacked with/by loved ones/zombies and been eaten alive and leave it at that. *shudder*
Zombies are, to me, the ultimate unstoppable horror. You can't reason with them. They have no keen intelligence-just instinct...and hunger. They slowly move towards sounds and if you are there, they will kill you, tear you apart painfully and then perhaps eat you. And after, you or ones you love will become one of them...
I've tried for years to get over this irrationality. Most movie zombies aren't that scary, as they aren't real. Too fast. Too slow. Very fake. Occasionally comics or movies get them right...and I'm terrified. The suspense of an empty world full of walking dead is just shivery. The waiting and watching...the fear. It would drive me mad I think.

And yet, the comic series Walking Dead fascinated me. Sure it's quite scary and not at all happy, but it focuses not on the gruesomeness of death so much as how the people who survive meet, work together and try and deal with things. How real people make it through in a new world.
I've enjoyed reading it for this reason. Maybe it's cathartic seeing the main character, a sheriff who wakes up in a hospital after recovering from a gunshot wound to find the world forever different. He searches for any family left (his emotionally distant wife and young son) and tries to accept how things are now. He tries to find sanity and friendship and reasons for living. Along the way he meets many people, not all good, but all of them dealing with things in their own way. And yes...also a lot of the "walkers"...reanimated people...worthy of pity and fear for what they can do to you and those you care for.
AMC (who did a great job of recreating the Prisoner a while back) have made a mini-series based on this long running comic, and the first installment aired over the weekend. I finally had time to sit down, hunkered tensely under a blanket next to J, and watch it. Yes, it gave me the gibbeleys, but I will watch the rest of it if I can catch it. It's quite faithful to the comics (so far) and is doing very well at focusing on what I find interesting...how real people deal with such a thing.
And yes...I'll likely hear things and be jumpy for weeks. I'm hoping that by putting on my big girl sparkle panties and watching this I'll help deal with this silly fear I have. We shall see.
If you get the chance, check either of them out. A bit dark, but they definitely will make you think.

Pew pew!

Apparently my eyes just keep getting better.
Yes it's true. For only 3 low payment of $99 you can...ahem.
Sorry. Started to feel like an infomercial there.

Thing is, I just learned this morning that I can apply to have the eyeglass restriction taken off my driving license because my eyes (which have never really ever been all that bad) are now officially within the 20/20 range. They have been slowly getting better for years.
Sure I still will get a new pair because I'm used to the world being in perfect squeaky A1 focus all the time, but I've thought for over a year now that I honestly could drive without my glasses just fine. It's nice to know I wasn't just deluding myself.
AND it would mean I can wear normal sunglasses while driving...which is cool, because I've never had any other than those lame clip on ones that sort of reflect an image of you eyes back on the lens and the pair I was planning to turn into sunglasses are the ones that broke.

If only I could get lasers installed too.

Pew Pew!

Resist

Must resist cat call and couch.

Too much to do...

Did I ever tell you how lucky you are

A few days ago, Carla (aka. Mizfit) said she learned this from Dr. Seuss's Did I ever tell you how lucky you are? :

"Screw motivation. If we are physically capable of working out we are lucky. No matter how much we wanna whine or lament or moan about how bad we have it the simple fact we are ABLE to exercise makes us one of the lucky ones. "

Amen.


This morning I was exhausted and stressed out and worried about all I have to do today before I can sleep, and you know what? I got in to the gym and within minutes the flowing movement got me soaring...focused...thinking...feeling *GOOD* about being alive and all that I can do with my body and mind. For a few minutes I could get lost in what it feels like to move and enjoy moving...no stress...no worries. Just me.

I may be a year older but I honestly feel younger than I have in years. :)

I wore an onion on my belt, which was the style at the time...

Yeah. I'm older again.
Oh well what can ya do...