Sunday, November 29, 2009

Better late than never?

Funniest e-mail I've received in a while. For those that don't remember, I interviewed for this job in October of 2008 (do the math). I think I figured this out already...

Dear Dr. A,

I would like to inform you that the search committee for the W1 position on computational physics has finished its work. Although you were placed on the short list the faculty decided to offer the position to another candidate first who accepted.

I would like to thank you for your interest once more. Your personal qualifications were regarded highly by our committee and we wish you all the best for your future search. A formal letter about our decision will reach you soon.

Best regards,

Prof. in Bonn

Return from the west

So it's been a busy couple of weeks. Mostly because of this last week out in LA. We spent just about a week out there, and it was a lot of fun. It was also exhausting, as we saw Corbett's niece and nephew all but the first day there, and at 6 and 8, they are rather energetic. We spent the better half of the week playing the new Super Mario Bros on the Wii, where you can have four players on screen at the same time (which, more often than not, really leads to chaos more than successful completion of a level).

The highlight was the spreading of illness. Dylan, the nephew, got sick and subsequently gave it to Ally (the neice), and to all of us. So we arrived home Friday night (to a very excited Dante who was dropped off at home for us by a wonderful Sonya), passed out and basically laid around all day yesterday. Corbett had a fever of 102, and while I didn't, I wasn't (and still am not) feeling the greatest. Sadly, we had to miss out on a potluck dinner last night at Kostas's house because of it, and hopefully I'll be feeling better by tomorrow.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Put away the bitterness

I think I come across as too angry at times (re: last post), and sometimes it's with reason (re: last post), but other times I think I let it out when well, I should just relax and let it go. So it's gone (for now), and I am happy to say that I finished my latest project last night, almost. I have been working on this fantastic scarf for a few weeks, and I just finished it. I have to weave all of the ends (there are a lot, I have to say), and I'll do that tonight. I'm just happy because it's probably the coolest thing I've knitted (okay fine, I haven't knit very much)...

So today should be a good day.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Calm down...

I've been angry for some time now, and it most recently flared after the Prop 1 fiasco in Maine a few weeks back. I should include myself in the blame of course, because I could have done something, anything to help, but I did not. That does not diffuse the anger, just makes it worse. I have not posted about it because whenever it is mentioned, or I think about it, I have to stop everything I'm doing for five minutes and fume. It's not a productive use of time.

I was raised Catholic, and up until I went to college, I really believed in the faith. In college is where I started really understanding what I truly believed and what I made myself believe, and since then I have not referred to myself as being a Christian. Do I believe in God? I don't know. I think it is just as arrogant of us to say for sure there isn't a God as it is to say there is.

When the Catholic church invited disillusioned Anglicans/Episcopalians over to Catholicism if they were angry about allowing female and openly gay priests and bishops, I felt sick. I guess it is often true that the strongest unifying force is often hatred.

Then I wake up this morning and read this on Sarahlynn's blog. I do not want to diminish the first point on abortion she makes, because that is absurd. But the second article she quotes discusses how the Catholic Diocese of DC will cut off services to the homeless in DC if gay marriage is allowed in the capital.

I know that all Catholics and all Christians are not this evil, but in two cases lately now, we have the head of the church actively discriminating and hating others, which is completely against the core values the faith supposedly has. I used to think of myself as being disillusioned with the faith, and more and more I am disgusted with it.

I think I might vomit if I say any more right now.

Friday, November 13, 2009

Drying off

So the rain has almost stopped. It's drizzling, so it's not exactly a bright and sunny day, but it's infinitely better than the last two days. While we're far enough inland to be safe from the flooding that has happened all over the area, it was kind of miserable. What is hilarious is that everything even in the 'burg was delayed for opening for two hours (schools, and the like), so I wonder, do I go in at noon?

Oh, and just by the way. If you can only think of posting "TGIF" (or even worse, not capitalizing it: "tgif"), or "Yay! The weekend's here!" or something like that, you don't have something worthwhile to post as a status update.

The only thing worse are those people who get "a case of the Mondays"* or give a play by play of their morning:

"Ugh, need my coffee."

"Coffee's brewing."

"Have my coffee, am human again!"

Really, I just cannot handle this. If you are going to post updates regularly, great (more for me to read than work), but be original. It's not hard. Plenty of people do it...

---
* Truth be told, they are usually the same people.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

On the edge...

So the joke's on me: I thought there'd be no more travelling for a while...but nope, we're going to LA next week! This is the beginning of the rest of our lives: Alternating Christmas and Thanksgiving in Georgia and LA, so this year it's T-day in LA and Christmas in the Peach State. The bad part is that our flight leaves Richmond at 6am to go to New York, then from there we have a direct flight to LA. You heard that, right? 6am. Sigh.

And my uncle's wife is god damned moron. No wait, she's an insensitive bitch. Sorry about being so hateful but listen to this. My grandfather (mother's father) went to the hospital yesterday and my mother found out about it because her brother's wife posted it on her Facebook Wall. This is worse than when my father's niece left an answering machine message 12 years ago when his mother passed away. What the hell is wrong with these people?

This combined with applying for jobs, Corbett heading out of town (got up at 4am to bring him to the very same airport we're flying out of next week), and torrential endless rain (started Tuesday night and hasn't stopped yet, and probably won't until tomorrow afternoon) has put me on edge. I feel as though I'm going to snap at any moment and I've got to figure out some programming now.

Son of a bitch.

Monday, November 9, 2009

No more traveling...for now

Can you tell I'm back in my office? Of course! I'm not working even though I should be. What have I done this morning thus far? Well, I've finished another set of applications, and I have a few more to get through (this is just yet another horrible experience). I've worried about how little I am able to get done, and how I think my recent trip really wasn't a good idea. I mean, really, did I need another talk to be put on my CV? Not really. Did I need to waste two full days of travel for a two-day workshop? No. Did I need to see (well, not see, since I had no free time) Vancouver? No. Did I need the airline miles? Well, sort of.

But no more, for a while anyway. I know at least for a month I am most likely not traveling at all, so I'm psyched. Corbett leaves me for a few days at the end of the week, but this time I'll get to stay home, so I can relax while he deals with the terror of travel. And that's right, a whole weekend where I can do whatever I want!

Yeah, that probably means I'll lie on the couch watching all of the TV Corbett hates to watch :)

Saturday, November 7, 2009

And back home

So I've got over an hour in the Vancouver airport before I head out. This will be a long day of traveling, as I get to fly to Seattle, then Dallas, then Richmond. The only benefit of this journey is that I was able to get an upgrade to first class on the last flight, from DFW to Richmond. Sometimes always flying on the same airline has benefits (even if I really can't stand American at times).

My (short) trip to Vancouver was uneventful. I arrived, and the workshop lasted for two days with eight talks (one of which was mine). It was low key and relaxed, but still was somewhat exhausting. My talk went just fine, but I was very much out of place in the midst of the other talks. In the end I won't complain, but it was a little odd. I think everyone else realized it too, but whatever.

It's always odd going to Canada. I like it, but it's not like going to any other country, because in so many ways it's exactly like the US. All of the (non-political) differences are so minor but noticeable. It feels like a dream, or like an alternate version of the US. I only wish I had a little more time to see the city. This is my second time in Vancouver, and I still haven't made it downtown.

One thing that I realized before coming here is that I have to get more visa pages for my passport! I never even thought I would have to, but I only have like 1 full page left, and four more years before it expires. I'm kind of excited about this, just because it seems like I've won some sort of prize.

Yeah, simple pleasures for simple minds.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

9:36

This last week has been a lot of fun. After returning from Korea, I had a few days of trying to get a lot of work done, before Maggie came to visit. She arrived by train (she's not a fan of flying and this worked out for the best for us, as the train station is literally five minutes from our house while the airports are not...this is relevant for later in the story), and we had a bunch of fun. We did some touristy things, a stroll through the colonial 'burg, the Wmbg Winery (not as bad as one may think, unless that person only buys the Wmbg Wines from Kmart which cost five bucks...their $10 wines are actually tasty), and...oh wait, that's about it.

The bulk of the visit was made up of us teaching Maggie how to knit (she's a natural!), and hanging out knitting (either at home or at Aroma's, a local cafe). It was a lot of fun because it didn't involve a lot of running around. On Halloween we watched a Swedish vampire movie, handed out candy to the four kids that came to the door, and carved pumpkins while enjoying cocktail time. A ton of fun. Now, though, I have to prepare for a talk I've not started which I'm giving Thursday (and leaving for tomorrow morning).

One last thing, though. Her train this morning, she said, was to leave at 10:30am. Perfect! We'll get up, I'll get ready for work, drop her off, vote, and head in to the office. I wake Maggie up at 9am, as she asked (I was already ready, so that I could get a few things done this morning), and around quarter after, right when Corbett was getting up, I hear, "Oh wait! I think the train leaves at Nine thirty!"

So much running around was done to get her ready to leave, and thankfully we made it with five minutes to spare. And I just got into work a tad earlier. All the better to get things done, I guess.