Posted by: caltechgirl at 12:07 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Jay and Deb were off to the hospital this morning around the time I fell asleep (2:30 am in Cali, 5:30 am in MA), and we should be hearing news any time now...

Yay Valerie!

PS Bonus points to anyone who can tell me where the post title comes from!

Posted by: caltechgirl at 10:42 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Get ready for it.

If it's not Scottish, it's crap! 

Even us (part)Scots-Irish, dammit.

If you're interested in joining the Gathering of the Blogs, you can get more info here.

For the clan-challenged, here's a great Tartan Generator so you can pretend you're not crap. 

Posted by: caltechgirl at 05:01 PM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
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El Plomero has returned and is currently ensconced in the POS master bath (which is the most ridiculously designed, inconvenient space in this house... e.g. you can't shut the door if you are already seated upon the throne), and is banging away merrily at the old-ass fixtures.

Seems the problem was that the fixtures themselves are old and leaky and that's what's been causing the problem, drip by drip, for years.

Now perhaps I will be able to enjoy a tub bath without accompanying rain shower during the fill period, as until today (and the new fixtures) I could never switch the diverter completely to tub.

Yay!

Update: Done! Ceiling downstairs to be fixed next week sometime....

Posted by: caltechgirl at 02:36 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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YAAFM! 

Just so you know.

Glad you're back, Flap.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 11:34 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Winamp loves me today.  The randomizer matches my foul mood.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 02:42 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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His pathetic loser ass got his iPod stolen.

Which, if you know him, is par for the course.

So lovely and romantic, don't you think?

Posted by: caltechgirl at 12:34 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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El Plomero (the plumber) is supposed to arrive between 10 and 12.  I have a meeting at 12:30.  I KNOW (for a fact) that I won't make it to the meeting, and I've already dealt with that.

So, when do you think the plumber will arrive?  It is 10:07 now.

BTW if the problem turns out to be as nasty as we suspect, I'll post pictures of him ripping out the wall of my closet!

Update: 11:15, still no dude....

Update II: Dude never showed. Landlady called at 12:05. wondering why I hadn't called her yet. Long story short, dude is supposedly coming Thursday AM. I'll let you know.....

Posted by: caltechgirl at 10:09 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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"If you are an employee, you must work full time in the general area of your new workplace for at least 39 weeks during the 12 months right after you move. If you are self-employed, you must work full time in the general area of your new workplace for at least 39 weeks during the first 12 months and a total of at least 78 weeks during the 24 months right after you move.

If you expect to meet the time test, you can deduct your moving expenses in the year you move."

Posted by: caltechgirl at 12:48 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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Ok, I'll admit it.  I am a candle junkie.

Not like some people, but I have a few laying around.  In fact, I left more candles in NC than I brought with me.  However, that's beside the point.

A little background:  My wonderful husband, although agreeable in most other respects, is allergic to many scents, and thus anything scented has to be approved by The Man before I can bring it into the house, unless I want to deal with hives and benedryl.  In terms of my candle habit this has limited the scents I can purchase on my own to Pumpkin Spice, Spiced Apple, or Peppermint.  Which are nice but somehow boring....

Many moons ago I purchased a lovely rose scented candle.  Not too heavy, not too fruity, a wonderfully pleasant rose smell.  The problem?  It was a special Valentine's Day candle, and it disappeared after VDay.

Ever since then, I have been on a quest to replace the Perfect Rose Candle.  Believe me, I have tried every brand, every store, and always, something was not right.  Usually you'd open the top and it would smell like a whore's bathroom (I hate the smell of smoke, so I always get jar candles)...

So fast forward 8 or so years later, every store, every brand tried and finally, FINALLY I go into Wal-Mart just to wander around, and so as I passed the candle display, I made my usual stop and sniff, and I found it.  Right there on the shelf.  I popped the lid, and thought, "Wow, this is pretty close", and I passed it on to the man for approval, and it didn't make him ill, so I brought it home, and tonight, I fired it up.

And damn, if it isn't the Perfect Rose Candle reborn.  Must go stock up on them now, while they're still in the store.  Damn.  That means I have to go back to Wal Mart.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 09:31 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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1 hmmmmm. Wal-Mart, huh? ; ) Glad you found it. I'm partial to Tahitian Vanilla.

Posted by: Christina at February 06, 2006 09:59 AM (zJsUT)

2 I'm newly addicted to the candles from Illuminations. I currently have a spiced orange one that I'm loving.

Posted by: Ith at February 06, 2006 10:18 AM (p9gXW)

3 Whodathunk?! Better buy a whole case! Pick me up some diapers while you're there, will you? We have the same thing here -- not allergic, but my husband can't stand most scents.

Posted by: Marie at February 06, 2006 10:31 AM (ZNESr)

4 Excellent! Don't you just love it when you find something lost?

Posted by: Richmond at February 06, 2006 06:23 PM (e8QFP)

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Page House is known for two things:
1.  Being very Frat like and jock filled
2.  Having a Beer Room instead of a Library.

Also, it's a Fine House (rotation rules and the honor code require I point this out, even as an alum).

For those of you not in the know, Caltech requires each Freshman to live on campus during their first year, and they must stay in one of 7 on campus houses (Hovses).  Rather than assigning students randomly, Caltech uses a "rotation" process similar to frat/sorority rush week on other campuses.  Each hovse has its own character and traditions, and the Freshman choose/are chosen into the Hovse they fit with best (usually).

After students choose/are chosen by their hovses, each hovse has its own initiation ritual. Page House's ritual involves elaborate costumes and a hike back to campus from the top of Mount Wilson.

This year, it didn't work out too well.... but regardless of the headline, nothing that goes on at Caltech is anything like hazing.  First, saying no is ALWAYS an option.  Second, it's always in fun.  It's  not about making the frosh hurt.

Also, the school in the video, DEFINITELY NOT Caltech.  Get it right, morons.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 04:26 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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From the Ass.Press, via Yahoo!:

"A former postal worker who had been put on medical leave for psychological problems shot five people to death at a huge mail-processing center and then killed herself in what was believed to be the nation's deadliest workplace shooting ever carried out by a woman.

The attack Monday night was also the biggest bloodbath at a U.S. postal installation since a massacre 20 years ago helped give rise to the term "going postal.""

Posted by: caltechgirl at 03:48 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I'm feeling rotten.

All this weekend I was dealing with an RA flare, and as soon as I get better (last night) I must have eaten something that was bad. After spending most of the late evening dealing with various stomach-related issues, I decided it was best to nurse my poor, painful tummy and stay home and finish correcting HW and write an exam for the class I'm teaching.

However, if you insist on something interesting to read, try these non-political gems:

Bou wraps up the school carnival

Ith's resident office mouse is a smartie

Margi writes Peanut's birth story

Posted by: caltechgirl at 12:43 PM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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I could really give two shits about this whole Google in China brouhaha.

You can have my Gmail account when you pry the keyboard from my cold dead fingers.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 02:44 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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1 Thank God it's not just me! I feel better now.

Posted by: Stingflower at January 27, 2006 03:03 PM (a6pw5)

2 Nothing to do with China, but I never got into using my gmail account. It's just one more languishing free email address I'm not sure it's even still active considering how long it's been since I logged on.

Posted by: Ith at January 27, 2006 03:28 PM (+T0G3)

3 Yes, it's active. That was one of the ways they distinguished themselves from the others.

Posted by: Jay at January 27, 2006 05:00 PM (NxYzY)

4 LOL! I've not stopped using my gmail account either.

Posted by: vw bug at January 27, 2006 06:13 PM (k+jIa)

5 Now, now, when it comes to search engines, you know that Gigablast is beckoning... And the only reason I got a GMail account is so I could chat on Google Talk, which it then turned out nobody else I know has. For my everyday email needs I use Bluebottle, which has many nifty features including nigh-daily unexplained service outages which can last for hours at a time... Just in case you wanted to know why you were wise to go with GMail instead...

Posted by: Paul Burgess at January 28, 2006 06:04 AM (7EVyU)

6 I don't use google that often, I don't have a gmail account, I could care less.

Posted by: Contagion at January 28, 2006 09:11 AM (e8b4J)

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That the fine folks at Target.com rule.  The shipping estimate for my end tables was next Monday, and they arrived today.

When we bought the coffee table we had no need for the end tables, so now we have a beat up coffee table and two matching brand new end tables.... Oh well.

Yay!

Posted by: caltechgirl at 02:27 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Dear Grim Reaper,

I know it must seem presumptuous, that I, a mere mortal, dare to question you and your doings, but in this case I have to ask, how could you take the wrong Penn brother? I'm certain that list for yesterday said "Sean" and not "Chris".

Please rectify this error immediately! Thanks.
Sincerely,
Caltechgirl

Posted by: caltechgirl at 10:41 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Grant due 1/27/06, on which I am the Co-PI.

and my boss is LOCA. But I love her.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 04:22 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Saturday was lovely and restful, and we got some inportant shopping and laundry done  to boot.

Today, however, well, let's say I'd like to start over.  Today started with the chance that both of my teams would meet in the Big Game, and sure as hell, looks it will be neither of them.

Dammit.  Drowning my football sorrows in the rest of my Hart to Hart DVDs.

Also, Mikey had an up and down weekend, contracting an MRSA staph infection.  He appears to be beating it, but it was touch and go for a while, and he's not out of the woods yet.  Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

Baby Barrett Elijah Paladin also had a rough weekend, as the doctors discovered he's got two small holes in his heart, and they're assessing what will need to be done.  Keep all of the family in your thoughts and prayers as well.

Oh well, back to laundry and avoiding football.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 04:35 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Notice I scored 100% on Biology and Psychology.... Pretty much Neurobiology, I'd say...

Posted by: caltechgirl at 12:22 AM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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Just catching up with my life:

First and foremost, Mikey updates are here and here. If you can help with flight vouchers or airline tickets to get Amy's mom out to San Diego leave a comment here. Also, thanks to mega-bloggers Michelle Malkin and LaShawn Barber for getting the word out about Mike and how you can help.

Also, on the bad news front, fellow BFLer Kevin McGehee's father passed away yesterday.

Now, under the heading of "life goes on"...

At work for a marathon day. Had a HS site visit this morning, and I am teaching tonight, so all in all a minimum 12 hour day (I work 6 hrs usually)...

My software came in! Yay! May I recommend Academic Superstore as a great resource to any of you in the educational sphere. Teachers, students, and faculty all qualify for DEEP educational discounts on software and techy toys. For example, I just got Adobe Acrobat 7.0 Professional (retails for $499.99) for $149.99, and there was a free shipping promotion. There are some caveats about ID and establishing your eligibility, but the process was realtively painless and certainly worth the price.

Football was so AWESOME this weekend. Go Broncos! Go Panthers! (although I'm cool if the Steelers win too. I love the Bus.)

24. Holy Cow! Hooked again. I watched Seasons 1 and 2 religiously and then kind of fell out of it, but the 4 hours so far have been really, really good. Although it is distracting to see Sean Astin from the waist up and keep wondering if he's wearing the hobbit feet or not.....

More later, and Mikey updates if they come in.

Posted by: caltechgirl at 01:03 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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