It's been a while....

"Lately it occurs to me what a long, strange trip its been"

It's been over a year since the last update. In fact, I'd pretty much forgotten about this thing until I got an interesting comment on my of my previous posts. Thanks for that, Miss (Mrs.?) Anonymous, it's really made me think.

Updates:
I'm no longer a grad student, I have real job now. And the best thing is that it is in the same vein as all of my years of school! I'm working for Agilent Technologies as a Field Engineer, still in Halifax (though my "area" is all of the Atlantic provinces). Which means I get paid to fix up other people's machines when they break. It's a great job: no desk-work, just sweating over broken instruments, and seeing lots of different labs. As a massive science nerd, I love it! Some of the great perks are a company car and traveling a lot for training (I've spent 3 of the last 10 months on the road in such exotic locales as Delaware, Atlanta, Toronto, Montreal and Germany).

And because of the new job, I've just bought a house. My closing date isn't until mid-March, but the excitement is building. It's a 3-year old semi-detached house in Catamaran Ponds, in Spryfield (insert joke here). It's just me, so the 3-bedrooms will be great for visitors wanting to come for a visit! The only cost is a smile (and maybe a nice wine). I've got so many projects running through my head that are possible with a house that I OWN, so it'll be a fun and busy first year. Friends should expect an invite for a housewarming party in the spring.

So, it's taken me a while for the updates, but I figure those two bombshells were worth the wait. I eagerly anticipate some great comments and questions, and I'll be back on this thing for real this time!

You've been subpoena'd!

Sadly, the story isn't nearly as juicy as it could be. Back in October, I witnessed a minor fender-bender while on Dal campus, between a taxi and a van. The van failed to yield to the taxi, so they collided in the middle of the intersection. Shitty thing is that two friends and I were right in the path of the carnage (aka rolling cars), and I had to yell at them to get out of the way because they weren't paying attention. One guy almost got run over by the van. That's Grad Students for you, probably dreaming about bond angles and rotational constants. Luckily, no run over pedestrians, no broken bones, no whiplash.
So, why the subpoenae? One of the drivers didn't have insurance. Oops. Should be an easy charge to make stick, but apparently they're fighting it, and so I have to go to court as a witness for the Crown. Funny thing is, I can't tell from the name if it's the taxi driver (a man) or the young woman driving the van. I guess I'll find out when I show up.

TV on the radio

So, it's once again to check in with what I'm listening to these days! I know you all care so much, but with 1 hour commute plus an hour or two of downtime at work each day, I listen to my radio a lot. And by radio, I mean my MP3s on my PDA. Sure, I'd get an iPod (heck, I won an iPod Nano at a company presentation last month), but I need something that will keep me from being totally clueless when it comes to my schedule, so the calendar on the PDA is a must-have.

ANYWAYS, onto what music I listen to. Actually, it's kind of lame, I don't listen to a lot of it. My one constant source of music is the CBC Radio 3 podcast, which is a weekly hour-long show that highlights the best independent Canadian music. Because you probably aren't going to hear enough new/good Canadian music on your local Top 40 station.

Besides CBC Radio 3, my player is full of other podcasts, namely: The Penn Jillette Radio Show, The Sound of Young America, Wiretap with Johnathan Goldstein (podcasted by yours truly), This Week in Tech, Quirks and Quarks, Grammar Girl, NPR's Wait Wait Don't Tell Me!, Security Now and The Onion Radio News.

If I'm calculating it right, that adds up to about 11 hours of audio per week, and my free radio-listening time is right around the same, so I'm always just getting up to speed before the next week starts.

So, as a sciencetitian wanting to hear cool new music, and all around nerd, what other radio/music should I be listening to?

My life is a romantic comedy, minus the romance

So, picture this: I go out to a party to meet up with some friends from high school (and beyond), and at the end of the night, I'm chatting with this nice young lady, and get up the courage to ask her for her phone number. Even more surprising than that is that she gives it to me, even though she has been speaking with me for a while, and even knows I live with my folks (hey, I believe in being up front, even to a fault).


Not wanting to seem too desperate, and plus to give her a chance to jump off a bridge for what she's done, I don't call right away. I figure the number is safe on my phone, and will be ready when I am. I decide to wait from Sunday until Tuesday. It turns out, Tuesday night I go up to Kartbahn, because it's their 9th anniversary party, and I know there will be lots of fun things going on, not the least of which will be crazy drunken go-karting. Of course, I take part (but not so much on the drinking part). Problem is, I didn't empty out my pockets of important things like my wallet and CELLPHONE!! Low and behold, after about 3 laps around the track, someone holds something up and says, "Is this yours?" Turns out it is mine: it's my cellphone. I sorta laugh, and then get it from him. It's only a free Pay-as-you-Go cellphone, so I wouldn't be too sad if there's a scratch or two on it. Well, it turns out, some joker (probably me) ran over the damn thing, and now the LCD screen is totally pooched! It looks like a rainbow of fruit flavours, but not nearly as nice. I can't see a damn thing on the phone, including retrieving my saved phone numbers. Including the girl's! The first time in years I ask for a girl's number, and this shit happens! Clearly Xenu has it out for me.

It turns out the girl is a friend of a friend of a friend, and I've managed to track down her email address, so I wrote her right away explaining the situation, but I still haven't heard back from her... I guess it was never meant to be.

What's new, pussycat?

First off, sorry for my lack of production. I mean, there are probably only two people who read this thing, and I'm one of them. And the other one is a jerk. But in case they don't know what's been going on in the 'Fax, let me tell you:

I witnessed a pretty decent car crash last week. It was right in front of the Student Union Building on the Dalhousie campus. It was a simple "not stopping at an unmarked intersection", with both drivers thinking they had the right of way and not slowing down. The cars collided and actually rolled right toward my friends and I. Apparently they hadn't been looking, because my, "Heads up, car crash" saved the life of one of my friends. OK, maybe not life, but definitely fancy leather shoes. I called 911 for the second time in just over a year*, and helped some of the folks out. One of the vehicles was a cab with a couple of passengers who were visiting on a cruise ship. "Welcome to Halifax! Here's some whiplash, now get the hell out!"

Which brings me to why the heck am I hanging out on Dalhousie campus. Well, that's because I'm working there now! But, not in the traditional "exchange of services for payment" type of work, it's more my services, and less of their payment... I'm working in the lab run by one of a former grad student from U of A, Alan Doucette. He's a couple of years older, so that makes me feel not quite as pathetic. But to be honest, it's been great, because I'm learning some great new instruments and techniques, and making some great connections with industrial people, which is where I plan on ending up after I graduate. Sure, I'm not making much cash, but my expenses are non-existent, so it all balances out.

So, that's all the news fit for print. Now that I'm in the lab, and more motivated, I'm writing more, and that means more updates/rants here, too. I know you're all so excited!

*First 911 call was in Edmonton, when I managed to turn my barbeque's propane tank into a fancy flamethrower, and couldn't get close enough to turn it off. Luckily, the firemen had these fancy devices called "gloves" that they used to accomplish what I couldn't.

No, I'm not dead!

But I have been pretty busy lately. I started "working" at Dalhousie, in a Chemistry lab. I say "working" because I'm doing everything the rest of you suckers are, except I ain't getting paid to do it. Who's the sucker now? But the good thing is that I'm getting lots done in the lab, and even learning a few things along the way. And the good reference letter at the end of it will definitely help with my next job.

Since I last posted, our soccer team had our last game of the season. It was a complete shit show. We had two guys get sent off (one for fighting, the other for biting!!), and another 4 yellow cards. I guess it was because we were so close to winning the entire thing: our record was 1-18-1 (that's 18 losses)... Oh well, when I wasn't stopping guys from fighting, I had a good time, and I managed to lose 10 pounds, so that's OK. The team might be playing indoor this Fall/Winter, so we'll see if I stick with it. I'm just not sure how long I'll be in town. The proteomics community in Halifax is pretty tiny, and I don't know if any of them are retiring any time soon.

All for now, see you soon!

Blood: It's in you to give/sell

So, I am feeling pretty good about myself, because I finally went and gave blood for the first time today. I'm not sure why I waited so long, but it probably has to do with my previous mortal fear of needles (aichmophobia to us learned folks). It was so bad that when I was a little kid (well, younger, not much littler), I punched my doctor in the face when he has trying to give me a needle. And then required 2 manly nurses to hold me down. Those ladies were hot.

Anyway, the whole donation process today went pretty quick (in and out within one hour) and I even got cookies and milk at the end of it. Not a shabby deal, but I am jealous of all those folks in the States that get paid to donate blood. If I ever move there, I am all over that. Same with all my other non-essential fluids. And if I can somehow pre-sell some organs to some rich old dude, I'll be laughing! Sure, that'll mean yet another person hoping for my demise, but I can live with that.

At the same time as I donated, I signed up for the Bone Marrow Registry, which is a national (and international) database of bone marrow donors that can be matched up against folks who are in need (mainly cancer patients). The thing I get a kick out of is that if I ever donate my bone marrow to someone, they'll start producing blood with my DNA in it! So then I can go on some crime spree, bleeding everywhere, and then blame it on them. Screw you, CSI!

Finally, since you won't need your eyes or heart after you die, you should think about becoming an organ donor too. This website has some more information for you.

According to the info on the Canadian Blood Services webpage, only 4% of the population have donated blood (and less than 1% are in the Bone Marrow Registry), so consider this a big "I'm a better person than you are!" to the rest of you. Unless of course you have already donated blood and/or bone marrow, then I say, "You are not a jerk like the rest of these people".