Sooo...

The deal with the land fell through.
Our household was swept by some type of norovirus.
Visiting the former and staying home due to the later has put me wayyyy behind schedule for writing.
I am desperately seeking distraction of any kind, only to kick myself later.
The hot water tank blew in the house, so no hot showers.
Which should make entertaining the houseguest (brother-in-law) and dinner guests (friends) in the next few days interesting.
And soon there will be a gigantic bill for a new, anode-free (lifetime gurantee, top-of-the-line) heater.

Slept 3:00 - 6:30 AM this morning. 

J'adore ma vie.

Dude. Fuck. Sigh.

Elliott Brood

I hate that The Marquee closed. Elliott Brood is playing April 24th, a week after my defense, so I'm interested in going. (aside: The Weakerthans are playing next week, leaning towards getting a ticket) But they're playing at the Paragon Theatre. What the f? I have no idea where that is.


*Wrinkles nose*

Update: Oh. Fuck me, the Paragon IS THE MARQUEE. They just closed it and re-opened with another name. It's about the fourth time they've done that. Dudes! Get a new business plan!

farming, farming, farming...

Got an email last night from the lady with the 100 acre wood + house for sale outside of Hometown. She wants to be neighbours! This is either really good (she took her time, looked at all the offers on the table, and decided we were the awesomest people that deserved it so she picked us) or bad (she picked someone else first, but the deal fell out for some unknown reason and so 2.5 weeks later she sends us the email).

Even though husband and I had a super long conversation about possible paths once arriving back home (one mortgage to flip house? two mortgages to flip one and house and live in the other? keep looking for land to live on outside the city? How much money we can afford/are comfortable spending at this point in our lives? etc. etc.) that pretty much negated living out in the sticks, the email last night excited me alot. At dinner, I was bemoaning the potential loss of my tiny house. As if on cue, the expensive door exposing just such a path swings wide open. Funny, that.

So we'll probably make a trip back to Hometown this weekend to check out the lot again. Don't want to rush into anything (nor force my cautious husband to). Now that the snow is melted, we should be able to walk around to the brook without sinking into the snow past our knees like last time.

And just for kicks, here is the one bedroom, 18 x 18 interior footprint floorplan I've been working on since we decided we might try a strawbale home with 2 foot walls:


The window placement could easily accomadate an partially earth-bermed house, if we so desired.

Back to my thesis now :)

Update: viewed her classified ad again last night, which mentions her choice to accept offer until Monday March 9th, then make her decision on Tuesday March 10th. So, it looks like we may not have been second pickings! Also, I've been in email contact with her - she is very friendly, open and quick to answer any questions and she said there were lots of bats nearby. I love bats!

Well, I didn't get sick while away.

I also didn't do much work on my thesis.

T-28 days until the draft goes to the cleane---uh---my review committee.

Going to bed now.

Nightmare Nuggets

It struck me that I was about to venture to the other side of this very large country to stay with a household with two small children a month before my thesis is due, and that I may be better served to just jump directly into a cesspool of germs. In attempt to ward off a (likely imminent) viral illness, I started to pop some preventative ColdFX pills. These Canadian nuggets of ginseng extract are supposed to do the trick for those feeling ill (or expecting to feel ill soon). But a word to the wise: avoid taking these just before getting into bed.

I woke up at 3 AM covered in sweat, after having the most atrocious nightmare(s). Which is saying something, because on a normal day I can recount the entire extended dream sequence of the previous night. I dream vividly all night long, and remember everything in the morning. Sometimes I go to sleep more rested than I feel in the morning after waking up, but alas sometimes the dreams are real hilarious gems. Night before last I was watching the television show House. That night I dreamt that my cat was on methadone (just like House!), and had to be extra careful bringing him around on errands because he was spazzing out (for the record, my cat does not leave the house nor really the back closet corner because he is a paranoid kitty). But man, ginseng + Natalie's already freakishly realistic dreams = fetal position. Won't be doing that again.

shizz

So I figured I would check the listings for Vancouver (where we will be next week) for live music. I thought that there would be lots of choice of live music concerts by bands that I listen to (Beast, Woodhands, Hey Rosetta!, Rose Cousins, The United Steel Workers of Montreal, somebody) They are all Canadian bands. It's not like I was checking to see if Ani Drifranco was playing Vancouver. And damn, even Danny Michel is playing here on the East Coast. But holy shizz, there is nothing that interests me. Granted, I don't know which websites to check for local listings, but the ones I've come across are not sparse - just sparse of anything catching my eye.
This is the only listing that raised my interest:
Hawksley Workman, Chad Vangaalen @ The Commodore Ballroom (No Minors) $28.50+ 8pm Presented by: Vancouver 2010 Cultural Olympiad/ Olympiade Culturelle

BUT they're playing the day before we arrive so no good. Cadence Weapon and Thunderheist are playing the night we arrive, but I'm not so sold on that one. Boo. I guess I'll just have to spend time with family and friends. Jeesh.

The Golden Days

ROAD TRIP!

We decided yesterday morning to race back to Hometown to check out a plot of land for sale. What would warrant a 3+ hour one-way ride? 100 acres of forest + pasture land for $50,000 including a house, 25 minutes from city centre. SOOOO...we jumped into the car and headed to the mountains. This is a private sale and a ridiculously good price, so she was swarmed with interest. About 25 other buyers had visited the land, and I imagine she will be able to fetch higher than her asking price. But just in case she really wants an awesome, handy and friendly young couple to have it, we are going to put in an offer. We can only afford the asking price (no more) but we won't be carving up the land to sell off for profit so she may look kindly on us. I could imagine living there, once the house is dismantled and put together a little more to our taste. There are apple & cherry trees on the property, two brooks, lots of firewood, raspberries and blueberries galore. I'm trying not to get my hopes up, but if we bought this land we would be mortgage free with 100 acres. Cool, eh?

"...gone tomorrow"

As part of my Procrastination Plan™, I've taken to cruising the www.mls.ca listings in Hometown. And I had my heart set on this fixer-upper just next to amenities selling for a great price (around 86,000). It was in an area of homes selling between 119-165 K, so with a little investment and a bunch of sweat equity I was convinced this would be a great investment. I emailed everyone who would listen about this little gem but never actually made moves to view the house in person nor inquire from the realtor any more specifics. I assumed the house would still be there in two months. And every week I would check mls, and every week the house was still there. But today, today, I actually go to the realtor's website and see that this diamond in the rough has sold already. Whoops. Guess I shouldn't have sat on my ass on that one.

I'm more heartbroken about it then I would have thought given my total lack of action. I guess it wasn't meant to be, and it was only a few days ago that hubby and I were discussing the prudence of jumping back into the realty market right away. On one hand, it is a Buyer's market and the cost of building materials is much less than when we built this first house. On the other hand, if the economy continues to tank and we cannot find work, it would be a nice financial net to have the money sitting in an account (or under the mattress). But as this situation proves, houses are still moving in my Hometown, and will likely continue in the foreseeable future, with a likely spike in prices once the economy recovers fully (if it recovers at all). So if we were going to buy at all, this was the best choice for us. But now it's gone, and I can't really find anything comparable in the city so we can either wait it out and focus entirely on the tiny house in the meantime, or forget the reno and invest in other things (like a large chunk of raw land, or even the stock market...maybe).

Right. Back to writing now.

Timing is everything

Yesterday I attended a free screening of the documentary on James Orbinski called "Triage". The film is about his time spent on the frontlines of the genocide in Rwanda while working for Medecins Sans Frontiere. Concurrent with the screening of the film was a separate but related photo-journalistic installation in the lobby of the building highlighting HIV/AIDS work in Rwanda called "Living With" by a Canadian group called "Photosensitive". There are probably 75 photos throughout the extensive first floor of the building, and every time I have gone down to the coffee shop there are at least a few people milling about the photos, reading the captions. The black and white pictures chronicle the effects of HIV/AIDS in a country devastated by a genocide where systematic rapes were used during the killing campaigns. I myself went through the whole installation a few days ago, and so when I found out very last minute about the "Triage" documentary, I decided to watch it. This is a definite change of heart for me, because although I know about the genocide (numbers killed, the ethnic groups involved, the rough timeline, etc.) I have, until a few days ago, completely avoided media about this event. Don Cheadle did a movie called Hotel Rwanda which I could not watch, and I have avoided both the autobiography and subsequent film based on the experiences of Lt. Gen. Romeo Dallaire (who used to maintain a summer cottage literally down the road from where my mother grew up) called "Shake Hands with the Devil", because I can't handle it. But these instances where I can educate myself about the past and current conditions of the genocide keep throwing themselves in front of me, and I cannot avoid them any longer. In a way, this is my tiny effort to honor those who died for nothing - to acknowledge the circumstances and be able to recite to others who may not know as much. And if the timing of these events were coincidental, they keep happening: Romeo Dallaire himself will be speaking at the university in two weeks.

Oddly, about 1 1/2 years ago he was to present as well, and although myself and some other students tried hard to get tickets to the extremely poorly organized event (Shout out University Student Union!) and failed, the talk was cancelled last minute anyway. So now I see that he is scheduled to speak again, and I would very much appreciate his talk in the context of my new knowledge surrounding the genocide. But lo and behold - he is speaking the week we will be in Vancouver. So sadly, I won't be attending this time either. Perhaps one day the timing will be right, and I will pay money to a non-profit organization to get the privilege of hearing Lt. Gen. Dallaire speak about the most horrendous human-lead tragedy to occur in the last fifty years.

Imperial Diplomat

This guy is coming to speak tomorrow. That scarf!

Update: His Science is pretty awesome and he handled a question from a once-genius-but-now-only-sad old man who attended his seminar incredibly diplomatically.

I read a lot of celebrity gossip (what compels me, I'm not so sure. Schadenfreude, maybe? But it is especially true nowadays, when I'm supposed to be furiously at work on a thesis. Sigh). I like to read about bitchy behind-the-scene antics, who wore what to the award show, and who is dating whom. But I can't understand why anyone would want to emulate Victoria Beckham. She crazy.



I would not consider this beautiful at all, and I'm always amazed by the gossip authors who do. Those who think her hair cut is fierce? Don't get it. The only reason she cut it was not to "stand out" or "be brave" but because she was probably losing so much of it due to starvation the extensions wouldn't hold anymore. So. Gross.

Anyway, those are my deep thoughts for the day. I am working on my thesis, finishing up the genome sequencing (I ordered twenty primers yesterday) and planning for a mini-vacation in Vancouver in just over a week. Two months until I defend my thesis, month and a half until I pass in my written work. My eyeballs are starting to bleed from staring at the computer for so long. :)

Oh, and PS why do the startlets always wear their shoes one size too bog? I could fit one of my fat fingers in the heel of Mrs.Beckham's shoe up there. Is it because that is the best way to avoid the blisters us mere mortals are prone to developing? If you are lucky enough to be driven from one place to another, walking is optional so a too-big shoe is possible? Curious.

Telecommunications fucknuttery

AGH!! I just got off the phone with Bell mobility. They sent my rebate cheque to the wrong address, which means that after waiting six months I probably will never even see that money ever again!
AND THEY HAD THE GALL TO TELL ME THERE WAS NO WAY TO PUT A STOP PAYMENT ON THAT CHEQUE TO SEND ME A NEW ONE!

Timeline: Mid September I cancelled our account. It takes 30 days to process (WTF #1). So that means we would get billed until mid October. Mid-October rolls around, we get our bill, but because Bell Mobility bills one month ahead (WTF #2) we are paying for service we are not receiving anymore. We are entitled to a rebate. Said rebates takes 90 to process (WTF #3). This riDONKulous process is repeated for every single closed account, I presume (WTF# 4). Cheque was sent out mid January. It still hasn't arrived by mid February, so I start calling around and they tell me they sent it to my old address. Canada Post is no longer forwarding my mail because it has been more than six months since we've moved. So now the tenants in my old apartment will be getting my Bell Mobility rebate because it took SIX MONTHS to cancel the account and I've since moved. WTF BELL. WTF!!

Stupid goddamn telecommunications companies I hate them all. Fuck them. I'm moving to the woods. AGGH!

cake anyone?

Both Abe Lincoln and Charles Darwin were born on the same day (this day, 200 years ago).

How did I get this far in life without knowing that? I must stop reading the celeb gossip, lord.

Officially SOLD

In my inbox today:


woot!

complaints for the ether

I'm trying to go back to my sequencing data to verify the quality of the contigs but when I open the raw quality file and search out the four contigs of interest they are there, but much much shorter than the contigs I'm dealing with now. So either the numbers don't correspond like I assumed or I have amalgamated multiple contigs into one long one, and they mis-leadingly maintained the name of a single contig. If option 2, I can't remember exactly my steps and I don't think I wrote them down. I don't know how to retrace my steps, and so I am screwed in terms of determining quality scores for my contigs of interest. F&ck.

Horoscope

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19)

Creativity is important. Even Patrick Ewing took time off from being an NBA superstar to play the Angel of Death in The Exorcist 3. The first week of February will bring on a period of personal creativity so intense it borders on manic. The Great American Novel remains unwritten, Capricorn! This week, said novel is your responsibility. Remember: good writing can get you [deleted for family audiences].

Better get working!

knock knock

I stayed home this morning during an Energy efficiency test I asked to have done last week.  For $150, the inspector will come to complete the ~1 hour test (most notably by completing a blower-door vacuum test).  I will get the result in a week (energy efficiency on a scale of 1-100).  Because our total income is measly according to income tax returns (my stipend is not included therefore I make <2500/year), we will get the entire $150 refunded. If we rate 77 or higher, there is a potential rebate for CMHC that would total $450, but other than that, we don't qualify for the multitude of other provincial rebates because we didn't follow the proscribed (yet asinine) method of rebate procedure in our province. In order to qualify after the building is complete, you must pay $250 to get your plans verified before you started building. We were informed consumers and already knew what we could afford/what would make the biggest difference in terms of insulation and environmental upgrades (and didn't want to shell out $250 for someone else to tell us that) so we don't qualify.  We must retain the expensive services of a third party to get a rebate for upgrades like LowE windows, high efficiency fireplace and extra insulation. There is no going it alone. So now the only rebates we could get (other than the CMHC rebate, and that is dependent on score) is a big fat pat on the back.

Anyway, there was also a second inspection going on today: that of our buyer's.  At noon, a separate home inspector guy come out to climb on the roof and poke at our walls.  I was home, but I stayed out of the way in the master bedroom with my laptop, my cat, my lunch and my headphones.  I was instructed by my realtor (who is also representing the buyer) to not engage the buyer at all.   Apparently he is prone to weelin' and dealin' and she didn't want our (still tentative) agreement to unravel.  Fair enough.  

All in all, the inspection went well.  There were only a few things which were mentioned: apparently there is problematic condensation occurring around our North-wall installed breaker box.  My electrician did a shitty job of insulating it, so there is condensation accumulation.  It is an easy fix, it just requires some weather-proofing with caulking.  I am very glad the inspection was done and that this minor problem (which could have eventually lead to a much bigger problem) was found right away.  I will tuck that into my inventory of "things learned on the first build".

So I guess in the next few days we will be receiving an amendment from the buyer with clauses to address anything mentioned by the building inspector.  If we refuse to comply the deal could collapse but given that there were no major surprises, we expect to be able to fulfill any clauses they mention.  

First offer

The couple who viewed the house today liked it enough to put in an offer. Unfortunately, the offer was lower than I had hoped - at 194,200 it is about 12,000 under asking price. We aren't really in a rush yet, so we countered with 203,900 (only three thousand under asking price) and they countered with 199,250, but this time with the requirement of completing the basement drywall (taping and mudding, and sanding in preparation for paint). We have until noon tomorrow to decide, but I think we've both decided that 199+ with extra work is too little, given that our realtor has had activity from two or three other couples.

So position: hold tight.

Update: They were bluffing. Either that, or the pregnant lady was able to convince her husband to accept the offer at 203,900. But they just faxed in the accepted counter-offer and we are now proceeding with final details. Hopefully it doesn't all fall through :) Four days on the market, with an accepted offer by the very first couple to see it at 98.5% asking price. It is all going according to plan :)

Fire his ass ... (?)

Last week, this news story made the rounds. John Ross, the head of emergency medicine at the hospital, set off a "code orange" - an internal mass casualty alert for hospital staff - in response to a flood of untreated patients in the ER.

This week, it is quietly being announced John Ross is no longer the head of emergency medicine at QEII.

From the memo on the Capital Health website:
"We are writing to let know that we have re-aligned responsibilities within the Acute Care Portfolio and put a new leadership team in place at the QEII Emergency effective Monday, February 2. "

Re-aligned, eh? You mean, "re-assess how badly we need you versus how bad you make us look in public"? Health care in Canada, although free and accessible, costs a shitload of money to run. And the sad truth is, the emergency room is often the first stop for non-urgent medical problems when people can't fit in an appointment with their over-worked GP or can't make it to the local clinic (often open for fewer hours due to budget restraints). I don't know John Ross, but I am willing to bet money he was just dealing with a horrible situation the best way he knew how: call a code orange and let every capable person in the hospital be ready to treat patients. Put down the incessant paperwork, and clear the hallways. I applaud this sort of action-driven protest against how we run our hospitals, and I wish he wouldn't be demoted because of it.

It hasn't escaped my notice that the bloated healthcare system with all it's redundancy, paperwork and red tape is just mimicked in these new leadership roles. To wit, Dr. John Ross has now been unceremoniously replaced with not one, but two other people:
"Sam [Campbell] and Sandra [Janes] will work collaboratively in a co-leadership model to ensure we are positioned to optimally deliver quality and safe patient access and flow"

Right.

It'll suck

But I'll still see it.

Please like it, please like it, please like it...

We have our first showing tomorrow.

The house went up on the market officially on Saturday Jan. 31st. We spent some time fixing up the exterior (placing shutters, and replacing the vent covers that blew off a few weeks ago) as well as tidying the inside.

We made a custom cabinet for the stacking washer and dryer, which I think turned out really well. It is big enough so that if the new owners need an over-capacity washer/dryer, they can swap out the existing (smaller) set for a larger stacking set in the future.

*fingers crossed*

Hour two

Nice and cozy here in the lab though :)

Little things

1. Past midnight. Still in the lab.
2. Annotating this genome for a second time thanks to my inability to transfer files over from new assemblies in Artemis
3. It's nice when I come across this:

It makes me happy when the subject line and query line match up at the 1's.

Two more months. Phew...

Black Mountain

I can't pin-point who this reminds me of...Sinead O'Connor / Holly McNarland or someone else ?

Neuroses for sale

I just had a really odd experience with an esthetician. Since the place I like and normally go to is on the high end of prices around here, I thought I would save myself the $20 and go to the nearby, bigger spot that all the students frequent. Bad move.

We were talking about personal grooming habits. I have been carefully grooming my eyebrows for the last six months (don't laugh!) in order to retain a more natural, full look. My husband likes to remind me that I had pencil-thin & over-tweezed eyebrows when he met me. Not. hot.



And out comes this statement, while she is severely over-waxing my brows: "I think any hair is disgusting. But then again, look what I do for a living..." .

And my eyebrows weren't the only things she attacked with zeal.

I was at a loss - "stop! stop it!" I should have yelled. "Hair is totally normal and natural. Just because you think it is disgusting does not mean you can push your views on me!"

But wielding that strip of muslin cloth meant she was in the position of power.

She was cold, ruthless, calculating and sorta bitchy when I winced.

... I will definitely be spending the $20 bucks next time. Yeesh.

Come one, come all!

There. The house will be on the market this afternoon. After two weeks of scrambling, building, painting and utter lack of attention to my thesis, hopefully we can get this show on the road.

I am so nervous that we have overpriced, and that we will blow our chances at sales. I talked to three agents, and all three suggested in the 199-209 K range. We'll try at 206,900 with intent of accepting anything over 200, and see how that works.

Now onto gene analysis. Phew!

Expediency Required?

It looks like I may have overlooked the best way to get my thesis completed:

"Women in the late stages of pregnancy only acknowledge obstacles that stand in their way for as long as it takes to calmly analyze how to blow those obstacles to smithereens with the nearest buckshot-loaded rifle."

(From Salon article "Faster, pregnant lady, kill kill!"

Me too, me too.

Took this online personality test (300 questions). This is what it came back as:
Neuroticism: You scored 21 out of 50. This score is higher than 26.0% of people who have taken this test.
Extraversion: You scored 35 out of 50. This score is higher than 57.4% of people who have taken this test.
Openness to experience: You scored 42 out of 50. This score is higher than 52.9% of people who have taken this test.
Conscientiousness: You scored 29 out of 50. This score is higher than 21.4% of people who have taken this test.
Agreeableness: You scored 31 out of 50. This score is higher than 18.4% of people who have taken this test.

Not very neurotic (wha?), open to new experiences and somewhat extroverted. My conscientiousness is alarmingly low, suggesting I may have trouble following through on things, and I guess I'm sorta bitchy (or, as the survey explains, "hostile towards others") and do not strive for social harmony. Well, at least one of those things I understand. Hm...

Tiny House Update

Not much has happened in the last few weeks, since we are scrambling to prepare the big house for the market. I've acquired some salvaged materials from an old house being torn = a bathtub & some beautiful old wooden doors (including a glass insert door) are now shoved in the corner of our basement. I've called around to some spray foam insulators (like EnviroFoam, a soy-oil based + recycled plastic closed cell insulation product) and got really high quotes. For our 12' x 16' house it would cost $4000 to get an R28 rating around the entire building. The con (obviously) is that it is a huge part of our budget, and I'm not sure we could afford it. The pros are that with such high insulation, we would need only an in-floor radiant heating system (instead of a pricey wood stove) and we could cut our lumber costs by 1/3 at least, since we wouldn't need 12 inch exterior walls to fill with less efficient insulation batts. So in the end the increased cost may be worth it, especially since I'm not even sure we would have the floor space for even a tiny wood stove:

(There is an open loft above the bathroom/storage closet for a mattress)

I think double pane windows would be sufficient, especially if we orient the majority of the windows to the south side. With such high insulation in the walls though, I would hope the area immediately surrounding any windows wouldn't be uncomfortably cold (being much "draftier"). Visiting Happy Harry's, a used/discounted hardware store here in town, we have found windows in an assortment of really nifty shapes, some being low e/argon too. It looks like a vinyl window manufacturer has sent the store their "practice windows" because there are about thirty circular windows and the same amount of arched windows, all with slightly blemished or uneven vinyl casings. If you can get past the slight dings and wobbles, the window shapes themselves are all quite whimsical. We both agreed that we would enjoy having a house of arched & rounded windows, even if they weren't in perfect condition. The only problem is that the windows with the coolest shapes don't generally open, so we need to temper our desire for whimsy with the necessity for safety. There were plenty at the store with arched tops and casement opening, but they tended to be much bigger. Maybe there is something in between that we haven't found yet. I hope so. Yay for hobbit houses:)

Silence between the snow

(Found this in a pile of paper - it dates back to high school I think. Probably from a free-form writing assignment. I've quelled my compulsion to edit it just now.)

Sparkling snow dancing, glistening past me as I drive through swooping valleys and climbing cliffs. Winter waltz between the faeries of fall and the sentinels of spring. The trees are heavy with their icy frosting, between sky and snow there's only at ice to chip away at, to dig in, to mold. Somewhere there lies a treasure at the heart of every castle. Snow angels protect the weary, the cold-hearted, the chilled souls of the world. Few see the magic in morning mists but many understand when their eyes are closed. Silence between the snow.

Back now to organizing and de-cluttering the closet. Sigh.

(Update: Oh Lordy, it's from tenth grade. There are pages of them...)

"I'll miss you guys!"

Now that I'm on a tight writing deadline and have a nearly-discernible level of of enthusiasm, I've put myself on a strict writing schedule (complete with out-of-province "thesis support/nagging group" -friends in exact same situation all across the country). That ought to solve my problem of energy pretty quickly. But anyway, this blog post is about something else; I'm reviewing the literature and catching up on papers that were published since November and as I read the authors names, I recognize them. People I've met at conferences, or even colleagues-of-colleagues whom have garnered high praise. People I'm probably never going to get to meet properly/hang out with/drink with, now that I'm within finishing distance of a degree I don't plan on pursuing further.

And that made me sad. Bye Chuck D. I've never met you (that I can remember) but I'll miss you.

Random Shuffle Game

1. Police
2. Live
3. REM
4. Daft Punk
5. The Cardigans

Nothing newer than 1999. Hun.

Happy Monday

Well, I tried looking for a whimsical video to post this dreary Monday morning, but couldn't remember anything suitable.  So I just entered the search term "singing skeletons" in youtube and this is what popped up:


Oddly this works, so I kept it.

Can you tell one of the things I did this weekend was watch the entire Season 2 of "Bones" - the crime show? Lots of dead bodies, and lots of hot scientists. Some of the other things I did:

Baked an apple crisp
Made a menu for the week, went grocery shopping at the farmers market
Bought supplies for a built-in cabinet for a stacking washer-dryer combo
Knitted a toque
Made lots of apple sauce
Read the book "The complete idiot's guide to staging your home"
Tackled the downstairs living space, removing two boxes of books from the bookshelf to sell, and placing excess kitchen ware in large labeled tubs to go in the basement to 1) tidy up the living space and 2) test ourselves on our ability to live without those items.

It was too cold to fix up the roof's missing shingles or the vent that blew off, but we did start progress on the cabinet I want in place before we show the house. Now I need to focus on thesis stuff during the weekdays. Just as soon as I call the EnviroFoam people and email conserve nova scotia:)

It's On

The breakdown:

Write my thesis for April 1st (haha!), defend on April 14th, officially handing in the bound copy April 28th (or earlier, depending on corrections). Visit Vancouver February 28th through to March 8th, with a trip to Toronto April 29th to May 3rd. Move house contents during May, while cleaning up my lab stuff and polishing the thesis into a first draft of a paper. Sell the house for closing on June 1st, take off for Ireland on June 2nd for two weeks. Arrive from Ireland to hometown, and build the tiny house. Move into the tiny and start looking for a reno in town. Find a job with benefits, including maternity leave. Live in tiny house, reno city house, work until baby. Sell reno house, buy another house. Have baby. Live happily ever after.

I'm not the only optimistic one

Century 21 meeting went FABULOUS last night. It is a mother-daughter team that helped us when we were looking for land last year. Although the daughter seemed more pragmatic regarding the house & a listing price, I had to pretty much talk the other agent down from her crazy plans of listing the house for 10% more than what I think it is worth. This after she just spent fifteen minutes explaining the down-fall of overpricing in a competitive market. The surprising turn of events stems from the fact I think the house should be listed fairly low, while she was worried we would want to list it for a really high price (being n00bies and all).

They got in the front door, we did a tour of the house, they gave their marketing spiel, and then she gave me the price she thought was appropriate. The whole time she was talking prices, she was like "Is this shocking to you?", trying to gauge our reactions. I think she was worried we had our hopes set much too high after getting the tour, not realizing that we have a nice house because we are awesome "clearance-rack shoppers". The house is amazing, but we never went over our (really modest) building budget. We were like "No! this isn't shocking at all: www.mls.ca is my best friend, I know what the houses around here go for. I think you're nuts to list it above 200,000. In fact we had this __ (modest) price in mind". And then the game shifted, and she tried to convince us it was worth much more than what we had planned to list it for. She's convinced it would sell at a (way) higher price, since it shows so well.

"It's water-front!" she says

"It's industrial park!" I say

"It's got cherry cabinets!" she says

"There are two dead cars, a snow plow and a camper parked in our neighbours yard!" I say

She even told us not to bother making a cabinet to hide the ugly-ass stacking washer and dyer, nor finish the basement, nor put up the shutters we've already purchased. (Well, she thought it was just planned shutters when we were talking about it). She wants to list it, like right now. No finishing touches, no staging the house, nothing.

Given her ridiculous reaction, I'm going to take this meeting as encouragement that we have set realistic plans for selling the house. It is all going according to plan. Muahahaaa!!

clenched jaw

My teeth hurt- I forgot to schedule a dental cleaning appointment when they called the house ages ago, so it's been nearly two years since I've had someone chip away at my teeth. Oh Lordy, that'll be the last time I wait so long! My whole set of chompers are paining me right now - Veronica the dental assistant attacked my mouth with such zeal this morning she made my gums bleed continuously for the thirty minutes I was in the chair, choking back tears and copper-tasting saliva the whole time. Apparently, she wanted to teach me a lesson. No birthday cake for me today.

Schedule

On the top of my list of things to do this week: pin-point thesis submission & defense dates, then decide when to visit Vancouver for ten days in March, then decide when in April I want to visit some friends in Toronto and then decide when to GO TO IRELAND in June!

Since I was little, I've always wanted to see the Irish countryside. Magical, green and surrounded by the powerful sea; I got the tiniest glimpse of the awe I would feel when my family travelled to Cape Breton. Unfortunately I was a surly and ungrateful twelve year old, but what can you do?

Cape Breton Highands:


Just like when my husband and I went for our two week honeymoon, we want to plan this two-week trip between an out-of-the-province move, and a change in jobs. That way we just worry about money, instead of dwindling vacation days.

The plan currently is to buy an Escape Pass from Air Canada, which is good for two return trips in Canada (leaving anywhere in the Atlantic provinces, arriving anywhere else in Canada) for a flat fee of $885 (taxes, surcharges, fees and blah blah blah all included). Travel anytime between now and May 3 (a few weekend black-out dates around March Break 14-22 and Easter). Then you can choose to pay $200 plus tax for a round trip to Europe, for use until June 15th. Currently, a single return trip to Vancouver or to London will cost $650 taxes and fees included, so doing one trip to Vancouver and one trip to Ireland in June would actually cost more than a three- trip Escape Pass from Air Canada. Seems almost too good to be true, but it's perfect timing with my thesis wrap-up plans and our moving out plans.

The big variable of course is whether we can sell the house in time for a June moving date. We are meeting with a Century 21 real-estate agent this evening to discuss our options. I am optimistic (of course, I am ALWAYS optimistic!), and feel that this Escape Pass is really just the kick in the pants I need to motivate myself to schedule the next four months and then of course motivate myself to actually complete a good thesis.

Ireland, here I come! Woot!

Apparently I looked like I was concentrating on something important...

We have weekly lab meetings, which pretty much everyone on the floor goes to. They are nearly always held at a certain time during the day. This past meeting was postponed one hour, and being held in a different place than usual. I was working hard on my data analysis, headphones full blast. Ten minutes after the meeting had started (which I had obviously forgotten about), I looked up in the lab and realized I had been alone for a weirdly lengthy amount of time. I work in the main room where the experiments take place, just next to my boss' office (who is away) and people are always buzzing about. Then it struck me: the lab meeting was going on, everyone had left to attend, and no one had verified I knew when/where they were all going (something that we usually do for each other). I grabbed my bag & keys, and ended up entering the meeting room late (during a power-point presentation). The lab dynamics have changed alot in six months, and I miss the old (smaller, tight-knit) lab. Sniffle.

Yawn!
Nearly ten oclock, still in my PJs, gotta take that long commute today to get to work because I wanted to sleep in.
I love birthdays.

Happy 25th birthday to me!!

Finally!! Two months in the making at least (thanks to rearrangements, incompetence on my part, and a major holiday) my project goal as of late has materialized.


The end is nigh, but at least I'll have one complete genome to analyze for my thesis. Whew. It's a good day, a good day :)

shake it

My nouvelle chanson preferee
(will open sound bite)

http://radio3.cbc.ca/play/band/Beast/Mr-Hurricane/

Tiny House update

So, work on the tiny house idea continues. I've emailed the province regarding building codes and bylaws, and apparently for any structure under 50 square meters (about 600 sq feet) that is meant for overnight accommodations, although a permit is required, the permit is issued without an overview of detailed building plans. So as long as we stay under 600 square feet, we can build whatever we want (ignoring code where it is inconvenient) because the permit office will not be verifying plans nor visiting the structure for inspections. This is important because in many tiny houses, the sleeping loft is accessed by ladder, which takes much much less floor space than a code-approved set of stairs. The building plans I was working on last weekend were for a 500-ish square foot one room building, with a full set of 36 inch stairs. If we don't actually need those stairs anymore, our square footage can drop dramatically. In fact, the working plan right now is for an interior footprint of only 16 ' x 12 ' - truly a tiny house. Further, the by-laws require a full septic field only in the case of a building having running water. Since we planned on doing a compost toilet and collection of greywater for distribution on plants/garden, we didn't want a septic field. It costs a ton, and the installation is environmentally disruptive. Looks like as long as we don't have "running water", we can get around the need for a septic field. I feel I may prefer to interpret that caveat loosely...I would like simple plumbing to my sinks and bathtub fixtures, run by a Shur-flo water pump from a rain-fed cistern. I'm willing to risk some inspector coming around to our place, telling us that we need to remove the pump and haul the water from the cistern to the house by hand. Then I would just re-install the pump as soon as he left :)

So whereas my design from last weekend had all the amenities one would need, we are back down to the basics - which is actually what I had wanted to begin with. And with more flexible building requirements, we can actually do what we wanted to do for a tiny house.

The materials list, which we whipped up last night, includes about 5500.00 of material, not including windows or doors. This is high, but it is for a super-insulated building with 12" (staggered) exterior walls full of insulation, a post-and-beam foundation, using all new material. I don't even want to use fiberglass batts, but that's the only thing the hardware store carries so I just used that as a base price. Now that I know, I can compare it with wool/cotton/denim insulation or even spray foam insulation (Biobased doesn't have Canadian approval yet). I have also emailed a few ICF companies to get an idea on prices for that sort of building material too.

I've also started to scout for used/new but never used materials on some local websites. Reclaimed materials can be incorporated, provided they fit with the super-insulation theme we are going with. But bath fixtures, floorboards, interior doors, etc can all be re-used without a problem. This weekend I plan on visiting an old house being completely gutted by new owners (who happen to work in the same building as I do) to see what we may be able to salvage. There are gigantic beams available from a torn-down church just outside of town, and some mis-sized double pane windows from another construction job too. Exciting!

Delusions

The first step in getting my ass to work (when I don't get driven at 6:45 AM by hubby) is a walk to the nearest bus stop, about 20 minutes brisk stroll from my house. After the walk is a 1 hour bus commute, so the whole trip is lengthy and I try not to do it often. The road I need to walk along is a rural, semi-windy one-way without sidewalks. Inevitably, during my 20 minute commute, I get honked at by a passing car at least once. Sometimes it's worse than honking (ie lewd hollering) and once, a car (driven by some teenagers) even swerved dangerously towards me (I guess in attempt to scare me? Haha, so fun!...). Most of the time, especially in the colder months, I'm bundled up so much I'm not sure how these men even know I'm female. But not daunted, the drivers of the sedans/trucks/company vehicles (!) think it's okay to ruin my otherwise peaceful walk. Sometimes I catch their licence plates, but in this province a vehicle is required to have an identification plate on the back only, so that eliminates half the vehicles already. I thought about getting a camera phone to snap shaming pictures, but I'm broke. Even in the rare instances I get their licence plate numbers, what to do for revenge? Wednesday I got the six digit number of a passing sedan, where the male driver honked on his way by. The backseat of his car was covered in toys/pink blankets and so the rest of my walk was spent daydreaming of tracking his home phone number via his plates, and calling up his wife to explain my disgust. Especially as he apparently has small female children - like really, would he want someone being so goddamn annoying and inappropriate with his own daughter? The logic never ceases to amaze me. Do you really think I'll run after you, begging for a phone number?? That I'll take a loud, disturbing noise as a compliment somehow? Gimme a break.

So to you "CKN 269": Fuck off.

Resolutions Part 3

The kernel of things

"For money you can have everything it is said. No, that is not true. You can buy food, but not appetite; medicine, but not health; soft beds, but not sleep; knowledge but not intelligence; glitter, but not comfort; fun, but not pleasure; acquaintances, but not friendship; servants, but not faithfulness; grey hair, but not honor; quiet days, but not peace. The shell of all things you can get for money. But not the kernel. That cannot be had for money."

-Arne Garborg, writer (1851-1924)

Innit silly?

I was supposed to give blood last night, but they won't take it since I've done some body modification (tattoo or piercing) in the last six months. It's not like I got the thing done in prison. I've tried to give blood now about four times in the last few years and have actually only completed the process once. Isn't that nuts? They are crying for my blood type, and yet travelling around the world, getting a tattoo and having low iron counts have thwarted me. I can deal with the low iron counts now by modifying my diet just before being tested (yummy spinach salad and steak) but the travelling and body mod thing is more difficult. How many young people (especially us scientists, who are regularly attending conferences or fieldwork in far off places and/or like poking ourselves with various needles) can really conform to their stringent requirements?

Shame. Makes me want to change fields so I can make insta-tests for all the terrible diseases I'm supposed to be exposing myself to during these absolutely normal but supposely "high-risk" activities.

the Agenda and the Ammunition...

Ah, charming video I've never seen before for Fiona Apple's song Not About Love. Stupid you tube won't let me embed though.

Enunciate

Going to Lunch at Trinity with this guy: http://www.betascience.blogspot.com/. He gave a good talk today but as always, I had two hundred questions blowing through my mind and was too shy to ask any at the end of the presentation. I will assume I missed something, read up on it on my own, and anyway - that's what lunch is for. He does use a program called Mauve that might be useful in the project I'm working on.

Unrelated: If I had to pick one song that's been "stuck in my head" the longest, it would be Apple's "Paper Bag" from the album released in 1999. That is my mind's default soundtrack. Also decided this morning on the bus ride that while Tori Amos and Fiona Apple songs are easy to hum, Thom Yorke and Tegan and Sara songs from The Con are not.

Poison Crazy Lush

What the hell happened to Gavin Rossdale?? I was listening to the radio this morning prepping for work when this song came on (Gavin Rossdale "Love Remains the Same"). Listen to it! It sounds like about 6 other, shitty emo "rock band" songs put out in the last few months. If you told me Love remains the Same was released by a winning contestant on Season X of American Idol would have fucking believed you. Gavin, you've let me down dude.

Vintage BushX ("Personal Holloway").

Ahh, I miss 1996 a bit. And reviewing the "Swallowed" video again after all these years sheds some light re: why I insisted on wearing so many retro-fitted, polyester shirts with gigantic collars and awful prints I bought at Salvation Army back then. Awesome.

But then something great happened. I got to work early (alone in the lab as usual) and turned my iTunes up, since I left it running last night. I left for five minutes or so, and upon my return I was struck by how lovely the current song was. And that I had no idea who it was. I sometimes get music from other people, upload it, and after a cursory run-through it remains somewhat untouched. But this Wayne Petti song called "Night Sky" was just what I wanted to hear. The rest of the album is quite a gem too, don't know how I missed it.

Jenn Grant

Hmm...excuse the poor quality. It's the thought that counts.

Monday Musings

Good morning New Year!

We have two new people starting in the lab today - they just arrived to scoot into my PI's office for an official welcome. They are both better looking than I had anticipated. And married to each other.

Friday night I hosted a dinner party for three girlfriends and it was an awesome bitchfest of epic proportions. The food was sooo good (if I may say so myself) and we were tipping back the wine until late into the evening. Everyone stumbled into bed/couches around 2 am, and at 8:30 am I made some smoothies for everyone before leaving for the Saturday market. The holiday season means it was far less crowded than usual, and we all picked up some excellent locally made foodstuffs (mmm...Old Growler cheese...)

This is how I spent the weekend:

Scheming. Again.

We went on a bowling date on Saturday night. I'm still sore this morning from the lunges.

Sock monkeys were on sale at Shoppers Drugmart for -50%.

And although my research is behind due to holiday absences, I'm not stressing too much. There are worse things that could happen than slow-ass writing.

Resolutions Part 2

Wear my labcoat while in the lab. Actually wear it.

So that this doesn't happen anymore:


(Purple cotton shirt I just splashed with 40% bleach. Now it's a pink-spotted purple shirt)

Good news: I just discovered Google SketchUp.
Bad news: I picked the wrong pair of denims this morning and sitting in my chair with my pants done up is uncomfortable. Dear, indulgent Christmas holiday, how I hate thee!!

Smaller house, bigger heart

So one of the best Christmas gifts I got this year was this book Little House on a Small Planet by Shay Saloman.

I have literally been carrying it around with me everywhere I go (to the mall to read in the lineup, while waiting for sushi to arrive to my table, at my in-laws place to read while others take their turn at Settlers of Catan). I identify strongly with the authors message, and I find the method of delivery very useful. Great color pictures, good stories, great real-life advice and fantastic floorplans. This ties into my post about building a hobbit hole somewhere, and has progressed past the point of just wistful thinking. I am committed to simplifying my way of life, and one of the ways to do that is to avoid building another large house that I will immediately begin filling with stuff. I realize we built the current house we live in to sell specifically to a bigger family (so it had to be bigger than we needed as a couple), but already I find myself wondering where we are going to put all of the furniture, plastic bins and tools in a new house. It’s my fault really, as I am the one with design ideas and furniture magazines and a need to fill every corner, but I am definitely conflicted about it.

I feel we were given a gift by our families, who helped us so much during the building process, and we better not blow it. The goal is to cash in on the sweat equity in a meaningful and valuable way, so that we can secure some financial solvency and ensure our wealth grows too. (Aside: I’m proud that for Jan 1st 2009, my husband and I have paid down all of our consumer debt, and now have only my student loan and the mortgage to contend with). My idea is to live below our means, which is particularly poignant given the recent housing crash and credit crunch. We took out a 40-year mortgage to finance the building of this house, and thinking of that makes me want to vomit. I am drawn to the idea of owning a house (even a small one) outright, because of the security of always having someplace to go, even if the shit hits the fan and we loose out jobs or get sick or can’t make payments anymore or whatever. My mom doesn’t own a house, and I am too independent to immediately fall back to living with my husband’s parents in their house. We can use a small cabin in the future as a getaway cottage, maybe build onto it as finances allow, or rent it to vacationers, but for right now I don’t see why we can’t live in it. It’s just us, and we get along fabulously. In fact, I am writing this blog post sitting at the table about ten feet from my husband because although the computer is usually kept on the desk in the office, it is too expensive to heat that room all the time (so it’s as cold as a witch’s tit in there) and being secluded in the office was too far away from where he is at the moment.

SOOOOO, the plan is to move back to Hometown (when I’m done my degree), either buy a piece of land or build on family-owned property about 20 km from town and build a one-room, super energy efficient/sustainable home for $10,000. And then live in it for a year. If we can build a three bedroom house, we can sure as f&ck build a 20 foot by 12 foot home (although I haven’t started pricing out the specifics so I might be 50% underbudget – especially if we are law-abiding citizens and follow zoning laws regarding septic tanks and minimum square footage -but I’m obviously excited enough about the plan I’m going to look into the budget feasibility further). Of course, even idealistic me realizes we will likely grow out of such a space, and since the plan was always to renovate or (less likely) built new in Hometown while prices are still reasonable, we would do that too. We need to rollover any profit from this first house into something that will appreciate over time, and although the current economic climate is not looking good, our Hometown has realty that has been consistently undervalued for years. So I think buying now is a good idea, even if we do owe the bank some money via a (horrible horrible) mortgage. But with a place to stay in the interim (that isn’t a rental nor our parents’ basement) then we can be picky about the house we take onto renovate (in particular, where it is in relation to elementary and middle schools). And then that will be the “forever” house, where we raise kids. And while some people would consider this entire plan as a waste of $10,000, I see it as a way to 1) get a cottage earlier than we had planned 2) have a back-up plan just in case 3) an awesome way to trial-run some interesting ideas on passive solar heating, berming, ICF construction, solar voltaic energy and other environmentally aware techniques for becoming a self-sustainable household.

So with all this swirling around in my head for the past week, we drove past this plywood shack on an old gas station platform on our way back home from the holiday stay in Hometown. And I asked my husband to pull over so we could go out and inspect, in 3D, the physical space enclosed by walls 12 feet x 24 feet. Others might think it’s nuts, but with just the two of us (and the occasional guest) I think it’s plenty of room (to wit: when I was in undergrad and living in a single room on campus, my husband-to-be spent three entire weeks living with me in that room. He had started a job at a bakery in my tiny town, in anticipation of my ending school year. Since his start date was three weeks before my term ending/our apartment becoming available, he discreetly moved in to my room. He had a sleep schedule of 7 pm- 4 am, while I was studying for my end-of-term exams and it was STILL one of the happiest times of my life.) In fact we decided while surveying the dimensions of the shack that we could comfortably shave off four feet from the longer side and still get a bathroom w/bathtub, a galley kitchen with tiny counter and a living room with a loveseat and a chair in there, plus a ladder going up to an exposed loft sleeping area. I took a few pictures of the mini-adventure at dusk, and the VIA passenger train that passed by just as we were finishing up our conversation:


Approximate size of a bath tub:

Via train:

So that has been keeping me busy lately. I was supposed to be working on the materials and methods section of a paper I’m writing, but it is obvious to me that my preference is house planning over molecular biology. And oddly, this fact is reassuring in an economy where “biochemist” may become a dispensable employment option. (...Or I'm justifying.)

Mmmmm, mercury

We drove home today after spending five days in Hometown. Had to check up on the cat, we left him at home alone with enough raw food for four days and a clean litter box. I started to worry by the last 20 km that I hadn’t, in fact, checked very carefully before locking up the house that he was free and not accidentally locked in a closet or in the unfinished basement. He was fine, and very happy to see us.

The drive from Hometown, usually a three hour drive at our snails pace, took over five and a half hours today due to a long & rural detour. A friend was attending a weeklong Buddhist meditation getaway (actually he was going to join his wife, who had been there all week). In is in the middle of rural northern Nova Scotia, so we meandered on country backroads in thick fog (snow sublimation – it was 6C today). After dropping him off, we took the road to the nearest town, and while trying to find our way to the highway, we drove past two interesting things: one was a roof-less plywood shack on what was once a gas station site but now just housed the random grey wood structure and a bunch of Red Cross bins. I’ll put up a separate post about that interesting detour. After we were done playing in the shack, we drove past a fisherman selling his live lobster in a store parking lot with his two teenage daughters. In the last few years lobster has been selling for between 7-8$ per cooked pound at the grocery store. Small lobsters are around a pound, and to make a big meal you need two. Eating lobster dinner was a luxury meal, usually associated in my (Acadian) family with a holiday like Christmas or Mothers Day. But lately, the lobsters in store are selling for an unheard of price – around $5 a cooked pound. This means lobster fisherman are getting around $3 a pound for their catch – maybe half of what they used to bring in. Fishing was (and still is) a large part of my maternal family’s way of life, and I have close relatives who tried to make a living by fishing lobster. My uncle eventually gave it up because he couldn’t support his family, and that was half a dozen years ago. All this to say that I can’t imagine how anyone is doing it these days, and why I was compelled to pull over to give this man some of my Christmas cash for live lobster ($5.50 a pound) even though my broader convictions on overfishing might suggest otherwise. Turns out he was Acadian too, and got a hoot out of my man-handling of the lobster (I guess women usually don’t dive into the rubber buckets pulling out squirming lobsters to compare size, etc. When he found out my background, he laughed an understanding laugh). I got a medium sized one (pound and a quarter) while Hubby got a bigger one (2 and a quarter pounds). They were placed in a plastic bag, we paid out $18, chucked them in the trunk, and headed home.

The cat, having been food-scarce for the last week, was obviously envious. No surprise:


After setting the table for a dinner for two (cider, assorted hard smoked cheeses, fresh buns), I turned around to see the cat tucked into the best seat in the house:


The lobster was excellent, really a treat. I’m probably past my monthly quota of seafood though (being a woman of child bearing age.) as I had sushi for lunch today and some sushi a few days ago as well. Which works out well since I’ve blown all my money on meals and beer anyway. This holiday season was very indulgent.

The Stunner

There once was a girl whose eyes

Were as brown as cow pattie pies

Her smile was as grey

As a cold, sunless day

And her perfume attracted the flies

The above limerick, submitted by my husband, was the clear winner in a two-person limerick contest we held on a particularly long car ride.  He is a charmer, if you couldn't tell.

Resolutions Part 1

Wear more braids in my hair.  They're purty.

Exhibit A; Penelope Cruz rocking a braid swept into an updo (even though this is an awkward paparazzi photo):

Cephalopod!

Man.  I just read this xckd comic and it answered a question I was asking myself at 6:55 AM this morning:

Me: "Look! - husband - at the bulbous, inky dark clouds whipping around in the sky! It's like they were made by the great Octopus in the sky..."

Him: "Octopussy?"

Me: "Or, Godtopus. "

Me: "Or...Godtopussy!"

Eight seconds of silence.

"Hmm..what's the name for the biological group of animals in which Octopi are found?"

Think.  Think. 

Nothing from this morning-fried brain.

But xckd has my back!  Man.  Stupid Mondays.

Ten things I did the weekend before Christmas 2008

10. Baked an apple crisp & a huckleberry pie. 

9. Watched the 4-hour BBC adaptation of Anna Karenina.

8. Started a new novel: Mother of Pearl by Melinda Haynes.

7. Did all my chores, and then did my husbands chores as I watched him sleep.  He passed out after a physically exhausting six day work week.  Poor guy.

6. Woke up at 7 am Sunday morning and was out the door at 8 am buying groceries for dinner with the in-laws. Glorious morning.

5. Lost a game of Settlers of Catan.

4. Lost a game of Yatzee.

3. Became a fan of The Decemberists.

2. Got ass-loads of sleep.

1. Ate fall-off-the-bone BBQ ribs & asparagus with my husband and his parents, then opened some early Christmas gifts before his father leaves for Vancouver.

Blessedly relaxing weekend spent eating and hanging out with family.  An excellent way to usher in the new year.

Chicago ain't got nothing on us

Last night I dreamt of a storm surge that brought waves up to our back patio porch door. I remember thinking in the dream "that can't be good for the septic system".  We live on a lake not the ocean, so storm surges aren't going to drown our backyard (thankfully) as last night would definitely have been a problem.  But being the tallest, skinniest house on top of a hill, in front of a lake and behind an industrial park = not a goddamn tree in sight to stop the 110 km/hour gusts from shaking the whole house all.night.long.  Slept poorly, worried about the house and the electricity bill (the wind ripped off our roof covering to the bathroom ventilation system yesterday.  There is effectively a four inch hole in our roof now.  How do you like them apples , Dave Sukuzi?")  Hubby said he could feel the 72" picture window in the living room flex with the pressure of hurricane-strength winds pummeling it directly.  My mental image of cold grey waves lapping our back door was replaced with the image of our front window blown out, drapes flapping wildly around Christmas present strewn about the front lawn. 

So I guess my options were to stay home and wait for the power to go out (and then not be able to use the bathroom or cook a meal properly) or come to work.  So here I am, having braved the wind tunnel in front of my 15-story research tower, slipping on ice-covered (salt-free) roads and sidewalks.  Looked like this.  And in fact, the whole downtown area has no power either, but my building runs on a generator.  Us, and the hospital.  

Blogging (and cough cough research) is too important to be left to Nova Scotia Power Inc. 

Freon Battles

The humid summers around here are killer for our lab freezers- they get inundated with ice so quickly that halfway into the season we have to practically chip our way to our sample boxes.


Just like this, except without the diamond-incrusted ice pick and better hair.

Anyway, since our dutiful and conscientious post doc left, no one wants to touch the thing, especially not to defrost it. It's like the family secret no one mentions, we just keep muttering curse words under our breath as our fingers freeze shuffling through unlabelled boxes. I have become particularly impatient since my back corner space was being encroached on (again... it seems space wars are also being fought on a much smaller scale everyday here in my own lab), and was the impetus for finally pulling the plug.

I put up a sign on Friday to say everyone should move their stuff by Monday afternoon. It used the word "mofo" to refer to the freezer, and had a terrible clip-art hammer on it.  It also ended with the word "Cheers!" but that didn't seem to promote the actual moving of stuff. So after shlepping everything upstairs to the spare -20C, I attacked the frost with zeal. Pent-up frustration was channeled productively, and after mopping the floor this morning, our freezer is humming away again. Now we need to tackle the re-introduction of stuff back into the feezer, but I'm already starting on a floorplan of sorts. Everyone gets their own space, defended as violently as deemed necessary.

I will win the war.

Happyness in Stop-Action

I still can't believe CBC actually ran this brilliant program. It was cancelled after one season, but still.



Is it Friday yet?

Toque and all

I have a girl crush on Rose Cousins. I wish she played more around here.



Blooper-less:

Recession? What recession?

She did it, she caved.

Our prime minister just had his wish to prorogue Parlimant approved by the Governor General until the end of January, to avoid a confidence vote in which his minority government would have likely lost power. Two fucking months in a financial recession which our current goverment has handled poorly to date.

Excellent way to slow down the cogs of progress out of this economic mess. Lets just sit and wait until they get it right, shall we? Hopefully not too many people lose their jobs in the interim. Go ahead, take your time! You get three shots at preparing a budget around here (we're nice like that).

Gah!

(The discourse is interesting though. People are very divided. Good times.)

Cheap cheaper cheapest (I win)

I'm never going to rent a movie again if I can help it. In the town where I grew up, the library was an archaic place in an out-dated building (80s pastel everywhere). There was abundant natural light, sure, but it just highlighted the enormous amount of dust everywhere. We never went unless we had a school project on Cheetahs/Acadians/Clouds to do (pre-internet age, of course).

But not so here. The libraries (multiple - located all around the municipality) are used by lots of people (my coworkers with kids especially) AND they are an utter wealth of free, new DVDs! So excellent. I borrowed a bunch of Harry Potter DVDs, Volver, No Country For Old Men, as well Spanglish and Penelope. Penelope is the only one left to watch and I think it will be cute, based entirely on the adorable outfit Miss Ricci is wearing on the cover:



The bad news is that all the excessive parties I've been attending lately (many with booze and/or deliciously rich foods) + the lazy ass TV watching = tight clothing. Mucho tight. I haven't really decided whether I should address the issue directly or just let it slide under the pretense of "Holiday Cheer". I think the latter. At least until New Year, when I can get on the band wagon with everyone else, and goad myself into action. Or spend my Christmas money on new clothes. One or the other :)

WTF

The queasiness I'm feeling today may have something to do with the hangover, but is also being prodded uncomfortably into action by thoughts of a little note I found on our front door on Sunday evening.

It was a business card from the excavator who supplied some dirt way back during the heyday of construction and it said "Please call me to arrange payment for two loads of fill ($180 each). Thanks".

a) I don't remember owing him money. I generally don't like owing people money, so I try to square up as soon as possible.
b) He was notoriously difficult to contact (we actually didn't hire him again later because of this fact), never answering his cell phone nor returning my messages. It is possible that the fact I did owe him money slipped through the cracks of house construction because I got frustrated with his approach so I said "Eff that, if he wants his money bad enough he will contact me". Because THAT does sound familiar.
c) Still, even if that's the case, why would he wait until now to ask for payment? Why not ages ago? The work was done roughly eight months ago. Who runs a business like that? Does he need Christmas money to buy gifts for his kids?
d) He has legally forfeited all rights to liens on the mortgage, which is kept back by the bank for just this purpose. In case of a dispute (a "he said, she said" argument regarding non-payment, much like the one I see arising from this very situation), my understanding is that the bank is arbiter. But what now? Mortgage is officially closed, all liens are held back for 60 days following the issue of an occupancy permit (again, ages ago). He asks for money he says we owe him, I say "WTF? we don't owe you any money" and then...he vandalizes our house? I pay out becuse I'm a push-over and can't find any paperwork either for or against his claims? If he ran his business properly, with invoices and prompt payment requests it might seem just a tad less sketchy.

I don't know. Grumble grumble.

(That was my stomach)

Breath = Gone

Whoah.


(Thomas Kinkade eat your heart out.)

Nostalgia on Tape

The CD player is on the fritz upstairs, so I had to revert to a cassette tape to provide my entertainment while showering and preening this morning. I found one old one from undergrad (yup, the iPod had started its brilliant marketing campaign by this time but I was still lugging around a SONY portable tape player- gigantic, plastic and yellow), and it was called "Gym tape". The "gym tape" is usually the mecca of garbage pop music popular at the time (basing that on my girlfriends' "running" playlists or "workout"playlists at least). Anyway, I had high hopes for an amusing set of songs.

But nope, apparently I used to work out to such gems of artists like NIN, Soul Coughing, Propellerheads, and One Inch Punch. In fact, I am embarrassed to say (in more ways than one) the only mildly pop-like song on the entire cassette is....Beyonce's HipHopStar. So that dates the tape at least - her album came out in 2003. Coulda fooled me, I still listen to nearly everything on that tape every once and awhile.

Oohhhh, daft punk just came on.