MARCH - JUNE 2006

The Apartment Carpet
Thursday June 29, 2006

When I moved in to the new apartment in Houston, it was not perfect. The manager said that he didnt know I was moving in that day though it had been scheduled for over a month and he had not personally done a walk through. He said to please let him know if there were any problems. Well there was a problem. Minor dings in the wall and small nail holes were present, but forgiveable. But the carpet was a mess. It didnt look like it had been properly cleaned and there were stains all over it. Small red stains were all throughout the dining room and bedroom. There was a nice big yellow stain by the wall in the bedroom and a brown stain in the bedroom that you cant always see. Nice.

So I ran into the manager that same day and told him the carpet had multiple stains. He said he would have someone stop by and look at it. Tuesday morning a maintenance guy came in and looked at the carpet. He said they would try to shampoo the carpet and if that didnt work they would dye it. Dye it? Yeah they would dye the carpet, so it would just be a shade darker. Ok.

Three weeks go by and still no word about the carpet. I finally call and they say that it would have been done but no one set-up an appointment. We set a day, and I arrange to take Eliza to doggie day camp so she wont be in the way. I consider moving all the furniture off the carpet but decide against it. I get home that night after 6, and the carpet has not been touched. Oh no way!

I call them the next day and ask why no one touched my carpet. Apparently there was a maintenance emergency, and no one got their carpet shampooed. She said she was surprised no one had called me and told me that they could come do it today. I told her no they couldnt come today and explained that I had to get my dog out of the apartment for the day and if they tell me they are coming and dont come, it wastes me $20. She asks if the next day would be ok, and I said I would call her back after I found out. I call back later to confirm and make sure they would actually come. She said they would, and that they would refund me the $20. Score!

So the night before I tidied up and debated moving my furniture. I again decided against it. Then at 6am that morning after my shower I decided I should. I moved Pedros cage to the desk, folded down the dog cage, moved my big chest and box springs in the bathroom and pulled the mattress into the kitchen. I couldnt move the couch or TV stand, so they stayed where they were. This time the carpet got shampooed, but like I suspected, it did nothing. The stains are all still there. I knew the red stains would be more stubborn than that, but the other stains apparently wanted to stay as well. At this point I dont care as much, sure my carpet looks ghetto, but even if they did stain the carpet, they probably wouldnt bother moving all the furniture (they didnt touch the couch or TV) and then it would be even more ghetto!

I call again to see what the deal is. Apparently this place doesnt do anything unless I call them. It was quite obvious the stains were still there, but I doubt that got reported. This time I ask to speak to a manager, surprisingly hes not there. I tell the assistant manager about the problem and that I dont want to pay for someone elses stains, she is like of course not! I give her my number so the boss can call me back. So far, no phone call.

I called them and guess what? They are going to shampoo my carpets again! But this time it is sure to work since they are paying a professional company to do it! The manager wouldnt listen to me when I said red stains arent going to come out. Whatever, they want to waste their money it is not my problem!

Doggie Day Care
Tuesday June 20, 2006

Eliza had her first day of doggie day camp today. The apartment complex was supposed to come fix the nasty carpet in my apartment, so Eliza had to be elsewhere. I had already scoped out leaving her at Petsmart. $20 a day isn't too bad for all day fun with other doggies her size. I wanted to take her sooner, but had to get her shot records from Dallas. With that accomplished I called Petsmart on Monday. They made sure I knew which shots she needed and that they were all current. They were. I scheduled to have her be there on Tuesday. While I was making the appointment the girl asked Would you like to purchase Eliza a treat for snack time? What kind of mom would I be if I didnt? No one wants to be that kid in grade school without a snack, Im sure it is the same in doggie land. So I add on the fat-free, lactose-free ice cream with doggie biscuits for $3.

So I drop her off this morning, and shes not too sure about this, but she doesnt freak out too much. They tell me if I want to, I can call and check on her. I actually made it until 1pm before I called! They said she was fine, but that she was being shy. Sounds like my dog.

I pick her up after I get my oil changed in the CR-V. Shes a bit excited to see me, but calms down enough to let me pay and get her Paw-gress report. I scanned it in and put it in my pictures, you should check out how well my puppy did! After I paid I thought I would try and find some anti-itchy shampoo for her since I am convinced she has a ton of mosquito bites. We get to that aisle, and I am checking out all the soaps when she leans against the rack and knocks all the bottles over! I straighten up the front row and pretend the rest arent messed up. She does it again! I fix the front again and then high tail it out of there no shampoo for today sweetie!

Libraries
Wednesday June 14, 2006

When I was a kid, my mom, sister and I would go to the library a lot. Im sure my dad went at least once, because he had a library card, but it was the old school paper one with a little paper envelope. Anyhow, we would go to the library all the time. I remember being so excited about finally getting a library card when I turned 6. Before that I had to check them out on my moms card and thats just not good enough for a book worm like me. When I was young, it was easy books. Bearenstein Bears, Clifford the Big Red Dog, and The Magic School Bus were favorites. But because of all this reading, I was quicker to pick up new books that were harder and harder. My mom likes to tell it that my sister and I were reading 4th grade books in kindergarten. Im not one to doubt my mom, so well go with it.

But the point is that we spent a lot of time in that library. We go get books, or go read books. At some point in my childhood they expanded the library and mom thought they should name the wing after me and all my late fines I had racked up. (Hey never said I was good at returning them on time!) I would always walk up to the check-out desk with a stack of books I could barely see over. I would worry that the librarians would tell me I had too much and to put some books back. But they assured me that I could rent an entire shelf of books if I wanted to.

Eventually I proceeded on to young adult books. I was hooked on choose your own adventure books for a long time. Then I discovered young adult horror Christopher Pike, and my personal favorite, R. L. Stine. These books were average size and I would tear through them. It was especially bad in the summer; I would stay up as late as I needed to in order to finish the book. Our local Pizza Hut and Library would sponsor things that if you read 6 books you could get a free pizza or tickets to six flags. Heather and I thought those were a joke, give me a real challenge! We got to go to six flags free at least once a year.

Then I moved on to adult books, a logical step from R. L. Stine to Stephen King. I think my parents were a bit more worried about these books, but to their credit they only ever forbid one book of his. I really liked Stephen King. I would even watch some of his movies, but only after I read the book so I knew what was coming. The endings were always weird. I had an English class one time where the teacher talked about the Greek plays and how they always had a god intervening at the end deux machina or something, machine of the gods. And that is how Stephen King writes something always happens in the end that doesnt quite go with the flow of the book, isnt something logical even if the rest of the book has been close to normal. It was always spirits or ghosts or something that you wouldnt expect. Maybe Stephen King is part Greek who knows?

Thats when I made the leap to Dean Koontz. He was very similar to Stephen King, but without the machine of the gods at the end. The stories stayed true to what they had started. Usually it was a man or a government secret or something that went with the story. It could be ghosts, but you had known about ghosts the whole time Odd Thomas. And there could be things that seemed supernatural, but most of these made sense in the end. Not all, but a good majority.

But on to the point, college and grad school stripped this away from me. I mean with so much school reading to do, there was little time to justify reading. We found a library in Richardson, but I never even had a card. I would still try and cram reading into some weekends and breaks, but mostly tried to steer clear of it. Flying became the time I would get new books and read them on the plane. Course they wouldnt last long, but it was something new to add to my brain and ponder on. I started reading Patricia Cornwell and her stories about a Medical Examiner.

At some point when I was spending two hours a day stuck in Dallas traffic, I decided that the time I was wasting would be better spent listening to books. I went to Half-Price books and started buying books on CD. A rather expensive habit, usually 15 bucks a pop for used CD books. But well worth it to be able to hear a book instead of mindless prattle of DJs. Mom and I listened to one on our trip to the Grand Canyon.

Now I have to drive 4 hours to Dallas and back every other weekend. I need books on CD, but I dont want to pay for them. Wait, doesnt the public library have books on CD? Score! I look up library locations in Houston. Find the one closest to the apartment. Print out the application online the whole nine yards. So I find the place and it looks like a library, maybe its the book drop that gives it away. I get out of my car and walk inside.

What strikes me first is the smell. It smells like the library I went to as a kid. Book smell. The smell of all these pages waiting to be read, some that may never be read. It has to be the most comforting smell in the world. I just wander around looking at books for awhile. The set-up is different, but the books are like old friends who have just been waiting for me to come back. I look at all the authors Ive never heard of and think of all the new books I can read. Its true, I am a book-worm!

I only checked out one book and two CD books I am restraining myself. But its a big Patricia Cornwell book. A new one, totally out of order, but oh well. I tried to pace myself, but still finished it pretty quick. I drove to the library last night (late) to return it and drop off two Netflix DVDs. They wont fit in the outgoing mail at the apartment, much to my dismay. So I leave Eliza in the car and walk up to the book return to drop the book off. The minute I open the slot to drop the book in, cold air streams out and it smells like library. I contemplate standing there like a junkie and inhaling it, but decide it is Houston, and the library might have cameras.

So I guess what all this was about is that. My librarys book slot smells like library. Not that weird I guess, but I just love that smell. I miss reading and I am glad I get to do it again.

By the way, the book ending kinda sucked. It ended too fast without the usually brief follow-up at the end. Sigh

I have to take that back, I just picked up the sequel at the library - it picks up where the last one left off. I was too quick to malign my favorite author. I apologize!

Psycho dog vs. Psycho dog
Thursday June 15, 2006

This weekend was Matt's turn to drive to me were alternating weekends and the plan was for him to come down early on Sunday and leave early Tuesday morning to accommodate his crazy work schedule. Friday night I went with Theresa and some of her family to the Astros game they had an extra ticket I bought off of them. It was a great game, and the Astros won 7-2, and the seats were totally awesome. Way better than the seats you pay $2 for! Imagine that!

I had assumed Theresa, Brett, and I would hang out on Saturday, but she was planning on going to her parents house. She invited me to come along, and I said sure as long as Eliza could come along. (Pedro can fend for himself for a day or so.) She said of course her parents live out in the boondocks with a nice piece of land for a dog to run around on. I called Matt to let him know what I was doing, he made sure I asked for Eliza to go, what kind of mom does he think I am? Then he asked the million dollar question: What is Blaze going to do?

Blaze is Theresas parents dog. She is some sort of mutt who is about as tall as Eliza, but 5 times wider. She might eat a few too many table scraps. But Blaze is psychotic. She has some serious issues. She likes staring at people, shes a bit territorial, scared of lightning, and has a serious case of crazy eye. This could be interesting.

We go get Eliza, Theresa protects the back of her truck with a ton of towels, and I had to lift Eliza in her trying to jump into this truck might result in serious injury! We get there pretty late and go inside the house. Blaze is all excited until she sees the interloper. Butt sniffing begins! She had her nose in my dogs butt for the rest of the night. Eliza just stayed by me because she had no idea who this crazy dog was. But she behaved herself well. We went to bed and she slept in the bed with me. In the morning Theresas mom was worried Eliza might have to go to the bathroom and tried to get her to go outside. I dont think she believed me when I said Eliza wasnt going to get out of bed until I did.

Most of the weekend was spent with Blaze following Eliza around with her crazy eyes. Theresas dad loved Eliza and was giving her crackers and picking on Blaze when Blaze would growl at Eliza. And Eliza was being so good! We left for a bit and her mom told us that the two dogs were playing and chasing each other around. Amazing!

Then I was showing Theresa how Eliza doesnt fetch and threw a tennis ball across the living room. My stinking dog went and fetched it! Shes making me a liar. This happens a few times before Blaze gets jealous. So I hold Elizas collar and let Blaze chase the ball. She chases it, but wont have anything to do with it after that. I let Eliza go and she sneaks to the end of the coffee table and grabs it after Blaze turns around. Blaze barks, and we start the chasing/ignore/sneak/grab/drop routine a few times. Theresas dad walks in to see what the commotion is and we try to show him.

Now Blaze fetches the ball. Shes showing off for her daddy. Chews on the ball and everything. Eliza is sitting next to me all calm. Then Blaze drops the ball and it starts to roll toward Eliza, which Blaze doesnt seem to care about. My dog sees this and goes for the ball.

That's when Blaze decides its time to attack Eliza. What happened next was pure chaos. Blaze lunges for my dog, who apparently has been waiting for the perfect time to go Eliza crazy on her! Barking and what looked like biting, but mostly barking I had to grab her by the collar and pull her back. Blaze runs away.

That's right, my dog spanked a dog 5 times her size. Her dad starts telling Blaze that is what she deserves. Theresa and her mom are looking at Eliza kinda weird. I calm Eliza down and tell her: You had them fooled into thinking you were a sweet dog, but you had to ruin it and prove what a psycho dog you really are! She just pants at me.

My dog can out-psycho the most psycho dog I know. What does that say about my sweet Eliza?

Korean Karaoke
Thursday June 08, 2006

So you guys know I was in town this weekend, and let me tell you about all the fun. Matt's friend, Tom, is in the army and flys blackhawk helicopters. Matt and Tom used to be in the Marines together, but Tom enlisted into the Army after he got out of the Marines. Tom is currently stationed in Ft. Hood (in TX), but has been doing training in Ft Sill (in OK). Tom hasn't had a weekend off in 2 months, and is being deployed to Iraq in a month or two. So Tom and an army buddy of his, Hugh, came down to stay with us this weekend.

Matt couldn't get Saturday off, so the two guys bought Six Flags tickets ahead of time. Friday night the 3 boys stayed up talking, while I went to bed at 2. They apparently didn't hit the sack until 4. So we got a late start in the morning, with them leaving for Arlington after lunch, while Matt and I went to the bike store to find him a helmet. He still hasn't bought one, but I found some really cool motorcycle jackets for me. Anyhow, I dropped Matt off at work and then went shoe shopping. This so tired me out that I took a nap. :) I then got up, puttered around the house and decided to watch a cheesy horror movie. The boys came back from Six Flags, they had loads of fun. I warned them both about passing out on the Titan and while neither one passed out, they did see what I was talking about when your vision starts to go into tunnel vision and you feel like you are passing out. But anyhow they both fell asleep in the living room until it was time to pick Matt up.

We took their rental car, because my car had a coating of dog hair on the back seat - Natalie dog hair no less. We pick Matt up an drive to addison. We go to the Wing House. Justin is already there. Oscar meets us up there (Matt's brother). We stay there for awhile, but then decide to go to Dukes, a place in Addison. I had been there before with Matador people. Tom wanted to go hear some live music, and they are two-sided, one side with live music while the other side has pool table and darts. We stay there until closing time. We pick up Justin's friend Mark while we are there. Then comes the real dilemma. Tom and Hugh are shipping out very soon, they need to have some fun! So Justin suggests an all night Korean karaoke place.

Justin explains that the this place is in the Asian part of town off of 35. Instead of a usual karaoke place, it's divided into several rooms, so you rent the room and it's just you and your buddies making fools of yourselves without too many witnesses. We get there (after I mistaken pulled into the wrong parking lot... a different kind of business parking lot... ) We have to wait a few minutes for a room, but not too long. This place was unreal, yall. The TV set-up was all in Korean. Mark is half Korean, but doesn't understand any of it. Justin kept tell him he was a horrible half Korean (in not so many words). The people kept delivering weird shrimp sticks and cantaloupe.

All in all the karaoke was more screaming than singing, but it was hilarious. Justin and Tom are apparently both microphone hogs, but they were entertaining! At one point Matt tried to hand me the microphone and accidentally chunked it at me. It hit me in the stomach (cause I was sitting down) and made a really loud whump! The shocked look on his face was priceless! Everyone just kinda looked at him like... uh oh! I finally started getting tired around 5 am. (They are open until 6). I heard someone say, Is it bad if our driver is asleep? We finally left around 5:30. Justin and Oscar had to sit in the back of the trailblazer, and pretty much everyone passed out on the way home. Which left me to drive us home safely while half asleep. Needless to say we got back to the house after the sun was already up. Pretty sunrise, though.

So after getting home at 6 am, we all promptly crash. I let the dogs in - they had probably been outside all night. Natalie looking at Eliza What the hell did you do? Eliza looking at Natalie - uh uh this is your fault, I never have to sleep outside in Houston! But anyhow, they were happy to see us and Eliza had no problem with going right back to bed. Natalie kept whimpering at the bedroom door so Matt decided she must have to go to the bathroom and sticks her back outside. Whatever.

I get up around noon. I do have to get up at 6 the next morning, so there is no point sleeping all day, as much as I want to. I sneak out of the bedroom, leaving Eliza with Matt and go to the office. I found some blogs to read an entertained myself until the guys get up. They slowly wake up, laugh about the night before, etc. It takes them forever to get ready and I am starving by the time we leave the house around 2pm. They want to go to Bone Daddy's. Not my favorite restaurant, but whatever. Matt's old boss, Steve meets us there. We get through lunch and finally decide to leave the restaurant a little before 4pm. This makes my schedule a little tight, I had wanted to be on the road by 5pm, so I could make it to Houston by 9pm, and maybe even go to bed early.

Well Justin and Oscar needed to get back to their vehicles in Addison, while Steve was going back to our house to hang out. I tell Matt to go ahead and ride with Steve and I will drive the other guys to Addison. (Tom and Hugh are going back to the house as well) So I drive to Addison, drop them off, I'm getting ready to leave the parking lot, when I decide to ask Oscar if he is coming back to the house. Nope. But wait, what's the problem now? Oscar can't get into the truck. This is Matt's old truck, and Matt had moved it for Oscar the night before to the back of the lot because Oscar had parked in the To-Go parking. While I may agree with anyone that there is nothing in the truck worth stealing (even the truck), Matt locked the door and that's probably a good idea. But apparently Oscar doesn't feel the need to carry around a door key.

So he's locked out. Usually the door lock doesn't even work and you can stick in any key and turn it. Apparently it decided to start working. I'm like, hey I'll drive you to Murphy, we'll pick up the key - if you need to go somewhere right away, you can use the Civic (agreed upon by Matt - last time Oscar locked himself out he nearly destroyed the window frame getting back in). Nope, Oscar will open the door. There's no coat hangers anywhere, of course no slim jims. I loan him the tool kit I carry in my car and he proceeds to take the windshield washer off the car. He pulls this apart and tries to unlock the door by sticking it in near the window. Doesn't work. He then uses vice grips to pry open the top of the door enough to slip it in the car and try to manually unlock the door. Keep in mind it's pretty hot outside and that people keep driving by looking at us like we are trying to steal it. Who would steal it, and if we were professionals, wouldn't we be done by now??

Well he finally manages to get the door open. And I'm like yay! I can go home now, it's only about 4:20, so not too much time wasted. Justin had even sat around, he wouldn't leave even though I told him there was no point in both of us staying. And I was kinda obligated to since Oscar is my brother-in-law. But wait, why isn't Oscar driving away? Ohhhhh missed that. When he was trying to open the door with another key. He just happened to break the key he was using. Which key was that? The freaking ignition key for the truck!!! You have got to be kidding me!!! And of course he won't let me drive him to Murphy and get another key, even after Matt tried to convince him via my cell phone. So back to waiting.

He has to get the stub of the key out of the door lock and then spends the rest of the hour trying to pry various pieces off the steering column. The wheel came off at least twice, the whole ignition column thingie was mostly broken off. But I have to give him credit, he finally did get it started. Personally I wouldn't have trusted it even then, how are you going to restart it if it stalls? I got my tools back and he thanked me for waiting. That's when I noticed the turn signal stalk on the ground and told him not to forget to pick that up. How and why it ended up there, I don't know. So around 5pm, we are finally done.

By the time I get home, I have to pack and go, no real time to say goodbye or anything. So yeah, I was a bit irritated on top of being already tired. I bought some Mountain Dew MDX on the way home when I had to stop and pick up a prescription - which the pharmacy didn't have my information so I had to pay full price but whatever. I get Eliza, Pedro and me all loaded up and headed out around 6pm. A little ways down the road I think to myself, Wow that sun is bright! and flip down my visor. Son of a!!! I have the garage remote on my visor. So I contemplate it for a 1/4 mile then turn around and go back to the house. I accuse Matt of leaving it there on purpose. He says, yeah I just wanted to see you one more time, which was cute (not true though). So I finally am on the road home by 6:20pm. I got back to Houston at 10:20pm, after guzzling MDX the whole way to stay awake, and then can't sleep - there is some true irony there.

Headlights and Wiper Blades
Thursday, April 13, 2006

Maybe it's me, but I have issues with burned out headlights. When my headlight goes out, I feel super self-concious - like everyone is staring at me thinking I am ghetti. I don't know why I am so worried, I don't think anyone else with a burned out headlight is ghetto. I'm weird, I know...

So I noticed when I was behind somebody at a stop light I realized my headlights were on. I turned them on, because I always drive with my lights on. I realized that only one of my headlights was reflecting off the guy's trunk. Hmmmm... maybe it's just the angle. When I was driving to Brittney's apartment I figured it was probably out, but since I need new wiper blades, I decide to go to Auto Zone after dinner. I checked the light for sure after eating, and it was out - just like I thought.

I pulled the light out at Brittney's so I made sure to get the right one - messed up on that one once before. I am ready to be a super pro! So I go in and order my parts. The Auto Zone guy is super helpful and really friendly. We decide to get entire blade replacements instead of just the blades because they are the same price, and they didn't have both of the ones I needed in the blades. The guy makes sure I know not to touch the bulb on the headlight - reminded me twice... as you may or may not know, oils on your skin can cause the bulb to overheat and shatter.

I pop the hood and get to work on the headlight. The dogs are in the car, wondering what momma's doing. I get the headlight in with a bit of trouble. I couldn't get the hook that holds the bulb in to latch. I checked the other bulb to figure out what my problem was. I was trying to latch it below the catch, not above. Give me a break though - I was working by the light from the store. So I check the lights for success and shut the hood. I decide since I am already dirty, I might as well replace the wipers too.

Now I have replaced the blades before but not the whole unit. The last time I changed them, the AutoZone guy did it for me. But can't be too hard, can it? I pull out the new assembly, and start looking at the old one to figure out how to get it off. This car pulls up a few spots over and two older guys get out. The one guy goes in to the store and the other guy asks me if I'm getting it on okay. I'm like... not really, I've never done this before. He comes over to help me. Shows me where the release is and tells me how to line up the rounded piece with the latch. He does one for me, then I do the other one. We start chit-chatting after he notices my shirt says UTD Geoclub. Turns out he has three degrees from UTD, and started going there before it was even UTD. We talked while he fixed the one, then he noticed the dogs were sticking their heads out the window, so he said hello to them and scratched their heads. He told me I should probably fix my windshield where it is cracked. He said the cracks aren't as big of a deal, but that the little divet where the rock hit will probably tear my blades. He said a bit of superglue in the hole would fix it just fine. After I fixed the second one, we said our goodbyes and parted ways.

I guess I just wanted to pass along that there are still nice people in this world. I mean, he didn't know where I went to school when he started helping me, but that just shows what a small world it is.

Thanks to the nameless guy who helped me fix my windshield washers.

Car Wash
Thursday April 06, 2006

So apparently the gas stations in the DFW area have to switch over to summer gas. Summer gas apparently has a new formula that requires ethanol. Ethanol does not have a large distribution in DFW. There was an article in the paper today (well at least the internet verison of news) how there might be shortages of gas at some stations. Interesting...

I'm driving home today and notice my GET GAS!!!! light had lit up. Well I did a few errands, figuring I would just get my gas on the way home at Race Track - my favorite on the way home gas station. Anyhow, I'm not too worried yet, the reserve is apparently pretty large on the CR-V, I've gone up to 350 miles and I was onlya t 310. But apparently race track is out of regular unleaded. No matter, I'll go to Quik Trip - my real favorite, but a bit out of the way. QT is out of ALL gas.

Now I'm worried, last time this happened, Walmart, 7-11, Shell, and Exxon by my house were all out. But last time I went to Diamond Shamrock and it had everything left. But now Diamond Shamrock is Valero, would it be there for me, too?

It was, I filled up. The stupid pump asked me a million questions before it would let me pump the gas. Like, Debit or credit? Do you want a carwash. I ignored it. But while I was pumping gas I noticed my car. Now, as most of you could understand, I've been a bit busy lately with the whole thesis thing, etc. So needless to say my car is filthy. Not dirty, filthy! So I decide maybe I do want a car wash. I go inside to the gas station and explain, I do want a car wash. No problem! I pay my 5 bucks and get my code.

This had to be the most ghetto car wash ever. Lights tell you to stop and go. No automatic track, nope. No big curtain like washer things... ghetto! But anyways, it blow drys my car, though I have to inch the car up on my own program. Whatever.

Well I get home and get out of my car, which I still need to vaccum. I look at the freshly washed car - it doesn't look at all different, there is still a film of dirt on it. So I just wasted 5 bucks for nothing. Depressing, I could have washed it myself for 3 bucks at the quarter wash. I have that routine down like speedy gonzales. I wasted 5 bucks to save myself some hassle, and now the car wash will end up costing me 8 bucks at least, and I still have to work up a sweat.

Technology does not improve quality of life, it simply gives me something to complain about!

Defense... Done
Friday March 31, 2006

It is done. I am one huge step closer to the MS degree. It is such a relief to have it all over.

Yesterday Bo, John and I went over the presentation for the first time to make sure we were all on the same page. (Bo is my work boss, John is the Nexen geologist.) So anyhow they gave suggestions and such and at the end it seemed like we were on the same page. I was still a bit nervous - they kept saying things they were going to ask me during the defense.

Then John leaves and calls me a bit later saying he's not sure he agrees with some of the stuff Bo had said. Then Bo comes into my office and says you need to change this and this... So I mention the stuff John had told me. Then I got called obstinate and told that I wasn't listening. That of course pissed me off. I think if you are trying to get a point across you should answer the question not ignore when I ask for more information and be rude. But whatever, he told me I could leave it the way it was.

So I get home, I had decided I wanted a new shirt for my presentation. It's a girl thing I guess cause Matt was a bit confused at the logic, but he went along with me anyways. Then we went and looked at motorcycles for Matt. I decided while we were out driving around to not look at the presentation that night, to just go up to the school early.

I get up the next morning - Matt is already at work, but he left me a message that said "Good Luck! May the K-T boundary be with you" For those of you that don't know, that is probably Matt's favorite geology term...

I got to school around 7, and did a dry run of my presentation. I had a simmering nervousness, but nothing too bad. I finished the dry run - Brittney and Annie helped me hang all of my posters. Then after they left me alone, I decided to play solitaire. I lost about 5 games in a row and started to get worried. I don't believe in signs or anything, but I really wanted to win a game before I had to defend. I finally won 2 games in a row and decided to stop while I was ahead.

Finally it started. My whole committee was there - Matt, Mohamed, Dr. Brikowski, Bo, and John. The other people that came were Matt, Annie, Sarah, Scott and Val. I went through the presentation fairly quickly. At the end, Scott and Val both asked geology questions. I answered them well (both in my judgement and others). Then they all got kicked out and it was my committee's turn.

I was kinda nervous about the whole thing, but it was no big deal. Dr. Brikowski and Mohamed both asked figure questions. John and Bo asked some geology questions, but they were stuff they knew I could answer. It was kinda a let-down. Not that I would complain, but it was just not worth the worry I had attached to it. Matt (prof) said that a good committee would not let you defend unless you knew the information anyways.

So I go out in the hallway to wait for them to decide if I pass. Played some more solitaire. They didn't discuss it long and I passed... Yay! Minor edits for the thesis but nothing major. So we went out to lunch to celebrate.

I'm waiting until my friends get back to celebrate - they are on a field trip. I'm a patient person though. Yay to me!

UTD Creates Criminals
Monday March 27, 2006

So if you're reading this, you probably know me pretty darn well. Most people would not argue the point that I am a very ethical person. I always try to do what is right, because I don't like who I am when I don't. I will admit my one lapse is speeding, but so far I've been able to self-justify that one.

But anyways back to the criminalization of Jen. I am finishing up my masters degree - defending this friday. I happen to have 5 committee members (should be 3 for a MS) because my school had no professors left that had my specialty. I added my boss, but he wasn't helping so I added another geologist. So five.

Last friday we had a geoclub meeting at lunch, so I figured since I was at school I would fill out my paperwork for the time of the defense that had finally been agreed upon by all 5 the day before. Turns out the form had to be signed by the whole committee. Oh no.

Two of the professors were at school, one was gone - but might be back later. Ok.... Then I call my outside geologist, John, who is uber helpful but usually doesn't answer his phone reliably. Amazingly he picks up the phone. He was about to go into a meeting, but since it was so important he said to come up to the office and he'd leave the meeting to sign it. 3 down two to go.

And I mentioned so important. If this form was not in my 5pm that day, I woudl not be graduating May 6th. Very important! But no big deal, I got John, he was the difficult one to get. Or so I thought...

I get back to work and my boss is gone. I'm walking around - anyone seen Bo? No? Ok.. Finally our secretary says "I think he left for the day" Oh no. I try calling his cell phone. No answer. I start panicking right about now. I don't have much in the way of options and it's 3:45pm. I panic then decide to go back to school and get my last professor to sign it and hope for the best.

After I get to 635 and 75 and paniking the whole way there I decide that maybe, just maybe I should have a back-up plan. If it is between me graduating and forging a signature, my ethics might have to slide. I call Matt to see if forging a signature is a sure way to go to hell. He's not convinced I can make it look legit and is no help whatsoever. I call and see if a "faxed" copy would work. It would.... my descent into evil was about to start.

I'm still on a time crunch so I go back to my office, rip out the signature page my boss happened to sign after I told him he didn't have to. Taped it on a copy of the form - didn't want to ruin the original just in case. Xeroxed it - no good, you could see a line. Take it off rexerox it. Perfect copy achieved. I'm putting all my stuff back into my bag to sell my soul to the devil when Bo finally calls my cell phone.

He ended up meeting me at school and I got the form filled out on time. I had to interrupt a meeting to get the last two signatures, but that was a minor infracture compared to what I almost did. Don't get me wrong I felt bad being so obviously interrupting. Dr. Manton was teasing me on my way out - "Don't you want my signature too?"

Crisis averted. I don't have to sell my soul. Brittney is forgiven for the seal incident. All is well again!

H-Town
Friday, March 10, 2006

Matt and I went down to Houston to look at apartments for me during our spring break earlier this week. I spent alot of time online looking up apartments that would allow big dogs in case the house sells. Matt would then have to move to someone's house, and Natalie would probably not be allowed. So I have to find an apartment that allows big dogs - I can pass her off for 50lbs if I starve her a bit (j/k).

So I found a bunch of apartments not far from work, cause how awesome would no commute be?? And I could go home at lunch every now and then and take the doggies for a walk. Well Matt and I get to Houston, and we start looking for the apartments. Apparently I work in the ghetto! I mean seriously! It's called Greenspoint, but it otherwise known as Gunspoint. Nice. ExxonMobil is really good about the safety of their employees and has good security - but I can't imagine living around there. So that was a big letdown. We had dinner with Theresa that night and she told us some areas to look at the next day.

Well the next day comes around - the dogs made it a difficult night at the hotel. Eliza kept barking at every little sound, and Natalie... well it was a bad night. But we pack everything up and head to Galveston. So far the dogs have not had fun. Natalie has been to Galveston once before, but that was back when all 3 of us could fit in the S-10. So we get to Galveston, but then Matt and I stop at the WH for food, then Wal-Mart for tennis balls. Then we finally hit the beach!

We get there and Natalie is just freaking out, Eliza is too, but she doesn't know yet. We stake out a spot on the beach, pull out a tennis ball and then let them off their leashes. They run as fast as they can and jump in the ocean. Natalie was jumping over waves and body surfing them. Eliza would swim out until the waves crashed over her, then turn around and come back - then try again. The girls had a blast! Natalie would not come out of the water, unless we bribed her with a ball. We lost a ball once and didn't think Natalie would come back - she went out far! We decided to make them take a break and put them on leashes to keep them out of the water. Eliza rubbed her whole body in the sand until she looked like a sugar cookie. I have a great picture of it I need to post! We stayed at the beach playing for over two hours - long enough to get a little pink.

After that we went to the Strand to walk around. They were both on their special collars that prevent pulling, but I think they were too tired for that. I sat outside on a bench with them while Matt went inside a store to get a Dr.Pepper float. While we were out there, some people said they were so cute and petted them - all was going well.... until the horse walked by. A horse and buggy goes by and Eliza went nuts. She freaked out and started barking and pulling at her leash and generally going insane. I finally got her calmed down. Matt came out a bit later - was that our dog? I told him what happened. And it dawned on us that when we adopted Eliza, they had told us she had been adopted once before, but had been returned because she kept barking at their horses and they were afraid she would get hurt. I believe it!

We drink our float, give the rest to the dogs and get ready to go. I notice a horse and buggy coming - I'm like, hurry up Matt! He's too slow so I kinda lean down, good Eliza, you're such a good dog, hoping she won't notice. Stupid Natalie barks at the horse and suddenly Eliza sees it! She jumps up, hits her head into my jaw and goes crazy again. We finally get her calmed down. We walk down the Strand, having a good time. Then Matt stops, Honey, look up ahead. Two horses and buggies stopped on the street corner in front of us. We decide to go back to the last intersection and go behind the buildings across the street. We loop around then tell Eliza there is nothing to see when we cross the corner opposite the horses. She never saw them, and we made it back to the car ok. Natalie barked at a stuffed bear and carved gorilla, but Matt was trying to see how predictable she is (very!)...

On the way back to Dallas we looked at more apartments, and found some promising ones by Williowbrook Mall on the Northwest side of Houston. They look nice and safer. We also took a detour through Spring to look at the houses we kept seeing online for sale. Spring is a really neat community, and if Matt gets a job on the North side, I could see us living there. I looked up apartments in these areas when we got home. I finally decided to just get an apartment locator. I gave them all my info, but I haven't heard back from them yet. Fun stuff! :)

2 years
Thursday March 09, 2006

So this post is a few days late, but Matt and I just had our two year anniversary. Amazing, I know... it's gone by so fast! The date was monday, but we had plans to go to Houston to apartment hunt on Tuesday, so we didn't plan anything... so I thought.

I went to bed after midnight Sunday night - Matt was already in bed so I said Happy Anniversary honey! He said the same and then said, we have dinner reservations at 7. I was like... huh? Is it Waffle House? No, it's not. That stumps me.. no Waffle House? :)

So I get all prettied up in my cocktail dress, Matt wears his suit and we get in the car to go. My sneaking suspicion was right - we are going to reunion tower. I wanted to go for my birthday when I turned 25, but we are probably going to be in Houston. So I am super stoked - I've never been there and always wanted to go. After driving around the base twice, we finally find somewhere to park (valet!) and head up the elevator.

The whole restaurant doesn't turn, the part around the elevator obviously can't. The part that turns is a ring with all the tables. It goes a full revolution every 55 minutes. It wasn't crowded, so we got a window seat. I ordered a bottle of wine - which is always nerve-wracking, but I did good. Camelot Merlot - mid-price, but good merlot. Matt got soup, I got talked into a salad... :) Then I got swordfish, and Matt got chicken. The food is pretty good, I was happy with it.

But they are known for their dessert. The dessert I wanted had bananas, so Matt got it instead. It's a dessert that looks like the tower, the base is a ring chocolate cake, with a chocolate tower filled with chocolate mousse, and then a white chocolate ball with caramel mousse. Mine was a spiced cheesecake dessert, very good. I would recommend going up there for dessert. Matt was driving so he made me finish off the wine - that's probably the reason we were there for 2 whole revolutions. Anyhow, it was fun, and a great anniversary! I recommend it to anyone!

Blog Archive