Friday, January 20, 2006
Why does the morning after bite?
So last night, the FGSA put on our annual Trivia Night as part of Forestry Week at the grad house. There was a crazy turnout and the place was packed - a lot of undergrads turned out to party with their TAs - ha. Let's just say that as the evening progressed, things got ridiculous. It was incredible that us FGSA ladies were even able to mark the answer sheets after each round (round with a double meaning). I was impressed by the fact that some people actually knew what cities fought the Pelopennisian War. I guess some people don't get out much. Except to trivia nights?
Some of the answers to questions were awesome too. Basically, Leah and Heidi's table, who answered that the judge in charge of the sponsorship scandal was Judge Judy, and then the answer to every following question was also Judge Judy. Also, in guessing an animal, they answered a cross between a beaver and dove.
So it was a good time.
This morning I was in in hangover city, not because I had much to drink (I didn't really), but because I think I wasn't drinking much water yesterday. Had a short day at school because I kept falling asleep at my desk, so I came home and am blitz-cleaning my apartment.
Tomorrow night - house party! Wahoo!
Some of the answers to questions were awesome too. Basically, Leah and Heidi's table, who answered that the judge in charge of the sponsorship scandal was Judge Judy, and then the answer to every following question was also Judge Judy. Also, in guessing an animal, they answered a cross between a beaver and dove.
So it was a good time.
This morning I was in in hangover city, not because I had much to drink (I didn't really), but because I think I wasn't drinking much water yesterday. Had a short day at school because I kept falling asleep at my desk, so I came home and am blitz-cleaning my apartment.
Tomorrow night - house party! Wahoo!
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
My faith in humanity is redeemed.
Wow - people, do something good. Pay it forward, it works.
So I was having a bit of a rough night and morning, feeling down about a lot of things, and just tired from work. Reading going in one ear and coming out the other. To top it all off, I had to attend a GSA meeting at the end of the day, which are analogous to torture sessions. It was horrible, just horrible, and so useless that it cannot be compared to any previous meetings I've ever attended ever. Seriously, the discussions that come up make the prime ministorial candidates look smart. But whatever.
As I'm leaving the meeting at 8 pm, I notice that it's raining quite hard out. Thinking, ok, I have an umbrella, I pull that out and start walking. It promptly inverts once I reach an unprotected area (woo for sou'westers in Atlantic Canada). So I was umbrella-less. I think, it's ok, I'm a forester, I'm resourceful and can work outdoors in even the worst weather. So I had my raincoat in my bag, and put that on over top of my new winter coat. It looks extremely silly, but I'm warm (it's a really cold rain) and dry at least on top. I set off again.
The thing is, UNB is on a hill, and while you're on the hill, the water is continually draining off. So it doesn't seem too bad, for the most part. The trouble was when I got to the level of the streets of town, off campus. There, and I'm NOT exaggerating, the water level was ankle-deep just about everywhere (not even about to dance around it), and the surface of the ground under that water is sheer ice. It's like a badly flooded skating rink. Did I mention the torrential rain? By this point, on ice, the wind is enough to actually make me slide sideways considerably. I have to skate into the wind just to stay going forward, and this is through relatively deep water. Of course I happened to be wearing my cute new suede winter boots, so I'll be lucky if they aren't ruined when they dry.
At this point, I'm trying to stay upright on the ice with the wind. It's hard when you have to climb little icy hills to get onto sidewalks and the like. Even the roads were sheer ice, so there was no help there. After falling a whopping three times, completely drenched, my palms actually bleeding from scrapes, I run into a drunk guy, who's walking down the middle of the road, screaming. I try to run away, but manage to fall twice more. I feel like I'm going to sit down into the water and cry - all this after 10 minutes after I left campus.
Just when I'm going to do so, I happen to fall, (again) in front of a cab, who pulls up and comments on it being slippery. So I ask for a ride the rest of the way. And he doesn't charge me. Said it's his good deed of the day.
See? Some people really are just good, through and through.
So I was having a bit of a rough night and morning, feeling down about a lot of things, and just tired from work. Reading going in one ear and coming out the other. To top it all off, I had to attend a GSA meeting at the end of the day, which are analogous to torture sessions. It was horrible, just horrible, and so useless that it cannot be compared to any previous meetings I've ever attended ever. Seriously, the discussions that come up make the prime ministorial candidates look smart. But whatever.
As I'm leaving the meeting at 8 pm, I notice that it's raining quite hard out. Thinking, ok, I have an umbrella, I pull that out and start walking. It promptly inverts once I reach an unprotected area (woo for sou'westers in Atlantic Canada). So I was umbrella-less. I think, it's ok, I'm a forester, I'm resourceful and can work outdoors in even the worst weather. So I had my raincoat in my bag, and put that on over top of my new winter coat. It looks extremely silly, but I'm warm (it's a really cold rain) and dry at least on top. I set off again.
The thing is, UNB is on a hill, and while you're on the hill, the water is continually draining off. So it doesn't seem too bad, for the most part. The trouble was when I got to the level of the streets of town, off campus. There, and I'm NOT exaggerating, the water level was ankle-deep just about everywhere (not even about to dance around it), and the surface of the ground under that water is sheer ice. It's like a badly flooded skating rink. Did I mention the torrential rain? By this point, on ice, the wind is enough to actually make me slide sideways considerably. I have to skate into the wind just to stay going forward, and this is through relatively deep water. Of course I happened to be wearing my cute new suede winter boots, so I'll be lucky if they aren't ruined when they dry.
At this point, I'm trying to stay upright on the ice with the wind. It's hard when you have to climb little icy hills to get onto sidewalks and the like. Even the roads were sheer ice, so there was no help there. After falling a whopping three times, completely drenched, my palms actually bleeding from scrapes, I run into a drunk guy, who's walking down the middle of the road, screaming. I try to run away, but manage to fall twice more. I feel like I'm going to sit down into the water and cry - all this after 10 minutes after I left campus.
Just when I'm going to do so, I happen to fall, (again) in front of a cab, who pulls up and comments on it being slippery. So I ask for a ride the rest of the way. And he doesn't charge me. Said it's his good deed of the day.
See? Some people really are just good, through and through.
Monday, January 16, 2006
Wall squirrels.
They're back!
I started hearing LOUD rustling noises coming from the outer walls of my bedroom last night. This had happened before but my landlord took care of it. Apparently last time they had removed a squirrel from my wall. Anyway, sounds like there may be a few of them in there, and needless to say when they started up around 5 am I didn't get back to sleep after that.
Here is an artist's rendition of what the squirrels may, in fact, look like.
We believe them to be long-toothed and flailing.
Right now it's trying to get at me, through the wall. I can hear it.
All this, after this story appears in BBC.
Needless to say, I may not make it through the night.
On another note, hey, I want ravioli.
I started hearing LOUD rustling noises coming from the outer walls of my bedroom last night. This had happened before but my landlord took care of it. Apparently last time they had removed a squirrel from my wall. Anyway, sounds like there may be a few of them in there, and needless to say when they started up around 5 am I didn't get back to sleep after that.
Here is an artist's rendition of what the squirrels may, in fact, look like.
We believe them to be long-toothed and flailing.
Right now it's trying to get at me, through the wall. I can hear it.
All this, after this story appears in BBC.
Needless to say, I may not make it through the night.
On another note, hey, I want ravioli.
Sunday, January 15, 2006
Back in Fredericton, and so far so good.
Things are fine and dandy for me here. I've made a concerted effort to address my goals of getting in shape and organizing myself a bit better.
HEALTH:
First of all, I joined an intramural ball hockey team. It's co-ed, and I'm scared. I don't even know what the rules are, but my first game is on Wednesday. I hear they provide helmets. This makes me feel both slightly safer and also worried about why we need helmets anyway. What kind of sport is this? Heidi and I hope that our team will be like the Mighty Ducks, and kick some serious butt. In her case, I see this as possible, as she used to play hockey, and I can see Kate being pretty good too. Is there a character on the Mighty Ducks who was real good at flailing? If so, that's me.
I'm eating better as well. By eating better, I mean, I bought low-fat foods rather than normal ones, and bought a big bag of spinach to eat while hungry.
If it worked for Popeye, it can work for me.
A word to the wise: low-fat frozen yogurt works. Here's how: it tastes so weird (SOUR chocolate??) that you no longer want dessert after a few days. You'd almost rather starve.
I'm also back at weight lifting and doing crunches, which I assume isn't a bad thing.
ORGANIZATION:
I cleaned out my office at home and work, and am systematically organizing my papers as I read them into a post-it note and endnote system. Works. (So far).
OTHER STUFF:
I finally decided who to vote for. Up until recently, I was going to spoil my ballot and write "GET BETTER CANDIDATES!!!". But then I remembered the age-old slogan of the left: "There is a third choice". I guess it don't matter what they think, just that the "third choice" slogan is stuck in my brain. Must be subliminal advertising. Anyway, NDP, you have my vote, you pathetic bunch of rapscallions. Don't make me regret it.
The reason I've rather enhanced the degree of my hillbilly-speak is due, in part, to my watching of Firefly and subsequently Serenity. Now here's a situation that I feel bad about. I would have watched this show on TV back when it was on, except that at the time I had never heard of it. Had it been advertised or hyped - geez. Here's a situation of the advertising coming too late. I want them to go make more episodes. After seeing Serenity (and it's horrible finality to some characters), they'd have to place a second season somewhere between the end of the first season and the movie. T'would be wise. I'm definitely not calling myself a "Browncoat" though. That's way too nerdy, even for me. (Jayne's hot - did you notice?)
Went out to Dolan's on Friday with the law people, and it was a good time overall. However, I was stunned at the insanity of young Frederictonites after the bars closed. Saw lots of hooker-esque girls selling their bodies with cops looking on, girls swimming in huge puddles, and random people taking our picture. "NOT SHINY!"
HEALTH:
First of all, I joined an intramural ball hockey team. It's co-ed, and I'm scared. I don't even know what the rules are, but my first game is on Wednesday. I hear they provide helmets. This makes me feel both slightly safer and also worried about why we need helmets anyway. What kind of sport is this? Heidi and I hope that our team will be like the Mighty Ducks, and kick some serious butt. In her case, I see this as possible, as she used to play hockey, and I can see Kate being pretty good too. Is there a character on the Mighty Ducks who was real good at flailing? If so, that's me.
I'm eating better as well. By eating better, I mean, I bought low-fat foods rather than normal ones, and bought a big bag of spinach to eat while hungry.
If it worked for Popeye, it can work for me.
A word to the wise: low-fat frozen yogurt works. Here's how: it tastes so weird (SOUR chocolate??) that you no longer want dessert after a few days. You'd almost rather starve.
I'm also back at weight lifting and doing crunches, which I assume isn't a bad thing.
ORGANIZATION:
I cleaned out my office at home and work, and am systematically organizing my papers as I read them into a post-it note and endnote system. Works. (So far).
OTHER STUFF:
I finally decided who to vote for. Up until recently, I was going to spoil my ballot and write "GET BETTER CANDIDATES!!!". But then I remembered the age-old slogan of the left: "There is a third choice". I guess it don't matter what they think, just that the "third choice" slogan is stuck in my brain. Must be subliminal advertising. Anyway, NDP, you have my vote, you pathetic bunch of rapscallions. Don't make me regret it.The reason I've rather enhanced the degree of my hillbilly-speak is due, in part, to my watching of Firefly and subsequently Serenity. Now here's a situation that I feel bad about. I would have watched this show on TV back when it was on, except that at the time I had never heard of it. Had it been advertised or hyped - geez. Here's a situation of the advertising coming too late. I want them to go make more episodes. After seeing Serenity (and it's horrible finality to some characters), they'd have to place a second season somewhere between the end of the first season and the movie. T'would be wise. I'm definitely not calling myself a "Browncoat" though. That's way too nerdy, even for me. (Jayne's hot - did you notice?)Went out to Dolan's on Friday with the law people, and it was a good time overall. However, I was stunned at the insanity of young Frederictonites after the bars closed. Saw lots of hooker-esque girls selling their bodies with cops looking on, girls swimming in huge puddles, and random people taking our picture. "NOT SHINY!"
