Boring, boring day. I have to sit by the PIPS for hours on end and watch my sample ion mill. And you thought watching paint dry was boring. I also feel a little bad because I don't want to go to Tucson with Kelly and everybody this weekend. I know Kelly really wants me to go, but I just don't feel like I should. I feel like I should minimize the time I spend out of town because I have conferences coming up. I feel like I should not spend money so I can pay off credit cards from Christmas shopping. Besides, I'm going to have to spend money for the conferences coming up. I know Kelly will have so much fun with Tracy and Beth and whoever else goes, and I'll probably feel a little uncomfortable around all those girls. Kelly, Tracy, and Beth can get a little crazy when their all together. I just feel like I should butt out and let them have a good time. I hope I can make her understand.

Nice weekend. The Super Bowl was a bit boring, and the much-touted episode of Alias afterwards wasn't that great either. As I've said before, the first season was soooo much better. Kelly, Beth, Tracy, James and I hiked a bit of Camelback, and it was fun. We did it so Tracy can get back in shape after her surgery.

I had a nice morning with Kelly today. She skipped Italian to lounge around with me. I love her so much, especially when she does things like that. She shows me that she is really a good, sweet, nice person down inside when she's not stressed out by work, family, etc. It makes me happy to think of our future together.

I finished correcting my java program to handle negative numbers, so I'm probably gonna head off early today. Have fun everybody!

Who like free money! You can get $20 if you've bought a CD from a retail store between 1995 and 2000. It's some settlement thing.

Oh, and they caught Mia Zapata's killer.

I hung out with Clint and Angel last night, and guess what we did. No, we didn't have a belching contest. No, we didn't look at the latest issue of playboy. No, we didn't sit around and play Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (well maybe a little bit). Nope. We watched the Joe Millionare reruns, and ragged on everybody. We joked about how dumb Evan was and how he was like Lenny from Of Mice and Men, always asking the butler, Paul Hogan, to tell him about the rabbits. We also joked that maybe Evan was a serial killer and wanted to wring all of their "goddamn cat necks" (that was another Of Mice and Men joke). My Paul Hogan impression is getting better. We also made fun of the butler as if he was some lecherous old coot...that he went through all the womens underwear...and that he got all the women that Evan eliminated. Now that I think of it, I should have made fun of him getting complete plastic surgery after his Crocodile Dundee movies flopped (not true but funny to think about it--that's a different Paul Hogan). We also made fun of the womenfolk, but it's just too easy to make fun of golddiggers.

Next week Evan supposedly lets it "slip" that he is a construction worker. What a moron!

I got my W2 today, and it says I made 18K last year. Funny how my checking account is only $1000 heavier.

Anyway, some of you may know that I'm not very responsive or awake in the mornings. I usually like to be left alone and especially not have to make decisions. Well, this morning my mom walks into my room and says, "Before I go to work I have to tell you some things...", after which she preceded to explain that my dad was going to write his will, donate his body to science, and one of my uncles is a minister and he agreed to give a memorial service. Of course this was all in my mom's style of not getting to the point at all, so this was REALLY something I didn't want to hear in the morning. There are better times to talk about my dad's death then when I just wake up. I don't need to hear this right now! Besides, who honestly donates their body to science except hobos, convicts, and Kelly's mom. It's just such a joke until you have to seriously think about it. Of course this all put me in an absolutely shitty mood this morning, especially on a day when I have to make a lovey-dovey greeting card for Kelly. I started thinking about a funeral and what would I say for a eulogy, and I almost started crying in my cereal. So I turned on the news to forget about it and watched an interview with the chick on Joe Millionare who got kicked off even though everyone thought she wouldn't (I didn't think she was that pretty anyway).

For those of you who don't know, last week they (I don't know who "they" is) discovered a lump in my dad's lymph node. He's going to see some doctors this week, so we probably won't know anything for sure until next week. I first found out about it when my mom left a cryptic sobbing message on my cell phone, which, of course, freaked me out, but my mom typically over-reacts to these things. So I talked with my dad the next day and got the story straight.

Needless to say, I've never had to deal with anything like this before. I can't think of any of my friends who have to deal with this. I'll get by though. I always do.

Wow! It's been a while since I've done this. Let me just say I'm enamored with this website I found called the Giant Peach. I ordered a shirt from them and I got it in the mail two days later! That's unheard of! Plus they're one of the only websites I know of that carries 2K brand. In case you didn't know, 2K contracts artists and graphic designers to make t-shirts for them. The also fit a lot better than most shirts out there. Some of my favorite graphic designers have made shirts for 2K, like Geoff McFetridge and Dave Bravanec. The other place to get them (that I know of) is the Giant Robot store.

Kelly's been complaining that I don't blog anymore, so here goes...

I'm sick with a cold, but not too sick that I can't go to class (even though classes are over now). Finals went well. I think I aced every one except my French final, but since I'm auditing the class, that doesn't matter much. I did all of my Christmas shopping already, but I'm still working on the mix CDs for my brother.

The Two Towers came out last night at midnight, and I might be able to see it tonight. Uh oh! The group meeting is starting soon so I have to get off.

Mike Stevens is on my shit list. I was supposed to have a late-nite TEM session tonight, but this bastard has signed up for tonight and tomorrow night. I don't know who he is, but I hate him. I wish public humiliation on him and his kin. Maybe boils or something biblical like that. A plague of frogs or termites might be cool. I don't want him dead though. First off, I'm not an inhuman monster. Second, it's much better to see them suffer than to put them out of their misery.

So what's the plan, you ask? I'm signed up for a session on wednesday next week. And one the monday after. Tom and I may do one this Sunday, but neither him nor I want to give up our weekend. Saturday is bad because it's Grady's birthday (Tom's son). Why can't we just have our own TEM? Then we could use it whenever we wanted.

By the way, you can only sign up for two sessions, and I already have two nice times picked out. I wasn't about to give one up for half of a shitty evening session. But I ran the risk and lost. Fuck Mike Stevens!

I realize I haven't posted in a while. This may be a habit for a while as the conference draws closer. I'm making good progress though. I have a good sample, so I can concentrate on that. If I can get some diffraction patterns, x-ray spectra, and EELS spectra on the kerogen, I'll be set. Then all I have to worry about is the presentation itself. If I can finish all the research work next week, then I'll have two weeks for talk preparation (i.e. learning powerpoint and practicing public speaking). Kelly took me to the Chandler Mall the other day to look for new clothes for my talk. Although I don't really care for J Crew, they had a really spiffy pants-shirt-sweater combination that I really liked. Kelly also bought me one of those cool wallets. Now all I need are shoes and a belt.

In short, I'm in a good mood for the time being.

This past weekend, I had a field trip up to the NW corner of Arizona, near where to Grand Canyon empties out into Lake Mead. Once I get pictures developed, I may post them (if I remember).

I fucked up big this time. I was supposed to have a TEM session with my advisor early monday morning. I didn't quite finish up all the sample prep this week, so I was going to come in on the weekend and do it when I can have the whole place to myself. Unfortunately, I forgot that I don't have keys to the sample prep lab. So now I feel like a big fool, and I have to tell Tom we can't do TEM tomorrow. That also means we have to make up that session either at night or during the weekend because the microscope is booked solid until mid-November. I was lucky to get that monday, and I threw my opportunity away because I'm a dummy. Sometimes I wonder if I'm really cut out for grad school. I have very little motivation sometimes.

In case anyone cares, Karl "if-he-was-an-animal-he'd-be-a-grizzly-bear" Weiss gave me the thumbs up for using the CM-200. This is after about 6 training sessions. So now I can go willy-nilly on the TEM anytime I want. As you may no doubt have already guessed, 5 straight hours in a dark room chock full of super-expensive scientific equipment really fucks with your head, leaving you in a state of temporary insanity afterwards.

Stress levels are climbing. I just found out yesterday that I have to give a talk at the American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting on December 6. That gives me about a month to complete the necessary research, and right now I'm only doing sample prep. So, please excuse me if I don't blog as often as I should. I actually have to go off and to that right now. Later!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KELLY!!!

Egad! I have a frickin' Thermo midterm tomorrow. Time to "rise above" and show those physics majors that geology majors are superior! So tonight I'm going to go home early and study all night (in addition to making a black-light box for Earth Science day and finishing wrapping Kelly's birthday gifts). By the way, my oral midterm for French took waaaay longer than it should have, increasing my stress levels dramatically. I just want to get that shit over with, but people kept being stupid and couldn't work their stations. I mean, how hard is it to press record, stop, rewind, play?!? These people make me sick!

Ahhh! Now back to the grindstone. Today I have to leave ASU early because Kelly needs to do a Maple lab on my computer. I guess I can use the extra time at home to do other homework. I don't have much to say right now because I have to leave soon. So I'll just leave you with some slogans for our research group. If you are confused, you should know that we don't have much space and we are lobbying for more.

TEM Group Research Closet
TEM Group: Close-Packed since 1996
The Guinness Book of World Records' World's Smallest Research Space

Finally, the weekend!

You know, after I bought that laptop, I have no urge to spend anymore money. Even if I visit websites or stores and see something that I'd like, I don't even think about actually buying it.

Let's see, this weekend I have to:
- relax!!!!!
- read the rest of the Spark of Life book about early life on earth (mostly stuff I've already heard before)
- read one of my Thermo "enrichment readings" and write a summary about it (more like an opinion)
- make out with Kelly (better put that as number 1)
- see Philip on Film, where an orchestra plays the Philip Glass scores to some short films (I like Philip Glass alot).
- did I mention relax?

Uh oh. I just did something bad. I just bought a laptop.

It's a refurbished gateway. It's actually a pretty decent computer--1.2 GHz, 20G hard drive, CDRW, Ethernet + Modem, with a free carry case. And for all that it was only $900. So, in all actuality, I got a smoking deal. I just feel bad for spending all that money. It actually took me about an hour to go through all the check-out procedures because I had to keep proving to myself it was worth it. I spend 20 minutes alone with my mouse over the submit button before I pressed it. You know, $900 is a lot of money. I can afford it, but I just feel a little weird for spending that much. At least it's something I'll use alot (I'm always asking to borrow Kelly's computer to use Excell).

Kelly's probably wondering where I am. It's almost 8:00 PM. Maybe she's still at work. I wish I had my cell phone with me, but I left it in my office. I'm going to go down there now.

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Let me begin by apologizing for not 'blogging for a while...oh wait, I'm not sorry because this is my own damn 'blog and I can post whenever I want!

Anyways, it's been a busy weekend. Kelly had a couple field trips, and I was her support this weekend (dropping her off, picking her up, making her lunch and breakfast). Plus I had to get my usual load of work completed. I didn't get everything done, but I'm in good shape for this week. It just seems that I never have time to do anything. I'm definitely going to rethink my classload for next semester, and I probably won't audit another semester of French. Truth be told, the language really isn't all that interesting, and unlike German, it makes no sense at all. There are grammar rules in French only for the sake of pronunciation! How can I condone the creation of an "exception to the rule" just to make it easier to say? Maybe if they would just pronounce every syllable in a word things would be easier!

I'm always thinking about putting in aftermarket parts in my car, even though I don't have to money to do it. Lately, I've been considering the idea of putting in lightweight underdrive pulleys. Everybody knows that there are a set of belts and pulleys that use the engine to run things like the a/c compresser, the alternator, the fan, and other things. The auto manufacturer makes these pulleys as cheaply as they can, which means they are usually made out of steel. However, steel is pretty heavy, so it has a lot of rotational inertia. Aluminum, on the other hand, is quite light, and spins at the same rate with less energy consumption. This means the replacement of steel pulleys with aluminum pulleys frees up energy to turn the car wheels. Also, aftermarket pulleys are usually slightly smaller (at least the one connected to the engine) so that each revolution uses slightly less energy that if they were stock diameter (even though slightly more revolutions are needed). Unorthodox Racing makes a set of pulleys for my car that apparently frees up to 12 horsepower (about 5HP for normal driving). This is pretty good compared to HP gains from intake or exhaust modifications. Unfortunately, the set costs $480, although I know where to get it for $410. This is just stuff I think about.