If I could have tweeted (1)

Our cell phones don’t work in Canada, and Andrew’s folks are on dial-up, so I’m without Internet and without Tweets for this Christmas week. Popped on briefly from our hotel room in Montreal….

If I could have tweeted the past couple days…

Just heard @akuchling say “What dat?” by himself in the kitchen — something we picked up from Ugly Dolls merchandise. (Sun. Dec 21, 2008 – 12:51 PM)

Enough with the futzing already. (Sun, Dec 21, 2008 – 4:46 PM)

It’s totally weird to see “boxing week” ads. (Sun, Dec 21, 2008 – 7:32 PM)

So over walking in the crappy-slushy-icy sidewalks in Montreal. (Mon, Dec 22, 2008 – 1:31 PM)

Totally going to chop off all my hair when I get home. It’s getting in my way. Long enough now to donate to Locks of Love. (Mon, Dec 22, 2008 – 2:26 PM)

Yay! Found a cute new winter coat! (Mon, Dec 22, 2008 – 6:15 PM)

Settling in back at the hotel for the evening. Tired from treking around the sloppy roads. (Mon, Dec 22, 2008 – 8:00 PM)

Tags: trip report

The drive…

Given the high price of airline tickets, at least prior to Thanksgiving and into early December, we decided to drive to Montreal to visit Andrew’s family for Christmas, rather than flying. So, today we made the trek up. We had checked and re-checked weather in up-state New York to see if we would be able to make the drive or not – given that it’s December, a time of snow and blizzards in the Northern US. It appeared that the weather would hold – with the chance of storms coming the yesterday and tomorrow, but not today.

We left the house around 6:30, but stopped for breakfast at a nearby Mexican restaurant, so didn’t really get on the road until 7:30.

For the most part, the weather held – there was no snow on the groun in DC or Maryland. A small dusting had taken hold in New Jersey, but nothing on the road – it had probably snowed a few days earlier. By the time we hit New York, there was ground-covering snow. It started to become clear that snow had fallen within the past 24 hours in New York – the roads were clear, for the most part, but we ended up passing several snow plows.

Snow started falling, but just a little, as we were passing through the Adairondacs. Traffic had died down by that point, and we were driving a bit slower.

The real trouble came when we stopped for dinner in Plattsburgh – when we got off the highway, the roads were clearly not as well cleared. The first light we went through, I had a bit of trouble getting the car going and going straight. We slided around for a while, then settled on Applebees – only one of two restaurants we saw.

The border crossing went well, but apparently the Canadians don’t know how to clear their roads as well as the Americans — at least in Quebec. The roads instantly became more snowy and I was a bit more nervous driving on them. It didn’t help that we got off the main road rather quickly. The side roads had maybe had a plow, but not for a while and they were slippery.

But, I drove slowing and carefully, and we made it to Andrew’s parents by 7PM, in one piece.

Tags: trip report

I was there

I don’t usually get emotional about voting. In fact, up until 5 years ago, I was one of the apathetic many who didn’t believe that my vote counted for anything, so I didn’t vote at all. Four years ago, I knew that I had to vote. Even if my state wasn’t going to go the way I wanted, I had to vote so feel some power over the situation. I voted not so much for Kerry, but against Bush and his policies.

This year was so different for me. Sure, I was voting against Bush and his polices, which I really believe McCain would have brought to the presidency. But more than that, I was voting for Obama. I believe in Obama. When I listen to Obama talk, I feel inspired. I get that knot in my throat, butterflies in my stomach. Prior to this, I had NEVER felt inspired by a politician. NEVER. Ever.

I’m going to honest. Race never entered the picture in my decision. I honestly think that Obama is the best person for the job at hand, and he could have been purple, for all I cared. But after I cast my ballot yesterday, I found myself getting teary-eyed leaving the polling place. For the first time in this long, drawn-out process, I finally realized how historic it was that I got to vote for an African American for president. For the first time in a very long time, I was proud of my country.

And I get to say that I was there. I was there when the United States elected its first African American president. I was there for a truly historic event. I was there.

Tags: politics

Political Dreams…

Huh. I dreamed that I met Barack Obama last night.

I was riding the bus through Vienna (VA, not Austria), and noticed him in the back of the bus, working on something. For a while I did the “looking but not looking” trick to see if it was really him. Once I confirmed that it was, indeed, him, I debated about heading back and introducing myself. At first I thought that, no, I didn’t want to interrupt him, but then realized that if he really wanted to get some work done, he probably wouldn’t have been taking the bus in the first place. So, I headed back and introduced myself. I sat in a seat near him, and we chatted as the bus toured Vienna.

I remember some conversation about how the town seemed to be heading downhill, and that it was a shame that all of the mom-and-pop stores were being left to go fallow. (Which is odd, because Vienna is actually thriving…maybe not so many mom-and-pop places, but they’ve completely re-done much of the downtown, complete with a town green.)

At some point, we stopped and got off the bus. His wife, Michelle, was at the stop, and I decided to ask if I could take some pictures with them. He kindly agreed, and even stood for some pictures with Felicia and Jo. (I think there was even another build-a-bear animal, maybe this puppy, but I don’t actually have one, so I’m not sure where it came from.)

While I was taking pictures, I remember lamenting that my niece’s “flat Kira” hadn’t arrived yet, since it would have been a really cool picture for her to add to her project. (“Flat Kira” is basically a Flat Stanley project, but with my niece as the main character. I’m hoping to get it soon so we can take her downtown and get some great pics.)

Shortly after that I woke up, so I don’t know if there was a rally in Vienna or what. Very weird, though…maybe I’m channeling Kirsten.

Tags: dreams, politics

Don’t get complacent

TOP 5 REASONS OBAMA SUPPORTERS SHOULDN’T REST EASY

1. The polls may be wrong. This is an unprecedented election. No one knows how racism may affect what voters tell pollsters—or what they do in the voting booth. And the polls are narrowing anyway. In the last few days, John McCain has gained ground in most national polls, as his campaign has gone even more negative.

2. Dirty tricks. Republicans are already illegally purging voters from the rolls in some states. They’re whipping up hysteria over ACORN to justify more challenges to new voters. Misleading flyers about the voting process have started appearing in black neighborhoods. And of course, many counties still use unsecure voting machines.

3. October surprise. In politics, 15 days is a long time. The next McCain smear could dominate the news for a week. There could be a crisis with Iran, or Bin Laden could release another tape, or worse.

4. Those who forget history… In 2000, Al Gore won the popular vote after trailing by seven points in the final days of the race. In 1980, Reagan was eight points down in the polls in late October and came back to win. Races can shift—fast!

5. Landslide. Even with Barack Obama in the White House, passing universal health care and a new clean-energy policy is going to be hard. Insurance, drug and oil companies will fight us every step of the way. We need the kind of landslide that will give Barack a huge mandate.

If you agree that we shouldn’t rest easy, please sign up to volunteer at your local Obama office by clicking here:
http://pol.moveon.org/obama/office.html?source=blog&id=14534-5183653-nFgmwbx&t=1

[Reposted from Migraine Girl]

Tags: politics

To work or not to work, that is the question

A couple of weeks ago, my government manager mentioned that she had been talking to our project manager about taking me on full-time through the next fiscal year. Prior to this, I only knew that my full-time employment was only guaranteed through the end of this calendar year. For any normal person in that situation, with no future job on the horizon, it would be good news that their employment could be continued for another 8-10 months.

I’m not normal.

Currently I work on three different tasks at work – one is a research task for 50% of my time, one is a web development/science support task for 30% of my time, and the last is an education and public outreach task for 20% of my time. I only like one of these tasks – the outreach task. The others are things to be tolerated (an loathed).

Sadly, the full-time position that my one manger is offering, is actually an extension of the web development/science support task. This is the longest-running of my tasks, which started over 5 years ago. For over 4 years, I have hated that job. A big part of the problem is that I often have *nothing to do* – I’m not talking about nothing meaningful or nothing interesting, but rather nothing at all. Another problem is that when I write new text for a web page, I can’t get anyone to approve the text. The result? First, I have a bunch of new web pages that I’ve worked hard to research and write, that just sit on my computer without going live. Second, our web pages get further and further out of date. And does my manager think that turning this into a full-time job is going to relieve these problems?

My outreach position can continue my funding through May (at the 20% level), so I asked about maybe doing the new position at the 80% level through May so that I could at least continue some part of a job I like (that’s not how I worded it with my manager, of course). She didn’t seem to like that idea at all – she’s convinced that they’ll need me full time.

As it happens, Andrew and I are in a position where we can survive on just his salary (pending a large amount of budget-trimming). So, do I take the full-time position just so I’m taking in cash, feeling like I’m contributing to the household? Do I take some time off?

If I were to turn down this position, I would still be able to work the 20% time on outreach. In addition, I would plan on working on my writing – I’ve been told that my fiction is publishable, but to do that I need to polish up some of my stories and research which markets I should submit them to. The house needs a top-to-bottom cleaning and some work (painting and such). I’d also like to work on getting CraftyPhD
up and running. Plus, it would be nice to have some time for my science blog. There’s no way to fit all of that into my life with a full-time job.

But, is this just selfish? Andrew supports my desire to turn down the job. But I’m worried about how much we need to trim the budget. Will he start to resent me for turning down full-time employment when I had the chance? Will I feel guilty over pursuing my interests instead of contributing to the household? I know that when I do find a job, Andrew and I may find our positions swapped, with him having trouble finding a position in whatever town we move to, but is that really a good reason to turn down a job now?

I have to give my decision to my manager tomorrow. I’m honestly not sure what will come out of my mouth at that time. Wish me luck.

Tags: suckitude, work

The Police in Concert

This has been a summer of shows for me – The Lion King, Indigo Girls, the NSO’s “Broadway Rocks”, and the NSO’s “Dial H for Hitchcock”. But the highlight for me so far has been The Police. (Followed very closely by The Lion King.) I’ll try to write up the other concerts here later, but I want to say a bit about The Police before it fades too much.

I originally bought 2 tickets for The Police’s concert in Pittsburgh. I wasn’t sure who would go with me to the concert, but suspecting that I would drag along poor Andrew. Then I remembered that my aunt Maggie and I sang loudly to The Police on a drive down to the Keys one summer, so decided to invite her. No sooner did I get the words “I have two tickets to The Police in Pittsburgh,” than Maggie was saying, “I’ll go.”

Skipping ahead over our road trip (we totally got “Pixburghed”), and our fun for half a day in Pittsburgh (we really, really go “Pixburghed”), we made our way to the concert venue relatively early. We figured that we’d rather get there early and twittle our thumbs than get stuck in traffic or parking.

The venue, The Post-Gazette Pavillion, was rather nice. It’s an outdoor venue, and there are several food and drink vendors set up in a couple of cul-de-sacs on either side of the stage and lawn. (Maggie indulged in a glass of wine and a beer; I stuck with a smoothie).

The concert itself was awesome! I heard later that the earlier concerts a year ago were a bit…er…well, not terribly good. But, this one was great – they seemed to have pulled it together over the intervening year. They played both Maggie’s and my favorite songs (“Wrapped around your finger” and “Don’t stand so close to me”).

Sadly, our seats were behind tall-boy and big-haired-girl, but there were large screens, so we could see most of what was going on. And, they sat down during Maggie’s favorite song, so we stayed standing and were able to see every minute of it.

As with any moment like this – one that you’d always hoped would come, but not sure it would – it ended too soon. Our trip back to the hotel was another little adventure, but I’ll have to decide later if it merits a blog post…let’s just say that this was the one time that having an airport hotel did not make it easier to find (hee hee hee).

Tags: music

Yummy Key Lime Bars

I went scrapping with Laurie last weekend, and when I go up to her place, I usually bring a treat of some sort. This weekend I made up a recipe after seeing key limes at the grocery store. It turned out pretty darn good, if I do say so myself. So, for posterity, here is the recipe, with modifications I’d make next time in red.

Summer Key Lime Bars

Ingredients:
Crust:
3 ¹/₂ cups graham cracker crumbs
¹/₂ cup butter, melted (1 stick) (I’d use ³/₄ cup next time)
1 cup sugar

Filling:
16 oz. cream cheese, softened (2 pkg)
¹/₂ cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
juice from 12 key limes
12 oz pkg. white chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9×13″ pan (I used canola oil spray, but it would probably be best with butter or butter-flavored spray.)

Mix ingredients for the crust (graham cracker crumbs, melted butter and sugar). Reserve 1 cup of crust mix for later. Press the remaining crust mixture into the bottom of the pan. Bake in oven for 10 minutes.

While the crust is baking, mix cream cheese, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and lime juice with an electric mixer until smooth. You can get excellent results while juicing if you follow the Expert Juicer Reviews guideline to a tee.  Reserve ¹/₂ cup of the white chocolate chips for later. Hand mix the remaining white chocolate chips into the cream cheese mixture.

When the crust is finished (it will be set, but shouldn’t be browned), spread the cream cheese mixture over the baked crust. Sprinkle the reserved graham cracker mix over the top of the filling. Finally, sprinkle with the reserved white chocolate chips. Bake for 25-35 minutes, or until the cream cheese mixture is set. (The chocolate chips will brown — I wasn’t sure I liked that, but JD said that he like the chocolate chips on top.)

Note: JD suggested that the filling section could be a bit thicker, so I thought that adding a small container of ricotta cheese might do the trick – adding some volume to this layer, but not adding quite so much fat and calories. I might try that next time.

Tags: baking

On why I’m still leaving Netflix

Those of you who use Netflix Profiles know that two weeks ago they were planning on unceremoniously removing the Profiles in September. On Thursday, June 19, at the very end of the day, Netflix sent out the following e-mail to their Profiles-using customers:

We wanted to let you know we will be eliminating Profiles, the feature that allowed you to set up separate DVD Queues under one account, effective September 1, 2008.

Each additional Profile Queue will be unavailable after September 1, 2008. Before then, we recommend you consolidate any of your Profile Queues to your main account Queue or print them out.

While it may be disappointing to see Profiles go away, this change will help us continue to improve the Netflix website for all our customers.

I was pissed. I sent this note to them within an hour of the e-mail hitting my inbox:

I am highly disappointed to hear that you will be eliminating the Profiles feature of Netflix. To be honest, that was the best feature that you’ve created, and the one feature that truly set you apart from your competition. When recommending Netflix to friends and family, it was the highest selling point that I would tout.

To add to this mistake is not offering customers a way to easily reintegrate their queues into one. My husband and I have three queues – one for me, one for him, and one for us – with over 100 movies in each. Consolidating these movie-by-movie into one queue will be a huge undertaking. A large enough undertaking that I might just as well start over at, say, Blockbuster Online.

Over the past couple of years, we have occasionally supplemented our Netflix movies with a trip to Blockbuster, and while I don’t like their business practices in general, I’ve been tempted to switch because of the convenience of trading movies in their stores. Please reconsider this decision. I’d rather stick with Netflix, but this is enough of a reason to look seriously at my alternatives.

I can, perhaps, understand that if one feature is slowing down the entire website, it may need to be eliminated. However, the slimy part is that Netflix’s solution to them closing down my queue was to “consolidate any of your Profile Queues to your main account Queue or print them out”. People I know who manage databases have told me that it should be a simple database query for Netflix to reintegrate our queues for us. Rather than offer that solution, they wanted me to print out my queue, and re-enter my over 100 movies by hand to our main queue.

To me, Netflix has shown its true colors. I know that Blockbuster is slimy, but then, they’ve never pretended to be anything else. Netflix pretended to listen to its customers, relying on power-users to drive some if its features. But as soon as Neflix felt that it had a large enough customer base, it was about to yank the one feature that most power-users used.

June 23, I signed up for Blockbuster Online. I’ve already switched my queue over, and have movies in my house.

Now, a week and a half after the original announcement, I got this from Netflix:

You spoke, and we listened. We are keeping Profiles. Thank you for all the calls and emails telling us how important Profiles are.

We are sorry for any inconvenience we may have caused. We hope the next time you hear from us we will delight, and not disappoint, you.

-Your friends at Netflix

Too fucking late. Netflix, you and I are no longer friends. I know that I’m now onboard with “the evil empire”, but that means that they can’t disappoint me. If they screw up like you guys did, at least it won’t be a surprise.

Tags: rant

Graduation!

A week ago yesterday I graduated! It was a moment I think many of us thought might never come, especially during the past 6 months, but I’m happy to say I did it.

I decided to go through ceremonies for several reasons — the first was that I promised my dad that I would. When I quit grad school in 2001 with “just” my master’s degree, I decided not to go through ceremonies, and my dad was fairly disappointed. I didn’t want to celebrate my master’s, though, because I felt like it was a defeat, rather than a triumph. I was quitting short of my goal.

More importantly, though, I feel like I needed the ceremony as a kind of closure. The defense was a bit of a let-down because I didn’t have the sense of accomplishment when I finished. The graduation ceremony gave me at least some of the sense of closure, the sense of accomplishment. I even walked away with a real diploma!

Here are a couple of pictures of my hooding ceremony, from Peter Teuben, a member of the astronomy department

Felicia graduated, too, and here she is in her regalia (I still need to make her hood, though):

I’ll post a report from the grad party that followed last Saturday later; hopefully tomorrow.

Tags: build-a-bear, grad life