Blahdy Blah Blah

Sigh. Two weeks. It’s been two weeks straight of working on my thesis. There has been no reprieve. I guess after a year of working on this thing I expected that it would be closer to done. I keep finding things wrong or, in really bad cases, completely missing! I haven’t met with my advisor either. I tried to track him down the first week but that was a bust. Since then I have been madly trying to clean up all this shiznit that I didn’t even realize was wrong. Grrrr. I guess it was a blessing in disguise that I couldn’t get a hold of my boss.

Can someone please explain to me how people write a thesis in six weeks? I had a bunch of published papers and, clearly, that hasn’t helped. Maybe it is just the format in which I am supposed to write it. I have three distinct areas of research yet the bossman wants a “cohesive” story. That means I can’t just slap in published papers and reformat. Oh no. I have to rewrite a bunch of it so that it “flows”. I am really sick of “flow”. Frankly, I don’t care if it completely clunks all about the place.

The two nicest people I have ever met are letting me stay at their place. I think that they are under the impression that I may just up and defend at any moment. I feel kind of bad. Maybe I gave them that idea? Anyway, that is just not how it works. I wish. What would be a good thing to get/give my hosts? I have been staying with them for two weeks now and I expect that could expand to a month (easy). I have no money (no job – trying to write a thesis). I have a few ideas but I just don’t think they do the favor justice. Anyway, I have been trying to come up with ideas for a while and it just isn’t working.

I guess that is the three paragraph limit for blogs. I hope everyone is having a great summer.

Here's a picture of my "bed" for the time being.

Wedding Plans

Ha! Gotcha! I am not planning a wedding. That said, however, the bf and I have just passed the 18 month deadline. You’ve heard of it, right? This is apparently the magic timeline along which all relationships flow. As it was explained to me, after 18 months there is mood in the air. Either you are going to go the long haul and get married or you are going to break up. I assume that since we are in a long distance relationship that this timeline might not be completely applicable. Whether it is or not does not change the fact that it has been on my mind lately.

Going to two wedding in the course of seven weeks, then hearing about three others in the past week and a half has not made this better. It makes me think of ideas of things that I would want or not want to do for my wedding. There are so many fucking choices that part of me is all about running off to Vegas just thinking about it. There are a few things I have figured out. Here they are:

1. I don’t know what color the bridesmaid dresses will be but they will not be strapless. Does that look good on anyone? Really? Are you sure? Check again. It doesn’t. (only caveat is a bustier but that is generally a little formal for bridesmaid dresses)

2. I am not getting married in the morning. I would like it to be fairly late in the afternoon actually.

3. Either an open bar or handing out (free) tickets for drinks. No cash bar.

4. I must attend an event where the DJ I think I want is working or, at minimum, peruse his playlists. I want no surprise Karaoke or Air Supply “Hits” at my wedding.

5. Although it is less “classy” I would be okay with buffet.

6. The cake will be ONE cake. I do not want a cake in tiers that are sitting next to each other, not on top of each other. The tiers can be fake but they must be on top of each other.

7. We will go over with the wedding officiator EXACTLY what will be said about ‘entering into marriage’ and everything that goes into that little speech.

8. If deemed necessary, there will be limitations but on the topics that can be included in speeches made to the bride and groom.

And now for the readers to weigh in…. is it considered rude to plan a wedding at a location where everyone has to travel (thereby possibly limiting the people who can actually afford the time and cost to go)? I’m thinking maybe a (mexico) resort/wedding on the beach kind of thing.

A Chinese Buffet

No, this is not a blog about going to cheesy restaurants to eat sketchy food. Actually, quite the opposite.

The bf invited me to go along with him to a wedding. A friend of his from college was getting married. Doesn’t sound all that interesting yet, does it? Here’s why I thought it worthy of a blog. The couple are of Chinese descent. Wow. Sometimes I am so jealous of people with interesting cultural backgrounds. The wedding itself was fairly traditional. The wedding/marriage speech was Horrid! I was having trouble not laughing it was so bad. Made me kind of sad for the couple. I mean, I wasn’t even convinced that the pastor/minister/priest/whatever had even thought about what he was going to say, let alone practiced it. Yuck. I would have been tempted to stop him in the middle of it if it was mine and tell him he was fired. I mean, BAD. Anyway... that really isn't the point of blogworthiness...

After that we had a little time while they did the picture thing. The most interesting part of the day was by far the meal. Incredible! They started serving around 6pm. We didn’t finish until around 10:30. It was sooo good. The had shark soup, fried stuff, noodle stuff, vegetable stuff, seafood stuff, meat stuff, and it was all yummy. Thank goodness we had two people at the table who were chinese and could explain some of the food. I think of myself as reasonably aware of food outside of American cuisine. I couldn’t, however, identify some of this stuff even if my life depended on it. And it was so good! It was a completely new and thoroughly enjoyable experience. I can’t imagine how much it cost though. Yikes. There were about eleven courses and they were served to the table. No cheesy buffet. I want to be invited to all future semi-traditional chinese wedding receptions!

Thoughts For Today

Well, I have now been cloistered in the main library at campus for five days. It rained here a few days ago. I haven't seen clouds move that fast in a long time. It was fairly interesting. Made me even check the weather channel to see what the mph wind was... gusts to 31 mph. And that's on the ground!

To date, I've managed to avoid seeing anyone I know. Given that there only about four people left on campus who would actually notice me, I guess that isn't such a big deal. I prefer that people not know I am around. Keeps the schedule open for work (and blogging). Bossman/advisor's light hasn't been on when I stopped by the last three days - I think he isn't in town. His light was on the first two days I was here but I think that maybe his secretary left it on or something. I never saw him. Not that I am entirely upset by that - I am not really looking forward to seeing him - I just know it is a necessary evil.

Why if the library is going to be bitchy about food do they have a cafe on the top floor??

Someday I hope to truely understand why airplanes fly and wireless internet works. I know the theory and some of the math behind the two but I don't really understand.

Short blog today - I'm done.

The Great Outdoors

AKA: The Wilderness

Well, I have to say, I was surprised. I recently returned (in the last month) from a family trip that was a fly-in fishing experience. And it was fun.

My sister, brother, father and I all went on a four-day excursion into the woods just after Fourth of July. First we had a nine/ten hour drive up to the “airport”. It was rather uneventful for me and my sister. We chatted and listened to music and just drove and drove. We were separated from my brother and father because of a situation before even starting. But that meant we had a plan to meet up after crossing the international bridge up at Sault Ste. Marie. My bro and father were searched at the border. Hahahahaha.

We got to the very sketch motel (in the middle of nowhere, Ontario) and then went for dinner. Of course, in a town the size of a peanut, the dinner was less than outstanding. Whatever… I wasn’t expecting a four star restaurant. Although our waitress, having to leave for a street hockey game (and changing into the required gear before leaving), was pretty amusing.

There was a little confusion in the morning but eventually we were on our way. The baby sis and I were first to go. The plane only held five people (including the pilot) and one other guy had to go to a different lake. The sea plane was LOUD but really kind of fun. It was a first time experience for me.


I won’t bore you with the details of the trip but here are the highlights and lowlights:

Highlights….
-- I caught 2 northern pike! (sis and dad each got 1 and both of theirs were bigger than either of mine)
-- I got a suntan
-- We had fun playing cards and boating around the lake as a family
-- We saw a bear up close and personal the first day

-- There was a stove and shower (with hot and cold running water)
-- We all got to ride the seaplane (and I was the only one who didn’t get time in the front seat but that’s okay)
-- The lake and surrounding areas were gorgeous
-- It was incredibly peaceful and quiet, very relaxing

Lowlights….
-- The temperature was hovering around 100 degrees F and there was no breeze
-- We didn’t take enough food and were forced to go on a “diet” of sorts
-- We ran out of drinks and the water from the lake needed to be boiled
-- Inside the cabin was probably 10-15 F higher than outside (making boiling water unappealing)
-- The bear decided to take a nap on the short path to the shit pit and so I couldn’t go to the bathroom for a short while (and I really needed to!)
-- The lake was so low that we had to row the boat in spots when normally you can just motor around the lake at whim
-- There were many, many leaches in the water so we didn’t want to go swimming (technically we “could” but who would?)
-- The mosquitoes were like something out of a Steven King or Hitchcock story (they would literally swarm you if you tried to go to the outhouse after dusk)

I would definitely go again. However, next time I would certainly like to see some changes made to the way things are done. First, I do not want to go the first week or two of July – too HOT! I would much prefer May or Sept. Second, screw the weight limit per person. I am bringing a ton more beverages and fresh food. Okay, not literally a “ton” but you know what I mean.

And a look back...

The Cat In The Box

First - so sorry to any readers who may have been stopping by to check for an update. Lots of Canada fun but that has left little time for blog updates.

Now, for the blog entry of the day... THE CAT IN THE BOX.

So, it happened. We got a cat. That’s right. A furry, live animal… and he doesn’t like the car.

It started innocently enough. The bf and I had been talking about getting a cat for a while. We wanted to wait until I was around so that I could “share” in kitty time. Well, this little vacation I have been on for seven weeks seemed the perfect opportunity.

We decided we wanted to rescue an animal from the shelter rather than spending big bucks on a pedigree cat or buying one from a store where, frankly, I have heard bad things about the way they are raised. Only bred for profit, mutts, and fairly expensive given what you get.

We went to the shelter and found out that kittens are very highly sought after. There were none left the day we went. I was in love with this older cat (2 yr) that had a poodle cut (due to matting of his hair on his arrival). I couldn’t convince the bf on getting a full grown cat. I didn’t know it but he had his heart set on a kitten. Well, who am I to say no, right?

The next day we went back right when the humane society opened and grabbed a cat to meet. We had scoped out the offerings the night before on the web (they are nice enough to update it nightly). His name was Scottie. Yes, I think it was love at first sight. An hour later and we were the proud owners of a cute little kitten. Actually, it’s the bf’s cat officially (paperwork has his name everywhere).

Now, maybe a little background on the kitten. He was 2.5 months when we adopted him. When we first went into the cat cage area, he was there with his littermate Soukie. She was adorable. But, really, we thought we would just start with one kitten. That might end up being enough… He was quiet and his littermate was mewing lots. We thought we got the shy, reserved one. HA!

Here is the one we chose. Isn't he cute?






My bf picked the name and the cat will hence forth be called "Orion". Turns out this is quite an appropriate name. He "hunts" all the f**king time. He is definitely our little hunter. There is one place, however, that Orion is not at all in favor of hunting: boxes. And in his short life so far he has been subjected to many boxes. I imagine he may have had these thoughts during his first three months on Earth:

Aaah, sunshine on my face. Where's mom? What are these big creatures? Aaaaah! What is this cold plastic box thing??? Why can't I get out? Man, and life was so good with my sibling. (Alas, Orion was crated in order to transport him to the pound).

Oh, they are taking me in my very small plastic box to a bigger box. Hmmm. Maybe they will let me out in the bigger box. (No such luck as this was merely a vehical for transport).

OMG!!! The big box is MOVING!!! WTF??? MEOW! Meow, meow, MEOW! Can't anyone hear me?!?

Well, he went from a metal box to a larger box (the meet and greet room for prospective adopters). Then he went back to a little metal box. After that, time was spent in a cardboard box carrier while we finished the adoption process. Once that was done it was time for the box THAT MOVES!

Eeeek! He is not a happy traveler. Cars and him do not get along at all! Yikes! We thought it was because he was distressed from moving from cage, to room, to cage, to box, to car. We were wro-ong!

Got the little guy home and promptly moved him from the little cardboard box to the larger box called the master bedroom. He was much calmer now that he had firm footing. After a day of acclimation, we decided to let him have full run of the place. Boy did he take advantage of that! I don’t think there was a corner unsniffed by the days’ end.

We gave him a few more days to get used to the place. And then…. Back in the cardboard box. And worse yet – into the box on wheels. Yes, the dreaded car. I guess this is the part of the story where we start to look like cat tormenters. We packed him up to head over the to the bf’s brothers' for an evening of visiting. Oh, and by the way, there is a 1 year old, and eight year old and a ten year old. And they ALL want to play with the kitten. Poor fella. He handled it quite well. Except for the plant eating, that is. He was petted, stroked, poked, and generally man-handled by the baby.

Not three days later and it’s back into the moving box on wheels. We had to make a follow-up vet visit. It’s paid for by the humane society if you go to a vet on their list. Of course, I did. It was uneventful but he was mewling like I was hanging him by his toes.

Maybe a week passes… and we had an incident. The bf thought that he had eaten a Tylenol caplet. For those of you who don’t know (and neither did I until this little fiasco), Tylenol is toxic to cats. Yup. 50 mg is enough to kill them. Their livers can’t metabolize the drug and so it just stays in the system shutting things down. Greeeaaat. We run over to the vet. It is worth mentioning that at this point in time the bf has had to drive back home from work and I am on crutched owing to an ankle injury which I will blog about in the future.

And running over to the vet requires, yup that’s right, a trip in the moving box on wheels… aaaaagh. He’s climbing on the ceiling. We get there and the vet comes and gives us this drawn out explanation of everything that needs to be done to treat him. He doesn’t hold back on mentioning that if he ate the 500 mg tablet and hour and half ago that he is probably toast. Okay, and if he is toast, why are we going to subject him or ourselves to $600 worth of vet care? I’m thinking, first things first, make him puke! We aren’t even sure if he ate it!

The caplets are coated and it’s a red coating. They drug him and he vomits. Poor kitten. And there is a pile, and I mean pile!, of vomit. Sure enough, no caplet. In fact, no residual red coloring either! Yeah, so he didn’t eat the caplet. That’s good news. And the drug that makes him vomit is a tranquilizer so we should be able to get him home without too much more trauma. Hardy har har. Guess the joke is on us. When we leave the vet, he has that limp, dead cat thing going on. We start up the car. MEOW! LET ME OUT OF THE FUCKING MOVING BOX! He meows the ENTIRE way home. He’s been tranquilized. The car upsets him so much that he is fighting it in order to jump around the car meowing. Sigh.

We get home and he sleeps for about seven hours straight.

Fast forward about three weeks. We are going to Canmore and Calgary for four days for a mini-holiday and family wedding. Unfortunately, that means that the most responsible people that the bf knows are going too. Hmmm. Problem… who is going to take care of the cat? We ask a friend but both of us are a little worried that we could come home to a cat who is starving for food and attention. Well, it has been three weeks. Maybe he will be able to travel in a travel case. We always were on short trips with lots of starting and stopping. Whenever I have traveled with cats, when you go a constant speed (freeway) then the cat eventually calms down and often sleeps.

You know where this is going. Yup, all the way to Calgary (three hours) and then out to Canmore (another 1.5 hours)…. Meow, meow, meow, meow, meow, meeeeeooooow, mew, mew, mew, meow, meow, meow and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and well, you get the picture.

He was okay at Canmore. He is fearless. He was running around like he owned the place before exploring cautiously. I imagine, he was just so relieved to get out of the car that it didn’t matter what he was running into. A new box but oh, so much bigger.

Sigh. We are back in the moving box with wheels now for the trip to Calgary from Canmore. Now we are heading back to Calgary for the wedding (and hotel room). We needed to stop by the bf’s friends’ place so we could drop off the condo keys. Suffice to say, he was not happy during any part of the drive over. At the friends’ he was feeling tormented by their dogs and cat. Then he was feeling a little claustrophobic in the hotel room. He spent a great majority of his time looking out the window meowing or standing at the door meowing. He even managed to escape once into the hall while I was coming in the room.

After the wedding we were stopping by some relatives for a BBQ the next day. That meant that the kitten was going to have to chill in his carrier for an hour or so while we made necessary polite chit chat and appearance. We left the windows cracked open (four of them) and had him is his carrier with his harness on (for his leash when we walk him outside). An hour later… no cat!!!! WTF!?!?!? Hey, I hear jingling. OMG! He was in the neighbor’s lawn by the car. He escaped! I have to say… not only to we have a little hunter on our hands; his side job is Houdini impersonator. Thank goodness for the bell on the harness. I guess this means we will definitely need to make alternative plans for him the next time we travel.

The surprise happy ending to this story… he actually had moments of quiet when we drove back to the bf’s! I guess watching me sleep inspired him to take a break from the meowing. It was a brief but welcome break.

The summary of the story is our cat does not want to be in a box. Any box. Any size. Any smells. For any reason. And I didn't even get into the escape attempts that he has tried at the condo. Maybe this will get better with time but we are not counting on it. Sigh. Poor kitty.

For those of you who made it the whole way through this very long blog... here are a few more pictures of a "bigger" kitten that we took about a month after the first one.