New Car!

I got a new car. Its fantastic. I won't bore you with the details like I usually do, but in essence it is fast, and that is all I can think of. Its a cool little car. Pictures are on Facebook for anyone who is interested. Or you can wikipedia Honda S2000 and the main picture is pretty much what I am driving now. I still can't believe it honestly. I should have posted about the epic adventure that it took to get it, but it was kind of a painful experience and I don't like to drag up the past.

New car!!!

On working with radiation

Today I started using radioactive labels in the lab. It's a little unnerving at first, because your only defense against exposure is to literally hide from it. I'm not even kidding. It's not like a bad smell which maybe, if you're lucky, will waft the other way. This stuff travels in straight lines in every direction. You work with a Geiger counter next to you which emits infrequent blips, until you open up the container of pure radiolabeled material. Now the counter is making a sound that necessitates the lab phrase "screaming hot" (where 'hot' is slang for 'radioactive'). So that's cool.

I guess it's nice that there's a plexiglass shield that I work behind to keep it from irradiating me. But then you realize that the person you're talking to from the lab down the hall has actually positioned themselves with a steel filing cabinet between the two of you, so you start second-guessing how safe you really are. Every blip on the Geiger counter becomes an immediate concern. When moving things about the lab, the plexiglass shield has a little shelf so you can carry stuff around without taking it from behind the shield. I catch myself "pointing" the shield away from people (because it has no back to speak of), but then I realize it's nearly pointless because radiation goes in every direction. It peters out at certain distance, but who wants to be Bubble Boy?

I suppose it's just something I'll have to adjust to. There's a whole new set of precautions to take, which I admit does give me plenty of opportunities to wear my semi-tinted, semi-reflective safety glasses. And I have plenty of bench space to myself now, because no one wants to cozy up to the guy whose samples are radioactive. Oh well, gotta take the good with the questionably unhealthy every now and then.

Weekend goal...

So Adam is coming to Chicago this weekend. My goal is to produce something blog worthy out of that weekend - I feel like it will involve a lot of alcohol to reach that goal. Nothing I can't handle though.

Smola knows my other goal for the weekend. I'll see if that comes true as well or not.

Yeah for fun!

One Step Closer

I went to a used car dealership last week and spent some time talking with them about what I am looking for in a car. Like exactly what make, model, year range and colors I would like. I also filled out a financing form, so I can get a jump on approval for when the right car does come in.

The guy who owns the place goes to wholesale auctions all the time so I may have the right car in a few days or a week or two. I am hoping sooner. They are pretty cruel if they don't find me one I can afford soon. Two days after I went in, they got the car I want, only newer and with less miles than I can afford. Called me up and said I could come in and take a look at it. I appreciate the test drive, but I would really like one in my price range. Guess the fingers are still crossed.

My apartment has no AC

Okay, so the apartment I live in now has no AC...and will not for the entire summer. I'm thinking of also cutting my cable and internet just to throw back to APT 212. Thoughts? I think overall I will drink a lot more if that is the case. Maybe that is why we drank so much that summer or at least it was a good excuse to do so.

Anyways I'm feeling nostalgic for all that. Next Food Network Star starts June 5th. I need that in my life.

Peace out!

I Hate Car Shopping

Want to hear a funny story? Too bad, I'm going to tell you about whatever I feel like so read on and shut up. I have been looking for a new car. I found one pretty close that seemed quite cheap. I got a carfax and it turns out that the car had a salvaged title. This could mean a bunch of stuff so I called my insurance guy to see what he thought of the situation. He said he could at least find out if the car was totaled out because of comprehensive or collision. He called back a while later with some interesting news. The car is currently at a dealership in Michigan. Less than two months ago, it took a dive off a road in West Virginia ruining just about everything on the exterior of the car. The front end was torn up, the back end was torn up, the underside was ruined, the windshield was trashed. The car was totaled out just from the damage that was immediately obvious without any tear down that could have revealed more damage. The total was over 17 thousand dollars. I think I am going to have to pass on this one. There is no way everything was repaired properly if the people selling it are still going to make money.

Warm weather

Hi. It's finally warm out. I can go outside and not freeze my ass off. It's still chilly sometimes.

I want to drink outside.

I hope I can do that in the next few weeks.

You can't give me heck for not writing when no one has

Geeze Matt, I tried to get you to write posts so that I was not the only one writing regularly. You can't give me heck when no one has written anything in weeks. I was really hoping to have some new material to read. Oh well.

In other news, I am going to Ireland this summer. Too bad I have not been there yet or I might have more to say about it.

I got a new phone a few weeks back. Went with the new iPhone. It is pretty amazing. I often forget that it is a phone when I am using it for other things.

Hope you are happy Matt.

Chicago Green Beer Day

Okay so the last few days have been a bummer thinking about not being in Oxford for GBD, not getting the week off for Spring Break and the weather being really crumby in Chi-town. To make up for it the large gathering of Miamians in Chicago gives birth to Chicago GBD last Saturday. While you did have to buy a ticket, the event and the gathering overall was well worth it and just what I needed. 900 drunken people, open bar and drinking at 10AM was the perfect remedy to everything.

We started the day at 8AM for breakfast at my friend's apartment (and lots of drinking) and then heading to the bar for the open bar. The second we went outside shit got real and the trip to the bar was difficult enough. We then engaged in 4 hours of unlimited drinking. The bar was dark and disorienting and by the end of it I honestly had no idea if it was 2PM or 2AM (hint it was 2PM). The entire group got separated and myself, my roommate and another Miami grad ended up in one of those really nice car dealerships that are all inside and such. Shockingly and we still don't know how none of us got arrested or yelled out, so WIN! Then we all got separated, I got lost and ended up falling asleep on the train. But I made it home somehow.

We had plans to go out later - that didn't happen as everyone spent their entire day on a couch or in a bed somewhere. Oh well, here's to another successful GBD!

Peace out!

Overtime

I have a job. This job pays me money. That is pretty much the only reason I have this job. I hesitate to say it is a bad job, but when I think of a day at work, what comes to mind is a mix of frustration and boredom.

The frustration can't be helped. It comes with the use of a highly complex precision machine that is loaded up with ink and oil. Both of these liquids routinely get all over my hands, shoes, and pretty much everything else. I also get to use isopropyl alcohol, heptane, and some concoction that magically lets the ink stick to things it would otherwise not. I don't even want to know what it actually is.

The boredom is worse. At least frustration means something is going on. But when I get a long job up and running, I may be sitting there for an hour or five doing next to nothing. And its not going to get any better. The company is starting to get busy. This means that we are starting to have mandatory overtime almost every day. One of the guys I work with was telling me that up until about two months ago, they were working 55-60 hours per week. That is a lot of printing.

Long story short, I am going to have lots of money to spend but no time to spend it. I am considering getting myself a phone with internet capabilities. Kill two birds with one stone. Alleviate the boredom and spend some money.

Double Stuf

Each time I go to the grocery store (the 'Hairy Teet' or Food Lion, doesn't matter), I inevitably happen upon the "Snack" aisle. Among other things, this little lane of heaven includes several shelves stacked with Double-Stuf Oreos. This is what goes through my mind.

"Just keep moving. Don't stop."

"...but I'll be good this time. I'll use discretion and restraint."

"No you won't."

"...well, I'll limit myself to 3 at a time."

"No you won't."

"...what if I get the reduced fat version?"

"That's a silly idea and you know it."

"Fine. I'm going for the Double-Stuf."

"Can't wait to say 'told you so.'"

I'm sure that passers-by are astounded by how long a guy can stare at shelves full of cookies with a look of deep contemplation, but I'm serious here. It happens.

In other news, it snowed last night. There was a dusting on my car. Now it's 50 degrees outside. Not complaining.

Currently Listening to: "I'm on a Boat" -- The Lonely Island

lots of snow

So we were supposed to get a huge storm last week. It hammered everyone around where I live, but we got basically nothing. In fact, the wind was blowing in the opposite direction of how the storm was moving. Kinda strange. So there was a big deal made of what turned out to be nothing. Then a few days later, I wake up and there its a blizzard! We got like 6 inches in a few hours and I heard nothing about it. The weather people around here are useless.

In more exciting news, I decided I want to get a new car. More on that later.

SNOW DAY!

There was a blizzard. Work was closed because it was so dangerous out. With the high winds this is true. Chicago is kind of a mess. The waves in the lake are frozen. This is great. I will update this with pictures soon.

I turned 23...

So I turned 23 last weekend. Hooray. Yeah. Whatever. It was fun. I blacked out - that was kind of my goal. It had been awhile since I had gotten that drunk and the birthday seemed like a good excuse to do so. I was still not that drunk at 12:30AM, so the fact that I pulled it off was pretty amazing to me and how it happened is a complete mystery - but can most likely be tied to several shots I drank. I woke up the next morning at 1:45PM. I showered, I moved to the couch and proceed to sleep until 5PM.

So overall a good weekend. Even though it lacked Eric yelling at us for not drinking enough, Smola getting drunk way before me (he's a huge lightweight in this scenario and real life) and Mike going to bed at 10PM, I made due.

That is all. It is Thursday. I had 2 beers. I wish I was heading Uptown right now. Instead I have work tomorrow and I am in Chicago, both of which make that wish difficult to accomplish. Sadness. Oh well.

Peace out!

Currently listening to: The Club Can't Handle Me by Flo Rida

I'll Never Forget My First Time

Can't remember the last time I was the one making consecutive posts here, but hey, look at that.

Not much new in terms of grad school and such. Life is good, a little cold, but not as cold as back home so that's great. I thought I was going to miss the winter and the snow, but with a few days in the 50's and 60's, you change your mind quickly. Now I'm ready for spring.

Here's an interesting story. A week or so ago I was pulling into the grocery store (Harris Teeter, or Harry Teet for short) and noticed that the cars weren't really moving. As I turn into the drive, I see why: two blind people complete with guide dogs are walking down the middle of the driveway, between the opposing lanes of traffic. They are a car-length away from me, heading my way. I come to a complete stop so as to not whack 'em or hurt their dogs. At this point I know the inevitable: the woman is going to strike my car, specifically my side-view mirror, about 18 inches from my face. THUD. It was literally the blind leading the blind. I couldn't help but laugh and feel a little bad.

Here's the kicker: this is not the first time I've been in a car and experienced a "blindstrike." It happened once when I was visiting UW-Madison last spring. Only that time there were more of us in the car and the blind person walked straight into the driver's side door. I'm sure they heard us laughing. I think twice in one year is pretty spectacular.

On another note, I just got back from dinner at a place called Solas, in Raleigh. This week is the semi-annual Triangle Restaurant Week, where the who's who of restaurants in the area offer an appetizer, entree, and dessert for $30. I had lobster bisque, filet minon, and a chocolate torte....it was fantastic. And by "fantastic," I mean "foodgasmic."

So there's that.

Currently listening to: Hollywood by Michael Bubble.

Chew on This

Yeah yeah it's been a while. Unless you're Eric, you can't really point a finger at anyone for not blogging in a while. In other words, settle down, Forrest.

If it's really been a month or two since I last posted, then here are some updates:

1.) Passed all my classes last semester.

2.) Had a great time in Oxford for a couple days before I went home. Made great choices, etc.

3.) Spent two weeks at home, doing next to nothing.

4.) Chicago.

5.) 15 hours is a long time to spend driving.

In other news, Chapel Hill got some freezing rain Monday night, which left everything covered in ice. Even the roads. I don't know that I've ever before seen a solid sheet of ice extend down a 4-lane highway before. It just doesn't happen in Ohio (read: prevention). Needless to say, we had some classes cancelled yesterday morning. The best part is that they cancelled Monday evening and Tuesday morning classes before there were even clouds in the sky or flakes in the air Monday afternoon. So I slept in yesterday.

I've gotten back to running since I came back to NC. Some sort of knee malady had made it kneerly (ha!) impossible to run since early October, so I decided to rest until after Christmas, then give it a shot. It seems that things are going smoothly for now. I'm looking to run a 10 mile race in March, and a friend of mine is trying to convince me to do the Krispy Kreme Challenge (https://krispykremechallenge.worldsecuresystems.com/index.html) in February. I like donuts, but I don't know if I like them that much. I'll keep you posted. Check back in a few months.

All in all, life in NC is going well, although I do have the occasional yearning for Oxford. I'll probably be alright for a while since I was able to get back there before Christmas. I got to meet Mike's dog, whose name I already forgot. Needless to say, it's a perfect match for Mike.

Also, congrats to Eric on getting a job. Gotta start somewhere, you can only go up from here.

Mike

I hear Mike got a dog and a cat, but he still has nothing to blog about? I think he should stop watching so much football and tend to a neglected blog.

50% missing

Smola has been gone from this thing since November and I can't even go back far enough to find Mike. When was the last time we think he visited this blog? Hmmmm just thoughts. Blog something. Anything. Maybe? Oh well.

I have money

Its a new feeling for me. I have a job that is mediocre at best, but it still supplies me with a steady stream of income. I have not had that ever really. So I decided I can buy stuff now. First: shoes. I have needed some new sneakers for years. I can't wait until they get here. I found the biggest picture I could. Enjoy. I also bought some new sunglasses and I hope they fit the way I like. They were pretty cheap though, so it won't be a big loss. At least they should stop me entertaining the idea of buy $150 Oakleys for a while.

I need a drink....

Nope that's really about it. And well maybe someone to drink with so I wont be an alcoholic.

I would also like it to be warm out and sunny. Things seem better that way and drinks are definitely better then. It's also not that hard to work a 40 hour week when that is the case.

In fact I really wouldn't mind moving back into a crappy apartment in Oxford. Yup I think that's the main one. 

APT 212 here's to you.

Currently listening to: silence