Camping at Colorado Bend

I still think you people have WAY too much time on your hands, but the Cow is a funny read if nothing else.


The weather was pretty and we had quite a lover-ly time. Hey, maybe if you guys all move closer to Houston, we can go camping. Hint, hint. :)


Here's a link to the pics.

That's so something I would do....

Yesterday morning, got to work, threw on my jacket and walked into the building.
Said mornin to the security guard, hopped in the elevator and chatted with the people on there about my new job and how I now work on the second floor instead of the third (people I don't even know are pushing the third floor button when they see me, I guess I just look like a newsroom type of person...you know, disheveled.....). Well, I get up to my desk, and realize that my jacket is on inside out. Nice.
Yeah, way to look cool in front of your new co-workers.

Another unrelated but amusing elevator story: For a few weeks, Nathan would cook us this big breakfast in the mornings. Which was great, but I ended up smelling like onions and fried sweet potato all day because the smell would get into my clothes, and I was pretty self-conscious about it because I could smell it but I wasn't sure if anyone else could.
Well, on one of these mornings, I was riding on the elevator with this guy I had seen a few times but never officially met. And I was carrying my lunch of something very unfragrant, like salad. He said, "Something smells good, is that your lunch?"
And I said, "No, I think it's my breakfast..." and he looked a little confused and somewhat disgusted.
And I realized I should have just said, "Yes, yes it is."

Headed Out the Door

We're headed out to Colorodo Bend State Park for some primitive camping. Since I'm killing time waiting on the wife to pack her gear, I decided to post. The weather should be good, so I'll post some pictures after we get back. We had decided during the fall that we should get out and camp more. This will be trip number three, and we hope to make one more before the summer arrives.

No news is good news

Well, I've landed this new job.
It's for a weekly magazine that's just starting up.
I remember at Christmastime, Charity and Nich said I should write more. Because they like the way I tell stories or something like that. Except I think they meant in a scientific freelancing way ...
Basically I'm the assistant editor of this magazine that's brand new. So, I get to set the tone -- which will be 'have fun' -- and the humor.
I'm hoping to go for 'The Daily Show' type intelligent humor. (Easy on the fart jokes in other words..)

So far, this is basically my dream job.
One of my first tasks is to scope out a band for the launch party. Seriously.

Once we get a website up and running, I'll send you guys the link. All the staff members will have blogs. (ack! another blog!)
And I have a few pretty cool story ideas already lined up. I would be more specific, but I don't want to give away too many details, since it's still in the planning stages and has kind of caused a stir here in Tiny Pebble.
More on this later.

The Blues Box

We interviewed an Animal Physiologist from LSU for a position here two weeks ago. He tells me that Tabby got into some bad health and the blues box shut down. That is sad. I am glad I experienced that landmark just once.

I don't think she means Earl Grey

Well, to help alleviate Nich's boredom... I've got a story.

My boss is easily amused and has no shame.
And the server was down at work and he came to sit next to me and talk for minute. We started talking about slang and he told me he saw a woman driving the other day with a license plate that said "teabag" and he wondered what it meant.
Loudly.
In our very open newsroom.
Among curious journalists who all eavesdrop (it's practically part of the job description...but I digress)

"Maybe she's from England. Or maybe she just really likes tea," he wondered while I giggled to myself and turnred a few shades of red.
I said, "No, I doubt it. It's a euphemism."
"What does it mean?"

I wasn't about to tell him out loud what it meant. So, we looked it up on the urban dictionary and once he read what it meant, he laughed and laughed.
And then because he's gay he said, "Well, that doesn't sound so bad..."

Workday Walkthrough

Well. I am here working hard. I have hundreds and peices of folded filter paper with dried fungal bio-nasty on the inside that must be weighed. It takes nearly 2 minutes for each one to finally stabilize on the balance so leaves a lot of time to blog....

This past week I left a note saying that I needed the sterile environment for a couple of hours. I was later confronted by a newbie undergraduate stating that he would be using the space during this time becuase his research was time sensitive and he had posted his work schedule on the white board. I at that point politely explained that everyone's work was "time sensitive." I continued that just becuase he posted a schedule, it was in no way a method to pull rank to get resources. He stated reluctantly that he wouldnt mind coming in late that day to get his stuff done. That is the first time I have ever wanted to spank someone in public in a non-sexual manner. I "reserved" the hood again today during his "scheduled" work time... and I brought the paddle!

All that to say, you folks should try to post more to appease my boredom. Nothing undoable--maybe 2-3 posts per day tops.

Not the first cow to be easy...

You think you have something original and then during a boring night's googling you come up with this.

Guild Wars

You folks remember back in the day when we played LAN Diablo? Great fun, eh? I have just recently tried out Guild Wars. There seems to be a possibility for such interaction on a stable Network for us, if anyone is interested. It is different from most MMORPG in that quests can be completed in short time periods, like an hour or so, and one can take his character into this game world without worrying about some jackass killing it and taking the gold peices. Check out the website and see if you may be interested in starting up a thursday night game.

Prelims, the sequel

In short, I passed. The decision was unanimous, but it took nearly five hours from start to finish.... That could be some sort of prelimenary exam record. I revieved comments varying from "[He] is confident and very articulate about the subject matter." to " [He] has areas of deficiency in his breadth of knowledge."

I think that the areas of deficiency were a major concern for the committee, as they each offered me up thier favorite text book to study for my defense in December, indicating that not only will I be defending my thesis at that point, but my breadth of biology knowledge as well.

They also suggested that I become an instructor here for a semester before I leave to determine that it is definately my career of choice. We will see next week if that is a possibility or how it will affect my timeline of getting the hell out of this putrid state.

To summarize, I am a Doctoral Candidate at a World Class research University... what else is there to say.

Just for shiznits and gizziggles

Have you seen this web site?
http://www.gizoogle.com/
It translates web pages into "Snoop Speak."
It's hizzalarious.

Try translating our blog....

Funny and frightening

We just watched this Mike Judge movie called Idiocracy. It's supposed to be funny, but Nathan and I just found ourselves going "Holy hell, could that happen!?!?" Seeing as how genetics, biology and math play a large role in the plot, you guys might find it interesting. Or maybe you've already seen it. Let me know if you have.
Wow. Just wow.

If Netscape is shite...

... Then what sort of bodily excrement is IE?

I suppose you would tell me that I should use Safari for OS X... but wait then I would actually have to use a machine that would run OS X. Speaking of OS, any of you running VISTA yet? We dont here becuase my work network doesnt support it (and it doesnt support hardly any programs that arent microsoft in origin).

I am getting frustrated with netscape, though. There hasnt been a support update for it in quite a while and it is starting to act buggy... I love the features it offers! The autofill, the opening of tabs to a webpage and not a screen that says "hey stupid, you managed to open a new tab all by yourself," the google search tools and other features of the UI... .

As far as browsers go, what do you folks prefer?

Medival II Hotseat

Hey nate,

When the next patch for MIITW comes out, which should be soon, the game will support hotseat play. This is essentially a way to multiplayer campaign mode, except that you cannot fight battles between humans players. You interested in playing?