| This is what happens... |
[Oct. 10th, 2007|08:41 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  annoyed | ] |
when you barely have any time to yourself. This particular long weekend relieved me of a chemistry lab and one class this week, so I actually have some time to post.
My 30th birthday! Nick and I celebrated in our own silly fashion. First, my one want for said birthday was to get some nice jewelery I own fixed and to finally have a wedding band. Check. I got an "eternity" band because we never really were engaged. Then, we went out to Grill 23, where Nick's new job afforded us some better seats away from the noisy front foyer. Nick also baked a cake for me, and my coworkers took me out for drinks the Friday after. It was really nice, and I was glad that it was still warm enough outside to wear dressy sandals.
Took the GRE on Monday. Are those things fixed? I swear I did horribly on the verbal (of all things!)-- I practiced for it, too. I hate standardized tests.
Church opens tomorrow-- Club side opens Friday. Come say hi to Nick if you're in town!
(this would be the job that helped us get better seats.)
Uh oh... kitty meowing at the door, looking like she's going to kill me. Better investigate! |
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| Bad Friend! No Update! |
[Jul. 6th, 2007|03:53 pm] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | woik | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  blank | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Whiskey Giants: "My Grenadine | ] |
I feel so fragmented when it comes to finding time to update. The realization that my job has "summer hours" (which I can't participate in due to my school schedule), has left me with a chance to finally update.
Biology came and went very quickly, and I was surprised with how much of the content I remembered from high school. My last proper bio class was in 1992... so that either speaks well of my memory, or of my schooling, or it's just that I'm that strange. Krebs cycle? Rockin. I aced the class. I can't remember the last time I "aced" anything. I'm still in an online psych class, which, after Psych with Trudi and Dr. Corea is a cakewalk.
Now it's time for statistics. I was a little worried, but it seems the professor thinks it's a waste of time and "precious brain cells" to teach us longhand stats equations. Bless him. Calculators and computer programs are great by me!
Nick's off to the UK for a short tour, sitting in as the bassist for the Nightingales. The In Out opened for them in Boston a few months ago; I guess the band duly impressed the 'gales, and when they found themselves in need of a touring bassist, Nick was the one they really wanted.
I'm sadly not going to be able to make the Rudds show tonight. I am going to be at the Silver Lining/Whiskey Giants/Welders show tomorrow, though!
On top of work, school, touring prep, and freelancing, I've scored a session gig today as well. No wonder I haven't been updating! Sheesh, when do I do my laundry in all of this? ;)
Besides, after a large blow-out with my doctor's old clinic (she doesn't work there anymore, and she's taking some time off), I've started seeing a Chinese MD who works in both Traditional Chinese and Western medicine. It's been lovely, actually, feeling quite a lot better just in general. He does acupuncutre (kind of goes along with the whole traditional chinese medicine thing), and it's the best deal I've had on such a thing ever. At some point, I'll go into detail with just what went down at the old place, but for now, suffice it to say that when your medical provider tells you to go off a medication you've never even heard of (and you work in health care yourself)...back....the frig....away. As quickly as you can. After all, it's you're fault they're not paying attention! Buy said idiot a copy of How Doctors Think and run away. Does a body good. |
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| Way too long, yet again... |
[Jun. 2nd, 2007|11:20 pm] |
| [ | mood |
| |  happy | ] |
The time between my posts has gotten longer and longer. I apologize! Nancy gave me a nice little nudge on myspace. Thank you for that.
I've been really busy lately. Let's see... where did I leave off?
Oh yes. Still can't really talk about work. Still enjoying it. My little group is sort of the 'ECB of the entire department (meaning: the anti-social black sheep, for those not from Emerson), but with a twist: We generate quite a large amount of cash and make investigators happy people. That's not small accomplishment, the happy. However, there's still time to take silly pictures and make Office Space jokes. My boss has a red stapler in tribute to Office Space, actually. Here's a note he left on my whiteboard. Out of context, it looks pretty neat:
I've started my first class at Simmons. It's biology. It's actually a lot of fun, and a lot of it I remember either from high school or from my health care travels. We made soap. (yes, it's related!) We're still waiting for the pH levels to come down, but when it's ready, I'll have a crapload of soap to share. It's peppermint. ;) I have my first ever online class (developmental psych) starting in a week or so, and...statistics in July.
I'm on campus a lot. Good thing it's close! The thing I'm enjoying this time around about going to school is twofold: no begging the parents to fill out the damn FAFSA already and I have a freaking clue what I want to get out of it this time. It's much easier when you have that part! I keep forgetting that my undergrad classes are women only, too. It's actually really cool, like everyone's in the classroom to focus on the subject matter. Me sitting next to someone who is nearly 10 years younger than my bad self isn't weird, either.
Went to the WECB brunch thing today, too. I think I'll split that into another post, but it was worth it. Nick's in the photo. ;)
More on that later!
TomO we NEED to hang out more! ARGH!!!! |
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| More outright theft! |
[Apr. 9th, 2007|07:11 pm] |
1. Car
Have- Zipcar, when I need one
Want- Prius. Or just to always have the Zip Prius on perma-reserve.
2. House
Have- That would imply I own the roof over my head.
Want- A cool little place wherever. There are neat JP houses and I have lots of love for Martha's Vineyard.
3. Job-
Have- Cool gig in a Pru tower
Want- to be able to talk about my day (confidentiality!)
4. Relationship-
Have – My awesome Nicky. That he continues to put up with all of my medical drama is beyond me.
Want - More time with Nick.
5. Kids-
Have- 2 black cats
Want- 2 black cats
6. Money-
Have- a goodly amount of debt
Want- to get out of debt
7. Cell Phone-
Have- Sanyo Katana
Want- iPhone, but I love my Katana
8. Cell Phone Provider-
Have- Working Assets Wireless
Want- Working Assets Wireless (Hey, I did get a choice on this one!)
9. Parents-
Have- Loads of drama and a mom who can be aggrivating, but generally cool.
Want- I haven't put "want" near "parents" since about 4th grade. I like the setup as it is.
10. Talents-
Have - Mad Vizio Skillz
Want - Control of the universe
11. Computer-
Have- Frankenstein PC; Dell laptop
Want- I'm good
12. Internet Service Provider-
Have- Juno and Verizon
Want- more stray wireless
13. Hair-
Have- thin short hair
Want- More color. I miss my streaks!
14. Eyes-
Have- green
Want- That's kinda freaky! I'll take your eyeballs, maybe?
15. Siblings-
Have- one of each.
Want- them closer. I miss the in-jokes.
16. Credit Cards-
Have- a couple.
Want- to get rid of at least one.
17. Alcohol-
Have- I'd need a spreadsheet.
Want- Offshore Inkwell Stout for this year. He hasn't brewed it yet.
18. Pets-
Have - 2 kitties- Velvet and Cleo.
Want - The same two kitties.
19. Collections-
Have - stupid amounts of music
Want - more makeup
20. Friends-
Have - A good crew, new and old.
Want - to take John and co. out to breakfast when they're here in June. |
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| Zombie Birdhouse |
[Mar. 16th, 2007|08:30 pm] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | Home | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  cold | ] |
| [ | music |
| | Easy Action: "Friends of Rock 'n' Roll" | ] |
I keep forgetting to write. I think a good number of my posts lately have been simple updates, with promises of more content that I never follow through on.
Boy, do I have content!
Still liking my job, even if I can't really talk much about what I do due to confidentiality agreements. This makes loads of sense, considering I'm dealing with clinical trials and petitioning peeps for things. Well, I don't petition Peeps. Sometimes it would be more preferable, certainly. I do have David Bowie hanging up in my corner I've been playing with Visio a lot lately, and I am now the Flow Chart Queen. Watch me flow! It's a nice, laid-back environment, where if the bus makes you late, whatever. It's a lovely change, and I think I have the chance to get some extra money in the ol' paycheck after my "probationary" period is over in a few weeks. Fingers are crossed!
I got accepted as a Dorthea Dix scholar at Simmons college. This summer and fall, I'll be "non-degree" (read: catching up on math and science classes), attempting to get into the degree seeking thang in January. The idea here is that I'll be able to see if I want to go back to school in the first place, and get into a good position for their Nurse Practitioner program. Technically, it's a second Bachelor's degree to start out with for me, but get this: Simmons will transfer up to 80 credits from your first degree if it meets their criteria. I was doubtful that Voice and Articulation would count for anything, but apparently, it did: I got the maximum amount of "rollover" credits, effectively making me a "junior" in May. This is great, it means that I'll just need to do the courses for what I want to study, and will never have to take an essay writing class again. I am crossing my fingers about the courses I'll be able to enroll in, as well as my FAFSA (dear god, give me financial aid). If nothing else, I'll have tuition reimbursement. Yay.
Anne also made a prediction at her wedding: that I'd be the next one hitched.
She was right.
Techinically, we already signed all of the papers, and had a Justice of the Peace make it nice and legal (and Redbones, of all places!). I just couldn't, when it came time to actually say something, tell my mom that she'd missed out. She'd tell my grandparents. And my aunt. And my dad. So I altered the truth. I told her that we hadn't picked out any sort of bands (we haven't) and that we haven't made any plans regarding ceremony, etc (again, true). I told her we want it private, and we'll party with everyone later.
I neglected to mention that it was already past tense. She's all excited, and so is my grandmother. I would have told her the reality, but with my grandfather still recovering from not one, but two heart surgeries, well... you can probably understand why I didn't want to be the person who pushed the ol' Navy man into the grave. Granted, she has been rather cool about things, like me telling her that no, I'm not changing my name (way too complicated for work), no one is giving me away, and I'm not so sure about inviting my dad to anything. She's good for playing devil's advocate, but she stated that it's always better to invite people you know won't show up-- that way, they can't use not being invited as an excuse to be mad with you.
Nick's parents don't know. Nor will they.
So, my mom's ideas for a ceremony actually were pretty good: have something quick and small at the house, then go somewhere and "get shitfaced" (her words). I figure we could turn it into a small ring ceremony, overseen by a friend of ours who is a Pagan priest. Then, of course, party. Food. Drinking. Repeat. Any ideas? I know I've kind of talked myself into a corner with what I told her, but I knew she'd want to know. She likes Nick! Rest assured, the part WILL happen. We want to save some ca$h up, find a good spot, and figure out some good food. Maybe we should ask Chef Mike from the Linwood? He'd be a lot of fun to have...
And, in light of all of this, the new Stooges record still sucks. He...he sings about an ATM. Whaaah... I.. I'm gonna throw this bust of Van Buren at him! |
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| Because it's fun... |
[Feb. 11th, 2007|10:31 pm] |
Here's a flyer for the next In Out show by yours truly:
 |
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| All new, all the time |
[Jan. 31st, 2007|09:39 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | updates | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  busy | ] |
| [ | music |
| | John Cale- "Perfect" | ] |
I can't remember when my last update was, but I know it was a few weeks ago. I know this because I'm still taking classes at work to be able to do my job, and that's been a slow process. Not because of a learning deficiency on my part, but because you get scheduled when there's room. I can now make sure you get your paycheck every week, thanks to the interweb.
Other than that, it's been a little chaotic at the new job. This is really only due to the fact that we went from working by the Ramrod to being held in the warm consumer bosom of the Prudential Center. I have to walk by 3 shoe stores to get to my office tower. Every one is having a sale right now. I need shoes. This is torture.
My office is actually really nice, despite the fact that I got a cube for some reason (I'm going to go ahead and say that it was seniority-based). I've got a view of Shaw's and the Colonnade from my little part of the universe (not that I sit in one place long enough to appreciate it). I can make my way around the office space making coffee in one of those little pod things until my face falls off. My days go by quite quickly, and I really do feel like I do something that's worthwhile these days. I'm the last stop on a lot of important research, and when I realized that, I was kind of floored. I like what I do and who I work with, and I am finally getting paid something close to what I am worth.
I'm still looking at school. I've got a meeting with an application person from Simmons. In the mean time, I'm eyeing a part time Master's Degree with MGH. That could be extraordinarily cheap... and build-on-able, should I want to go on from there. That might be the way to go... who knows? It's a Masters in Clinical Research, by the way. If I wanted to go back (again) for NP schooling, I could transfer some of those credits off to that. We'll see... |
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| Christmas at the airport |
[Dec. 26th, 2006|04:49 pm] |
Yup, I worked on Christmas. This was just fine with me, my only thing being that I would have rather have spent a day lounging around the house with Nick and the cats, but I'll get that later in the week.
Working on Christmas was strange. First of all, there was just the absolute bottom-of-the barrel flotsam flying out that day. Many of them would actually admonish those of us who were working for not saying "Merry Chistmas."
I kid you not.
One of my coworkers was appalled by that. "I'm supposed to dress up like Santa, too, maybe? Today is a workday for me, it's no different than any other. Glad you have the day off."
I told him he should say he's not saying that crap because James Brown died. He actually did that to a few people.
Christmas Jerk: Well, say Merry Christmas or something.
Coworker: ::blinks:: uh.... y'know James Brown just died, right?
CJ: :looks around::
Coworker: It's just not very merry, is all. Where are you going today?
You know how many times I heard "But... it's CHRISTMAS?!?!?" yesterday? I'm sorry. A holiday does not mean we'll hold a plane for HOURS for you, because you just could NOT tear your fat ass away from whatever it was you were doing to make it to the airport on time.
Sigh... only a few more days left of this, and then it's a distant memory.
I can honestly say that I understand why so many other countries don't like us. Judging just by the people who seem to careen onto airplanes, good god. They're our representatives abroad. All that whining. All that trash. I hate to say that, but even when my family was at its poorest, we were taught one thing:
the amount of money in your wallet should not reflect on how graceful, tactful and appropriate you are. In other words: money doesn't make you classy.
I am exhausted. I haven't done a thing all day. That new job can't come quickly enough. |
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| Out of the air... |
[Dec. 21st, 2006|05:41 pm] |
| [ | Tags | | | jobs | ] |
| [ | Current Location |
| | home | ] |
| [ | mood |
| |  accomplished | ] |
and into Corporate Sponsored Clinical Research for me.
In two weeks, I move jobs (again) and will be working for Partners Healthcare helping behind the scenes with clinical trials.
WOOOOOOOOOOOOT!
My mother is upset that I accepted the position at a salary she didn't approve of (she wanted me to get... wait for it... $50,000/yr for an admin job... in research, where I have 0 experience). That's the only downside. My mom's not going to let me hear the end of this.
Oh well. No more 2 hour round trip commute.
I'll be working across the street from the Ramrod, near the old 'BCN building. :) |
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