Fish · are · friends, · not · food.

Dear Sir,
Please try to make sure that you actually *know* how many bedrooms a house has before listing it. Because, really, you look pretty bad when the inspection reveals that a room listed as a bedroom is not legally a bedroom at all. That's called "Material Misrepresentation," or possibly even "Fraud." And then your buyers will cancel their contract, no matter how much you urge them not to bring lawyers into it, or claim that you can work things out. Also, if you slip a two day deadline for contract termination into the contract, do not be surprised if your buyers won't take time to talk to you for days before cancelling it; they won't have time to do so, what with talking to their lawyer and all. I would imagine that this turn of events will make your client rather unkindly disposed towards you.

Just because buyers are young doesn't mean they are complete idiots. Really. And if you do this kind of crap, buyers will turn into, well, not buyers.


Kaithanxbye.

Bad: computer acting funny.

Ok: New Intel security update pops up when computer is restarted.

Very bad: after installation of new updates, computer won't boot.

Good: computer boots to install disk, runs diagnostic, says hard drive is fixed.

Very very bad: When computer is restarted it says something with the words "kernal" and "panic."

Downright sucky: warranty probably expired this week.

Very very good: Husband advised on how to backup data before taking to tech support.

Ok: University tech support guy is able to do an "archive and reinstall" process to reinstall Mac OS X without losing data.

Very bad: after reinstalling operating system, computer still won't boot.

Even worse: tech guy decides to keep computer over weekend, wipe *everything* from the computer and reinstall *everything* from scratch.

Not getting any better here: problem is probably a hardware defect. Warranty probably expired this week.

Worstest of worses: Huge seminar presentation on upcoming Wednesday. First draft of grant proposal for PhD qualifying exam due on the same.


Why Friday? Why can't these things ever happen on a Tuesday???

Gah. I never get any work done on Fridays. Why? Because all my work is under time pressure, generally. Like, you have to purify a protein in under a week. This means that starting something on Friday, unless you want to come in every day over the weekend (I don't, generally) is a bad idea. So I'm looking at blogs and cat pictures, and the guy behind me is watching the France vs. Netherlands soccer/football game, and it's just not that productive.

Anyway...the guy watching the soccer games is pretty funny. Every now and then he cheers or boos, and we all jump, 'cause, you know, he's wearing headphones, so we don't know what he is cheering about. Is funny. What's not so funny is that it seems like every other time I turn around there's some poor footballer with blood streaming down his face. Not so nice. And that whole head-butting thing? Not so much, thanks.

Side rant: why oh why oh why do I have to be *this* pale? I get sunburned walking to school even though I am wearing SPF 70 sunblock. In Vermont. That's just wrong, man.

or not. I am caving to the trend of posting gratuitous funny cat pictures. Because these made me giggle, that's why. And I'm too lazy to figure out how to post pics of my own cats.


more cat pictures



In other news, the qualifying exam, it stinketh. This whole "write a grant and defend it idea?" Yeah, I thought it wouldn't be so bad. I can write. *Shows GRE scores proudly in support of this claim* I have a minor in English. I wrote a who-knows-how-long master's thesis complete with pretty pictures (well, of lymphocyte homing, you take what pretty you can get). I can write fiction. However, I cannot, apparently, write a dinky ten page proposal. Why, you ask? I have no idea. *headdesk* I haven't had to worry about actually filling up pages in who knows how long. Why? Why? Why?

Oh, right...because it's mind-numbingly boring, that's why.

So...we only had half twisters, in the end. But, hey, a chance to skive (how do you spell that? My Irish housemate didn't even know) off work? Not too bad. There are some pretty nifty pictures of the half-tornado thingys, though. But, to make up for it, the thunderstorm had such incredible wind that it slammed one our ground-level windows shut so hard that the glass shattered. Our cats were fascinated by this new and interesting pattern of glass. It doesn't take much to fascinate a cat, but this time I think they were ruminating on the possibility of their escaping from the house via the broken window. (They aren't allowed outside because last time we let them out one of them got hit by a car or stomped by a cow or something. Only in Vermont would those possibilities be equally likely. She's fine now, but we're not so keen on paying more vet bills, so in they stay for the nonce).

Finally got student financial services to waive the late fee. Thought (oh so foolishly, as it turns out) that, since THEY owe ME money now I could register. Ha! I clearly do not understand the system. I had a hold put on my account because my account had a credit. Right. I can't register for classes because the University owes me money. That makes sense.

Luckily when I called I had no trouble getting the hold removed, but still...come on people.

August 2007: paid partial fee for tuition after student financial services (SFS) sent an urgent email telling me that it was due *right now* (which turned out to be untrue).

August 2007: Found out that I had won a grant that paid my tuition directly (as opposed to me being paid extra from my boss' grant and then paying my tuition from that like most students).

August 2007: Contacted SFS. They told me that they would send me a check for the fees that I had paid once my grant paid them.

September 2007: $430.00 deducted from credit on my account to pay for ridiculous comprehensive fee. ~$600.00 remains owed to me.

September or October 2007: Tuition fee paid in full by Cancer Biology Training Grant. No check sent.

February 2008: Receive email telling me I owe a $200.00 late fee for not paying tuition. (Which I don't pay, remember?)

February 2008: Sent email to SFS, reminding them that I do not pay tuition, and that they should be pestering the College of Medicine.

February 2008: Received unsympathetic email saying that I still owe a late fee, too bad for me.

April 2008: Cancer Biology Training Grant pays my tuition three months late. Pays late fee.

April 2008: New, totally mysterious charge appears on my account with no explanation. Says I owe $81.00.

May 2008: Charge not resolved (remember, they owed me $600.00 at the beginning of this semester. Even with another comprehensive fee taken out, this leaves ~$150.00 owed TO me).

May 2008: Sent email asking for explanation...expect resolution in 2009, if lucky.

I'm alive, really I am. This whole grad school thing sucks up all my time, though. That plus I have nothing interesting to report...I mean, the most exciting thing I've done in the last month was plant spinach, chard, kale, etc. in my garden. Woot. If that's not fast paced living I don't know what is...