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March 31, 2005
Maintenance
Lately we've been experiencing problems with our washer. It just randomly decides not to spin. The first time we had this issue it went away after a few hours. The next time we actually had to call in maintenance. They came in and decided that we needed a new timer, which took a week to "get in". Then the washer worked for 2 weeks and failed again. We again called in maintenance. They dutifly came in and looked at the washer while Brian and I were at work.
The point of this story is to tell you what we found on the maintenance slip when we got home that evening.
motor froze
need washer
Bless them. You have to hand it to guys whose handwriting looks like 16pt Sand to get their point across in as few words as possible.
Posted by kfeigh at 09:05 AM | Comments (1)
March 29, 2005
Sinus Pain
For at least 12 years now I've had troubled sinuses. Yes sinuses, those air filled cavities in the front of everyone's skull. Mine it seems have a mind of their own, and often they are upset about something. From cigarette smoke to rapid changes in weather they just never seem to be happy. They are always causing me pain, and filling the rest of my body with snot. You'd think that this would be a relatively minor ailment (and in the grand scheme of things it is), but it has routinely kept me from running, bending so that my head is below my waist, and undertaking any kind of maneuver that would quickly change the atmospheric pressure (scuba, etc).
I'm fed up. I have very little idea what is causing all the problems: pollen, hormones, weather, food alergies. I've been trying to keep a log of when I have problems and what might have triggered them. So far no luck. So for now I'm stuck with pain killers.
Oh, Sarah, Jen or Irwin could you forward on any links that would explain how to set up a photo gallery?
Posted by kfeigh at 08:35 AM | Comments (7)
March 28, 2005
My little flower garden
This weekend had absolutely beautiful weather on Friday and Saturday. So beautiful in fact that I was inspired to plant my garden. Now mind you my "garden" is an 18"x6" flower box on my back porch. So on Satuday I went to the garden center, picked out some flowers and came home to remove the dead carcasses of last year's plants (that had died over the winter) and flilled the box with new flowers. Of course it then in proceded to rain. It has been raining since Saturday evening pretty much non-stop.
If not thing else, no one can acuse me of not watering them.
Other than that I was very domestic: cleaning, cooking, sewing etc. Now I'm back to work, happily chewing gum for the fist time since Lent began.
Posted by kfeigh at 09:24 AM | Comments (1)
March 25, 2005
Spring
Spring is here. Things are blooming, the birds are chirping, the sun is shining. If I were in the UK right now we'd have all abandoned work and headed for the nearest pub. Sigh, but this is the US where these days are actually rather common :)
I just walked home for lunch. Yes, the wonders of being able to walk home for lunch. It is so much nicer to decide what to have for lunch at lunchtime instead of early in the morning.
Posted by kfeigh at 12:40 PM | Comments (0)
March 24, 2005
Back In Action
Looks like I left Houston just in time, as things started exploding shortly after I left. It was a great slober & dog hair filled few days. The highlights include: almost missing the rodeo, playing fetch, finding sarah shoes (which she is too chicken to keep), watching dog hair tumble weeds, playing fetch, buying a new toaster, driving in a car with a bird on my arm, playing fetch, watching a repressed NASA engineer run around in a straight jacket and boxer shorts, playing fetch avoiding slober so intense it soaks through clothing, and playing fetch.
Becca and her housemates have two lovable, persistent, and slober-full dogs. Basically anything in the house is fair game to play fetch, lick or be shed upon. So I got to play a lot of fetch. This cements my notion of getting a small dog.
Becca and Sarah are fine. They are both doing well, and it is good to know that should I ever need to begin wearing a hearing aid that I won't need it when I go to visit them.
I am back now, and working... Sigh. I'm reading a really boring set of notes. Also the men in my life are depressing me. There is nothing more frustrating/depressing than watching people you care about in depressing situations and being able to do nothing about it. If I understand/empathize with nothing else in this Shiabo case, it will be this feeling of helplessness. I just don't understand this all or nothing attitude... GRRR... Why would someone work so hard and just throw it all away in the end. GRRR...
Posted by kfeigh at 03:44 PM | Comments (3)
March 17, 2005
Stairs
Since we moved, I have felt like I am forever walking up or down several flights of stairs. Ah the Knight building.
Posted by kfeigh at 03:57 PM | Comments (0)
March 16, 2005
Breather
Today is breather between my hectic/full weekend and busy first half of the week and the busy second half of the week. On Friday I head down to Houston to see the gang down there for spring break. But before that I've got a column to write, a test to study for and some homework to finish up.
So while everyone else was skiiing last weekend I was here interviewing and partying. Friay night and Saturday morning I had PS weekend stuff. Where our first question asked the students to decde which 4 people we should send to make first contact with an alien race. I had to bite my tounge on some of the answers: Bush, but they decided since half the country didn't like him it wasn't a good idea. (they had no idea why half of the country didn't like him) Other answers were more traditional and more amusing as I had to answer questions about different people being dead or alive. And still other answers were so sweetly naive, "we should send someone from the UN since it is the most powerful goverment in the world". Sigh.
Then on Satruday night went to a party to fare-well another old-time ASDLer. Sunday morning (around 11) Anna, our exchange student from Belgium, had a birthday party. And Sunday night I had a dinner with a group from church. Whew. That's more social activity than I usually see in a month. No wonder I'm tired.
Posted by kfeigh at 09:01 AM | Comments (1)
March 07, 2005
Life in Monty
So the reason we moved over to Monty is that my supervisor changed jobs. Formerly she held her main apointment in another college and was joingly appointed to Aerospace. In January that position reversed itself and we all found ourselves over here in Monty.
Since being back I've had to confront some old sights, sounds, and smells that I had forgotten about, but that are still vivid in my memory. First is the way this place smells, something like motor oil. Then there is the way the place shakes -- no on is sure quite why. And of course there is the tile floor, the yellow water and the single hole women's restrooms on the 2nd and 4th floors.
In other news the weather is really nice right now, and my commute is 5 minutes by foot. Not bad eh?
Posted by kfeigh at 09:01 AM | Comments (0)
March 04, 2005
Moved
Sorry for the absence. On Wednesday we moved from our lovely facilities in the ISyE building to rather cramped quarters in the Montgomery Knight building. I have revived the old plan to get the populace to refer to the building as "Monty" The most annoying part is that we have all been shoved into an office for "seven" but really it was designed for 6. Our lab currently has 8 people. You do the math... Sigh.
Overall it isn't as bad as it would have been a few years ago, thanks to some new modular furniture. If you want to hear a funny story call me and ask about how we had to move the modular furniture. I've got pictures but I need to activate a picture gallery (please email suggestions) to my website first.
Oh, and we don't have internet access. Someone screwed up and we won't have a network for at least a week.
Posted by kfeigh at 08:15 AM | Comments (1)