Friday, June 26, 2009

More anti-child business

Yes, having kids is great. I'm very happy for you. And yes, I was already awake at 7:45 am, what with work and all. But considering the number of kids and teens on summer vacation, the stay-at-home parents, and people like my roommate who aren't working full-time ...

... it's obnoxious when your kid decides to start screaming at 7:45 am.

Sometimes, I hear a kid screaming because s/he is throwing a temper tantrum. I curse you parents for not CLOSING THE WINDOW. I can hear you across the complex. I shouldn't have to close MY window; the only sound in my bedroom, besides me grumbling about having to wake up is the sound of 106.7 FM radio for Loki. Who is quiet.

Today, the screaming was, "Hehe, I'm being such a silly little kid!" screaming. Guess what? Now's the time to have that talk with your kid about respecting neighbors. Don't make ME have it with them.

At least when Loki screeches, I shush him until he stops.

In other news, cells are very, very fickle.

Thursday, June 25, 2009

Outta my way

If you want to have kids, that's great. I'm not judging you. I'm also not judging you for taking the bus; I barely drive anymore thanks to my reliance on public transit to get to and from work.

But it is just plain rude to block the entire sidewalk with your strollers. While you're waiting for the bus, I'm hustling to the train station, and stepping into the street and risking becoming road kill isn't that fun. The sidewalk is for me to walk on. And when one of you moves her stroller slightly to the side, I still can't pass; it doesn't open up more than a foot of pathway for passersby.

It doesn't bother me that you have kids, take the bus, and hang out as a group while doing this. But stop hogging the sidewalk. Seriously.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

I'm so awkward

I hate when I have a cold because every time I clear my throat to get the phlegm out, everyone thinks I'm trying to get their attention in a snobby manner.

But it's so COMFY

My bed isn't really that comfortable. I have an IKEA bedframe, an IKEA mattress that used to be 4 inches thick, but not any longer. The sheets aren't soft.

I get enough sleep. Considering that even when I didn't get 7-8 hours a night, I still managed to get up at 7:15 to work last summer, it's really not that much of an issue for me to get up and go to work. And now, I go to bed before midnight every night, fall asleep within 10 minutes (exception: Sunday night I have trouble sleeping because Sunday tends to be the only day I can sleep in; note that I'm still exhausted Sunday night by 9). I almost always get at least 7 hours, if not 8 or 9.

I'm almost always well-rested. I can determine how well-rested I am by when I wake up. Before the alarm = very well-rested. With the alarm (without hitting snooze) = adequately well-rested. After the first snooze or later (because sometimes I sleep through hitting the snooze) = not well-rested and probably going to be like a zombie at the lab.

Finally, there are three trains I can take to work without being "late," and which don't involve leaving the house at 6:50 am. I always leave at least 25, but usually 30 minutes to walk to the train station (the later I wait, the less likely it is that there will be convenient parking, and I don't mind walking in the morning). These trains are at 8:05, 8:30, and 9:09. My least favorite is the 9:09 because I don't get in until 9:40, and I have to take the 6:20 train home. That means I don't get home till about 7:20, which is NOT FUN.

So, explain this:

I wake up at 6:30 am, 20 minutes before my alarm is supposed to go off. My sheets are tangled and a bit uncomfortable. I am not drifting back off to sleep easily because I know I'm supposed to get up in 20 minutes. I feel alert, not groggy. I decide, of course, to keep sleeping. My alarm goes off at 6:50, 6:59, 7:08, 7:17, 7:26, 7:35, 7:44, and 7:53 before I decide, in my infinite wisdom, that I will take the 9:09 train, and then I set my alarm for 8:15. I don't actually sleep in those 20 minutes, though, because a baby starts crying and, let's face it, I'm awake. I finally get up at 8:24, after hitting snooze 9 minutes earlier.

As a result, I got no breakfast, no coffee, and I have no make-up on. And now I have to stay at work for an additional 40 minutes. But do you know what the worst part is?

As soon as I get out of bed, I feel fine. I'm not groggy or drowsy. I don't feel like I had to get out of bed too soon (because, honestly, I haven't).

So, I just have to convince myself that I really DO want to get out of bed at 6:50 so I can leave at 7:30, take the 8:05 train, get to work by 8:40, and leave by 5:05 to get home at 6 instead of 6:30 or, like on days like today, 7-fucking-30.

WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME.

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

I'll just go over here--OH WHOOPS

We all need to accept one very important fact:

I am ridiculously clumsy.

I'm usually standing in the way of people, and when I move, I back up into things/other people/nothing and trip. Some days, I can't actually seem to speak without actually screwing up words. I knock things over, including important things or things with liquid in them. A couple weeks ago, I got myself a cup of coffee and then spilled it while trying to pick it up. Yesterday, I backed up into a Purell Hand Sanitizer station trying to create some space for one of the post-docs to walk through.

I probably shouldn't be talking about how clumsy I am. After all, the way I deal with the embarrassment of being ridiculously clumsy is that I just forget that it happened.

So, shhhhhhh.

Monday, June 22, 2009

ReTweeting

We have to get pretty creative sometimes with Twitter. Some of my wittier tweets are way, way over the 140 character limit (that's why I have a blog: I talk a lot). So sometimes, I have to reword things, use abbreviations that I would otherwise avoid, and really rework my tweets to make them fit. Many of my friends do the same thing.

But when you retweet (RT) ... Goddamn, it doesn't fit! I have a short username (Phira), and my friends can't always fit my name in on the RT.

BOO, Twitter. You shouldn't count @username in the character count. Yes, I know plenty of people would abuse the crap out of Twitter if you excluded @username from character counts ("@Ohmygod @IjustsawJustinTimberlake @hesmiledatmeandgavemehisnumber @youguysmustbesojealous @Imgoingtocallhimtonightandaskhimout @doyouthinkhelikesChinesefood @friend1 @friend2 @friend3 @friend4 @friend5").

But still, it totally shouldn't count.

Needs more motivation

When I wake up in the morning, which is usually around the time I'm supposed to be waking up, I can't seem to pull myself out of bed. But the weird thing is, once I'm actually standing up and I'm out of bed, it's not a problem to get ready for work. Of course, by this point, I've already missed the two trains that will get me into work early enough to leave by 5:30.

And now I have to stay till 6:05. BOO.

Sunday, June 21, 2009

End of the weekend

I hate Sunday nights. Passionately. I think that we should all be able to show up to work late on Mondays, and then leave early on Fridays. And I know you all agree.

Also, I hate working 8:30 to 5:00 or 9:00 to 5:30. I'd much rather take a half hour for lunch instead of an hour so I could work 9:00 to 5:00. I think that's fair. But OH WELL.

Need to go to bed because as long as I'm up on the computer, Loki's up, playing with his replica Triforce.

The "Triforce"

I've been a fan of the Legend of Zelda for years. If I were waxing poetic about it, I'd be all, "Oh, I fell in love with the games when I was itty-bitty and my brother would play the first game on his NES!" Bullshit, though. I barely remembered him playing it on the NES, and I remember, much more clearly, him playing Tetris. So when I say years, I mean ten, not twenty. Sue me.

Loki is one. He's never played a Zelda game. I don't think he's ever SEEN a Zelda game (he HAS seen Halo and Harvest Moon, two of the most different games I can think of). But it just so happens that his favorite toy is shaped like the Triforce.

Yes, I'm aware that the colors are wrong and in the wrong place. And yes, it had already occurred to me that Ganondorf, in his dastardly plans to acquire the Triforce, had never intended to snuggle up with it (or maybe he had, and Nintendo was just all, "I don't think our fans will get it"). I also know that the Triforce didn't have mirrors, beads, and bells, or a hook to hang it up in a birdcage, until the great reign of King Buddy the Budgie. But that's a Triforce, and you know it.
He doesn't just snuggle. He actually snuggles with it when he's cold (what?). No, he can be seen much of the time grasping onto one of the bells with his foot, and methodically tapping the bell with his beak. Or perhaps he's (intentionally) gotten one of the bells trapped in the cage bars so that the other side sticks out. And then he ... taps it with his beak and whispers sweet nothings to it.

Maybe Ganondorf WOULD be whispering sweet nothings to the Triforce and snuggling with it. Maybe Loki ... no, no. What kind of Legend of Zelda fan would I be if I adopted the parakeet-formed reincarnation of Ganondorf?

Besides, I doubt Ganondorf, with his huge ego, would poop all over the place, shed feathers, make kissing noises, and say stuff like, "I love you. Hi, Loki! Good boy!" before suddenly getting distracted by my watch.

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Thoughts on baseball

Not that I'm changing any affiliations, or how I feel about certain teams ...

... but I was wondering tonight, why is it that we hate the Yankees so much? I mean, yes, I dislike them and I enjoy seeing them lose, although it's okay if they win when they're not against us/we're not competing with them for 1st (or 2nd) in the division. But why do we hate them so much? They're just a bunch of baseball players, same as ours. And I don't hate all of the players.

Although now that Joe Torre's on the West Coast, it just doesn't feel like the rivalry exists any more.

Also, when the hell are we going to get a decent short stop? Theo? Have you been doing anything in that department? I hope he does one of those things where he finds a player no one wants who ends up kicking ass. That way, we can maybe trade, I don't know ... one of our lousy short stops for someone whose team thinks they suck but then ends up kicking ass for us. I don't think I want to trade Brad Penny, although I know Clay Buchholz is getting really sick of being in the minors. As long as Daisuke Matsuzaka stays out of the rotation/all games until he gets his act together, I guess I'm happy with our pitching staff. Papelbon had better not give up any more homers, though.

I need to go to bed, but if I do, I'll miss Baseball Tonight's web gems, and I might DIE if I do. Ellsbury's going to be at least #2 if not #1, and I don't want to miss it.

Magic 106.7


I just started work a few weeks ago, and I'm out of the house almost 12 hours a day, and sometimes, it's closer to 13 or 14. Loki, my 1-year-old budgie, hates being left alone for so long. I feel so guilty every time I leave; he looks at me and chirps with this, "You're leaving AGAIN? Even though I'm so incredibly handsome and adorable, and I am so cute when I talk?" expression. It's like he knows that we're Jewish.

I feel so guilty that the night before I started work, I borrowed (is it borrowing if I'm probably going to use it for the next three years at least?) a clock-radio from my mom. I set it to Magic 106.7 because they're the only station that actually plays music in the mornings. Loki LOVES music, so I think he prefers music to the morning shows that radio stations think people like. I leave it on a low volume, but high enough for him to listen to it, turn on a light for him in case it gets dark, and leave with self-loathing (how could I abandon my baby on such a regular basis?!).

If I'm in the car driving somewhere, or if I'm in a cafe (in the morning), or anywhere where the radio is on, I always find it ridiculously amusing whenever the radio station is on 106.7. I keep thinking, "I wonder if Loki likes this song?"

I am so weird.

Ooooh, and now the waltz from Enchanted is playing? On my iTunes, not the radio. And now Loki's going nuts.

Friday, June 19, 2009

Not cool, Harvard

Dear Harvard,

I've had a long day. After missing my train and having to drive all the way to Alewife, where I nearly smash into another car, and then having to walk in the rain for fifteen minutes, destroying my new "gellin' like a felon" insoles, I just want to get home. Wouldn't you? Yes, you would.

But of course, the Red Line has to slow way the fuck down while approaching, arriving at, and leaving your stop. I have heard rumors that this slowing down business is because you guys and your money have convinced the MBTA to shush whilst going through your vicinity. While maybe I'd understand if we were in the middle of exams, or if this were 2 am (oh, wait, sorry, the MBTA doesn't fucking run past 12:30), when it's rush hour in the middle of JUNE and I need to get home, I'm not that concerned with keeping you happy.

I went to Tufts for four years. Tufts NEVER paid the other freshman in my all-freshman dorm to be quiet when it was 3 am and I had a test in the morning. They never used their coffers to steer away public transportation. And they sure as hell never offered their personal police force any incentive to get to Hodgdon to break up the group of drunk idiots who are keeping me awake.

In this economy, it's important to save money, you know? So, instead of paying for the MBTA to tip-toe around you (as only subway systems can), why don't you donate to a charity or pay me for years of personal hardship endured when people didn't know there were other schools in the area besides yours.

There is, of course, the possibility that you DON'T pay the MBTA to go quietly under your school. But considering that the subway always slows down to a crawl to go through Harvard, and considering that I believe way more that's told to me than I should, the rumors are probably true.

I barely got home in time to change out of my wet clothes before I had to go be late for an appointment. I blame you, Harvard.