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This is why I like the people I work with

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A coworker went to Ireland and brought be back a fridge magnet. Here's a chat snippet:

<Rc> it's perfectly horrible :D
<AQuinn> i'm glad you don't like it :D
<Rc> it will be featured proudly on my fridge
<AQuinn> cool. how does it rate on the tacky scale?
<Rc> sappy message, garish colours, kitshy theme all give it high points
<Rc> the only thing that detracts from perfection is that it's actually solidly built
<Rc> so it only rates a 9 out of a possible 10
<AQuinn> i'll try harder next time ;)

*giggle*

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Weird dreams are made of this…

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I've been having very vivid dreams in the last few days. Dreaming of old friends and old situations. The one I had last night was particularly amusing.

I used to be a grad student and one of the things I worked with were live cell cultures. These things are evil because they need almost daily work – even if it only takes about 30 minutes to an hour, it still means that you needed to go to the lab every day, weekends, holidays and all. So last night, for I think the first time, I said “no, fuck 'em, let 'em die – I'll start a new batch tomorrow”.

It felt wonderful :)

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Weekend in review

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Today, I am happy.

That, in itself, means little, to be honest, but it's the culmination of a lot of worries. I love my job, I love my Katy, I love my apartment. Touch wood, things will continue on this merry way *touches wood*.

I had a nice weekend. Lots of yummy spicy food, waaaay too much pig, lots of money spent.

I bought a VCR (which raised my blood pressure – SCART leads are evil, so are NTL boxes) and a little HI-FI for the bedroom. Yesterday, Katy and I went to The Pier and other swanky shops on Fitzroy street for stuff to add a bit of colour to the apartment. Got some nice cushions for the couch and the rocking chair. I seriously need to go back to the open-air market in the city center because I'm drooling over the batik fabric throws. I'm seriously going to spend some money there next pay. It has beautiful stuff, but as Katy says, we need to unpack and place all the schwag we have in boxes before we get more.

I'll be posting pictures of the apartment as soon as things get settled.

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Vocabularians and lingweenies

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What a lovely bunch of vocabularians (persons who make up new words) you are! Lasterday (refers to any day before today) we squinched (action required to fit something into a space that is slightly too small) a schmiglet (a small unit of measurement) of your awesomtastic (so wonderful the words just meld in your mouth) one-of-a-kind entries into this space in preparation for our Top Ten reveal. With so many chizzy (awesome, super, happening) creations to choose from, we admit to becoming a bit flusterpated (a state of being flustered that's so intense, one's actions and words become bound up) and fahoodled (confused, esp. when trying to think of too many things at once). We craughed (to cry and laugh simultaneously), we troddled (to wander around without knowing of doing so), and finally decided to use the schwack (a large amount) of multiple entries received as the basis for the Top Tenthis is, let's not forget, all about favoritism.

From the thousands of submissions we received, here, then, are the ten words (not in the dictionary) entered the most often:

Top Ten Favorite Words (Not in the Dictionary)

1. ginormous (adj): bigger than gigantic and bigger than enormous

2. confuzzled (adj): confused and puzzled at the same time

3. woot (interj): an exclamation of joy or excitement

4. chillax (v): chill out/relax, hang out with friends

5. cognitive displaysia (n): the feeling you have before you even leave the house that you are going to forget something and not remember it until you're on the highway

6. gription (n): the purchase gained by friction: “My car needs new tires because the old ones have lost their gription.”

7. phonecrastinate (v): to put off answering the phone until caller ID displays the incoming name and number

8. slickery (adj): having a surface that is wet and icy

9. snirt (n): snow that is dirty, often seen by the side of roads and parking lots that have been plowed

10. lingweenie (n): a person incapable of producing neologisms

Original link: http://m-w.com/info/favorite.htm

POPULAR CULTURE

ESPN-onage (n): secretly viewing an all-sports network when your wife leaves the room

polkadodge (n): the pseudo dance when two people attempt to pass each other, each moving in the same direction

scrax (n): the waxy coating that must be scratched off an instant lottery ticket

LANGUAGE

dunandunate (v): to overuse a word or phrase that has been recently added to one's vocabulary

lexpionage (n): the sleuthing of new words and phrases

whinese (n) a language spoken by children or spouses on long road trips

WEATHER

slush turtle (n): the snow that collects on your mud flap

spinter (n): the season between winter and spring where everything is drowning in a slush/mud mixture

sprummer (n) when spring and summer can't decide which is going to come firsthot one day, cold the next

PEOPLE

headset jockey (n): a telephone call center worker at the other end of a toll-free number

knitpicker (n): a person who selects your knitted sweaters. Beware the Christmas knitpicker or the put-the-family-in-the-same-sweater-for-the-photo knitpicker.

stealth-geek (n): one that hides nerdy interests while maintaining a normal outward appearance

ANATOMY

fumb (n): the large toe

jimberjaw (n): a protrusive chin

wibble (n): a trembling of the lower lip just shy of actually crying

MENTAL & PHYSICAL CONDITIONS

asphinxiation (n): when you are sick to death of unanswerable riddles

museum head (n): being mentally exhausted, and unable to take in anything more; usu. follows after a full day at the museum

precuperate (v): prepare for the possibility of being ill

TECHNOLOGY & THE INTERNET

shanghaIM (v): Instant Messaging somebody who's in the process of IM-ing somebody else, causing them to inadvertently type (and possibly send) their message to you

vidiot (n): one inept at programming a VCR

wurfing (v): the act of surfing the Internet at work and rationalizing that it is for work purposes

TRANSPORTATION

detroitus (n): car parts found alongside the highway

junkstaposition (n): when two or more immobile vehicles are parked next to each other

pregreening (v): the tendency to creep forward while waiting for a red light to change

FOOD

onionate (v): to overwhelm with post-dining breath

smushables (n): the groceries that must be packed at the top of the bag or separately to avoid being mangled by the time you get home

spatulate (v): remove cake batter or other substances from the side of a mixing bowl with a spatula

MISCELLANEOUS

dringle (n): the ring-shaped stain on wood caused by condensation from a glass of liquid

espacular (adj): especially spectacular

furgle (v): to feel in a pocket or purse for a small object such as a coin or key

hoyle (n): the point at which a genius transcends our reality and becomes a madman

nudenda (n): a nudist's unhidden agenda

optotoxical (adj): of or pertaining to poisonous looks that could kill, esp. from a spouse

parrotise (n): a haven for exotic birds, esp. green ones

quackmire (n): muddy edges of a duck pond

sinspire (v): to compel one to be creatively wicked

sprog (v): to go faster than a jog but slower than a sprint

Source: http://m-w.com/info/favorite_not_prev.htm

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Hmmmm, pig.

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Katy and I have been eating a lot of pig in the past little while. This makes us happy. Hmmmm, pig. We had Katy's mom's curry last night. Hmmmmmm, curry. And she made this dish with cabbage and carrots and chilies. Hmmmmm, chilies.

We came to Leicester this weekend to drop off some things and pick up a staggering amount of stuff to bring home. Katy's parents are driving us back to Cambs today, so we're going to have a day out and about in town. They also wanted to have a peek at the apartment with all my furniture in it. We're off soon, so more later.

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it's hot, it's damn hot!

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I've been productive today.

I've registered at the surgery nearest to my house (as I'd been meaning to do for a while now) and I have a checkup next tuesday. Nothing's wrong, I just need a referral for an ophthalmologist.

I've been told by Barclays that since I'm foreign scum, I can't open a bank account with them. I wanted to get one so I could have a savings account separate from my natwest checking account. Screw 'em, I'll get a natwest savings account. I have now called NW and they're sending me the paperwork to sign.

I've vacuumed my apartment to get rid of most of the schmutz on the floor resulting from the bubblewrap bomb that went off on tuesday.

I've spent a morning bidding on stuff at Cheffin's military antique and attic sale. I bought some cool russian decorative plates to use as wall hangings, a victorian silver whiskey decanter, two little prints and the birthday present I wanted to get for my dad.

As a side note, auctions ROCK! I was good, and didn't spend too much money. I'd set aside 100 pounds and ended up spending 110. There are a few lots that I'm really not happy about letting go, but the last thing I wanted to do was get auction fever and end up spending 175 pounds for RAF commemorative plates of the end of the battle of britain (I stopped at 50 pounds for that lot). There was a lot of WW2 stuff that my dad would have loved, as well as some decommissioned guns – though I have no idea how I'd manage to ship him an AK-47 or an Bren MK1 machine gun. I would have loved to get the german officer leather trench coat, but that thing went for an insane amount, as well as a genuine RAF fleece-lined leather aviator jacket.

The attic sale was a fun jumble. The difference between lot prices is amazing. A damn big mahogany side-board with a huge mirror went for 40 pounds. If it would have been possible to fit the thing in my already cramped apartment, I'd have gotten it. Bargains to be made, I tells ya.

Plus, maybe it's because I'm a newbie, but I really got a rush of bidding, especially when you get in a little war with someone else (who, most of time, has deeper pockets than you do). I'm going to have to do that again :)

As a side note, I had the strongest feeling of deja-vue while I was there. Meh, I'm used to that. Side-note #2, I was the youngest person there by a longshot. However, I didn't stand out when compared to the 40 year old dude with the jackboots, ugly-ass handmade tats and razorhead tshirt… Side-note #3, it's so hot today that I've already changed my tshirt twice.

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