It's been a long time since I've really been on this site. So much has happened. In an effort not to go totally insane from grading labs, I am writing here.
- After graduation, I adopted little French Toast. She's a Cream Self rat. She has since gotten to be the size of Bielle, who has since stopped growing longer and has started becoming fatter. Both rats like to annoy me by chewing on the bars of the cage, because they know it gets my attention.
- I worked pretty much all the friggin time over the summer, back at Otto's. I made decent money, but it all went to rent and security for the apartment, as well as gas to get here and groceries. It's really nice not to have to hear "I'd like to place an order TO GO: I'd like a cheeseburger deluxe, and a pepsi -- and this is TO GO -- and I need a kids nuggets and a small coffee. And that's all TO GO." Oh. sure. Ugh... (This really does happen...) Sometimes they got their food, sat at the counter, and then ate it there. Jerks.
- My apartment is huge (By living-on-my-own-for-four-months standards). It's really nice, and I have a patio, which is always good, even though I haven't used it yet, beyond drying the shoes I washed. I don't have outside chairs...
- Moving here was atrocious, but also pretty fun. I'm glad I had people to help me out.
- Possum's tumor has gotten unfortunately large. At this point, I'm waiting for her to let me know that she can't handle it anymore. Right now, she spends lot of time cuddling me. She still runs across the floor when the food bag comes out.
- Cinder has begun to develop hind leg paralysis, and she sort of drags her back end along. She still has some pretty extensive use of her back legs, but it is apparent at this point that moving them is hard for her. She is currently on an anti-inflammatory to see if there is any improvement, but some muscles have already atrophied. Sometimes, she can only eat with one hand, because she has to use the other one to keep her balance.
- When training started, we had to take exams in Organic, Inorganic, Analytical, and P-chem. Two per day, beginning at eight in the morning. The exams sucked, and the department said "Statistically, you will fail out of the program." I know I am better than what the exams say. I have a hard time testing at eight in the friggin morning, no matter how much I study. Especially when I had to get up at five to catch the bus. Besides, a Ph.D is based on performance over time. So eff that bullocks. I can't wait to punch those guys in the face with my awesome degree.
- I'm teaching two labs right now, and I hate grading. Also, my students don't know how to follow directions.
- My Organic Synthesis professor, Kay, says I'll ace the course because I took Advanced Organic (and was the only person in the class to take anything beyond sophomore organic), and her class is like, an easier version of it. Awesome.
- Descriptive Inorganic sucks.
- I love living in this house. I love cooking (usually), and I've already had the opportunity to experiment in the kitchen, all of which have turned out delicious.
- I threw a house-warming party last weekend. It was so nice to have people in the house, making noise and keeping me company.
- I have not yet moved into the Natural History Museum, but I am planning on it.
- I bought all my own furniture for the house (with a few exceptions). I now have a fantastic platform bed.
- I constructed all of the furniture I purchased. I had help only with the desk and office chair, which Kevin and Ricky were available to help me with.
- As it turns out, I HAVE to go downtown to get to Oakland, because no buses run directly from West View to Oakland. Not fun when I have to be in Oakland late at night.
- There are a thousand malls in Pittsburgh.
- I may or may not obtain a hookah in the near future.
- I've made a lot of friends since arriving here. Only one of them is an American. The rest are international students. Mostly Chinese. And one Turk. Who sounds like a British man. And is hairy like a bear.
- Erin is my best Pitt friend. Within days of meeting her, we were talking about religion, politics, family dynamics, and boys. This never ever happens to me.
- Because of some scholarship I was unaware that I had, I can order a new computer for my home, as well as computer accessories, up to $2000. I am going to buy a fantastic new iMac for my desk, with a 2TB Time Capsule external hard drive to back it up. Can't even wait.
- Living alone is lonely business, but I also like the quiet that comes with it. So, I have mixed feelings about living alone.
- Having Shana around last weekend was really nice, because we had some time to talk about the apartment, and discuss our favourite boys in our lives.
- I miss my wife, Jamie.
- I miss vacationing in Rhode Island.
- I miss video games (and also my mom).
- I miss my whole family, actually. Including Dante.
In life, everyone has wishes. Some of them are impossible to have granted, like the revival of a dead loved one, or reconciliation between old friends, when one person now hates another. Some are wishes for love, or money, or whatever. Everyone has a wish that they want most of all, above all others.
My greatest wish is to be pain free, for just one day. In recent years, I have become fairly ill as it relates to how my body feels. It has caused a change in my mental state, and I've become distant to people, because it gets harder to fake an atmosphere of well being.
What I want is to just wake up one day without my back hurting. Walking without my feet and back hurting. I want to have a day when getting up from this chair, or the sofa will be easy, and something I won't regret doing. I want to be able to lay in any position, and sit in any way I want. I want my back to just stop hurting. Just for one day. Everyone says they feel themselves getting older. At twenty-two, I can feel it, because the back pain gets worse every year. I'm turning into an old man.
Analgesics don't work. Neither do stretches. What more can a doctor recommend?
I really shouldn't complain, though. I should be happy that I can still get around. I feel that, by the time I'm forty or fifty, that won't be entirely true.
Everyone knows that there's nothing important in the aqueous layer.
Oh good. This train has a JETPACK. Where the eff is mine, Soviet Russia?
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