BlackD'yerRoll

8 hours driving, and 10 hours of actual dirty fieldwork in the past 2 days. Its nice when the time flies like that, though you can only play along with so many classic rock trivia call-in shows before you feel you should really call in with the answer and save the poor people. That is until you remember that the tickets they're giving away are for a Pink Floyd cover act and some Canadian 80's rock bands who, while catchy, are not great.

If only I could have remembered that drum outtro was from Rock and Roll, I would have been at a Loverboy show.

But instead, I'll be at the Matt Good acoustic show on campus tomorrow night. Small venue, acoustic show, and decent sound from every show I've ever seen there; it all promises to be a good show. And since I'm working on campus tomorrow, I may have to try to drop by and see if I can coerce my way into a sound check, though I won't keep my hopes up.

Rock Dungeon

I spent the last two days at work cutting rock core in the basement of one of the biology buildings. Dirty, wet, loud, and yet peaceful. Working for 15 hours in a two day period, I didn't see a single living person down there.

That's not to say that I saw any dead people either, though at least one person has died down there; from my recollection, a girl who hung herself from the pipes during midterms the year before I started my degree. Things like this happen more often than you'd think to students, but the school does its best to hide the realities of these things. Probably for the best for the families of the dead.

But a few days down there to yourself, not bothered by anyone, and taking your life should be the last thing on your mind. Plus, I had some time to work on some do-it-yourself (read cheap) x-mas gifts. I know, with all my bitterness and contempt for winter, I should be punched in the face for mentioning it, but hey, I've learned you have to jump on these things when they present themselves...kind of like...well never mind. Steak's on..

Oktoberfest Sucks

Have I mentioned lately how much I love the admin around the university? Really I do. I love how none of their multiple online systems seem to interact with one another. I love how the different departments of the admin themselves don't interact. I love them not putting my paycheque through on the scheduled pay date, with a MasterCard bill sitting and collecting interest. I love the vagueness of the responses when I ask for some clarification in trying to track down just what happened to my money. And I especially love being told that my pay request would be in on a specific date, that being today, and still not finding it there.

Other people get charged twice for their tuition because no-one cross checks things.

And still others are forced to write petitions to stay in school only to be informed, after being told that the petition was denied, that a completely different term from the one that the petition was written for was actually considered. Was there any kind of outline of the whole petition process to be found anywhere on line, or were people more forthcoming on the phone, this kind of thing could be avoided. But instead, the administration around the university just continues to build great report with those that ever have dealings with them.

And then there are the people swarming to the city for North America's biggest beer festival. Driving like idiots. Staggering around like idiots. Closing streets. Its an overrated sham, like every other year. I don't understand why people need an excuse to drink beer in the first place; but then they wait until the price on it is jacked up, and the stuff being served is old stock being cleared off in mass quantities. Don't get me started on sitting through the awful music, along with accordion accompanied covers of otherwise tolerable songs.

Am I bitter? Just a little bit. But at least not watered down like all those $6 cups of beer that in no way actually taste like a good German brew.

Who's Idea Was This Whole Work Thing Anyways

I'm feeling kind of dead after putting in a ton of hours already this week, but I'm sure I'll find some energy somewhere for tomorrow's Logan Day festivities. Its funny/sad that I was complaining about my thesis in the post from this time last year, and its still not done.

Anyways, the bar night is gonna be held in the former stripper room at the Huether again, and promises to be a good time. Dodging thesis supervisors at the day's activities might not be as much fun, but I did finally legitimately start looking at my project again, so I have that.

I could write a much better thesis on how much the Edge replays garbage music in a given work day after spending the past 3 listening to it while doing field work. But we all already know this. I swear if I hear that goddamned Silversun Pickups song one more time I am going to go postal. Most. Annoying. Vocals. Ever....and the rhythm isn't much better.

Although it did remind me to go check out the Barry Bonds homerun ball vote that was also discussed frequently on the radio in the past few days. Awesome on Marc Ecko for having the money, stupidity, and yet brilliance to pull this off; though I'm sure its not hurting the marketing department either.

Go Vote. That is all.

Parabolic Annoying

I'm all for technological advance in delivering better sound and video to me at home infront of the TV, particularly when it comes to sports coverage. But all day today I've noticed, particularly in the NFL coverage, but also baseball, that they've taken it too far. I don't mind the features where they mic up players and take soundbytes though a game. Interviewing baseball managers early in innings is also tolerable. What I can't take now is listening to the fucking 13 year-old kid in the second row screaming incoherent gibberish repeatedly and it being picked up on the game audio and getting pumped into my rec room.

Also, the 49ers are now 2-0...NFC Championship is next!

For the non-sports inclined...I picked up tickets to the Matt Good stop in town the other day, and am pumped for that. That is, if I'll be in town. The prof I'm working for this term wants to meet this week, presumably to discuss upcoming work in Wisconsin, South Carolina, Florida, Wyoming, and/or California; all of which I will do my best to avoid.

Until then, someone please shut up this goddamned kid in Miami.

I Say Taco, You Say Tuesday; Taco

You know you've let yourself become grossly out of shape when you pull a muscle in your shoulder reaching across your room to hit the snooze button on your alarm clock. Those 8 extra minutes before shoving off to work this morning seemed glorious at the time, but the pull that I felt all day long while moving desks, monitors and CPUs wasn't quite as much to be celebrated.

It was nice to be actually hard at it though after a pretty dry first day back in the working world. Being around the University again has been good to, and has gotten up a little bit of motivation to get my thesis officially done and move on to the grad school application process.

Taco Tuesday today at the Bomber though was more of a disappointment. What used to be something like $3 for a well stuffed taco has become a shell with lettuce that leaves you searching for anything more than a biteful of meat (or beans for those hopping on and off the vegetarian train) for $4.75; the extra cost presumably to help cover last year's Boston Pizza style makeover of the bar. The first thing a student going to a student bar wants after all is a nice wood finish, not cheap food and drink on their student budget. Never mind the loss of the couches and projector on which student requests for movies could be made throughout the afternoon.

Being that I'm working again, I am in no position to complain too much, but I'll be looking for something more fulfilling, and more quickly served with the same $4.75 for the rest of the term; likely some cold barley sandwiches at Kickoffs.

Drought Over

After not winning a night of poker since around the christmas season, I finally managed to make it out of heads up and not get burned by some ridiculous card on the river, thus making myself a hard earned $6 richer. Of course poker makes me thirsty, and I drank more like $15 worth of beer in playing, but that, and the lingering headache this morning were a small price to pay for the glory.

On top of that, I may have some work lined up for later in the summer, pending a meeting with the department's resident paleoclimate professor. Today would have been my convocation, had I had the interest in attending, or had I yet completed my still outstanding thesis. Instead I'm looking just far enough past all that to get some money in my pocket, and dwell on what exactly it is I want to do for at least the next 2 years.

While sitting around not writing more important, but less entertaining things, I ended up stumbling across a do-it-yourself improvement for wireless routers that might as well have come straight from the 3 'Lone Gunmen' nerds from the X-Files. I have yet to test it myself, although a buddy of mine has already tried a similar approach, and found a dramatic increase to the strength of his wireless signal. It costs about a half hour of time, a few pieces of cardboard, and some tinfoil, so for any of you out there with issues with getting a good signal to your laptop wireless card, or to a remote PC, I'd give it a try before dropping money on antennas and other crap they'll try to push on you at Future Shop or Best Buy. Its not a technological marvel on par with say a 'gay bomb', but its something.

I'll post the successfulness of my attempts later, but now its time to grill some meat while continuing my march towards skin cancer.