New Year's resolutions

Since I am a check-mark type person, I decided to make some New Year's resolutions this year and to make them public to ensure that I will actually do them:) Here is my to-do list for 2010:

1) Blog more: I'm making this blog more "public" and will try to post more to keep track of all the random things that occur in my head or around me (btw, facebook will never replace blogging:). Unfortunately for those who would once in a while glance at my blog, blogging more will involve blogging more about sports:)


2) Get rid of my VCR and VHS tapes (that have been sitting idle for over 2 years now): I know that it sounds like a very simple thing to do---just pack it all up and toss it. Well, not in Montgomery County where you are required to recycle your electronics---I have to find out where and how, untangle the VCR from all the wires and cords, move around my DVD player, etc....(this is why it has taken me so long to do it).

3) Not to get too stressed out when the Red Sox and/or the Celtics lose (both regular season games and in the post-season): I am getting a little tired of boycotting ESPN when my teams lose. For example, the Celts are without KG, Paul Pierce, Marquis Daniels, and Big Baby Davis, have lost 3 straight on the road, and have ceded the number 1 spot overall to the LA Fakers---I'm just trying to stay relaxed. The Sox have yet to sign a productive hitter while pushing the luxury tax threshold---I'm learning to trust the front office to make wise decisions. Both of these are very difficult to do, considering how horrible 2009 was for the world of sports in the US*, but I will try to learn:)


*A separate post will be dedicated to lamenting the outcomes of sporting events in 2009.

More life's randomness

Couple of random things that have occurred in the past few weeks and have kept me entertained:

1) I have finally found my candy kindred spirit...And even though he plays for the despicable LA Lakers, I can never ever hate Lamar Odom: the man loves his candy! (I'm, of course, not as bad as Lamar, but I do love my sweets. New favorite: salt water taffy from Rhode Island)

2) A few weeks ago I stopped at Border's on my way home and had a major "nerding out" incident: I was already on my way out of the store when I saw "Dictionary of Mathematics" on a shelf near the door. Even though I was a bit embarassed about taking it to the register, I was absolutely excited about the find! On the way out of the store, I realized that I just took my nerdiness to another level.

3) More pearls from my officemate. Once a month we have an institute-wide lunch and a short meeting introducing new staff and sharing updates. Last month they ran out of food pretty quickly, leaving half the institute hungry and disgruntled. My officemate described the blunder in a succinct way: "They did a headcount estimate circa 1995."

Life's randomness

For some reason, yesterday was one of those days when people said really random, but utterly hilarious things, which are worthy of a blog entry (even though they may only seem funny to me). I can't remember half of them this morning, but here is a sample:

~~~My funny officemate (telling me about her recent Kenyan safari): "They expected me to tip for toilet paper---of course, I didn't!"

~~~My ride to last night's bible-study (talking about a friend of ours who recently started dating a guy): "I basically told her that in order for S.R. to date her, he needed to grow a pair. When they finally talked about starting the relationship, S.R. grew a pair in, like, 2 seconds."

~~~A friend during Bible-study (sharing his impressions about the only luau he's ever attended): "There were a bunch of Mexicans dressed in Hawaiian costumes."

Homeward bound

It is amazing how our plans can change in a matter of minutes. Yesterday, I had barely got into the office and turned on my computer when a co-worker came in and excitedly said: "I think I know of something that might interest you." He then proceeded to tell me that apparently American Airlines had made a mistake on their website and that there were flights to Moscow from Reagan airport for around $230.00, roundtrip! Of course, I didn't believe him, but after going to the website and actually seeing the fares for myself, within 10 minutes I had a ticket to Moscow for end of April on hold for me for $233.20. Of course, it took me a while to calm down and realize that I am going home in 6 weeks. Well, the "cheap tickets to Russia" craze took over the office, so in a matter of an hour, another co-worker next door had several tickets on hold in addition to the co-worker who had found the fare (him and his buddy are going to Moscow for a weekend). Then the fever began to spread beyond the office when I started calling the Russian diaspora in DC. A bit later that afternoon, my friend Meg had a ticket on hold for her as well to join me for a few days. While I was thinking about who else to call, the airline realized the mistake and changed the fare back to the normal rate by about 3 pm. So, by the end of the day both Meg and I had tickets to Moscow for April 30, all sorts of plans for what to do once we are there, and an utter sense of disbelief that Im going to see my family for less than it costs to take a round-trip train ride to NYC.

We are moving!!!

Finally, after 2.5 years at my institute, I am moving to a window office, together with my awesome officemate!!! This is indeed exciting on some many different levels. Our new office, besides having a window, also has its own heating/cooling unit, so no more fleece blankets in the summer and sweating in the winter. Moreover, since our current office is right across from the conference room, we have been subjected to all kinds of noises, be it meetings, cell phone conversations, and people congregating to talk and laugh. No more loud people and noises. All our office possessions are packed, and we are ready to go. We have big plans for our new digs, including plants and possibly even a mini-fridge (to give our head of facilities an early heart attack:). Ahh, the benefits of seniority.

The Office

Even though I usually don't blog about my work, this past week has been sort of exceptional, which merits at least an honorable bulleted mention. Once a year my institute does a week-long program review with all the staff gathering in the DC office for a week of meetings and discussions on how our work is going. Even though it gets a bit hectic with lots of people roaming around the usually quiet halls, in retrospect it was quite an interesting week:

~The never-ending food supply: during these reviews, they usually cater several meals and snacks per day, so there is such an abundance of (free) food that by the end of the week, even those who are always hungry like myself couldn't stand the sight of another (albeit delicious) sandwich, bagel, fruit salad, cookies/brownies, and other snacks. One of the newer staff members from Uzbekistan couldn't believe his eyes---when I ran into him, all he could muster besides a "hello" was "Does this feast ever end?" The feast culminated during our division retreat on Thursday with cake being served for one of our colleague's birthdays around 10am (that's when you know your day is off to a bad start) and then incredible pumpkin cheesecake served at lunchtime for desert.

~On Tuesday, being "high" on all the food (and sugar) and tired of being locked up in a meeting room, I got a bit hyper and literally chased down the facilities guy who was delivering mail and packages because I thought that I had seen my Banana Republic box in his pile. This was a new low, even for me, especially since the package ended up being for someone else---oops. (In my defense, they usually are for me). I think I scared Glen a bit, and he is going to be avoiding me from now on.

~Best part: sneaking out at 4:00pm on Friday with 6 other co-workers to go to the movies. I think by Friday afternoon we were all so collectively unproductive that we decided that it made more sense to contribute to the GDP by paying the movie ticket fees than by sitting at our computers doing nothing.

Too bad that good things have to come to an end. Oh wait, tomorrow is President's Day---yay for another day off.