Well, it never seems that I have a lot happening but I guess things are happening since I stay busy. I haven’t made any more hats but I did finish up 2 more scarves so that has been good. I got a pattern for a lace scarf that I’ve started 3 times and will rip it out again since it isn’t looking right.
The big news around work is that our personal package shipping has been suspended effective immediately. Most people have been very upset about the way we were told and frustrated since we had no notice. They might restart it with the new fiscal year but we don’t know and we won’t know anything until July or even August. I hoping that they figure out something a little faster but I’m not holding my breath.
Other exciting news is that I can get shawarma in the cafeteria at lunch. I know, it doesn’t seem like a lot but it is very exciting. (Shawarmas are like Arabic tacos.) Most places you can only get shawarmas in the evening which is frustrating when you want some for lunch. So my lunch now is a shawarma with no onions, an apple and a banana. Isn’t that healthy? I thought so and I keep reminding myself of that when I look at the ice cream machine and don’t get one.
That is about it. Another 1.5 weeks until summer session starts and then I’ll be very busy. Hope all is going well with you!
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Sunday, May 3, 2009
A Hat Knitting Machine
So I like knitting hats, a lot. I've been knitting to give stuff to Lutheran Social Services in Anchorage because my family doesn't need any more but I love making them. From top left to right, waffle hat, Beaufort Hat, Basic Cable Hat. The bottom row is the ski hat with ear flaps, and without ear flaps, and then the knit flat hat. 
This is the matching hat with scarf that I also made for LSSA. I should get back to work. Hope all is going well!
Monday, April 13, 2009
Almost the end of the semester
I know, 2 posts in one day, isn't that amazing? Not too amazing considering the text for the last post has been written for a while. Life has been busy here but to terribly exciting.
Knitting yesterday was interesting. At about 1:30 pm the person who was going to host cancelled due to illness and about an hour later I volunteered. I did this knowing that no one else had stepped up to host and know that my house was not ready for company. So, I left work at 3 pm and went home to clean/straighten up my house. I got home and started working on the kitchen. My neighbors had come back from vacation the previous night and she came over to bring me some fabric she found for me (which already has a spot to be put in a project). Anyway, I have to get ready for knitting so I tell her what is going on and she says "What can I do to help?" I told her I just needed to clean and she started straightening the living/dining room and working on the floors. The only reason my house was ready for company last night was because of her, THANK YOU AGAIN!!!!! Knitting was fine but a busy time. I am helping 2 people with some projects so that was interesting while trying to make pancakes. Everything turned out well so I am very thankful for that.
So, at the end of February I started Weight Watchers. I am finally trying to do something about being too heavy and it is working. I have lost at least 9 pounds and my clothing is looser. I still have a long, long, long, long way to go but I have taken the first step. I've been exercising more too and that has helped. I know several people on the program so the support that we can give each other has been amazing and really helps when all you want is a pizza with extra toppings and chocolate. I'll keep you posted to how it is going.
Summer trips, ah, my favorite part of the year! I had to make some changes to my summer trip due to visas. I found out that to take the train from Warsaw, Poland to Vilnius, Lithuania you actually travel through Belarus. I would love to go there (Eastern Europe is my thing right now.) but any visas given to US citizens cost $180 and I would have to get the visa while in Poland. A one way plane ticket from Warsaw to Vilnius is $110. I personally think it is a no brainer. So, what that means is that I'll overnight 1 more night in Warsaw so I have to find another place to stay.
Another funny about the summer trip. I was think that I would like to go to the city of Danzig while I'm in Poland. I thought it would be interesting but I couldn't find it in the Lonely Planet book. So I went to google to search for it. I found out the it was officially called the Free City of Danzig and in 1945 control of the city was back in Poland's hands and it reverted back to its Polish name of Gdansk. I had already planned to be there! So that worked out nicely I thought and I'll let you know how the city is in August.
About the title of the post, the semester is almost finished. I have 1 more lab to teach, a review session and then 3 finals to give next week, oh, and lots and lots of grading. I'll be teaching summer school this summer so that will be interesting especially since it is a class I have never taught before.
Anyway, I hope all is going well wherever you are and I hope you had a Happy Easter. Mom asked if the Easter Bunny came to my house this year and I say that he did, just via Fed Ex. :)
Knitting yesterday was interesting. At about 1:30 pm the person who was going to host cancelled due to illness and about an hour later I volunteered. I did this knowing that no one else had stepped up to host and know that my house was not ready for company. So, I left work at 3 pm and went home to clean/straighten up my house. I got home and started working on the kitchen. My neighbors had come back from vacation the previous night and she came over to bring me some fabric she found for me (which already has a spot to be put in a project). Anyway, I have to get ready for knitting so I tell her what is going on and she says "What can I do to help?" I told her I just needed to clean and she started straightening the living/dining room and working on the floors. The only reason my house was ready for company last night was because of her, THANK YOU AGAIN!!!!! Knitting was fine but a busy time. I am helping 2 people with some projects so that was interesting while trying to make pancakes. Everything turned out well so I am very thankful for that.
So, at the end of February I started Weight Watchers. I am finally trying to do something about being too heavy and it is working. I have lost at least 9 pounds and my clothing is looser. I still have a long, long, long, long way to go but I have taken the first step. I've been exercising more too and that has helped. I know several people on the program so the support that we can give each other has been amazing and really helps when all you want is a pizza with extra toppings and chocolate. I'll keep you posted to how it is going.
Summer trips, ah, my favorite part of the year! I had to make some changes to my summer trip due to visas. I found out that to take the train from Warsaw, Poland to Vilnius, Lithuania you actually travel through Belarus. I would love to go there (Eastern Europe is my thing right now.) but any visas given to US citizens cost $180 and I would have to get the visa while in Poland. A one way plane ticket from Warsaw to Vilnius is $110. I personally think it is a no brainer. So, what that means is that I'll overnight 1 more night in Warsaw so I have to find another place to stay.
Another funny about the summer trip. I was think that I would like to go to the city of Danzig while I'm in Poland. I thought it would be interesting but I couldn't find it in the Lonely Planet book. So I went to google to search for it. I found out the it was officially called the Free City of Danzig and in 1945 control of the city was back in Poland's hands and it reverted back to its Polish name of Gdansk. I had already planned to be there! So that worked out nicely I thought and I'll let you know how the city is in August.
About the title of the post, the semester is almost finished. I have 1 more lab to teach, a review session and then 3 finals to give next week, oh, and lots and lots of grading. I'll be teaching summer school this summer so that will be interesting especially since it is a class I have never taught before.
Anyway, I hope all is going well wherever you are and I hope you had a Happy Easter. Mom asked if the Easter Bunny came to my house this year and I say that he did, just via Fed Ex. :)
Dubai March 2009
Ok all, here is the information about my trip to Dubai. Sorry this is so late in coming, we have been having some computer problems.
Ok, so here is the summary of the Dubai trip over spring break. It was 4 days/3 nights and rather enjoyable not to have to pack and plan for a long trip.
Day 1-Arrived in Dubai about noon and got to the hotel. The cabbie didn’t know where it was so that was interesting but he found it quite quickly. We, my friend and I, checked in and got lunch at the hotel restaurant before going out. We took a cab to the Creek area and then took the waterbuses to different places. We went to the Diera Covered Souqs and the gold market where I almost bought a necklace. It wasn’t the right size chain and it would have been difficult to replace so I didn’t get it. Then we took a cab to the Mall of the Emirates. (In the movies in New York City the people stand on the side of the road and raise their arm for the taxi to stop, well, it works!) We walked around there for a couple hours, the mall is HUGE, and then got dinner at Chilis and went home. My friend studied for her GRE and I read a book.
Day 2-My friend got up very early to go take the exam, I slept in and went to the pool. It was rather relaxing but it was sprinkling so I stayed underneath the shelter area so I wouldn’t get my knitting, eReader or iPod wet. My friend came back from the test successful and we ate leftovers for lunch and then went to IKEA at the Festival City Mall. My first trip to IKEA was both wonderful and frustrating. There are wonderful things that can be obtained there for reasonable prices that I can’t get it Doha and some of them came home with me. The frustrating part was that I wanted things that I couldn’t fit into my suitcase so they stayed at the store. (This kept my IKEA bill much lower than it would have been otherwise.) We walked around that mall for a while and then we took a cab back to the hotel. We found a shawarma place close to the hotel and we got shawarmas for 4 riyals each, about $1.25. Dinner cost me about $3 that night, I know I’m a big spender, but I budget for it.
Day 3-The liquid water park was at the Atlantis Hotel and was called Aquaventure. It was awesome. We got there earlier than we thought and so walked along the edge of the Palm Island and looked out at the ocean. There was a tour guide there that started talking to us and then gave me a lecture on how it is better to be married than single. We left ASAP. Ok, the water park was smaller than some I’ve been too but it was awesome. I don’t think I left my tube for the first 2 hours. They have ramps that you sit in your tube and get pulled up to the top of the ride so you don’t have to walk. The lazy river isn’t so lazy here, there are lazy parts as well as rapids. I did get cold there because of the wind and the sun hiding behind clouds. I also got a sunburn there too. We left about 6 pm and went back to the hotel and back to the shawarma place for dinner.
Day 4-We got moving slowly this morning but it was fine. We got dressed and packed and then went to breakfast. Afterward we went to the airport to store the bags so we could go to the Ski Dubai Snow Park. We got there, bought gloves (I felt very stupid), and went sledding and tubing. Think a solid water park. Oh, on the tubing hill they has an conveyer belt for you so you don’t have to walk up the hill! There is a person at the top who hold the tube so you can get it and then will spin you and get you going. It was fun until some local kids showed up and were very rude and everywhere. We left there about 11:30am and got lunch and went back to the airport. We got back to Doha about 5pm and were home by 6pm.
Weather-In rained and haled in Dubai the first day, and we have sprinkles on day 2 and 3. Nothing in Dubai on the last day but when we were coming home from the airport it was a lightning storm, literally. Crazy weather all over Qatar and UAE that weekend.
Ok, so here is the summary of the Dubai trip over spring break. It was 4 days/3 nights and rather enjoyable not to have to pack and plan for a long trip.Day 1-Arrived in Dubai about noon and got to the hotel. The cabbie didn’t know where it was so that was interesting but he found it quite quickly. We, my friend and I, checked in and got lunch at the hotel restaurant before going out. We took a cab to the Creek area and then took the waterbuses to different places. We went to the Diera Covered Souqs and the gold market where I almost bought a necklace. It wasn’t the right size chain and it would have been difficult to replace so I didn’t get it. Then we took a cab to the Mall of the Emirates. (In the movies in New York City the people stand on the side of the road and raise their arm for the taxi to stop, well, it works!) We walked around there for a couple hours, the mall is HUGE, and then got dinner at Chilis and went home. My friend studied for her GRE and I read a book.
Day 2-My friend got up very early to go take the exam, I slept in and went to the pool. It was rather relaxing but it was sprinkling so I stayed underneath the shelter area so I wouldn’t get my knitting, eReader or iPod wet. My friend came back from the test successful and we ate leftovers for lunch and then went to IKEA at the Festival City Mall. My first trip to IKEA was both wonderful and frustrating. There are wonderful things that can be obtained there for reasonable prices that I can’t get it Doha and some of them came home with me. The frustrating part was that I wanted things that I couldn’t fit into my suitcase so they stayed at the store. (This kept my IKEA bill much lower than it would have been otherwise.) We walked around that mall for a while and then we took a cab back to the hotel. We found a shawarma place close to the hotel and we got shawarmas for 4 riyals each, about $1.25. Dinner cost me about $3 that night, I know I’m a big spender, but I budget for it.
Day 3-The liquid water park was at the Atlantis Hotel and was called Aquaventure. It was awesome. We got there earlier than we thought and so walked along the edge of the Palm Island and looked out at the ocean. There was a tour guide there that started talking to us and then gave me a lecture on how it is better to be married than single. We left ASAP. Ok, the water park was smaller than some I’ve been too but it was awesome. I don’t think I left my tube for the first 2 hours. They have ramps that you sit in your tube and get pulled up to the top of the ride so you don’t have to walk. The lazy river isn’t so lazy here, there are lazy parts as well as rapids. I did get cold there because of the wind and the sun hiding behind clouds. I also got a sunburn there too. We left about 6 pm and went back to the hotel and back to the shawarma place for dinner.Day 4-We got moving slowly this morning but it was fine. We got dressed and packed and then went to breakfast. Afterward we went to the airport to store the bags so we could go to the Ski Dubai Snow Park. We got there, bought gloves (I felt very stupid), and went sledding and tubing. Think a solid water park. Oh, on the tubing hill they has an conveyer belt for you so you don’t have to walk up the hill! There is a person at the top who hold the tube so you can get it and then will spin you and get you going. It was fun until some local kids showed up and were very rude and everywhere. We left there about 11:30am and got lunch and went back to the airport. We got back to Doha about 5pm and were home by 6pm.Weather-In rained and haled in Dubai the first day, and we have sprinkles on day 2 and 3. Nothing in Dubai on the last day but when we were coming home from the airport it was a lightning storm, literally. Crazy weather all over Qatar and UAE that weekend.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Planning for Vacations
Ok, so it hasn't been that long since I posted an update but I figured I would do another one. The exciting things to happen have all been dealing with vacations. Next week I go to Dubai for about 3.5 days. It should be fun, I'm going to sleep in, go to a water park, shop at Ikea, and enjoy the fact that I don't live there.
For my vacation in July I made my reservations for flying into Warsaw on July 10th, leave here the night before, and fly back from Helsinki on the 1st of August. I'll be visiting Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and then overnight in Finland. (5 countries, 5 different currencies, and 5 different languages...should be fun) I am working on getting lodging, hostels, for the 9 places I will be. I also need to figure out the whole transportation issue, trains probably won't be used as much this time.
Ok, my score is for my vacation in September. I wanted to go to Greece but wasn't sure where I wanted to go but I knew I didn't want to spend a lot of money. A friend who works at the TAMUQ library wanted to go too and so we are going to take a cruise. We found a cruise through Costa Cruises in and out of Venice, Italy for $625. The cruise is 7 nights and the price is for the cheapest room on board. Neither one of us cared about that because, well, you don't spend time in the room so why pay a lot for it? We will arrive the day before the cruise leaves so we get a day or so in Venice, so sad isn't it?
Rereading this post it seems like all I do is take vacations. Really, that isn't true. I do work, every week from Sunday through Thursday. Work is going well. I am not doing research any longer, I'm working on changing labs.
Hope all is going well.
For my vacation in July I made my reservations for flying into Warsaw on July 10th, leave here the night before, and fly back from Helsinki on the 1st of August. I'll be visiting Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and then overnight in Finland. (5 countries, 5 different currencies, and 5 different languages...should be fun) I am working on getting lodging, hostels, for the 9 places I will be. I also need to figure out the whole transportation issue, trains probably won't be used as much this time.
Ok, my score is for my vacation in September. I wanted to go to Greece but wasn't sure where I wanted to go but I knew I didn't want to spend a lot of money. A friend who works at the TAMUQ library wanted to go too and so we are going to take a cruise. We found a cruise through Costa Cruises in and out of Venice, Italy for $625. The cruise is 7 nights and the price is for the cheapest room on board. Neither one of us cared about that because, well, you don't spend time in the room so why pay a lot for it? We will arrive the day before the cruise leaves so we get a day or so in Venice, so sad isn't it?
Rereading this post it seems like all I do is take vacations. Really, that isn't true. I do work, every week from Sunday through Thursday. Work is going well. I am not doing research any longer, I'm working on changing labs.
Hope all is going well.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Eric's Hat
I know, it is a wonderful picture of me, but don't look at me, look at the hat! I finished it last night and it will soon be sent to my brother-in-law in Oregon. I think it turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself. I started a scarf that I don't know if I that taken with the pattern, it is pretty but a pain in the butt to knit.Ok, other news, there really isn't a lot going on. I am trying to get an idea of my summer plans so I can start looking at flights/lodging/transportation. I am still looking at going to Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. I'll fly into Prague or Krakow and then out of Helsinki. Helsinki is a must for this trip because then I can get more eye drops. Sad, when part of your vacation planning in around buying eye drops.
Anyway, hope all is going well with you!
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Devil Snow, Part II
Yesterday I was at lunch in the cafeteria, like normal, and I can usually see the road across the street from the cafeteria. Yesterday, I couldn't see the road, just a wall of sand. Then about a minute later the sand reached the cafeteria and it got rather dark in there. It was awesome to watch, not so much to out in there. My sinuses are driving me nuts cause the sand is still blowing.I am trying to think about what else is going on. I bought my ticket to Dubai next month. I'll go there on a Wednesday and return on Saturday, it over spring break so it I am only going to have to take 1 day off work. I asked my boss for the time off and he asked me "Why are you asking me?" I didn't laugh at him but I did respond saying that since he was my boss that he had to approve the vacation. I think I could have just not showed up for work that day and nobody would have cared.
I have been looking into teaching programs for Alaska this last week. I think the winner is UAS. I looked at UAA and UAF and they aren't flexible at all. UAS will endorse me in both chemistry and math since those are my degrees. I think that would work quite nicely. Also, they will give you in-state tuition after your first 2 semesters as long as you plan on staying in Alaska after you finish.
I hope you are having a good day.
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