Category: Angst

This is pretty gross

May 24, 2004 /

Before I was born, my father had surgery for periodontic disease. They gave him a local anaesthetic, cut his gums open, pulled the flaps up above his teeth, and used metal tools to scrape away the dead tissue underneath before sewing them up again.

I’m a six-year veteran of badly administered braces, and I’ve had five regular teeth pulled plus four badly impacted wisdom molars. I am no stranger to dental horror, but I really want to avoid the above experience. Thus it was that yesterday, I began flossing.

It makes me feel old and boring, and when I swish water around in my mouth, it feels like my teeth have shrunk.

May 18, 2004 /

If anybody knows why TSQL has ten thousand date formats and the ability to guess how much two words sound alike, but no capacity to find and remove one character from a string, please tell me.

May 17, 2004 /

I forgot to mark down a deposit a while back, which means I have about $350 more than I thought I had, and that’s nice. According to my checkbook, though, that’s now about $150 less than I should have, and I haven’t missed another credit or debit in at least seven months. I must have screwed up something big last fall.

The annoying thing is that thanks to the Interweb, I can always see my current balance in relatively real time, but that’s inaccurate because paper-based checks still lumber around like elephants (not that electronic transfers are in any way instant, but there’s no chance of them getting forgotten in somebody’s pocket). The whole point of my check register is that it’s supposed to be more accurate, because I record all transactions as if they took place instantly; since it relies on a human agent (me), though, it’s fallible, because I am fallible and my arithmetic doubly so. I’m tempted to just reset my check register balance to what the bank tells me it is, but then I’m sure some transaction that’s in the register but hasn’t yet posted online would sneak up and blackjack me. And anyway, it’s bad policy to trust the bank blindly.

If I could find the error–either online or in my register–this would all go away, but I’ve tried several times and I can’t. I’d go back all the way to the beginning of my account history, if I could, but the Interweb only lets me go back six statements. I’d use my paper statements, except I immediately rip them all up and throw them away on principle. After all, they don’t tell me anything I don’t know!

This problem would also not exist if I wasn’t a moron.

May 13, 2004 /

Ever since late Tuesday night, it has been Sick Days here in our apartment. We’re both sick. Today we have been forced to semi-clean the place, since we let it go for too long before we got sick and now it’s a complete junk heap. Cleaning while you’re sick really sucks.

May 9, 2004 /

Have I mentioned yet that I’m done with school? I’m done with school, as of the day after my birthday. I ended up with two Bs and a C, balancing the two Bs and an A from last semester, and finish my first year of postgraduate education with a pristinely average 3.00. I did some complete crap work, in places, this spring; I got thoroughly and undeservingly rogered in others. It all balances out, in 3.00 Land.

One more year of this and I’m done with school forever. Whoof. I am ready for that.

I wish I didn’t read so much MSN content

May 6, 2004 /

Apparently Louisville ranks among the worst 10 cities for dating. “Louisville (overall No. 76) scores low in the concert category; apparently the tour buses are not making a habit of stopping and rocking in Louisville,” they say. Given that I’m going to see Ben Folds in Danville tomorrow, I’m not surprised. (Also, I like the implication that the best way to get dates is to have sex with transient roadies.)

On the other hand, I’m going to see Ben Folds in Danville tomorrow! Whoo!

April 27, 2004 /

I’ve been meaning to post both of these things forever. First, even though Jon and Amanda abandoned their blogs, they do have a homey little site now. It’s even got Lucy’s cell number on it! Watch out for those “for a good time” calls, Lucy.

Second, Mister Munson found my posts about him and wrote me! He seems like he’s having a great time, especially in his new science fiction class; as part of that, he says he finally taught Ender’s Game, which I badgered him to do for about half of my junior year of high school. I’m pretty sure that means I win. Or really, that they win.

This makes two people I know (Sumana being the other) who have taught a sci-fi literature class. I’ve never even had the opportunity to take one! Injustice!

April 23, 2004 /

Did okay on the final, I think. And it stopped raining. Today is back but on probation.

April 23, 2004 /

In forty-five minutes, I have to walk a good half-mile from the bus stop to my dreaded Prob and Stat final. In the pouring rain. Today is fired.

None of this, of course, applies on Tuesdays

April 22, 2004 /

We’ve developed a pretty good collective work ethic, really. Maria and I both get home around 6, lounge for a bit to recover from the stress of the day, and probably change clothes. I’ll hit my RSS feed, friends page and email. We decide what we’re having for dinner (almost always pizza, beans and rice, or leftovers of the above) and heat it in some fashion. We sit at the table and eat while watching an X-Files episode (into Season Three and going strong). We dump the dishes in the sink.

This is the point where we discuss getting some work done, and I usually go in and at least sit at the computer, where I do the email / friends / rss dance again. We talk for a while about how we should be studying, and sometimes Maria will actually study. I basically just talk about it. I brush my face and wash my teeth while Maria takes a shower. Most days we read aloud–we finished Small Gods a little while ago, and have started on Neuromancer. We bring up the subject of homework; Maria, because she is diligent and responsible, actually does some. As for me, you know, by now it’s past 2200 hrs and I have to get up early, is it really even worth starting at this point? I usually get a phone call or call somebody around then, and Maria talks to Graham, Bee, Michelle or somebody via phone or IM. We’ve both likely crashed by midnight.

Like I said, it’s a pretty good work ethic. Except for my work.