i once again find myself succumbing to the unbridled procrastination that has controlled my life up to this point. i actually did close to nothing yesterday, despite the fact that i sat in front of the computer for many hours. i must finish this paper within the week. this lollygagging has got to stop.
...and here i am writing in my blog. shocking.
06 October 2009
02 September 2009
spider watch 2009: conclusion
spider watch 2009 has officially come to a close. i moved out of the apartment last friday. right now i'm staying with pete & mary and living out of my car until i can move into the awesome house my bro just bought in wash park. i much prefer the spider-free futon and homelessness to the 8-legged infestation.
in total, i found well over 200 spiders over 3.5 weeks. that averages to over 8 spiders a day with a low of 4 and a high 29. ew.
special thanks to mary, paul, and levy for helping me move and refraining from running scared after finding a ridiculous number of arachnids while moving things. picked up the couch to find 3, moved the bed to find a few more, lifted the nightstand to find another - they were everywhere. my friends, you have stomachs of steel and no fear.
in total, i found well over 200 spiders over 3.5 weeks. that averages to over 8 spiders a day with a low of 4 and a high 29. ew.
special thanks to mary, paul, and levy for helping me move and refraining from running scared after finding a ridiculous number of arachnids while moving things. picked up the couch to find 3, moved the bed to find a few more, lifted the nightstand to find another - they were everywhere. my friends, you have stomachs of steel and no fear.
11 August 2009
100
it's official, i have found over 100 dead spiders in my apartment. to commemorate the event, i found one in my bedroom for the first time. awesome.
senor exterminator comes in 45 mins. if this round of poison doesn't help the situation, i'm going to start looking for a new place...
senor exterminator comes in 45 mins. if this round of poison doesn't help the situation, i'm going to start looking for a new place...
08 August 2009
up and up
8/4 18:30 -- 76.
opened the hall closet and found 4 more. moved a box to find another 2.
8/5 11:10 -- 82.
found 1 before i left to go dancing last night, 1 when i came home from dancing, and 3 more when i woke up this morning. another (a different kind, too... crap...) showed up while i was eating breakfast.
i've started collecting samples. i now have 3 in a plastic cup on my kitchen counter.
8/5 23:50 -- 83.
1 sitting by the cats' food bowls when i got home. decided not to look around for more before bed to avoid nightmares...
8/6 11:05 -- 85.
1 at the kitchen entrance when i woke up. he wasn't there last night. watched che kill and eat another a few minutes ago. at least i didn't have to clean that one up?
8/8 14:30 -- 93.
came home after a day and a half at my sister's to 7 dead ones scattered around the house. didn't even look everywhere, didn't want to. 1 live one scampered across the kitchen floor in front of me and my cats. che squished it - it looked intentional this time. he wasn't sad. in fact he looked pretty proud of himself.
opened the hall closet and found 4 more. moved a box to find another 2.
8/5 11:10 -- 82.
found 1 before i left to go dancing last night, 1 when i came home from dancing, and 3 more when i woke up this morning. another (a different kind, too... crap...) showed up while i was eating breakfast.
i've started collecting samples. i now have 3 in a plastic cup on my kitchen counter.
8/5 23:50 -- 83.
1 sitting by the cats' food bowls when i got home. decided not to look around for more before bed to avoid nightmares...
8/6 11:05 -- 85.
1 at the kitchen entrance when i woke up. he wasn't there last night. watched che kill and eat another a few minutes ago. at least i didn't have to clean that one up?
8/8 14:30 -- 93.
came home after a day and a half at my sister's to 7 dead ones scattered around the house. didn't even look everywhere, didn't want to. 1 live one scampered across the kitchen floor in front of me and my cats. che squished it - it looked intentional this time. he wasn't sad. in fact he looked pretty proud of himself.
04 August 2009
more!
holy crap, I just found another 7 by simply looking up. they're in my light fixtures. add on the one i watched my cat kill this afternoon, and the tally is up to 70.
spider watch 2009
this morning's dead spider count is already up to 9, and it's not even noon yet. i even stepped on one while i was stumbling around half-awake at 6:45 this morning getting ready for my run. it gives me chills just thinking about it...
that brings the total since last tuesday to 62.
i think if i hit 100 i will seriously consider finding a new place to live.
why i'm waiting until then, i'm not sure. i guess i want to give my landlord a chance to make it right. he's failing at the moment, thru no fault of his own. he's got an exterminator coming every 2 weeks and is getting the infested tree removed. which is why i can't live here if even *that* doesn't work...
that brings the total since last tuesday to 62.
i think if i hit 100 i will seriously consider finding a new place to live.
why i'm waiting until then, i'm not sure. i guess i want to give my landlord a chance to make it right. he's failing at the moment, thru no fault of his own. he's got an exterminator coming every 2 weeks and is getting the infested tree removed. which is why i can't live here if even *that* doesn't work...
03 August 2009
week one, day one
today begins my training regimen for the moab other half on october 18th. i love how the first day doesn't even start with a run - it's a "strength/stretch" day. so mary and i went to a nia class this morning and then i'm going to spinning tonight.
nia was pretty darn fun, i have to admit. think aerobics/jazzercise with the "dance" parts being more akin to Isadora Duncan-esque pretend-like-you-are-child-let-your-body-move-like-a-flower-in-the-wind mixed with earthy feel-the-groove tribal rhythms. kind of a world-ish version of jazzercise. upside: i sweat like north carolina for a solid hour. downside: not quite sure if it did anything? i left with a fair bit of energy still, but maybe that was the point? dunno...
nia was pretty darn fun, i have to admit. think aerobics/jazzercise with the "dance" parts being more akin to Isadora Duncan-esque pretend-like-you-are-child-let-your-body-move-like-a-flower-in-the-wind mixed with earthy feel-the-groove tribal rhythms. kind of a world-ish version of jazzercise. upside: i sweat like north carolina for a solid hour. downside: not quite sure if it did anything? i left with a fair bit of energy still, but maybe that was the point? dunno...
02 August 2009
sleep, or something like it
i slept well over 12 hours last night, after a week of no more than 6 per night. anyone who knows me knows that i'm a sleeper. it's what i do best, honestly. i start to feel, well, bitchy if i can't get my required z's.
this morning i woke up refreshed, alert, and (dare i say it) happy. happy enough to actually open matlab and do some research. what is this world coming to???
this morning i woke up refreshed, alert, and (dare i say it) happy. happy enough to actually open matlab and do some
27 July 2009
runnin'
running is one of the things that has kept me sane at this workshop, and kept me busy. i've run 24 miles in the last week (a new record for me?) and i've enjoyed every minute of it. it brings my july total to a whopping... 32.6 miles. i apparently didn't run much in the first 3 weeks.
one thing i learned: it's very important to keep yourself hydrated, even when it's 115% humidity outside. i came back from a couple runs i did outside without a stitch of dry clothing on me. don't get too excited, i was fully clothed. just utterly drenched. and no, it didn't rain. pure sweat, baby. mmm.
one thing i learned: it's very important to keep yourself hydrated, even when it's 115% humidity outside. i came back from a couple runs i did outside without a stitch of dry clothing on me. don't get too excited, i was fully clothed. just utterly drenched. and no, it didn't rain. pure sweat, baby. mmm.
reflection on a week
after many days at nc state working on a statistics project i've come to realize several things.
first, statistics is a mystery to me. i mean, i can compute anything you want me to, and even understand what that computation is attempting to explain, but the interpretation is akin to palm-reading. sorry if i offend any of you statisticians out there, but it's true. i can read just about anything i want into the results. any pre-conceived notions you have in your head can be rationalized via one calculation or another. oh, that one didn't line up with what you wanted? no problem, we can explain it away with 12 others...
also, and i don't mean to sound cocky, but i've realized i'm pretty gifted intellectually. at least when put in comparison to many of the people that are supposedly my "colleagues" and at the same level i am. maybe it's just the situation, but my mediocre work outshines some people's best... wow, i feel like an ass for saying that.
lastly, i don't think i can work in industry again. well, i *can* work in industry, i just don't think i want to. not that i never will (i've learned not to write anything off completely), it'll just be my last resort. we'll see what happens when i graduate.
first, statistics is a mystery to me. i mean, i can compute anything you want me to, and even understand what that computation is attempting to explain, but the interpretation is akin to palm-reading. sorry if i offend any of you statisticians out there, but it's true. i can read just about anything i want into the results. any pre-conceived notions you have in your head can be rationalized via one calculation or another. oh, that one didn't line up with what you wanted? no problem, we can explain it away with 12 others...
also, and i don't mean to sound cocky, but i've realized i'm pretty gifted intellectually. at least when put in comparison to many of the people that are supposedly my "colleagues" and at the same level i am. maybe it's just the situation, but my mediocre work outshines some people's best... wow, i feel like an ass for saying that.
lastly, i don't think i can work in industry again. well, i *can* work in industry, i just don't think i want to. not that i never will (i've learned not to write anything off completely), it'll just be my last resort. we'll see what happens when i graduate.
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