How hard is it to mind your own business when you’re on public transportation?  In fact, in most places, the people who use public transportation are the best at keeping to themselves.

Recently, I was riding the light rail to work.  I ran into another student in my program that I only see when there are program functions.  He is writing up his proposal for his dissertation work and said that after reading it, his advisor asked him how long he planned on being here.  So he was trying to shorten up the proposal…I asked him if there was a technician in his lab that could help him out.  He said that they recently got rid of their technician due to incompetence . . .they couldn’t trust his work.  I agreed that it was difficult to allow anyone to do any work on your project.  You just can’t trust it unless you do it yourself.

Then the conversation shifted to the fact that we both find it hard to participate in program activities during the day that takes us away from the bench since we are so focused on finishing our dissertation work.  I said that I had recently gone to a seminar given by a product representative to learn how to use a piece of equipment and mentioned that it was more of a commercial for the product and company than it was an instructional seminar.  I said that it was a waste of time.

That’s when it happened.  The girl sitting on the seat across from us says something about do we think we’re so smart that we already know everything?  After all, we are at a university to learn.  Of course my first reaction was to tell her off.  What the hell does she know?  But the student I was with took it in stride so I said that the product representative are often experts on the equipment rather than the science behind what it’s used for.  She accepted the explanation and that was the end of the conversation.

I don’t know if I’m more pissed off that someone who may not have had any clue what we were talking about thought we were pretentious, or that she had the nerve to say it.  I think people in the academic community are pretentious all the time . . but I have the self restraint to keep it to myself. .and certainly wouldn’t call a stranger on it.

But what bothers me more than anything is that I don’t know who she was.  Based on where we got off the train, she could have been an undergrad, a med student, a hospital worker, a nursing student, a pharmacy student, a doctor, a grad student, a technician, or even a product rep herself.  Am I so insecure that I need to know that this girl isn’t someone who could have known what we were talking about .. so I can rest easy that I’m not actually pretentious? Based on the way she spoke and the general terms in which she was criticizing us, my guess is that I can in fact rest easy.

So I guess what I am saying is

1) I try very hard not to be as arrogant and obnoxious as many of the academics I come in contact with routinely. . so either I’m not and this girl is an idiot, or it’s inevitable that some of this attitude will rub off on me, and
2) mind your own business on the train.

I finished A Dangerous Man by Charlie Huston a few days ago.  It was the last book in a trilogy and probably my least favorite.  I would rank them as follows:

1) Six Bad Things (book 2)
2) Caught Stealing (book 1)
3) A Dangerous Man (book 3)

By least favorite, I mean that it took me more than one sitting (maybe 2 or 3).  I really liked the book and still love this author.  I won’t elaborate on my criticisms about the book until I know my sister’s finished reading it .. wouldn’t want to spoil it for her.  I can’t wait to receive the sequel to Already Dead, which is part of his other series and comes out in December.

I think I should clarify on my Slow Marathoners post below. This is not about being elitist and not wanting amateurs to infringe on the enjoyment of the sport. It’s that everyone’s idea of what’s healthy is so out of whack. Here’s my real beef with these people: Don’t kill yourself doing this ridiculous activity and then go back to your life devoid of regular exercise. I’m much more impressed by people who can lead a healthy lifestyle day-in and day-out and be committed to exercising regularly.

My real problem is that this absurd activity is looked upon as the pinnacle of health. There are people who take great pride in just completing this thing but if you asked them to exercise vigorously 4-5 days a week-every week, they couldn’t do it.
If you’re not one of these people, I’m not talking about you!

Here is an interesting article on Slate. The author states,

“Just finishing a marathon is akin to joining a gym and then putzing around on the stationary bike. We feel good about creating the appearance of accomplishment, yet aren’t willing to sacrifice for true gains. It’s clear now that anyone can finish a marathon. Maybe it’s time we raise our standards to see who can run one.”

I wholeheartedly agree. I know my opinion doensn’t mean much here since I have never run a marathon myself. I usually say, if you have to eat during exercise just to keep going, something’s wrong. My point is clearly illustrated in this article when Sherman mentions that getting in shape is not a good reason to complete a marathon.

“There’s no doubt that a lot of people train for marathons to get in shape. But the human body is just not designed for such high-mileage running. As a result of their crash course in distance running, a preponderance of marathoners suffer repetitive-use injuries like stress fractures, tendonitis, and shin splints. It would certainly be healthier for inexperienced joggers to run fewer miles at a faster pace.”

What do you think? I’m sure many of you have known someone who is one of these “slowpokes.”

I saw Lucky Number Slevin over the weekend.  Loved it! Don’t worry, this isn’t the Ashton Kutcheresque Josh Hartnett of Pearl Harbor notoriety.  He’s much better in a less crappy movie.
Some of you have heard me call Bruce Willis a two-face.  There’s the all time great action hero from Die Hard, Pulp Fiction, and The Fifth Element . .  and then there’s the Bruce Willis that is devoid of all personality and acting ability from The Jackal, The Sixth Sense, and The Siege.  Unfortunately, in Lucky Number Slevin, Willis is of the second variety but it doesn’t seem to take away from the entertainment value.

I loved Lucy Liu in this movie.  Somehow she manages to play a twinkie who’s not so flaky that she’s annoying and who’s clever without looking like she thinks she’s too clever.

Check it out today!

Just to clarify on a point I was discussing with my sister a while back regarding the storms that pick up winds above 74mph. . .
In the Atlantic Ocean: hurricanes
West of the International Dateline, not anywhere in the Pacific: typhoons

That’s why those just off the coast of California are still called hurricanes.

Today was the first of what will most likely be several days of having no power in the building I work in. It looks like a transformer is out and some construction will be necessary to restore it. Our building has normal outlets and some on emergency power for our -80 freezers that must be kept at temperature at any cost. These freezers have precious samples that we cannot afford to lose.

Luckily, our lab has a few extra emergency power outlets so I plugged a surge strip into it and am running 4 or 5 pieces of equipment off of it. I feel like I’m in the dark ages here. I’m using a hot plate to warm liquids that I would normally use a microwave for. I’m visualizing my data on UV boxes without being able to document it with a digital camera. Most importantly, I’m literally working _in the dark_. The only light in the lab is from the windows and from the few emergency lights scattered about.

Hopefully this won’t last much longer but my boss brought up a good point: for us, it’s just an inconvenience, but the clinical half of the building is losing tens of thousands of dollars a day for every day they are shut down and can’t see patients. It’s hard to keep that in perspective though when work is progressing so slowly. If it’s not back up soon, this will be a really long week.

For those of you that are health conscious, I had great success this weekend with the Diet Mojito! I substituted the sugar with sweet n’ low. Unlike its more unsuccessful cousins, Diet Tom Collins and Diet Margarita, DM was the Diet Dr. Pepper of diet concoctions. . tastes more like the original. One packet of sweet n’ low in a tall glass of mojito (as in the recipe below) and it turned out great! Even Scott, who hates my light versions of almost everything, had to agree that it was a great drink. By the way, I also switched regular Bacardi for the citrus version, Bacardi Limon. Try one today!

Yesterday, I thought I might get some take-out from the Desert Edge Brewpub across the street to eat during the football game. After work, I had to pick up Scott from his building. Since they only take about 10 minutes to prepare the food, I decided I would call them to place the order when scott got in the car and I know what we both wanted to eat. . then it would be ready for us to pick up by the time we got to the restaurant.

I didn’t have the number so, before I picked up scott, I called 411 to get the number to program into my phone.
Now, as I remember it, when you give 411 the name of the place you want looked up, they say something like “the number you requested: xxx-xxxx, can be connected for no additional fee by staying on the line” or something like that. Instead they said “for more information, dial x.” I’m not paying attention because I’m re-adjusting things in the car while I’m calling and I’m just waiting for them to read the number. Then they kick in a moment later with, “or. . .just hold on the line to be connected.” By that time, I’ve forgotten what number I’m supposed to dial to get “more information” but I’m guessing it’s 1. So I hit 1 and wait. . .

“Desert Edge, how may I help you?”

“Uhhh. . . ., Uhhh. . . . Hi”

“What can I do for you?”

“Um.. . . .uhhhhh”

At this point, I can’t order b/c I don’t know what Scott wants, so what the hell am I supposed to say to this person? I can’t just hang up. . I still don’t have the number. So I decide that rather than calling 411 again, “um, can you just give me your phone number and I’ll call you right back.”

Tenatively but just outright mocking me at this point, “OOOOOKKaaaaaayyyyy.” Not that I blame her. What kind of idiot calls someone to get their phone number?

So finally I explain as succinctly as I can. “Oh nono, I got connected to you through 411 and they didn’t give me the actual number. . I’ll call you right back with a take-out order”. . you know, so some total stranger who I’m never going to talk to again  (because I’m now going to make Scott place the order) isn’t making fun of me.
Well the mission was accomplished: She laughs and says “oh, haha, okay, no problem, do you have a pen and paper?. . . .” but I can’t ever remember being so much at a loss for words.

Moral of the story: don’t call 411 if you can’t figure out how to use the service.

The 2006-2007 football season is finally here! My Miami is playing the reigning superbowl champs in Pittsburgh.  I celebrated by wearing my new Urlacher jersey at work today.   Enjoy, and go Bears!!