Confessions....

-I like my hand writing better when I write with a pencil.

-Some people think of their boyfriends when they hear a song or smell something nice. I think of the boy every time I park in the parking garage for work. There is this little white pick-up that always parks near me and they have a MeatJack sticker on their back window. It always reminds me of him.

-I saw a truck yesterday parked downtown. It was one of those Ford F150's. I happened to notice that it had a pair of huge fake brass testicles hanging from its tow jack. It sort of made me giggle just due to its absurdity. Then all I could think of was that they probably scrape the ground everytime that guy drives over a speed bump. I wonder if he can hear his brass nuts scraping? Probably not over the Skinard.

Really? In the Library?...

I just set up shop in the science library for the morning. Upon arrival, I actually saw a gril talking on a cellphone. In the library! Where people are studying/working! Would it have been inappropriate for me to have told her to shut the fuck up? Probably not but before I could she was ssssshhhh'ed by another patron which caused her to pack up her stuff and get the hell out of dodge.

Also in the library this morning, I saw a man that works on my hall. Let me explain something first before I go on. The forestry department is divided up into two groups of people: 1) crunchy granola eating tree huggers and 2) very stereotypical southern boys who like to hunt and they like to cut down trees. I guess I fall closer to the tree hugger classification minus the crunchy part. Recently, I have noticed this man that works on my hall. I noticed him because he is very effiminant and german. But what really makes him stand out in the crowd is that every day he wears jeans, a chambray button down shirt, and an aschot. A fucking ASCHOT! I love it! Thank god for this guy. He single handidly screws up the entire forest resources department hippy/redneck dynamic and I fucking love it! I look forward to seeing him every day and noting what color aschot he is wearing. Well, today he graced me with his presence in the library and his aschot is red with yellow paisleys.

Bean Town, Baby???....

Things are really heating up in the betagirl/the boy household. Looks like the boy is one of two in the running for working for one of the worlds top urban footwear/ athletic shoe companies. I am not going to say who because it will jinx it but I will say this. Ms. C. , you and I may be living large in Cuba with the coolest fucking athletic shoes this side of the Mississippi. I'm talking prototypes, comrade! It is all very exciting but nerve racking at the same time. It seems that turn around time after job offer is going to be quick and painful. The boy will be relocating to Boston and I will be staying here. As much as I am dying to blow this southern popscicle stand for the big city, I have committed to this job for a year and I really need the money/work experience. So that blows. Long distance for several months. Sucky!! While it will suck, it is a killer job and great for beefing up the boy's resume. Not to mention he will get to travel to Germany several times a year (which means I will hopefully get to go to Germany) and hopefully he, I mean me, will get as many free shoes as he, I mean I, can wear. Keep your fingers crossed!

In other boy realated news, the boy shares his birthday with Jesus' resurection. So if you see him out and about this weekend, buy him a Jameson's, give him an easter egg, and call him a cab.

The First of Many....

Today I received the first of what I will assume to be many emails from the ivy leaguer about projects I worked on over a year ago that he is just now getting around to looking at. He knows nothing about the equipment he sends into the field and was asking me about what some files were he had from four or five years ago before I ever worked for him. He's an idiot. Then he complemented me on some data work up I did for him. "Stick it where the sun don't shine, my friend. Don't wanna here any compliments from you after the miserable existence you provided for me for the past year and a half!"

Last night I took the first of many pilates classes. I didn't think that I was THAT sore this morning but as the day has progressed I am becoming crippled by the sore. My body no longer wants to stand up right because my abs are screaming. I am sore in places that I never knew could be sore. I am not buying into any of that new age, relaxation bullshit again.

3...2...1....Blast Off

This is the first elicite blog fest from my brand new computer that scares the piss out of me. I think I could launch the space shuttle with this sucker. I keep looking at it with my TWO monitors and think...I don't know enough about anything to require this beast. It intimidates me because I don't barely know how to get it on the network let alone run enormous models on it. What have I gotten myself into?

I had a very nice weekend including a very long bike ride and run, sips of wine with the boy over a garden burger and fries, overindulgence of Reese's minis (oh dear god), and sleep. Oh Yeah, I watched the 2 and a 1/2 hour Part One of Pride and Prejudice. Now, I have to finish the book before Netflix sends me part Two. I highly recommend it to anyone that loves weird victorian words, Colin Ferth, or balls.

Black Eyed Me...

I think my new office mate may think that the boy beats the day lights out of me at home. See, I got up early this morning and went to the gym for an intesive swim session. Upon finishing, I headed home for a shower and then off to work. Well, I get these really hillarious, deeply ingrained into the skin below my eyes, could be mistaken for battery marks, rings under my eyes from my goggles. When I strided into my office my office mate asked me if I was ok. I said I was just peachy and he proceeded to stare at me for like five minutes with a puzzled look on his face. This from the guy that says nothing to me all day and turns his eyes away from me in the halls when I pass him. He definitely thinks I am being beaten. Let the water cooler rumors begin!

The iPod Shuffle....

I quite literally am in love with my iPod shuffle and thank the boy daily for it being purchased. While it won't hold my entire CD collection and it doesn't display the song titles and artists, it has become quite an obsession for me. Once or twice a week I update it and begin each day walking from my car to my office and then to the library. Each day the pocket size of happiness starts a shufflin' and gives me the soundtrack for my day. If it starts off with Bonnie Prince Billy's "The Way" I know my day will be a little jaded, a little slow, and a little pensive. If it blasts off with The Clashe's "London Calling" I know that I will be a bit lippy, walk with a purpose, and flick someone off while I am driving. Today it started with the English Beat's "Save it for Later" which I can only interpret to mean that I am going to have a best friend named ducky, ride in a parade float through downtown Chicago singing the Beatles, have detention this Saturday, the boy will be playing Peter Gabriel songs out of his boom box outside my window this afternoon, and Long Duck Dong will be coming to stay with us for a while. not bad.

The Skin of My Teeth...

I feel like I have made it through this week by the skin of my teeth. I just can't figure out why. The week hasn't been particularly stressful. Really, it has been pretty low key but for some reason I feel like at any minute I could yell "Thank God It's Friday!!!" and nothing good would come of that. I am afraid I am turning into the kind of person that uses phrases like that. Next thing you know I am going to start referring to Wendesday as "Hump Day." Please shoot me the second that happens. For now I will attribute these feelings to raging PMS and leave it at that.

Before I forget....this is a preimptive "Happy Birthday" for the Lord of Locust. He will be 31 this weekend and the plan is to celebrate it while eating unlimited soup and salad and drinking too much wine at the Olive Garden. Happy birthday, Mart!!

Day 4....

Week one of my new job is coming to an end and I can honestly say that I am pretty happy with this new positon. This morning I have stolen away to the library to do some illegal blogging and online shopping. Oh yeah, and research! You may be asking what I am researching or you may not give a shit. Either way, I will share. I am compiling a database know everything there is to know about predicting land use/ land change patterns. Exciting, huh? Actually I am finding it interesting but a bit over my head. Yesterday, I started reading about artificial neural networks, fractal chaos theory, and differential equations. Before you say "hey betagirl, you sure are smart!" let me reiterate that the bulk of this was WAY over my head. I get the basics but fuck if I know what the hell their talking about. All in all, things are good.

I am having some difficulty getting adjusted to the whole business casual thing though. Today I have on some wide leg chinos from Jcrew that I had to tape the hem of because I don't know of a good alterations place. Every now and then when I am walking down the hall you can hear the tape crackling. Inside I am laughing but outside I am a bit embarrassed. I think the people working on my hall are giving me mixed whats-appropriate-to-wear-to-work signals. Sometimes they are in jeans and sometimes they are in ties. I am just confused. The old guy across the hall likes to make me slack off in the morning, too. He is always offering me coffee or the paper first thing in the AM. Then he sits down and reads the paper in his office for the fist hour and a half of being there. Is this the lifestyle of a university worker? If so, I say...YES!

Outside of work life is pretty calm. I have been working out a lot, sleeping and eating a lot, hanging with the boy a lot, and playing with my dog a lot. Not a bad way to spend some free time. Not too bad at all.

Day 4....

Week one of my new job is coming to an end and I can honestly say that I am pretty happy with this new positon. This morning I have stolen away to the library to do some illegal blogging and online shopping. Oh yeah, and research! You may be asking what I am researching or you may not give a shit. Either way, I will share. I am compiling a database know everything there is to know about predicting land use/ land change patterns. Exciting, huh? Actually I am finding it interesting but a bit over my head. Yesterday, I started reading about artificial neural networks, fractal chaos theory, and differential equations. Before you say "hey betagirl, you sure are smart!" let me reiterate that the bulk of this was WAY over my head. I get the basics but fuck if I know what the hell their talking about. All in all, things are good.

I am having some difficulty getting adjusted to the whole business casual thing though. Today I have on some wide leg chinos from Jcrew that I had to tape the hem of because I don't know of a good alterations place. Every now and then when I am walking down the hall you can hear the tape crackling. Inside I am laughing but outside I am a bit embarrassed. I think the people working on my hall are giving me mixed whats-appropriate-to-wear-to-work signals. Sometimes they are in jeans and sometimes they are in ties. I am just confused. The old guy across the hall likes to make me slack off in the morning, too. He is always offering me coffee or the paper first thing in the AM. Then he sits down and reads the paper in his office for the fist hour and a half of being there. Is this the lifestyle of a university worker? If so, I say...YES!

Outside of work life is pretty calm. I have been working out a lot, sleeping and eating a lot, hanging with the boy a lot, and playing with my dog a lot. Not a bad way to spend some free time. Not too bad at all.

Day 4....

Week one of my new job is coming to an end and I can honestly say that I am pretty happy with this new positon. This morning I have stolen away to the library to do some illegal blogging and online shopping. Oh yeah, and research! You may be asking what I am researching or you may not give a shit. Either way, I will share. I am compiling a database know everything there is to know about predicting land use/ land change patterns. Exciting, huh? Actually I am finding it interesting but a bit over my head. Yesterday, I started reading about artificial neural networks, fractal chaos theory, and differential equations. Before you say "hey betagirl, you sure are smart!" let me reiterate that the bulk of this was WAY over my head. I get the basics but fuck if I know what the hell their talking about. All in all, things are good.

I am having some difficulty getting adjusted to the whole business casual thing though. Today I have on some wide leg chinos from Jcrew that I had to tape the hem of because I don't know of a good alterations place. Every now and then when I am walking down the hall you can hear the tape crackling. Inside I am laughing but outside I am a bit embarrassed. I think the people working on my hall are giving me mixed whats-appropriate-to-wear-to-work signals. Sometimes they are in jeans and sometimes they are in ties. I am just confused. The old guy across the hall likes to make me slack off in the morning, too. He is always offering me coffee or the paper first thing in the AM. Then he sits down and reads the paper in his office for the fist hour and a half of being there. Is this the lifestyle of a university worker? If so, I say...YES!

Outside of work life is pretty calm. I have been working out a lot, sleeping and eating a lot, hanging with the boy a lot, and playing with my dog a lot. Not a bad way to spend some free time. Not too bad at all.

Day 2....

Today is my second day of new job. I like it. I like it alot. It may be the simple fact that I am out of the grasp of the ivy leagurer. I can block his emails and ignore his phone calls and I have absolutely no guilt about it. I have incredible amounts of freedom at my new big girl job. They have given me the objectives and let me loose and I am totally in to it. Research Coordinator I reporting for duty! There are only a few draw backs to being a new employee.

1. My new computer is not in and it is totally hindering any blogging or online shopping.
2. I have an office mate and he reminds me of my brother and that's not a good thing. He has that sort of arrogant air to him and he has a stack of "Loggin' Times" in the corner of the office and, no, the apostrophe after loggin' is not an exageration. I don't know about him but I do know that over the past two days we have said three words to each other...awesome.
3. I am doing a ton of research and am working on this huge literature review. I have to wear glasses when I read and my glasses have this spot of superglue on the lens from an unfortunate bus exiting incident and I find it to be terribly destracting.
4. I am missing the bulk of the E! reinactment of the Michael Jackson trial. Do you think that guy who plays Michael Jackson will become a famous actor or will he live out his days as an impersonator? Let's hope, impersonator.

Taken It To The Streets...

I have been in Aiken for the bulk of this week. Wouldn't you know it that the ivy leaguer would put me back on call my last days of work but what's most important is that I am fucking done with that absolutley crappy job. Now I am stressing out about beginning my new big girl job, committing to the professional world, having to use my brain, and being at a desk for 8 hours a day. I am not sure if I am ready for it.

In other news, I know I have to had said this before but if not let me reiterate. I hate television reenactments. I think they are rediculous and useless and I have never been sure why they exist until today. Please tell me you have tuned into E! and seen this. These Michael Jackson trial reenactments are probably one of the strangest, funniest, and awesomest things I have ever seen. I highly recommend you tune in.

Weekend Update...

I had a very good weekend. The boy and I spent Friday night drinking a bit too much and playing poker at our friends house. I won the table but didn't collect. I felt sort of bad because everyone playing was very drunk and it just didn't feel right taking their money. After struggling a little Saturday morning, the boy and I ran errands all day and took the dog to the park for two hours. Then later that night we stuffed ourselves with veggie tempura (yum) and veggie sushi (double yum). On Sunday we went to this. We had such a good time just because auctions are fun and very easy to get swept up in. We didn't buy anything but we bid on the deck by Sergio Lindop. We got up to about $150.00 but couldn't go any higher. It is truly amazing how the community has rallied around the skate park. To our surprise, the bulk of the crowd at the auction was not skate kids but parents and their kids. Grindline was there and they were a riot. On a trip to the bathroom, I walked by the Grindline forman who said "Man she's tall" and proceeded to do a little jig singing "Look how tall she is, look how tall she is, and she's cute!" As he danced down the hall to the bathroom, two other grindliners joined in his little jig. There I was pinned between the wall and skatepark builders dancing and singing. It was a riot and awesome. All of you Athenians who have not gone out and supported any of SPOA's efforts really need to go out and check out the park. The Grindline forman himself said and I quote "We've never seen community support like this. We've built these guys the best park on the east coast...the country for that matter." This is huge for this town and I am very excited about the whole thing. For all of you single ladies out there, think about how many hot skate guys will be traveling to our fair city to skate that park. Now go out and support this damn thing!