I thought things were getting better

After weeks of waiting for the tanks to arrive, I called the pet store AGAIN to set a delivery time. At this point, I have not once received any communication from them that I have not initiated first by a phone call or a visit. They assured me the tanks will arrive on Wednesday for a Thursday (today) delivery. Did not hear anything from them yesterday which I considered to be a good thing. Called today to set up a time, and NO DELIVERY! Turns out the company that makes the tanks has only made 3 of the 9 ordered (7 of which were mine). So, they made the executive decision to not deliver any of them. This I find out the day after the once/week delivery schedule. SO ANGRY!! Back to the drawing board.

On a side note, I have been playing around with various pdf organizing and manipulating software. My recent addition has been a program called Papers (only for Mac users). This is a cool little program that will easily become my new best friend. Biggest downfalls are the ability to site and the ability to highlight. It only allows me to use Preview which is a program I despise. Apple should know better than to use Preview because it is such a limited and useless program.

What is up with Pdf's anyway? Is there no better option than non-readable documents that have limited software capabilities and no easy way to be interactive? For scientists, and I am including myself in that mix, our software is in the dark ages.

Support another friend... Furniture

For those who are interested in amazing handmade furniture ... look no further than Chester Shuey's Handcrafted Furniture. Enough of a promotion for everyone??!! Actually, he's a really nice guy and does know what he's doing. Anyone who wants to follow his blog can go to: http://www.cshandcrafted.blogspot.com/.

If I trust him with my life (climbing)... I would probably trust him enough to sit on his furniture.

I survived the weekend from hell

After being bed-ridden from a horrible cold for all of Saturday and Sunday, I wake up to find my computer is broken!! The mac people have (for the second time) declared my hard drive to be dead. This is the key lesson... BACK UP YOUR STUFF!! I've spent the past 24 hours only starting to get my computer life back together and I keep thinking ... 20 minutes, only 20 minutes to save all of the files and I would not have this problem.

Overall, I'm kicking myself extremely hard right now but it's put a new flame under my ass to keep moving on this research. Overall, I thought progress was going to be made but the delivery of the tanks has been delayed another week and will not arrive until Thursday. I'm hoping on having everything ready to go by Monday. And then the parents arrive...

On the positive site, I still have a few bottles of liquor in my room to be consumed in case things get really bad (only kidding... maybe...).

Adult Science Fair

This Saturday was the Science Rendezvous in Toronto. Various locations were open around the city to help promote science in the community. Throughout the day, five of us traveled the city looking for interesting discussions and cool science projects. Of course, we found both!! Started off at Ryerson University with a jeopardy-type event where we were all contestants. Three of us were neck-in-neck up to the very last question and... I lost (on a question about Women in Science). As a prize for playing, I got a pen!

Then, we went out to have coffee/beer with scientists. Quite enjoyable discussions though I thought the news showing up and interviewing me was the best part! Never before have I been interviewed by the news. Three showed up! One local monthly newsletter, CTV (with a film crew), and one of the big newspapers in Toronto (I can't remember which one). Though I looked, I couldn't find an article that quoted me and we didn't get back in time to check the evening news on tv.

To wrap up the day, we went to the Adult Science Fair... at a bar. Now this has to be one of the most inventive events of my life. They rented out the back room of a large bar and had a variety of science related activities including Periodic Table game, building your own "thing" using random parts, are you smarter than a 5th grader, Spore, and even Slime building (seen on the right). If any city had a bar like this every night, that would be MY bar.

Overall, a very good day. On Sunday, I played ultimate, went to a bike maintenance clinic, and then fed the fish. I FINALLY HAD A TRIAL WORK OUT!! Now, I just need a new computer to manage the data... it's always something.

Walking Tour of TO Annex

Yesterday, I had a chance to go on a walking tour of the Annex. To the left are some of the buildings I had a chance to visit. I'm constantly amazed by the diversity in the houses in Toronto. Every street is different. The tour was a bit long and the tour guide wasn't the best but amazing houses! Of course, we went out for a pint and some food after the tour at one of the houses! Quite a good burger.

Skydiving Anyone?

Anyone interested in going skydiving and happens to be in Colorado, GO TO SKYDIVE COLORADO. This is a new drop zone opened by my friend Neil and he's really great! He took me on a tandem jump when I was in Washington State and had an amazing time! Ask to be flipped upside down!

http://www.skydiveco.com/main.html

Science Tattoo Emporium

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/loom/science-tattoo-emporium/

These give me great ideas for a tattoo. Actually, I know some of the people featured on this site!

First Trial - A bust

So, I finally have the tank built, appropriate lights, pulley system for the dividers, a happy predatory fish, and the prey acclimated to the environment. Two problems, I overfed the predator before the trial, then, I left them alone in a room together. The stupid prey swam past the divider and was eaten! WITHOUT THE CAMERA TURNED ON!!

Well, time to wait another 2 days. I'll get a predation on film one day.

Wedding Rings 101: Myths, Lore, and Fun Facts
Did you know that the exchanging of wedding rings is more than four thousands years old? Do you know the superstitions surrounding wedding rings? Do you know the symbolism of a gold band? Find out here.
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/462094/wedding_rings_101_myths_lore_and_fun.html

I'm Engaged!

While Mike and I were trying to figure out how to get a night shot of the city, he proposed! This is an actual picture of our engagement! Of course I said yes! It took almost 10 years but I'm finally going to marry the person I love - my best friend!

First Day in Toronto

This is my first blog... Ever!  Bear with me as I get use to it. 

Today marks the start of my graduate school research and my move to Toronto. At 4am this morning, I woke up, said my farewells to my snakes (Guinness and Eve), my boyfriend (Mike), and my parents, then left for BWI airport.  I have travelled enough over these past few years that it has become easier for everyone. It is almost a routine. I'm not sure how to feel about the simplicity of my emotions when I move to a foreign country.

For everyones reference, NEVER arrive less than 1.5 hours before an international flight. When the airline says the cut off is 1 hour prior to take off, they will close the desk and all remaining passengers will be bumped. I feel very lucky because I was the final passenger allowed on the flight!

Toronto is amazing! Today was not the prettiest day but I'm still in awe of what I've seen already. I moved into a living room converted to a bedroom on the second floor of my "Toronto Advisors" house, Helen. It seems to have just enough space to fit all of my stuff and still be comfortable.  My roommate, Andrew, seems really nice also!  He's heavily into the movie scene in Toronto and works at home on random projects.

Helen and I went out for brunch at a local restaurant and began our talks about the upcoming research. I just can not wait to get my own research going. The first few weeks will be grunt work to set up the lab and clean tanks but then I'll get my own fish!! I start tomorrow!

All in all, a great day!