Science Monkey

At one point late Sunday morning I found myself literally shivering as stress and anxiety washed over my body.

Friday night: the backup air conditioner died. After a few fruitless calls to friends and family in search of a couch for the night and the realization that a motel would cost at least $50 each night, we drove to Lowe’s at 8:30 PM and bought a new wall unit for the converted garage. We took out the old, dead unit, installed the new one, and insulated with rolled-up blankets. Not ideal, but sufficient, and enough to allow us to sleep comfortably, even if it was for less time than we might have chosen.

Saturday morning: After breakfast, Emma and I went back to Lowe’s to buy new molding and insulation to finish the a/c installation. We had just started to figure out how we wanted to do it when Emma’s cell phone went off, saying she was late to work. Work she didn’t know she was scheduled for. Work that took away her first day off in two weeks.

Saturday afternoon: High point of the weekend. I did a little work and played a little WoW. Emma got some sleep, before having to work the overnight shift.

Saturday night: Nightmares. Recurring dreams of being paralyzed and unable to speak, presumably linked to anxiety over my looming committee meeting.

Sunday morning: Lowest point. Tiger dies. Racking pangs of shock and sorrow and grief. Much of the rest of the morning is a blur. I know we eventually took her cage outside — having the empty cage was clearly going to be too heart-wrenching — and had to find some food before Emma collapsed. In an attempt to keep ourselves moving (I would have chosen to lie down on the couch and done nothing), we went back to Lowe’s and bought the materials to close up the hole around the a/c. By Sunday afternoon we found ourselves out at my folks’ house, who have been wonderfully helpful and supportive. Emma had a good nap and I floated in the pool for an hour, doing and thinking about nothing.

Sunday evening: We buried Tiger under a Korean dogwood, next to the garden. We gave her lots of treats, her favorite chew toy, and a lot of sand, which she loved to play in.

My committee meeting went decently on Monday, which was a huge relief. They seemed pleased with the progress I’ve made in the last month and want to see me again in another month. Work harder, work harder.

The air conditioner installers were out at the house this morning to replace the main unit. Naturally, we won’t be able to replace just the outside unit — codes, you know — so at the moment I’m waiting to hear from the credit union about financing. If approved, they’ve offered us an 11.5% interest rate, which seems like a decent sign that we’ll be approved, but we’re still waiting. Once the financing is approved, it will take about three days to get the unit ordered, delivered, and installed. In fact, if I can get this ordered by 2 PM tomorrow, we can have the air conditioner installed on Friday. I can live with that.

1. The Swedish Block washcloth for Emma is done! Hooray! I’m going to have to remember this pattern…I think it’d be pretty awesome in a sweater. Dang Florida, with your warmth…oh well. One day it will be cold again. Plus, I do have friends and family in Northerly climes.

2. I’ve started two new swatches/cloths, one in Arabic Diamond and the other in Basketweave.

3. Work is progressing. I don’t really want to talk about it.

4. I’m having a lot of fun playing WoW, naturally, but there are some concerns that it is stealing my soul. I’ve discovered that I’m such a joiner and am having a hell of a good time with both raiding with my main Horde guild and with exploring the Alliance faction with Big Bear Butt Blogger’s social guild. Good times. Oh, and the antiPUG experiment is going tremendously well. Another week, another thrashed dungeon. Very fun.

5. Umm…there is no five. I had something else to write, but I can’t think of it right now. An online friend just posted some great pictures of herself climbing and it makes me want to get outside more. I hate the little boats available at Lake Wauberg, but bad sailing is better than no sailing, right? Or maybe I should get off of my ass and start building that kayak. Hmm.

That’s right! Time for another Friday Fiver!

1. Last laugh?
Hells, yeah! Although I am fond of the quote, “Whoever laughs last probably didn’t get the joke.”

2. What do you love?
My wife, my friends, my family, my pets. Those are more who than what, aren’t they? I love my job (despite my constant bitching) and where I live.

3. Gold or silver?
Gold.

4. Who do you hold hands with?
My wife. But you, too, if you asked or offered.

5. Friday fill-in:
There’s no time to waste.

Item the first: Go donate to the Maximumfun.org Maximum Fun Drive. Do it! Be like all the cool kids (and me)!

Item the second: I found a new knitting blog to add to my reader, if only because of the title (well, the content looks cool, too): The A.D.D. Knitter. Hurray, knitting! Hurray, AD…wait, what was I talking about?

Item the third: New podcasts to try, from friends’ suggestions and the depths of my memory! Here’s some updates to my previous list (which I promise to fill in with linkage in the next day or so):
- The Savage Love-cast
- Shut Up. We’re Talking.
- Witty Ranter
- You Look Nice Today (recommended personally by his awesomeness, Jesse Thorn)
- Cast On
- Sticks and String
- Y Knit
- Stash and Burn
- It’s a Purl, Man
- News from Lake Woebegone
- Car Talk
- NPR: Hidden Kitchens
- QN (formerly known as Quirky Nomads)
- A Brobdingnagian Minute
- Marc Gunn’s Irish and Celtic Music Podcast
- And how could I forget retroCRUSH, the Podcast?

That’ll keep you busy for a few days, eh?

N.B.: I haven’t yet listened to many of these, but they’re recommended by people I like and whose taste I generally approve of. Just saying. YMMV.

Hey, gang. I need some advice from y’all. I b0rked my iTunes library the other day and am having to reload everything. Since I’m going through and resubscribing to all of my podcasts, I figured I’d take this chance to see if there are any that you’d recommend that I’m missing. So…what’cha listening to?

So far, here’s my list:
- This American Life
- NPR: Science Friday
- NPR: Sunday Puzzle
- NPR: Wait, wait…
- alt.NPR: What Would Rob Do?
- All the awesome stuff from maximumfun.org (Jordan, Jesse Go!; The Sound of Young America; TSOYA Classics; Coyle & Sharpe; Kasper Hauser; and The College Years)
- The Instance
- Cory Doctorow’s Podcast
- How I WoW
- EFF Linenoise
- Radio Free Burrito
- Radio Lab
- NPR: Hmmmmmm…Krulwich on Science

What am I missing?

Because I have nothing insightful to say today, here’s another meme. It’s the Friday Fiver! Woo!

1. Are you a good worker?

Not usually. I’m pretty good when I’m focused, but as soon as I’m distracted, it’s over.

2. What do you carry?

The weight of the world on my shoulders? No, not really. Usually housekeys, wallet, cell phone, leatherman, and a pen.

3. Do you know your neighbors?

Sort of. I know them enough to say hello and make a little small talk, but not much beyond that.

4. Where do you like to go for a day trip?

The beach.

5. What is at your feet?

My backpack and my current knitting project (in a bag, not just on the floor).

Trying to add a little sex appeal to my blog, I’m going to try to play along with TMI Tuesday. I’m a day late, but here goes:

1. Is there a TV show you HAVE to watch? If so, what is it?

Not anymore. I used to watch a lot of TV but have transferred my time-wasting to computer games.

2. What is you favorite drink if you are going to drink more than one?

Some sort of a tasty beer. A nice nut brown ale, maybe? Yum.

3. How long do you carry guilt around with you?

For-freaking-ever.

4. Where is or would be your number one romantic get away spot?

Hmmm. We had an excellent visit to St. Thomas, so I guess I’ll go with that. Hawaii sounds lovely, but I’ve never been. Same with somewhere really cool, like Bora Bora.

5. Have you ever seen a counselor?

Yup.

Bonus (as in optional): Last summer the Archives of Sexual Behavior the 237 reasons people have sex and the Top 50 Reasons Men and Women Have Sex. What are your top 5 reasons?

Gosh, these seem repetitive. I’m going to have to go with #1, 2, 5, 7, and 40.

I’m tired and cranky. I just thought I’d share.

From Boing Boing comes word of the BBC demanding that a knitter remove Doctor Who-inspired patterns from the web. Patterns that were made available for free, mind you. Sheesh. I had better go grab all of the Scarf patterns now, while they’re still available…

Emma: