Two years ago my uncle died. It's an odd thing to think about. And even odder, that I didn't actually think about it on the day he died, but rather earlier in the week. And then I feel guilty because I didn't recall it until my mom asked me if I remembered.

It still doesn't seem right, that my uncle isn't still at the house on the hill, that the youngest of them was taken first. And I really can't relate to how my cousin and aunt, and my mother, even, can deal with it. It's like if I don't think about it, it's not real. Isn't that silly?

At the risk of slipping into melancholy, I'll run back to work and forget about this for a while. I'm not depressed, just busy, honest.

Do you ever just think,
"I'm fooling everybody"?

You have no idea.

Posted by Jen at 2:03 PM | Permalink

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  The Charnel Prince, Greg Keyes
file under: serious

Sláinte, mabuhay, gom bui! (You too can toast in many different languages!) Go have some Guinness, and don't forget to wear something green...else I'd have to pinch you for not wearing my favorite color.

Posted by Jen at 12:52 AM | Permalink

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  Riverdance (gotta have the Celtic spirit, now)
  The Malloreon, Vol I, David Eddings
file under: celebration

Today being 3/14, it's National Pi Day. You know, everyone's favorite irrational number π. If you can actually recite any other numerals in said irrational number other than the classic 3.14, kudos to you. Now if I could only remember how to solve a cube root. And don't tell me it's whatever goes into the number 3 times. I know that. But when you have 5.2^-7 and you need to cube root that, I am FUBAR'd.

It's also Einstein's birthday. Here's to everyone's favorite wild-haired professor. Thank you for making advanced science much more complicated, but I suppose that's relative...

Getting evaluations is nerve-wracking, even if you know that you're doing ok. And yay for getting a day off, though isn't the purpose of taking a vacation day when you have oodles of them to not have to make them up? oh well. I will, and that's all.

So I have two weeks to figure out if I'm staying or going with this apartment. I love how I have to give nearly three months notice. Why oh why do they have to raise the rent? Things were going so well...what are your thoughts?

Posted by Jen at 1:18 AM | Permalink

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  MCAT Physical Sciences Notes, which my daddy procured for me even though I'm not taking a class. Joy.
file under: muses

As I was driving home tonight, I came across an accident under the highway near the trainyard. There was at least one wreck, smashed front bumper facing our direction of traffic, never good. It must have just happened, because there were no police, no ambulances yet, but there were people on the side of the road, surrounding someone lying on the ground.

I followed the car in front of me around the wreck, making sure there were no other cars coming the opposite direction, and felt horrible for not stopping. There were quite a few cars that didn't look as if they were involved in the accident, so perhaps they stopped. There was nothing I could have done; I don't have a cell phone to call for help, and I'm not a doctor, not yet and not by any stretch of the definition, however much I would like to be. But I still felt awful.

I stopped at the gas station just down the street, as that had been my goal all along, and saw an ambulance drive past (rattling, natch) from my hometown, without its sirens going. It's never good when the ambi goes in the direction of an accident without the sirens; means there's no rush to get where they're going. I hope everyone is alright. Maybe it wasn't going to that accident, because I heard nearby sirens after that.

Sigh. Really, what could I have done?

On the upside, I got my new printer today. Snazzy. On the downside, I missed meeting someone, but God works in mysterious ways, so perhaps we can find that connection again.

Posted by Jen at 1:06 AM | Permalink

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  Simon & Garfunkel: A Hazy Shade of Winter

file under: serious

Sometime last month my printer stopped printing, as in it was apparently using ink as normal, but nothing showed up on the paper. Unfortunately, that was almost exactly a year to the day that I purchased the darn thing (along with my lovely little iBook), so my warranty had expired. I went through email tech support, and followed all the instructions (yes, I did use genuine Epson inks) and nothing helped. It was quite odd to see and hear the printer doing its thing, then have nothing but a blank piece of paper to show for it. So I was refered to the telephone helpline, with the added bonus of not having to pay the $10 per call fee since I'd already troubleshooted (-shot?) by email.

After putting it off a few weeks (I claim an A&P test or two to study for), I finally called last night, and after going through the same bit (and not getting charged for calling, yay!) they determined that it might indeed be hardware failure, and since it was only a few days (weeks, whatever, it's only been a year) they will send me a brand new printer! And I don't even have to send back the old one, which, aside from not printing, still works. I had gotten the all-in-one printer/scanner/copier/memory card reader, so I was loathe to just buy a new one (assuming I had the money to do so, anyway).

It won't be the same model, but from what I hear, the newer model is better. I just have to wait a week, and I should have a new one...

Busy busy busy at work. Hope you all are having a good week. I'm so glad tomorrow is payday.

Posted by Jen at 2:18 PM | Permalink

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  y98 FM
  Dead Beat, Jim Butcher
file under: thoughts