ok, so i've been a little bit lazy

well, maybe not lazy. i've actually been really busy, just not with respect to this thing. the work goes well and my time here in frederick is nearly over. the holiday inn?...well, it's pretty much the same. after a little less than two weeks it's funny the things you start to notice about your surroundings. for example, i can tell which housekeeper has cleaned my room each day. not exactly "who", per se, since I've never seen them, just that "cleaning style A" or "B" has taken place. one of them will move certain things around, one will leave them as is. one replaces the shampoo regardless of whether there's a half-full one in the shower, the other does not. one will take the used towel off the drying hook and provide another fresh one in its place, the other just leaves it where it is. maybe person B is an environmentalist and is avoiding wastage? that would be nice. then again, maybe they're just lazy? i would be too. that's a tough and thankless job. i've only done it on a very small scale - I cleaned a bed and breakfast one summer as a teenager. that was a cakewalk by comparison, of course. still, it left a whole lot to be desired.

60 days and counting!

some of the more observant among the many fans of my shit-blog may have noticed the exciting new, sickly green countdown clock beneath my profile (fancy, ain't it?). as you may have discerned, since you are clever, my wife and i are expecting our first child - a daughter, we're told - around march 12th. needless to say we're pretty damn excited / nervous / and a whole host of other things! i now choose to share this nugget with you since i may begin panicking as the big day gets closer and that would likely be apparent in my writing - so you've been forewarned. in order to continue the multimedia cavalcade that is hovercraftfullofeels, i present to you this exciting ultrasound picture taken some months ago. there are others, of course, but this is my favorite. ain't technology scary? i think we're going to get one of those fancy pants 3D ultrasounds sometime in the near future. i'm looking forward to that quite a bit since 1) i'm a total nerd and such technology would therefore be fascinating to me, and 2) the chance to see my future daughter up close and personal is pretty damn cool. work is going really well today after some initial confusion so that means i'm a bit manic. this is why i write you now, from the exciting little desk i've been lent during my time here, rather than waiting until i return to the pit that is my crappy little holiday inn desk. i suppose i may return later, but this is ta ta for now. auf wiedersehn!

i am obsessed with pikas

jesus, man, look at this pika on the right. how friggin awesome is this thing? i've been silly for these things for a while. why? because i'm an idiot. they're damn cute though. i'm pretty sure the first time i became aware of them was during one of those david attenborough documentaries, The Life of Mammals, which we got from netflix some time ago. i assure you that if you look into them you, too, will agree. i guess i have quite the thing for little animals.

i also love guinea pigs. i prefer the messy looking, long-haired variety but this guy/girl here pretty much rules. i would like to kidnap him/her and name it Mr. Pockets or Patches or some shit like that. not terribly creative, i agree. but doesn't it just work? HOW THE FUCK CAN SOME PEOPLE EAT THESE THINGS? they are insane. that's something i've tried to figure out for years though. there must really be something to the dichotomy between those who eat mammals and those that don't. i wish i knew what it was. it makes me sad so i try not to think about it very much. don't get me wrong, i, too agree that hamburgers taste great. cows are wicked cool though. i just can't do it anymore. but i digress and i've gone on long enough. g'night all. eat some tofu, eh?

wait! the weekend is over already?

damn, guess so. i spent just about the whole thing in the lab but that is ostensibly why i'm living at this godforsaken holiday inn for 2 weeks. anyhow, i suppose an upside is that 4 (count them, FOUR) people have apparently viewed my profile here. wow. i sure am popular. of course i think one of them is probably my lovely wife (thanks, honey!). one person has left comments as well (thanks, smila!). i think that means this has worked far better than i'd have predicted. low expectations, eh? haha...i try not to set myself up to be disappointed, i guess. i think that's why i enjoyed Terminator 3 as much as i did. don't be too concerned, i did say "as much as i did", which is marginally more than "thought it was pure shit". nah, i shouldn't be too harsh. it was mildly entertaining in a not-at-all-requiring-your-brain way. why bring up a 2+ year old crappy movie? jesus, i wish i knew. happy trails, y'all. i think that's enough for tonight. cya.

whee, day 2 of ye olde blog(ge?)

wow, 24 hours later and i'm still here. guess things haven't gotten much more interesting at the hotel, eh? work was good tonight, although busy. i'm way drained. i should mention that the reason i'm in beautiful Frederick, MD is that i'm learning some new techniques from a laboratory at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) campus here in Frederick. what's more interesting is that the campus is actually located on the grounds of Fort Detrick, which is an army base. having my rental car (and its contents - no, not my contents, thankfully. i'm talking backpacks and such) searched every morning is a little odd. i've heard that there used to be a mini-tank pointed at you when you drove in but sadly, it's not here anymore. anyhow, it's a maze to get around this place but with my handy little map i'm getting better. i have what's probably the worst sense of direction possible, something with which my wife would wholeheartedly agree. all joking aside, this place makes me a little nervous. if you didn't know it, the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) is located here. *shudder* look it up. quite a history, we've got here. i think the world is coming to an end because i'm looking at this crappy tv and Howard Stern is on Larry King Live. christ almighty. didn't he make fun of that show in Private Parts or maybe it was Miss America? anyhow, enough said. i need to take some advil. headache make me feel assy.

things i learned about myself from blog polls

for what it's worth...i wonder how much productivity is lost due to sites like these? this first one is definitely horse shit. the superhero one is obviously easy to manipulate. i was pretty bored last night though.

Your Personality Is

Guardian (SJ) You are sensible, down to earth, and goal oriented. Bottom line, you are good at playing by the rules. You tend to be dominant - and you are a natural leader. You are interested in rules and order. Morals are important to you. A hard worker, you give your all at whatever you do. You're very serious, and people often tell you to lighten up. In love, you tend to take things carefully and slowly. At work, you are suited to almost any career - but you excel in leadership positions. With others, you tend to be polite and formal. As far as looks go, you are traditionally attractive. You take good care of yourself. On weekends, you tend to like to do organized activities. In fact, you often organize them!

The Three Question Personality Test

You Are 40% Weird

Normal enough to know that you're weird... But too damn weird to do anything about it!

How Weird Are You?

You are Spider-Man

Spider-Man 80% Green Lantern 75% Iron Man 70% Catwoman 70% Superman 55% Hulk 55% Batman 45% Supergirl 43% Robin 40% The Flash 40% Wonder Woman 38%

You are intelligent, witty, a bit geeky and have great power and responsibility.

Click here to take the "Which Superhero are you?" quiz...

i am a tool

i should point out that it has now been 1.5 hours and i'm still screwing around with this freaking blog. why, you ask? it's just that exciting in the ol' hotel room. of course i had lots of other entertainment in the form of Dirty Jobs on the television. i wasn't paying too much attention until the guy started assaulting horses in efforts to further their reproduction much to the delight of rich white folks who like spending wads of loot on such things. bastards, all of 'em. can't say i ever understood horse people. they're pretty crazy, i think you'd agree - unless you're one of 'em of course, and then you'll write nasty things to me. oh you won't? that's right, no one will ever read this thing. hahaha... even on the internet, no one knows how truly boring we each are. it's off to bed as i've much work to do tomorrow. alas, i'm not here on vacation. bah.

why another blog?

hello, true believers, and welcome to the shock and awe that is hovercraft full of eels (it's shite, really). in fact, there's absolutely no good reason that the world needs yet another blog. i tried this whole thang out well before blogging became chic and found it a bit dull. i don't read any blogs presently and i'd not ever intended to set up yet another myself. however, i'm on a business trip right now and have realized that while the Holiday Inn in Frederick, MD is positively lovely, it's a bit dull. hence, the inspiration to create the wonderous beauty of this, my li'l blog, came to be. sure, it's a lousy reason, but so be it. the die is cast. i've no idea if i'll ever post another entry again. time shall tell. it's likely, i suppose. i'm pretty damn bored.