Boston through CaliEyes

Rejection #2

2007-11-13T18:43:00.000-05:00

I just got rejected by Wisconsin. That's too bad, I would have liked the cheese and wanted to pick up their accent, don'cha know?

Yoga/Pilates

2007-11-12T20:37:00.000-05:00

So I've been meaning to get into shape for a very long time now, but my problem is that I can't find any physical activities that I really enjoy doing. I bike to and from work everyday, but it only takes about 20-30 minutes both ways. I wanted to do something extra, and for a while I ran 2-3 times a week, but since it's definitely one of my least favorite activities it only lasted a month. I would find any excuse to get out of it: too windy, it's raining, too cold, etc.

So now I'm trying to pick up yoga and pilates. I'm taking those classes where they heat up the room from 80-105 degrees. I thought it was gonna be nasty in such a warm room, but it's actually quite nice and toasty. So far, I've found out that I am totally not flexible, and that I have no core strength whatsoever. I can't even sit up straight with my legs flat in front of me. I was seriously sore from both the yoga and pilates class. But I think it's a nice challenge. Hopefully I'll stick with these classes and become stronger and more flexible. I can't wait to touch my toes!

Midterm-O-Ween

2007-11-12T19:58:00.000-05:00

Since all the Harvard kids have midterms on or before Halloween, they had to create midterm-o-ween so they could all dress up and get butt drunk.

Here are some pics from the party:
This is me and Carlos as a lovely Bavarian couple. Yes, I made Carlos' costume too. =) Not bad eh?

This is Cressida, one of the girls that I knit with and the host. She sewed every single sequin on to her costume. Isn't she insane?

This is Mary (another fellow knitter), with her boyfriend. Can you guess what her costume is?

Lorena (knitter also), a power puff girl.

The goth couple (Dave and Haley)

President Adminijad (Mike) with uranium and one of his 72 (virgin) wives. Of course, he chooses the devil (Kathryn).

Dorothy (Joyce) and a burglar(?)(Dan)

Then we've got Pablo, proudly representing the only Olympic medal in Ecuador for speed walking. Carlos is loving this costume because that's all Mexico has too.

Here's Simon as one of the characters from Life Aquatic. (Not my favorite movie-I fell asleep)

It's JAZZERCISE TIME!!! Oh yeah!!!

And what is a party without the classy divorced couple, Britney and K-fed?

Hope you enjoyed the pics!!!
Happy Midterm-O-Ween!

First secondary rejection of 2007

2007-10-25T17:08:00.000-05:00

BU med doesn't want me. Surprise, surprise. They're lame and expensive anyway.

Getting my craft on!

2007-10-15T20:43:00.000-05:00

So lately, I've been in a very crafty mood. I've been inspired to make something that I can actually wear, other than scarves, socks, gloves, and the such. Although I haven't mustered up enough courage to go into body shapes, I am taking on a wanna-be poncho. I'm about a third done. I have also been working on a new bathroom rug. And is finally finished!!!

Tada!!!

It needs a bit of blocking, but it's finished and I LIKE IT!

Next on the list, my halloween costume: my dirndl - a traditional bavarian dress.

I bought it from a second-hand shop on my last trip to Europe. The dress was about 30 euros, and the tiny blouse that goes with it costs an extra 30 euros and I wasn't about to cough up that money for something that only covers my boobs. So originally, I was going to have my dad make it, but he was a bit busy when I visited and I didn't get a chance to make the request. So I decided to take matters into my own hands and make it myself. Yes, that's right, I bought a sewing machine. And here are the goods:

I got so excited about making my blouse that I stayed up until 3 am finishing it. Although it's a really simple top, it took me forever to make it because I've only have one prior experience to sewing before this.

After the blouse, I thought that I might as well complete the costume by making an apron and putting some tule underneath the skirt to give it more umph.

Drum roll please...

Not bad for a first-timer, eh?

Now I gotta work on Carlos' lederhosen. Results and pictures to follow. =)

My night in

2007-09-14T22:09:00.000-05:00

This weekend is the BBS retreat. All the graduate science students get together at Province Town and talk science for 9-12 hours and then party all night. I'm expecting a call from Carlos some time this weekend that goes something like, "Honey, I'm sooo drunk. Ugh." repeated about four times. Then he'll tell me about the wild grad students gettin' it on with other grad students or even professors. After all that, I will silently hope that he didn't lock tongues with another female over there. I can be quite the jealous person and I will paint horrible, possible situations, but I have to just learn how to trust and take things lightly.

Anyway, I had a pretty good night tonight. I finally shipped out some DVDs to my sister. When I came back from the post office, I bought some sushi and milk tea boba for dinner. I also rented the girliest movie I know that Carlos would never agree to watch with me, "Because I Said So". The story is about an over-protective and controlling mother (Diane Keaton) who schemes to hook up her hopeless daughter (Mandy Moore) with a decent man. Towards the middle of the movie, Mandy finds herself falling for the average Joe, but Diane keeps pushing the successful man into her daughter's life and Mandy is torn between the two men. I really liked the movie. It's your typical chick flick and it's been a long while since I've seen one. So it was quite refreshing.

Next movie on my list: "Knocked Up". I'm not sure whether I want to see this with Carlos or not. My sister and her boyfriend loved the movie, so I might save it for him.

"Lost and New"

2007-09-13T21:03:00.000-05:00

This is what was waiting for me when I got home:

Isn't he just the sweetest?! My baby is so thoughtful. =)

Quarter Century Old

2007-09-13T20:06:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was the big 2-5 for my baby, Carlos. And this was the game plan: Get up at 6am, cook breakfast and finish by 6:30, hop in shower and get ready for work by 7am. Wake up the b-day boy have b-day breakfast for half and hour and get to work by 8am. Work and then leave at 4:30pm. Get the car, the soccer tix and pick everyone up by 6:00pm.

How it went: I woke up at 6:10. I prepared the meal and it took me a whole hour! But well worth the smiles on my baby's face. Here's a pic of the table set up sans pancakes and bacon. And the dozen fresh roses:We enjoyed a lovely conversation and took our time for breakfast. Next thing I knew, I was way behind schedule and I got to work at 9am instead of 8am. =T

Then around 11am, my co-workers and I leave the office so that I could get a tour of the transplant center. When I got back, I wanted to get a tampon from my backpack. I looked under my desk, where I usually keep it and it was gone. I was so confused. I knew that I brought it to work. Then I thought that my co-workers were hiding it from me, but when I asked them, they had no idea what I was talking about. Someone had stolen my backpack!!!! Luckily, there wasn't anything super valuable in there, although there were some slightly sentimental things, like a pair of white flat shoes that my aunt recently gave me. I kept my wallet and cellphone in my purse which I carry everywhere with me. Anyway, the people of my floor were really nice and empathetic. Even the doctors took some time out of their day to help me look for it. Well because of that stupid person who stole my backpack, (s)he ruined my plans for the day. Then I couldn't bike home because I didn't have keys to my lock, nor could I walk two miles in three-inch heels. So my poor birthday boy who had a buttload of work to do had to cut his day short to take over my responsibilities of getting the car and tickets from home.

Work finally ends and everyone gets in the car by 6:30. The soccer game was held at Gillette Stadium (Foxburo), only 25 miles away. We totally thought that two hours would be enough time to get there, but we were sooooo wrong! It was bumper to bumper all the way from Boston to Foxburo. It was re-freakin-diculous! The game started at 8:30pm and we got there at 9:30. It took us about 10 minutes to run from the parking lot to the stadium and find our seats. There was about 20 minutes left in the game. Brazil and Mexico were tied 1-1. Not much to our suprise, people took over our seats and were so stuborn to move. These people were getting on Carlos' last nerve and I decided to call security so that Carlos might be able to enjoy a few extra minutes.

By the time the seat stealers finally moved out of our seats, there was 15 minutes left. "Come on Mexico....you can score one!" "GOOOOAL!!!!" Brazil made a beautiful shot. The sea of Brazilians wearing yellow shirts goes absolutely wild. Drums are banging, the crowd waives their oversized green flags. Only a couple hundred people sit still in their seats, hoping that Mexico can score another goal to catch up. Two minutes left in the game. "GOOOOOOOAL!!!"Brazil scores again. Thousands and thousands of Brazilians cheer on their country's team. 3-1. Game over.

My poor poor baby had to drive his manual car in bumper to bumper traffic, see only 20 minutes of the game, Mexico lost, and he didn't even get to see that one goal that Mexico got. Then we ended the night with another three hours of traffic coming home.

I guess that Interpol concert, which was playing right across the street from our apartment, would have been better. =(

The b-day plan

2007-09-10T22:11:00.000-05:00

Rather than dwelling on crap, let's focus on the future and the good.

The boy's birthday is only a couple days away. I went shopping for his gift today (and I did a little damage for myself too - a pair of brown pumps =P). Carlos goes bonkers for any Hugo Boss leather jacket, but lets face it. One, I don't make that much cashola. And two, I'm not even in med school yet so that I could take it out of my definite future salary. Since I'm pretty positive that he doesn't read my blog, I'll go ahead and spill the beans. I got him the next best leather item from Hugo Boss: a wallet! It's all I can afford at the moment, and his current wallet is falling apart anyway. I hope he likes it. =)

I also wanted to do something special, sort of sentimental...maybe a nice breakfast with fresh flowers. Hmmm...what can I prepare other than his usual cereal? I would cook him some pancakes, but that's a little hard to calculate...although I bet I could do it. And maybe some sausages, and a scrambled egg. I like that idea! I'll just prepare all the ingredients the night before, and he'll wake up to the smell of a buttery breakfast....mmmmmm!

For the evening, we were originally supposed to go to the Interpol concert, but I didn't get the tickets because I was unsure of whether Carlos really liked that band or not. A week after he booked tickets for a soccer game (Mexico vs. Brazil), he said, "This game better be good. I'm missing an Interpol concert for this." So I guess he does like them. =P Anyway, I think it's gonna be an awesome game. I've never seen a live professional soccer game, or any live soccer game for that matter. So this should be a pretty cool experience. And we're going with a couple of cool people from Carlos' school.

Well, biddy-biddy-biddy that's all folks!

Familia Loya

2007-09-09T22:00:00.000-05:00

So as soon as I got back from my lovely vacation in LA and seeing all my buddies. I had some nerve racking drama from work, but I don't care to write about it because it's resolved and now I love my new job! =)

But anyway, I had two days to get our apartment spanking clean for the "in-laws." (No, they're not in laws, but it's so much easier to refer to them as that for now.) I heard that Carlos' mother was a neat freak and if she saw a speck of dust, she would starting cleaning our house. So I swiftered and windexed everything. It took me all of Monday and Tuesday evening to get everything organized. I was so nervous! I mean, this was my first time HOSTING HIS FAMILY! Gotta stay on the good side...ya know what I mean?

Wednesday night: I slaved over the stove to make sure that his parents had a meal to eat when they arrived. We would have taken them out to a restaurant, but nothing is open past 10pm on a weeknight. Then I slaved over the stove some more so that his sister's family would have something to eat also when they arrived the next morning.

Dinner menu: Filipino style chicken menudo with homemade corn tortillas.

Lunch menu: A delicious exotic mushroom pasta with white wine sauce.

Luckily, Carlos' parents loved their dinner and his dad even asked for seconds! =) Hooray! My first set of brownie points!

Thursday: Carlos picked his sister's family from the airport, had the mushroom pasta and headed out to the Science Museum. A perfect place to take a kid!

Here's a pic of Carlos' nephew and his brother-in-law.

That evening I met up with his family at a nearby Korean BBQ restaurant, where we celebrated Carlos' mother's 50th birthday. Then we topped it off with a delicate chocolate raspberry cake from Finale, a fine bakery/coffee shop. (I would have shown a pic, but I have no idea where Carlos kept them.)

Friday: His family went exploring the history of Boston, by walking the freedom trail. I heard that his brother-in-law was so fascinated by the USS Constitution that they spent three hours over there! Then Carlos and I met up with them in Little Italy for a good ol' traditional Italian dinner.

Saturday: We went up north past Salem to Crane's beach. It was so beautiful there! The sun was shining, the water was clear, and the sand was warm and soft. It also happened to be Carlos' nephew's first visit to a beach. So the first thing he did of course was run straight into the water. =P
That's me throwing him into the water. And you can't go to the beach without building a sand sculpture! Carlos and I decided on an airplane. I present to you Ocean Air! After we returned with sand in our pants and shirts, we treated them to their first taste of Thai food at Brown Sugar. I ordered the usual Pad Thai and Pad ZEU, which every first timer has to try. Then I ordered my favorite dish, Kow Mun Kai (steamed chicken on mildly favored rice served with a spicy garlic sauce), some crab fried rice, beef macadamia, and some roasted duck. And of course, Thai teas 'round the table. Mmm...mmm...mmm....

Sunday: Started the day off with mass with my favorite priest, Fr. John Unni. Carlos' mom is quite religious and really enjoyed the gathering. Then we headed over to the Belkin Family Lookout Farm to go apple picking! Luckily for me, since I'm not too fond of apples, the plums and peaches were also ripe and ready to be picked. So that's what I got a bag full of. =D Midway between the picking, there was a petting zoo and children's playground.

I was most fascinated by the rock-climbing apparatus. See? It's pretty cool.Then Carlos and I also played Gladiators on a balance beam, and the monkey bars. =)

And a couple of dragonflies landed on my arm, which I totally wouldn't have noticed if Carlos' nephew didn't point it out.

Then my biggest challenge came: how to impress the family with a big sit down dinner in our apartment. Well, I took a very good tip from a former co-worker of mine. Get of bunch of drum sticks, stick them in some Jack Daniels marinade and put it in the oven. And that's exactly what I did. Plus I cooked up a couple batchs of rice, warmed up some tortillas, and served it with some salad along with Carlos' homemade salad dressing. Everyone was stuffed and satisfied. Mission complete!

Here's the whole familia at the end of their stay.

Overall, it definitely wasn't as bad as I had anticipated. His family is really sweet and treats me like one of their own. I wouldn't mind having them over again.

Nervous

2007-08-22T12:16:00.000-05:00

OMG...I am so nervous about my new job.

I was interviewed for the position of Clinical Research Coordinator II about two months ago and I was given an unofficial job offfer from the Principle Investigator about a week later. She said I couldn't be offered the position officially until the girl I am going to replace gives her letter of resignation. So finally a month later, the girl declares her last day of work, and I get the phone interview with HR soon after. I figured the interview went well, and I'm assuming that my former boss gave a good letter of rec. I'm supposed to start on August 27th, but I still haven't heard anything from my workplace!!!!

So I finally decided to call today and I find out that the HR woman that I was working with left and now there's a new person in charge of my paperwork and doesn't have a clue as to who I am!!! I had better have a job waiting for me when I get back to Boston or else I'm gonna go insane!!!!!! ARG! It has to happen this way, doesn't it?! AGLK!

btw...my life has been wonderful for the past month. Ususally, when I don't write for a while, it means that life is great, I'm super busy, and that I don't have much to complain about. I should really write about the cool/fun stuff that goes on too, so it doesn't seem like I have a miserable life. Anyway, quick update: I went to Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany for ten days with Carlos and a week after, I came back to California to see my lovely family, and awesome buddies for two weeks. Hopefully when I come back, I'll be employed.

My name is out, baby!

2007-07-03T15:30:00.000-05:00

I'm a published author people! WHOOOHOOOO!!!!!

Check it out! http://jpet.aspetjournals.org/papbyrecent.shtml
And here's my manuscript!!!! http://jpet.aspetjournals.org/cgi/reprint/jpet.107.121640v1

*screaming* I'M SOOO EXCITED! *jumping up and down, doing the happy dance*

Independence Day!

2007-07-01T13:13:00.000-05:00

One of my co-workers, Suzanne, lives in the town of Wollaston. To save about $50K on fireworks and hiring pryotechnicians, they shoot off fireworks on June 30th instead of July 4th. At first, I thought that was a lame idea, but I guess fireworks on any day is a good thing. =)

Despite Carlos being out of town and not knowing anyone at the party other than the host, I took out my brave social armour and had myself a good time. Everyone there was so kind and inviting. I felt so comfortable! I couldn't have asked for a better way to spend my Saturday evening in Boston. Going to a buddy's house on the beach, enjoying good company, watching the sun set, drinking beers, eating freshly grilled burgers, watching fireworks, and feeling the heat from throwing gas into the bonfire. Good times, good times. And thanks to Suzanne, I held my first sparkler! It was so pretty.

If I get any pics, I'll definitely post them up.

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!!!

MED SCHOOL ARE APPS IN!

2007-06-30T11:00:00.000-05:00

PHEW!!!! My AAMC apps are in! Now I gotta take care of Texas schools. Darn their own app system. At least I don't have to fill out secondaries for the Texas schools. =D

Justine's Last Day

2007-06-08T23:15:00.000-05:00

It was Justine's last day and we celebrated her future job at a nearby Thai restaurant, Brown Sugar. Everyone in the medical area is crazy about this place. I brought my camera to take pictures, but I totally forgot until the end of the meal. Fortunately, I did remember in time to take pictures of giant goldfish they have in the restaurant.

And here's a quarter for size reference.

OUR LAB (From left to right, top to bottom: JiHye, Suzanne, Justine, Wendy, Me, and Songhua):

Her parting gifts (wrapped by Wendy):

Pretty creative with the fork, huh?

Artsy Card

2007-06-08T22:30:00.000-05:00

Alas, a coworker of mine has found a new and exciting job. Her last day was today, so I decided to make a card for her last weekend, but I needed more supplies. So I found this awesome store called Paper Source, which is like a 10 minute walk away from my apartment. When I walked in, I was like kid in a candy store. There were so many card stock colors, wrapping paper, card making tools, book binding stuff, tissue flowers galore! After cleaning up my drool, I finally bought a couple sheets of paper, fushia and orange, my co-worker's favorite colors. Below are the materials I used: Special paper, card stock, an exacto knife, a sharpie, thread, and a needle.

I initally tried to use my exacto knife to cut the flocked fushia paper (flocked paper feels like the fuzzy stickers you might have collected as a child), but I wouldn't recommend it because the paper is kind of fabricky and is easier to cut with small sharp scissors. After I cut out my designs, I sewed around the edges of the shiny orange paper and the inside of the card to give it a finished look. And voila!

(I have more views on my web album.)

ScOoPeR bOwL!!!

2007-06-08T22:05:00.000-05:00

It only comes around once a year...the Scooper Bowl!!! Pay seven bucks and it's all-you-can-eat ice cream! Vendors with at least three different flavors. And all the money goes to cancer research. =)

Look at all the people in line for the ice cream buffet!

A few big names were there, Ben and Jerry's, Haagen Daz, and Baskin Robins. All the vendors had huge crowds except for poor Garelick. Unfortunately, they were placed right next to Coldstone's. People were waiting in front of Garelick for Coldstone's ice cream!

See?

Here are my buddies with our cups stacked up.

I must have had at least 9 scoops of ice cream. Ugh...I was so sick by the end of the day...but it was sooo worth it. =)

The perks of church

2007-06-08T21:58:00.000-05:00

#1: If rich people have a wedding on Saturday, you can take home all the left over flowers on Sunday!!! =)

My apartment smelled beautiful all week! (You can click on the pic for close-ups of the flowers.)

Stencils!!!

2007-05-29T20:40:00.000-05:00

Inspired by my lovely sister's work, I decided to pick up my exacto knife and carve myself come stencils. I'm not as daring as she is when it comes to putting in shadows. I'm just gonna stick to the basics for now. Enjoy! My first stencil. It was totally black and white, although the sweater had some crazy designs, so I had to improvise for my beginner's level.

This was an add for the army out of the newpaper.

And I found this cutie online.

Fish tank goodies

2007-05-29T07:37:00.000-05:00

My fish are sick again. =( BUT! I got some good medicine for them and some new plants. I hope they like it!

Here's Big Fin resting under the his bonsai. =)

Washington D.C.: Digestive Disease Week

2007-05-28T21:32:00.000-05:00

Me and my postdoc in front of the treasury. (Sorry it's not the best picture...the photographer didn't understand that we wanted a picture of the treasury too.)

The segway tour of D.C. Lazy bums...

A memorial for the women that served in the civil war.

Washington Memorial

They have DUCK tours too!

Yes, I have Filipina pride.

Cute ducklings hanging by the Reflecting Pond.

Me and Songhua in front of the Lincoln Memorial

Reflecting Pond and Washington Monument from the Lincoln Memorial.

Look! I'm first author!

At the Dancing Crab with Songhua, Dr. Yanaka, Dr. Nakamura, Dr. Tashima and his family. The crab was delicious, but I never wanna peel another crab ever again. I'd rather just have the meat.

MCATs are over!

2007-05-28T20:09:00.000-05:00

Right after taking the MCATs, I had a hankering for shopping. Luckily, there was a shopping mall, right next door. So, I endulged in a cute white summer dress from AE. At first I was a bit skeptical of trying on the dress, because usually the bust is too big, or the dress is too long, but this one was PERFECT!

Next, I stopped by Frederick of Hollywood, requested by Carlos, of course. Inspired by my buddy's collection of corset (which I've only heard of and not seen) I decided to get one of my own. A cute little black corset with boning from top to bottom because I'm not exactly a busty person. Now that I'm an official corset owner, I recommend that each woman should own at least one! You will feel amazing in it. And if you're afraid of what to pick and what's best for you, no worries! Just ask a Fredrick's salesperson. Mine was extremely nice and tied up all the strings so that I wouldn't have to mess with it myself. I guess the only thing I would recommend is to eat a little something before you go in. After I had dinner and tried on my corset again, it barely fit. I actually had to loosen the strings a bit. Anyway, I love my corset. If you don't own one yet, get one!

To finish off my MCAT celebration and mark a new point in my life, I said goodbye to my locks.

Stay tuned for the new do.

Most interesting day in the past month

2007-05-07T23:27:00.000-05:00

Yeah, my posts have been boring, but really, when I spend the whole day in the library, it doesn't leave much room for excitement.

With that said, my highlight of the day IS: the racoon and two skunks I saw roaming around my neighborhood block! Isn't that crazy?! In the middle a city? Who would have thought that you could find racoons and skunks! I got really excited when I saw them, because I'm pretty sure that I've never seen them in real life before! Carlos claims that I've seen a skunk before in Tennessee, but of course with my goldfish memory, that means that it never happened.

Other cool news: The weather was beautiful today, so Carlos and I enjoyed a little picnic on the quad. I got a chance to soak my blinding white legs in the sun. Oh, it felt soooo good.

Happy belated Earth Day!

2007-04-25T19:01:00.000-05:00

My future Christmas Tree!!! Just imagine all the cute presents under this baby! Great gifts come in small packages. =D

Sunshine!!!

2007-04-21T16:40:00.000-05:00

Um, I really wanted to write, but I don't have anything to write about. =P Bummer.

Ooo! But I must tell you that is a gorgeous day in Boston. We actually have a high of 64 degrees today! Guys are out in their shorts and girls in their five inch skirts. I had the luxury of enjoying some Mexican food with Carlos, on a patio, soaking up the sun and sporting my oversized glasses in a wife beater. I tell you, it almost felt like home. All I needed was a beach.

Speechless

2007-04-16T13:07:00.000-05:00

Have I always been bad at talking? I wonder because I feel that my speaking capabilities have declined emmensely over the past year. But I'm not sure if I've always been that way and just noticed it now.

-_-

If it has declined, I wonder why.

UGH

2007-04-12T19:25:00.000-05:00

Don't you hate it when people you care about question your honesty? Your confidence? Your ability to make decisions?

Allow me to scoff in disgust. UGH!

Mood: Tired and annoyed. BUT! I'm trying to get over it by listening to good ol' Frank Zappa and reading the news. (Although, the latter may not be helpful especially when the front page is about two suicide bombings. I really don't understand these people. Why do they do this?)

Easter Weekend

2007-04-08T20:26:00.000-05:00

Carlos and I were pretty productive this weekend. We practically spent the entire weekend at his lab's library, where there's plenty of white light, is really quiet, and not a person around to bother us. For the first time in a few weeks, I actually studied on the weekend. Usually, I have this awesome study schedule for Saturday and Sunday, but I always end up getting side tracked with chores, eating, napping, and staring at my fish. Yeah...you know, the important stuff and in the end I really only read like a page out of my book.

Things I accomplished:
1. Took a full length test (minus the writing section)
2. Memorized my hormones
3. Became more familiar with physics equations
4. Memorized stuff about the nervous system
5. Spent quality time with my man. =)

As for Easter, I didn't end up painting eggs, but the thought was nice. Instead I doodled a reindeer and a wolf (they were images I saw on the library carpet - kinda like staring at clouds and making animals of them).

Mass was also really nice. I got all snazzed up in a dress that Daddy sent and some cute heels. Other than feeling good about myself (physically), I actually felt like my spirit was lifted and cleansed after mass. I never felt this before. Perhaps, I had been going to life half asleep an now I've finally woken up. This past lenten season, although I wasn't able to accomplish all my lenten sacrifices, my promise to pray everyday definitely opened my eyes. I reflected on my life - focusing on who and what is important, where I saw myself in the future, and how I can improve my life. I see an open field before me, free for me to roam and do as I please. Even though I have a lot to learn and see, at least now I am awake.

Good Friday

2007-04-06T20:47:00.000-05:00

"Surrender to death, to start a new life."

-Fr John Unni

He said to "surrender to death...stop fighting...surrender." Now there are a number of ways this could be taken. Obviously, Fr. John did not mean this literally, but metaphorically. Even so, I am not sure what part of my life needs to die. If anything I need to live more. Maybe my nonexporatory side and my worries need to die. Perhaps, my current job needs to "die" so I can "live" with a new job. I've already decided that giving up on my dream to be a doctor is NOT the one to die. I have worked way too hard to give that up now. Yeah, the worries got to go and the "que sera sera" part of me needs to be revived...brought back from the dead. That's how my life can be improved. Drop all the pretentiousness, all the pride, all the doubt, and just be.

Random questions about Good Friday:

Why is it called Good Friday, when this is the day that we rejected the Lord, and condemned him to a crucifixion?
Why does Daddy eat that bland mung bean soup only on this day?
Although I fasted all day, is it ok that I gorged myself with a delicious non-meat Cheesecake Factory dish for dinner? This is probably why Daddy eats the mung bean soup. So he can't feel guilty about his Good Friday meal.
Is there an official age when you should start fasting?

Anyway, I was thinking of boiling some eggs and painting them on Easter with Carlos. But how many do I boil? And who will eat all of them? I LOVE boiled eggs, but all those yolks will clog up my arteries. Maybe I'll just paint eggs on paper instead. It's a nice compromise. Too bad I don't have kids for egg hunting. Then when they come back with a basket of eggs in exchange for money or prizes, I tell them that they have to eat all the eggs before they can get their money. Lol, remember when they used to do that to us?

Happy Peeps eating!

Mess-Wus

2007-04-04T17:49:00.000-05:00

Lately, Carlos and I have been playing a game I like to call Mess-Wus. It's like playing chicken, but with dirty dishes. So you start off with a clean, empty sink. As the meals pass, the dirty dishes, pots and pans, and glasses pile up. The way to win the game is avoid doing ANY dishes at all costs, which involves getting desperate at times.

Exhibit A: Carlos and I are having lunch, but we are out of glasses. Carlos picks up a glass from the sink that looks clean, sniffs it, nodds and then serves himself some water in that glass.

Exhibit B: I was studying and then Carlos came in the room with a Peanuts glass (courtesy of Sergio). Then he says, "Whoa, this is the first I ever used a Snoopy glass." Apparently, he subconciously avoids my cute glasses and prefers to drink out of the grown-up glasses.

Since I like using my Snoopy glassware, but refuse to drink out of a glass that looks "clean," when our cabinets are empty, I am crowned the Mess-Wus.

Magical Farts

2007-04-03T22:26:00.000-05:00

My co-workers and I were at Boston Beer Works, enjoying a few blueberry-floating-lava-lamp-looking beers, a giant dish of nachos, and fried pickles. Yes, you heard me right fried pickles...If you like pickles, you'll prolly like them fried too.

Anyway, somehow my co-workers and I got into a conversation about farts and I HAD to share "my" story with them. This is how it went (down):

Me: "I have to tell you guys about Carlos' magical farts. They're magical because none of his farts smell!"
Justine: "None?!"
Me: "Not one."
Justine: "What does he eat? Does he have a special diet or anything?"
Me: "No, he and I eat the same things! His farts NEVER smell, and mine, well...." I innocently looked to the corner of my eyes and smirked.
Justine: " 'Well, you can fill in the blank.' "

Everyone was howling and laughing at the table. I totally set the trap up for myself and ended up beet red. But come on, whose farts don't smell (other than Carlos')?

Quick Update

2007-04-01T19:48:00.000-05:00

Big Fin is all better. No more poofy eyes, although I'm slightly worried about his tail because I think it looks shorter. Hopefully it's just me being paranoid.
I got rigid gas permeable contact lenses. Why? Well, I have (bad?) astigmatism, and with the soft toric lenses, I couldn't read clearly when I looked down because they kept shifting out of place. So now although I can see even clearer with the RGPs, I can't comfortably look foward or up after blinking because it keeps shifting on my cornea. This gets really annoying because I can feel it. My eyes better get used to with these by the end of the week, or else I'm just gonna have to rely on my glasses for the rest of my life or save up for lasik eye surgery. *Please let it work!*
Life is stressful. I took another verbal test and my score plumitted! (God, I hope this was just a mean April fool's prank.) Hopefully I'll get decent scores next time. =T I really want to make it to a decent med school!!!!
One request: Please keep me and Carlos in your prayers, as you are always in mine. Pray for strength and guidance. Unfortunately, we are both in very tight situations, and need help to see the light. Thanks.

I hope your week goes well!

One more thing: Sometimes, after blogging, I like to surf random blogs by clicking on "Next Blog." Usually, I end up seeing visiting blogs that are really artistic. They have beautiful pictures of nature, or I'll end up on a couple's website and I get to see cute couply pictures, or I'll land up on a crafty blog and just browse through their crafty items. I also like it when I see a foreign blog, like from Mexico, Spain, or Germany, etc. But tonight for some reason after a couple good blogs, I ended up on some demented guy's blog with disturbing masochistic pictures. I quickly clicked out to see the next random blog and then some horny girl's blog pops up, followed by another horny girl's blog and that's when I just called it quits. I don't think I'm gonna randomly surf blogs for a while. *shivers* Darn you weird people that ruin fun and innocent browsing!

My sick baby!!!

2007-03-23T12:27:00.000-05:00

This morning, I woke up to feed my fish as always, and Big Fin looked like a cartoon! His's eyes were all puffy! I looked it up online and it turns out he has pop-eye!!! =(

He looks something like this fish, but both eyes are puffy. I'm gonna get some antibiotics from Petco today. I hope he get's better. My poor baby! (I hate to say this, but his eyes really freak me out...)

New Google Personalized Page!!!

2007-03-21T14:00:00.000-05:00

Isn't this just the cutest? I lOVE Google!

*Edit* And the little guy does different things at different times of the day. Earlier, he was rowing his boat, and now he's eating dinner! (It's about 5ish.) Soooo CUTE!!!

Yay! I get to blog!

2007-03-20T21:43:00.001-05:00

I just finished studying what I needed to study and now I get to reward myself with a blog. =)

This past weekend wasn't as productive as I had envisioned it to be, but sure did have a lot of fun!

On Saturday, I attended Knitters Anonymous' First Annual Tea Party. I originally just wanted to hang out for a couple hours, but I ended up staying for the entire afternoon. Our first stop was to Windsor Button. They have yarns, buttons, and ribbons galore! From alpaca, to silk, to cotton, you name it they got it! Omg! I was totally in heaven! I also bought my first knitting book there, "The Knitter's Bible" by Claire Crompton. I'd say it was a great investment. It's got all the basics of knitting plus tons of cute patterns. Here are a few pics of the knitting chicks...

L to R: Mary, Cressida, Christina, all with their pirate faces.

Here's Lorena...not really sure what she's mad at...=T

AND my finished fingerless gloves!

TADA!!!!

Later that night, I attended my first burlesque show by the Boston Babydolls. I wasn't really sure what to expect, but I have learned that burleque is a type of stripping that involves story telling and is really quite an art. For example, in my favorite act, "Baby Did A Bad Bad Thing" plays in the background and a woman walks onto the stage with an ax, in 19th century styled clothing, and a bloodied apron. She sadly bares her bloody hands to the audience to show her regret, but then her wild side come out again, and she dances while artfully stripping to her dress slip. Again she bares her bloody hands. Then she finds bowl of water, gleefully washes her hands and squeezes a sponge over her body to clean herself of her guilt. She finally bares her clean hands and struts off the stage proudly with the ax resting on her shoulder.

I never would have thought of watching a burlesque show had it not been for my buddy, Cressida who is currently an intern for the Boston Babydolls. I can't wait to see what she'll do for her act. And on Sunday, I tried to go to church, but our car was stuck in ice again. =P So I pretty much performed house chores, tried to read up on current events but ended up napping until the evening where I attended Carlos' PI's surprise party in celebration of his tenure. Congrats to David Van Vactor! (It's a pretty cool name isn't it?)

Till next time my dearies.

I should be studying....

2007-03-20T18:36:00.000-05:00

So tempted to type...

So I'll compromise with myself...

Ok...that's it! Study time.

New high!

2007-03-16T19:44:00.000-05:00

I can't help myself. I really don't want to jinx myself, and this blog shouldn't jinx me because with practice comes good scores...right? My testing ability should not be based on luck, but skill. So here it is, I scored a 9 on my verbal reasoning! Whoohoo! (That's a really really good score for me.) My goal is for this upcoming MCAT is to score at least a 10 in verbal and retain my high science scores or better. =) =) =)

Deep breath. This is just the beginning. There are more grudgingly tough weekends to come. More practice! More consistent scores...I can do it!

Clear thoughts.

Focus.

Confidence.

btw...here is Carlos at week three:

Snowflakes hurt

2007-03-16T15:58:00.000-05:00

Snowflakes hurt....especially when they're gusting into you face at 24mph! But I'm not complaining. I'm glad that we are finally having a real blizzard. Too bad that it's gonna be ruined by tomorrow's entire day of rain.

The view from my room:

And for Succeeding Martha, here is the plant I took in for Adopt-A-Plant Month. =)
It's actually grown quite a bit since I took it in from my friend. (It's a begonia...and yes, I give it special plant food everytime I water it.)

Happy weekend!

Work

2007-03-15T08:56:00.001-05:00

Bleh...yesterday I was so bored at work. I had things to do but I had no urge to do any of it. I need a new stimulating job. It's really too bad that I plan to stay her another 5 freakin months! I hope they go by quickly. All for the sake of getting a good rec letter.

Well, this hasn't been a total waste of time. By working at this job:

I'm gonna get my first paper published ever! Let alone, be first author! *keep your fingers crossed, that it gets accepted to the journal* I might even have a second one coming out, as well as be second author on my co-worker's paper.
I've learned how to deal with a difficult boss. Unfortunately, mine is so difficult that it took me a whole year to really know how to work with her.
I've learned a lot about the Chinese culture and the joys of motherhood through my co-worker. She has really become my closest friend in Boston (after Carlos of course). Although I don't like the pressure she gives me about having a baby sooner than later. I don't have the money or the maturity to support a child!
I get a cake for my birthday and I get to indulge in my co-workers' birthday cakes too.
I've learned that research is only fun when I get to think of my projects and develop them myself.
Research is only fun when you have enough funds to do it.
I've gotten over some fears, i.e. holding big-arse bullfrogs and rats.
I've learned that guinea pigs are so cute! (Why do we have to use them in experiments?)
Learned completely new (to me, but ancient) techniques.
Got to work with summer students - totally fun and exhausting

I guess that's all I can say about my past year and a seven months of working in this lab. Not too bad.

Anyway, I totally need a new job. I don't want to do research anymore, but it's the only thing I know how to do. If I apply for any other job, they require experience and crap that I don't have. Job searching is gonna be fun (in a uber-sarcastic voice). I hope that in my next job, I'll be able to talk to people outside of my co-workers, and make a positive influence on others' lives.

Now, where do I look? Let the hunt begin!...in June. =)

The MCAT...once again

2007-03-11T18:27:00.000-05:00

Man, I can't believe that I really have to take the freakin MCAT again. During the past month, I hoped and prayed that I would get an interview from just one school. But it's already March. I've been rejected by half of my schools and I'm sure the rest of the small envelopes will come rolling in within the next couple weeks.

Oh well. I can't say it was a good experience, but it was certainly an experience. A grueling, time consuming, frustrating, heart breaking one. The sad thing is that I should have known better. I should have turned in my application earlier. It's my own stupid lazy fault. And here I am paying for it.

Anyway, what's done is done and next time I'm gonna be much more aggressive. I'm taking that damn MCAT again, own that bitch, apply in mid June with my kick ass scores, turn in all my secondaries by the end of June or early July, and then attend all the medical conferences I can. The adcoms of the schools I'm applying to WILL KNOW MY NAME, love me, invite me for a lovely interview, and ACCEPT ME. =)

IF worse comes to worse, and this plan doesn't work out, I'm applying to the Carribeans too. I'm going to be a physician and no one, including my pride will stand in the way.

It's growing!

2007-03-11T13:43:00.000-05:00

The boy at week 2:

His gansta look.

Me at week two:

I need a hair cut.

And I want it to look like this:

I can't wait until spring!

*Edit* Lol...Carlos just saw this picture and is not looking foward to my haricut at all. It's just that my hair is soooo boring! And soo damaged from winter that it looks like crap. I tie my hair up everyday to no avail. Darn you East Coast weather! Darn you! If my hair were smooth like it was in LA, I might keep it long, but I'd at least get bangs. Haircut! Haircut! =) What do you think about the hair? (Is it safe for interviews?...Cuz you know I'm gonna get flooded with invitations. *keep your fingers crossed!*)

What did you say? Huh?

2007-03-08T15:04:00.000-05:00

Today I went to the Ears Nose and Throat (ENT) department to clean out my ears because I thought I had horrible hearing. My ex-boyfriend always teased me for not hearing a thing he said and always told me to clean my ears. I had a crush from high school whom I couldn't understand either. And now, my current boyfriend always complains that I'm deaf.

With all of these accusations, I began to seriously wonder about my state of hearing. So I made an appointment with an ear wax removal technician. The moment the technician looked in my ear, I braced myself for the bad news and his disgust. I waited for him to pull out a huge chunk of crap and for sound to flood into my ears. Instead he found nothing in my right ear. So I thought there had to be something in my left ear. Nope, nothing there either. I was so puzzled and somewhat disappointed. I came here to get some ear wax out, and you're telling me I don't have any?! I know, I should totally be happy that my ears are perfectly clean, but then why can't I hear my boyfriend clearly? I needed an explanation. So the tech refered me to a physician so that I could take a hearing test.

Five minutes later, I was sitting a closed room with head phones repeating words after the physician and clicking buttons for each sound I heard. I sat petrified waiting for my results. The physician came in with a smile and said my hearing was perfectly fine. I had 0DB...which is totally normal. If you have anything higher than 0DB, you have hearing problems.

If I have good hearing, then my ex and crush totally had mumbling problems. As for my current boyfriend, he's just gotta stop talking to me from another room when I'm washing dishes or showering.

Testing...1, 2...testing

2007-03-04T22:29:00.001-05:00

I'm testing out this slide show thing that I found on Jeannie's website. It looks so cool on hers and I hope that it works on mine. While I'm trying this out, I'll tell a quick story. =)

Because it was Carlos' PI's birthday, he bought out a whole section of seats to a Harvard vs. Colgate (some school in CT) hockey game for his entire lab including their guests. At first I was debating on whether I should have brought a book to read because on TV it looks so boring. Then I thought better of it because I figured it would be kind of rude. Turns out that hockey is an AWESOME game to watch! It's so agressive yet graceful at the same time. Who knew? Harvard totally kicked Colgates butt! Go Crimson!

And here is the card I made for his boss before it got signed by all of Carlos' lab mates.

Btw, the dizzy insect is a fly. (Carlos works in a fly lab. Teehee.)

*Edit* Ok...what the heck...why are the pictures aligned to the right? It looked fine on the preview. =T If you have any ideas on how to fix it, let me know.

**Edit** I tried it on xanga. And it seems to work much better there. Hrmph!

New things and new beings!

2007-03-04T16:48:00.000-05:00

I adopted two betta fish! Nigiri and Big Fin. It's really funny how they totally have opposite personalities. Nigiri is pretty calm, very much a lover and not a fighter. (This, I know for a fact because he was make a bubble nest for his future fries (baby bettas...I know weird name.) Big Fin is kind of a bully. The moment he sees any colorful fin, he'll flare his gills and fins like no other. Nigiri also loves to eat! He's not very picky, but Big Fin prefers pellets to blood worms. =P Since I bought them, I've been doing quite a bit of reading and found out that bettas prefer to live in large tanks, NOT little vases. Small vases can cause stress and a shorter life span for the poor betta. Secondly, they're tropical fish. I already knew this but for some reason I never made the connection that they need to be in warm water (70-80F), and vases cannot maintain the steady warm temperature they need. Thirdly, I've seen their mating ritual and once I get more free time, I'm gonna buy Nigiri a girlfriend so they have fries! =)

This is Big Fin.Nigiri (not as photogenic) And their lovely large and warm home.
New thing! After reading an article of how nylon and cotton shower curtains are more eco-friendly compared to vinyl curtains, I went out to Linen and Things and bought one. =) Tada!
One more thing. Since Carlos started preparing for this PQE, he has decided keep track of his facial hair growth.

Week one:

We'll see how this turns out. =P

Some things never change...

2007-02-27T20:37:00.000-05:00

I was mad at Carlos for using unnecessary curse words at me about an hour ago.

BUT! Thank goodness my good ol' buddies were there help to sooth me. Initially, I was going release my negative energy by blogging about how inappropriate he can be, but after completing my last drafted blog, I found myself browsing through the old TaNaTaR website. http://www.geocities.com/tanatars Wow. We have grown so much since our last entries, but some things never change. Taline is still the most boy crazy and MOST talkative of all of us. Nancy is still Ms. Happy-Go-Lucky-Optimist. And Thu is still the biggest ball of sass wrapped in a cute little package. *Beware*

I don't have anything to say, except that I do miss our fun days together and I hope our relationships never fade. I also hope that each of us can look back at our memories and enjoy them as much as I have.

Lots of love,
Regina

Domestic man?

2007-02-25T10:26:00.000-05:00

A few days before Carlos' recruit came over, I wanted the apartment to look presentable which meant sacrificing a couple nights of studying to clean and do laundry. But Carlos was really considerate and offered to vacuum which reduced it to one cleaning night for me.

A couple days went by and he didn't do a thing. I nagged and nagged, and thought I would have to get the entire apartment cleaned up and hour or two before the recruit arrived. To my surprise, that morning, Carlos not only vacuumed our entire apartment, but mopped the kitchen and living room floor, and washed ALL the dishes in the sink. (Normally Carlos chooses to wash only the plate he ate off and maybe a glass. He rarely ever washes the cutting board, knives, or pots and pans he used.) I was extremely impressed and thanked him for his cleanliness.

The next morning, I went to the kitchen to wash our dishes. And I couldn't help but notice this awful smell coming from the sink. I thought it was the kitchen rag, cuz it does stink if it doesn't dry properly. I smelled it. Nope, wasn't that. Turns out that it was the freakin sponge! Ugh! It wreaked! In all my dishwashing years, I have never ever smelled a stench like that from a sponge no matter how old the darn thing is. Again, it was very sweet of him to pick up some household responsibilities, but he sure has a lot to learn. Oy vay.

Note to self: Maybe I should stop talking smack. It's not like I'm perfect. =P

Lent

2007-02-21T21:23:00.000-05:00

The season of fasting, giving alms, and prayer.

In the past I never gave lent much thought. I just knew that I had to go to church, get my ashes and give up something that I love. Usually it was something physical, like chips and soda, meat, and well, those are all the significant sacrifices I can remember. This year is going to be much different. I want to focus on my spiritual side of life. Forget about what I don't have and haven't done, but focus on me and who I am today. I find it ironic that I'm 23 years old and I still haven't figured out who I am and how to express myself. So I'm going to take this 40 day journey to find myself, and be a better me.

Spiritual fasting: I will give up being insecure. (I got this from church today, and it hit really close to home.) The last couple years, I doubted myself, my skills, my knowledge, my ability to speak, and my future. I will be confident!

Giving alms: I'm going to fulfill my recent yearning to help the community by helping St. Cecilia's. I won't be as involved like I was at St. Jane's, I'll just start small. When I have more time, I'll take on more responsibilities. Perhaps in different communities.

Prayer: Something I haven't done on a regular basis since my junior of college. My nightly prayers before then may have not been meaningful and may have been rushed at times, nevertheless they were still prayers. It was a time for little pep talks with God, some meditation, and reflection. I plan to pick up that habit again starting tonight.

I know I'm not supposed to proclaim my sacrifices to the world, but you are the only one who reads this. So I think that's ok. Anyway, hopefully this will be the best self-improvement Lent yet.

On a physical note, since Lent is also a time of abstinence, I have suggested to Carlos that we give that up. Yeah, he thinks I'm weak-willed, but little does he know. If anyone breaks, it's gonna be him. Muhahahhaha!

Tearing my hair out!

2007-02-19T21:22:00.000-05:00

I can't take it anymore! I want a school to invite me for an interview already!!! Or they can all reject me! I don't care! Just tell me the final verdict!

It's so hard to study for the MCAT again when all I'm thinking about and hoping for is an interview from a school. Ack! Arg! Aglibrtle! Aghhhh!

I don't want to have to retake the MCAT, reapply, reselect schools, or ask my recommenders for letters again! This whole process is so frustrating! And so embarrassing if I don't get in anywhere! M#$%^&F#$%^&amp;*! B%^&*! AGH! AGH! AGH!

I looked back at my old notes in my MSAR (a guide med schools) and I was so confident back then. I thought I was the shit. What I used to think of as my "back-up" schools are now the ones that I hope will have the heart to send me an invitation. Why? Why?! WHY?!

...

Okay, so I have to calm down. I know it's not the end of the world (although right now I'd rather have it be the end). I guess I'm just really upset because I don't have a back-up plan. Right now, I only see myself as a damn good physician and nothing else. Man, I hope someone sees something good in my application for this cycle. Or else I'm gonna go f'n insane and my unfortunate boyfriend and family will have to deal with a depressed Regina for a while.

bleh.

Something random:
"So today, Jesus teaches us that we should be good. Surprise, surprise, surprise."
Fr. Thomas (A priest from my parish, St. Cecilia)
lol....I thought that was hilarious!

Breaking the ice

2007-02-17T09:36:00.000-05:00

February 16

7:30 pm
Carlos wanted to go to lab for just half an hour to change a couple things for his experiment. And I decided to tag along because I needed to get a couple books from work anyway, plus I could finish up my taxes while I waited for him.

7:35pm
We get to our car and find this:

(This is actually someone else's car in a very similar situation...poor guy. Although our car was completely covered with snow.)

So we started chipping the layer of snow on the roof away. At first, we were having quite bit of fun. We pretended to be super heroes and made grunting sounds with each chunk of ice we chipped off the roof. Then we started digging away with a plastic shovel around the tires and hit ice. That's when we pulled out "the club" and used it as an ice pick. After about an hour of chipping, cheering Carlos on, stepping on the gas to no avail, we both gave up and resorted to pouring hot water around the tires.

9:00pm ROUND TWO!
After Carlos re energized himself with cereal, we came back with 5 gallons of steaming hot water and cooking salt. (Where did the gallons come from, you may ask? A milk and water container from our apt, and couple OJ containers which I dug up from the shared apartment recycling bin.) After the water pouring we moved up about five inches...not bad. A lady interested in taking over our parking spot, gave us a larger shovel and about a cup of "ice melting salt." Yeah...I don't think the salt helped. Anyway more chipping, revving...and nothing. Then a really nice guy, Matthew came up and offered some help. With a little bit of car rocking and a couple pieces of wood he had behind his work place, we finally got out of our spot. Phew!!!!

We thanked the Matthew a bigillion times and in the end we found out that he was a man of God and he spends most of his time performing good deeds and helping the common man. He gave us his number and a book about the teachings of the bible. We thanked him again, wished him well, gave the shovel back to the lady waiting for our spot, and were on our way.

10:30pm
About 200 feet up, we felt that we needed to make sure that the lady could get into our old parking spot ok. So we back up. Turns out she got stuck in the ice too. Feeling blessed with Matthew's aid, we wanted to reciprocate his kindness upon another in need of help. So we tried rocking her car, using the wooden boards, and her car wouldn't budge.

Eventually, she called her boyfriend to come down and help her out. The boyfriend was more of a nuisance than useful. He kept telling her, "Why did you try to get in this spot? There's no way out. We'll have to AAA you out. No way, no way." Nothing but negativity was emanating from him. Now Carlos and I really had to prove him wrong. If we rocked out, so could she, darnit! So we rocked, she gave it gas, we rocked some more, more gas. Almost there! Carlos and I exchanged a little smirk, knowing that only we needed just a little more. We all grunted and pushed with all our might! And we got her out! A huge sigh of relief and big smiles ran across all our faces, all except the boyfriend.

11:00pm
We shook hands with the boyfriend, who silently admitted his defeat. The lady gave her immense appreciation, wanting to give us a monetary reward. Carlos politely refused and replied, "That's why we helped you, because we didn't have to." He and I left the scene with a good conscience and pride.

Ten minutes later:
We arrived at his lab only to find out that his experiment would take an hour to finish rather than half an hour. Since we were both tired, we knew that was not going to happen. So instead we left the lab and rewarded ourselves at a nearby bar with beer, nachos, and a quesadilla for our hard work.

Our car now:

No snow on the tires!