I can justify anything…

I’m preparing an elaborate presentation in an attempt to convince the li’l lady that an iPhone is not only needed but is also a financially optimal decision.  I crunched some numbers and discovered that two years of service with iPhones for the both of us is actually CHEAPER than our current coverage.    I hate to be such a consumerist and gadget whore, but this thing is too cool.

Coming home…

Few things give me as much pleasure as going online and buying a ticket for a flight home. I will be in Portland late on 7/12/07, and head over to Sunriver the following day. The occasion? Tyler’s bachelor party! Rather than strippers and shit like that, our idea of a good party is some good microbrew (and homebrew), fishing the cascade lakes, and maybe floating down the river. Looking forward to time with the boys!

Early that week, hopefully I’ll have some time to myself in Bend. I’m bringing one of my bikes back, so I’ll probably be tackling the Century Drive loop.

Other than that… Christie and I have to run errands to organize our own wedding, and then I have to complete best-man duties on 7/21/07 when I hand little Tyler over to Laura. I hope I don’t cry.

Learning to be a grease monkey…

Being a poor student who also enjoys riding bikes, it’s imperative that I be able to fix my own bike.   Up until now, I’ve relied on the way too generous services of a good friend who is also a pro mechanic.  When I was younger, my brother and I even took a great class offered by Hutch’s bikes of Bend that taught us how to completely overhaul a bike.  However, those skills – if I ever had them – have long disappeared, and the mechanical workings of the bike are a veritable black box to me.

I sat down this weekend to tackle the derailleur issues that have been plaguing one of my bikes, determined to overcome my incompetence with wrenching.  Christie sat on the couch highly amused by me crawling around on the floor, occasionally cursing, occasionally saying “I’VE GOT IT!”, only to realize that I did not – in fact – have it at all.  However, with the help of this hugely helpful site, I was able to finally find success.  It really wasn’t that difficult in the end, and it’s really enjoyable to work on this stuff yourself.  Now I’m inspired to try and find a nice tool set to allow me to do more work… too bad Park Tools are so damn expensive.

On another note, GO BEAVS!

Science and art…

There is an enormous amount of art and creativity that enters into scientific endeavors.  Not creative in the sense of making data up (though, that has been known to happen), but with respect to truly beautiful experimental design. 

Then there are moments when a simple experiment produces data that is striking.  Simplistic and common in the scientific literature, but still beautiful. 

 

Tis the season for cilantro…

The li’l lady was out last night, so I did what any bachelor does when presented with the opportunity… I cooked a fancy meal for myself. It really wasn’t that fancy, but it turned out pretty good, so I thought I’d share. It’s basically a cilantro pesto that I put on top of salmon that I subsequently baked.

3 tbsp olive oil

1 large garlic clove

3/4 cup of loosely packed cilantro leaves

2 tbsp softened butter

3 tbsp pine nuts

salt and pepper to taste

Grind this all in a blender until it’s properly pulverized. Smear on a salmon fillet and bake for 20 minutes at 375°. Also, I really wanted to add some lime juice to the pesto, so try that and let me know how it works.

Note: all quantities written above are purely arbitrary. I measure things at work all day in units of microliters and nanomols, so I try and avoid any instruments of measurement when I walk through my front door.

The course designer must be an ass…

Picking up where we left off…

I had a call the other night from the kid I considered my best friend through much of middle school and high school. I think it was our first time speaking in roughly 3 years. I don’t know why we quit speaking… I think it was probably due to busy schedules and just general laziness on both of our parts. Regardless, we had a good conversation and it was great to get caught up.

Funny how with truly good friends, conversations are pretty effortless even after years of silence.

I heart Apple…

I used to catch a lot of shit for being an apple fan. Yesterday, I felt a little vindicated. My 5th gen video iPod had been acting weird, and then finally bit the dust. I went down to the 5th Ave Apple Store and explained the situation. My iPod was roughly 3 weeks out of it’s 1 year warrantee. I think most people would have sent me packing. However, they just turned around, pulled out a new iPod, and handed it to me.

Pretty sweet.

Let’s hope for a new iMac announcement at today’s keynote address.

NY Transit Museum…

This city has numerous famous museums – the Met, Guggenheim, Museum of Natural History, etc. While the Museum of Natural History will always be my favorite, I discovered a hidden gem this past weekend.

After a short walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, I headed towards the New York Transit Museum. The museum is contained within an old (still functioning) subway station. They have subway cars from the turn of the 20th century to the modern day along with tons of historical background. I really recommend it. There is a tremendous amount of city history contained within the subway itself.

Beep boop beep boop…

Yes, those are the sounds of science! After three long years away from the lab, I happily started work in a molecular cardiology lab here on campus. There is something that draws me towards basic and translational science – perhaps a desire to understand the mechanisms behind physiology and disease states.

Regardless, I probably wont be terribly productive for a few weeks since I have lost any of the molecular skills I once had. Lots of confusion and clumsiness will surely follow.