Gosh, it's been a busy little while since I last wrote. The fact that I have my laptop at home is the only reason I am catching up now.
Wednesday – Anthony didn't come into the lab, so it was quiet. Abbott was away, so I didn't have class either. Instead, Kadie dropped by the lab around 6 pm so that was nice, and we got a tricky chemistry question out of the way. I came home, and talked to Bonnie on the phone. She had tried to go to a talk by Richard Wilson about the Niger-Iraq Yellowcake scandal, but there were way too many people and the auditorium was full. She was in a bad mood, and non-responsive to my attempts to cheer her up.
Thursday – My early morning class was tiresome, but it was a presentation, so it was bearable. From there the rest of the day was busy, but I didn't have my second class because they had an exam. Instead I supervised students and watched Nachi give his practice defence.
Friday – Today was Veteran's Day, so it was a university holiday. I went to work anyway, but just had bad luck all morning. I dropped a piece of glassware down the drain, and only got it back after a huge fight and some plumbing. I really didn't get anything done except laundry, so I left in disgust by about 2 pm. I called Kadie, and she was having coffee at the Co-Op, so I cycled down to chat with her. While we were discoursing, my phone rang. It was the search committee chair from Arizona, and he offered me a chance to come down and interview with them. That was very good news, so I was very happy. Kadie and I went for a cycle around downtown, and finally ended back up at the university. We then headed back to our respective homes.
I was chilling out at home in the evening when Mum called. She was ok, bad she told me that Dad had been admitted to hospital after suffering a slight stroke. I was completely horrified, and Mum did her best to calm me. It was only a very small stoke which had affected his left hand and his voice. I was really scared, but Mum told me not to worry as he was in the hospital in good hands.
I couldn't really sleep after that, so I cycled down to Albertson's in the cold. I bought a slew of things for a “get well soon” care package. I also got a few movies to keep my mind occupied. Mum called me after she had visited and talked with Dad in hospital to further reassure me. I watched several DVD's of the short lived X-files spin off “The Lone Gunmen” which was fun, before getting to bed about 2 am. Bonnie went into the San Francisco with her friends, but they weren't able to get into the Cheesecake Factory, so their night was a bit of a let down.
Saturday was a fairly lazy day as I had been up so late. I cleaned my apartment and didn't do much else. In the evening I watched a slew of episodes of “The L word” which was just ok, and I got to sleep about 1 am.
Sunday was a good day. I woke up and had to hustle to get down to the Unitarians. I really shouldn't have, because it was cold, a lot of people were away because of the long weekend, and the people I usually hang out with weren't there. I called Rachel and Lori, and they invited me over to have breakfast. I stopped to get some croissants and to pick up some cigarettes for Lori. Rachel had bad cramps, so she was out of action until the painkillers kicked in. I stayed there chatting until after 1 pm, when I gave Kadie a call. She has planned to do a hike and then go to the hot springs, but the hot springs sounded very nice to Rachel and Lori and so we brought those ideas together.
I cycled home and then checked my email and tried to be productive, which didn't really happen. I got ready to go to the hot springs and Rachel and Lori picked me up. Then we picked up Kadie, and grabbed some Brie and red wine from the Co-Op to go with Kadie's homemade bread. We had a car picnic on the way out to the hot springs that was fun. The wind was blowing, and it was cold, so we were happy to stay in the water. One of the chemistry grad students was there so, we talked to him for a while. We were only there for about 2 hours, and then we headed home. It was very relaxing, and I came home and after a shower I snuck into bed. I called Bonnie and we had some very nice phone sex, and by the time we finished talking I was ready to fall asleep.
Today (Monday) was another day where I had lots to do, but I didn't seem to get much done. I called a few of the schools to see where the interviewing process was up to. The answers ranged from ambivalent to “no comment”, so it wasn't too much use. I then continued to try to get work done on my future research presentation, but kept trying to figure out what I wanted to say.