lol thanks citiprogram for bolding the correct answer for me. At first I thought it was a mistake and the answer was wrong, but it's right. Now if only theyd bold the rest of the answers for me.

btw, happy new years folks. Mass texts suck, so thank goodness I have a texting plan.

School is starting and I'm back in La Jolla. My feet are freezing.

Unpacking and organizing my stuff is the worst.

and did I mention that my feet are freeeezing? How did I manage to forget my ugly but warm slipper socks??

I wish my place had insulation so using heating wouldn't be such a waste.

Hi Tabulas.

What did I get myself into?

When I signed up for my shift at the VAMC, I thought I'd just be at the lab from 2-5pm so I could attend sections from 5pm-7pm, but nope.

It's not that I work slow, either, because I've learned to insert the wires into the electrodes on their heads quickly. It's just that some of my rats are too fat and lazy to spin their wheels and finish their trials and I'm stuck waiting on them. 

The worst part about this lab, though, is that since the rat trainings has moved to a smaller room, there basically is no room. And the room gets no air circulation. Air enters, but cannot leave so my room stinks. I now think everything smells like rat poop and pee--including myself. If the hospital is worried about workers developing allergies--then give me some air circulation, daaarn it.

I'm trying to think of something good that comes from this . . . . At least I think my rats are cute? I don't even see how this is a bright side.

I'm pooped.

OH. I have just oneee more thing to say.

Last night it was -45 F in Minnesota.

I do believe it was about 75 F where I am. What the hellll is going on with this weather? Winter is no time to be wearing skimpy summer clothing!

I don't get it. Why do they make labcoats so low cut anyway?

We are working with chemicals here.

I mean, I guess it's a "coat" so you want it to look blazer-ish, but seriously, a labcoat will never be stylin' so they should give up and just make it more practical.

So today a bratty rat scratched my chest no thanks to these unprotective labcoats and now I have a red mark to show for it. It's like a love mark or something like that, except I'm sure the rat hates me.

THANKS number 542, you're a dumb rat anyway and are probablyyy going to get euthanized because you simply doesn't get it. See now if only we had labcoats that actually covered the chest, I would not have this problem, right??

I wish there were just a little bit.

Monday (tonight): Finish Mammalian Physiology notes

Tuesday morning/afternoon: Read Chronobiology book like ccccrazy

Tuesday night: Nutrition, nutrition, nutrition

Wednesday morning: Print out 20 page long Saltman Quarterly manuscript and read/edit like a mofo

Wednesday night: Type out comments from manuscript, and podcast mammphys

THEN I will be on track.

I hate how I fall out of sync when I go home for a weekend.

[edit 1/20/09] Sorry nutrition, but pyie's birthday couldn't have come at a worst time. I guess I'm pushing things back a bit! =X

Because of my lack of motivation to work, I am working on my Nutrition diet project. lol. Don't think that I'm retarded or something. This project is easy-peasy. It's just that it is VERY annoying.

What this project requires is that I record every food I eat for 3 days and tabulate all of the calories, protein, fiber, fat, saturated fats, cholesterol, carbohydrates, and sodium I've consumed and compare it to the recommended Daily Values. What makes this project extra annoying is that you have to do all of these silly proportions to actually calculate the intake for the strange portions you eat. Annoying, right???

What I've found for my 2 days so far (I'll finish this tomorrow) is that I somehow, amazingly eat around 2000 calories in one day. I thought I ate way more than that. Another thing I found is that I eat wayyyyyyyy too much salt. But seriously man, one tablespoon of soy sauce has like 1200 something mg of sodium. That's like, 50% of your daily intake right there. And today, I made some stupid fishy sauce thing, and one tablespoon of that is 75% of your daily intake of salt. And it sucks, because even if you dilute it, all of the sodium is still there. Geez. I am disgustingly salty.

Oh yeah, I consume like, no fiber. u_u Now I don't want to go toooo in depth about the health benefits of fiber (okay maybe I will because what a better way to review the material than to write about it)

The Health Benefits of Fiber (and Soluble Fiber)

• Reduces constipation by promoting softer, larger stool and regularity
• Reduces risk of hemorrhoids, diverticulosis and colon cancer
• Binds glucose so it slows glucose absorption
• Binds cholesterol to slow its absorption
• Reduces risk of cardiovascular disease
• Reduces appetite to reduce risk of obesity
• (Suppresses appetite by binding glucose and cholesterol. This way you don't eat too much and get fat)
• (Slows the release of glucose and cholesterol into the blood. This is beneficial since it reduces the risk of clogged arteries)

Hooray, now don't we all feel smarter?

ANYWAY, since I realize I eat like 5-9 grams of fiber out of a total of 25 needed grams, I think I'm going to splurge on my fiber intake and eat 2 packets of Quaker's High Fiber oatmeal for breakfast tomorrow (That's 20 grams right there!!!!). Even if I'm cheating and ruining my data because I hate eating oatmeal, I'm going to do it. What can I say, I'm desperate.

[Edit] So it is Saturday night and I've finished my tabulations. I amazingly hit 35 grams of fiber, and am just a litttttle bit over the necessary sodium intake. AMAZING. I was actually surprised that those silly MickeyD's french fries would tip the 25 scale and give me more fiber. lolol. But yes, I must thank my oatmeal and banana. :D

So I was in my apartment's business center leeching off their electricity and getting my podcasting done for my studying tonight.

Then I get a phone call.

Mom: So . . . . you know that Monday is Chinese New Year right?
Me: Yeah, I know.
Mom: Yeah . .  so can you cut your hair please?
Me: What? Do you seriously want me to cut my hair?
Mom: Yes. You can cut it yourself. Just snip some ends off. Or tell someone else to do it
Me: I can go to a barber you know . . .
Mom: Whatever, just cut your hair.
Me: Fine, byee


See, I normally go to asian salons because my hair is fairly easy to cut and well, who knows how to cut asian hair better than a fob?

But since I'm in one of the whitest neighborhoods--minus all of the asian students--there are no asian salons around. So I was at a dilemma. Fantastic Sams or SuperCuts. What horrible choices! I never go to places like this so I didn't even know what it would cost. But I opted for Fantastic Sams because my school gives students a discount and it's not like I wanted a haircut anyway.

But seriously, I totally did not expect this horrible turnout of a haircut. The lady did not even know how to cut hair, because seriously, I cut my mom's hair way better than my turnout. And seriously, my hair is notttt that hard to cut since it is so freaking straight. I don't know what this lady was thinking, but she did not even use proper hair cutting techniques--nor did she really even try.

So not only did I pay way more for my haircut than I normally do, but it is hella jacked up. Now I kind of wished that I had listened to my mom and just cut my hair myself. Would've saved me a lot of frustration because at least I won't be angry at myself for a messed up haircut--even though it would have probably turned out a lot better than what I'm stuck with now.

I can just imagine the barber I normally go to asking, "What happened?!?!" the next time I see him.

To tell someone "I love you with all my  heart" is very poetic, but it is physiologically incorrect. What you should say is "I love you with the 48 nuclei of my hypothalamus".

-Fortes

This line makes me smile