Aquamama and I won ye olde pub quiz last night.

Five of the six questions we missed (the sixth we missed so badly we can't remember it):

1. Which NFL team drafted Brett Farve?
2. What is the chemical symbol for Vanadium?
3. What does "SKU" stand for?
4. What Country is Cape Horn in?
5. What movie is the following quote from: "You're a dirty pirate hooker. Why don't you go back to Whore Island?"

The one that we made a wild guess on and got:
6. What is the most populous state capital?

The one that I pulled, somehow, out of the deep recesses of my mind:
7. Which NBA player holds the record for most points scored in a game?

The one that I somehow knew but really had to convince Aquamama of:
8. Which album was on the Bilboard 200 for the longest time?

The one that I am really embarassed that I knew:
9. Name the artist and title for the following lyric: "She's so lucky/she's a star/but she cries cries cries in her lonely heart thinking/if there's nothing missing in my life/then why do these tears come at night?"

Answers after the jump

"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate."
Henry J. Tillman

So, cooler temperatures have finally come to NC, and with them the discovery that at some point last year I cleaned out my closets/drawers and got rid of nearly all of my long sleeved shirts. I have short sleeved shirts and I have sweaters, but long sleeved midweight shirts? I have one.

Jenny tagged me for this meme, which has been going around the internets for a while. I haven't done it yet, although in theory I could probably make 10 such lists and yet not begin to scratch the surface of my weirdness.

Here's how you play: Once you have been tagged, you have to write a blog with 10 weird or random things, facts, or habits about yourself. At the end, you choose 10 people to be tagged, listing their names. Don't forget to leave a comment that says, "Tag, You're it" on their profiles and ask them to read your blog. You can't tag the person who tagged you.

1. I pick up accents very easily. I don't lose them as easily, which is why in any conversation I can sound Southern, Bostonian, and Canadian with word choices/orders of a Brit (blame BBC America for the last).
   
2. However, when all you can hear is Jersey, you need to flee. Things are about to get very unpleasant.
   
3. I didn't eat hamburgers for most of my life. About a year ago, I decided I liked them.
   
4. I can't sing. Unfortunately, I do have an ear for music, so I know when I am off.
   
5. I am sometimes embarrassed by my taste in music. It should be so much cooler than it actually is.
   
6. However, I have no compunction about telling people about how cool the Modern Marvels "Cheese" episode is.
   
7. I tend to sit with my arms crossed. People ask me if I'm cold.
   
8. My landlord once told me that I had the best set of tools that he'd ever seen a woman have. He meant that entirely literally, and it was my box of random fasteners that sent him over the top.
   
9. I will try to fix almost anything by myself, reasoning, "Hey, it's already broken!" My paper shredder is the latest casualty, but there is still hope for it.
   
10. I am terrified of fire, but the fear can be manifest in strange ways. Bunsen burners terrify me, but not alcohol burners. I love campfires, but I refuse to build them. I will roast marshmallows in one someone else has built.
    

Oh, I'm not tagging anyone. Unless you want to be tagged, in which case, tag!

Watergirl: So I was out in my yard, in my bathrobe, holding a cat and talking to my neighbors.

Aquamama: You could be a crazy cat lady.

Watergirl: I think I pretty much just admitted that I am.

I had put a library hold on this book months ago- I think I first read about it over at Michelle's. I got an e-mail the other day saying it was available, and I just went to pick it up.

Y'all, it's brand new. I am the first one reading the library book. That's pretty cool.

A friend was e-mailing me a story today, and it included the sentence, “He YELLED at me about the pot when I confronted him about it.”

My first thought was, “You left a dirty pot in the sink?!”

I could not have been more wrong.

1. Open a door, any door, and say "Get in the house."
2. Cluck at things to make them go faster.
3. Cluck at people to get their attention.
4. Eliminate potential home decor items because they might be perceived as a cat toy.
5. Sleep perched on the edge of my bed.
6. Occasionally get the urge to head-butt someone as a way of saying "thanks", or "hi", or "good morning."

At a party last night, the talk tuned to Star Wars (as it does). And then somehow Captain Jack Sparrow was brought into the conversation.

Guy at Party: Well, if Han Solo can survive being frozen in Kryptonite, Jack Sparrow can survive being sucked into the deep.

Watergirl: Han Solo was frozen in Carbonite, not Kryptonite!

can be summed up by the fact that I laughed out loud, perhaps even guffawed, at the following quote from this program's Antietam episode.

"McClellan got perilously close to taking decisive action. It was quite a moment in his life."

(Quote from Gary W. Gallagher, UVA)

At Jbabe's Christmas Party last night, I was talking with a friend of mine. (I've talked about him before. He's a hunter and has cooked us partridge, grouse, and pheasant.) (Note: He is from Iowa.) We had what I thought was a first, a very odd conversation. We were talking about different cities.

SG: Well, the great thing about Chicago is the otter show they have at the McCormick center every year.
CP: Really?
SG: Yes, well, the center is big enough to host WEFTEC, and they hold an otter show there.
WG: Has only seen Chicago once, from the other side of Lake Michigan. Does not understand why they have a big otter show nor why SG is so fascinated with it.
SG: And it overlooks the lake, and the otter show is just huge.
WG: (realization hits) Oh , you're saying auto.

Little Matty: (to printer) Print, damn you!
Watergirl: Does that work?
LM: It does when you also click on the little print window.
WG: Oh, so you don't know which actually works.
LM: No, I haven't isolated the variables.

Little Matty and I are watching the radar for Hurricane Ophelia.  Something's wrong with the radar, because suddenly the storm disappears. 

WG:  Oh!  She got herself to a nunnery!

LM:  Huh?

WG:  You know, like from Hamlet?

LM:  I thought that was from Macbeth.

WG:  No, Macbeth is "Out damned spot, out I say!  All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand."

(from the hallway, our HR person overhears.)

HR person:  What language is that, young lady?

WG:  Elizabethan English?

So, TJ asked a really good question.  I apologize for not explaining this.  The PE exam is the Professional Engineering exam.  I am an Environmental Engineer; although my current position doesn't require it, it's good to have that license, as it will make it much easier for me should I ever want to switch jobs.  Although I like my current job, I'm not sure the opportunities for advancement are there, so it's a good option for me to keep open. 

The steps for licensure (OK, the most common steps) are as follows:

1. Graduate with a degree in an engineering discipline from an ABET (American Board of Engineering Technologies) accredited program.  This is why I spent 4 years at UMass getting my Master's- my bachelor's degree is in physics;  the M.S. program at UMass is one of the few accredited ones in the U.S., but it did mean that I had to take a lot of undergrad courses as well as complete my graduate work.  (Note:  Once, upon learning that I had been working on my Master's for 3 years (at that time) this guy in a bar who had been trying to pick me up said,  "Why?  Are you stupid?")
2. Take and pass the Fundamentals of Engineering Exam.
3. Apply for licensure as an Engineering Intern or Engineer in Training (that depends on the state) with the Engineering board of the state in which you took the FE.
4. Work under a licensed engineer for a set number of years (the number of years required varies).
5. Apply to sit for the PE.
6. Hopefully, pass PE. 

So, an alternate title for this post could be "Now that you all know what a geek I truly am, you will probably never come back."

So, I was ranting to Little Matty about how one of our instruments was broken, and the PTB were being penny wise and pound foolish.  He looked at me and said, "I have never heard anyone use that phrase in actual conversation." 

Do you know that Target (well, at least the Cary Target) now sells wine? 

This is good, because I needed some wine upon finding out that they do not sell the Dixon Ticonderoga No. 2 soft pencil.  Which is the Best.  Pencil.  Ever.  Had to get stupid mechanical pencils. 

So, I indulged in a little retail therapy last week.  I bought pillows for my new couch, a new water dish for the boys, and, since Angeler is coming in August and my parents are coming in September, a new futon mattress. 

What I should have bought?  This, in Maple.

Which of the following was in my back pocket as I went to both the bank and Old Navy today?

a.)  Money
b.)  A credit card
c.)  my hand
d.)  a tire gauge

In celebration of Embrace Your Geekiness Day, I would like to report that after installing a Purge and Trap unit on my GC, using the FID, and installing a new jet for said FID, I got a calibration curve with an R squared value of 0.994.  Go me!

Y'all, I forgot to mention this in the story of the couches, but MW very sweetly allowed me to vacuum before we brought the new couch in, even though it was really unnecessary (WG:  I haven't pulled the couch out to vacuum behind it in three weeks!  MW:  Three weeks?).  He even found other things to do while I vacuumed. 

I am a crazy cat lady.  Earlier this evening, I was sitting at my desk.  Ri was sitting on my desk.  He quite deliberately knocked some papers off into the garbage.  I said, "Orion!  Why did you do that?  And don't even tell me you didn't mean to, 'cause that's a lie!"

So, my insomnia is back.  Why?  Most likely due to my current mood.  (Current mood:  Wickedly insecure.)  My goal tonight is to not even get into bed before 11.  (Usually, I am in bed by 10:30.)  So, I must find things to pass the time.  Now, I could read the current book club book, but I still have a week.  And also, 1.5 hours tonight.  And, I know the ending.  (Actually, that brings up a story from when Angeler and I went to London.  We toured the Tower of London, and the Yeoman Warder who was leading our group around asked me where I was from.  When I told him Raleigh, he looked at me solemnly and said, "Next time, take the high ground at Gettysburg."  Also helpful if J.E.B. Stuart is not out gallivanting.)  Anyway, you would think that, since I don't actually have to be at work at a specific time, I could just sleep in a little.  You would be wrong, because Jasper understands what the alarm going off means, and I can hit snooze, but then I've got a little black cat on the bed mewing in my ear (also?  His breath?  Could strip paint.)

So, Amalah posted pictures of her pretty new car (scroll down) yesterday, and while that car is cool,  it made me realize that at some point the most important thing in a car to me became cargo space.  Seriously.  I want a Subaru Outback.   Or, Cool Boss has a Toyota Matrix, and it's cool.  And have you seen the new Nissan Quest? Sweet!  Y'all, it appears I have lost my mind.  Although, this is probably due to the fact that every time I want to buy something large (e.g.  a new computer, a grill), I have to call Cdub and bribe her to take me in her minivan.  I really appreciate the help, but it'd be nice to do these things for myself. 

So sleepy.  Only 1.5 hours left...

Y'all, just now?  Coming out of the lab?  The door bounced off of the reservoir for the air conditioner (HVAC system in this building is not sufficient for a lab with 2 fume hoods and an autoclave, so we have a window unit in the wall) and hit me in the head.  Hard.  I saw stars.  Now I have a lump and a red mark on my forehead.  Ow!

(I am trying to explain to Cool Boss that he may have to stop in this weekend to refill the reservoirs for a project we are working on.)

WG:  So, it's looking more and more like the 2L reservoir we need will not come in before this weekend.

CB:  You ordered it already right?

WG:  Actually, no.

CB (laughing):  Well, now I see why it's looking that way.

(Clay Aiken's "Invisible" comes on the radio)

Watergirl:  I hate this song for so many reasons.  It is a bad song.  But the number one reason I hate it is its misuse of the subjunctive.

Cdub:  Wow.  And I thought I was a geek.

Christmas photo essay later today (I hope), but for now, I present the list of impulse buys I made at WalMart today:

1.  Paper Towels
2.  Cat Litter

and finally...

3.   A new mop!

See how spontaneous I am?

So, I lost my original Nalgene bottle (the one I bought in Hadley, MA) about 8 months ago.  REI had them on sale in June, so I bought a new one.  TRgirl and The BIL also gave the members of their wedding party Nalgene bottles,  so I had 2, which is a good number, except that I usually use my Camelback for day hiking.  Yesterday I went to the carwash (the good one, where they vacuum your car and everything), and they found the original under one of the seats.  Now I have three (!) Nalgenes. 

On a somewhat related note, I think the next time I go to the carwash, I shall try Bunkey's or the AutoBell.  I've been going to the Scruffy Duck, and the past 2 times it has looked like they had a St. Bernard cleaning the windows.  With his tongue.  I even had the kid rewash the windows yesterday, and I still have to rewash them today.  Ugh!

And now for a completely unrelated story.  Thursday I was driving to Cdub's from the barn (rode Bruno, no stirrups, and my legs were SORE!) (oh, Cdub needed me to help move a recliner into her house.  This recliner has been in her van since Thanksgiving.) and my phone rang.  It was Bud, who said, "What does Goose want for Christmas? "  I didn't remember exactly.  He hung up to call TRgirl.  He called me again, when I was 5 minutes from m house, because he wanted to know what I got him (him being Goose in this instance) and I told him I'd call him again when I got home so I could give him exact details.  When I got home and called him, HE DID NOT ANSWER THE DAMNED PHONE!  He called me again, because he didn't get the voicemail I left.  At about 9:30 that night, the phone rang.  "What does mom want?"  Dude, it's called making a list before you go shopping.  Look into it.

Y'all, I have been looking for my Swiffer duster for a month now.  I just found it.  Those of you who know me IRL can imagine the amount of joy this brought me.  Those of you who don't, the discovery was announced with a little dance, and then I showed it to Jasper and said, "I FOUND IT!
Jasper looked up at me, but was unmoved.  Silly cat!