Let's hear it for global warming!

With windchill bringing the temp to -3F, I think I'll go buy an SUV. Vermont could use a little more warming...

Speaking of SUV's, is this not the stupidest thing ever? I mean, ok, I understand why we don't want a major American industry to go belly up. That sort of thing is bad for the economy, and puts a lot of employees out of work for no fault of their own. On the other hand, if that major American industry refuses to make cars that get more than, say 2.5 mpg, I'm not sure that throwing billions of dollars at the problem will make it go away. Maybe, shockingly enough, American car manufacturers should try making cars that are a) fuel efficient and b) smaller than your average tank. Just a thought. *Packs bags in preparation for getting thrown into Gitmo*

Deep thoughts...

You know you're finally settled into a new job when the printer runs out of paper, and you know where to find the obscure supply cabinet two buildings away without asking anybody.

You know you need to get out more when...

You're walking  down the hall, glancing at posters and find yourself thinking, "Man, I wish I had electron density like that!"

Sam I. Am needs a vacation...

Edit: My boss' husband once told me that the first thing that attracted him to her was her electron densities. I am a geek, yes, but there are far worse geeks out there.

So very, very true...

"Everywhere I go I'm asked if I think the university stifles writers. My opinion is that they don't stifle enough of them. There's many a best-seller that could have been prevented by a good teacher".

--Flannery O'Connor

Ok, seriously, folks, this isn't funny anymore...

You know how I said that I am bad for computers? Yeah. So I started  running several programs on a remote computer on our cluster at school. Normal programs that everybody else runs all the time, no problem.

Result: computer crashed completely, losing its  hard drive. They say it's not my fault, but I'm not sure I believe them...

Update: On the first day of this week, my computer gave to me...

In an effort to document why I believe my computer should be exorcized, I will keep a running log of what malevolent things it does to me. Let me know if you know any priests.

1. Mac OSX has crashed today. Twice. Mac OSX is not supposed to crash every five minutes like Windows does.

2. My web browser blew its brains out repeatedly.

3. My crystallography programs are not running. (This is probably my fault. I swung the chicken counter-clockwise instead of clockwise this morning).

Edit: Update 12.3.08

I seemed to have crashed another hard drive. I'm thinking that's a bad thing.

I think I sacrificed the chicken incorrectly...

The computer deities/spirits/demons apparently have it in for me. Even my boss is beginning to think so, and that's not a good sign. Here's my reasoning for this belief:

First: my computer has a tendency to play the little game we like to call "kernel panic." It generally does this before an important talk. 

Second: my laptop has the following problems:

1. The keys  "B" "G" "T" and "5" don't work. Just those keys, no idea why.

2. The lightbulb behind the screen appears to be broken.

3. Funny little lines appear on the burned out screen from time to time.

4. It. is. so. slow.

Third: no crystallography program will work for me. Today I ran *the exact same* program under my account on a server. Nada. "Input error" etc. I then ran it under a coworker's account. No problemo. 

Edit: I just thought of another example: 

When I lent my keyboard to Housemate Helen (don't you like your new nickname, Helen? I thought it had a nice Sesame Streety sort of feel) a few weeks ago it managed to destroy like five hours worth of work. I mean, it completely lost her file. Pretended it had never seen it. It's like I'm contagious or something...spreading computer malfunctions through computer accessories.

I'm beginning to feel like that guy in Good Omens who manages to break or destroy every single piece of electronic equipment he ever comes across. To the point of shutting off power to his city on a regular basis. Which, come to think of it, might be a highly marketable skill. "Will shut off competitor's power for food."

Happy Dance

Yay for cheap books... I found a whole bunch of David Eddings books for 75c each on Saturday at my church's holiday bazaar. And the entire set of Chronicles of Narnia for, like, $5. And then I found 5 Agatha Christie mysteries in the used book section of Barnes and Nobles for $5. I am a happy little (poor broke grad student) bookworm. I have this dream that someday I will be able to purchase entire series of book for *gasp* full price. Full price book purchasing= the true American dream. (For you lucky foreigners reading this, the definition of "American Dream" is very fluid, but generally refers to a plucky young poor (but not the wrong kind of poor, of course) person bucking society and making oodles of money. Apple pie may also play a part, but I'm not sure how).

Interesting. The american keyboard has the dollar sign but not the cent sign... *goes to look up magic key combination to get cent sign*

In other news...   mmmmmmm.....sugary caffeine. One of my house guests from this weekend snores so loudly that it kept me awake through the wall. Finally I gave up and slept in basement, where snoring, while audible even through earplugs, was somewhat abated. Am sleepy little Sam today.