A "Blizzle Dizzle"...
HO-LEE COW...this weekend we had the first major snowstorm here in the Northeast. It dumped over a foot of snow on us here just on saturday, with winds gusting from 20-30 mph. In other words, it was fa-ree-zing! On a positive note, you get a pretty good incentive to stay inside, drink hot coffee and study.
The kid in me (figuratively, I don't have an actual kid inside of me, despite the rumors) really kind of enjoyed it. Actually, the cool part is watching this fleet of bulldozers clear out the Hospital parking lot that my bedroom faces. These things are zipping back and forth, making these 15' high mountains of snow. Daddy liiiikkke. Another cool big toy I saw was the mini-dozer - a "Bobcat" - that was tooling around our apartment complex, creating these huge piles of snow on the sidewalk and our doorways. Now if I only had a somebody to body check into one of those things!
On my way home from studying today, I had one of those moments you typically see in commercials. Rather than walking around the lawn area that is unplowed, I walked across it like I normally do since it looked like packed snow. I get about 3/4 of the way across the lawn, take another step and all of a sudden, I'm thigh deep in powder. I had stepped into one of the aforementioned "huge piles of snow" that was covered by a good layer of powder. So I'm standing there up to my arse in snow and one of my classmates walks by and does a double take in my direction. Naturally, I waived and said "hello", then I trudged back the way I came for fear of taking another step into a chest high pile of snow. Ah, winter.
On a totally unrelated matter, I went to the chinese grocery store near me this past week. The item of note that I purchased - a Chinese meat cleaver! 1 single piece of forged steel, heavy handle and all. Yep, old school, just like my mom used to use when I was a kid. Sucka, it's ON now. I've been cooking up a storm lately, AND I'm ready in case any chinese cooks want to have a kung-fu fight out in the alley behind their restaurants. It happens, man. ("Tong enforcers were given the name 'Hatchet Men' for their skill with meat cleavers", shaolinarts.com). Yeah baby. I'm thinking about getting a leather holster for this thing.
Anyways, all for now.
Chow,
TC
So now that I'm in an area with actual weather, I'm a big fan of Weather Watcher, a desktop add-on. It gives periodic weather updates, has little cloud/snow icons when it's snowing and a whole slew of forecasting options. My only complaint concerns the entire weather forecasting industry as a whole. What irks me? What vexes me? The whole concept of "feels like" forecasts. For example - it's 12:30am on Sunday, it's snowing.
Temp: 19 deg. F
Feels Like: 5 deg. F
What in the name of all things sacred is that supposed to mean? Now before you begin explaining the theory of windchill, dew points, or barometer readings, I understand the concept of it all. A cold ass wind makes it feel a lot colder than it is...sure, simple enough. My whole thing is, if you want to describe "feels like" temperatures, you outta make them a lot more descriptive. My suggestions would be:
Temp: 19 deg. F
Feels Like: Your brain is a block of Dryers French Vanilla
or
Temp: 19 deg. F
Feels Like: You are now sterile.
You get my point. If it's really cold, or for that matter, really hot, what's the deal with these "Feels Like" temperatures? I remember Palm Springs was "105, feels like 112"....WTF is that!??!? I know there's no windchill factor to affect the desert sun. Is there some other factor that I don't know about that makes it seem hotter than it is? Humidity? Nope...cuz humidity "feels like" really nasty funk.
Who decides these arbitrary "feels like" variances? Isn't it a bit subjective? I would imagine someone less used to the cold would think "19 feels like -50" in most cases.
Anyways, I digress. I'm off to sleep in my cozy comforter on my airfilled bed. It "feels like" an actual mattress.
Chow,
TC
So, the average age of my MBA class is somewhere in the neighborhood of 26. For those of you that know me, you'll know that I generally used to hang out with a much older crowd (with some geezers in the four-oh club!!). Whether it's my wise old soul or my obvious sense of maturity, for whatever reason, I seemed to be around older people. Perhaps it is my intolerence all things sophomoric and idiotic (there is an exception called the "ben stiller rule" and the occasional episode of Jackass). Anyways, I'm on the older side of my class...not to mention the oldest in my study group. Some thought I was 25....as if that's a comfort. To quote my Pita... Suck it!
So the reason I brought up this subject, I came out of "retirement" today at the gym and played a little of the basketball. I used to be quite the "balla" as the youths say these days. I'm a deadly inbounder, not to mention I had a pretty decent shot from 20' and in. I used to get upset that my shot hit the rim instead of going clean through (no...I don't have Torrett's syndrome). These days, I am a golfer who's decent at shooting a basketball.
So, it started innocently enough, I was shooting around and was asked to play some 3 on 3. Not bad, 5 out of our team's 8 pts. We did get waxed, but I acheived my two goals 1)I was not retarded out there and 2) no torn ligaments or groins. Next, we had enough for a full court 5 on 5. I was taking it easy most of the game (read: playing offense and no defense), then I steal the ball and go up for a layup and WHAM!....my calf muscle hardens up like a 3 day old bagel. Holy crap it hurt. It felt like my calf was making a fist. I was terrified that I tore something...but after a bit of initial panic, I was a bit calmer. A girl that was playing ball with us helped me out and said, "if you tore something, you'd be crying like a little girl". I thought to myself,"are you crying like a little girl?....no"....ok, solid.
Anyways, I'm at home icing the crap out of my fistcalf. Oh well, at least it wasn't my groin.
All for now...
TC
First off, I've had a great time over Christmas and New Years. I got to see my sis who's currently living on the other side of the planet. I got to play a lot with my nephew Kyle for days on end. I saw a lot of friends before I left the Left coast. Last but not least, I got to hang w/ my beloved cousins in the Mega-city Toronto. It was all cherished time.
Here I sit, in my very zen-like (read: "Empty") 1 bd/1 bath apartment in Rochester. Ironically, it's 2 degrees warmer and a bit dryer than it is back home in SF. For now, it's not so bad (knocking furiously on wood). Tomorrow, it's my first day of B-school, in the form of a pre-term orientation.
If you read my post from a few weeks ago, I was a bit removed from any feelings of nervousness, anxiety, excitement, etc. Well, put a bow on those thoughts and kiss them goodbye. I'm chaulk full (what exactly is the state of being "chaulk full" anyways? Is there a "chaulk empty" too? Are we talking white-chalk or do I have it all mixed up somehow!?!) of all sorts of random thoughts of how the next week, not to mention the next 2 years, is going to go. Butterflies? Try big ass, giant, freaky dinosaur butterflies. We'll see, it should be interesting to say the least.
So, for any of you that might decide to visit me in Rochacha via Toronto...be aware that you will pass Balls Falls, Ontario, try not to swerve off the road when you see the sign. Rochester is located of of I-490, be sure not to take the turn off for "Greece" (I had no idea we were connected to the mediterranean via an interstate. It must be a wicked a$$ toll road). U of R is located in the southern part of the city of Rochester near the town of Chili (pronounced "chai-lai" - not Chilli, as in "con carne"). These are some of the highlights on the 2 1/2 hr drive from Toronto to Rochacha. Honestly, it's really nice out here..."Tito, no estamos en Los Angeles anymore".
Anyways, all for now. Wishing you all the best for the new year...
chow-
T