It's All Greek To Me

Until the beginning of May the boyfriend has been living about 4 hours away from me to complete a BEd. We're no strangers to distance. I did 3 seperate Co-Op work terms out of town (and two of them were also out of province) during my undergraduate degree but some how this one was much harder. I think in part we were both just fed up with the distance and in part it was the first time he (a home-body) left me (an adventure junkie) and in part we've been together longer then when I kept leaving town so we're all the more attached and use to having each other available.

Anyways the boy moved back to his parent's house a few weeks ago (which is a short train ride from my place) and things have sort of been rocky trying re-adjust. In an attempt to have a normal date (vs. a 4 hour weighty conversation about our future) we went out to our favourite greek resturant.

Mmm too many delicious choices.

I ended up picking a chicken breast stuffed with feta and spinish (no picture... I ate it that fast) and The Boy got this phyillo pastry stuff with chicken and veggies.

Yes, the plate is the size of a severing tray. And yes, that knife is actually a small dagger.

Another Late Night

Seeing the day from Sunrise to Sunset always gives me a sense of accomplishment.

Too Fast or Too Slow

Life seems to be flying and yet I'm itchy for progress and change. How is that possible?

I have a 6 page needs-to-be-done-NOW list. I had a one-on-one meeting with my supervisor today that spanned a soild 3 hours. I have daily panic attacks about how much I should of got done yesterday. I'm putting a soild 12-18 a day in a the lab 5-6 days a week. Yet I feel stagnet. I keep putting off things on ever growing To Do list. Even the fun things like calling Michelle (a dear friend from highschool that I never call enough). I'm itching for some adventure. My mind keeps drifting to home renovations (if I didn't rent), fun vaction destinations, spontanous road trips and hobbies I'd like to take up.

The past few months have been insane. Even the weekends have been full work days in the lab or jammed packed with some social obligation or another. Weekends are ussually my down-time. I haven't properly cleaned my apartment since April and yet I'm debating if I should try to sign up for a SCUBA class that's being offered this weekend.

Am I just trying to mentally distract myself?

Link-y Love

I stumbled across this weight-loss video blog today:

www.thebigthin.com


Alastair, the host, is too funny. You should check it out.

Life's To Do List

I love lists. I love making To Do Lists and I love crossing things off of them. I'm 100% guilty of adding already complete tasks to a list just so I can cross it off.

There's a number of Internet meme that deal with making life lists: 43 Things, Bucket List, Reaper List, 50 Things and my favourite 101 in 1001. All of them are the same basic idea: create a list of tasks often in a given amount of time. I started a 101 list but it's quickly become far more then 101 tasks.

Here are 6 from my "Totally Random" Section that I've completed already:

1. Stay awake for 24 hours
2. Be a guinea pig in an experiment
3. Cliff dive
4. Feed birds out of palm of hand
5. Leave a note in a library book
6. Go tray-bogganing

****** WORK IN PROGRESS *******

This post likely isn't too interesting to you unless you live in Ontario and wish an inexpensive yet reliable phone with long distance and you do most of your calling in the evenings or on weekends.

My Top 10 Questions to Ask Cell Phone Retailers

1) How easy is it to switch a phone number if I move? What's the process and is there a charge for this? Can I change my plan options if my needs change?

2) Is automatic and/or paperless billing an option?

3) What are the roaming charges when I'm outside my local calling area? outside Canada?

4) Can I choose my number? Is there a charge for this? Can I switch over my existing number?

5) What's the call quality like with this phone? Which phone is your best seller? How many people get your basic model and then upgrade?

6) What's the most common reason customers give for terminating their service with you? (or switching to a new company once their contract ends)

7) If I have problems with my phone what can I do? Do you offer loaner phones if I have to send mine away for service? Is there are charge for this?

8) What are you contract terms? What's the penalty for early termination?

9) What's the most common bill related inquire you get? Are there any charges people are surprised to see on their first bill?

10) Is "unlimited" truly unlimited or is there an unspoken upper limit?


Cell Phone Review

Company: Koodo Mobile

Phone: Samsung U410 (Red or Black) $75 (or free after 2 years on the plan below)

Plan: 100 Anytime Minutes, 50 Outgoing Text/Unlimited Incoming Text, Unlimited minutes after 7pm M-Th and 7pm F until 8am M ($20)

Long Distance: Unlimited Canada Evenings (after 7pm) and Weekends ($15)

Extras: Voicemail $5

Total (after taxes) = $45.20

Extra Info:
- No Activation Fee if Done Online or In Store
- No System Access Fee /911 Fee / Monthly Fee
- No Contract
- No Penalty for Leaving except you have to settle your balance on the phone

Company: Bell

Phone: Samsung a640 or Samsung m300 - Free with 3 year contract

Plan: 100 Anytime Minutes, Unlimited Nights and Weekends ($25) or 150 Anytime Local or Long Distance Minutes ($30)

Long Distance: 100 Minutes ($12) or 200 Minutes ($20)

Extras: System Access Fee $8.95 + 911 $0.75

Total (after Taxes) = $34.70 (No Long Distance) or $54.70 (3.5Hrs Long Distance) or $69.70 (10Hrs Long Distance)

Extra Info:
- One Time Setup Fee $35

Company: Rogers

Phone: Samsung A226 $19.99 with 3 Year Contract

Plan: 200 Anytime Minutes, Unlimited Evenings (9pm) and Weekends $30

Long Distance Plan: 200 Canada Wide Minutes $20

Extras: Voicemail $7, System Access Fee $6.95

Total (after Taxes) = $56.95

Company: Telus

Phone: Samsung U540 (Free with 2-3 Year Contract)

Plan: 300 Anytime Minutes and Unlimited Evenings (9pm) and Weekends $30 or 150 Anytime Minutes and Unlimited Evenings (6pm) and Weekends $30

Long Distance: Unlimited Canada Wide $30

Extras: Voicemail $7, System Access Fee $6.95 + 911 $0.75

Total (After Taxes): $67.00

Extra Info:
- One Time Activation Fee $35

Company: Fido

Phone: Nokia 2760 (Free with 2 Year Contract)

Plan: 100 Anytime Minutes and Unlimited Evenings (7pm) and Weekends $25

Long Distance: Unlimited Canada Wide $20

Total (After Taxes) = $45.00

Extra Info:
- No System Access Fee
- One Time Activation Fee $35

Company: Solo

Phone: Samsung M300 (Free with 2 Year Contract)

Plan: 100 Anytime Minutes and Unlimited Evenings (7pm) and Weekends $20

Long Distance: Unlimited Canada Wide $20

Total (After Taxes) = $40.00

Extra Info:
- No System Access Fee

Company: Virgin Mobile

Phone: Samsung m510 or m300 (Free with 3 Year Contract)

Plan: 100 Anytime Minutes, 1000 Minutes Evenings (7pm) and Weekends, 100 Text Messages $25

Long Distance: Unlimited Canada Wide $20, Voicemail $7

Total (After Taxes) = $52.00

Extra Info:
- No System Access Fee
- One Time Activation Fee $35

License to... Drive!

I took the plunge and got my driver's licence (learner's permit) today! It was super nerve wracking but as soon as I was done it was a great sense of relief. Just making the commitment to myself to see this through really took a weight off my shoulders (that I didn't even know was there!).

For some odd reason the only licencing office in the entire city is located in a not-so-swell part of town. Not a problem. I'm definitely not a girl who's scared to walk through the bad part of town given reasonable precaution such as going during daylight hours but oh my was it an experience! The center wasn't on a road so much as a back ally dirt lane, the 9 foot high chain link fence was less then inviting and the man I stood behind in line for nearly an hour wasn't wearing any shoes.

There were three separate cases of cheating on the permit exam while I was there. More people failed then passed. I wouldn't say the test is super easy but definitely passage if you know the basic rules of the road. A lady who had just failed a driving road test was arguing with the clerk that she was well below the posted speed limit so she shouldn't have failed. The clerk had to explain to her over and over again that major highways (100km/hr) have LOW speed limits too and you simply can't go 60km/hr when everyone else is doing 110km/hr.

Next step is to actually get in a car and start practicing! Anyone have any recommendations for a good driver's education school that can deal with my nervous nature?

A Day at the Lab

As I eluded to in an earlier post I'm a grad student. I work in molecular biology lab that focuses on plant research (I tell my grandparent's I'm a farmer). Since this is were I spend upwards of 16 hours a day often 7 days a week I suspect I'll be making many lab-based posts in the future. I'm worried my lack of life outside the lab will quickly turn this blog into boredom central but there are some pretty cool things that come up every day so I'll share with you today's puzzle.

I grew some cucumbers for an experiment and the roots behaved really weird. Check it out:

All those white lines are the roots (I removed the pot for the photo). They all grew around the outside edge of the soil instead of throughout the soil.

When I cut open the soil mass it's just the tiniest root hairs throughout the interior:

The roots normally grow throughout the soil (just like any old plant you'd get a garden center) so what's up with these plants? Soil too tightly compacted (so the roots couldn't penetrate)? Too much water (so they were trying to find the higher oxygen at the edges of the pot)?

Spring Cleaning

I had planed to go shopping for a phone today but it was pouring rain when I got up so switched gears to Spring Cleaning! Am I the only one who gets super excited about deep cleaning their appartment?

Used Bookstore Finds

One of my great weaknesses in life is a good used book store. My current Hamilton favourite is Barely Bent Used Books in Dundas. It's run by these two cute old ladies and the selection is decent. A couple weeks ago they had a 50% off everything sale and I picked up a number of titles including a virtually brand new copy of 'New Moon' (the second Twilight book) for $6 so I wasn't anticipating finding anything this time around but surprise! a beautiful copy of the first Harry Potter book was sitting in the window. I've actually already read it but that was awhile ago and at $5 how could I say no?

Young at Heart

I feel so young. I suppose that's good in some ways but in other ways it feels immature. If someone asked me my age I'd say I'm 15 years old instead of 25. Many of my friends are getting married, having babies , settling into careers. and I'm still in school. Does grad school cause you to regress?

Whenever I go to a seminar or departmental party I'm sure to have a Ziploc bag in my pocket to steal some delicious goodies for later. Lately this seems 'childish' more so then 'completely awesome'.

In an effort to be more adult-like I'm trying to compose a list of specific things that make me feel like a child. In no particular order:

1. No driver's licence

In Ontario we have a graduated licencing system. When you're 16 you get a G1 (learner's permit) which allows you to drive with an adult in the passenger seat and a number of other restrictions. After a year with the G1 (or 8 months if you take a Driver's Education Course) you can take a road test to acquire a G2. This licence allows you to drive alone and without many of the restrictions you have with a G1. After 1 year of driving with the G2 allows you to take your final driving testing to obtain a full Ontario licence.

Like every other 16 year old I got my G1, took Driver's Ed, practiced with my mom every weekend except instead of relishing my new found freedom I HATED it. I was (and presumably still am) a very nervous driver. I think behind the wheel of every other car on the road is a drunken homicidal maniac just escaped from prison with nothing to loose. Upwards of 95% of my Driver's Ed lessons ended in tears. My instructor was really nice but I just couldn't gain the confidence. As a result I decide to let my licence expire so it's been about 9 years since I was last behind the wheel of a car.

I've been happy with my decision. In addition to not breaking down behind the wheel everyday there are all the environmental benefits of not driving a personal automobile. I don't feel like I've missed out on anything. I can get almost anywhere on public transportation including two inter-province moves. Yet whenever I mention I don't have a licence people look at you like you're 5 years old. They feel guilty, almost obligated, to offer you rides. I'm perfectly happy to get myself wherever I have to go on a bus or train but it seems like others think if you HAVE to take the train it's awful.

2. No Phone

For the past two years I've had no phone. Strictly a financial decision with frequent moving and lots of long distant friends and family it was just too expensive for a landline or a cell. I've used SKYPE to stay in touch with people but they don't have SKYPE OUT numbers for Canada so I'm out of luck on that front.

3. Boyfriend-Family Disconnect

This is a tough one. I'm seeing a great guy but my family doesn't know he exists. It's not an intentional choice. We started out as friends and very gradually progress to more. By the time we got to the point of where I was like 'hey you're my boyfriend' it seemed weird for a 'met the parents' moment so things continue to progress, the years fly by and still no meeting.

4. Lack of Job and Income

This one just comes with post-graduate schooling and I can accept that but none the less I feel weird when I assume all parties are BYOB, furniture shopping is done curb-side and appropriate work attire consists of jeans and hoodies .

I'm sure I'll think of some more but I'll leave it at that for now. My next step is to conjure some of these so I don't feel like such a baby.

Anyone else feel like they're years younger then they should be?