Epic.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Ok self, just because a cute guy talks to you doesn't mean you have to go crazy over him
But he's just SO CUTE.
Gah.
Gah.
Monday, February 16, 2009
My quest for a new computer
This weekend I went home for a dentist appointment (and also to appease my parents), and I figured that this would be the opportune time for me to buy a new computer. My old laptop died about 3 weeks ago, due to some sort of motherboard issue. Basically, the only thing that started up when I pressed the power button was the fan.
Seeing that this weekend was President's Day weekend, I guessed that there would probably be some sales going on. Unfortunately for me, I have not gone computer shopping in a long time, and therefore was not prepared for the pain and sorrow that I ultimately experienced.
On Sunday morning, I looked at the Best Buy ad which displayed an HP laptop for the low, low price of $399. Even though I was loath to purchase another product from the devils that are Hewlett-Packard (my old laptop was an HP and had a long string of problems before its untimely demise), I had to admit that it was a pretty freakin' sweet deal. Alternatively, there was also an Acer laptop on sale for $450. It had essentially the same specs as the HP, but was slightly smaller and more janky looking. But it wasn't an HP. But I also had no idea if Acer made good laptops or not.
Anyway, Sunday afternoon rolled around and I headed out with my parents. Alas, they were sold out of the HP's. This provoked some nagging from my parents about why I shouldn't sleep in. Then the blue-shirted guy told us that they had sold out within the first hour. Bummer.
The other option was to get the Acer. But my mother wasn't very happy that I was spending 50 bucks more on a computer when my only motivation to get it was that they were in stock. I could have gotten a better (and more expensive) computer, but frankly I hate laptops, and I probably won't use a personal laptop after I graduate.
Well then. I was in a bit of a quandary.
After a bit of skulking around the retardedly narrow aisles, I made the semi-impulsive decision to get a desktop instead.
Best Buy had a few deals on desktops around, including a couple tiny ones. The best deal was an Acer that had a tower about 1/3 the size of a normal tower. It had 4GB of RAM, 320GB of hard drive, a reasonably good dual-core Intel Pentium chip, and the $429 package included a keyboard, mouse, and LCD monitor. Awesome! We called over a guy to ring us up.
As we were waiting in line to pay, my dad noticed that the box for the computer had different specs than were advertised... it only had 3GB of RAM, 160GB of hard drive, and (worst of all) an Intel Celeron processor! WTF mates. Turned out that the package deal was for a completely different computer.
In fact, their website had the same misleading deal (which I looked up later that night). Here you can see the awesome package:
But when you scroll farther down, you see that the package overview is different than what it claims as features!
What a gyp. Needless to say, we backed out before we paid for it.
I wasn't really impressed by any of the other packages they had, so we decided to go home and look for something online. I ended up finding a good deal at Costco.com (which, by the way, is completely separate from the physical store). It is an HP, but I'm a little less picky when it comes to desktops. It is also a 1/3-size tower, and I am quite excited about it.
In conclusion, Best Buy sucks; I hate them. That's my story.
Seeing that this weekend was President's Day weekend, I guessed that there would probably be some sales going on. Unfortunately for me, I have not gone computer shopping in a long time, and therefore was not prepared for the pain and sorrow that I ultimately experienced.
On Sunday morning, I looked at the Best Buy ad which displayed an HP laptop for the low, low price of $399. Even though I was loath to purchase another product from the devils that are Hewlett-Packard (my old laptop was an HP and had a long string of problems before its untimely demise), I had to admit that it was a pretty freakin' sweet deal. Alternatively, there was also an Acer laptop on sale for $450. It had essentially the same specs as the HP, but was slightly smaller and more janky looking. But it wasn't an HP. But I also had no idea if Acer made good laptops or not.
Anyway, Sunday afternoon rolled around and I headed out with my parents. Alas, they were sold out of the HP's. This provoked some nagging from my parents about why I shouldn't sleep in. Then the blue-shirted guy told us that they had sold out within the first hour. Bummer.
The other option was to get the Acer. But my mother wasn't very happy that I was spending 50 bucks more on a computer when my only motivation to get it was that they were in stock. I could have gotten a better (and more expensive) computer, but frankly I hate laptops, and I probably won't use a personal laptop after I graduate.
Well then. I was in a bit of a quandary.
After a bit of skulking around the retardedly narrow aisles, I made the semi-impulsive decision to get a desktop instead.
Best Buy had a few deals on desktops around, including a couple tiny ones. The best deal was an Acer that had a tower about 1/3 the size of a normal tower. It had 4GB of RAM, 320GB of hard drive, a reasonably good dual-core Intel Pentium chip, and the $429 package included a keyboard, mouse, and LCD monitor. Awesome! We called over a guy to ring us up.
As we were waiting in line to pay, my dad noticed that the box for the computer had different specs than were advertised... it only had 3GB of RAM, 160GB of hard drive, and (worst of all) an Intel Celeron processor! WTF mates. Turned out that the package deal was for a completely different computer.
In fact, their website had the same misleading deal (which I looked up later that night). Here you can see the awesome package:
But when you scroll farther down, you see that the package overview is different than what it claims as features!
What a gyp. Needless to say, we backed out before we paid for it.
I wasn't really impressed by any of the other packages they had, so we decided to go home and look for something online. I ended up finding a good deal at Costco.com (which, by the way, is completely separate from the physical store). It is an HP, but I'm a little less picky when it comes to desktops. It is also a 1/3-size tower, and I am quite excited about it.
In conclusion, Best Buy sucks; I hate them. That's my story.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Second Annual Valentine's Day Self-Commiseration Post
Seeing that I am currently single, it would be quite the cliche for me to take this opportunity to complain about how stupid Valentine's Day is. Alternatively, I could talk about how much better off I am without having to worry about or deal with boyfriend issues.
But who would I really be kidding? Probably nobody. Being single is really effing boring sometimes, and in all honesty I would love it if some guy gave me jewelry for no other reason than having been guilt-tripped into it by the preponderance of department store ads.
So instead, I will skirt the topic altogether.
I've been listening to lots of catchy poppy music in a largely successful attempt to get rid of my semi-depressive state. I recently heard a song by a Brooklyn band Matt & Kim. I listened to some of their other stuff and was not a huge fan, but for some reason I found this one song awesome. Here it is:
I have also been trying to finish my scarf before the cold weather is gone. I'm predicting an epic fail, seeing that last year's scarf project didn't get finished until the end of spring. I have slightly more motivation this time around, though, because I have yet another scarfy idea poking around in the back of my head, begging for my needles to be free. It involves using this yarn (halo blue from Dollar Tree FTW) and this pattern. Woot I'm excited, dunno about anyone else.
Today was weird. My stress levels shot out the roof when I found out that the unsealed wheel bearing situation for FSAE was threatening to screw us in the ass. But then for some reason I was in a really good, almost giddy mood for the entire afternoon/evening. Maybe it was partially to do with the fact that we watched Meet Me In St. Louis in my film class today, which has a title song so annoyingly catchy that even one of the characters tells everyone to STFU. Fortunately, by some stroke of luck or heavenly blessing, I found out that we would not, in fact, be screwed. Oh happy day.
I have successfully procrastinated this entire week, such that I have two problem sets due Friday and I haven't started either. Go me! Now, time for sleeping.
But who would I really be kidding? Probably nobody. Being single is really effing boring sometimes, and in all honesty I would love it if some guy gave me jewelry for no other reason than having been guilt-tripped into it by the preponderance of department store ads.
So instead, I will skirt the topic altogether.
I've been listening to lots of catchy poppy music in a largely successful attempt to get rid of my semi-depressive state. I recently heard a song by a Brooklyn band Matt & Kim. I listened to some of their other stuff and was not a huge fan, but for some reason I found this one song awesome. Here it is:
I have also been trying to finish my scarf before the cold weather is gone. I'm predicting an epic fail, seeing that last year's scarf project didn't get finished until the end of spring. I have slightly more motivation this time around, though, because I have yet another scarfy idea poking around in the back of my head, begging for my needles to be free. It involves using this yarn (halo blue from Dollar Tree FTW) and this pattern. Woot I'm excited, dunno about anyone else.
Today was weird. My stress levels shot out the roof when I found out that the unsealed wheel bearing situation for FSAE was threatening to screw us in the ass. But then for some reason I was in a really good, almost giddy mood for the entire afternoon/evening. Maybe it was partially to do with the fact that we watched Meet Me In St. Louis in my film class today, which has a title song so annoyingly catchy that even one of the characters tells everyone to STFU. Fortunately, by some stroke of luck or heavenly blessing, I found out that we would not, in fact, be screwed. Oh happy day.
I have successfully procrastinated this entire week, such that I have two problem sets due Friday and I haven't started either. Go me! Now, time for sleeping.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Someone help me figure myself out
I'm trying to stay happy, but all of these wistful songs that Pandora keeps spewing at me are not helping. I like upbeat music too, ok? But if you keep feeding me Regina Spektor and Rilo Kiley and Stars and Coldplay (wtf I don't even like them that much), I think I might just drown. And no, the occasional Strokes song is not going to make it better, because it only reminds me of freshman year when I was naive and thought everything was fantastic.
If I could pinpoint the problem, it might be easier to deal with. But I can't. Everything is fine, great even. Objectively, I am completely satisfied with life.
I can't tell if I'm actually depressed or just chronically feeling sorry for myself. The former would be worrisome; the latter could be normal.
If I could pinpoint the problem, it might be easier to deal with. But I can't. Everything is fine, great even. Objectively, I am completely satisfied with life.
I can't tell if I'm actually depressed or just chronically feeling sorry for myself. The former would be worrisome; the latter could be normal.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
New semester, same pathetic diet
Yes, after a winter break filled with deliciously genuine Chinese food and homecooked meals, I have no shame relapsing back into my lazy eating habits...
(This post also doubles as an online rebuttal to all of Chuck's food posts.)
Here are some of my favorites:
Three Cheese Tortellini from Costco
You can get a double pack for seven bucks, stick it in the freezer, and it'll last forever. Well, more like three weeks when you eat it for every other meal. Buy a jar of your favorite $3 pasta sauce, and you are totally set. Takes 7 minutes to cook, and even less time to devour.
Cereal
Perfect for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or anything in between.
Frozen Pizza
Bake at 400 degrees in the oven for 15 minutes and satisfy those pizza cravings without having to leave the convenience of your apartment or dealing with weird pizza delivery people.
Toast and Peanut Butter
The peanut butter will fill you up, and the toast will give you that toasty goodness that is oh-so-satisfying.
Saltines and Peanut Butter
A variation of the above, but with the added benefit of getting rid of those saltines that you took home after the staff meeting.
Lasagna
A family size Stouffer's lasagna costs about ten bucks. Let it bake for three hours, cut into 8-10 servings, and store them in individual tupperware containers in the freezer. Then microwave each serving for five minutes to defrost. The perfect food stash for finals.
Grilled Cheese Sandwich
One of my all-time favorites. If you have a toaster oven, you can make one by putting a slice of cheese on a slice of bread, then toasting the entire assembly together. Make two slices and combine to make a sandwich. If you don't have a toaster oven (perhaps because your parents stole yours back after theirs caught on fire), then you can make one in a frying pan. Take two slices of bread and butter one side each. Place your slice of cheese in between so that it's contacting the non-buttered sides. Then pan-fry it over low heat until the bread is browned and the cheese is melty. A 5 minute recipe to yumminess!
Here is a fancy version of my frying pan grilled cheese sandwich, made with Jewish rye and pepper jack:
w00t
(This post also doubles as an online rebuttal to all of Chuck's food posts.)
Here are some of my favorites:
Three Cheese Tortellini from Costco
You can get a double pack for seven bucks, stick it in the freezer, and it'll last forever. Well, more like three weeks when you eat it for every other meal. Buy a jar of your favorite $3 pasta sauce, and you are totally set. Takes 7 minutes to cook, and even less time to devour.
Cereal
Perfect for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or anything in between.
Frozen Pizza
Bake at 400 degrees in the oven for 15 minutes and satisfy those pizza cravings without having to leave the convenience of your apartment or dealing with weird pizza delivery people.
Toast and Peanut Butter
The peanut butter will fill you up, and the toast will give you that toasty goodness that is oh-so-satisfying.
Saltines and Peanut Butter
A variation of the above, but with the added benefit of getting rid of those saltines that you took home after the staff meeting.
Lasagna
A family size Stouffer's lasagna costs about ten bucks. Let it bake for three hours, cut into 8-10 servings, and store them in individual tupperware containers in the freezer. Then microwave each serving for five minutes to defrost. The perfect food stash for finals.
Grilled Cheese Sandwich
One of my all-time favorites. If you have a toaster oven, you can make one by putting a slice of cheese on a slice of bread, then toasting the entire assembly together. Make two slices and combine to make a sandwich. If you don't have a toaster oven (perhaps because your parents stole yours back after theirs caught on fire), then you can make one in a frying pan. Take two slices of bread and butter one side each. Place your slice of cheese in between so that it's contacting the non-buttered sides. Then pan-fry it over low heat until the bread is browned and the cheese is melty. A 5 minute recipe to yumminess!
Here is a fancy version of my frying pan grilled cheese sandwich, made with Jewish rye and pepper jack:
w00t
Thursday, January 1, 2009
I'm back and kicking (literally)
I think the 10 days of walking, followed by the 10-hour flight home during most of which I sat in the same position, followed by the time zone change which I was not fully prepared for, have done something crazy to my leg muscles. Now I can't sit still for more than a few minutes without moving something or it will move itself. I also get involuntary full-body twitches when I'm trying to fall asleep.
Shanghai was, need I say, an amazing experience. The fact that it was overcast/rainy the entire time was the only thing keeping it from being gorgeous.
That, and the fact that it was dusty as fuck. After the rain, all the dust went on the ground and it became muddy as fuck. I think it must be from all the construction. They're doing a lot of renovation in order to get ready for the 2010 World Expo. This blue guy is Haibao, the mascot:
The night scenery, though, was more than spectacular. Because there was so much moisture in the air, my attempts to use the "nighttime" scene mode on my camera always resulted in little round blobs of light as the flash reflected off of the water droplets. So whenever I could find somewhere to rest my camera stably, I set my ISO to 80 or 100 and reduced the exposure to -1. (I don't really know why this works, it's just something that has worked for me in the past.)
Then of course there was the food! The previous time I went to China, we were on a tour, and for some reason they only took us to places that served food that wasn't much better than Panda Express. This time, thanks to the guidance of my aunt (who had been living in Shanghai for the past four years, although no longer) and the ubiquitous nature of street food vendors, I think I gained at least a couple pounds from stuffing my face.
That last picture was taken at the deli in a supermarket. Pretty awesome, even though I didn't actually eat any of the stuff there.
Anyhoo, now I'm back and I need to get back to FEA-ing and designing stuffs. I don't really feel like doing any work though. This trip has really gotten me into non-engineering mode. In fact, for the past few days I've been thinking about writing a short story. About what, I'm not sure yet.
I think I'll start working tomorrow.
Shanghai was, need I say, an amazing experience. The fact that it was overcast/rainy the entire time was the only thing keeping it from being gorgeous.
That, and the fact that it was dusty as fuck. After the rain, all the dust went on the ground and it became muddy as fuck. I think it must be from all the construction. They're doing a lot of renovation in order to get ready for the 2010 World Expo. This blue guy is Haibao, the mascot:
The night scenery, though, was more than spectacular. Because there was so much moisture in the air, my attempts to use the "nighttime" scene mode on my camera always resulted in little round blobs of light as the flash reflected off of the water droplets. So whenever I could find somewhere to rest my camera stably, I set my ISO to 80 or 100 and reduced the exposure to -1. (I don't really know why this works, it's just something that has worked for me in the past.)
Then of course there was the food! The previous time I went to China, we were on a tour, and for some reason they only took us to places that served food that wasn't much better than Panda Express. This time, thanks to the guidance of my aunt (who had been living in Shanghai for the past four years, although no longer) and the ubiquitous nature of street food vendors, I think I gained at least a couple pounds from stuffing my face.
That last picture was taken at the deli in a supermarket. Pretty awesome, even though I didn't actually eat any of the stuff there.
Anyhoo, now I'm back and I need to get back to FEA-ing and designing stuffs. I don't really feel like doing any work though. This trip has really gotten me into non-engineering mode. In fact, for the past few days I've been thinking about writing a short story. About what, I'm not sure yet.
I think I'll start working tomorrow.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
I will soon be halfway around the world
On Monday morning, I'm leaving for Shanghai! I'm going with my family, and meeting up with my extended family on my mom's side. I haven't seen them in a few years so it'll be fun.
I'll be sure to post a few choice photos once I get back. Happy holidays, everyone!
I'll be sure to post a few choice photos once I get back. Happy holidays, everyone!
Sunday, December 14, 2008
My laundry waits patiently to be folded
Normally I don't experience strong emotional connections to places. But today when I arrived in cold, rainy San Francisco, all I could think was thank god for northern California. After enduring miles of walking, awful convention center food, and NHRA enthusiasts for three days, all I wanted was to be able to look around and see a mountain somewhere in the horizon.
I went to the PRI Tradeshow in Orlando with Ted & Nancy, which was a huge amount of fun (although the broken blister on my foot doesn't agree). One of the highlights was tracking down Claude to ask him a suspension question, which resulted in him learning my name (or at least my face) and promising me that he would remember me at comp. This may or may not be a good thing.
David talked to a whole bunch of people and got us tons of new potential sponsors, which is good because I'm not exactly the best at trying to convince people to help us out. We also went around distributing thank you cards to our existing sponsors, which they all seemed to appreciate.
Then there were the interesting people. At one point I was talking to somebody about possible sponsorship, and a few random guys overheard me and were very interested in learning about the FSAE program. So I ended up talking to them for a while and giving them my business cards. It was totally unexpected, but pretty cool.
Some of the guys from Auburn's FSAE team were there, and I ended up hanging out at their booth more than a few times. They were all really cool and super sweet. Nihal and I hung out with them after PRI yesterday night.
And of course I can't go without mentioning Pinstripes Guy. He was one of Claude's interns at OptimumG, and David was complimenting/making fun of his pinstriped pants after Claude's Thursday seminar. While it was mildly awkward and I didn't really participate in that conversation, Pinstripes Guy apparently remembered my face, because he said hi to me every time he saw me after that. It's one thing to smile, but it totally threw me off guard that he actually asked me how I was doing each time. It didn't help that his French accent was extremely attractive...
Now I have stuff from PRI strewn all across my bed, and a basket of laundry that needs to be taken care of. Time to get to work.
I went to the PRI Tradeshow in Orlando with Ted & Nancy, which was a huge amount of fun (although the broken blister on my foot doesn't agree). One of the highlights was tracking down Claude to ask him a suspension question, which resulted in him learning my name (or at least my face) and promising me that he would remember me at comp. This may or may not be a good thing.
David talked to a whole bunch of people and got us tons of new potential sponsors, which is good because I'm not exactly the best at trying to convince people to help us out. We also went around distributing thank you cards to our existing sponsors, which they all seemed to appreciate.
Then there were the interesting people. At one point I was talking to somebody about possible sponsorship, and a few random guys overheard me and were very interested in learning about the FSAE program. So I ended up talking to them for a while and giving them my business cards. It was totally unexpected, but pretty cool.
Some of the guys from Auburn's FSAE team were there, and I ended up hanging out at their booth more than a few times. They were all really cool and super sweet. Nihal and I hung out with them after PRI yesterday night.
And of course I can't go without mentioning Pinstripes Guy. He was one of Claude's interns at OptimumG, and David was complimenting/making fun of his pinstriped pants after Claude's Thursday seminar. While it was mildly awkward and I didn't really participate in that conversation, Pinstripes Guy apparently remembered my face, because he said hi to me every time he saw me after that. It's one thing to smile, but it totally threw me off guard that he actually asked me how I was doing each time. It didn't help that his French accent was extremely attractive...
Now I have stuff from PRI strewn all across my bed, and a basket of laundry that needs to be taken care of. Time to get to work.
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