One B.S. degree in Microbiology and 1 Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology...$37,000 salary.
One competitive NIH fellowship awarded...downgraded medical coverage.
Twenty-eight years of not going faithfully to the dentist...4 wisdom teeth in need of removal.
Four wisdom teeth removal without medical coverage because I am a postdoc and have a piece of shit medical coverage because I am in a training grant...$1950.
Doing bench research at a quality institution...Priceless!
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Claim to Fame
I know I have been seriously neglecting the blog, part of it has to do with me not having much to talk about except a bunch of crap science days that are starting to hit me so hard and fast I feel like I am playing Mike Tyson's Punch Out. But I digress. While I was in Atlanta visiting my sister, she mentioned that she had brought with her a bunch of pictures that were at my mom's place from my childhood years. Most of them are from my baby years all the way to when I was about 8 years old and they mostly provide a good way for me to reminisce about some fun trips and friendships that I lost between going to boarding school and landing here. One of the most amusing pictures is the one shown below.
I look to be about 6 or 7 years old in the picture (fourth from the left). The cool part about the picture is the kid that is standing to my right on the picture, or third kid from the left in the picture. His name is Gerardo Torrado. He is now a professional soccer player and a pretty good one at that. He has been playing for the Mexican National soccer team for the past few years (since 1999), accumulating 45 international caps. My memories of our shared soccer-playing days in grade school are limited to playing against his team as well as having the entire team try to keep him from touching the ball. He was one of the best kids playing soccer then, if I remember correctly, he was playing in more than one league from very early on. Not very exciting I know, but I feel good knowing that I was once on the same pitch as someone that now plays for the Mexican National soccer team
I look to be about 6 or 7 years old in the picture (fourth from the left). The cool part about the picture is the kid that is standing to my right on the picture, or third kid from the left in the picture. His name is Gerardo Torrado. He is now a professional soccer player and a pretty good one at that. He has been playing for the Mexican National soccer team for the past few years (since 1999), accumulating 45 international caps. My memories of our shared soccer-playing days in grade school are limited to playing against his team as well as having the entire team try to keep him from touching the ball. He was one of the best kids playing soccer then, if I remember correctly, he was playing in more than one league from very early on. Not very exciting I know, but I feel good knowing that I was once on the same pitch as someone that now plays for the Mexican National soccer team
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Turner Field
My oldest sister called me out of the blue a week ago to ask me how far Atlanta was from Nashville. It turns out that she was going to be in Atlanta for business, and asked if I would be willing to drive out to meet her. Thursday afternoon we were finalizing plans for me to go meet her when she asked if I wanted to go to a baseball game as the A's and Braves were playing a night interleague game.
As you all know by now, I love sports. I am a little too crazy about sports for my own good and I love going to new sports sites that I have not been to as much as going to sporting events. I have attended quite a few baseball games, although I have been limited to the D'Backs, Pirates, and Nationals park as well as the Durham Bulls park (AAA ball) and the Diablos Rojos the Mexico old park (Mexican league). I had not been to Turner Field and had had a generally negative view of Braves fans as an apathetic crowd after years of winning divisional pennants but only winning one World Series in 1995. Boy was I wrong and I should have known better (this link is a great review of most of today's MLB parks).
For starters, transportation to the stadium was fantastic. We were staying at a downtown hotel and took the Atlanta metro (MARTA) one stop where we were easily pointed to a shuttle going to the park by Braves employees at the metro stop. The metro, shuttle ride, as well as picking up our tickets from the friendliest Will-Call employee ever took 30 minutes. The park itself, which served as Olympic stadium for the 1996 games, and was redesigned a bit for baseball, is still very modern with good sight-lines, a great video board, decent concession stands with expensive, but not ridiculously expensive food including a good veggie burger (for those vegeterian readers) and a good jumbo dog. The park also has one thing that the Nationals park lacks a lot of, character. Coca-cola is ubiquitous in the stadium, and rightly so as they are headquartered there and Coke was born in Atlanta, and there are lots of history sprinkled around the stadium (divisional and WS pennants, tributes to Hank Aron, and so on). You actually feel like you are in THE Atlanta Braves park not a park that was built for just any team.
As for the fans themselves, they were completely the opposite of what I expected. Most people in the stadium were wearing Braves gear and seemed fairly knowledgeable about the game and the team, with Chipper Jones and Jeff Francoeur (Atlanta born) being fan faves. More so, fans were into the game, cheering, jeerings, doing the Tomahawk chop at several points in the game, and generally excited about the game. I am sure it helped the game itself was a good one and that the Braves pulled off a win after trailing 2-0 after 5 and half innings. Still, this was a regular season game against a team that there isn't a huge rivalry. I mean, forget they aren't in the same division, they are 3 time zones away! Despite all of that, and a fairly chilly spring night, the park was hopping with the intensity of a late September game.
As we were leaving the park to fireworks going off, I couldn't help but think that these Braves fans must be proud. They have a solid franchise that is serious about winning, with a solid park, and built around a very good fan base. Kudos Braves fans.
As you all know by now, I love sports. I am a little too crazy about sports for my own good and I love going to new sports sites that I have not been to as much as going to sporting events. I have attended quite a few baseball games, although I have been limited to the D'Backs, Pirates, and Nationals park as well as the Durham Bulls park (AAA ball) and the Diablos Rojos the Mexico old park (Mexican league). I had not been to Turner Field and had had a generally negative view of Braves fans as an apathetic crowd after years of winning divisional pennants but only winning one World Series in 1995. Boy was I wrong and I should have known better (this link is a great review of most of today's MLB parks).
For starters, transportation to the stadium was fantastic. We were staying at a downtown hotel and took the Atlanta metro (MARTA) one stop where we were easily pointed to a shuttle going to the park by Braves employees at the metro stop. The metro, shuttle ride, as well as picking up our tickets from the friendliest Will-Call employee ever took 30 minutes. The park itself, which served as Olympic stadium for the 1996 games, and was redesigned a bit for baseball, is still very modern with good sight-lines, a great video board, decent concession stands with expensive, but not ridiculously expensive food including a good veggie burger (for those vegeterian readers) and a good jumbo dog. The park also has one thing that the Nationals park lacks a lot of, character. Coca-cola is ubiquitous in the stadium, and rightly so as they are headquartered there and Coke was born in Atlanta, and there are lots of history sprinkled around the stadium (divisional and WS pennants, tributes to Hank Aron, and so on). You actually feel like you are in THE Atlanta Braves park not a park that was built for just any team.
As for the fans themselves, they were completely the opposite of what I expected. Most people in the stadium were wearing Braves gear and seemed fairly knowledgeable about the game and the team, with Chipper Jones and Jeff Francoeur (Atlanta born) being fan faves. More so, fans were into the game, cheering, jeerings, doing the Tomahawk chop at several points in the game, and generally excited about the game. I am sure it helped the game itself was a good one and that the Braves pulled off a win after trailing 2-0 after 5 and half innings. Still, this was a regular season game against a team that there isn't a huge rivalry. I mean, forget they aren't in the same division, they are 3 time zones away! Despite all of that, and a fairly chilly spring night, the park was hopping with the intensity of a late September game.
As we were leaving the park to fireworks going off, I couldn't help but think that these Braves fans must be proud. They have a solid franchise that is serious about winning, with a solid park, and built around a very good fan base. Kudos Braves fans.
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Return Labels
Let me start by saying I love the convenience of return labels. I love being able to put something in an envelope, quickly scribble the sender's address, slap on a self-adhesive stamp as well as a return label that already carries my name and home address. Good times.
Return labels usually come in through the mail unrequested from charities, professional organizations, universities, you name it. Most of the time, I have a good selection of return labels sitting around waiting to be used at my convenience, to the point where when new ones come in I can throw them away if I do not like the logo that comes with the label.
The issue now stems in that we only moved to Nashville last July, so my stash or return labels is rather thin. Since we moved out here my stash was mainly supported by a decent looking one from Progressive Insurance (which is not my insurance company) as well as some ok ones from, are you ready for this, the Greek Orthodox Church-that's right, the labels are sans JC but have a cross-which is extra funny because I am about as atheist as they come. My last set are these ones from St. Jude's Children's Hospital that have Ziggy...fucking Ziggy on them. Two things about Ziggy, if you put them on your return labels it basically guarantees that nobody in their right mind is going use them and if you are a charitable organization, it guarantees that you will not get any money in return. I mean, the only way these could be worse is if they had Hello Kitty on them (important note: if you click on the Hello Kitty sign be prepared to be attacked by an incredibly friendly cartoon).
I ran out of the Progressive labels back in November and have been using the shitty Ziggy ones for bills (I figured they don't care) or the Greek Orthodox Church ones. However, when I have sent stuff to friends and family I have been stealing Nat's labels from the ASPCA. Those labels are pretty cool. To the left of your name and address they have either the ASPCA logo or a picture of an animal. Pretty good stuff.
After having had enough of being in return label purgatory, and seeing that Nat's stash of return labels of quality keeps increasing, I did a shameful but utilitarian thing, I went on the ASPCA site and signed up to be on their mailing list hoping that they will find it in their hearts to send me some return labels. Besides, if the labels are cool enough, I may even promote their cause.
Return labels usually come in through the mail unrequested from charities, professional organizations, universities, you name it. Most of the time, I have a good selection of return labels sitting around waiting to be used at my convenience, to the point where when new ones come in I can throw them away if I do not like the logo that comes with the label.
The issue now stems in that we only moved to Nashville last July, so my stash or return labels is rather thin. Since we moved out here my stash was mainly supported by a decent looking one from Progressive Insurance (which is not my insurance company) as well as some ok ones from, are you ready for this, the Greek Orthodox Church-that's right, the labels are sans JC but have a cross-which is extra funny because I am about as atheist as they come. My last set are these ones from St. Jude's Children's Hospital that have Ziggy...fucking Ziggy on them. Two things about Ziggy, if you put them on your return labels it basically guarantees that nobody in their right mind is going use them and if you are a charitable organization, it guarantees that you will not get any money in return. I mean, the only way these could be worse is if they had Hello Kitty on them (important note: if you click on the Hello Kitty sign be prepared to be attacked by an incredibly friendly cartoon).
I ran out of the Progressive labels back in November and have been using the shitty Ziggy ones for bills (I figured they don't care) or the Greek Orthodox Church ones. However, when I have sent stuff to friends and family I have been stealing Nat's labels from the ASPCA. Those labels are pretty cool. To the left of your name and address they have either the ASPCA logo or a picture of an animal. Pretty good stuff.
After having had enough of being in return label purgatory, and seeing that Nat's stash of return labels of quality keeps increasing, I did a shameful but utilitarian thing, I went on the ASPCA site and signed up to be on their mailing list hoping that they will find it in their hearts to send me some return labels. Besides, if the labels are cool enough, I may even promote their cause.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Da Burgh and Traveling Through O'Hare
I just want to start by dispelling rumors that I have abandoned the blog. I have merely been taking a creative sabbatical to deal with basketball players jumping into inflatable pools, even if they are recovering from a torn ACL, as well as attending a wedding and a bachelor party.
The wedding was in Sharon, PA and included such amusing activities as going to karaoke night at the local Quaker Steak and Lube. I know this is going to sound incredibly snobby, but if you were ever going to go looking for your truck drivin', gun toatin', possum eatin', GOP votin' folk they'd be hanging out there. The place is decorated for the NASCAR lover, and although I know more than you would think about NASCAR because I do like car racing of all kinds, I think decorating your restaurant with car hoods and other car paraphernalia just takes things down a notch. That said, karaoke was pretty amusing.
The other quality event of the wedding, besides the event itself, was my dearest wife and her brother doing push-ups while we were all getting ready to leave (I will provide pictures of this soon). Let's just say it was pretty damn funny. I also got to drive Nat's aunts truck which was lots of fun. It is always amusing driving something that is twice as big as my Civic.
As for the bachelor trip to DC the most amusing part was flying through O'Hare. I know this goes without saying for you middle of the country folk, but that airport stinks if your goal is to arrive anywhere on time. My flight Friday morning was delayed at the runway in Nashville for 1 hour, followed by a 1 hour delay in the air, refueling stop at the tarmac in Indianapolis and further 1 hour delay. Luckily Nat told me by phone that American Airlines had canceled my morning flight to Reagan National but had rebooked me for a later flight without doing a thing. That little change made it possible for me to land at O'Hare 3 hours late and run to a gate, with enough time to grab a Kit Kat for lunch, and get to DC only 3 and half hours late.
In DC there was some semi-controlled debauchery and a trip to the Washington Nationals new ballpark. The park itself is pretty nice and has some nice views of the city, but overall it is just ok. The concession stands are well stocked with good food items, even though they are pricey as expected, but the park lacks that characteristic that makes it stand out from the rest of the parks and from the city itself. The HD and gigormous scoreboard is awesome but you don't get to enjoy its full capacity that much as replays are not shown nearly enough. All in all, the park on the outside fits into the city almost as yet another office building and inside it lacks that something that makes it unique.
On the way back I actually left National, which is an absolutely joy to fly into because you get the most amazing viewof the city, on time but I was delayed out of O'Hare on the way home. Not only that, the flight was overbooked by 5 people and the next flight was not until the next day. Now, the airplane only holds about 50 people, so that means that American overbooked the flight by 10%! That meant that those 5 people did not get home on time, even if they got a hotel stay and $250 voucher for their troubles, simply because the airline screwed up. Just not a good scenario.
I will end by saying that I was incredibly disappointed with the customer service provided by the American flight attendants. I am aware that their job is stressful, especially when flights are delayed, and especially when your job is on the line because of job losses in the industry left and right. However, none of these make it ok to be rude to costumers that have a request, especially when the request is being made in a courteous manner. At the end of the day, it is their job to make the costumer have a pleasant experience when they are using the airline. Being nasty at costumers is going to do nothing but drive them to other airlines, which will translate on more job problems for them.
The wedding was in Sharon, PA and included such amusing activities as going to karaoke night at the local Quaker Steak and Lube. I know this is going to sound incredibly snobby, but if you were ever going to go looking for your truck drivin', gun toatin', possum eatin', GOP votin' folk they'd be hanging out there. The place is decorated for the NASCAR lover, and although I know more than you would think about NASCAR because I do like car racing of all kinds, I think decorating your restaurant with car hoods and other car paraphernalia just takes things down a notch. That said, karaoke was pretty amusing.
The other quality event of the wedding, besides the event itself, was my dearest wife and her brother doing push-ups while we were all getting ready to leave (I will provide pictures of this soon). Let's just say it was pretty damn funny. I also got to drive Nat's aunts truck which was lots of fun. It is always amusing driving something that is twice as big as my Civic.
As for the bachelor trip to DC the most amusing part was flying through O'Hare. I know this goes without saying for you middle of the country folk, but that airport stinks if your goal is to arrive anywhere on time. My flight Friday morning was delayed at the runway in Nashville for 1 hour, followed by a 1 hour delay in the air, refueling stop at the tarmac in Indianapolis and further 1 hour delay. Luckily Nat told me by phone that American Airlines had canceled my morning flight to Reagan National but had rebooked me for a later flight without doing a thing. That little change made it possible for me to land at O'Hare 3 hours late and run to a gate, with enough time to grab a Kit Kat for lunch, and get to DC only 3 and half hours late.
In DC there was some semi-controlled debauchery and a trip to the Washington Nationals new ballpark. The park itself is pretty nice and has some nice views of the city, but overall it is just ok. The concession stands are well stocked with good food items, even though they are pricey as expected, but the park lacks that characteristic that makes it stand out from the rest of the parks and from the city itself. The HD and gigormous scoreboard is awesome but you don't get to enjoy its full capacity that much as replays are not shown nearly enough. All in all, the park on the outside fits into the city almost as yet another office building and inside it lacks that something that makes it unique.
On the way back I actually left National, which is an absolutely joy to fly into because you get the most amazing viewof the city, on time but I was delayed out of O'Hare on the way home. Not only that, the flight was overbooked by 5 people and the next flight was not until the next day. Now, the airplane only holds about 50 people, so that means that American overbooked the flight by 10%! That meant that those 5 people did not get home on time, even if they got a hotel stay and $250 voucher for their troubles, simply because the airline screwed up. Just not a good scenario.
I will end by saying that I was incredibly disappointed with the customer service provided by the American flight attendants. I am aware that their job is stressful, especially when flights are delayed, and especially when your job is on the line because of job losses in the industry left and right. However, none of these make it ok to be rude to costumers that have a request, especially when the request is being made in a courteous manner. At the end of the day, it is their job to make the costumer have a pleasant experience when they are using the airline. Being nasty at costumers is going to do nothing but drive them to other airlines, which will translate on more job problems for them.
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