It's an on-going battle between me and my PC. I've tried reinstalling Windows and I've tried repairing the existing operating system. The only thing I have yet to try is to use the nice little HP Recovery System disk that came with my laptop but if I use that, I figure it'll wipe my hard drive and that's not really OK with me. I'm still trying to figure out a way to recover all of my data. If anyone has Windows XP CD that they could copy and send my way I will be eternally grateful. I don't know, I guess I can send you lots of chocolate or something. The chocolate here is gooooood.
On an unrelated note, I gave in to my fast-food urges today and since the closest In-n-Out is like 8000 miles away, I went to (gasp) McDonalds to indulge in a quarter pounder and fries. Random observation: the fries here taste different. More like plain potatoes. Maybe they don't spray their fries with that special chemical that tastes like beef but was manufactured in a lab?
child devil of tuna
Friday, September 30, 2005
Thursday, September 29, 2005
My second week here draws to a close and I must say, tensions amongst me and the other masters students are running high. Let me explain:
The program in which I am participating at Manchester University is a Masters of Research (or MRes for short). It's not like any of the masters programs back at home and is more like the first year of a bio PhD. I don't have any classes or exams to take (aside from the odd tutorial on communications/teaching/writing skills) and my grades will be determined solely by the three different research projects that I will perform throughout the school year. I have to write up reports on these lab rotations, present my research when/where appropriate, and then write the mother of all theses at the end of it all.
Which leads me to why everyone is a giant stress-case right now. We have until the end of this week (tomorrow) to find our first supervisor. I have emailed about 4 professors and I have heard back from 2. One I met with, and another has told me that there is no room in his lab for the first rotation. In a state of panic, I was going to email a couple more potential supervisors last night, but when I talked to some of the other MRes students, they were interested in the same projects as me. I figured there was no real point in trying to get the attention of one particular supervisor if there were 4 or 5 other MRes students dancing outside his office.
Blaaah. I will meet with the first prof again tomorrow and hopefully, he still has room in his lab. I will feel much better on Friday evening.
The program in which I am participating at Manchester University is a Masters of Research (or MRes for short). It's not like any of the masters programs back at home and is more like the first year of a bio PhD. I don't have any classes or exams to take (aside from the odd tutorial on communications/teaching/writing skills) and my grades will be determined solely by the three different research projects that I will perform throughout the school year. I have to write up reports on these lab rotations, present my research when/where appropriate, and then write the mother of all theses at the end of it all.
Which leads me to why everyone is a giant stress-case right now. We have until the end of this week (tomorrow) to find our first supervisor. I have emailed about 4 professors and I have heard back from 2. One I met with, and another has told me that there is no room in his lab for the first rotation. In a state of panic, I was going to email a couple more potential supervisors last night, but when I talked to some of the other MRes students, they were interested in the same projects as me. I figured there was no real point in trying to get the attention of one particular supervisor if there were 4 or 5 other MRes students dancing outside his office.
Blaaah. I will meet with the first prof again tomorrow and hopefully, he still has room in his lab. I will feel much better on Friday evening.
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
Two posts in one day? What did you do to deserve such a treat? Nothing, I just love you all enough to keep you entertained.
In actuality, I finally have stuff to do and papers to read, so naturally I'll find every excuse to procrastinate. Ah, the life of a student. It's good to be back (?).
The University of Manchester. Look, I go to school in a castle! Well, not really. Most of my time will be spent in a building not unlike Koshland or VLSB, but hey, it's what I signed up for.
So much greenery! So different from the brown of Cali.
No city would be complete without a stunning view of smokestacks and construction. I was expecting the worst before I came because everyone was telling me how gray and ugly the city was, but seriously, this is the only smokestack I've seen in the city. Not bad for a city that was supposed to have been born during the industrial revolution.
Upper Brook Street, near my dorm.
Daisy Bank Road, also near my dorm. The houses are cute, but mostly, I like the yellow car in the foreground.
My dorm. I live in Opal Gardens (you can apparently google map it and zoom in on it). There's a nice little frog pond in the courtyard, too.
Two of my three roomies. Judy from China and Daisy from Taiwan. My roommate from the dorms in freshman year was also named Daisy. My first (and only dog) was named Daisy too. And it's also my favorite flower... the list goes on and on. Strange coincidence.
My room/cubicle/workspace.
In actuality, I finally have stuff to do and papers to read, so naturally I'll find every excuse to procrastinate. Ah, the life of a student. It's good to be back (?).
The University of Manchester. Look, I go to school in a castle! Well, not really. Most of my time will be spent in a building not unlike Koshland or VLSB, but hey, it's what I signed up for.
So much greenery! So different from the brown of Cali.
No city would be complete without a stunning view of smokestacks and construction. I was expecting the worst before I came because everyone was telling me how gray and ugly the city was, but seriously, this is the only smokestack I've seen in the city. Not bad for a city that was supposed to have been born during the industrial revolution.
Upper Brook Street, near my dorm.
Daisy Bank Road, also near my dorm. The houses are cute, but mostly, I like the yellow car in the foreground.
My dorm. I live in Opal Gardens (you can apparently google map it and zoom in on it). There's a nice little frog pond in the courtyard, too.
Two of my three roomies. Judy from China and Daisy from Taiwan. My roommate from the dorms in freshman year was also named Daisy. My first (and only dog) was named Daisy too. And it's also my favorite flower... the list goes on and on. Strange coincidence.
My room/cubicle/workspace.
I totally intended to have photos of Manchester up by now, but I don't. However, this will not be a complete and utter disappointment of an entry, as I do have a few photos to post. This summer, I ended up cleaning out my room from top to bottom (parents might move to a new house while I'm gone, yadda yadda) and in doing so, I came across a few mementos from days gone by. So, in sort-of chronological order:
I was absolutely obsessed with trolls (when was this, late elementary school?) and I must have owned about 20 or something like that. Yes, I made my mother crochet some clothes for them. I'm such a spoiled brat.
Weepuls! I don't know how many of you did magazine drives as fundraisers (Arroyo Seco anyone?), but they gave these out as prizes for selling lots of magazines. My favorite one is the orange guy with the blue arms and legs whose tag says "I'm a winner!" Motivational tactics at their best.
I also had a passion for buying action figures. Back before the X-Files got lame (seasons 7 - 9, I believe), I bought these limited edition movie versions and I even kept them in the box because they might be worth something someday. But alas, the series died a long sputtering death and now on eBay, they don't sell for more than a couple bucks per pair. Oh well, can't win 'em all.
The white and pink corsage is from Prom '99 and the blue one is from Winter Formal earlier in the same school year.
Now this one is a mystery. It's kind of a big rock (twice the size of my fist, in fact) and it was important enough so that I kept it. I can't remember for the life of me what the hell happened on January 18, 1999. I'm such a packrat.
Meet Ben G, which is short for Ben Gay, because a big purple velvet frog MUST be gay.
And then theres my rock collection, the 40+ souvenir spoons from various U.S. national parks, 8 years worth of neatly labeled and categorized file folders for nearly every class I ever took as a high school and college student, and three shoeboxes filled with letters and valentines dating back to early elementary school days. Yes I have a problem.
I decided to take some photos of Manchester today. The weather has been beautiful and sunny, but today it's finally cloudy and rainy. Oh well, the clouds will add a touch of authenticity. I don't know if Manchester was meant to be viewed in full sunlight.
Currently Reading: Lots of research papers
Currently Playing: Cherry Cordial - The Mimsies
I was absolutely obsessed with trolls (when was this, late elementary school?) and I must have owned about 20 or something like that. Yes, I made my mother crochet some clothes for them. I'm such a spoiled brat.
Weepuls! I don't know how many of you did magazine drives as fundraisers (Arroyo Seco anyone?), but they gave these out as prizes for selling lots of magazines. My favorite one is the orange guy with the blue arms and legs whose tag says "I'm a winner!" Motivational tactics at their best.
I also had a passion for buying action figures. Back before the X-Files got lame (seasons 7 - 9, I believe), I bought these limited edition movie versions and I even kept them in the box because they might be worth something someday. But alas, the series died a long sputtering death and now on eBay, they don't sell for more than a couple bucks per pair. Oh well, can't win 'em all.
The white and pink corsage is from Prom '99 and the blue one is from Winter Formal earlier in the same school year.
Now this one is a mystery. It's kind of a big rock (twice the size of my fist, in fact) and it was important enough so that I kept it. I can't remember for the life of me what the hell happened on January 18, 1999. I'm such a packrat.
Meet Ben G, which is short for Ben Gay, because a big purple velvet frog MUST be gay.
And then theres my rock collection, the 40+ souvenir spoons from various U.S. national parks, 8 years worth of neatly labeled and categorized file folders for nearly every class I ever took as a high school and college student, and three shoeboxes filled with letters and valentines dating back to early elementary school days. Yes I have a problem.
I decided to take some photos of Manchester today. The weather has been beautiful and sunny, but today it's finally cloudy and rainy. Oh well, the clouds will add a touch of authenticity. I don't know if Manchester was meant to be viewed in full sunlight.
Currently Reading: Lots of research papers
Currently Playing: Cherry Cordial - The Mimsies
Friday, September 23, 2005
Thursday, September 22, 2005
5 days, 4 attempts at registering, 4 different banks, and three meetings with my department manager later, I was FINALLY able to register as a student at the University of Manchester with a working bank account. I was ecstatic. Then I tried to set up an internet account. 1 point for Grace and 1,092,254 points for British bureaucracy.
The error message that keeps popping up is that I don't exist in the university database and there's nothing I can do except wait for them to (slowly) put me into the system. My main problem with this whole situation is that I am to start my first lab placement in about a week and I have to find a suitable project, find a suitable supervisor, meet with the supervisor, and design an experiment... and unfortunately for me, all of that requires me to have access to the university network.
And if things weren't bad enough already, I got stung by a wasp for the first time ever yesterday. It flew up my pant leg and I had to run to my room to take off my pants. Good thing is that I discovered that I am in fact, NOT allergic to wasps. Whew.
ARGH! I'm just gonna end up giving all of my spending money to this damn internet cafe. The owner practically knows me now.
The error message that keeps popping up is that I don't exist in the university database and there's nothing I can do except wait for them to (slowly) put me into the system. My main problem with this whole situation is that I am to start my first lab placement in about a week and I have to find a suitable project, find a suitable supervisor, meet with the supervisor, and design an experiment... and unfortunately for me, all of that requires me to have access to the university network.
And if things weren't bad enough already, I got stung by a wasp for the first time ever yesterday. It flew up my pant leg and I had to run to my room to take off my pants. Good thing is that I discovered that I am in fact, NOT allergic to wasps. Whew.
ARGH! I'm just gonna end up giving all of my spending money to this damn internet cafe. The owner practically knows me now.
Friday, September 16, 2005
Long story short: Stuff came up, changed my flight to the UK, long-ongoing crisis regarding banking in England, etc etc and now I am sitting in an internet cafe in Manchester, wishing I had a Starbucks mocha frapuccino and a friendly shoulder to cry on (strangely, Starbucks are kinda hard to come by in this city. I've only seen two and they were both a three-mile walk from here).
I arrived about 36 hours ago and I've spent about half of those hours sleeping and the other half running between CitibankUK, Lloyds TSB, the accomodation office, the life sciences office, the student services office, and foreign students office, and my dorm... all in efforts to procure the necessary documents for opening a UK bank account. The conclusion: I can't open an account until I register and I can't register until I have a bank account. And even if I did manage to open an account, it wouldn't be official for two weeks and registration is on Monday. I have ALL OF THIS MONEY and no one wants to take it. God help me.
I am living out of a shoddy little hotel where hot water comes out of my sink, but not out of my shower. I was told that under no circumstances, could I move into my dorm, but at the airport yesterday, I met three girls who said they were moving into my exact dorm right away. It's anti-American week, folks!
On the bright side, Manchester is NOT an ugly city, contrary to the opinions of nearly every British person I talked to in the last two months. The campus is actually quite pretty. The dorms look nice (although, I haven't really been allowed inside of one) from the outside, there are lots of cool-looking restaurants and cafes, and downtown Manchester looks pretty fun. Oh, and it was also sunny today!
That's pretty much all that I have at the moment. Things are going not as planned, but hopefully, this will turn into one of those things you look back on and laugh. Or, I might get deported for having no legitimate reason to stay here if registration doesn't go well.
Currently reading: Time Magazine
Currently playing: the music of the person sitting in the cubicle next to me
I arrived about 36 hours ago and I've spent about half of those hours sleeping and the other half running between CitibankUK, Lloyds TSB, the accomodation office, the life sciences office, the student services office, and foreign students office, and my dorm... all in efforts to procure the necessary documents for opening a UK bank account. The conclusion: I can't open an account until I register and I can't register until I have a bank account. And even if I did manage to open an account, it wouldn't be official for two weeks and registration is on Monday. I have ALL OF THIS MONEY and no one wants to take it. God help me.
I am living out of a shoddy little hotel where hot water comes out of my sink, but not out of my shower. I was told that under no circumstances, could I move into my dorm, but at the airport yesterday, I met three girls who said they were moving into my exact dorm right away. It's anti-American week, folks!
On the bright side, Manchester is NOT an ugly city, contrary to the opinions of nearly every British person I talked to in the last two months. The campus is actually quite pretty. The dorms look nice (although, I haven't really been allowed inside of one) from the outside, there are lots of cool-looking restaurants and cafes, and downtown Manchester looks pretty fun. Oh, and it was also sunny today!
That's pretty much all that I have at the moment. Things are going not as planned, but hopefully, this will turn into one of those things you look back on and laugh. Or, I might get deported for having no legitimate reason to stay here if registration doesn't go well.
Currently reading: Time Magazine
Currently playing: the music of the person sitting in the cubicle next to me
Websites and Blogs
-
Dave Eat Kimchi
Princess Inaka
Wolf's Clothing
Rei in the Bay
Hitokirivader
Greenchevy
Potstickerx
Moparman
Supahdon
Christine
ANJALI
Kalyan
Lubby
Danny
uhlee
p53
jeff
Links
Toothpaste for DinnerHomestar Runner
Cute Overload
Boing Boing
QDB Bash
Sinfest
PVP
PhD
Archives
- 04/01/2003 - 05/01/2003
- 05/01/2003 - 06/01/2003
- 06/01/2003 - 07/01/2003
- 07/01/2003 - 08/01/2003
- 08/01/2003 - 09/01/2003
- 09/01/2003 - 10/01/2003
- 10/01/2003 - 11/01/2003
- 11/01/2003 - 12/01/2003
- 12/01/2003 - 01/01/2004
- 01/01/2004 - 02/01/2004
- 02/01/2004 - 03/01/2004
- 03/01/2004 - 04/01/2004
- 04/01/2004 - 05/01/2004
- 05/01/2004 - 06/01/2004
- 06/01/2004 - 07/01/2004
- 07/01/2004 - 08/01/2004
- 08/01/2004 - 09/01/2004
- 09/01/2004 - 10/01/2004
- 10/01/2004 - 11/01/2004
- 11/01/2004 - 12/01/2004
- 12/01/2004 - 01/01/2005
- 01/01/2005 - 02/01/2005
- 02/01/2005 - 03/01/2005
- 03/01/2005 - 04/01/2005
- 04/01/2005 - 05/01/2005
- 05/01/2005 - 06/01/2005
- 06/01/2005 - 07/01/2005
- 07/01/2005 - 08/01/2005
- 08/01/2005 - 09/01/2005
- 09/01/2005 - 10/01/2005
- 10/01/2005 - 11/01/2005
- 11/01/2005 - 12/01/2005
- 12/01/2005 - 01/01/2006
- 01/01/2006 - 02/01/2006
- 02/01/2006 - 03/01/2006
- 03/01/2006 - 04/01/2006
- 04/01/2006 - 05/01/2006
- 05/01/2006 - 06/01/2006
- 06/01/2006 - 07/01/2006
- 07/01/2006 - 08/01/2006
- 08/01/2006 - 09/01/2006
- 09/01/2006 - 10/01/2006
- 10/01/2006 - 11/01/2006
- 11/01/2006 - 12/01/2006
- 12/01/2006 - 01/01/2007
- 01/01/2007 - 02/01/2007
- 02/01/2007 - 03/01/2007
- 03/01/2007 - 04/01/2007
- 04/01/2007 - 05/01/2007
- 05/01/2007 - 06/01/2007
- 06/01/2007 - 07/01/2007
- 10/01/2007 - 11/01/2007
- 12/01/2007 - 01/01/2008
- 01/01/2008 - 02/01/2008
- Current Posts
