The semester is finally over and I feel a tremendous pressure lifted. I just finished the last of the discussions in my Protein Purification lab notebook, so I am completely done.

School pwnage

This has been one HELL of a semester, if indicated by nothing else than the fact that I have not been able to write a single blag the entire time.  Seriously. Melissa and I were both enrolled full-time (12 cr.) each. My schedule was noted on my last post, so I don’t need to go into that again. But let’s just say that between working ~40 hrs a week, doing 12 credits, taking care of house work, being a husband, and being a father to a rather ornery 1-year old, I had my arms, legs, and kidneys full.

The good part is that I know two of my grades so far: In Organic Chem II Lab, I got a 93% (A-). YES! And in Organic II Lecture, I got an A+. YES YES!!! I’m not sure of my grades in Biology or Proteins, although I suspect A’s (or at the very least, high B’s) in both.

House awesomeness

We recently discovered IKEA. OMG. I CAN HAS FURNITURE? I am in hot, sweaty, debaucherous love with that store. A couple days ago we spent roughly $800 on various furniture items, including a new computer desk (pictured), a dining room table, four chairs with pads, two shelf units for the kitchen, a bathroom sink/faucet/cabinetry/mirror combo, some plants, and various odds and ends.

I know that $800 seems like a lot, but it’s totally worth it. Those Swedes make damn fine products, and the price is right as well. (The computer desk pictured, or as Mel calls it, my “Geek Oasis”, was $90 and is FAR better quality than ANYTHING at Officemax. The dining room table we got, with four chairs, was $280 altogether.)

What really blows me away about the IKEA people though is how sensible they are; about EVERYTHING. The carts in the store? They have four rotating wheels so you can move laterally instead of only rotationally. The instructions are all clearly mapped out when you get them. They use s-shaped allen wrenches for much of the assembly (the s-shape makes it easier to rotate — most allen wrenches are L-shaped). They give you this little plastic widget for nailing in tiny nails so that you don’t accidentally hammer your fingers.

The table we got (pictured, left) has two leaves for expansion, but get this: the leaves are contained WITHIN THE TABLE! To expand it, you lift up one side of the table top about 2″, slide the leaf out, and then it locks into place. To un-leaf it, you lift up the table top again 2″, push the expansion back under, and there it is! You have to see it in action to appreciate the awesomeness.

In the past, at most furniture stores we go to, there’s generally an inverse relationship between price and quality. I expect that if something is cheap, it’s probably cheaply made. But I swear everything we’ve bought has been both inexpensive and really solidly made. They don’t use any particularly special materials, it’s just engineered very well.

But enough gushing about IKEA. The store is in West Chester, OH (near Cincy), approximately 48 miles from Richmond. You must go there and check it out. (They have a full restaurant, several mocked-up apartments in the showroom (full apartments!) — it’s quite easy to spend hours of time and lots of money there.

Oh! And we got CARPET finally!!!!

Sullivan

Sullivan is growing up so fast. He walks, runs around, wrestles with the dog, has already started signing, just had his first birthday, is downright hilarious at times, and learns things really quickly. Our Birth-to-five representative did some assessments on Sullivan and in all the categories except speech he’s as skilled as a two-year old. (He is 1 year, 1 month right now). Speaking he’s right on par (he says Da-da, but we’re not sure if he knows that he’s saying it yet).

I think part of the reason he is learning so quickly is that we just let him grow on his own. We don’t have any kind of agenda for him to stick with — no time schedule or “milestones” for him to meet. Neither of us are concerned that he’s developed physically before developing his ability to talk. We figure that when he’s ready to learn something, he’ll learn it — and we should be prepared to give him the exposure he needs to figure things out on his own.

We’ve been doing baby sign language. For anyone who has a toddler, or is expecting one, you *must* try this out. It’s awesome. Sullivan knows the signs for “hot” and “more”. It’s the most adorable thing in the world when you’re sitting there, giving him a cup of juice, and he makes the sign for “more.” It’s so neat to see what goes on in his head.

Fermentation

I’ve been brewing Ginger Beer/Ale. The only ingredients I use are ginger root and sugar. No yeast added or artificial flavors or anything. The yeast is airborne and grows in a culture beforehand. Melissa and I are planning on making a website with instructional videos for how to do it yourself — it’s really easy to do and it tastes pretty good once you figure out the formula right.

I’m still experimenting with some flavor options, and I plan on doing Root Beer next as soon as I can get my hands on some sarsparilla root and winter green leaves.

Freethought Society

The Richmond Area FreeThinkers Society website is finally up. RAFTS is a group that a few of us founded to be a collective haven for freethinking folks in this region. We’ve got a little over 20 members so far and our website is finally up. We have monthly meetings and a discussion list. All are welcome to join us any time! Check out the website for more information.

This Summer

• I’m taking a class: Decision Support Structures and Data Analysis (Informatics 430) on the Internet this summer. Should be a lot of fun — we’ll be learning about data mining and how to analyze large datasets.
• We’re getting our bathroom finished (finally!) in a week or two. Pictures up when it’s done.
• We’re planning a couple vacations — small ones. We’re thinking maybe Toledo, maybe Philadelphia area, maybe Dollywood — not sure. I’ve got about a weeks worth of vacation and thought we could really make it stretch if I do a series of 4-day weekends rather than a single week.
• We’re gardening vegetables and herbs. Haven’t planted yet, but planning to plant next weekend.
• Mother’s day and Melukkah are both coming up as well, and I know that Melissa is excited about that.
• We’ll probably be making routine trips to IKEA to buy more things. I’m totally addicted.
• I’ll try to blag some more this summer as well.

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Tags: fermentation, IKEA, RAFTS, school, sullivan