Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Really?

I heard a commercial on the radio this morning about tax relief. The part that stuck out to me went something like this: "thousands of honest, hard-working Americans have used [insert service name] to take care of their tax problems." Something seems wrong to me. If you were an honest American, would you really have tax problems big enough to need a third-party? Just asking. Maybe someone who knows more about the IRS can see how this is possible, but it seems dodgy to me.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Random news

As the title implies, this post is not really going to follow any one theme. I have a few small things to say that don't seem at all related, but here I go...

I moved this weekend. I have a cute apartment with checkerboard tile in the kitchen and the bathroom. In the process of moving, I found out that I have some amazing friends. Not only did they show up to help me lug all of my boxes from one place to another, they stuck around the new place long enough to unpack most of said boxes too (that could have been because we waited an hour for some pizza, but who knows?). I feel so lucky to have such great people in my life!

In not really related news, my trusty TI84plus finally carked it. It survived several semesters of calculus, and physics, and even made it through physical chemistry. I guess the disappointment of now having only to help me balance my check book was too much for it! I still remember the day I used the quadratic formula solver for the first time. Sniff.

Having successfully moved into my new place, I naturally had to try out the oven. Below is a chocolate chocolate chip cookie-a recipe I've been meaning to try for ages. It's a winner.


My new Kitchenaid is also a winner. It is pictured below in my new kitchen, with some cookie/brownie bars that were also winners. I used the sweets as an excuse to knock on some doors and try to meet my new neighbors. Only one was home...more sweets for me!


Lastly, I got told about a chocolate walk today. This is one of the best ideas I've heard of in a long time. It's kind of like trick-or-treating for grown-ups. Participants receive chocolates from businesses in a downtown area-it's an endeavor to advertise for the local shops. I see it as mild exercise and (almost) free chocolate.

I can't believe it's almost February! One more month and I will have been in Texas for two years...two whole years of bad drivers and amazing BBQ. All in all, life is pretty good.

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Following Instructions

I visited a dermatologist last week. My skin is dry...really dry. I don't think you need much more information, other than that often my fingers will crack, and bleed. The dermatologist said that I could super glue the cuts together. So I bought super glue tonight. I asked my roommate to help me out. Sounds easy, right? Once we figured out how to properly open the glue, she squeezed. Glue went everywhere (on our hands, at least). She washed her hands (I don't know how effective it was), and I just let mine dry, without touching anything. My cuticles are now glued to my nails, and my thumb nail is glued to my finger. Meanwhile, the cut is glued together, and it doesn't hurt anymore. Maybe next time we can manage to only glue what we want to...