A Book of Rogues and Imposters

Dignity will be happening to other people for some little time.

(EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE I'M IN FIRST TRY EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE RURAL AND NORTHERN COHORT EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE)

We were due into Bellingham a little over four hours ago. A drawbridge malfunction of apparently epic scale stopped us cold around the halfway point.

Then we backed up the way we came. I wish I was joking. But no, I am not.

So here we are back at the Vancouver train station. Waiting to hear a standby bus has arrived, or the bridge troll has fallen in battle.

Good thing I didn't have plans tonight.

Little annoyed that class starts in eight hours and I'm probably at least two and a half hours from my destination.

But eh. I interviewed for the PT grad program today. I can be zen.

So annoyed that taping my fibula to my tibia makes walking dramatically less uncomfortable.

"... but that's partially because I suspect Everett is actually some sort of civic flytrap."

Tonight, Merry Wives redux (try not to giggle BEFORE they deliver the line!)

Tomorrow, Whistler, possibly a spa, definitely an Extremely Fancy Dinner Evening (eep)

Monday, get back to Van to get on a train to Bellingham

Tuesday, accost Veggie (muwhahahaha), also financial planner meeting that is the official visit reason

Wednesday, go harvest plums with Mom and the Bellingham Food Bank in... Blaine? I think?

"Well, yeah, but you walk like a velociraptor."

(She does. Nice epic knots in her calves, too.)

Went to an explosive leg strength workshop today. Took notes, have some exercises to work on (the pistol squat progressions look doable. the hamstring death curls... less so. maybe the TRX rig as an anti-faceplant guard?), and got to have someone else flail about p-value hacking and what it does to research. :D

Exactly one minute after my registration window has opened, and I have my fall schedule, at the times and spaces I want.

Care and Prevention of Injuries, Exercise Physiology, Human Sexuality.

Rec Letter Writer 1 [also not a bad toolkit addition], Last 3 credits of prereqs, Rec Letter Writer 2 [and, you know, why not]

Still cross that Delightful Psych Prof's class is at 8:30 on Tuesdays and Fridays, but I'm taking it anyway. She's delightful and also one of my academic recommendations--it's hardly going to hurt me to reinforce her impression of me as a student. =P

Skated by with a mindfulness and breath awareness sketch at the PT appointment (which we ran late to because Dad misremembered what time his appointment started, argh).

Got to see the PT assistant I used to see at this clinic (of course I recommended my Bellingham PT clinic to my pained parent), which was awesome. She made *DELIGHT* face when I sketched that I'd done all the teacher-trainings for pilates instructor and am planning to apply to PT school this fall. :D

Mom's spent a lot more time around me than Dad has post All The PT: his boggle face when I helped carry a corner bookcase up from the living room to the office was pretty epic.

There's a reason I put all those hours into this. I can take the heavy end of a purpleheart bookcase up sixteen steps and a ninety-degree turn two days after kayaking and a day after baking. I can plan to attend PT school.

I have a 1600 word essay to put together by early August, on a subject of my choosing but that must relate in some way warmaking and its society's mutual interaction.

I am squinting dubiously at the length requirement. Anyone got thoughts on a nice narrow topic they'd like to see me rant-with-sources about?

Similarly (and as always this is in no way meant to imply a command performance) anyone have a shortlist of sparks or story pieces they would like to see me expand considerably? I have a list of my own, of course, but external interest is always a plus. =)

My first in a long, long time, and my first Canadian event ever.

It went well, I feel like, and for the garb's first outing it performed admirably. Some tweaks on the outer layer to do--it kept rotating to give me a gape in the back of my neck and no space at the front--but overall for an adventure in all day wear my profound compliments to my lady hostess. <3

It's interesting being in a position to say 'If my schedule allows for it, I'll go to more'.

But the old man's gone, and I'll never be attending an event in isolation.


..... Definitely want to lay hands on camp chairs before next time, though. Stupid hip. You'd think a very nice cushion would be enough, but noooo.

2004 Mark 2.0 is going considerably better than Round 1.

( Read more... )

Timing absolutely could not be finagled to work between immigration and classes-taken, but it would have been nice to say I started grad school the year I turned 32.

I started going to college when I was 15, and it was always pleasantly surprising to find a classmate anywhere near my age category. 's kinda come full circle, now; one of my human motor classmates last year (now in my mental theories course) was boggling about going back to school at 34 yesterday and gave me a hug when he found out I turn 32 today. It's nice to find age contemporaries, even knowing one doesn't have much in common with them otherwise.

Finished my fourth of four exams for the term half an hour ago. I expect to do Well in the anatomy lecture exam (I already know I did Well on the anatomy lab exam), quite well on the human motor behaviour exam, and less well on active health, because aaargh.

*cracks wrists* yaay done first full term for stakes since 2005 (although summer '08 came real close).

Technically I hit the stage of 'can no longer muster the energy to vibrate my way through obstacles whoops hello wall oof' last week, which is why no post. Well that and train-tripping a whirlwind visit to Veggie and the Beast so I could strand Veggie at work while I drove down to Seattle to see the neuro-doc for a followup. And register for next term*, because of course my time ticket for registration opened at 11am the same day I had an 11:30am doctor's appointment. In the country I don't have data or saturated wifi in.

*: One would think first year second term required HKIN classes wouldn't have a direct overlap on scheduling. One would think wrong, because now I have to take another 8:30 am class two days a week. (Tuesdays and Fridays, because this makes sense.) =|

I have the schedule I built when the course catalog was posted a couple weeks ago, which gives me a 10am start Mondays and Wednesdays, 8:30am Tuesdays and Fridays, and Thursdays off completely (wooo, I can maintain a consistent schedule with the volunteer facility).

Much to my annoyance, I'm taking a beginning psych course instead of a junior-level history course because of course the history course meets on Tuesdays from 8:30-11:20, exactly the same time as Biomechanics and Anatomy. *throws things at schedule*

Aaaargh. That looked like an awesome course ('Disasters and Catastrophes') that would give me one of my two remaining 300+ class needs. But no. No cultures in crisis for me.

Harrumph. At least I'll make progress on the grad application package anyway.

I have attended an above-my-technical-skills seminar, seen Delta Rae live (tl; dr: go if they're near you. bring ear protection), written five exams (the two immediately following the seminar felt not-awesome, lemme tell ya), started my volunteer hours for the grad application, assisted in another class' midterm exam*, given my car to my mother, been offered a sooort-of job opportunity, started househunting, taught a little pilates...

I'm going to try to post at least once a week; if you don't see anything, peer at me? I'm spending a lot of social points inperson so the 'post the things' circuit is getting interrupted.




*: Can anybody think of something I'm not Hard Mode on? I'm kind of drawing a blank. O.o;

Veggie's Halloween costume is pretty awesome. :)

And yes, I took pictures.

Zach's coming back from an SCA event tomorrow to pick me up and take me back to Canada; I've got an anatomy lecture exam on Monday.

Very . . end of era, with the car. Mom gave it to me when she moved to Hawaii, when I was living in Seattle. I'm giving it back because it's that or Officially Import It to Canada, and giving it back after that would be unnecessarily complex, and she's been interested in having it 'when I'm done with it' since moving back. So. Here, mum. Have your car back. <3?

I'm doing a month's worth of posts again. =\

Two hours and twenty-five minutes this time around, and I'm way less oh dear fuck why.

Ice chips and iron make a big difference. >.>

I mean, I knew the ice was going to help (and yes, I did hike almost the entire Grind with an ice cube tucked into my hair). The iron was a bit of a surprise.

See, at my followup appointment with the doc in Seattle, we talked about my baseline iron. I'd started supplementing a while ago, so my blood levels looked okay-ish on my initial screen, but he wanted a ferritin test to see where I actually was.

Turns out my iron store levels--which ideally should be somewhere in the 75 range--were a bit low. (33. I shudder to think what they might have looked like if I hadn't started supplementing.)

That explains a few things.

Had to go to an office supply store to get it scanned, but whatever, it's done.

Last exam on Monday, then I plan to collapse for a couple days, so as to recover for the Last Pilates Teacher Training Course next weekend.

(I'm definitely not going to pull off a Cat Walkover, but I'm going to give it my best effort. I'm definitely stronger than I was before I started doing pullup progressions whenever my brain cramped up doing stats.)

And I have to figure out a student ID card, Orientation, and the like for the classes starting the 8th of September.

Om.

In order to talk to Veggie's neurologist, I need a referral from my GP, which is reasonable.

So after my dad accidentally stepped on my foot via email this morning, I went off to my doctor's appointment. (The two were unrelated.)

Had one of those fun talks with both my GP and her assistant where I got to fill out a depression and anxiety worksheet and talk over symptoms while feeling slightly Off anyway, but was very clear on my reasons for seeking treatment above and beyond the 'oh, hey!' use of a tricyclid antidepressant as a fairly effective neuropathic pain medication: Grad School Looms.

Also got a TDaP booster because apparently there's a lot of whooping cough going around and not spreading diseases (even if I did get my last booster in '11 or '12) is awesome, and an order for bloodwork to rule out thyroid or anemia factors. Which, I agree entirely with the idea, let's do this; I got directions for the lab, then went home, because, well, I had places to be.

Dragged the spouse with me to a pilates/TRX class, who discovered there are like six women he'd never met who know of him enough to go 'Oh, hey, awesome to finally meet you!'. I think he was bemused.

Then lunch (still debating if I want to know how they demembrane commercial orange slices), bloodwork, home.

... and then to Fury Road, because the idea of sitting around all afternoon made me go nyeh but I wasn't up for seeing Tomorrowland.

(I enjoyed it the first time through; this one was better.)

I got almost no homework done today or yesterday--I've been reviewing my stats notes (yesterday) and reading about binomial probability distributions (waiting at the lab)--but I did get things done today.


... Done yesterday, because apparently it's after midnight. Whups.

After a long relatively hot walk through downtown Victoria, which I'm slowly getting better about actually navigating.

(Despite my ten years of exposure, I've almost always had access to native guides for the bits that aren't 'drive to M's place/Sarah's place from the Tswawassen ferry'. Taking the bus from Sidney to downtown Vic was . . an experience. A double-decker 'good thing I'm not taller' experience.)

I actually really enjoy watching other people play video games, especially the high-graphics ones. It does make for weird 'Chapter 5 - The Intergumentary System [aka Human Skin]' reading background noise, but hey.

Tried a cider-whisky cocktail today. Somsersby and Jameson's. Started like a cider, ended in woody-whiskey notes. I spent some time staring thoughtfully at my glass, because what.

(Though it did give Alan an excellent chance to note that he'd only ever seen me drink ciders and whiskys, which I would protest but frankly, he's not wrong. >.> I'll go for ciders before white wines, even if Somserby is getting too sweet for me these days.)

Haven't been in just over a month in part because I was sick one week (just enough to be annoyed at my own malingering state while also not really being able to focus on a printed page enough to retain information from it), and then the usual trip southerly for most of two weeks, blah, blah. Anyway.

( They've changed most of the routes and problems )