Perfect Timing

I used to be blessed with perfect travel karma -- where ever I would go, blue skies would follow while rain poured down or snow fell in my place of departure. Now, it seems that wherever I go, I narrowly miss major upheaval.

BF and I were on vacation in NZ and Australia for the past 2 weeks. We did not have perfect weather. 38° Celsius = FREAKING HOT or 100.4° F. What we did have was perfect timing. We were in Queenstown, NZ and about to leave for Cairns, Australia to go snorkelling at the Great Barrier Reef when we heard about the rioting in Sydney on SKY News. We arrived in Sydney 3 days after the riots ended. While in Sydney, we were again watching SKY News (the only other programming was of either rugby or cricket) and saw images of the Brooklyn Bridge swarmed with pedestrians. We flew back on Christmas Day and missed the strike by 3 days.

More on our travels to the Land Down Under and the Land of the Sheep (NZ) later...

Freaky weather

Last night, I went to S house for Christmas dinner. I arrived in the midst of children unwrapping their extensive Christmas booty. The whole experience was out of a Norman Rockwell painting. S's family had a lovely large spruce, with a model train running along the base. Four generations sat by a roaring fire, as the family just sat in the living room exhausted by the whole days activities. We did what one does on a holiday, eat too much, talk to relatives, take naps, eat some more and watch a little tv. As we sat in the living room, after dinner we chatted, I mentioned to S's sister my love of the hippie organic products. G, S's brother in law, thought it was amusing and said " you can take the girl out of California, but not the California out of the girl."

S's family is from West Hartford a leisurely, hour and a half drive from my apartment. A long drive for people on the East Coast, the commute to work in California. I enjoyed my drive down, catching up on my CD club mixes.

It has been a balmy 45F (7C) this past weekend. So on the drive down I saw something you normally not found in the inland: FOG. Snow and accumulated ice from the frigid days before were evaporating in the sudden warm weather leaving puffs of dense white fog on the roads. On the drive back, it both rainy and foggy. Cars on the interstate were crawling at 40mph. Drivers seemed confused by this odd weather. For me it was like any other winter day in San Francisco. 45 and raining, and on the highway seemed exactly right for Christmas.

Apparently G forgot to mention, "not only can you not take the California out of the girl, but California (weather) will follow her wherever she goes."

Suspicion...

Does anyone else think it is suspicious that Evil Twin #2 is not in Manhattan (not even in this country) during the transit strike?

Mandatory holiday partying

While I do enjoy the occasional holiday party, there is something weird about having to spend this time with your department/office. The holidays should be about home and loves ones, and escaping those you, barely tolerate, everyday. I have two work parties every year. One is a pleasant dinner party thrown by my advisor. He cooks up a feast of exotic Chinese foods, feeds us, liquors us up, and sends us out to enjoy the rest of the weekend.

The bigger less appealing party is the departmental holiday party. In the past, it was homey affair. The party started around lunch time. It was potluck, so there always was a wide variety of exotic (mainly east Asian) dishes, mixed in with a plethora of baked goods. The jovial department chair brought in egg nog, and spiked it with a liter of Jack Daniel's, he smuggled in the building in a french lemonade bottle.

Now, things have gone modern. Our new department chair is a political being and desired a flashier party like the other departments. So now it is catered, beer and wine is served, and there is some form of live entertainment. When I walked into the party with V, we heard the new Chair giving a speech on how happy he was to blah blah blah blah. I almost turned around, but V said not to be ridiculous.

I headed straight to the make shift bar and ordered myself a white wine. Luckily, the bartender understood the situation and filled the goblet to the top. Ah white white wine, stay close to me. (think UB40 circa 1990's)

The live entertainment was salsa dancing. Lessons were given early in the night, but when the instructors were gone so was everyone from the dance floor. H, who has Hispanic blood coursing through him, asked me to dance. Dressed in my large t-shirt, cargo pants, and orthopedic clogs, I was not really suited for a party, let alone dancing. But with enough music and liquor, all inhibitions can be overcome. I'm not sure if my head was spinning from dancing or the 3 glasses of wine I had, but it was fun. So between more glasses of wine, and awkward conversations with awkward scientists, H and I would dance.

Towards the end of the night, our department chair came up to me to chat. He said, "So ET#1, you are a woman of many talents."

"huh?"

"Yes, we did not realize that you could dance and do science."

So 'til next year, in which I am sure to make an ass of myself in some new and disturbing way.

Happy holidays!