Grace and Ben

1) I don’t like it when the stitching on my umbrella rips. It makes me sad to buy a $15 umbrella at the Rite Aid and have it start falling apart within 3 months. Wish someone made sturdier umbrellas. I bought a $20 Totes umbrella from Macy’s in Chicago and that one also broke after just a few months of use.

2) I had a lovely dinner. Cooked kale (prewashed, came in a bag) with some sauteed onions and garlic. Added some balsamic vinegar at the end. Also ate 1 raw green pepper and 1 raw tomato (free from DoGEE). My dessert was a peach and some french vanilla flavored Stonyfield Farm yogurt.

3) I’m seriously considering getting up at 7 am tomorrow morning to go to the Waverly Farmer’s market. I don’t really have any produce that I need but I love fall fruit and would like to get some potatoes to make more curry. I also have to go to work tomorrow (and the selection isn’t so good after 9am) so I want to get to the market early.

I read this in the UIUC safety manual:

Perchloric acid: If perchloric acid is heated above ambient temperature it may
evaporate and condense on ductwork in the form of explosive perchlorates. Hence,
when heating perchloric acid above ambient temperature, a perchloric acid fume
hood with a water wash down system or a local scrubbing or trapping system must
be used.

Another useful chart of how resistant various types of gloves are towards different chemicals is listed here (glove_info). Not comprehensive, but interesting.

This is a photo of Grandma Arlene, her four daughters and their families.

(Click on the photos for full size image)

These are Arlene and her brother Don’s children.

Here are Arlene and Don’s grandchildren.

Went to Walters Art Museum today. It’s in a nice neighborhood (south of Penn Station) which felt very safe mid-morning on a Sunday. Their collection was kind of eclectic. Not a traditional art museum (with lots of impressionist and modern paintings) but mostly sculpture and weird ancient artifacts and a nice exhibit of local artist Herman Maril, which I liked. My favorite was “Languid Cat.”

1. Going to the grocery store on a Sunday night. It’s always very busy and there’s not much fresh produce left.

2. Eating at restaurants on Friday or Saturday nights. Also very busy and usually the service and food aren’t as good. Tuesday nights are the best!

3. Seeing 80% of drivers talking on their cell phone (no headsets or bluetooth earpieces) while they drive. ARGH! I especially notice it when I’m walking and I try to be extra cautious crossing the street because I know they are distracted and sometimes don’t see me.

4. Two year contracts on cell phone plans. I’d rather pay a few hundred dollars extra for a phone up front and not feel stuck with any carrier. I hate being at a point at 1.5 years and wanting to switch but being unable to. Often, the batteries on cell phones don’t last two years (especially if you drop, abuse them like I do).

5. Driving to/from BWI during rush hour. I’d rather take an early morning flight or late night flight to avoid driving through downtown Baltimore around 9-10 am.

6. Ink jet printers. I hate how the ink costs more than the printer. But, alas, I like to print in color–especially cards and photos, so I can’t complain. Just gotta find a place that will fill ink cartridges instead of buying new ones every time.

7. The parking lot at the Trader Joe’s in Towson. There’s a secret entrance and it’s not obvious how to get there. The store is also hidden. You can’t actually find it unless you are a local or something. Hmpf!

8. Baltimore city income tax. What’s up with that?! I guess I shouldn’t complain because sales tax is only 6% here and they don’t tax groceries (like they do in Chicago).

9. Off! bug repellent. Why does it have to be so sticky? I put it on after I take a shower in the evenings–clean and dry–so I won’t get bit to death by mosquitoes, but then I feel dirty again cuz the stuff is so greasy (but effective)!

10. Ikea’s locations. I was thinking about this the other day. Ikea stores are always in the middle of nowhere. That way, we have to drive several hours to get there and we will be less inclined to take anything back because it’s super-inconvenient to make any returns. That’s my theory.

My brother brought my volvo to Baltimore so I can have a car. He’s moving to California to finish his last two years of law school as a transfer at UCLA. We had a nice day. We went running (he ran, I walked) through the woods near my apartment this morning. Then, I made pancakes and bacon for breakfast. He went to school with me at Johns Hopkins and did work in my office while I did lab work. We had lunch at Niwana, a Korean restaurant across from my school. I had a dolsot bibimbap (in a stone bowl) which was very tasty. However, the service sucked. They even charged us for the wrong table. Inexperienced waiter.

When we got home from work, we found the street behind my house (where the volvo was parked) flooded with about 6 inches of water. A water main had broken (due to construction further down the street, perhaps?) and they turned off the water in my apartment building until at least 11 pm tonight. Since we couldn’t use the restrooms or even wash our hands, I suggested we go out for dinner. I wanted to show my brother downtown Baltimore.

We drove to the Inner Harbor and ate at McCormick and Schmick’s. I had been to this restaurant in Boston. I didn’t expect anything special because it was in a touristy part of the city, but I liked the location (right on the water) and the fact that the area was safe. We found some street parking ($1/hour instead of $5/hour in the lots) and enjoyed a nice meal (nice service and good ambience). I had blackened catfish (from North Carolina?) with a cajun sauce underneath. The sauce was good, but the catfish too salty. My bro had a top sirloin steak. He enjoyed some nice food after eating fast food during last school last year. We shared a crab cake, which came with some creamy cole slaw. I liked the cole slaw more than the crab cake. It couldn’t compare with the awesome Faidley’s crab cake (at Lexington Market) but the crab was high quality–it just wasn’t fried enough for me.

After dinner, we walked back to the car and then we were going to get gelato. I wanted to stop at a cute shop along the street. When I went to pay for an item, I realized I had left my credit card at McCormick and Schmick’s (typical me). I suspect that the waitress forgot to return my credit card. Otherwise, I was just stupid and left it on the table. Either way, I got it back and then my bro and I walked 1/2 mile to Fells Point for Gelato at Pitango. It was well worth the walk. I had pistachio gelato–which I had been craving! The walk back from Fells Point along the river was nice and scenic. Makes me want to live near the harbor during my 2nd year of postdoc–especially when Ben moves out here. It will be nice to wake up and see the water/boats out the window.

Yesterday, I went to open the restroom door (I leave it closed sometimes because the toilet makes a lot of noise after flushing) and found that when I turned the knob, it just kept turning and turning. I couldn’t get it to catch in order to release the piece that sticks inside the door frame. I was really frustrated and really really had to use the restroom. As I continued to turn the knob, I found that I could actually just unscrew it by turning. The knob came off, but the door was still shut. I used a screw driver to try to wedge the door open. I banged on the door. I even considered crawling through the bathroom window (I live on the 4th floor) from outside by jumping between my balcony and the bathroom. Finally, I gave up and knocked on my neighbors’ door for help. The neighbors next door weren’t home. An elderly couple live across the hall and down a few doors. The wife answered and I told her my situation. I was panicking and very upset. She said her husband had just jumped in the shower but she would send him over when he got out. After 10 minutes while I continued to pound on the bathroom door and contemplated breaking it down by brute force, the neighbor (Tom) came over and looked at my bathroom door. He put a flat headed screw driver inside and turned it such that the wide flat part pushed against the square hole inside the door knob hole. Voila. The door opened. OH MY GOD! I felt so relieved. Tom asked if I wanted to close the door and try it again. I said. No way, I’m leaving the door open from now on. AUGHH!!!! He left and I finally got to use my restroom.