my continuing effort to keep in touch with my (non-local) friends

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 03:26:14 GMT

I spilled paint on my carpet.
A lot of it.
I was cleaning up some trash, and kicked over a can of paint, whose lid was not that tight. The lid came off, and I have a lot of paint on my carpet. The odds of a wetvac solving my problem is rather low.
So I say, fine, I'll get new carpet. Its lousy carpet anyways. Or maybe a laminate hardwood. I caused the problem, so I'll fix it. Carpet is cheap, right?
Except apparently installation isn't. And you need to get a mat under the carpet, which is just as much as the carpet itself. So the project kind of tripled in price. I could try and do it myself, but as the room isn't just a simple square (read: have to cut things cleanly), I don't think that that is the best option.
Home Depot wants $139 to install carpet. Lowe's, same amount. I guess the next step is to visit the mom & pop stores and see what they can offer.

food drive

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 21:47:18 GMT

Once again, my college is doing its annual Thanksgiving food drive, and once again, the same question comes into my head. What is the point of a food drive? Wouldn't it be better for the food bank to receive cash donations, rather than a mix of assorted cans? With cash, they could order what they need, and they could buy it in bulk at a lower cost. If 100 people separately buy a can of, lets say, snake lips, at $1 each, in theory the food bank could get 100 cans in bulk at 95 cents each, and have left over funds with which to buy some eye of newt.
Granted, people are more likely to grab an extra can of something from home and donate it than they are to take the time to donate cash, but that's besides the point. Stupid people.

sick

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 18:02:40 GMT

I'm sick.
Tired, headache. Don't think I have a fever, but I'll check when I get home and can find my thermometer (ah, the fun of moving. I'm sure I packed it in one of these boxes...)

But I signed up for the swine flu shot tomorrow. Its rather hard to find, so I feel fortunate to get it, especially as I'm fairly sure my sister had swine flu last May. And here's the thing with the vaccine. To combat the standard problem of college students signing up for things and not showing up, we were informed that once we were charged the $15 for the shot (which happened automatically when we signed up), we would always be charged, even if we didn't show up. My budget is in pretty sorry shape now, so I really really don't want to waste the $15. Plus I have to drive down to LI for a wedding this weekend, so in theory I need to be well enough to drive, not sick + swine flu shot reactions.
Yesterday I left work early to try and nap, but that failed. Perhaps nyquill will be of some use.

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 17:20:39 GMT

In my new place, I now have natural gas heating and a natural gas stovetop (and a natural gas dryer, which I didn't know existed). Which means that it is now significantly easier for me to accidentally cause my house to explode. Hurrah.

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 16:51:51 GMT

Among the next parts of my move, getting internet. My first try, I found the time warner albany site, they want $50 per month regular internet, $20 per month ultra-slow. Fine, I'll get the slow one. First available install, 10/23... wow. That's a long time. Fine. Then I find out, $39 install fee. I called up to cancel, hoping that in order to keep me, they'd drop the fee. Nope. Oh well.

Well, I did more searching, and found on another place on their site, $34.95 a month regular internet for the first 12 months, $29 install fee. That's much better. And to top things off, the install will be this coming Thursday. Wow. Awesome on all accounts.

Now I just have to call up the power company to make sure that they don't cut off my electricity. Internet isn't much use without electricity.

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 12:37:01 GMT

got home last night, and as usual checked the traps.
electronic one, empty. snap one... moved. i find it, and its empty. the little bugger ate the bait and physically moved the trap without setting it off. at least it was bait mixed with mouse poison, though.
sigh.
just have to keep saying to myself, i'm moving in two weeks, i'm moving in two weeks, i'm moving in two weeks.... (a few miles down the road, not a major change, but i asked and they only had one mouse like 5 years ago, and with all the younguns running about, tis not a spic and span place)

Thu, 10 Sep 2009 03:35:52 GMT

Tonight I concluded my five month treatment of accutane. I should have been finished earlier, but over the course of five months, you're bound to forget a pill here and there.

My face is quite clear now and my back is mostly clear. Not that things have been consistently bad since high school, its just been periodic annoying flare-ups for the past six years or so, typically centered around a family event (so my grandmother could ask me why I still had acne at my age). But I haven't had a flare up for the past few months, and soon I'll see how the next few months go.

Hopefully in a few days, my eyes and lips will start getting back to normal. This medicine really dries you out. My eyes are rather dry and to say my lips have been cracked is a severe understatement. But soon the stuff will begin to filter out of my system.

In one month, I can donate blood again. Of course the summer when Friendly's gives a free pint of ice cream for each pint that you donate is the one when I cannot donate at all. I think I want to try and donate five times in 2010. Six is the most you can donate, so I should be able to do five. I haven't donated blood since mid-March, and not being able to donate has been one of the hardest parts about being on the accutane... but its done!

Callooh, callay, oh frabjous day.
I'm chortling in my joy.

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 11:46:26 GMT

This past Sunday I headed up to Saratoga Springs.
It was the first time I had real water from a spring. It was... interesting. When they take water from a spring, it must get really really filtered before going to a tap or getting bottled, because it tasted really really different than any water that I've had before.
Up in Saratoga, it was a really really nice area, lots of good ol' familiar red brick, and it looked really historical. So I looked around. And it turned out, that this wasn't some estate built back in the 1700s or something... it was essentially a tourist trap built back in the 1800s to bring tourists to the spring! Lame.

---------

On Monday, I stopped in for my periodic allergy shot. As I walked in, a man wearing a suit and carrying a large bag walked out. I tried not to scowl. After I was given my shot, I was talking to the nurse and said, I know without the drug reps, we wouldn't get the free samples (I got an inhaler and a nasal spray) but that I still hated them. The nurse pauses, looks at me. "Two of my kids are in pharmaceuticals."
Luckily I said this after she had stabbed me in the arm with a needle.
I tried to save face "Certainly its the corporate heads who are the problem, not the salesmen. The salesmen aren't the ones who lobby against making generic medicines available and who make medicines that cost so much that some people can't keep their homes." Of course, I'd argue that that is just like saying, It's not the hitmen that are to blame, just the mafia heads. Then there's this article, which was both enlightening and enraging. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/25/magazine/25memoir-t.html

Paintball

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 23:06:21 GMT

Yesterday I did something social, with people. That doesn't happen much. The nanotech gso group got a bunch of people together for paintball. First off, I'd never gone paintballing before, and it sounded fun. Second off, it was an event that they didn't plan for a Saturday, so I figured I'd give it a shot.
Highlights include....
- I am not good at paintball
- I think I actually shot two people successfully in four hours of play
- I was shot in the head within 5 seconds of the first match starting
- I got about 9 welts (I counted right before I took a shower)
- I got my first bug bite in at least two or three years
- My legs are really hurting right now. Its not the fact that I got shot repeatedly, its the fact that I'm not in shape and I was running around for almost four hours. I'm doing some squats, it seems to be helping, but otherwise, I do find it somewhat difficult to go up and down stairs.
I'm not going to go again any time soon, especially considering that I spent over $30 for one day's activity plus gas and tolls. But come fall, when it's chilly enough to wear a sweatshirt to cushion the blows, and I won't (in theory) get as drenched in sweat, I'd definitely be up for another shot.

Your library membership will expire soon

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 00:58:51 GMT

Tuesday, June 23, 2009 6:10 AM

From:"librarynotices@pgcmls.info" <librarynotices@pgcmls.info>

To:acepler@yahoo.com

From:
Hyattsville Branch
6530 Adelphi Road
HYATTSVILLE, MD 20782
301-985-4690

To:
ARON J CEPLER
6903 PREINKERT DR
#5113B
COLLEGE PARK, MD 20740

Your library membership will expire in 10 day(s). You can renew your membership by calling the library during business hours.

Home Address: 6903 PREINKERT DR
#5113B
COLLEGE PARK, MD 20740
Phone Number: 1 301 226-8044
E-mail Address: acepler@yahoo.com

---------
Wow. It's been a long time since most of that information was accurate.

Sun, 21 Jun 2009 02:09:17 GMT

So I'm sitting at the dinner table on Friday night, and my host shows me an article that he printed out, which he thought was highly amusing.
I read the caption under the picture, and see how both the bride and groom had swine flu, and wore masks during the wedding.
Then I read the story. More specifically, I read the names of the bride and groom.

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 22:50:13 GMT

I slept late this morning. My alarm is set for 7:20am, and I woke up at 8:40am. Oops. So I got dressed, ate breakfast and left. Normally I turn on my computer, check my email, and get distracted for an hour or so. This morning, I just didn't turn on the computer. And I got to work a little late, but not that late. Hmmm. Its almost as if I don't turn on my computer in the am, I'm so much more productive. I wonder if I'll make that a habit...

Hello, and welcome to moviefone!

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 00:02:53 GMT

If you know the name of the film you'd like to see, press one....

I had been doing about one random post per week, and then I stopped for a bit. Hmmm. It's almost as if I was doing stuff.

So I was in the city on Sunday. I drove into Manhattan, which I never ever do, except I suppose if I happen to be coming to the city from my parental's house and heading straight into Albany from the city. I took the LIE to the 59th St Bridge, which was fun. Mainly because the 59th St Bridge has no tolls (suck it, Bloomberg!) and because when you drive into the city (as opposed to the LIRR), you get to see the skyline. And oh man, I've missed seeing that skyline. It's so purty.

On the way out (I had parked in a garage around Times Square), I thoroughly enjoyed my time in bumper-to-bumper city traffic, only blocking the intersection noce or twice. Eventually I made my way over to the West Side Highway, and was kind of surprised to see, right out of nowhere, A BIG GIGANTIC AIRCRAFT CARRIER! Granted, I do know of the existence of the USS Intrepid, but its the kind of thing that can really surprise you when you see it without expecting it.

I love the city.

Oh, and I got fired from my research group, and I'm looking at the alternative energy groups, probably solar cell research or work on lithium-ion batteries, but right now, nobody has funding, so I'm sitting on my ass reading papers most of the day. But I'm still funded so its ok, but a tad boring.

Hmm... is that all that's happened to me since I last posted? I think there's something else, I just can't place it.
hehehe.

Sun, 05 Apr 2009 21:24:01 GMT

Last Monday evening, I got a call. One of my friends found a mouse, still alive, on a glue trap. What should he do?
It's interesting how my personal experience with mice has led to people calling me and asking for advice on the subject. Not quite something that I expected was going to happen.
Last night, I was watching Prince of Egypt with the bro and sis-in-law down at their place, and a mouse walks out of the kitchen, sees us, and scurries away. My reaction (and that of my brothers) was akin to "Holy crap a mouse!" The sis-in-law (who didn't see it) says, "Hmm. A mouse. Ok." I say, ok, let's get all the crumbs swept up in the kitchen, and go straight to CVS to get some mouse traps... Of course, they happen to be in a place with a 24 hr on call maintenance man, so they only had to sweep. Maintenance man would take care of putting down (and eventually emptying) the traps.

I'm now in week two of twenty on accutane. My skin is very dry, as are my eyes. And my lips are chapped as hell. I may call the dr and ask if there is Rx-strength chapstick, because this is really annoying and occasionally painful. So far, not much sign of the depression-type side effects, although I'm still keeping my eyes open.

Fri, 27 Mar 2009 02:00:06 GMT

Remember a few months back when if you tried to get directions from a US city to London, it would give you the step "Swim across the Atlantic Ocean."? (grammatically, i have never figured out how to work in the question mark after the quote if the quote isn't a question. grr.) Eventually, they took it out. However, someone did throw in an almost suitable replacement.
maps.google.com/maps
See step 24.
-----
I've elected for the nuclear option regarding the acne. As soon as the CVS can find some (apparently the generic is way out of stock...?), I'm going on accutane for 20 weeks. It really came down to the fact that I'd rather take the risk of some psychological effects than have to be on an antibiotic indefinitely (especially when you keep hearing about all these drug-resistant bacterium). Here goes....
----
I got pretty annoyed today with one of my facebook friends. She posted a story about ADL furious over 'anti-Semitic' 'NY Times' cartoon.
I guess I should be more upset with the jpost for the misleading headline. Sure, blame the NYTimes. They hate jews. blah blah blah.
First off, Pat Oliphant is a syndicated cartoonist, he doesn't work for the Times. Second off, the Times doesn't run political cartoons (excepting Sunday, when they pick 3 or 4 from around the country from the previous week). So I'm upset at the misleading headline, and more upset at my friend for believing it. Try reading the article. Try doing some research... And, while I'm less than thrilled about the cartoon itself, 30 seconds of research will tell you that this guy appears to be an equal opportunity offender, as opposed to an anti-Israel bigot.

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 02:32:18 GMT

So my grand idea. For Purim, dress up as Dr. Horrible. First off, this is because Dr. Horrible is awesome. Second, as I have yet to meet anyone up here who's heard of Dr. Horrible, I figured that either I'd see people recognize me, so I'd go over and meet such awesome people, or, people would say to me, Who are you? and I'd respond and tell them about an awesome musical comedy about a supervillain, and convince them to come watch it with me at some point.

Problem 1: I found one guy selling a decent Dr. Horrible costume. Cost? $125. Thanks but no.
Solution 1: Kind of similar costume, would require alterations. But I can do a little bit of sewing, and what the heck, I can splurge $30.

Problem 2: They are out of size adult small.
Solution 2: Fine, I'll get a medium. It can't be that much bigger.

Problem 3: After waiting for it to show up, I get a call from my mom, saying that a box arrived for me. On Long Island. Oops. Not entirely sure how that happened.
Solution 3: Sunday was my little cousin's 6th birthday (who I held when she was 8 days old so its really weird that she's already 6), and my parents could bring me the costume. On a side note, the scenic route from Albany to CT (take I90 east to US20 east to MA8 south to CT8 south) is very scenic. Lots of bubbling brooks and the like.

Problem 4: Umm. Actually, a medium is way too big. A mad scientist lab coat actually looked more like some druid robe when I put it on.
Solution 4: I can sew. I can work with this. I think.

Problem 5: After 6 hours round trip solo driving, not to mention daylight savings jetlag, I was not in much of a sewing condition. It took at least 5 minutes to thread the needle the first time. So I couldn't really tighten up the too big-ness, and I was way too tired to replace 17 black buttons with white buttons (which I had bought last week).
Solution 5: Last year's costume. Me in a Batman mask.

Problem 6: I don't wear contacts anymore. Batman cannot wear glasses.
So I just walked around the (student megillah reading room) mostly blind. And I'm telling you, it's friggin hot under a heavy rubber Batman mask.

So things didn't work out at all, but no regrets. At least I gave it a shot. Now all I have to do is figure out what to do with a never used mad scientist costume (likely will drop it off at the goodwill store), 20 white buttons, and my now-painted-completely-white snow boots (other part of the outfit I made last week). Not to mention two exams on Thurs and a problem set on Friday.

gyped

Tue, 03 Mar 2009 02:53:19 GMT

My mom called me at 8:30am... likely assuming that I was going to pick up the phone. Alas, I was in class at the time (lucky for me my cell is always on vibrate). So anyways, I call her back. They've got 10 inches! How much do I have. Maybe ... half? I reply. Half a foot? Nope. Half an inch.

It isn't fair that LI gets more snow than me.
Granted, I'd probably have to go into class and the lab anyways. And the roads were no't bad at all. And it only took 2 minutes to clear off my car. But still...!

Fri, 06 Feb 2009 00:09:35 GMT

Take a careful look at the dimensions of this soda can.
This is what happens when you leave a can of soda in the car overnight when the temperature gets below 5 degrees outside.

coming out of retirement

Wed, 28 Jan 2009 03:40:13 GMT

Some background
-I was pretty serious with my trumpet from 4th grade through the end of high school.
-My brother has been somewhat serious with his trombone from 4th grade through now.
-Jamie is currently at the same school I am. This is true until May, when he'll further abandon me and head south to the swamp that is the Chesapeake.

So Jamie's been in the jazz band and he convinced me to join this semester. I haven't played since the end of fresh year of undergrad, but sure, why not. It's my last chance to play with him, as we did from 4th to 12th grades.

I've spent the last two weeks getting back in playing shape. My range is where it needs to be, but not so for the endurance (for you non-brass players out there, it actually takes effort to hit high notes. not just playing a different string or pressing the "octave key."). Monday night was the hearsal (with rehearsals every subsequent Monday evening). It was... horrific. The trumpet section (all 6 of us, which is a lot for jazz) wasn't staying together. I was pressing the valves and no notes were coming out (hooray for nerves). Well, this was the first week. Things will get better.

During the session, 1/3 of my section was texting. One saxophonist answered his cell phone and walked out.

Another problem is that we can't practice the music yet. Professor isn't making copies/handing them out until next week. I asked after the hearsal was finished if I could pick up the copies earlier, so I could practice the music and actually make progress prior to the next week. My request was declined.

So the students don't care and the professor doesn't care. This is going to be fun.

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 00:14:42 GMT

Today was the first day of classes. For some reason, I have a M/W/F 8am class. I normally get to the lab at 9am, so I've been practicing getting up an hour early and arriving at the campus an hour early. So today's the big day, and instead of waking up at 6:30am, I wake up at 8:10am. Oops. Well, I got the notes already, and I'm sure it will be fine.

I also had my long awaited dermatologist appointment, which I had to schedule three months ahead of time because this was the soonest available appointment back when I called up in October. It was weird going in and seeing all the signs to "Ask about Botox!" Because a little bit of wrinkles obviously destroy one's natural beauty, clearly, and this must be defeated by injection of botulism toxin! But I stayed on good behavior (ie not lambasting the doctor and office staff about the stupidity of advertising and providing the service of injecting healthy people with botulism toxin), as hard as that was.... I'm going on an antibiotic and some new topicals for my acne, and in two months we reevaluate. Hopefully these meds will eliminate the red and splotchy friends who currently populate my back, and appear to be taking a brief vacation from my face. But in two months, we will discuss... accutane. Pro's of accutane: It will destroy the acne and I will never have another zit again (which after being on Rx's for the past ten years, I wouldn't mind doing). Con's of accutane: It can cause depression and people kill themselves on it. Have I mentioned that I'm not the happiest person on the block and I live by myself? Well, here's two months to figure that out.

Wed, 14 Jan 2009 03:22:31 GMT

I finally gave in this week and bought a second space heater. The problem with having one room is that my one space heater just isn't powerful enough to heat the room. Combine that with the fact that I have zero control over the heat, the house has lousy insulation, and I've gotten pretty tired of sitting in a 62degrees basement, it was time for another heater. Utilities are included in my rent, so it's not my problem to have an extra 1500 watts of consumption going for hours on end.

This time, I made sure to get one without an electric control, one with dials. Because when you combine that with a timer, I more or less have a programmable thermostat. It's nice to have a little bit of warmth when I wake up.

it's good to be in dc

Fri, 02 Jan 2009 04:14:13 GMT

A few things of note from my trip...
-I went to 34th and 8th to catch the MegaBus. Not seeing any MegaBus signs, I asked a cop, who confirmed that I was where I was supposed to be. As the departure time got closer, I called my dad, who checked the website and said that the bus was actually at 31st, between 7th and 8th. Oops. Well, that's why you get to places ahead of time. Got on the bus and all was well.
-When I got to DC, not having anyone on my schedule for 3 hours, I walked over to the mall. Before hitting the Smithsonians, I just sat outside on a bench for 20 minutes. The weather was absolutely beautiful.

Things I learned in history class...
-We used to have trolleys/streetcars in most major cities. Car companies bought the trolley companies and shut them down, so more people would buy cars. They were taken to court over this, found guilty of destroying the mass transit networks of many cities, and fined $1. End of case.
Things I saw in exhibit at American History Museum exhibit sponsored by General Motors...
-GM, Firestone Tire, (3 other companies) bought shares in trolley companies and influenced them to cease operations.

I know funding for museums is hard, and that private investment is needed. But.... oh well. There are worse things in history that have been sugarcoated.

Back to Albany on Sunday.
Sigh.
-Pros of taking bus: $10.50 round trip
-Cons of taking bus: Lugging around heavy backpack for 3 days. Can't take extra stuff and leave it in the car.

Tue, 23 Dec 2008 20:56:28 GMT

Grades were posted today. In my three classes, I got an A, A- and a B. The B I was somewhat disappointed with, but I can live with it. It's grad school, gpa barely matters. But the story I actually wanted to talk about... I saw the professor who gave me the A in the hallway. He stops and says to me, "Aron, thanks for working hard."

I've never had a professor say that to me before. Well, maybe that's not entirely true. Other professors that I've had have complimented the entire class on good work, or on well done presentations. But being stopped in the hallway and hearing this... well, that was completely unexpected and nice to hear.

So I'm in the lab, running simulation after simulation, trying to get the computer to give us the expected result. I've been doing this since the beginning of November, with some progress, but nothing to write home about. Today, I decided to try and change something that I haven't thought to change in a while. You always make improvements, but if the idea hasn't accomplished anything, you find another idea. But today I went back to that original idea, and... voila! I was shocked. I showed my advisor. He was shocked. He was also shocked that the specific change I made actually did something. But it worked, and he told me that this is definitely publishable material. Granted, the work needs to be cleaned up and improved, but we just got the proof-of-concept down, and that was the hard part.

All in all, not a bad day.

SNOW!!!

Wed, 17 Dec 2008 13:00:18 GMT

not much, maybe an inch or four.
but still
SNOW!!!

Tue, 16 Dec 2008 23:35:57 GMT

Last night, around 10pm, I checked my traps. Of my three traps, two had clearly been disturbed. Still no mouse. Sigh. Put on gloves and re-bait them.
This morning, same thing. Starting to get aggravating.
Went into work, started some simulations on the computer (which take minimum half hour) and then drove to Lowe's. I got two glue traps and a fancy electric one. ("4AA batteries will kill approximately 50 mice") I got back to my apartment, went into the house, got downstairs (where there is kind of a mini lobby outside my actual door) and heard noises. Specifically, it sounded like plastic banging about. Not being in the mood to say hello to my uninvited guest, I set down the glue traps in the "lobby" and left. I figured that hopefully the mouse would finish stealing from my traps and find its way to the glue.
This evening, roughly 8 hours later.
I get home, the glue traps undisturbed. I open up my door, two traps clearly disturbed, third not there. Except I still heard noises.
Turns out that the mouse has dragged the trap roughly 20 feet (god bless the genius who made floor tiles exactly 1 foot by 1 foot, really simplifies measuring things) and... got stuck under the fridge.
So mr. mouse got caught, but not killed. Dragged the trap 20 feet and is currently stuck under my fridge (not far under, maybe 3 inches). Still alive eight hours later. Still making noise. I figure I'll just have to wait him out. But I only have one room, it's not like I can go upstairs. And I really don't want to go back to campus to the kosher dining hall and shell out $10 to eat by myself. But I also don't want to go near my fridge right now.
Perhaps will update later.
In the meantime, I'm using loud music to drown out the pain and suffering of a fellow living creature. Boy this is fun. Still not entirely sure how to proceed.