quelf

I keep forgetting to turn in my registration form for absentee voting. I think I'm also addicted to the ethanol fumes whenever I clean up in lab. Drunk off alcohol vapors. Even my tolerance has hit a terrible recession.

Didn't notice how out of touch I was with the world until I saw ads for the opening of the new California Academy of Sciences (which happened LAST month) and a poster for the 5th Saw movie. Whatever happened to Saw IV??

I also forgot that there was air conditioning on the Muni lines! Today I had to go to the Cancer Center north of Castro at Divisadero, so I boarded the M line since it was right next to campus. What a relief.

Well, first I took the line to Castro, then transferred onto the 24. Built, buff gay men, taking care of their bodies moreso than their heterosexual counterparts. Surprise surprise. Anyway, I was on the 24 line and finally headed up to Sutter, where UCSF's Mt. Zion campus was located. Since I was there half an hour early before the scheduled consultation, I decided to try out this sandwich shop right next to the medical center. Chicken pesto with melted swiss on ciabatta bread. All the medical workers were coming in and out of this place- NEVER trust medical employees when it comes to food. They're just looking for a quick bite. Still, it was overpriced, but the sandwich actually tasted better after leaving it in my backpack until after the meeting was finished.

I got lost again, so I was 10 minutes late to the meeting, keeping the biostatistician and my PI waiting. Ughhhhh. Well first off, I looked at a map, and based off that map, I should have gone right to reach the appropriate building. Went over, found nothing. OH, but I did find this homeless guy pushing a cart around looking inside a trashcan. I was eating my sandwich while walking past him when he asked, "Can I have a bite?" You know me, my usual response was that I chuckled at him. Then he responded,"Why are you laughing? I'm serious." I kept on walking, having 10 minutes until the meeting. I walk into one building and decide to go up to the second floor. There I was running around trying to find room N224, but there were only 4 letters preceding room numbers in the entire building: A, B, R, or Z. Who came up with that crazy scheme?! Saw a breast clinic, radiology department, oncology floor, and finally asked a woman on the second floor where that room might have been. She didn't know, so I went back downstairs and asked security at the main entrance. They didn't know. Finally my PI called, and he told me I was in the wrong building. UGH!!!!

So I was walking up and down Sutter again, trying to find 2340. All of them had maps places on TWO side of the buildings, which pointed me eastward when facing the map, and all of the other buildings had their street numbers aligned above eye level. Where did this building have their numbers located? Right next to the ground where the wall meets the sidewalk! Also, there was NO sign whatsoever to the front of the building indicating "Comprehensive Cancer Center." There were just glass windows covering the front face of the building, squeezed between two others WITH NAMES on them!

After the meeting, my PI offered to give me a car ride. Inside my head I was squirming but just recommended that he drop me off at Park Presidio, since I could just get back to campus that way without having him drive too far from his workplace. Car conversation, not too awkward this time, although his wife's car seats were funny in that they were covered with this furry type of material. It was a used car they purchased from someone else in LA. We talked about Halloween, Texas, medicine.



My bus ride back to campus. Ideal, in that there were few people on the bus.

I also had about an hour before a seminar on molecular motors/kinesin started, so I walked into Borders, did my usual comic book reading, in the children's section because all the chairs were filled. I ended up sitting on these tiny seats with enough space for 8x8 square inches of ass. Walked past the board games too. Catan sounded familiar, but there were puzzles and new games that I wanted to try. And THEN I overheard this conversation between two 8 to 10-year-old girls: "Oh my god, Barack Obama! McCain paper dolls, awesome!"

There were books, about the presidential hopefuls, written for children. Even if they can't vote, does anybody else see anything wrong with that? I actually read both books on McCain and Obama. McCain's talked about the Vietnam War, divorcing his wife, etc. Barack's talked about his fathers, grandparents, Hawaii, Michelle, civil rights, law school. The paper dolls... you could dress up John McCain in a business suit, a cowboy getup, whatever your heart desires on a septuagenarian. Apparently kids like doing that, otherwise why would book companies be targeting that demographic?