So this is the outfit I bought while in Leeds. I got it at French Connection UK (except the t-shirt which I must admit I got at H&M). The initials they use, as you can see, are FCUK. Apparently they got lots of flack for it when they first started using it in the UK. It really tortures Patrick being dyslexic and all. In fact he says it tortures in 2 ways. The obvious way is if you reverse the U and C you get a very bad word. The other way is the U and C are just rotated versions of each other. He still likes the sweatshirt though. I just think it is funny.

Patrick and I have made a new “gym” deal. The first deal, which we made last summer, was that if I never missed 2 days in a row of going to the gym he would clean the litter box. Whenever I missed a second day in a row, I had to do it. This has worked well for me, as cleaning the litter box is a chore. It isn’t hard, I just don’t like having to get up and do it. It hasn’t worked so well for the cats because now the box only gets cleaned every other day (which isn’t actually how it is suppose to work). Anyhow, the litter box thing was losing its oomph so we made a new deal. Everyday I work out, I get a full body massage. So far it is working well. I have started lifting more seriously and the massage makes my muscles happy. The massages aren’t first class everynight, but I always appreciate the effort. Maybe ladies you should try this with your men.

Now for the name of this coffee talk…In a recent issue of Science News (a science mag I highly recommend, sort of the Cliff notes for unscience people like me) there was this article about how PI is a statistically normal number. This means that on average each number, 0-9, occurs an equal number of times. This is significant apparently. Patrick and I started talking about it. First I asked what is the male scientist obsession with PI? Why are my tax dollars being spent on figuring out the 30 billion and first digit of PI. What good is it? Patrick made all sorts of excuses about how it must be a significant number if it just happens to be the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter, it helps to test computers and it is fascinating that a relation as simple as the previous ratio doesn’t repeat. But does it? How the heck do we know the 30 billion and second number isn’t a zero and the next is a one and the next is a zero, etc? And why are we spending so many tax dollars trying to figure it out? Why not use those tax dollars to fix the run down school buildings all over th US? Why not give public school teachers a raise with that money? Anyhow, we got in this big “arguement” about it. He was being nerdy and I was being reasonable, at least that is how I see it. This whole time he was rubbing my feet while I was reading him this article. And guess what? A few paragraphs after I mention the thing about it turning into zero’s and one’s, one of the scientists being consulted said they EXACT SAME THING! I felt very vindicated. Anyhow, you can see which side I fall on with research and my tax dollars. I am happy to spend my tax dollars on something that will directly benefit society, specifically the children.

Things are good at the office. I am learning lots of stuff and am really happy. I even have a logon to SAP that I use! Can you believe it? The work is really stimulating and I am starting to think IT is where I belong. Certainly I liked working on the root of the problems, the process itself, when I was in “the business” but it was unfulfilling because nothing ever seemed to change. I never felt like anything was ever completed. There was never any closure and something I could point to and say “see it’s changed for the better”. In IT it is a totally different ballgame. I actaully do things everyday. I can help the processes and force change to a certain extent. Feels good. Not bad for the resume either.

Tune in again next week when I talk about…um something else.