This week - a montage

I've noticed that I'm posting less frequently, so each post ends up being a big mega-update.

Well, this one is no different.

This week has been super exciting. Last Saturday we went to the World Beer Festival in Raleigh with some friends from work. I graciously offered to drive, so my beer consumption remained relatively low, especially in comparison to everyone else at the event. Usually when there are a bunch of drunk people I am right there with them. This was one of a few times that I can think of where I've been completely sober while surrounded by drunk people and... hm. Things just aren't as funny when you're not drunk. Its especially easy to see this when you're surrounded not just by the four drunk people you're driving around, but the 500 bazillion other drunk people at the event. Also, its much easier to pee in a port-a-potty without completely grossing yourself out when you're drunk.

On Monday night, Brian's parents arrived from England. Well, actually, they arrived from Sarasota where they had first gone to visit my parents. They rented a car and drove up here over 2 days, ostensibly to stop on the way to see things. However, they stopped in Hardyville SC, where they went somewhere for dinner but were not allowed to drink alcohol because it was Sunday. And then on Monday they stopped in Fayetteville (Fayette-nam) and went to Pizza Hut. All in all, a rousing tour of the Southeast. In the grand tradition of in-law visits, we've put them to work. They powerwashed and stained the deck (with Brian) and next are installing a ceiling fan. We haven't really done too much exciting with them yet. On Monday we took them out to dinner, but that was a bit of a fiasco. We drove 25 minutes out to Hillsborough to go to a Mexican restaurant we liked, but it was closed (assuming because of the 'day without immigrants'). Then we drove 15 minutes to Chapel Hill to go to Crook's Corner and introduce them to some good Southern food, but that was closed for a private function. We ended up at the Carolina Brewery, which is fine, but by the time we got there it was 8:30 and we were all practically self-digesting. We planned to go to a Durham Bulls game this weekend, but the games are on Sunday and Monday and each night looks like it will rain, so we may put that off until later next week.

As if this was not exciting enough, we've also been moving our lab to a new space. Lab moves SUCK. In the past three years, I've been involved in three other lab moves (Cleveland to Duke, Duke Building 1 to Duke Building 2, and Duke Building 2 to Duke Building 3) and each of those has sucked in its own way. None more than the Cleveland to Duke move though. Anyhow, the moving process is GREATLY enhanced by proper planning. Our move this week was fairly poorly planned and thus was a complete free-for-all. I guess it mostly worked out in the end, but things aren't organized as well as they should be. Ah well. On the plus side, I now have:
a) my own phone!!
b) a big lab bench all of my own!
c) a hole in the lab bench where my knees can go when I'm sitting down (I know that doesn't sound like a luxury item, but I didn't have this in the old space. You try wearing a skirt and sitting at your lab bench like that)!

I was also suppossed to have a work band performance yesterday, but I ended up opting out. Of course, I did lug my saxophone into work before it became obvious that I wasn't going to play. I don't have one of the cool small shoulder bags for my alto like I did for my old tenor, I just have the humongous case it came with. Anyhow, this was suppossed to be a smaller group - myself, the trombone guy, and the piano guy - the work 'jazz combo' if you will (but its no 'Managers of Zayres'). I asked what music we were playing and the piano guy said he had some he would bring. Okay. Yesterday morning I thought to myself, "Twenty bucks says the guy just brings a piano book and thinks I'll be able to play off of that. Maybe I should bring my flute, just in case." See, for all you non-music people out there, instruments are tuned in different keys. So one instruments "C" is not anothers. Piano, flute, trombone... these are all in 'C', but the alto sax is in 'Eb'. So their C = my Eb. Anyhow. Back in the day I probably could have done this okay and transposed things in my head. But alas, that day was a long time ago, and there was no way in hell I was going to be able to do that. Indeed, the piano guy brought over a piano book. I tried to explain to him why I couldn't play along, because my instrument is in Eb, not in C. He truly did not get it, because he kept suggesting that we play songs that were written in the key of Eb, and then I would be fine. Its not like I'm only capable of playing songs with three flats, dude. Whatever. I just went back upstairs to the hell that is lab moving.

Anyhow, I better get going because this continues this morning when they'll migrate our computers over, and that happens in half an hour which, coincidentally is the amount of time it takes me to get to work!