you've got to be joking.

First of all, I believe I may be much less patient than I thought. I can wait, what, fifty nine weeks? for a important but rigmarole-requiring piece of paper, but I can't handle the time it takes to load this when I search for a protein--and PS, what do proteins have to do with thermodynamics, anyway? My homework is damn frustrating right now, and while that's really okay, it's also slightly bothersome since I can do everything correctly except save what I've done. It's making me crazy.

I am also having trouble waiting for my cranberry salsa to cool. It goes with tomorrow's dinner. I'm enjoying cooking winter foods (I made cashew chicken and fried rice tonight--thanks again Sterling for asking if I can make fried rice and making me want to have a good recipe for it). Did you know that fresh cranberries pop when you cook them? Well, they do. Just FYI.

And in addition to being impatient, I'm also amazed that I seem to be a magnet for this. I guess it hasn't quite reached that point, but it's certainly on the verge. Today, a guy a work who's 30ish and another ChE made me very uncomfy. Our past exchanges have all been perfunctory politeness or work related or at the one time I went out to lunch with him and one other person. I once asked him why he's always walking so fast (damn near sprinting right through my work area) and I asked him if this tool I had just used was called channel locks (which, indeed, it was--though he very much made fun of me for not knowing afterwards, and would tell me that I was using teflon tape or a wrench or pliers when he walked by for the rest of the day). The other day I heard someone say something about how this guy had dressed up for work, and when I saw him pass by I said, "so, you're dressed up." He said, "no I'm just not wearing jeans." But then five minutes later when he walked by my office again he stopped in my doorway and said "since it will be a long time before I wear this again--ta-da!" That was the beginning of the weirdness. But still, nothing that couldn't be explained away easily.

Today was different. So, I'm working on a tube in the lab, wearing my goggles, long sleeves and gloves, and he's walking behind me and rubbing his hands together like people do when they're cold. I say, "Ya cold?" He says nothing, turns around, walks towards me, moves my hair away from the back of my neck and puts the top of his hand on my neck. He says, "my hands are always cold, see." It was weird. If it had been the top of my hand, or my arm below my elbow, that would have been one thing. But my neck? Necks are no-no's at work. Arms below the elbow are kind of okay--necks aren't okay to touch unless you're, I don't know, plugging an artery or if that's the only place you can grab someone who's falling off a ladder or something--that's it. Anyway, I'm going to try to mention Otto in conversation a lot, and if he does anything else I'm going to have to call him on it. But seriously, this isn't looking good for men in the workplace. I was totally harassed by boss #1 of 3 at my old job (he got handsy and was a control freak/micro-manager to boot) and now and real job #2 someone else is making me uncomfy. Am I sending weird signals? Should I stop being nice to people? Sterling suggested that maybe I should stop brushing my teeth--and I think eating a huge amount of garlic might do the trick. But really, this is annoying. I'm not even wearing cute clothes here--I wear jeans and shirts. Not even cute shirts. Just modest ones and sometimes a sweat shirt or a fleece. So it's not my clothes, it's not that I'm a huge flirt. I mean, I'm a flirt, sure, but not at work. That's a big no-no, unless you're absolutely sure both parties are okay with it.

sigh.

also, anybody know a Raleigh-Durham area pet sitter? I want to be gone for 3 of the days this long weekend, but Gobi and Hazel need to eat, and I don't want to risk them eating all their food and being hungry.

i bet the cranberry is cool now. night night.