Episode LXXVIII: Most Boring Spring Break Ever

It’s official: this Spring Break was my most boring Spring Break ever. I did nothing, I went nowhere. I didn’t even celebrate St. Patrick’s day. I did plan to take a roadtrip on Saturday, but it snowed around 4 inches so I canceled that. Then the Jayhawks lost in possibly their biggest upset ever. Then the next day the “Healthcare Bill” passed, meaning I will be forced to purchase health insurance or pay a “fee” of nearly $700. So, you could say that my Spring Break was not cool (although my mom and grandma probably appreciate the mandatory health insurance part.)


However, I did have a few good times locally. First, my band played a show in Topeka, where I saw a sign saying “Home of the 3 Pound Burger.” Upon further inquiry, it turned out that yes, that was 3 pounds of beef. So of course, I ordered one. (To share with Rafael.)


And what comes as a side dish to the 3 pound burger?


My sister was out in the Midwest, and I had a chance to see her for awhile, and to see her bling-ring as well.


On the day it snowed, I attempted to make lemonade out of frozen lemons, and went to the local pool to relax in the hot-tub for awhile. That’s right, my body was in 100-degree water while snow was falling on my face! It was quite a pleasure.


Maybe you can tell in this picture, my hair and face are covered with little icicles.


Finally, I became a plumber extraordinaire. You see I’ve had a kitchen faucet that’s had a leak in it for a few months. When I first set out to fix it a month or two ago, it took me an hour to figure out where my water shutoff was, after which I had to stop to go watch the Superbowl. The second time I managed to remove the appropriate brass nuts (while getting all sorts of debris and dust in my eyes) only to realize that I needed a special basin wrench (?!) to fully remove the faucet. Finally, over Spring Break, I finished the work.



After only a small leak…


…I can now consider myself a master plumber.

Episode LXXVII: A Busy February

February, as you may know, is a short month. This February, however, seemed to be filled with enough stuff for me to fit into two regular-sized months. Anyhow, now that February is long gone, let me tell you about a few things that occurred.

First, as I mentioned last time, I have been fairly busy with the band in which I am- practicing, recording, playing concerts and then eating IHOP pancakes late late at night.

In the meantime, I won this award called the Newmark Award for biochemistry at the University of Kansas. Basically I had to submit a résumé and reference letters to the department, which invited five finalists to give a brief talk on their research; based on these, they chose their winner. And this year, that winner was me! Huzzah. This is nice because (a) it will look good on my future résumé, and (b) it comes with a nice $$$ (cash) prize as well.

Also, this semester KU started up an official men’s club volleyball team. Tryouts were in February, and I made the “A” team. One nice thing about the team is that even in practice we are playing some really good volleyball, which is a lot of fun. Another nice thing is that we occasionally practice in the official stadium where the NCAA women’s team plays, where the floors are always freshly-finished, and where we even get to use the “clubhouse,” complete with Gatorade, TV and plush couches:

Another nice thing is that I get to wear a real University of Kansas jersey with lucky #17 on the back:

So in late February we played our first-ever tournament in Lincoln, Nebraska, against a number of regional teams, and guess what? First tournament ever, we win the whole thing! I forgot to take a picture (I suppose I was busy), but here is a pretty accurate representation of what we looked like:

And now, ladies and gentlemen, please excuse me (and the rest of Lawrence) while we prepare for MARCH MADNESS!!!