update on snow.

Providence has now declared a state of emergency. *lol* everything and i do mean everything has shut down for monday while they attempt to get the streets plowed.

The snow is actually higher than our knees. It was very amusing to watch as the neighbour's dog downstairs tried to walk through the snow in the parking lot... more by jumping and attempting to swim. This is no toy dog we're talking about. She may be a puppy but she's like those one or two year old puppies... the ones that will actually grow to be larger than you. the snow was higher than her, so she got around it by attempting to swim through snow. At one point, she got stuck in a mound of snow between four cars.

Watching from the window upstairs where we were safe and warm, me and my roommates had to yell out of the window to tell her distressed owners where she had disappeared to. *lol* Definitely not something you see everyday.

I haven't even attempted to go outside. I decided that it was not worth the hypothermia and frostbite since I don't actually own snow pants so anything I wear will get soaked through entirely. Although the storm is winding down the wind is still going. Strangely enough, while it is a lot of snow.. it doesn't seem like two or two and a half feet. Maybe because we're on a hill.. and snow slides downwards? *lol*

It's a BLIZZARD!

it's snowing outside and the wind is going strong and absolutely NOONE is steppint outside in this weather. To give you an idea the snow is already about a foot or so high... and it's supposed to have 20-30 inches total by the end of the snow. :-p 2 and a half feet of SNOW!

lol. so yeah we're snowbound for a while and I just figured out why new englanders built their houses with the front door several steps up.... because already the first few steps are covered, by the end of the snow i'm not sure how we're going to open the front door. Actually wait.. our front door opens in..

lol okay so we're going to open the door and face.... a wall of snow

either way.. everything's quiet except for the wind. I'm not sure how or when they can plow and when people can start getting back to campus.. but for me who's already here.. it's kinda fun sitting in the house in the middle of the blizzard and just watching it pile up.

I just spent an hour and a half getting my computer screen to work today. *sigh* if this is the pattern of how it's going to be for the rest of the semester I'm soo screwed. What if one day it just won't work?

So I'm thinking of two alternatives right now. 1. I get my computer repaired. IBM says it will be between 200-600... chances are 600 since that's how much a replacement screen should cost. *sigh*
2. I could get an lcd screen to hook up my lap top to. Which would cost between 200-300.. so significantly cheaper. The drawbacks are that I'm not sure this would work yet... since the last time I tried to hook my lap top to a projecter it had some issues too. Two, I would have to store this when I move too. Presumably this would be my new computer screen and that I would be getting a desktop eventually. I would also be deskbound for the rest of my career. Ah well...

Choices choices...

*sigh*

My computer is dying... and I don't know how to save or replace it.

To start with, I have an IBM thinkpad and it's about 3 and a half years old now, which means that the warranty is expired. Lately, I'm having trouble getting the screen to turn on. The computer works but the screen display is black. In order to solve this problem, I have rather uningeniously decided that I should turn off and on the computer multiple times until the screen works. Remarkably, after about 20 times it does. The sad part is, I'm not sure what makes the screen work the 20th time so its not repeatable.

Right now I'm praying for my computer to work for another 9 or 10 more months. At least till I get my new apartment and can buy a new one.. somehow I get the feeling my hopes are in vain.

Damned. I need my computer everyday to work on my thesis too. *sigh*

How to explain my long absence.. almost a month from blogging. Hmmm...

Alright I guess to begin with I should really blame it all on finals. This semester i had 35 pages to complete in a really short amount of time, so after madly madly writing papers and doing exams for finals I was burnt out of writing and its taken me this long to recover.... well, almost.

So what happened while I was in my lazy funk of not blogging? Well, J and A came down to visit providence, and we went around providence eating lots of Japanese food which is unavailible in Chicago apparently. We also went shopping at lots of arty stores around the neighbourhood. Providence is a decidedly arty sort of town.

D is down for a hoilday visit these two weeks, and we went down to new york to see J and A. Toured the statue of liberty, which i think is overrated, being the amount of fuss we had to go through to get near. But as you're lining up to get to the ferry... well actually the security checkpoint before you get to the ferry to get to the island, there are a bunch of street performers that busk, and this one guy upon hearing that we were from singapore started playing the majullah singapura. Now that's amazing - memorizing the probably forty or so different national anthems of the countries that people who tour here probably come from.

Other highlights of that trip included eating sidewalk hotdogs and chinatown which is much bigger than boston's Chinatown. Unfortunately I also got sick upon coming back. Very Very Very sick. I only just got better and still can't eat anything spicy or fried. At one point my fever was so high I was delirious and its actually interesting hearing what I was saying because I was at that state where I knew what I was saying didn't quite make sense but I had to say it anyway. I think I scared D.

In other news, I've signed my contract. I now officially have a job and am done with recruiting. I just have to get through next semester passably and survive. That, is actually easier said than done. Although before this year I would have said that was easy, this semester has shown me that you can't really do more than one thing at one time - recruiting took a lot out of my semester so this has been academically the worse semester i've had. Recruiting is really a second job. Doing that and studying is hell. However, even though that's done with, I still have to get my work visa, find housing in Boston and MOVE next semester. I don't relish the prospect.

But well, if any of you want to come visit Boston... you'll have somewhere to stay? if you don't mind sleeping on my couch that is. Offer not open to complete strangers. My juniors here in Brown are already planning to come stayover after shopping trips.... (I'm thinking of charging baked goods... come stay if you bring me a meeting-street cookie or a cake or...)

Oh and last but definitely not least, this note goes out to S, thanks so much for your concern, I got it when I was sick so I'm sorry I didn't reply more promptly. :-)