Ok...

Perhaps I should dedicate this chapter in my life to finding money for Thailand, and staying out of trouble in the ATX.  So far, that's all that's been going on. 

I went to the research screening yesterday and after two and a half hours of medical screening, I am denied entry into the experiment.  Basically, the screening started going downhill after I was told I would be given doses of opiate inhibitors before I was given the opiates.  That took all the fun out of it.  I stayed the course and tried to finish my screening anyway.  Then the screeners checked my veins and said they were too small for the 80 blood draws necessary, and that it would be torture for me.  Which, I could have told them.  The last time I did an experiment there, they blew out the veins in both my arms and had to draw from my hands.  By the end of that study, I looked like an inexperienced heroin addict and had to carry my research papers with me for two weeks (incase I got pulled over by the cops).  They were truly sad to see me go.  I had been entertaining them for the past three hours with frequent Anchorman quotes inserted into the screening questions.  Needless to say, the interview took longer than necessary.  Apparently, a statement on leatherbound book ownership is not the appropriate answer to a question regarding my profession. 

So here I am today looking for ways to make three thousand dollars.  I reckon I'll have to keep the blog updated with my progress and schemes.  Nonetheless, Tanya (my new roomie) and I have been keeping ourselves entertained with stalking the cute upstairs neighbor.  We call him Guitar Hero.  Our infrequent encounters have caused us to compile a list of things we know about him.  So far here's what we have:

-He has a weiner dog.
-He likes to walk his weiner dog.
-He has a herd of elephants that do aerobics upstairs at all hours of the day.
-He owns Guitar Hero and a Wii (this is debatable).
-His name begins with a K.
-He grills.
-He has a younger brother that sleeps too much.
-He may or may not have a stud finder.
-He drives somewhere... but we're not sure where, and we're not sure what kind of car he has.
-He has longish hair.


It's not a lot... but considering the fact that we've never spoken to him, it's quite substantial.  We have many plans to invite him to non-existent parties and challenge him to a Guitar Hero competition, but I'm thinking we prefer our transient crush better.  Afterall, it has been my experience that cute guys are always cuter when they don't talk. 

We've also been decorating our apartment with oversized fixtures and pictures that are too big for Tanya's car.  My wonderful engineering skills ensured that we made it home with the picture... not in a very safe manner though.  It turns out that my innate ability to make even menial tasks into an "issue" has not been lost.  I've also discovered that we both lack situational awareness and have been in quite a few pickles; including Tanya driving a significant distance going the wrong way down a one-way street with me screaming it's the wrong way and Tanya shouting back that it's no big deal. 

For those keeping tally, it's been 1 week and 5 days since I've had a drop of alcohol.  Completely unintentional, yet surprising. 

I reckon I should get some work done.  I'll try to keep updated with travel-related stuff as it comes at me.  Those that know me will be excited (or frightened) to hear that I have a few pseudo-dates coming up.  Awkwardness and hilarity should ensue. 

I'm not traveling at the moment... but if you have any great travel stories or anything, feel free to let me know and I'll post 'em.