Holy Moley!

I can't believe its been almost a month since I last posted! Sorry everybody!

Yesterday, I got my Brass Rat. This is the MIT Ring. It is not really brass -- it is gold. And it is not really a rat -- it is a beaver. Or, there is a picture of a beaver on the bezel of the ring. There is also a map of MIT on the inside of the ring. And The Boston and MIT skylines on either side of the ring. I also got a silly walnut box to put it in. I figured that if I was going to spend $400 on this silly ring, I might as well spend the $12 on the little box with the MIT crest on it. I didn't get a ring from BU, but the MIT ring has a lot more character. The main picture on the ring is a beaver holding a scroll and a piece of pizza, among other things. The BU ring would have just been a stone with my graduation year on it.

My landlord is in town. He just got here today. He lives in Florida. His son has been occupying the apartment above us (which was previously occupied by his mother, but she died in December, a month before we moved in.) They are now renovating the upstairs apartment so someone else can move in. I have managed to procure rights to plant in most of the back yard. Well, I didn't really "manage to procure" so much as I said I wanted to plant things, and they told me to go right ahead. I am very pleased about this. I plan to do tomatoes and cucumbers in the sunny side, and some flowers (poppies and larkspur, I think, with some lobelia and moss roses) in the bed with the roses.

Today, I got one of my research goals accomplished that I have been trying to accomplish for the past three weeks. Really, this was the goal I was trying to accomplish back in January, when I got derailed by the nonsense with my thesis proposal. So, get this. The tiles are looking at you, and you hold up a ball. Instead of all of the tiles grabbing it -- they now talk to each other to agree about who should have it. Tomorrow, they should be able to pass control of the cursor, representing the ball, amongst themselves, so that as you move the ball around, it can go seamlessly from tile to tile. This is my goal for this week.

Over the weekend, Mike and I did a little car shopping. I will need a car when I start my new job, come September. We first went to the Toyota dealership. The Corolla is cute, but didn't grab me. Then, we went to the Honda dealership. We had read on Consumer Reports about the strange layout of the Civic dashboard. I wanted to see this for myself, and I thought I would hate it. I actually liked it quite a lot. I had a very good connection with the girl at the Honda dealership, and they took me seriously, even though I said I wasn't buying. Last, we went to the Volkswagon dealership and I drove a Jetta. I responded negatively to the ergonomics of the Jetta, although it was much spunkier than the Civic. But, on the other hand, to get the Civic with the moon roof and other silliness, is the same price as the "value" Jetta. I decided that what I wanted is a Civic with a bigger engine. They make such a thing -- it is called the Accord. I looked online, and it seems that I can get an Accord with a moonroof, heated seats, heated side mirrors, and all the other silly things I could possibly want for the low, low price of $25,000. Now, don't laugh, but I am seriously considering this. I got 2 phone calls from the Honda dealership on Monday -- neither Toyota nor Volkswagon called. I told the saleswoman about how I thought I might want an Accord, but Michael took issue with how much I have suddenly become willing to spend on a car with silly heated seats. She pointed out that there are lots of nice pre-owned Accords I might buy. I said I would think about it. So, maybe we will go back this week sometime, and I will test drive an Accord and see if I like it. I will start looking at pre-owned vehicles closer to the time when I will actually want a vehicle -- late July, August.

Over the weekend, Mike and I also did *TRUMPETS BLARE AND DRUMS AND CHOIRS SINGING* a little ring shopping. *SHHHHHHHHHHH*. We went to the Burlington Mall, where there are only 3 jewelry stores -- I could have sworn there were more. We went into Both Zales and Alpha Omega. At Zales, there wasn't really anything for me. At Alpha Omega, everything seemed over-priced, and there was really only a couple options for me. The third jewelry store was Kay, but Mike *hates* their "every Kiss begins with Kay" ad campaign, and he doesn't want to buy from them. Last June, when I worked near the Cambridgeside Galleria, I had done a little shopping at the Whitehall, and I had brought home a catalog with various options circled. But I eventually tossed the catalog after Mike only looked at it when the cable got turned off and I said I would call to have it fixed if he looked at the catalog. There was this adorable ring they were doing last year -- it had three white diamonds in the center, and then yellow saphires down the sides. It was so cute! I wonder if they still have it.

Oh, and I am definately not going to graduate this term. :-( This is not doom and gloom -- I took my name off the degree list. My office mate, Jim, who is way further behind than I am on his thesis, intends to graduate this term. I have no idea how he is going to pull it off. But, I am not going to pull it off, and I will not get to walk. :-( I will probably be done around the end of June.