Friday, March 29, 2013
Taste test....
We've encountered all types of interesting and different food products since moving to Wellington. But let's just say that some are better than others. Upon arrival we noticed that people really seemed to like putting either Vegemite or Marmite on toast for breakfast. Ok, a little background if you are unfamiliar with these products - they are yeast spreads (gag). I didn't get around to trying either of these spreads until last week and, admittedly, going into this gustatory experience I was expecting that I wouldn't like either (I mean yeast spread? Does that sound appetizing to anyone??). But what could I say until I tried them both? It happened when a group of us from the lab were chatting one morning in our break room where many students have their breakfasts/lunches. There's been a lot of hubbub lately because for awhile Marmite was off the market and just recently is back in stores. Kiwis are very excited about this. We were chatting about the Vegemite vs Marmite debate (a very polarized issue here in NZ) and that's when I said I hadn't tried either. So a taste test was arranged for me - two half pieces of toast were smeared with one or the other of the dark brown/almost black goo and presented to me side by side on a plate. I was kept blind to which was which and could try whichever one first. With all eyes on me I had to laughed before I took the first bite. It was a weird kind of salty, spicy flavor. After some water I tried the other one and found it to be salty too but not so spicy. In the end I admitted my preference would have been the second option which turned out to be Marmite (my friend Hannah was openly disappointed as she is in the Vegemite camp). I did qualify my statement by saying that I actually wouldn't eat either of them (willingly). Bleh. With that said they squabbled amongst themselves as to who would get to finish the pieces of toast. Needless to say we won't be adding a jar of either spread to our next grocery order. Seriously, out of all the things you could put on toast: peanut butter, jam, butter; why would you choose something that looks awful and tastes like salty nothing? I mean I get it, we are all exposed to different foods in our lifetimes but honestly people. Who said, "I think yeast would be a great compliment to toast"?. Yeasty flavor on a food made with yeast. Yum-brilliance! Or at least Kiwis think it is. :)
Monday, March 25, 2013
Book love....
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Somehow I never read this story nor, more surprisingly, watched the movie before now. So imagine my surprise to read and find out that Dorothy's famous ruby red slippers were actually silver in the original story. The change was made when the book was made into a movie and they wanted to take advantage of the (then) new TechniColor film process. :)
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Relay for Life 2013
Tim and I, along with a team of about forty people, participated in Relay for Life here in Wellington this past weekend. Altogether we raised over $30,000 which was TWICE our original goal!! Needless to say it was very exciting to be a part of this effort. We'd like to thank all our friends and family who supported us along the way - you helped us obliterate our goal!! :)
Our team gathered to remember and celebrate a man named Paul Callaghan; he was a prolific physics researcher (he founded the NMR lab that Tim currently works in) as well as a highly influential New Zealander (he wrote three books about NZ commerce, industry and technology and was named New Zealander of the year). We had the privilege of meeting him when we first arrived in New Zealand last year. At the time he was very ill but still spent time visiting his students and colleagues in the lab. I was struck by the fact that even during the later course of his illness he was still interested and concerned about everyone in the lab. When we were introduced he immediately asked us if we were doing alright, had we found a place to live?, did we need help with anything?, etc. I was touched that he was worried about us and as concerned about me as he was about Tim. We should all be more like him.
After he succumbed to the disease the lab group starting putting together this Relay for Life group that was later dubbed Team Paul Callaghan. Our team logo was designed by one of our team members, Dafnis.
The Relay began Saturday afternoon with the opening ceremony and the survivors/carers first lap around the track. After that everyone was invited to walk or run. From that point on we had at least one person on the track running or walking until 9am the following morning!
You can see our littlest teammate, Thomas, sitting with his mom at the opening ceremony. He was beyond adorable in his little team t-shirt. :)
When people were waiting for their turn to walk/run we had a team tent set up where we spent time chatting, grilling and lounging.
In the evening they held a Candlelight Ceremony to honor friends and families who have been affected by cancer (for those who have died, for those who are still fighting the disease and for those who are cancer free). Part of the ceremony was the presentation of a group of lanterns that Relay participants had decorated for their loved ones. Paul's wife, Miang, shared Paul's story with the audience and how we were celebrating his legacy. Others shared songs and poems - it was an emotionally charged experience and I was glad to Timmy by my side. :)
After the Candlelight Ceremony we walked home to nap for a few hours before we walked back to the event for our 'track time' from 4-5am. In an attempt to be helpful we volunteered for times that no one else wanted. At 4am the team baton (with transponder to record the number of laps) was handed to me and Timmy and I started off around the track. In the end we both spent time walking and running. After Tim handed the baton off to the next runner we stayed on the track to keep going as long as we could. For me that was about another hour before I got tired and went back to the team tent for water. Timmy stayed and ran another hour beyond that - he was unstoppable!! Around 7am we decided to head home to shower, hydrate and watch the Minnesota Wild take on the San Jose Sharks (7am game). We managed to stay awake for the game (just barely) - Wild won! - and then collapsed for a few hours. Then we went out to do our errands for the week. Now we are committed to relaxing for the rest of our Sunday. :)
Our team gathered to remember and celebrate a man named Paul Callaghan; he was a prolific physics researcher (he founded the NMR lab that Tim currently works in) as well as a highly influential New Zealander (he wrote three books about NZ commerce, industry and technology and was named New Zealander of the year). We had the privilege of meeting him when we first arrived in New Zealand last year. At the time he was very ill but still spent time visiting his students and colleagues in the lab. I was struck by the fact that even during the later course of his illness he was still interested and concerned about everyone in the lab. When we were introduced he immediately asked us if we were doing alright, had we found a place to live?, did we need help with anything?, etc. I was touched that he was worried about us and as concerned about me as he was about Tim. We should all be more like him.
After he succumbed to the disease the lab group starting putting together this Relay for Life group that was later dubbed Team Paul Callaghan. Our team logo was designed by one of our team members, Dafnis.
The Relay began Saturday afternoon with the opening ceremony and the survivors/carers first lap around the track. After that everyone was invited to walk or run. From that point on we had at least one person on the track running or walking until 9am the following morning!
You can see our littlest teammate, Thomas, sitting with his mom at the opening ceremony. He was beyond adorable in his little team t-shirt. :)
When people were waiting for their turn to walk/run we had a team tent set up where we spent time chatting, grilling and lounging.
In the evening they held a Candlelight Ceremony to honor friends and families who have been affected by cancer (for those who have died, for those who are still fighting the disease and for those who are cancer free). Part of the ceremony was the presentation of a group of lanterns that Relay participants had decorated for their loved ones. Paul's wife, Miang, shared Paul's story with the audience and how we were celebrating his legacy. Others shared songs and poems - it was an emotionally charged experience and I was glad to Timmy by my side. :)
After the Candlelight Ceremony we walked home to nap for a few hours before we walked back to the event for our 'track time' from 4-5am. In an attempt to be helpful we volunteered for times that no one else wanted. At 4am the team baton (with transponder to record the number of laps) was handed to me and Timmy and I started off around the track. In the end we both spent time walking and running. After Tim handed the baton off to the next runner we stayed on the track to keep going as long as we could. For me that was about another hour before I got tired and went back to the team tent for water. Timmy stayed and ran another hour beyond that - he was unstoppable!! Around 7am we decided to head home to shower, hydrate and watch the Minnesota Wild take on the San Jose Sharks (7am game). We managed to stay awake for the game (just barely) - Wild won! - and then collapsed for a few hours. Then we went out to do our errands for the week. Now we are committed to relaxing for the rest of our Sunday. :)
Relay for Life 2013: Celebrate, Remember, Fight Back!!!
Even though the event closed earlier this morning you can still donate if you like (for up to four weeks after the event): http://www.relayforlife.org.nz/index/donation?DonationTeamID=3936&DonationEventID=165&EmailAddr=bridget.brox%40gmail.com&RequestorUID=26929
Saturday, March 23, 2013
Game Masters....
After finishing our presentations last week we decided to take a long weekend to rest and relax. I had come down with some kind of bug that wouldn't let up for over two weeks. Unfortunately, I was still recovering several days after the talks so we spent Sat/Sun resting at home. On Monday we decided to get out of the house and just as you'd expect Wellington delivered gray skies and rain. :) We weren't surprised or too bothered so we decided to do one of the ultimate Wellington-rainy-day activities: visit our local museum, Te Papa.
One some larger screens they had newer, multiple player games like Lego Star Wars, Lego Harry Potter and Super Mario Galaxy. Tim and I spent some time playing together to beat a level of Lego Harry Potter - talk about fun!!
Bundled in rain gear we walked downtown and found our way to the special exhibition called GameMasters. After donning our nerdy gamer wristbands we started at the beginning of the beginning. That is, old school arcade style video games. We played the classics like Pac Man, Donkey Kong, and something like Missile Command.
Then we moved onto what I consider the ultimate blast-from-the-past video games: Super Mario Brothers. They had a large section of the one of the rooms dedicated to our favorite Italian plumbers. It was awesome - you could sit down and play any of the games. Talk about a walk down memory lane! We played the original Mario Brothers, you know the ones with the grey console and controller. :)
One some larger screens they had newer, multiple player games like Lego Star Wars, Lego Harry Potter and Super Mario Galaxy. Tim and I spent some time playing together to beat a level of Lego Harry Potter - talk about fun!!
Then I moved onto the arcade racing games that are actually shaped like cars with gas/break pedals and all. It was hilarious to feel the entire machine move when you fly around a corner or more likely when you fly off the track and crash into a palm tree. :)
Much to my surprise I then fell in love with a 3D Sonic (the hedgehog) game. Wearing the 3D glasses over my glasses (awesome I know) I raced Sonic through the crazy course - it was so much fun. :) Thinking about it now I realized that was the first time I'd ever played a Sega game.
Much to my surprise I then fell in love with a 3D Sonic (the hedgehog) game. Wearing the 3D glasses over my glasses (awesome I know) I raced Sonic through the crazy course - it was so much fun. :) Thinking about it now I realized that was the first time I'd ever played a Sega game.
We moved onto the simulation games and I almost Tim for good. He started playing SimCity, where you build your own city from the ground up, and it took considerable effort to budge him from the spot! But once I did we went to play really interesting, almost virtual reality, games with amazing graphics. We also found a big screen with Kinect Fruit Ninja - Timmy was a natural!
Lastly we went and played a round of Rock Band - in short, a disaster. In the end we wanted play Angry Birds they had set up on a HUGE touch screen (imagine your TV) but there were two guys hogging it for more than an hour. Sigh.
In the end we had a great time, played games that we've always loved and tried others we had never seen before. Some of them I can't really describe so the incoherence isn't included in the above descriptions. Overall, it was a really fun way to spend a rainy day. It makes me want to play Lego Harry Potter again and Tim has already downloaded SinCity so he can play to home. Nerds. :)
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Nerd Romance....
March 12, 2013 marked an important milestone for both Tim and I as PhD students. Up until now we've been working towards our respective PhD programs as 'PhD candidates'. The first year of study is a provisional period culminating in a written research proposal and formal presentation; candidates are required to present any data that has been collected as well as a plan for the remaining two years of his/her PhD. This process is reviewed by a committee and then the student, if his or her work is satisfactory, is passed on to 'full PhD status'.
So on March 12 at 9am I stood up in front of my committee, supervisors and peers to present the basis for my research project, preliminary data and my plans for the remaining two years of my PhD. I'd love to say that the presentation is the worst of it but that would be inaccurate. The really challenging part came immediately after when the audience had the opportunity to ask any and every question that came to mind while I was presenting. Some of the questions where simple whereas others were simply 'unanswerable' because they were questions that do not have answers. Yeah. I've given presentations like this in the past and I always spend a lot of time preparing and thinking about questions that people might ask. Overall, I would say that these experiences are not scary but simply uncomfortable. In the end I was pleased that I was able to answer most of the questions and provide good attempts for the impossible ones.
After the interrogation everyone except the committee was required to leave the room so they could discuss and decide if they were going to pass me. At that point I was feeling quite happy but totally exhausted from the excitement and brain work that I had just done. Later that morning I was asked into the office of the Postgrad Coordinator to discuss the result of the committee. I was complimented on my presentation and told that I would be passed on to 'full PhD status'!! And while I wasn't worried about failing it's always nice to know that you have succeeded. :)
Just an hour later, reviling in being done with my presentation, I sat down to watch Tim give his talk. He is genuinely excited about the work he is doing and that is very apparent when he presents. The talk was very interesting complete with flash graphics and movies as well as 'props' (portions of the imaging system) that he designed himself. The questions that came after gave him no trouble and led to good discussion amongst the group. And while he didn't get the 'official' news right away (it came two days later) there was no question that he would pass.
So here we are about year after beginning our programs now officially PhD students. Graduation is just two short years away and Tim has proposed that we race to the end. I know I'm up for the challenge!! :)
If you're wondering about the title of this post there is an explanation. When friends and colleagues learned that we were giving our 'first year talks' on the same day they said, "That's romantic.... in a nerdy way". :) As I always say, "We are nerds together".
So on March 12 at 9am I stood up in front of my committee, supervisors and peers to present the basis for my research project, preliminary data and my plans for the remaining two years of my PhD. I'd love to say that the presentation is the worst of it but that would be inaccurate. The really challenging part came immediately after when the audience had the opportunity to ask any and every question that came to mind while I was presenting. Some of the questions where simple whereas others were simply 'unanswerable' because they were questions that do not have answers. Yeah. I've given presentations like this in the past and I always spend a lot of time preparing and thinking about questions that people might ask. Overall, I would say that these experiences are not scary but simply uncomfortable. In the end I was pleased that I was able to answer most of the questions and provide good attempts for the impossible ones.
After the interrogation everyone except the committee was required to leave the room so they could discuss and decide if they were going to pass me. At that point I was feeling quite happy but totally exhausted from the excitement and brain work that I had just done. Later that morning I was asked into the office of the Postgrad Coordinator to discuss the result of the committee. I was complimented on my presentation and told that I would be passed on to 'full PhD status'!! And while I wasn't worried about failing it's always nice to know that you have succeeded. :)
Just an hour later, reviling in being done with my presentation, I sat down to watch Tim give his talk. He is genuinely excited about the work he is doing and that is very apparent when he presents. The talk was very interesting complete with flash graphics and movies as well as 'props' (portions of the imaging system) that he designed himself. The questions that came after gave him no trouble and led to good discussion amongst the group. And while he didn't get the 'official' news right away (it came two days later) there was no question that he would pass.
So here we are about year after beginning our programs now officially PhD students. Graduation is just two short years away and Tim has proposed that we race to the end. I know I'm up for the challenge!! :)
If you're wondering about the title of this post there is an explanation. When friends and colleagues learned that we were giving our 'first year talks' on the same day they said, "That's romantic.... in a nerdy way". :) As I always say, "We are nerds together".
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Sunday, March 3, 2013
Death of a washer/dryer combo...
As you know we have a teeny tiny washer/dryer combo that has been tirelessly washing/drying our clothes since we moved into this unit in August last year. A couple weeks ago we returned from a week in Auckland and I eyed the mountain of laundry that needed to be done: all the clothes we took on the trip plus some that I didn't get to before we left as well as sheets and towels. Since you can wash about 1/3 of what you could fit in a standard US washer I figured I would doing laundry nonstop for at least a week. I was resigned to my fate because, well, that's just the way it is here. I figured the sheets need to cleaned first and placed the fitted sheet and one pillowcase in the washer. Part way through the rinse cycle the machine seemed to pause, think for a moment and then decided to stage a mutiny. It simply would not continue through the rest of the wash cycle. With a front loading machine that was now full of water but refusing to do anything about it the door remained locked regardless of the button combinations I attempted. I figured if I could at least get the sheet and pillowcase out of the machine we could rinse them in the shower and rang them up to dry. Right. After consulting the manual, trying additional troubleshooting button combinations I realized that I was not going to win this one. Immediately, I emailed our property management people to say that we needed our machine repaired ASAP.
Next I returned to the reality that, because the machine was holding the fitted sheet and one pillowcase hostage, I needed something with which to dress the bed. At this point Tim jumped in to calm me down. We tucked the flat sheet onto the mattress and just had our one blanket as a top cover. Not too bad. I mean it could've been worse - both sheets trapped in the machine. I shudder at the thought. Next, was the conundrum of pillowcases. With three pillows between the two of us we only had one clean case at this point. Again, Timmy to the rescue. He deftly extracted two of his softest t-shirts from the closet and put them on two of the pillows. I can't say I've ever dressed a pillow with a shirt but I have to say his t-shirts were the perfect rectangle shape to accommodate the standard sized pillows.
With that crisis averted we heard from property management that someone would be out to look at the machine on Tues. Unfortunately, when we returned home Tues afternoon we found a note saying that the machine needed a new pump and would be fixed at a later date. We also found that they had managed to open the door and save the sheet and pillowcase which were then lovingly placed in a heap in our shower. We had a fun time ringing out the excess water on our patio. Later I realized that they had used our bath towels, Hotel no less, to mop of water that presumably gushed from the machine when the door was opened. Yeah. Thanks for that. So those needed to be washed as well and the machine was still out of commission. Sigh.
A few days passed with no word. I was becoming increasingly agitated as our small cache of clean clothes disappeared into the mountain of dirty laundry. I wasn't sure what to do because there are relatively few laundromats in Wellington and I couldn't bear that thought of lugging dirty (and then clean) clothes the 15+ blocks. It was then I had a brilliant idea. I asked our property management if there was an empty unit where I could do laundry. The next day I received permission and the key to another tiny studio with a functional washer/dryer. I can't tell you how happy I was at that moment. For the next week I spent some days working from home in order to wash as many clothes, sheets and towels as possible.
A couple days ago the repair was made and I warily decided to wash some towels to make sure everything was ok with the machine. Thankfully, all was well. So we have just (two weeks later) caught up on laundry. You may laugh but it is a reason to celebrate!
Next I returned to the reality that, because the machine was holding the fitted sheet and one pillowcase hostage, I needed something with which to dress the bed. At this point Tim jumped in to calm me down. We tucked the flat sheet onto the mattress and just had our one blanket as a top cover. Not too bad. I mean it could've been worse - both sheets trapped in the machine. I shudder at the thought. Next, was the conundrum of pillowcases. With three pillows between the two of us we only had one clean case at this point. Again, Timmy to the rescue. He deftly extracted two of his softest t-shirts from the closet and put them on two of the pillows. I can't say I've ever dressed a pillow with a shirt but I have to say his t-shirts were the perfect rectangle shape to accommodate the standard sized pillows.
With that crisis averted we heard from property management that someone would be out to look at the machine on Tues. Unfortunately, when we returned home Tues afternoon we found a note saying that the machine needed a new pump and would be fixed at a later date. We also found that they had managed to open the door and save the sheet and pillowcase which were then lovingly placed in a heap in our shower. We had a fun time ringing out the excess water on our patio. Later I realized that they had used our bath towels, Hotel no less, to mop of water that presumably gushed from the machine when the door was opened. Yeah. Thanks for that. So those needed to be washed as well and the machine was still out of commission. Sigh.
A few days passed with no word. I was becoming increasingly agitated as our small cache of clean clothes disappeared into the mountain of dirty laundry. I wasn't sure what to do because there are relatively few laundromats in Wellington and I couldn't bear that thought of lugging dirty (and then clean) clothes the 15+ blocks. It was then I had a brilliant idea. I asked our property management if there was an empty unit where I could do laundry. The next day I received permission and the key to another tiny studio with a functional washer/dryer. I can't tell you how happy I was at that moment. For the next week I spent some days working from home in order to wash as many clothes, sheets and towels as possible.
A couple days ago the repair was made and I warily decided to wash some towels to make sure everything was ok with the machine. Thankfully, all was well. So we have just (two weeks later) caught up on laundry. You may laugh but it is a reason to celebrate!
Madam Vice President....
As a condition of our scholarships we are required to volunteer 150 hours per annum teaching tutorials, helping with local science fairs or serving on various committees throughout campus. I taught tutorials when we first arrived and continued to do so last trimester but let's face it, even with enthusiasm exuding from every pore, I found them rather boring. In an effort to maintain uniformity of material the Psych Department has these tutorials scheduled to the last detail and many of them involve watching the students as they complete computer simulations. Kill. Me. Now. When I taught Intro Psych I had my students dissecting sheep brains to study neuroanatomy or building record players out of random materials as an exercise in problem solving. So yes, I'm a snoot when it comes to these rather dry Intro tutorials at Victoria. But the problem is I still need to work on my volunteer hours so in an effort to avoid tutorials, at least for awhile, I decided to join the Post Graduate Student Association Executive Board (PGSA Exec). In short, they represent the interests of all post grads (Honors, Diploma, Certificate, Master and PhD students) here at Victoria. At the end of last week I attended a training meeting as I just joined the PGSA Exec the week before. Among the various things we did was elect officers (President, VP and Treasurer). And for reasons still unknown to me I put my name on the ballot for the VP position. In the end two VPs were elected, a PhD student from Hydrology, Monique, and myself! To this very moment I'm not exactly sure what I've gotten myself into but we'll see how it goes. I am looking forward to better understanding the inner workings of the university and to chip away at those volunteer hours. Currently, I've completed 120 leaving only 330 to go! In jest, ever since he found out about my status as one of two VPs, Tim has been calling me Madam Vice President. While it makes me laugh I guess it is technically correct.
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