Leah

I was driving home tonight and NPR was playing what I think was an interview/concert with a cantor. He was talking about different religious traditions for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

And for a moment, during one of the prayers, I felt a sense of longing, like I was missing something vital in my life. I realized once I got home - I don't really take time out for myself anymore. I mean, sure, I read books, or I write songs, or I spend time with people who are improtant to me. But do I ever take time out and allow myself just to be, just me, no one else, no props, no entertainment.

I don't think I do. And I don't think I am truly, deeply relaxing because of it.

Maybe that's why I joined the LDS. Maybe I needed someone to tell me it was okay, it was even good, heck, even REQUIRED that I go to church and focus on God and take that time for myself. Not that I'll go back - too many other restrictions and requirements got in the way of true spirituality.

But I discovered Am Shalom has a website. And they post their schedule. Which means that I don't really need to call the cantor who called me months ago, I can just show up. Except, of course, that I need a ticket to attend the Kol Nidre service this Sunday. I would really really like to go, but I sort of balk at paying for it.

But anyway, I can go the next time they hold regular Shabbat services (they do them biweekly, for some reason). And maybe it will be what I'm looking for. Or maybe it will just be what I need this week. Or maybe it won't be meaningful at all, but I will have at least taken the time for myself.

Spotted in Glennan, 4th floor, around 10 am - clara_medea in some sort of lecture. ;)

Also, happy birthday to roseinmist!

Cheers.

Question...
What are the gasoline prices like around you (assuming you're not in C-land)?
I saw gasoline at two different prices today: $2.67 at a BP in Beachwood, and $2.53 at a BP in Mentor. I also just returned from a trip to NY (state) where gas was often well over $3.00. If I move out of Ohio, I expect to pay more for rent, but how much will I pay for other living expenses? I am especially interested in the prices in Boston, as a co-worker of mine who used to live there tells me that rent is pricier than Cleveland but otherwise cost-of-living is comparable. I'm not convinced, as she is older than I and probably hasn't had to really bargain-shop in a while, but I will entertain the possibility (especially if it means I can move someplace cool like Massachusetts and get married - um, I mean, live in a blue state?).
So, gas prices in other areas of the country? If you all reply, I could hear from Toledo, San Jose, Florida (if I catch saxonthebeach in time), Boston, Chicago, Michigan, maybe Columbus (has Case started yet?), and possibly other places if anyone is traveling or I've forgotten where you live. ;)

All right, my MechE friends...do tell. Is there really no women's bathroom in Glennan until you get to the fourth floor? Please say it isn't so...

So, I come across things frequently that I really, really want to post about, and I start composing the entry in my head, but sadly, these entries rarely get posted. This is because I normally think of cool things to post about when I am at work, driving, or otherwise engaged in an activity incompatible with LiveJournaling.

Of course, now that I am alone in my apartment with several hours to kill and a computer with a nice speedy DSL connection (unlike my craptastic computer at work, which uses up to 90% of the CPU at a time with some stupid keyboard shortcut application), I can't remember anything that I wanted to post about.

Such is life.

So here, instead, is a recap of what I have been doing lately.

( Read more... )

"Gay people are in that awkward position of needing other people to mind their own business while simultaneously putting the Good Housekeeping seal of approval on the gay lifestyle (for lack of a better word–I understand "lifestyle" has fallen out of favor as a descriptive term for the differences in people's…lifestyles…but I really don't know how else to put it). I've never liked the whole "is homosexuality a choice" debate because to me it is so irrelevant from just about every standpoint but scientific curiosity. Really, assume it isn't a choice; assume it's destiny. What else in life isn't a choice? How much control do we have over how many things we do or feel or are? That's a really thorny philosophical issue, as I recall from PHL 150. I didn't do well on that exam. On the other hand, assume it is a choice. Does that really change anything, in terms of the common courtesy and privacy we should all be affording each other? Do bisexuals have a right to their identity, or must we assume that they are, to some extent, psychologically defective because they do have a choice? It gets real silly real fast, if you ask me." 
I read this paragraph, courtesy of madhousewife, and thought, "Wow, that's a really reasonable position."  Reasonable is hard to find these days.  Also, I found myself agreeing with a lot of what she said.  Maybe I'm awfully middling in my views.  In fact, perhaps I'm unreasonably moderate. ;)  Read the rest.

I have banished my fear of artifical sweeteners and started drinking diet Dr. Pepper.
OMG - so good.
I didn't drink it a lot before because it has caffeine (which I try to avoid), and it's impossible to get caffeine-free Dr. Pepper in something like 39 states, including Ohio.
But diet caffeine-free Dr. Pepper is readily available.
So now I can avoid everything except the yummy taste. :)

Totally unrelated, but I think whoever had my phone before me at work must have fielded a lot of calls. I keep getting random phone calls from people like "Tom in Colorado" who want to talk about all kinds of stuff, and it's never anything I can answer. Usually these people at least have a contact person they wish to speak to, though, so I politely give them the extension and hang up.
Until yesterday.
Some woman calls asking to speak to "Dr. S.", one of our scientists. I tell her that she's reached the wrong number, explain that I am not a secretary and don't know how to forward calls, and give her Dr. S's extension to call. She claims that's the number she just called. I tell her that there must be some issue with call forwarding then, so, because I'm such a nice person, I offer to go track her down. Turns out Dr. S is out to lunch, so I come back and tell the woman she might want to try later. She says it's urgent, and can she leave a voicemail somewhere? I say yes, by calling the number I gave her before. I also give her the main number so she could speak someone who's job it is to deal with this. I am trying to be very helpful and patient with this woman, who just doesn't seem to get it. At this point, she says "wait, I'm confused". Presumably the thought of hanging up and trying again boggles the mind. Or perhaps having two numbers to call just confuses her (do other companies not do this? I mean, have a main number and then separate extension for each person? I thought this was normal). Anyway, so I apologize profusely and explain that I'm new, I'm not an administrative person, the person who used to have this extension must have been a secretary, and I can't forward her call but one of the two numbers I've given her should work.
At this point, this woman, who I have been VERY patient with, says rather nastily, "What do you mean you're not an administrative person? You answered the phone. I just want to be forwarded to someone."

What I wanted to say: "Bitch, YOU called my private extension. I anwsered because occsionally people call who want to speak to me. Most of the time I am away from my desk, so consider yourself lucky that I was actually here to deal with your oh-so-urgent call. It's not my fault you were expecting a secretary, and I'm sorry I don't know how to forward a call but since I'm a scientist, it's not actually part of my job description."

What I should have said: "Ma'am, I'm sorry, I already told you that I cannot forward your call, but if you try one of the two numbers I gave you you should be able to get through to Dr. S. Thank you."

What I actually did: Hung up. I just couldn't be patient with that woman any more. I mean, I know it must be frustrating to have someone answer the phone who can't really help you out, but if Dr. S's phone really was forwarding to me there's nothing I could have done about it anyway. And if it wasn't, she could have called and gotten her voice mail. I don't know why I even bothered trying to explain the situation to her.

Side thought - How many of you automatically thought Dr. S was a man until you got to the first pronoun describing her? Additionally, how many of you are now picturing a white woman, or possibly a woman of your own race (assuming you're not white)?

So, in regards to the last entry, I took a position with Company A, which happens to be Degussa Admixtures in Beachwood. Formerly known as Master Builders, the company was acquired by Degussa as part of its Construction Chemicals division. Said division was just sold to BASF, which I am pretty sure is public info since it's on the company website. All of that aside, I am working there as a "scientist" in R&D, which is a fancy way of saying I have a degree. Admixtures, by the way, are products you can add to concrete to make it perform better under various conditions, which is what I am R&D-ing. Not too bad. Of course, I'm still hauling around huge chunks of concrete way more than is good for me. I swear every muscle aches. But concrete, believe it or not, is way more interesting than I ever thought it would be, and I already know more than I ever wanted to about it. Plus, my work is infinitely more interesting than at my last job, and my supervisor is infinitely more kind and supportive and open to questions and willing to let me do my own thing and just plain competent than my last one. Plus I make more money. ;) I decided eventually not to take a position with Company B after talking to someone who works there who had just turned in his two week notice. He said the management was frustrating and the department that was hiring had a very high turnover rate. Because of this Company B shall reamin anonymous on a public forum (though if you wanna know, just ask). I think I'm discovering that job satisfaction, good management and generally happy employees may be more important to me than a specific industry, especially right now.

In other news...I haven't been doing too much else lately. I went to a Cavs game with chocolatfraises last Wednesday. They lost, but it was fun anyway and good to hang out with her. I also meant to go and celebrate lannaspartaflag's birthday with her, as well as go to roseinmist's senior project. Unfortunately, by the time the weekend came I was exhausted from my first full week of work and fryfreeturkey, who hadn't been feeling well all week, got considerably sicker so I promised her I'd stay home and make chicken soup and take care of her. Apologies to lannaspartaflag and roseinmist. I was thinking of you guys.

I will very likely be down on campus tomorrow before going to a concert at Severance at 8, as I am not expecting to get covered in concrete and so probably will not go back home at all. If anyone sees this in time, is free and wants to drop me a line or a comment, feel free. I know it's last minute but I just decided to go to this concert, so it's not a big deal either way.

Warning: Female-centric post ahead. May contain sizing information considered to be "TMI". Men are welcome, but proceed with caution. You may come out of this knowing way more about bra sizes, including mine, then you ever wanted to know.

You have been warned.

A word of advice for my female friends. Do NOT trust online bra size calculators. Every now and then I will entertain myself by going to Google and searching for "bra sizing" or some similar term. And every time, I get the same WRONG sizing information. Step 1 usually instructs you to measure around your ribs just underneath the breasts. Then you are told to add 5 (or 6) inches to this measurement to obtain your band size, which should be an even number. Then step 2 instructs you to measure around the breasts themselves. The difference between your band size and your breast measurement gives your cup size: less than 1 inch = AA, 1 inch = A, 2 inches = B, and so on. Some websites ambiguously imply that the cup size is actually obtained from the difference between the two actual measurements, but many, including Victoria's Secret explicitly state that the cup size comes from the band size and the breast measurement.

So, what is the problem, you say?

Here's what happened when I measured myself.
Step 1 gave me 33 inches. This should theoretically give a band size of 38, applying the above sizing method. Step 2 gave me 39 inches. The difference between 38 and 39 is 1 inch. This gives me a bra size of 38A.

Okay, let's think about this. I am what you might call "well-endowed" in the chest department. Anyone who has been shopping with me knows that I often have to size up when shopping for shirts. There's no way I can wear camisoles with built-in bras (yes, I've tried). Needless to say, I DO NOT WEAR AN A CUP.

If this erroneous sizing system places me in an A cup, can you imagine what it does to someone who has average or small breasts? Let's take a hypothetical - a woman with the same band size as me (33 inches, giving a 38 band size). However, let's assume she is less well-endowed than I and her breast measurement is only 37 inches (still 4 INCHES larger than her chest measurement, and therefore perfectly reasonable). This means that, according to the sizing method, the difference between her band size and her breast measurement is -1 inches. This woman, who clearly has breasts - 4 extra inches of them, as a matter of fact - has just been consigned to training bras. According to this sizing method, her breasts don't exist.

Are you all seeing the faulty logic of this system? Assuming a woman has breasts at all, the breast measurement will necessarily be larger than the chest measurement. However, according to this system, the breasts have to be at least 5 inches larger than the chest in order for them even to count. Anyone with a tape measure and half an ounce of common sense can see that this DOESN'T WORK.

I propose, therefore, Leah's new and improved guide to bra fitting.
Step 1: Measure the chest underneath the breasts. If it is an even number, this is your band size. If it is an odd number, add one inch to obtain the band size.
Step 2: Measure across the fullest part of the breasts. The difference between your two measurements gives the cup size: less than 1 inch = AA, 1 inch = A, 2 inches = B, and so forth.

Using this system, the measurements I took give me a bra size of 34DD. This, incidentally, is the EXACT SAME SIZE that I was professionally fitted for in a lingerie shop. It is also the size that fits. I guarantee you that a 38A will not fit me. Even the 38C size given to me by one site will not fit (the cup size is correct, but the band size will slide right off of me).

Ladies, I issue to you the following challenge. Try both sizing methods. See which one actually corresponds to the size you wear. Even if you are not wearing the correct bra size (most women apparently aren't), one size should be significantly closer than the other. Report back and let me know how my system is working. Men, if you wish to play, you will have to find a willing woman. Perhaps you can talk her into it for the sake of science - particularly if you don't offer to help her measure.

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