the times I've turned four
On Friday I turned four, for the fifth time.
The first time I turned four was 1970, and I were living in Germany with both of my parents and my baby sister, who had been born in August--I can still remember looking down at my pyjamas (cream with a repeated purple pattern) and saying "But I don't *feel* any different"--I know that the build up to my birthday had been intense and full of anticipation. While the pile of loot lived up to (exceeded?) expectations, I had been expecting four to feel different from three..
The second time I turned four was 1980, I was living in the house on Lovejoy Drive in Anchorage (with a wonderful view of the Chugach Mountain Range out out living room window) with my mother and sister--dad and his girlfriend lived across town in an apartment. The year before I had made the conscious decision to enter my second childhood on my 13th birthday, because I didn't approve of teenagers, and didn't wish to be one.
The third time I turned four was 1990, living in Anchorage again, and I was preparing to move to Eugene Oregon because I had decided to major in geology, and that wasn't an option at UAA, so it was necessary to either leave state or move to Fairbanks. Since it was time to end things with the monogamist I'd tried dating, but couldn't cope with his jealousy issues, I opted to leave state, and many happy adventures in An Tir and many new friends were the result.
The fourth time I turned four was in 2000, I was living in California with the Bard of the West and taking classes in massage therapy, and finding vocational school so easy after having done a Master of Science in Geology.
Now it is 2010, and I am preparing to leave Italy after 1.5 years of my first post-doctoral research project, seeking gainful employment in my field somewhere on Earth, and looking forward to my trip to Sweden next month to visit friends and enjoy some real winter (that lasts longer than a couple of days) for the first time since I left Anchorage a decade ago.
Other folk might think it odd to count my age from 0 to 12 the first time, and then from 3 to 12 each decade thereafter, but it works for me, and it means never having to be a toddler, a teenager, or an old person.
This year's birthday was quite fun--the morning started with a view of the Alps from my apartment, since the rain we'd been having finally cleared. Then I got to spend the day doing analyses with the electron microprobe. I like playing with expensive analytical equipment, and there is just something powerful feeling about using a machine that requires four separate monitors on one computer and another on another just to operate it. Add my notebook computer into the mix (to store photos of the sample with analysis location points marked) and it can be a challenge to reach for the correct mouse to accomplish each task. In the evening I enjoyed yet another long skpye conversation with a friend in Sweden and went for a walk to enjoy the cool night air.
Because I was busy all day Friday I extended my birthday celebration onto Saturday, when I baked a yummy cake and a loaf of bread. The cake was frosted with cream and the bread just baked when my friend and her mom arrived for a visit. We had a very nice visit, plenty of food, and her mom even gave me a short singing lesson before they left. I then came in to uni, thinking I should process the data I'd generated on Friday, on the off chance that any of it wasn't usable I could return to the lab and try again before my samples are taken out of the probe on Monday morning. However, I got distracted visiting with friends on line and had a lovely evening instead of working. I did make time to submit a quick job application, since the deadline for that one was today, but that was all I accomplished beyond just enjoying the day. (Don't get me wrong, there is much value in enjoying days, and it is pretty high on my list of things to do, but I am aware of the fact that month's end is approaching, and that I need to be done with work and packing and out of here on time to make my flight to Sweden on 1 January.)
This morning I actually spent a couple of hours at home and got a couple of loads of laundry done and a couple of boxes packed. Alas, my old computer wouldn't say on when I tried it, so I am reduced to writing the box inventory with pen and paper, to be typed up later. Therefore I should post this, type up the inventory so far (11 boxes, all of clovis_t's stuff (9 of books, two of the kitchen stuff he wanted, or I didn't want)), process yesterday's data, and perhaps even reply to personal mail.
The first time I turned four was 1970, and I were living in Germany with both of my parents and my baby sister, who had been born in August--I can still remember looking down at my pyjamas (cream with a repeated purple pattern) and saying "But I don't *feel* any different"--I know that the build up to my birthday had been intense and full of anticipation. While the pile of loot lived up to (exceeded?) expectations, I had been expecting four to feel different from three..
The second time I turned four was 1980, I was living in the house on Lovejoy Drive in Anchorage (with a wonderful view of the Chugach Mountain Range out out living room window) with my mother and sister--dad and his girlfriend lived across town in an apartment. The year before I had made the conscious decision to enter my second childhood on my 13th birthday, because I didn't approve of teenagers, and didn't wish to be one.
The third time I turned four was 1990, living in Anchorage again, and I was preparing to move to Eugene Oregon because I had decided to major in geology, and that wasn't an option at UAA, so it was necessary to either leave state or move to Fairbanks. Since it was time to end things with the monogamist I'd tried dating, but couldn't cope with his jealousy issues, I opted to leave state, and many happy adventures in An Tir and many new friends were the result.
The fourth time I turned four was in 2000, I was living in California with the Bard of the West and taking classes in massage therapy, and finding vocational school so easy after having done a Master of Science in Geology.
Now it is 2010, and I am preparing to leave Italy after 1.5 years of my first post-doctoral research project, seeking gainful employment in my field somewhere on Earth, and looking forward to my trip to Sweden next month to visit friends and enjoy some real winter (that lasts longer than a couple of days) for the first time since I left Anchorage a decade ago.
Other folk might think it odd to count my age from 0 to 12 the first time, and then from 3 to 12 each decade thereafter, but it works for me, and it means never having to be a toddler, a teenager, or an old person.
This year's birthday was quite fun--the morning started with a view of the Alps from my apartment, since the rain we'd been having finally cleared. Then I got to spend the day doing analyses with the electron microprobe. I like playing with expensive analytical equipment, and there is just something powerful feeling about using a machine that requires four separate monitors on one computer and another on another just to operate it. Add my notebook computer into the mix (to store photos of the sample with analysis location points marked) and it can be a challenge to reach for the correct mouse to accomplish each task. In the evening I enjoyed yet another long skpye conversation with a friend in Sweden and went for a walk to enjoy the cool night air.
Because I was busy all day Friday I extended my birthday celebration onto Saturday, when I baked a yummy cake and a loaf of bread. The cake was frosted with cream and the bread just baked when my friend and her mom arrived for a visit. We had a very nice visit, plenty of food, and her mom even gave me a short singing lesson before they left. I then came in to uni, thinking I should process the data I'd generated on Friday, on the off chance that any of it wasn't usable I could return to the lab and try again before my samples are taken out of the probe on Monday morning. However, I got distracted visiting with friends on line and had a lovely evening instead of working. I did make time to submit a quick job application, since the deadline for that one was today, but that was all I accomplished beyond just enjoying the day. (Don't get me wrong, there is much value in enjoying days, and it is pretty high on my list of things to do, but I am aware of the fact that month's end is approaching, and that I need to be done with work and packing and out of here on time to make my flight to Sweden on 1 January.)
This morning I actually spent a couple of hours at home and got a couple of loads of laundry done and a couple of boxes packed. Alas, my old computer wouldn't say on when I tried it, so I am reduced to writing the box inventory with pen and paper, to be typed up later. Therefore I should post this, type up the inventory so far (11 boxes, all of clovis_t's stuff (9 of books, two of the kitchen stuff he wanted, or I didn't want)), process yesterday's data, and perhaps even reply to personal mail.