What a week indeed. It seems that every professor gets a certain satisfaction from overloading their students with work just before spring break. Midterms and projects are now all done and I am looking at an entire week off. If I had any money to my name I would flee this cold part of the world for some place warmer and more tropical. But I don' ( Read more... )

There is no way I could have eaten that much. So many sweet buns, so many pork buns, so much... food....

I don't think I actually walked home, more like rolled. I'm on my second day of just drinking water and I'm still full.... the pretty dress my friends in China sent me... the threads of the seams better snap back to place soon.

I can't believe I ended up working a double shift yesterday. I just woke up and my feet still hurt! How can so many people come out on one night? And there were so many special request. "Can you put this ring in the tea cup?" or "Can you hide this box under the pastries?" I suppose as no one choked on anything it worked out in the end ( Read more... )

While I know it gets little play here in comparison to back home, it's only 10 days until the lunar new year. There was a packing slip in our mailbox for me so I suspect that dad has already sent his gifts ahead of schedule. I was still trying to track down a cheaper version of those laser levelers they sell here but I gave up and got the more ( Read more... )

The last wall of the dojo went up yesterday meaning that the reconstruction is finally complete. The insulation was probably the worst part in the end, mainly because I am still picking pink threads off my clothes. Still the floor no longer buckles in certain places, the roof doesn't leak and we can't hear the neighbors any more so I suppose it ( Read more... )

I feel like I've been playing archaeologist the past few weeks. A sledge hammer, however, I doubt is an appropriate tool for that line of work though. After getting approval from the asbestos control board (the building was dated to 1918 unfortunately), there were exactly two weeks to get the walls down and put up the insulation so rather then be ( Read more... )

Or more like... stay away from permits. The paperwork isn't the scary part, it's the immense amount of money involved in obtaining one. It's a lot of hidden costs, actually. You pay a fee for the permit based on the estimated amount of work you think you'll do. That does not include, however, the cost of bringing in an asbestos examiner, hiring a ( Read more... )

I'm used to rain... just not cold rain like this. So this is simply miserable weather for me. I really just wanted to sleep through the day under my covers but... well, everything in the room is wet. I think the entire apartment is just one big, dank pile of unhappiness. I'm almost glad to go to work and class because with the basement still ( Read more... )

I think the worse you make of something, the better it turns out in the end. After all, if you expect the apocalypse then being slightly mortified almost seems fair. I barely had time to get ready seeing as there was work in the early afternoon, followed by class and then I had to run to get the digital camera for my assignment. On the plus ( Read more... )

Hari-chan, aka my stuffed hedgehog, proved to be a great hit at the tea house. I completely forgot he was there until he made a reappearnce as I was serving a family. The little kids got a kick out of it and I got a bigger tip for keeping them entertained. And now, the boss keeps assigning the families to my tables. It's not that bad because I ( Read more... )