I broke it.

Well that was a quick two weeks!

I dropped my Biology class, much to my disdain. It was the right choice, though, since the entire first two weeks covered the Chemistry of biology. It's been years since high school chem so it was, well, terrifying. I'm going to take Chem during the first summer session, then Bio during the second session. So not all is lost -- more time to focus on Economics.

I went back to see the sports medicine doctor for a quick progress check for my wrist. She squeezed and pinched and it was awful. Two weeks after my accident and my hand was still noticeably swollen. After another series of x-rays, she concludes that I FRACTURED SOMETHING. More specifically, I fractured my Scaphoid bone. This little guy:

It's the most difficult one to break, and it heals the slowest. Of course! I've got a lovely white cast now. I've never had a cast, so it's been a huge adjustment. I am proud to report that I am still capable of doing dishes and cleaning the house. But that's probably because no one else will do those things ::hint hint::
I'll be going to an orthopedic doctor on M0nday to assess the severity of the fracture, but I'm fairly sure I'm looking at 6-8 weeks of slavery to the cast. It's not even cute. They didn't even have colors to choose from. Stomp stomp stomp

I started a little project on facebook today. In 1998, my father's brother published 2 massive volumes of all the descendents of William Palmer, the first Palmer to have immigrated here from England in 1638. It's crazy. He spent his life working on that thing, and there are probably thousands of Palmers in there, complete with mini-bios and some creepy photos from the late 1800's. I'm not completely certain, but i'm fairly sure that he died right after my father did. So starting from the back of the book (where the living people are) I searched for names on Facebook. At first it was completely fruitless, but then I'd find one person, view their friends, find the siblings.... etc etc. Even without being to view their profiles, I was able find the right people by simply looking for siblings on their friends list. I created a facebook group, and sent each person an invite. It's going to take time to grow, but I think it'll be fun to see the diverse bumch of folks descended from a puritan from England.

Tomorrow is Picnic Day! Elena is driving up from Berkeley and a good time will be had by all. I'm excited.

This post has taken me a good 30 minutes to type. I reaaaaally am tired of this cast. Uy.

Ba-gok!

Week one done.

As of right now, my Biology class terrifies me - in the sense that I am going to have to work hard. But it's also exciting to be thrown into a class in which I cannot simply recall things from high school or use my wits to find a way around going to lecture but still doing well in the course. Kinda nice to be making that sort of transition.

I'm taking a poultry experience course of sorts -- at least that's what I thought it was going to be. In all honesty, I signed up for it because it filled a gap in my schedule perfectly, is only 3 units, and seemed interesting.

Then I realized that this course is only open to 2 students, and the location is off campus... but close to home! It's about a mile south of the house, in an area that I hadn't yet explored. This is the bike ride:


On my way to the facility, I passed the UC Davis airport (it does exist!) and a few creepy, abandoned buildings. When I finally got there, it seemed empty. I disinfected my shoes and wandered around a bit. Eventually I stumbled upon the kitchen area, where my instructor was enjoying a bowl of chicken soup.
I immediately thought to myself, "You dedicate your lives to them, and yet you eat them. I'm glad you aren't a pediatrician!"

My first day was supposed to be an orientation followed by a tour of the facility, but since some chicken research people had called in sick, we headed to campus to clean chicken cages. "It's your lucky day!" she told me. I found myself decked out in scrubs, a lab coat, overboots, and a face mask. I really wish I could have taken a picture of myself because I looked like I was part of a hazmat team.


I rolled eggs and cleaned up chicken poop for 2 hours. I know this sounds like a terrible time, but I had fun. I haven't had much up close and personal experience with chickens, so I found amusement in the occasional "ba-gok!" sounds and egg-laying. I also learned that commercial egg-laying hens have a lifespan of 2 years, and then they are "culled". Gotta love euphemisms. These hens came from a commercial farm, but instead of getting culled, they were sold to the university for research. "How nice." I thought.
Then I found out that they were going to be culled in two weeks. So much for borrowed time.

So that was that.

I'm taking a stupid math placement test tomorrow, something that I've been putting off. I took this thing last summer and didn't pass -- because I couldn't remember squat about factoring polynomials and all those lovely algebraic details that you learn in high school. But I need to pass it in order to take Chemistry this summer... so not passing is not an option this time around.

But before I go, here's a delicious recipe: Stuffed Tomatoes
I made the Lime, black bean and rice version. I highly recommend it!