Life is hard, then you nap.

You know it's summer when I don't post as often because I'm not near a computer for 95% of my day. I am so relieved about that AND I look healthy because I have a tan. Speaking of which, I don't try for the tan, but sometimes I am negligent with the sunblock. It's hard to want to put on more sunblock when you're sweaty and have a nice film of dirt on you... the cream just makes it all mucky and moves it around on your skin.
My new favourite sunblock is Spectra by Coppertone. It's pricey but it works (because of its zinc content?) and I only have to put it on once a day and it doesn't feel greasy on my face or anywhere else. That's my checklist for a successful sunblock. It's also on sale at Shopper's right now for $12.99 so you should stock up on it.

Last Sunday, I completed that insane Gardiner/DVP route for the Becel Ride for Heart although I have to admit that I skipped out on my last turn from Bloor up to York Mills so I only completed the 50k route rather than 75k. My friend and I lost each other immediately as I experienced a slight difficulty with changing gears at the beginning. It was enough to carry her far far away and we never met up again during the ride until we finished at the end. She consequently met up with other people she knew and kept the pace for 75k. Personally my body was hurting by 35k and I just wanted to sail back into the CNE grounds with as little pain as possible. Then we reluctantly got on our bikes again to get to Union Station so we could take the TTC home. The TTC was so pleasant on a Sunday morning, if only it could be that way all the time.
Now that my butt has stopped hurting from last weekend, I resolve that I should take my bike out more often this summer since I paid for it to be tuned up before the Ride -- I should at least get my money's worth out of that.

Work is the same... looks like we really will have our to-do list full for this season with some really interesting projects nonetheless. Some of which I bet won't get started until September, just when I have to leave. Almost makes me want to stay, but then again, I want school. One thing is for sure, if I wanted a life in CRM, I wouldn't be paying for a PhD.

I keep dreaming of Vancouver lately, not sure if it's because it has now been over a year since I've seen the place or that I seem to miss it more with the passing months. How ironic.
UBC called me today for my first alumnus financial hit up since graduation last May. It came from another grad student who tried to convince me to donate to an endowment fund for UGF's given out by the Faculty of Graduate Studies. When that didn't work out to his liking, he tried to entice me with the Faculty of Arts angle. All I could say to him was that I currently have killer monthly interest payments to make on my line of credit which negates any feelings of gratitude (or other appropriate emotions) regarding donating my money to UBC, especially since I was never the recipient of any financial aid from that institution.
And it's also a particularly bad time since I will now be paying through the nose for education from Mother England.
I told him that I would consider it on my own time, that I knew the necessary ways and means of donating money if I felt inclined to (because I am sure the easiest thing to find on the UBC website is where to make monetary donations), and maybe in 5 years time I would be in more of a financial position to want to donate. However, I failed to mention that I may never be in the psychological state of mind to want to donate to UBC. They'll figure it out for themselves.

Oh and today mark's what could have been Kidney Stone '06 (as it was in '04 and '05) but so far I've avoided that painful event. Here's to keeping hydrated and away from the morphine drip! Cheers!