Feeling a little better

[gdgrana]

Well, after vexing my anger a little bit this morning, I feel slightly relieved. I've left a few comments to some other journals expressing my displeasure with the results of the election, but really, whining about it and worrying about the future won't change anything, so I'm going to try and focus on the positive things going on in my life right now.

For one, we performed another successful surgery today. I also got a few pointers on how I can improve things for the next one; specifically, it seems that the electrodes are initially going in a bit deeper than necessary, so the next version of the implant will adjust for that. I also tried not trimming the electrodes this time, which means that the bird has a good few inches of tungsten sticking out from the top of his head; and yet, he's able to hold it up just fine, to my surprise and delight. I'd still rather call the company that makes them (FHC) and ask if they can custom-make shorter ones with the same resistance; that way, there will be fewer problems once we're able to have the bird running around in his cage while recording from him.

In other news...well, not much, really ^^ Enjoying FFXI a lot, even if I'm taking a little time off to try and make some money (getting the enemy drops - crystals, in this case - to do it is tough, though; as my character levels up and gets stronger, it appears the probability of dropping those crystals falls >< ). I hope to soon undertake a difficult yet rewarding quest in the game, as not only does it give me a nice chunk of change, but unlike some other lucrative quests, this one's repeatable. It requires a bit of preparation, but I feel it will be worth it (for those of you who read this and play FFXI, I'm referring to "Eco Warrior", at least the Windurst version").

Comments

[jennifer.livejournal.com]

We'll talk more about this later, but have you talked to Kamal any about post-doc stuff? I'm not kidding when I say I'm worried we may have to leave the US to find you one...

[david-grana.livejournal.com]

Post-Doc won't be for another 3-4 years, hon; besides, I'm not quite sure I'll want to continue into research once I get my Ph.D.

[cutriss.livejournal.com]

Crystal drop rate is constant regardless of your level, until the point at which the monsters are Too Weak, whence the drop rate promptly plummets to a big fat goose egg.

[soopa.livejournal.com]

the enemy drops, aka 'crystals', are vastly overrated. it seems that many people would rather focus on them that attempt to find the 'kill' move. for those that dont understand, 'kill' is the greatest move of all time, and can be found in all video games. whether it be the FF series, nba live 2004, or barbies dreamhouse: how many times can you shag ken in one night?, kill is everywhere. i am the only person to have discovered kill, so i know the secrets. in FFXI, kill is the most difficult thing to find... EVER. first, you must beat the game six consecutive times w/o turning the system off. then head NNW to the now accessible city of 'Gargolfaf'. here look for there purple tent. inside you will find 'lord skoolehogen' (you know its him because he has a dino-buddy). speak to him and answer as such:

yes
yes
no
fridays
11
no
yes
no
yes, but only if you get naked first

upon completing this task you will need to defeat the monster 'jimmy' with only one thingamajig of life, no items or magic. after that, you get kill. thats it. easy right?