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things i've been up to
Last weekend Jason and I went to New Jersey with Steve, Christine, and Matt. We scored ourselves a free ticket promotion to the Detroit Pistons vs. NJ Nets game. It was Iverson's first game with the Pistons, but we still lost. Whoops. I had the messiest Carvel ice cream cone evar! We also got to see Giants Stadium from the outside, and that's probably as close as we'll ever get to it.
That's about all I remember.
And our seats were hella high.
Last weekend was also Jason's 26th Birthday. He got packages from the fam-damly. I bought him a Coldstone ice cream cake and he ate a ridiculous portion of it.
::shakes fist::
We went to see Spamalot on Broadway this Friday. It was an amazing show. Not only did I not hate Clay Aiken, I thought his performance was really great. Even though I've never really watched American Idol, I thought I knew what he looked like. Turns out, not so much. I kept laughing and watching this one guy who had these great expressions. During intermission I asked Jason if he knew which one was Clay Aiken because I couldn't find him and he said Sir Robin, which of course was the one cracking me up. Now my silent Clay Aiken judgments are no longer justified, damn him. The guy who played King Arthur was spectacular, his teeth were huge and white and his stoned smile made me giddy. It was such a happy show! I would recommend it to anyone, even if you're not a Monty Python fan I think you'd like it. The French guys, oh god, I loved them. Fetchez la vache!
::maniacal::
We could see right down into the orchestra pit from our seats. The conductor was in front of us and the guy that played that weird oboe giant instrument thing kept smiling at me.
Holy glowing bald spot!
Our proximity to the actors really was quite amazing. This was our view, no zoom. At one point when all the ladies on stage flip their skirts over to spell out a word on their panties, Jason had like 10 round asses in his face and I leaned over and exclaimed, "Happy Birthday!"
It really was a fantastic show. I think my mouth was hanging open through most of it. Do go see it someday.
My photos are officially up in a gallery! Out of all the photos submitted to the gallery, my curator chose 15 photographs and two of them are mine. ::jig::
I'm gonna go see it this week. It's a mini-dream come true!
Here's the promotion card.
I missed the opening reception. They served hors d'oeuvres and wine. I hate when I miss out on free food. >_<
Jason started our wedding playlist. It's gonna be totally boss. I think people will like it. And that I will cry. Like a sap.
remyeos
I could use an update or three, perhaps tomorrow, but I just wanted to post some Remy things right now. She was bumbling around here this evening and we found her in the watering can underneath the sink. Jason brought it out into the living room and she just sat in it, as happy as could be.
To counteract the cuteness, here is a video taken awhile ago of some sassiness. Of which there is plenty. This one depicts the day I bought three bananas to make my beloved Chocolate Monkey smoothie only to find Remy on the kitchen table munching a hole into one of my bananas. I was not amused. I threw the banana on the floor and Jason videotaped her dragging it away ... to hoard it all for herself. Slutty McHoard.
I will hopefully update tomorrow because I get to be home all daaaay. But I also need to do some grocery shopping, Target, Walgreens, laundry, and oh write another lab report. So ... I guess that means I don't get to be home all day, but I'm not going into Manhattan so it sure feels like I'm not going out.
Word came down from upstairs today. I'm being moved to the Narcotics section this Wednesday for training. I've been placed in class Echo. Six months from now I'll be testifying in court. NYPD training is basically just like being in school, except worse because it's paramilitary. If I fail too many of my exams, I'm booted. If I'm late too much, I don't get promoted. No more overtime, no more comp days. No more Trace unit and talking with detectives about rape cases. Now I study and learn about every illegal drug in NYC (o fuck) for 8 hours every day for six months straight, then as before, I go to grad class at night.
Jason is watching the Giants game and Remy is running around burning a ridiculous amount of calories. I'm sitting on the living room floor working on my lab notebook and surrounded by my GC/MS chromatographs when all of a sudden I see a black blur as Remy does a drive by and snatches one of my spectra and runs a freaking circle around me. She runs behind my back, underneath the futon, and back out again. Only to leave the discarded spectrum underneath the coffee table before she makes a beeline for the recliner. Clearly she did not steal this spectrum for food, nor shelter, but solely to fuck with me. I could just hear her sadistic little brain going neener neener neener as she circled me.
Remy, the sassiness is unacceptable.
Then a few minutes later she steals another spectrum from the floor and runs like hell for the recliner. Jason (sitting on the floor now) shoots out his hand and grabs it from her mouth and yells "Intercepted!".
I bought him fancy dancy tickets to the Monty Python broadway show Spamalot. We got first row center stage tickets. Hizzah!
He helped me pick them out online so I could get what he wanted.
::Jason points at screen, in childish voice:: This one!!
Of course they had to be first row, center stage. Breaking the bank much, love? ;)
Apparently the show is shutting down in January so I'm really glad we're finally going. Plus, like zomg Clay Aiken is performing.
Now I'm off to buy other birthday surprises because yesterday I managed to finish my Sep Chem lab report in its entirety (unexpected much?). So you shall find me roaming the streets and malls of Queens picking up Bebe Tasties.
Love youuuuu!
PS: I can't believe I met you when you were 20! Wtf!
Walking down Broadway to the WTC I passed a giant pile, nay--a giant splatter, of red vomit. It looked like the person may have recently indulged in a meal of chili. Then a few feet later I passed a smaller splatter of white vomit, chunks included. A few feet later I passed a few spots of foamy spit, where an effort was made to purge the mouth of that pesky red/white vomit taste. A few feet later, a few more spitballs.
Ok. That's nice.
Underground now, I get into a car on the E train. The WTC is the first stop (or last stop) so there's only me and one other guy in the car. Then I notice oh, there's someone else here too and oh, he's peeing between the subway cars. Peeing. On the rails. I'm wondering if he knows that he's peeing directly over the third rail. The one with electricity. The one that will zap the penis off his body if his stream of piss decides to land on the rail and lend itself to conductivity. Alas, Mr. Piss wrapped it up and snuck away penis unharmed.
A few stops later, a homeless man gets on the train. He might not have been homeless, just a ragged bum. Yeah, there's a difference. He didn't have any possessions with him. He sat on the two-seater at the end of the train (a favorite seat of these sorts of folks). Then, inexplicably, he rips off his hat and flings it angrily across the car into a corner. His hair...his huge black tuft of hair is so greasy that it stays in exactly the same position the ripping off of his hat left it in. Read: straight up. He manages to smooth it down, then pull the hood of his sweatshirt over his head. Next he very astutely notices that an old McDonald's bag and cup was sitting underneath his seat. He opened the bag, rummaged through it, then angrily tossed it across the car into the corner with his hat. Next up, the cup. He picked it up, took off the lid,
and sniffed it.
He stuck his nose inside the cup and sniffed it. Then he sat back up, looked in the cup, and went back for another sniff. As if he didn't quite CATCH what the odor of the liquid was the first time. You know what it reminded me of? Watching a Discovery Channel special on monkeys who are given something new to play with and they stare at it and smell it, trying to figure out what exactly the thing does. For some reason unknown to me, he neatly places the lid back on the cup and set it back underneath his seat without throwing it into his Corner of Anger (and thankfully did not take a sip). Mr. Sniffy got off at Penn Station and left his wretched hat crumpled in the corner, off to search for new and exciting objects to inspect and hurl.
Cheers to New York Shitty.
Anyway, today at work I got to observe my supervisor while he worked on a case for the FBI. It's this messed up rape case. A real asshole. Since today is Election Day it was a work holiday and I didn't have to work. I asked to come in so that I could get comp time. Holidays are sweet to work because not only do you get your 7 hours back in vacation time, but you get paid for working 10.5 hours even though you only work 7. I could get used to that.
I even had time to run to the polls after work. There was no line, holy crap! Then got my free Starbucks coffee for voting ::salutes the coffee snobs:: and went to class. I got an 81% on that dreaded Sep Chem exam of doom. The average, for real, was 56%. Nice one, teach.
I am exhausted. Currently watching Stewart and Colbert on their live election coverage with Jason. How did people get tickets to THIS show?? I'd totally miss class for this one.
I need sleep
I need sleep
I need sleep
::collapse::
::
2008 3 November :: 10.47 pm
:: Music: Snow Patrol :: A Hundred Million Suns
My feet are in a hot water bath with bubbles. They're wrinkly.
I didn't end up going to Ricky Gervais this weekend. I was way too tempted to just stay home for one day after 6 days of running around. So I sacrificed my chance to see Ricky. Kinda sucks, but I needed a full day at home.
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner called me today (while I was in the NYPD lab) and asked me to come in for an interview for a Criminalist position.
Um, you're a few months shy of on-time.
I do find this amusing though, because I got the call from the NYPD back in June to come in for an interview for a Criminalist position...while I was in the Medical Examiner lab. Cyclical much? I love that word...say it...cyc.lic.al.
But it meant I had to make my first tough career decision today, only two weeks into the job. The position at the OCME was actually a promotion from the position I have now. Higher pay, but essentially the same benefits. I declined the position. It's difficult to rationalize to an outsider, but I think I made the right decision. In terms of my resume credibility, my allegiance to my current employer, and just avoiding all the hassle, I made the right decision. The pay difference is not huge, a few thousand dollars a year. I will be promoted to that position automatically at the NYPD after a year of service. I won't even have to interview for it. I don't want to have to go through that background check mambo jambo again right now. It took forever and was very time consuming -- a commodity I don't have right now.
So at the age of 23 I've already turned down a higher paying position out of principle, and because right now I just like things just the way they are. ::whew:: Let's hope I know what the hell I'm doing, eh?
I got some really awesome news today from some lady at Pace. Two of my photographs are going to be featured in an art gallery. They only chose 15 photographs (I don't know how many they looked at) but two of them are mine. They asked me to submit an artist bio, the title of the work, the equipment I used, and the monetary value for purchasing the photographs.
...um, Hi I'm Michelle. I use a camera. The name of my work is ... Untitled. My photos cost um...will you pay $5? $5 will pay for lunch. kthxbye.
Seriously though, what do they want me to say? They said I can send a resume...I'm wondering what they'll think once they find out I'm a scientist and have nothing to do with this field. It's pretty cool that people can look at my work and buy it if they like it. I don't really expect that to happen though. Maybe I'll make one cost like $500 bucks and some rich shmuck will buy one. Holla!
So tomorrow's the big day... ::ominous music::
I will be rushing to the polls after work but before Sep Chem--right in the heart of the NY rush hour. Yeah, that'll be fun.
halloween
Whew, what a long day Friday was. Started work at 7 am, then went straight to Conan O'Brien. We made it there just in time. The show was really great. It was the only taping we've gone to where we actually got to wait in line inside. Much better than Jon Stewart when we were in the freezing cold outside forever. As far as audience management is concerned, NBC was really organized. I'm going to write a Late Night Show entry sometime soon so I'll compare the show stuff later.
Anyway, I ended up right in the second row so I had a great view. Conan came out before the show to greet us and talk for a few minutes. He stood on the step next to me and shook my hand. Then he asked this other guy to stand up and give him a hug. After Conan hugged him, he looked at Jason and said, "Give him a hug too." So Jason stood up and hugged that random audience guy. Of course at this point Jason decided not to sit back down and instead held out his arms (like a small child) and looked at Conan. So Conan sighed and gave Jason a hug too. Then all three of them...Conan, Jason, and the other audience guy...had a threeway hug.
Freaking great.
Jason and I find it funny that when we met David Duchovny I got a hug and Jason got a handshake, but when we meet Conan O'Brien I get a handshake and Jason gets a hug. I got the better end of that stick. ;)
They don't allow photography in any of these studios but I snuck mine in and took a few shots. I even managed to take a few short videos. The first one is a quick one to show what it's like from the audience. The second video is when Mary Kate Olsen came out on set.
Mary Kate Olsen was really dumb, holy crap. She seems pretty nice though, and kinda shy (surprisingly), but ... dumb. Like she had this beaded string around her head and Conan asked her about it and how she knows how to be fashionable and she was like, "I don't know, I think it's a necklace, I really don't know I just put things on.. ::giggle::"
Oy. She said other forehead smacking things but I need to watch the episode to remember them. The second guest was Will Forte from SNL. I had no idea who he was but he was really amusing actually. The third guest was an Extreme Pumpkin Carver guy. He brought out a bunch of awesome pumpkins he carved. It was really creative ... now mine looks like doody. This was probably the funniest part of the show. This guy uses power tools to carve his pumpkins, so he brought enough for Conan to do some. Watching skinny lanky Conan use those tools was hilarious. I don't know how it looked on TV but I was seriously cracking up. They were slamming down on them with these sledgehammers with faces on them and Conan was screaming and he kept throwing pumpkins around and into walls and cracking them open on the floor. All I could smell was pumpkin. The best power tool was the one he used to scoop out the pumpkin guts. Conan couldn't keep the tool under control and the pumpkin was literally whipping and vibrating all over the place. He made the Pumpkin Carver hold onto him while Conan held onto the tool. It was great stuff. I have the episode on my DVR so I'll watch it to see how it looked on TV. I bet it's funnier in person though.
So that's my Conan O'Brien experience. I was actually on TV earlier that day too. I was walking from the subway to Rockefeller when this news lady with a camera crew stopped me and asked if I had a few minutes. "Uh, ok." (No, not really.) She asked me if I would mind asking a question about the economy...any question at all, that I would like answered by Wall Street. So of course my mind draws a complete blank. I've had lots of questions, but with a mic and camera in my face...nope nadda. Then I look and see what news station station is on her microphone. Fox Business News. Oh lord. Freaking Fox News stopped me. I ended up asking a question (that they kinda told me to ask since I couldn't come up with my own) about renting vs. buying homes in today's economy. She's like, "Okay look into the camera say 'Hi Chris' tell us your name and where you're from, then ask your question." I did as I was told, all the while thinking Who the eff is Chris and why am I asking you a question?. Hey now that I think about it, that's what I should have asked.
So I guess I was probably on the Fox News channel sometime yesterday but I have no idea what show or when or why. Lovely.
After Conan, Jason and I jumped on the subway and quickly got ready and set up the apartment for the party. The costumes were great. Erich, well ... he wins. He just f'ing wins.
He and Kristen came as Peter Pan and Tinkerbell, except the roles were reversed. Everyone did a really good job with their costumes. Jason and I splashed blood all over the bathroom tub. It was a big hit...when someone walked into the bathroom for the first time you just heard ahh omg! We also did some blood spatter on Jason to complete his Dexter costume.
We played some Flippy Cup, Erich made the most potent drink I've ever tasted (no joke), and we ate lots of tasty things people brought. Pictures with stories are on Facebook, because that's where the party stuff goes. I especially like the before and after shots of my apartment. :) There's a Conan album too.
And for the record ... As of this writing I have 21 freaking emails from Jason in my Gmail account that are notifications of him commenting and crap on my pictures.Hoooooooooly excessive.
Why do I have the feeling I'll be getting a notification about this entry, Mr. Rockwell? There just better not be 21 of them.... >_>
I got my first paycheck today and I think this is pretty fantastic: I can now finallyyyyy fully support myself in New York City without loans, without parents ... and still have money to save up for vacations/retirement/etc. Oh and I have that free health care plan thing.
Creamy.
Anyway, I have not written a real entry in forever it seems like. Full time work / grad school is kicking my butt. I got out of my Sep Chem lab early tonight (home before 11pm!!!) and am elated to be sitting on my bed without pants.
Jason decorated our apartment today. He did a really cute job, especially considering I didn't even know he was going to do it. Our Halloween party is tomorrow. Jason is dressing up as Dexter (hawt) and I'm dressing up as a naughty referee (because at our age this holiday is really Slutoween). We went to Ricky's to look for costumes last night and the line was out the door to just get inside. Then there was another line to get in their attic where they kept all the sassy costumes.
A long time ago I scored tickets to the Late Show with Conan O'Brien and it happened to be for his Halloween show, so Jason and I are going right from work tomorrow. Woot! So if you're around a tele at 12:35 am tomorrow, turn it on and play Where's Michelle. This is the last late show in NYC that I have not gone to, so I can finally rank them and write an entry about them all. I'm pretty lucky I get to see him before he moves to LA to replace Jay Leno. That will be happening pretty soon I hear. The guest is supposed to be Mary Kate Olsen, however. Oh bother. <_<
Then we have to get back home in time to change into our costumes and set up for the party. Speaking of parties, last weekend was the Pathology Party. It was a rambunctious, eventful evening. The pictures are on Facebook and I'll just leave them there. Here's my totally boss pumpkin I carved though:
This Saturday my friend Jordan is in NYC from Michigan, so we're gonna go out to dinner and maybe play some Wii. We make it a tradition to kick the living hell out of each other on Mario Kart. He says the funniest angry things when we play. Example: "What the hell does this cloud do? Oh it fucks me."
Then Sunday, Ricky Gervais is on Inside the Actor's Studio at my school so I'd really like to go. It all depends how exhausted I am from Conan, the party, and Jordan plus I really need to work on my lab report. So as much as I'd like to go, this plan is tentative for now.
Re: Forensics
Still getting crazy cases at the NYPD. Sodomy, murdered babies...it's all very real. PS: Old blood caked on clothes does not have a pleasant odor. Can't talk about my cases though, I can be general because let's face it--there's more than one sodomy in this city. We did have an arrest in one of my cases though. Another step forward. Another stack of new files in the morning. So it goes.
My weekends are pretty booked in November. I'm looking forward to sitting on my ass some weekend--all weekend--and watching the one million + 1 things on our DVR. We're so behind on House, Boston Legal, Pushing Daisies, Fringe, and other random shows it's not even funny. We'll probably catch up in December and January when I don't have school.
Oh! Speaking of which, Jason successfully passed his predissertation defense this week! One step closer to Dr. Rock. ;)
I'm grateful for Danner boots. Eleven hours of standing, with maybe three or so to go, helps me appreciate the finer things. Fourteen days straight should cure anyone's romantic illusions about forensic science. I'm thankful too for gloves, the blue ones with no powder, as I examine a bag labeled human tissue to find the number. I must ensure that the number in the bag and the number on the bag equate. As I place the contents in a new bag, my partner twists the top, while someone else seals it with an Office of the Chief Medicial Examiner (OCME) label. In a perfect world, the numbers all match. The item moves down the line as an OCME investigator writes in a notebook, a New York City Police Department (NYPD) officer signs a pink form, and a Fire Department of New York City (FDNY) officer repeats the process, making photocopies. And so it goes for 12 straight hours. When we wear out, the night shift plugs in -- 24/7, with no end in sight. This is life in the forensic factory, invisibly toiling for a grieving public which is quietly being served. If the Danner company ever made something to comfort the human mind, I'd be the first to buy it. At least my feet feel good even when the numbers fail us. Even if the numbers always matched, in a perfect world, we wouldn't be doing this in the first place.
Got to talk with Brooklyn SVU today. Making my first calls to detectives. I'm assigned to rape cases in the Trace unit for now. Probably transfer to Controlled Substances in January for my 6 months of training.
Saturday is the big Movie Night party I planned for my Pathology class. I made up fliers and everything, passed them out at school the last two weeks. I hope we all fit in my apartment. My professor gave me an apple pie to have at the party. Super nice, n'est-ce pas?
Jason and I have mucho shopping and cleaning to do. But really I could just sleep for two days.
Brooklyn -- you got some sickos. As in, wear some freaking metal underwear if you go out alone at night.
By some amazing stroke of luck, my apartment is in the precinct with the lowest crime rate in NYC. (!!) Queens is where it's at, son.
When I read the Metro on the way to work every morning, I see my own cases in the newspaper.
There's nothing quite like sitting next to a drunk Mexican on my way home. I think a spectrograph of his sweat would show that a large preponderance of it is ethanol. Aka, you reek dude.
Le tired.
Gonna watch some tele with Jason then go fetal.
Ah hahahaha! slob on my knob
Best. fellatio euphemism. ever.
day five
I left home at 6:30am this morning.
Worked at the crime lab for 8 hours.
Traveled one hour to lower Manhattan.
Had 5 hours of night classes: Pathology & Professional Issues (aka death on a stick)
Traveled one hour home.
Walked back in the door at 10:30pm.
Wash rinse repeat.
>_<
I've been trying to sort out my health care plan and pension plan. These grown up things are confusing.
Tomorrow is the Sep Chem exam of dooooooooooom. I have never managed to be a procrastinator my entire life, and I'm thanking myself immensely for it right now. I'm way too exhausted to study. Still makes me want to die though.
Interesting subway experience today. There's always people doing strange things for money down there but today I saw this guy roll in from the next car with a cart covered in red velvet and gold tassels. I'm dozing off listening to my iPod, but I heard him roll past me. He goes to the middle of the car, toots some weird horn thing, then starts doing magic tricks. This isn't really the weird part because I've seen magicians on the subways before, usually doing card and ball type acts. But this guy, he pulls a freaking live white dove out of a hat. Then this giant full grown rabbit pops out of a box, it's nose going a mile a minute. You should have seen that poor rabbit's face.
omgloudnoises
Basically.
So I guess that's the first time I can say I've seen rabbits and birds pop out of hats in a tunnel underneath NY. He made some decent money too.
for steve
I promised my friend Steve I would upload this video this weekend. It's yet another testament to my love for secretly filming people. For those who don't know, Steve is our quirky friend with some autistic tendencies and he's an ... um ... avid Michigan fan. Do not doubt his obsession. You will lose. We've been friends since we dormed in First Fox at WMU and lived in an apartment together my sophomore year. He moved to NY before we did to become a German accountant and help me with my taxes every April. ^_^
Later that day, Steve, Jason, and I accomplished an epic feat. We were playing Super Smash Bros Brawl on the Wii when we decided to see what the longest brawl could be (other than infinity). It was 99 minutes. So we took it on.
My thumbs were sore, my eyes glazed over, and my mouth parched, but we made it damn it -- all 99 minutes. I hereby dub thee the Greatest Brawl Match Evar!
(Jason won.)
(Jerk.)
Steve and I were both Kirby's. Have you ever listened to Kirby scream for 99 minutes straight? I have. Times two.
day four
Worked my first overtime. Mmm, accruing vacation time.
I was moved to the trace unit. My new supervisor is awesome. He showed me around the gym downstairs. I will be using it, but I'm kicking myself for investing in the gym down the block from my apartment. I bought the membership this summer before the whole PD thing. Whoops. Too late now.
He's really really nice and changed my tour of duty from 0800--1600 to 0700--1500 on Mondays and Wednesday so I can make it to my Pathology class on time. My previous supervisor wouldn't do that for me. I'm lucky I got moved. In case people are like wtf, why is it called "tour of duty"? It's because the NYPD is considered a paramilitary operation. We have a rank of command and refer to each other by rank when we want to be proper. (My official title is Criminalist DeMerse.) I don't know, I didn't make the rules. The time is military and when we clock in and out we use specific codes like EOT: End of Tour and PFD: Prepared For Duty. It's all very formal. Kinda strange.
Well Jason is currently yelling at me via Google Chat to, I quote:
get that cute butt in motion ... i want snausages
end quote.
We're going to the Beer Garden tonight with the Queens gang. It is what it sounds like, an outdoor garden with lots and lots of beer pitchers plus sausages and other German food. All Jason can talk about is these freaking sausages so I should go.
I would also like to thank my multitude of well-wishers on Facebook these past few days regarding the NYPD. Your words bring smiles and your warmth is surely welcome.
Prediction: I think McCain will be declared the winner of tonight's debate. I will have to wait and see tomorrow though.
Don't worry my 95% liberal friends, I'm not flip flopping on my previous voting choice but I will say that McCain said a lot of things tonight that I do agree with. Yet another reminder to myself that this battle within is never quite resolved. I really can't emphasize enough that people need to listen to the candidates for what they're saying, not for the labels we place upon them. We write people off too quickly sometimes.
To the McCain campaign: You would have had a good chance of getting my vote if it wasn't for your VP pick. I cannot and will not accept that.
To Obama: I believe in your vision of this country and I'm willing to give you that chance. I don't like your VP pick very much either, but it's better than Palin. I am hesitant at times over your sometimes repetitive and overly-simplistic answers -- and this comes from someone who thinks it's best to keep things simple.
I know it seems that I can be hard on Obama at times, but I've always tended to be hardest on my own, no matter what we may be referring to. A testament to this is how hard I can be on myself. I think more people need to be responsible for keeping themselves in line. Unfortunately this is not the case, as can be seen with all the blind republicans and democrats out there spewing hate for reasons they don't understand.
A moderate I will remain.
And yes, I wholeheartedly believe that is the most human place to be.
day two
awesomeness. everywhere.
i've never been so geeked to get up at 6am.
i probably won't be saying that after a week ... heh.
But for now, I'm eating CheeBurger CheeBurger (omgdeliciouslove) and an oreo mint cookie dough shake. And watching Fringe. (omgnerdysci-fi-love) then watching the last presidential debate.
PS: My train schedule is nuts. I end up making a ginormous triangle, from Jamaica to Lower Manhattan to Forest Hills. The J train has spectacular views of Manhattan though. I crossed the East River at sunset and it was golden. My love for this city will never cease. I will take a video someday. Promises.
day one
I officially have a salary, health insurance, life insurance, a fancy NYPD badge, and was sworn in today at headquarters to uphold the Constitution of the United States. I am now part of the largest municipal police department in the entire world -- there are 53,000 employees.
We serve and protect the five boroughs of New York City -- a population of 8 million people and an area consisting of over 319 square miles.
Of which there is one crime lab.
Today is a memory I will carry always.
I have lots of things I want to blog about, but everything is happening quickly these days. I just want to say that I love the people I know. That about sums up everything I wish I had time to blather about. Here's to the Forensic gang, Pathology, the Grommet boys, and of course my dear Jason.
Off to class now. Starving and still feeling guilty for spending money. I think this will take some getting used to.
Note: Today is exactly 3 years and one day since I got my tattoo. It has a significance that I cannot ignore.
This morning my thesis situation was going to make me shoot myself in the face. The bureaucracy bullshit is driving me mad. I won't post the details on the internet because I'm not retarded, but there are some problems with the higher-ups at the Medical Examiner's Office preventing me from moving forward (or moving at all) ... oh, and she's rude as hell to me for NO REASON. Jason -- I have stories for you when I get home.
After a lot of running around among different floors and departments, and um, some unhappiness, I talked to Zoran. He is going to give me a new thesis project because my previous one is obviously not going to work out (thanks to a supervisor). So then I calmed down, as Zoran will often make me do, and I will be moving to the Pathology department to work underneath him. This is convenient because he's also my professor at Pace.
But this isn't even the most important part.
I got a phone call today.
Yeah, that phone call.
Like a half hour after all that crap, the NYPD calls me.
Lean in real close...
You ready?
I'm officially a Forensic Scientist in the NYPD Crime Lab!!!
Who can pay her rent?
Michelle can pay her rent!
Hooha!
