Delta-alpha-romeo-november*, Delta

Oddly enough, the very first minor glitch in my moving process happened today. Believe me, it really was minor, just barely blog-worthy, and it ended up being a blessing in disguise. So I guess that makes it legit in the blog-worthy department.  

So. Let me start at the beginning. 

I'm flying KLM for my journey to New York, which is part of the Delta family. 

I've flown with Delta partners a few times so far, and when the trip did NOT include Alitalia, everything was smooth and pleasant. 

SOTD: JK Soul - Take me higher, because flying does just that. 

Last time I flew like that, September 2012, an additional piece of luggage cost 60 euros (about 75 US dollars). Really reasonable, considering it allows for an additional checked 23-kilo suitcase. So this time, my plan was to fly to New York solo and check an additional piece of luggage, as that was the cheapest option for transporting a substantial amount of stuff (girl talking here, please understand!). 

Boy, was I wrong. My dear Delta upped their prices a smidgen this past March and now an additional checked suitcase costs 200 (!!!!!!!) euros. Yepp, 200 instead of 60 for the same thing. My credit card literally cringed when she saw that. OUCH, indeed.

For a minute there, all the excitement about what a reasonable deal I got on the airfare and how an awesome mover I was, being able to start my new life in NYC with 46 kilos of my present life with me, sadly evaporated.  

But it's Friday - no way I was going to be miserable about freaking luggage fees! Quickly, a plan got worked up. MAIL, dude! Yeah, good old snail mail operates regular traffic across the Atlantic - no shit! -  and, who would know, prices are definitely affordable. WAY more than that 200 eur ℅ Delta!

Win! I'm going to pack the semi-necessary stuff in a sturdy box and have it mailed to me as soon as I get settled in my new home. 

As my brain was working up this genial plan, it occured to me that not only will this option be easier on my wallet, it's going to be easier, period. Because it would mean I won't be dragging 2 huge heavy suitcases around Manhattan, just one (and one carry-on, but those calories don't really count, right?). 

Win!

Have an awesome weekend and don't hate the loooooooong blog post, please :)

Jules

* in case you're not familiar with the phonetic "army" alphabet, click away.

Textless thursday (2)

2CELLOS, Good riddance (Time of your life)

SWIMMERS!

Last time we talked boys, it was in a more serious context. Lucky for you, the post ended on a happier note, with some hot handballer galore and some sort of promise about hunks in trunks.

At last year's Olympics, superhot swimmers were way in the spotlight, mostly thanks to cuties such as Ryan Lochte, Florent Manaudou and Tom Daley.

The Olympics have been over for a while (see you soon, though) and there's no big swimming event going on at the moment, so the buzz got hushed. Well, at least until this July - so it only makes sense that we refresh our memories!

SOTD: Official Barcelona 2013 FINA World Swimming Championships song

And, pretty please, let me acknowledge how sincerely grateful I am for FINA's 2010 regulation on swimwear, especially article 3.1 (a) that states "Men swimsuits shall not extend above the navel or below the knee."
Bless you, FINA.

Matjaž Markič, Slovenia (photo credit revijaobrazi.si)

Nathan Adrian, USA (photo credit lifestylehub.net)

Florent Manaudou, France (photo credit french.news.cn)

Fabio Scozzoli, Italy (photo credit questionedistile.gazzetta.it)

James Magnussen, Australia (photo credit couriermail.com.au)

Ryan Lochte, USA (photo credit mashable.com)

And since, obviously, I need to further prove my point, here you go:

Assorted USA and Australian olympic hunks in trunks (photo credits instyle.com and au.ibtimes.com)

Jules

Final experiment

The last two weeks at the old job started today. Oh, Time, why art thou flying by thus quickly?

Just looking at all the folders, papers, microscope slides, folders and binders of student material and all the other crap that somehow has to be moved out of my office and into a happy storage place, makes me cringe. Planning farewell drinks with the coworkers, on the other hand, is a superfun activity. 

But I will deal with the packing at some point, promise.

What I wanted to talk about today, though, was MY LAST EXPERIMENT in the old lab. It was just a side project/part of a collab, nothing major. Needed to measure the apoptosis levels in cells exposed to some chemicals. All in all, no more than a few hours of work. But I loved it, mostly because I've spent far too few hours in the lab lately and I really missed the action. 

SOTD: Zheng Lab, "Lady Science" - Bad Project. OBVIOUSLY

I don't really miss the 10+ hour experiments or spending 17 days in a row in that hood, but I did feel some withdrawal in the past 6 months, when most  work days revolved around teaching and students. 

There is still a flask of cells growing as backup, which will probably (very solemnly) meet their end tomorrow. RIP, human osteosarcoma cells.

Obviously, I went all nostalgic and dramatic at the end of today's experiment, saying goodbye to the centrifuge and hood, just to keep up with my "Drama queen" nature. And I went a bit crazy with the nitrile glove, because there's no proper lab send-off without some smiling blown-up gloves and some giant bubble wrap popping.

So long, my dear cells and multichannel pipette. 

Besides office packing, I still have to wrap up some teaching-related stuff, but as far as labland action goes, nothing until New York. 

I just hope my general crankiness and sleep deprivation (due to some self-inflicted issues in relation to certain people) decide to leave me alone so I can enjoy the last days at work. 

Jules

P.S. Sincere apologies for the crappy photo quality. My very average phone has been the main photo-snapping technology I own since last September, when camera decided to die. Fingers crossed a more blogging-friendly solution will come in my possession soon

On handball. Wait? Seriously? HAND-BALL?

Yepp, handball. 

It's an olympic sport, quite popular in Europe, but virtually a mystery anywhere else. And it's basically the one team sport that I kind of follow. Talk about that with american guys and they'll chuckle. Or shamelessly laugh. 

Well, chuckles aside, the 2012/13 season is now officially over and my home team, Cimos Koper, finished in third place. Which is really good. All things considered. 

SOTD. Kind of silly, I know.

You see, Slovenia is a weird place to do something good. We are amazingly good at many, many, many things. But unfortunately, we really suck at keeping up with all the good stuff we manage to create. In life, as in economy, politics and sports. So, after many really good and exciting seasons, huge financial trouble is what might kill my home team. Which is sad. But what is saddest is that no one is surprised, really. The same happened many times over with good teams throughout this cute little country of ours. 

Many supporters feel that this time, things might end up on a different note. Most players are willing to stay on the team, despite the dreadful financial situation and they even managed to keep up their motivation and won yesterday's match. WON big, since the overall third place was decided in the last few minutes of the match. It was basically a grandiose "fuck off" to every soul that dared dismiss them. Respect, guys.

Well, regardless of the fact that yesterday's might have been their last match I got to see, I am proud that I dragged my butt over there and screamed, cheered, booed and applauded.  

And let that last match be yet another "closure" deed before I leave for the States. Oh, how I love being a tad dramatic. 

And girls, handball has many, many perks:

Renato Vugrinec, RK Metalurg Skopje, FYROM (photo credits: time.mk and radio-ptuj.si)

Uroš Zorman, KS Vive Targi Kielce, Poland (photo credits: gwizdek24.se.pl and wspieramyklub.pl)

Matjaž Brumen, RK Cimos Koper, Slovenia (photo credits: siol.net and rtvslo.si)

Luka Žvižej, RK Celje Pivovarna Laško, Slovenia (photo credits: 24ur.com, delmagyar.hu, vecer.com)

Caught your breath yet? Wiped the droolsies off? Good. Those four hotties are, in fact, really badass Slovenian handball players. Get it now?

We shall speak of swimmers next time, right?

Jules

Textless thursday (1)

Bits and pieces of last year's New York adventures. May, 2012

Day -27

Oh, what an unremarkable title for this epic first post. Well, I guess titles are not really my thing. What seems to be my thing these days is experiencing tiny meltdowns at really unexpected times.

I mean. My life is pretty cool right now. The giant-move-to-New-York is going according to plan. The current job is slowly winding down and I do not expect anything major happening during my last few weeks here. Budget stuff is really neat at the moment and is going according to plan, too. I still feel this  giant-move-to-New-York is the best thing that could happen to me and I really WANT this. Friends and family are being their usual awesome selves and I really do appreciate their presence. So, what the fudge is wrong? I expected occasional pangs of nostalgia, a panic attack or two, a couple of bruises acquired through packing and cleaning up (I'm freaking talented when it comes to minor self-injuries)…  that was about it. That was I was expecting from this weird heart of mine.

… SOUNDTRACK OF THE DAY: Lana Del Rey, Summertime sadness

But meltdowns? The ones where all you want to do is hide somewhere and scream while tears pour down your face? Yepp, those ones. I've had a couple so far. And they were all triggered by the most trivial and unexpected happenstances and I hated them all. Hated the meltdowns and happenstances.

Now, on Day -27, they seem to be winding down a bit and are being replaced by a weird feeling that is less violent and more constant. It is a mix of excitement and uneasiness and I guess that's how I'll feel when I board that plane.

But anyhow, WELCOME to this little corner of the blogosphere. I'm moving to New York in a few weeks and thought you might be interested in what happens to me there.

Jules

Izola, Slovenia. Being all charming and cute after a long sunset.