ARRRGGGGH!

So there has been a water leak under University Ave. for awhile. So every Saturday for the last month or so the City of Philadelphia has turned off the water to my building. Which means no running water at all. So no safety showers, eye washes, sinks, bathrooms. Since there is no water in the building we arent supposed to be here. Which has given me a convenient excuse for not coming in on Saturdays.

Yesterday we got this email at 11am (I work in Stellar Chance):

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EMERGENCY DOMESTIC WATER SHUTDOWN AFFECTING BLOCKLEY, BRB II/III, CRB, CYCLOTRON & STELLAR CHANCE TODAY-WEDNESDAY, JUNE 4, 2008 FROM 11:00 AM TO 5:00 PM
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Please be advised that the City of Philadelphia has requested an emergency domestic water shutdown to repair an underground water leak. The emergency shutdown is scheduled for Wednesday, June 4, 2008 from 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM. The affected buildings are BLOCKLEY, BRB II/III, CRB, CYCLOTRON & STELLAR CHANCE. The underground leak has started to cause the road to cave in creating this immediate repair.

Since there will not be any domestic water for hand washing, safety showers and eye wash stations, all research is suspended during this shutdown. Therefore, all work with chemical, biological and radioactive materials is prohibited during this shutdown. Also, there will be no use of restrooms in these buildings during this time frame. For BRB II/III & CRB, please use the restrooms in Stemmler. For Blockley, Cyclotron & Stellar Chance, please go to Anatomy/Chemistry.

SOM strongly discourages occupancy of these buildings during the shutdown since there will not be any water for hand washing or toilets. SOM recommends that all non-essential personnel leave the premises until water is restored in these buildings.

Nina was at a conference that ran form 9am to 4pm. I assumed she was going to be there the whole day. I had no data to analyze, nothing to do that did not involved "chemicals" or "biologicals." Everything I had to do involved stuff that I would want to wash my hands immediately after doing or glassware that needed to be washed out after using. So I emailed Nina, told her I was leaving, told her that I would like to meet with her today to discuss the talk I am giving next week that we havent discussed and I havent started because I dont actually know what I am talking about. She emailed me at 3:30 yesterday afternoon to tell me that I should not have left, that most everyone else was still there (they had all been at the conference when I left) analyzing data or working on non-research related things (of which i had none to work on) and that since water was on in other buildings I should have just gone there to wash things. So after everything I did yesterday I was supposed to go down 4 floors and through 2 other buildings to wash my hands and glassware in the ladies room in another building. Right. That is convenient. And when my hands have hazardous stuff on them, it is totally fine to take the 5 minute walk and be touching doors and elevator buttons. Awesome. Grrrr! Oh and it is now 1pm and Nina still hasnt come talk to me about the talk next week. The talk I am giving for the experts in our field from this part of the country. That I havent started yet. Yeah, that talk. And her door is closed.

Grrrr!!!!!

For all of you (all 6 of you!) that voted in my polls. Thanks. Half of you honestly think that hockey with the broken noses, the fights, the concussions, the blood, the ridiculous saves is like figure skating with sticks huh? And for the 2 of you that voted trick question for the armed forces, no comment? Just "trick question." What does that even mean?

Puzzles:
Place the same four-letter word in each blank below to make four common words.
____RAY
____END
____AGE
____ICO

Tom is half as old as Ellen was three years ago. In 10 years, Ellen will be one-and-one-half times as old as Tom. How old are Tom and Ellen now?