I've got a work-related conference-thing for the next couple days, so synecdochic and I are spending a couple nights at a hotel. Though our room's allegedly handicapped-accessible, there are numerous overlooked details, including a threshold that nearly tipped D out of her wheelchair and a bathroom that's half-complaint, half full of fail.

A hotel room like this isn't an exception; obstacles like this are everywhere. "We need to start a photo blog of inaccessible spaces!" I shouted at D, having worked myself up a nice head of steam over the state of the bathroom. "If it weren't for you, I wouldn't even notice half the things that are wrong with this room!"

The rest of the rant is over at accessibility_fail. If you've got a photo to share or a story to tell, this is the place for it, whether it's mobility-based, visual-based, physical-world, or online-world -- anything at all.

Oh my God. After a preliminary phone conversation with Laura Sydell, my girlfriend's been invited to the local NPR affiliate station to record an interview.

I have no words for how nifty cool this is.

This entry was originally posted at http://sarah.dreamwidth.org/137811.html. Please comment there using OpenID.

So, I think (I think, I think!) I may be done with the federal court trial that's been consuming my energy these past several weeks. I ended up testifying for three days, starting at 11 AM last Thursday, continuing for the remainder of that day and all day on Friday, and then resuming Tuesday morning and going up until 1 PM. (Monday was an administrative day for the judge, so the trial didn't resume until Tuesday.)

It was, by a considerable margin, the longest I've ever spent on the stand, and as about eighty percent of it was cross-examination, it was certainly the longest I've ever been cross-examined. I can't go into any detail now (as there's always a chance I'll be recalled prior to the end of the trial), but I will tell you it was (a) long, (b) boring, and (c) exhausting, despite being boring.

Had one day back at the lab to try and clear off my desk a bit before leaving for a week's vacation. I didn't make much progress on the desk, but that's okay. It'll still be there when I return next Friday.

synecdochic and I are heading off to Las Vegas tomorrow for a week at the Abusefest house. We'll also be celebrating xb95 and janinedog's wedding, which is the portion of the week I'm truly looking forward to. (I'm not-so-secretly antisocial and found the two previous Abusefests I attended to be overwhelming; I most certainly don't have the proper temperament for gambling.) I suspect I'll mostly be hiding in a corner and reading, but so long as I'm not at work, it's still a vacation.

This entry was originally posted at http://sarah.dreamwidth.org/137598.html. Please comment there using OpenID.

1) Confession: I got all burned out last December and stopped reading my LJ friends list. I'm trying to get back into the swing of things with my DW reading list, but boy howdy am I out of practice.

2) Saw Star Trek last Friday, and without any spoilers at all, I can tell you it:

(a) made me teary right off the bat,
(b) took all of five minutes before I forgot that Zachary Quinto wasn't Leonard Nimoy,
(c) was incredibly full of pretty,
(d) made synecdochic and I clutch each other's hand in fannish glee more than a dozen times, and
(e) I really need to see it again (and again) to figure out how fic could possibly plug the gaping plotholes and characterization snafus.

But what would Star Trek be without gaping plotholes and characterization snafus?

2b) I really need to get on the ball with 1) so I don't miss out on all the fic and fic recs. Surely someone's got a new!trek newsletter going by now?

3) After months of fretting and preparation, I'm finally supposed to testify on a case from five years (and one employer) ago that's been bumped up to federal court. I'm so sick of this case. I don't care how horrendous the testimony's going to be; I just want it done.

This entry was originally posted at http://sarah.dreamwidth.org/137407.html. Please comment there using OpenID.

I am, sadly, not at the movies with the other Star Trek fen. I'm at a forensic conference, in the lobby of a hotel, taking advantage of their free wi-fi, and waiting for a coworker to get her fill of the 80's dance party going on in the ballroom.

I'm trying not to think about the presentation-thingy I'm giving tomorrow morning. I inevitably forget that I hate speaking in public and volunteer for these kind of things anyway.

This couch is too comfortable considering how tired I am. Damn you, comfy lobby! Be less accommodating!

I went to a swanky new branch of my local credit union yesterday. I think federal penitentiaries have less security. There was one employee in the lobby, who directed me to one of the terminals along the wall. Each terminal was equipped with a telephone, a video monitor, and a pneumatic tube just like the ones at the drive-thru. Instead of speaking to a teller face-to-face, you put your deposits in the tube, press the button, and wait for a teller on the other side of the wall to turn on the monitor and call you on the phone.

If I hadn't had forty-odd checks to deposit, I would've just used the ATM. It would've been less... creepy. I mean, I'm sure it's more secure and all, but it was odd. Other the concierge guy in the lobby, I was the only person in the place not behind a wall.

Now I know why there are never more than two cars in the parking lot of that branch whenever I drive by.

This entry was originally posted at http://sarah.dreamwidth.org/137194.html. Please comment there using OpenID.

Ohmygoodgriefthud.

Open beta's been marvelous, but boy, am I wiped. It was wonderful having mark and janinedog in town for the past several days, but I don't think any of us got much sleep. This Sunday was our regularly-scheduled stitch'n'bitch, but there was so much extra launch celebration goodness that I think we had more people in this apartment than ever before. There were about two dozen people here during the high water mark -- enough that we turned on the AC despite the cool weather outside.

Work's been overwhelming. Case submissions are coming in far too quickly for us to keep up, and I've already maxed out my personal capacity. There's a line past which you can't handle any additional cases without dropping things half-finished, and I'm riding right up on it. I've been so tired and overwhelmed that it's a real chore to drag myself in in the mornings.

Since the launch, I've been spending my evenings helping out with payment questions and Dreamwidth administrivia. It's fascinating, but it's also sucking up the rest of my time. I'm afraid I haven't been able to track everyone down and get my reading page and circle fleshed out. Please feel free to poke me with a comment if I haven't added you, 'cause it's almost certainly due to pure oversight on my part.

Let's see if I can at least make a dent in the mess that is my kitchen before falling into bed. There's a local forensic meeting this Thursday and Friday, and one of my coworkers is likely going to crash here Thursday night. I'd like to at least be able to locate my coffee pot by then.

This entry was originally posted at http://sarah.dreamwidth.org/136936.html. Please comment there using OpenID.

Well, we couldn't've asked for a more beautiful day for the MS Walk -- or for more generous friends. Incredibly, Team Lucy raised more than $1,400!

( a couple photos from the walk )

And yes, Lucy came along with us this year, earning her very own medal for completing the walk along with her human.



Thank you all again!

P.S. I'll continue cross-posting to LJ for a while, but this will likely be the last entry with comments enabled. I'm moving over to Dreamwidth, where you can find me at sarah. It'll still be a while before I get things arranged and everyone added to my reading list, but I hope I'll see many of you over there, too.

I feel a little awkward asking this when so many of you are in a poor financial position these days, but this Saturday, April 18th, will be my second annual MS Walk. In the mid-nineties, after a year of chasing ever-changing symptoms, my father was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

He's been very fortunate: though his balance is poor, he's still able to walk unassisted. He'll be walking this Saturday, which happens to be the day before his 63rd birthday. He's also incredibly lucky to have the necessary insurance coverage to access the current generation of medications. But given the exorbitant cost (about $1,600 for a 30-day supply, should you be paying out of pocket), and given that these medications can only slow, not stop, the progressive nerve damage, not everyone's so lucky.

If you do happen to be in a position to make a donation, please consider doing so at the MS Walk's website. Don't let the website bully you, either; there's no minimum amount that won't help fund new research.

Even if you can't donate financially, please keep us in mind next Saturday -- or whenever you might have the opportunity to support access to heath insurance and medical research, regardless of the specific disorder.

My coworker just gave me a Mary Sue pecan nougat egg. There are no words for how much I love her right now.

For those who do not live in Baltimore, Mary Sue is a local candy factory known particularly for its Easter confections. It's a very hands-on way of making candy; what equipment there is hasn't changed much in the last fifty years. The pecan nougat egg is a fistful of white nougat dipped in caramel and rolled in pecans.

Things My Coworkers Don't Know That Make Me Wonder How They Function in Life, Part 17:

As part of a discussion on the negative nature of organized religion, a male co-worker around fifty years of age says, "...it's like John Lennon sang, about religion being the opiate of the masses."

I blink. "That was Marx."

He pauses. "Was is? Oh, right; yes, Marx said it originally."

Female coworker in her mid-twenties: "Who's Marx?"

Dear Will Shortz:

An eight by eight grid? There goes a half hour of my life. Thank goodness it was a messy, snowy mess out there today, giving me an excuse to stay home from work.

Addictedly,
SarahQ

I'm hooked on KenKen puzzles. They're like sudoku, but with math. Shortz is pusher and I'm just another of his loyal junkies.

Two weeks ago I flew down to Florida to attend a symposium on postconviction DNA testing hosted by the NIJ. Working for a small county agency as I do, I've actually never been involved in any postconviction testing. I wouldn't have even considered attending this symposium if it wasn't for the fact that I need a certain number of hours of continuing education each year (it's a requirement of both ASCLD/LAB accreditation and the FBI's quality assurance standards for DNA laboratories), and thanks to the budget crunch, my agency won't pay for any training or travel for the foreseeable future. A symposium like this, which is provided at minimal cost to attendees, is a life- (and accreditation-) saver.

Attending still felt slightly awkward, given my peripheral involvement. But it was actually a remarkably useful two days. The participants were a mix of prosecutors, defense attorneys, Innocence Project employees, and forensic scientists, along with a healthy sprinkling of law enforcement personnel, retired judges, and legislators. It was... refreshing to see both sides of the adversarial system working towards a single goal.

...okay, we're ostensibly doing that all of the time, but it was considerably more obvious here.

And let's not discount the fact that trial lawyers, unlike many of my scientific brethren, generally tend toward loquacity. I might not agree with all that's being said, but when your panelist is accustomed to persuasive speaking, it's much easier to stay awake. I'm used to hearing monotone recitations of data at professional meetings; actual raised-voice arguments are quite the novelty.

( the problems with old evidence )

( why closed cases need to be in CODIS, too )

( how a career in forensics turned me against the death penalty )

* Even if your adjusted gross income exceeds the levels for Free File, you can use Free File Fillable Forms. It does all the math for you and e-files your federal return at no cost. It doesn't hold your hand the way Free File does, but if you know which forms you need, it's perfect.

* Maryland also offers free e-filing for most Maryland state taxpayers, regardless of income.

Dear SUV driver who couldn't be bothered to clean the ice off the roof of your car this morning:



I have your tag number. I hope you end up in snowbank.

No love,
SQ

***

Dear state trooper who wouldn't give me a police report number, on grounds that I wasn't actually struck by the other vehicle:

Thank you for coming out and being very kind despite your agency's silly policies. If I'd been on a county road, the county police would've given me a report number, which would let me take the other driver to small claims court. But you're only following your procedures.

Love,
SQ

***

Dear insurance company:

I pay you a lot of money on a regular basis. Please call me back and tell me where to go to get this fixed.

Love held in abeyance,
SQ

* Every January 19th I toy with the idea of walking up to the Westminster graveyard to see the Poe Toaster -- until I remember how freakin' cold it inevitably is on January 19th. Happy 200th, Edgar. I'm having a glass of wine in you honor in the warm comfort of my home.

* Speaking of being a big wuss when it comes to the cold (and when it comes to large crowds), I'll be at work tomorrow, not at the inauguration. I did tromp down to D.C. when I was in college to watch Clinton's second inauguration, just to have the experience. Having been to an inauguration no one cared about, I can't even imagine what it's going to be like tomorrow. Because many of my coworkers are extreme conservatives (of the viciously bigoted sort, not the reasonable disagreement sort), I'll be taking an early lunch and listening in via my car radio.

* I braved the snow falling in Baltimore today to run a few errands, but for the rest of the evening I'll be planting myself on the couch with the first season of Criminal Minds to get some knitting done. I'm working on a top for synecdochic. As is true with any project where gauge matters, I'm half thrilled with it, half horrified it's not going to fit.

I am, incidentally, SarahQ over on Ravelry, too, should anyone want to friend me over there as well.

For reasons that don't need exploring at this juncture, I had an echocardiogram this morning. It was neat. (I have a heart! It goes lub-dub and the valves go flip-flap.)

But you know you're in trouble when the woman peeling away the adhesive patches pauses to say, "Oh, dear. You've got such porcelain skin...."



Most amusing hickies in the history of hickiedom. And I haven't even shown you the one on my belly.

* I've got a dozen ideas for forensic-themed posts, but I've been lacking the motivation to write them. Maybe it's having a couple trainees at work, but I swear my job's been sucking my energy far more than usual. I guess I got spoiled when it was just me and one mostly-absentee coworker. It's better for the lab to have more people, of course. I just personally find it extremely draining.

* I'm a totally useless girl when it comes to cars, but I do track my gas mileage, and even I know to look at my tires when it plummets from 32 mpg to 28 mpg. And I do carry a tire pressure gague in my glove compartment. Let's hope my time with WaWa's air pump this evening helps.

* Apparently, I also carry a penknife in my glove compartment. How very sensible of me! And yet I have no memory of putting it in there. I do assume I'm responsible for its presence; it's got "Promega" emblazoned on the side, indicating it was swag from some conference or another. It will doubtless be more helpful now that I know it's there.

* synecdochic and I were driving past the Inner Harbor the other night and noticed several of the decorative street lights had been tricked out with purple light bulbs. It took us an awfully long moment to realize this must be due to the Ravens making the playoffs. It's good thing I skim the Baltimore Sun at work to see if there are any high-profile crimes headed my way for analysis or I still wouldn't know why those lights are purple.

So, who was it who brought the Patons Bohemian to our stitch 'n' bitch this Sunday? You know: the yarn I won in the white elephant yarn swap? Not the "good stuff" yarn swap, but the "oh, dear God, I bought that" yarn swap?

Yeah, I made a scarf out of it Monday night:



It's like wearing a Muppet's pelt. I mean this in the most awesomest way possible, of course.

I cut the tip of my middle finger while slicing a bagel yesterday. With that fingertip still bandaged, I was very, very careful when slicing this morning's bagel. Which is why a hacked a flap of skin off my thumb instead.

Knitting with a band-aid on your thumb is like kissing with lips numb from booze.

As an aside, those were the last of the bagels we brought home from northern Jersey last weekend. While not actual NYC bagels, they were at least made within commuting distance of the city. And now they're all gone. Alas.

As part of the periodic rearrangement that strikes all bureaucracies, my crime lab was recently shuffled out from under the miscellaneous operations section and tucked into the investigation division with the detectives. Yeah, whatever. Except this reorganization comes with an invitation to the annual holiday luncheon hosted at the FOP lodge by the detectives.

The lab supervisor passed along this invitation first thing this morning with a request to RSVP to the organizer as soon as possible. I immediately responded via email with my regrets. The only thing I would find more tedious than an office holiday party is:

(a) an office party with a bunch of police officers,
(b) at an FOP lodge,
(c) located ten miles from my lab,
(d) with a $10 cover charge to pay for the deli platters.

Late this afternoon, my supervisor came in and stated that at least one person from the DNA section is required to attend. I am, of course, half of said section; the other half has no desire to attend, either, but was not as quick to the reply button as I.

Bearing in mind that there is absolutely no potential for any of us -- not even my supervisor -- to receive promotions or raises in return for sucking up, I ask you:

Poll #1308326
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All

Is it reasonable to require employees to attend a holiday party?

With "0" being reasonable and "10" being a total poopy-head, how ridiculous is my supervisor being?

Sharing of office party horror stories in the comments is highly encouraged.