I woke up at 12 today. One thing I love about being a grad student -- I can pretty much set my own schedule. Except that lately there have been some incidents that make me a bit scared to stay at the office too late -- I don't want to be the last one there.

I really need to get dressed and go grade papers for a little while. I really don't want to.

I've heard the ninth subbasement is pretty cold though.

And it's filled with roaches.

But that was being taken care of by some guy with thick glasses who got moved down there. Kept muttering about a stapler. And fire.

Just tell them that somewhere on this earth it's quitting time right now, and you're going home.

Or I could just leave and see if anyone actually noticed.

Imagine the entire world networked together with pneumatic tubing.

Would it look like a giant gerbil habitat?

From an AP article:

So far, melamine's been found in both wheat gluten and rice protein concentrate imported from China. Media reports from South Africa suggest a third pet food ingredient, corn gluten, used in that country also was contaminated with melamine.

Chinese authorities have told the FDA that the wheat gluten was an industrial product not meant for pet food, Sundlof said. Still, melamine can skew test results to make a product appear more protein-rich than it really is, he added. That raises the possibility the contamination was deliberate.

Wilbur-Ellis Co., the U.S. importer of the tainted rice protein, said Thursday it was recalling all the ingredient it had distributed to five U.S. pet food manufacturers. The San Francisco company in turn urged its customers to recall any products that may be on store shelves.

So far, just two of those companies have done so: Natural Balance Pet Foods and Blue Buffalo Co.

Natural Balance, of Pacoima, Calif., announced a limited recall Monday of its Venison and Brown Rice canned and bagged dog foods, Venison and Brown Rice dog treats and Venison and Green Pea dry cat food.

Blue Buffalo, of Wilton, Conn., followed Thursday by recalling 5,044 bags of its Spa Select Kitten dry food. The company intercepted most of the kitten food before it reached distribution centers, company co-founder Billy Bishop said.

FDA officials would not release the names of the other two manufacturers that Wilbur-Ellis supplied, citing its ongoing investigation.

Would it look like a giant gerbil habitat?

Yeah, except underground.

Which means you'd have to worry about C.H.U.D. and Morlock roadkill.

Which means you'd have to worry about C.H.U.D. and Morlock roadkill.

And the Fluke Man.

The thing about early mornings and late nights is the quiet. I love the quiet. The afternoons are my super sucky time. Early AM is good. And evenings are fine. But 2:00 PM? Forget it.

I get this. I am not naturally a morning person--I love the quiet of the middle of the night and work really productively from 10PM-2AM--but my job forces me to shift my schedule. I get up at about 5:45 AM every school day to have time to shower, change, and commute across town. As long as I've gotten at least 6-7 decent hours of sleep (and HMOG what a difference the sleep aid my doctor prescribed for me has made--I fall asleep quickly and sleep restfully), I'm good to go in the mornings. From about 2-7, though, I am utterly useless. Totally nonfunctional.

Morning people freak me out, man. My normal circadian rhythm is more like sleeping from 4am-noon. When you combine low blood sugar with allergies and sleep deprivation, I think you can see why I want to destroy the world every time I wake up in the morning.

Shrift is me. To say that I'm not a morning person is an understatement of epic proportions. Pete would like to be a morning person, and even has circadian rhythms that would suit that, but realizes that the benefits of us getting up early are outweighed by the drawbacks of me staring blankly at things or growling.

I'm beginning to think I am devoid of circadian rhythms and should be asleep all the time.

I will say that my favorite time of day is sunrise. So quiet and beautiful.

Funny.

Go to maps.google.com.

Click on 'Get Directions'

Type in New York, USA to Paris, France.

Check out the 24th step in the trip.