Return of the personal rant

I haven't done a rambling bulleted blog post in a long time. Well I just enjoyed a delicious Bell's Hopslam and a heaping helping of stir-fried veggies and rice, and the full belly and 10% ABV IPA have inspired me.

• I just got back from a 4 day trip to Canada to line up an apartment. We found one we both like, but now we're realizing that our application includes barely any income, no recent job history, no Canadian bank accounts or credit history, and my 3 convicted felonies. So we're hoping to somehow work all that out.
• Canada is just a nicer place than this country. You notice this as soon as you cross the border. Their road signs are like "Hey pal, please drive safely! It makes everyone happy!" In the US the same sign is "ATTENTION INSIGNIFICANT PROLES: YOUR SPEED IS MONITORED BY RADAR AND AIRCRAFT. IMMEDIATE PRISON FOR VIOLATORS. WE WILL TASER YOUR GENITALS TOO." And everyone you talk to anywhere up there is friendly and soft-spoken. And all the women are beautiful (but virtuous) and the streets are paved with candy and diamonds.
• I've been rather overwhelmed by emotions over the last couple weeks as the impending move is starting to feel more real. I'm very excited about it in lots of ways, but I'm conflicted because I somewhat feel like I'm running away from problems too. Maybe I'll dig more into that some other time. Or maybe it will be a later bullet.
  
• I still can't quite believe how well this whole grad school thing worked out for me. I honestly still don't quite know how I got my advisers to accept me. And then this week they put us up in their home for our visit. These are people who a few months ago I just knew as legends in the field, and next thing I know I'm accepted to their lab and crashing at their place. And I didn't even know if I'd get into grad school anywhere. It is just very weird and hard to process.
• The Lakers are so much better than it seems like they should be. And Denver isn't as good as people think they should be. Lakers in 5.
• Horus has been making huge strides the last few weeks. He regularly hangs out around us, and loves playing with a lot of toys. He and Katsu play together very nicely, and Hattori is getting a lot better with shy Horus too. Horus is starting to climb and jump up above ground level more often (we have various cat-climbing things around), and he's even taken a couple naps in human-occupied beds. He still won't consent to be petted, but if you try to touch his head now he sometimes will swat at your hand with his claws retracted. So he's just giving you a playful high-five instead of shredding your hand. He does a lot of chattering to himself in his pathetic-sounding meow voice. Good times with feline #3.
• I have to say something political right? Umm... Whatever. Fuck everyone.
• There is an amazing sushi place about a 10 or 15 minute walk from the apartment we want. It is kind of expensive though. That's going to be a problem.
• We'd have a dishwasher in that apartment. Holy shit that will be awesome. I estimate we spend an average of 20 to 30 minutes per day doing dishes now, so that will be a massive time savings. Not to mention we'll probably use a lot less water that way, which is only noteworthy for environmental reasons, as our rent will include water.

That's all.