A decent proposal

Posted by Glen in on 28 Sep. 2002, 1:28 pm

It’s true, Rachel and I are engaged now! Last weekend we traveled to Madison, Wisconsin (former home of the Onion) to celebrate her passing the qualifying exam - or so the story went. Needless to say, she didn’t expect to find a diamond ring in the bag of letters while we were playing Scrabble.

Rachel: What is this thing in the bag? This isn’t a letter.

Me: Will you marry me?

I don’t remember exactly how she responded, although it was something to the effect of “yes”. To answer everyone’s first question: We haven’t set an official date or location yet, but we hope it will be late next August at the Lake. As someone who is not especially interested in bridesmaid dresses or flowers, my primary responsibilities are to choose a photographer and DJ/band, create an informational website and, most importantly, plan the honeymoon to Bora Bora or someplace slightly more affordable. More wedding-related posts to follow.


Otto celebrates our engagement by munching on some grass.

  1. Comment from Kanishka on 30 Sep. 2002, 11:41 am :

    Excellent proposal, way better than hiding the ring in a box of Crackerjacks. Just think, your life will now be connected to Wisconsin forever.

    Also, I nominate Rachel for 50 points for “awesome ring power.” Does it shoot lasers?

  2. Comment from c. on 30 Sep. 2002, 8:14 pm :

    I think it would have been cooler if you’d rigged the scrabble pieces so that you could spell out “will you marry me” during the game (this would have scored you major points as well, with the w and the y’s). I guess this might be dangerous though, since you could lose track of letters and end up with something like “LAY MORE WILY RUM” or, worse, “ME, I’LL RAM YOU WRY” So, maybe the ring in the bag was best, after all.

    With regard to the Wine in A Box site….what the hell?? That guy is a PhD student in theoretical physics at Caltech for goodness sakes. He teaches Nuclear Physics. Guys in my department secretly, I think, have an intellectual inferiority complex with regard to physicists. This makes me wonder why.

    On a related note, I had to go to the Engineering Library today to pick up a book on dynamic optimization. It was my first time there. On the second floor is this study area, and the entire ceiling is covered with paper airplanes that had been tossed up into the cieling and their noses had stuck in it. I mean hundreds of them. It got me all nostalgic for the days of hanging out with Glen and Nick and Devin while they studied together. … Also the place stank of B.O.

    Oh, and again, congratulations Glen. If you need a purple glitter tux, I’m your go-to guy.

  3. Comment from Kanishka on 1 Oct. 2002, 8:46 am :

    The Wine in a Box site was better with the pictures. Alas. Follow preceding link for my second favorite example of this meme.

  4. Comment from EYC on 1 Oct. 2002, 10:03 pm :

    I’ll keep it simple - heartfelt congrats.

Back from the dead

Posted by Glen in on 27 Sep. 2002, 1:56 pm

Aerogeek is back! The domain name should be transferred by Monday. In other news,

!!!!! Details to follow after I finish transferring the website to its new home.

She

Posted by Glen in on 10 Sep. 2002, 11:29 am

passed!

  1. Comment from DAD on 10 Sep. 2002, 4:44 pm :

    Fantastic!!!! Now you can predict the next five years.

  2. Comment from your sister on 11 Sep. 2002, 11:40 am :

    Congratulations, Rachel!!!

  3. Comment from her mom on 30 Sep. 2002, 12:10 pm :

    She takes after her mother!!

Worst update ever

Posted by Glen in on 7 Sep. 2002, 3:42 pm

It’s been a slow news week. I fixed the photo album so it’s easier to use (no more annoying scroll bar), and the cats received fresh litter this morning. The 18th grade started last week, which turns out to be much like the 17th grade. Genetic Algorithms and Real-Time Avionics Systems are going well so far. Oh, and I discovered that speedskater and Olympic gold-medalist Bonnie Blair lives right here in Champaign. If anything more newsworthy happens, I’ll be sure to pass it along.

  1. Comment from EYC on 8 Sep. 2002, 10:04 pm :

    If you’re starting the 18th grade, then that ponders the question: do post-docs think that they’re in the 20-something-th grade? Does it attract chicks? “Hey babe, I’m a 21st grader…” Does the chick then reply, “*squeal* Aw, I feel special that a 21st grader talked to me… I’m only in 19th grade…”

    I should go back to school… I can impress women more easily than in the real world.

  2. Comment from Glen on 8 Sep. 2002, 11:20 pm :

    What could be sexier than an engineering post-doc?

  3. Comment from your sister on 9 Sep. 2002, 1:14 pm :

    “the cats received fresh litter this morning.” You know, I was just now sitting here at work wondering if your cats had, indeed, received some fresh litter today. And now you have filled me in. What a coincidence.
    I cleaned the lint tray of my clothes dryer last night. It had a lot of lint in it.

  4. Comment from Mark on 9 Sep. 2002, 9:23 pm :

    I tied my shoes this morning. But I took them off. So I’ll tie them again tomorrow.

  5. Comment from EYC on 10 Sep. 2002, 11:31 am :

    Sexier than a post doc? Hmm… I choose to keep this web page PG-rated, so I’ll digress. In other news, I gave myself fresh litter today - it’s not just for cats!

Crisis down at the MBNA

Posted by Glen in on 4 Sep. 2002, 9:51 am

My credit card company is in love with me. And after everything I’ve paid them in interest charges, they should be. Recently, however, I paid off my balance and used my newfound prestige to apply for a Platinum card from another company. Alert! Within a matter of hours, I received a phone call from the MBNA Crisis Management Center in Delaware. “Mr. Dimock, you’re our most valued customer, and we’d like to take you out to dinner and a movie to show our appreciation of all the interest charges you’ve paid on-time, etc… Say, have you applied for another credit card in the last 30 days?” Sneaky bastards, reading my credit report like that. They began persuading me to not cut up my MBNA card into little pieces and instead use it for the down payment on a Chevy Surburban - anything to jack up that balance again. I continued to hem and haw, explaining simply that the other card has a better rate. Finally, they agreed to rush me an MBNA Platinum card with an insanely low interest rate, hoping that I will “continue to use this card for major purchases.” I wonder if they’ll be all up in a tizzy when they discover that I haven’t been purchasing big-screen televisions and exotic vacations.

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