Thursday, April 27, 2006
Pronunciation
I was looking at cnn.com this morning to see what was in the news and discovered this link. I was immediately drawn to it because I'm from Wisconsin. I tried to access missprouncer.com, but I kept getting an error page. But still, I thought it was kind of fun to read the article, even though I would hardly consider that front page material on a national news website. Back home, I'm sure it's one of the top news stories. Anyway, I just wanted to share this with anyone that reads my blog.
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Epiphany
I've been studying thermodynamics the past couple weeks, since I have very little knowledge of that particular subject. I'm going through Maria's notes (she's a TA for thermo) and it's actually helping, even though I didn't start sitting in on the class until last week. And this is only because Jerry is teaching it. He's such a good teacher because he effectively brings the subject matter down to a level that people can understand.
But, I digress. My point is this. As I was copying the notes (I could have photocopied them, but I retain information better if I write it down), there was a lecture about the attractive forces between molecules. There was a short table listing different molecules (N2, O2, CO2, and H2O) and a value measuring the attractive forces between them. It turns out that H2O has a much larger attractive force than any of the other gases, and this is why H2O can change phase from vapor to liquid. I know this may not sound like much, and I'm sure other people knew this, but I didn't. (Or if I did, I didn't retain it.) It's just something I never really thought about, and to see it there made total sense to me. I had always just taken for granted that H2O could be in any phase, because that's what I've seen.
See, this is one of the things about grad school that sucks. (Yes, I know there are many, but I'm sticking around because I'm a masochist.) In the core classes, at least in the meteorology department, they don't focus on giving physical examples a lot of the time. The main focus is deriving equations, which is all well and good (I like equations, but I was a math major, so that's a given). But deriving equations just for the sake of deriving equations is not all that helpful. That's the problem I had with being a math major. In the upper-level classes we were proving things for the sake of proving them, and I didn't really see the point in that. Basically what I'm saying is that I need some sort of motivation as to why the equations are important. Physical examples help out so much.
Of course, it would also help if the profs realized that we all didn't come from a meteorological background, so they would keep going and going and expect us to follow what they're talking about. True, in our acceptance packets they recommend us reading a textbook on meteorology. And I didn't even buy that book because I was trying to save all the money I was earning to actually be able to move out here. (Isn't that a silly reason not to buy a textbook?) They also offer a intro to meteo course for new grads, which is somewhat helpful, but it's still cramming a BS in meteorology into one semester. So, we hit on topics very lightly and quickly.
My point in all this is that the department should highly encourage people to sit in on undergrad classes. That would have been so useful for me, because it's in undergrad classes that things are explained in physical terms as well as equations. But, anyway, I wanted to share my epiphany with the world, or at least the people who read my blog regularly.
But, I digress. My point is this. As I was copying the notes (I could have photocopied them, but I retain information better if I write it down), there was a lecture about the attractive forces between molecules. There was a short table listing different molecules (N2, O2, CO2, and H2O) and a value measuring the attractive forces between them. It turns out that H2O has a much larger attractive force than any of the other gases, and this is why H2O can change phase from vapor to liquid. I know this may not sound like much, and I'm sure other people knew this, but I didn't. (Or if I did, I didn't retain it.) It's just something I never really thought about, and to see it there made total sense to me. I had always just taken for granted that H2O could be in any phase, because that's what I've seen.
See, this is one of the things about grad school that sucks. (Yes, I know there are many, but I'm sticking around because I'm a masochist.) In the core classes, at least in the meteorology department, they don't focus on giving physical examples a lot of the time. The main focus is deriving equations, which is all well and good (I like equations, but I was a math major, so that's a given). But deriving equations just for the sake of deriving equations is not all that helpful. That's the problem I had with being a math major. In the upper-level classes we were proving things for the sake of proving them, and I didn't really see the point in that. Basically what I'm saying is that I need some sort of motivation as to why the equations are important. Physical examples help out so much.
Of course, it would also help if the profs realized that we all didn't come from a meteorological background, so they would keep going and going and expect us to follow what they're talking about. True, in our acceptance packets they recommend us reading a textbook on meteorology. And I didn't even buy that book because I was trying to save all the money I was earning to actually be able to move out here. (Isn't that a silly reason not to buy a textbook?) They also offer a intro to meteo course for new grads, which is somewhat helpful, but it's still cramming a BS in meteorology into one semester. So, we hit on topics very lightly and quickly.
My point in all this is that the department should highly encourage people to sit in on undergrad classes. That would have been so useful for me, because it's in undergrad classes that things are explained in physical terms as well as equations. But, anyway, I wanted to share my epiphany with the world, or at least the people who read my blog regularly.
Saturday, April 15, 2006
Tree Sweater
I was looking on cuteoverload.com (see link in sidebar) and at the top of the page was the following picture:
There's more to this story on a blog (click here) from someone in Seattle. I don't know why I was struck by this, but I do think it's cute, in a strange sort of way. Anyway, that's all for now.
There's more to this story on a blog (click here) from someone in Seattle. I don't know why I was struck by this, but I do think it's cute, in a strange sort of way. Anyway, that's all for now.
Thursday, April 13, 2006
Even More Randomness
I know that I should write an actual blog entry at some point, but lately a lot of random things have happened, and none of them would make for a long (or cohesive) entry, hence the random thoughts.
- Last night was poker night. Instead of Texas Hold 'Em, we played seven card stud. I think I like stud better than Hold 'Em. It requires a bit more strategy and some luck, but not as much as in Hold 'Em. Of course, I may be a little biased because I won the small tournament last night, which was fun. I just kept getting lucky, and semi-bluffing at some pots. The only bad thing is that it was a limit game and at the beginning the limits weren't going up all that fast, so it took a long time to actually finish the game. I think we started a little after 8:00 and I ended up leaving at 12:45.
- After the game, as I was driving home, there was an amazing thunderstorm. Lots of lightning, some nice cracks of thunder, basically very impressive. I love thunderstorms anyway, I always have. In fact, when there's a severe thunderstorm watch/warning, instead of going someplace safe, I sit by the window and watch. Anyway, last night was cool, and we had another one this afternoon. It wasn't quite as impressive, but still nice enough to comment on.
- I'm getting really tired of the bus drivers in this town. I got on a blue loop when I left Walker Building, and there was this woman bus driver. I've seen her before, so that wasn't the shocking part. First of all, she never really seems all that happy. I mean, I know that people who drive bus probably had higher expectations out of life and probably didn't think they'd end up doing that. Still, though, people should at least be friendly, or be able to moderately fake it. That didn't really surprise me either because she always looks pissed off about something. But today, she was just a horrid driver. Every stop we came to she seemed to slam on the brakes. Luckily, I got a seat, but there were some times where I had to brace myself on the back of the seat in front of me. Seriously, if you're going to drive a bus, you need to realize that it is a big vehicle and needs more time to stop than that. It's not that hard to realize. Plus, bus drivers should at least take enough care to not have people being thrown all over the place. It was just awful.
- One more random thought. This one about a commercial. It's for those EPT pregnancy tests. Specifically I'm talking about the one where this woman is running and a voiceover of her says, "I can't concentrate lately. Could I be pregnant?" OK, it may just be me, but I don't see how those two thoughts connect at all. Maybe it's because I'm a guy that I find that odd. If any women readers out there want to enlighten me, I'd love to hear about it. But, for me, I can't concentrate a lot of the time, and I'm fairly certain I'm not pregnant. Of course, if I were, I'd be exploiting it, getting as much money as I can. I'm going off on a tangent here, which is getting a little weird, so I'm going to stop and ask again for women's opinions on this commercial.
Well, I think that's it for now. At least that's all I can think of, but I'm sure more will come to me sooner or later.
- Last night was poker night. Instead of Texas Hold 'Em, we played seven card stud. I think I like stud better than Hold 'Em. It requires a bit more strategy and some luck, but not as much as in Hold 'Em. Of course, I may be a little biased because I won the small tournament last night, which was fun. I just kept getting lucky, and semi-bluffing at some pots. The only bad thing is that it was a limit game and at the beginning the limits weren't going up all that fast, so it took a long time to actually finish the game. I think we started a little after 8:00 and I ended up leaving at 12:45.
- After the game, as I was driving home, there was an amazing thunderstorm. Lots of lightning, some nice cracks of thunder, basically very impressive. I love thunderstorms anyway, I always have. In fact, when there's a severe thunderstorm watch/warning, instead of going someplace safe, I sit by the window and watch. Anyway, last night was cool, and we had another one this afternoon. It wasn't quite as impressive, but still nice enough to comment on.
- I'm getting really tired of the bus drivers in this town. I got on a blue loop when I left Walker Building, and there was this woman bus driver. I've seen her before, so that wasn't the shocking part. First of all, she never really seems all that happy. I mean, I know that people who drive bus probably had higher expectations out of life and probably didn't think they'd end up doing that. Still, though, people should at least be friendly, or be able to moderately fake it. That didn't really surprise me either because she always looks pissed off about something. But today, she was just a horrid driver. Every stop we came to she seemed to slam on the brakes. Luckily, I got a seat, but there were some times where I had to brace myself on the back of the seat in front of me. Seriously, if you're going to drive a bus, you need to realize that it is a big vehicle and needs more time to stop than that. It's not that hard to realize. Plus, bus drivers should at least take enough care to not have people being thrown all over the place. It was just awful.
- One more random thought. This one about a commercial. It's for those EPT pregnancy tests. Specifically I'm talking about the one where this woman is running and a voiceover of her says, "I can't concentrate lately. Could I be pregnant?" OK, it may just be me, but I don't see how those two thoughts connect at all. Maybe it's because I'm a guy that I find that odd. If any women readers out there want to enlighten me, I'd love to hear about it. But, for me, I can't concentrate a lot of the time, and I'm fairly certain I'm not pregnant. Of course, if I were, I'd be exploiting it, getting as much money as I can. I'm going off on a tangent here, which is getting a little weird, so I'm going to stop and ask again for women's opinions on this commercial.
Well, I think that's it for now. At least that's all I can think of, but I'm sure more will come to me sooner or later.
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
More randomness
It seems like lately all I've been having is random thoughts. I don't know why I want to share them in my blog, but I do. So here are some more.
- I keep forgetting Easter is this Sunday. One of my students today came up at the end of lab and told me to enjoy my holiday weekend and I think I must have looked funny or dazed or something. Then he said something about Easter, so that helped me to remember. I hardly consider it a holiday anymore, mainly because I can't go home for it. And the fact that we don't even get Good Friday off here. So, it just comes and goes, and I don't really make a big deal of it.
- I've been having this craving for milkshakes lately. I don't really understand it. But, I've had one from many different places in town, but nothing can compare to Culvers, which hasn't quite made it this far east. Those are SO good.
- I'm so glad it's finally starting to feel like spring. It's nice to go outside with no jacket on. The only problem is it's still chilly when I leave for campus, so I wear pants instead of shorts. And then when I leave, I'm really warm. I think I need to have a separate wardrobe for Walker Building.
- I don't know if this is just me, but sometimes when I'm looking at words, they seem not to be spelled right or just kind of look funny, even though they are correctly spelled. I'm thinking it's just me. Of course, if anyone else feels the same way, I'd really like to know I'm not alone.
- I skipped my second group meeting in two weeks. Damn. I'm so upset. (I apologize for the sarcasm dripping down your screen.) Seriously, I don't really care about them anymore. Ever since He-who-must-not-be-named (no, not Voldemort) basically said that my presentation wasn't up to snuff, I couldn't care less. In fact, I was intending on having him on my committee, but now, that's not going to happen. I'm sure Ray won't be thrilled, but I don't care. I've just about lost all respect for You-know-who (again, not Voldemort), and I don't think I could deal with having a committee member that I don't respect. So, that's just my theory on the whole thing. I suppose I'll have to talk to Ray about it soon, and I'm just going to be honest.
- It seems like all the undergraduates have so much energy when it's nice out. I tried to teach a little bit today (very little since it was another video day) and I couldn't get them to shut up. I even asked them if they could shut up, and some people laughed, while others just kept yammering away. But, I think they were relatively pleased having a video day, and it was short as well. Only about a half-hour. I can totally deal with that.
- Yesterday I had to mail some stuff, so as I left work, I walked to the mailbox on campus and then walked up to catch a bus to the BJC (after getting a shake at the Creamery). I was waiting there for some time when someone walked up to those of us that were waiting and told us that there had been an accident by the library and no traffic was getting through. To be honest, I was shocked! People in Pennsylvania are such good drivers! (Yeah, I'm sorry about the sarcasm dripping down your screen again.) I know that there are bad drivers in every state, but PA seems to have a lot of them.
- I just read an article about the Dixie Chicks and how the first single they released from the newest CD is called "Not Ready to Make Nice." This is in reference to the comment Natalie made about being ashamed to share a state with the President. I loved their music before that, and I loved them even more after that. And I'm thinking I'll be loving them even more with this new CD. But, what I find really sad is that a lot of stations refuse to play the single because they don't want to open old wounds. I, personally, didn't know there were old wounds. I thought they were still fresh. Anyway, I do like that they aren't backing away from what they said. And the fact that stations and people are refusing to listen to their music just shows how closed-minded some can be.
Well, I think that's about it for now. It's almost time for Gilmore Girls, and I should try to get some studying done, but we know that's not going to happen anymore tonight, don't we? Oh, well. The exam is still about a month away. The fact that I'm already studying surprised the hell out of me. And on that note, I'm off.
- I keep forgetting Easter is this Sunday. One of my students today came up at the end of lab and told me to enjoy my holiday weekend and I think I must have looked funny or dazed or something. Then he said something about Easter, so that helped me to remember. I hardly consider it a holiday anymore, mainly because I can't go home for it. And the fact that we don't even get Good Friday off here. So, it just comes and goes, and I don't really make a big deal of it.
- I've been having this craving for milkshakes lately. I don't really understand it. But, I've had one from many different places in town, but nothing can compare to Culvers, which hasn't quite made it this far east. Those are SO good.
- I'm so glad it's finally starting to feel like spring. It's nice to go outside with no jacket on. The only problem is it's still chilly when I leave for campus, so I wear pants instead of shorts. And then when I leave, I'm really warm. I think I need to have a separate wardrobe for Walker Building.
- I don't know if this is just me, but sometimes when I'm looking at words, they seem not to be spelled right or just kind of look funny, even though they are correctly spelled. I'm thinking it's just me. Of course, if anyone else feels the same way, I'd really like to know I'm not alone.
- I skipped my second group meeting in two weeks. Damn. I'm so upset. (I apologize for the sarcasm dripping down your screen.) Seriously, I don't really care about them anymore. Ever since He-who-must-not-be-named (no, not Voldemort) basically said that my presentation wasn't up to snuff, I couldn't care less. In fact, I was intending on having him on my committee, but now, that's not going to happen. I'm sure Ray won't be thrilled, but I don't care. I've just about lost all respect for You-know-who (again, not Voldemort), and I don't think I could deal with having a committee member that I don't respect. So, that's just my theory on the whole thing. I suppose I'll have to talk to Ray about it soon, and I'm just going to be honest.
- It seems like all the undergraduates have so much energy when it's nice out. I tried to teach a little bit today (very little since it was another video day) and I couldn't get them to shut up. I even asked them if they could shut up, and some people laughed, while others just kept yammering away. But, I think they were relatively pleased having a video day, and it was short as well. Only about a half-hour. I can totally deal with that.
- Yesterday I had to mail some stuff, so as I left work, I walked to the mailbox on campus and then walked up to catch a bus to the BJC (after getting a shake at the Creamery). I was waiting there for some time when someone walked up to those of us that were waiting and told us that there had been an accident by the library and no traffic was getting through. To be honest, I was shocked! People in Pennsylvania are such good drivers! (Yeah, I'm sorry about the sarcasm dripping down your screen again.) I know that there are bad drivers in every state, but PA seems to have a lot of them.
- I just read an article about the Dixie Chicks and how the first single they released from the newest CD is called "Not Ready to Make Nice." This is in reference to the comment Natalie made about being ashamed to share a state with the President. I loved their music before that, and I loved them even more after that. And I'm thinking I'll be loving them even more with this new CD. But, what I find really sad is that a lot of stations refuse to play the single because they don't want to open old wounds. I, personally, didn't know there were old wounds. I thought they were still fresh. Anyway, I do like that they aren't backing away from what they said. And the fact that stations and people are refusing to listen to their music just shows how closed-minded some can be.
Well, I think that's about it for now. It's almost time for Gilmore Girls, and I should try to get some studying done, but we know that's not going to happen anymore tonight, don't we? Oh, well. The exam is still about a month away. The fact that I'm already studying surprised the hell out of me. And on that note, I'm off.
Sunday, April 09, 2006
Some Randomness
It's been so long since I've written an entry on here. I feel like the past month was just a blur. But in this entry, I'm just going to throw some random thoughts out there, and next time (which hopefully won't be so far away) I'll have a proper entry.
- OK, I know the Oscars were a long time ago, and I had intended on writing an entire entry commenting on what I thought. So, I'll just summarize it here. The best movie won. That's my opinion. Yes, Brokeback Mountain was groundbreaking, and it was a good movie. But when I left the theater, it didn't make that much of an impression on me. Crash, however, left me thinking long after I saw it. Plus, with Brokeback, it wasn't like there were a lot of instances where you could tell that Jack and Ennis were a couple: one sex scene, one lengthy makeout scene, but that's about all. That doesn't really equal love for me. But, it's just my opinion, and I'll leave it at that.
- The other day, I was clipping a stray hair from my eyebrows and I was left wondering what is the point of having eyebrows. They really don't seem to have a real purpose. If anyone wants to clue me in, feel free.
- Last week was incredibly tiring. The other TA for METEO 3 had to have emergency surgery, which I found out about Monday night, so I volunteered to cover her classes last week. Unfortunately, there are three labs on Tuesday and they are back to back from 11:15 until 5:30. So, I was very, very tired at the end of the day. Then I had to teach two more on Wednesday. I think I'm just too nice for my own good. And that I seriously overestimate my endurance for teaching. It's finally been worked out that I won't have to do that for the rest of the semester, so I'm happy about that, but I do think I should get some sort of bonus. Or something more than a "thank you" for doing twice the amount of work that I should have done. Of course, I may be being just a little selfish....
- Speaking of teaching, there was this one kid in my morning lab on Wednesday who was being quite the bitch. I took two points off of her lab because she forgot to label her isopleths, but she had everything else perfect. And she has the gall to try to get those points back. Well, I wasn't about to back down, and then she just sat in a huff and complained that she doesn't care anymore. Well, boo-freakin-hoo. I don't know how many times I've told people to label their isopleths, but still people forget. Of course, as I was grading her lab this weekend, I took a little more pleasure in taking off points. And if she doesn't watch it, I may just make a little mistake in calculating the grades. The lesson here: don't piss me off. I'm a scorpio, and once people get on my bad side, they stay there for a good long time.
- I finally got to play poker again on Thursday. It's been such a long time. We were supposed to play seven card stud, but we didn't really have enough people. So we went back to Texas Hold 'Em. Unfortunately, I wasn't catching any cards, so I didn't make it as far as I would have liked. What can I do, though? Luck wasn't with me that night.
- I had a team meeting a week ago, with everyone that is working on the carbon budget on the east coast continental shelf. I gave a presentation, and I seemed to get good reviews and feedback from people. That made me feel validated, and not like an utter waste of space that a certain other professor made me feel. I'm still a little bitter about that. Seriously, he bases his email on one presentation. I'd like to see him make another conclusion in his research using one data point. He would never do that! But whatever. I don't have to please him. This whole debacle made me decide not to have him on my committee. That's all there is to it. I'd rather have people who will give constructive criticism, and he doesn't really do that well. To paraphrase Rory from Gilmore Girls, he had all the tact of a Nazi storm trooper. (That's a double insult because he is German.)
- I can't believe it's April already. Where has the time gone? It seems like time goes faster and faster as I get older. I'd love for it to slow down a bit. I know it won't, but it would be nice.
- I've become addicted to playing speed online. It's at superarcade.com. It's just like what I used to play as an undergrad with a friend between our lecture class and the lab. So much fun! It doesn't take a whole lot of strategy, just speed (hence the name) and luck. One time I was playing it online and I got nearly to level 30. I haven't been able to get nearly that far lately, though.
Well, I guess that's it. I'm toying with the idea of creating another blog for some commentary I write about the soaps I watch. (Yes, I like daytime dramas.... ) We'll see, though. I may not have enough time to keep it going, but I think it would be fun, as long as it doesn't get to drama filled between commentors. I'll put it in the sidebar if I do create one. And with that, I'm going to stop typing.
- OK, I know the Oscars were a long time ago, and I had intended on writing an entire entry commenting on what I thought. So, I'll just summarize it here. The best movie won. That's my opinion. Yes, Brokeback Mountain was groundbreaking, and it was a good movie. But when I left the theater, it didn't make that much of an impression on me. Crash, however, left me thinking long after I saw it. Plus, with Brokeback, it wasn't like there were a lot of instances where you could tell that Jack and Ennis were a couple: one sex scene, one lengthy makeout scene, but that's about all. That doesn't really equal love for me. But, it's just my opinion, and I'll leave it at that.
- The other day, I was clipping a stray hair from my eyebrows and I was left wondering what is the point of having eyebrows. They really don't seem to have a real purpose. If anyone wants to clue me in, feel free.
- Last week was incredibly tiring. The other TA for METEO 3 had to have emergency surgery, which I found out about Monday night, so I volunteered to cover her classes last week. Unfortunately, there are three labs on Tuesday and they are back to back from 11:15 until 5:30. So, I was very, very tired at the end of the day. Then I had to teach two more on Wednesday. I think I'm just too nice for my own good. And that I seriously overestimate my endurance for teaching. It's finally been worked out that I won't have to do that for the rest of the semester, so I'm happy about that, but I do think I should get some sort of bonus. Or something more than a "thank you" for doing twice the amount of work that I should have done. Of course, I may be being just a little selfish....
- Speaking of teaching, there was this one kid in my morning lab on Wednesday who was being quite the bitch. I took two points off of her lab because she forgot to label her isopleths, but she had everything else perfect. And she has the gall to try to get those points back. Well, I wasn't about to back down, and then she just sat in a huff and complained that she doesn't care anymore. Well, boo-freakin-hoo. I don't know how many times I've told people to label their isopleths, but still people forget. Of course, as I was grading her lab this weekend, I took a little more pleasure in taking off points. And if she doesn't watch it, I may just make a little mistake in calculating the grades. The lesson here: don't piss me off. I'm a scorpio, and once people get on my bad side, they stay there for a good long time.
- I finally got to play poker again on Thursday. It's been such a long time. We were supposed to play seven card stud, but we didn't really have enough people. So we went back to Texas Hold 'Em. Unfortunately, I wasn't catching any cards, so I didn't make it as far as I would have liked. What can I do, though? Luck wasn't with me that night.
- I had a team meeting a week ago, with everyone that is working on the carbon budget on the east coast continental shelf. I gave a presentation, and I seemed to get good reviews and feedback from people. That made me feel validated, and not like an utter waste of space that a certain other professor made me feel. I'm still a little bitter about that. Seriously, he bases his email on one presentation. I'd like to see him make another conclusion in his research using one data point. He would never do that! But whatever. I don't have to please him. This whole debacle made me decide not to have him on my committee. That's all there is to it. I'd rather have people who will give constructive criticism, and he doesn't really do that well. To paraphrase Rory from Gilmore Girls, he had all the tact of a Nazi storm trooper. (That's a double insult because he is German.)
- I can't believe it's April already. Where has the time gone? It seems like time goes faster and faster as I get older. I'd love for it to slow down a bit. I know it won't, but it would be nice.
- I've become addicted to playing speed online. It's at superarcade.com. It's just like what I used to play as an undergrad with a friend between our lecture class and the lab. So much fun! It doesn't take a whole lot of strategy, just speed (hence the name) and luck. One time I was playing it online and I got nearly to level 30. I haven't been able to get nearly that far lately, though.
Well, I guess that's it. I'm toying with the idea of creating another blog for some commentary I write about the soaps I watch. (Yes, I like daytime dramas.... ) We'll see, though. I may not have enough time to keep it going, but I think it would be fun, as long as it doesn't get to drama filled between commentors. I'll put it in the sidebar if I do create one. And with that, I'm going to stop typing.
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Another Rant
It's been a while since I posted, and I feel compelled to write this out in order to get over it. So, here goes.
Today I had to give a group meeting talk, which is usually no big deal. We get up there, talk about whatever we're doing, and get feedback from the group (usually only the professors). So, today I decided to present stuff on the various talks I went to at the Ocean Science meeting. This was mainly because since I got back, I've either been teaching or grading, with a week off for spring break (I had to go visit my family since I haven't been home since Christmas). So, I put together what was a pretty good talk about the different causes of hypoxia and regions where hypoxia was prevalent.
So, I finished arranging the slides for my talk at about noon, and the meeting starts at 12:30. Usually I'm a bit more prepared, but having the meetings on Tuesday is throwing me off a bit. The first thing that pissed me off was that the one professor there (I'm not naming names to avoid that professor accidentally stumbling across my blog, not that he would do anything for fun on the internet) was basically not paying any attention to what I was saying. He'd be looking around the room, looking incredibly disinterested. I think that's incredibly rude. The least he could do is pay attention or zone out while facing the front.
Anyway, I had to rush back from the meeting to get ready to teach. Damn them for making the meeting later so I have to rush around like a chicken with it's head cut off. I taught what I felt was one of the best lectures I've given, and then I go back to my office. A student came with me because she wanted help on the lab, which I'm always willing to do. After helping her, I went to check my email, and one of the messages is from the professor in question. He basically wrote that we should be better prepared for our talks and make them relevant to our research. I'm thinking that the message was directed at me, but sent to the entire group that goes to these meetings (about 10 people in all). And then, as a final little jab, he says that "many of [us] give excellent talks."
Now, I don't care if he doesn't like my talk. I thought it was interesting, and it actually garnered more questions than the typical presentations. Especially this professor's, who like to make people feel ignorant at the end of the talk. The thing that irks me most is that he didn't have to common courtesy to confront me one on one. Nor did he have the tact to state things a little more nicely. And the fact that he sent it to everyone in the group is a bit cowardly.
So, frankly, I'm pretty pissed off at him at the moment. I'm starting to calm down about it, but it just annoys me when people make me feel less than worthy of their support, or even attention. It's not like I need any help in that department, with the depression and all.
But, basically my feeling that I don't care if he likes my talk or not. My feeling is that the talk, while being scientific, should also be interesting. Most of the time I see talks that meet the first goal, but overall, the majority of the talks I've seen aren't all that interesting. Basically, he can go *&#% himself for all I care.
OK, I'm done ranting now. I return you to your regular programming.
Today I had to give a group meeting talk, which is usually no big deal. We get up there, talk about whatever we're doing, and get feedback from the group (usually only the professors). So, today I decided to present stuff on the various talks I went to at the Ocean Science meeting. This was mainly because since I got back, I've either been teaching or grading, with a week off for spring break (I had to go visit my family since I haven't been home since Christmas). So, I put together what was a pretty good talk about the different causes of hypoxia and regions where hypoxia was prevalent.
So, I finished arranging the slides for my talk at about noon, and the meeting starts at 12:30. Usually I'm a bit more prepared, but having the meetings on Tuesday is throwing me off a bit. The first thing that pissed me off was that the one professor there (I'm not naming names to avoid that professor accidentally stumbling across my blog, not that he would do anything for fun on the internet) was basically not paying any attention to what I was saying. He'd be looking around the room, looking incredibly disinterested. I think that's incredibly rude. The least he could do is pay attention or zone out while facing the front.
Anyway, I had to rush back from the meeting to get ready to teach. Damn them for making the meeting later so I have to rush around like a chicken with it's head cut off. I taught what I felt was one of the best lectures I've given, and then I go back to my office. A student came with me because she wanted help on the lab, which I'm always willing to do. After helping her, I went to check my email, and one of the messages is from the professor in question. He basically wrote that we should be better prepared for our talks and make them relevant to our research. I'm thinking that the message was directed at me, but sent to the entire group that goes to these meetings (about 10 people in all). And then, as a final little jab, he says that "many of [us] give excellent talks."
Now, I don't care if he doesn't like my talk. I thought it was interesting, and it actually garnered more questions than the typical presentations. Especially this professor's, who like to make people feel ignorant at the end of the talk. The thing that irks me most is that he didn't have to common courtesy to confront me one on one. Nor did he have the tact to state things a little more nicely. And the fact that he sent it to everyone in the group is a bit cowardly.
So, frankly, I'm pretty pissed off at him at the moment. I'm starting to calm down about it, but it just annoys me when people make me feel less than worthy of their support, or even attention. It's not like I need any help in that department, with the depression and all.
But, basically my feeling that I don't care if he likes my talk or not. My feeling is that the talk, while being scientific, should also be interesting. Most of the time I see talks that meet the first goal, but overall, the majority of the talks I've seen aren't all that interesting. Basically, he can go *&#% himself for all I care.
OK, I'm done ranting now. I return you to your regular programming.
Monday, March 13, 2006
Teaching Rant
My first post back from spring break was actually going to be about the Oscars, but I just have to put in a little rant about the labs I'm teaching. So, here goes.
I'm catching up on my grading because I was out of town on a conference for a week and then there was spring break. So, I had three labs to grade during spring break, which I didn't quite get done because I wanted to enjoy my break a little bit. Anyway, while I was gone, my labs had two assignments to do, and I was being nice and giving them until I got back to do them and turn them in. At least I thought I was being nice to them. They, however, proceeded to punish me by either not doing the labs and still handing them in, or by doing them so convolutedly that I can't tell what the hell they're thinking.
I realize that all humans beings are natural procrastinators. I wouldn't have the Procrastinator's Creed on the wall above my computer if I didn't know that. However, I would have thought that by the time people reach the college level, they'd at least be able to realize how much time they're going to need to spend on any given assignment and devote that much of their lives to getting it done well. Of course, this is a general education course I'm talking about, so most of the students are just taking it to fulfill university requirements and therefore don't give a flying rat's ass about how well they do in it, so long as they pass the course. So, I guess I'm not completely surprised that many people didn't finish their assignments.
I think the thing that irritates me the most is that people didn't even ask for help. I told them that lab was optional the week I was gone, and they probably stopped listening to me list the times and places the lecturer was going to be there, thus not even knowing that there was going to be help available. And, from what he told me, two people showed up to each of the three available times. I also told them I'd be checking my email regularly while I was away, and I hardly heard anything from anyone. So, the opportunity to have questions answered passed by and they ended up screwing themselves, and pissing me off in the process. And there, they are screwing themselves even more because when I get irritated by what I'm grading, I tend to become less impartial and less forgiving of mistakes. I know I shouldn't be like that, but I can't help it. I'm a hard grader to begin with. I know this well, because I always get students complaining on the evaluations about how tough I grade (and some even grudgingly admit that they learned from it, even though that was only in the dynamics class.... the kids I teach this semester probably don't care if they learn from my grading). But, they're just making it harder for themselves.
Anyway, I just had to rant about that. I told my lab today that I was pretty disappointed with them and their performance. And my labs during the next two days are going to be hearing the same thing because I am disappointed. I realize the labs that they had to do while I was gone aren't exactly using easy to understand concepts, but they still could have made better use of their numerous resources instead of waiting until the last minute to do the lab.
Well, after all that, I'm heading to bed and hoping tomorrow brings a better round of grading. I don't have a lot of hope, but I do have some, which is good, I guess.
I'm catching up on my grading because I was out of town on a conference for a week and then there was spring break. So, I had three labs to grade during spring break, which I didn't quite get done because I wanted to enjoy my break a little bit. Anyway, while I was gone, my labs had two assignments to do, and I was being nice and giving them until I got back to do them and turn them in. At least I thought I was being nice to them. They, however, proceeded to punish me by either not doing the labs and still handing them in, or by doing them so convolutedly that I can't tell what the hell they're thinking.
I realize that all humans beings are natural procrastinators. I wouldn't have the Procrastinator's Creed on the wall above my computer if I didn't know that. However, I would have thought that by the time people reach the college level, they'd at least be able to realize how much time they're going to need to spend on any given assignment and devote that much of their lives to getting it done well. Of course, this is a general education course I'm talking about, so most of the students are just taking it to fulfill university requirements and therefore don't give a flying rat's ass about how well they do in it, so long as they pass the course. So, I guess I'm not completely surprised that many people didn't finish their assignments.
I think the thing that irritates me the most is that people didn't even ask for help. I told them that lab was optional the week I was gone, and they probably stopped listening to me list the times and places the lecturer was going to be there, thus not even knowing that there was going to be help available. And, from what he told me, two people showed up to each of the three available times. I also told them I'd be checking my email regularly while I was away, and I hardly heard anything from anyone. So, the opportunity to have questions answered passed by and they ended up screwing themselves, and pissing me off in the process. And there, they are screwing themselves even more because when I get irritated by what I'm grading, I tend to become less impartial and less forgiving of mistakes. I know I shouldn't be like that, but I can't help it. I'm a hard grader to begin with. I know this well, because I always get students complaining on the evaluations about how tough I grade (and some even grudgingly admit that they learned from it, even though that was only in the dynamics class.... the kids I teach this semester probably don't care if they learn from my grading). But, they're just making it harder for themselves.
Anyway, I just had to rant about that. I told my lab today that I was pretty disappointed with them and their performance. And my labs during the next two days are going to be hearing the same thing because I am disappointed. I realize the labs that they had to do while I was gone aren't exactly using easy to understand concepts, but they still could have made better use of their numerous resources instead of waiting until the last minute to do the lab.
Well, after all that, I'm heading to bed and hoping tomorrow brings a better round of grading. I don't have a lot of hope, but I do have some, which is good, I guess.
Friday, March 03, 2006
Passing on a meme....
I've kind of been putting this off for a while now. I've been memed by Josh, and this is the first time that I've had a lot of time to search for pictures to use in it. Here's what this particular meme is asking for:
The person who's been memed thinks of 3-5 movies that make them weep. Like really weep. Then that person goes to Google images and finds a pic from the movie that doesn't totally give it away, and paste the image into his/her blog. Then, the memed one highlights the pic and creates a link to the movie's IMDB page (that way, if someone doesn't know what movie the pic is from, they can click on the picture and it'll take them to IMDB so they can find out!). The final step is that the memed becomes the memer.
I'm modifying this a bit. Instead of limiting it to movies, I'm including pictures from episodes of TV shows that have made me cry. There are a couple reasons for this. One, I don't want to copy other people's movies that they've already used. Two, I tend to be much more invested in the characters on longer-running TV shows than I am in movies. Three, I've seen some sad movies recently, but none of them have made me cry. I just haven't been able to recently for some reason. I'm also not linking these to the IMDB pages. I'll have people make guesses for them and then tell them if they're right. (The TV episodes should be really easy for Karen, especially, since we both have the same fondness for a show in particular.)
I only have three pictures for this. I wanted to include more, but it's damn near impossible to find images from the soap episodes that have made me really cry.
I guess I have to pass this meme on to some people. Since there are only two people whose blogs I link to that actually know they're linked on my blog, this meme goes to:
The person who's been memed thinks of 3-5 movies that make them weep. Like really weep. Then that person goes to Google images and finds a pic from the movie that doesn't totally give it away, and paste the image into his/her blog. Then, the memed one highlights the pic and creates a link to the movie's IMDB page (that way, if someone doesn't know what movie the pic is from, they can click on the picture and it'll take them to IMDB so they can find out!). The final step is that the memed becomes the memer.
I'm modifying this a bit. Instead of limiting it to movies, I'm including pictures from episodes of TV shows that have made me cry. There are a couple reasons for this. One, I don't want to copy other people's movies that they've already used. Two, I tend to be much more invested in the characters on longer-running TV shows than I am in movies. Three, I've seen some sad movies recently, but none of them have made me cry. I just haven't been able to recently for some reason. I'm also not linking these to the IMDB pages. I'll have people make guesses for them and then tell them if they're right. (The TV episodes should be really easy for Karen, especially, since we both have the same fondness for a show in particular.)
I only have three pictures for this. I wanted to include more, but it's damn near impossible to find images from the soap episodes that have made me really cry.
I guess I have to pass this meme on to some people. Since there are only two people whose blogs I link to that actually know they're linked on my blog, this meme goes to:
Karen
Steve
Steve
So, on with the pictures....
1.) Even though I am not a huge fan of this movie, it did still make me cry.....
2.) TV show episode #1: I don't know how anyone couldn't cry during this episode....
3.) TV episode #2: Same show, different episode....
OK, have fun with this! :)
1.) Even though I am not a huge fan of this movie, it did still make me cry.....
2.) TV show episode #1: I don't know how anyone couldn't cry during this episode....
3.) TV episode #2: Same show, different episode....
OK, have fun with this! :)Sunday, February 26, 2006
What I did on my trip to Hawaii
I got back from Hawaii late this afternoon. Overall it was a pretty nice trip, although there were a few rough patches here and there, which I'll outline in detail in this entry.
I left last Saturday at 6 AM. If you know me, you know that I'm not a morning person whatsoever. So, the whole being up and coherent enough to board a plane was a bit difficult. But, once I got on (after going through security twice because I left a shaving knife in my travel grooming kit completely unintentionally) the flights themselves went fairly smoothly. I flew to Detroit, which isn't new to me. I've been to that airport several times. From there I went to LAX. I always pictured LAX to be this really big airport with hundreds of gates spanning as far as the eye can see. I was rather disappointed with the reality. The terminal I was in had maybe eight gates, and not a whole lot to choose from foodwise. I did have to eat something, though, because apparently serving meals on a longish flight has become a thing of the past. So, I bought some terribly overpriced Burger King food, and then went to a gift shop to buy some snacky-type foods for the flight to Honolulu. I had plenty of time to do all this because my flight from LAX was delayed. So, even with getting there an hour later than anticipated (due to strong headwinds), I ended up having a longer layover than I was originally intended to have. After that, the flight to Honolulu was pretty smooth as well. I slept for part of it, because I just couldn't stay awake much longer. When I got to Honolulu, I had to wait quite some time for my luggage to make it to the baggage claim, and then I took a shuttle, which apparently stops at just about every hotel in Waikiki. I think I got to the hotel around 10 PM Hawaii time, which would be 3 AM eastern. So, I was pretty damn tired and all I wanted to do was curl up in bed and sleep.
The following day was just a relaxing walk around Waikiki day. I went to the Honolulu zoo (which isn't very impressive compared to the Milwaukee County Zoo or the NEW (Northeast Wisconsin) Zoo) and spent some time looking at animals and taking pictures, because I tend to be very touristy when I go places. They were also having an art show along the beach, so I walked around there to see the different things that were available. Following that, Katie and I, since I was sharing the hotel room with her, went to the opening reception for the Ocean Science meeting, which involved free beer. I couldn't pass up anything free. I am a college student after all. Then I tried to get my materials for the meeting, which at first I thought would be a breeze because the "S" line was very short. This was very impressive since last names that begin with S seem to be very, very common. However, when I got there, after spelling my name to the person manning that line at least five times, my registration was nowhere to be found. So, I went to the Information booth and asked about it. The girl at that booth told me that just because I submitted an abstract doesn't mean I've registered. I thought to myself, "No shit, Sherlock." She then proceeded to tell me, in a very condescending, bitchy way, that I needed to bring proof of my registration in order to actually register. So, I was a bit flustered, and pissed off that I couldn't just register nice and neatly and be done with it. After that, Katie and I met up with someone she met on the plane, who was also going to the same conference and we (with some of his friends) went to TGIFridays for dinner. I wasn't all that hungry because I had lunch at the Cheesecake Factory, so I just had a drink and watched them all eat. That ended that evening.
Monday morning I was up relatively early and on the phone with Diane from the Meteo Department to get her to fax me the webpage that said I had registered. I did that and went to the convention center and showed it to the people at the information booth. This time the actual organizer of the meeting was there, and it was determined that just because I had that page didn't mean I actually registered. Basically, something happened with the transaction so that the fee didn't get submitted to them. So, they made me fill out a lost registration form and I'll have to email them telling them that they should contact Diane for payment. That took up most of the morning. Because of that, I missed out on going to Pearl Harbor, but I wasn't going to let it completely ruin my day. I decided, on the spur of the moment, that I would take a bus to the North Shore to see what the beaches looked like up there. It's so much nicer there than in Waikiki, mainly because it's less touristy. I went to Sunset Beach that day and took several pictures of the scenery and avoided some rain. Then I went back and caught a bus that had the same number route as the one I rode there on, expecting it to go back the way it came. Little did I know that the bus changed route numbers and went around the island on the other side. So, I unfortunately missed out on the poster session that day (although I did look at the important ones before I left, those being Katie's and Kathy's) but it was worth it. Plus, it's a very cheap way to see much of the island. That took up the rest of my day.
Tuesday was my day in the spotlight to present my poster. Unfortunately, I had to have it put up by 8:30 AM. But, that gave me time to talk with some of the US ECoS people beforehand. I talked extensively with one of the team members and we're collaborating to write a paper together describing the climatologies of oxygen along much of the east coast of North America. So, that was pretty cool. Then in between the oral carbon cycle sessions (which I didn't really gain a lot from) I was chatting with one of the other team members that I just connected with the first time I met her. So, that was pretty fun. Then, all of a sudden, it was time to go to stand by my poster. I had a pretty steady flow of people that wanted to chat about my work, which was nice. I even talked to a prominent NSF guy who basically encouraged me to keep going with my work, which was very nice. The two hours for the poster session seemed to go very fast, though. After that, I went out to eat with some members of the US ECoS team, and we got caught in a significant downpour. I even saw some flashes of lightning. Seriously, the first few days I was there, I felt like I was in a warmer version of State College, because it seemed to be cloudy all the time. Dinner was fun, though. Then we went to Cold Stone Creamery for dessert, and then I caught a bus to get back to the hotel room.
Wednesday was another day I needed to go to the oral session on the carbon cycle. So, I did that for most of the day and then went to the poster session to look at what other people were doing. I found a couple posters on turbulence that I found very interesting, so I chatted with those people for a bit. Then I went to the exhibitioners to see what sorts of free stuff I could collect. It was a little disappointing, though. I only got a couple pens, some pamphlets, and a small fish and dolphin (fake, of course). After that, Katie and I went out for Thai food, which was nice. It was sort of a bonding moment, where we chatted about lots of different things. It was definitely a good time. Then we got back to the hotel room in time to watch a repeat of the pilot of Lost, which happened to be pretty much the only TV we watched, but since Lost is filmed on Oahu, we wanted to see it. Plus, Katie hadn't become addicted to Lost yet, although she's gottened hooked just by the pilot.
Thursday I decided to take the morning off and go back to the North Shore. There wasn't much going on at the conference that I was incredibly interested in. Plus, I saw that there was a high surf advisory for the northern parts of all the islands of Hawaii, so I figured the waves would be pretty impressive. They definitely were. I sat on the beach and got lost in them, not literally, though. I even kind of ignored the book I brought along to read and just watched the water. It's such a calming thing. It made me realize that I really need to live near a body of water after I finish grad school. Some of the waves were so impressive that I climbed up on some of the rocks to get a good picture of a splash hitting them. I hope those turn out well. After the beach, I went to the poster session and had a wonderful discussion with a professor sutdying hypoxia in the Hood Canal in Washington. It was really nice, and I even got her card so we could continue to correspond with each other. Since my research is hopefully going to go in that direction, it was very good to make contact with someone whose doing similar research as I am. After the poster session, they had an aloha reception on the roof of the convention center. I went there because it was free food. They had some wonderful fruit and several roasted pigs. It was very yummy food. After that, since it was a beautiful night, I walked back to the hotel on the main street by the beach. There were some interesting sights there, mainly from various street performers. It was pretty cool.
Friday was a relatively slow day. I only went to the couple afternoon oral sessions, which were very interesting, dealing with hypoxia and how it's model, some data that's been analyzed, and how it affects biology across the food chain. It was very interesting stuff. After that, Katie and I were planning on going to dinner and see a jazz show. We went to dinner at Ciao Mein, and Italian/Chinese restaurant. Very good food, but my eyes were bigger than my stomach. Then the club we wanted to go to had a dress code (collared shirt and pants for a guy), so we walked along the main drag and went into various stores looking for a cheap collared shirt for me. We were having so much fun window shopping that we lost track of time and never made it to the jazz show.
Saturday was my last day in Hawaii. I had a late afternoon flight out, so I wanted to wear myself out a bit. I decided that I'd go climb Diamond Head, a dormant volcano from the top of which you get a 360 degree few of Oahu. That was quite the hike, proving that I should probably get in better shape. But the view from the top was totally worth it. After that, I went back to the hotel and got ready for my shuttle to take me to the airport.
This is when things started to get a little frustrating. First of all, I looked at my itinerary and saw that I was flying Northwest again on the way home. So, I told the shuttle driver to drop me off at the Northwest check-in gate. So, I ran my checked bag through their agriculture scanner (the Hawaiians are very particular about letting their fruit out of the country). Then I went up and tried to check in for my flight, but the self-serve screen wasn't working for me. So, the lady came up to me and said that I had to go to Delta because that's who was flying to Atlanta instead of Northwest (which is just confusing for me). Delta, of course, was way on the other end of the airport. So, I'm scurrying there and get to the self-check-in kiosks, and they tell me that I have to run my checked luggage through the agriculture scanner for Delta now, because apparently I can get fruit somewhere between those two gates. So, I did that and got all checked in. Then I went through security and got asked if my carry-on could be opened. I had no idea why they'd need to do this, since I left the grooming kit in my checked bag. So, I said fine, and the guy that went through it took out my keys and said that that may be what was confusing the person looking at the x-ray, and he specifically held the bottle opener on my keyring. So, he ran the bag and my keys through separately, and then told me I was fine to go. Why he needed to do that is beyond me. I mean, seriously, what harm am I going to do with a bottle opener?!?! So, then I finally make it to my gate and find out that the flight is full, so I can only have two carry-on bags. So, I ended up having to check my poster in since I didn't want to check anything else. After all that I get on the plane and we take off for Atlanta. This time we got a meal and everything was pretty good. I tried to sleep as much as possible, even with a kid crying in the background and the parents apparently doing nothing to shut the kid up. But, I must have slept some, because I was woken up by the attendants serving a breakfast snack. My layover in Atlanta was a bit long, but not too hectic, except that the staff couldn't decide which gate we were really leaving from. Once I got on the plane, I pretty much passed out because I needed more sleep. Suddenly we were in Detroit. I had a semi-long layover there, and then boarded the plane to State College. This is where things get pretty hairy. Once we got in the air, things were fine, not too turbulent. But, when we were landing in State College, things got really bumpy, and due to probably a combination of factors, including jet lag, not enough sleep, and having just enough food to make me queasy, I got airsick. Pretty badly, I must say. It came on all of a sudden, too. Plus, I don't think there was a bag in the pouch in front of me. Of course, it came on so suddenly (and I was trying very hard not to actually vomit) that I couldn't have been sure. But, yeah, that was a great capper to the whole airline experience. Luckily, the people sitting across the aisle from me (I was alone on one side of the plane, fortunately) were very helpful, and the guy even gave me his jacket because mine was kind of ruined. So, needless to say, I'm not planning any flying adventures anytime in the near future, not only because I got sick, but because I've seen way too many airplanes and airports in the past week.
So, that was my trip to Hawaii. Most of it was fun, but I'm really glad to be home. Now, I need to get enough sleep tonight so that I'm sort of coherent enough to teach tomorrow. With that, I'm off to bed!
I left last Saturday at 6 AM. If you know me, you know that I'm not a morning person whatsoever. So, the whole being up and coherent enough to board a plane was a bit difficult. But, once I got on (after going through security twice because I left a shaving knife in my travel grooming kit completely unintentionally) the flights themselves went fairly smoothly. I flew to Detroit, which isn't new to me. I've been to that airport several times. From there I went to LAX. I always pictured LAX to be this really big airport with hundreds of gates spanning as far as the eye can see. I was rather disappointed with the reality. The terminal I was in had maybe eight gates, and not a whole lot to choose from foodwise. I did have to eat something, though, because apparently serving meals on a longish flight has become a thing of the past. So, I bought some terribly overpriced Burger King food, and then went to a gift shop to buy some snacky-type foods for the flight to Honolulu. I had plenty of time to do all this because my flight from LAX was delayed. So, even with getting there an hour later than anticipated (due to strong headwinds), I ended up having a longer layover than I was originally intended to have. After that, the flight to Honolulu was pretty smooth as well. I slept for part of it, because I just couldn't stay awake much longer. When I got to Honolulu, I had to wait quite some time for my luggage to make it to the baggage claim, and then I took a shuttle, which apparently stops at just about every hotel in Waikiki. I think I got to the hotel around 10 PM Hawaii time, which would be 3 AM eastern. So, I was pretty damn tired and all I wanted to do was curl up in bed and sleep.
The following day was just a relaxing walk around Waikiki day. I went to the Honolulu zoo (which isn't very impressive compared to the Milwaukee County Zoo or the NEW (Northeast Wisconsin) Zoo) and spent some time looking at animals and taking pictures, because I tend to be very touristy when I go places. They were also having an art show along the beach, so I walked around there to see the different things that were available. Following that, Katie and I, since I was sharing the hotel room with her, went to the opening reception for the Ocean Science meeting, which involved free beer. I couldn't pass up anything free. I am a college student after all. Then I tried to get my materials for the meeting, which at first I thought would be a breeze because the "S" line was very short. This was very impressive since last names that begin with S seem to be very, very common. However, when I got there, after spelling my name to the person manning that line at least five times, my registration was nowhere to be found. So, I went to the Information booth and asked about it. The girl at that booth told me that just because I submitted an abstract doesn't mean I've registered. I thought to myself, "No shit, Sherlock." She then proceeded to tell me, in a very condescending, bitchy way, that I needed to bring proof of my registration in order to actually register. So, I was a bit flustered, and pissed off that I couldn't just register nice and neatly and be done with it. After that, Katie and I met up with someone she met on the plane, who was also going to the same conference and we (with some of his friends) went to TGIFridays for dinner. I wasn't all that hungry because I had lunch at the Cheesecake Factory, so I just had a drink and watched them all eat. That ended that evening.
Monday morning I was up relatively early and on the phone with Diane from the Meteo Department to get her to fax me the webpage that said I had registered. I did that and went to the convention center and showed it to the people at the information booth. This time the actual organizer of the meeting was there, and it was determined that just because I had that page didn't mean I actually registered. Basically, something happened with the transaction so that the fee didn't get submitted to them. So, they made me fill out a lost registration form and I'll have to email them telling them that they should contact Diane for payment. That took up most of the morning. Because of that, I missed out on going to Pearl Harbor, but I wasn't going to let it completely ruin my day. I decided, on the spur of the moment, that I would take a bus to the North Shore to see what the beaches looked like up there. It's so much nicer there than in Waikiki, mainly because it's less touristy. I went to Sunset Beach that day and took several pictures of the scenery and avoided some rain. Then I went back and caught a bus that had the same number route as the one I rode there on, expecting it to go back the way it came. Little did I know that the bus changed route numbers and went around the island on the other side. So, I unfortunately missed out on the poster session that day (although I did look at the important ones before I left, those being Katie's and Kathy's) but it was worth it. Plus, it's a very cheap way to see much of the island. That took up the rest of my day.
Tuesday was my day in the spotlight to present my poster. Unfortunately, I had to have it put up by 8:30 AM. But, that gave me time to talk with some of the US ECoS people beforehand. I talked extensively with one of the team members and we're collaborating to write a paper together describing the climatologies of oxygen along much of the east coast of North America. So, that was pretty cool. Then in between the oral carbon cycle sessions (which I didn't really gain a lot from) I was chatting with one of the other team members that I just connected with the first time I met her. So, that was pretty fun. Then, all of a sudden, it was time to go to stand by my poster. I had a pretty steady flow of people that wanted to chat about my work, which was nice. I even talked to a prominent NSF guy who basically encouraged me to keep going with my work, which was very nice. The two hours for the poster session seemed to go very fast, though. After that, I went out to eat with some members of the US ECoS team, and we got caught in a significant downpour. I even saw some flashes of lightning. Seriously, the first few days I was there, I felt like I was in a warmer version of State College, because it seemed to be cloudy all the time. Dinner was fun, though. Then we went to Cold Stone Creamery for dessert, and then I caught a bus to get back to the hotel room.
Wednesday was another day I needed to go to the oral session on the carbon cycle. So, I did that for most of the day and then went to the poster session to look at what other people were doing. I found a couple posters on turbulence that I found very interesting, so I chatted with those people for a bit. Then I went to the exhibitioners to see what sorts of free stuff I could collect. It was a little disappointing, though. I only got a couple pens, some pamphlets, and a small fish and dolphin (fake, of course). After that, Katie and I went out for Thai food, which was nice. It was sort of a bonding moment, where we chatted about lots of different things. It was definitely a good time. Then we got back to the hotel room in time to watch a repeat of the pilot of Lost, which happened to be pretty much the only TV we watched, but since Lost is filmed on Oahu, we wanted to see it. Plus, Katie hadn't become addicted to Lost yet, although she's gottened hooked just by the pilot.
Thursday I decided to take the morning off and go back to the North Shore. There wasn't much going on at the conference that I was incredibly interested in. Plus, I saw that there was a high surf advisory for the northern parts of all the islands of Hawaii, so I figured the waves would be pretty impressive. They definitely were. I sat on the beach and got lost in them, not literally, though. I even kind of ignored the book I brought along to read and just watched the water. It's such a calming thing. It made me realize that I really need to live near a body of water after I finish grad school. Some of the waves were so impressive that I climbed up on some of the rocks to get a good picture of a splash hitting them. I hope those turn out well. After the beach, I went to the poster session and had a wonderful discussion with a professor sutdying hypoxia in the Hood Canal in Washington. It was really nice, and I even got her card so we could continue to correspond with each other. Since my research is hopefully going to go in that direction, it was very good to make contact with someone whose doing similar research as I am. After the poster session, they had an aloha reception on the roof of the convention center. I went there because it was free food. They had some wonderful fruit and several roasted pigs. It was very yummy food. After that, since it was a beautiful night, I walked back to the hotel on the main street by the beach. There were some interesting sights there, mainly from various street performers. It was pretty cool.
Friday was a relatively slow day. I only went to the couple afternoon oral sessions, which were very interesting, dealing with hypoxia and how it's model, some data that's been analyzed, and how it affects biology across the food chain. It was very interesting stuff. After that, Katie and I were planning on going to dinner and see a jazz show. We went to dinner at Ciao Mein, and Italian/Chinese restaurant. Very good food, but my eyes were bigger than my stomach. Then the club we wanted to go to had a dress code (collared shirt and pants for a guy), so we walked along the main drag and went into various stores looking for a cheap collared shirt for me. We were having so much fun window shopping that we lost track of time and never made it to the jazz show.
Saturday was my last day in Hawaii. I had a late afternoon flight out, so I wanted to wear myself out a bit. I decided that I'd go climb Diamond Head, a dormant volcano from the top of which you get a 360 degree few of Oahu. That was quite the hike, proving that I should probably get in better shape. But the view from the top was totally worth it. After that, I went back to the hotel and got ready for my shuttle to take me to the airport.
This is when things started to get a little frustrating. First of all, I looked at my itinerary and saw that I was flying Northwest again on the way home. So, I told the shuttle driver to drop me off at the Northwest check-in gate. So, I ran my checked bag through their agriculture scanner (the Hawaiians are very particular about letting their fruit out of the country). Then I went up and tried to check in for my flight, but the self-serve screen wasn't working for me. So, the lady came up to me and said that I had to go to Delta because that's who was flying to Atlanta instead of Northwest (which is just confusing for me). Delta, of course, was way on the other end of the airport. So, I'm scurrying there and get to the self-check-in kiosks, and they tell me that I have to run my checked luggage through the agriculture scanner for Delta now, because apparently I can get fruit somewhere between those two gates. So, I did that and got all checked in. Then I went through security and got asked if my carry-on could be opened. I had no idea why they'd need to do this, since I left the grooming kit in my checked bag. So, I said fine, and the guy that went through it took out my keys and said that that may be what was confusing the person looking at the x-ray, and he specifically held the bottle opener on my keyring. So, he ran the bag and my keys through separately, and then told me I was fine to go. Why he needed to do that is beyond me. I mean, seriously, what harm am I going to do with a bottle opener?!?! So, then I finally make it to my gate and find out that the flight is full, so I can only have two carry-on bags. So, I ended up having to check my poster in since I didn't want to check anything else. After all that I get on the plane and we take off for Atlanta. This time we got a meal and everything was pretty good. I tried to sleep as much as possible, even with a kid crying in the background and the parents apparently doing nothing to shut the kid up. But, I must have slept some, because I was woken up by the attendants serving a breakfast snack. My layover in Atlanta was a bit long, but not too hectic, except that the staff couldn't decide which gate we were really leaving from. Once I got on the plane, I pretty much passed out because I needed more sleep. Suddenly we were in Detroit. I had a semi-long layover there, and then boarded the plane to State College. This is where things get pretty hairy. Once we got in the air, things were fine, not too turbulent. But, when we were landing in State College, things got really bumpy, and due to probably a combination of factors, including jet lag, not enough sleep, and having just enough food to make me queasy, I got airsick. Pretty badly, I must say. It came on all of a sudden, too. Plus, I don't think there was a bag in the pouch in front of me. Of course, it came on so suddenly (and I was trying very hard not to actually vomit) that I couldn't have been sure. But, yeah, that was a great capper to the whole airline experience. Luckily, the people sitting across the aisle from me (I was alone on one side of the plane, fortunately) were very helpful, and the guy even gave me his jacket because mine was kind of ruined. So, needless to say, I'm not planning any flying adventures anytime in the near future, not only because I got sick, but because I've seen way too many airplanes and airports in the past week.
So, that was my trip to Hawaii. Most of it was fun, but I'm really glad to be home. Now, I need to get enough sleep tonight so that I'm sort of coherent enough to teach tomorrow. With that, I'm off to bed!
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
One Down, One to Go
This time I got significantly better results of my candidacy exam. I passed one section and failed the other. I'm just glad I got one of them down. You can't imagine how much relief I feel now!
The section I passed was the dynamics section. Dr. Shirer said I did significantly better on that section than I did last time, so that was good news to hear. I still have to retake the physics, which I'm not thrilled about, but I'm happy nonetheless!
Now I'm heading home and relaxing for the rest of the night.
The section I passed was the dynamics section. Dr. Shirer said I did significantly better on that section than I did last time, so that was good news to hear. I still have to retake the physics, which I'm not thrilled about, but I'm happy nonetheless!
Now I'm heading home and relaxing for the rest of the night.
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
D-Day Eve
Tomorrow's the day. I find out how I did on the candidacy exam for the second time. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it. I've had this panicky feeling since I found out that the faculty meeting to discuss the candidacy exam is tomorrow. (I found this out about a week ago.) When I first got the email, a wave of feelings swept through me. Excitement, dread, delirium, panic were all swirling around my head. Mainly that combination of so many emotions left me feeling a little nauseated.
So, I've been feeling that way for about a week now. Not all the time, but fairly often. Usually at times I can put it aside for the sake of doing something else. However, today has been a rather rough day. Actually from about 3:30 on has been rough. I finished teaching at 3:20, then went back to my office. At that point I got a terribly bad headache and started feeling a bit queasy. So, I decided to catch a bus to get my car so I could come back to my apartment and try to not think about what's coming tomorrow. I did that relatively well, but now that it's close to bed time, I can't stop thinking about it.
Part of me doesn't want to go to sleep because then tomorrow will just come sooner, and I'm just fearing the worst: that I won't pass yet again, and they're going to kick me out of the department. Of course, interspersed with that are feelings of confidence. OK, maybe not confidence, but at least some hope that I'll get good news. I'm trying to not get my hopes up, because I let my hopes fly too high last time, and the crash and burn from that was nearly too much to handle. I don't know if I can deal rationally with that kind of disappointment once again. I really don't. Luckily, I do have my weekly therapy appointment tomorrow, so whatever news I get, I can start to process in therapy. But still, the anticipation is killing me.
I really wish that they wouldn't have told us so far in advance about the faculty meeting tomorrow. I don't know if it would have been better hearing it with only one day's warning, though. The only thing that would have done was ease the concern about that for about six days.
I swear, some of the faculty get off on torturing us students. Not only do they make us take a hellish exam, but then we have to wait weeks on end to find out the results. Then the only information we get is if we pass or fail. We have to wait several more weeks to get feedback on all the questions we answered because the graders want to remain anonymous. That part does make sense. Having it be a double blind test is a good way to deal with it. However, we students are still getting the short end of the stick because our answers don't get typed up. So, any faculty that may have had us in a class might be able to identify our handwriting. I doubt that, but it is possible. But the professor's comments get typed up so the students don't have a chance to say that one professor hated them and wanted them to get out of grad school. Still, though, I think it could be slightly more fair.
I just don't know what to expect though. Plus, I don't want to go to sleep. As much as I've wanted to get my results, I didn't expect them to come out this soon. I almost want to postpone the inevitable.
The only thing that's keeping me relatively sane with regards to this test is that I know I walked out of both days of it feeling like I put 110% into each section. So even if I fail, I can hold my head up high. At least theoretically, anyway. If I do fail, I may not be able to hold my head at all. I may just bash it into the nearest wall.
Another thing that's getting to me is that the faculty meeting, again, is coming at a time when my advisor isn't hear. So, I really have no one to stick up for me, should it come down to it. I mean, sure, some of the other professors want me to pass, but I don't think that would carry as much weight as it would if it were my advisor talking. So, I'm a little annoyed by that.
But, on the other hand, pass or fail, I'm going to be in Hawaii in less than two weeks. That will either be a nice reward for doing well, or my last hurrah before finishing up the work I'm being paid for before making my way into the work force.
Now I should get to bed, so this whole waiting thing can be over. Of course, I still have to wait until noon to get the results (damn teaching getting in the way of things), but at least my mind will be semi-occupied during the morning. Alrighty, off to bed to try to get a decent night's sleep. I have a feeling that will be rather futile, but I've got to try. An update will come tomorrow with the news, good or bad.....
So, I've been feeling that way for about a week now. Not all the time, but fairly often. Usually at times I can put it aside for the sake of doing something else. However, today has been a rather rough day. Actually from about 3:30 on has been rough. I finished teaching at 3:20, then went back to my office. At that point I got a terribly bad headache and started feeling a bit queasy. So, I decided to catch a bus to get my car so I could come back to my apartment and try to not think about what's coming tomorrow. I did that relatively well, but now that it's close to bed time, I can't stop thinking about it.
Part of me doesn't want to go to sleep because then tomorrow will just come sooner, and I'm just fearing the worst: that I won't pass yet again, and they're going to kick me out of the department. Of course, interspersed with that are feelings of confidence. OK, maybe not confidence, but at least some hope that I'll get good news. I'm trying to not get my hopes up, because I let my hopes fly too high last time, and the crash and burn from that was nearly too much to handle. I don't know if I can deal rationally with that kind of disappointment once again. I really don't. Luckily, I do have my weekly therapy appointment tomorrow, so whatever news I get, I can start to process in therapy. But still, the anticipation is killing me.
I really wish that they wouldn't have told us so far in advance about the faculty meeting tomorrow. I don't know if it would have been better hearing it with only one day's warning, though. The only thing that would have done was ease the concern about that for about six days.
I swear, some of the faculty get off on torturing us students. Not only do they make us take a hellish exam, but then we have to wait weeks on end to find out the results. Then the only information we get is if we pass or fail. We have to wait several more weeks to get feedback on all the questions we answered because the graders want to remain anonymous. That part does make sense. Having it be a double blind test is a good way to deal with it. However, we students are still getting the short end of the stick because our answers don't get typed up. So, any faculty that may have had us in a class might be able to identify our handwriting. I doubt that, but it is possible. But the professor's comments get typed up so the students don't have a chance to say that one professor hated them and wanted them to get out of grad school. Still, though, I think it could be slightly more fair.
I just don't know what to expect though. Plus, I don't want to go to sleep. As much as I've wanted to get my results, I didn't expect them to come out this soon. I almost want to postpone the inevitable.
The only thing that's keeping me relatively sane with regards to this test is that I know I walked out of both days of it feeling like I put 110% into each section. So even if I fail, I can hold my head up high. At least theoretically, anyway. If I do fail, I may not be able to hold my head at all. I may just bash it into the nearest wall.
Another thing that's getting to me is that the faculty meeting, again, is coming at a time when my advisor isn't hear. So, I really have no one to stick up for me, should it come down to it. I mean, sure, some of the other professors want me to pass, but I don't think that would carry as much weight as it would if it were my advisor talking. So, I'm a little annoyed by that.
But, on the other hand, pass or fail, I'm going to be in Hawaii in less than two weeks. That will either be a nice reward for doing well, or my last hurrah before finishing up the work I'm being paid for before making my way into the work force.
Now I should get to bed, so this whole waiting thing can be over. Of course, I still have to wait until noon to get the results (damn teaching getting in the way of things), but at least my mind will be semi-occupied during the morning. Alrighty, off to bed to try to get a decent night's sleep. I have a feeling that will be rather futile, but I've got to try. An update will come tomorrow with the news, good or bad.....
Saturday, February 04, 2006
Chuckles while grading
I have to post this entry now, while I am grading, because one of my students answers on a lab question is too hilarious. The question is about the influence of water and latitude on the annual temperature range, and they have to match cities with pairs of summer and winter temperatures. (Karen should remember this one.) One of the cities listed is Seattle, and one student put this for part of the reason (he got the actual reasons right):
"Also, there are more Starbucks in Seattle than the rest of the world all over, so the coffee helps with the temperature as well..."
I actually laughed out loud when I read this one. I needed that laugh because sometimes grading these kids' labs gets a bit annoying for lack of a better word. Anyway, I enjoyed that and had to post it before I forgot.
"Also, there are more Starbucks in Seattle than the rest of the world all over, so the coffee helps with the temperature as well..."
I actually laughed out loud when I read this one. I needed that laugh because sometimes grading these kids' labs gets a bit annoying for lack of a better word. Anyway, I enjoyed that and had to post it before I forgot.
Friday, February 03, 2006
New Link
Yes, I just posted an incredibly long-winded entry just a few minutes ago, but I forgot something. For those who regularly look at this blog (the few of you who do), I've added a new link to my fun links section. It's called Cute Overload. It has the cutest pictures of animals that I've ever seen. You could almost get a sugar rush from them, that's how sweet they are. So, if you like cute animals, take a look. OK, I'm done now.
Another Random Thoughts Post
I'm writing this post mainly to avoid getting too bored while waiting for my Matlab code to run. It's rather silly to use Matlab to process a boatload of data, but I hate Fortran, so I'm willing to deal with waiting an extraordinary amount of time for code to run. Anyway, I've had a lot of random thoughts lately, and figured I might as well post them now.
- The other day I woke up to the radio playing (I hate getting up with an annoying beeping sound) and they were playing one of Sheryl Crow's songs, Good is Good. The opening line is "Good is good and bad is bad." Even with being rather incoherent when I wake up, I thought that that statement was completely stating the obvious. I was like, "Well, duh," when I heard them. I had started out thinking that those were the stupidest lyrics I've ever heard, but them remembered a different song that was relatively popular several years ago: LFO's Summer Girls. That song qualifies as the dumbest song ever to be recorded. It's like that group didn't even care if their song made any sense. I hated that song so much!! Mainly because I'm one who actually listens to lyrics, at least when singers enunciate them enough. Anyway, that's just a rant.
- Gilmore Girls was amazingly good this week, especially the last twenty minutes or so. There isn't much to spoil about it. Basically it was a fight among Rory, Lorelai, Emily, and Richard about what's happened previously in this season. But, it wasn't all fight. It was just completely different from previous episodes, but so very good. I can't understand why more people don't watch it, besides the fact that it's on the WB. I also recently read a fascinating plot twist that's coming up, which is that Richard was a member of the Life and Death Brigade when he was at Yale. The fallout from that will be very interesting to see. I just realized that this random thought probably has no bearing on anyone that reads my blog, but hey, it's interesting for me, and that's what matters, right?
- I went to see Brokeback Mountain last weekend. It's a very good movie. Great story, great direction, great acting. I can definitely see why it's winning so many awards. However, it didn't really come as a surprise to me that the cast of Crash won the SAG award for best ensemble. At this moment, for me, there is a tie between these two movies for best picture of the year, hell, even ever. The cast in Crash was amazing, and I loved the way everyone's story was tied to someone else's. Both of them are great movies, and they're both nominated for Best Picture. I'd be thrilled if either one won, but I'd prefer Brokeback to win, just because it would be nice to see people recognize that that movie is a traditional love story, even if it is a love story of two guys.
- I get the results of my candidacy exam next Wednesday. Frankly, I'm very surprised that they're ready this early. The faculty aren't exactly the swiftest when it comes to getting feedback. When I got the email, I was feeling a whole slew of emotions. Mainly, though, I felt a little nauseated, just because I have both great hope and great fear about what the results will be. Everyone keeps telling me I'll be fine, but I don't have that much faith in myself. Hey, it comes with being a pessimist. I'm really hoping to get good news, but I'm also trying to keep my expectations low, only because I know what a crushing blow it is to have high expectations and have them shattered. That's how I felt the last time I took the test. So, I guess we'll see what happens.
- I sent in a proposal for a fellowship on Tuesday. Ray was encouraging me to apply because the research I'm doing fits in nicely with the goals of this particular NASA program. So, most of Monday was spent writing up the proposal, which was really hard work, but I think I ended up with a decent piece of writing. It was such a hassle getting it in, though, because they encouraged people to use their online system, which is what they'll exclusively be using next year. So, basically we were their beta testers, which I always hate being. That system that they have is very un-user-friendly. It seriously took forever to get anything done with it. I hope they do something to make it easier to use by next year.
- I've been very anti-social of late. I'm not sure why. Well, actually, that's not entirely true. I know I'm not the most social person out there. Anyone that knows me knows that. I'm perfectly comfortable sitting at home watching TV or curling up with a good book. But lately, people have just been getting on my nerves. Not so much people I know, but random people in the store. I swear, half the time I'm just about ready to punch people because they're being stupid. But, that's not really the problem. I just haven't felt like hanging out with other people. I'm sort of in my loner/broody phase. It doesn't help that my circle of friends if very dynamic, in that it changes quite often. Now I'm working on building a new circle, but that takes time for me. Plus, February is notoriously a bad month for me. Too many emotional things to deal with. This year, I get the added bonus of stressing about candidacy exam results and going to a conference. So, basically I'm on one hell of an emotional roller coaster until March, really. It kind of sucks, but what can I do?
- Speaking of the conferences coming up. Two weeks from tomorrow I'll be on my way to Hawaii!! I can't wait. Yes, it's for a conference, but I definitely am going to enjoy my stay there too. Maybe spend some time on the beach (with lots of sunblock because I burn incredibly easily). I'm of course going to go to the Hard Rock in Honolulu, just because. I'd love to go to Pearl Harbor, just to be historical. And it looks like there's a hiking trail up a mountain near Waikiki that I'd like to go on, but I'd probably have to get hiking boots for that, so that may be a no-go. I'm also kind of hoping to see an eruption in the distance just to take a picture of it. I'd like to do more touristy stuff, too, like go to their zoo, a few museums, maybe go to the north shore, etc. And it would be so great to see anyone from the cast of Lost. That would be so cool!! It should be a good time, regardless, though.
- Speaking of Lost, I was a little upset that they were showing a rerun this week. I thought in the week leading into February sweeps they would have shown a new episode. But, of any of the episodes they could have shown, I'm glad it was the first Hurley-centric episode. I don't know why, but I find parts of it very funny. Of course, I have a dark sense of humor sometimes. I did have a thought occur to me when Hurley's money manager was telling him that he owned a box company. I'm wondering if that was the same box company that Locke was employed at. I think Locke worked at a box company, anyway. They do like to have people interconnected like that. It's just a thought, and anyone that reads this that watches Lost is welcome to comment on my speculation.
- Invasion was a rerun, too, and I was sort of hoping it would be one that I haven't seen yet, but alas, it was. I ended up sleeping through most of it.
- I've also become addicted to Dancing with the Stars. Most of the time I have not watched a reality show, mainly because I think they're stupid, but this one is actually fun to watch, at least the dancing portion is. I don't watch the result show, because I hate how they can drag out saying which couple got the fewest votes for so long. That's the thing I hate about American Idol, too. I know it's to add drama, but it just annoys the hell out of me. They could spend five minutes doing the results, and then move on. Anyway, I'm just ranting there, so I'll stop now.
- This weekend is Super Bowl weekend, and apparently any local channel won't let us forget that the Steelers are in it this year. Frankly, I don't really give a damn either way about who wins. I'm not a huge Steelers fan (I only rooted for them last year because I lived with two major Steeler fans), and I don't really like the Seahawks either, because Holmgren turned into an ass at Green Bay before he took the job in Seattle. So, I guess I'll just be watching for the commercials. I was invited through someone to a Super Bowl party, where they're having turducken (which just sounds like a weird thing to even contemplate creating, but better sounding than tofurkey), but like I said before, I'm feeling relatively anti-social lately. So, I probably won't go. We'll see, though.
Well, I guess that's about it from me, at least for now. I'll probably leave Walker pretty soon and head home, and maybe take a nap. Either that, or crash in front of the TV for the night. Either way, it'll be nice and relaxing.
- The other day I woke up to the radio playing (I hate getting up with an annoying beeping sound) and they were playing one of Sheryl Crow's songs, Good is Good. The opening line is "Good is good and bad is bad." Even with being rather incoherent when I wake up, I thought that that statement was completely stating the obvious. I was like, "Well, duh," when I heard them. I had started out thinking that those were the stupidest lyrics I've ever heard, but them remembered a different song that was relatively popular several years ago: LFO's Summer Girls. That song qualifies as the dumbest song ever to be recorded. It's like that group didn't even care if their song made any sense. I hated that song so much!! Mainly because I'm one who actually listens to lyrics, at least when singers enunciate them enough. Anyway, that's just a rant.
- Gilmore Girls was amazingly good this week, especially the last twenty minutes or so. There isn't much to spoil about it. Basically it was a fight among Rory, Lorelai, Emily, and Richard about what's happened previously in this season. But, it wasn't all fight. It was just completely different from previous episodes, but so very good. I can't understand why more people don't watch it, besides the fact that it's on the WB. I also recently read a fascinating plot twist that's coming up, which is that Richard was a member of the Life and Death Brigade when he was at Yale. The fallout from that will be very interesting to see. I just realized that this random thought probably has no bearing on anyone that reads my blog, but hey, it's interesting for me, and that's what matters, right?
- I went to see Brokeback Mountain last weekend. It's a very good movie. Great story, great direction, great acting. I can definitely see why it's winning so many awards. However, it didn't really come as a surprise to me that the cast of Crash won the SAG award for best ensemble. At this moment, for me, there is a tie between these two movies for best picture of the year, hell, even ever. The cast in Crash was amazing, and I loved the way everyone's story was tied to someone else's. Both of them are great movies, and they're both nominated for Best Picture. I'd be thrilled if either one won, but I'd prefer Brokeback to win, just because it would be nice to see people recognize that that movie is a traditional love story, even if it is a love story of two guys.
- I get the results of my candidacy exam next Wednesday. Frankly, I'm very surprised that they're ready this early. The faculty aren't exactly the swiftest when it comes to getting feedback. When I got the email, I was feeling a whole slew of emotions. Mainly, though, I felt a little nauseated, just because I have both great hope and great fear about what the results will be. Everyone keeps telling me I'll be fine, but I don't have that much faith in myself. Hey, it comes with being a pessimist. I'm really hoping to get good news, but I'm also trying to keep my expectations low, only because I know what a crushing blow it is to have high expectations and have them shattered. That's how I felt the last time I took the test. So, I guess we'll see what happens.
- I sent in a proposal for a fellowship on Tuesday. Ray was encouraging me to apply because the research I'm doing fits in nicely with the goals of this particular NASA program. So, most of Monday was spent writing up the proposal, which was really hard work, but I think I ended up with a decent piece of writing. It was such a hassle getting it in, though, because they encouraged people to use their online system, which is what they'll exclusively be using next year. So, basically we were their beta testers, which I always hate being. That system that they have is very un-user-friendly. It seriously took forever to get anything done with it. I hope they do something to make it easier to use by next year.
- I've been very anti-social of late. I'm not sure why. Well, actually, that's not entirely true. I know I'm not the most social person out there. Anyone that knows me knows that. I'm perfectly comfortable sitting at home watching TV or curling up with a good book. But lately, people have just been getting on my nerves. Not so much people I know, but random people in the store. I swear, half the time I'm just about ready to punch people because they're being stupid. But, that's not really the problem. I just haven't felt like hanging out with other people. I'm sort of in my loner/broody phase. It doesn't help that my circle of friends if very dynamic, in that it changes quite often. Now I'm working on building a new circle, but that takes time for me. Plus, February is notoriously a bad month for me. Too many emotional things to deal with. This year, I get the added bonus of stressing about candidacy exam results and going to a conference. So, basically I'm on one hell of an emotional roller coaster until March, really. It kind of sucks, but what can I do?
- Speaking of the conferences coming up. Two weeks from tomorrow I'll be on my way to Hawaii!! I can't wait. Yes, it's for a conference, but I definitely am going to enjoy my stay there too. Maybe spend some time on the beach (with lots of sunblock because I burn incredibly easily). I'm of course going to go to the Hard Rock in Honolulu, just because. I'd love to go to Pearl Harbor, just to be historical. And it looks like there's a hiking trail up a mountain near Waikiki that I'd like to go on, but I'd probably have to get hiking boots for that, so that may be a no-go. I'm also kind of hoping to see an eruption in the distance just to take a picture of it. I'd like to do more touristy stuff, too, like go to their zoo, a few museums, maybe go to the north shore, etc. And it would be so great to see anyone from the cast of Lost. That would be so cool!! It should be a good time, regardless, though.
- Speaking of Lost, I was a little upset that they were showing a rerun this week. I thought in the week leading into February sweeps they would have shown a new episode. But, of any of the episodes they could have shown, I'm glad it was the first Hurley-centric episode. I don't know why, but I find parts of it very funny. Of course, I have a dark sense of humor sometimes. I did have a thought occur to me when Hurley's money manager was telling him that he owned a box company. I'm wondering if that was the same box company that Locke was employed at. I think Locke worked at a box company, anyway. They do like to have people interconnected like that. It's just a thought, and anyone that reads this that watches Lost is welcome to comment on my speculation.
- Invasion was a rerun, too, and I was sort of hoping it would be one that I haven't seen yet, but alas, it was. I ended up sleeping through most of it.
- I've also become addicted to Dancing with the Stars. Most of the time I have not watched a reality show, mainly because I think they're stupid, but this one is actually fun to watch, at least the dancing portion is. I don't watch the result show, because I hate how they can drag out saying which couple got the fewest votes for so long. That's the thing I hate about American Idol, too. I know it's to add drama, but it just annoys the hell out of me. They could spend five minutes doing the results, and then move on. Anyway, I'm just ranting there, so I'll stop now.
- This weekend is Super Bowl weekend, and apparently any local channel won't let us forget that the Steelers are in it this year. Frankly, I don't really give a damn either way about who wins. I'm not a huge Steelers fan (I only rooted for them last year because I lived with two major Steeler fans), and I don't really like the Seahawks either, because Holmgren turned into an ass at Green Bay before he took the job in Seattle. So, I guess I'll just be watching for the commercials. I was invited through someone to a Super Bowl party, where they're having turducken (which just sounds like a weird thing to even contemplate creating, but better sounding than tofurkey), but like I said before, I'm feeling relatively anti-social lately. So, I probably won't go. We'll see, though.
Well, I guess that's about it from me, at least for now. I'll probably leave Walker pretty soon and head home, and maybe take a nap. Either that, or crash in front of the TV for the night. Either way, it'll be nice and relaxing.
Wednesday, February 01, 2006
State of the Union
This is going to be relatively short post for right now, mainly about the State of the Union address. I just took a poll on CNN.com asking about how I feel about the sountry after the State of the Union address. Since I didn't watch it, I clicked that radio button. When the results came up, nearly half the people taking the poll didn't watch it. It's pretty sad that more people didn't watch Bush's speech. (I have my priorities, a.k.a. my TV shows to watch. I'll probably read the transcript of the address, or maybe just a list of key points.) You'd think more people would be enthused about politics. Although, at this point in his second term, I think a good portion of America is unhappy with the direction the country is going. I know I am.
Anyway, that's all I'm going to say for now. I have a really busy Wednesday ahead of me.
Anyway, that's all I'm going to say for now. I have a really busy Wednesday ahead of me.
Friday, January 27, 2006
My thoughts on recent controversy
Here I am sitting in front of the computer in my office, waiting for Matlab to process code yet again, so I've decided to write another post, mainly on controversial topics that are currently regaining controversy due to news coverage.
The first of which is the abortion debate. Here's where I stand on that subject. I'm pro-choice. I know, that's not entirely surprising, since I'm quite leftist. However, I don't mean to say that women deciding to have an abortion should enter into it lightly. I'd much prefer some other option, if possible. Of course, if giving birth would harm/kill the mother, or if the child was a product of rape, an abortion is probably a likely outcome. However, a woman that becomes pregnant by having indiscriminate, unprotected sex should not just have an abortion on a whim. They really need to think about whether they can handle having a child, or if they'd want to give a child up for adoption, or many other things.
Having said that, I still am pro-choice, because I feel that women should have a choice. I also think that some people are just not meant to be parents. Of course, lately, just about everyone I've seen with kids are not good parents. (Seriously, go to any store and just watch what parents let their kids get away with.) Part of this is due to society. It's almost as if punishing kids is a faux pas. If you spank a child, you could almost get sent to prison for child abuse. And what, really, is a "time-out" going to teach a child? But, here I go off on a tangent that really could be saved for a different post.
Back to the abortion issue and what's going on with the Alito hearings.... I read relatively recently that Bush is touting that soon abortion will be illegal, as part of his "morals-based" political stance. (Don't even get me started on how hypocritical that is.) Mainly, he's saying that Roe v. Wade will be overturned, thus making abortion illegal. I think this is one of the stupidest things the Supreme Court could do. I say this because some women are going to want to have an abortion, no matter what the law is. So, my feeling is that if a woman is going to have an abortion, wouldn't it make more sense for them to have the procedure done safely, by a doctor? If abortion is illegal, women who want to terminate a pregnancy would have to come up with other ways to do it, most of them likely to be harmful to these women. It's going to happen no matter what, illegal or not. I just don't see how overturning Roe v. Wade would be a good idea, even for the Bible-thumping followers of Bush. Yes, it's immoral in Christianity to have an abortion, but so are a lot of things. (That's the thing about Catholicism, specifically. People pick and choose what things in the Bible should be followed. You can't have it both ways, people!)
That's just my take on this. And if Alito does get confirmed to the Supreme Court, I think the country is heading for trouble. Hell, from what I've been hearing (and granted, I listen to mainly left-biased news) the president could gain power if Alito does get confirmed. And considering how well off the country is at the moment, I'm a little scared by what could happen if Bush gets his way with his nomination.
Another controversial thing lately is the whole James Frey basically writing a novel, for all intents and purposes. I heard that Oprah yesterday was very good with Oprah basically berating Frey about how factual his book was. I saw some of it on Anderson Cooper 360 last night, and I just have to say, go Oprah! Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. And she proved it. Boy, I'm surprised she kept as calm as she did. I could have easily seen her show turn into some sort of Jerry Springer incarnation. I'm glad she kept it relatively civil, and not started bitch-slapping him. I also am glad that she wasn't afraid to say she made a mistake. It's so refreshing to hear that.
The last controversial thing I want ot mention in this post is about Brokeback Mountain. The only thing I want to say is that it's finally come to State College. I'm not surprised it took this long, because central Pennsylvania is basically Alabama in between to relatively urban areas. I guess they finally brought it here because it's winning awards. The theaters around here seem to do that with smaller movies like that. I think it took them quite some time to show Crash here, and then it wasn't in theaters very long. I'm a little worried that's what's going to happen with Brokeback. I really, really want to go see it, though. And I may just do that, even if I have to go by myself. I'd much rather go with someone (going to a theater by yourself just seems sad), but if no one wants to go with me, I will go by myself. When is a better question. I will make time for it sometime within the next week, though, because I'm afraid that it won't be showed in theaters here for very long. So, if anyone does want to go with me, feel free to comment and let me know!
Alrighty, my code is done processing, so I'm off to continue working.
The first of which is the abortion debate. Here's where I stand on that subject. I'm pro-choice. I know, that's not entirely surprising, since I'm quite leftist. However, I don't mean to say that women deciding to have an abortion should enter into it lightly. I'd much prefer some other option, if possible. Of course, if giving birth would harm/kill the mother, or if the child was a product of rape, an abortion is probably a likely outcome. However, a woman that becomes pregnant by having indiscriminate, unprotected sex should not just have an abortion on a whim. They really need to think about whether they can handle having a child, or if they'd want to give a child up for adoption, or many other things.
Having said that, I still am pro-choice, because I feel that women should have a choice. I also think that some people are just not meant to be parents. Of course, lately, just about everyone I've seen with kids are not good parents. (Seriously, go to any store and just watch what parents let their kids get away with.) Part of this is due to society. It's almost as if punishing kids is a faux pas. If you spank a child, you could almost get sent to prison for child abuse. And what, really, is a "time-out" going to teach a child? But, here I go off on a tangent that really could be saved for a different post.
Back to the abortion issue and what's going on with the Alito hearings.... I read relatively recently that Bush is touting that soon abortion will be illegal, as part of his "morals-based" political stance. (Don't even get me started on how hypocritical that is.) Mainly, he's saying that Roe v. Wade will be overturned, thus making abortion illegal. I think this is one of the stupidest things the Supreme Court could do. I say this because some women are going to want to have an abortion, no matter what the law is. So, my feeling is that if a woman is going to have an abortion, wouldn't it make more sense for them to have the procedure done safely, by a doctor? If abortion is illegal, women who want to terminate a pregnancy would have to come up with other ways to do it, most of them likely to be harmful to these women. It's going to happen no matter what, illegal or not. I just don't see how overturning Roe v. Wade would be a good idea, even for the Bible-thumping followers of Bush. Yes, it's immoral in Christianity to have an abortion, but so are a lot of things. (That's the thing about Catholicism, specifically. People pick and choose what things in the Bible should be followed. You can't have it both ways, people!)
That's just my take on this. And if Alito does get confirmed to the Supreme Court, I think the country is heading for trouble. Hell, from what I've been hearing (and granted, I listen to mainly left-biased news) the president could gain power if Alito does get confirmed. And considering how well off the country is at the moment, I'm a little scared by what could happen if Bush gets his way with his nomination.
Another controversial thing lately is the whole James Frey basically writing a novel, for all intents and purposes. I heard that Oprah yesterday was very good with Oprah basically berating Frey about how factual his book was. I saw some of it on Anderson Cooper 360 last night, and I just have to say, go Oprah! Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. And she proved it. Boy, I'm surprised she kept as calm as she did. I could have easily seen her show turn into some sort of Jerry Springer incarnation. I'm glad she kept it relatively civil, and not started bitch-slapping him. I also am glad that she wasn't afraid to say she made a mistake. It's so refreshing to hear that.
The last controversial thing I want ot mention in this post is about Brokeback Mountain. The only thing I want to say is that it's finally come to State College. I'm not surprised it took this long, because central Pennsylvania is basically Alabama in between to relatively urban areas. I guess they finally brought it here because it's winning awards. The theaters around here seem to do that with smaller movies like that. I think it took them quite some time to show Crash here, and then it wasn't in theaters very long. I'm a little worried that's what's going to happen with Brokeback. I really, really want to go see it, though. And I may just do that, even if I have to go by myself. I'd much rather go with someone (going to a theater by yourself just seems sad), but if no one wants to go with me, I will go by myself. When is a better question. I will make time for it sometime within the next week, though, because I'm afraid that it won't be showed in theaters here for very long. So, if anyone does want to go with me, feel free to comment and let me know!
Alrighty, my code is done processing, so I'm off to continue working.
Thursday, January 26, 2006
Political Tests
I've been bored for the past hour or so, because I've had to let some code run in Matlab, so I've been playing around on the internet while it runs. I decided to take three political personality tests, just to see where I am in the political spectrum.
According to these tests, the only strict thing I can conclude is that I'm a liberal, which should surprise no one. However, each of the tests I took placed me somewhere different on the liberal spectrum. The world's smallest political quiz (look it up on Google) showed that was was strictly libertarian. That kind of surprised me because I took that quiz a while ago and it told me I was a liberal libertarian. So, I guess my choices have changed since the last time I took the quiz.
Two other quizzes I took were much more involved than the world's smallest political quiz. The first of these, the Political Compass, showed that I was leftist and libertarian. In fact, I was bordering on communism on that quiz. I guess I'm not all that surprised because I think communism, in theory, might be a good thing. However, I don't think it will ever be a good thing in practice, especially in America, where we've become so entrenched in capitalism.
The other lengthy quiz I took was the OKCupid! Politics test, which again can be googled. That one didn't put me so much in the liberal libertarian part of the spectrum, though. It said I was a solid Democrat, which, again, isn't all that surprising if you know me at all. The thing that did surprise me, though, was that I was basically bordering socialism. Although, now that I'm comparing results from the other quizzes, I'm not as surprised. I still think that socialism, in theory, isn't bad. It's just that the people who've put it into practice haven't adhered strictly to the theory of socialism. However, again, I must say that putting socialism into practice in America would be a futile effort. We're much to ensconced in capitalism. And the rich are very used to being rich, while the poor get practically no help whatsoever.
Anyway, I was bored, and wanted to find something to keep my mind occupied while waiting for my code to be done running. And these results seemed interesting enough to write a post about. Plus, it might inspire some people that read this blog to take some of the quizzes and see where they are placed in the political spectrum.
I've already got another post brewing in my head regarding recent goings-on in Congress, but that's another topic for another time. Although I may create another post if my damn code doesn't finish running in a decent amount of time. But, for now, I'm off to patiently wait for my code to stop.
According to these tests, the only strict thing I can conclude is that I'm a liberal, which should surprise no one. However, each of the tests I took placed me somewhere different on the liberal spectrum. The world's smallest political quiz (look it up on Google) showed that was was strictly libertarian. That kind of surprised me because I took that quiz a while ago and it told me I was a liberal libertarian. So, I guess my choices have changed since the last time I took the quiz.
Two other quizzes I took were much more involved than the world's smallest political quiz. The first of these, the Political Compass, showed that I was leftist and libertarian. In fact, I was bordering on communism on that quiz. I guess I'm not all that surprised because I think communism, in theory, might be a good thing. However, I don't think it will ever be a good thing in practice, especially in America, where we've become so entrenched in capitalism.
The other lengthy quiz I took was the OKCupid! Politics test, which again can be googled. That one didn't put me so much in the liberal libertarian part of the spectrum, though. It said I was a solid Democrat, which, again, isn't all that surprising if you know me at all. The thing that did surprise me, though, was that I was basically bordering socialism. Although, now that I'm comparing results from the other quizzes, I'm not as surprised. I still think that socialism, in theory, isn't bad. It's just that the people who've put it into practice haven't adhered strictly to the theory of socialism. However, again, I must say that putting socialism into practice in America would be a futile effort. We're much to ensconced in capitalism. And the rich are very used to being rich, while the poor get practically no help whatsoever.
Anyway, I was bored, and wanted to find something to keep my mind occupied while waiting for my code to be done running. And these results seemed interesting enough to write a post about. Plus, it might inspire some people that read this blog to take some of the quizzes and see where they are placed in the political spectrum.
I've already got another post brewing in my head regarding recent goings-on in Congress, but that's another topic for another time. Although I may create another post if my damn code doesn't finish running in a decent amount of time. But, for now, I'm off to patiently wait for my code to stop.
Sunday, January 22, 2006
A Little Breather....
I finally have a little time to write something in here. I swear, ever since I got back here from Christmas at home, I've been pretty much swamped. First, studying for the candidacy exam, then starting to reacquaint myself with the research I'm doing, and recently starting the application process for a fellowship Ray wants me to apply for. It's a wonder that I even get any down time.
Of course, my body has been rebelling a bit by causing me to be very, very exhausted when I get back home after work. I told this to my doctor when I went to see him on Friday because of some jaw pain I have, so I get to have blood drawn tomorrow. Yay. I'm not a big fan of needles in general, so getting blood drawn is always such a fun experience. So, we'll see what the results of that are. Hopefully everything is normal and I'm just tired because of the depression.
I've also decided that I probably need to try some new anti-depressants. The ones I'm on currently don't seem to be working. It could be just that I haven't been on the "theraputic dose" for long enough. I'm not sure, though. I'd just like to feel like a normal human again. I was doing good on Prozac, but I also got the shakes from that. Although, now that I think about it, I've always kind of had a natural shakiness to me, and I think the increased shakiness was due to sitting directly next to my grandmother during both Thanksgiving and Christmas meals. She's not the easiest woman to deal with on the best days. I'll probably talk to the psychiatrist about this and see what he thinks.
Let's see. What else is new with me? I've sent the first draft of my fellowship proposal to Ray today. Hopefully he'll have some time to give some feedback to me, so I can get it ready to be sent out next Wednesday. I think it's pretty good, but I'm sure I should include some stuff in it to more broadly coincide with NASA's objectives. I'm just hoping I won't have to do too much to it before sending it off. At least I'm not as panicky as I was about it anymore. Things are starting to work themselves out. The only part I'm a bit worried about is getting my transcripts from Carroll, because their mail system is less than efficient. Hopefully I will be able to get them. I should probably do a search of my apartment to see if I have a copy of an unoffical one as a backup.
Not a whole lot is new with me lately. I've been making progress at work, which is a good feeling. For a while there, I wasn't making much progress at all because I couldn't figure out what I had done before. But, I finally figured it out early last week, so I'm redoing some stuff that I already did. I'm doing that for two reasons. One is just to familiarize myself with the programs I'd already written. The other is because the criteria for the depth levels over the continental shelf has been changed to accurately depict the same levels the rest of the team is using. I'm also changing some variable so they're not as cumbersome as they originally were, but not too much so that they're not descriptive of what they represent. I'm also putting more comments in my code, because that's the one thing that bothers me about other people's code. So many coders don't give enough explanation to their code. I had that problem with the radar analysis programs I used for my master's work. There weren't enough comments, and many variables had similar names (for example, n, nn, nnn, nnnn, nnnnn), so they made no sense to me. It also got quite confusing when I was trying to search for a certain variable, like nnn in the above example. That's just irritating.
Apparently we're supposed to get 3-7 inches of snow overnight. I'm sort of excited about it because this has been the weirdest January I've ever seen, with it being so warm at all. I'm not complaining, but I've been thinking that it's just wrong to be able to go outside without a coat in the middle of January. However, I won't be thrilled if it ends up being enough to cancel or delay classes. I'm supposed to teach a lab tomorrow that's already behind because we got Martin Luther King Day off. So, I'm really hoping I'll be able to make it out of my parking lot tomorrow. In any normal parking lot, this wouldn't be a problem. Mine, however, has a rather steep hill to go up to get to the main road. So, I guess I'll just have to wait and see.
Speaking of labs, sort of, I'm pretty impressed with the quality of the work being turned in by the two labs I did teach last week. Most of the people did really well on their labs. No one got a perfect score, but that's because I'm rather picky when it comes to grading. Most people who lost points lost them because they didn't label their isopleths. Without labels, they are just lines on a map that have no meaning. So, I'm sure a lot of people will be pissed that they got points off there, but they'll just have to deal with it and do them better next time. But, even with that, the averages for both labs were pretty high, approximately 43/48. That's pretty good from me, because I'm very anal. So, they should be proud of the work they've done so far, at least most of them. Some people didn't work as hard as others, and hopefully they'll realize that after this lab.
Well, I guess that's about it. I should probably cut this off here before it gets too long. Plus, it's almost time to watch my Sunday night shows. (I have my priorities.) So, I'll end with that, and then see if it starts snowing before I go to bed.
Of course, my body has been rebelling a bit by causing me to be very, very exhausted when I get back home after work. I told this to my doctor when I went to see him on Friday because of some jaw pain I have, so I get to have blood drawn tomorrow. Yay. I'm not a big fan of needles in general, so getting blood drawn is always such a fun experience. So, we'll see what the results of that are. Hopefully everything is normal and I'm just tired because of the depression.
I've also decided that I probably need to try some new anti-depressants. The ones I'm on currently don't seem to be working. It could be just that I haven't been on the "theraputic dose" for long enough. I'm not sure, though. I'd just like to feel like a normal human again. I was doing good on Prozac, but I also got the shakes from that. Although, now that I think about it, I've always kind of had a natural shakiness to me, and I think the increased shakiness was due to sitting directly next to my grandmother during both Thanksgiving and Christmas meals. She's not the easiest woman to deal with on the best days. I'll probably talk to the psychiatrist about this and see what he thinks.
Let's see. What else is new with me? I've sent the first draft of my fellowship proposal to Ray today. Hopefully he'll have some time to give some feedback to me, so I can get it ready to be sent out next Wednesday. I think it's pretty good, but I'm sure I should include some stuff in it to more broadly coincide with NASA's objectives. I'm just hoping I won't have to do too much to it before sending it off. At least I'm not as panicky as I was about it anymore. Things are starting to work themselves out. The only part I'm a bit worried about is getting my transcripts from Carroll, because their mail system is less than efficient. Hopefully I will be able to get them. I should probably do a search of my apartment to see if I have a copy of an unoffical one as a backup.
Not a whole lot is new with me lately. I've been making progress at work, which is a good feeling. For a while there, I wasn't making much progress at all because I couldn't figure out what I had done before. But, I finally figured it out early last week, so I'm redoing some stuff that I already did. I'm doing that for two reasons. One is just to familiarize myself with the programs I'd already written. The other is because the criteria for the depth levels over the continental shelf has been changed to accurately depict the same levels the rest of the team is using. I'm also changing some variable so they're not as cumbersome as they originally were, but not too much so that they're not descriptive of what they represent. I'm also putting more comments in my code, because that's the one thing that bothers me about other people's code. So many coders don't give enough explanation to their code. I had that problem with the radar analysis programs I used for my master's work. There weren't enough comments, and many variables had similar names (for example, n, nn, nnn, nnnn, nnnnn), so they made no sense to me. It also got quite confusing when I was trying to search for a certain variable, like nnn in the above example. That's just irritating.
Apparently we're supposed to get 3-7 inches of snow overnight. I'm sort of excited about it because this has been the weirdest January I've ever seen, with it being so warm at all. I'm not complaining, but I've been thinking that it's just wrong to be able to go outside without a coat in the middle of January. However, I won't be thrilled if it ends up being enough to cancel or delay classes. I'm supposed to teach a lab tomorrow that's already behind because we got Martin Luther King Day off. So, I'm really hoping I'll be able to make it out of my parking lot tomorrow. In any normal parking lot, this wouldn't be a problem. Mine, however, has a rather steep hill to go up to get to the main road. So, I guess I'll just have to wait and see.
Speaking of labs, sort of, I'm pretty impressed with the quality of the work being turned in by the two labs I did teach last week. Most of the people did really well on their labs. No one got a perfect score, but that's because I'm rather picky when it comes to grading. Most people who lost points lost them because they didn't label their isopleths. Without labels, they are just lines on a map that have no meaning. So, I'm sure a lot of people will be pissed that they got points off there, but they'll just have to deal with it and do them better next time. But, even with that, the averages for both labs were pretty high, approximately 43/48. That's pretty good from me, because I'm very anal. So, they should be proud of the work they've done so far, at least most of them. Some people didn't work as hard as others, and hopefully they'll realize that after this lab.
Well, I guess that's about it. I should probably cut this off here before it gets too long. Plus, it's almost time to watch my Sunday night shows. (I have my priorities.) So, I'll end with that, and then see if it starts snowing before I go to bed.
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Blogger Anniversary
Today is my first anniversary of having a blog. Unfortunately, I'm too tired to write too much about it right now, but I thought I should acknowledge it. I'll hopefully write more in the coming days. But, for now, I'm off to bed.
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