It really feels like Friday. Maybe because I wish it was Friday. It has been a long week, and yet somehow I still feel so behind. I think that is going to be a general principal of this semester.
Part of it has been that I'm doing a lot of social activities this week, which is unusual. Most of my friends have already moved away, and the rest know that I'm writing and don't bother me as often. BUT, one friend of mine is getting married this weekend, so we had a "bachelorette dinner" on Monday. And then yesterday I got to see Alton Brown speak for free. How could you pass that up?? It was hilarious! He liked making fun of grad students a lot, and was dead on about how there's nothing in this town. "It's not even really a town...just a college." Hence the name, I guess. And then this weekend, on Friday is a little wedding reception...and Saturday, a friend of mine who graduated a few years ago is coming to visit! It will be a busy time.
Maybe Sunday I can get some more work done. I'm not sure what my advisor is thinking for getting the book chapter done. I thought it was due, well, tomorrow, but I am pretty darn sure that won't happen. I could maybe see it happening the end of next week if she works non-stop on it. But, we have a good 1/3 or more to overhaul, then cleaning it up and referencing and incorporating figures...there's no way that will get done by tomorrow, even if we both don't sleep. At least she likes my work: yesterday she told me that, "I like what you did with what I sent you on Friday." So many compliments on this book chapter. That either means that my writing has improved over time, OR that I write better when it's not about my own work.
9.29.2011
9.27.2011
Ninja submission
Apparently, my paper was sneak-submitted. We never got a notification that it got submitted, but my advisor says it's out for review. Submitted is submitted in my book.
I have no idea how this book chapter is going; my advisor sent me a bunch last weekend to work on, which I did, but now I'm kind of waiting on more from her. If it's not done on time, I don't think it will be my fault.
Chapter 3 is coming along swimmingly. Chapter 4 will be a pain in the rear, but has to be done, and Chapter 5 (Conclusions and Future Directions) could be kind of fun. Then I just have a bunch of appendices to deal with. Slowly but surely I'm making progress. I think if I can get a bunch done in the next week or so, I will ask my advisor if maybe I could set a real date. You know, the kind where you get to defend.
All the rest of it is the most intimidating part. Finding a job especially, and figuring out where to live. Meh.
I have no idea how this book chapter is going; my advisor sent me a bunch last weekend to work on, which I did, but now I'm kind of waiting on more from her. If it's not done on time, I don't think it will be my fault.
Chapter 3 is coming along swimmingly. Chapter 4 will be a pain in the rear, but has to be done, and Chapter 5 (Conclusions and Future Directions) could be kind of fun. Then I just have a bunch of appendices to deal with. Slowly but surely I'm making progress. I think if I can get a bunch done in the next week or so, I will ask my advisor if maybe I could set a real date. You know, the kind where you get to defend.
All the rest of it is the most intimidating part. Finding a job especially, and figuring out where to live. Meh.
9.23.2011
Inbox: full; Outbox: slowly accumulating
So much to do, so little time!
The book chapter is due soon, but supposedly my advisor is giving me a full draft soon to work on while she's out of town this weekend. Hopefully that will be one more thing off the list soon.
My (nearly) re-submitted paper got converted to thesis-format a couple days ago, and it felt like I'd written an entire chapter, even though it took only 2 years to write! ;-)
The other chapters are coming along, but they are infinitely harder. I find myself fine-tuning figures to at least be productive, but really I'm procrastinating thinking up things to write. I will have to buckle down and get that under control soon.
I sent my ideas for postdocs and a couple pieces of possible letters to send them to a former student from this lab, and she approved, so maybe, just maybe I will have the courage to approach my advisor about it. I'm not sure why, but this is the scariest part for me. Part of it is probably that I don't want her judging my choices, part of it is that I'm scared about actually putting myself out there, and part of it is that I really don't want to leave a certain someone behind here. But, I really don't have a whole lot of other options, so I had better get started on that soon, as well.
I found out that someone that is one year behind me, and someone that is two years behind me, will likely be walking and getting their degrees with me. That feels very discouraging. It's hard not to compare yourself to other people. I wouldn't have traded this extra time in State College for anything, but at the same time, I feel like I didn't work hard enough or something, even though I know that's not true.
The book chapter is due soon, but supposedly my advisor is giving me a full draft soon to work on while she's out of town this weekend. Hopefully that will be one more thing off the list soon.
My (nearly) re-submitted paper got converted to thesis-format a couple days ago, and it felt like I'd written an entire chapter, even though it took only 2 years to write! ;-)
The other chapters are coming along, but they are infinitely harder. I find myself fine-tuning figures to at least be productive, but really I'm procrastinating thinking up things to write. I will have to buckle down and get that under control soon.
I sent my ideas for postdocs and a couple pieces of possible letters to send them to a former student from this lab, and she approved, so maybe, just maybe I will have the courage to approach my advisor about it. I'm not sure why, but this is the scariest part for me. Part of it is probably that I don't want her judging my choices, part of it is that I'm scared about actually putting myself out there, and part of it is that I really don't want to leave a certain someone behind here. But, I really don't have a whole lot of other options, so I had better get started on that soon, as well.
I found out that someone that is one year behind me, and someone that is two years behind me, will likely be walking and getting their degrees with me. That feels very discouraging. It's hard not to compare yourself to other people. I wouldn't have traded this extra time in State College for anything, but at the same time, I feel like I didn't work hard enough or something, even though I know that's not true.
9.16.2011
Some people's kids...need their shots.
Everyone has an issue that really gets under their skin in politics. For me, the two general issues I get passionate about are science and with education. No big surprise there. One of the things that bothers me the most is this whole vaccine issue. From the Bachmann-Perry crazy at the debate this week to the whole "autism-by-vaccine" thing to just parents thinking it's ok not to vaccinate their children for potentially deadly diseases, I get more than a little frustrated. If I wasn't trying to write a book chapter, and a giant dissertation, along with supposedly finding a place to go when I'm done, I would find a bunch of good reference material and write a well-reasoned essay airing the bulk of my frustrations.
Because that's not possible right now, I will just say:
1) Vaccines are safer than driving cars. Your child will not become "mentally retarded" from a vaccine. At worst, they will probably be sore or get a rash that will go away. Extreme side effects are very rare.
2) Enough people refusing to vaccinate promotes re-emerging pathogens showing up again, such as the whooping cough outbreak in California last year. I've said this before - I suppose other people's ignorance keeps me employed, but that doesn't mean I have to be ok with it.
3) Bravo to the scientists needling back for once and offering to pay a reward for the mom that Bachmann described during the debate. Unfortunately, the damage is mostly done, because now parents have a negative image of vaccines drilled into their brains by the media. It is so unfortunate that one really loud person can negate the work of thousands of qualified scientists. It happens so often, like with climate change or evolution. If you wanted to be fair and show both sides of the issue, you should weight those sides by which has the greatest scientific merit. But clearly, I don't make the rules.
After that short digression, I still would love to understand why it is so easy to get so mis-educated. Choosing not to vaccinate against things like whooping cough and measles is inviting trouble, either by increasing the probability your own child will get sick (and possibly die), or that they will cause another child to get sick (and possibly die). But if you really think vaccines are more dangerous than measles and whooping cough, by all means, let your kids get sick. Then maybe I can get funding.
Because that's not possible right now, I will just say:
1) Vaccines are safer than driving cars. Your child will not become "mentally retarded" from a vaccine. At worst, they will probably be sore or get a rash that will go away. Extreme side effects are very rare.
2) Enough people refusing to vaccinate promotes re-emerging pathogens showing up again, such as the whooping cough outbreak in California last year. I've said this before - I suppose other people's ignorance keeps me employed, but that doesn't mean I have to be ok with it.
3) Bravo to the scientists needling back for once and offering to pay a reward for the mom that Bachmann described during the debate. Unfortunately, the damage is mostly done, because now parents have a negative image of vaccines drilled into their brains by the media. It is so unfortunate that one really loud person can negate the work of thousands of qualified scientists. It happens so often, like with climate change or evolution. If you wanted to be fair and show both sides of the issue, you should weight those sides by which has the greatest scientific merit. But clearly, I don't make the rules.
After that short digression, I still would love to understand why it is so easy to get so mis-educated. Choosing not to vaccinate against things like whooping cough and measles is inviting trouble, either by increasing the probability your own child will get sick (and possibly die), or that they will cause another child to get sick (and possibly die). But if you really think vaccines are more dangerous than measles and whooping cough, by all means, let your kids get sick. Then maybe I can get funding.
Boring but crazy
It's been a boring, but crazy week, if that makes sense.
I've felt pretty busy, but also that I haven't gotten that much done. Most of that is probably from teaching and proctoring. Proctoring is the most pointless task ever; it feels like the biggest time-waster. I showed up Tuesday morning, and half the proctors weren't there. That meant the prof and one other person were taking the exams as the students finished, leaving me to watch over 300 students. Hah. As if I would have the ability to catch anyone cheating, and as if I cared at that point anyway...
Teaching is more fun; I have pretty good kids, and we get through the class typically in one piece. There is nothing quite as rewarding as seeing them understand a concept for the first time. But it was lab report week, so I graded 75 lab reports on Tuesday night. The prof has each of the two TAs grade all of one lab report so the grading is consistent. In the other section, I found my first plagiarists of the season. One lab partner did the work, the other photocopied the lab partner's hand-drawn graphs, did no calculations, and then the two partners' reports were clipped together. If you were going to photocopy the graphs, at least have the intelligence to put the two copies in different parts of the stack so at least there might be a lower chance of me recognizing it.
I really thought we were going to submit the paper this week, and we got it ready, but for some reason it hasn't gone out. I don't quite understand, but I think it has something to do with our collaborator's password for the journal submission not working...so hopefully one of these days....
But in other writing news, the stuff I sent my advisor for the book chapter we're writing, she finally read in the middle of the week, and she told me that "it's off to a great start!" That kind of made my day. There's still a lot to do, but I think I have about half of my work done, and then I will just have to mess with the figures. I also spent a lot of time re-comparing some data that I'd lost the comparisons of before, so hopefully something useful comes out of that.
I've felt pretty busy, but also that I haven't gotten that much done. Most of that is probably from teaching and proctoring. Proctoring is the most pointless task ever; it feels like the biggest time-waster. I showed up Tuesday morning, and half the proctors weren't there. That meant the prof and one other person were taking the exams as the students finished, leaving me to watch over 300 students. Hah. As if I would have the ability to catch anyone cheating, and as if I cared at that point anyway...
Teaching is more fun; I have pretty good kids, and we get through the class typically in one piece. There is nothing quite as rewarding as seeing them understand a concept for the first time. But it was lab report week, so I graded 75 lab reports on Tuesday night. The prof has each of the two TAs grade all of one lab report so the grading is consistent. In the other section, I found my first plagiarists of the season. One lab partner did the work, the other photocopied the lab partner's hand-drawn graphs, did no calculations, and then the two partners' reports were clipped together. If you were going to photocopy the graphs, at least have the intelligence to put the two copies in different parts of the stack so at least there might be a lower chance of me recognizing it.
I really thought we were going to submit the paper this week, and we got it ready, but for some reason it hasn't gone out. I don't quite understand, but I think it has something to do with our collaborator's password for the journal submission not working...so hopefully one of these days....
But in other writing news, the stuff I sent my advisor for the book chapter we're writing, she finally read in the middle of the week, and she told me that "it's off to a great start!" That kind of made my day. There's still a lot to do, but I think I have about half of my work done, and then I will just have to mess with the figures. I also spent a lot of time re-comparing some data that I'd lost the comparisons of before, so hopefully something useful comes out of that.
9.12.2011
Catching up.
I know, it's been forever...I've been busy!
The humidity and rain lately has been ridiculous! I realize we didn't get as much rain as the eastern side of PA, but still...it has been nearly impossible for me to breathe in lab. On Friday, as soon as I went in the lab I'd start coughing and my sinuses would ache. I went and sat somewhere on the first floor of the building where there was a better A/C drying out the air and felt great, then would go back upstairs to do a few things and would start coughing again. I don't know how they "fixed" our A/C, but I would venture to guess that it didn't work. Ugh.
In other news, I convinced my advisor to list me first on the paper that I believe is finally getting submitted TODAY! I'm not sure what I will do if it doesn't get accepted this time, but it will involve some kind of destruction. It only took my collaborator 1-1.5 weeks to give us 4 proofreading edits...sigh.
We also started working hard-core on the book chapter a couple weeks ago. I have about 12 pages of text and the start of a few figures that I sent to my advisor to start combing through. That's due at the end of the month, so hopefully that will go smoothly.
I need to start talking to my advisor about postdoc ideas and start seriously looking. I also want to try and defend by the first week or so in November, so I need to get writing. I also wish some of my experiments would just work already, but I realize that is too much to ask. Sigh....
The humidity and rain lately has been ridiculous! I realize we didn't get as much rain as the eastern side of PA, but still...it has been nearly impossible for me to breathe in lab. On Friday, as soon as I went in the lab I'd start coughing and my sinuses would ache. I went and sat somewhere on the first floor of the building where there was a better A/C drying out the air and felt great, then would go back upstairs to do a few things and would start coughing again. I don't know how they "fixed" our A/C, but I would venture to guess that it didn't work. Ugh.
In other news, I convinced my advisor to list me first on the paper that I believe is finally getting submitted TODAY! I'm not sure what I will do if it doesn't get accepted this time, but it will involve some kind of destruction. It only took my collaborator 1-1.5 weeks to give us 4 proofreading edits...sigh.
We also started working hard-core on the book chapter a couple weeks ago. I have about 12 pages of text and the start of a few figures that I sent to my advisor to start combing through. That's due at the end of the month, so hopefully that will go smoothly.
I need to start talking to my advisor about postdoc ideas and start seriously looking. I also want to try and defend by the first week or so in November, so I need to get writing. I also wish some of my experiments would just work already, but I realize that is too much to ask. Sigh....
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