vecturist

  Well, I'm waiting around to see if any of my students show for office hours.  I handed back their lab reports last week and there was lots of grumbling, partly at the low grades (I actually was pretty generous) and the prof's announcement about their second test scores.  Some of them did horribly on the second exam - below 50%.  I have a couple that were struggling before and now failing.  I'm trying to counsel them that they should withdraw (you get a W on your transcript) and take the class again.  If you fail the class and take it again your grades get averaged.  The prof went even so far as to say if you are struggling, they should reconsider their major, which is a little harsh in my opinion.  Still I have two students who got zeroes on the lab report (20% of the lab grade) for plagiarizing and neither of them understands what they did wrong. 

  In happier news, my research is slowly moving along.  I have one more batch of primers to check before I can start on the important part of my experiment and hopefully generate some data quickly to present at the conference in Dec.  I also need to finish working on one other batch of data - but that's primarily a software issue.

  I'm looking forward to the LA con in a little less than two weeks.  Time to see some people again and I need a weekend away.  I'm starting to think about going to the Vancouver con - but it is a bit expensive and one of the bigger cons (I'm not sure about dealing with some of the crazy people).  Still, I'm excited about the guest list so far and it might be my last chance to see the Atlantis set.

This past week was the last full week of the semester for me in regard to teaching.  My students still have one final lab abstract to turn in during the coming week, and I have stated I will not accept them via email, so it will be interesting to see who actually shows up.  I also have two students coming by this coming week because they want me to write letters of recommendation for them.  It's quite an honor.  

If the swine flu doesn't escalate, graduation should happen as planned, which means Obama will be showing up.  Will he actually get an honorary degree after all the outcry?  I just know I plan to be nowhere near campus that day - my parking garage is near the arena where they hold graduation - it's usually crazy for graduation, but it will be a nightmare with security!!

I'll be busy in the lab this summer - should finally be able to start getting some research done.  I ran my first DNA extraction yesterday with a decent yield, hopefully the PCR will work once we order primers.  I need to get on the phone with the USDA and try to speed up the permitting process so I can get the rest of my fungal strains.  My goal is to have publishable results by the end of the summer.

So far my big escape for the summer is a long weekend with my sister in San Fran.  I'l also be house-sitting for my parents once or twice (and making use of their cable and the flat screen).

I am also considering undergoing minor eye surgery if it can be scheduled before I need to teach after the 4th of July.  The puffiness of my right eye has always bothered me (the eye usually looks half-open in photos) and I think I found someone who may be able to correct it for me (I found a doc who's plastic and reconstructive practice is limited to eyes).  Insurance may pay for part of it if I can get the referral from student health (I have an appt. this week).  My mom may help if it's not covered.  I feel a little silly and vain doing this, but I think it's also worth checking into.

Everything with my house re-fi finally went through, although I'm holding my breath for the refund check and waiting to see if my former lender pulls something stupid.

I'm trying to save money for the LA con, ut am so tempted to go the Chicago con, given the line-up.  Sigh.  I just wish I knew the proposed lineup for LA>

  Well, I'm counting the days until I leave for London and I really hope the weather improves.  I haven't seen cold weather and snow since college (ok, I've seen some cold weather).  I need to get my backpack out and make sure everything fits - normally I'm comfortable with what I'm wearing, but somehow cons really make me think.

  Last week was just long - I think I was beating myself up emotionally.  I still need to talk to the prof I TA for since the other TA informed me she can't cover my two labs like she originally agreed.  I think the prof will be ok or I can talk one of my other friends into it.  So far there's only one or two students in each of my sections that drive me nuts.  My school still needs to cut $13-15 million from the budget for the year (ends June 30th).  They keep saying graduate stipends are safe, but the chair of my dept has organized a committee to look at grad salaries (I've gotten one raise in the four years) and there are a bunch of dispariies between entering years and divisions just to name a few.  I volunteered to be on the committee, of course.

  I think the other thing that has me a bit down is the whole housing thing.  I was a little depressed when I got the appraisal number even though I'm going to be in my house for another two years or so.  There's a lot of debate if the housing market has hit bottom here yet and it makes me a little sick to think of the money I could lose (and I have this fear of having to repair something expensive).

  Oh well, one more full week - just not looking forward to a meeting with my advisor tomorrow.  I've been apathetic about doing work.  On the bright side, I went and donated several prom and formal dresses that were mine and my sister's to A Cinderella Affair - a group which provides dresses to girls who otherwise couldn't afford a dress for prom.  I still may have one or two more formal dresses to donate - just need to see if they fit...

It's the end of the semester and I'm trying to get grades finished for my three lab sections. A few students have emailed me asking for grades so they can figure out how well they need to do on the final (a couple require divine intervention to pass). I don't think I'll TA this class again.

I'm also trying to make the final revisions to my thesis proposal, then I can get my committee to officially sign off on the form stating I can advance to PhD candidacy. Used to be you got a pay raise when you passed comps, but that's ended for now, although there is talk of bringing that policy back.

I will probably book my plane tickets for Chevron 7.2 soon. I don't think prices will go any lower and I'd like to have some seat selection. Just trying to decide how many days I can take off.

And now for my rant. I finally closed my accounts with eBay and Paypal after putting up with continually increasing fees and policies which did nothing for people like me who sold items every once in awhile. The final straw came when I tried to sell a gift card - Paypal now has a 21 day hold on funds from the sale of certain items. The money may (operative word) be released sooner if the buyer leaves feedback or you can provide evidence the item was delivered. Since it was a gift card I offered free shipping and the buyer didn't want to pay for shipping confirmation. With the new system there's very little protection for the seller. I refunded the buyer's money, explained why (and was within my rights), but he left negative feedback and both ebay and paypal were useless. I'll be sticking with craigslist.

I passed the oral part of my comps!! I still have to redo the written, which is my proposal and I have about three weeks to do it. I was really dreading my orals - I had to present my proposal to my committee and they (5 profs) are allowed to ask any questions as long as they are remotely related to my research. Longest two hours of my life, particularly the last 15 minutes when they kicked me out of the room to debate whether or not I passed. (They told me it was unanimous).

I brought coffee and some of my mom's baked goods - I may bring some of the cake I have left (chocolate chip and walnut poundcake) to Burbank.

Met with my advisor today and I was actually feeling kind of hopeful. We were going over my presentation for comps and I knew there were still some areas that needed fleshing out, but didn't think they were that big a deal. After an hour and a half, J looks at me and asks how set am I on having my comps next week? WTF. Apparently he doesn't think I'm doing enough and wants to expand the research. He's only known what I'm doing since July when he saw the preliminary draft of my proposal. I'm seriously, seriously pissed. To do this now is just poor.

At least we're meeting tomorrow to go over some additional ideas - I've at least got one that I mention in my proposal. I am planning on taking comps next week (my committee has read my proposal and I will re-present it) and I'm going to lowball - if they're not happy with what I plan to do, then I'll ask them for suggestions.

So tonight I got some Chinese takeout, cracked open a Guiness and did some research. On the bright side of things I got my tickets for the Burbank con today.

This is my last full week of teaching lab - next week they just have one lab, a lab review, and their lab final. I'm just hoping I make it through Thursday's lab - the frog dissection. I know it's necessary and educational, but that doesn't mean I have to like it.

I have gotten spoiled with my class, I think. I have 14 students, and for the most part, they're brilliant and polite. Several of them already have an undergraduate degree (one has a bachelor's from Columbia) and most are pre-med, so they're prepared to work with little fussing around. I'm venting a little because I just got yelled at via email for writing too easy a daily quiz - apparently my grades are too high. Well, I correlated them with test scores and my students who are doing well on the quizzes are also doing well on the exams they're the high scorers - so I sent a terse email back pointing out that fact. (I also have three of the lowest scoring students). The lab coordinator is supposed to calculate averages by lab section (there are 4 lab sections), so I'm sure they won't be that off, plus I was using virtually the same quiz as another TA for the first two weeks.

UPDATE: I feel totally vindicated - the lab coordinator ran everybody's averages, and of the four labs, I had the lowest average - 80% - which is exactly what I'm supposed to have. I doubt I'll get an apology, though.

Yesterday's quiz for anyone curious - the class is BIO 188, which is the second semester of Introductory Biology, required for anyone who wants to be a biology major or is pre-med.

1) What does GMO stand for? (1pt)
2) Name one product of genetic engineering (1pt)
3) What is a plasmid? (2pts)
4) Why are bacteria useful for transformation/gene regulation studies? (2pts)
5) Describe two ways to tell if a bacterial culture has taken up a plasmid (4pts)

Well, I survived my first week of the summer session of Intro Bio - three evening labs a week (4:40 - 7:30). I think I will wind up with 12-13 students - most want the earlier afternoon sessions which is fine. I have one or two other that may drop the class (one I think will run into problems with grades), but I like teaching smaller groups. Most of the students are pre-med, including a couple who have gone back to get all their requirements.

Got notified by student health this morning I have to feel out a couple medical forms because I'll be handling animals for the class I'm teaching in a few weeks.

I'm also supposed to have had a tetanus shot in the last ten years. Unfortunately I'm allergic to the vaccine - found out the hard way when I was 12 (and it was even worse because they injected it into the muscle). Hopefully I won't have to do too much explaining.

I'm heading to San Francisco on Friday to see my siblings (and a friend/postdoc) and run a 12k - Bay to Breakers which is a crazy race through downtown, ending up at Golden Gate Park. It's a crazy race - a lot of people dress in costume (this being SF, a lot are politics related), do centipedes (chains or groups of people) there are a few floats (one couple builds a tiki bar and serve drinks along the race), quite a few kegs, and several dozen people who decide to do the race naked (yes the human body is a wonderful thing,but..). Like an idiot I have a 7:30AM flight and have to drive to the airport (I hate parking at the airport). I'm supposed to meet with my advisor tomorrow along with all my other running around.

I was also informed by my dad tonight that he will be taking out the stress of Friday's day of medical tests (just routine, but he can't drive me to the airport) by ripping out my cabinets starting Saturday. He thinks they'll all be out when I come home on Sunday. The new cabinets should be in by the end of the week, which means I can call the group doing my countertops to measure and set up an installation time for the tile guys. Of course this means I have to unload all the cabinets tonight and tomorrow. I forget just how much kitchen related stuff I own, particularly glasses.

I will have to take pictures tomorrow of what I'm replacing. I'm a little disappointed I won't have a chance to play with the sledgehammer.