So I decided that my day yesterday must be what working part-time is like. And boy was it great! I woke up leisurely around 7:30am, just woke up to the sun, no alarm clock. Made a hot breakfast, got ready, called the maintenance people. Headed to campus, where I worked for a couple of hours until I got stuck, which just so happened to coincide with lunch time. So then I headed downtown, ate at this great little local bakery called Wheatfields that I love so much, and had a very tasty lunch of a salad, cup of salmon chowder, and fresh bread. Then I walked around downtown and did some Christmas shopping, in the beautiful December weather. Bright blue sky, temperatures in the 40s, not too windy. After that I came home and relaxed for a while, then went to the grocery store to get baking supplies (yay! I love to bake). Then I headed back downtown for some Mexican food and a margarita with friends. What a fantastic day!
So I've got to work it out somehow to only have to work part time.... :-)
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Still alive....
So I am officially the world's worst blogger/journal-er/diary-er/etc. I always have been really. I can't tell you how many times I got a journal or diary for Christmas or something and resolved to keep up with it, only to forget all about it 3 days later.
The terrible semester is over....haven't gotten my final grade for one class yet, the one I am on the borderline between A and B for, but the other two I pulled off A's in. Hooray! I consider it a success. And I have been greatly enjoying my reward of being lazy and relaxing since the end of my finals last Wednesday.
But now I need to stop being so lazy and finish the other various things to do before heading back home. I need to finish cleaning my apartment and putting away laundry (why does it always take me a week to just put away all of the clean dishes and laundry?), and then get my Christmas shopping done. The plan is to get all of that done before I leave here Wednesday-ish.
And now I am officially done with TA-ing!!!! I am using a lot of -'s in this post. No more lab setups, labs to teach where no one cares or pays attention to what I say, office hours that only two students come to, tutoring hours where they want me to do their homework for them, grading 72 labs a week, proctoring exams, and getting their ridiculous, untrue, and completely unhelpful evaluations, comments, and criticisms.
On the subject of evaluations though I did have one comment that made me feel I wasn't a total failure. I happen to know who the student is by the handwriting and the fact that (s)he mentioned having me for two semesters and this student was by far one of my best. The student wrote that I was an excellent TA and always willing to help, and that other students had been complaining about me but (s)he wanted to stand up for me becuase the only reason they were complaining about me was because the caliber of the course was higher than what they were used to and they wanted someone who would spoon-feed them the answers instead of making them think. Yay! So I haven't been dragged down to the level of spoon-feeding them as I had feared. Of course by refusing to do that I remain in the bottom half of TA evaluations. I am firmly convinced that the evaluation score is inversely proportional to the average grade of the TA's students, especially when compared with other TAs for the same course where applicable.
Then of course there were the comments that included flat out lies. Nothing makes me more mad than when a student of mine writes something untrue about me in an evaluation that then reflects poorly on me. Such as saying that I would leave the room so that students could not ask for help. First of all your lab manual gives step-by-step instructions (not my fault you didn't bring it to class), I then told you what to do, demonstrated how to do it, then stepped out of the room to get a sip of water since this was my second two-hour lab in a row without a break. There should not have even been any questions in the time it takes to get a sip of water at the water fountain directly outside the lab room, and even if there are is it that terrible to wait 30 seconds for me to get back? And they also mentioned that I refused to answer questions and got frustrated with students. Who wouldn't when i just spent 20 minutes explaining the lab (though you were supposed to have read it before coming to class) and demonstrating exactly what to do, then five hands go up all to ask "Ok, so what do we do first?" What human person would NOT be frustrated with that???
Ok I feel much better after venting about that. I think now it is time for some pumpkin spice cake, then some cleaning accompanied by singing and dancing along to Christmas music.
The terrible semester is over....haven't gotten my final grade for one class yet, the one I am on the borderline between A and B for, but the other two I pulled off A's in. Hooray! I consider it a success. And I have been greatly enjoying my reward of being lazy and relaxing since the end of my finals last Wednesday.
But now I need to stop being so lazy and finish the other various things to do before heading back home. I need to finish cleaning my apartment and putting away laundry (why does it always take me a week to just put away all of the clean dishes and laundry?), and then get my Christmas shopping done. The plan is to get all of that done before I leave here Wednesday-ish.
And now I am officially done with TA-ing!!!! I am using a lot of -'s in this post. No more lab setups, labs to teach where no one cares or pays attention to what I say, office hours that only two students come to, tutoring hours where they want me to do their homework for them, grading 72 labs a week, proctoring exams, and getting their ridiculous, untrue, and completely unhelpful evaluations, comments, and criticisms.
On the subject of evaluations though I did have one comment that made me feel I wasn't a total failure. I happen to know who the student is by the handwriting and the fact that (s)he mentioned having me for two semesters and this student was by far one of my best. The student wrote that I was an excellent TA and always willing to help, and that other students had been complaining about me but (s)he wanted to stand up for me becuase the only reason they were complaining about me was because the caliber of the course was higher than what they were used to and they wanted someone who would spoon-feed them the answers instead of making them think. Yay! So I haven't been dragged down to the level of spoon-feeding them as I had feared. Of course by refusing to do that I remain in the bottom half of TA evaluations. I am firmly convinced that the evaluation score is inversely proportional to the average grade of the TA's students, especially when compared with other TAs for the same course where applicable.
Then of course there were the comments that included flat out lies. Nothing makes me more mad than when a student of mine writes something untrue about me in an evaluation that then reflects poorly on me. Such as saying that I would leave the room so that students could not ask for help. First of all your lab manual gives step-by-step instructions (not my fault you didn't bring it to class), I then told you what to do, demonstrated how to do it, then stepped out of the room to get a sip of water since this was my second two-hour lab in a row without a break. There should not have even been any questions in the time it takes to get a sip of water at the water fountain directly outside the lab room, and even if there are is it that terrible to wait 30 seconds for me to get back? And they also mentioned that I refused to answer questions and got frustrated with students. Who wouldn't when i just spent 20 minutes explaining the lab (though you were supposed to have read it before coming to class) and demonstrating exactly what to do, then five hands go up all to ask "Ok, so what do we do first?" What human person would NOT be frustrated with that???
Ok I feel much better after venting about that. I think now it is time for some pumpkin spice cake, then some cleaning accompanied by singing and dancing along to Christmas music.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Caught in a rip current...
At least thats what it feels like lately. I definitely think that thinking I can do everything I have bitten off more than I can chew. Days are flying by, assignments are piling up, sleep is in short(er) supply, and a clean apartment has become a distant memory. Today however I took some time to put some laundry on (more because i do not feel like buying new underwear than anything), take out the trash, and put away dishes. So at least I feel better about that. And tonight I am going to some friends' house for dinner. I need some time to just get away and socialize and talk about something other than physics or I will lose my sanity. I do NOT want to burn out less than halfway through the semester. So if this homework assignment for my nuclear class has to take a little hit so that I can keep going for the next 2 months, so be it.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Anyone for hypothermia?
I am very displeased with the hot water status at my apartment recently. It seems like every morning it is a coin toss as to whether or not I will have hot water for my shower. And I am getting very tired of this game. The answer when I call the management answering service (since the actual office for my complex doesn't open until 9, and I am almost always gone before then)? "They are aware of the problem and will fix it." So I asked, do you have any idea when they will fix it? Because it has been doing this off and on for about 2 weeks. "No. We have told them about the problem and they said they will fix it." Such a helpful response. Of course I know it's not the answering service's fault. But I am still annoyed to say the least. The first time it happened I thought that maybe there were just too many people using hot water at the time for it to keep up. But the second time it was 6am on a Saturday. Not likely that there were too many people taking showers, doing laundry, or washing dishes at that time....
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Two of the greatest foods ever
And they are......drumroll........tacos and dark chocolate peanut m&m's. And I will tell you why. Let's begin with tacos. Because we mustn't start with dessert.
Tacos have long been a favorite of mine. And even more so now, since the days of mom preparing dinner every night for me have long since passed. Tacos are inexpensive (not to be confused with cheap, as making your own you can create some pretty high quality tacos), fast, delicious, and one of the easiest meals to cook ever. Brown ground beef, mix in the seasoning, and done! Now just assemble to your liking. And even better, leftovers are a pleasant surprise instead of a downer. For example, after a day or so, leftovers of things such as chicken or roast or pork chops become dull, and I always struggle to find new and interesting ways to consume the rest. Always a challenge and inevitable when cooking for one person. I open the fridge looking for something tasty, and just think oh yeah, I need to finish that. Absolutely no pleasure from it. However, in the case of tacos it is more like oh yeah! I still have tacos!! I contemplated all of this while finishing off my leftover tacos for lupper today. And no thats not misspelled.
So now that we've established the greatness of tacos, we move on to the m&ms. Now there are many wonderful candies, and m&ms in general fall into this category. Favorites of mine include peanut, peanut butter, almond, dark chocolate, etc. There are a few I'm not crazy about, namely the white chocolate and crispy ones. I may have listed all the varieties at this point. Thats ok. However the new dark chocolate peanut ones far surpass their kin.
First let us consider dark chocolate in general. Many people have probably already heard of the health benefits of dark chocolate. Much like red wine, it is good for your heart (of course in reasonable amounts). However, less well known is its application as a cough suppressant. Yup thats right everyone, dark chocolate works as a cough suppressant. So next time you have a cough, instead of reaching for the Robitussin just reach for a piece of dark chocolate and suck on that. I have experimentally verified its effectiveness, and can assure you that it tastes MUCH better.
So now that I have established that dark chocolate in itself is good for you, lets consider peanut m&m's separately. There is a scale for weighing the "good-for-you" factor of foods, especially snack foods, called the glycemic index. Diabetics are generally familiar with it, it essentially rates how much sugar is in foods. Now, on this scale peanut m&m's have a BETTER rating than Cheerios. You know, the food that parents give their children to make them be quiet in church. It keeps them occupied and is healthy right?? But not as much as peanut m&m's!!! So....the logical conclusion is when you need a snack reach for the peanut m&m's!! This is only valid for the peanut variety of course. The hypothesis is that they are mostly peanut, and very little chocolate or candy coating. But they sure taste good!!
So tying together what we know about the health benefits of dark chocolate and peanut m&m's separately, it only makes sense that these benefits add up to a healthy and fantastic tasting snack, with the added benefit of being able to comfort me in my many mood swings!
Tacos have long been a favorite of mine. And even more so now, since the days of mom preparing dinner every night for me have long since passed. Tacos are inexpensive (not to be confused with cheap, as making your own you can create some pretty high quality tacos), fast, delicious, and one of the easiest meals to cook ever. Brown ground beef, mix in the seasoning, and done! Now just assemble to your liking. And even better, leftovers are a pleasant surprise instead of a downer. For example, after a day or so, leftovers of things such as chicken or roast or pork chops become dull, and I always struggle to find new and interesting ways to consume the rest. Always a challenge and inevitable when cooking for one person. I open the fridge looking for something tasty, and just think oh yeah, I need to finish that. Absolutely no pleasure from it. However, in the case of tacos it is more like oh yeah! I still have tacos!! I contemplated all of this while finishing off my leftover tacos for lupper today. And no thats not misspelled.So now that we've established the greatness of tacos, we move on to the m&ms. Now there are many wonderful candies, and m&ms in general fall into this category. Favorites of mine include peanut, peanut butter, almond, dark chocolate, etc. There are a few I'm not crazy about, namely the white chocolate and crispy ones. I may have listed all the varieties at this point. Thats ok. However the new dark chocolate peanut ones far surpass their kin.
First let us consider dark chocolate in general. Many people have probably already heard of the health benefits of dark chocolate. Much like red wine, it is good for your heart (of course in reasonable amounts). However, less well known is its application as a cough suppressant. Yup thats right everyone, dark chocolate works as a cough suppressant. So next time you have a cough, instead of reaching for the Robitussin just reach for a piece of dark chocolate and suck on that. I have experimentally verified its effectiveness, and can assure you that it tastes MUCH better. So now that I have established that dark chocolate in itself is good for you, lets consider peanut m&m's separately. There is a scale for weighing the "good-for-you" factor of foods, especially snack foods, called the glycemic index. Diabetics are generally familiar with it, it essentially rates how much sugar is in foods. Now, on this scale peanut m&m's have a BETTER rating than Cheerios. You know, the food that parents give their children to make them be quiet in church. It keeps them occupied and is healthy right?? But not as much as peanut m&m's!!! So....the logical conclusion is when you need a snack reach for the peanut m&m's!! This is only valid for the peanut variety of course. The hypothesis is that they are mostly peanut, and very little chocolate or candy coating. But they sure taste good!!
So tying together what we know about the health benefits of dark chocolate and peanut m&m's separately, it only makes sense that these benefits add up to a healthy and fantastic tasting snack, with the added benefit of being able to comfort me in my many mood swings!
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
cout << "Hello World!";
So I have become a citizen of the blogging world, partly out of sheer procrastination. Those 16 lab reports are still waiting to be graded for tomorrow morning, and several homework assignments are calling my name from inside my booksack, all to no avail. I blame Comma Splice for planting this idea in my head.
This blog will be episodes from my life, the life of a female graduate student in physics. Sometimes my venting space, in lieu of punching my pillow and screaming (which my apartment neighbors probably would not appreciate), sometimes a sounding board, sometimes simple procrastination or boredom, or the place for me to shout about how wonderful life is. And of course there is always a high chance of mental whiplash.
Life has been a whirlwind lately. I returned from a couple months in Europe working on research to another research offer on the same project but with a different professor. I have been deliberating since then, weighing the pros, cons, and feasibility of each option for several weeks. Late last week I reached a decision, after the prayers and advice of many friends, family, and the graduate advisor. I kept it tentative until I could sleep on it and pray about it for a few days, to make sure I wasn't suffering from temporary insanity. However my decision has only grown more firm in the last four days. I will be switching to the new professor. And one of the bonus features of this will be no teaching labs for the spring semester!
Well, I suppose I can no longer ignore the stack of lab reports waiting to be bathed in red ink. At least not if I want to get any sleep tonight. And I ALWAYS want to get sleep...
This blog will be episodes from my life, the life of a female graduate student in physics. Sometimes my venting space, in lieu of punching my pillow and screaming (which my apartment neighbors probably would not appreciate), sometimes a sounding board, sometimes simple procrastination or boredom, or the place for me to shout about how wonderful life is. And of course there is always a high chance of mental whiplash.
Life has been a whirlwind lately. I returned from a couple months in Europe working on research to another research offer on the same project but with a different professor. I have been deliberating since then, weighing the pros, cons, and feasibility of each option for several weeks. Late last week I reached a decision, after the prayers and advice of many friends, family, and the graduate advisor. I kept it tentative until I could sleep on it and pray about it for a few days, to make sure I wasn't suffering from temporary insanity. However my decision has only grown more firm in the last four days. I will be switching to the new professor. And one of the bonus features of this will be no teaching labs for the spring semester!
Well, I suppose I can no longer ignore the stack of lab reports waiting to be bathed in red ink. At least not if I want to get any sleep tonight. And I ALWAYS want to get sleep...
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