JawsBlog

I’ve officially decided that I’m jinxed in the lab I’m currently working in. For the second straight time, the experiment I”ve run hasn’t worked for some unknown reason, hence my conclusion that I’m simply jinxed.

Now how to unjinx myself…that is the new question.

I’m studying for an exam I have tomorrow, but going over my notes, I recalled a discussion my classmates and I recently had.

One of the lecturers we had, gave lectures and readings that well, most if not all of us felt was way over our heads.

The thing is, the lecturer is a brilliant individual, and thast’s readily apparent. But we felt that the material he was presenting to us was way over our heads and we left class very confused.

After talking amongst ourselves, we figured that what we were being taught (or trying to be) didn’t make sense to us, because the professor is just so intellegent that he thought he was lecturing to people with the same kind of scientific background that he has (which none of us students fully has).

Have you ever had an experience like this?

It’s snowing outside, and it’s coming down heavy…another 2-4 inches + ice they say.
And to think, it was partly cloudy and 50 degrees out yesterday.

When will spring begin? Please spring! Come! Soon! Pronto!

On the plus side, my class this afternoon has been cancelled! Score!

I’ve got to proctor an exam this evening for 2 hours–yuck. i still fail to understand why the course would schedule its exams to take place between 8:30-10:30pm, but that’s to ponder another day.

It’s off to go proctor an exam I go!

I’m still feeling sick (from yesterday) this morning..and lucky me, today is Monday, so it means I’ve gotta TA biology lab then sit and suffer through ethics class!

On top of all that, we’re also expecting another @%#%^$@! Nor’easter up here today, and the powers that be at the University have decided not to call of classes! Ugh!

I’m really getting sick and tired of these big snow storms that keep coming through.

Alas, I know I’m not the only one who feels that way, as here’s Michele who hits the nail on the head: A Small Victory – take this snow and shove it, I ain’t digging out no more

Tomorrow is President’s Day
It’s a Federal Holiday
Accordingly, wouldn’t one expect that a State University would not be holiding classes?

Well, logic doesn’t apply in this scenario…and I’ve got classes tomorrow…so I’ll be teaching biology lab then it’s Ethics class (ugh)

THe latest issue of the Justice is out, and there’s some good material to blog on/about in the Forum section of the paper.

You know what the Justice really needs–an Ombudsman (or make that Ombudsperson) to correct the errors in the paper’s coverage. Preferable said person would do a better job than oh say Dan Okrent.

My car was given a clean bill of health this morning by the really nice folks at Saturn. Hooray!
And I’m waiting for the slides I made to dry so I can look at ‘em under the microscope. I forget if they’re florescent or now (perhaps I’ll be able to get a digital pic of one of ‘em, and I’ll share it).

Otherwise, it’s about T-3 hours till my exam, so you can guess what I’m going to be focusing on this afternoon (and why blogging will resume apace this evening).

Back to the retina I go…

As mentioned in the post below, I’ve got an exam on the visual system tomorrow. The visual system is probably my least favorite sensory system to keep learning about, maybe with the exception of the auditory system. My dislike actually has to do with the number of times I’ve had the systems presented to me in various courses over the years (between neuroscience courses and psychology–plus the occasional presentation in chemistry or physics class).

So tomorrow afternoon (4pm) I’ve got an exam, which like most exams I’m not looking forward to. I’ve got most of the day to study as well. I’m taking the car into Saturn tomorrow morning to make sure nothing got damaged in my recent car accident, then I’m heading into the lab, where I get to mount the brain slices I made today, and then check to see if my injection worked as expected. Then in the afternoon it’s exam time.

But after that, tomorrow evening, things return to “normal”. I’ve just got a bunch of lab reports to grade. I think I need to get myself a few new red pens if you ask me.

Back to the books I go

After I handed out the quizzes in lab today, a strange thing happened. All of the sudden the power went out. Not just in my classroom, but in the whole building (which houses numerous labs!) To think of all the experiments that may have been ruined!

The power came back on a few minutes later, but no one really knows why it went out to begin with. And apparently, as some of my students told me, the whole campus lost power last night for 2+ hours. (and many of ‘em wanted extensions on their lab reports which are due today as a result). The power is back on here but what’s going on?

Slow day again in the lab. Got here before anyone else today (and I only arrived like at 9:45ish). Much to my dismay, all the computers were off (for some reason) and I didn’r know the password, so I had to waste a lot of time.

Then somone came in, and told me I could slice the brain I extracted friday, so I did that, which didn’t take too long. I’ve gotta TA biology lab this afternoon, where the kids will start their dissection of the Fetal Pig. Oh boy…

But that’s all secondary–because I’m about to head to go get some free food for lunch! Free food! Two words that are magical to a graduate student (and many a college student’s) ears.

Better yet, Hillel is sposoring it, so it’s free Kosher food (double bonus!)

I’ll be able to blog more later on

Yes, the theme of today is Formaldehyde.

Came into lab this morning and started by mixing my paraformadlehyde solution for the perfusion I’m going to be performing shortly.

Then this afternoon in the TA bio lab prep session, it’s going to be more exposure to formaldehyde! We’re starting the fetal pig dissections this week.

So I’ve been sitting here in the “Biology Learning Center’ for the past 40 minutes holding my “office hours”. Guess how many of my students have shown up for help? Wait–make that how many of the 700 or so kids enrolled in BIO 203 have shown up for help.

Sometimes I’m just left to wonder…

I just completed my first “animal surgery” type of operation!
Was it nerve-racking–yes. Did I feel bad for the little hamster–yes.
But I accomplished it!

Arrrgh! I hate this. I come into the lab this morning and I’ve been here for over an hour now, and guess what there is for me to do?

Zero…zilch…nada

I”m really starting to wonder what the point of this lab rotation really is?

Those who’ve read this blog for a while now, have probably picked up on the theme that I’m not the biggest fan of the “apartment” in which I currently reside. For those of you new to the blog (first off welcome), but let’s just say I easily contract “cabin fever” here. And I find it hard to focus on my work…

For tomorrow, I’ve got to prepare my pre-lab “lecture”/talk for my lab section. I’ve also been designated the “primary” preseter for the case disscussion in my ethics course discussion group–so I need to go over this week’s cases and prepare the talking points on them. (This week’s topic is plagarism).

So I’m thinking, as an experiment–why not go to one of the local Starbucks (aside: there are two equidistant from me) to sit and try to get some work done? It can’t hurt, can it?

True, I could take my computer along, and access the web, but I don’t feel like paying the $6/hr or $9.99/day that T-Mobile charges for Wi-Fi access from there (what a rip off!)

So that’s today’s big social/productivity experiment.

Also while I’m there, I’ll decide where I want to watch the big game at….

Sorry about the lack of blogging today…as I noted earlier, my day did not start off on the right foot so to speak.

I subsequently got to the lab later than planned, which was good and bad. Bad that it meant I had to rush what I was doing, but good in that I didn’t have to spend as much time in the lab.

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it here before, but I really don’t like the lab I’m currently rotating in. It’s not just the science (or lack there of) that I don’t like, it’s the whole attitude in the lab as well. I mean I spend more time there just sittting on the computer doing nothing than I do working on science. It’s a real let down–and I’m subjected to it on a daily basis. Granted, I’ve only got to endure ’till the end of the month, but still. It’s going to feel like an eternity. Aaaaahhhhh!

I’m sitting here in the lab with a grand total of -zilch- to do. This is really torture.
Sure, I could walk back to my car and go home, but I’ve got class here on campus at 4pm…
and coming back and finding a good parking space would most likely be extremely difficult.

So I spend yet another day here at school with nothing to do. In one sense, I guess it’s better than sitting at home doing nothing, no?

Instead I just sit here, and occasionally wander around the lab asking and seeing if there’s something that I can do. And to think, I’ve got about another month as part of this rotation…ugh…

Woah! I (for a change) was actually busy most of the day here in the lab. I had to sort my brain slices out in order and then mount them on slides. It’s a lot more difficult than it sounds–trust me on that one. It was often tedious.

I”m just now finished, and I’m killing a bit of time till I head over to my Neurobiology class at 4pm (I’ve got class from 4-6; what a wierd time slot).

But the posts promised earlier will come…do not fear!

[no this isn't about taxes]

Rather, I must ask the Federal Gov’t why, oh why are you mandating that us future scientists take a course in “Scientific Ethics”. Why must we suffer through the boredom?

That is all.
[Taxes still suck too]

Driveway still hasn’t been plowed…
The drive to school which normally takes no more than 10 minutes in the morning today took 30 minutes.
The main road was bumper to bumper…you’d think most of the people out there had never seen snow before!
Rush through the poorly plowed parking lot to the Life Sciences building to get to class (whcih I’m running late for).
Get there, find 3 of my (5 other) classmates…we wait…no one shows after 30 minutes, so we just call it quits.
Then come over here to the health sciences building, to the lab, find it locked. Go downstairs for (an overpriced) cup o’ coffee…which doesn’t taste very good…sigh.

Well on the bright side of things, at least there wasn’t class today….and my experiment is looking good still!