tales from the grading crypt

First round of exams to grade and I get this gem:

Q: In what situation would you use MEG instead of fMRI?

A: When the patient has a metal plate in their head because fMRI could make the plate heat up and cause injury, like on House last night.

Me: *facepalm* "Don't EVER cite TV again." minus all possible points.

It is going to be a long weekend.

new semester

Gosh, not actually taking classes is awesome. I'm just sitting in on one as a refresher. So, 2x/week + 0 tests = good life choice. Except that one of the major reasons I'm doing this is because I take my qualifying exam this semester. In about a week and a half. 2 days + 4 exams + 4 hours for each = *whimper* That's more equations than usual for around here. And a few weeks after that is the oral follow-up (which does not involve a dentist, more scary profs). Also, coping with quals stress via the Avett Brothers was a good choice. It seems to be very effective

I start teaching lab again tomorrow. At last check, 17 of 20 available slots are filled. It seems that a lot of people dropped because the giant waiting list (for a senior-level lab, at least) is empty and more than my section has extra space. None of the exercises have changed from last year, so this should be pretty easy.

Tomorrow's lecture will consist of:

1) Quick run-down of anatomical structures that they have to look for on slides

2) Biophysics review

3) Please don't be afraid of the electronics

3b) Troubleshooting the electronics

4) Please don't break the electronics

4b) How to not break the electronics

It's going to be a good day. And I do not mean that sarcastically.

Peace.

grading

lab reports to grade
hopefully with graphs this time
really, data please

Semester 1 (out of 10+) done

Hooray! 

And I even got a B in the my intro class. You know, the one that I had to take the mid-term right after I got HIT BY A CAR. I never thought I would be this excited about a B. And I'm OK with this.

Most of the last week was spent grading/lab-ing/knitting/Christmas shopping/slacking. Yesterday, I spent 4+ hours grading the lecture final. Yes, it took 4+ hours with 8 people working on it. But there was free food. 

Flight to OK leaves in about 2.5 hours. So if you're there when I'm there, we should hang out. 

Peace.

weekend update

The time is coming for me to turn off my mail client and stop replying to student's emails. 14 today. Sheesh. Their 1st formal lab report for this class is due Tuesday. Of course the true panic will be setting in tomorrow evening.
Let's see . . . what else did I do? I did some maintenance on the house plants. Been doing some knitting: coffee cup sweaters, hats, and coasters with the leftover yarn. There's been some Office-watching too.
Emily called today to tell me that Neighbor Guy had a visitor today. There is no reason that I should have been as excited/intrigued as I was. Neighbor Guy never had a visitor (other than food delivery) in the year that I lived across the street from him. And now I'm a few thousand miles away and missed this momentous occasion. 

And I found an Apple gift card in my wallet yesterday. So, with my university discount and the gift card, I bought SPORE! It makes me a bit sad that I'm this excited about a computer game. But it's supposed to be awesome. The last computer game I bought was one of the sequels to Myst. And that's been awhile. I probably don't have time to start playing a game. But I really don't care. 

It's after 10pm, so I don't answer any more student emails until 8am. Best policy I ever instituted. But it's in stiff competition with the no questions about an assignment the day it's due policy. 

Peace.

Midterm

I'm taking my 1st and only midterm right now. It's take-home. And lame-tastic. 9 essay questions. About a day and a half to write. I'm bored. Or can't think anymore. 

Post-vehicular assault, I'm feeling better. My hip hurts and I'm still mentally foggy at times. Considering that I got hit by a car, that's pretty good.

Earlier this week I was really missing Oklahoma. I finally got a glimpse of the sunset. Glimpse being a bit of an overstatement. Roommate, roommate's mom, and I went to an orchard to pick apples. It was sweet. We were way the heck out of DC. It was so beautiful and peaceful. You could see really far because it was up on a hill. Good times. But sadly, no pictures. 

I'm still waiting to do anything in the lab other than finishing up the Golgi stained stuff. IACUC has to approve my protocol. I should hear back in a couple weeks if it's been approved or modified or what. Until then, I have 2 notebooks, a file of articles, and other sundry items to go through. 

Aside: All the TAs for the lab I teach spend 3 hours in the section they're in charge of and 1 hour in another TA's section. When I was in my extra hour, one of the students in there informed me that, "Of course your class finished. You're the good TA." That made me feel super-special.

Back to experimental design.

Peace.

Month 1, and a retraction.

I'm beginning this during office hours. I don't think anyone else is coming, though there are a few who really should. But I have a real office now with a desk and a door and everything. And desks for the two other people that I share it with. So, far it's worked out pretty well. The lab is still in chaos. Moving to our new space is still being delayed until the countertops are replaced. With what, I do not know. I'll get to start my first round of experiments soon, once all the protocol paperwork has been approved. I will say that it's an immunohistochemical study of immediate early gene expression, mostly to impress you, but not to bore you with technical details. I helped get the outdoor owls ready for impending winter. They have new owl boxes and heat lamps, and they seem pretty please with the additions. The great part of this is that my role was holding the ladder, while my adviser climbed the ladder and maneuvered the owl boxes into place. This is funny when you realize that my adviser is about 5-feet tall and generally very tiny. The South African accent enhances this effect.

Classes are pleasant and helpful. It seems that I spend most my time reading for those classes and for lab.

Amazingly enough, I'm really enjoying the teaching aspect of my job. My students are, for the most part, smart and responsible and generally pleasant. There's a couple that need to get their acts together, but hopefully that will change.

One Andrea DenHoed graced me with her presence last week. That was probably the most exciting thing that's happened to me thus far.

The weather here is fantastic. It's been in the mid-60s to mid-70s.

I've acquired houseplants. They appear to be happy.

There are some very good possibilities for a permanent church home.

The quest for a non-Starbucks coffee shop is still floundering. There's one that's very promising, but it's being remodeled (after a fire, I believe). I have found a sweet bookshop though, and that does allay my distress a bit.

I learned a new word: tokogenesis. You should look it up.

I still feel like this is just an extended vacation some days.

I've uploaded some photos to thefacebook. Take a look. The stories will be visually enhanced.

Retraction: My classmates/colleagues are not as normal as I thought. Thank God. They're actually pretty great. And they (sometimes) laugh at my jokes.

Peace.