Being Stupid

I biked to school in the rain today.  Worst idea ever.  I can feel myself getting sick already.  I shouldn't have stayed there for 4 hours in soaking wet clothes.  Biking home in wet clothes was awful.  I stripped them off, hung them over my shower rod, and turned on my mini heater full blast and sunned myself in the beautiful, beautiful warmth.  I also made the last of my emergency tater tots to give me an internal warmth boost.  Not sure if it worked so much for that, but it did taste nice and ease my immediate misery.

My hands were shaking so badly.  Biking in freezing rain in damp gloves is a terrible idea.  When I go to Florida this Christmas, I'm rooting out my leather gloves, my scarves, my boots and sneakers, and every jacket I own (well...some of them anyway) and bringing them all back here.  I had this airy-fairy idea that since Texas was broiling hot in summer it would merely have chilly winters, particularly since I'm only an hour from the Gulf of Mexico.  HA!  Next time I move somewhere I'm wikipedia-ing their annual climate statistics.

I think all my stuff has drip-dried by now.  I went out and bought thermals and a scarf so hopefully biking to school will be less painful in future.  Considering the respective merits of taking workout clothes (which I already own) to school for in-case-of-soaking-wet-emergency, or buying cheap pants and top at Wal Mart or something and leaving them at school for aforementioned emergency.  Alternatively, could take capris (which I am not wearing due to freezing, inclement weather) and leave them at school with a t-shirt and just buy a cheapo sweater.  Leaning towards the last option.  Maybe I'll get an "ugly Christmas sweater" from Goodwill.  It would be a talking point!

Mom called today to make sure I wasn't dead from the awful Texas weather.  She was cross when I told her about biking in the rain, but relieved that it's not sleeting.  Driving in sleet blows, I remember how much Mom and Dad hated it up north when I was a kid.  I've arbitrarily decided if it sleets I'm not going to class.  I'll wait for it to stop.  I'm pretty sure biking in sleet qualifies as torture under the Geneva Convention.

Anyway.  I have two presentations and a handout due Wednesday, a presentation due the 4th, and a huge paper due the 6th.  I should get back to them.

Oy

Got to campus at 9:20 am, only left at 9:50 pm.  I need to keep working on this paper.  I'm so tired.  Going in early tomorrow to work on my Piscataqua presentation, then work, then drawing as late as I can bear it and then I'll come home and have a nice dinner.

I'm so tired.

The Migraine Diaries

Had an awful day today. 

My lines drawing is STILL wrong, but my prof told me to go ahead and start my construction drawing.  He told me it's ok that it won't be done by tomorrow (the due date) as long as I keep working on it.  Thank goodness!  Otherwise I'd get a failing grade for sure.

Class was rough.  Very interesting...but very tough with a headache and not much sleep.  (Was up late last night working.)

Work was a pain, even though I FINALLY got to start on the XRF.  Took me (and my immediate superior, Chris) nearly an hour to get it up and working.  But hey, troubleshooting is why we practice, right?  Brought in a bunch of my jewelry to analyze it so I can practice with this new software (they didn't have it when I learned XRF back at UF), and found to my horror that my high school class ring which is supposed to be (stamped too) 10K gold was actually copper and zinc with a hint of silver.  Now, I DID order it with protective coating, so this may be the coating (XRF only penetrates so far depending on what the substance is), so it's certainly plausible.  Especially since the way the XRF is built I couldn't really balance the ring any way but on the sides with the engravings.  But considering the $400 price tag circa 2006, there had better be 10k gold on the inside!!!
I also found argon (I'm not even joking) on three of my pieces - two silver pieces that were my mother's that she gave to me when I was a teenager, and then a pair of (modern) earrings she gave me for one Christmas.  I don't work on Wednesdays, but Thursday I'm parking my ass in front of the Bruker computer and fiddling with Artax until I see if there REALLY is argon in there, or if I mistook a different element for it.

I stayed late at work, despite the headache rapidly turning into a migraine, but by 6:30 my eyes were crossing and watering and my head was getting worse and worse so I packed up, warned my classmates I might not be in tomorrow, and headed home.  Biking in the chilly wind was ghastly, not to mention all the bright horrible headlights in the dark night.

I was pretty nauseous and it was tough eating, but I had to do it to take some meds.  Then I went to lie down for an hour to let it pass off, and it mostly has, but I'm still not feeling good.

Pushed through the blah and finished my presentation and worksheet for tomorrow, and am now fighting to find the mental and physical energy to work on another presentation and my scantling list.  I also need to do the dishes, take out the trash, and order more checks.  Being grown up sucks.

The nicest part of today was getting my very first very own insurance card.  Of course, I don't have access to the insurance until December 1st, but still.  Gotta cling to the niceness of the fact I have protection (no matter how minimal) from the hell of illness in the modern healthcare system.

A hug would be nice right about now.

Grad School Problems

I have a huge project due Wednesday.  A lines drawing, a construction drawing, and a scantling list.  The scantling list (not finished) is 36 pages.  I have restarted my lines drawing THREE times and am not finished yet.  I can't begin the construction drawing until the lines drawing is done.

I'm just praying for either an extension, or a kindly lightning bolt to put me out of my misery.

I have a presentation Wednesday too, I finished that already but I'm still working on the handout.

Huge paper due December 6.

Not sure when my last exam is; first week in December I think.

Two big presentations in the first week of December as well.

I'm working 20 hours a week.

And I still need to eat, sleep, shower, keep my apartment reasonably clean and bug-free.

Last opera night of the semester was Friday, had a date last night and one of the professors is having a lunch in half an hour.  I'm calling it my mental health time.  After getting bronchitis 3 times in 2.5 years in Cali I know better than to chain myself to my desk 24/7.  I can't get a PhD if my body has gone to wrack and ruin.

Bureaucratic grunge is stopping me from registering for classes next semester.  I've sent emails about it, but it's ticking me off.  I have more than enough to deal with without shenanigans like that.

I'm so tired.  I felt guilty about sleeping in until 8:30 am yesterday and today.  It's the weekend...other people are going on picnics, or to museums, or just lying on the couch watching football and drinking beer.  I'm running errands, doing homework, juggling household demands :coughvacuumingandlaundrycough: with my intense need to be on campus drafting (which I'll be doing after lunch today).

Growing up sucks.

Oh, plans.

So I PLANNED to be finished with my grant application last night so I could spend today on campus doing ship drawings.  Ha!  These essays are killing me - I need them to kick some ass!

So I could conceivably sit on the couch all day in yoga pants trying to describe my career goals and what it means to be me to be a new American in a thousand words or less.

Yay, grad school.

Sneeze

Got up at 7:30 am.  At work by 9:15 am.  Working by 9:30 am.  Stayed til 6:30 pm.  Studied all evening.  Listened to every single lecture this test is on.  Going to bed soon.  Up at 7 am.  Bruker lectures from 9 am to 5 pm.  Midterm at 12:45 pm.

Yes, there is a conflict.

The more I study, the less I feel like I know anything.  I have made four study guides ranging from 8-50 pages each and I still "know" nothing!!!

I'm praying for a passing grade.  That's how ill-prepared I feel.  It's so lame that the others get to cram all morning and I'm stuck in Bruker lectures...why couldn't they come last week or next week???  Epic bad timing.

Not even going to bother making cocoa.  Thinking I'll play more lectures while I'm going to sleep.  I need some of this stuff to stick!!

Ridiculous

I've been so busy!  I don't know which way is up anymore.  At least I have my car back now, it's making life INEXPRESSIBLY better.

I got up early today (yay Daylight Savings being over!  HA!) and went out to buy a microwave.

I now officially have ZERO counter space.  First world problems, I know, but when you're making bread or trying to cook a decent meal, no counter space and a minifridge are seriously limiting factors!

Today I also bought myself a cookie sheet ($4.50), a 3 qt saucepan ($14.00) and a candy/oil thermometer ($4.70).  I want to make my grandfather's fudge recipe for my classmates (and my professor...lol) but I realized I don't have it so I'll have to call my mom.  I heroically resisted buying the cookie cutters ($3.00) and cooling rack ($8.00) that I also desperately wanted.  I'm trying to save a LITTLE bit of money after all.  But I really need a second income.  How I'm going to get it I just don't know (pretty sure Youngest isn't going to be accepted by this third agent so it's time to start looking for agent #4), but I'm going to keep trying.

It's not even all the little things I "want" - candles and jewelry and books and pints of ice cream and flowers - or the big things I want - a Smith & Wesson .22 classic revolver (yes, I am imbibing Texas!), a new Nikon point-n-shoot (mine is broken AGAIN, I'm very cross), a Nikon DSLR - or even the ability to buy nice wine and Chinese takeout and the occasional t-bone steak when I feel the fancy to.  It's having the freedom to let things happen ("Murphy's Law" variety incidents) and being able to afford them without everything crashing down around my ears.

Anyway.  I have to get back to studying for my midterm.  And working on the presentation for Wednesday.  And to the grant that's due Friday.