Airports

Last week I had the privilege of driving my friend and his mother to the airport. They were vacationing to see their family in California, but their flight was to Las Vegas, and they were going to drive from there. Their flight was at around 7 in the morning, which meant they had to get there very early (around 5:30). Speaking as someone who hasn't been inside an airport in more than 10 years, I consider myself disappointed.

The last time I was in an airport was when my grandparents flew in to spend some time up here. I can't remember which occasion it was or where they were flying in from, but I do remember meeting them at the airport. (Now that I think about it, it may have been Christmas.) Anyways, all of my airport encounters had been very interesting and worthwhile up to this point. Back then, we were able to go up to the gate and see our friends and family get on or off the plane and watch them walk into the terminal. No more. There are now roped off areas where non-ticketed people cannot go. Back then, we were able to go through the metal detectors and see the rest of the airport. No more. Now there are signs and checkpoints where non-ticketed people must stay behind and watch.

So, the only parts of the airport I got to see were the ticket counter, the parking lot, and the non-ticketed person's waiting area. What a joy... But I guess that's what happens when crazy people put bombs in their shoes and their carry-ons. I suppose if I really want to see the rest of the airport, I'll have to fly somewhere myself. Only problem is, where will I go?

Come, Holy Ghost

Many of you already know that this past Sunday was Pentecost, the fiftieth day after Easter. (Bonus points to anyone who can recite any of the lines of the song titled above. No Google-ing, please!) We had the opportunity on Sunday to go to Mass at a church who's feast day was Pentecost, Holy Ghost Church here in Knoxville. They are celebrating their 100th anniversary this year, and although we are not parishioners there, this celebration did involve us in a way.

One hundred years ago on Pentecost, at our current parish Immaculate Conception, the Bishop of Nashville (Knoxville wasn't it's own diocese until 1988) came to I.C. to announce that Holy Ghost would be formed. Knoxville's only Catholic church at the time was I.C., and the growth in the area made it necessary to have another parish.

One hundred years later on Pentecost, the current Bishop of Knoxville came to Holy Ghost to announce that a new parish would be formed out of Holy Ghost Parish. Holy Ghost had been opened in what was at the time North Knoxville, but now the growth of Knox County has extended "North Knoxville" much further north. This is of great interest to my family, since we live almost exactly five miles from where this new church will be located. It will be named St. Albert the Great, primarily after a saint (which unfortunately I know very little about), but also after a former pastor of Holy Ghost, Fr. Albert Henkel. He was instrumental in trying to find land for a new church in North Knoxville, so the bishop saw fit to name the new church after his patron saint. Clever, huh?

So, now that we will have a new church so close to home, we have been getting information about joining and becoming charter members. The new church begins it's existence on the 1st of July this year, and we will definitely be there. The future looks very promising for this new church, since it's pastor has been successful in creating the largest parish in the Diocese of Knoxville from scratch.

To end this post, I think I'll address the comment left by my grandfather the other day. We have become the "hooked" people you talked about. We have been to the Y at least eight times in the last two and a half weeks (I have actually been ten times, personally), and we are definitely hooked. We look forward to seeing you this summer, and showing off our new in-shape selves!

Home Sweet Home

That's right, I am now at home. My last final exam was on Wednesday (English - not actually an exam, but a paper) and I left around 3:00. I arrived home with a loaded car at 6:30 (great timing) and have been taking time the last few days to go through my stuff and decide where it should go. Needless to say, I still haven't found a place for everything. But then again, I haven't had too much time to do that.

I have started back at work, and boy does it feel good! I will be working five days a week for seven or eight hours a day, so that will amount to between 32-35 hours a week. I can assure you that the money will come in handy, since not working for so long has made it hard for me to do much of anything lately. I started back on Thursday night, but this pay period I am only working four days. I took yesterday (Saturday) to go out with my friends, and took today (Sunday) off for Mothers Day. Today I will be spending time with my mother and making sure I take care of her every wish and demand!

In other news (Grandpa may find this interesting), we just got back from our local YMCA. It is about eight miles from home, and we have decided to get a family membership there. We have had a family membership there before, but this was many years ago. We took a tour of the facilities, and noted that they have added a lot of new equipment in the last several years. This facility has all the things one would expect to find at a YMCA, including a pool, gym, weight room, classes (aerobic and otherwise), and a cardio room. We are quite excited about this adventure, and can't wait to start using the facilities! We are thinking about even going tomorrow...

By the way, the lady that was running the front desk told us she used to work for the First Coast YMCAs in Florida. Her name was Freda, and she worked at several of the Jacksonville area YMCAs. We had mentioned that my grandfather was an aerobics instructor down there, and mentioned his name. She seems to recall meeting him, and was amazed that a 70-something was teaching the aerobics class. It's a small world after all.......

There's my little update for now. I will try to be better about blogging this summer, since I'm sure I disappointed several of you last year. I will get on here as soon as anything interesting happens, or at least something that's worth writing about. I hope everyone is doing well and enjoying the warm, sunny weather! And for all those mothers out there, and you know who you are, Happy Mothers Day!

Go, You Chicken Fat, Go!

I was looking around on YouTube the other day and found this. I was first introduced to the song a few summers ago, and Uncle Tim and I made reference to it in one of his previous blogs. It's quite a catchy song, so I thought I'd share it with the rest of you.

This was a song written by Meredith Wilson (know for also writing "The Music Man") as a sort of theme song for President Kennedy's fitness program in the 60's. My aunts and uncles apparently remember hearing this song back in the day, as it was used in physical education classes. Has anyone else ever heard/seen this?

Well, enjoy, and if you're into it, try out the exercise routine!

Respect, or the Lack Thereof

After a typical night in the cafeteria, I began to think about a post my grandfather did a few months ago regarding respect. I found that as a customer of the cafeteria, I am not being respected by the employees. Not only am I not receiving respect, but so are most of the students in general. Here are some of the examples of disrespect you can find on a typical day:

1. employees talking on cell phones during their shifts
2. yelling across the dining hall at other employees
3. having verbal confrontations with other employees in front of student-customers
4. gossiping with other employees while student-customers are in line
5. complaining about long lines when their ignorance and lack of planning caused the lines
6. becoming peeved when a student has a special food request (vegetarian, allergy, or healthier diets)
7. becoming peeved when their conversations are interrupted to serve a student-customer
8. paying more attention to the game or show on TV than to the student-customers

Keep in mind that this is not an exhaustive list of disrespect, but a list of "typical" occurrences. Just tonight, I experienced several of the above, and one that I did not mention. In this cafeteria, there are four major areas that serve different hot meals. One section serves pizza only. Another section serves hamburgers, fries, grilled cheese, and a grill special. Another section serves home style meals (frequently soul food, but usually what one would have for dinner at home). The last section serves "just in time" cuisine that is prepared in front of you (pasta, Oriental food, and other quickly cooked entrees).

Normally I choose meals from the "just in time" or the home style sections, but tonight their offerings did not sound appetizing to me. So, I decided to get a hamburger at the grill, and apparently that was a popular decision tonight. When I got there (around 7:25 PM), there was a line of about 6-7 people including myself. The cafeteria locks its doors at 7:30, but stays open to serve the last customer. Well, the guy behind the counter looked at the line and said, "Gee, look at this line! Why do these people wait til the last damn minute to come in here?" (or something similar to that). As he was preparing the food, he was slamming things, tearing things open, throwing food items and trays, and mumbling random phrases to himself and the other man behind the counter. Keep in mind, though, that the other man was quiet through the whole ordeal and just did his job. I eventually got my hamburger about five minutes later, and as soon as the line subsided, the workers began to take everything apart and clean up.

What has happened here? What has happened to the respect that customers deserve? At my place of employment (Ingles), we stay open 24 hours except on Sunday when we close at 10 PM and open again at 7 AM Monday. On Sunday nights, we lock the doors at 10:00 and must stay until all customers have been rung up and escorted out. Sometimes this has taken as much as half an hour, even after making announcements twenty minutes before closing. But inevitably there will be a couple of customers that make the mad dash before we lock the doors and do their last-minute shopping. I could not imagine complaining in front of the customers and becoming irate in front of them; my managers would fire me on the spot if I did that. We stay until the last customer leaves, and we do so with the same courtesy we give all our customers.

Why can't these employees do this at the cafeteria? Sure, we may be students, but we are still customers. We pay a great deal of money to come here and eat here, so we deserve the same respect any employees should give their customers. I know I am not the only person who sees these "injustices" in the cafeteria, as most people I know have seen similar situations. All I ask is to be respected as a customer should be, and maybe have the employees leave their personal feelings at home. The food by itself can be bad enough; can't we at least have a comfortable dining experience?

Pizza in the Chem Lab

Ask any Chemistry teacher the top rules while in the lab. Seriously, ask them. Every single one of them will tell you to never bring food into the lab. Well, we violated this rule today in my Organic lab, and it was the professor that suggested it!

Today was our final experiment of Organic Chemistry II Lab, and as a sort of treat, the professor suggested that we have a little pizza party afterwards. The experiment we were doing was quite short, so there would be a lot of time to eat and socialize. So, one of the students from my class organized everything and called in the order, while another brought in drinks. Plates, cups, and napkins were also provided, and all we had to do was chip in $2 each. A pretty inexpensive lunch!

I guess we could rationalize that we weren't actively performing an experiment while we were eating, so the pizza in the lab was okay. All the chemicals are placed in a vented hood, and we stayed towards the front of the room where the desk and chalkboard are. I surprised myself by trying a piece of pizza with green peppers only (the professor's choice of topping). I found that it actually tasted good, and if there had been more than one piece left, I would have had another. But alas, I had to stop myself, or else I would have been outed as a pig in front of my classmates. The rest of the time was spent just socializing and relaxing a little, without having to worry about another experiment to do. I actually got to witness my professor in a different light: relaxed, care-free, and laughing; boy was that a sight to behold!

I realize now that after reading this, Uncle Tim will call me Mr. Food again, but frankly, I don't give a. . .well, you know the rest. Can't a man just enjoy his pizza in the Chemistry Lab??? That's all I ask...until next time.

America's Pastime?

In my English class, we are reading the novel Gilead by Marilynne Robinson. Ultimately, it is a letter from a dying father to his 7-year-old son, and so far I really like it. The father is a preacher (not sure which denomination), and writes about several of his "religious experiences," both in Church and in nature. One of the experiences he discusses is listening to baseball on the radio, and this led to a discussion in class. My professor is of the same age as some of my older readers, and can remember gathering around the radio at night to listen to the Cincinnati Reds games. The point in the novel is that you can hear everything that is going on, but you still use your imagination to make visual images out of the sounds. The narrator describes the joy he felt after experiencing this.

Although I have never listened to a baseball game over the radio, I have been to several games, and have watched games on television. When my grandmother lived in Atlanta the first time around (more than ten years ago), I had gone for a long visit, by myself, over the summer. We spent several nights watching Atlanta Braves games and eating ice cream (usually Brown Cows, if you are familiar with those). I may not have fully understood what was going on, but I remember it was a great experience, and I enjoyed the time we spent together.

I was wondering if anyone else out there had memories of "America's pastime" to share, especially if you are from the "radio days." It would be interesting to hear what your take on this is, and if that term "America's pastime" is correct. You know how much I love hearing your comments!

Alleluias and Car Woes

First off, let me say Happy Easter to all my friends and family out there. My Easter Break went very well for the most part, and I was able to celebrate the holiday with my immediate family. Our Easter started out at a packed Mass, but at least this time we had seats in the Church as opposed to the other occasions when we sat in the balcony. When we got home and before we did anything else, we took a family picture on our couch, along with some Easter decorations:

Then my mom took a picture of me and our dog, Halo, on the couch. I was wearing my "Where my peeps at?" shirt that I got for Easter a couple years ago. Notice the yellow candy Peep that we all know and love.

After all the pictures, we started cooking our Easter lunch/dinner, and also made some hard-boiled eggs. My brother had to work at 4:00, so we decided to eat around 3-3:30. We had a brown sugar ham, scalloped potatoes, broccoli, crescent rolls, and a carrot cake for dessert. Boy was that stuff good! My mom had decorated the table with Easter baskets, eggs, and flowers, and wanted me to take another picture. So, here it is:

Afterwards, we spent the evening watching movies and ordered a pizza for "supper," not to mention a little bit of that Easter candy! All in all, it was a very fulfilling and relaxing day, and a very Happy Easter.

Now that I've gotten the good story out of the way, it must be some time for a sad/depressing/bad story. You may recall that I have had several car-related incidents over the last two years. Well, I guess I wasn't done with those incidents. After Easter Mass, as we were trying to leave the parking lot, I couldn't start my car. My dad and I looked under the hood for a minute, and he adjusted the battery lines just a little bit. I tried to start it again, but this time it actually worked. We all speculated why this would have happened, and I suggested that it could be a starter problem, however, no one agreed with me. After that, I really didn't think anything of it, and just went on with my life.

Monday afternoon, I had several errands to run. This included going to the bank, getting my oil changed (I did have to drive back later that afternoon), and getting some lunch. Once my mom and I got to Wal-Mart to do the oil change, the attendant couldn't get my car to start to move it into the garage. After many futile attempts, he decided to test the battery, and found that it was "dead as a doornail." So, he recommended that we buy a new one from the auto section, and since the old battery was purchased there, we knew exactly what to buy. That cost me about $75, and he said he would install it himself. After doing that, he attempted to start up the car again. Once again, the car would not start. He couldn't explain why this occurred, but speculated that it could be an alternator problem. Unfortunately for us, Wal-Mart doesn't do work like that, so we had to make other arrangements. By this point I had gotten hungry so we went and got lunch, and called my dad to explain everything. He decided to come down and take a look to see if this was work he could do by himself, but quickly determined he could not, due to the position of the alternator in the car.

We then decided to try and get the car towed to a mechanic that we have used on several occasions. However, since it was getting later, we thought it may be difficult to get the car in before closing time. So, we determined that I would have to stay an extra day and miss my Tuesday classes, and get the car fixed that morning. But, being my persistent self (mostly because my mom kept telling me to be optimistic), I tried starting the car one more time, and it worked. We then immediately drove downtown to the shop I mentioned, hoping that they would have the time to work, or at least determine what was wrong.

When we got down there, they were surprisingly not busy. They looked under the hood right away and quickly gave their diagnosis and estimate. It turns out it WAS the starter (as I had suggester earlier) and I got an estimate of close to $300. I really didn't have much of a choice, since the lady who owns the place told us Saturn starters run expensive. (She ordered a rebuilt part, so that price was very reasonable when compared to a new one. Plus, I was paying for the convenience of having all the work done that day.) The work itself took about an hour, and we were out of there before their 5:00 closing time. So, after all was said and done, I had paid a little more than $400 to get a new battery, a new starter, and fill up with gas. I still hadn't gotten the oil changed, but I decided just to add some fresh oil and get the oil changed once I got back. I eventually left home around 8:30 and pulled into the parking lot here around 12:00. Not only did I unload suitcases, etc. but also a cooler full of candy, the leftover pizza, and a couple of hard-boiled eggs.

Now I am back at school for the last month of the semester. Not only is the last month the time for final exams, but it is also when all of the professors want to throw in projects and papers. As of right now, I have a paper due next week and two tests on Monday. I haven't looked over the syllabi lately, but I know for sure there are more than that coming up. But, I am looking forward to summer, so as long as I keep that in the back of my mind, I should get through all of this just fine.

Well, that's all I have to write tonight. I hope everyone had a great Easter weekend, spending time with friends and family, hopefully. I know I will enjoy the next few days as I finish up all those yummy Cadbury eggs...

Obsessed?

I have decided to save my Chemistry-related post for after the Easter Break, since frankly, I haven't finished it, and don't really want to right now. Instead, after reading Aunt Paulette's story about cable, I decided to talk about one of my TV favorites right now.

Is anyone else watching American Idol? I think I almost have an obsession with this show; in fact, I am watching it as I am typing this post! Normally I don't like these kinds of shows, but American Idol has become my exception. I have watched since the beginning when they did the large auditions, and I have been following one person in particular the entire time. Her name is Melinda Doolittle, and I think she's just awesome. She is a former backup singer, but she has the voice of a true superstar. The judges on the show have compared her to some of those legendary women of the 60s and the 70s like Aretha Franklin and Gladys Knight.

What first got me hooked on her was her genuine personality, and her lack of big-headedness that most of these contestants have. She was shy and quiet, but once she started singing, she was the polar opposite. As of tonight, she has made it into the top nine contestants, and although I usually don't do this, I have called in and voted the last several weeks. I do this mostly because my favorite from last year, who was quite popular, was voted off because his fans didn't vote enough. I will not let this happen again this year!

Tonight's musical guest was Tony Bennett, and all the contestants had to pick songs that he wrote or sang. Melinda picked "I Got Rhythm," and all the judges agreed that it was a great performance. I shall have to wait and see how the rest do tonight, but that will not change my vote at all. And, if there is any justice in the world, that horrid excuse for a singer Sanjaya will be voted off this week. I'm sure many of you have seen stories on the news or elsewhere about the controversy surrounding his stay on American Idol. There are apparently a few sick groups out there that are voting for the worst singer on the show (Sanjaya) in order to mess up the show's voting. One of these in particular is headed by Howard Stern. No, not the one that was Anna Nicole Smith's "partner." The one I'm talking about is the despicable human being that pollutes our radio waves every day. Hopefully the fans of this show will overcome this hurdle and finally vote Sanjaya out. (In reality, though, no one is actually "voted out;" people leave the show when they have the least number of votes.)

Well, there's my two cents on the matter. Tomorrow I will be heading home for Easter Break, so like always, I will probably be away from blogging for the extra long weekend. Let's hope that this drive home will be uneventful and quick; I am tired of waiting in traffic due to some one's screw-ups! When I return, I will be sure to let everyone know how my break went, but until then, everyone have a great Easter.

Registration Woes

Today was my day to register for classes for the Fall 2007 semester. Unfortunately for me, this did not go smoothly. The first problem was that my registration time was 3:30 PM. I have my Chemistry Lab from 1:30-4:50, so obviously my time conflicted with my classes. Thankfully, another student in my lab asked my professor to leave for registration, and was allowed to do so. Naturally, I thought I should do the same, since I wasn't sure my classes would still be available after my lab was finished. So, that's what I did, and she allowed me to go also.

There are actually two ways to go about registering for classes. The first is to go to the Office of the Registrar and have them do it. The other way is to log into the online portal from any computer and choose classes by oneself. I chose to register by myself, since in the past, the lines at the Registrar's office have been long and move very slowly. However, when I tried to get my classes after 3:30, the server told me that there was a hold on my account from the Biology Department. (Holds prevent one from registering.) It said that I needed to meet with my advisor, which I already had done on Tuesday. (We have to meet with our advisor before registering just so they get an idea of what we are doing.) So I called my advisor; no answer. I went to the Biology Department office and inquired about the hold. Apparently the secretary had sent an e-mail just this morning to remove my hold. Alas, the Registrar did not check her e-mail, and therefore did not get the message. So, she took care of it over the phone, and I rushed back to my room.

Now that the hold was gone, I could register. Wrong again. This time when I logged on, it told me there were too many people using the server, and to try again later. There is no later! I need to register NOW! So I kept trying (ahh, perseverance), but to no avail. So now I filled out the old paper form to do my registration at the Registrar's office. I went down there, stood in line, and explained my sob story about the Internet. The guy let me go in, and I waited in line some more. When it was my turn, the guy looked at my form for a split second and said, "You don't have your advisor's signature. You have to have a signature in order to register here." So, I told my story again, but he was not moved. "You take full responsibility when you register online. I can't help you if you don't have an advisor's signature." Then I calmly took back my form and tried my hardest to hold in my anger. No, I didn't blow up at anyone, but I was heard to utter some not-so-nice things about the whole registration process.

At this point, I had been out of my lab for more than half an hour, so I figured I might as well go back. I got back and went back to work on my experiment, and while I was gone, the professor had designated someone to do part of my experiment for me. What a great lady, huh? I never would have thought she'd be so nice to me! Anyways, once I finished the lab at around 4:45, I came back to my room to try once again. I had been reassured by the classmate that also registered today that my classes would still be open, since many people don't register until tomorrow. So, once again, I logged into the portal, and it let me this time. I got all the classes I wanted, and everything fit in very nicely. So, all in all, I guess registration went well, but I still didn't like the steps leading up to it. Here are the classes I will be taking in the Fall:

Vertebrate Physiology
Vertebrate Physiology Lab
U.S. History I
College Physics I
Introductory Physics Lab I
Theology and Ecology
E Pluribus Unum (Ethics/Religion and Society Elective)

That amounts to 15 credit hours, which I also took this semester. I will have four classes on Monday and Wednesday, three on Friday, two on Thursday, and one on Tuesday. I think that should work out very well, and some of these classes should be rather interesting.

Well, there's my story for today. I have another Chemistry-related post for later, now that I have written a book today. I hope y'all are enjoying your week, and I will try to post again this weekend.

Dirt Is Non-Polar

It's not every day that one learns something relevant to life in one's Organic Chemistry class. Well, this happened in one of my most recent lectures, so I wanted to share that with y'all. It concerns dirt, and who on this planet hasn't had to deal with dirt in everyday life?

We already know that dirt is made up of organic molecules, since it is composed of living and dead things. However, it is mostly non-polar, meaning that carbons and hydrogens make up most of it. Oxygens and other electronegative atoms would create polarity in the molecules, so obviously these are either not present or present in very small amounts. Why is this important? Because, as they say, "like dissolves like." If you get dirt on your clothes or skin, you probably want to get it off. But water alone will not accomplish this. Why? Because water is a polar solvent, and will only wash away other polar compounds, and we have established that dirt is non-polar. Luckily for us, there is a solution (no pun intended) for this problem.

As it turns out, soaps contain both non-polar and polar ends. They contain long hydrocarbon tails with polar head groups containing electronegative oxygens. When soap comes into contact with dirt, it orients itself to place the non-polar tails with the dirt and the polar groups away from the dirt. The non-polar interactions cause the soap and the dirt to be almost linked. Then water comes along, "sees" the polar groups on the soap, and is able to wash away the soap, along with the dirt. So, we can say that soap makes dirt somewhat polar in order to get water to dissolve it. Pretty neat, huh?

So, the next time you're washing your clothes or taking a shower, you'll know why you need soap. Not only because it makes everything smell good, but because without it, everything would be a dirty mess.

And Now I'm Back...

...and a little bit homesick. But, I guess it was inevitable; that short amount of time away from the cold and wind only gave me a glimpse of Spring. Coming back to Cincinnati I found the cold and wind, and later this week, there may even be snow. Highs will be only in the 40s and 50s later this week, and lows in the 20s and 30s. Back in Knoxville, it was a balmy 70 degrees on several afternoons, with lows in the 40s and 50s...now that's what I call Spring. Sure we may have a day or two this week like that here in Cincy, but it won't be long-lived. The weather around here goes up and down like a freakin' see-saw.

All in all, my break was great. I spent time with friends and family, but I also had the opportunity to work a few days (gotta have my monies!). My dad's birthday was the 2nd, and we went out to a steak place in Downtown Knoxville which was great. We also went out for an early birthday lunch for me, since I obviously won't be home later this week. Also that day, my friend and I went to see the new movie 300 (which was excellent by the way), and we then got together with some other friends for dinner. The rest of the time was spent resting and relaxing at home, and boy did that feel good! But all good things must come to an end, as they say, and this was no exception. I got back late last night, and school begins once again.

In other news, my Botany Lab plants are thriving (or at least the ones I made toward the end of the semester). The three Dumbcane cuttings are growing like crazy, and all three either already have leaves, or will have leaves soon. The tallest one is only about three inches tall, but now that they are in their own pots, their growth should take off. Plus, all this extra oxygen in the room can't hurt.

Well, that's really all I have to say today. It's dinner time now (back to that old cafeteria food), so I guess I should wrap this up. It's great to be back to blogging; we'll see how I feel once I get back to classes! Have a great week y'all!

I'm on My Way...

...or at least I will be. I just got finished with my classes, so Spring Break has officially begun! All I have left to do is eat a quick lunch and pack up my belongings. Then it's the standard 3.5-4 hour drive home, for a week of de-stressing and (hopefully) relaxation.

So, that's really all I have to say for now! I will probably stay away from the computer until I get back, but if I do manage to get online, I shall keep everyone informed. Talk to y'all later!

You Don't Want to Drown Them...

Yet another quote from my Organic Chemistry Lab professor has emerged! This week we did an experiment called Qualitative Analysis. This is different from our normal experiments, since we are not actually collecting numerical data (yield, weight, melting points, etc.). We simply reacted compounds with testing reagents and recorded our observations. The testing reagents react with the known compounds and create colorful solutions or solids that precipitate out, due to the makeup of the compound. For example, one reagent may be used to test if a product has OH groups (alcohols, carboxylic acids) or if there are double bonds (C=C). It's actually very interesting, and some beautiful colors can be seen in some of the reactions.

This quote comes into play when we were discussing how to set up the experiment. She wanted us to use our "baby test tubes," which only hold about five milliliters of liquid. For parts of the experiment, we had to set up a water bath with hot or boiling water, and for that you need a beaker. Some of my classmates took out 250- or even 400-mL beakers to put the so-called "baby test tubes" in, and she about had a conniption. She then said, "Take our your 100-mL beakers to put your baby test tubes in; you don't want to drown them!" She of course was referring to the fact that we didn't want our baby test tubes to be under water, since that would ruin the mixtures. Still, it was quite funny that she phrased it that way!

Next week is my last week of classes before Spring Break (Yay!). I have a test and homework due in Organic Chemistry, a paper in English, a test and homework due in Statistics, a paper and a test in Psychology, and two three lab reports due in Chemistry Lab. That's a full week, isn't it? But I will be glad once it's over, since we haven't had a real break since we came back from Christmas. (Unless, of course, you count my two snow days.) As for me, I think I will go out for a walk, since it has been a tad bit warmer lately around here. I hope everyone has a great weekend, and I will try to post once more before I leave for break.

Done with Snow...For Now

In my last post, I mentioned that it was snowing as I was writing, and I had taken pictures of the ice on the trees. I also stated that it was unlikely that the University would be closed again. Well, I was wrong! The University was closed again on Wednesday, which meant classes were cancelled and offices were closed. This was truly unexpected, since we hardly ever get a single snow day, let alone two in a row! So I spent my two days off catching up on my rest (I was and still am sick, so that helped tremendously) and doing some homework. Now it seems that most of my classes are being pushed back one class due to missing Tuesday and Wednesday, which may or may not be a good thing. We might have to make up for that later on, but I still think it was worth it.

In non-snow news, we are starting to really get into the bulk of all my classes. This week, I have my first Cell Biology test, my first Psychology test, a quiz in Statistics, and other smaller assignments. Coming up, I will have an English paper and a Chemistry test, among other quizzes and smaller assignments. We just finished reading A Midsummer Night's Dream in English, and had our test last week; now we are reading Nathaniel Hawthorne's House of Seven Gables and the aforementioned paper will be a comparison of the two works. Then, coming up in Chemistry Lab, we will be doing qualitative analysis, in which we perform tests on known chemicals and then must identify an unknown chemical. So, there's lots of fun stuff coming up, and I should be busy busy busy...

Other than that, there's not much else to report. We did have some more snow this weekend (mostly yesterday morning and afternoon) but it amounted to only an inch or so. I have determined that I am done with cold and snowy weather and am requesting some milder spring weather. So, if any of my readers out there have influence (or can at least put in a good word), I would be most appreciative. Until next time, enjoy your weekend, and beware the deadly peanut butter...

Ice Storm!

The snow that we had been promised this time around seems to be falling mostly as rain, or at least it has been this afternoon. This is mostly because the temperatures have been above freezing all day, but that is about to change. Right now we are hovering at around 31-32 degrees, and that rain is quickly starting to turn to ice. That makes for some beautiful scenes as the rain turns to ice, especially on the trees. So, as I was coming back from dinner, I got out my camera and took a few pictures. They aren't the best since it was dark, but you can still see the beauty.

I have heard that we should be getting some more snow starting tonight, and that accumulations could be an additional 1-3 inches. I'm not anticipating the university to be closed again, but anything can happen. You can be assured that I will post if this does occur. Enjoy!

Oh, It's a SNOW DAY!!!

Despite doubts that I had last night, the University is CLOSED today! I found this out at 7:45 this morning when I woke up to my alarm, so what did I do? I went back to sleep of course! As of right now, we probably only got about 2-3 inches of snow, but it has been raining/sleeting this afternoon, so most accumulations are minimal at this time. But they are expecting the snow to start up again tonight, so maybe in the end we will have 5-6 inches of total snowfall.

As of this moment, I don't intend to go out and play (it is raining, after all) but who knows? The spirit of the snow day might overtake me when the snow starts up again! If that does happen, I might take some more pictures to share with y'all. But until then, I'm enjoying my day off...

Another Snow Update and Other Stuff

Many of you (except for maybe my grandfather) may be disappointed to hear that I did not get a day off from the recent snow storm. As I think I already mentioned, they cancelled classes for that night, but that was it for cancellations. Wednesday was a regular day for everyone (unless you were a non-college student, in which case all the other schools in the area were closed), and I could see some very disappointed faces Wednesday morning. However, all is not lost!

I have been following the weather forecasts (usually on the nightly news) and they are again predicting a significant storm moving in late tonight into tomorrow. They are calling for approximately 3-6 inches here in the Cincinnati metro area, with 6-10 inches just north of here. This storm will apparently start out as rain, sleet, and freezing rain (temperatures will be above 32 degrees Fahrenheit) and finish off with snow all night and all day tomorrow. I am planning on going to class tomorrow and Wednesday, so I choose not to be disappointed this time around. However, there will always be that hope in the back of my mind...

In other news, the testing season is now underway in many of my classes, and today I got back a Statistics test that I took on Friday. I earned a 53/60 (88%), which I believe translates into a B+. I missed a couple of points on a few questions, but other than that did very well. One question that I was kicking myself over was one about finding a standard deviation by hand. She wanted us to show the process (formula, etc.) without using the calculator, and I had vaguely remembered the formula. The formula is:

standard deviation = sum(value - mean)^2 divided by # values - 1

However, when I was in the middle of the test, I was running out of time and forgot what to divide by, so I divided by the mean instead. So, I lost a point or two for that question, but all in all, I did well. Since I got at least partial credit on every question (only losing a point on a couple questions) this means that I have grasped most of the concepts well, and just need to review minor details.

Well, I think it's time for a short nap. I shall once again update everyone on the impending snow and the events that follow. Have a great week!

Pictures of SNOW!!!

SNOW!!!

Yes, that's right, it's snowing here in Cincinnati! The latest reports show that we will have between 3-5 inches, and possibly as much as 6 inches! This is pretty much the first major snow of the season here, so I am quite excited, especially about the prospects of class cancellations... They have already cancelled all night classes due to the roads (even the Interstates are icing over), and with temperatures in the teens all day and night, there is a great possibility of cancellations tomorrow! Of course, I will update everyone, and post pictures later, especially for all my friends in the South! Let it snow!