Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Testing, testing...
I remember taking precalc my senior year in high school. I literally put no effort into that class... I probably got a C in the first semester, and I'm pretty sure I failed the second. I hated school, and figured I didn't need it to graduate anyway, so why bother? Lol. Plus, I was busy talking to a guy I had a big crush on, haha. He and I were both failing miserably.
Anyway, I know the teacher was frustrated with us, and at the time, part of me was embarrassed by my lack of effort, but a large part of me didn't care, and the latter won out, lol. I haven't had a lot of this precalculus stuff since that class, and I always wonder what that teacher must have thought of me. I still remember him asking me if I needed to pass the class in order to graduate--even though I didn't need it, I don't think I'll ever forget those words.
So, anyway, I had a precalc test on Monday, and we got them back today. At the top, I saw a big red 88.5% and my heart sank... then I saw the little +6 (from the extra credit), so I actually got a 94.5%. I still can't get past that stupid 88.5, though. I keep making silly mistakes!
The professor is obviously unhappy about the grades on the test. She kept saying, "You need to do the practice problems from the book. If you failed this test, you are going to be struggling." This test actually seemed a bit harder than the review problems, so if students only had a vague idea how to do those, then they were really screwed once the test was given.
I also had my first organic chemistry test yesterday, and I think I did really well.
Anyway, I know the teacher was frustrated with us, and at the time, part of me was embarrassed by my lack of effort, but a large part of me didn't care, and the latter won out, lol. I haven't had a lot of this precalculus stuff since that class, and I always wonder what that teacher must have thought of me. I still remember him asking me if I needed to pass the class in order to graduate--even though I didn't need it, I don't think I'll ever forget those words.
So, anyway, I had a precalc test on Monday, and we got them back today. At the top, I saw a big red 88.5% and my heart sank... then I saw the little +6 (from the extra credit), so I actually got a 94.5%. I still can't get past that stupid 88.5, though. I keep making silly mistakes!
The professor is obviously unhappy about the grades on the test. She kept saying, "You need to do the practice problems from the book. If you failed this test, you are going to be struggling." This test actually seemed a bit harder than the review problems, so if students only had a vague idea how to do those, then they were really screwed once the test was given.
I also had my first organic chemistry test yesterday, and I think I did really well.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Day 2 at the aquarium
Tony, the biologist I'm working with/shadowing was covering two other biologists Saturday... so he was a little busy. He mostly had me off doing a lot of stuff on my own, so it was a nerve-racking day. I started off cleaning the glass in one of the smaller exhibits (by small, I mean maybe 100 gallons), and then had to clean the gravel using a siphon.
After that, Tony gave me a tray of food for another one of the exhibits--this one is probably the largest that I work with. It has a bunch of little fish, a few big fish... and a 3-foot barracuda. That has to be hand-fed. With no pole.
Okay, this barracuda isn't exactly "aggressive" like some are, and he doesn't jump out of the water or anything, but if your finger is nearby, or he feels something that "might" be a fish, he'll react... and it's freaking fast and powerful. All he does is open his mouth, move his head toward the prey, and snap his mouth shut, but he does it in the blink of an eye, and the sound echoes. When he sees you coming with the food, he swims to the surface, waiting. At first, I tried to just, you know, drop a fish near his head, but OF COURSE, the guy is blind in one eye, so if it's not right by his mouth, he won't snap. Sigh. On the next one, I got a bit closer, missed again, got a little bit closer, and he got it--but I think it was just luck. Tony came over and gave the last one to him, lol. Tony isn't fearful, but he still respects him. Here's a pic of him that I hijacked from someone's flickr account (as referenced in this post, this actually is not the fish in question--the one at the aquarium is an arapaima).
After that, I worked with the jellies (in a holding area not viewable by the public) that Tony was also covering. The jellies are so cool. There are several large tanks with different jelly species, and some smaller containers with tiny, tiny jellies in the larva stage--literally about 1/8" big. Tony had me siphon the bottom of two of the larger tanks, but this siphon was different. The only way to get it started was to put the siphon end in the tank, and suck on the other end--and hope you don't get a mouthful of water in the process. I got it started with no water in the mouth, but I ended up with saltwater on my lips. BLECH.
He then had me siphon another smaller tank with a ton of smaller jellies in it... bad idea. I accidentally sucked a few jellies up into the siphon. I don't think those particular jelly species were the kind that sting (or if they do, it isn't much), but I'm still leery of sticking my hand into a little 40-gallon tank filled with 200 jellyfish, which made it hard to control the end of the siphon. Poor jellies. :(
After lunch, we went into the quarantine area where Double Spot (the female tiger shark) was being held. She wouldn't eat, though, so Tony left and had me and another volunteer clean her tank with brushes on long poles. At first, we started on opposite sides of the tank, cleaning the bottom, but she seemed to get a bit nervous--she was swimming faster than she usually does--so we started cleaning on the same side, and she pretty much just stayed out of our way.
We moved on to another holding area, and began siphoning more tanks. I couldn't get the thing started, so the other volunteer I was working with offered to help... except I wasn't really paying attention, so when he got the water flowing, I didn't tell him to stop, and he got a mouthful of water. I felt really bad, but at the same time, I was secretly dying of laughter. I know, I'm evil.
Karma's a bitch, though. I decided I wouldn't make him do it again, and when I tried it, I got a mouthful of water--twice. At least it was freshwater, though, lol.
Mark, the biologist who "hired" me, took us around the aquarium to have a little fun since siphoning is kind of a boring, dirty job (I have to admit to a weird kind of satisfaction suctioning up uneaten and digested food, though). We went to the tank that holds the giant octopus, George Jr. Last time, I was with Tony and we fed him. He was much more sociable and playful then--grabbing everything within reach, cups, fingers, shoes, etc. He's a mischievous guy. This past Saturday, though, he didn't really want anything to do with the humans. He'd already been fed, so he wasn't really interested in food, nor did he want to play. He did come up a couple of times, but his mood seems to change quickly. He'd be annoyed and antisocial one minute (his skin changes color from vibrant red to dullish red, and he raises these things on his skin that make him look kind of "flakey"), and happy the next. The suckers on his tentacles were weird. Mark said if George was able to get a few tentacles on you, he'd probably be able to pull you down into his tank--kind of funny he said that, because I had visions of that happening after my last volunteer day, lol.
Mark also took us to feed a few rays in another holding tank. We held 1" pieces of fish in our hands, dunked our hands under water, and waited for a ray to swim by. I remember doing something like this at Sea World, but I don't remember those rays actually grabbing onto your hand and sucking! These rays swim right up to your hand, and "latch on" to find the food. It seems they actually prefer eating from hands than on the bottom of the tank. They're very sociable, and flap right up to the side of the tank to "say hi". Mark showed us one ray in particular that was pretty skinny, so I started trying to target feed him (or her, I can't remember). I'm sure Mark did that on purpose, knowing it would tug at my heart strings, lol.
So, that was my day. I can't wait to go back! The fish guts still make me want to squeal like a little girl. I figure I'll get past that someday.
After that, Tony gave me a tray of food for another one of the exhibits--this one is probably the largest that I work with. It has a bunch of little fish, a few big fish... and a 3-foot barracuda. That has to be hand-fed. With no pole.
Okay, this barracuda isn't exactly "aggressive" like some are, and he doesn't jump out of the water or anything, but if your finger is nearby, or he feels something that "might" be a fish, he'll react... and it's freaking fast and powerful. All he does is open his mouth, move his head toward the prey, and snap his mouth shut, but he does it in the blink of an eye, and the sound echoes. When he sees you coming with the food, he swims to the surface, waiting. At first, I tried to just, you know, drop a fish near his head, but OF COURSE, the guy is blind in one eye, so if it's not right by his mouth, he won't snap. Sigh. On the next one, I got a bit closer, missed again, got a little bit closer, and he got it--but I think it was just luck. Tony came over and gave the last one to him, lol. Tony isn't fearful, but he still respects him. Here's a pic of him that I hijacked from someone's flickr account (as referenced in this post, this actually is not the fish in question--the one at the aquarium is an arapaima).
After that, I worked with the jellies (in a holding area not viewable by the public) that Tony was also covering. The jellies are so cool. There are several large tanks with different jelly species, and some smaller containers with tiny, tiny jellies in the larva stage--literally about 1/8" big. Tony had me siphon the bottom of two of the larger tanks, but this siphon was different. The only way to get it started was to put the siphon end in the tank, and suck on the other end--and hope you don't get a mouthful of water in the process. I got it started with no water in the mouth, but I ended up with saltwater on my lips. BLECH.
He then had me siphon another smaller tank with a ton of smaller jellies in it... bad idea. I accidentally sucked a few jellies up into the siphon. I don't think those particular jelly species were the kind that sting (or if they do, it isn't much), but I'm still leery of sticking my hand into a little 40-gallon tank filled with 200 jellyfish, which made it hard to control the end of the siphon. Poor jellies. :(
After lunch, we went into the quarantine area where Double Spot (the female tiger shark) was being held. She wouldn't eat, though, so Tony left and had me and another volunteer clean her tank with brushes on long poles. At first, we started on opposite sides of the tank, cleaning the bottom, but she seemed to get a bit nervous--she was swimming faster than she usually does--so we started cleaning on the same side, and she pretty much just stayed out of our way.
We moved on to another holding area, and began siphoning more tanks. I couldn't get the thing started, so the other volunteer I was working with offered to help... except I wasn't really paying attention, so when he got the water flowing, I didn't tell him to stop, and he got a mouthful of water. I felt really bad, but at the same time, I was secretly dying of laughter. I know, I'm evil.
Karma's a bitch, though. I decided I wouldn't make him do it again, and when I tried it, I got a mouthful of water--twice. At least it was freshwater, though, lol.
Mark, the biologist who "hired" me, took us around the aquarium to have a little fun since siphoning is kind of a boring, dirty job (I have to admit to a weird kind of satisfaction suctioning up uneaten and digested food, though). We went to the tank that holds the giant octopus, George Jr. Last time, I was with Tony and we fed him. He was much more sociable and playful then--grabbing everything within reach, cups, fingers, shoes, etc. He's a mischievous guy. This past Saturday, though, he didn't really want anything to do with the humans. He'd already been fed, so he wasn't really interested in food, nor did he want to play. He did come up a couple of times, but his mood seems to change quickly. He'd be annoyed and antisocial one minute (his skin changes color from vibrant red to dullish red, and he raises these things on his skin that make him look kind of "flakey"), and happy the next. The suckers on his tentacles were weird. Mark said if George was able to get a few tentacles on you, he'd probably be able to pull you down into his tank--kind of funny he said that, because I had visions of that happening after my last volunteer day, lol.
Mark also took us to feed a few rays in another holding tank. We held 1" pieces of fish in our hands, dunked our hands under water, and waited for a ray to swim by. I remember doing something like this at Sea World, but I don't remember those rays actually grabbing onto your hand and sucking! These rays swim right up to your hand, and "latch on" to find the food. It seems they actually prefer eating from hands than on the bottom of the tank. They're very sociable, and flap right up to the side of the tank to "say hi". Mark showed us one ray in particular that was pretty skinny, so I started trying to target feed him (or her, I can't remember). I'm sure Mark did that on purpose, knowing it would tug at my heart strings, lol.
So, that was my day. I can't wait to go back! The fish guts still make me want to squeal like a little girl. I figure I'll get past that someday.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Am I a teacher's pet?
Precalculus and organic chemistry are going well. Biology, on the other hand... it's just a crapload of memorization, and I'm not that great at memorizing. Organic chemistry is a little like math--it more or less problem-solving, and builds on the concepts you've learned in the past, which is how I learn best. But biology is just reading, re-reading, and re-reading all over again until it's pounded into my brain. I'll be happy if I get a B. :( We had a quiz in organic chemistry last night, and I'm pretty sure I aced it... I was the first one done, but I tend to rush through things and make stupid mistakes, so we'll see.
In my precalc class this morning, the professor was obviously disappointed in the homework she had assigned for us to do (I got an A-). She asked us if anybody did the practice problems from the book (which is not assigned, just recommended basically) and I was the only one that raised her hand! Does this make me a teacher's pet? Lol. I felt like a total dork, but oh well. I'm doing well because I've been doing those problems. I'm sure there are others that can do well without doing the problems, but if her frustration were any clue, for the most part, the class is struggling. Most of the class is young, and I'm sure that has a lot to do with it.
Outside of school, not much is happening. I'm going up to the aquarium to "work" again this Saturday and I'm looking forward to it. :)
In my precalc class this morning, the professor was obviously disappointed in the homework she had assigned for us to do (I got an A-). She asked us if anybody did the practice problems from the book (which is not assigned, just recommended basically) and I was the only one that raised her hand! Does this make me a teacher's pet? Lol. I felt like a total dork, but oh well. I'm doing well because I've been doing those problems. I'm sure there are others that can do well without doing the problems, but if her frustration were any clue, for the most part, the class is struggling. Most of the class is young, and I'm sure that has a lot to do with it.
Outside of school, not much is happening. I'm going up to the aquarium to "work" again this Saturday and I'm looking forward to it. :)
Saturday, September 5, 2009
First day of school!
Lol. I feel weird saying that... like I'm back in high school or something. Speaking of high school, the majority of my classmates so far look like they just graduated from high school. I feel old.
Precalculus was Wednesday morning. In the first 10 minutes of the class, I considered dropping it and taking it from someone else. The instructor's accent (Indian) is fairly thick, and I had trouble picking up some of her words. Once we got started with the actual learning, though, it became easier to understand her. So far, that class is going well.
Biology was Wednesday night. That class is going to be hard. The instructor is fun, but I gather that he asks difficult essay-type questions on his tests. UGH. Essay questions have never really been a strong point of mine. He also gave us a quiz on the first day to test our knowledge of biology (and chemistry, since chemistry intermingles with biology quite a bit). He said that students that don't get above a 6 on the test are highly recommended to drop, take an easier biology class, then come back to Biology I. I haven't had biology since about 1997! I was totally sweating this quiz.
About half of the questions, I had no doubt about the answer. The others, I knew I had been taught the material... but 12 years ago, if not more. On those, I just went with my best guess. When we were done, he had us exchange our quizzes with the person sitting next to us. Given that I was sure I hadn't done well, I hated that--but as it turned out, I got a 7. ;) The poor girl whose test I was grading only got a 3. At the break, she asked me if I knew how late the library was open (I didn't), left, and never returned. Poor girl.
Organic chemistry was Thursday night. I don't really like this instructor's style of teaching. I can't really put my finger on it. She seems a bit... scatter-brained. On several of the ideas she was teaching, it was pretty much review for me, but a few times, she confused me, and I resorted to consulting the text book. That's okay for now, but when it comes time to learn new material... gah. This class is also going to be tough. Oh, and she said that Organic Chemistry II (I'm taking I) is the class that normally separates the good from the bad. Sigh... great.
Oh well. My life is all about studying right now.
Today was my first day at the aquarium. So, I arrived just before 9:00, thinking I was 1/2 hour early. I met up with Mark, the head biologist, and he asked me if I ran into traffic. There could only be one reason he asked me that--I was late. I asked him what time I was supposed to be there, and he said 8:00. Dangit! I've now been late each time I've been there. Oh well... 8-4 is a better time for me anyway, and the traffic was nonexistent at that time of day! Well, as traffic in Philly goes at least.
So, I'm working with a guy named Tony. He taught me a lot about cleaning, feeding, and general care of the fish he works with. He mainly does fish, with a few turtles, starfish, an octopus (named George, lol), a tiger shark (awesome), and crabs. It was cool to be able to walk through the aquarium with no guests--it opens at 9:30. It's quiet and we can observe, clean and feed in peace. I didn't really do a whole lot today... mostly observed. I helped with food prep (have to admit, that's something I'll need time to get used to... fish guts make me want to squeal like a girl) and feeding a little. One of the tiger sharks is held in a large tank in a metal building outside the aquarium. The water temp is, of course, kept constant, but the air temp and humidity are not... so the building had lots of mosquitoes. We were in there for maybe 30 minutes, and I ended up with 11 bites... probably more. Freaking mosquitoes. If anybody wants to walk into a room infested with mosquitoes and doesn't want to get bitten, just bring me! They love me! Tony didn't get a single bite.
Precalculus was Wednesday morning. In the first 10 minutes of the class, I considered dropping it and taking it from someone else. The instructor's accent (Indian) is fairly thick, and I had trouble picking up some of her words. Once we got started with the actual learning, though, it became easier to understand her. So far, that class is going well.
Biology was Wednesday night. That class is going to be hard. The instructor is fun, but I gather that he asks difficult essay-type questions on his tests. UGH. Essay questions have never really been a strong point of mine. He also gave us a quiz on the first day to test our knowledge of biology (and chemistry, since chemistry intermingles with biology quite a bit). He said that students that don't get above a 6 on the test are highly recommended to drop, take an easier biology class, then come back to Biology I. I haven't had biology since about 1997! I was totally sweating this quiz.
About half of the questions, I had no doubt about the answer. The others, I knew I had been taught the material... but 12 years ago, if not more. On those, I just went with my best guess. When we were done, he had us exchange our quizzes with the person sitting next to us. Given that I was sure I hadn't done well, I hated that--but as it turned out, I got a 7. ;) The poor girl whose test I was grading only got a 3. At the break, she asked me if I knew how late the library was open (I didn't), left, and never returned. Poor girl.
Organic chemistry was Thursday night. I don't really like this instructor's style of teaching. I can't really put my finger on it. She seems a bit... scatter-brained. On several of the ideas she was teaching, it was pretty much review for me, but a few times, she confused me, and I resorted to consulting the text book. That's okay for now, but when it comes time to learn new material... gah. This class is also going to be tough. Oh, and she said that Organic Chemistry II (I'm taking I) is the class that normally separates the good from the bad. Sigh... great.
Oh well. My life is all about studying right now.
Today was my first day at the aquarium. So, I arrived just before 9:00, thinking I was 1/2 hour early. I met up with Mark, the head biologist, and he asked me if I ran into traffic. There could only be one reason he asked me that--I was late. I asked him what time I was supposed to be there, and he said 8:00. Dangit! I've now been late each time I've been there. Oh well... 8-4 is a better time for me anyway, and the traffic was nonexistent at that time of day! Well, as traffic in Philly goes at least.
So, I'm working with a guy named Tony. He taught me a lot about cleaning, feeding, and general care of the fish he works with. He mainly does fish, with a few turtles, starfish, an octopus (named George, lol), a tiger shark (awesome), and crabs. It was cool to be able to walk through the aquarium with no guests--it opens at 9:30. It's quiet and we can observe, clean and feed in peace. I didn't really do a whole lot today... mostly observed. I helped with food prep (have to admit, that's something I'll need time to get used to... fish guts make me want to squeal like a girl) and feeding a little. One of the tiger sharks is held in a large tank in a metal building outside the aquarium. The water temp is, of course, kept constant, but the air temp and humidity are not... so the building had lots of mosquitoes. We were in there for maybe 30 minutes, and I ended up with 11 bites... probably more. Freaking mosquitoes. If anybody wants to walk into a room infested with mosquitoes and doesn't want to get bitten, just bring me! They love me! Tony didn't get a single bite.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
NYC
Eric and I spent a day in NYC, and that was plenty for me. It's such a dirty, depressing, drab city in my opinion. Yeah, there are cool touristy things to do, but I would never, ever want to live there or spend a significant amount of time there (a week for a business trip was almost too much for me).
We arrived Friday night, and met up with a couple of Eric's friends that were in town from Brazil. We walked to a restaurant about a mile away, and had a couple of drinks and dinner, then went back to the hotel. Saturday morning, we walked another mile or so to a diner for breakfast (which was actually really good--eggs with goat cheese and basil, mmmm), then walked again to the Intrepid museum, which is basically an aircraft carrier-turned-museum. That was really cool. We took a tour of the carrier, along with a submarine. It's amazing the small spaces in a submarine. I would be claustrophobic in no time if I had to sleep in one of those. My friend Chris from Connecticut met up with us, and we all went out to lunch (walked to the subway, then walked to the restaurant... another mile). After lunch, we walked to the Brooklyn Bridge, which was another couple of miles. By that time, my knees and feet were seriously starting to hurt as I was wearing sandals that are probably 10 years old, but I managed to walk another half mile up to the bridge before taking refuge on a bench. The rest of the gang, in their comfortable sneakers (I always overestimate my shoes' comfort, lol) continued a little further. When they got back, we walked the half mile back down the bridge to the subway, which was thankfully right at the opening of the bridge.
We all went our separate ways after that, and Eric and I drove home sweet home, and out of the craphole that is NYC (sorry Becky).
I start school tomorrow. Part of me is excited, part of me is stressed. I'm just not sure how I'm going to fit a job into all of this (working out, school, volunteering every other Saturday at the aquarium). I'm still looking for a job, but haven't really found anything.
We arrived Friday night, and met up with a couple of Eric's friends that were in town from Brazil. We walked to a restaurant about a mile away, and had a couple of drinks and dinner, then went back to the hotel. Saturday morning, we walked another mile or so to a diner for breakfast (which was actually really good--eggs with goat cheese and basil, mmmm), then walked again to the Intrepid museum, which is basically an aircraft carrier-turned-museum. That was really cool. We took a tour of the carrier, along with a submarine. It's amazing the small spaces in a submarine. I would be claustrophobic in no time if I had to sleep in one of those. My friend Chris from Connecticut met up with us, and we all went out to lunch (walked to the subway, then walked to the restaurant... another mile). After lunch, we walked to the Brooklyn Bridge, which was another couple of miles. By that time, my knees and feet were seriously starting to hurt as I was wearing sandals that are probably 10 years old, but I managed to walk another half mile up to the bridge before taking refuge on a bench. The rest of the gang, in their comfortable sneakers (I always overestimate my shoes' comfort, lol) continued a little further. When they got back, we walked the half mile back down the bridge to the subway, which was thankfully right at the opening of the bridge.
We all went our separate ways after that, and Eric and I drove home sweet home, and out of the craphole that is NYC (sorry Becky).
I start school tomorrow. Part of me is excited, part of me is stressed. I'm just not sure how I'm going to fit a job into all of this (working out, school, volunteering every other Saturday at the aquarium). I'm still looking for a job, but haven't really found anything.
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