(no subject)
Last week I finished my semester progress report on the ARES project. I was satisfied with my progress, though I'm beginning to think I would have been better off spending this summer here to continue my work. I really have a good sense of this project, and since my camera system came in yesterday, I've renewed faith in my capabilities.
Besides, my adviser, who provides relatively little guidance over this whole thing, made mention to me that this was my project, not his. I knew that already, but it's nice for him to say so. It really is encouraging to have near-total control over the project, despite the tendency I have to waste time trying to find the perfect equipment. At least I know I'm working with some high-quality shit here.
Of course, I've learned not to take my advisor's advice on damn near anything technical, as the optical system I was expected to use was in horrible condition, and necessitated a few thousand dollars of replacement parts. By the time I was done, I found that I had replaced everything - not a single piece of the original optical array I was given is in the new one.
I'm worried about the image analysis software I'm using. It's built for what I need, but the thing is freeware and so goddamn buggy I can't get it to do damn near anything I need it to do. It's so frustrating, since this free program would be absolutely perfect if it functioned reliably. I might have to throw down a few hundred more for a better system if I can't get the thing to work by tomorrow. Besides, I'd rather spend a thousand dollars on a program that wasn't totally necessary than waste weeks screwing with a program that doesn't work at all. My budget is considerable; my time is short.
What have I learned?
1) Time is worth much, much more than money.
2) Never use old equipment unless you know for sure it was used successfully a few years ago.
3) Of everything that works in theory, only 10% works in practice.
Anyways, I hope my project at Virginia Tech over the summer is as interesting. At the very least, it will pay well, and give me enough free time to get a lot of reading done, as I did last summer. I might have to drive back down here to do some lab work, as getting my chemicals prepared a month or two before I begin experiments will give them plenty of time to dissolve, whereas waiting until August would pose a serious pain in the ass.
I need the camera system and my chemicals prepared by August. I hope I can manage it.
- Alchemy -
Besides, my adviser, who provides relatively little guidance over this whole thing, made mention to me that this was my project, not his. I knew that already, but it's nice for him to say so. It really is encouraging to have near-total control over the project, despite the tendency I have to waste time trying to find the perfect equipment. At least I know I'm working with some high-quality shit here.
Of course, I've learned not to take my advisor's advice on damn near anything technical, as the optical system I was expected to use was in horrible condition, and necessitated a few thousand dollars of replacement parts. By the time I was done, I found that I had replaced everything - not a single piece of the original optical array I was given is in the new one.
I'm worried about the image analysis software I'm using. It's built for what I need, but the thing is freeware and so goddamn buggy I can't get it to do damn near anything I need it to do. It's so frustrating, since this free program would be absolutely perfect if it functioned reliably. I might have to throw down a few hundred more for a better system if I can't get the thing to work by tomorrow. Besides, I'd rather spend a thousand dollars on a program that wasn't totally necessary than waste weeks screwing with a program that doesn't work at all. My budget is considerable; my time is short.
What have I learned?
1) Time is worth much, much more than money.
2) Never use old equipment unless you know for sure it was used successfully a few years ago.
3) Of everything that works in theory, only 10% works in practice.
Anyways, I hope my project at Virginia Tech over the summer is as interesting. At the very least, it will pay well, and give me enough free time to get a lot of reading done, as I did last summer. I might have to drive back down here to do some lab work, as getting my chemicals prepared a month or two before I begin experiments will give them plenty of time to dissolve, whereas waiting until August would pose a serious pain in the ass.
I need the camera system and my chemicals prepared by August. I hope I can manage it.
- Alchemy -