Work and family don't mix
I've submitted the paper for my written exam. Now things get bad for me because waiting for an answer turns me into a nervous wreck.
Focusing on the positive, however, I did learn a lot while compiling together two novels and a few dozen papers into a fourteen-page summary. I was told it should be no longer than 15 pages. I found it quite amusing when the samples I was given were 16 pages, 18 pages, and 32 pages.
I tend to be a bit too terse...so I got 14. (Yeah, I'm verbose here. My technical writing isn't quite the mindless drivel I post on here.) :-)
I'm thinking that some of this will make a great background chapter for a dissertation. However, I think that it will need to have twice the length to get in some of the points I thought were good to know but not critical for the paper. I'll also have to write up a good amount of background on the method I'm going to be using.
The best part, however, was that I was very pleasantly surprised to find out that a good chunk of the data that can be used for validation of models actually supports not the most popular/famous model but the one which I intend to use for my dissertation project. I am very, very psyched about this project, even more than before (if that could be possible).
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On top of the paper, I went to Bismarck the past weekend for yet another family engagement. I have spent the past three weekend at family reunions and gatherings, which is really nice when you don't get to spend much time around family. The bad news is that I have 1 1/2 weeks until the older son comes home, which means this weekend is the only chance I will have to paint his room before he gets back.
Anyway, back to the reunions, I discovered that I can say something that would probably elicit the same response as if I'd told someone I was an abortion doctor: "I'm a geophysicist."
The family gatherings have been on Mike's side, and it turns out there are more than a handful of evangelical types among them. That is, folks who believe in the literal interpretation of the Bible.
I've also noticed a few folks at work of the same persuasion. I really didn't think the stuff I was interested in would be so controversial. I mean, that's why I quit being politically active. I'm just glad it doesn't come up much.
I just don't get how some people can say that they don't want to believe something so they're willing to ignore tons of evidence in favor of it. But then, people in general don't make sense in that nice way that engineered systems or even sometimes data does.
Focusing on the positive, however, I did learn a lot while compiling together two novels and a few dozen papers into a fourteen-page summary. I was told it should be no longer than 15 pages. I found it quite amusing when the samples I was given were 16 pages, 18 pages, and 32 pages.
I tend to be a bit too terse...so I got 14. (Yeah, I'm verbose here. My technical writing isn't quite the mindless drivel I post on here.) :-)
I'm thinking that some of this will make a great background chapter for a dissertation. However, I think that it will need to have twice the length to get in some of the points I thought were good to know but not critical for the paper. I'll also have to write up a good amount of background on the method I'm going to be using.
The best part, however, was that I was very pleasantly surprised to find out that a good chunk of the data that can be used for validation of models actually supports not the most popular/famous model but the one which I intend to use for my dissertation project. I am very, very psyched about this project, even more than before (if that could be possible).
-----
On top of the paper, I went to Bismarck the past weekend for yet another family engagement. I have spent the past three weekend at family reunions and gatherings, which is really nice when you don't get to spend much time around family. The bad news is that I have 1 1/2 weeks until the older son comes home, which means this weekend is the only chance I will have to paint his room before he gets back.
Anyway, back to the reunions, I discovered that I can say something that would probably elicit the same response as if I'd told someone I was an abortion doctor: "I'm a geophysicist."
The family gatherings have been on Mike's side, and it turns out there are more than a handful of evangelical types among them. That is, folks who believe in the literal interpretation of the Bible.
I've also noticed a few folks at work of the same persuasion. I really didn't think the stuff I was interested in would be so controversial. I mean, that's why I quit being politically active. I'm just glad it doesn't come up much.
I just don't get how some people can say that they don't want to believe something so they're willing to ignore tons of evidence in favor of it. But then, people in general don't make sense in that nice way that engineered systems or even sometimes data does.