PhD comics at McGill

the puckwhacker 2000(TM), originally uploaded by physics*chick.

So, two weeks ago I got an email from another member of our group who had just realized that the ticket he had for Jorge Cham's "Power of Procrastination" talk was at the same time as he had to teach a lab. Lucky me I got his ticket!

Excited as I was, this was also at a time when I had a ton of work to do (more on that later). I went, but as I sat there I started figetting and thinking about all the things I had to do, Jorge started into his (anti?)-motivational talk. He got some laughs with wikifacts about Mcgill (hockey was in there, as were Rutherford and the illustrious Mr. Shatner) and started talking about graduate student life. He talked about graduate student salaries, the emotional states of graduate students (some really sobering statistics there), and other such issues.

But then he started talking about procrastination, and moreover the GUILT of procrastination. That nagging feeling that gee-whiz, I really should be working, that is oh so hard to escape, because there's always something more to do, to read, to think about. And I sat there laughing half-heartedly, and wondering if it was really a good idea to have taken 2 hours out of the middle of the afternoon to go see a cartoonist talk about procrastination... guilt. Doh. This is why phd comics is so good... it's funny because it's true.

He ended though by talking about "the thesis" and actually getting to that day where you finally get to play through the "doctor" "doctor" jokes, and the reality that most people aren't actually that happy with their PhD theses, and usually "finishing" a PhD has a lot less to do with being done, and a lot more to do with external factors. Having just made the mental transition from being "in the middle" to "finishing", and having undergone somewhat of an existential crisis over what it "means" to get a PhD this was reassuring for me, and probably has helped keep me on the "finishing" track over the last two hellish weeks of post-doc fellowship applications, paper submission, and conference preparation.

So, naturally, after the talk, I had to get something signed. I bought one of the books of course, but I wanted something else, something special. I got back to the lab and took a look around and spied my hockey stick sitting in the corner waiting for our first game that night. Of COURSE! My labmates thought I was a total weirdo, but whatever. I brought my stick over, and not only did he sign, no, he made it funny. My stick shall henceforth be known to all as "the PUCKWHACKER 2000(TM)". Best procrastination ever!

ps- I'd like to say we won our the game that night, and that I scored a zillion goals with the puckwhacker, but sadly, no, we lost. We lose all our games. Never name a team "Absolut Zero" if you are likely to live up to it!

Where did I go?

Eurotrip Summary, originally uploaded by physics*chick.

Litterally? Well here you go, a summary in pictures. Conferences in beach towns are awesome.

Since I've been back I've been recovering from a cold, going to PhD comics guy's talk (more on that later), and trying to complete a lot of big things. Blogging's been kind of low on the prioity list lately.

Oh yeah, and for you knitting readers out there? I'm finally on Ravelry, so if you're there look for "thenerdynitter" (sorry if anyone out there is theknerdyknitter, or thenirdynitter or some such combination of mispelled words, I didn't know how to check if you were already in there!)

where i've been... under a rock

under a rock, originally uploaded by physics*chick.

Lack of intelligble blog posts due to a general lack of intelligibleness. Instead I present you with a photo I took months ago, made new again with dumpr.net's turn-my-photo-old tool. Makes me kinda want a Holga... but then my obsession with cameras is a whole other issue, and we don't need to go there today.

In other news, I'm chipping away at that to do list for August. However, now that things have settled down a bit compared to the rest of the summer, and most of the key items are either done or mostly done, I'm starting to slow down and relax more.

Quotes of the day: life in Montreal

Hammer rats: a breed of rats which are not seen and infest apartment buildings hammering on the walls, floors and ceilings.

***
hubby: "Living in Montreal is like having a roommate you don't like... that follows you everywhere."
***
hubby: "I need to buy a Land Rover, so I can rove the land."

what's it to you?

what's it to you?, originally uploaded by physics*chick.

Yesterday morning, barely awake, I looked out the window and spotted a little furry creature jotting across the balcony ledge. This "little" guy stopped to sniff the trellis of morning glories to determine if there was anything worth eating and then dissappeared down the side of the building.

If I hadn't taken pictures I'm not sure I'd have believed it once awake.

quick motivational progress update

I feel like I'm doing pretty good with my August sidebar to-do list. I've got 6 things knocked off already, and 3 more in process in other people's hands, I just need to hear back. That's over half of my original to-do list, and not everything on there was small.

But why is the list growing faster than I can get stuff scratched off??? boo.

Quiz me: Mac or PC?

You Are a Mac

You are creative, stylish, and super trendy. You demand the best - even if it costs an arm and a leg.

Are You a Mac or a PC?

Well, I just had to take this quiz... clearly as an Apple fanatic since 1984, I am a Mac. :)

water is good, but "bisphenol-a" is bad?

A few months ago, my parents sent me a somewhat alarmist email about plastic. The concern? They ran across an article on the internet stating that hard plastic water bottles marked with recycle symbol #7 contained Bisphenol A and that this could cause all sorts of health problems.

So I did a little research of my own. A little browsing around the internet and journal searches turned up a few things...

First of all "#7" plastic doesn't mean a whole heck of a lot. This label means "other". 1-6 are all specific types of plastic, everything else is 7. Ok. So just because my two water bottles are labelled #7 doesn't mean I'm doing any harm.

However, Lexan (a GE brand), also polycarbonate, plastic, which I do know at least one of my water bottles is made from, does contain Bisphenol A. *Most* clear hard colourful plastics marked #7 are Lexan.

Searching around some journals, I found a few articles expressing some degree of concern about the effects of Bisphenol A in rats. Nothing terribly conclusive as far as I can tell (I am not a biologist, I know very little about physiology, or the kinds of methods used in those studies), but the authors consistantly called for further study, and advised caution.

While this is a whole other issue, it should be noted that whether you absorb enough Bisphenol A to do yourself damage, in the kinds of large doses which can be released into the environment during manufacturing, humans and other organisms in the area can be affected significantly. That in mind, it is up to you whether you choose to buy a new Lexan bottle or avoid doing so for environmental and social reasons. I bought mine years ago now and was unaware of any of this at the time. I might have considered choosing something else had I known, though I suspect most plastics manufacturing has similar consequences.

Back to the health issues... Being uncertain, I have more or less left my water bottles in the kitchen cupboard for the past few months. Usually, a lack of conclusive data leads me to ignore the cries of the internet and carry on whatever I was doing before. However, given the small amount of data indicating reason for concern, and consequences like birth defects, infertility, and breast cancer, I decided that drinking city water in a mug at work is a reasonable alternative to taking a water bottle of Brita filtered water from home. If I'm heading into the wilderness (a rare occasion) or a long day around the city, I'll take one of my bottles.

But today I read this: ScienceNOW: Common Plastic Ingredient May Be Cause for Concern

A federal advisory panel meeting here today concluded that a hormonelike chemical found widely in food containers, bisphenol A, could potentially be causing neurological effects in fetuses and children. Although the group's conclusion, based on a wealth of animal and human studies, falls short of supporting any kind of ban, the panel expressed "some concern" about the chemical and noted that people may want to reduce their exposure.

...

Still, critics accused the panel of ignoring many other relevant studies. They point out that 38 bisphenol A experts and other scientists who met at a workshop last November concluded that people are exposed to doses that cause many other effects in animals, such as enlarged prostate and larger body size. The consensus statement of the November group, which is in press at Reproductive Toxicology, describes "a great cause for concern with regard to the potential for similar adverse effects in humans."

I think I'll be leaving those bottles on the shelf awhile longer. Maybe it's time to replace them with an HDPE or aluminum bottle.



Here are some other references:

• Nalgene product specifications - find out which plastic is which


• American Chemistry Council: Plastic packaging Resin codes [PDF], or get them from Wikipedia: Resin identification code


• Wikipedia: Lexan


• Wikipedia: Bisphenol A


• Some of the kinds of articles that are bringing out concern and muddying the waters, so to speak: Bottle Racket: On plastic water bottles, CityTV news: Water Bottles, The Bisphenol-A Debate: A Suspect Chemical in Plastic Bottles and Cans
  

What language am I?

Like the lemmings, I leap off where others do in my procrastination...

Your Score: Hieroglyphics

You scored

You are Egyptian Hieroglyphics! Monumental, ornate and even in technicolour! Your users contributed virtually all ancient knowledge on inks, dyes and writing surfaces - to the point where the popular reed of Papyrus became the universal name for organic, manufactured writing surfaces in the western hemisphere for thousands of years. Proud, upstanding and dignified.

Link: The Which Ancient Language Are You Test written by imipak on OkCupid, home of the The Dating Persona Test

seen here, there, and everywhere

time to try some motivational techniques again

Inspired by the (attempted) motivational techniques being implemented over at Dr. Brazen Hussy's place I've attached a list of things that ought to be done in August to my sidebar. I'm trying to keep it realistic (ok, so maybe even some of that isn't), so it's only 14 items long (for now) rather than 50!

Don't know if this kind of public accountability thing will help this time around, but at least Dr. Hussy can be amused and spy on my to do list!