Yesterday I completed my first full day as a real live (non-degree-seeking-for-this-semester- anyhow graduate student.
The class I had was Epidemiology I. For those of you not familiar with the term 'epidemiology', look it up. Just kidding. Seriously though, you should look up words you don't know. Didn't anyone ever teach you that? Epidemiology is the basically the study of the spread of disease and the causal factors or etiology of disease. God, I'm smart already. Can anyone say "Robin is totally going to get an A this semester? Hmm? Anyone? Anyone?
I don't think this class is going to be really awful or anything; in fact, I think it won't be bad at all if I go to class and do the reading. I even have a study buddy: my friend Ellen I. Some of you may remember her from years ago when I lived with her, way back when I was a bad ass Russian Studies undergraduate. She seemed to think it wouldn't be too bad either.
This morning I have Biostatistics, which is probably the class that's going to be a bear this semester, although, according to Ellen, it isn't nearly as bad as the College of Public Health likes to make it sound. We'll see.
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Thursday, August 17, 2006
ARGHHH!
I know I probably shouldn't be posting anything when I'm so damn grumpy, but screw it.
I had a really bad shift today. First, I was 8 minutes late to work; I know that's not a huge deal or anything, and my "supervisor" didn't care, but I pride myself on being on-time. I hate running late. It seems to throw the rest of my day off; which, funnily enough, is exactly what happened today.
The second crappy thing that happened was the weather. This wouldn't be such a big deal, but, as anyone in retail or food service knows, drastic changes in weather can adversely affect business (i.e. business picks up a lot or slows to a near stand still). Starting at about 7:15 am (I arrived at work at 6:30 am--can you believe that shit?!) we had no less than 20 people in line at any given moment. This wouldn't have been so bad except my "supervisor" decided to be a total fucking bitch for the entirety of my shift.
I would be willing to forgive her for her bad mood except a) she never apologized, b) she made me miss my bus at the end of my shift, c) she seemed to think she since she was having a bad day she could take it out on me and d) I don't get paid enough to put up with this shit. Really.
I think out of all the transgressions she made, taking her bad mood out on me was probably the worst of them all. You see, when I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ukraine I lived in a town with three other volunteers all of whom felt that taking their bad days out on me or other people was completely and totally legitimate. It got to the point where between the three of them someone was always snapping at someone else, making being around all three of them really unpleasant.
I mean, come on. We all have to live, work, eat, breathe, and play together on this planet. Being nasty to a co-worker/spouse/parent/sibling/whoever because someone else was previously nasty to you is stupid. And inconsiderate. God, that drives me crazy.
Towards the end of my shift, after I had missed my bus because bitch girl was trying to figure out how I had screwed up the register (um, did I mention I've only been working at this fucking kiosk for a week and a half?), I paused to reflect on the fact that I'm working at exactly the same kind of job I was BEFORE I left for Peace Corps for less money. And I felt like screaming.
Next time, I'm kicking some ass and taking names. I'm not taking any shit from anyone not old enough to drink or who doesn't remember the release of Thriller, and that's that.
I had a really bad shift today. First, I was 8 minutes late to work; I know that's not a huge deal or anything, and my "supervisor" didn't care, but I pride myself on being on-time. I hate running late. It seems to throw the rest of my day off; which, funnily enough, is exactly what happened today.
The second crappy thing that happened was the weather. This wouldn't be such a big deal, but, as anyone in retail or food service knows, drastic changes in weather can adversely affect business (i.e. business picks up a lot or slows to a near stand still). Starting at about 7:15 am (I arrived at work at 6:30 am--can you believe that shit?!) we had no less than 20 people in line at any given moment. This wouldn't have been so bad except my "supervisor" decided to be a total fucking bitch for the entirety of my shift.
I would be willing to forgive her for her bad mood except a) she never apologized, b) she made me miss my bus at the end of my shift, c) she seemed to think she since she was having a bad day she could take it out on me and d) I don't get paid enough to put up with this shit. Really.
I think out of all the transgressions she made, taking her bad mood out on me was probably the worst of them all. You see, when I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ukraine I lived in a town with three other volunteers all of whom felt that taking their bad days out on me or other people was completely and totally legitimate. It got to the point where between the three of them someone was always snapping at someone else, making being around all three of them really unpleasant.
I mean, come on. We all have to live, work, eat, breathe, and play together on this planet. Being nasty to a co-worker/spouse/parent/sibling/whoever because someone else was previously nasty to you is stupid. And inconsiderate. God, that drives me crazy.
Towards the end of my shift, after I had missed my bus because bitch girl was trying to figure out how I had screwed up the register (um, did I mention I've only been working at this fucking kiosk for a week and a half?), I paused to reflect on the fact that I'm working at exactly the same kind of job I was BEFORE I left for Peace Corps for less money. And I felt like screaming.
Next time, I'm kicking some ass and taking names. I'm not taking any shit from anyone not old enough to drink or who doesn't remember the release of Thriller, and that's that.
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Oops
Jesus, I didn't realize it had been over a week since I posted anything.
To be honest, I've actually been a little busy. Doing what, you ask? Well, let's see.....
1. Canoeing. That's right. Me and my Scientist and about 10 of his friends took a trip to southern Missouri where we, along with about 100 of the reddest rednecks and whitest white trash in the midwest canoed for a day. It was a lot of fun, and I finally got to meet some people Scientist had been talking for months.
2. Working. I started at the Java House this week. Things are going well, although the pay still sucks and I'm fairly sure I'm the brokest person on the planet. I'm actually afraid to balance my check book. At least I get tips, though.
3. Getting therapy. I started EMDR treatment for PTSD. So far, its gone okay, although the EMDR treatment is emotionally exhausting and no fun.
4. Reving up for school. I start in a week! YEA!!! I heart school!
Once my schedule gets a little more regular (HA! Fat chance on that one, I'm sure) I'm going to try and have a blog-like schedule (i.e. I blog 4 times a week or whatever). Until then all I can do is try and post things when the mood strikes me.
To be honest, I've actually been a little busy. Doing what, you ask? Well, let's see.....
1. Canoeing. That's right. Me and my Scientist and about 10 of his friends took a trip to southern Missouri where we, along with about 100 of the reddest rednecks and whitest white trash in the midwest canoed for a day. It was a lot of fun, and I finally got to meet some people Scientist had been talking for months.
2. Working. I started at the Java House this week. Things are going well, although the pay still sucks and I'm fairly sure I'm the brokest person on the planet. I'm actually afraid to balance my check book. At least I get tips, though.
3. Getting therapy. I started EMDR treatment for PTSD. So far, its gone okay, although the EMDR treatment is emotionally exhausting and no fun.
4. Reving up for school. I start in a week! YEA!!! I heart school!
Once my schedule gets a little more regular (HA! Fat chance on that one, I'm sure) I'm going to try and have a blog-like schedule (i.e. I blog 4 times a week or whatever). Until then all I can do is try and post things when the mood strikes me.
Sunday, August 06, 2006
20 Miles
That's how far Scientist and I rode yesterday. Isn't that cool? Aren't you impressed? I thought so.
It actually wasn't that bad. It would have been better, of course, had my bike not been twice as difficult to pedal because the cables are all stretched out. Apparently this happens after you get a bike; about a month after buying it you need to have the gears checked and the cables tightened (?) for some reason. I need to do this before classes begin in two weeks because a) I'm going to get super busy between taking 2 grad classes and work and b) in late October Scientist and I are going on a little trip.
We've been talking about this for several weeks, but now I think we've decided to actually bite the bullet and do it. See, this is no regular trip: we're going to be going on a 60 mile bike ride through central and southern Missouri over the course of two days. Apparently there's this trail, the Katy trail, to be exact, that is a part of a not-yet-completed mega trail that will connect bike trails across the country from California to the Northeast.
So, yesterday was a sort of dry run. We figured if we could do a fairly hilly 20 miles in one day we could do two flat thirty mile stretches over the course of two days. Hopefully both of our schedules will allow us to do so by the time fall rolls around.
It actually wasn't that bad. It would have been better, of course, had my bike not been twice as difficult to pedal because the cables are all stretched out. Apparently this happens after you get a bike; about a month after buying it you need to have the gears checked and the cables tightened (?) for some reason. I need to do this before classes begin in two weeks because a) I'm going to get super busy between taking 2 grad classes and work and b) in late October Scientist and I are going on a little trip.
We've been talking about this for several weeks, but now I think we've decided to actually bite the bullet and do it. See, this is no regular trip: we're going to be going on a 60 mile bike ride through central and southern Missouri over the course of two days. Apparently there's this trail, the Katy trail, to be exact, that is a part of a not-yet-completed mega trail that will connect bike trails across the country from California to the Northeast.
So, yesterday was a sort of dry run. We figured if we could do a fairly hilly 20 miles in one day we could do two flat thirty mile stretches over the course of two days. Hopefully both of our schedules will allow us to do so by the time fall rolls around.
Thursday, August 03, 2006
Good News/Bad News
August is the month of major decisions and shifts in my life apparently.
About a week ago I applied for a job at Planned Parenthood. It sounded fabulous: I'd be working as a clinic assistant which means I'd be talking to women about their birth control options and providing those who were about to have abortions information about the procedure. It was 20 hours per week, full health/dental/vision benefits and I'd have Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays off.
I say "would have" because I didn't get it, damn it. There were two other candidates besides me. I was really disappointed because I thought I had a really good chance at this job; I did HIV/AIDS outreach in Ukraine, along with doing a little bit of volunteer work with Planned Parenthood in CR when I was 16. But, alas, I lost out again.
So, instead, I'll be working at the Java House. I know I should be excited that I at least have a job, but I'm not. I feel like I've basically picked up exactly where I started when I left for Ukraine, meaning my life has gone no where and will continue to go no where as long as I'm working jobs that pay shit and get me no where professionally. I'm almost 30 for Christ sakes. This is what I would grudgingly call "good news".
Then I remind myself that I'm enrolling in grad classes this fall and that I can't expect to find a fabulous part-time job because those are hard to come by in this town. That, and I can't just give up looking: I'll find something. Maybe someone in the Public Health department at Iowa will be able to hook me up with some sort of internship or something once I'm admitted to the program. I hate waiting, though.....
I know I should abandon the idea that this sort of work is "beneath me". Clearly, it's not, and furthermore it's totally obnoxious for me to think this way, but....I can't help it. I'm frustrated.
In much less disheartening news, I met with my super great therapist, Dr. L, yesterday to discuss treatment for my PTSD. Dr. L does a certain type of therapy called EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization Restructuring). I'm not going to bore you with the details, but let's just say it's been enormously sucessful for PTSD suffers and I'll hopefully benefit from it.
Anyway, the good news is a) she agrees with the doctor who originally diagnosed me with PTSD and b) she's not going to charge me for anything until I get my settlement (I didn't ask her to do this, she volunteered the idea herself!). She was really sympathetic and cool, which was a nice change from the last yahoo I dealt with at the U of I. In fact, I felt more comfortable with her than I have anybody else I've talked to about how I've felt. She's even willing to testify in court if I need her to (let's hope and pray that's not the case; I really don't want to go to court).
This weekend Scientist and I are going on a 20 mile bike ride. Sunday we're having my mom over for ribs. I hope you all have a fabulous weekend and enjoy this much cooler weather!
About a week ago I applied for a job at Planned Parenthood. It sounded fabulous: I'd be working as a clinic assistant which means I'd be talking to women about their birth control options and providing those who were about to have abortions information about the procedure. It was 20 hours per week, full health/dental/vision benefits and I'd have Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays off.
I say "would have" because I didn't get it, damn it. There were two other candidates besides me. I was really disappointed because I thought I had a really good chance at this job; I did HIV/AIDS outreach in Ukraine, along with doing a little bit of volunteer work with Planned Parenthood in CR when I was 16. But, alas, I lost out again.
So, instead, I'll be working at the Java House. I know I should be excited that I at least have a job, but I'm not. I feel like I've basically picked up exactly where I started when I left for Ukraine, meaning my life has gone no where and will continue to go no where as long as I'm working jobs that pay shit and get me no where professionally. I'm almost 30 for Christ sakes. This is what I would grudgingly call "good news".
Then I remind myself that I'm enrolling in grad classes this fall and that I can't expect to find a fabulous part-time job because those are hard to come by in this town. That, and I can't just give up looking: I'll find something. Maybe someone in the Public Health department at Iowa will be able to hook me up with some sort of internship or something once I'm admitted to the program. I hate waiting, though.....
I know I should abandon the idea that this sort of work is "beneath me". Clearly, it's not, and furthermore it's totally obnoxious for me to think this way, but....I can't help it. I'm frustrated.
In much less disheartening news, I met with my super great therapist, Dr. L, yesterday to discuss treatment for my PTSD. Dr. L does a certain type of therapy called EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization Restructuring). I'm not going to bore you with the details, but let's just say it's been enormously sucessful for PTSD suffers and I'll hopefully benefit from it.
Anyway, the good news is a) she agrees with the doctor who originally diagnosed me with PTSD and b) she's not going to charge me for anything until I get my settlement (I didn't ask her to do this, she volunteered the idea herself!). She was really sympathetic and cool, which was a nice change from the last yahoo I dealt with at the U of I. In fact, I felt more comfortable with her than I have anybody else I've talked to about how I've felt. She's even willing to testify in court if I need her to (let's hope and pray that's not the case; I really don't want to go to court).
This weekend Scientist and I are going on a 20 mile bike ride. Sunday we're having my mom over for ribs. I hope you all have a fabulous weekend and enjoy this much cooler weather!
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