Provider Problems

As some of you may have noticed, brianunderhill.com was down for the last day or two. My provider was moving, and claimed they would be down from 10pm to 1am, but we all know how that goes. Anyway, the site is back up (as of now) and seems to be working.

The biggest problem is that my email was down as well, and it's doing funky things. So if you emailed me and got a bounce, resend please. If you get more than one copy of a message, just pick your favorite version and keep that one. ;)

Sadly, despite the email weirdness, there doesn't seem to be any less spam now than before...

Spam: the cockroach of the Internet.

Incommunicado

I'm headed to eastern Washington to spend a few days with friends. Probably won't be back for about a week and probably won't have much time to blog while I'm gone. Look for more brianunderhill.com updates toward the end of the month. Hope everyone has a great week!

Destressing

Okay, I know the term's not officially over yet, but the hard part is. I've only got a couple algebra tests to take tomorrow (over logarithms and a comprehensive final), then my state CNA test to take on Saturday (which is relatively unrelated to this term), and I'm off for an entire week. I don't think I'm going to have a clue what to do with myself.

I'll have official grades within a couple weeks, but I'm feeling really good about today's microbiology final, and considering I was at 234/240 points going into it, I'm really hoping that'll keep me at 4.0 for the class (theoretically giving me a 4.0 overall GPA for the term as well). If I miss the 4.0, it won't be by much, but at this point I'm a little too tired to care!

Suffice to say, I'm a lot less stressed right this moment than I have been in weeks.

Ahh... nice weather, no studying hanging over my head... hmm... any bets on how long until I'm bored?

The Culprit Revealed

For anyone that cares to read it, I've uploaded my microbiology report on the unknown bacteria I was tracking down the last couple weeks. I turned it from an MS Word document into an HTM document, so the print's a bit small. Go get reading glasses or a magnifying glass (and coffee to stay awake; it's a relatively boring read). :)

You can read it by clicking here.

One Down...

Finished up my Anatomy and Physiology class today, and I'm about 95% sure I held my 4.0 through to the end. I'll know when grades come up later, but for now I'm celebrating anyway. Have to take a pair of algebra tests next week and my microbiology final, and turn in my micro term paper (identifying an unknown bacteria) and that's that about that. Looking forward to my week off (June 21-28) and planning on heading out of town for at least part of it to visit old friends in eastern Washington.

I also need to hammer out details of the GURPS 4/e book I'm supposed to be cowriting, since if I'm going to get started on it it's going to have to be very soon. First draft would be due around January 2005, which isn't that far away (especially when I'll have school all Summer/Fall, and have to write my 90,000 words at the same time). We worked on basic info for the book, but no solid outline exists, and therefore no contract either. I'll get on that soonish, right after I finish doing absolutely nothing this evening. :)

Running on Empty

Feeling really run down today; not sure why. I think it's just too many things to do all coming due at once, not sleeping enough, etc. I should get over to the gym more and burn off some stress, but it seems I never have time. That's not a reason, just an excuse. Just need to get over there and do it; I could put in 30 minutes in the mornings around 6:30 a.m., and still have plenty of time to get to the college for micro. Of course, everything changes in a couple weeks anyway, so I'll just try to include working out in my summer schedule.

Thus far, life is still holding together (albeit with baling wire and chewing gum from time to time). Maintaining about 97.5% in both A&P and Microbiology, and somewhere around 99% in Algebra. Have three more algebra tests, one A&P test, one microbiology lab test (tomorrow), a tutoring certification final, a microbiology term paper to write, and a microbiology lecture final, and then I'm done. I know I'd really have to botch these last few exams to pull my grade down very far, but it could happen. And so I stress.

I've never believed I suffer from "test anxiety" - not in the traditional sense, at least - but there's definitely some edginess creeping in as finals week approaches. Maybe it's the overachiever in me.

Anyway, going to up my vitamin intake, try to sleep a little more, and maybe even sneak to the gym tomorrow morning. If I can get through the next couple weeks, things will settle a little.

Shyeah, right. How many times have I said that?

Mystery Solved

Those of you who have been following the mystery microbe story lately will be happy to know I've solved it. My streak plate separated Serratia marscescens from the second, whitish unknown; I isolated a colony and grew another plate, then transferred a sample to an agar slant; 18-24 hours later (23, actually) I fixed a sample to a slide and gram-stained it. It turned out gram negative, narrowing down the field. A quick look at the slide on the microscope (1000x, oil immersion lens) shows individual bacilli - no chains, no clusters.

Bottom line: Escherichia coli. No doubt about it. Now to write up the term paper and collect my easy 30/30 points.

In other news, pulled a 49/50 on my last microbiology lecture exam. Stupid restriction enzyme question...

Why do I do that to myself?

Got an email from my A&P instructor; I scored 197.5 out of 200 on the lab final. Wonder how many years I shaved off my life by worrying last week?

Got a microbiology lab exam Wednesday, A&P lecture final Saturday, microbiology lecture final the following week, and four algebra tests to get through in the next two weeks. Then I'm done for Spring.

I'm off June 21-28 (or so) and plan on going to eastern Washington to spend some time with old friends, then Summer term starts up. Shouldn't be as stressful as Spring, but I'll probably have a new GURPS book to get written before January 2005 on top of school, so who knows.

Point of all this? 197.5/200 points. :) Wonder what the 1/2 point I missed was...

Movie Recommendation

There's a movie playing on Sci-Fi Channel this week called "Disaster in Time," starring Jeff Daniels. It airs on June 9, at 3:00 a.m. (0300) Pacific time, so check your local listings carefully and set your VCR. I only mention it because it's just a darn good time travel movie that I thoroughly enjoyed years ago (1990s?) and would recommend it to just about anyone that likes science fiction.

So program the VCR, set the clock, and then kick back later with some popcorn and enjoy. :)

Update

Real quick like: I don't think I set any records on today's A&P lab final, but I'm also pretty sure I didn't botch it either. Feeling reasonably confident that I'm still hanging close to the 4.0 range overall. Whew.

Stressed

Huge 200-point comprehensive lab final tomorrow morning in Anatomy & Physiology covering tissue histology (identifying tissue from microscopic slides), muscles (origins, insertions, actions), bones (and their landmarks), laboratory techniques, etc. It's 1/4 of my total grade. Even with the current 97.5% I'm carrying in the class, if I tank tomorrow's test I could seriously (adversely) affect my grade, thereby seriously (adversely) affecting my chances of getting into the RN program in the Winter.

No platitudes here, no witty commentary, no cutesy endings to a blog entry. Just stress tonight. And lots of it.

A Clean Plate

Checked my isolated streak plate today in micro lab, and got a solidly whitish growth on it. Not a speck of red Serratia marscescens to be found (which is a good thing). Innoculated a small amount over to an agar slant which will incubate for a day or so, then get transferred to the lab fridge until Monday. Then I can fix a sample to a slide, gram stain it to determine cell wall structure, and look at it under the microscope.

On a related note, got the results back from my last microbiology lab exam: scored 30 points out of 30. Today's lecture exam felt pretty good; should have a score next week some time.