I've been quite productive today. I decided that I need to go ahead and write this conference proceedings that is due on the first of October. I didn't really want to bother, but I figured it would be a good thing to do, given my low rate of getting anything else done. This is something that is no fun but well, at least I can say I did it.
Tomorrow I'm going to visit Columbia to meet with Norman. The plan is to just kind of get caught up on what they've been doing as well as what I have been doing. He offered to let me go to the group meeting, and I am wondering. On one had I have no desire to do that, but at the same time it might be good to meet all of the students in the group now, since they've basically all changed. I do know this will not be a regular thing.
I was lucky today that I decided to get a soda at precisely the time a sales rep for a book publisher came by my office and left her card. One less thing to deal with.
It's rainy and dreary outside and I want to go get coffee but I don't want to walk in the rain. I have an umbrella, but this is a "stay inside" kind of day. Dante agrees with me. (Although he has no choice in the matter, no matter what kind of fight he puts up to not go outside.)
Monday, September 27, 2010
Friday, September 24, 2010
What I should do and what I want to do...
I got my new laptop yesterday, and it's all I can do to force myself to do real work instead of playing with it. It's not a huge upgrade, quite honestly, and most everything is working quite well immediately. (My last upgrade was noticeably different and many things just would not work right away.) I've installed all the new things I wanted to install and there are just a couple more things I need, but that will have to wait (for one I need to wait for IT to bring my Mathematica, assuming the campus has finally paid the bill for the site license.)
So I'm avoiding real things that I should do like work on the solutions for next week's homework or do some data bookkeeping (I really don't want to deal with that, as the jobs I have running are starting to fail more often, which means I really should deal with them but at the same time it means that I have a lot to deal with when I do...sounds like a good Saturday game.).
Let's hear it for avoidance!
So I'm avoiding real things that I should do like work on the solutions for next week's homework or do some data bookkeeping (I really don't want to deal with that, as the jobs I have running are starting to fail more often, which means I really should deal with them but at the same time it means that I have a lot to deal with when I do...sounds like a good Saturday game.).
Let's hear it for avoidance!
Thursday, September 23, 2010
"Welcome back"
I spend the day at the lab yesterday, which meant renting a car to drive out there. Definitely not a bad day except for the two-and-a-half hours to get home (took an hour there). Luckily I made it home just before the thunderstorms, so Dante could appropriately freak out with me.
What was good about the day was that I again got to feel the "Welcome back" vibe, and in some cases from people I didn't know before. This has been a running theme when I see people again here, there's sort of a sigh of relief that I made it back to the city, after having been exiled for three years in the wilderness. (Of course, the 'burg was nothing like that, but you tell that to New Yorkers.)
Either way, as much as I complain about the lab, it's a good place to go to once in a while. They have a lot of seminars, which we don't have (although there are plenty of universities in the city that do as well), and people in my field to talk to, so I can stay abreast of everything.
Of course, my laptop arrived in the office yesterday, so I didn't get it since I got home so late, so you know what this means: Not getting any work done today (except for that class I have to teach!)!
What was good about the day was that I again got to feel the "Welcome back" vibe, and in some cases from people I didn't know before. This has been a running theme when I see people again here, there's sort of a sigh of relief that I made it back to the city, after having been exiled for three years in the wilderness. (Of course, the 'burg was nothing like that, but you tell that to New Yorkers.)
Either way, as much as I complain about the lab, it's a good place to go to once in a while. They have a lot of seminars, which we don't have (although there are plenty of universities in the city that do as well), and people in my field to talk to, so I can stay abreast of everything.
Of course, my laptop arrived in the office yesterday, so I didn't get it since I got home so late, so you know what this means: Not getting any work done today (except for that class I have to teach!)!
Monday, September 20, 2010
DMV woes
We all have our DMV stories, because generally it is a ridiculously irritating experience to go there, for whatever reason. Even the positive experiences are often tainted by the fact that you might have to wait 2-3 hours for whatever you are there for. But NY state DMV's are their own special circle of hell.
First of all, they are exceedingly picky with paperwork. For one, I had to have a certified copy of my car's title from the bank (as it's still being paid for), which is fine, but what they don't say on the website (or, I might add, on the phone if you call them) is that FAXes do not count, they must have original signatures. Fine, so I wasted a trip last week for that.
Then, today I go, original signatures and all, but the problem today was that my insurance card did not have my middle initial, so I had to get that changed. Luckily, a number was pulled for me so I'd not lose my place in line, but I had to call the insurance company to have them change it and fax it in. Would take 2-3 minutes, they said, and in fact it did.
But the card is of the form Last name, first name, and they didn't put the initial after my first name but before my last name, and this was unacceptable to NY. So I had to call back. This time I was informed that the page they enter info at the insurance company has a text box for Last name and another box for "First name + middle initial/name," and that my first name fills up the box and they can't add any additional letters, which is why the first lady did what she did. In order to do what I needed they had to put a special request for a special card, and it could take 2-3 HOURS. He puts in the request, and I tell the lady.
She talks to her supervisor and the supervisor said she would accept it if it was in the right order, but with just first and middle INITIALS, so I wouldn't have to wait two hours. I call back, get it faxed in, and all this took almost an hour. As irritating as it was, the positive side is that the number that was pulled for me was next, so I would have had to wait that long anyway.
Annoyances are as follows (though I needn't repeat them): First, why are you so picky NY, when I could easily just tell them to put whatever on my card? Second, what is wrong insurance company, when you know how picky NYS is, with your software when you are clearly discriminating against those of us with long names?! This should be something that is given automatically, considering how NYS can be.
Finally, thank you mom and dad, for my very long name ;)
First of all, they are exceedingly picky with paperwork. For one, I had to have a certified copy of my car's title from the bank (as it's still being paid for), which is fine, but what they don't say on the website (or, I might add, on the phone if you call them) is that FAXes do not count, they must have original signatures. Fine, so I wasted a trip last week for that.
Then, today I go, original signatures and all, but the problem today was that my insurance card did not have my middle initial, so I had to get that changed. Luckily, a number was pulled for me so I'd not lose my place in line, but I had to call the insurance company to have them change it and fax it in. Would take 2-3 minutes, they said, and in fact it did.
But the card is of the form Last name, first name, and they didn't put the initial after my first name but before my last name, and this was unacceptable to NY. So I had to call back. This time I was informed that the page they enter info at the insurance company has a text box for Last name and another box for "First name + middle initial/name," and that my first name fills up the box and they can't add any additional letters, which is why the first lady did what she did. In order to do what I needed they had to put a special request for a special card, and it could take 2-3 HOURS. He puts in the request, and I tell the lady.
She talks to her supervisor and the supervisor said she would accept it if it was in the right order, but with just first and middle INITIALS, so I wouldn't have to wait two hours. I call back, get it faxed in, and all this took almost an hour. As irritating as it was, the positive side is that the number that was pulled for me was next, so I would have had to wait that long anyway.
Annoyances are as follows (though I needn't repeat them): First, why are you so picky NY, when I could easily just tell them to put whatever on my card? Second, what is wrong insurance company, when you know how picky NYS is, with your software when you are clearly discriminating against those of us with long names?! This should be something that is given automatically, considering how NYS can be.
Finally, thank you mom and dad, for my very long name ;)
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Welcome to the neighborhood
I have to say, I'm very happy with the neighborhood I've moved to. Sure, it takes an hour or more to get downtown. Sure it's not always the cleanest (and many dog owners don't feel the need to clean up after their dogs). But there are several really cool aspects. They aren't unique to this neighborhood, necessarily, but still they are things that didn't exist in the 'burg nor in my other neighborhood in Manhattan.
For one, many people here are super nice. In fact, I've had more nice conversations with strangers here than in the 'burg, and they are the kind that are just friendly conversations (usually about Dante). Of course, everyone has been fawning over Dante. I've heard the usual "He's so beautiful," or "such a sweet dog," as well as the more cynical "that ain't no pit bull so that's a good dog." Either way at least once a day I'm stopped because everyone loves him (and who couldn't?).
Also, the kids in this neighborhood are well behaved! They say "please" and "thank you." When they hold a door open for me (!) and I say "thank you," they say "you're welcome." They come to pet Dante and ask if they can before doing so, and they do it gently and politely. They are actually good kids here. Not like my old neighborhood in Manhattan, where the kids were assinine brats!
And honestly, I'm a minority of sorts in this neighborhood, and I've never felt so much a part of it (while still being new here). It's kind of interesting, and yes, it's yet another thing about this city that makes it so great.
For one, many people here are super nice. In fact, I've had more nice conversations with strangers here than in the 'burg, and they are the kind that are just friendly conversations (usually about Dante). Of course, everyone has been fawning over Dante. I've heard the usual "He's so beautiful," or "such a sweet dog," as well as the more cynical "that ain't no pit bull so that's a good dog." Either way at least once a day I'm stopped because everyone loves him (and who couldn't?).
Also, the kids in this neighborhood are well behaved! They say "please" and "thank you." When they hold a door open for me (!) and I say "thank you," they say "you're welcome." They come to pet Dante and ask if they can before doing so, and they do it gently and politely. They are actually good kids here. Not like my old neighborhood in Manhattan, where the kids were assinine brats!
And honestly, I'm a minority of sorts in this neighborhood, and I've never felt so much a part of it (while still being new here). It's kind of interesting, and yes, it's yet another thing about this city that makes it so great.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Wedding
This is not an entirely secret thing, although I've not yet really talked about it to everyone, but the C-man and I have finally decided to stop living in sin. Okay, so right now we're living in different cities, but that's beside the point. Since we now live in a state where "non-opposite marriage" is recognized (though not performed, god forbid), we decided that we would like to get married. This has really been a long time coming, but just a couple of weeks ago we decided to make it happen. Soon. Like, end of October soon.
The main reason is we wanted to do it on our anniversary (six years this year!), just because that was already a special day and honestly, we didn't want to deal with two anniversaries. Being impatient, we wanted to do it this year, hence the rush. It means that we aren't doing a big celebration, also. Just a small group of our family and just a minute group of friends. I imagine this will piss off anyone who didn't "make the cut," but really we wanted people there that meant something to both of us.*
But anyway, yesterday we went to Niagara Falls (on the Canadian side, where this is all legal), to get the marriage license (or as they put it, "licence"), and check out the hotel where this will all take place. Let me just say, it will be a gorgeous view of the falls for us and our guests, and just a wonderful day.
Now we just want it to be over with, so I can have a "husband."
----
*Sadly, some of my best friends didn't make the cut, and I imagine there will be some resentment, but at the same time, sometimes life just sucks, so...
The main reason is we wanted to do it on our anniversary (six years this year!), just because that was already a special day and honestly, we didn't want to deal with two anniversaries. Being impatient, we wanted to do it this year, hence the rush. It means that we aren't doing a big celebration, also. Just a small group of our family and just a minute group of friends. I imagine this will piss off anyone who didn't "make the cut," but really we wanted people there that meant something to both of us.*
But anyway, yesterday we went to Niagara Falls (on the Canadian side, where this is all legal), to get the marriage license (or as they put it, "licence"), and check out the hotel where this will all take place. Let me just say, it will be a gorgeous view of the falls for us and our guests, and just a wonderful day.
Now we just want it to be over with, so I can have a "husband."
----
*Sadly, some of my best friends didn't make the cut, and I imagine there will be some resentment, but at the same time, sometimes life just sucks, so...
Friday, September 10, 2010
I know better, but...
I know students don't pay attention to the syllabus. Marking the date of a quiz doesn't mean they'll realize it is there. Of course, they really don't listen either, so reminding them the day before doesn't quite help. (It also doesn't help if they leave class early, or if they missed class when the reminder was mentioned.)
That said, I'm a nice guy. I received this student's homework in my mailbox (which I could count as being late if I wanted to, but again, I'm nice), which made me realize that this student was not in class during the quiz. (This is why it wasn't in my pile of quizzes that I graded.) Being nice, even though this student should have realized there was a quiz and thus should not have missed class, I sent an email saying that s/he could come by my office today to take the quiz. No response yet, and I even mentioned I had to leave early today, so we'll see. If not taking today, then there is a big ol' zero!
That said, I'm a nice guy. I received this student's homework in my mailbox (which I could count as being late if I wanted to, but again, I'm nice), which made me realize that this student was not in class during the quiz. (This is why it wasn't in my pile of quizzes that I graded.) Being nice, even though this student should have realized there was a quiz and thus should not have missed class, I sent an email saying that s/he could come by my office today to take the quiz. No response yet, and I even mentioned I had to leave early today, so we'll see. If not taking today, then there is a big ol' zero!
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Sigh
So the weather's cooled off a bit, making for a nicer day (especially in my office). However, this is overshadowed by the fact that IT here is terrible.
First, the computer software that is supposed to be on all public computers for students is not usable because the university has not yet paid to renew its license. Of course, the students said to me that it was available, but none of them checked until the day before the homework (which uses it) was due. Granted, I should have gone over there myself, but I was assured that it would be there.
Then, I cannot login to the right place to set up my webpage. Another annoyance that isn't urgent, but still, this is something that should be available as soon as I arrive, and well, they are not the most adept.
And finally, today my ethernet connection is not working, so I'm using the (extremely slow today) wireless connection. There may be an outage, and I'm about to call about this, but I wanted to complain before it got fixed. Also it is rather irritating because if you are only connected with the wireless, you are treated as being off campus, meaning anything I want to do that would require being on-site (because apparently they do not understand how to successfully implement cyber-security here), I cannot.
Plus I forgot to print out my notes for class which means going upstairs to do so. I know, that sounds like a stupid complaint but for some reason we cannot print to the office printer remotely, only the departmental secretary can, so I have to send her a file to print out and blah blah blah. I'm sure in the next three years I'll get my own printer, but still...
First, the computer software that is supposed to be on all public computers for students is not usable because the university has not yet paid to renew its license. Of course, the students said to me that it was available, but none of them checked until the day before the homework (which uses it) was due. Granted, I should have gone over there myself, but I was assured that it would be there.
Then, I cannot login to the right place to set up my webpage. Another annoyance that isn't urgent, but still, this is something that should be available as soon as I arrive, and well, they are not the most adept.
And finally, today my ethernet connection is not working, so I'm using the (extremely slow today) wireless connection. There may be an outage, and I'm about to call about this, but I wanted to complain before it got fixed. Also it is rather irritating because if you are only connected with the wireless, you are treated as being off campus, meaning anything I want to do that would require being on-site (because apparently they do not understand how to successfully implement cyber-security here), I cannot.
Plus I forgot to print out my notes for class which means going upstairs to do so. I know, that sounds like a stupid complaint but for some reason we cannot print to the office printer remotely, only the departmental secretary can, so I have to send her a file to print out and blah blah blah. I'm sure in the next three years I'll get my own printer, but still...
Monday, September 6, 2010
Labor Day
Even though I'm planning on working much of the day, I always enjoy holidays where campus is closed. Not that I'm far from my office, so it's not like I have a big time saver with not commuting. Also, it's not like I'm more or less productive at home than in my office. But it is always nice to not really have to be in.
So today I've been getting some research done as well as preparing materials for class. The first homework I assigned involves using a computer program that I was under the impression that everyone had used before, so everyone is of course panicking and so I will spend a lot of tomorrow working on teaching the students how to use it.
In addition to that I am watching Dante go insane. He's had a couple of difficult weeks, given the packing and moving both C and myself to new apartments. Having C leave was difficult for him, and being in a new place is tough. C had suggested giving him a bath to freshen him up (it is time for his fall bath), but I decided to wait just because I didn't want to give him a lot more to worry about. I mean, let's just pile on the stress: Packing, moving, driving to upstate New York, unpacking, driving down to the city, unpacking, a lot of vacuuming, and dealing with living on the fifth floor of a walk-up building. Yeah, that's what I want to do, throw in a bath to just top it all off.
But back to the point, he's going crazy because of the fly in the apartment. The windows are open and a fly has come in, and Dante is just running around like crazy trying to catch it. I decided not to get rid of it because it's giving him something to do. The view in the apartment, while awesome for me, is not great for him because he can't see anyone or any animals. Now though, he just gave up on the fly. Poor guy.
So today I've been getting some research done as well as preparing materials for class. The first homework I assigned involves using a computer program that I was under the impression that everyone had used before, so everyone is of course panicking and so I will spend a lot of tomorrow working on teaching the students how to use it.
In addition to that I am watching Dante go insane. He's had a couple of difficult weeks, given the packing and moving both C and myself to new apartments. Having C leave was difficult for him, and being in a new place is tough. C had suggested giving him a bath to freshen him up (it is time for his fall bath), but I decided to wait just because I didn't want to give him a lot more to worry about. I mean, let's just pile on the stress: Packing, moving, driving to upstate New York, unpacking, driving down to the city, unpacking, a lot of vacuuming, and dealing with living on the fifth floor of a walk-up building. Yeah, that's what I want to do, throw in a bath to just top it all off.
But back to the point, he's going crazy because of the fly in the apartment. The windows are open and a fly has come in, and Dante is just running around like crazy trying to catch it. I decided not to get rid of it because it's giving him something to do. The view in the apartment, while awesome for me, is not great for him because he can't see anyone or any animals. Now though, he just gave up on the fly. Poor guy.
Friday, September 3, 2010
Week one is (almost) over
I had my first lecture yesterday. It went pretty well. There are sixteen students, all majors (thus for the most part interested). The main issue was the temperature, as there is no air conditioner in the room and the temps reached 95 yesterday. I found out earlier than in fact window units are "not allowed" on that side of the building because it would detract from the beautiful front of the building. Sigh.
But besides that, the class went well. There was a moment of embarrassment, though. One of the girls in the class was constantly fanning herself, and talking about how hot it was. At one point, I referred to her as "the hot girl." After saying it I realized what I just said and then said, "and by that I mean temperature." I'm not sure if they had a delayed reaction to "the hot girl" or were laughing at my correction, but that definitely got the class laughing.
Now I'm doing some work at home today. It's cooler today, so my office would probably be fine, but I'm not taking the risk. Plus, the desk I ordered on Overstock.com is arriving today, so I might as well be home to get it. I could have had it delivered to my office (which I will do for a lot of packages in the future), but the thing comes in two packages, one is 55 pounds and the other is 47. Hopefully UPS will walk up to the fifth floor with that without revolting.
But besides that, the class went well. There was a moment of embarrassment, though. One of the girls in the class was constantly fanning herself, and talking about how hot it was. At one point, I referred to her as "the hot girl." After saying it I realized what I just said and then said, "and by that I mean temperature." I'm not sure if they had a delayed reaction to "the hot girl" or were laughing at my correction, but that definitely got the class laughing.
Now I'm doing some work at home today. It's cooler today, so my office would probably be fine, but I'm not taking the risk. Plus, the desk I ordered on Overstock.com is arriving today, so I might as well be home to get it. I could have had it delivered to my office (which I will do for a lot of packages in the future), but the thing comes in two packages, one is 55 pounds and the other is 47. Hopefully UPS will walk up to the fifth floor with that without revolting.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Heat
It's hot in my office. For some reason they haven't installed my A/C or blinds. They've had two months to do it, but God forbid. (And in fact, three adjuncts were sharing this office before, and apparently they were fine without A/C. I guess that's because it's only necessary in the summer, but ya know, it's still summer.)
A student in my lab, very predictably, came into my office today to ask what she needed for lab. Primarily she was wondering about any books required. Of course, all over the building are signs saying "Lab manuals are five dollars and available from the departmental office." But no one reads those. (And really, this is not a student thing, we like to say that students are all like this but really it's a people thing.)
On the lighter side, I worked at home in the morning to wait for a delivery and lucky for me, FedEx came at 10:30! I purchased an inexpensive sound system, something to be better than just TV speakers, but not really top notch. But it arrived nice and early so I could come into the office. And sweat.
A student in my lab, very predictably, came into my office today to ask what she needed for lab. Primarily she was wondering about any books required. Of course, all over the building are signs saying "Lab manuals are five dollars and available from the departmental office." But no one reads those. (And really, this is not a student thing, we like to say that students are all like this but really it's a people thing.)
On the lighter side, I worked at home in the morning to wait for a delivery and lucky for me, FedEx came at 10:30! I purchased an inexpensive sound system, something to be better than just TV speakers, but not really top notch. But it arrived nice and early so I could come into the office. And sweat.
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