I survived!
Nov. 5th, 2006 12:38![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
torquillThe two weeks of hell are officially over, and I get to relax for a bit now. Let's start by celebrating Guy Fawkes Day... must find something to set fire to. :)
I did tolerably on the biochem exam. I would have done much better if I had parsed a question correctly -- I lost a full letter grade because it didn't register that she wanted us to draw all the molecular structures involved (which I could do in my sleep). End result was 70% and a stinging slap to my academic pride. I'll be much more careful in future, since it appears that her problem-writing skills are lacking.
The field trip to Sierra Gold Nursery in Yuba City went well -- they produce commercial fruit tree stock, and fruit trees are very close to my heart as an ag junkie, so I enjoyed it. The people in my class are pretty cool to travel with, too. I still wonder whether the school van we went in (we had two and the teacher's car) was sprung too hard or not at all -- it felt like if we hit a speed bump it would launch us into orbit. I felt every little lump in the pavement on the highway. Ah, well, it was a school van and old enough to be safe for me, so I couldn't grouse too much.
The sick plant clinic was moved to next week, a fact I suspected but couldn't confirm without going out there at 9am yesterday. Sure enough, the Cal/Stanford game was setting up, which would have made the Botanical Gardens up the hill into a madhouse. So I was at loose ends at 9 on a Saturday morning... I trekked down to Chaos Castle to do some much-needed yardwork. Due to the unanticipated scale of the weeding necessary (sycamore roots sending up suckers everywhere in a last bid for life, and a rampant thicket of Himalayan blackberry) I worked until 4 or so with a break for lunch. It let me figure out the cord for the electric lawnmower, though (the problem: it didn't have one), mow the lawn, overseed it, put down a top-dressing to keep the seed moist, do some edging, and test the watering system before dark. I'm happy with how the sprinklers are holding up -- I designed that little system very well, with awesome coverage that only brushes the sidewalk, and the alignment hasn't shifted appreciably since. It still runs like new.
I had meant to go home and change clothes, but![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
mroblivious pointed out that I'd be going 30 miles back to Concord, changing clothes, and coming back essentially to the same spot for an evening party. I conceded the point, went to the grocery store for supplies, and went directly to the party.
I was in a bad headspace, though, and ended up leaving early; all of those people, half of them strangers, were overwhelming when I was so emotionally and physically exhausted. I headed out withmikz and we sprawled on a couch at Chaos Castle for a while, just talking... that was a nice end to the evening.
Right now I've had lunch, and I'm finishing it off with half of a Boule d'Or melon. The last one I had wasn't quite ripe, and tasted vaguely like honeydew... this one is ripe, and tastes like nothing else I've had. It's light, and sweet, and delightful, without any of the heaviness that canteloupes have. I like Ogen for its almost bubblegum/butterscotch overtones, the rich candy flavor, but I think I have found a real winner here; I could eat these several times a week, with almost any meal, and love it. I have to grow more of them, and earlier, so that I get them before late October. Yum yum. (The area near the rind is very slightly salty. If I take it from the center to the rind, I get salty sweetness. Mmmmm.)
Gardening to do today, like pulling sweet potatoes and planting stuff. Alfa tomorrow. It feels good to have a life again...
I did tolerably on the biochem exam. I would have done much better if I had parsed a question correctly -- I lost a full letter grade because it didn't register that she wanted us to draw all the molecular structures involved (which I could do in my sleep). End result was 70% and a stinging slap to my academic pride. I'll be much more careful in future, since it appears that her problem-writing skills are lacking.
The field trip to Sierra Gold Nursery in Yuba City went well -- they produce commercial fruit tree stock, and fruit trees are very close to my heart as an ag junkie, so I enjoyed it. The people in my class are pretty cool to travel with, too. I still wonder whether the school van we went in (we had two and the teacher's car) was sprung too hard or not at all -- it felt like if we hit a speed bump it would launch us into orbit. I felt every little lump in the pavement on the highway. Ah, well, it was a school van and old enough to be safe for me, so I couldn't grouse too much.
The sick plant clinic was moved to next week, a fact I suspected but couldn't confirm without going out there at 9am yesterday. Sure enough, the Cal/Stanford game was setting up, which would have made the Botanical Gardens up the hill into a madhouse. So I was at loose ends at 9 on a Saturday morning... I trekked down to Chaos Castle to do some much-needed yardwork. Due to the unanticipated scale of the weeding necessary (sycamore roots sending up suckers everywhere in a last bid for life, and a rampant thicket of Himalayan blackberry) I worked until 4 or so with a break for lunch. It let me figure out the cord for the electric lawnmower, though (the problem: it didn't have one), mow the lawn, overseed it, put down a top-dressing to keep the seed moist, do some edging, and test the watering system before dark. I'm happy with how the sprinklers are holding up -- I designed that little system very well, with awesome coverage that only brushes the sidewalk, and the alignment hasn't shifted appreciably since. It still runs like new.
I had meant to go home and change clothes, but
mroblivious pointed out that I'd be going 30 miles back to Concord, changing clothes, and coming back essentially to the same spot for an evening party. I conceded the point, went to the grocery store for supplies, and went directly to the party.I was in a bad headspace, though, and ended up leaving early; all of those people, half of them strangers, were overwhelming when I was so emotionally and physically exhausted. I headed out with
mikz and we sprawled on a couch at Chaos Castle for a while, just talking... that was a nice end to the evening.Right now I've had lunch, and I'm finishing it off with half of a Boule d'Or melon. The last one I had wasn't quite ripe, and tasted vaguely like honeydew... this one is ripe, and tastes like nothing else I've had. It's light, and sweet, and delightful, without any of the heaviness that canteloupes have. I like Ogen for its almost bubblegum/butterscotch overtones, the rich candy flavor, but I think I have found a real winner here; I could eat these several times a week, with almost any meal, and love it. I have to grow more of them, and earlier, so that I get them before late October. Yum yum. (The area near the rind is very slightly salty. If I take it from the center to the rind, I get salty sweetness. Mmmmm.)
Gardening to do today, like pulling sweet potatoes and planting stuff. Alfa tomorrow. It feels good to have a life again...
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Date: 2006-11-06 01:57 (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-11-06 02:08 (UTC)