Pack Mule day
Mar. 29th, 2007 20:31![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
torquillI ended up buying a current edition of the biochem book, as the style of teaching has changed since fifth ed. Besides, I have a hard enough time in that course without struggling to find what I need in the book. So I forked over $70 for a used copy (still better than the $105 the bookstore wanted!) and I'll see whether they want it back at the end.
I have enough that I can afford the charity, but I'm still a little mad at myself. I'm chalking it up to a "learning experience" and I'll just try to be thankful that it wasn't more expensive.
I went to the bookstore for a copy of the Plant Path text -- it's only recommended, not required, but I figure if the book is as good as the teachers say it is, I'll buy a copy while I can still afford to. The shelves downstairs didn't even have a category for PLP, though, and the chick behind the counter said that while it's in the system, they hadn't ordered any. Sigh. She caught up with me as I was leaving and told me it was upstairs on the main floor, with what I think of as the "pretty" books. Turns out there's a whole section of Plant Path books up there, some of which I've meant to get for a while. I need to evaluate whether I want to go through the rigmarole of getting signed off as a current Master Gardener and going out to Berkeley for a minor discount on the UC Press books, or just buy them full-price at the UCD bookstore.
Anyway. I got books, I even spent the time to activate my student body card as a library card, and I still made it on the 4:55 train. Barely. Four minutes from the discount textbook store to the train station indicates that I was hurrying. Maybe just a little.
The Plant Path lab was a little less organized than I had hoped, but still somewhat interesting. Lots of fungi to take a look at, cultures to do (we got to plate things on the first day, yay!) and working out what goes where. Apparently flaming is the usual method of sterilizing tools for culturing, so I'll get to work a lot with matches, bunsen burners, and 90% ethanol. Oh, and fire. I don't really like fire much, but I still think it's cool to be holding a flaming scalpel.
Oh, and I have to say: Worst. Chairs. Ever. 70's vinyl, with heights too low for the desk to start with and tired seat springs that sag under weight. I'm gonna need to start bringing a phone book to perch on so that I can reach my microscope eyepieces.
I pulled one of the teachers aside to tell him that the bottle of 409 on the whiteboard tray was going to cause trouble. We discussed it briefly, and he said he'd talk to their facilities person. I did suggest half-and-half isopropyl a couple of times, with the note that it does a better job of cleaning the boards anyway; I didn't mention the obvious fact that it's cheap, as I think the University has no trouble affording things like 409. He did take note of my medic-alert bracelet and the phrase "central nervous system damage", and seemed very sympathetic, so that's reassuring.
The first thing they did in Plant Path lecture was to hand out 1/2"-thick stacks of typewritten course notes. Unusual -- the last time I got something like that, it cost $8 at the bookstore -- but it serves as the "textbook" in a course with no formal requirement for one. I was thinking about a binder for it, when I went to lab... and they handed me a second, 3/4"-thick stack of paper as a lab manual. Oof. I think I see trips to my locker this quarter to trade these off during the day... the strap clasps on my schoolbag were squeaking in protest with all that weight. I want to bring in my dissecting kit anyway so that I have my own tools to supplement the class ones, which means I'd be hitting my locker during lunch regardless.
I spotted one of the TAs from last quarter's Plant Devel class in Plant Path -- he wasn't the one I usually had, and I saw him in action only once when I attended his section because I'd be missing mine. Nice guy.
I've been spoiled by the 2-hour lunch I had last quarter. Sigh. An hour is enough, but it makes for a slightly more hurried day, in addition to getting up an hour earlier. I may be able to get out of Plant Path lab before 5, though, which is nice. I still have discussion until 6 on Tuesdays, though. I'm loath to drop that partly because it'll force me to do the required problem sets, which should help me do better in the class...
Ah, the balances and concerns of academia. Talk about your love-hate relationships.
I have enough that I can afford the charity, but I'm still a little mad at myself. I'm chalking it up to a "learning experience" and I'll just try to be thankful that it wasn't more expensive.
I went to the bookstore for a copy of the Plant Path text -- it's only recommended, not required, but I figure if the book is as good as the teachers say it is, I'll buy a copy while I can still afford to. The shelves downstairs didn't even have a category for PLP, though, and the chick behind the counter said that while it's in the system, they hadn't ordered any. Sigh. She caught up with me as I was leaving and told me it was upstairs on the main floor, with what I think of as the "pretty" books. Turns out there's a whole section of Plant Path books up there, some of which I've meant to get for a while. I need to evaluate whether I want to go through the rigmarole of getting signed off as a current Master Gardener and going out to Berkeley for a minor discount on the UC Press books, or just buy them full-price at the UCD bookstore.
Anyway. I got books, I even spent the time to activate my student body card as a library card, and I still made it on the 4:55 train. Barely. Four minutes from the discount textbook store to the train station indicates that I was hurrying. Maybe just a little.
The Plant Path lab was a little less organized than I had hoped, but still somewhat interesting. Lots of fungi to take a look at, cultures to do (we got to plate things on the first day, yay!) and working out what goes where. Apparently flaming is the usual method of sterilizing tools for culturing, so I'll get to work a lot with matches, bunsen burners, and 90% ethanol. Oh, and fire. I don't really like fire much, but I still think it's cool to be holding a flaming scalpel.
Oh, and I have to say: Worst. Chairs. Ever. 70's vinyl, with heights too low for the desk to start with and tired seat springs that sag under weight. I'm gonna need to start bringing a phone book to perch on so that I can reach my microscope eyepieces.
I pulled one of the teachers aside to tell him that the bottle of 409 on the whiteboard tray was going to cause trouble. We discussed it briefly, and he said he'd talk to their facilities person. I did suggest half-and-half isopropyl a couple of times, with the note that it does a better job of cleaning the boards anyway; I didn't mention the obvious fact that it's cheap, as I think the University has no trouble affording things like 409. He did take note of my medic-alert bracelet and the phrase "central nervous system damage", and seemed very sympathetic, so that's reassuring.
The first thing they did in Plant Path lecture was to hand out 1/2"-thick stacks of typewritten course notes. Unusual -- the last time I got something like that, it cost $8 at the bookstore -- but it serves as the "textbook" in a course with no formal requirement for one. I was thinking about a binder for it, when I went to lab... and they handed me a second, 3/4"-thick stack of paper as a lab manual. Oof. I think I see trips to my locker this quarter to trade these off during the day... the strap clasps on my schoolbag were squeaking in protest with all that weight. I want to bring in my dissecting kit anyway so that I have my own tools to supplement the class ones, which means I'd be hitting my locker during lunch regardless.
I spotted one of the TAs from last quarter's Plant Devel class in Plant Path -- he wasn't the one I usually had, and I saw him in action only once when I attended his section because I'd be missing mine. Nice guy.
I've been spoiled by the 2-hour lunch I had last quarter. Sigh. An hour is enough, but it makes for a slightly more hurried day, in addition to getting up an hour earlier. I may be able to get out of Plant Path lab before 5, though, which is nice. I still have discussion until 6 on Tuesdays, though. I'm loath to drop that partly because it'll force me to do the required problem sets, which should help me do better in the class...
Ah, the balances and concerns of academia. Talk about your love-hate relationships.
