Richard is not funny

I've gotten about two dozen calls in the past two days from online universities recruiting someone named Richard.  I do not know anyone named Richard.  But now I hate Richard. 

It seems that Richard requested information from a shit-ton of for-profit colleges.  He entered the wrong phone number -- my cell number -- for all of them.  These institutions are wicked aggressive in their recruiting, and do not let up.  I tell each one of them to remove the entry from their databases, and although the frequency of calls has slowed, I'm still getting them.

Makes me wonder if Richard is someone I know who hates me and gave these college my number as a mean joke!

Wedding dresses

It's poll time, Readers!  But I'm looking for input on my dress, not the bridesmaids'.  Several of you commented that I should ask them what they would like to wear.  I have.  In fact, I suggested that they choose their own dresses--just find something black and knee-length that flatters and feels comfortable--but they said they wanted me to pick out matching dresses for them to order.  Their main concern was looking age-appropriate since they are a bit older and most bridesmaid dresses are designed for women in their 20's.  We all went out shopping together over the summer and found a couple of dresses that everyone seemed to like, so I'll pick the least expensive of those.  By the way, I'll note that I wore dresses they each chose for their own weddings.  :)

Anyway, I've been looking at wedding dresses online, but they're starting to all blend together.  I guess that's not a big surprise, because as you'll see, I have a pretty narrow search image.  I never would have predicted that I'd go for a lace dress, but that's what I want.

To help you make an informed vote, I'll say that we are having the wedding next fall at a forest preserve.  The ceremony will be outside on a stone patio (under a tent) and the dinner will be in an old lodge building with a big wrap-around porch, tons of wood paneling, and fireplaces.  I'm wanting a romantic, low-key, vintage feel.  I'll also tell you that I'm very petite but with curvy hips. Surprisingly, since I'm bigger on bottom than on top, the trumpet silhouette was pretty flattering when I tried on dresses last summer.  I also discovered that I look better in white white than off white.  I do not intend to wear a veil.  I'm also not too keen on trains--I think they overwhelm my short frame and look too formal--but there seem to be few dresses without them.  I can always bustle. Also, I want to add a sash. 

So, which dress do you prefer?


Dress 1:

 Dress 2:

 Dress 3:

 Dress 4:

 

Dress 5:

 

See the side bar to vote! I'm going to close the SurveyMonkey poll because it's way too lame that you all can't see the results.  I'll add the votes already cast to the blogger poll.

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world's leading questionnaire tool.

A into G

Well, I didn't manage to get my ass into gear with respect to my work yesterday, but I have big plans for personal stuff this weekend.  EGM is away at a meeting and I don't have any social plans this weekend.  So, I'm going to take care of a bunch of stuff that really must get done.  In the style of JaneB, here's a list.

• I'm taking my car in this afternoon (oil change, and something is up with the heat and thus, defrost - yikes).  Tomorrow I'm scheduled to get new tires.  These two appointments should ensure that I actually leave the house rather than sitting around all day "in my afternoon pajamas" as EGM likes to say.
• Christmas shopping.  As usual, I don't have to buy for all that many people, but I need to get it done nevertheless.  
• EGM and I decided to get a Wii instead of buying each other gifts, so that's that.  
• I have a great idea for a funny t-shirt for PI, but that means I have to get something for the tech too.  He's a 22-year-old guy who I don't know very well because he acts rather reserved.  Ideas? 
• Unlike most years, my parents didn't ask for a big gift for which my sibs and I can go in together.  But they shouldn't be too difficult.
• My sibs and I draw names (by couple), so I have to buy for B2 and his wife.  I'm think camping gear or maybe some kind of cool yard game.   Ideas?  They have a pop-up camper, two little kids, and B2 uses a CPAP machine so we're talking stuff for car camping. I should spend $45-75. 

•  Wedding-related shopping.  
• I want my bridesmaids, who range in age from 31 to 48, to wear black (or maybe brown) cocktail dresses and to have wraps in fall colors.  We found a couple of dress options we liked at a wedding dress place so they'll order the dresses from there, but I'm going to get the wraps from a normal store.   I'm sure I'll have better luck finding something I like now rather than in the spring, and the wraps will determine the colors for other decorations and such so I can't put it off too long.  
• Wedding dress.  I think I'm going to buy it online.  I've found a few I like and they are much cheaper than in stores.  Perhaps I'll do some more searching and then put a few options to a vote here?
• Housework!  They still haven't finished all the work to put our apartment back together after the flood.  We haven't been very motivated to clean because we figured workers could be coming in any time and kicking up more dust.  But, I've reached my limit and some cleaning has to happen.
• Groceries.  Although I don't have plans for the weekend, my social agenda for next week is jam packed -  four holiday parties plus book club.  That's a lot of snacks I have to be prepared to bring.

On an unrelated note, this post is too funny.

December slump

Last week I posted my ambitious list of goals for the month.  Since I claimed that post was meant to provide accountability, I will now give an update on my progress.

1. Submit a commentary piece based on the meeting we hosted.  It's written, but I'm waiting for feedback from two coauthors.  I expect them to make few comments, so with any luck this will go out early next week.

2. Turn around the manuscript that was rejected over the summer.  Working on it.  I did all the easy changes, but I'm having trouble getting my A into G to tackle the harder ones (e.g. rearranging the discussion).

3. Draft manuscript for special issue paper.  Started today.  I put the text from my thesis chapter into a new document, formatted it to meet the journal requirements, and generally refamiliarized myself with the work.  I also made a first pass over the new data.

4. Work with PI to revise big manuscript.  Done!  He's waiting on feedback from a couple of people but intends to submit (to a GlamorMag) on Monday.  Unfortunately, I think we'll start pretty much straight away on reformatting/revising for a more attainable journal.  Good practice, of course, but I'm so sick of this paper right now!

5. Establish protocol for sample processing.  Part 1 is done.  Part 2 is drafted, and PI and I have discussed it but a few kinks remain.  I think one more (focused) discussion and one practice session ought to take care of it.

6. Finalize protocol for lab experiment.  All I've done so far is gather up all the stuff I had spread in multiple labs and move it to a new lab space I'll be using for this project.  I hereby downgrade my goal for this item to get shit organized and make a plan for developing protocol in January.

I could have done more in the past week, but my predictable December slump is in full swing.  When I feel all blah like this, I'm happy to get anything done at all even if I'm not functioning in high gear. Like, I'll suddenly realize I've been sitting at my desk for an hour just spacing out/making sure the Internet doesn't disappear/looking at colleagues' publishing records/whatever. Thus, although I intended to finished and submit the first manuscript before I started on the second, the edits on the first seemed too hard and I figured I should get something done even if the order of tasks didn't make the best sense.  I know that if I just chip away at things and leave work each day a little further ahead than when I arrived, it will all get done. 

End-of-year ambition

It's December tomorrow, which means there is just one month left to meet my 2010 goals.  I failed miserably on whatever New Year's resolutions I made, but I do have some goals for the next month that are attainable, if a bit lofty.

1. Submit a commentary piece based on the meeting we hosted in October.  Today I finished a draft and sent it to the coauthors.  This has to get done quickly no matter what, since timely publication is vital.

2. Submit the paper that got rejected this summer to a different journal.  I revised it and got comments back from my coauthors over break, so now it's time to dive back into it.  There's more work to do than I expected, but it's not insurmountable.

3. Write a manuscript for a special issue associated with the meeting I attended in September.  I have a decent draft from my thesis, but right before Thanksgiving I got new data to incorporate into it.   I want to have a complete draft to give to the coauthors before winter break so I can deal with their comments before the January 31 submission deadline.

4. Continue helping PI revise a major paper that needs to be submitted -- when else? -- before winter break.  The data were collected before I started in this lab, but the manuscript was a total mess.  We've been working on it together for several weeks and it's looking a whole lot better, but there's still plenty of work left to do.

5. We completed a major field sampling a couple of weeks ago.  I need to get the protocol in place so that technicians can get sample processing underway.  It's unclear how involved I'll be with the processing, so I might need to make time for that, too.

6. Finalize the protocol for the lab experiment that was giving me grief earlier this year.  It kind of went by the wayside between late summer travel, the meeting we hosted, and the field work.  I know PI is very anxious for me to make progress on that project now.

So that's what's on my plate for the next few weeks.  I'm hoping that sharing here will give me some accountability, and I intend to post updates throughout the month.  I really want to accomplish all of this before January, so I think I'll be able to do it!

Not quite write

When you are going to, say, add text to a document, do you say you're going to flush it out?  Or flesh it out?

When you've had a little rant about something, would you write that you've said your piece?  Or said your peace?

I say "flesh" and "peace".

I'm sure you can think of many other examples.  These little things drive me nuts.  

That's why I'm here

Today PI and I did some major work to get a new project going.  It relied heavily on my expertise, which is quite different from that of anyone else in the group.  My old lab group could have done what I did, but they just don't have the time to help initiate new projects like this one.  The whole point of me doing this postdoc was to bridge between my old group and the new group to make work like this happen.

It felt really good to use my skills to do the thing I was hired to do.  I felt valuable.  In addition, it felt good to do something familiar after months of working outside my comfort zone.