Slug
I actually think slugs are exceptionally cool creatures. Snails are more akin to slugs who are RVing, so they are pretty cool as well.... but I find working with (non-human, animal) slugs to be quite fun. I do not do research with them, but in one of the labs I teach in my ethology course, I have the students work with slug behavior in a maze learning experience, and I also lecture about the physiology of snail mucin (the material that makes the the "slug slime" of the beast). It is helpful for the locomotor behavior of the beast and it can be used in defense by the slug. In some species, the mucous secreted also has chemical agents that make the fluid rather antimicrobial and in some cases also a mild anesthetic. I also like to mention (much to the horror of some of the students) that snail mucin is actually incorporated into some commercially beauty products (cosmetics, shampoos) and some medical salves.
But, today I am not so fond of the (human) slugs in one of my research groups. They have not yet gotten me their data in the form of an Excel file so that I can produce graphs for them of their data. This means I am at a (nervous) standstill.
I am already at the peak of excitedness imagining going to the Retiree's Cigar Group tomorrow! Unfortunately, my schedule means I will be very late, but I am hoping, with weather looking ok, that I WILL get there in time to have at least 2-3 stragglers remain so they can chat with me for a while. It is an incredibly peaceful and relaxing experience, and I so look forward to it.
Presuming I can work like hell this Friday, I should be able to catch back up on things I have let slide (grading) while fixing the kids' research graphs so much of the last two weeks. On Friday my wife and I are planning on going to a play, and on Saturday there is a TUBA CONCERT (yes, I am serious) that I very much want to attend. As you know, I relish the low instruments (my own bass clarinet, contra alto clarinet, contrabass clarinet, tenor sax, baritone sax, euphonium, tuba).... and when I read of an actual TUBA Concert, I knew it was for me. I am not sure if my wife is ACTUALLY interested or is just humoring my eccentricities.... but she is willingly coming with me to this as well.
PipeTobacco
PCS - 8.5... I know this may sound awful.... but I have done this a couple of times. When I get into some certain lecture topics that are SO easy (I guess I mean for me, not the students) I sometimes can get into a bit of an "autopilot" mode where I am animated and gesturing about and lecturing like usual.... but I can slip into a bit of a daydream as well. Well in today's lecture about basic comparative brain circuitry and my rather elaborate diagramming and discussion of the zebra finch higher vocal center (a brain region that in male finches is the telencephalonic region of circuitry for development of their elaborate song production), I was in the midst of a daydream about smoking a bowlful of cube cut, Sir Walter Raleigh pipe tobacco. I wasn't really "seeing" it as I was looking at the students as I talked, but I was emotionally feeling it in my mind as was recalling that ingrained, repetitive pattern of drawing from the stem of my pipe.
Contentedness Score... a 7, which I consider pretty damn good for how hectic life still is at this moment. I might even have listed a 7.5 if I was not weighted down by the (human) slugs I spoke of.