Pajamas & Flannel

 

I have not posted early in this week.  

"Why?" you may ask.

It is not because I did not want to post.  

There was a time each day when I was set to write, but....

• On one day, I ended up getting a phone call from our Veterinarian, and it was about our dog's bloodwork for her upcoming surgery.  Surprisingly, the phone call lasted about 45 minutes.  Fortunately, our dog's bloodwork was good, and she is set for her surgery this coming Monday, December 13th.  

• On another day, we had CHAOS on campus because the Internet (or more precisely the U's network to the Internet) failed.  We occasionally have momentary glitches that may last a few minutes, but this is the first time in at least 2-3 years where the was a breakdown of the whole network that lasted during the entirety of the normal work day.  Campus was in a chaotic turmoil. However, I was fortunate to still be "old school" enough that I have a backup of all my PowerPoint slides on a flash drive, so I was not impacted nearly as much as most other folks...... and I actually ENJOYED being away from e-mail and my LMS for the whole day.  

• On the third day, the time I had set aside for writing here got usurped by a surprise cohort of nearly sobbing Sophomore students who finally saw "the writing on the wall" so-to-speak about the scores they were earning across the semester and what they mean for their upcoming course grade.  It was interesting that it was a rather large group who discovered the errors of their efforts en masse and came to see me in unison.  If it were not for the hesitancy in their voices, and the near sobbing expressions on their faces, it could have felt like a mob of sorts.  I had to spend considerable time attempting to a) console them, b) help them to see how THEY chose to earn the particular grade their current scores are suggesting (by pointing out the various things they did not do), and c) assure them that (most of them) could still POTENTIALLY pass if they studied like hell for their final exam, and that if they do not get the grade they would prefer/need, they should not feel shame or despondency in having to retake the class next semester.  I then gently chide them about not carefully listening to and reading the many ways I guide them on how to succeed throughout the semester.    I usually have one or two students of my hundreds each semester who have this sort of reaction, but this was a rather larger than typical number, and they came to me in a unified group, which was also a surprise.   

So..... those were the proximal causes that kept me from writing when I had planned to.  In a more ultimate perspective, I unfortunately did not have any other times available to write than those originally earmarked in the above but then lost because:

• I have been very robustly active in terms of all manner of teaching as it is near the end of the semester.... I have been making exams, making final exams, grading papers and exams, lecturing in all my courses, building lists of supplies needed for NEXT semester's courses, preparing for makeup exams (mostly due to students having Covid-19) working on my research, talking further with the "newbies", preparing abstracts for conference submissions.

• I have been keeping up with my running as always, even though in many ways this is the most difficult time of the year for me in running.... December and January now (due to Covid) mean I must run on the infernal treadmill, which is more challenging (to not fall) than running on the trail  and is not as refreshing as being outside. But, it IS a whole helluva lot safer for my klutzy self during this time of the year.

• I have also been (since last Saturday) on a 9-day Novena dedicated to Our Lady of Guadalupe.  The Novena Masses have all been at 6:30pm, so it kind of caps the end of the day, and I am pretty wiped out by the time I put on my pajamas.  Yes, I have a pair exactly like the image in red and black flannel.  I also have a green flannel pair, a blue flannel pair and a gray flannel pair.

• In the last "big voice" lecture I had today, I was describing for students an example of developmental evolution.  Often students erroneously think that embryology and evolution are too divergent of subjects to have much bearing with each other.  I get this misconception especially from the more ecology focused students. So over the course of the semester, I try to have at least one evolutionarily focused example in in each chapter of my embryology class.  Today, in the last chapter, which was focused on ecology and its impact on development, I described how studies examining the diversity of Finches found on the Galapagos Islands showed differences in two especially important genes (and more importantly their protein products) regulating the development of the bird beak.  One gene was critical for regulating the length of the beak in the birds, and the other gene was critical for regulating the "stoutness" of the beak (its upper and lower boundary).  I showed using cladisitic models how the common ancestral finch to all the various species on the Galapagos had a beak of intermediate length and intermediate stoutness.  I then showed how the ancestral species evolved into the different morphologically differernt species based upon the theory of the "evolutionary stable strategy" for the bird lead to the population evolving a beak shape most well suited for the primary food sources of the island they inhabited.  In other words, over time, the finch species evolved a much more stout and short beak on the islands that had as the predominant food being hard, rigid seeds.  On the islands where the predominate food source consisted of softer plant matter or insects, the evolution of beak development was to become more shallow and elongated.  I tied the concepts back to Sewall Wright's "Shifting Balance Theory" to especially "wow" the ecologically minded folks in class too.  It went well.  

* * * * *

Other randomized things rumbling through my brain:

• Two songs I have been ESPECIALLY enamored with....  and even though I listen to a lot of different music.... I have been playing and replaying the following two songs quite frequently of late:

Alabama - John Coltrane

In Every Age - Janet Sullivan Whitaker

• I am in a mood again where I am thinking, does it really matter or have any value for me to refrain from my pipes and pipe tobaccos?   It is rather odd in some ways.  I am NOT feeling that nearly "irresistible craving" for them that has been the hallmark of PCS scores when they inched upwards to the 6, 7, or higher ratings.  But, I *do* miss them.  I miss the flavors, I miss the tastes, I miss the gentle quieting the constituents of the tobacco smoke would coax into my neurons.  I miss fussing with my pipes and pipe tobaccos.  I miss the ritual of it all.  And, I was thinking about this just this morning when I got up to run.... I missed carrying around a pipe in my pajama pocket.  It may sound like I am simply parsing a bit.... but this is really a different feeling than an irresistible craving."   
  

• I am also set in the U Queue to have to get a new office computer during this year's rotation at the U.  But....  I have been stalling the IT folks from bringing the new beast because it is always disorienting and nerve wracking when a) the old computer is hauled away (Did I get all my important and valuable crap off of it? Or will I suddenly remember an essential document I had somewhere but missed on the hard drive, and the moment I call, the IT people will tell me they wiped the hard drive?) and b) on the new computer, everything is in a new, different spot and it takes a day or two or three to position things back in the order I find logical and convenient (Did they install all the programs I really need? Or.... like usual, did they forget or simply not install some of the more esoteric programs that I use DAILY? Did they install the archane grading program I asked them to be sure to install, because I have to turn in grades soon?!?!)  [Note: The U has a stupid policy that faculty, staff, and students cannot install programs on any computer on any campus computer anymore.  Only IT personnel can install programs. The edict was enacted in theory to reduce phishing, malware, and improve cybersecurity.  IT has locked computer settings on all machines so that if you (a non-IT person) try to install a program, it will not allow you to do so.]
  

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