Time

 

With each of us having a limited amount of time day-to-day (and hell, in our whole lives for that matter), I felt a need to comment today on an occurrence that causes me to become flummoxed and just a tad irate:

As I spoke of perhaps 2 to 2.5 months ago, I had to submit a bunch of proposals to our "Institutional Review Board" who oversees researchers.  Well, I have been growing rather frustrated at their (always) slow turn-around time to get back with folks.  Technically, it is supposed to be within TWO WEEKS of submission. The reality is that it ALWAYS is considerably longer, because they futz around and are a bunch of micromanaging, obsessive compulsive, bean counter folks who try to justify their existence by being obnoxiously anal retentive.  

Well, I received an e-mail today saying one of my proposals needed "revisions".  I then had as an attachment, a 3 page document from the most anal retentive, obsessive compulsive member of the committee outlining TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS like the following:

• on page 5, line 28, you used the term "et al." to indicate multiple authors after the first author was listed.  However, you typed "et. al." with a period after "et".  This is not correct as the abbreviation is "et al."

• on page 17, paragraph 4,  you have two spaces between the words "mediating" and "phenotypic." There should only be one space between these two words.

Now, it is all well and good to try to fix these VERY MINOR issues.  But, dammit.... it is asinine and preposterous and annoying as hell to hold up approving the proposal for who the hell knows how long for it to be reviewed again..... for idiotic typographical errors.  And, the most annoying aspect of this is that the document is 24 pages in length, and this person was so obsessive that she poured over this document to find those inconsequential TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS.  I used "et al." at least 150 times in the document to properly cite other authors, and it appears of these ~150 times I used the term, one time I accidentally added the errant period above, one time I accidentally had the "t" in italics, and another time I had TWO spaces between "et" and "al."  The other 147 times I used "et al." I had it written as expected.  It is a damn TYPOGRAPHICAL ERROR.  I am a human, not a damn machine.

All three pages are this sort of moronic b*llsh*t.  

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There are two members on this committee that are anal retentive and obsessive like this.  I am actually on this committee myself, but I need to excuse myself from evaluation of my own proposals.  But, the damn meetings where I am reviewing other's proposals with these two..... the sheer, utter waste of time that happens for us in the committee AND of course for the researchers is enormous. My service on this committee has me ALWAYS reading and commenting on proposals BEFORE the two week deadline occurs, and when I do make comments/requests (relatively infrequent, because most researchers know what they are doing), it is ONLY about the methods of the research.... usually for clarification.... and not damnable typographical errors.     

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Onto other subjects.....

• Trying to get teaching and research things utterly up to snuff before I leave the U today so I can forget about the U and about teaching until Monday.  This may be a "pipe dream" but I am working feverishly to accomplish said.  

• My wife and I ordered a new chair for our "music space" which is a corner/section of our living room near the piano where I plan to do more of my practicing on my various horns and my wife is thinking about picking back up her guitar.  It is a pretty looking chair in a white & multiple shades of gray patterned fabric.  It is what I guess is called an "occasional chair" and it is "armless" (it needed to be so when I practice the saxophones, the bottom of the horn(s) can be slung over to my right side, like is traditional).  It arrived yesterday (Amazon), and I am planning to put the beast together this weekend.  

• My wife has vowed to spend some time each evening this winter with me in our family room, where we will both play/practice guitar.  My wife has decent skill at the guitar (but has not played in perhaps 15 years, so is likely a bit rusty), and I am a sheer novice who can perhaps play three chords that I remember with clumsy, poorly controlled fingers.  But, we have a goal to work together where we can perhaps learn (meaning me) to play duets together..... and perhaps even attempt to sing together.  After spending some time learning some basic chords and some basic strumming patterns, and hopefully some arpeggios.... we will then progress to trying a few Mass songs because they are fairly easy and we are both very comfortable with knowing the melodies and lyrics.  

• I am still on that pendulum ride about my pipes and pipe tobaccos.  A part of me keeps thinking.... why not go back to them?  This side of my psyche keeps remembering the inherent beauty of sanguinely puffing on a pipe, and the flavors, the mental comfort and relaxation, the peacefulness, and the rich quality of the experience.  But another part of me reiterates.... you *said* you were putting them down, and those reasons were also valid.  This side of my psyche reminds me of how I *did* have worries and concerns due to the inherent health risks.  It also has me think if it is appropriate to change from what I said I would do.... for seemingly rather hedonistic reasons, for reasons that also may be somewhat selfish and self-serving.  I worry that perhaps I am being no better than a petulant child if I simply go back to my pipes only because "I want to do so".  

• I have been reading some on the IHU variant of Covid.  It has been first identified in France, but may be of similar origin to Omicron.  It has 40+ mutations compared to the original Covid-19.  Thus far, little is known about its intensity of effect.  WHO is monitoring it, but at this time, no guidance is being issued.  

 PipeTobacco