Friday 5 for January 17: Food Again

by honeybee Posted on January 22, 2014

Finally doing another Friday 5… Head on over by clicking here to do some of your own!

Do you live to eat? Or do you eat to live?

What was the most recent pork dish you consumed, and how was it?
The most recent pork dish I had, was one of the most amazing ever pork chops in Washington DC, at Old Ebbitt Grill. It was a dish called the Duroc Pork Chop, described as: “duroc pork chop – cider braised over sweet potato puree, kale and cranberry apple compote 18.95”

What was the most recent fish dish you consumed, and how was it?
Ninja Sushi Superman roll last weekend. :) It was pretty great. One of my favorite items on their menu. It has crispy (tempura, I think) flakes on it, with spicy ahi, and sweet & chili sauce.

What was the most recent beef dish you consumed, and how was it?
Does the McDonald’s mushroom swiss quarter pounder count? Because, hoo boy. That was an overall tasty specimen of animal meat product!

What was the most recent all-veggie dish you consumed, and how was it?
Zippy’s vegetarian chili last week! I honestly prefer the vegetarian chili to the meat sauce one since it has mushrooms, and corn in it. I also add ketchup and tabasco sauce to kick it up a notch, and add that certain college-student flair to it.

What was the most recent chicken dish you consumed, and how was it?
At Panda, I had some kind of spicy fire chicken or somethingtothateffect. Meh.

As you can see, I eat out a lot… but believe it or not, my main diet has been consisting of peanutbutter and jelly sammiches taken to school. Hmm… perhaps that should have been listed as my most recent vegetarian dish? Also big on the list of often-consumed foods, is muscle milk light, and yogurt. Apples, and clementine oranges…

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Um, ignore that last post

by honeybee Posted on January 9, 2014

I’m beginning to doubt my abilities. To wonder if I can make it. I know, I go through this often. I got sick, and have fallen behind on the Organic chemistry work I was supposed to have completed before the start of school (next Monday). I am meeting the instructor tomorrow afternoon, after a training session on being a tutor. I’m skipping the first day of the training since I have a doctor’s appointment out here in town.

I wrote to a scientist friend about his museum gig, and it sounds as if his route was nowhere near practical, and some luck was involved in timing. I am thinking I’d have to go into conservation science, and / or get a PhD in chemistry. Also, would have to center on cultural science, or conservation science. Not sure how that works.

So, depending on what happens this semester, I’ll see where this is all going, but am not too confident, truth be told.

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museums and me

by honeybee Posted on January 8, 2014

I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to travel to Washington DC over the Christmas break. I have a new possible career interest: Work in DC for the Smithsonian. I don’t know if I can do it with a Chemistry degree and a MS in either SOEST or Chemistry, but it appeals to me. I still am also interested in teaching Chemistry, but if I could work for the Smithsonian… whoa. Or any museum, for that matter.

I subscribed to the Smithsonian magazine. I get a free Smithsonian baseball cap, iPad edition of the zine, and 11 issues for $12. I’m happy. I haven’t subbed to a magazine in a long ass time. Some I can remember, were subscriptions to URB, and Elemental, and Premiere magazine in the past.

I’m kinda in love with Washington DC, right about now. So many immigrants living and working there, pursuing their dreams. Maybe if I crash and burn in school, you’ll find me there.

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christmas time with no money, honey.

by honeybee Posted on December 18, 2013

Pathways, treeways, of the sky

Christmas is coming! It’s already a week away by the time I post this…

I came to some realizations lately. One of them, is that I have to start budgeting way more than I have been, and another is that I probably have to rent out my apartment if I truly want to go to school for the next 5 or 6 years.

It’s a good thing I realized all this right before Christmas, since what’s going to happen, is I won’t be going crazy and spending hundreds of dollars on gifts for my sister, niece, brother in law, friends, and special random people who deserve gifts, but won’t be getting any. I didn’t even make a card this year. (I suck. I know). I feel weird. This will be the first time in decades that I don’t give gifts. Everyone I mentioned it to was really understanding.

I’m also going to start selling some things… like the road bike I bought that I never really rode, and some other things like my Canon EOS Rebel DSLR camera, maybe my iPad… (debating), etc. Oddly enough, I have some toys. Gashapon stuff. They might sell on ebay or something– so I might sell them. I also have a book that’s out of print, and I’ve seen listed for $300 which I might part ways with… But I love that book. Ah. We’ll see… I plan to start getting rid of stuff in my apartment since I’ll have to get ready to move out if I plan to be renting it out by summertime.

What can I say? Shit’s getting real. If I want this future career as a Chemistry professor… there will need to be sacrifices.

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everything becomes organic

by honeybee Posted on December 12, 2013

If it has carbon in it, I’m your gal. Or, at least, I will be. Next semester I have the honor of taking Organic Chemistry I (CHEM 272) at Leeward Community College. I also will be mentoring the class while a student in it. Seems unconventional, but also makes sense when I think about it. I was approached a few weeks back by the instructor to do the mentoring gig. It’ll be an on-campus job, and will pay an hourly wage. I can do 10 hours a week. It sounds like a good deal to me.

Apparently, he has faith in me since I am doing well in Chemistry, and the instructors talk to each other, so he believes I can do it. I’ll have to stay a chapter ahead of the class, and be able to help all my classmates with any questions they may have. I will also work close with the instructor each week to make sure my understanding of the material is correct. He said I’d learn to use chemdraw, and he’ll ask me to make special handouts illustrating a concept, etc., for the class, and that I can keep all the handouts I create and take them with me to Manoa. I will also run weekly problem-solving sessions, have some hours for tutoring, and will have weekly meetings with him. He’s excited that I want to teach chemistry. I’m excited for the opportunity and hope to do well. When he offered me the position, I asked, “But what if I suck at Ochem?” and he replied, “But you won’t suck!”

So, there you go. lol! I hope these people putting in faith in me won’t get let-down, and I will do my best for the sake of my classmates, and Dr. Ashburn, and myself. My second-post quitting IT jobby job! I did peer mentoring in the summer for Chem 161 (not really a job, more like a grant), I worked at Barnes and Noble (interesting but not awesome), and now I’ll be mentoring Organic Chemistry. I’m stoked. I need more money, but… this is still cool.

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Do You Sleep for more than 4 hours in a row?

by honeybee Posted on December 10, 2013

Only when very tired, do I manage to sleep for more than 4 hours at a time. Otherwise, I seem to awaken… wide-awake, and full of anxiety. Is it healthy? It doesn’t feel healthy.

There are times when all I want to do is sleep and forget about reality. That was my coping mechanism as a young student, I think. I would shut down, and sleep all the time. I try not to do stuff like that these days, but once in a while have felt my brain getting too tired to function and it shut down.

The mass amounts of caffeine can’t be helping. On the weekends, I fall into a mini-coma at times and nap throughout the day. I don’t know if my body can take much more of this. I mean to say, I think it can, but do I want it to?

Sometimes, I think back to my life in IT. I wasn’t very happy, and felt depressed and lonely, and miserable much of the time, but didn’t have to worry about money, or time. Just a droning existence.

Which is better? Am I messing up my life financially and forever with this decision to pursue higher education in a totally unrelated field?

Just some questions I ask myself…

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Only a douchebag complains about getting a 92%

by honeybee Posted on November 25, 2013

Taken from the west end of LCC - (329/365)

And I am that douchebag!

I won’t complain at school, but have begun to bitch a little bit to my sister, and to a couple of friends (and now YOU!) about the 92% I got on today’s Chemistry exam. This was Exam #3. Coming up next, is the final exam in mid-December. I need to get an A on that as well.

While a 92% is an A, and I should be very happy with it, I’d hoped for a higher grade. Ah well. It’s better than a B. I needed an A because I messed up on exam 1, and desperately want an A in this class. (In case you didn’t know, Chemistry is my major). This evening’s exam covered titration of weak acids / bases with strong bases / acids. Gibbs free energy, Thermodynamics, etc.

I had an awkward moment after the exam since a lot of the kids taking the exam tomorrow started pressing me to tell them what was on tonight’s exam. In a way, I wouldn’t have wanted to tell them, but I did. I didn’t give actual problems, but mentioned concepts they should study. One guy texted me directly and is not doing well in the class, so I mentioned some things he should study. I do regret giving him my phone number. Overall, I didn’t want to tell anyone anything about the exam tonight, but I felt like I couldn’t say no without being a total dick.

I still have a lab report due in two days, and a calculus exam on wednesday coming up. Hopefully I do well on both those things. This semester is probably one of the last where I’ll enjoy it. Next semester, I have Physics and Calculus II and Organic Chemistry. I’m looking forward to Ochem, but not so much to math and physics.

So, I got an A, but it should have been a 94 or a 96 or a 98! Or why not 100%!?!!!? lol.

Yeah, I’m that douchebag.

Posted in ramblings, rants, school | 3 Comments

things fall into place

by honeybee Posted on November 24, 2013

Things did not fall into obscurity as I’d thought they would. Other things remain a bit ambiguous, in my personal life. I tell myself over and over today: Stop stressing shit so much.

In the end nothing really is in my control. Well, that’s not entirely true, but some things are in my control, while a large chunk isn’t.

I don’t know what the future holds for me, but in the end, I’m OK with the journey so far. I don’t know what it means to believe in any kind of future plan. The future was a lot more concrete back when I was doing things for other people. Now that it’s for myself, it’s a lot less structured and honestly somewhat disorganized and much like my inner-workings.

There are too many options, and most of them are not bad.

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Please end

by honeybee Posted on November 22, 2013

The semester is almost over, and I badly want it to end.

I’m in a hurry to get out and do nothing for a while. Well, there is my ochem book that I’ll need to read…

I have to make some life decisions soon.

I hate having to make big decisions sometimes. I feel like there’s something easy about just drifting along and going with the flow. I got that urge to just disappear again.

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Quitting

by honeybee Posted on November 4, 2013

I didn’t wake up feeling like crying or anything that emotional… but my anxiety hit me, and I started looking at fulltime jobs in IT. It was a rational fear that led me to do it. I was in major anxiety mode. I also debated the prospect of getting an MA in English and trying to teach at community college. And a final thought of just disappearing off the face of the Earth in a puddle of shame occurred to me.

This morning, I started to really debate with myself about quitting school. I have hard times with keeping up with my studies, and the fear of failure, the fear of being destitute at the end of this 3-part journey which I call my overall midlife crisis. I awoke to the feeling of general fear, uncertainty, and a need to flee. Then I proceeded to register for classes.

I signed up for the following Spring 2014 classes:
CHEM 272/L (Organic Chemistry with Lab) – LCC
MATH 206 (Calculus II) – LCC / online
PHYS 170 (Calculus-based physics) – KCC / online
PHYS 170 Lab – LCC

This is a total of 14 credit hours… with Ochem and Physics being 5 each (including the lab) and Math being 4 credits. The tricky part (imo) is that both my Physics lecture and Math classes will be online. Phys lab will be in person here at LCC. Ochem will also be here at LCC.

I’m a bit scared, but also hopeful I can handle it. I may drop Physics and just deal with Ochem and Math 206, and wait to take Physics in the fall. Not sure yet. But I registered so I could have the option to drop later.

I came to school and felt a little reassured after sitting through math class and getting my quiz score back (not bad — 85%). I also talked to a couple of veteran students about my schedule and the online physics class at KCC. Chad asked for my number so he could ask me for help with chemistry. I complied.

I hope I can do this. But, am I crazy?

Posted in ramblings, school | 3 Comments