Showing posts with label qualifying. Show all posts
Showing posts with label qualifying. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 20, 2007

who's happy to be done with grad school?

ooh

ooh

pick me

but seriously, have we seen this?


I'm highly amused, and also a little sad for those of us who are/may be pursuing a phd...but these comics are funny because they're *exaggerations* of reality, no?

edit: apologies for the wonkiness of the picture in the first version of this post -- I did some photoshopping and hopefully the text is actually readable now. if not...might I suggest sucking it?

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Qualifying rocks

OK, maybe that's going a bit far. But it's over, and I passed, so I am at least neutral towards the concept of qualifying once again. Sure, we lost Billy and Fred, but I'm sure Jane and Sarah and I will all be very happy here together in the Oregon Territory.

Off to sleep, drink, play poker, sleep, and get back to work again tomorrow.

oh crap

oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap

2 hours and 15 minutes left to go

oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Qualifying studying update

Still blows. I am incredibly not ready for this exam. Hopefully I will be by tomorrow, but at the rate they are moving the exam up (it was initially at 3:00, then 2:45, then 2:00, and now phrases like "I'm free anytime after noon" are beginning to fly), it may be touch and go.

OK. Back to studying/making frantic crib sheets. Which, as I may have mentioned, blows.

15 hours (ish, maybe) left to go! Some of which might get devoted to sleep!

Monday, April 16, 2007

Qualifying update #3

Monday morning, approximately 3:15 am. It is finished. Sort of. Still need to proofread one last time and send off, but no new significant amount of information is coming, for better or for worse. Mental state: surprisingly chipper. Caffeine and sugar intake this evening has been much more evenly distributed. Peaks and valleys are all well and good when one is crossing the rugged terrain of the Oregon Territory; not so much for blood sugar.

At this point, approximately 39 hours used; 9 remain. Even allowing another half an hour to proofread and send it in, and eight hours (ha!) for sleep if that were really the physiological necessity everyone claims it is, I would just like to note that this still leaves me a full half an hour of buffer time. A.k.a. more buffer time than I have had for any assignment I have ever been given in my entire life. There must be something wrong with me. I must have gotten weirdly responsible in my old age. Or, more likely, screwed something up. Something like hearing "you only have to answer three of the questions," when in reality the assignment was "answer all eight, or you will be summarily castrated."

Pace: still steady. Rations: adequate. (Tomorrow and for several days thereafter, rations are going to have to become meager, as I am beginning to have trouble carrying my own fat ass back to the wagon, much less all the bison I am shooting.)

Sucked the snake venom out of Jane's wound; she is improving. Billy's typhoid took a sudden turn for the worse; he died. Also, Jane is pregnant. Apparently venom-sucking proved to be an unexpected aphrodesiac.

Until I find out tomorrow that I did everything OK, Matt has a case of Schroedinger's Testicles.

Qualifying still blows. For about 2.5 more days. At which point, qualifying will be awesome, since I will be done with it and most of my friends will still have to do it. Ha. Losers. Then, it will be paper revisions and conference preparations which will blow.

Sunday, April 15, 2007

Qualifying update #2

Sunday morning, approximately 2:30 am. The night is still, as are my thoughts. Second question of 3 is about 60% completed. Nonlinear properties of visual system neurons have been partially characterized. 14 hours used, 34 hours remain. Mental state: sleepy. Will soon retire for the evening.

Taco Bell was an excellent choice. As was breaking during Taco Bell consumption to watch episodes of Family Guy ("You have AIDS" song was prominently featured in tonight's selection). Pace: steady. Rations: filling. Heath: Good, but fat. May have a tough time floating the wagon across the next river if I continue eating at this pace. Billy's typhoid is improving. However, Jane got a snake bite.

Random trivia fact of the moment: The guy who plays Creed on the American version of The Office was once a member of the rock band The Grass Roots. Singers of oldie classics like "Midnight Confessions," "Temptation Eyes," and "Sooner or Later."

Random trivia fact of the moment immediately following that one: The theme song of the American version of The Office is my current ringtone.

Qualifying still blows, though I can almost see the beginning of the end in sight. If I squint. A lot.

Saturday, April 14, 2007

Qualifying update #1

Saturday, approximately 8:15 pm. First question of 3 (mostly) completed. 8 hours used, 40 hours remain. Blood levels of sugar and caffeine running high. Mental state: twitchy, but coherent. Billy has typhoid. A thief came in the night and stole 2 of my oxen.

The next question after this one will be harder to answer; the last question should be easiest. Must pace myself (current pace: strenuous, but not grueling). Time for Taco Bell break as I plan my next move.

Qualifying still blows.