So Thursday night I managed to screw up my lower back while at work. At the time, I knew I did something not so good but I wouldn't find out until the next day just how bad it was. It significantly reduced my mobility so I couldn't walk as fast, It made bending over more painful and in general it just hurt.
I drove back to my apartment, took a hot shower, then went to bed. The next morning, I was sore (as expected) and it took me a little longer to move around. If you haven't experienced walking around on campus at Texas State then I can't even begin to tell you how hilly it is. It's definitely not friendly towards back injuries. I make it to my first class but I have to sit in this super uncomfortable chair for 50 minutes while we watched a video on the Tennessee decomp facility (awesooooome!)
After that I get up, in a little more pain than when I started (which sucked) and hobbled out of class. As I make it out of the building, my lower back started to clench which made me stop because 1) It really hurt and 2) it started to make my legs go numb. I remember thinking "Oooh, this doesn't feel good" and I figure if I hunch over, it would help with the pain. Wrong. It got WORSE. I literally have never felt pain worse than this. I had to wait for the pain to subside before I could hobble over to a bench (which was wet because it had just finished raining) and try to wait for the pain to go away. It never really did, So I sat down, then laid down on the bench to try and ease the pain. It work for a little while but periodically my back would tense up again.
I had to get Gene to come pick me up from campus because I wouldn't have been able to climb onto the bus and I had to get Lindsay (Sam's sister) to walk from her dorm and help me off the bench because I was literally stuck laying there for about half an hour. That was the most unpleasant experience in my entire life. I don't recommend it.
I went and saw the doctor on campus, she told me I pulled a muscle and that I shouldn't do anything too hard for about a week. I made a joke about how I probably shouldn't practice for rugby either and she was like "Wow, you're not a wimp" and I laughed and said "Nope. This REALLY hurts".
I got prescribed some painkillers and muscle relaxers, both of which make me drowsy, and i've been having some interesting dreams ever since.
I'm doing a lot better now but i'm certainly not going to be 100% for a little while. If i move too fast or turn in a weird way, my body lets me know that that didn't feel good.
So that has been my weekend. Drugged up and attempting to study for my Archaeology test on wednesday. The only thing that could make this worse is if I watched almost every team I cheered for lose their games this weekend and if I saw Fergie singing the national anthem with Marc Anthony--wait. That DID happen. She is terrible and her face makes me want to puke.
Ugh, this sucks.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Thursday, September 23, 2010
It's great to learn, 'cause knowledge is power!
So its been a little while since i've updated this thing. I'm been a bit busy and whenever I've had free time i've been using it to sleep. Thats a pretty accurate description of how my life is going as of right now.
I took 3 tests since my last post: 94 in Geography, don't know in Forensic Anthropology yet, and an 85 in Biology.
Lets focus on the Biology test grade. I'm pissed. not only was the test an arbitrary length of questions (it was like 72 multiple choice questions), the examples on the test were straight from the book. So not only are her lectures straight from the book, but so are her examples on the test and the test questions themselves. Why does this piss me off? Why would something so trivial and actually probably be a blessing make me so mad? Because I essentially paid the school $700 to have someone regurgitate information i've already read from a $200+ text book. $900 for information that I can easily teach myself, which is what i'm going to start doing. This class is the BIGGEST waste of my time. Why should I listen to someone tell me a limited amount of information? She doesn't even supplement the text with anything she's done, or other outside information. It's all literally from the book. so what i'll do instead is do all the end of chapter work, write down all the questions from the online quiz (which she also takes questions from for the test) and study THAT information. The only benefit for showing up to class is the hope of catching an "attendence" quiz, and if you take all the quiz's and get the questions right, you get 5 points added onto your FINAL average. Does anyone see how incredibly ridiculous that is? It's no wonder professors have trouble keeping kids in class. NO ONE WANTS TO SHOW UP TO A BOOK READING!
Ugh. Whatever. So instead i'll occasionally show up to her earlier lecture and spend that evening time with some Rugby action.
I have an Archaeology test next week that I'm not particularly excited about. He at least supplements his information, and even replaces some of the book information with better definitions from his own experiences. My problem with him is that 1) his specialty is kinda boring (burnt rocks are not interesting to me at all) 2) his stores are kind of pointless and 3) he is expecting us to be TESTED on some of his stories. Granted, its on the ones that had some relevance, but even then it's hard to pay attention.
Basically the only two classes I enjoy the most are my World Geography class and my Forensic Anthropology class. They have the right balance of information, supplemental information, personal anecdotes and randomness.
There is a correct blend. I just haven't really been exposed to many teachers who didn't understand that. I find that frustrating. I guess that just means i'm going to have to put a little more effort into this education crap than I thought. boooooo. My Lab instructor for Biology even understands that, and he's a Grad Student.
Alright, I just took a break to vent some of this frustration out.
I took 3 tests since my last post: 94 in Geography, don't know in Forensic Anthropology yet, and an 85 in Biology.
Lets focus on the Biology test grade. I'm pissed. not only was the test an arbitrary length of questions (it was like 72 multiple choice questions), the examples on the test were straight from the book. So not only are her lectures straight from the book, but so are her examples on the test and the test questions themselves. Why does this piss me off? Why would something so trivial and actually probably be a blessing make me so mad? Because I essentially paid the school $700 to have someone regurgitate information i've already read from a $200+ text book. $900 for information that I can easily teach myself, which is what i'm going to start doing. This class is the BIGGEST waste of my time. Why should I listen to someone tell me a limited amount of information? She doesn't even supplement the text with anything she's done, or other outside information. It's all literally from the book. so what i'll do instead is do all the end of chapter work, write down all the questions from the online quiz (which she also takes questions from for the test) and study THAT information. The only benefit for showing up to class is the hope of catching an "attendence" quiz, and if you take all the quiz's and get the questions right, you get 5 points added onto your FINAL average. Does anyone see how incredibly ridiculous that is? It's no wonder professors have trouble keeping kids in class. NO ONE WANTS TO SHOW UP TO A BOOK READING!
Ugh. Whatever. So instead i'll occasionally show up to her earlier lecture and spend that evening time with some Rugby action.
I have an Archaeology test next week that I'm not particularly excited about. He at least supplements his information, and even replaces some of the book information with better definitions from his own experiences. My problem with him is that 1) his specialty is kinda boring (burnt rocks are not interesting to me at all) 2) his stores are kind of pointless and 3) he is expecting us to be TESTED on some of his stories. Granted, its on the ones that had some relevance, but even then it's hard to pay attention.
Basically the only two classes I enjoy the most are my World Geography class and my Forensic Anthropology class. They have the right balance of information, supplemental information, personal anecdotes and randomness.
There is a correct blend. I just haven't really been exposed to many teachers who didn't understand that. I find that frustrating. I guess that just means i'm going to have to put a little more effort into this education crap than I thought. boooooo. My Lab instructor for Biology even understands that, and he's a Grad Student.
Alright, I just took a break to vent some of this frustration out.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
As if I needed something else to fuel my aggression
So i've done it. I joined the Texas State Women's Rugby team. Let me just say that this is probably what i've been waiting for my entire life. This is exactly what i've been looking for in a WOMEN'S sport. None of this "non contact" bullshit. This is aggressive and this is going to get real. I'm going to start practicing with them this semester, though the way my schedule worked out really isn't good. Once I get work and my new schedule worked out for next semester, things will be different and I can devote the appropriate amount of time and attention to my new hobby.
I find it amusing that in most respects, I would rather be left to my own devices to figure out and complete, but in other respects, I would much rather do it in the company of other people. I've also come to the conclusion that my life is one contradiction after another and I do things that confuse even myself. I can't really explain why, I just have certain preferences one way for something, and another way for something else.
I think it'll be nice to just get back into a team sport. I miss marching band. I miss the camaraderie that came with spending almost every minute of your waking life with the same people day in and day out for months at a time. I miss the road trips, I miss the competition and most of all I miss pushing myself to my physical limitations. Sure, working truck has some of that, but we cycle through people so fast sometimes, its hard to really get to know or even care about some of those people. It's gotten to the point where after just working with someone for a short time, I can tell that they aren't going to make it. Some people lack the physical ability to endure moving tens of thousands of pounds of metal, some people lack a mental capacity to even complete some of the simplest tasks (seriously, how hard is it to remember to drop a box upside down?). I'm not saying that this new venture isn't going to have these problems, but at least the people here a more committed to it (hell, the paid dues, why not care?) where as the other aforementioned parties can just quit or not show up at all.
Honestly, I think this is going to make me really happy. Hopefully I don't end up breaking something. The only thing I plan on breaking are my enemy's souls.
Life in San Marcos may not be as miserable as I once feared after all.
I find it amusing that in most respects, I would rather be left to my own devices to figure out and complete, but in other respects, I would much rather do it in the company of other people. I've also come to the conclusion that my life is one contradiction after another and I do things that confuse even myself. I can't really explain why, I just have certain preferences one way for something, and another way for something else.
I think it'll be nice to just get back into a team sport. I miss marching band. I miss the camaraderie that came with spending almost every minute of your waking life with the same people day in and day out for months at a time. I miss the road trips, I miss the competition and most of all I miss pushing myself to my physical limitations. Sure, working truck has some of that, but we cycle through people so fast sometimes, its hard to really get to know or even care about some of those people. It's gotten to the point where after just working with someone for a short time, I can tell that they aren't going to make it. Some people lack the physical ability to endure moving tens of thousands of pounds of metal, some people lack a mental capacity to even complete some of the simplest tasks (seriously, how hard is it to remember to drop a box upside down?). I'm not saying that this new venture isn't going to have these problems, but at least the people here a more committed to it (hell, the paid dues, why not care?) where as the other aforementioned parties can just quit or not show up at all.
Honestly, I think this is going to make me really happy. Hopefully I don't end up breaking something. The only thing I plan on breaking are my enemy's souls.
Life in San Marcos may not be as miserable as I once feared after all.
Monday, September 13, 2010
September 13th, 2010
Lame title, i'm aware. Get over it, here's you're first real update on my life:
So after sitting in my forensic anthropology class today, I think i've pretty much come to the conclusion that i'll be staying in San Marcos a bit longer than I planned. I'm strongly considering doing the Masters program here at Texas State in Forensic Anthropology."Why in the name of everything you hold holy would you want to stay at Texas state?!" you might ask? 4 words.
Forensic Anthropology Research Facility. Thats just the fancy name for the Body Ranch.
Not only is it the largest in the United States (A healthy 27 acres of ranch land), it's the largest in the WORLD. The next (functioning) research facility is at the University of Tennessee with a whopping 2 acres. The one in Tennessee also next to the university hospital, and the parking lot has now grown around the facility. Lets just say parking out in that lot in the summer must suck. A lot.
The US is the only country that will allow such research to be done period. Other countries have to use pig models, and the UK i think does their research with RABBITS because even pig remains are not kosher (see what I did there? hilarious pun, i know).
Ontop of the that, the program here at TSU is barely 2 years old. PLENTY of research to be done, and even if it wasn't so young, there would still be insane amounts of research to be done because San Marcos is in a totally different climate area than Knoxville. therefore the information gather from their facility isn't really applicable to any other area OUTSIDE of the knoxville climate unless your region is similar.
So yeah, Do I think my concession to come down to Texas State to finish my undergrad was a good choice? Its a fucking EXCELLENT choice. Sorry Longhorn buddies, I think i've just been converted into a Bobcat.
Side note: most of the work done by the graduate students at the Facility? Boiling bodies and diggin' ditches. So if nothing else, i'll know how to dig a ditch real well.
Their PHD program is still in the works but I would probably choose to go somewhere else for that, just for some diversity.
Like i said before, i'm heavily leaning towards this decision. Nothing is set in stone. My next step is to talk to an advisor and some of the anthro professors to see how I can set myself up to succeed in this endeavor, or if this even is the right thing for me.
I have a lot more to discuss but i'll leave that for another day. I think this one topic is good for now. Now that I have sufficiently informed you, i'm going to eat my ribs now that were given to me by Liz De La Garza. And i'm sure they're even tastier after talking about boiling bodies to skeletonize them. Mmmmm, meat.
So after sitting in my forensic anthropology class today, I think i've pretty much come to the conclusion that i'll be staying in San Marcos a bit longer than I planned. I'm strongly considering doing the Masters program here at Texas State in Forensic Anthropology."Why in the name of everything you hold holy would you want to stay at Texas state?!" you might ask? 4 words.
Forensic Anthropology Research Facility. Thats just the fancy name for the Body Ranch.
Not only is it the largest in the United States (A healthy 27 acres of ranch land), it's the largest in the WORLD. The next (functioning) research facility is at the University of Tennessee with a whopping 2 acres. The one in Tennessee also next to the university hospital, and the parking lot has now grown around the facility. Lets just say parking out in that lot in the summer must suck. A lot.
The US is the only country that will allow such research to be done period. Other countries have to use pig models, and the UK i think does their research with RABBITS because even pig remains are not kosher (see what I did there? hilarious pun, i know).
Ontop of the that, the program here at TSU is barely 2 years old. PLENTY of research to be done, and even if it wasn't so young, there would still be insane amounts of research to be done because San Marcos is in a totally different climate area than Knoxville. therefore the information gather from their facility isn't really applicable to any other area OUTSIDE of the knoxville climate unless your region is similar.
So yeah, Do I think my concession to come down to Texas State to finish my undergrad was a good choice? Its a fucking EXCELLENT choice. Sorry Longhorn buddies, I think i've just been converted into a Bobcat.
Side note: most of the work done by the graduate students at the Facility? Boiling bodies and diggin' ditches. So if nothing else, i'll know how to dig a ditch real well.
Their PHD program is still in the works but I would probably choose to go somewhere else for that, just for some diversity.
Like i said before, i'm heavily leaning towards this decision. Nothing is set in stone. My next step is to talk to an advisor and some of the anthro professors to see how I can set myself up to succeed in this endeavor, or if this even is the right thing for me.
I have a lot more to discuss but i'll leave that for another day. I think this one topic is good for now. Now that I have sufficiently informed you, i'm going to eat my ribs now that were given to me by Liz De La Garza. And i'm sure they're even tastier after talking about boiling bodies to skeletonize them. Mmmmm, meat.
Friday, September 10, 2010
Testing
At the suggestion of Jessie Wang, I decided to give this blogspot nonsense a go. See if I like it.
I don't have anything to report for today because I only had class till about 11am today but do not worry, i'm sure there are shenanigans just around the corner.
Notice, I dressed this blog up in my traditional black, gray and white template. You can never go wrong with black, gray and white. I'm sure i'll mess around with it more. The background will change soonish as well to something a little more fitting to my personality. Something a long the lines of an Angry Bear holding a vicious looking guitar.
I don't have anything to report for today because I only had class till about 11am today but do not worry, i'm sure there are shenanigans just around the corner.
Notice, I dressed this blog up in my traditional black, gray and white template. You can never go wrong with black, gray and white. I'm sure i'll mess around with it more. The background will change soonish as well to something a little more fitting to my personality. Something a long the lines of an Angry Bear holding a vicious looking guitar.
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