![[dr. bob]](/dr-bob-sm.gif)
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 278 to 302 of 495. Go back in thread:
Posted by alexandra_k on October 7, 2014, at 0:05:12
In reply to Re: books, posted by alexandra_k on October 6, 2014, at 23:50:22
i think i could have done a better job of defending than my lawyer... but not a better job of the defending of me. because i would have gone off on a tangent... gotten upset... i'm too personally involved in my own case to be appropriately objective. she represented me better than i could have represented myself and i am grateful to her.
but... it was an incoherant appeal on her behalf... i mean... she presented my case in a way that was... incoherant. she is really young. it wouldn't surprise me to learn that she's first year out of law school... that i'm her first case, even. i'm fairly sure she was given my case because my case is a no brainer for a judge... the judge (after going on for a while -- to educate my lawyer mostly, i think, but also to encourage me to think about how the f*ck i have a coherant story with allowing a diminished responsibility due to aspergers defence together with citing application to medical school (disclosure statements on disability / health that impacts and criminal convictions) BOTH as mitigating...
i didn't know she was going to appeal to diminished responsibility to be fair. i thought dx may be mitigating... but tension with that and fitness to practice. signing 'i do not have a health condition that is likely to adversely affect practice' IN GOOD CONSCIENCE. It is a tension i feel... I decided for Otago that my condition isn't likely to adversely affect... Because a condition is the wrong category of thing to affect... Individual responsibility must be decided on a case by case basis not on the basis of dx category the DSM tells us so... I really wasn't expecting my lawyer to appeal to dx so crudely... Especially given teh health letter from my nurse... Which was a lovely letter... To the effect that the dx affects different individuals differently and that she has never felt threatened by me and that I am intelligent and articulate but that... Sometimes I am not the best advocate for myself.
Which was wonderful, really. I mean... I couldn't have written a better letter myself...
I don't know what case load my lawyer has... Afterwards she was all like 'you are the most organised person I've had with getting me the relevant documents that I needed'. I think... She learned... She probably should have spent more time on my case... Since I was organised and motivated...
The case just before mine... A guy... A wonderful lawyer. A bit of a show pony... But she did her job f*ck*ng well. WEnt on and on and on... Very compelling. Trying to talk to the police before hand... To get them to not oppose her reccommendation... The reccommendation negotiated between them all... Then she presented the summary of everything to the judge... Then the judge cites everything back (demonstrating understanding - or not...Depending on how the case was presented to her) and then the verdict is made... Typically... Agreeing with teh consensus. Of course.
It was a 'higher court'. Perhaps not in any official sense... Or perhaps yes. I don't know if there is a hierarchy of courts / judges within the district court. Perhaps they take turns... The judges, I mean. At hearing cases near the start (where peple are being assigned duty lawyers) where people are entering pleas... Right at the end... LIke this was. With room for a jury trial....
I'm a little sad to get kicked out the other end. What now will I do on Thursdays?
I want to find the precedent case... I want to know what happened with that. I feel... Upset that my lawyer mostly focused on that.
The judge mostly focused on: I didn't hurt the victim - only her feelings / pride. That... Insensitivity to that is inconsistent with wanting a career in medicine. I don't have anything special for society.... I can do a bunch of stuff that other people can do to... But I want recognition / respect for some of that. So...
I need to learn to be the 'bigger person' in some sense. Most especially if I want society to give me the power you get as a doc.
Something that has come up a lot in law... Power... I always thought power was a responsibility not a ... Not something you wanted. It was a responsibility. MOre a burden. But then learning about the balance of power etc. Assumption being everyone is after their own interests. I think law is hard for me because it seems more about that... (though perhaps not for judges... i don't know)... but it certainly shouldn't be for docs.
The judges were wise. I think. I have... Greater respect for the courts.
Posted by alexandra_k on October 7, 2014, at 18:12:45
In reply to Re: books, posted by alexandra_k on October 7, 2014, at 0:05:12
i think i keep surprising the law people with just how little i know about... everything. their focus is so... different.
i've been thinking a lot about socrates. his trial. 'corrupting the young'. he was sentenced to death by hemlock. his friends visited him and said they could escape him out and help him go live someplace else. he thought that that wouldn't be the right thing to do. they tried to persuade him why it was acceptable... he rejected all their reasons. reasons about how he didn't have a fair trial (positivist reasons, i guess). reasons about how what he was doing was alright (appeal to some natural law, i guess). i can't remember all the reasons... he said that those laws protected him and raised him and he was thus bound by them. a positivist, i guess. sometimes the law... simply doesn't track morality.
the ring of gyges... a symbol of unlimited power. why be moral if you could do anything you like - and you were guaranteed to be able to get away with it. most people: you have no reason at all. that surprises me. most people are... psychopaths. huh.
i think law runs together morality and legality because... they don't really have a sense of morality. they are trained to focus on legality and morality just kind of... falls out. there is a sense of a distinction between what the law *is* and what the law *should be*. and i guess some sense that moral considerations (among other considerations) play some role in determining what *should be*. but there is no real sense of morality...
something... kantian. something... intrinsic. like the cogito. to see... to comprehend... a sense of morality as something like that. a reason to be moral even though nobody will know if you aren't. a reason to be moral even though being moral will have no good consequences at all. being moral because... it is the right thing to do. morality... goodness... a world with more morality is a better world - whether we know it or not. something... like grasping the cogito... you just see the validity / rightness / indubitibility...
i do miss philosophy sometimes.
and plato's republic. i was extremely lucky to get to TA for someone who is... just brilliant on plato's republic. and kant. to understand why kant thought the will to suicide was contradictory. to... actually grasp some of that and simply see the rightness. of course to then start to question the source of the feeling of rightness and the veracity of that and so on and so forth... but to at least grasp what it is that we are talking about.
i do miss philosophy someitmes.
Posted by alexandra_k on October 9, 2014, at 19:05:47
In reply to Re: books, posted by alexandra_k on October 7, 2014, at 18:12:45
I got the 8th edition of mcmurray (org chem) in hardcover. If that doesn't help me love Organic... There isn't any hope for me. The 7th was beautiful... But the 8th has a black cover... And I love black. Really very. I got Tortora the other day... 13th. 14th doesn't seem to be out anywhere yet... But it has a black cover, again. Matt. With a shiny collage of histology for the title. A beautiful book, indeed. I think it is my year. It must be my year. All the black... This is the year for me.
I see why we have Tortora rather than Marieb. More clinical focus. More histology focus. More anatomy photos. And we get a pretty crappy little atlas with it... But it is an atlas. I don't know why the freak they want to start with the head... The most complicated thing... I don't know why they want to start with the most complicated thing... But whatever.. Maybe that's the way to make it feel less complicated later. Maybe if they taught thermodynamics first instead of last...
I am sad that I didn't manage to get the 13th of Campbell's Bio in hardcover... But I suppose it matters least. Campbell's Bio is more of a suppliment...
I found some stuff online. Validating. About books... Textbooks. About how it is common for people to try stuff out with PDF's but that most (university) people will buy the ones they want to spend time with. A bunch of stuff... Validating. About how you learn to spatially navigate your way around the information... Yeah.
They are beautiful books. I think... The most beautiful books I've ever owned. And I love book. I really really really really love books. It certainly isn't the only reason... But one of the reasons why I wanted to do medicine... They get the very best books. The most beautiful. The most clear (revisions really are helpful). Anyway... I could have got an earlier edition... Or a softcover... But who am I kidding... The mental thing really is important. I will love this book... I can't wait for my molymod kit to arrive so I can make everything as it is introduced...
Thermodynamics sucks. I don't get it any mroe than I did last time. I mean... Relaly... I haven't managed to learn anything more of it this time round. Not a single thing. I think... I won't do physics for summer school. I'll... Work my way through the organic chemistry course lectures that I found online.
The going nuts through lack of socialization thing... Not entirely sure what to do about that... I wonder if the philosophers would get upset with me hanging out a lot in their tearoom over summer?? They seem to have removed me from their seminar lists since I stopped going...
Posted by pontormo on October 11, 2014, at 14:44:23
In reply to Re: books, posted by alexandra_k on October 6, 2014, at 21:29:36
Hi, alex,
I have missed the predicate for this post. What did you to, and what had happened?
what was the outcome of the hearing/judgment/ etc?
pontormo
Posted by alexandra_k on October 11, 2014, at 16:58:47
In reply to Re: books, posted by pontormo on October 11, 2014, at 14:44:23
hi.
i went to community mental health because i wanted to speak to a doctor... to find out why they discharged me... to see whether they could refer me to someone who would help me... etc.
this mental health nurse was being all obstructive. saying i couldn't see a doctor (or make an appointment to see a doctor) because i'd been discharged. refusing to let me see one as a street walk in...
i hit her firmly on the shoulder a couple times. thought... there would be some kind of commotion and that a doc would come out to see what the fuss was about and i'd get to see one that way...
but she decided to sound alarms and call police and i got arrested and charged with summary assault. so then i had to go to court and get assigned a duty lawyer etc etc etc. and the upshot is that i got assigned a public defender (really very young) who focused on my dx (asperger's) as mitigating...
... instead of emphasising the more pertinent (though perhaps less sexy) points of how i didn't hurt her at all (except maybe her feelings) and i have no priors and am generally of good character.
anyway... i got discharged without conviction so all is well. the judge had a speel, though, since my lawyer did not, really... i suppose the speel was a bit ambiguous... but i was left with a fairly bad taste about the appeal to dx as mitigating. especially since i had worked myself into a place of not seeing my dx as something that needed to be declared as potentially problematic on medical school application...
though i suppose i have been coming to some sort of peace with disclosure... i really didn't think it was something i needed to declare on that form... but the judge raised that. since my lawyer decided to focus on how convicting me would problematise my application since the form asks for you to declare either 1) health issues that may impact on your ability to practice / train and 2) any convictions with max sentence of 6 months or more.
so...
Posted by alexandra_k on October 11, 2014, at 18:07:49
In reply to Re: books » pontormo, posted by alexandra_k on October 11, 2014, at 16:58:47
I'm pretty much over this year. I've learned a lot. I needed it. I wouldn't have stood a chance next year without it. But I am pretty much over this year.
It is the books that have done it. I suppose it was bad of me, picking up books for next year just as we are working up to the exam period for this year...
But I did it because my interest in this year had flagged already. I have become fairly complacent about my grades for this semester. I guess... I'll be happy with B's. I never thought I'd ever say that... But in this case... It really is true. Only then I had this little niggly fear that maybe I've lost whatever kick of motivation I need to be able to do well enough next year when B's simply will not do... Getting the books... Beautiful books... Content that is interesting to me... I have this strong desire to internalize ALL the content. Wonderfully clear content. Presented in a logical order. Little nuggets of information. 5 kinds of cellular junction. 4 or 5 bits of info to remember about each. A picture. A narrative. A summary table. Rinse and repeat... And I see that this year is... All over the place. With lecturers who get fussy about things like making their powerpoints available (and there not being simple summaries anyway), making their lecture recordings available (where they woffle all over the place covering a semesters worth of content every lecture) with content that isn't even in our textbook... That has a lot to do with why my motivation is flagging.
Next year will be better. A lot better. Beautifully presented content. Keep coming back to that lecture, I do. 6 steps to chlorine regulation and a bunch of stuff (signs and symptoms) of Cystic fibrosis. I mean... 4 lectures per week. 4 classes per week. 16 lectures content each and every week. Keep it simple. Keep it repetitive (lecture is textbook is powerpoint) Give the students a f*ck*ng chance. To learn ALL the content. To f*ck up a little on synthetic / critical thinking / extension questions. But to learn ALL the f*ck*ng content. A chance.
I guess next year is for the kids who can hook into learning that way. For the kids who stand up and clap once they realise that that is the way it is going to be done. What I'm doing this year is for the... Other kids. Mostly. The kids who haven't figured out what the books is yet... The ones who are still working on bringing a ruler to their labs. Sigh.
I have worked pretty hard this semester on my classes. Animal biology, anyway. And mechanics... Electricity... And I've done the readings (though quickly) and gone to nearly every class for law -- and law is general f*ck*ng ed (aka a load lightener) and I have strong verbal skills... So...
There are loads of chemistry problems in the textbook... And the A&P book... I really am learning to love... More than Marieb... I think... I really do think... That might just be me...
I bloody better get a place in Health Sci. I think they let anyone in... Fairly sure... I remember I got an offer far in advance of Bio-Med last year... End of November, I think... From this year: That's all I need.
Chem lab... And an histology lab for bio... That's all I need... I have another stack of grading (to get the population health book and possibly Rohen's or Netter's Atlas...) I will do my best in the exams... But I'm not going to kill myself trying to figure how many grams of propane you need to cook a 30kg pig with x heat capacity in a perfectly insulated oven at constant pressure... Or over what the f*ck the Sealord case was about... I'm not even going to... Get all upset. Truth be told, even if I put a f*ck load of work in between now and exams I don't believe it would do me any good... The law course is the 'general education' type of course that is simply horrible to me. I'd have done much better in the other case one that most people find 'boring' because it would have had clearer more manageable content. And as for physics... Well... Organic chemistry problems are hard enough for me... But I have a chance at their cumulative nature. Physics... I don't really. Not without catching up on years and years and years and years and years of maths. And I'm just... Not that into it.
I'm better to prepare for next year. Anything I learn now... Frees up time and energy for other things next year...
So.. for once in my life.. Never before at university... I'm going to kick back in lectures between now and the end of the year (only another week or so). And let them entertain me. I think... That's the point of this year for most of the students, anyway. The reason why this year isn't really much in the way of preparation for next year at all... At least I do find them interesting / entertaining, truth be told. Even if the idea of presenting a manageable chunk of content to motivated and intelligent students isn't something that really applies...
The weather is wonderful. I get a nice breeze in my windows... I have a room with a view.. I have beautiful textbooks. I have... From the Organic textbook.. The other one too, just a little bit... Some deja vu feeling... Like how I have this mental image / memory / dream from when I was kid... Being in the back of a car... Someone - mother and her boyfriend of a number of years... Driving in this street... ANd me peering out at the apartments across the road from the University... Imagining that all the university students lived in studios (not that I knew what they were) but in something like what I've got now... Longing... Thinking maybe it would be possible for me one day... Deja vu sometimes I get that feeling that that's where I am now...
I've done a bit of a walk... And I think the actual apartments i've got memories of are these super expensive historic apartments right across from the High court... But anyway... Perhaps i've conveyed the general spirit. Anyway... The organic textbook... I'm getting some kind of deja vu feeling from that too now... Something about... Weighty tomes... Being lost in weighty tomes.. What university meant to me from when I was little (I have wanted to go ever since I could remember). I'm getting some feeling of... Living my dream. Like things are meant to be. Like I'm growing into something that was meant to be.
Anyway... I guess.. I'm happy. That's pretty good, huh. I better get a place in health sci next year... It would be f*ck*ng... Awful if I dind't. I simply can't get a good grade in bio-physics... No matter what... I'm going to be one of those kids who painfully extracts a pass from others telling me exactly what to do... If I don't get into med year 2 then I'll simply have to do it... But I can't do it next year... Not the same semester as A&P. oh please god.
Posted by alexandra_k on October 11, 2014, at 20:56:10
In reply to Re: books, posted by alexandra_k on October 11, 2014, at 18:07:49
and so... this summer is going to be filled with chemistry problems, the way that last summer was filled with maths. i think i'm better to work out of the textbook / from the lectures online / from past years exams than spending a great deal of time with the website... because you should prepare for the exams. and the exams are paper based. so there it is.
it is odd for me, working through problems. odd to think that you learn from working problems. i am more used to thinking that you learn from regurgitating the key words (sort of) from out of the text. i have to get used to drawing pictures, too. for biology. draw a squamous epithelial cell and label its main features. i need to be able to do stuff like that. diagram the 6 steps in chlorine regulation.
i feel happy with a nice little chunk of content. i get a lot of satisfaction from internalising it. from being able to recall it. and then once it is all nice and... well put... some questions that get you thinking more creatively about the content. i get a lot of satisfaction from that.
anyway... life is good.
Posted by alexandra_k on October 13, 2014, at 16:58:24
In reply to Re: books, posted by alexandra_k on October 11, 2014, at 20:56:10
i went back to physics today. i realised that a lot of my angst about the lecturer for it... and the lecturer for the same part of chemistry last semester... is coming from my really struggling with the content. i have come to this realisation because the chemistry guy in the online stuff makes a bunch of mistakes, too. and, because i have a better grip on the content, they don't bother me so much. they don't bother me at all, really. they actually help me a little because i think 'yes, everybody needs to be careful - heads up!'.
i'm not sure what to do. we did the ideal gas laws today. so... converting from c to k. getting moles out of grams of whatever. rearranging the gas equation... is all expected now. and of course it is far too much far too fast for me to get my head around. little bits were cool, though. i didn't know an inverse relationship was parabola shaped... i didn't realise that a parabola didn't ever touch the sides... it was cool looking at the graph... i noticed most people in class looked... destroyed. and only about 1/4 were there...
partly it is time of year. partly it is a lot of content far too quickly. partly it is... i don't know.
i have come to realise that the whole online learning thing really is much better for me. i don't see how it can't be much better for everyone. you can pause things for where you need to have a think / memorise something before moving forward. you can take however long you need to do the problems along the way. you don't have to get bored waiting for other people to do them. you don't have the pressure of needing to hurry up and still not being able to work fast enough... it is perfect, really.
lectures are motivating in a way, too. i mean... i have been doing the problems in the back of the textbook... but doing them from the recorded lectures there is a sense of other people doing them with me. more motivating somehow. i think the biggest thing is listening to someone who knows how to do it... slowing down and thinking through their reasoning as they solve it. learning how to think like they do. then eventually... being able to say what they say at the same time they say it as they work through the problems... carbon attached to FOUR DIFFERENT THINGS. with just the right emphasis. it really does help. you get a problem and it seems overwhelming and then you do... what the lecturer would do. and you get it done.
anyway... even if i put a bunch of time into physics i don't think it would help me. i put a lot of time into chemistry last semester... thermodynamics. ph stuff. then the ph stuff wasn't tested, really... but i put a lot of time into thermodynamics and the gas stuff and i didn't get any marks for any of it. so... i feel.... truly overwhelmed. like there simply isn't any point at working on it at all because no good will come of it. demoralised... well and truly. i'm not entirely sure what is to be done...
i suppose the logical thing... is for me to work hard on mechanics and waves... electricity. make sure i can do that stuff pretty well... hope that that will be enough to scrape me a pass... some kind of B would make me... happy. i'd be happy for a B for physics. at this stage... i simply can't do... much of any of it.
organic makes me feel happy... i have a really good feeling about organic... only because i'm going to get through much of the content over the summer. i wouldn't have a hope otherwise. but: to be fair: i need to think that i'll be in a class with kids who have done 3 years of chemistry. a bunch of them will have done scholarship chemistry, and cambridge curriculum. apparently little bits are new to everyone... spectroscopy... but i most certainly don't have the background that they do... it has taken me a couple days of work to work through chapter 1 of the text... meant to be revision... but it depends on how tricky the questions are, really... i think things are ticking along... it is funny, though how he has a lot of 'this should be revision from general chemistry' before he puts up a bunch of problems that nobody in his class seems to be able to do... far too much too fast for real time. unless... you know most of it already. i didn't realise just how cumulative science was...
so... i don't think it is cheating at all for me to put in time over the summer. some kids put in a lot of time during their school years... i slacked off, mostly. so i'm paying my dues now. can think of it that way. i can do it faster than they (maybe get a couple years done in a couple months) because i don't have all the other b*llsh*t they had to put up with. pesky siblings, puberty, pressure to be cool, other people working at different paces etc etc etc. and of course mostly because i can focus more on stuff that is directly relevant... i don't need to worry about learning my table of elements by heart (for example) and it is just that kind of crap that stupid high school teachers like to make the kids do (which is of course a huge part of why i couldn't tolerate science at high school)...
i do wish i was better at physics... but i don't suppose one can be good at everything. sniff. i'm not particularly good at weightlifting, either. there is a bunch of sh*t that i can't do... i wish i was better at physics. really. but, really, it is too hard for me. with the math... i need it to go so very very very (very very) much slower than it does... and it simply won't. and so... there it is.
i should have discovered the lectures for it faster. the recorded ones. worked through them at my own pace. ideally... i'd only be doing the one class... and i could spend the 2 or 3 hours listening to the 50 minute lecture... working through the examples as best i could on my own and then with the lecturer commentary and then again on my own... with the commentary... on my own... until i could freaking well do them. but i didn't... too much in the way of other classes... so...
i really do need to go into next year knowing most of it. otherwise... i don't really have a chance.
Posted by Angela2 on October 13, 2014, at 18:00:46
In reply to Re: books, posted by alexandra_k on October 13, 2014, at 16:58:24
Hey Alex, I think it's good that you're studying up on it (chemistry?) now. and physics too. Definitely not cheating, definitely, smart.
I'm not terrible at math, but I haven't taken a math class in a really long time. Like in 10 years. I took statistics in college. First semester was a summer semester and I got an A. Second semester, I think Fall, was statistics of psychology, and I got a D. It made me wonder if summer courses are just easier than Fall. Or maybe I was just really on my game in the summer, since I only was taking 2 classes. Hmm...
I think physics is SO interesting. But then, I might epically fail an actual physics class. I don't know.
At any rate, I'm glad you're doing well.
Posted by alexandra_k on October 15, 2014, at 18:56:35
In reply to Re: books, posted by Angela2 on October 13, 2014, at 18:00:46
I don't think summer classes are any easier. That was a funny way around. I think typically people find that they do worse in stats than they do in stats for psychology. maybe you just got sick of stats! An A is pretty great going for math, though, in my opinion. I'd be freaking happy if I could simply pass!
Posted by alexandra_k on October 15, 2014, at 20:10:42
In reply to Re: books » Angela2, posted by alexandra_k on October 15, 2014, at 18:56:35
Got a batch of grading this morning. Not too bad. Only 30 of them. Went for a walk... Through the domain... It is a big park, really. There is a cafe in the middle. I sat down there for an hour or so and marked about 4 of them. It was really pleasant. I just... Needed to get out. To get off campus. I remembered... The places that I'd been to with my keyworker... Different cafes around one of the nice Suburbs on one side... I remembered the music... And how the atmosphere seemed pleasant. More... Sophisticated. No sound of squeely teenage girls.
I am used to thinking that campus is my refuge. And I guess it used to be. In Australia. The Research part of campus. Because the campus was fairly split with the research schools in one part and the undergraduate part of campus up the other end... And around the research schools... Was always pretty. And quiet. And pleasant. And there were cafes and stuff... And you could go and work in them... And quite a lot of people did that.
Partly it is about... The flow of people, or something. The places you have to go... The paths you find to take... Where you end up spending most of your time. I have suspected for a while now that I'm currently in the noisiest parts... Because the classes I'm doing are more... Uh... Remedial. And the natural walkways between them and so on... Anyway... It was wonderfully peaceful around the domain. And I realise that I need to get away from campus more. Make the trek to the suburb. It is just up the hill... Or really not far on the bus... Work in some of those cafes... Be around... Calmer people.
One of the chemistry guys took me along to an Organic lab yesterday. In part I feel bad... Like it is unfair that I got that. He took 15 minutes to explain the lab and then went with me to it... And stood next to me... So I got to observe for about an hour. He said that they could put me on the end of a row... But that anything more than that was really very hard. There were 5 pods but only 4 had students in them. The last one was about half empty. The students were really focused and all seemed to know what they were doing. I guess I felt.. Intimidated. Chemistry labs are hard for me because of the numbers involved in reading the equipment. And then after a couple hours needing to do calculations in a bustly environment.
At the end we walked back through and the middle pods were... Crowded, yeah. With people who really didn't look like they knew what they were doing. Panicked eyes.
I don't really understand how that last pod got the focused people. Pod assignments are meant to be random... But maybe they do take some people out? Or maybe it was just luck or something. The way things turned out. It will make a considerable difference to me to be on the end of a row, though. Whether it is in the last pod or whatever... I would prefer a corner if possible... I need to not feel... Surrounded by squeely and yippy people on all sides...
One of the demonstrators was saying that around 1 in 4 don't seem to have opened their lab manual before class... So I got told to mark mine up with highlighters. So the tutors can tell at a glance that I have put in the work, I suppose. Apparently quite a few can't do a 'simple titration' even by the end of their second year. It puzzles me that they don't think that maybe they aren't teaching them right if they haven't learned how to do that in 2 years... They really do seem to think that either you know before you start with them or there is no hope for you. I wish they could list all the skills they are going to assume that I have already (that they aren't going to teach me) so I could make sure I learn them. Youtube... I said about maybe getting glassware since they can't give me any practice with it... Since they said kids are sick of that from school because teh teachers do it all the time because it is cheap... I think youtube is the way to go. watch that... All the people showing you how... Get a sense of the way things should be done from that. Just like dissection... Apparently they won't show us how because some kids already know and they will be bored. I don't understand why they can't have options for kids who won't be bored. Or options for kids who don't expect to be entertained. I mean... Those bored kids.. Can they do it perfect, then? 100%? I'm not saying to make everyone suffer through... Just to offer a class for people who think they could stand to learn something...
Anyway... Whatever... I give up. You need something to reward the kids / parents who paid a fortune for their kids private school education, I guess. The schools who had enough money to purchase equipment like Ph meters and element plates that have a magnet that stirs solutions and so on and so forth... The schools that have teachers good enough to offer lunch time science classes or whatever so the kids could spend plenty of time with the equipment. Learning how to use it all properly. So then when they get to uni they can simply use the equipment to do what they are supposed to do. Instead of not knowing how they are supposed to do anything... Because the lab is designed to not bore the rich kids / parents instead of teaching the kids who don't know. But it is what it is. I can't save the world. I need to just worry about me, for now.
I need to spend less time with mother. I had a conversation that was... HOrrible, really. Triggering. Yeah. I talked to her last week and that was okay. Then she made me promise to phone her this week at a certain day for her birthday... Which I didn't really want to do, but then thought that it seemed important to her so whatever... Anyway... When I got her she was exhausted really from everything. Super excited. Her friend... Old... Was in hospital for a while and now just transitioned into a home. So mother was spending nearly every morning with her while she was at the hospital. She's like that, you see. When people are sick and can't get away then she's absolutely bloody stoked. Because they can't get away, you see. And she can be all... virtuous feeling. so she's on and on and on (wonder where i get that from) about how she was feeding her because otherwise she wouldn't eat (gosh damn i remember that) and so on... and it makes me feel... dirty and horrid, actually. i hope her friend is enjoying it... she might be, i suppose.
and now she's still super excited because she gets to spend her mornings at the home. which is full of people. and so she's full of stories about these people and so on and so on and so on. and of course she's bored and lonely and it gives her something to do with her day. which is great. but she's full of this sense of... virtue. righteousness. that she's doing these things... that other people should be all thinking that she's so very noble etc for going and spending all this time with her... but she's not doing it for her friend, really, she's doing it for herself. because she's bored and lonely and getting a kick out of it. she said something about how she was telling the nurse that she hoped that the other people there didn't mind how mother was so chatty to them all etc etc etc... that the nurse should tell her if they just wanted to be left alone... and i was like 'can't you tell? can't you tell from people whether they seem to be enjoying chatting with you or whether they seem to want you to leave them be?' and i realised...
she can tell. and when she gets that sense that you want her to leave you be -- she really homes in. especially if there is something that she's doing in particular that is upsetting you... she'll sort of grab that and magnify it. and then be all fascinated with what you are going to do with that / how you are going ot react...
and the point of getting a nurse to tell her is that then she hopes to have a conversation with the nurse about how she's virtuous and righteous and friendly and so on and so forth and the other person is a grumpy meanie and so on. even though she knows the nurses are run off their feet... she was saying about how her friend was doing something in a toilet or shower or whatever and she was helping and then she needed help so she sounded the alarm and then the nurse didn't come... she didn't come... and i was like 'are they busy - or are they loafing about in a nurses station?' and she was like 'they are really busy'. and i'm thinking to myself... and there you go... making more work for them... oh but mother is 'helping'. of course she is.
and she is f*ck*ng exhausting. and i can't deal with it. especially since she's what i had when i was growing up... she's the model i had in teaching me how to cope with my own sh*t...
i have my hands full with dealing with hightened physiological arousal myslef. tendencies that ... repulse and disgust me. that i loathe... that... magnify with certain kinds of stressors. chemistry labs worry me... those good kids... i want to be able to calmly fit in there.. and i'm not sure that i'm capable. right off the bat. think i'll freak a bit... become horrid lab partner for one of them. do i deserve a lab partner who knows what they are doing? i'm not entirely sure that is so...
i don't know what i'm saying. but i do know i want to focus on wanting to be better... and i can't cope shoved in the middle of a herd... i am afraid that i'm just like her. but i do think that somehow or other i've got better insight into and can perhaps gain better control over some of this sh*t... i also think that i am different, somehow. that while i might have some tendencies to be like her... i am different, somehow. my emotions... have turned out not to be anywhere near as bad for me to deal with and her emotions were. getting her emotions out of me.. that was a huge f*ck*ng issue to start with... and talking to her.. she doens't have basic ideas of how things like the weather or food or whatever affects mood etc... she's determined it is 'because god wills it so' (she went through a phase of that for a number of years) or... her anxiety... she talks about it like it is an external demon that afflicts her that she has no control over...
i will refocus on my exams... and get this grading done. i will.. physics... it is 'simple physics'. not simple for me, clearly, but simple. it is stuff that will recur. it is worth learning it as best i can. especially if i'm not planning on doing any more of it. i will need to work hard on my moles to mass etc over summer... because that kind of stuff will be required for organic labs. in a noisy environment, too...
Posted by alexandra_k on October 16, 2014, at 2:34:21
In reply to Re: books, posted by alexandra_k on October 15, 2014, at 20:10:42
It was a real rabbit warren... This... I guess what I thought was another building. Through heavy double doors... Past a bunch of lockers at what sort of looked like a dead end in the passage way. Twists and turns. Some screens... Seats and benches behind them for quiet study... Glass doors that look like they are part of a lab leading into lockers... With a group study room off to one side. Then through some doors... Past the second year labs... Then the first year ones (with the rowdy rabble) right at the end. As far away from everything else as possible.
I think the place might be quite well designed, really. A few prominant swipe card only access... So that curious people are put off trying doors. Chemistry gets the perk of being able to put chemical hazard signs up around the place... I imagine other places are similarly rabbit warren like that. But unless you have a class scheduled in a 2nd year room you wouldn't discover all the paths and alleyways and so on... You simply wouldn't think to go certain places. I mean, even getting to the physics help room... You go into a lab then around the corner into a place that gets you wondering whether you really are supposed to be in there...
And that's the way things have to be. I understand that. Just one more year of it... And I guess... I know where some of those chemistry spaces are now... I might be able to get some quiet(ish) study done around there...
The lab... I feel kinda bad... He gave me the prelab blurb that they get... When chemistry is usually really very closed about their manuals. You have to hand over your ID and they check you are enrolled before you are allowed to purchase... He said that I could observe that lab because it wasn't being assessed... Only of course it was assessed. I only saw half of it... And I wasn't really following along, truth be told. And I can't understand it... And I most certainly can't actually do it without the actual solutions... But I feel bad about having it. I wonder... Should I offer to give it back?
Perhaps... Perhaps it doesn't matter. The 'unfair advantage' thing, I mean. Some kids got years of playing with expensive lab equipment at their expensive High School. Who has the most advantage, you think? Wanna swap mothers, anyone???
Posted by alexandra_k on October 16, 2014, at 17:31:25
In reply to Re: books, posted by alexandra_k on October 16, 2014, at 2:34:21
so...
the physics class is 'basic concepts in physics'. they do keep on about how physics isn't just about your ability to plug the values into the equation and do the calculations... but that is because i think they are concerned that they have some lazy maths students who are hoping to breeze through from their mathematical competence.
it makes them inclined to try and put tricky little tricks in there to trip them up. which means... the maths is totally out of my league. i mean... there is no way.
one of the lecturers... said that they weren't trying to trip us up... they were trying to reward tiny little glimmers of physics understanding... and there are a bunch of conceptual questions. e.g., 'what is the physical principle behind fibre optic cable' (total internal reflection) and so on... there are a bunch of conceptual questions like that...
i'm sitting on 22.86/30 percent thus far. test worth 10% on the latter stuff that i'm least good at... and then exam worth 60%. i think the thing to do... might be to forget about the equations... and instead... try and understand the concepts. so i can get the concept questions. and... to draw pictures. models. so... when i can't get the calculation out... because i didn't know algebra let you do that rearrangement... or because i didn't understand the rearrangements enough to see that equation chain would let me get out the value i needed... then maybe i can get 1/2 a mark or maybe even 1 mark (out of 2 or 3 marks) for... drawing a picture that shows i know something about the situation...
drawing the reflections... or the harmonics... or whatever... i don't know... i guess it can't hurt. even if the stuff isn't entirely relevant (i'll make it as relevant as i can)... it will make it more likely that they will try and scrape me up a pass at least... than if i don't have anything at all on the page. i mean... you can't give people marks for nothing...
it makes it feel more manageable, anyway. to focus on the textbooks... the concepts. the story. there is plenty i need to learn... and it is relevant... to the eye... and so on. metabolism... motivation... working up to it.
i have never felt so stupid.
Posted by alexandra_k on October 17, 2014, at 22:05:49
In reply to Re: the solution, posted by alexandra_k on October 16, 2014, at 17:31:25
Feeling glum today... The weather has taken a turn...
The Truman Show is on TV tonight... I feel like I'm living in something like that, sometimes. Not that I'm TV entertainment for others... But that there might be some government people somewhere who are structuring things in my life in certain ways... At times I'm well aware that it is some kind of feeling of significance that is borderline delusional. Coincidences that... Simply have to be.
Followed a year through OY1 from this forum... It is... Nicer... To read about people whose grades are a bit lower... There was some stuff on strategy for parts of the UMAT... How you do the object completions that simply made no sense to me before. And some helpful stuff on how everyone seems to hate chemistry labs... How certain parts of certain courses are harder than others... And something of an outline of Chemistry... We do stuff on rates that isn't in the textbook. We did stuff on rates at the start of this year.. God dammit... I hated the stuff on rates. Sigh. I will need to revise that / actually figure out how to do it... And I've been revisiting the Ka to PKa conversion with the negative log scale and so on... That stuff will recur for sure. And it is pretty much expected to be revision for the kids who have done it already... And it will simply swamp those who haven't... The more I get done over the summer the better the grades I'm likely to earn, for sure.
Still... Ill motivated for my courses at the moment... I think it is because I don't see much in the way of correspondance between time / effort spent and actual payoff. Because... The lecturers present things more circuitously... Questions that... Aren't fair, really. And for law... It isn't about ideas... The ideas that I've been focusing on... Rather... It is pithy summaries of the ideas - most of which I simply can't countenance... Together with strings of facts about names and dates. It is mostly about applying the later to some kind of coherant story... Not about... Digging out the truth. If that makes sense... I just... Can't.
The Anatomy and Physiology textbook I've got... It really is growing on me a great deal. A lot of clinical content stuff... The only gripe I have with it is that the text description isn't well arranged with the in text figures / diagrams. I can't read the text and follow through the picture at the same time, you have to flip the pages about... I guess that is the advantage to having an anatomy book on the one hand and an atlas on the other... I guess it will help that they will give us diagrams again in our lab manual... It has becoming clear to me that the text goes into a lot more detail than I need to know (but that a few marks are devoted to rewarding people who have read it) and so... Read it for fun, I will. That is, uh, what it seems to be there for. The second semester the only course that matters is A&P (only need to retain a B+ average overall - which can be done with minimal work, really) and so those A+'s are... Hard earned. Very competitive. The exams are beautiful. It feels like... Learning medicine properly. Everyone says it is really well organised and presented and interesting... Looking forward to it a great deal.
Been looking at exams... Parts of chemistry are making me happy :) Even the stuff on rates... Looks really rather a lot like the questions from last semester... Population health... Seems to be (in part) a bit of a test of language comprehension... English language competence... Knowledge of the NZ health system... Questions that rely on your getting the difference between 'means tested income' and 'means tested benefit'... Harder for those who struggle more with the language, for sure. Those who don't know anything about benefits (ie harder for those who have lived sheltered lives, perhaps)... Stats / critical reasoning sort of thing... I think it will be fun, really.
I sort of feel bad for not being more focused on this year... But... On the other hand... It is important to focus, sometimes. I shouldn't have done law, really... But I did it for fun, I suppose. Biosci... My lab grades consistently improved over the course of the semester. And (I've managed to learn) the first is never actually assessed (though they don't tell you that)... So the first lab... To do with setting up the microscope and getting your magnifications etc... Is all a trial run. And you get feedback on what you have done for your next one (that really is assessed). I really enjoyed the dissections. I... Enjoyed labs a lot, really. Stimulating... Yeah. Needed down time... Yeah. But I really enjoyed them. Medsci... Multi choice quiz based on your prelab mostly. The dissections... Not assessed. It is just chemistry labs... And everyone hates them... And the average mark for them (including all those kids who didn't open their lab manual before class) is 13/17. And so... The thing to do is to NOT let them consume too much time beforehand... Suck it up... Copy / follow along. Amongst all the panicked eyes... (not enough demonstrators for the students is what it amounts to, I think)... Just get through them. Aim to be... Average. Average will do.
Posted by alexandra_k on October 19, 2014, at 4:44:21
In reply to Re: the solution, posted by alexandra_k on October 17, 2014, at 22:05:49
I think i'm becoming a real science student... I spent most of the day printing off past year exams. Cutting them up into sections. Collating questions by topic so I've got something of a test bank of questions by topic.
Patterns do emerge. Of the 'diagram x for even years and diagram y for odd years' variety. Or the same content, really... But with every 2nd key word ommitted even years and every 3rd on odd years or whatever... Patterns like that.
You wouldn't want to count on it... But it helps you focus your study (On ALL that content) for sure. To be able to draw those things. To be able to label them up. To be able to fill in the key words on descriptions of them.
Anatomy and Physiology turns out to be a hell of a lot less anatomy and a hell of a lot more physiology than I had supposed. And physiology turns out to be... Graphs. Graphs and equations. Damn. Lots on the heart. Lots on the lungs. Lots on penises. I guess they try and do reproductive systems early while the kids are still obsessed... I see why everyone goes on about it being an interesting class. Sigh.
Chemistry... I have a better sense of parts to the exam. So... Topics for the course, in other words. But later and earlier stuff mashed about a bit... Across the different sections. Stuff on rates. Oh. It was nice of them to have introduced stuff on rates last semester... Even though I didn't follow a lot of it. I can go back over that stuff... Rates isn't in the textbook so I'll need to do something. And there are some other calculations I need to go back to and figure, as well...
I feel a bit like it is cheating... Only... There is a test bank at the library and the tests are available to enrolled students. They do tell us that we should use them to study... We have to log in to view them and they tell us that they are for us to use to study... That we are not to pass them on or whatever. So... It is legit.
I guess the real use of it comes from... Having them now. Instead of having them later... Too late to make good use of them.
It isn't complete... One of them only had 2 up there... The rest are restricted. And the exam is only content from 2nd half -- so don't know what we get for 1st half...
Anyway... I do feel like every opportunity is there for me... I really hope I don't mess this up...
New interview structure... Mini ones... Because they are cheaper than panels so they've introduced them for nursing and optometry and everything... And so the people who interview you... Haven't read your blurble. Don't know your grades. There isn't any continuity or getting to know you between questions... So... I'm less likely to f*ck up by being honest. LIke what happened with the last. Where... Even though they said I interviewed well I didn't get waitlisted. In other words... They decided from my interview that I was a definate no. And really... It doesn't get to be a worse interview than that...
Is one way of seeing it.
ANyway... I hope I don't fail physics. I am kinda scared about that. I think... I think they really won't like to fail students... Sigh. Sigh. I just want these classes to be over with already...
Posted by alexandra_k on October 19, 2014, at 19:56:02
In reply to Re: science, posted by alexandra_k on October 19, 2014, at 4:44:21
okay... i'm doing it... putting things away. getting my crap together for this year...
grading ticking along in bits and pieces an hour or two here and there. seems to be the most pleasant way of doing it.
i've put all the stuff for next year away in its boxes. textbooks, too. a week or three left... to focus on exams... once those grades are locked in they are locked in forever. what is three weeks in the rest of my life? i won't regret doing this later...
Posted by alexandra_k on October 19, 2014, at 20:14:26
In reply to Re: science, posted by alexandra_k on October 19, 2014, at 19:56:02
67 slides for a 50 minute lecture... ffs.
Posted by alexandra_k on October 20, 2014, at 22:03:34
In reply to Re: science, posted by alexandra_k on October 19, 2014, at 20:14:26
I phoned Mother.
Just because.
I had a feeling...
They told her she could visit on Tuesdays and Thursdays for an hour per visit. But that she needed to stay away, otherwise.
They really took the time to do it properly. Had a (her words) 'big family meeting'. And they told her that she obviously really loved her friend to be spending so much time there (yeah, it was totally about her friend)... And so on and so forth. And of course she was upset... But now she is mostly okay. She said she was exhausted with spending all that time up there...
She was full of stories.
Mostly stories which involved mother getting her friend wound up about various things and mother ringing the bell and wanting the staff to come and placate mother. I mean, her friend. Who mother had gotten all wound up.
A story about how upset her friend was that she wasn't getting this special nutrition drink that she was supposed to have / was used to having... But then she said that it was just as well she was there to remind her friend she was supposed to have the drink because she seemed to keep forgetting that she was supposed to have it! So... Mother would remind her about this super special super delicious nutritious drink that her friend was supposed to have... Don't you want your yummy drink??? Hmm... Hmm.... HMMMMM? And then ringing the bell and reminding the staff that she was supposed to be having this drink and see how upset she was that she wanted the drink and there wasn't a drink and where was her drink and see how upset she was see? see? SEE?
Then after they asked mother to go... Mother overheard one of the nurses telling her friend that the head nurse and doctor had decided she didn't need the drink since she was eating so well (though of course mother was combo force feeding her and probably eating more than half of it)...
It is really hard to listen to her go on about such things...
About how she went to look for more food for her at one point and the kitchen people said there is some stew... Or some pineapple... And Mother was like 'I'll take her the stew' and the kitchen person was like 'I thought she was vegetarian' and mother was like 'don't tell her there is meat in it and she will never know'. And then mother was trying to feed it to her and her friend was asking what was in it and mother was saying 'don't think about that - just eat it' and then the kitchen person came out and told her 'there is meat in it'. And mother was like 'ssssh she'll never know if you don't tell her haha'. And the kitchen person was like 'there is meat in it'.
And then they took mother aside (because, you know, they don't have better things to be doing) and explained to mother how she needed to respect her friends wishes. And how mother was like 'But she's got dementia'. And they were like 'But she's not totally gone yet'.
These are the things Mother will pronounce clearly. Loudly and clearly. About her own behaviour. And other people will listen... And become progressively uncomfortable... And repulsed by her behaviour. And when Mother can see them getting upset she will continue. She'll raise her voice even louder, to get more of an audience.
She was all happy... Because she was SO IMPRESSED at how they respected her friends wishes even though she had dementia... And SO IMPRESSED at how they were full of appreciation for how much she loved her friend...
There is something wrong with her. That she can't see how other people... Are repulsed by the fact that she... Uses her friends as platforms for her own dramas... Nobody would let her get near them with a barge pole.
What is wrong with her?
Is that wrong with me, too?
Posted by alexandra_k on October 20, 2014, at 22:31:43
In reply to Re: science, posted by alexandra_k on October 20, 2014, at 22:03:34
those are just two examples. i tried to recount them... the way they were. minimal interpretation.
but that is her. over and over. a continual stream of it. a continual stream of stories about things... just like that.
she'll tell me that she doesn't understand why her neighbour closes her curtains during the day. her house must get all musty and be all dark with her curtains closed like that. maybe she's depressed? maybe mother should go over and try and cheer her up?
or maybe she's closing her curtains because she's stick of mother sitting there watching everything she does all day.
constant...
when i was little...
my teachers would be forced to listen to stories about how i couldn't go and ride horses because i hadn't made my bed... or about how mother needed to make me stay at the table until midnight because i wouldn't eat my mound of silverbeet.
i think...
i think she wants someone to step up to her and tell her it like it is. and tell her that her behaviour is not okay. and tell her what behaviour is okay from her. what sorts of things would be more appropriate. maybe because she doesn't know.
it is just exhausting. it is like... she's emotionally 3 years old or something. if another person is around then she simply will not regulate her emotions (she's incapable of helping regulate anybody elses).
i think i see some things in me... which is why i stay away from people. because she doesn't seem to care when they cringe away from her... but i see and it hurts me. a lot. i feel disgust and shame. she... doesn't seem to. i .. don't know what to say.
what is wrong with her? what is wrong with me?
Posted by alexandra_k on October 21, 2014, at 18:27:58
In reply to Re: science, posted by alexandra_k on October 20, 2014, at 22:31:43
histology lab today. it is the same content as stuff they do first up next year so i'm motivated to be learning it.
physics test tomorrow morning. i think it will scare me a bit and i'll put in some good study between now and my physics exam around this time next week.
there are aspects of biology that overlap with next year, for sure. i will try and learn those as best i can. i will give some of the lecture notes content a miss... but i will try my best to learn the relevant sections of the textbook that overlap with next year.
law... i don't entirely know what to say... she puts notes up of her summaries... i will do my best to engage honestly with the topic. i don't have a bunch of time (or motivation) to be cramming various things... but i will do some study, for sure. especially with respect to sealord and the constitution... she's bound to ask about the treaty given the number of international students...
i want a dell supersharp 22 inch monitor. i have decided :) mostly because... it has fabulous reviews and i've found an ex-lease one for less than $200. if i can learn to study from pdf books... i will save myself a fortune on hardcopies and on printing over the years... i really should give it an honest effort. having a nice display will help a lot. especially for anatomy. i am kinda obsessed about learning anatomy... i know it is common for people to lament that medical students don't really learn their anatomy these days etc etc etc. well... today... in properly studying my textbooks... i remember how much i love cramming those little facts / stories about stuff.
takes a bit to get it in there in the first place... but then you get to where it rolls smoothly off the tongue. a little bit everyday... so many atlases... so many labels... a little bit everyday... i think that is the way... i hope i can get the monitor before someone else picks it up... a little bit of grading...
i hope... i... uh... i really do need to pass my classes this year. not passing physics could potentially be probematic. i've applied for a scholarship, too... not sure that i'll get it... i think it is sort of more about financial need than about academic excellence... well... sort of both... it couldn't hurt to get better grades. i'm just... well... physics seems overwhelming. overwhelming for me.
a little grading... keeps me sane, honestly. life is good.
Posted by alexandra_k on October 22, 2014, at 17:29:46
In reply to Re: refocus..., posted by alexandra_k on October 21, 2014, at 18:27:58
the test was truly horrible. there is no way that i passed it. i don't know what to do... exam next thursday.
Posted by alexandra_k on October 23, 2014, at 0:49:59
In reply to Re: refocus..., posted by alexandra_k on October 21, 2014, at 18:27:58
well... mother got me the monitor as an early christmas present. for which i sort of feel bad... but sort of not.
i just took a benzo. that is 2 of 5 gone. the ones i got when i lost my wallet that i found...
i... started to freak out that i wouldn't get into health science next year if i failed physics. then i didn't know what to do. i wandered over to physics... to see if someone could advise me on how best to study. should i focus on doing past years problems (following along all the worked problems i can). should i focus on understanding the textbook. should i focus on printing out what is in some instances more than 20 powerpoint slides per class???
i couldn't find anyone... so i went to the learning people... to try and make an appointment to see them... to see if they could find someone who could advise me as to whether it matters or not.
but of course i can't get in to see them until it is too late, really.
i guess i just... do the best i can.
i think... i'll say that i'll finish up the grading i've got.. but no more (the very last assignment). it will be sad about not having the extra money... but i really do need to focus on these exams.
i don't have a bunch of money to go printing off the masses and masses of lecture notes. people seem to think that you can chop a novel into powerpoint slides. sigh. still... monitor should be up and running monday or tuesday... i got a cable...
just get through this... then i can learn anatomy from all those fabulous anatomy books i managed to find online... i can view pictures and text at the same time with the A&P book i have next year... learn to use it for study that way...
and maybe a little teeny tiny bit of WOW. over the summer...
just get through physics for now. ideal gases. thermodynamics. i suppose... would be good to know. sigh.
Posted by pontormo on October 24, 2014, at 1:16:41
In reply to Re: books » pontormo, posted by alexandra_k on October 11, 2014, at 16:58:47
Hi Alex,
Sorry I haven't been around to respond.
Sounds like the nurse really overreacted. I mean of course you shouldn't hit people-- but calling the police seems really premature.
I suppose she might have thought you were about to become really violent-- and I guess she could have felt that you had crossed the line. But if she found you threatening, why not call a doctor, or just get reinforcements from some of the staff?
It sounds as though it turned out more or less okay in the end-- luckily. I guess you dodged a bullet as they say. Although they also say that all's well that ends well.
I guess in the future maybe screaming at her, rather than taking physical action, could have caused a more self-protective commotion-- and taking a few deep breaths and coming back the next day at a different time would have been a more effective --and altogether more rational--strategy.
I'm glad it turned out as it did.
Posted by alexandra_k on October 24, 2014, at 2:28:13
In reply to Re: your case-- (from upstream in the thread), posted by pontormo on October 24, 2014, at 1:16:41
hi :)
> Sorry I haven't been around to respond.
that's okay. i mean... it is nice to have responses... but it is also nice to... vent. or something. i do feel bad seeing lots of my posts on a page... but i don't suppose it stops me... so... all is well.
yeah... the cop said that she was having a bad day and decided enough! i guess... we were both about as stubborn as each other. i won't be going back there...
so... it worked out okay in the end, yeah. i ended up going to a GP who was reccommended by an autism support group who i'd emailed. she turned out to be really great. and now i regularly see a nurse from there. she is mostly great. sometimes not... but being sometimes not is being human. so... she's pretty terrific, yeah.
> I'm glad it turned out as it did.thanks.
how are you doing? anything you want to share about what's going on for you?
Posted by alexandra_k on October 24, 2014, at 18:04:30
In reply to Re: your case-- (from upstream in the thread) » pontormo, posted by alexandra_k on October 24, 2014, at 2:28:13
I have rearranged my room... It makes a huge difference, actually. Something that I like to do every now and then. A bit of a fresh start. It has been a bit hard with the places I've been living. Having such a tiny space. Only one logical place for things. Perhaps that was why I needed to move rooms occasionally.
Anyway... The monitor makes a huge difference. Really, very. Odd.. For what is, in many respects, a very tiny thing. I guess my mobile phone made a huge difference to my life, too. My mobile... Gives me instant access to emails. And I can phone people occasionally. Which I've actually taken to doing. My Mother, even. For better or worse... I think it is important to the both of us to get along.
The monitor ties me to my desk, rather. Which would have been a bit of a pain before. For so many years now... Like... 11 or 12 years... I've loved laptops for their portability. Being able to write my thesis in cafes or under a shady tree...
The only writing I do these days is Babbling. All my assessments have been multiguess. I can't remember the last time I had to submit written work... Even law is exams rather than essays. I had to write a one page assignment for tech... Aside from that... Applications for things... But no written work since Australia.
I don't really need a laptop anymore. Maybe I'll get a desktop next time around. Bootcamp windows. Play Skyrim ahahaha.
The main thing I need in a study space is... To have the stuff, yeah. The books and the powerpoints etc... I'm hoping I can get away without a printer with having the monitor display... But what I really need... Is to be able to chatter to myself. Tell myself stories. 'There are 5 kinds of junctions: tight, adherans, desmosomes, hemidesmosomes, gap. tight junctions bind cells tightly so contents of organs don't leak. they can be found in the lining of the stomach, intestines, bladder. they are comprised of strands of transmembrane protein...'
And then of course, one day, find a good group of people who study like me... And we can quiz each other 'what is the transmembrane protein in a hemidesmosome?' and 'where would you find a gap junction?'...
none of this.... 'draw a graph of the pressure - volume relationship shading the amount of work'.
I think I might get a bean bag. They have them in the short loan library and they are terrific. You can sort of... Lie back on them to stretch out your hip flexors. YOu can lie across them on your belly like a whale... Until the library people grump at you for lying on the floor (no lying on the floor! it is a rule, apparently. And beanbags count as floor sometimes according to some of them). You can move about in them, that is the point... So you don't get... Stuck. Siezed up. Gosh darn it I am getting old. I have been thinking about getting one for a while, but thought there wasn't really room for it... But I think there is room for it... I can squash it into a corner under my desk... Or into a corner beside my desk... I might even be able to get a little table / book shelf / drawer space kind of thing... Sorely need one... No freaking drawers / stuff all shelves in this room... Living out of bags...
I know it is weird... But little things like this... Are so important to me, psychologically. Perhaps because this really is my home. It isn't a... Hotel. I'm not here for a 6 month student exchange and then moving on. I'm not even here for the 24 weeks of the academic year and then moving on. This is me... This is it... I don't have much... But I kinda like the idea of really... Really liking the stuff that I've got.
I remember one of my friends saying something like that to me... She said that she was used to having lots and lots and lots of stuff growing up. She had a bunch of sisters... So clothes, in particular. Lots and lots of stuff... But then moving around a lot for conferences... And study stints here and there... And she was coming around to this idea of having 1 suitcase full of good stuff. Instead of wardrobes full of mostly crap. Or... Stuff she didn't really like. Or stuff she might fit into one day. Or whatever...
I really like that way of thinking... Except for these nice wool / silk pants I got for my last med interview... Pretty charcoal and they sit just right... Before I got my squatters *ss. God dammit... THey never will fit again :( Bloody things are probably cursed, anyway. Perhaps that is the way to look at it...
The monitor... Really is very beautiful for moving images. Wow... Wow, indeed. Pictures... Are terrific, too. Text... I am dissapointed in text. I think it is because of all the stuff I read off the internet... People were saying that text was a very basic thing... Moving images... Colour... Those are hard. Basically making it sound like text is to moving image as walking is to running (toddlers learning aside). Like the demands on moving image are so much higher... Anything competent in that can handle text easy.
But I'm finding moving image to be beautiful, indeed. But text is looking grainy to me. Grainier than textbooks. The edges of text - at any font size - look pixelated. But I don't find that with printed textbooks. Why is this???
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