This is a text-only version Autumn 2025 of my
schedule for people who rely less on visual sight (a.k.a.,
"visually-impaired," but vision is more than just eyeball use, and
I don't think people less reliant on eyeballs are any more
impaired than anyone else).
Monday
8:00-9:00 - Getting up to speed - this is when I try to assess
what needs to be done and try to prioritize the day's
projects. I know that many other problems will pop up
throughout the day and totally throw off any plans that I had, but
I like the old Eisenhower quote, "Plans are worthless, but
planning is everything." (A more pro-active and less hostile
variation on the more popular "no plan survives contact with the
enemy.")
9:00-10:00 Office hour - Boehm 135
10:00-11:00 Mineralogy lecture in Boehm 126 -
boring young people's eyeballs out with long diatribes about
the chemistry and physics of minerals.
11:00-12:00 Office hour - Boehm 135
12:00-1:00 Geology of National Parks lecture in Academic Forum 201
- simultaneously hypnotizing 150 young people using nothing but my
deep voice and soothing geology imagery
1:00-2:00 Lab prep - This is when I make final preparations for the
afternoon lab. Please do not disturb me during this
time
2:00-5:00 SEM - Scanning Electron Microscopy "bonus lab" - this is
an extra lab section for my SEM class that I teach pro bono
to help students get more exploration and practice time on the
microscope - it allows us to split the class in half, and so
doubles everyone's experience!
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Tuesday
8:00-9:00 Loafing around
9:00-11:00 Working with
research students on in the Scanning Electron Microscope Lab, or
doing other research with students, depending on student need
11:00-12:00 Meetings - either Geology Club or department meeting
or Undergraduate Research Committee meeting
12:00-1:00 Meeting
recovery hour - trying to regain my sanity after eye-glazing
bureaucratic meetings
1:00-2:00 Lab
preparation - Lab prep (selecting microscope slides,
getting other instrumentation ready for lab class in the
afternoon)
2:00-5:00 Mineralogy lab in Boehm 126 - hands-on practice and
exploration of the stuff people dozed through in lecture
.
.
Wednesday
8:00-9:00 - Getting up to speed -
this is when I try to assess what needs to be done and try to
prioritize the day's projects. I know that many other
problems will pop up throughout the day and totally throw off
any plans that I had, but I like the old Eisenhower quote,
"Plans are worthless, but planning is everything." (A more
pro-active and less hostile variation on the more popular "no
plan survives contact with the enemy.")
9:00-10:00 Office hour - Boehm
135
10:00-11:00 Mineralogy lecture in Boehm 126 -
boring young people's eyeballs out with long diatribes about
the chemistry and physics of minerals.
11:00-12:00 Office hour - Boehm 135
12:00-1:00 Geology of National Parks lecture in Academic Forum
201 - simultaneously hypnotizing 150 young people using nothing
but my deep voice and soothing geology imagery
1:00-2:00 Preparing for my meeting with my research
students. That could involve assembling papers, outlining
discussion plans, or taking a short nap.
2:00-3:00 Research with my special research students exploring
the origins of mineral deposits. Please do not disturb me
during this time - this is their special time
3:00-4:00 Walk with
a very dear friend (English professor Dr.
Jennifer Forsyth).
4:00-5:00 Visit with another dear friend if they're free.
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.
Thursday
8:00-9:00 Loafing around
9:00-11:00 Scanning electron microscope (SEM) lab either
helping someone with their work, or training a student to use
the microscope, or maintaining the instrument (i.e., routine
tuning, etc. or diagnosing problems to fix)
11:00-12:00 Meetings - either Geology Club or department meeting
or Undergraduate Research Committee meeting
12:00-1:00 Meeting
recovery hour - trying to regain my sanity after eye-glazing
bureaucratic meetings
1:00-2:00 Lab preparation - making sure the samples for the
SEM are ready, checking the SEM instrument for potential
issues, etc. preparation before students come in for lab.
2:00-5:00 Scanning
Electron Microscopy lab - training young scientists to use super
high-tech instrumentation to analyze infinitesimally small
things
.
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Friday
8:00-9:00 - Getting up to speed -
this is when I try to assess what needs to be done and try to
prioritize the day's projects. I know that many other
problems will pop up throughout the day and totally throw off
any plans that I had, but I like the old Eisenhower quote,
"Plans are worthless, but planning is everything." (A more
pro-active and less hostile variation on the more popular "no
plan survives contact with the enemy.")
9:00-10:00 Office hour - Boehm
135
10:00-11:00 Mineralogy lecture in Boehm 126 -
boring young people's eyeballs out with long diatribes about
the chemistry and physics of minerals.
11:00-12:00 Research with my special research
students exploring fossils (paleontology). Please
do not disturb me during this time - this is their
special time
12:00-1:00 Geology of National Parks lecture in Academic Forum
201 - simultaneously hypnotizing 150 young people using nothing
but my deep voice and soothing geology imagery
2:00-5:00 Glaze research with professor gwendolyn yoppolo
or research with students or ... !! <8-0
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Here is a good quote for you to ponder:
.
“Almost everything will work again if you
unplug it for a few minutes, including you.” – Anne Lamott
.
And here is a nice poem by Danusha Laméris
titled "Small Kindnesses" for you:
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Small Kindnesses
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I’ve been thinking about the way, when you walk
down a crowded aisle, people pull in their legs
to let you by. Or how strangers still say “bless you”
when someone sneezes, a leftover
from the Bubonic plague. “Don’t die,” we are saying.
And sometimes, when you spill lemons
from your grocery bag, someone else will help you
pick them up. Mostly, we don’t want to harm each other.
We want to be handed our cup of coffee hot,
and to say thank you to the person handing it. To smile
at them and for them to smile back. For the waitress
to call us honey when she sets down the bowl of clam chowder,
and for the driver in the red pick-up truck to let us pass.
We have so little of each other, now. So far
from tribe and fire. Only these brief moments of exchange.
What if they are the true dwelling of the holy, these
fleeting temples we make together when we say, “Here,
have my seat,” “Go ahead — you first,” “I like your hat.”