This is a text-only version Spring 2024 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.")
9:00-11:00 Course development - I'm
trying to re-write two classes plus create a new class for this
summer, so I need to hide away from people to concentrate.
Please do not disturb me during this time.
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 Office hour - Boehm 135
2:00-5:00 Either working with students on in the Scanning Electron
Microscope Lab, or doing research with students in the
petrology/geochemistry lab, depending on student need
.
Tuesday
8:00-9:30 Petrology and Geochemistry lecture in Boehm 126 - can
you imagine what horrible things these students must've done in a
past life to be condemned to an 8:00 am class about how minerals
interact with water, magma, and one another? Karma?
9:00-11:00 Lab preparation - Lab prep (selecting microscope
slides, getting other instrumentation ready for lab class in the
afternoon)
11:00-12:00 Meetings - either Geology Club or department meeting
or Undergraduate Research Committee meeting
12:00-1:00 Economic Geology lecture in Boehm 126 - teaching
students about how mineral resources concentrate and how to find
them so we can have a civilization that supports so many lives!
1:00-2:00 Senior Seminar in Geology in Boehm 100 - helping geology
majors do last-minute preparations for their careers during their
last semester in college
2:00-5:00 Petrology 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.")
9:00-11:00 Either Scanning Electron Microscope lab,
Petrology/Geochemistry lab, or working on developing curriculum
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 Office hour - Boehm 135
2:00-5:00 Scanning Electron Microscopy lab - training young
scientists to use super high-tech instrumentation to analyze
infinitesimally small things
.
Thursday
8:00-9:30 Petrology and Geochemistry lecture in Boehm 126 -
oof! Poor students. Early morning trudge through
freezing winter weather. Then an hour and a half of monotone
mumblings by some big old bald guy. Maybe Dante was wrong
and there is a TENTH circle of hell, eh?
9:00-11:00 Mystery time - this is a time block that I'm not
committing to a specific task, but which I hope to use to explore
something new each week. I spend so many hours every day
teaching other people stuff. Don't I deserve some time for
mental growth?
11:00-12:00 Meetings - because one hour of my life isn't enough of
a sacrifice to satisfy whomever
12:00-1:00 Economic Geology lecture in Boehm 126 - exciting
exploration of the origins of mineral resources - karma worked out
well for these students! They must've done some mighty good
deeds to have life so sweet this time around! :-)
1:00-2:00 Senior Seminar in Geology in Boehm 100 - helping
students put that final polish on their college educations
2:00-3:00 Lunch time with a very dear friend (English professor Dr.
Jennifer Forsyth)
3:00-5:00 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)
.
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.")
9:00-11:00 Course development - Working in isolation on developing
these three classes (two current plus one new). Please
do not disturb me during this time.
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 preparation - setting up the samples, etc. for the
afternoon Economic Geology lab.
2:00-5:00 Economic Geology lab - giving students hands-on
experience with mineral resources.
.
.
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:
.
Small Kindnesses
.
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.”