Events are occurring at a much faster pace than I have been able to keep up with on my blog. I hope to get into the details of these things later, but here is a quick recap:
Robert and I had a good birding trip to the Laredo area, and I picked up 3 new species, bringing my ABA life list to 455.
I decided to drop the late-afternoon T/Th econometrics class from my schedule because it was making the logistics of my life very, very difficult. (I am taking a stat class on M/W afternoons and continuing my job with the marketing professors.) At first, I was like, damn, I already purchased the book. But then I realized that I can learn some of this stuff from reading the book and also save about $800 on tuition. Cool.
My organic paper was accepted to the conference. I had initially received only one review, upon which they decided to accept the paper, because the second reviewer had not responded by the deadline. The first review was very supportive and offered some constructive criticism for improving a paper that they believed was decent as it stood. Then this afternoon, I received the second (belated) review, which was....pretty bad. The most positive part of it was the opening clause to the effect of, "While I commend the authors for trying to do X..." Actually, that was the only positive thing the reviewer had to say.
I was pretty much crushed by it at first (reacting at a purely emotional level) but after a good cry, and taking a nap, I came back to read it again. This time, it became apparent that the reviewer was from a very different subdiscipline, had his own ideas about what was and what was not interesting or valid to study, and ultimately did not believe that my approach (which is utterly standard) could "possibly" yield anything of value. The latter bit was actually a good thing to know, since it meant that the perceived flaw was not in my study, but in an entire methodology. He also obviously misunderstood several things that I think were very clear and obvious and then became sort of snarky and shitty about them, also perhaps confusing my own beliefs with the statements of my respondents. Robert summed it up best, saying: "He obviously thinks that if it's not Scottish, whatever his own definition of Scottish may be, it's crap."
I will need to revise my paper into a 12-page version for publication in the conference proceedings. I am meeting with my professor/co-author next week to discuss what I need to do now.
While I was telling Robert about this bad review, I opened my mail and found out that I have received my first admission to a graduate program, contingent on acceptance by the Graduate School itself (which is almost assuredly forthcoming, since the Graduate School usually wants to make sure you meet baseline criteria like minimum GPA and GRE scores). I will find out about funding in March. The letter went out on the application deadline, which suggests to me that they had already looked at my app and put it in the "No Brainer Admit" category. So: yay. (The program is not one of my top 2, but is a program I would be happy to attend and is in the Philadelphia area.)
In other news, my allergies have been super-bad the last week or so, and I am really freaking tired. So obviously, it's time to exercise. Blah.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Stupid-Ass Excel Error of the Week
Robert spent time on the phone today with people at one of the companies who have to report information to his organization, explaining the myriad errors they made in their spreadsheet.
The most idiotic one involved summing row 49 - 55 when they should have summed row 50 - 55. This meant that they were adding the date, stored in row 49, to the dollar data below it. Since the dollar data only added up to $21,000, and Excel stored the date as 40,000-something (the number of days since Jan 1, 1900 or whatever), the sum was clearly, utterly wrong. Robert reports that they "capitulated on that one almost immediately."
Unlike some other times Robert has found screwy stuff with companies' spreadsheets, this does not appear to be a "mistake" that they made on purpose.
The most idiotic one involved summing row 49 - 55 when they should have summed row 50 - 55. This meant that they were adding the date, stored in row 49, to the dollar data below it. Since the dollar data only added up to $21,000, and Excel stored the date as 40,000-something (the number of days since Jan 1, 1900 or whatever), the sum was clearly, utterly wrong. Robert reports that they "capitulated on that one almost immediately."
Unlike some other times Robert has found screwy stuff with companies' spreadsheets, this does not appear to be a "mistake" that they made on purpose.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Fattier Than You Think
As part of my lit review work today, I came across a reference to this 1997 report from the Center for Science and the Public Interest that has some interesting information about health claims on restaurant menus.
For me, this was the stand-out fact:
"Keep in mind that restaurant foods are probably fattier than you think: The nutrient content of restaurant meals is extremely difficult to assess. A survey conducted by CSPI and researchers at New York University found that trained dietitians underestimated the calorie content of five restaurant meals by an average of 37%. They underestimated fat content by 49%.
For example, the dietitians estimated, on average, that a tuna fish sandwich provided 374 calories and 18 grams of fat, while the sandwich actually contained about 720 calories and 43 grams of fat!
If well-educated nutrition professionals consistently and substantially underestimated the calorie and fat content of restaurant meals, it's clear that ordinary consumers also have trouble guessing what's in their meals."
Yikes. Of course, I guess this means I can feel a little bit less stupid (or at least, in better company) for having underestimated the extreme calorie content of that piece of chocolate cake.
For me, this was the stand-out fact:
"Keep in mind that restaurant foods are probably fattier than you think: The nutrient content of restaurant meals is extremely difficult to assess. A survey conducted by CSPI and researchers at New York University found that trained dietitians underestimated the calorie content of five restaurant meals by an average of 37%. They underestimated fat content by 49%.
For example, the dietitians estimated, on average, that a tuna fish sandwich provided 374 calories and 18 grams of fat, while the sandwich actually contained about 720 calories and 43 grams of fat!
If well-educated nutrition professionals consistently and substantially underestimated the calorie and fat content of restaurant meals, it's clear that ordinary consumers also have trouble guessing what's in their meals."
Yikes. Of course, I guess this means I can feel a little bit less stupid (or at least, in better company) for having underestimated the extreme calorie content of that piece of chocolate cake.
Upside, Downside
I started my new job as a research assistant last week and have been working 6-8 hour days doing literature review (i.e. reading and synthesizing a huge amount of published research and eventually writing the opening lit review section of a journal article). This has given me a lot of interesting psychology / marketing / food & nutrition stuff to write about, but not much time to do any actual writing on this blog. All in due time, I suppose.
I will not be working such hours every day in the weeks to come (I am working 20 hours/week) but I am trying to get ahead because Robert & I are going on a long (Wed-Sun) MLK weekend to an area of South Texas somewhat west of our last trip with hopes of getting a few more Texas specialty birds on our lists. (Cactus wren, be ready.)
The upside of the job is that I work from home, so my hours are entirely flexible and I don't have to make the long drive to campus.
The downside of the job is that I work from home, where distractions are plentiful.
On this note, to work.
I will not be working such hours every day in the weeks to come (I am working 20 hours/week) but I am trying to get ahead because Robert & I are going on a long (Wed-Sun) MLK weekend to an area of South Texas somewhat west of our last trip with hopes of getting a few more Texas specialty birds on our lists. (Cactus wren, be ready.)
The upside of the job is that I work from home, so my hours are entirely flexible and I don't have to make the long drive to campus.
The downside of the job is that I work from home, where distractions are plentiful.
On this note, to work.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Bad Gifts
Reading this funny article (via Megan McArdle's blog) reminded me once again of the Worst Gift I got from my grandmother, I think when I was in junior high or high school:
She gave me a completely worn out grey fake-leather narrow belt a lot of sizes too large for me that she had added a few new holes to so that it could fit me, albeit with an extra foot or so of belt sticking out on the end.
It is almost impossible to fathom how this could have happened. Did she forget that it was my birthday to the point that she had to scavenge her own belongings to find something to give me? That's a pretty common scenario where she's concerned. But putting the new holes in it took time and effort and would not have been as easy as just giving me an extra can of peanuts that she had sitting in her kitchen...which was, by the way, her most common gift to my dad, when she wasn't giving him an open can of tennis balls, all of which were totally flat, that she clearly picked up from her own garage where they had been sitting for a decade, or a Christmas-themed plastic-fake-stained-glass suncatcher with the 25 cent price tag still on it. (This is bad enough in itself, but it was a birthday gift for an early January birthday, clearly purchased at a post-Christmas sale.) So I can only imagine that she for whatever reason was done with this belt herself but thought that I would somehow want it or use it. Was it too small for her, so she was handing it down? Any normal person would recognize that it should have been discarded about 5 years earlier, but she infamously keeps things forever, no matter how crappy they get, if it will save her a dime.
Of course, this is the same woman who once gave my mom an entirely ancient bathing suit one season when my mom didn't have one and then years later asked for it back. I should be happy that she didn't ask for the belt back, since I got rid of it right away.
What's the worst gift you ever received, that was given with full sincerity? What's the worst/best joke gift you have ever received?
She gave me a completely worn out grey fake-leather narrow belt a lot of sizes too large for me that she had added a few new holes to so that it could fit me, albeit with an extra foot or so of belt sticking out on the end.
It is almost impossible to fathom how this could have happened. Did she forget that it was my birthday to the point that she had to scavenge her own belongings to find something to give me? That's a pretty common scenario where she's concerned. But putting the new holes in it took time and effort and would not have been as easy as just giving me an extra can of peanuts that she had sitting in her kitchen...which was, by the way, her most common gift to my dad, when she wasn't giving him an open can of tennis balls, all of which were totally flat, that she clearly picked up from her own garage where they had been sitting for a decade, or a Christmas-themed plastic-fake-stained-glass suncatcher with the 25 cent price tag still on it. (This is bad enough in itself, but it was a birthday gift for an early January birthday, clearly purchased at a post-Christmas sale.) So I can only imagine that she for whatever reason was done with this belt herself but thought that I would somehow want it or use it. Was it too small for her, so she was handing it down? Any normal person would recognize that it should have been discarded about 5 years earlier, but she infamously keeps things forever, no matter how crappy they get, if it will save her a dime.
Of course, this is the same woman who once gave my mom an entirely ancient bathing suit one season when my mom didn't have one and then years later asked for it back. I should be happy that she didn't ask for the belt back, since I got rid of it right away.
What's the worst gift you ever received, that was given with full sincerity? What's the worst/best joke gift you have ever received?
Monday, January 5, 2009
Mom's Life List
Because Robert & I have been to South Texas a couple of times before, we knew that our ability to pick up new bird species would be limited. We have already seen the "easy" birds, and Robert did not plan the trip to maximize our chances at the hard birds we have yet to see.
But since it was my parents' first trip, they had a lot of new birds in store, including many that are common in the deep southern parts of the Rio Grande Valley but not seen elsewhere in the United States.
My mom just reported that she added 60 bird species to her life list, for a new total of 236 birds! Congratulations, Mom.
And as predicted, even my Dad, with his preference for big, easy-to-see birds, got tired of the ubiquitous, large, charismatic, completely-unphased-by-people Plain Chachalaca.
(Photo courtesy of dencwheel's Flickr photostream, since I brought my camera but never used it on the trip.)
Trip reports plus photos by other people with a great deal of skill, patience, and expensive cameras with lenses longer than my forearm to come.
But since it was my parents' first trip, they had a lot of new birds in store, including many that are common in the deep southern parts of the Rio Grande Valley but not seen elsewhere in the United States.
My mom just reported that she added 60 bird species to her life list, for a new total of 236 birds! Congratulations, Mom.
And as predicted, even my Dad, with his preference for big, easy-to-see birds, got tired of the ubiquitous, large, charismatic, completely-unphased-by-people Plain Chachalaca.
(Photo courtesy of dencwheel's Flickr photostream, since I brought my camera but never used it on the trip.)
Trip reports plus photos by other people with a great deal of skill, patience, and expensive cameras with lenses longer than my forearm to come.
Back in Austin
I'm back from my greatly needed, hugely enjoyed birding vacation with Robert and my parents to the upper Texas coast and Rio Grande Valley (details to follow). Not only was it inherently fun, it served the important purpose of distracting me from thinking about the semester that starts Jan 20 and the rejections/acceptances that will be coming from grad schools and the conference to which I submitted my paper.
I got an email from my new boss that I will be spending most of my time this semester working on their "obesity" paper but also helping her out with grading, etc., for her course (which appears from the schedule to be a Promotion Strategy class). I'm supposed to meet with her this week to get my paperwork and schedule straightened out.
Robert took my car in and got a bunch of things fixed. I should now have functional brakes and shocks, among other things.
Almost immediately upon returning to Austin from South Texas, my allergies kicked into high gear. I only realized in retrospect how much better I had been feeling while away from home, despite the fact that I'd been spending a lot of time outdoors. (Of course, I had also been away from rabbit fur and hay, so perhaps that offset things a bit.) Robert briefly wondered if he had somehow contracted a cold before recognizing that he had simply reverted to his typical level of stuffiness and sinus pressure.
Although I have not applied to programs in the most non-allergenic parts of the country, basically anyplace I go will be better than Austin, Allergy Capital of the US per an article in my allergy medicine newsletter several years ago. Right? Oh crap. Greensboro, NC is the #2 Spring Allergy Capital, while Austin is #54. But Austin does continue to hold its own as the #1 Fall Allergy Capital, with Greensboro, NC as #37. OK, I'm hosed.
Leopold was pleased to be back from the rabbit-sitter, although of course he was treated well at her place. When Robert showed up to get him, he was sitting comfortably on a big stuffed chair with two cats. But the first morning he was home and let out of his cage, he ate a few bites of breakfast, ran around the room, binkied (the rabbit mid-air twisting dance of joy), ran some more, then flopped out in his favorite spot under the futon and fell asleep. In a few days, his course of antibiotics will be over and he'll be a very happy bunny indeed. I have already gotten some good pet therapy from him, so he's been back to work right away as my chief morale officer. Fortunately, during the trip, he had arranged for several eastern cotton-tail rabbits to make their appearance at strategic points, ensuring that my bunny withdrawal did not reach a critical level. That's good management.
I got an email from my new boss that I will be spending most of my time this semester working on their "obesity" paper but also helping her out with grading, etc., for her course (which appears from the schedule to be a Promotion Strategy class). I'm supposed to meet with her this week to get my paperwork and schedule straightened out.
Robert took my car in and got a bunch of things fixed. I should now have functional brakes and shocks, among other things.
Almost immediately upon returning to Austin from South Texas, my allergies kicked into high gear. I only realized in retrospect how much better I had been feeling while away from home, despite the fact that I'd been spending a lot of time outdoors. (Of course, I had also been away from rabbit fur and hay, so perhaps that offset things a bit.) Robert briefly wondered if he had somehow contracted a cold before recognizing that he had simply reverted to his typical level of stuffiness and sinus pressure.
Although I have not applied to programs in the most non-allergenic parts of the country, basically anyplace I go will be better than Austin, Allergy Capital of the US per an article in my allergy medicine newsletter several years ago. Right? Oh crap. Greensboro, NC is the #2 Spring Allergy Capital, while Austin is #54. But Austin does continue to hold its own as the #1 Fall Allergy Capital, with Greensboro, NC as #37. OK, I'm hosed.
Leopold was pleased to be back from the rabbit-sitter, although of course he was treated well at her place. When Robert showed up to get him, he was sitting comfortably on a big stuffed chair with two cats. But the first morning he was home and let out of his cage, he ate a few bites of breakfast, ran around the room, binkied (the rabbit mid-air twisting dance of joy), ran some more, then flopped out in his favorite spot under the futon and fell asleep. In a few days, his course of antibiotics will be over and he'll be a very happy bunny indeed. I have already gotten some good pet therapy from him, so he's been back to work right away as my chief morale officer. Fortunately, during the trip, he had arranged for several eastern cotton-tail rabbits to make their appearance at strategic points, ensuring that my bunny withdrawal did not reach a critical level. That's good management.
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