Venting Thread- Vent about anything.

[grad_wannabe]

Went onto my undergrad institution's website to look up some contact info for my LOR writers (phone #, official title, etc). There is a "featured story" along the top of the main page, and every month they add a new story about a recent graduate, a rising senior, or incoming freshman that has an interesting story. Basically someone who can make the school look good. The featured story also appears in a side bar in other areas of the website, but in that location a random story is pulled every time the page is loaded.

 

I saw one of my fellow graduates from the biology department in that side bar. I don't recall his major right now, but we had the same advisor and his senior project involved using a plant secondary metabolite as an antibiotic. The project could have been awesome, but it wasn't. It wasn't well designed and he didn't use a single statistical test on his data to see if his results were significant. During presentations, he was asked by a stat professor what test he used to determine that the compound had significantly decreased bacteria levels (he had thrown around the word significant several times). He replied that the line on the graph (which I believe showed bacteria levels over time for each treatment) dipped lower than the other two lines, and thus, the compound was more effective.

 

The featured story gushed about how important antibiotic research is and how the project really prepared him for graduate school (which he didn't apply to because he had a job offer). It really annoys me that they put him on the website when several other students did much better projects (and actually knew how to use the word significant). But I guess being good-looking and doing a project on a hot topic like antibiotics (even if it sucked) makes the school look way better than putting someone on there that actually understands the scientific method but researched something less sexy.

 

By way of offering a bit of a consoling reason as to why he might have been chosen for this type of thing:

 

My graduate institution did a similar thing on me. I was the subject for a "student profile" news story for the campus newspaper, which later led to a "student spotlight" cover story and video interview splashed across the center of the front page of the university's website.

 

I don't think I was in any way the most accomplished, most interesting, or even the most well-spoken of my cohort.

 

The reason I got the spotlight? I'd recently done some run-of-the-mill support work for the administrative office of my department. (Like, I drafted some paperwork for them or something, really humdrum.)

 

When a journalist from the campus paper called the admin office and asked if they could recommend anyone in the department for a student profile, I was top-of-mind, just because I'd been hanging around the office for a few days.

 

Then it was easy for the news office to keep passing my name up the line when they needed a subject for the video interview. 

 

These things don't always happen to those who deserve them. Could be he was just in the right place at the right time. 

[Catria]

I wonder which chamber is most responsible for Congress' role in civilian scientific policy: the House or the Senate...

 

My family claims that, while Congress has been less incompetent in civilian scientific matters than my home country's government, the situation could change depending on which chamber plays the greater role in civilian scientific policy: for them, if the House plays a greater role, then it can't be that much worse; on the other hand, if it is the Senate, then the situation could become catastrophic.

[Psych_Mom_15]

YES. What is this, 1990? As one of my professors says on his contacts page: "

Fax:

Seriously? Scan it and send via email."

Lol!

Ok, so here's my vent/rant/harangue

I have to take the GRE tomorrow and I'm nervous as [crap]. I just finished Power Prep II which I completed all the sections, labored through the questions, and really gave it my best. Only to find out two of my math sessions weren't saved (or something). All I know is, one math section didn't show up and the other didn't have any of my answers.

One of my letter writers said she couldn't write my letter of recommendation until after the 15th of December. Yeah, well that's past my deadline. Whatever.

Ugh. Why, why, why do I need to take the GRE?

Application season is kicking my [@$$]; I'll be glad when this is over and done with.

[maelia8]

AGH I left my laptop charger plugged into the wall of a locked conference room when our meeting got out last night at 8 and now I have to go in super early in the morning to retrieve it before anyone has class in there. At least I know that the cleaning guy was in there before the meeting started and the room has been locked since we were in there so it can't have been stolen ....

[gellert]

It should be illegal to be this busy.

[Gvh]

Yeah, I'm the first in my family, too. I hate when people judge like that. Plus, half my SO's family thinks I'm going for psychiatry for some reason. That's what people wish I was doing, apparently!

 

If it's any consolation, my Harvard cancer-biology PhD student of an SO *still* thinks I'm going into psychiatry. For most people, psychiatry, psychology and psychoanalysis all run into the same "psy". At family dinners I just smile and nod now. 

[ck926]

I decided to run preliminary analyses for my senior thesis last week because I had almost 90% of my data collected. Beautiful, interesting results. Today I collected the last of it, results vanished. Poof. Things that were showing up p=.03 are all now like p=.12. Really?

I know it's easy to become discouraged at higher p-values, and sometimes they are meaningful, but they are not the "end all be all", so try not to get too caught up in it. Here is an article that does a great job of explaining why: http://www.nature.com/news/scientific-method-statistical-errors-1.14700?WT.mc_id=FBK_NPG_1402_NatureNews

 

Also keep in mind there is a difference between practical significance and statistical significance! 

[aojfifjoaisjaiosdj]

A professor I really need a recommendation letter keeps ignoring my emails. *sigh* And her office hours are when I have classes.

Edited November 21, 2014 by Chiki

[1Q84]

People in my life who think like this:

 

[VulpesZerda]

If it's any consolation, my Harvard cancer-biology PhD student of an SO *still* thinks I'm going into psychiatry. For most people, psychiatry, psychology and psychoanalysis all run into the same "psy". At family dinners I just smile and nod now.

  

Haha, yes, smiling and nodding is the solution. Today my eye doctor was asking me about my plans and I figured he'd get it. He did, but of course had to add in a comment about "It's too bad you won't make any money after all that schooling". Lololol thanks doc.

I know it's easy to become discouraged at higher p-values, and sometimes they are meaningful, but they are not the "end all be all", so try not to get too caught up in it. Here is an article that does a great job of explaining why: http://www.nature.com/news/scientific-method-statistical-errors-1.14700?WT.mc_id=FBK_NPG_1402_NatureNews

 

Also keep in mind there is a difference between practical significance and statistical significance!

Thanks so much! Luckily, after I cleaned up the data I found some pretty good stuff. Also, the absence of significance for some of my variables is pretty interesting.

[aojfifjoaisjaiosdj]

Still. No. Reply. T_T I'm starting to get scared for my future. 

[Imaginary]

Sigh. First of all, I just lost my entire post.

 

Ok, here goes. I’m lonely, I’m tired (the cold, dreary, gray, snowy, and freezing rain days when I could be in California don’t help) and I worry about both my current productivity and my future job prospects just about every day. I was just looking back at my emails from last year and remembering how excited I was and how helpful my POI was and how I couldn't go there because of money and family issues.

 

Early in the term I thought I overcommitted and then it turns out it doesn’t matter, because after showing up to both an interview and a general meeting for a VOLUNTEER position, I got stood up for another meeting by the PAID director of the organization and he never responded to my emails.

 

At the moment, I’m sitting outside the bathroom on the floor while my son takes a bath. I have grading to do and lately, even though I enjoy teaching, the only thing I look forward to is staying up late so my SO and I can watch Fringe.. except I’m always too tired to stay awake.

[i.am.me]

I feel beaten down because I live in a world where an unarmed teenager can be shot by a cop without legal just consequences. I am sad that I am acquaintances with people that tell me to get over these things and practice "functional apathy." It easier for them to do so because they don't have brothers, cousins, or nephews that are criminalized by the color of their skin; but I do, so it's hard for me to not be scared sometimes. 

Edited November 25, 2014 by i.am.me

[smg]

Operating heavy machinery without working lights in the dark.  not fun. 

[mandarin.orange]

At family dinners I just smile and nod now. 

 

I'm heading into this holiday season, armed with this specifically for family dinners. 

Me, dad, bro, boyfriend and I can generally have a decent, interesting conversation and are all well-versed in science. It's mom who gets on rants, loves drama, is oblivious to social cues, and changes the whole dynamic towards something unbearable. We need structure!

I just snuck some of the cards under placemats (the TG table is already set). E.g., "What fashion trend did you embrace that's now ridiculous," "if you could own any car, no matter how ridiculous, what would it be," etc. I'm actually looking forward to some of the responses. 

[Gingersnaps]

Work is toxic. Today was the last straw. Rumours are rife while bosses don't know or choose to be oblivious. Was made to wait until last minute for approval that needed to be done by early afternoon. Supervisor is dumping her work on me. Screw you!

I'm giving myself 6 months to find something else. I have grad school assignments up to my eyeballs.

[ERR_Alpha]

This is definitely a "first world problem" but our cable is out so I can't watch the parade or football later if they don't fix it why do cable companies suck so hard??

On a happier note, happy thanksgiving everyone!

[bsharpe269]

I am the first person in my family to attend grad school and among the first few to attend college. No one in my family gets the process at all. With divorced parents, I am currently trying to juggle 2x the amout of family holiday stuff with finals coming up, an RA position that I am trying to keep up with, and 6 PhD apps due next week.

 

There is a family event going on tomorrow night that I just cant go to. It will a 45 min drive each way plus a few hours there and with PhD apps and a final next week, I just cant do it. When I tell my aunt this, she gets upset with me and says that I am going way too overboard with PhD applications and I am applying to too many schools and "wasting" all of my money. She asks why I dont just apply to my favorite couple. I try to explain that they all are great fits and have low admission and I want to make sure I get into some great fit schools. In return, I just get a lecture that I am taking all of this way too seriously. Dude, I want this applicaiton process to speed along just like you do! This is among the most important things that I have done up to this point though and will have a huge impact on my future. Do I really need a lecture for not being able to hangout the night before the first applications are due??

[Taeyers]

On Friday afternoon, I brought my dog to the vet thinking she wasn't well and might have early Cushing's or early symptoms of heart failure (both cases would still give us multiple years with her). Instead, found out that her chest and abdomen are so full of fluid that she's considered to be in critical condition. After spending 4 hours and nearly $1k at our vet clinic and then the emergency after-hours clinic, we went home while she waited at the emergency vet for treatment. We were told that she needs thoracocentesis, but may decompensate and die from the procedure. After two hours of crying non-stop at home, I called them to find out that they had already done it, she made it through fine, and they forgot to call and tell me. RAWR!

 

Nothing in the world could have prepared me to have to sign forms with directives as to whether or not my dog should be resuscitated if her emergency procedure causes her heart to stop that day. She seemed mostly fine all day, and 3 months ago (when she had her last bloodwork and x-rays) she was perfectly healthy. Because my energetic little dog was such a good sport and hid her symptoms, we had no idea she was in a health crisis.

 

She seems to be better now (after I pried diuretics from our usual vet on Saturday), wagging her tail as happily as ever and breathing almost normally, but I'm constantly terrified for her and for us. I'm not even remotely ready to see her die or to make that decision. My heart hurts... 

[spectastic]

I was gone for 3 days, and someone was supposed to feed the cats (three of them; one of them my roommate's). they got fed, but none of the shit got scooped. nada. The litter box was packed down to the centimeter. and the small one took a shit on the floor next to the litterbox as soon as I got home, and almost pissed on the floor had my fast reaction not caught her and put her in the half filled litterbox that I cleaned out. they're good cats, so I'm not expecting to find any surprises.

[shadowclaw]

I was gone for 3 days, and someone was supposed to feed the cats (three of them; one of them my roommate's). they got fed, but none of the shit got scooped. nada. The litter box was packed down to the centimeter. and the small one took a shit on the floor next to the litterbox as soon as I got home, and almost pissed on the floor had my fast reaction not caught her and put her in the half filled litterbox that I cleaned out. they're good cats, so I'm not expecting to find any surprises.

 

Oh boy, I understand this. I got married over the summer on a cruise. It was almost eloping... only our parents came along. We were gone for 8 days, and needed someone to babysit my parents' dog and someone told feed my husband and mother-in-law's 4 cats.

 

My parents asked my niece to come stay at the house to take care of the dog (she's a needy little yappy dog). I've done this for my sister for about 5 years, and do it several times per year when she goes on her many vacations (she has 2 dogs, 5 cats, and a bird, and used to have a 3rd dog until about a year ago). My parents bought a ton of food for her (really enough for two weeks or more) because she's a picky eater, and specifically told her not to bring the dog to her house. The aforementioned dogs are big and a little stupid at times, and they've unintentionally hurt my parents' dog before when they played too rough. So when we got back, we noticed that my niece only ate one little pack of poptarts. Nothing else. She didn't even drink her favorite iced tea. She eventually told us that she brought the dog to her house "just for a visit," which means she probably got bored after one day at my parents' house and decided to just go home with the dog for the rest of the trip.

 

No harm done, I suppose, and at least she actually took care of the dog. I can't say that about the person who watched the cats! My husband asked his friend's girlfriend to stop by a few times to feed and water them and scoop the boxes. She lives about 15 minutes from the house, and normally drives by anyway. When we got back, we found that she did indeed feed the cats. It looked like she stopped by once, made a big pile with the cat food on the floor, and completely ignored the litter boxes. The cats must have peed on every fabric surface in the house, and they all decided that my mother-in-law's bed was the perfect place to shit once the boxes were full. The boxes were absolutely disgusting, and there wasn't a single bag of scooped litter in the garbage.

[VulpesZerda]

I'm joining in with the other anxious folks here on the forums re: a potentially late recommendation letter.

 

This has been on my mind so much that I had some kind of nightmare about it last night, of course. The letter is written, but a lack of response on email for the past several weeks frightens me about whether or not the deadline will be met.

 

At least I'm not alone!

[Rose Tyler]

I'm freaking out hardcore right now because it's deadline day and one of my schools--my second choice, go figure--doesn't have two of my letters. I'd been checking on it online but I wasn't sure there was anything wrong until Saturday when my third referee turned in all of his letters at once and his changed to be marked as submitted. I resent the notification email a week ago because I figured that would be enough to remind them but apparently it wasn't. Now I'm kicking myself for not just emailing them directly in the first place. I did so yesterday, apologizing for not getting in contact early and letting them know the letters haven't been marked submitted, but I got an "out of office" reply from one of them. She was on vacation for the holiday and while she'll be back today I don't know if she's going to get my email in time.

 

I'm so thankful for this forum. At least I know others are or have been in the same boat. I vented to a friend who's applying next cycle (she doesn't know much about the process from what it seems) and my SO but neither of them can really understand.

Edited December 1, 2014 by Rose Tyler

[spectastic]

left the little one out overnight because roommate wants her to be an outside cat doing pest control. little did it occur to us that there's a stray that hangs around, so last night comprised of loud shrieks from the kitty from fighting off the stray. and she was so scared that she wouldn't come in. I let her in this morning covered in chunks of mud. The dude cat was hissing from the scent of the stray, who probably tried to rape the little one, while the girl cat just sniffed her.

 

we need to put that stray bitch down somehow. we tried the cage trap, but it was too smart for that. might have to get creative.

[GCool]

How difficult is it to send/receive one transcript?

 

This is why we should pay people in Bursar/Registrar offices at least 100k and entice smarter people to go into the wonderful world of clerical work.

Edited December 1, 2014 by GCool