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rebeccmeisterThat whole bicycle expedition down to Tucson and back went pretty well overall, I must say. I was especially grateful for the fine company of DM and CG on the ride back to Phoenix - we were able to maintain a comfortable pace, neither too fast nor too slow, and enjoyed the scenery. The ride out was a little too jock-ish for my tastes, I've decided - the riders who ended up riding with me were kind of concerned about how slow they were going or how out of shape or how manly they were, and the pace was just a touch too fast to be comfortable to maintain. Interestingly, I don't think the return pace was significantly slower, overall. It was just less...combative, one could say. No one was trying to win anything or prove any point. DM, CG, and I all decided that the person in the lead would be decided by how we individually felt about being in front or being behind, without too many regimented expectations about drafting or pacelining. So rather than having the person in the lead "pull" the paceline for, say, 30 seconds, before cycling to the back, the person in the lead would fly along, enjoying the fresh, cool air and sunshine and scenery, while the people behind relaxed a bit. It probably helped that the return ride was more-or-less downhill, with a bit of tailwind as well.
Regardless, it was a good ride, overall. I am most pleased by the fact that my butt isn't extraordinarily sore, or chafed, or covered with saddle sores. I'm also pleased by the fact that I feel tired, but not exhausted, and I feel like my body is resting and recovering well. I have some numbness in the ring and pinky fingers in my right hand, from handlebar palsy, but that should clear up as long as I don't aggravate it too much. So altogether, I feel like I'll be in reasonably good shape for the 300-km ride in 2 weeks.
Other than that, let me just say, boy. Mondays are going to be busy, here. It took DP and myself a solid five hours to get things done for the Final Experiment. Basically, on Fridays, we prep for Mondays by mixing up four different batches of polenta (nothing like cooking almost-food in a beaker on a hot plate), and then we spread them into pans to dry over the weekend. On Mondays, we remove last week's feeding trays from the colonies and weigh the leftovers ("Is Mildred eating right this week?"). We also count all of the ants, and take photographs of their fungus gardens.
Then we grind up the dried-out polenta into a coarse powder, weigh it out, and give it to the colonies. The bottom line is that there's a lot of weighing of finicky materials. Last week, I tried using a coffee grinder (blade grinder) to grind up the polenta, with pretty poor results. By the end, the grinder's whack-blade was crumpled like an airplane propeller that lost a battle with a goose. So I ordered a corn grinder, which came in over the weekend, and used it yesterday. The difference was night-and-day, thank goodness.
I also had to submit another postdoc application yesterday. I'll be curious to see what my final tally is, for number of applications submitted. There are all kinds of alternate scenarios for how things could go this spring and summer. The only thing I'm at all certain about is that I will probably end up moving out of the Farmer House in May when our lease is up. That will be a good time to get my belongings all in order for whatever adventure happens next. The ideal, for me, would be to take some time over the summer to reward myself for finishing my dissertation (assuming that I complete it). But if my livelihood continues to depend on the biology of the ants, I may be out of luck. All I can do is wait and see.
Regardless, it was a good ride, overall. I am most pleased by the fact that my butt isn't extraordinarily sore, or chafed, or covered with saddle sores. I'm also pleased by the fact that I feel tired, but not exhausted, and I feel like my body is resting and recovering well. I have some numbness in the ring and pinky fingers in my right hand, from handlebar palsy, but that should clear up as long as I don't aggravate it too much. So altogether, I feel like I'll be in reasonably good shape for the 300-km ride in 2 weeks.
Other than that, let me just say, boy. Mondays are going to be busy, here. It took DP and myself a solid five hours to get things done for the Final Experiment. Basically, on Fridays, we prep for Mondays by mixing up four different batches of polenta (nothing like cooking almost-food in a beaker on a hot plate), and then we spread them into pans to dry over the weekend. On Mondays, we remove last week's feeding trays from the colonies and weigh the leftovers ("Is Mildred eating right this week?"). We also count all of the ants, and take photographs of their fungus gardens.
Then we grind up the dried-out polenta into a coarse powder, weigh it out, and give it to the colonies. The bottom line is that there's a lot of weighing of finicky materials. Last week, I tried using a coffee grinder (blade grinder) to grind up the polenta, with pretty poor results. By the end, the grinder's whack-blade was crumpled like an airplane propeller that lost a battle with a goose. So I ordered a corn grinder, which came in over the weekend, and used it yesterday. The difference was night-and-day, thank goodness.
I also had to submit another postdoc application yesterday. I'll be curious to see what my final tally is, for number of applications submitted. There are all kinds of alternate scenarios for how things could go this spring and summer. The only thing I'm at all certain about is that I will probably end up moving out of the Farmer House in May when our lease is up. That will be a good time to get my belongings all in order for whatever adventure happens next. The ideal, for me, would be to take some time over the summer to reward myself for finishing my dissertation (assuming that I complete it). But if my livelihood continues to depend on the biology of the ants, I may be out of luck. All I can do is wait and see.
