Things I Wish I Knew
Jan. 20th, 2011 03:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Today, I am devoting a lot of time to tracing outlines around leafcutter ant fungus gardens. These measurements provide a rough estimate of the total mass of the garden, which I can relate to the mass of the worker population as well. It's kind of the equivalent to questions that people ask about crop yields, and how much food it takes to feed ____ number of people.
Anyway, it's a rather tedious job. I've got an undergraduate helping me, thank goodness, so I only have to do half of the colonies (I don't believe in completely passing the buck on tedious jobs). Next week, we'll get another undergrad on board, to ease the burden on everyone. It frees up a lot of time to think, in a semi-productive fashion. As I sit here, clicking away with my mouse, I think to myself, "What do I need to do next on Diss Chap 2? What am I going to teach my students tomorrow? What new knitting projects should I add to the list? When am I ever going to finish making
scrottie's leg-warmers, so I can move on to making something nice for his mom?" And, "If I were to put together a professional website, what would I include on it? How about on an unprofessional website?" (the unprofessional website would have a lot of pages that just contain text, mostly lists, maybe recipes, too). Also, "What should I make in ceramics tonight? How am I going to get this whole dissertation written?"
I've also been pondering useful skills that I currently lack, that might be helpful to acquire in the long run. Two things stand out: more bioinformatics-relevant programming skills, and GIS experience. I'm seeing lots of jobs popping up that look for people with expertise in these fields, and these skills stand out as things that will be beneficial to have in the long run (even though I don't completely agree with bioinformatics). But I don't think I can do anything about them right this moment. Ah well.
Anyway, it's a rather tedious job. I've got an undergraduate helping me, thank goodness, so I only have to do half of the colonies (I don't believe in completely passing the buck on tedious jobs). Next week, we'll get another undergrad on board, to ease the burden on everyone. It frees up a lot of time to think, in a semi-productive fashion. As I sit here, clicking away with my mouse, I think to myself, "What do I need to do next on Diss Chap 2? What am I going to teach my students tomorrow? What new knitting projects should I add to the list? When am I ever going to finish making
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I've also been pondering useful skills that I currently lack, that might be helpful to acquire in the long run. Two things stand out: more bioinformatics-relevant programming skills, and GIS experience. I'm seeing lots of jobs popping up that look for people with expertise in these fields, and these skills stand out as things that will be beneficial to have in the long run (even though I don't completely agree with bioinformatics). But I don't think I can do anything about them right this moment. Ah well.