One Year Among Many

One Day Among Many began one wintery day exactly one year ago as a way for me to vent some of my frustrations with the America that I was finding to be not as perfect as I remembered. (And having just returned to my office from a Zoology Grad Student Association meeting, I have found people have a lot to say when they have complaints.) But besides complaining, it's a way to keep those of you in my life who I don't see or speak to as often as I would like, especially because I've been in so many states during the past year. The unfortunate (and also kind of eerie) part of a blog is that I have no idea who is reading (unless of course you leave comments) about the details of my life I choose to share. It isn't interactive. But I'm still here, voicing (ahem, typing) my trivialities. And as Suzanne Chavez-Silverman said in Killer Cronicas, it is easier to write when you know someone will be reading. Perhaps that is my main motivation in maintaining this blog: someone is listening.

In other news, I had a social week to start the semester and make up for my somewhat hermit-like break in Idaho. Last week I went to a clothing exchange with Zoology gals, I salsa danced until the bar closed (while trying to avoid the predatory men but flirt with the cute Ecuadorian), I hosted a board game night for my cohort, and I went to check out a trivia night with a few friends at the Mellow Mushroom. I can't keep this up, but because labs (i.e. my teaching load) don't begin until next week, it doesn't feel like the semester has really started. But I am rejuvenated and excited for this semester, a feeling I had forgotten by the end of last semester.

And the big news in the Zoology Department this weekend was that the sprinklers turned on (for some still unknown reason) and a water pipe burst on the top floor of the building this weekend. It took 45 minutes for the message to get from the Campus Police Department to the City Fire Department, so water gushed over expensive equipment for three quarters of an hour and ran down six floors of labs and offices. Students and faculty who were here on Friday night moved freezers to the dry half of the building and tried to cover as much equipment as possible. Thankfully, my half was not affected, though they did have to increase the current to support all the appliances that were shorting out the circuit on this side. From what I heard, no one has lost any samples or data, but equipment damage is still being tallied. Florida has a self-insurance policy, so none of this is covered by insurance because it wasn't a fire. And the College is already 9 million dollars in debt. This disaster is yet another significant time suck for my advisor who stepped in as the department chair in possibly the worst year.

Nonetheless, she somehow still had time for a significant meeting with me today to discuss possible directions for my research and plans for this summer. We're looking to make things happen for a field season in Costa Rica. She might be on her way to winning me toward a nutrient transport study--we'll see. But for now, it means field work in Latin America. I'm sold.