News of the Day
Nov. 12th, 2015 12:09 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stormdogThe professor who teaches my research design class, which the whole incoming cohort is in, will be out of town next week. To make up for the class, he took us all out for dinner at the restaurant inside a local hotel just off campus. One of the most memorable parts of dinner with my cohort tonight, for me, anyway, came during a conversation about life paths and whether people went directly to grad school or not. I mentioned that I was turning 37 this year, to which one of the other students exclaimed "I didn't know you were that old!"
Yeah. Thanks, kid. That reminds of when I was in my mid-twenties and someone, at a furry event if I recall, referred to my ex and I as "an old married couple."
I honestly forget how old I am. I reread my post and that number seems so odd to me I had to think about it for a second and do the math to make sure it's correct.
Speaking of the passage of time, I was reminded in class today that there is only one more discussion session for my poli sci class. Then there's Thanksgiving break, and then we're presenting on our papers. Which I have made next to no progress on, other than deciding on a topic and getting a sketchy outline approved. But at least that's something.
And speaking of life paths, my two sessions with the counselor have been helpful, more or less. I talked about how much I love working in the library and with archives and about the possibility of doing an MLIS after my geography master's (assuming I complete it). She suggested I talk to the map librarian here at SU about his career path and my ideas about mine. I think that's a really good idea, and have added a to-do to my list to make an appointment. We have an appointment over the break, and I'm also going to meet with one of the organizers of the grad student group therapy sessions so I can get into them next semester.
Despite the fact that I did the barest of skimming through readings for class today, I managed to talk semi-intelligently about them in the little group discussion I was in. This was a bigger relief than it might have been because the professor decided to sit in with one other student and myself to make a group. No pressure, right? The reading we talked most about was a qualitative study of implementation problems within prison education systems, which was more interesting to me than most of the literature in that class, so that was a help.
I got to the doctor this morning to get my pain issue checked out. I'm not particularly worried about privacy, but I'll put details behind a cut to save you from unwanted exposure to
I've had symptoms that are reminiscent of a UTI off and on for a couple years. Tests for infections and STIs have been negative, so the burning pain that requires half an hour or so of sitting on the toilet trying to pee has been unexplained. The worst it's ever been was the week I spent in the jungle of southern Chiapas, when I was getting up four or five times a night to climb out of my hammock and walk to the latrine area. I think it was related to being dehydrated. Typically it's only an issue a couple times a month. Three nights in a row, though, is frustrating enough (and has a large enough impact on my functionality) to put more time into. I got blood, STI, and urine testing done. I suspect they'll all be negative again. (It is kind of convenient to have STI testing done since it's been a long time; on the other hand, it hasn't been terribly relevant for a long time either.)
If no explanation results, I may be referred to a urologist for a cystoscopy. That sounds singularly unpleasant. However, if my suspicions that I may have some kind of urethral stricture are correct, that's the way to find it. What might have caused that? Maaaybe 80 miles a week of bicycle commuting for two years, though that doesn't seem to be the typical form of injury to male anatomy that that activity causes. Maybe during one of the couple of bad crashes I had I came off the seat and landed on the metal frame; I don't remember that, but, kind of like car crashes, my memories of those moments are a little fuzzy. So that's that. I sure hope I can get this resolved; it's been an annoyance for a long time.
After dinner, one of the three classmates I got together with for Spanish practice a few weeks ago mentioned that they might be getting together for something over Thanksgiving break and asked whether I'd be around. It felt nice to be thought of and included. Maybe Danae and I can have dinner with some folks while she's here.
That's today's excitement in my world. How are you?
Yeah. Thanks, kid. That reminds of when I was in my mid-twenties and someone, at a furry event if I recall, referred to my ex and I as "an old married couple."
I honestly forget how old I am. I reread my post and that number seems so odd to me I had to think about it for a second and do the math to make sure it's correct.
Speaking of the passage of time, I was reminded in class today that there is only one more discussion session for my poli sci class. Then there's Thanksgiving break, and then we're presenting on our papers. Which I have made next to no progress on, other than deciding on a topic and getting a sketchy outline approved. But at least that's something.
And speaking of life paths, my two sessions with the counselor have been helpful, more or less. I talked about how much I love working in the library and with archives and about the possibility of doing an MLIS after my geography master's (assuming I complete it). She suggested I talk to the map librarian here at SU about his career path and my ideas about mine. I think that's a really good idea, and have added a to-do to my list to make an appointment. We have an appointment over the break, and I'm also going to meet with one of the organizers of the grad student group therapy sessions so I can get into them next semester.
Despite the fact that I did the barest of skimming through readings for class today, I managed to talk semi-intelligently about them in the little group discussion I was in. This was a bigger relief than it might have been because the professor decided to sit in with one other student and myself to make a group. No pressure, right? The reading we talked most about was a qualitative study of implementation problems within prison education systems, which was more interesting to me than most of the literature in that class, so that was a help.
I got to the doctor this morning to get my pain issue checked out. I'm not particularly worried about privacy, but I'll put details behind a cut to save you from unwanted exposure to
I've had symptoms that are reminiscent of a UTI off and on for a couple years. Tests for infections and STIs have been negative, so the burning pain that requires half an hour or so of sitting on the toilet trying to pee has been unexplained. The worst it's ever been was the week I spent in the jungle of southern Chiapas, when I was getting up four or five times a night to climb out of my hammock and walk to the latrine area. I think it was related to being dehydrated. Typically it's only an issue a couple times a month. Three nights in a row, though, is frustrating enough (and has a large enough impact on my functionality) to put more time into. I got blood, STI, and urine testing done. I suspect they'll all be negative again. (It is kind of convenient to have STI testing done since it's been a long time; on the other hand, it hasn't been terribly relevant for a long time either.)
If no explanation results, I may be referred to a urologist for a cystoscopy. That sounds singularly unpleasant. However, if my suspicions that I may have some kind of urethral stricture are correct, that's the way to find it. What might have caused that? Maaaybe 80 miles a week of bicycle commuting for two years, though that doesn't seem to be the typical form of injury to male anatomy that that activity causes. Maybe during one of the couple of bad crashes I had I came off the seat and landed on the metal frame; I don't remember that, but, kind of like car crashes, my memories of those moments are a little fuzzy. So that's that. I sure hope I can get this resolved; it's been an annoyance for a long time.
After dinner, one of the three classmates I got together with for Spanish practice a few weeks ago mentioned that they might be getting together for something over Thanksgiving break and asked whether I'd be around. It felt nice to be thought of and included. Maybe Danae and I can have dinner with some folks while she's here.
That's today's excitement in my world. How are you?
