The Zany Life

I haven't posted in a while...but here is the scoop:

I must have been insane to think that working full-time, taking a full load of classes at OU, and training for my first 1/2 marathon were all a good idea...AT THE SAME TIME. My days have been hectic to say the least. But I am doing my best to stay ahead of the game.

Training has been so-so this week...I took off EIGHT days of running and finally hit the pavement last night (a few days of feeling ill + an overwhelming amount of homework nearly knocked me out of kilter). I was tired and those days off really hurt my progress. I could barely manage 2.5 miles. Plus the Oklahoma winds were up to 35-40 mph and it was crazy! Spring is definitely here and the temps have been a lot warmer. So, I'm still trudging along...hoping for at least a 6-miler this weekend.

The big race is in 23 days!!!!!!

Helluva Saturday

I am feeling much better and it was a gorgeous day in the land of Oklahoma!

I started my new volunteer gig today helping out at the Edmond Historic Schoolhouse [...Oklahoma's First Territorial Schoolhouse was completed in August of 1889. Now over a hundred years later the Edmond Historic Preservation Trust has restored the school to its original state. Open to the public the first two Saturdays of each month from 1-4 and by appoinement...]. I am officially a volunteer with the Edmond Historical Society and Museum. I was supposed to volunteer with the regular docent but she was out of town. So it turns out I met up with the President of EHSM!! His name is Cameron and he is so cool...I learned a lot about the museum, the society, the Schoolhouse and Edmond in general. It was a sunny day in Edmond so we had a lot of visitors. I plan to get even more involved as they need the help. There may even be a spot on the Board for yours truly! How cool is that?? Getting involved in volunteering was one of the best things I have done this year (or ever). I met some amazing people (including Cameron's daughter and wife).

Mom, Dad and Grandma picked me up after we closed the Schoolhouse at 4:00 and we went to dinner! I felt like I hadn't seen them in a long time...it was nice to catch up. After they dropped me off I hit the office to get a few things done (I KNEW there would be a pile of stuff on my desk). Then I got some groceries (including a trashy magazine for fun) and came home to get some studying done (Business Law exam next week). I also whipped up some of these for dinner tomorrow and during the week.

All in all it was a helluva Saturday! :)

Business Law

Here is some of what I'll be dealing with on my exam today:

1) Broken Bike. Mike's Bikes, Inc., a Delaware corporation, sells mail-order bicycles and bicycle parts from its warehouse in to customers living in all fifty states. Pam purchased a new bicycle chain from Mike's Bikes that Mike’s delivered to Pam's home in Oklahoma. A company in New Jersey manufactured the bicycle chain. After three days of normal use the chain broke while Pam was riding her bicycle. When the chain broke Pam lost control of her bicycle, fell, and broke her arm.

Who can Pam sue for the injuries suffered when the bicycle chain broke?
What court or courts would be able to take jurisdiction of Pam's lawsuit or lawsuits?

2) Pothole Shatters Windshield. ABC manufactures replacement windshields for automobiles. Custom Glass purchases windshields from ABC Custom Glass and tints the windshields before reselling them to auto body shops. Custom’s tinting process uses a chemical that causes the glass to turn so brittle that any hard jolt will cause the glass to shatter. Mary had a windshield manufactured by ABC, tinted by Custom Glass, and installed by Big Town Auto Body. While driving, Mary hit a large pothole in the road. The jolt from hitting the pothole was sufficiently severe to cause her windshield to shatter. The shards of shattered glass caused injury to Mary and to her passenger, John. Mary and John sued ABC, Custom Glass and Big Town Auto Body.

Discuss the product liability theories under which John and Mary might recover from the three defendants.

Watch what you say!

We are reviewing Ethics and Intentional Torts in my legal studies class. This week we were to watch several online videos and discuss various legal aspects (i.e. negligence, assault and battery, misappropriation, etc). I thought this video was pretty funny and very cool of my prof to include. Check it out!

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

The Good: It's Friday. The weather is sunny with a high of 45 degrees. Edmond is all aglow with beautiful Christmas lights and the holiday spirit can be felt everywhere in my wonderful town. Mom is selling candy and goodies during Dicken's Weekend in downtown Edmond and I am her Little Helper! Another 'good' is the Big XII game tomorrow--I will be cheering my Sooners on to victory!!

The Bad: It's Friday. I have a Biology final exam on Saturday morning at 9:00 am. There will be no sleeping late tomorrow, no staying up tonight being lazy and watching movies or my plethora of DVR choices. I've made A's on every exam in this class and there is no reason not to ace this final. So I will continue my studies tonight.

The Ugly: Next Thursday is my Differential Equations final exam. And even though I have pulled miraculously through this semester, I am dreading it. My previous three exam grades (and I cringe as I make this public) are as follows in order from exam 1 to 3: C, A, B. I've been all over the spectrum but I'm pretty sure I'm maintaining a B average at the moment. So this final exam could go either way. If I can keep that B average I will be VERY pleased to say the least. And DE will be OVER!!

This man is making my life miserable...

He is Pierre-Simon Laplace, a pioneer in mathematical physics and astronomy.

I enjoy math. I do not, however, enjoy mechanics. All the nerdy engineering students in my DE class are loving the last few weeks of Laplace transforms and all they entail. I don't care about springs attached to objects with a mass on the end...blah, blah, blah. Just give me a differential equation to solve and I am happy--I don't want to know how it applies to physics. Ok, I got a B in Physics but only took it because it was required. I just plain don't like studying it. Ironic, considering my love for biology, chemistry and geology, not to mention how physics makes the world go round. But, alas, I have no love for physics. Don't get me wrong...it's a fascinating field of study. It's just not my cup of tea. Perhaps I don't like it because it reminds me of a self-righteous, arrogant mechanical engineer I used to date...who knows.

But I for sure can't wait until we are done with Laplace and can move on to another mathematical topic in DE. Only one more week of this crap...

Word problems intimidate me!

Here is an example:

A 5-gallon bucket is full of pure water. Suppose we begin dumping salt into the bucket at a rate of 1/4 pounds per minute. Also, we open the spigot so that 1/2 gallons per minute leaves the bucket, and we add pure water to keep the bucket full. If the salt water solution is always well mixed, what is the amount of salt in the bucket after 1 minute? 10 minutes? 1000 minutes?

It's really not that difficult...I have to find the rate of change of salt (hence, a differential equation). But it has me very worried about the exam which is tomorrow at 5:45 pm. I am nervous and will be studying all evening and night. And most likely I will be making things harder than they need to be! :)

Wish me luck,

Differential Equations, attic fans...and lots of caffeine

I've been studying diligently for my Differential Equations exam this Thursday. I am exhausted because all last week I was studying for my Bio exam. On top of that I couldn't get to sleep last night...Sunday nights have always been that way for me. I just can't ever seem to wind down. So when I couldn't fall asleep I finally got up and finished all the laundry, did the dishes and played with the kitties (who were having no problems sleeping but why should they get to if I can't??)

I finally went to bed and fell asleep sometime around 3:00 AM. My alarm was set for 7:00 and boy was I tired this morning. I am hitting the caffeine hard today. One good thing about yesterday was the weather. There was a nice breeze and I think the high was only in the mid-low 70's. I had the windows open all day and night. It was heaven. And of course the kitties love to bask in the sun on the window sills. Because my house is so old (1943) there is a neat little contraption called an attic fan. It's centrally located in the hallway, pretty much where an actual attic would be. My parents had to explain to me what it was when I first moved in. Anyway, last night even though I had the windows open, by nightfall there wasn't as much of a breeze and I felt a little warm. All that cool night air was being wasted! So I flipped on the attic fan and within 5 seconds the whole house was fresh and cool. Granted, it's a pretty loud sound so I knew I didn't want to keep it on all night. But what a great invention!

Ok, I am off to work on separation of variable, Euler's method, linear systems, eigenvalues and equilibrium point analysis...sounds exciting, yes?

Hopped up on caffeine,