I think wood frogs have a great scientific name. Rana is latin for a frog, while sylvatica means among the woods. I can tell you that woods alone do not make a place hospitable for wood frogs. Oddly enough, if you live within their range, wood frogs are already starting their breeding season RIGHT NOW!!! Because they have an antifreeze-like substance in their bodies, wood frogs can survive rather cold temps. Within the woods, you'll find male wood frogs calling from small shallow pools or ponds. Even depressions left after a tree has toppled and uprooted can be suitable breeding habitat for the wood frog.
I used to live in a state full of wood frogs - I'll call it a conflicted state because its citizens couldn't decide if it was the north or the south, whether it should serve sweetened or unsweetened iced tea. Wood frogs are actually one of the reasons I miss Conflicted State so much. Call me crazy, but there is nothing quite like tromping through the woods on a 40 degree day listening for the squabbling calls of male wood frogs. You'll know you've found a good breeding pond when there are males spaced out every few inches, competing with each other for a space to call and bombarding the unlucky females. I once found a female with six males clasping her - one had ripped her skin open with its tight grasp. I rescued her from the males and put her in another pond. She probably died and I wonder now if I should have just left her there, as the males would certainly have fertilized her eggs once they were released - live mom or not.
I got to thinking about wood frogs yesterday as I listened to spring peepers (Pseudacris crucifer) calling in Boringtown. Peepers exhibit a lot of the same breeding behaviors as wood frogs, but somehow they just aren't as interesting. They also seem to be everywhere, pervasive here in the Bible Belt and in Conflicted State as well. As the planet's temperature rises, I think peepers will probably do ok. Wood frogs, which seem to thrive in cold weather conditions may ultimately suffer when winters are warmer. Vernal pools will be hard to come by and the early wood frog breeding season will be interrupted by other frogs taking advantage of warm breeding weather in January. These are just predictions...as with everything, we'll just have to wait to see if the wood frog can weather the weather.
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Anger
OK, so I have to redeem myself after looking at that last post a few times. Sounds like I'm really an angry person and although I've made up with my husband (on that issue), I do have an anger issue to explore.
I was thinking about this the other day while I was checking out at the grocery store. I like to go through the self-checkout line since I typically bring my own bags to the store. I learned that this was necessary after trying to go through the regular line just a few times. When I asked the baggers to use my cloth bags, it was as if I'd asked them to break the law. They were boggled and usually continued putting my groceries into plastic bags while looking at me curiously. Better still, I lost two of my $5 reusable bags (reusablebags.com) in one of those lines. I guess the bagger shoved them aside in favor of the more sturdy plastic bags.
So, I'm in the self-check line*. Of course, there the scales are tared to the plastic bags (magically) so that if I place my own bags on the scale before beginning my checkout then I am sternly lectured by the machine, "Please remove all items or objects from the scanner and wait." Thus, I have to line up all my groceries on the scale, bagging them only AFTER I have paid. I've noticed that this causes some consternation amongst the customers behind me in line. Or maybe it's just me. I always feel pressured. I chide myself not to worry cause I know I am much faster at self-checking than the average person in the line.
However, Saturday...oh, Saturday...do NOT go to the grocery store on Saturday unless it is before 10 am, you idiot (that's me). Oh! So, on Saturday I went to the store at 3:30 pm, plopped $85 worth of groceries in my cart, and headed for the self-check line. Hmm...long line...When I finally get my turn I notice the people behind me actually edging up towards me as I'm scanning my items. I have several problems with the checking out process - like when the scale doesn't recognize that I've set a greeting card down (cause it's too light, I guess). At some point, I find myself banging my fist down in a place where I don't think I'm going to do any damage. And I don't. At this point, I have an inward mental check where I realize that I might actually be one of the more angry people in the store and it's all been self inflicted. No one has actually said anything to me. It's just my constant need to hurry, coupled with the idea that the people behind me are mad cause I'm not finished with $85 worth of groceries yet.
Finally I pay. And then I get to bag the groceries. Miraculously, almost on cue with the thoughts in my head, the people behind me start trying to scan their stuff (see, I really can tell what people's intentions are!). I glance over my shoulder and explain to them that they'll have to wait til I have removed all of my stuff from the scale. Never mind that my cart is actually blocking their access to the scanner. They were willing to work around that. They disregard what I've said and try to scan anyway, only to have the machine blurt at them, "Please remove all items or objects from the scanner and wait."
Ha! WAIT! Now this is a novel concept. And maybe this gets to the heart of the problem. At least for this day (Saturday). People are generally rude and have no patience, I think. I find it particularly ironic that I, a very impatient person, have come to recognize this. What was their big hurry? If you were in a big hurry, came to the line and saw that there was a huge wait, wouldn't you maybe ask the person with $85 of groceries in her cart if she'd mind if you went around? Seeing as how you had to get to the hospital to see your grandmother one last time before she died. Not so you could make it to a cocktail party on time...No, that one could wait a couple more minutes, couldn't it?
So, this is my problem. I really don't like it when things don't go my way (hence the last post on Control). And things didn't go my way at the grocery store for many reasons:
1) There were too many people there to start with.
2) I had to cross the store several times 'cause things organic are not grouped with things inorganic.
3) I somehow accumulated 85 dollars (did I mention this? There are only 2 of us in our household) worth of stuff in a simple trip. I have to go to the store again Wednesday.
4) Someone apparently told other people that the self-checkout line is faster.
5) Other people just do not bring their own bags so they don't understand those of us who do. The grocery store doesn't try to make it easier on us, either. In fact, it's easier to use bags that the store had to pay for!
So, that's that.
*Someone once told me that it was inappropriate to start a sentence with the word "So." So, I try to do this as often as possible when writing.
I was thinking about this the other day while I was checking out at the grocery store. I like to go through the self-checkout line since I typically bring my own bags to the store. I learned that this was necessary after trying to go through the regular line just a few times. When I asked the baggers to use my cloth bags, it was as if I'd asked them to break the law. They were boggled and usually continued putting my groceries into plastic bags while looking at me curiously. Better still, I lost two of my $5 reusable bags (reusablebags.com) in one of those lines. I guess the bagger shoved them aside in favor of the more sturdy plastic bags.
So, I'm in the self-check line*. Of course, there the scales are tared to the plastic bags (magically) so that if I place my own bags on the scale before beginning my checkout then I am sternly lectured by the machine, "Please remove all items or objects from the scanner and wait." Thus, I have to line up all my groceries on the scale, bagging them only AFTER I have paid. I've noticed that this causes some consternation amongst the customers behind me in line. Or maybe it's just me. I always feel pressured. I chide myself not to worry cause I know I am much faster at self-checking than the average person in the line.
However, Saturday...oh, Saturday...do NOT go to the grocery store on Saturday unless it is before 10 am, you idiot (that's me). Oh! So, on Saturday I went to the store at 3:30 pm, plopped $85 worth of groceries in my cart, and headed for the self-check line. Hmm...long line...When I finally get my turn I notice the people behind me actually edging up towards me as I'm scanning my items. I have several problems with the checking out process - like when the scale doesn't recognize that I've set a greeting card down (cause it's too light, I guess). At some point, I find myself banging my fist down in a place where I don't think I'm going to do any damage. And I don't. At this point, I have an inward mental check where I realize that I might actually be one of the more angry people in the store and it's all been self inflicted. No one has actually said anything to me. It's just my constant need to hurry, coupled with the idea that the people behind me are mad cause I'm not finished with $85 worth of groceries yet.
Finally I pay. And then I get to bag the groceries. Miraculously, almost on cue with the thoughts in my head, the people behind me start trying to scan their stuff (see, I really can tell what people's intentions are!). I glance over my shoulder and explain to them that they'll have to wait til I have removed all of my stuff from the scale. Never mind that my cart is actually blocking their access to the scanner. They were willing to work around that. They disregard what I've said and try to scan anyway, only to have the machine blurt at them, "Please remove all items or objects from the scanner and wait."
Ha! WAIT! Now this is a novel concept. And maybe this gets to the heart of the problem. At least for this day (Saturday). People are generally rude and have no patience, I think. I find it particularly ironic that I, a very impatient person, have come to recognize this. What was their big hurry? If you were in a big hurry, came to the line and saw that there was a huge wait, wouldn't you maybe ask the person with $85 of groceries in her cart if she'd mind if you went around? Seeing as how you had to get to the hospital to see your grandmother one last time before she died. Not so you could make it to a cocktail party on time...No, that one could wait a couple more minutes, couldn't it?
So, this is my problem. I really don't like it when things don't go my way (hence the last post on Control). And things didn't go my way at the grocery store for many reasons:
1) There were too many people there to start with.
2) I had to cross the store several times 'cause things organic are not grouped with things inorganic.
3) I somehow accumulated 85 dollars (did I mention this? There are only 2 of us in our household) worth of stuff in a simple trip. I have to go to the store again Wednesday.
4) Someone apparently told other people that the self-checkout line is faster.
5) Other people just do not bring their own bags so they don't understand those of us who do. The grocery store doesn't try to make it easier on us, either. In fact, it's easier to use bags that the store had to pay for!
So, that's that.
*Someone once told me that it was inappropriate to start a sentence with the word "So." So, I try to do this as often as possible when writing.
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Control
I'm supposed to be working, and I am working - just taking a break. Really, I'm multi-tasking, which I heard yesterday on the Today show was a bad thing to do. Can't believe it. I do it all the time. In fact, I'm pretty sure I'd go crazy if I didn't multi-task. How else can you deal with all that stuff going on in your brain?
Anyway.
I'm posting to rant about my husband - lets call him Career Man. He and I had a huge fight last night because this coming Saturday I want to do some biological surveys at the place where he works. In fact I already called an acquaintance to ask them to come along. Since I have to have Career Man's permission and presence to go out there (just found this out last night), this poses a problem for us. I don't work well with him, and vice versa. We both have really strong personalities and are control freaks (me, an admitted one - Career Man, not so much). I can't bear the thought of having him arrange my schedule, because he hates to plan in advance - almost gets sick doing it I think. Career Man would rather wait til Saturday morning to decide whether we'll be working in the field on Saturday night. I am a fanatical planner and must schedule pretty much everything I do as far in advance as possible. Why wait til the last minute when you have the information and tools you need at hand? Career Man won't let me go out on his work site without him because he's afraid he'll lose his job otherwise. His proposal was that he should plan the timing of my survey, according to his schedule and priorities. This is a man who works 10 hour days on a regular basis because he loves what he is doing in his job. The odds of getting him out there on a Saturday are slim cause he is worn out by the weekend. Rather than playing by his rules, I told him I'd rather just not work out there. Since he had gotten me started crying, he labelled me as childish and the argument ended (i.e. we stopped talking).
So we didn't speak to each other for most of the night last night and went to bed angry (mortal sin, I've been told). This isn't the first time I've been to bed angry. Interestingly enough, I'm the one who chooses to sleep on the couch when we're mad at each other. In movies, its always the man, but not in our house.
Maybe I am being childish. I am tremendously stubborn, though, and don't really feel like talking to him when he comes home from work. I guess avoiding your husband is a bad thing, right?
Back to work. I work well when I'm angry.
Anyway.
I'm posting to rant about my husband - lets call him Career Man. He and I had a huge fight last night because this coming Saturday I want to do some biological surveys at the place where he works. In fact I already called an acquaintance to ask them to come along. Since I have to have Career Man's permission and presence to go out there (just found this out last night), this poses a problem for us. I don't work well with him, and vice versa. We both have really strong personalities and are control freaks (me, an admitted one - Career Man, not so much). I can't bear the thought of having him arrange my schedule, because he hates to plan in advance - almost gets sick doing it I think. Career Man would rather wait til Saturday morning to decide whether we'll be working in the field on Saturday night. I am a fanatical planner and must schedule pretty much everything I do as far in advance as possible. Why wait til the last minute when you have the information and tools you need at hand? Career Man won't let me go out on his work site without him because he's afraid he'll lose his job otherwise. His proposal was that he should plan the timing of my survey, according to his schedule and priorities. This is a man who works 10 hour days on a regular basis because he loves what he is doing in his job. The odds of getting him out there on a Saturday are slim cause he is worn out by the weekend. Rather than playing by his rules, I told him I'd rather just not work out there. Since he had gotten me started crying, he labelled me as childish and the argument ended (i.e. we stopped talking).
So we didn't speak to each other for most of the night last night and went to bed angry (mortal sin, I've been told). This isn't the first time I've been to bed angry. Interestingly enough, I'm the one who chooses to sleep on the couch when we're mad at each other. In movies, its always the man, but not in our house.
Maybe I am being childish. I am tremendously stubborn, though, and don't really feel like talking to him when he comes home from work. I guess avoiding your husband is a bad thing, right?
Back to work. I work well when I'm angry.
Monday, January 8, 2007
The sweetest words
I called my liberal brother earlier tonight to check on travel dates for a visit I'm planning in June. I heard my almost two-year old niece, Pea, carrying on in the background. My brother told me a few weeks ago that she has already hit the terrible twos - several months early. Since she was early, he said he's hoping she'll finish early, too.
Anyhow, somehow Liberal Brother convinced Pea to talk to me on the phone. Apparently she already talks to me on the phone quite a bit, even though I never hear her and we live ~2000 miles apart. Liberal Brother says Pea picks up the phone and "calls" me on a regular basis. Now that is really touching to an aunt who isn't planning on having kids. Pea is my 3rd niece, and even though the others are only 200 miles away, she may end up being the closest to me (especially since my politics are closer to her dad's than to my other brothers). The other two nieces actually yell, "Nooooooo!" at the prospect of talking with me on the phone, even though they seem happy to see me when I visit. Hmmm...
So, Pea wanted to thank me for the Muppets VHS tapes I sent her for Christmas. She likes the Elton John episode, which was my favorite, too. Liberal Brother was coaching her on what to say to me while he held the phone to her ear. I got two phrases: "Thank you, ___" and "Thanks, mupps..."
For the record, this tops all thank you notes EVER.
Anyhow, somehow Liberal Brother convinced Pea to talk to me on the phone. Apparently she already talks to me on the phone quite a bit, even though I never hear her and we live ~2000 miles apart. Liberal Brother says Pea picks up the phone and "calls" me on a regular basis. Now that is really touching to an aunt who isn't planning on having kids. Pea is my 3rd niece, and even though the others are only 200 miles away, she may end up being the closest to me (especially since my politics are closer to her dad's than to my other brothers). The other two nieces actually yell, "Nooooooo!" at the prospect of talking with me on the phone, even though they seem happy to see me when I visit. Hmmm...
So, Pea wanted to thank me for the Muppets VHS tapes I sent her for Christmas. She likes the Elton John episode, which was my favorite, too. Liberal Brother was coaching her on what to say to me while he held the phone to her ear. I got two phrases: "Thank you, ___" and "Thanks, mupps..."
For the record, this tops all thank you notes EVER.
Thursday, January 4, 2007
How to work from home
I've been working on my dissertation from home for the past few months, which I have actually found really challenging. I am a deadline person - i.e. I work best under pressure. For me, an empty house just invites reading (Time magazine, not journal articles), watching the Today show, cleaning, etc. I've been complaining to anyone who will listen about how much of a drag it is to "work" from home. My very career-minded/motivated husband does not understand why I have a hard time getting anything done when I'm at home alone.
To combat my problems or perhaps to solve them, I've consulted some online columnists and a book I ordered for $0.85 from a used bookstore (Working From Home, 5th ed. by Paul and Sarah Edwards). Online sites weren't that helpful, beyond reminding me to get out of my PJs before going to work. Hmm...good idea. No more napping midday. The book has lots more useful tips, but only in 1 or 2 chapters. The rest of the book covers issues for home businesses, which certainly does not describe my situation. I feel more like a non-profit facing bankruptcy when I consider what the future might hold when I finally finish my doctorate. Wildlife jobs are far and few between, and I'm a late-bloomer, so I'm low on publications.
Enough about that. I applied many of the tips from the book today and actually got stuff done. Yay! During my breaks, I did small stuff - like hanging the small Austrian oil painting from my husband's great aunt, writing Christmas thank you notes, and shredding old paycheck stubs from the much better paying job I had before I came back to grad school (didn't look at the amounts as I shredded). To finish off my day of actually accomplishing a few things, I decided to make a list of some of the really good things about working from home. I'm not usually the most positive person (nice trait my mom passed on to me), so I think this could be therapeutic:
1. I get to see what the cats do all day and listen to the fat 3-legged one (my favorite) snoring while he sits by the window over my desk.
2. Coffee is easily accessible and I don't have to settle for gross coffee that has been sitting out since someone made it at 8 am (as I do at the university). Also, fresh half & half in the fridg. - no powdered crap!
3. Bathroom is 5 feet from my desk (much needed after coffee).
4. Can watch the birds out my office window (saw a towhee, titmouse, chickadee, and house finch all at the same time today in a 4 x 4' space). I bet it will be years before I get an office with a window, with birds, at a university.
5. Having leftovers for lunch is simple. I always liked eating leftovers at the office but hate having to pack them into multiple containers. Today I nuked some roasted yukon gold potatoes, roasted mushrooms (originally cooked alongside the chicken I made last weekend, but my husband will not eat mushrooms) and leftover rice from last night's dinner.
6. Having the last piece of cheesecake in the fridg. is even easier. Just make a fresh pot of coffee, grab a fork, and take the foil off the plate.
7. No one gets mad at me if I come in late!
Oh, there's lots more but I think this is long enough. I also get to decide when I'm tired of sitting in front of the computer!
To combat my problems or perhaps to solve them, I've consulted some online columnists and a book I ordered for $0.85 from a used bookstore (Working From Home, 5th ed. by Paul and Sarah Edwards). Online sites weren't that helpful, beyond reminding me to get out of my PJs before going to work. Hmm...good idea. No more napping midday. The book has lots more useful tips, but only in 1 or 2 chapters. The rest of the book covers issues for home businesses, which certainly does not describe my situation. I feel more like a non-profit facing bankruptcy when I consider what the future might hold when I finally finish my doctorate. Wildlife jobs are far and few between, and I'm a late-bloomer, so I'm low on publications.
Enough about that. I applied many of the tips from the book today and actually got stuff done. Yay! During my breaks, I did small stuff - like hanging the small Austrian oil painting from my husband's great aunt, writing Christmas thank you notes, and shredding old paycheck stubs from the much better paying job I had before I came back to grad school (didn't look at the amounts as I shredded). To finish off my day of actually accomplishing a few things, I decided to make a list of some of the really good things about working from home. I'm not usually the most positive person (nice trait my mom passed on to me), so I think this could be therapeutic:
1. I get to see what the cats do all day and listen to the fat 3-legged one (my favorite) snoring while he sits by the window over my desk.
2. Coffee is easily accessible and I don't have to settle for gross coffee that has been sitting out since someone made it at 8 am (as I do at the university). Also, fresh half & half in the fridg. - no powdered crap!
3. Bathroom is 5 feet from my desk (much needed after coffee).
4. Can watch the birds out my office window (saw a towhee, titmouse, chickadee, and house finch all at the same time today in a 4 x 4' space). I bet it will be years before I get an office with a window, with birds, at a university.
5. Having leftovers for lunch is simple. I always liked eating leftovers at the office but hate having to pack them into multiple containers. Today I nuked some roasted yukon gold potatoes, roasted mushrooms (originally cooked alongside the chicken I made last weekend, but my husband will not eat mushrooms) and leftover rice from last night's dinner.
6. Having the last piece of cheesecake in the fridg. is even easier. Just make a fresh pot of coffee, grab a fork, and take the foil off the plate.
7. No one gets mad at me if I come in late!
Oh, there's lots more but I think this is long enough. I also get to decide when I'm tired of sitting in front of the computer!
Wednesday, January 3, 2007
Oh, blogs!
I read earlier today that women are being held back in the technologies. Must be, cause it took me til last month to really discover blogs. When I decided to create my own blog last month, I apparently forgot to read up on the rules of posting anonymously. Since then, while posting clues that might reveal my identity (gasp!), I have read the blogs of many other women scientists (like that of ScienceWoman). Noticing that ScienceWoman and other seemingly successful (they have jobs) (yes I do love parentheses) bloggers are careful to conceal their identities, I decided to scrap my old blog for this one. No one was reading it anyway!
I looked over Statgirls blog and noticed she didn't get any comments til she'd been at it for 2 months. I feel better. I know, I know, I shouldn't be doing something like this for recognition. Blogs have such utility in other arenas - like honing one's writing skills, serving as a diary or an outlet for frustration and procrastination.
Anyhow, back to where I started. I realized that no one but my husband would recognize me under the name "Snakechaser" and he definitely does NOT blog. Wouldn't deem it worthy of his time. Ha! and I just had to minimize the window (twice!) when he walked into my office!
I looked over Statgirls blog and noticed she didn't get any comments til she'd been at it for 2 months. I feel better. I know, I know, I shouldn't be doing something like this for recognition. Blogs have such utility in other arenas - like honing one's writing skills, serving as a diary or an outlet for frustration and procrastination.
Anyhow, back to where I started. I realized that no one but my husband would recognize me under the name "Snakechaser" and he definitely does NOT blog. Wouldn't deem it worthy of his time. Ha! and I just had to minimize the window (twice!) when he walked into my office!
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