quals

This has been my day:
7AM -- Get up, check email, play with my models
8AM -- Go for run + doggy park-y
9:20 -- return to house, procrastinate on email
9:50 -- read baby Rothman, almost doze off
10:20 -- decide I need gatorade water, drink water
10:25 -- read more baby Rothman, take three breaks to pee
11:05 -- shower
11:15 -- realize self is ravenous, make lunch, get dressed
11:30 -- watch episode of scrubs while eating lunch
11:55 -- read more baby Rothman
12:30 -- become very very sleepy and doze off completely
1:15 -- wake up, check email
1:20 -- receive phone call from Luca about swim club
1:30 -- talk to father on phone about news
2:15 -- write blog post
2:25 -- do some reading for the love of God!!!

So you get my point. I have not been productive today. I guess interspersed in there is also about an hour of data management and poster writing, but yeah, you get my point.

I'm scheduled to take my PhD qualifying exams sometime in mid August. Needless to say I have done exactly zero studying until now for them, which is probably ok, since I probably wouldn't remember anything anyway.

One thing I have to say is this: Do you know how much I hate reading Epi methods? Things with names like "risk set sampling" or "1 minus sensitivity." There truly is no better sleeping pill than to open up baby Rothman or Gordis before going to bed. Gordis isn't as bad as Rothman, but it's not much fun either.

The problem is I actually have to acquire some mastery of the material by the end of the summer, so I've been willing myself to stay awake as I read.

I have not been terribly successful. Today I've read 23 pages of baby Rothman so far. I've also done some stats for my papers, and finished my poster. But really? 23 pages? I feel like my limit is about 5 before I lose the ability to actually pay attention to what I'm reading. It's so painful!!!!

By the middle of June, I'd like to get through the following:
baby Rothman
Gordis
stats notes
stats assignments
categorical stats notes
categorical stats assignments
measurement notes

On the plus side, I'm taking an advanced epi class that has so far been a fantastic review of some of the material that I'm supposed to know. It is forcing me to actually think about these issues instead of lazily skimming over them saying yeah yeah yeah I know this, without really absorbing anything. Hopefully the class will be a big help.

In other news, Luca and I found out today that we got into the community swim club! We can go and pay and sign up officially tomorrow! It is literally one block from our house, and we really like the people who are currently members. And IT IS OPEN UNTIL 10PM EVERY NIGHT!! Which means that Luca may be able to forgo his 6AM swims at the Y in Landsdale for a couple of months and get to swim in the evenings.

They have grills and a basketball court and 4 pools.

God willing, this will not be the summer that I give myself skin cancer. Haha....

I AM SO EXCITED!!!!

Adding to this excitement is the fact that the University pool is closed for repairs until mid June, and the substitute pool they give us passes to use is inconvenient, small, and crowded. So, basically, even though this is one of the least productive days of the last several months, I am still very happy.

Yay!