I find that www.randmcnally.com offer better driving directions than www.mapquest.com, especially for those of us who are not intrepid road warriors descended from Theseus.

Ridiculous phone conversation of the day:

Trying to make an appointment at a hospital:

Tom: "Hi, I like to make an appointment."

Operator: "Can you come on Wednesday 9 am?"

Tom: "No, I was hoping to to come on next Friday."

Operator: "Can you come on 9 am this Friday?"

Tom: "No, next Friday."

Operator: "Can you come on 9 am next Friday?"

Tom: "Is later time available, I like to come in afternoon."

Operator: "10 am?"

Tom: "No, afternoon."

Operator: "11 am?"

Tom: "uhhhh, that's still morning."

Operator: "12 pm?"

Tom (disoriented and defeated) : "Okay, 12 pm."

Operator: "Okay. Be on Time." * Click *

Had to do some editing for mom, in the process, translated a poem by Lu You.

“Red plum blossoms,
Their thin, delicate petals swirl to the ground,
by the whistling wind blowing strong.
Though the wheel of a cart crush them down,
Their fragrance lingers long, as sweet as a song .”

The finished work sounds pleasant enough, but how good "technically" it is, I dunno. It certainly . . .rhymes. Milton in his introduction to Paradise Lost chided his comtemporaries for obsessive pursuit of rhyming in poetry. He has a valid point, poems can be beautiful without rhyming. But for the most people like me, what's enjoyable about poems it's their obvious musicality. I am pretty much deaf to the finer points of iambic pentameter and such, but I can still appreciate simple rhythms,

Well, I am done with all the finals. Yet another semester in the bag.

An article about TAs unionizing. Here at USC, there has been some rumblings about unionization, but nothing solid. But so far, I am pretty satisified with what I get.

A phenomenon noticed in most big-sized biology/chemistry classes. The lab director for such classes are almost always possess a very difficult personality. In Cornell, there was the infamous woman in charge of Genetics. In USC, the class for which I am a TA also has a very steely and rough lady in charge. By reputation, I was informed that the USC General Bio lab director is also extremely unpleasant person, so is the Orgo lab director. What's up with that? Some federal educational mandate that demand abrasive personalities to be in charge of labs? Or is it something inherent in the job that compel a person to display their roughest edges to the students?

Having been both a undergrad and a TA, I guess I could say I've seen both sides and have adequate perspective. Still, I can't find a satisfactory answer to this question.