Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Boiling a Frog

There's a story that says that if you want to boil a frog, you should put it in cool water and then slowly raise the heat. Apparently, if you drop a frog in hot water, it will just jump out. The point of the story is that frogs (and people, I suppose) can get acclimated to things when change is gradual, but react sharply to drastic, severe changes.

The principle could apply to a number of thing in life (for instance, as I write this, my mind is running off on a tangent about politicians and how they treat the average citizen), but I've been thinking about this story lately because I came up with the bright idea a couple of months ago to train for a marathon.

Most marathon training programs require the runner to do one "long run" each week (or every other week as you get into longer distances). In my case, I went from 6 miles to 8 to 10 to 12 and finally to 14 miles. This means I've successfully run my first half marathon (13.1 miles) and I'm just a little over half way to a full marathon. After a two week break from my last long run, I'm up for a 16 mile run on Saturday. It sure doesn't seem like 16 miles should be much worse than 14, but just like the frog, at some point you realize that you're boiling. I'm hoping that I don't hit my boiling point at 16 or 18 or 20 miles (my longest scheduled training run).

I won't ever run more than 20 miles until the day of the marathon. Conventional wisdom says that if you can go 20, then you should be able to handle "just another 6 miles." At the 20 mile mark, most runners also hit "the wall," which makes me think that maybe those last 6 miles aren't going to be as easy as they're supposed to be.

So this Saturday I'll turn the heat up a notch, and we'll have to see how it goes from there.

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Keep on Trucking

Each year, I have a "big picture" talk with my advisor. I think that this kind of talk should probably be happening 2 or 3 times a year, but my advisor isn't much for advising and this is about as much as I can get out of him.

Anyway, I've blogged about how these chats have gone in the past. Each time, I ask my advisor for one major piece of advice I should remember to be more successful during the upcoming year. During this year's talk, his advice boiled down to one of my favorite cliches: Keep on trucking.

Basically, he said I'm doing great. I know what I'm doing technically. I know what the important questions are in the field. I've got some good projects going. I've got a talented undergrad that is cranking along. So, what more is there to do, but keep on trucking?

My advisor also gave me the green light to prepare to defend my dissertation in March/April of next year. I guess that means I have to write my dissertation now and prepare myself to jump through all the bureaucratic hoops positioned between me and my PhD.

Submission

Last Monday, I finally got my manuscript submitted. I keep calling it my paper, but I guess that isn't quite the right word to use until it's published. As with my last two papers, I finally reached the point where I was more interested in having it gone than making it better. I realize that's a dangerous place, but after so many drafts I completely lost patience with it. I gave my advisor a final draft to read over the weekend and I'm pretty sure he was sick enough of it to just okay it without even giving it a close read.

Now, it's in the hands of the reviewers. In another 2 weeks, I'll (hopefully) hear back from the journal. From my own experience and from what I've seen of others in the lab, I can only expect that the reviewers will want additional experiments, additional controls, and certain past published work discussed or at least cited. It's pretty rare to submit something and just have it fly through.

So, I'm enjoying these few weeks with fewer hours at my computer, fewer hours arguing with my advisor, and more hours at the bench. At the same time, I'm bracing myself for the storm that will hit when the reviews come back. With my first paper, the reviewers requested a number of additional experiments. Of course, you can't do them all since the journal wants the re-submitted manuscript within 2 months, so you pick the ones that are easiest and most relevant. For the rest, you argue your way out of it. The phrase commonly used is something like, "While reviewer #2 recommended experiments XYZ, we feel that these fall outside the scope of this paper." What this really means is that you know there is no way you can do it in 2 months. In essence, you have to say to the reviewers (and the journal), "look, we have to draw a line in the sand somewhere, and this is where we draw it." Otherwise, there is no end to the list of experiments that can be done.

What about the ones that you agree to do? Well, the two months after I got reviews back on my first paper were probably the most busy and most productive of my graduate career. Since I knew exactly what was wanted, I was able to focus completely on just those tasks.

Right now, I can enjoy the calm before the storm. I'm sort of hoping that the reviews come back while I'm on vacation later this month, or just after I return so that I'll be fully rested and ready for a couple of serious months of work. At the same time, if we get good reviews back right before I leave, I won't complain about that, either.

Thursday, October 05, 2006

Financial Aid--The Con!

Let me preface this post by saying that I have never tried the scheme described below. I'm not any sort of financial planner or advisor, and I don't assume any responsibility for you screwing up your own finances.

Wow, my first attempt at a disclaimer.

Okay, now a little background.... A couple of days ago, I got an e-mail from a former labmate who graduated a few months ago. He told me that he just got his financial aid from grad school paid off, and that he managed to make about $700. Here's how:

My friend took all the financial aid he could get his hands on that only accrued interest or required re-payment after graduation. Each semester, he would get a check, and each semester he would put it straight into a CD at the credit union. He lived (frugally) on his grad school stipend alone, and never spent a cent of those loans. So, they accumulated interest for him over the 6 years he was in grad school. When he graduated, he paid off the loans in full, and kept the interest that he'd been earning on that loaned money.

It sounds a little bit like a plan that's a little too good to be true, and if my friend hadn't pulled it off, then I would agree with that opinion. Success comes down to two things:
  1. Read the small print. You have to make sure that you fully understand the terms on the loans, and they they aren't racking up interest until after you leave school. If they're accumulating interest, then you'll probably lose (unless your credit union is giving you a much higher rate than you're being charged for it).
  2. Self discipline. You have to guard that money and avoid the temptation to spend it. If you can't trust yourself with this, then don't even think about doing this.
I've had other friends who used student loans as down payments on houses, or for home upgrades/repairs. So, they can be useful in other ways, if you just look at them as a low interest loan.

I guess you also have to figure in that Uncle Sam is going to take his cut of your interest earned. My friend will probably end up making around $500. Spread over 6 years, that's not very much money, but considering it took little effort to do, it's not so bad. I think that most graduates would be happy to have $500 waiting for them at graduation.