Shoot the Wall (A.K.A. The Rant Thread)

[Pseudonym]

I always wake up before my alarm, so instead of waking up at 5, which was quite hideous enough, I woke up at 4.30. 😧

Needless to say, since I couldn’t fall asleep until almost 2, and then slept poorly, I feel like death. 💀

[Pseudonym]

I, and I suspect the rest of the country, am so sick of alarmist Brexit headlines. Every day there seems to be some new report telling us the end is nigh. 

[Carol the Dabbler]

I hate scare tactics in just about any context.  Would much prefer being able to read the information that those tactics are based on, then make up my own mind, thank you very much 

[Pseudonym]

Yea, it’s constant. I hate scare mongering, I ignore most of it! But then that means I’m never completely sure what’s really going on.

Eurgh not only feel like death, look like it, red sclera. 

I did just watch a squirrel run by on the train track, so there’s that.

[Carol the Dabbler]

37 minutes ago, Pseudonym said:

I did just watch a squirrel run by on the train track, so there’s that.

Good ol' squirrels!

I love watching them, they're so graceful.  One place where I used to work, the front office had a nice view of a lake, which would have been marred by utility lines along the shore -- if it hadn't been for the squirrels using them as tightropes.

[Pseudonym]

I'd like to see a red squirrel, but they're sadly quite rare these days. 

[Artemis]

1 hour ago, Pseudonym said:

I always wake up before my alarm, so instead of waking up at 5, which was quite hideous enough, I woke up at 4.30. 😧

Needless to say, since I couldn’t fall asleep until almost 2, and then slept poorly, I feel like death. 💀

^ Same, I always wake up before my alarm.  And it's always around 20 minutes to half an hour before; just long enough that going back to sleep is hardly worth it, but staying up is missing out on a good chunk of precious sleep I really need.

 

[Artemis]

I love to watch squirrels.    We have lots around here: Gray ones, red ones, black ones, and white ones.  The white squirrels and black squirrels are said to be rare, but I seem to spot more and more of them.

 

[Pseudonym]

2 minutes ago, Artemis said:

^ Same, I always wake up before my alarm.  And it's always around 20 minutes to half an hour before; just long enough that going back to sleep is hardly worth it, but staying up is missing out on a good chunk of precious sleep I really need.

I'm always mystified by the people who hit snooze on their alarm loads of times - if I wake up and find out it's going to go off in half an hour it's very rare I can actually get back to sleep, I'm too on edge waiting for the horrible screeching. 

Never heard of black or white squirrels!

[Artemis]

They're pretty!    I've been trying to get a picture of a black one for years, but haven't managed it.  I have a picture of a white one though, somewhere...

 

[Pseudonym]

Are you doing your course based from home or in person classes?

[Artemis]

In person.  I prefer online, but many schools don't offer that option.

 

[Pseudonym]

Mine will be mostly online but with a fair few tutor meetings and a couple of residential schools where I get to tromp around national parks taking samples.

 

[Artemis]

Oooo I'm jealous, that sounds like fun!  How long is it going to take to complete?

 

[Pseudonym]

Then I'll take them back to the lab and try not to be too obvious that I'm pretending to be Sherlock

[Artemis]

That's exactly how I was envisioning you, lol.

 

[Pseudonym]

Spot on, especially since my hair is currently about the same length and curly!

It's a 3 year course but since I'm doing it part time it'll take 6 years. Not ideal since I'll be forty competing with twenty somethings, but I plan to get in loads of volunteering so I have as much experience as possible. 

[Artemis]

Sounds like a good plan.  If I returned to grad school I'd be facing the same predicament.  Sometimes the length of time it would take raises doubt in me, but my mom used to say that the time is going to pass either way, you may as well be working towards something.

What kind of volunteer opportunities are there?  Can you volunteer to work with cetaceans? 

 

[Pseudonym]

I can indeed, though probably not locally. There is a place an hour and a half away that takes on student volunteers for a few months at a time working with the local bottlenose dolphins. Only thing that puts me off with that is that they stick you in shared accommodation (three people per room), which would drive me batty, so I'd have to find somewhere else to stay thats cheap. 

[Artemis]

I don't blame you, I wouldn't want to deal with that either, lol.  I need my space.  That sounds awesome though!  How far into the program would you start that?  Would you be able to keep working too, being that far?

 

[Pseudonym]

And yep, like you said time will go on anyway, so might as well be working towards something rather than drifting. 

I get a few months off from the course over the summer, so I'll have to negotiate an unpaid leave of absence from work, maybe find somewhere where the volunteering is for a part time job - it's a popular holiday spot so there should be plenty of summer jobs. The only thing they really specify for the volunteering is that you need to be an environmental sciences or marine biology student so I can do it anytime, I'll probably wait a few years before I apply though.

There is a boat that does wildlife trips from where I live, so I might put feelers out to them in a few years and see if they would like a tour guide who'll be willing to work for free. 

There's loads of national park volunteering around here so will try to get in some of that when I can for more varied experience. 

[Pseudonym]

By the way, I forgot to say, you can feel free to bitch to me about your course whenever you want to too

[Carol the Dabbler]

2 hours ago, Pseudonym said:

I'd like to see a red squirrel, but they're sadly quite rare these days.

Dunno if ours are the same species as yours, but they're really beautiful, even when they're raiding Mom's bird feeder.  (Hey, squirrels gotta eat too!)

Come on over and you can see red squirrels *and* hummingbirds!

1 hour ago, Pseudonym said:

Never heard of black or white squirrels!

@Artemis -- are the white squirrels albinos, or do they just have white fur?  I'd never heard of them either.  But I've seen black squirrels at Niagara Falls.  I suspect they're simply the black version of a red squirrels, just as a panther is the black version of a leopard.  I've got some photos somewhere.

[Pseudonym]

1 minute ago, Carol the Dabbler said:

Come on over and you can see red squirrels *and* hummingbirds!

@Artemis

Be careful or you'll find me living in a shrub in your back garden. 

Hm... it won't let me get rid of the tag in the quote. 

[Carol the Dabbler]

 

9 minutes ago, Pseudonym said:

Be careful or you'll find me living in a shrub in your back garden. 

You'd have better luck with squirrels and hummingbirds at Mom's house (or Niagara Falls) -- though we have loads of other birds at our place, due to being near a variety of habitats.  In any case, you'd be quite welcome.

Maybe you can tell me where to see a robin next time I'm over your way.