First up-my first school-related meltdown:
This week has been....blah. I've spent every single day since last Thursday studying for a pathophysiology test we had this Thursday. I stayed late last Friday, I got a coworker to cover my shift so I could go to school and study on Saturday, I studied on Sunday, I studied all day Monday, all day Tuesday (although a lot of time was dedicated to a Med Chem test we had on Wednesday), all day Wednesday, and even studied all Thursday morning since the test was in the afternoon. I memorized notes, I made study guides, I reviewed study guides from my classmates, and I studied previous exams for example questions. I felt 100% prepared for this test. I walked in there so confident-I knew that I could handle anything the professors tried to throw at us...I just had no idea they'd throw out a test more evil than the devil himself. My professor always has an answer key there that we can check once we turn in our test. I can never leave without comparing my test with the answer key because I want to know my score immediately, but I wish I hadn't looked. Without actually divulging how poorly I did, let's just say that I walked out of that test completely deflated, stomped on, depreciated, flattened, punctured, devalued, kicked in the teeth, shot down, drained of all intelligence, shattered, weakened...and that only describes about 30% of what I felt. I should have just not studied at all-I couldn't have done much worse. I barely made it to my car before I lost it. I haven't cried that hard at school since I was in 1st grade and I thought my older sister, who was in 5th grade, was going to forget to pick me up, leaving me to find my own way home. (I used to cry every day when it came time to go home, no matter how much she assured me each morning that she would NEVER forget to pick me up.) It's not the lowest score I've ever gotten, but it sure as heck is the absolute worst I've ever done when I put in that much time preparing for it.
Second-I went to a movie yesterday all by myself and I loved it! It may not seem like such a big deal to go to a movie alone, but I felt so independent. And, maybe I just needed to feel like I could accomplish something after Thursday's beating. I had a few hours to kill in Salt Lake between commitments, and I decided to go see a movie. Evan and I have been waiting for everything to come out on DVD for so long that I'd forgotten how much I LOVE to watch movies in the theater. Maybe I should work as a ticket taker at the theater just so I can see more movies on the big screen... Anyway, we don't have TV and I haven't been to a movie for so long (already said that) that I had no idea what was playing. I walked up to the theater, saw a poster for a romantic looking film with "Edward", and saw that it was starting in 5 minutes. Perfect! I knew Evan wouldn't care if I saw a lovey-dovey film without him, so I bought a ticket for "Remember Me". I even treated myself to a kid's popcorn and kid's drink. I LOVED LOVED LOVED the movie. I knew absolutely nothing about the film, and I believe that's the only way you should see it. DON'T GO LOOKING UP THE PLOT ANYWHERE! Truthfully, it hasn't gotten great reviews. In fact, it's gotten terrible reviews. But I don't care what the critics have had to say. I wasn't feeling very critical over the acting, cinematography, yada, yada, yada. Maybe it's because I was still in a somber mood from the day before, but I loved it. It was a slower paced movie, and it's a drama not a romantic comedy. I'm not, however, going to say that you have to rush out and see it right now, or that you'll love it as much as me. I don't want to be responsible for you wasting a few hard-earned dollars if you end up agreeing with the critics. (By the way, it does have two little risque scenes and it says the F-word twice. I thought they couldn't say that twice in a PG-13, but obviously they can now. So, since you can't look anything up about the movie so that you don't spoil it, that's your breakdown of why it's rated what it is.)
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Happy Birthday to Me!!
What does every almost-thirty-year-old animal lover want for their birthday?... penguins or course!!!!.... and what-do-you-know, I got 'em!!! Our new penguin exhibit opens to the public on March 26!
After a lot of waiting, and even more planning and building, our gentoo penguins flew in from Galveston this week. No not quite like this video, but on a large metal bird instead :) Our CEO Brent Anderson and I were able to go down and tour Moody Gardens Aquarium back in October while preparing for our penguin exhibit. The staff there were more than accommodating, and answered every random question I could think up in the two days we spent there. With a plethora of info and a few suggestions about our soon-to-be exhibit, the TLPA staff got to work.
To give you an idea of what we needed to keep these cold-loving birds happy, the entire exhibit area, including off exhibit holding areas and filtration, is held at 40-45 degrees, and is essentially a very large walk-in refrigerator. Pretty much everything for the exhibit was done in-house, only electrical and HVAC were done by other companies. Since these birds live in very clean air in the wild on islands off the southern coast of South America, the air needs to be filtered to 1 micron and all areas are positive pressure to keep all fungal spores out (just think of being blasted with freezing, smelly air when you open the exhibit door.....let's just say I'm glad we hired an aviculturist to take care of these cute stinky birds).
Below are some pictures and explanations of the exhibit as we were building it, as well as a short clip of them arriving and exploring their new home.
With these penguins being our CEOs pet project (he's been planning this for years), we got pretty much everything we asked for from the husbandry side of things. The tank is a 24 foot half-round custom fiberglass pool with a 5' x 16' viewing window. Water is pulled from skimmer boxes as well as a bottom drain and a dedicated vacuum line used to clean the exhibit bottom. The plumbing was mostly done by myself and a few of the husbandry staff. Penguins don't really care about water quality the way fish do, but they sure eat a lot (these 11 penguins will eat substantially more than the rest of our entire collection!!), which means they sure can cloud up the water quickly if if is not heavily filtered. Here are shots of the four large sand filters, the 2 two-horsepower pumps, and the back of the tank. You can see that we cut the concrete to plumb all feed and waste lines in and out of the exhibit area. (Yes, they trust me with a jackhammer amazingly enough). These areas were filled when we did the main pour for the exhibit.
We planned a reclamation system to re-filter the exhibit water after we backwash the main exhibit filters and re-use it as needed. I'm glad we are trying to conserve as much as we can, I am even using the effluent from our Reverse Osmosis filter to mix the penguins salt water with. Most of the water we use in our exhibits goes through these units which pull out almost all of the dissolved minerals in the water we get from the city. It used to be drained to waste as it is not suitable for fish use, but since we use straight food grade NaCl instead of a marine salt mix for these birdies, it is perfect for penguins keeping the pH up over 8.2 in newly mixed water, yay!
The interior of the exhibit is a main concrete pour for the flat land area and supporting columns, and cement covered styrofoam for all of the rockwork. The fake rocks took forever to build, as this concrete needed to be put on by hand in three or four layers. The portions under the water are mainly molded sheets of ABS plastic seamed together with epoxy and plastic zip-ties with concrete around all areas that needed extra support.
This is right before the main pour. The big hole in the back wall is for the HVAC
Here's a shot after the main pour and with much of the rock finished. This was right after the first fill of the tank and filtration. You can see some of the rock before and after being coated and painted.
Once the system was well rinsed, and flushed completely, we filled her up with salt water and prepared as best we could to have 11 curious birds running around trying to destroy things. Here is the tank ready for their arrival! (the front of the exhibit is still yet to be completed, it will be an antarctic research station facade).
The birds came in this past Thursday, and Maggie, one of the penguin keepers from Moody Gardens even flew up with them and spent a few days with our staff making sure we were ready, and that the penguins settled in well. Our Vet also made a trip out to see the arrival and do a quick health check before we put them in.
Their first glimpse of their new home!
Once all were placed in the exhibit, it took a few minutes for them to get in the water, but once they did, they only came out long enough to shake off and jump back in. I can't believe how active and animated they are!
Here is a short video our PR dept. made up right after their arrival. I have a feeling our parking lot is going to be very full for a few months :)
Thanks for reading!!
-Evan
After a lot of waiting, and even more planning and building, our gentoo penguins flew in from Galveston this week. No not quite like this video, but on a large metal bird instead :) Our CEO Brent Anderson and I were able to go down and tour Moody Gardens Aquarium back in October while preparing for our penguin exhibit. The staff there were more than accommodating, and answered every random question I could think up in the two days we spent there. With a plethora of info and a few suggestions about our soon-to-be exhibit, the TLPA staff got to work.
To give you an idea of what we needed to keep these cold-loving birds happy, the entire exhibit area, including off exhibit holding areas and filtration, is held at 40-45 degrees, and is essentially a very large walk-in refrigerator. Pretty much everything for the exhibit was done in-house, only electrical and HVAC were done by other companies. Since these birds live in very clean air in the wild on islands off the southern coast of South America, the air needs to be filtered to 1 micron and all areas are positive pressure to keep all fungal spores out (just think of being blasted with freezing, smelly air when you open the exhibit door.....let's just say I'm glad we hired an aviculturist to take care of these cute stinky birds).
Below are some pictures and explanations of the exhibit as we were building it, as well as a short clip of them arriving and exploring their new home.
With these penguins being our CEOs pet project (he's been planning this for years), we got pretty much everything we asked for from the husbandry side of things. The tank is a 24 foot half-round custom fiberglass pool with a 5' x 16' viewing window. Water is pulled from skimmer boxes as well as a bottom drain and a dedicated vacuum line used to clean the exhibit bottom. The plumbing was mostly done by myself and a few of the husbandry staff. Penguins don't really care about water quality the way fish do, but they sure eat a lot (these 11 penguins will eat substantially more than the rest of our entire collection!!), which means they sure can cloud up the water quickly if if is not heavily filtered. Here are shots of the four large sand filters, the 2 two-horsepower pumps, and the back of the tank. You can see that we cut the concrete to plumb all feed and waste lines in and out of the exhibit area. (Yes, they trust me with a jackhammer amazingly enough). These areas were filled when we did the main pour for the exhibit.
We planned a reclamation system to re-filter the exhibit water after we backwash the main exhibit filters and re-use it as needed. I'm glad we are trying to conserve as much as we can, I am even using the effluent from our Reverse Osmosis filter to mix the penguins salt water with. Most of the water we use in our exhibits goes through these units which pull out almost all of the dissolved minerals in the water we get from the city. It used to be drained to waste as it is not suitable for fish use, but since we use straight food grade NaCl instead of a marine salt mix for these birdies, it is perfect for penguins keeping the pH up over 8.2 in newly mixed water, yay!
The interior of the exhibit is a main concrete pour for the flat land area and supporting columns, and cement covered styrofoam for all of the rockwork. The fake rocks took forever to build, as this concrete needed to be put on by hand in three or four layers. The portions under the water are mainly molded sheets of ABS plastic seamed together with epoxy and plastic zip-ties with concrete around all areas that needed extra support.
This is right before the main pour. The big hole in the back wall is for the HVAC
Here's a shot after the main pour and with much of the rock finished. This was right after the first fill of the tank and filtration. You can see some of the rock before and after being coated and painted.
Once the system was well rinsed, and flushed completely, we filled her up with salt water and prepared as best we could to have 11 curious birds running around trying to destroy things. Here is the tank ready for their arrival! (the front of the exhibit is still yet to be completed, it will be an antarctic research station facade).
The birds came in this past Thursday, and Maggie, one of the penguin keepers from Moody Gardens even flew up with them and spent a few days with our staff making sure we were ready, and that the penguins settled in well. Our Vet also made a trip out to see the arrival and do a quick health check before we put them in.
Their first glimpse of their new home!
Once all were placed in the exhibit, it took a few minutes for them to get in the water, but once they did, they only came out long enough to shake off and jump back in. I can't believe how active and animated they are!
Here is a short video our PR dept. made up right after their arrival. I have a feeling our parking lot is going to be very full for a few months :) Thanks for reading!!
-Evan
Monday, March 8, 2010
Being the baby (almost)
I am number nine of ten children, which means I had a very different experience growing up than my older siblings. I'm sure I was more spoiled and evaded more punishment than the older children. Not always, but a lot..except this one time. My parents said they were going to take everyone out for doughnuts for Family Home Evening, but we wouldn't get one if we didn't finish our chores that day. I had to be no more than six or seven, so I can't imagine my chores being that difficult. But like most kids, I felt like I was being picked on and given the hardest tasks...things like helping my mom make her bed every morning, and collecting the trash once a week from all the bedrooms. Real tough, I know. Treats were VERY rare in our house growing up. (Which is why I think most of us Montgomery kids have such an insatiable sweet tooth now, but that's another story.) On this particular day I refused to do my chores. Mostly because I thought there was no way that my parents would stick to their guns and keep me from enjoying a delicious doughnut, especially since the opportunity to eat them came around once in a blue moon. I saw no reason to do my chores; I was sure I'd reap the reward along with everyone else.
Well, when evening came we all piled into the big blue van and headed to the Winchell's at Five Points (which is now a Pizza Hut Take Out). I eagerly raced into the store and admired the doughnuts through the display cases, wondering how I could possibly choose only one. My parents skipped over me as they took orders so I spoke up, only to learn they hadn't forgotten their promise. They refused as I protested and whined, holding true to their word. I would not get a doughnut.
Well, when evening came we all piled into the big blue van and headed to the Winchell's at Five Points (which is now a Pizza Hut Take Out). I eagerly raced into the store and admired the doughnuts through the display cases, wondering how I could possibly choose only one. My parents skipped over me as they took orders so I spoke up, only to learn they hadn't forgotten their promise. They refused as I protested and whined, holding true to their word. I would not get a doughnut.
I'd like to say I've learned my lesson, that I've gotten a little wiser as I've grown, but from time to time I still think I deserve a reward without any action or effort on my part. Does anyone else feel that way? Or is it just me, the spoiled "almost baby" of the family?
Monday, March 1, 2010
What a difference a year makes...
Two years ago at this time I was wallowing in self-pity because I had not been accepted to pharmacy school. Last year at this time I was anxiously awaiting word as to whether or not I'd been accepted, and today I was on the other side of the table, literally! I was asked to help interview the incoming candidates for the Class of 2014, and it was quite an experience. Having been in their position only a year ago, I was amazed at how quickly this time has flown by. I am halfway through this semester, and once it's over I'll have completed my first year of pharmacy school!
The interview board was made up of an Admissions Committee member, a faculty member, and a student. We interviewed 5 candidates and I felt I could identify with all of them. One had returned to school after a long break, one has a connection with the town in which I live, one was applying for the second year in a row and was sooo nervous, but you could tell they'd really practiced and prepared for the interview, one was not very good at talking themselves up at all (I share this quality, but I've learned that in an interview of any kind you have to totally toot your own horn), and one tripped on the way in the room. Ok, no they didn't, but I sure did last year! Not only that, but I got choked up talking about my grandpa who was a pharmacist, so I was sure I'd made a real doosie of an impression. I mean, who wants a clumsy crier as a pharmacist? So, I kept thinking about myself, how I felt last year trying to present my best self to these people in 15 minutes, and how stressful it was. I'm sure it caused me to be a bit more generous with the scores I gave out today. They say the student interviewers are always the most kind in scoring, but I think it's because we're so close to the situation. Anyway, I wish the best of luck to the upcoming students. I can't wait to see which of my interviewees will be accepted!
The interview board was made up of an Admissions Committee member, a faculty member, and a student. We interviewed 5 candidates and I felt I could identify with all of them. One had returned to school after a long break, one has a connection with the town in which I live, one was applying for the second year in a row and was sooo nervous, but you could tell they'd really practiced and prepared for the interview, one was not very good at talking themselves up at all (I share this quality, but I've learned that in an interview of any kind you have to totally toot your own horn), and one tripped on the way in the room. Ok, no they didn't, but I sure did last year! Not only that, but I got choked up talking about my grandpa who was a pharmacist, so I was sure I'd made a real doosie of an impression. I mean, who wants a clumsy crier as a pharmacist? So, I kept thinking about myself, how I felt last year trying to present my best self to these people in 15 minutes, and how stressful it was. I'm sure it caused me to be a bit more generous with the scores I gave out today. They say the student interviewers are always the most kind in scoring, but I think it's because we're so close to the situation. Anyway, I wish the best of luck to the upcoming students. I can't wait to see which of my interviewees will be accepted!
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