Winter Term 2012-2013, Week 7: Wild Weather

It has really  been a strange year so far, weather-wise. We started last weekend in the high 40s/low 50s, then plunged back into the teens by the beginning of the week. Then again, we got up to the 40s and 50s this weekend. Last night and Friday night, we had some pretty high winds, and now it's down to about 11 degrees again and is going to get colder by tomorrow and Tuesday. Yesterday honestly felt like March, but it appears that winter is returning again very soon. I hate all this fickle stuff. We can't get too used to any kind of conditions around here because they are likely to change within 24 hours. It's nothing I'm not used to from back home, but I would expect a little bit more stable weather patterns here. Oh, well. What can you do? The summer is going to be pretty bad, probably, given that we haven't had a good long cold streak. All I can think about this those mosquito eggs. Those buggers will eat me alive this year, for sure.

Anyway, I've rambled far too long about the weather. For other people, it might be small talk, but it's a favorite topic among us Minnesotans. Forgive me, kind readers. Onward and upward!

This was an exciting week in Microbiology lab. We started off by testing water samples from around the area for the presence of coliforms, bacteria that inhabit the human colon and often accompany more dangerous pathogens like the causative agent of cholera. My lab partner and I tested the water from my kitchen sink here, and I am happy to report that it appears that we only have about 23 coliforms per mL of water, which is pretty darn good. For comparison, the other pair at my lab table tested water from the Mississippi River, and their results showed nearly 2400 coliforms per mL of water. The other exciting thing we did in Microbiology lab was to blend up potato salad from the school's food service and incubate it on agar plates to see what kinds of bacteria might be lurking in it after it has sat at room temperature for a few days. We have not seen the results yet, but I just think it will be funny because (as you might remember) I am not the biggest fan of school food. Never have been, never will be. I guess that's what comes from living with an Italian mother who puts half the chefs on Food Network to shame (well, that hypothesis is untested, but I'd rather eat her food than half of their strange, artsy concoctions...sometimes you can be educated beyond your mental capacity, which is a gem from my father).

I would also like to address a rather important issue in this week's blog. The campus received an e-mail on Tuesday or so informing us about a dog named Lucy, who lived in Missouri. It appeared that Lucy's owner simply decided she did not want to own a dog anymore. Nothing at all is wrong with Lucy. She is perfectly healthy and up to date on all her vaccinations and licenses. The owner just got tired of her. You can imagine my outrage. What makes it even worse was that the owner brought Lucy to the local veterinary clinic so that they could try to place her (okay, so this part wasn't bad, but what happens next is). After weeks with no luck, the clinic informed the owner that Lucy had had no takers as yet and would probably be put down. The owner didn't care. I am so upset with people like this. I know I am preaching to the choir here, but owning a dog (or any animal) is for life. It's a big-time commitment that is not to be cast aside so lightly. We humans have it easy because we have many things in our life through which we can find satisfaction and happiness. Pets have only us. We are their whole world. Imagine how confused Lucy must have been, to be dumped at the vet's office (not really the favorite place of most animals) by a person she loved with her whole heart. Animals are not playthings that we get to cast aside just because we've decided we want to move on to bigger or better things. I would understand if this owner simply could not care for Lucy anymore because of money or health issues. In that case, it's perfectly acceptable, even encouraged, to find a new home. It's noble to realize one's own limitations and to acknowledge that it is in a pet's best interest to be placed somewhere where he or she will receive better care and more attention. But to blatantly admit that you just don't feel like being a pet owner anymore and then to not show any remorse over the impending death of that pet simply because of laziness or mere whim is absolutely detestable. This is why I want to be a vet. I want to advocate for animals like Lucy and to help educate people about how animals of all shapes and sizes need to be treated. And on a happy note, Lucy was moved here to the Quad Cities, where she is waiting in a shelter for a new home. She's still looking for new people to love her, but I've heard she's a sweetheart, and at least we know now that she will not be put down.

How could you get rid of a cute face like that? She looks like such a good girl...

 I also heard some exciting news this week. I'm sure you've all heard of Body Worlds by this time, that exhibit where preserved human bodies are put on display. Well, there's an animal version called Animals Inside and Out that's coming to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago this spring through this fall. I have a friend who is going to be moving to Chicago with her sister come late July, so I think I am going to try to visit her so I can go see this exhibit! It's obviously right up my alley. I've heard they even have a giraffe and a blood-vessel cast of a shark. I just think it would be so cool.

I'm currently hard at work on three separate group projects, and it's nearly driving me up the wall. The only thing keeping me sane is having a collection of awesome group members who make me laugh. I should have expected my final term of college to go this way, but I sort of hoped that since I was done with my SI project, I wouldn't be so stressed out anymore. But clearly God has a serious sense of humor, and it will feel so awesome when I am finished and know I did a good job, so the work I'm putting in now is definitely worth it.

To preview the coming week, Wednesday is our second Symposium Day of the year, where we have no class but are required to attend a speaker and one or more activities in the Quad Cities area (in addition to two meetings with our advising groups, one in the morning and one in the afternoon). There topic this time is Nature and Human Nature, so it should be more fun than last time. I am trying to get a spot volunteering either to distribute recycling information in Rock Island neighborhoods or to help install a hydroponic system in the Local Culture House on campus so that Augie students can grow vegetables in the winter (I need about five more hours of volunteering for Mortar Board). I have two exams (Microbiology and Physiology) and my group's Team Teaching day in Animal Communication. Oy vey. But I'm looking forward to Saturday because I get to help out at a soup kitchen with my friend Grace. I feel bad that I haven't been doing as much with Circle K lately as I would have liked, but that's just the way life works. I've had to focus on my schoolwork because that comes first right now (right up there with vet stuff and keeping my health up with exercise and enough sleep...I don't want to come down with the flu; even though I've been vaccinated, I'm not 100% protected, so I can never be too careful). Anyway, like usual, I'm sure I will have plenty of great stories to share by the time next weekend rolls around. Until then, take care, everyone!