Thor's day.

Today was my last day of lectures. Only the Mössbauer report for experimental physics and one more organic chemistry lab report and I'm finished for the semester.

My chem lab this afternoon was shocking. See, I hate it when people blame equipment when it's plainly obvious that it's really their incompetence that's causing things to go wrong. And as much as I don't want to be one of those people, I have to say that there can't be any other reason than the faultiness of the apparatus. We were meant to be synthesising 5,5-dimethyl-1,3-cyclohexanedione and, well, all I ended up with was an off-white filter paper. Something was wrong with my steam bath, and the solution in my round bottom flask just wouldn't reflux. Ergo, no synthesis and no crystals. Ah well. If I pass CHEM2402 this semester, I won't ever have to do any of this ever again. So here's hoping.

Amongst other things today, Nik and I visited the coordinator for our course to get some advice about pre-enrolment for next year. Both of us are a little miffed about the absence of a physics science teaching elective, seeing as we both want to specialise in teaching physics. Apparently it's not likely to run at all - not next year, nor the year after. But he says we'll be accomodated some way or another. Sigh.

Anyway, I'll be overloaded in second semester next year, it seems. The only science teaching electives I'm otherwise eligible to take are for senior science and chemistry, and they only run in second semester. So including all my other second semester units, I'll be on thirty credit points. I barely made it through twenty-eight last semester. Woe is me.

But on the plus side, I get to do twenty-five days of practicum! Hah! I get to go into a school and impart some of my wisdom to wide-eyed high school youngsters. Erm, right.


Listening to:
Title: Heartbeat
Artist: Steps
Album/station: Step One (1998)
Length: 4.25