Time of the Month

Try, try, try in July

A lot has happened since my last entry on here, just a month ago.

Highlights:

I discovered, applied for, and was accepted into an intense 6-month long bootcamp for AI & Machine Learning. Classes start on Monday. It's designed for working professionals, so it's night classes, 3 times a week, with 20+ hours of outside work a week. Yes, I do realize that's a lot. Yes, I realize I already have a (more than) full time job. It's going to be rough, make no mistake about it. But it's also going to be essential for my career. The program includes a ton of professional development and career services for up to a year after you graduate to help you land your next job.

I really thought I was done with school and classes forever after the PhD... apparently, school was not done with me.

Friday is the last day of the summer undergraduate program, so our two summer students will be leaving. It's bittersweet. It was a marathon to the end, but they both did a great job on their projects and their posters. I'm really quite impressed and proud. One of them might be staying on to work in the lab through the school year, we'll see.

Just got back from the vet (again) with my wild cat. They stole her blood and $75 from me. Here's hoping her bloodwork will be good and she can go off of these damn liver meds. I'll probably find out in a day or two. If things haven't gone down, or if they go back up when she stops the meds, she'll need more testing to figure out why her liver enzymes are high.

Lowlights:

This bootcamp is going to cost me $13,000 in tuition (oof) and the next 6 months of my life. No nights, no weekends, no free time at all. In light of this, I will probably have to put this blog on hiatus for the duration of the bootcamp. Sorry to the few loyal readers of the blog, I just really don't think I'll be able to manage it. Remains to be seen whether I can manage it even without the blog.

I'll post periodic updates in the newsfeed if anything interesting happens.
My guess is, with 9 hours a day in lab and 3 hours in class most days, it won't. But you never know.

I think I can continue the "The One-Line Lyric Challenge"  since it honestly doesn't take that much time or effort. But if things get out of control, there's a chance I'll change my mind on that. A slim chance. And, I'm going to try, really hard, to not let 6 months go by without writing anything. According to the great philosopher Yoda, there is no try, but according to me there is.

One last “Myth of the Month” for the foreseeable future:

 

“The Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4th, 1776.”

Independence was declared on July 2nd, 1776. The final text of the declaration was approved on July 4th, but the document wasn't officially signed until August 2nd of that year, with several people signing after that date. In fact, one of the writers of the declaration, John Livingston, refused to sign it in the end. Apparently, Jefferson originally included language that criticized the British slave trade, despite being a slave owner himself, but it was removed from the document before signing.

Also, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died on July 4, 1826, on the 50th anniversary of the approval of the Declaration of Independence.

More facts about the declaration of independence here.  .