Ok, so I am pre-testing my very first all-by-myself-big-boy-researcher experiment this week, and I'm a bit scared. I spent a large portion of the day making last minute corrections to my materials and protocol, and its all kind of odd that I am in charge of conducting an experiment on folks. Its a measure test for my eventual thesis, and its the first time I have felt like I was really in grad school. Jamie (my advisor) is answering questions when I ask them, but its basically all me at this point. That is scary in so many ways.
So beyond my basic insecurities I had a purty good day. I got a whole bunch done and bought some new tools for my car and Nick's car, determined to outsmart the man that drives up dealership maintenance costs. The tools include:
1. A 2-ton hydraulic jack
2. Two 2-ton jack stands
3. A 3/8 to 1/2 drive converter
4. A brand spakin' new Torque Wrench with 3/8 drive and 10 to 75 lb/ft capability

And synthetic oil. Five quarts of it. Also, super wiper blades with a lifetime warranty. And I comparison shopped for all of it (smart shopper Joe!) and had a huge gift certificate to Sears which helped with the wrench. All in all, a good day for tools. Plus, this saved me a lot of monies over the Saturn dealership cost (no offense to Saturn) which for a grad student is good.
Oh man, Nick made dinner and its ready to eat. I must away to the land of food.

I hope everyone is well.
Peace,
Joe