I have a super-busy week this week. Yesterday I worked for 14 straight hours; though, to be fair, I did take a break at one point to urinate (I think it was even in a bathroom--yep, right in someone's bath).

Anyway, I'm spending a lot of time collecting data from undergraduates, and it's always an interesting experience. Here are some of the conversations I've had with various people.

Me: Greeting the students: please wait to sign the sheet until you're finished and are about to leave.
Student: Signs in upon entering

Student: My computer froze.
Me: It says it will change automatically after one minute. Did you wait one minute?
Student: Yes. It's been like 3 minutes.
Me: I know it hasn't been one minute yet you impatient turd. Why don't you wait a little longer?
Computer: Changes

Me: Please be as quiet as possible, so as not to disturb other people.
Student: Continues 'whispering' at a volume I consider yelling.

Some lady: Comes into the computer lab and starts turning on various machines and moving chairs
Me: Smiling: Hi. I'm sorry, but I have this lab signed out, and I have a psychology study going on.
The lady: Growling: I manage this lab!
Me: Can you manage to get out and stop screwing up my study?

I love people. People are the best.

Update: 3:44 PM

Later she emailed to ask if I was really going to use the lab later, or if I had signed it out by mistake. About 30 second ago, I caught her spying on me and my students from an adjacent window. She left when she saw me see her.

Sometimes I can't believe how territorial people are down here.

I just got the unofficial word from my advisor that I just became a fully funded graduate student!!!

This means that my benefits package has been upgraded to a full tuition scholarship plus a year-round stipend. I don't know the full details about the amount of the stipend, but I do know that it will be somewhere in the neighborhood of more than double what I got while working twice as many hours per week for my master's.

Once again, God has provided more than we need. Thanks, Lord. Also, thanks to all of you for praying continually. Keep up the good work!

Also, you can come and visit your half of the loot anytime you wish. If you can find me and my bank way up here in the northwest corner of the Yukon Territory. Bring long underwear.

A new Harris poll shows that 67% of Republicans believe President Obama is a socialist, 57% believe he is Muslim, and 24% believe he may be the Antichrist.

I can't think of anything more anti-Christ-ian than to make sure everyone has health care.

Sarah and I made it back safely from our trip. We had a really good time. I think it was just what both of us needed to recharge. Here is a brief summary of what we did. Click on any picture to enlarge.

Barney was much more interested in the sign than in the camera (above). Descent into the abyss (below).

Sarah and I on the path in the caverns (above). Some people I don't know who got in the way of my shot (below).

Sarah near the entrance to the "Big Room," which has the square footage of about 14 football fields but an uncreative name. Below, El Capitan (8,000+ feet) was sadly hidden by clouds in Texas's Guadalupe Mountains National Park on the way to El Paso.

Above, Doner Kebabs for lunch in Memorial Park in El Paso. Below, some of the brilliantly white gypsum sand, which doesn't look nearly so dazzling in the picture, in White Sands National Monument.

Sledding down the dunes in rented sleds was a popular activity.

Above, the dunes were less than impressive when we first entered the monument, but as we moved farther inward, the scrub brush that you see here gradually diminished into nothingness, and you could see only white sand in every direction.

I think Barney was ready to go home by the end of the trip. He knew he was getting behind on his cat biting schedule.

I've been busy preparing for this week's Spring Break. I can't wait to actually get some rest. Sarah and I are going to visit a couple 'local' national parks and stay away from responsibilities for a few days.

Also, earlier this week I got some good news about funding for school: I'm not going to have to pay for classes next year, and I'm going to get a small stipend for this summer. The total value of the funding is a little more than $29,000, so I'm very pleased that, once again, God has provided for us. Thanks for all your prayers!

A woman lost two fingers when she ignored warning signs and tried to feed a bear at a Wisconsin zoo. Her boyfriend said he was also bitten when he tried to pry the bear's jaws off the woman's hand. Police said that alcohol was a factor.

My only question: just how drunk was the bear?

Tuesdays are often my most productive day. It's the beginning of the week, so I still have energy and motivation left. I don't have class. I don't play basketball at noon like I do on Mondays and Fridays, and I only have one longstanding commitment, my office hours. But since my students never come to see me, the whole day is basically free to devote to actual work.

I made the mistake of going to check my department mailbox. In there, I found some papers to grade. No big deal, I thought, I can get this done in less than an hour. On the way back to my office, I ran into the professor for whom I am a TA. He asked me if I could come to his classes all day to "proctor" (babysit) the exams he was giving out in 15 minutes. And there went productivity.

The lesson? Never leave your office.