Well, this is a test of Firefox, to see how it works with Blogger.

I got fed up with the slow bugginess of IE and downloaded Firefox (for some reason I'd thought it took more effort and computer know-how, it's really pretty easy). So far, all of the sites I've tried have worked OK (I know Firefox can make some sites look wonky). The only thing I've noticed is that I can't print from Firefox here on campus, or at least I can't print .pdf documents out of Firefox. I don't know if there's a quick fix for that one. (I'm not sure how "legal" it is for me to use Firefox, supposedly we are a "Windows" campus).

Anyway. Also, it looks like they fixed the Webmail page. I called yesterday to complain, and the guy said, "Oh....maybe I need to reboot the mail server." I don't know how long that takes, but it seems to me that most of my reboot experience is pretty fast...and it took from about 9 am yesterday until just now for them to fix it.

Anyway. Enough complaining. I realized something yesterday afternoon - I had gone out to help my two research students do fieldwork, to get them started. It was a really hot day, well over 90* and muggy. And where we were, in the woods, there wasn't really a breeze. And we were having to bushwhack our way through lots of brush and trumpet vine and greenbriar. (And we saw a baby rattlesnake, which didn't freak me out nearly as much then as it did later on when I was sitting at home thinking about it...and thinking about going out again on Friday). But you know what? It was tremendously FUN. And a big part of it was the guys I was working with - they're friends, but they're not so-like-brothers that they formed an impenetrable wall of in-jokes and personal banter that closed me out. We joked and talked and discussed ways of identifying plants the whole way, and I told the story (after we saw the rattlesnake) of how a guy my mom knew in grad school once thought he was getting a milk snake when it was actually a baby rattler, and how the prof for that class hauled tail to get the guy out of the forest after he was bit - and the afternoon went really fast. And like I said, it was fun. It would have been totally different if I had been working with two people who were just puttin' in their hours, or who complained about the working conditions, or who didn't seem like they wanted to be there. But these two guys - they're both so interested in EVERYTHING, and they're both pretty knowledgable about the woods (and what they don't know, they want to learn, right away). So it was a joy to go out and work, even though it was sticky and buggy and we got a little scratched up. And I'm looking forward to going out and working again on Friday. I wish all my students were like these guys.

I also have to remind myself, in my own work - always want to be there. If you're tired, if there's something on your mind, still find it in yourself to want to be there. It makes all the difference to the people around you.