What has two thumbs and just got out of the last o-chem final of its life? This guy! The last organic chemistry class/lab/instructional yada yada of my life. Done. No more. Clearly, a very poignant moment. So poignant, in fact, that I am going to take a break (no literally, I will make a line break here) to symbolize this sublime moment.
Although I like organic chemistry (a lot), I think O-chem labs are a complete waste of time, effort and talent. They are very shoddy, shabby and hilariously dumbed down. Dichloromethane? Oh no no no undergrads you can't use that! DMSO? Too expensive to let klutzy undergrads handle it!
As a result, we don't end up learning anything useful (as opposed to just the o-chem class where there is some good theory to learn). It becomes a chore to do lab reports and I can't even describe how absurd it is to "reference" your professor's own course reader when writing up a post-lab. We are obviously writing Nature caliber reports here, right?
Our professor was actually a very nice guy (which made the class oh-so slightly tolerable) and was pretty generous in holding office hours, review sessions, and so on. But that's not enough to overcome the mind-numbing drudgery of decoding noisy IR spectra and hustling in line to get to the reactant first. A freakin' rat race in lab every week!
It's not like this is a sour-grapes type post because I am actually pretty good at o-chem and really enjoyed my normal o-chem classes. I am merely allergic to mindless labor that is not going to lead anywhere anytime soon, and writing endless pre-lab reports comes under this category. If this wasn't a requirement for medical school, I would never have taken an o-chem lab. Would I have taken an o-chem class? Yes. It is a lot like calculus and I love me some calculus on a fine day...
Where we sacrifice our grades and well-being for your entertainment.
Showing posts with label o-chem. Show all posts
Showing posts with label o-chem. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Friday, August 27, 2010
Of gortex and babkas
You know how sometimes there are words we like so much that we want to keep saying them over and over and over again? William Safire , a noted grammarian who worked as a speechwriter in the Nixon white house and had a popular column in the New York Times Magazine (now that's a contradiction for the books), loved to analyze etymology track trends in word usage and his columns were very insightful and lively. Let's try to do something here too.
I was watching one of the endless Seinfeld re-runs on TV tonight. It is hellishly cold in New York and George walks into Jerry's apartment wearing a ludicrously puffed up coat which, he proudly and eagerly announces, is made of Gortex "You like saying Gortex, don't ya?", sneers Jerry (when is Jerry not sneering?)And all throughout the episode, George finds excuses to sneak in Gortex in routine conversation.
Meanwhile, Jerry and Elaine have their own word obsession while waiting in line in a bakery. In a very Seinfeldian manner, they argue whether they should buy a chocolate babka or a cinnamon babka. I am not sure but I think I counted about 15 mentions of bub-kah in less than 3 minutes of screen time.
What is Goretex? Wikipedia, our faithful guide in this complicated world, tells me it was invented by some dude called Gore (not the internet-inventor and world savior Al Gore) in the 1970's. Apparently, it is a breathable and porous fabric used to manufacture raincoats, implants and other assorted junk. It is made of interconnected nodes of Teflon (the same polymer they use to make non-stick pans you cook your foodstuff on). So goretex is essentially a cooking pan that breaths. Splendid.
For his services to humanity, Gore was inducted in the Industrial Inventors Hall of Fame. A Hall of Fame for inventors? Really?! WOW.
Gore and his fellow inventors filed a patent which I was able to dig out from the innards of the interetz: Gortex patent . Remember this kids: you can be rich and famous too if you come up with a fancy polymer that allows you sweat out but doesn't allow the rain to come in.
Don't forget to avoid the eggs, folks. This was a public service announcement from the kind people at UG.
I was watching one of the endless Seinfeld re-runs on TV tonight. It is hellishly cold in New York and George walks into Jerry's apartment wearing a ludicrously puffed up coat which, he proudly and eagerly announces, is made of Gortex "You like saying Gortex, don't ya?", sneers Jerry (when is Jerry not sneering?)And all throughout the episode, George finds excuses to sneak in Gortex in routine conversation.
 |
| A bemused Elaine critiquing George's sartorial tastes |
Meanwhile, Jerry and Elaine have their own word obsession while waiting in line in a bakery. In a very Seinfeldian manner, they argue whether they should buy a chocolate babka or a cinnamon babka. I am not sure but I think I counted about 15 mentions of bub-kah in less than 3 minutes of screen time.
What is Goretex? Wikipedia, our faithful guide in this complicated world, tells me it was invented by some dude called Gore (not the internet-inventor and world savior Al Gore) in the 1970's. Apparently, it is a breathable and porous fabric used to manufacture raincoats, implants and other assorted junk. It is made of interconnected nodes of Teflon (the same polymer they use to make non-stick pans you cook your foodstuff on). So goretex is essentially a cooking pan that breaths. Splendid.
For his services to humanity, Gore was inducted in the Industrial Inventors Hall of Fame. A Hall of Fame for inventors? Really?! WOW.
Gore and his fellow inventors filed a patent which I was able to dig out from the innards of the interetz: Gortex patent . Remember this kids: you can be rich and famous too if you come up with a fancy polymer that allows you sweat out but doesn't allow the rain to come in.
Don't forget to avoid the eggs, folks. This was a public service announcement from the kind people at UG.
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