It's basically like the title says. I have been working on one thing or another almost continuously since the end of February. I'll claim that as an excuse for not keeping up particularly well with this venture.
There has, of course, been a lot happening since the last time I wrote. My project is progressing well, the reindeer are about to start dropping calves, and I'm juggling the finishing touches on my PhD Application to the University of Alaska. I'll get to (at least some) of that soon enough. First, though, I'm going with the most interesting bit of news. I arrived back in Aviemore from my week-long trip to Edinburgh on Saturday night. Now I was pretty exhausted from a five straight nights of sleeping on floors, five straight days of taking tests (GRE) and working on statistics, and a hilarious but taxing train ride sitting next to three drunk best friends who were in the middle of a fairly pointless argument. Fiona, one of the resident herders (and daughter of the reindeer owners) picked me up and made vague mention of a new surprise waiting for me at Reindeer House. She wouldn't tell me what it was, but I found out soon enough.
We have a wild boar piglet living in our bathroom.
At some point late last week, Tilly went to clear a group of piglets out of a nesting box over on the farm at Balchorrach. Once she got them all out, she discovered a runty little thing just lying in the back, unwilling or unable to get up with it's siblings. Based on the wounds on her face and abdomen, it was obvious that the other piglets had been chewing on her and that she had not been able to stop them. She wasn't much more than a few days old, but things were looking particularly grim - it was obvious that this little pig would die if nothing was done, so Tilly pulled her out of the box and sent her over to us.
She's recovering from her injuries, eating well, and generally delighting everyone at the house. Usually quite good natured, she does, from time to time, get exceedingly grumpy. The squealing that took place today (she had to get an antibiotic injection for a leg injury) was a very good reminder of why we call her "Furious Pig."
 |
| You can't tell just by looking, but this pig is furious. |
 |
| Furious Pig out in the garden - she's about the size of a guinea pig |
In non-pig news, my project is still going well. That's right, there's pretty much nothing else going on in my life besides this project. I was hoping to have a few days off last week down in the city (I've managed to give myself two and a half days off since starting), but alas it wasn't to be. I took the train down on Monday morning and used that afternoon to cram in the only studying I would be able to do before I took the GRE the next day. Now I don't know the average amount of study time that people devote to this test, but the few friends over here that I talked to about it had spent somewhere between 2-6 months studying, taking practice tests, etc. I went to bed Monday night feeling pretty well underprepared, but set out for the testing center the next morning feeling alright about the whole thing - that is until I got a little lost on my way (not good for the nerves). Well I finally found the place with a couple minutes to spare, got the standard talking to, and sat down in front of the computer to get it over with. Apparently, with the computer based test, you're allowed to just keep on answering questions and writing essays without any breaks. So that's what I did, I sat there and wrote my essays, worked through the verbal sections and mostly sweated my way through the math bits. Before I knew it, the test was over and the computer showed a screen asking me one of the hardest tests of the day - "Do you want to A.) Cancel today's test results and not see your scores or B.) Confirm the scores, have them sent out to your selected institutions, and then get to see them?" Well after all this hassle I sure as hell wasn't going to cancel them - my expectations were low, but I certainly wasn't going to forfeit the ridiculous testing fee, cost of train-tickets, and hassle of finding somewhere to stay.
So I clicked on option B.
Now I'll preface this by saying that, prior to taking the test, I had set myself two goals - one realistic, one not so much. After reading up on average test scores from years past, I found that the average combined score was somewhere around 1050 (out of 1600 possible). Now I don't consider myself average, but considering my almost total lack of preparation I thought scoring somewhere around 1150-1200 would be pretty good. I did well on the SAT without studying, but certainly the group of people taking the GRE is smarter than that right? So that was my realistic goal. My less realistic goal was to beat the average GRE score from Cornell - 1377, the highest I've seen of any Ivy League University (yes, higher than Harvard and Yale and Princeton). Of the folk I know from Cornell who've taken this (or similar) exams, a good portion of them scored ridiculously well and are now in law school at Columbia or some other ridiculously high-achieving institution, so it would be amazing to perform to that same level. So higher than 1377 was what I considered my less than realistic goal.
I scored 1420.
And frightened several passers by when I couldn't prevent myself from whooping, yes whooping, several times on the walk home.
The University of Alaska better be happy with that.
So that was the big news from the week down South. I spent the rest of my time meeting with statisticians, or working on statistics, or applying statistics to the developmental bits of my project. I did take Friday night off to go celebrate a friend's birthday, but my part of the celebration was a bit tempered by the fact that I was so tired. Since then I've made it back to the Highlands, where I will have a bed to sleep on for at least a few more days before I move into my tent out with the reindeer. I'm finalizing bits of my methods this week, which isn't very exciting. One very important bit of the project is remembering which animal is which. Just in case I forget a reindeer's name, I need to have a quick reference to look it up. I could use text descriptions, but I think they would be less effective than what I've come up with. Basically, it's just a blank reindeer (and yes, I did design the whole thing myself). I can draw on distinctive markings, coat shades, and record notes on personalities right on the sheet and then use it as a quick way to make sure I know who I'm watching. If you find yourself requiring an efficient reindeer identification system in day to day life (and let's be honest, don't we all?) you are free to use this (please send the royalty checks here to Scotland).
That's all for now. I need to get back to writing up my ethogram, so I've got to wrap it up. Also Ray Mears (one of those TV outdoor adventure/survival guys) is coming to film part of a show here today, so I've got to go get my loin-cloth on before I spend the afternoon subtly intruding in the background of all of his shots.
