Proposals and Abstracts and Papers and Plots and...

Things are running the busy end of the circle here. I have a telescope observing proposal due in 4 days and my advisors want a draft by tomorrow (which is totally reasonable to have it ahead of time but I am so not near done yet that it's driving me a bit mad); I fixed a lot of my master's work stuff from the last blog post and just need to do some serious curve fitting and then I should be able to finish that up--but the problem is that if I want to finish either of those I'll need to put all my energy into it and I can't put all my energy into two things, I can only put at most half into each. So one of those is probably going to fall by the side of the road and it will probably be the master's work again. Also the paper I should have finished. But there's an abstract due for my second conference this week so I can't ignore that either--and the TPT application, and I have to get the rental car and hotel arranged for my conference coming up at the end of May.

I can't ignore it all and I can't do it all. I guess the only thing to do is to drink a lot of soda and knit on a sock and get ready for my doctor's appointment tomorrow and plan my date.

Wait, that's not a plan at all. That's procrastinating. AGH!

For some reason I don't feel terrified about all of this. Maybe it all still feels feasible. Maybe I just haven't made a good enough list yet. Or maybe this super squishy merino yarn is just that soothing. Who knows!

for the proposal:
-construct sample population: finish calculating limiting declination range; figure out what RA range is reasonable for fall; use the resolution of the telescope to calculate the maximum redshift I can go out to and still resolve down to ~500 pc; and then try and figure out how to find objects that are probably agn-ish, cover the span of agn luminosity (well I can probably use total galaxy luminosity because if it's over 10^44 erg/s it's probably at least a LIRG. right?); and also get a cross over with possible radio feedback sources. And things that can be studied with ALMA if we're lucky enough to get time. Oh, I am so doomed, this is the easiest step

-get the required .cls version of the proposal form and download it and make sure it all compiles and then fill them out, or at least the local-TAC required parts; let's see, that means:

All cover page sections, namely:

• proposal term info
• PI
• abstract
• Observing run
• scheduling restraints
• target list
• PI approval

Experimental design: include how a brightness translates into an estimated required time and any constraints or instructions not included in schedulingconstraints{}.

-email it to my advisors before 10am tomorrow morning
-Spend a significant amount of time laughing ridiculously and maybe do one of those 5 hour caffeine things even though that will mean I will be insane tomorrow and possibly fall asleep during my possible date

Life/organizing:
-feed cats
-set up hotel at the conference
-set up rental car at the conference (priceline?)
-mail lease to landlord for next year with requested fixes (hedge, new window screens, repainting of back door so the paint doesn't flake off and get eaten by cats, new kitchen floor tile as it is currently scarred and puckering, removal of vines that are rather quickly eating the house, chopping down the dead pine tree in back)
-mail voter registration
-mail gift + letter to my aunt
-do laundry so I don't smell like I rolled in something dead
-arrange to have car fixed before I leave town
-find place to park car for Twin to pick it up.

Paper:
-make a collection of MIPS overlaid with my VLT images
-recalculate 2 numbers
-make lots of plots and put them in the paper
-add background section
-redo references
-add analysis section

Masters work:
-look into fitting with gnuplot (from .txt, which I can construct from tempcompare.pro)
-read C.'s thesis for comparison/fitting ideas


So. I'm a bit busy.  Everything italicized needs to be done ASAP, preferably today. Shit. No wonder I am knitting a sock.

EDIT: Magically, the travel company that got the flight set up for me also set up my rental car. Woot!
EDIT2: And I'll share a room with someone who has already arranged a hotel. Sweet! Now I just need to feed the cats and do... the entire.... proposal....... dammit.