I am procrastinating my procrastinating things.

I have to get a lecture in order by 7pm.
I have to return or renew Emily's library books today. Probably renew on computer.
I have to write and translate (or get someone to translate) a Membership for the PTA poster by tomorrow.
I have to submit my timesheet, including this lecture tonight, by midnight.

You may not be surprising that I am knitting, doing laundry, and checking Facebook, LiveJournal and other social media. Plus wandering around looking for papers and other things.

Updated: I got 3 out of 4 done by 10:10pm

I seem not to get on LJ as much. Concentrating on Facebook, it seems, and working my little tail off. And an invitation-only board, and another one just for co-workers, and Rosetta Stone.

Rosetta Stone is lots of fun. I'm still way back at the beginning but progressing rapidly. The progress monitoring isn't designed to make starting in the middle intuitive, and I want to be sure that my pronunciation keeps up with my other skills, so I am using the first lessons for practice with that.

My Beetle and I were involved in an accident. Low-speed, so I was fine, but my Beetle is going to have to undergo surgery. Right now, it is a pirate Beetle, because the left front headlight is on the back seat. I have gotten two written opinions from doctors that specialize in this sort of surgery and have a start time at the Beetle hospital of my choice. The hospital is very convenient, and I should be able to see the recovery area from nearby.

My work for the PTA is going apace. I have one thing to do for it today, and I really should stop procrastinating about it.

School is done. I am not going to worry much about it over the summer. Emily may need a push in reading and to learn her math facts, but I will let it happen, especially the reading, since she is interested in many books.


Garden is growing (corn). The lettuce is growing (black-seeded Simpson, there must be a sale). The peas are trying to give their last pods for the season. It will get hot again, but today and recently, it's been cool. I've had to water several times, since there has not been much rain lately.

Work is heating up for the summer. Some of the last of the old-style GRE courses. And some chemistry for MCAT. All good, of course. My bank account will be fuller than I have seen it in a long time.

mrmoosie and I are contemplating going to a Nationals baseball game next Tuesday. If we do, Emily and I will have to take the Metro and mrmoosie will have to drive.

This weekend, we (Mrmoosie, Emily and I) put in a few hours of work clearing leaves from the community pool. I also took a trash bag around for trash between the two fences. Emily was helpful for an hour and whiny for an hour. My legs hurt after all that. It's clear that I've been getting out of shape steadily. There will be another work day next week, but I will be busy.

I still have two more math problems (to edit) and one passage to write for Princeton Review. The timelines are pretty short, given the other constraints in my life. One of the biggest constraints this past week has been Emily being home from school. Another constraint has been actual tutoring and/or teaching. I am hoping not to get any more assignments for writing questions after those are finished.

The lettuces in my garden are growing faster than the ones in the pot. They are ready to harvest a few leaves from. I put some sticks for peas to climb up on in places where I have peas doing well. Only one set has fallen down so far, but I am not optimistic for most of them.

Not necessarily to the right place, but somewhere. I have ten problems to do by Friday, and at this point, they are taking about 2 hours each.  With any luck, the time will get shorter before the end of the week. At the moment, my pay rate for these divided by the time it takes to do them is not enough. I don't tend to use complicated sentence structure, but I am required to do that for these.

I also have online tutoring to prepare (and again for Friday), I really hope that I get both done in a credible way.

I'm half-way through an intensive MCAT course. Not taking it, teaching the biology portion. 

I'm reviewing the Training Videos for the classes that I am teaching, so that I have a depth of understanding.

I still haven't been scheduled for any classes after this one ends. Bleh.

But haven't been anywhere else either. At least as far as posting goes.

I'm working tonight and on Tuesday.

I have a list of Federal jobs to apply to. We'll see, however, since my resume is not really finished with dates and everything. Some of those dates are hard to determine. I was doing this task from blah to blah; but I was paid in three different ways so I have to write it as three different jobs. Bleh.

I am writing up my Teaching Notes for Chemistry. And thinking of examples. It's dull, and hard to imagine. But! at least there are only 8 lectures for Chemistry instead of 10 for Biology.

Clinical Laboratory Technologists and Technicians

Significant Points

• Excellent job opportunities are expected.
• Clinical laboratory technologists usually have a bachelor's degree with a major in medical technology or in one of the life sciences; clinical laboratory technicians generally need either an associate degree or a certificate.
• Most jobs will continue to be in hospitals, but employment will grow rapidly in other settings, as well.

Nature of the Work

Clinical laboratory testing plays a crucial role in the detection, diagnosis, and treatment of disease. Clinical laboratory technologists, also referred to as clinical laboratory scientists or medical technologists, and clinical laboratory technicians, also known as medical technicians or medical laboratory technicians, perform most of these tests.

Training, Other Qualifications, and Advancement About this section

Clinical laboratory technologists generally require a bachelor's degree in medical technology or in one of the life sciences; clinical laboratory technicians usually need an associate degree or a certificate.

Education and training. The usual requirement for an entry-level position as a clinical laboratory technologist is a bachelor's degree with a major in medical technology or one of the life sciences; however, it is possible to qualify for some jobs with a combination of education and on-the-job and specialized training. Universities and hospitals offer medical technology programs.

Bachelor's degree programs in medical technology include courses in chemistry, biological sciences, microbiology, mathematics, and statistics, as well as specialized courses devoted to knowledge and skills used in the clinical laboratory. Many programs also offer or require courses in management, business, and computer applications. The Clinical Laboratory Improvement Act requires technologists who perform highly complex tests to have at least an associate degree.

Medical and clinical laboratory technicians generally have either an associate degree from a community or junior college or a certificate from a hospital, a vocational or technical school, or the Armed Forces. A few technicians learn their skills on the job.

The National Accrediting Agency for Clinical Laboratory Sciences (NAACLS) fully accredits about 479 programs for medical and clinical laboratory technologists, medical and clinical laboratory technicians, histotechnologists and histotechnicians, cytogenetic technologists, and diagnostic molecular scientists. NAACLS also approves about 60 programs in phlebotomy and clinical assisting. Other nationally recognized agencies that accredit specific areas for clinical laboratory workers include the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs and the Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools.

Licensure. Some States require laboratory personnel to be licensed or registered. Licensure of technologists often requires a bachelor's degree and the passing of an exam, but requirements vary by State and specialty. Information on licensure is available from State departments of health or boards of occupational licensing.

Certification and other qualifications. Many employers prefer applicants who are certified by a recognized professional association. Associations offering certification include the Board of Registry of the American Society for Clinical Pathology, the American Medical Technologists, the National Credentialing Agency for Laboratory Personnel, and the Board of Registry of the American Association of Bioanalysts. These agencies have different requirements for certification and different organizational sponsors.

In addition to certification, employers seek clinical laboratory personnel with good analytical judgment and the ability to work under pressure. Technologists in particular are expected to be good at problem solving. Close attention to detail is also essential for laboratory personnel because small differences or changes in test substances or numerical readouts can be crucial to a diagnosis. Manual dexterity and normal color vision are highly desirable, and with the widespread use of automated laboratory equipment, computer skills are important.
 

Job Outlook About this section

Rapid job growth and excellent job opportunities are expected. Most jobs will continue to be in hospitals, but employment will grow rapidly in other settings, as well.

Employment change. Employment of clinical laboratory workers is expected to grow by 14 percent between 2008 and 2018, faster than the average for all occupations. The volume of laboratory tests continues to increase with both population growth and the development of new types of tests.

Technological advances will continue to have opposing effects on employment. On the one hand, new, increasingly powerful diagnostic tests and advances in genomics—the study of the genetic information of a cell or organism—will encourage additional testing and spur employment. On the other hand, research and development efforts targeted at simplifying and automating routine testing procedures may enhance the ability of nonlaboratory personnel—physicians and patients in particular—to perform tests now conducted in laboratories.

Although hospitals are expected to continue to be the major employer of clinical laboratory workers, employment is expected also to grow rapidly in medical and diagnostic laboratories, offices of physicians, and all other ambulatory healthcare services.

Job prospects. Job opportunities are expected to be excellent because the number of job openings is expected to continue to exceed the number of jobseekers. Although significant, job growth will not be the only source of opportunities. As in most occupations, many additional openings will result from the need to replace workers who transfer to other occupations, retire, or stop working for some other reason. Willingness to relocate will further enhance one’s job prospects.

WTH?  Willingness to relocate!!!!! That is not something I expected to be a component of this field.

 

We're in the post-sledding relaxation stage. mrmoosie is finally home. I'm not exactly sure what happened to his promise to come home and work from home for the last part of the day.

He is promising to work from home on Monday, if the schools are closed. I am sure that I will be teaching in the afternoon/early evening since Princeton Review has tight deadlines. I need to review my stuff for it.

The teachers are joking with black humor about their July 4th lesson plans. It will only take about 10 more snow days to achieve July 4th.

Emily's teachers sent next week's homework home today. So she'll have 7 nights to work on it instead of 4.

I bumped the side of my foot really hard.

I am off to the book club tonight. It should be fun. We are going to see the movie at the book club.

Before that, I probably need to check in with my tutoring student. In fact, I should call this morning to confirm. Hey, I have email that he is canceling.