The Raging Tech

Good to Know: How Long Will You Survive in Space?

My results:

Congrats! You could survive for 1 minute 23 seconds !

In the first 30 seconds any fluid on the surface of your body would begin to boil due to lack of ambient pressure, this includes the saliva on your tongue and the moisture in your eyes. Your eardrums would most likely burst due to the pressure in your body trying to equalize with the vacuum outside. Unlike what some science fiction films have suggested, your body would not explode.

After the first 15 seconds you would lose consciousness. If you held your breath you could potentially stay alive longer but you risk pulmonary trauma. If you didn’t hold your breath you’d pass out sooner, but your lungs might have a better chance of avoiding permanent damage.

The pressure in your veins would rise until your heart no longer had the capacity to pump blood, at which point you’d die.

OnePlusYou Quizzes and Widgets

My Nerves are Shot

I woke up this morning, took my meds and took a shower. I got ready for work, wasn’t rushed or hurried. Got to work, and students were lined up in their cars in the entranceway to the parking lot, waiting on a space to open up, none of them willing to budge. I begrudgingly went up to the upper level of the lot and went in that entrance and parked in the staff spots there, since I am a staff member and all.

Besides almost getting run over walking down the hill and crossing the road, it was a mostly uneventful start to the day. Then I actually got to work. My mom called and reminded me that today is the day she gets her gastric bypass surgery. I am a little nervous about it, but I know she’s in God’s hands and He’ll take care of her.

My first phone call of the day is from a grad student who is a distance learner (all online courses) and suddenly she was informed she needed to login to her university e-mail account (which of course, she’s never used before, and here it is exam week) and she thinks it’s completely ridiculous that she has to have this whole extra e-mail account to manage, and this whole thing is just silly, and… man, I wish I could stab people. Why can’t they legalize stabbing? It shouldn’t just be available to OJ. That seems un-American.

This same guy who called the Help Desk last week calls next, stating he’s having the same problem. I didn’t even try to troubleshoot his issue, I just put in a ticket for it and sent it on to the IT support for his particular college of the university.

On top of all of this, we forgot to coordinate our lunch schedules around Andy’s exam today, so everyone left and I was the only one on the phones until Brian showed back up.  So I pretty much was the help desk for the last hour or two. Brian is back now. Maybe my tension will ease up.

NY Times Thinks You Could Do Less to do Better

The New York Times has an article that states, according to some university research, if you’re depressed it could be because you’re a perfectionist. Not necessarily OCD, everything has to be perfect type of perfectionist, but under pressure from peers or family or even self-criticism to be perfect or expect others to be perfect.

The main thing is the expectations you are under, have for others, or impose upon yourself may cause you to be depressed when those expectations are not met. That can lead to stress, which can lead to sleep and other health issues, and eventually into depression.

Their solution? “Stop that!” - no, seriously. Don’t get to work early. Leave on time. Take all the breaks available. Don’t go the extra mile. Let things that aren’t your responsibility go for once. Only do your own work.

It sounds like I’m on a pretty good track for staying away from depression. Woo hoo.