Generic Update Post

I've been disappeared for about the last ... oh, two or three months.

The Olympics happened. I went to the Women's Epee, and I have photographs, which I will publish ... at some point. Once I get a better grip on the whole RAW thing.

I missed going to the Paralympics dressage because I was unable to wake up on the day. I was angry as hell about that.

I've been cooking roasts a lot lately. And tuna bake. And also making stock, which the at-home version is soooo much better than the storebought. And cheaper, even when I buy bones.

I haven't been doing much, or really any, photography. I just ... haven't had the will for it. I'm hoping to change that, starting with photographing my plants ... well, probably not daily, in all honesty, but at least sometimes. Maybe if I get really tricksy, I'll do a stop motion. Once I figure out how. And setup. And that kind of thing.

I've been trying to figure out how to continue my wine studies. I can't really swing the 2000 GBP and 18 days twice a year - which is what I'd need to attend the required residency schools. I can't swing the 8000 GBP (and I'm not sure about the hour or so travel every day) to complete the degree here, either. The Master of Wine requires I already have the degree and industry experience, so that's right out.

.... actually, my woes there will end up being a post in themselves. I'll do that later. Suffice to say, I am frustrated and angry and depressed over the whole thing.

Said frustration has transferred itself to doing any study at all. So I haven't been doing that, either. 

Fitness? I laugh at it. I was doing okay in September, but that came crashing to a halt. I need to re-establish a regular routine, but as always, logistics get in the way.

General health? Well, I haven't had a cold or gotten sick. I have had severe issues with sleeping - the anxiety over study, general existential angst, etc, has been giving me a bit of insomnia. And I was off my medication for a week because I was too exhausted and tired and sleepy to go down the road to get more.

So what have I actually been doing? Playing world of warcraft, reading a lot. Also, researching the wine thing takes a lot of time. Doing chores. There's another post in here about how I'm not doing anything coherent because I don't have anything to aim at, but again, I'll leave that set of angst for later.

What am I planning on doing? Making plants stay alive, figuring out if it is at all possible for me to continue study, getting less unfit, reducing my ongoing overheads task list. Which I need to write and braindump.

So, how have you been?

Study vs life, and the difficulty of answering questions.

Life's been winning lately. In some ways, this is a good thing; I've been, in general, pretty happy and upbeat of late. I've been concentrating on me-stuff - getting to know my job and my workmates, exercising, playing games, and generally not taking on any stress.

However, the bill for that is just about to come due. I've got an exam on Tuesday, and since I effectively haven't (and haven't effectively) studied since early August, I'm not rating my chances of doing well on this exam particularly highly. Wine is a complex subject, and I don't have quite enough chemical background to really easily understand the wine chemistry I'm doing at the moment. If I had a week, and no other distractions, and my focus was working, I'd be confident. As it is, I have about 48 hours, a focus shot to hell, distractions left, right and centre, and a sprinkling of other things to do.

It doesn't help that what I'm trying to study and understand is so dry, and the resources given to me to help me understand are, in my opinion, quite insufficient. For instance, a question that I'm currently trying to answer: Hydrometry cannot provide an accurate measure of the sugar content of a fermenting wine. Why?

I think the answer lies somewhere in the following chunk of text:

The absolute density of any substance, expressed in units of grams per cubic centimetre, or grams per milliliter, is defined as: Density of substance = (Weight of substance / Volume of substance). Direct measurement of volumes may present a problem, especially where gases are concerned. As a result, it becomes convenient to use the ratio of the density of a substance to that of a recognised reference such as water. This relationship, known as specific gravity, is expressed as: Specific gravity = (weight of * mL of substance) / (weight of * mL of water) .
The density of water at 4degC is, for all practical purposes, 1g/cm^3. Because the weight of any substance will change as a function of temperature, any complete definition of specific gravity must include the temperature at which the determination was made, as well as the reference temperature for water. The temperature of the measured sample is noted above that of the reference. For example, the notation 15deg/4degC indicates that the specific gravity of the solution in question was made at 15degC relative to water at 4degC.
The concentration of dissolved substances in solution is related to the specific gravity but one should know, however, assume a simple and direct correlation between observed specific gravity and concentration in all cases because molal volumes of substances in solution may vary in a complex and unpredictable manner. Tables are available that relate concentration of dissolved substances to apparent specific gravity; those most commonly encountered in analysis of wine are for Brix, Baume, degrees Oechsle, and alcohol.
Tables usually reference only one or two standard temperatures; one must either measure the specific gravity at the defined temperature or, alternatively, employ a temperature correction factor. For the most accurate work, it is recommended that the solution be brought to defined temperature prior to measurement.
Hydrometric determinations are based on the principle that an object will displace an equivalent weight in any liquid in which it is placed. The volume displaced by an object is inversly proportional to its density. Hence a solution of high density will show less displacement than on of lower density. This relationship defines the basic principle of hydrometry.
A hydrometer consists of a calibrated scale within a glass tube that is usually constructed with a mercury or shot-filled terminal bulb to maintain it in an upright position. Hydrometers are available to read either specific gravity or the concentration of some component in solution. Examples of the latter include the familiar saccharometer and the salinometer.

Excerpted from Zoecklein, B. W., Fugelsang, K. C., Gump, B. H. & Nury, F. S. (1995) Wine analysis and production, Aspen Publishing, Gaithersburg.



The answers I'm coming up with here are musings along the lines of the way temperature tends to vary in a ferment, the fact that ferments are complex beasties, with lots of different things doing their own dance, and that gas (specifically, carbon dioxide) is given off as part of the fermentation process.

But I'm not sure that's correct, or complete. And I don't have anything that says 'this is the answer we are looking for'. And, due to the joys of distance ed and a really small degree program, I don't have any classmates to ask. And I don't want to be wrong. I guess I'll just skip that question - like I have about half the questions - and move on, hopefully to something I can be confident that I can understand. I may be overthinking my answers to these questions, but that's the thing: I don't know, and I have no way of finding out. Well, except by having a question on it in the exam, and getting it right or wrong - if I get the marked exam back. Which, incidentally, I didn't last semester, so I still don't know where I gained or lost marks there.

Basically what this adds up to is I'm stressed, anxious, worried - although not yet depressed. If there's anyone out there that feels like answering this and other questions for me, or if you can point me at resources which I can read and hopefully understand the processes going on, that'd be great. If not - well, wish me luck. I feel like I'm going to need it.