We were able to get into the rat lab this morning, which was nice. Just a few more days and it's all over. Well, the part where we visit our rat, anyway- there are still graphs and a lab report to be done.
In my behavior class, we discussed the natures of giant Gambian pouched rats and how in some third-world countries, the rats are used to sniff out landmines that were buried during war and then left for large animals and people to step on, causing loss of limbs or death. The rats are too light to activate the mines, and they are already used to sniffing for prey underneath them.
I had the thought that I could use this idea in my writing- specifically in Gavin and Ethel's story. I've desperately been needing to rework Ethel's motivation for teaming up with Gavin before they travel across her country to the capital city. Journey stories aren't my strong suit (which is why I specifically wanted this one to be a journey) and so I've been struggling.
But, I wonder if I could use the idea of sniffing out the landmines. This is a fantasy novel. Perhaps Ethel could be a "leading pioneer" in using lightweight or perhaps magically-immune animals to deactivate clumps of magic left over from war. She already has the pet jackalope I gave her since in the original plan for the story, she was merely a stage magician who could pull a rabbit (and various foods and pieces of furniture) out of her uncle's magical hat.
The substitute we have in my horticulture class talks incredibly fast, and flips through the slides of his PowerPoints faster. I've all but given up on taking notes- each slide is on the wall for only four seconds or so. It's funny, because they warned us in third grade that we needed to learn cursive so we could write fast enough to take notes in college. I doubt even a skilled cursive-writer could keep up with this man's pace! Luckily the PowerPoints are online.
Following Institute and my chocolate class, I ate dinner on campus at the Marketplace and went to SI for behavior class. Then I came home and some homework was done this evening. Due to this Friday being our Fall Break, we have an interesting schedule for tomorrow. Our Friday classes will be held on Thursday, and we won't have Thursday classes at all. I wonder who will forget and slip up along the way.
