Hein's Thoughts

In many ways, I just love math.  I was never paid to do research in math (never was a professor or full time instructor).  I probably write about four or five pages of scribbled math a week just for the fun of it.  Getting a Ph.D. in math might not have been the best financial investment of my time, but it changed the way my mind works in a pleasant way.  Grad school was never hard for me, it was mostly filled with joy.  I was amazed that they would pay me and cover my tuition if I taught calculus for 6 hours a week.  Some mathematicians call math an obsession.  Occasionally, some question will be so interesting that I can't let it go, but that only happens a few times a year.  Generally speaking, I find the process of doing math to be relaxing.   

   I had a zoom meeting with a doctor a week ago for a spider bite which had caused most of my forearm to turn red.  The doctor prescribed antibiotics.  Slowly over the last week, the red area receded and changed back to my normal skin color.  The online meeting itself was a product of new technology (iPhones and the Internet) and the covid crisis.  I think the antibiotics saved my life or at least my arm.  The bite was beginning to affect my elbow which had become sore.  This week, I did not take the technology, antibiotics, and doctors for granted.  I really appreciated them all.