We had mandatory training yesterday for BSL2+ work. Forget the fact that we have been working in BSL2+ facilities for over a year. Apparently now we need training. The most interesting thing about the training - the full time biosafety officer teaching the class passed out candy for those who would answer questions or make comments. We were in the BSL2+ tissue culture room. In a safety class, we were encouraged to eat in the same room we were just told that we weren't allowed to eat in.
Ridiculous.
And during the same meeting we learned that the two table top centrifuges are room temp only. They aren't refrigerated. In a common lab space only an idiot would order centrifuges that don't refrigerate. Two of the three labs here use refrigerated centrifuges, however the lab in which the Center lab manager belongs to doesn't. She obviously doesn't think of every one's needs. Kiwi is working with her and the other lab boss to figure out what they are going to do. Absolutely everything our lab does requires equipment to keep it all cold. Kiwi was eyeing the centrifuge next to my bench. He wanted to take the centrifuge from our lab benches but I said no, bad idea. That's the only refrigerated one by the benches. I told him he can't have it. They will need to fix the problem without stealing the equipment the rest of us use. Especially the equipment I use!
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Dante's Update
I want to thank everyone for their well wishes. I really appreciate them!
I would have posted yesterday but wasn't ready to talk about it yet. Don't worry, Dante is home and running around like a crazy cat. But he still has his bad tooth. The vet didn't want to do the surgery.
It was a combination of a couple things. Dante wouldn't calm down in the cage, he was panting and breathing hard all day. They didn't want to anesthetize a cat breathing like that. But that wasn't the main reason. He had an EKG before the surgery to check his heart, and it wasn't good. In fact, it was the worst that it's ever looked. The vet described to me what he thought Dante's heart was doing, simply, it was trying to expel blood from the heart when new blood hadn't yet been pumped into it. He showed me the EKG and the irregularities. He said he hasn't seen this kind of abnormality in a cat before and that it was more than just a murmur. No one there (there is more than one vet) felt comfortable putting Dante under with his heart like that. A tooth wasn't worth him dying on the table. So even though I feel that he would have been fine, they didn't want to take the risk since he was so worked up. In fact, they were so concerned about the EKG they didn't even really care about the tooth anymore.
So what are my options now? Well, not much. Here are my choices.
1) Do nothing.
2) Tell them to go ahead with the surgery no matter what.
3) They can bring in a vet specializing in tooth removal so it can done as fast as possible
4) Go back to see the internist that Dante sees about his heart once a year and get him checked out again.
5) Send him to a feline cardiac specialist to determine what specific heart disease he has because there may be a treatment that could help. And the specialist could determine the best way to handle putting him under.
Of course the best option is number 5. And the vet would recommend number 5, because as he put it, he would hate to have Dante develop problems in the future, only to learn later that they could have been prevented, or at least delayed. But of course, the list is in order of least cost to highest cost. A visit to the cardiologist would start between $500 and $1000 and that just isn't something I can afford right now. So as he put it, I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place. He is going to get an opinion from the cardiologist for me for free. The cardiologist visits his office about once a week and he'll show her the EKG to see what she thinks. Then he'll call me.
When I think about it, cats never used to have teeth removed when there was a problem, and they did just fine. It would just come out when it rotted out. I know that sounds horrible. And the tooth eventually will become painful to him, but it will come out on its own. I don't think getting the tooth pulled is worth losing him. But I also know that I can't avoid anesthetizing him forever. Sooner or later, he will have to be put under.
My last cat died of feline leukemia virus. He lived a long life for a cat with that disease, over 10 years, but at the end he wasn't good at all. It was hard knowing that he could have passed away at anytime, with no warning.
And now I feel that I'm facing a similar situation again. The difference is, Dante's might be treatable. Who knows when his heart will become a serious problem for him. I try not to think about it and enjoy all the time I have with him, but every time I go to the vet for his shots and check-up I'm reminded of his problem. Veterinary medicine has come a long way but sometimes I think it is better not to know. We had barn cats at home all the while I was growing up. They never went to the vet, we never worried about them. And they lived happy lives, some very long lives. Veterinary medicine can help keep a pet healthy and happy for a long time. But there is nothing worse knowing that there is medicine and technology out there that can help - and I can't afford it.
I can't help but think that if I had a real job I'd be able to help him now, and not later when it might be too late.
I would have posted yesterday but wasn't ready to talk about it yet. Don't worry, Dante is home and running around like a crazy cat. But he still has his bad tooth. The vet didn't want to do the surgery.
It was a combination of a couple things. Dante wouldn't calm down in the cage, he was panting and breathing hard all day. They didn't want to anesthetize a cat breathing like that. But that wasn't the main reason. He had an EKG before the surgery to check his heart, and it wasn't good. In fact, it was the worst that it's ever looked. The vet described to me what he thought Dante's heart was doing, simply, it was trying to expel blood from the heart when new blood hadn't yet been pumped into it. He showed me the EKG and the irregularities. He said he hasn't seen this kind of abnormality in a cat before and that it was more than just a murmur. No one there (there is more than one vet) felt comfortable putting Dante under with his heart like that. A tooth wasn't worth him dying on the table. So even though I feel that he would have been fine, they didn't want to take the risk since he was so worked up. In fact, they were so concerned about the EKG they didn't even really care about the tooth anymore.
So what are my options now? Well, not much. Here are my choices.
1) Do nothing.
2) Tell them to go ahead with the surgery no matter what.
3) They can bring in a vet specializing in tooth removal so it can done as fast as possible
4) Go back to see the internist that Dante sees about his heart once a year and get him checked out again.
5) Send him to a feline cardiac specialist to determine what specific heart disease he has because there may be a treatment that could help. And the specialist could determine the best way to handle putting him under.
Of course the best option is number 5. And the vet would recommend number 5, because as he put it, he would hate to have Dante develop problems in the future, only to learn later that they could have been prevented, or at least delayed. But of course, the list is in order of least cost to highest cost. A visit to the cardiologist would start between $500 and $1000 and that just isn't something I can afford right now. So as he put it, I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place. He is going to get an opinion from the cardiologist for me for free. The cardiologist visits his office about once a week and he'll show her the EKG to see what she thinks. Then he'll call me.
When I think about it, cats never used to have teeth removed when there was a problem, and they did just fine. It would just come out when it rotted out. I know that sounds horrible. And the tooth eventually will become painful to him, but it will come out on its own. I don't think getting the tooth pulled is worth losing him. But I also know that I can't avoid anesthetizing him forever. Sooner or later, he will have to be put under.
My last cat died of feline leukemia virus. He lived a long life for a cat with that disease, over 10 years, but at the end he wasn't good at all. It was hard knowing that he could have passed away at anytime, with no warning.
And now I feel that I'm facing a similar situation again. The difference is, Dante's might be treatable. Who knows when his heart will become a serious problem for him. I try not to think about it and enjoy all the time I have with him, but every time I go to the vet for his shots and check-up I'm reminded of his problem. Veterinary medicine has come a long way but sometimes I think it is better not to know. We had barn cats at home all the while I was growing up. They never went to the vet, we never worried about them. And they lived happy lives, some very long lives. Veterinary medicine can help keep a pet healthy and happy for a long time. But there is nothing worse knowing that there is medicine and technology out there that can help - and I can't afford it.
I can't help but think that if I had a real job I'd be able to help him now, and not later when it might be too late.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Wish me and my cat luck
Tomorrow my cat Dante has surgery to remove a bad tooth. For most cats this is a minor procedure, no big deal. But not for him. He has a heart condition labeled "feline intermediate cardiomyopathy," in other words, he has atrial enlargement to the heart resulting in a heart murmur. He is on a pill-a-day which has helped immensely, at his last EKG and blood work he had a barely detectable murmur, the enlargement was down to normal size, and the blood work was normal. However, there is an increased risk of complications from anesthesia because of his heart condition. His normal vet didn't want to do the surgery initially until he talked to Dante's heart vet who said it should be okay, as long as they didn't use certain drugs.
So in all likelihood, he'll be okay. He runs around like a crazy cat so I know he feels fine. But I'm still worried. My mom says he'll be fine and I'm sure he will be but I can't help it. There is always that possibility that something will go wrong. My parents are coming out tonight so they can drive us to the vet tomorrow morning to drop him off, then Fiance and I will pick him up in the evening.
So I know I'm rambling but I'm worried. I just can't imagine my life without him. So wish him (and me!) luck, put us in your prayers and thoughts. I'm sure he'll be fine, but I can't relax until it's over with and he's home tomorrow evening.
So in all likelihood, he'll be okay. He runs around like a crazy cat so I know he feels fine. But I'm still worried. My mom says he'll be fine and I'm sure he will be but I can't help it. There is always that possibility that something will go wrong. My parents are coming out tonight so they can drive us to the vet tomorrow morning to drop him off, then Fiance and I will pick him up in the evening.
So I know I'm rambling but I'm worried. I just can't imagine my life without him. So wish him (and me!) luck, put us in your prayers and thoughts. I'm sure he'll be fine, but I can't relax until it's over with and he's home tomorrow evening.
This is him laying in his favorite position!
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
More experiments
Sometimes I think it will never end. I have just a few experiments left, so I thought. Then I met with my boss today. Like I mentioned before, overall the departmental retreat went very well. My data was well received. One part I didn't focus on, because I was hoping after a few days if I didn't mention anything my boss would forget. Well, he didn't forget.
At the retreat were two of my committee members, Scope Man and Friend of Scope Man. Scope Man had a long talk with Kiwi before Kiwi even gave his presentation because Kiwi whipped out his computer to show Scope Man what we had. And Friend of Scope Man talked to both Kiwi and I after his presentation. The result - lots of suggestions of experiments I should do next. Easy in theory, and I stress in theory. But aren't all experiments that way. Things are never as easy as they sound and appear on paper. What I can't get my boss to understand is that just because other researchers have used a particular technique I will be using this same technique in a way it's never been used before. It might not work. In fact, I think this whole new series of experiments might lead to a dead end, but I'm afraid to think of that.
The other unfortunate thing, in order to run all these new experiments I have to learn how to use a new cytometer. I'm hoping it won't take too long to get the hang of it. I know flow and how collecting and analyzing events works, I know all the ins-and-outs of flow (I was dubbed Flow Goddess by our old lab manager! And the Goddess thing boosts my spirit.). But the software for this cytometer is completely different. Kiwi wanted me to stay with the machine I use now and didn't like the idea of my using a different cytometer. Then I broke the experiment down into smaller pieces and made him understand that for what my committee wanted to learn, I had to use this new cytometer that uses more colors. I had wanted to defend in December but now, I don't think that will happen. I really, really wanted to be done before Christmas. But it looks like I may not be done until January or February. But neither of us mentioned this during our meeting today.
To be honest, I really don't care too much as long as I'm done by April 2008 graduation and as long as I get paid. That last part is the iffy one, finishing by April 2008 is the easy one. I hate talking about funding with Kiwi, it is such a touchy subject. I think I'll give myself to the end of October to see how much I have done (and the likelihood I'll be finished with all experiments by then is slim, the end of November looks more likely), then I'll talk to Kiwi about an actual completion date and setting more limits to my experiments. I hate having to stress about funding when it's supposed to be his responsibility. He never should have hired a postdoc when he can't even care for his own students.
Sometimes I wonder if I will ever get done. I wonder if my committee will ever let me leave, or more importantly, agree to let me leave before my funding is cut.
UPDATE:
Forgot one thing, all those images I made last week, that took the entire week to make, we decided today that they would look better if I did them in a different way. So they all have to be redone. When am I going to do this, on top of all the experiments he just decided that I need to do? Don't ask me. I have no idea.
At the retreat were two of my committee members, Scope Man and Friend of Scope Man. Scope Man had a long talk with Kiwi before Kiwi even gave his presentation because Kiwi whipped out his computer to show Scope Man what we had. And Friend of Scope Man talked to both Kiwi and I after his presentation. The result - lots of suggestions of experiments I should do next. Easy in theory, and I stress in theory. But aren't all experiments that way. Things are never as easy as they sound and appear on paper. What I can't get my boss to understand is that just because other researchers have used a particular technique I will be using this same technique in a way it's never been used before. It might not work. In fact, I think this whole new series of experiments might lead to a dead end, but I'm afraid to think of that.
The other unfortunate thing, in order to run all these new experiments I have to learn how to use a new cytometer. I'm hoping it won't take too long to get the hang of it. I know flow and how collecting and analyzing events works, I know all the ins-and-outs of flow (I was dubbed Flow Goddess by our old lab manager! And the Goddess thing boosts my spirit.). But the software for this cytometer is completely different. Kiwi wanted me to stay with the machine I use now and didn't like the idea of my using a different cytometer. Then I broke the experiment down into smaller pieces and made him understand that for what my committee wanted to learn, I had to use this new cytometer that uses more colors. I had wanted to defend in December but now, I don't think that will happen. I really, really wanted to be done before Christmas. But it looks like I may not be done until January or February. But neither of us mentioned this during our meeting today.
To be honest, I really don't care too much as long as I'm done by April 2008 graduation and as long as I get paid. That last part is the iffy one, finishing by April 2008 is the easy one. I hate talking about funding with Kiwi, it is such a touchy subject. I think I'll give myself to the end of October to see how much I have done (and the likelihood I'll be finished with all experiments by then is slim, the end of November looks more likely), then I'll talk to Kiwi about an actual completion date and setting more limits to my experiments. I hate having to stress about funding when it's supposed to be his responsibility. He never should have hired a postdoc when he can't even care for his own students.
Sometimes I wonder if I will ever get done. I wonder if my committee will ever let me leave, or more importantly, agree to let me leave before my funding is cut.
UPDATE:
Forgot one thing, all those images I made last week, that took the entire week to make, we decided today that they would look better if I did them in a different way. So they all have to be redone. When am I going to do this, on top of all the experiments he just decided that I need to do? Don't ask me. I have no idea.
Monday, October 8, 2007
An hour I will never get back
I just spent an excruciating hour listening, well, sort of listening, to LB's data club. Which of course, contained no real data of value. He spent the entire hour showing other peoples' work, with some his own, and explaining how his vaccination study didn't work.
Since when is it appropriate to give a presentation of your data, while sitting cross-legged on a table, calling your boss the fearless leader? Data club is supposed to be casual but people at least try to act professional about what they are presenting.
He took credit for a lot of work he didn't do. In fact, he talked about how this construct and virus he made was what he was most proud of in his project. He didn't have anything to do with it! He couldn't clone if his life depended on it. Someone in another lab and Ding made all of his stuff. Data club is a place were ideas are tossed around, suggestions made, stuff like that. Several people were trying to figure out why he got the results he did and what it all meant. When it can be interpreted because you can't conclude anything from a study where the administered vaccine wasn't titered and the drug therapy was miscalculated. Geeka and her boss kept asking him questions trying to expose how much of an idiot he is. It was amusing at least. He couldn't even answer the question about what kind of cell types had the receptor for the cytokine he was using.
It's amazing how my anxiety physically increases when I hear him talk. I mean, I can feel my pulse go up. And an hour was almost intolerable. I wouldn't have been there except I had to escort the new postdoc and I wasn't going to leave early because Geeka came to keep me company. However, it would have been amusing if both her and I and her boss all left at the same time.
FD has some good suggestions for LB to do for his project. The problem is, it actually involves work and LB doesn't do work. In the past 3-4 weeks he's only been lab 3 times, and not to actually do work.
Kiwi wasn't even there, he had a biosafety meeting to attend. But apparently that pissed of some faculty who were there. It looks really bad when the PI isn't present for his own student's presentation.
Geeka and I said in our next data club we should show the mounds of data we have of stuff that hasn't worked, and title it "Can I get a Ph.D. with this?" A professor I talked to with a great sense of humor said "At last, an honest presentaion title."
Since when is it appropriate to give a presentation of your data, while sitting cross-legged on a table, calling your boss the fearless leader? Data club is supposed to be casual but people at least try to act professional about what they are presenting.
He took credit for a lot of work he didn't do. In fact, he talked about how this construct and virus he made was what he was most proud of in his project. He didn't have anything to do with it! He couldn't clone if his life depended on it. Someone in another lab and Ding made all of his stuff. Data club is a place were ideas are tossed around, suggestions made, stuff like that. Several people were trying to figure out why he got the results he did and what it all meant. When it can be interpreted because you can't conclude anything from a study where the administered vaccine wasn't titered and the drug therapy was miscalculated. Geeka and her boss kept asking him questions trying to expose how much of an idiot he is. It was amusing at least. He couldn't even answer the question about what kind of cell types had the receptor for the cytokine he was using.
It's amazing how my anxiety physically increases when I hear him talk. I mean, I can feel my pulse go up. And an hour was almost intolerable. I wouldn't have been there except I had to escort the new postdoc and I wasn't going to leave early because Geeka came to keep me company. However, it would have been amusing if both her and I and her boss all left at the same time.
FD has some good suggestions for LB to do for his project. The problem is, it actually involves work and LB doesn't do work. In the past 3-4 weeks he's only been lab 3 times, and not to actually do work.
Kiwi wasn't even there, he had a biosafety meeting to attend. But apparently that pissed of some faculty who were there. It looks really bad when the PI isn't present for his own student's presentation.
Geeka and I said in our next data club we should show the mounds of data we have of stuff that hasn't worked, and title it "Can I get a Ph.D. with this?" A professor I talked to with a great sense of humor said "At last, an honest presentaion title."
Saturday, October 6, 2007
Desktop
I've never done the desktop meme and I saw it on Dr. Brazen Hussy's site.
I'm constantly changing my desktop - at least once a week. I read somewhere that frequently changing your desktop picture keeps your mind more alert because you are always looking at something different. I don't know, that might be a bunch of crap, but I love changing the desktop with my moods.
This is a picture of some beautiful bright flowers and a bee. I wanted something bright and summery, because summer is gone and I know fall and winter are around the corner. It reminds of warmth, sun, nature and life. Even though I'm not really missing the warmth right now because it is unusually warm for this time of year, above 80F!
This picture is from the photo of the day section of nationalgeographic.com
Whoever wants - it's your turn.
More building malfunctions
Yesterday at the retreat there were other people who belonged to the Center. I learned something very interesting, kind of worrisome.
The animal facility that is part of the Center tested the shower system Thursday. Apparently, people have to shower when they leave the BSL 3 facility. Well, they filled the shower stalls with water and water leaked into the 7th floor! Holy heck was raised. The lab the water leaked into was the lab of someone important. He said that the Center should be moved to the 7th floor so we would have to deal with the water problem. Everyone has a right to be concerned. This is supposed to be a contained BSL3 lab, and the decontamination shower is leaking. The drainage pipes are double so if the inner pipe leaks there is an outer protective layer. They think a seal under the floor isn't working properly so yesterday they were going to check the showers sequentially to find exactly where the problem is centered. But they will probably have to tear out the floors and redo the seals.
All these problems in this brand new building, that will be working on some serious pathogens has me, and a lot of other people very worried.
The animal facility that is part of the Center tested the shower system Thursday. Apparently, people have to shower when they leave the BSL 3 facility. Well, they filled the shower stalls with water and water leaked into the 7th floor! Holy heck was raised. The lab the water leaked into was the lab of someone important. He said that the Center should be moved to the 7th floor so we would have to deal with the water problem. Everyone has a right to be concerned. This is supposed to be a contained BSL3 lab, and the decontamination shower is leaking. The drainage pipes are double so if the inner pipe leaks there is an outer protective layer. They think a seal under the floor isn't working properly so yesterday they were going to check the showers sequentially to find exactly where the problem is centered. But they will probably have to tear out the floors and redo the seals.
All these problems in this brand new building, that will be working on some serious pathogens has me, and a lot of other people very worried.
The week was worth it
This week may have been hard but for me, yesterday made all that work worth it. I met Ding in front of her apartment and we left for work to pick up PostDoc then headed out for the retreat. Registration started at 7:30 and talks started at 8:30 but we decided to leave around 9am. Kiwi was inoculating animals in the morning so he wouldn't be there until maybe 11am. We saw no need to get there early. It was in a building located near downtown so we didn't have far to go.
The retreat consisted of various faculty members giving 1/2 hour presentations with 10 more minutes allotted for questions. Unfortunately, the moderator didn't moderate. All he did was bring up the next person's presentation when the current person was finished. As a result, almost everyone talked too long. Some people talked twice as long as they were supposed to but no one said anything. By lunch time we were over an hour behind schedule.
Lunch was at a famous, fabulous Italian restaurant. The entire retreat was worth it because I got to eat there. I always wanted to but never actually got around to it. I'll have to come back with Fiance sometime. But they only scheduled lunch for 1 1/2 hours. Lunch was a few block away from the building where the presentations were located. So over 50 people had to walk to the restaurant, get seated, and be served a multi-course meal. An Italian meal. I've rarely been to a good Italian restaurant that serves food like that and been completely done in that amount of time. So we were running even later after lunch. However, there was a guest speaker who was supposed to speak after lunch and he never showed up. Since he wasn't there talks were moved up but at the end of the day we still ended over an hour late.
But dinner wasn't the reason yesterday was so good. In the morning Scope Man gave his presentation and he mentioned working with Kiwi and me, doing good stuff and that people would get to hear about it in the afternoon. He is very well known and regarded so it is really nice to have him mention not just my boss, but me! Then Kiwi gave his presentation on my work in the afternoon. He did pretty good. Every now and then he would look at me when he wasn't sure about something and I would nod my head yes. He got a couple things wrong but they were minor and no one knew but me. There were several good questions afterwards and some good suggestions. In the acknowledgements he put my picture up and said that all the work was done by me. And since everyone knew what I looked like I had several people come up to me afterwards during the coffee break, then during the reception to tell me how nice the data looked. Kiwi thanked me several times for putting his presentation together. He made a comment that it was short compared to the others, but I reminded him that we made his presentation to fit the time allotted. He didn't run over like everyone else. The reception was nice, it was on the river with drinks and appetizers.
The only not so great part of the day was that I had to go to work after it was all over. I had to finish processing my PBMCs.
Than the day ended with the bus driver leaving me off in front of my apartment. The stop is actually several blocks away but since I was the last person on the bus he dropped me off on my doorstep!
The retreat consisted of various faculty members giving 1/2 hour presentations with 10 more minutes allotted for questions. Unfortunately, the moderator didn't moderate. All he did was bring up the next person's presentation when the current person was finished. As a result, almost everyone talked too long. Some people talked twice as long as they were supposed to but no one said anything. By lunch time we were over an hour behind schedule.
Lunch was at a famous, fabulous Italian restaurant. The entire retreat was worth it because I got to eat there. I always wanted to but never actually got around to it. I'll have to come back with Fiance sometime. But they only scheduled lunch for 1 1/2 hours. Lunch was a few block away from the building where the presentations were located. So over 50 people had to walk to the restaurant, get seated, and be served a multi-course meal. An Italian meal. I've rarely been to a good Italian restaurant that serves food like that and been completely done in that amount of time. So we were running even later after lunch. However, there was a guest speaker who was supposed to speak after lunch and he never showed up. Since he wasn't there talks were moved up but at the end of the day we still ended over an hour late.
But dinner wasn't the reason yesterday was so good. In the morning Scope Man gave his presentation and he mentioned working with Kiwi and me, doing good stuff and that people would get to hear about it in the afternoon. He is very well known and regarded so it is really nice to have him mention not just my boss, but me! Then Kiwi gave his presentation on my work in the afternoon. He did pretty good. Every now and then he would look at me when he wasn't sure about something and I would nod my head yes. He got a couple things wrong but they were minor and no one knew but me. There were several good questions afterwards and some good suggestions. In the acknowledgements he put my picture up and said that all the work was done by me. And since everyone knew what I looked like I had several people come up to me afterwards during the coffee break, then during the reception to tell me how nice the data looked. Kiwi thanked me several times for putting his presentation together. He made a comment that it was short compared to the others, but I reminded him that we made his presentation to fit the time allotted. He didn't run over like everyone else. The reception was nice, it was on the river with drinks and appetizers.
The only not so great part of the day was that I had to go to work after it was all over. I had to finish processing my PBMCs.
Than the day ended with the bus driver leaving me off in front of my apartment. The stop is actually several blocks away but since I was the last person on the bus he dropped me off on my doorstep!
Thursday, October 4, 2007
What a week.
There is a departmental retreat tomorrow in a department that Kiwi holds a secondary appointment. He is giving a 30 minute presentation about all of my dissertation work. As a result I didn't do any bench work this week. What Kiwi doesn't realize is that it takes a considerable amount of time to analyze and prepare my images and movies. I make live-cell microscopy movies. If I do lab experiments everyday there is no time to prepare data. The ideal would be to do an experiment then spend the next day going over the results. But as we all know experiments must be done everyday until I'm done. So I had all of this backed up imaging to prepare and it took me all week. This week was just grueling.
Tuesday night I stayed until 12:30am then had to get up early the next day to proctor an exam for Kiwi since he wasn't going to be around. I'm still not sure how I got talked into that! And that day (yesterday) was just crazy. I was all ready to give the exam, I even got there 1/2 early, then the fire alarm went off. Luckily we were let back in early enough that they were able to finish the exam. Then I went back to my building (the exam was in a different building) to find the power was out. Emergency power was on but there are only so many outlets to plug major equipment into. So everyone was running around looking for power strips and extension cords. The lab next to us, FD and I all had samples that had to be processing so we were hooking up hoods and centrifuges and working in the dark. And for some reason, the other buildings had their power restored about 3 - 4 hours before we did. Another odd thing, the air conditioning was on full blast. We were all freezing. It's like all the power was diverted to the air conditioning. Who cares about freezers warming up, cells dying, virus escaping hoods - as long as the air is on! One good thing about the fact that most of the Center is still empty was there were emergency outlets places where there was no large equipment, so I relocated myself to the aisle, plugged my computer into an emergency outlet, and work on Kiwi's presentation. I made the presentation for him because I have all my data and know what I do. Even though it took me what felt like forever I still could do it faster than him. So the day became very long because of the exam then the power outage. I was running so late that I didn't get my scope time in the evening and had to come in early this morning to do it.
And today the building still wasn't functioning properly. Every now and then we hear a big "whoomp" and that either means the power is going out or something is wrong with the air. And today we had the opposite problem - we had power but no air. Some rooms reached over 85F. This crazy building. It's brand new and full of problems.
Not only did I put Kiwi's presentation together but I had to make him a 'cheat sheet' that told him how I did my experiments and what various reagents were used for. And what cells he was looking at. This tells you how little he is involved in my project. I had to make a cheat sheet.
Because of the retreat tomorrow I'm doing part of the monocyte isolation today and finishing it tomorrow evening after the retreat. I tried to talk FD into processing some of it for me tomorrow but he said he was too busy. Oh, well. I tried.
I'd be home by now but I had to spend time with Kiwi putting the movies into the presentation because he doesn't know how. With all this work I put into it he better do a good job!!!
I can't wait to to just veg tomorrow, listen to presentations, eat a good lunch and not be in lab. I talked Ding into coming with me so I'd know someone there. And the new post doc is coming with us. So I guess we'll get to talk to him a bit.
Tuesday night I stayed until 12:30am then had to get up early the next day to proctor an exam for Kiwi since he wasn't going to be around. I'm still not sure how I got talked into that! And that day (yesterday) was just crazy. I was all ready to give the exam, I even got there 1/2 early, then the fire alarm went off. Luckily we were let back in early enough that they were able to finish the exam. Then I went back to my building (the exam was in a different building) to find the power was out. Emergency power was on but there are only so many outlets to plug major equipment into. So everyone was running around looking for power strips and extension cords. The lab next to us, FD and I all had samples that had to be processing so we were hooking up hoods and centrifuges and working in the dark. And for some reason, the other buildings had their power restored about 3 - 4 hours before we did. Another odd thing, the air conditioning was on full blast. We were all freezing. It's like all the power was diverted to the air conditioning. Who cares about freezers warming up, cells dying, virus escaping hoods - as long as the air is on! One good thing about the fact that most of the Center is still empty was there were emergency outlets places where there was no large equipment, so I relocated myself to the aisle, plugged my computer into an emergency outlet, and work on Kiwi's presentation. I made the presentation for him because I have all my data and know what I do. Even though it took me what felt like forever I still could do it faster than him. So the day became very long because of the exam then the power outage. I was running so late that I didn't get my scope time in the evening and had to come in early this morning to do it.
And today the building still wasn't functioning properly. Every now and then we hear a big "whoomp" and that either means the power is going out or something is wrong with the air. And today we had the opposite problem - we had power but no air. Some rooms reached over 85F. This crazy building. It's brand new and full of problems.
Not only did I put Kiwi's presentation together but I had to make him a 'cheat sheet' that told him how I did my experiments and what various reagents were used for. And what cells he was looking at. This tells you how little he is involved in my project. I had to make a cheat sheet.
Because of the retreat tomorrow I'm doing part of the monocyte isolation today and finishing it tomorrow evening after the retreat. I tried to talk FD into processing some of it for me tomorrow but he said he was too busy. Oh, well. I tried.
I'd be home by now but I had to spend time with Kiwi putting the movies into the presentation because he doesn't know how. With all this work I put into it he better do a good job!!!
I can't wait to to just veg tomorrow, listen to presentations, eat a good lunch and not be in lab. I talked Ding into coming with me so I'd know someone there. And the new post doc is coming with us. So I guess we'll get to talk to him a bit.
What benedryl does to me . .
This is how I was last night after benedryl:
- Unwrapped two pipette boxes in the same time it took FD to unwrap about 10.
- Put autoclave tape on three boxes, which FD had to go back over on the second side.
- Weaved while walking
Here's the big one:
- Stood in front of my apartment door, pointed my key chain at it, hit the unlock door key. Didn't realize why the house door wasn't opening until I heard my car beep behind me.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
In a haze
I finally have a little bit of time to write. It's been hard to find time lately. However, I'm going to wait until tomorrow. I was forced to take benedryl because I was having a reaction to something. My eyes and lips were itchy and my face was hot and all red. It has taken me way too long to type this much. It took me five tries before I even spelled the title correctly.
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