By 9:15am, I have already successfully managed to trip and fall sprawled out, face first in a bucket of ice. It's going to be an awesome day.
(For those wondering how I managed that amazing feat, someone stole the scooper thing from the ice machine. Seriously, who does that? What could anyone possibly NEED a GIANT ice scoop for so badly that they have to STEAL one from the research building? Anyway, I had to dig out ice with my bare hands, and the ice was really packed, so I had to actually kneel down to try and reach all the way in the back of the ice machine to find some non-compacted ice. After filling my ice bucket, I tried to stand up, and my heel caught in the hole of the rubbery honeycomb mat thingie that is under the ice machine to prevent people from slipping on pooled water. And, naturally, as my heel got caught, I went flying foward and managed to land with my chin IN the ice bucket and my shoe stuck in the mat. Thankfully, it was still early enough that nobody was around to witness my extraordinary grace. Oh, and in case you were wondering -- no, I will not learn from this experience to not wear heels to lab. What's the point of a closet full of fabulous shoes if you're never going to wear them?!)
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Monday, March 03, 2008
I need a new calendar...
This conversation during dinner sums up my week thus far:
Disgruntled Julie: Is today Tuesday or Wednesday?
Fiance: Uh, it's Monday.
Disgruntled Julie: Funny.
Fiance: No, really. It's Monday.
Disgruntled Julie: Good grief.
And this would be exactly why I think that spending weekends in the lab is actually extremely counterproductive. By the time Monday rolls around, I'm convinced it's mid-week, and the thought of making it through an entire week is nauseating. Especially when I was in lab at 4am on Saturday and 5am on Sunday morning.
Plus, it looks like this week I get to start a time course experiment in which I will need to lyse cells every 6 hours for 72 hours.
So, is it Friday yet?
Disgruntled Julie: Is today Tuesday or Wednesday?
Fiance: Uh, it's Monday.
Disgruntled Julie: Funny.
Fiance: No, really. It's Monday.
Disgruntled Julie: Good grief.
And this would be exactly why I think that spending weekends in the lab is actually extremely counterproductive. By the time Monday rolls around, I'm convinced it's mid-week, and the thought of making it through an entire week is nauseating. Especially when I was in lab at 4am on Saturday and 5am on Sunday morning.
Plus, it looks like this week I get to start a time course experiment in which I will need to lyse cells every 6 hours for 72 hours.
So, is it Friday yet?
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
I love Gmail, but...
At 10:58pm, promptly when I sat down at my computer to take a break from invitation-making, a little Gmail chat box popped up on the screen from my PI, asking to send a file with some data I recently collected. The timing was so exact as to when I touched my laptop, it errily seems as though he was sitting there staring at the screen, waiting for my little dot to go from orange to green.
While waiting for my data to magically transfer to his computer via the internets, he stated:
"what did we do before little green dots and gmail chat??"
Is "not harass graduate students during their few precious hours outside of the lab" a valid answer to that question?
It's fantastic to have a PI who is so excited about data and who always wants to be involved in the lab (rather than the PIs of other labs, who never set foot in the lab and only wanted to hear about data at weekly meetings), but talking science and experiments late at night is not conducive to falling asleep, as once I re-start my brain and think about experiments, it takes a few hours to shut it back off. Looks like, just like the past few nights, I may as well just stay up another 3 or 4 hours and work on the invitations, rather than try to fall asleep and wind up having experiment nightmares.
While waiting for my data to magically transfer to his computer via the internets, he stated:
"what did we do before little green dots and gmail chat??"
Is "not harass graduate students during their few precious hours outside of the lab" a valid answer to that question?
It's fantastic to have a PI who is so excited about data and who always wants to be involved in the lab (rather than the PIs of other labs, who never set foot in the lab and only wanted to hear about data at weekly meetings), but talking science and experiments late at night is not conducive to falling asleep, as once I re-start my brain and think about experiments, it takes a few hours to shut it back off. Looks like, just like the past few nights, I may as well just stay up another 3 or 4 hours and work on the invitations, rather than try to fall asleep and wind up having experiment nightmares.
Monday, February 11, 2008
A Frivolous Post
My first committee meeting is coming up soon.... tomorrow, to be exact. If you think this means I am diligently working on my PowerPoint, papers and experiment write-ups spread across my desk, well then clearly... you don't know me very well. Ha. I have a rough-draft of my presentation put together in PowerPoint already, so I am way ahead of the game by my standards! The best presentations I have ever given (as judged by the reaction of my audience and my PI, who says things like 'Wow! That was the best presentation you have ever given!') have literally all been put together within 5 hours of the presentation itself. Last minute is absolutely my thing. So with the bulk of the presentation already set, and T-20 hours until the meeting, I am all about procrastination.
If you're here looking for some insightful, intelligent, science-related discussion, you are dismissed. But if you love shoe porn, read on, because this post is all about my favorite thing in life: shoes. I love shoes. Love shoes. As in, if I'm having a craptacular day in the lab, I'll head straight to BerdorfGoodman.com's online shoe salon and stare dreamily at the Louboutins. Yes, I'm serious. Someone tell me I'm not the only one?
Ahem. That said, my fiance is now on a first-name basis with the UPS man because of the number of shoes I've had delivered to the condo as of late. Within the past 3 business days, 22 (yes, twenty two) pairs of shoes have come through my door, and a few more are on the way. No, I'm not opening my own shoe salon out of my walk-in closet... I need to find a shoe to wear for my wedding, and I have to have them before I go for my first dress fitting, so the dress can be properly hemmed.
I am looking for the following in a pair of wedding shoes:
If you're here looking for some insightful, intelligent, science-related discussion, you are dismissed. But if you love shoe porn, read on, because this post is all about my favorite thing in life: shoes. I love shoes. Love shoes. As in, if I'm having a craptacular day in the lab, I'll head straight to BerdorfGoodman.com's online shoe salon and stare dreamily at the Louboutins. Yes, I'm serious. Someone tell me I'm not the only one?
Ahem. That said, my fiance is now on a first-name basis with the UPS man because of the number of shoes I've had delivered to the condo as of late. Within the past 3 business days, 22 (yes, twenty two) pairs of shoes have come through my door, and a few more are on the way. No, I'm not opening my own shoe salon out of my walk-in closet... I need to find a shoe to wear for my wedding, and I have to have them before I go for my first dress fitting, so the dress can be properly hemmed.
I am looking for the following in a pair of wedding shoes:
- Ideal heel height between 2.5" and 3.25". I am banned from wearing heels more than 3" in the presence of my fiance, lest I tower over him a la Katie Holmes, but I can get away with that extra quarter inch because he'll get some lift out of his tux shoes and still manage to be the half-inch minimum taller than me. I would love to go for the highest heels possible, but I think with being on my feet for hours and hours and hours, something closer to 2.5" is probably the way to go.
- Leaning towards closed-toe, but sandals of substance are also considered. I love me some hot hot strappy sandals, but nothing beats a classic, closed toe shoe for a wedding. And under no circumstances are peep-toes allowed. Not only do I find them a little funny looking, but they hurt my toes like none other.
- White, silver, or blue in color. The wedding colors are black and white, so I was originally only looking at white shoes. Then I decided to branch into silver, since it is an accent color at the wedding, and I thought post-wedding I would get more wear out of silver shoes. But, since my favorite color is blue, my bridesmaids are carrying blue hydrangeas, and I'm supposed to wear something blue apparently, I thought perhaps a blue shoe is in order.
Nine West Juliarae Sandal, 3.25" heel, $79.95 on endless.com
Touch Up Tia Pump, 2" heel, $56.95 on endless.com
Mikala Steffan Slingback, 3" heel, $179.95 down to $125.97 on endless.com
Anne Klein New York Ccianna Two-Piece Evening Pump, 3.25" heel, $354.95 on endless.com
ABS by Allen Schwartz Atom Two Piece Pump, 3.5" heel, $119.95 on endless.com
Stuart Weitzman Duchess d'orsay pumps, 2.5" heel, $285.00 on sale for $96.89 on b
luefly.com
Stuart Weitzman Temptress, 2.5" heel, $199.00 on sale for $67.99 on bluefly.com
Stuart Weitzman Kiss pump, 4" heel, $225.00 on sale for $76.49.
Mikala Steffan Slingback, 3" heel, $179.95 down to $125.97 on endless.com
Anne Klein New York Ccianna Two-Piece Evening Pump, 3.25" heel, $354.95 on endless.com
ABS by Allen Schwartz Atom Two Piece Pump, 3.5" heel, $119.95 on endless.com
Stuart Weitzman Duchess d'orsay pumps, 2.5" heel, $285.00 on sale for $96.89 on b
luefly.comStuart Weitzman Temptress, 2.5" heel, $199.00 on sale for $67.99 on bluefly.com
Stuart Weitzman Kiss pump, 4" heel, $225.00 on sale for $76.49.
Okay, faithful readers -- the polls are open. Vote for the shoe that should grace my feet (and remain hidden under my dress and not noticed by anyone else) on my big day. Or, if you're ambitious, go out and find me something even better -- suggestions ALWAYS accepted (hey, someone has to keep UPS in business!).
Monday, December 31, 2007
New Years Meme
Okay okay okay, I've been tagged 4 times already, so I guess I better get to this...
Here's to a happy and healthy 2008 for everyone.
1. Will you be looking for a new job?
No. I'll continue to slave away as a Ph.D. student for several more years before "job" finds its way into my vocabulary.
2. Will you be looking for a new relationship?
Just the change in relationship from fiance to husband.
3. New house?
I hope not. If the answer to this becomes yes, then it means that the fiance will be doing BOTH his intern year AND radiology residency outside of DC and we'll be living apart even longer than expected and I can't afford to stay here and pay the full rent by myself. :( As it stands now, he should be staying here for intern year, and then heading elsewhere for residency, meaning we'll only be living apart 2-ish years post-marriage.
4. What will you do differently in 08?
I'd like to actually make some progress in the lab and maybe finally purify the protein that I've been slaving over for 23 months.
5. New Years resolution?
I don't believe in New Year's Resolutions... if I see something that I need to change about myself, I change it then and there rather than waiting for the calendar to change. That said, I'm currently working on the following:
a) Returning to my pre-back injury gym regime -- alternating days between the elliptical and running or lifting and stretching. I can't make it through 45 mins on the elliptical without a vicodin, but my doctor continues to insist that I don't need to go to physical therapy. I'm trying to learn to just deal with the pain and see if my body can adapt.
b) Drinking 8 glasses of some kind of liquid per day. Due to meds I was on as a child, my liquid intake was severely restricted, and my body has completely adapted to not needing more than 1-2 glasses of water per day. While I'm fine and suffer no side-effects of dehydration, it can't be great for me, so I'm trying to change. But man, having to pee every 2 hours is a PAIN. I don't know how you people deal.
c) Cutting back on spending once I pick up a few things in post-New Years sales. My spending has gotten out of control, though I am still paying off the AmEx in full each month, so it certainly has not been detrimental. We stopped by the jewelers when we were in Philly last and the wedding bands look like they will total a bit over $5K (I'm paying for both) and there is a honeymoon coming up, so this should inspire me to save a bit more.
6. What will you not be doing in 08?
Hopefully I will not be refilling any vicodin or percocet prescriptions!
7. Any trips planned?
Honeymoon. Location TBD but it is looking like either Tahiti or the Mediterranean. Probably Tahiti, if the fiance gets his act together and talks to a travel agent (seriously, I give him TWO THINGS to do for the entire wedding and neither has been done).
8. Wedding plans?
Several, involving both being a bride and being a bridesmaid.
9. Major thing on your calendar?
My fiance's graduation from medical school and then exactly one week later, our wedding. And then he will make me introduce him to everyone as "My husband, the doctor."
10. What can’t you wait for?
I can't wait to successfully purify the pain in the ass protein that has made my life miserable.
11. What would you like to see happen differently?
See above. Protein purification.
12. What about yourself will you be changing?
Potentially my last name, but hopefully not. We still "argue" on a regular basis about that -- I don't want to change my name, he wants me to change. I've agreed to hyphenate, but that's just not good enough for him.
13. What happened in 07 that you didn’t think would ever happen?
We got a new purification system in the lab! And I passed comps! But I guess I thought those would both happen, eventually.
14. Will you be nicer to the people you care about?
I'll try.
15. Will you dress differently this year than you did in 07?
If my two lost lab coats don't somehow make their way back to the lab, I'll probably wind up dressing more casually so that I don't ruin my nice skirts and sweaters with all the crap in the lab. I want my lab coats back, damnit.
16. Will you start or quit drinking?
I drink probably six times a year. That will probably increase slightly from spending 2 weeks laying on a tropical beach with drinks containing little umbrellas.
17. Will you better your relationship with your family?
I'm going to go with a giant PROBABLY NOT since it will be a miracle if my mother and I are both still alive by the time of the wedding. She is the #1 reason why I kind of deep down regret that I am getting married -- frankly, I'd rather spend the rest of my life single and miserable then have to put up with my Momzilla.
18. Will you do charity work?
I would if I had time, but I am often in lab 7 days a week. Instead, I just donate money to charity.
19. Will you go to bars?
A few here and there, but I'm not really a bar person.
20. Will you be nice to people you don’t know?
Depends if they are nice to me.
21. Do you expect 08 to be a good year for you?
I hope so.
22. How much did you change from this time last year till now?
I've become much more bitter and cynical. Thank you, graduate school.
23. Do you plan on having a child?
No no no no no no no no no. Regardless of how many times my future mother-in-law comments on how she cannot wait for grandchildren, there will be NO CHILDREN until I am at least 30, and I am going to immensely enjoy the next 6 child-free years of my life.
24. Will you still be friends with the same people you are friends with now?
I can't think of any friends of whom I am actively trying to demote to non-friend status.
25. Major lifestyle changes?
I'll be acquiring a husband.
26. Will you be moving?
Nope. I'll be in DC until I finish my Ph.D. I'm guessing around 3.5 more years, but I'm hoping to shave some time off of that, since obviously it will be less than ideal living several hundred miles apart from my husband.
27. What will you make sure doesn’t happen in 08 that happened in 07?
??? I don't think I can control any of the bad things that happened in 2007 to ensure they do not repeat themselves. I'd like to say that I can make sure the Steelers don't lose the league rushing RB 2 weeks before the playoffs to a broken leg, but I can't control these major annoyances.
28. What are your New Years Eve plans?
I've been living in DC 7 years now and I'm excited that this will be my first NYE in DC. We'll be partying with the college friends.
29. Will you have someone to kiss at midnight?
My fiance will be at the same party, but we never kiss at midnight. He always has single friends around and doesn't want to seem to be rubbing it in their face that they are single and he is not. Come to think of it, I've never gotten a kiss at midnight, despite having been in a relationship for something like 10 New Years Eves.
30. One wish for 08?
Truthfully? That my fiance winds up matching here for residency so we don't have to live apart at all. But that's not what he wants, so I can't REALLY wish that for him. Maybe I should wish to learn to become less selfish. I guess my real wish is that things take a turn for the better in lab -- I wish that my experiments all work so I can expedite the graduate school process. Or, you know, so that as a 3rd year graduate student I can finally get ONE FREAKING EXPERIMENT to give me some sort of positive result.
Here's to a happy and healthy 2008 for everyone.
1. Will you be looking for a new job?
No. I'll continue to slave away as a Ph.D. student for several more years before "job" finds its way into my vocabulary.
2. Will you be looking for a new relationship?
Just the change in relationship from fiance to husband.
3. New house?
I hope not. If the answer to this becomes yes, then it means that the fiance will be doing BOTH his intern year AND radiology residency outside of DC and we'll be living apart even longer than expected and I can't afford to stay here and pay the full rent by myself. :( As it stands now, he should be staying here for intern year, and then heading elsewhere for residency, meaning we'll only be living apart 2-ish years post-marriage.
4. What will you do differently in 08?
I'd like to actually make some progress in the lab and maybe finally purify the protein that I've been slaving over for 23 months.
5. New Years resolution?
I don't believe in New Year's Resolutions... if I see something that I need to change about myself, I change it then and there rather than waiting for the calendar to change. That said, I'm currently working on the following:
a) Returning to my pre-back injury gym regime -- alternating days between the elliptical and running or lifting and stretching. I can't make it through 45 mins on the elliptical without a vicodin, but my doctor continues to insist that I don't need to go to physical therapy. I'm trying to learn to just deal with the pain and see if my body can adapt.
b) Drinking 8 glasses of some kind of liquid per day. Due to meds I was on as a child, my liquid intake was severely restricted, and my body has completely adapted to not needing more than 1-2 glasses of water per day. While I'm fine and suffer no side-effects of dehydration, it can't be great for me, so I'm trying to change. But man, having to pee every 2 hours is a PAIN. I don't know how you people deal.
c) Cutting back on spending once I pick up a few things in post-New Years sales. My spending has gotten out of control, though I am still paying off the AmEx in full each month, so it certainly has not been detrimental. We stopped by the jewelers when we were in Philly last and the wedding bands look like they will total a bit over $5K (I'm paying for both) and there is a honeymoon coming up, so this should inspire me to save a bit more.
6. What will you not be doing in 08?
Hopefully I will not be refilling any vicodin or percocet prescriptions!
7. Any trips planned?
Honeymoon. Location TBD but it is looking like either Tahiti or the Mediterranean. Probably Tahiti, if the fiance gets his act together and talks to a travel agent (seriously, I give him TWO THINGS to do for the entire wedding and neither has been done).
8. Wedding plans?
Several, involving both being a bride and being a bridesmaid.
9. Major thing on your calendar?
My fiance's graduation from medical school and then exactly one week later, our wedding. And then he will make me introduce him to everyone as "My husband, the doctor."
10. What can’t you wait for?
I can't wait to successfully purify the pain in the ass protein that has made my life miserable.
11. What would you like to see happen differently?
See above. Protein purification.
12. What about yourself will you be changing?
Potentially my last name, but hopefully not. We still "argue" on a regular basis about that -- I don't want to change my name, he wants me to change. I've agreed to hyphenate, but that's just not good enough for him.
13. What happened in 07 that you didn’t think would ever happen?
We got a new purification system in the lab! And I passed comps! But I guess I thought those would both happen, eventually.
14. Will you be nicer to the people you care about?
I'll try.
15. Will you dress differently this year than you did in 07?
If my two lost lab coats don't somehow make their way back to the lab, I'll probably wind up dressing more casually so that I don't ruin my nice skirts and sweaters with all the crap in the lab. I want my lab coats back, damnit.
16. Will you start or quit drinking?
I drink probably six times a year. That will probably increase slightly from spending 2 weeks laying on a tropical beach with drinks containing little umbrellas.
17. Will you better your relationship with your family?
I'm going to go with a giant PROBABLY NOT since it will be a miracle if my mother and I are both still alive by the time of the wedding. She is the #1 reason why I kind of deep down regret that I am getting married -- frankly, I'd rather spend the rest of my life single and miserable then have to put up with my Momzilla.
18. Will you do charity work?
I would if I had time, but I am often in lab 7 days a week. Instead, I just donate money to charity.
19. Will you go to bars?
A few here and there, but I'm not really a bar person.
20. Will you be nice to people you don’t know?
Depends if they are nice to me.
21. Do you expect 08 to be a good year for you?
I hope so.
22. How much did you change from this time last year till now?
I've become much more bitter and cynical. Thank you, graduate school.
23. Do you plan on having a child?
No no no no no no no no no. Regardless of how many times my future mother-in-law comments on how she cannot wait for grandchildren, there will be NO CHILDREN until I am at least 30, and I am going to immensely enjoy the next 6 child-free years of my life.
24. Will you still be friends with the same people you are friends with now?
I can't think of any friends of whom I am actively trying to demote to non-friend status.
25. Major lifestyle changes?
I'll be acquiring a husband.
26. Will you be moving?
Nope. I'll be in DC until I finish my Ph.D. I'm guessing around 3.5 more years, but I'm hoping to shave some time off of that, since obviously it will be less than ideal living several hundred miles apart from my husband.
27. What will you make sure doesn’t happen in 08 that happened in 07?
??? I don't think I can control any of the bad things that happened in 2007 to ensure they do not repeat themselves. I'd like to say that I can make sure the Steelers don't lose the league rushing RB 2 weeks before the playoffs to a broken leg, but I can't control these major annoyances.
28. What are your New Years Eve plans?
I've been living in DC 7 years now and I'm excited that this will be my first NYE in DC. We'll be partying with the college friends.
29. Will you have someone to kiss at midnight?
My fiance will be at the same party, but we never kiss at midnight. He always has single friends around and doesn't want to seem to be rubbing it in their face that they are single and he is not. Come to think of it, I've never gotten a kiss at midnight, despite having been in a relationship for something like 10 New Years Eves.
30. One wish for 08?
Truthfully? That my fiance winds up matching here for residency so we don't have to live apart at all. But that's not what he wants, so I can't REALLY wish that for him. Maybe I should wish to learn to become less selfish. I guess my real wish is that things take a turn for the better in lab -- I wish that my experiments all work so I can expedite the graduate school process. Or, you know, so that as a 3rd year graduate student I can finally get ONE FREAKING EXPERIMENT to give me some sort of positive result.
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