Records of a Mad Scientist: 10 Things which made today a relatively good day

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

10 Things which made today a relatively good day

Today is Wednesday. In an effort not to sound trite, this means that AD will be here in 7 days. In less than a week, there will be a boy sleeping on my futon. This is pleasing.
**/***Hexakinase. This is the enzyme which initates glycolysis. We talked about it in Biochem, and for the first time in three or four weeks, I did not feel like throwing up for the first half hour of the class... only the first fifteen minutes. Also, I actually know what hexakinase is, and can make inferences on its mechanism.***/**
My matlab script. I wrote 3 today. Two of them worked. One actually served a purpose. Apparently the phrase "I want a script that does alignment" does not mean the same thing to JK as it does to me. Oh well... I can't do anything tomorrow since we're culturing macs (see #5) and my supplies are in the mail.
I passed my cumulative exam with the second highest grade. Its the first cumulative (cum, pronounced with a long u... get your mind out of the gutter!) I've passed. Its good when you do well on the test your boss gives. Plus, it somewhat justifies the way I was stressed last week.
Cell Biology was short. When I say short, I mean 15 minutes. So, Br, JK and I go to go with JQ to get more macrophages. Since I have decided to make this public, I will not enumerate in great detail about how one acquires Macrophages from a mouse. Surfice to say that the mice lead good lives, the process is humane, and we honor their gift of cells. It was kind of cool to watch.
Lab got finished in 1.5 hours. I gave a thirty minute lecture. My students had almost no trouble with the lab techniques (except distinguishing waste from reagent). Of course, I will pay for the simplicity of the lab tomorrow, when we work problems.
I finally returned the Beef Jerkey I bought over the weekend in a fit of insanity. And, even though the WalMart lady was a bitch about it, and I'm not going to return grocery items again, unless they truely are bad, at least that symbol of my breakdown is out of the house. Also, it meant that I went to HyVee and bought more lentil soup. Lentil soup is like oatmeal for dinner, only it has protein and isn't sweet. I also got Cucumber Dill Hummus and Sourdough Rye Crisps,. both of which make life happier.
I'm really excited for this! I really enjoy ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW. I might have to wear my corset and dance in the aisles... I mean by my bed. If I terrify N, so be it.
My macrophage is in Sioux Falls. When I say my macrophage, I mean the big plush one I ordered for work. For some reason, recieving packages from ThinkGeek.com just makes me happy.
I'm tutoring tomorrow... for money rather than prestige. I like tutoring, because the kids who show up usually care enough to work with someone and get help.
Did I mention that AD is coming in 7 days? I can't stop dancing in the elevators when I'm alone. Yep... I'm a freak.

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Cast of Characters

AC -- AD's roommate. Famous for his frustration with his own epic procrastination and ability to curse the latin word on the tip of his tongue.
AD -- my boyfriend. Its new... and exciting... and hard from this distance. An aerospace engineer. Still goes to the famous former football giant across the road from the castle where I went to undergrad.
BD -- one of my best friends from undergrad. Another ex-boyfriend and part of my incestious little circle of friends. Has rigid boundaries that serve him well. Math major and genius.
Dr.jR -- head of the chemistry and biochemistry department. Researches NOM (not eating, sadly, but natural organic material). Nice, but unpredicatble.
DrA -- my research boss. Somewhere in his thirties and totally chill. The first PI I've ever met who bakes cookies during lab meetings.
DrR -- my teaching boss. Crotchety old man who doesn't take shit. Slightly sexist. Smokes like a chimney. A teddy bear.
JL -- our post doc in lab. Chineese. Tells me not to work so hard.
JP -- an ex-boyfriend of mine and sort-of friend. Suitmate of AD. Sort of an asshole. VERY crude. We tend to play off eachother. Once dropped his pants in the middle of a crowded room. Also, halo teabagged someone in real life. More than once. Signature phrase is "Dicking Fuck." Exemplifies why Physics and Math double majors scare me.
Kara -- basically the person who told me to write this.
Michael Cera -- guy in my program. Actually younger than I am (I was suprised). Very nice. Lutheran boy scout. Might decide to teach chemistry. Analytical chemist.
MK -- The youngest member of the Quad (AC, AD, JP and MK). Computer science major. Bearded. Sometimes more mature than his fellow seniors who can drink. More or less uncorrupted. It was adorable when he had his first girlfriend.
N -- my fabulous Indian roommate. Seriously, she is great. And, she feeds me.
St. Pat -- One of the guys in my program. Older than the rest of us by a few years. A good analytical chemist. Smart. Familiar with the works of Joss Whedon.
T -- my former roommate. Gave me a cold for my brithday. LIke, a stuffed one.

A few definations...

Cell Biology -- a field of biology that is basically their answer to the fact that life is based in chemistry. As a graduate level course, it has involved a 2 day lecture on atomic bonding and the Krebs cycle. These were things covered in my freshman chemistry and biology courses.
Cubby's -- My prefered non smoking bar in graduate school
Macrophage -- Somestimes called Macs; a type of immune cell, and the target of my research. I've been told they're ugly, but I think they're pretty cute when I get to dye them pretty colors with florescent dye or proteins and look at them under the microscope. I get geeky abou them.
Microscope -- Dr.A's big, expensive microscope that looks at cells. It can see brightfield (normal cells) and florescent ones. We can also see if protiens are clumping together with it.
Students -- I teach freshman science majors, except for the ones who want to be chemists. I have a lot of engineers, a handful of premeds and biologists, and quite a few pre-pharmacy. Sometimes agravating, often exhausting, and a huge time suck. I want them to suceed, which, according to my defination, is learn something.

WARNING: Scientific Content

I realize that not all of my readers are scientists (I think maybe 1/3?), and even fewer are chemists. So, I propose a science warning system.

* Basic science. Things you should have learned in school if you had been paying attention. Or... if you don't know this, you need to talk to T because our science education system sucks.

** High School/Freshman college science and math. Stuff I would expect you to know after a calculus class and at least one class in physical and life science.

*** Some scientific knowledge. Let's assume you've had 1+ upper level science course in either biology or chemistry.

****Upper level science. You probably need 3 - 4 years of college chemistry/biology to get this part. Maybe not, though. I'll try to avoid this as much as possible. Sometimes, though, I can't help myself and I geek.