Last few days was spent reading and writing about Anaplasma phagocytophilum. The paper was due today and right after I handed in the paper, I felt like I handed in all my self-motivation along with it. I couldn't seem to put my mind to commit to anything serious for the day. I finished all the experiments that I need to do and wanted to start reading articles for the final paper that is due in one month's time but the motivation is just not there. Even my brain doesn't want to cooperate when I tried to conjure a method to determine the capability of my bug to adapt to ox bile salt. The only thing that I seemed appealing at this moment is lie down on my bed and not think of anything at all.
The Anaplasma paper is the 6th paper I've written for this semester and I felt like I've put in more effort each time, which is probably why I feel so mentally drained after finishing it early today. Although this class requires a lot of work, especially with all the papers that we have to write, I felt that it is starting to benefit me because my writing style improves in various aspects and I'm definitely getting more out of the papers I have to read to write. I can feel the critical thinking practice is getting sharpened and I am really glad I can get back onto this track.
All in all..the efforts are all worth-it and is paying off. But I still can't help feeling that I could read and write faster like the Americans. They can tell what a certain article shows by just skimming through the paper and they can write the papers within a 4 hour time slot. Unfortunately, I need to keep using my thesaurus when I'm writing, which is taking up too much time. But I'm definitely getting there...
Thursday, March 31, 2005
Tuesday, March 29, 2005
sun!!
It's such a great day outside today! I am finally seeing the Sun..like directly in front of me and not clouded by the clouds, which are really pretty at times but I prefer the clear sky than the clouds after 6 months of dull grey and white atmosphere.
As usual, I woke up at 5.30am and just after I finished my bath, I opened my curtains and I was so glad to be greeted by the Sun. It feels like it's been forever since I last saw it. I can't believe how much I miss the bright sunny days. Not only is the Sun up high today but the temperature is starting to warm up too. It is just nice for a day without thick bulky winter jacket but a cool blazer instead.
The sad thing is that I have to be in the lab all day = stuck in the dungeon. But at least I have class today, which means I still do get to be outside for a while walking to class. I might even get to go back early right after the departmental seminar and still be out in the awesome weather.
As for now..I'm also feeling like a nerd. Everyone else are talking about playing golf and I'm sitting here reading an article for the antigenic variation paper that will be due on Thursday. I wish I can read and summarize a paper critically in a shorter time but considering that I wasn't brought up writing proper English all the time, summarizing is a huge task. So I think I'd rather stay nerdy and produce a good paper than join the fun and slack. I'm sure I'll find the time to slack later but I need to get this paper done first. But I still do wish that I am not so responsible all the time..but then again, when I'm not, I feel awful. Sheesh! I'm so hard to be pleased.
As usual, I woke up at 5.30am and just after I finished my bath, I opened my curtains and I was so glad to be greeted by the Sun. It feels like it's been forever since I last saw it. I can't believe how much I miss the bright sunny days. Not only is the Sun up high today but the temperature is starting to warm up too. It is just nice for a day without thick bulky winter jacket but a cool blazer instead.
The sad thing is that I have to be in the lab all day = stuck in the dungeon. But at least I have class today, which means I still do get to be outside for a while walking to class. I might even get to go back early right after the departmental seminar and still be out in the awesome weather.
As for now..I'm also feeling like a nerd. Everyone else are talking about playing golf and I'm sitting here reading an article for the antigenic variation paper that will be due on Thursday. I wish I can read and summarize a paper critically in a shorter time but considering that I wasn't brought up writing proper English all the time, summarizing is a huge task. So I think I'd rather stay nerdy and produce a good paper than join the fun and slack. I'm sure I'll find the time to slack later but I need to get this paper done first. But I still do wish that I am not so responsible all the time..but then again, when I'm not, I feel awful. Sheesh! I'm so hard to be pleased.
Friday, March 25, 2005
morning in K'zoo
I just had lunch with my old boss from Western's library and a few Thai friends at an Indian restaurant here in Kalamazoo. Came down here for the departmental seminar, which will be presented by an ex-student of my undergraduate professor. She just graduated from her PhD degree and was invited here to give a talk about her work. We will also be having a small lab reunion after the seminar. So since I am going to be here for the whole day and I don't feel like doing the usual catching up, (as I'm sure it will involve more 'pat' stories) I decided to give my boss a visit.
He brought us to an Indian restaurant that opened a few months after I left Kalamazoo and the food is superb! I always think about how much I misses home cook food and typical Hokkien-style dishes but after lunch, I'm now missing Indian food! We had naan and kurma chicken, tandoori chicken, smashed spinach and chick peas. They were all really good but I can't help thinking that the food back in M'sia is so much better - roti canai..especially roti planta, nasi briyani, nasi kandar (which I think is more of a Malay food than Indian but in Penang, most of the operators of nasi kandar are usually Indian..i think), chapati, and the list goes on. Despite all these thoughts, the Indian food we had today is really good considering I haven't had any for such a long time. At least it's something different from burger and fries. Somehow, burger and fries are not as easily missed as Asian food.
Got here early this morning and had a chance to roam around a little before I went over to meet my ex-boss. I am amazed that now the Western's library - Waldo Library - allow beverages and food because they were really sensitive over it when I was working here 2 years ago. Unfortunately, their idea of 'allow' is to provide a space that is surrounded for you to eat and drink. Imagine a children's play area, where they have those metal poles hooked together with satin wrapped wire surrounding the area - this place is kinda like that but bigger, with no slides and swings but tables and chairs. I still prefer MSU's library where we have a small cafe within the library that not only sell dry food but sandwiches and lunch boxes. It feels that they trust us to eat and study at the same time or that we don't spill our food all over their books.
Overall, I am still impressed at the improvement that Western made to its library. oh yeah..they have all new computers too..no wonder the student's tuition fee goes up sky high everytime.
He brought us to an Indian restaurant that opened a few months after I left Kalamazoo and the food is superb! I always think about how much I misses home cook food and typical Hokkien-style dishes but after lunch, I'm now missing Indian food! We had naan and kurma chicken, tandoori chicken, smashed spinach and chick peas. They were all really good but I can't help thinking that the food back in M'sia is so much better - roti canai..especially roti planta, nasi briyani, nasi kandar (which I think is more of a Malay food than Indian but in Penang, most of the operators of nasi kandar are usually Indian..i think), chapati, and the list goes on. Despite all these thoughts, the Indian food we had today is really good considering I haven't had any for such a long time. At least it's something different from burger and fries. Somehow, burger and fries are not as easily missed as Asian food.
Got here early this morning and had a chance to roam around a little before I went over to meet my ex-boss. I am amazed that now the Western's library - Waldo Library - allow beverages and food because they were really sensitive over it when I was working here 2 years ago. Unfortunately, their idea of 'allow' is to provide a space that is surrounded for you to eat and drink. Imagine a children's play area, where they have those metal poles hooked together with satin wrapped wire surrounding the area - this place is kinda like that but bigger, with no slides and swings but tables and chairs. I still prefer MSU's library where we have a small cafe within the library that not only sell dry food but sandwiches and lunch boxes. It feels that they trust us to eat and study at the same time or that we don't spill our food all over their books.
Overall, I am still impressed at the improvement that Western made to its library. oh yeah..they have all new computers too..no wonder the student's tuition fee goes up sky high everytime.
Thursday, March 24, 2005
typical Chinese boss
In my last post, I talked about how easy-going it is to work with the US government. Jase Lee commented that as long as one don't work in a Chinese owned business, he/she will be fine. This brought back memories about my 8 months experience working in a Chinese restaurant in Kalamazoo, where I did my undergraduate studies.
This restaurant is owned by a family from FuZhou, a province somewhere in Southern China, which apparently, is where the root of my family originated from. In fact, it is only three generations back but the language that they speak is almost foreign to me. The big boss is a skinny guy who is in his mid-twenties but is very experienced and speaks English quite fluently although with limited vocabularies. He came to Kalamazoo and bought over Campus Kitchen, a restaurant serving American-Chinese food and limited M'sian food suited for the American taste. As the old owner left to open another restaurant in East Lansing, he brought along most of his staff and the new owner, J, needed people to help out with the restaurant. A friend recommended me to work there and since I was in need of financial support for the last semester of my undergraduate studies, I decided to go for it and I got the job. Initially, it was really hard to communicate with them as they were speaking almost entirely Mandarin and my Mandarin is definitely not the standard of those who originated from China. Thankfully, I was a fast learner and after a few weeks, I picked up all the necessary communication skills I needed to communicate efficiently with them.
The first two months was just blindly following instructions about how to serve customers, taking phone orders and packing food for take-out orders. Then my fellow colleagues and I became close friends with J. He was not only a very caring boss but also a very nice guy. It was very comfortable working around him because he did not treat us like we were his workers. He even told us that we're all equal and we're his friends in Kalamazoo. In fact, he and my ex-bf used to hang out and play pool. His then-gf, now-wife was a total opposite from him. She has this emotional imbalance that range from really nice and friendly to grumpy and everything-pisses-her-off mood. Fortunately, I was her closest friend there. She would tell me about everything that goes on with her and her opinions even though some felt sort-of insulting but we were good friends. It was the guys who had problems with her because whenever they are found standing and talking or joking during non-peak hours, she would go around the kitchen and hunt things for them to do. I was always on the go and working on something even if it's not really important but that was because I was always teased by the guys whenever I join their conversations and I can't stand boredom just standing by the counter looking out the window.
So while all these sounds like a cheerful kind of working environment for me, it was hard work. These Chinese bosses don't need to rest or take a break and they are very money-minded. The restaurant hours are 11am to 12mn on Sundays to Tuesdays and 11am to 4am on Wednesdays to Saturdays. While I was finishing up my last semester, I worked from 5pm-10pm on Fridays and 11am-10pm on Saturdays. This was all during the get-to-know them period and I was still working full-time on my research and having two classes, so I wasn't too involved in the restaurant. After graduation, I took up extra shifts, which became 11am-5pm on Mondays to Saturdays and 5pm-10pm three nights a week. It was tiring at first but I adapted. I still had to go to lab to do the touch-ups to finalize my research. Since the shifts are set, it was fine. The thing that bothered me and my friends were replacement for shifts. Most of us at that time had just graduated or will be graduating and we had the tendency to want to travel but it was impossible because all of us had shifts that took up all our free time. My only free day was Sunday and we could not go very far on one day, especially if we have to work the next day. So we propose to the boss to get one or two extra employees but J's wife calculated all the amount and said that it will be too costly. At the end of every month, we calculate our hours along with J's wife to get our pay in cash. As we calculate, she would complain about how much we worked and earn - 'wah, you work a lot ar' - except for me, which she tend to be bias sometimes. But imagine if you had to listen to this while when you suggested for them to get extra employees, they shove the idea away. My friends were pissed off. Later, there were times when I was called in to work until 4am for some of them. Since I accepted the first few times and said it was okay, the first person J calls whenever someone had to cancel their shift is me. As usual, I go in and work as normal even though I was dead tired, my feet was killing me and my back feels like it has never felt the bed for a thousand years. Towards the end of my experience there, which was the last 3-4 months, I was working almost 200 hours a month. I was dead tired everyday. I learned my lesson...either learn to say no or don't even think about working in a Chinese restaurant despite the free food and good tips.
Till today, J hires only enough people to cover the shifts and J's wife is still emotionally imbalance every once in a while. Oh yeah..they wanted to hire me full time for 2kUSD when I told them that I am quitting and going back to school for my PhD. J's wife told me not to leave and work for them. She even calculated the amount of money I would earn in two years, which was a lot more than I can earn in grad school but it did not tempt me one bit after the experience I had. I'd rather enjoy life and earn enough to live comfortable than earn lots more than I need while living in 'fatigue-ness' all the time.
There are all kinds of stories that I can tell about what happened in the restaurant that had frustrated all of us working there but work gotta come first or I'll be stuck here in the quiet dungeon later than midnight tonight. Maybe I'll reveal them someday when I have the motivation to write about them..kekeke.
This restaurant is owned by a family from FuZhou, a province somewhere in Southern China, which apparently, is where the root of my family originated from. In fact, it is only three generations back but the language that they speak is almost foreign to me. The big boss is a skinny guy who is in his mid-twenties but is very experienced and speaks English quite fluently although with limited vocabularies. He came to Kalamazoo and bought over Campus Kitchen, a restaurant serving American-Chinese food and limited M'sian food suited for the American taste. As the old owner left to open another restaurant in East Lansing, he brought along most of his staff and the new owner, J, needed people to help out with the restaurant. A friend recommended me to work there and since I was in need of financial support for the last semester of my undergraduate studies, I decided to go for it and I got the job. Initially, it was really hard to communicate with them as they were speaking almost entirely Mandarin and my Mandarin is definitely not the standard of those who originated from China. Thankfully, I was a fast learner and after a few weeks, I picked up all the necessary communication skills I needed to communicate efficiently with them.
The first two months was just blindly following instructions about how to serve customers, taking phone orders and packing food for take-out orders. Then my fellow colleagues and I became close friends with J. He was not only a very caring boss but also a very nice guy. It was very comfortable working around him because he did not treat us like we were his workers. He even told us that we're all equal and we're his friends in Kalamazoo. In fact, he and my ex-bf used to hang out and play pool. His then-gf, now-wife was a total opposite from him. She has this emotional imbalance that range from really nice and friendly to grumpy and everything-pisses-her-off mood. Fortunately, I was her closest friend there. She would tell me about everything that goes on with her and her opinions even though some felt sort-of insulting but we were good friends. It was the guys who had problems with her because whenever they are found standing and talking or joking during non-peak hours, she would go around the kitchen and hunt things for them to do. I was always on the go and working on something even if it's not really important but that was because I was always teased by the guys whenever I join their conversations and I can't stand boredom just standing by the counter looking out the window.
So while all these sounds like a cheerful kind of working environment for me, it was hard work. These Chinese bosses don't need to rest or take a break and they are very money-minded. The restaurant hours are 11am to 12mn on Sundays to Tuesdays and 11am to 4am on Wednesdays to Saturdays. While I was finishing up my last semester, I worked from 5pm-10pm on Fridays and 11am-10pm on Saturdays. This was all during the get-to-know them period and I was still working full-time on my research and having two classes, so I wasn't too involved in the restaurant. After graduation, I took up extra shifts, which became 11am-5pm on Mondays to Saturdays and 5pm-10pm three nights a week. It was tiring at first but I adapted. I still had to go to lab to do the touch-ups to finalize my research. Since the shifts are set, it was fine. The thing that bothered me and my friends were replacement for shifts. Most of us at that time had just graduated or will be graduating and we had the tendency to want to travel but it was impossible because all of us had shifts that took up all our free time. My only free day was Sunday and we could not go very far on one day, especially if we have to work the next day. So we propose to the boss to get one or two extra employees but J's wife calculated all the amount and said that it will be too costly. At the end of every month, we calculate our hours along with J's wife to get our pay in cash. As we calculate, she would complain about how much we worked and earn - 'wah, you work a lot ar' - except for me, which she tend to be bias sometimes. But imagine if you had to listen to this while when you suggested for them to get extra employees, they shove the idea away. My friends were pissed off. Later, there were times when I was called in to work until 4am for some of them. Since I accepted the first few times and said it was okay, the first person J calls whenever someone had to cancel their shift is me. As usual, I go in and work as normal even though I was dead tired, my feet was killing me and my back feels like it has never felt the bed for a thousand years. Towards the end of my experience there, which was the last 3-4 months, I was working almost 200 hours a month. I was dead tired everyday. I learned my lesson...either learn to say no or don't even think about working in a Chinese restaurant despite the free food and good tips.
Till today, J hires only enough people to cover the shifts and J's wife is still emotionally imbalance every once in a while. Oh yeah..they wanted to hire me full time for 2kUSD when I told them that I am quitting and going back to school for my PhD. J's wife told me not to leave and work for them. She even calculated the amount of money I would earn in two years, which was a lot more than I can earn in grad school but it did not tempt me one bit after the experience I had. I'd rather enjoy life and earn enough to live comfortable than earn lots more than I need while living in 'fatigue-ness' all the time.
There are all kinds of stories that I can tell about what happened in the restaurant that had frustrated all of us working there but work gotta come first or I'll be stuck here in the quiet dungeon later than midnight tonight. Maybe I'll reveal them someday when I have the motivation to write about them..kekeke.
Wednesday, March 23, 2005
'easy' job?
Last week's experiments and papers had me drained and the fact that I have no big experiments schedule for this week is making me restless. Experiments were initially planned but unfortunately our lab tech had came down with some virus and stuff I need was not ordered. That's the problem with having bureaucracy - having to wait for the person with the designated job to get the job done. If the stuff is still not ordered by later today I think I should just go ahead and get it myself. Sometimes all these kuai los can be too relaxing with their task and coming from M'sia where we only have limited sick leave, the amount of days they work here can be a favorable factor. Unfortunately, when one become too responsible on their job, the expectations increase and that's how we end up having to work round-the-clock to continuously provide the data that we've once provided in record time. Even then, I still prefer the working ethics in the States than in M'sia. When they're at work, they get stuff done and not talk about the latest 'feng shui' discovery that was made by Lillian Too. Despite the bureaucracy, the flow is always there and nothing is left stagnant. The most impressive work ethics I have seen is when applying for the Michigan ID. It takes less than 15 minutes to get the card in your hands and never have to go back to the Secretary of State again. Applying for IC in M'sia takes almost half a day and that is only if you wakes up early and get to the office by 7am. Then three months later, we have to wait for another 1-2 hours just to collect the IC. I wonder if their computer system is obsolete or they just love to 'dilly-dally'. I am pretty sure that the job they do here and in M'sia is not very much different but here they have a very positive attitude and keeps the flow going unlike back in M'sia, all the government staff you meet have a long 'papaya-face' all the time. If only someone could just show them the Fish! Philosophy, maybe it'll improve their work ethics..
While I'm on the topic of 'easy' jobs in the MidWest, can you imagine owning a golf course here in Michigan? You can only open the golf course for 4-5 months, at most 6 months a year. Do you think they make enough money within that 6 months to cover the cost for one year? I have to pass the golf course everyday to get to work and looking at the frozen lake and snow-covered ground of the golf course had me wondering how they make it through yearly with such long winter here. Then I realized that golf course is not the only place but they have zoos and small outdoor theme parks which are closed during the winters too. Are the owners retired but so rich that they have no where else to spend their money so they just open up places like these to provide some entertainment during the summer? I know that if I intend to open any businesses like this, Michigan is definitely not the place or at least not Lansing and anywhere north of it. I wonder if it's an ongoing problem or have the people here 'evolve' to adapt in ways that I have yet to observe. I wonder what all the employees of these places do during the winter..it is possible that they are just students since students can take summer off to work or for vacation but what about the non-student workers? Just 'lepak' for the next 6 months and work for 6 months? Hmmm...
I miss the sun...but I don't like the heat in Penang..so where should I go next? hehe..
While I'm on the topic of 'easy' jobs in the MidWest, can you imagine owning a golf course here in Michigan? You can only open the golf course for 4-5 months, at most 6 months a year. Do you think they make enough money within that 6 months to cover the cost for one year? I have to pass the golf course everyday to get to work and looking at the frozen lake and snow-covered ground of the golf course had me wondering how they make it through yearly with such long winter here. Then I realized that golf course is not the only place but they have zoos and small outdoor theme parks which are closed during the winters too. Are the owners retired but so rich that they have no where else to spend their money so they just open up places like these to provide some entertainment during the summer? I know that if I intend to open any businesses like this, Michigan is definitely not the place or at least not Lansing and anywhere north of it. I wonder if it's an ongoing problem or have the people here 'evolve' to adapt in ways that I have yet to observe. I wonder what all the employees of these places do during the winter..it is possible that they are just students since students can take summer off to work or for vacation but what about the non-student workers? Just 'lepak' for the next 6 months and work for 6 months? Hmmm...
I miss the sun...but I don't like the heat in Penang..so where should I go next? hehe..
Wednesday, March 16, 2005
blink of the eye
Spring break came and went but I felt like I have yet to get a good break. Lab mates came back and talk about their vacation over at California or just staying at home doing nothing and what have I to say? I worked all week in the lab. Sounds like I have no social or entertainment life at all. That is partly true since my definition of entertainment is staying at home and chill. I did thought about taking a break but then that would be taking days of my 30 vacation days/year, which means I get to be back in Penang for a shorter time. Furthermore, if I decided to go to Thailand and hang out with my cousin then I would definitely want to keep as many vacation days as possible for home. But other than I-need-more-sleep complains, I think the Spring break was a very productive break. Unfortunately, didn't get the chance to finish up what I intended to do.
But I did managed to get some stuff done besides spending almost the entire week smelling bile cultures.
1. Finish reviewing all the lecture notes except the last two lectures before Spring break.
2. Updated my lab notebook.
3. Updated all my references.
4. Read two novels.
5. Got my TIP...now time to hunt for cars!!!
6. Did not upload my photos onto Yahoo! photos..so troublesome 'lah'. My laptop doesn't have the program to read the pics from the camera and my desktop has no internet connection..so have to transfer via my external hd, which I was too lazy to do and since my parents had yet to start asking me for it, I shall wait until somebody says something.
7. Finished the bile assay and apparently, my little bugs actually grow better with bile. Now have to repeat experiment..urgh! Have to smell that yucky stuff again.
8. Did lots of research for mini-proposal and managed to get a really good synopsis.
9. Did not even go near the pool table since the U-Cue at MSU Union is closed during the Spring break and that's the only place where I can play without risking myself to lung cancer.
So that was what my Spring break was all about. Oh yeah..and I found a Japanese restaurant that actually serve good Japanese food (instead of breaded chicken and rice) but they are a little too pricy for a casual dinner. It is also a very classy restaurant so it shall stay as a 'once in a blue moon' dining place.
Overall, it didn't feel like a break but I was glad for not having to go to class..they just takes up too much time.
But I did managed to get some stuff done besides spending almost the entire week smelling bile cultures.
1. Finish reviewing all the lecture notes except the last two lectures before Spring break.
2. Updated my lab notebook.
3. Updated all my references.
4. Read two novels.
5. Got my TIP...now time to hunt for cars!!!
6. Did not upload my photos onto Yahoo! photos..so troublesome 'lah'. My laptop doesn't have the program to read the pics from the camera and my desktop has no internet connection..so have to transfer via my external hd, which I was too lazy to do and since my parents had yet to start asking me for it, I shall wait until somebody says something.
7. Finished the bile assay and apparently, my little bugs actually grow better with bile. Now have to repeat experiment..urgh! Have to smell that yucky stuff again.
8. Did lots of research for mini-proposal and managed to get a really good synopsis.
9. Did not even go near the pool table since the U-Cue at MSU Union is closed during the Spring break and that's the only place where I can play without risking myself to lung cancer.
So that was what my Spring break was all about. Oh yeah..and I found a Japanese restaurant that actually serve good Japanese food (instead of breaded chicken and rice) but they are a little too pricy for a casual dinner. It is also a very classy restaurant so it shall stay as a 'once in a blue moon' dining place.
Overall, it didn't feel like a break but I was glad for not having to go to class..they just takes up too much time.
Friday, March 11, 2005
Numa dance
Check out this Numa dance. It is originally a Romanian song but did not make it through to United States. But somehow, Gary stumbled upon the song and decided to make some fun videos for his friends through his webcam. Like everyone else, any of his friend who got the e-mail forwarded the video to their other friends and as it keep going, the video eventually became a popular web-video. Websites that host the video has gotten really high hits so far and that's all people have been able to talk about these days - Have you seen the Numa dance? - Man, it is so hilarious you just gotta watch it - Can you believe he actually did that? - I'll forward the mail to you, it must not be missed - etc. After listening it for so many times, I begin to think that it's actually one that I don't mind dancing to.
Haha..doesn't this reminds you of William Hung from American Idol? Just a little better I think.
Haha..doesn't this reminds you of William Hung from American Idol? Just a little better I think.
Tuesday, March 08, 2005
when is it gonna end??
It's freaking hot in Penang, it's spring in Japan, it's cool in Australia...it's freezing cold in Michigan!! March is here and yet the snow are still piled up at every corner of the road. Not only that but weather forecasters predict that there'll be more snow by the end of this week. We're having a week break from school and it's called the Spring Break but the weather does not act like it at all. Don't get me wrong, I love the snow but the low temperature is just too much to bare. It's the kind of chill that goes straight into your bone and makes your fingers get so cold that you can't even touch anything. I'm ready for any sign of temperature boost anytime. The sun is out today and it would be such a great day to stroll along Grand River Ave. and lick on an ice-cream with my shorts and tee on my flip-flops. But why am I still in here in the lab eating chicken rice with kurma curry? The view is actually a camouflage of the freeze-my-butt-off weather. So there'll be no lunch outing until another month or so.
Spring break is a one week holiday during the Spring semester, usually in March. There is no religious celebration but merely a break for undergraduates to relax and refresh so that they can come back to school a week later feeling psyched again. So what does most students do? They flood the beach in Florida or California. They have one of the best beaches there (definitely better than Batu Feringghi or Muka Head) and all kinds of activities to get involved in. Some students also take the opportunity to gain some working experience by working as lifeguards, waiter/waitress, bartendar and other high demand jobs due to the large crowd during Spring break. Unfortunately, while undergrads are having fun, it is time for graduate students to catch up with research work that was neglected due to class thought by professors who think that their students only take their class and nothing else.
As for me, the Spring break week is loaded with research plans and managed to get through most of my list in time. Plans for the week..
1. Finish critically reviewing my notes for the one class I'm taking this semester.
2. Update my lab notebook on the Mac.
3. Update my references that are piling up on Endnote.
4. Read at least two novel.
5. Take the written exam to get the Temporary Instruction Permit (TIP) to apply for a driver's license.
6. Upload photos of my new apartment onto Yahoo! Photos.
7. Start bile assay experiments.
8. Start research for mini-proposal.
9. Play pool!!!!
It's been a great week so far...let's hope I'll accomplish at least 75% of the list above.
Spring break is a one week holiday during the Spring semester, usually in March. There is no religious celebration but merely a break for undergraduates to relax and refresh so that they can come back to school a week later feeling psyched again. So what does most students do? They flood the beach in Florida or California. They have one of the best beaches there (definitely better than Batu Feringghi or Muka Head) and all kinds of activities to get involved in. Some students also take the opportunity to gain some working experience by working as lifeguards, waiter/waitress, bartendar and other high demand jobs due to the large crowd during Spring break. Unfortunately, while undergrads are having fun, it is time for graduate students to catch up with research work that was neglected due to class thought by professors who think that their students only take their class and nothing else.
As for me, the Spring break week is loaded with research plans and managed to get through most of my list in time. Plans for the week..
1. Finish critically reviewing my notes for the one class I'm taking this semester.
2. Update my lab notebook on the Mac.
3. Update my references that are piling up on Endnote.
4. Read at least two novel.
5. Take the written exam to get the Temporary Instruction Permit (TIP) to apply for a driver's license.
6. Upload photos of my new apartment onto Yahoo! Photos.
7. Start bile assay experiments.
8. Start research for mini-proposal.
9. Play pool!!!!
It's been a great week so far...let's hope I'll accomplish at least 75% of the list above.
Friday, March 04, 2005
all about the little ones
It has been such a busy week and I have yet to find the time to 'do nothing'. Last weekend was suppose to be lecture catching up weekend. Then the probiotics experiment came up and I had to grow up my tiny microbe (Helicobacter hepaticus) to be gavaged into the mice. That took up most of my Saturday. Wait, actually that only took up about 2 hours or so but I had to print some articles for the paper that is due on Thursday (again..and there'll be more to come). It was really beautiful that all the papers I found had used fluorescence microscopy to analyze the microbes but that also mean that I won't be able to understand the figures unless they are in color. Unfortunately, the one and only color printer that we have here in the department is as slow as a turtle..maybe even slower. It took me another 2 hours just to print out 18 articles. Can you imagine that??? 18 articles, with an average of 3 colored pages per article = 54 pages in 2 hours!!!! Either the printer is obsolete or that's the way color printers are. Time for them to get a laser color printer. kekeke..
Sunday was spent in the lab growing up more H. hepaticus for the Bile assay and boy, do these bile stinks!! It was collected from cows bile duct when they die and was grind and dried. I wonder who has to do the dirty job, glad it's not me! Got home in the afternoon but had to flatten all the boxes that we used when we moved in (about a month ago and yeah, the boxes were left untouched ever since the unpacking). Brought them all to Lake Lansing recycling center and on the way there, we passed Krispy Kreme doughnuts. It is one of the best doughnuts here in Michigan (besides freaking expensive Dunkin Donuts) and we could not resist it. Furthermore, the shop also has their doughnut making machines open for public viewing. Got stucked there for about 30 minutes, went to recycle the boxes and we ended up at Meijer. It was suppose to be a quick shop for fruits and vege that we've been depleted off the past few days being so busy. Then I wanted to go get a watch and unfortunately, after looking for what feels like forever, none of them has the size for my wrist. They don't do any adjustment either. Since I don't intend to get a watch that can go all the way up to my arm, we finally left Meijer about an hour or so later.
That was the most interesting event that I encountered since last week. As the week goes by...stay tune.
Sunday was spent in the lab growing up more H. hepaticus for the Bile assay and boy, do these bile stinks!! It was collected from cows bile duct when they die and was grind and dried. I wonder who has to do the dirty job, glad it's not me! Got home in the afternoon but had to flatten all the boxes that we used when we moved in (about a month ago and yeah, the boxes were left untouched ever since the unpacking). Brought them all to Lake Lansing recycling center and on the way there, we passed Krispy Kreme doughnuts. It is one of the best doughnuts here in Michigan (besides freaking expensive Dunkin Donuts) and we could not resist it. Furthermore, the shop also has their doughnut making machines open for public viewing. Got stucked there for about 30 minutes, went to recycle the boxes and we ended up at Meijer. It was suppose to be a quick shop for fruits and vege that we've been depleted off the past few days being so busy. Then I wanted to go get a watch and unfortunately, after looking for what feels like forever, none of them has the size for my wrist. They don't do any adjustment either. Since I don't intend to get a watch that can go all the way up to my arm, we finally left Meijer about an hour or so later.
That was the most interesting event that I encountered since last week. As the week goes by...stay tune.
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