Wooohooo!! We finally got a new fluorometer and the best thing is, it’s a plate reader, it has a cuvette reader AND it’s dual monochromatic!!
Ever since I got the plasmid constructed, I was trying to detect fluorescence of the cells after induction with IPTG but was not very successful as the filters for fluorescence that we have on our microscope is specific for GFP. It does not allow me to distinguish between CFP and YFP. Before, I was using the TD-700 Fluorometer from Turner Design. However, it actually belongs to Dr. Marsh and they have started a live-dead assay using fluorescence proteins so they would need it back now. I could still borrow it but it was quite inconvenient as I would have to return it by 5-5.30pm before people in the lab leaves and sometimes I need it for more than a day, which wouldn’t be nice.
About a week back, Tom told me that a request for a fluorometer from the department has been approved. It was a shared award between him, Dr. Britton, Dr. Bagdasarian and a few other professors. I was so excited over it when we had the training. I am also impressed that is has both a cuvette and a micro-plate reader. Furthermore, it has the capability to measure fluorescence polarization if I ever need to. I’ve got a new toy! Here’s the baby – A SpectraMax M5 from Molecular Devices.
Sunday, September 25, 2005
Saturday, September 24, 2005
English week
An afternoon sometime this week, a sudden flash back of my high school days came to my mind. Like most high schools, we used to celebrate English week every year and being one of the few 'nerds' in my class, I was always part of the organizing committee or an active participant. When I was in Form 2, I remember singing in front of the school ( I can't imagine ever doing any of those again..public speaking still freaks me out). It was guided by one of my favorite teacher, Pn. Zainon. She was one who is very organized and make sure everything is in order for the function. We had to practice the song for 1 hour or so everyday. One would think that I would be bored of the song by the end of it but I actually liked the song so much that it was stucked in my mind even after the English week. I completely forgot about it until recently. I could think of the tune but I can't get the words out right and I couldn't even remember what was it about or what was the title. Then while I was surfing the net earlier today, I found this and everything came pouring back to me.
Jamaican Farewell
Down the way where the nights are gay
And the sun shines brightly on the mountaintops.
I took a trip on a sailing ship
And when I reached Jamaica I made a stop
Jamaican Farewell
Down the way where the nights are gay
And the sun shines brightly on the mountaintops.
I took a trip on a sailing ship
And when I reached Jamaica I made a stop
Chorus:
But I'm sad to say; I'm on my way.
I won't be back for many a day.
My heart is down my head turning aroun'
I had to leave my little girl in Kingston town.
Sounds of laughter everywhere.
And the dancers swinging to and fro.
I must declare that my heart is there
Though I've been from Main to Mexico.
Chorus
Down in the market you can hear
Ladies cry out while on their heads they bear
Aki rice salt fish are nice
And the rum is fine any time of year.
Chorus
I was so happy to find this and now the tune is stuck in my head again. It just brings back such good memories about high school days when everything seems to be so easy going. When all I have to think about is finishing my homework for that day. It's funny how when we were younger, we think about what we would do when we are older and now that we're here, we tend to look back at those days. Oh well....just a nostalgic moment.
Monday, September 19, 2005
Nyonya kuih
Yum yum..I was listening to the Hokkien Podcast by John Ong and I started to think about all the wonderful nyonya kuih. The nyonya kuih in Penang are so much better than those in PJ or KL. In fact, even those nyonya kuih sellers in PJ are mostly from Penang. When mum was working at States ( I think it's currently called New Town), we used to buy onde-onde from this old lady who has a small stall at a corner Chicken Rice shop. Unfortunately, when she got older, she was too tired to make them anymore so she stopped selling them since onde-onde takes up lots of work.
In Penang, we used to buy nyonya kuih from an Indian man who carries the kuih in a basket at the top of his head. He was selling kuih around our neighborhood at Batu Lanchang ever since before I was born but he passed away a few years before I came here. Now, we usually buy nyonya kuih from Pulau Tikus market. We've tried those from several different markets but I still like those from Pulau Tikus best.
The picture was taken during my cousin's wedding lunch. We served a variety of Western desserts - fruit cake, chocolate cake err..I can't remember the other two. The nyonya kuih varieties are ang ku (the salty one), kuih talam (I usually eat the white part only :P), purple kuih bengka (not one of my favorite), errr...I can't remember the other two. Hehe..I only know how to eat them! Too bad these are the kuihs which we can never get here in the States. That reminds me, I better get the recipes from my grandma the next time I see her...delicacies like these are getting rare.
Monday, September 12, 2005
my gum story
It’s been a while since I’ve been online for long. Haven’t been feeling myself lately. Was always feeling tired, all I wanted to do was sleep or just lie down on my bed and not think of anything. Even going for Nigerian food at Detroit didn’t seem to hit on any of my nerves (I love trying new food and going for a ride).
It all started one afternoon when I finished annotating the sequences for my finished construct, pMMB67EH-YLC, which I’ve been trying to build for the past year. I was so tired and planned to just have a slow night, watching The Notebook. I’ve seen this movie before but since it always put me in a good mood, I rented it again. After dinner, which was supposed to be ‘char bee hoon’ but I soaked the ‘bee hoon’ in the water for too long so it became more of chicken rice ball, but that was fine since it’s still edible, I pop the DVD into my computer but nothing seems to work. Everything that can be clicked on was not reacting. The only thing that worked was anything found in ‘My Documents’ folder. That pisses me off because there goes my night of just chilling at home. Went off to bed feeling down.
The feeling never did bounce up the next day either. I found a Windows XP CD from a friend and tried to install it but it wouldn’t work. BK walked me through it again and it still wouldn’t work. So we decided to try using the WinXP CD that came with my Dell laptop, which obviously is illegal but I had no choice. I really want the computer to work. It’s old but I love my computer. About one or so later, it worked! Unfortunately, it’ll only be valid for 30 days if I don’t register it, which I can’t since there is no wireless network card on my PC (I only have wireless connection at home). But at least I know there are no major problems with the hardware and I can think of an alternative while the 30 days run out.
Although my PC is up and running then, my spirit was still down most of the weekend. That was when my gum started to swell and everything I ate was tasteless or I can hardly eat more than 2 bites because it hurts. Then I started to get an infection and my lymph nodes start to swell too. Sometimes I could feel the bacteria multiplying themselves to overcome my immune system but of course, we humans are better at that most of the time. It gets so bad that I resolved to eat only porridge with carrots boiled so soft that I don’t need to bite it. Then on Sunday, it became so warm and painful that I was eating ice-cream all day. Yeah…I was sure having fun. TV and ice-cream. But NO! It was a struggle even to open my mouth. I had to talk with my teeth clenched together like I was angry.
I woke up this morning feeling really bad and that’s when I decided to stop this pain and go get some antibiotics. I could have made some in the lab but I don’t know what causes the infection so that’s when I think it’s wise to seek a Doctor’s advice. Got to Olin Health Center, waited for about 20 minutes and Dr. Huber told me that I’m getting a new tooth!!! I got the infection because there’s a new pore opening in my gums for my new tooth to come out and at the same time, the bacteria in my mouth found a new niche!! That was hilarious but I couldn’t laugh at that time because she was telling me the news while pressing on my lymph nodes. I could barely keep the tears from falling down.
However, will get the confirmation on Wednesday after I get an oral x-ray. I sure hope it’s not or if it is, it will still have space to come out. I don’t wanna go for an oral surgery. That would suck big time. But now that I know my gums will be better, I feel better although my spirits are not sky-rocketing yet. It will be once I can turn without feeling the lump in my neck, swallow without hurting, chewing happily away and knowing that it’s not a wisdom tooth but merely an infection.
It all started one afternoon when I finished annotating the sequences for my finished construct, pMMB67EH-YLC, which I’ve been trying to build for the past year. I was so tired and planned to just have a slow night, watching The Notebook. I’ve seen this movie before but since it always put me in a good mood, I rented it again. After dinner, which was supposed to be ‘char bee hoon’ but I soaked the ‘bee hoon’ in the water for too long so it became more of chicken rice ball, but that was fine since it’s still edible, I pop the DVD into my computer but nothing seems to work. Everything that can be clicked on was not reacting. The only thing that worked was anything found in ‘My Documents’ folder. That pisses me off because there goes my night of just chilling at home. Went off to bed feeling down.
The feeling never did bounce up the next day either. I found a Windows XP CD from a friend and tried to install it but it wouldn’t work. BK walked me through it again and it still wouldn’t work. So we decided to try using the WinXP CD that came with my Dell laptop, which obviously is illegal but I had no choice. I really want the computer to work. It’s old but I love my computer. About one or so later, it worked! Unfortunately, it’ll only be valid for 30 days if I don’t register it, which I can’t since there is no wireless network card on my PC (I only have wireless connection at home). But at least I know there are no major problems with the hardware and I can think of an alternative while the 30 days run out.
Although my PC is up and running then, my spirit was still down most of the weekend. That was when my gum started to swell and everything I ate was tasteless or I can hardly eat more than 2 bites because it hurts. Then I started to get an infection and my lymph nodes start to swell too. Sometimes I could feel the bacteria multiplying themselves to overcome my immune system but of course, we humans are better at that most of the time. It gets so bad that I resolved to eat only porridge with carrots boiled so soft that I don’t need to bite it. Then on Sunday, it became so warm and painful that I was eating ice-cream all day. Yeah…I was sure having fun. TV and ice-cream. But NO! It was a struggle even to open my mouth. I had to talk with my teeth clenched together like I was angry.
I woke up this morning feeling really bad and that’s when I decided to stop this pain and go get some antibiotics. I could have made some in the lab but I don’t know what causes the infection so that’s when I think it’s wise to seek a Doctor’s advice. Got to Olin Health Center, waited for about 20 minutes and Dr. Huber told me that I’m getting a new tooth!!! I got the infection because there’s a new pore opening in my gums for my new tooth to come out and at the same time, the bacteria in my mouth found a new niche!! That was hilarious but I couldn’t laugh at that time because she was telling me the news while pressing on my lymph nodes. I could barely keep the tears from falling down.
However, will get the confirmation on Wednesday after I get an oral x-ray. I sure hope it’s not or if it is, it will still have space to come out. I don’t wanna go for an oral surgery. That would suck big time. But now that I know my gums will be better, I feel better although my spirits are not sky-rocketing yet. It will be once I can turn without feeling the lump in my neck, swallow without hurting, chewing happily away and knowing that it’s not a wisdom tooth but merely an infection.
Thursday, September 01, 2005
such a quiet night...
While I was walking out to dinner a few hours ago, I looked up the sky and am surprised to see it filled with stars. I used to love going for walks at night and stopping by the park, sitting on the swing while gazing into the sky. As I did that today, I wondered why I stopped doing that. The realization also made me realized how much I miss the company of the person who used to that with me. Then I started wishing that I don't have to be out having dinner by myself and that I don't have to be walking across campus on such a lovely night all by myself. It's when thoughts like this cloud my mind, I feel so down.
But that was a good walk. One I should be doing more often. One that has freshen me up while stuck in this lab all week long except when I go home to sleep. It's a very peaceful night after all the chaos happening in the day time with the students coming back for classes. I get to enjoy a lovely dinner - Char siew pui (barbeque pork rice) - without having to rush.
I may not have the person to accompany me for walks anymore but at least I still have myself. At least I still remember the things that makes me happy.
But that was a good walk. One I should be doing more often. One that has freshen me up while stuck in this lab all week long except when I go home to sleep. It's a very peaceful night after all the chaos happening in the day time with the students coming back for classes. I get to enjoy a lovely dinner - Char siew pui (barbeque pork rice) - without having to rush.
I may not have the person to accompany me for walks anymore but at least I still have myself. At least I still remember the things that makes me happy.
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