Well, it's mostly done. We ripped out almost all of the plaster & lath in the kitchen (and found out we had a dropped ceiling. We ripped out all the plaster & lath in the 2nd floor, front room (and exposed the brick chimney of the front stack, which is in really good shape, considering its age).
We ripped out almost all of the plaster & lath in the 2nd floor, middle room. And we hauled it out, bucket by bucket, down 30-something steps & into the dumpster. My back, arms, shoulders and legs are all making their presence more noticeable today. But it's done!!!!!!!!!!!!
And I can't wait to get back to the lab. This stuff is kind of fun, but i wouldn't want to do it for a living.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Friday, April 18, 2008
Taken out by a virus
Well, I've contracted a lovely late spring (or is it only mid-Spring) cold. I always forget just how miserable a runny nose, runny eyes, and dry cough can be. But I slept most of the weekend (before all the fun mucous-making started), and spent Tuesday through Thursday laid up most of the time too. Which makes me feel guilty that I'm taking next week as vacation - I feel I should make up for the days I missed this week.
But, with the dumpster coming, I know there won't be time or energy left for work next week.
But, with the dumpster coming, I know there won't be time or energy left for work next week.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Thesis Update
So.... I emerged unscathed from my thesis progress meeting. I even got a couple of comments along the lines of, "Great meeting, Ericka" and other such niceties. I guess I have turned into one of those people that complains all the time about how poorly they're doing, but really they're doing fine. At least I honestly believe I'm doing a crappy job though! (Hmmm.... although that doesn't say much for the pride I take in my work I guess. Maybe I'm just too critical?)
And, the even better news is that one of my projects just got a whole lot easier! I was facing a big analysis problem - trying to get software to do something that it wasn't originally designed to do - and my committee basically told me to use a much easier method, that I was making things too hard on myself. So, that project should be done by this summer - woohoo!
In house news - I've obtained a dumpster permit (so that we can have one parked on the street, as we have no driveway), and will be calling to schedule a dumpster in a little while. Last Thursday, after my meeting was done, I planted my two new daylillies - Pardon Me Daylillies, from Gurney, they're bright magenta with orange-ish insides), and transplanted a bunch of the earlier seedlings (tomatoes, and some flowers whose names are eluding me right now), and moved them upstairs to get on a natural light schedule. Tonight I'll probably start some more seeds in the basement, and once it gets warmer we can start preparing the vegetable/flower beds for outdoor planting. The cats are great, the little black&white one now curls up beside me just about any time I sit down (very cute, but also annoying, she always lays in a way that I know must be uncomfortable for her), and the calico has resumed her post in the window, looking at the birds on the feeder (which D refilled for her enjoyment). I got a birdbath for Easter as well, so I'm hoping maybe one of the cats will figure out that it's fun to stalk/catch birds. But I'm not expecting great things - the cats are wonderfully fuzzy, but not too bright. As I guess most cats are.
Otherwise, not much happening. We had a very lazy weekend - although I did roast some garlic & make cajun tuna on saturday. Sunday, D spent organizing his giant piles of paper in preparation to do his taxes, which will probably not get done by the deadline (I think this is the way he's most like my dad, and I can't get him to accept the fact that there is no way that his ATM receipts for the last 5 years are going to yield anything that is legally deductible; he's convinced that he's going to find something that will mean he won't have to pay anything. I think it's more important to actually file them, but what do I know? I've only filed taxes & not ended up owing them tons of money in fees and interest for the last 15 years. Oh, and I always do my taxes both ways, and realize every year that it's easier & better financially for me to take the standard deduction). I guess the only part of this that really irks me is the belief that somehow he shouldn't have to pay taxes. And the griping about it. In true hyperbolic fashion, he goes on and on about how he would have been better off not to have worked, because the government takes so much. Not in his current job, but one of the self-employed contracts he did last year. I have to point out to him that they only take 25%, and that that still leaves him with a refund coming, plus he got the money for doing the work in the first place!!!! Sometimes I really hate the libertarian crap that comes spouting out of him, and would like to strangle the idiot friends of his that spouted it in the first place. (I place this in the same category as the "My parents didn't pay for me to go to college" crap - just a lot of self-pity by somebody that isn't actually any worse off that 95% of the people in this country, but wants to feel wronged somehow) But I digress.....
Tax time means the economic stimulus checks will be mailed soon! I hate the idea of these - W bribed everyone on the way in, and on the way out - but am not going to turn down the check. Neither will I be stimulating the economy with it. Just paying off bills, but it will still be nice to do that. I did however, just pick up a compound miter saw off of ebay for a reasonable amount of money. (The features I wanted, but about 1/2 price of a new Dewalt 12" single-bevel compound miter saw). I can't wait until it gets here! And we can cut trim for our bathroom! I have become the most boring person in the world - I'm taking a week's vacation to gut the 2nd floor of the house, and am excited about a new-ish saw. But I can't help it, i've been waiting a long time to do this stuff!
All right, I should get back to something productive. I hope you all had a fabulous weekend, & I get to talk to you soon!
Ericka
And, the even better news is that one of my projects just got a whole lot easier! I was facing a big analysis problem - trying to get software to do something that it wasn't originally designed to do - and my committee basically told me to use a much easier method, that I was making things too hard on myself. So, that project should be done by this summer - woohoo!
In house news - I've obtained a dumpster permit (so that we can have one parked on the street, as we have no driveway), and will be calling to schedule a dumpster in a little while. Last Thursday, after my meeting was done, I planted my two new daylillies - Pardon Me Daylillies, from Gurney, they're bright magenta with orange-ish insides), and transplanted a bunch of the earlier seedlings (tomatoes, and some flowers whose names are eluding me right now), and moved them upstairs to get on a natural light schedule. Tonight I'll probably start some more seeds in the basement, and once it gets warmer we can start preparing the vegetable/flower beds for outdoor planting. The cats are great, the little black&white one now curls up beside me just about any time I sit down (very cute, but also annoying, she always lays in a way that I know must be uncomfortable for her), and the calico has resumed her post in the window, looking at the birds on the feeder (which D refilled for her enjoyment). I got a birdbath for Easter as well, so I'm hoping maybe one of the cats will figure out that it's fun to stalk/catch birds. But I'm not expecting great things - the cats are wonderfully fuzzy, but not too bright. As I guess most cats are.
Otherwise, not much happening. We had a very lazy weekend - although I did roast some garlic & make cajun tuna on saturday. Sunday, D spent organizing his giant piles of paper in preparation to do his taxes, which will probably not get done by the deadline (I think this is the way he's most like my dad, and I can't get him to accept the fact that there is no way that his ATM receipts for the last 5 years are going to yield anything that is legally deductible; he's convinced that he's going to find something that will mean he won't have to pay anything. I think it's more important to actually file them, but what do I know? I've only filed taxes & not ended up owing them tons of money in fees and interest for the last 15 years. Oh, and I always do my taxes both ways, and realize every year that it's easier & better financially for me to take the standard deduction). I guess the only part of this that really irks me is the belief that somehow he shouldn't have to pay taxes. And the griping about it. In true hyperbolic fashion, he goes on and on about how he would have been better off not to have worked, because the government takes so much. Not in his current job, but one of the self-employed contracts he did last year. I have to point out to him that they only take 25%, and that that still leaves him with a refund coming, plus he got the money for doing the work in the first place!!!! Sometimes I really hate the libertarian crap that comes spouting out of him, and would like to strangle the idiot friends of his that spouted it in the first place. (I place this in the same category as the "My parents didn't pay for me to go to college" crap - just a lot of self-pity by somebody that isn't actually any worse off that 95% of the people in this country, but wants to feel wronged somehow) But I digress.....
Tax time means the economic stimulus checks will be mailed soon! I hate the idea of these - W bribed everyone on the way in, and on the way out - but am not going to turn down the check. Neither will I be stimulating the economy with it. Just paying off bills, but it will still be nice to do that. I did however, just pick up a compound miter saw off of ebay for a reasonable amount of money. (The features I wanted, but about 1/2 price of a new Dewalt 12" single-bevel compound miter saw). I can't wait until it gets here! And we can cut trim for our bathroom! I have become the most boring person in the world - I'm taking a week's vacation to gut the 2nd floor of the house, and am excited about a new-ish saw. But I can't help it, i've been waiting a long time to do this stuff!
All right, I should get back to something productive. I hope you all had a fabulous weekend, & I get to talk to you soon!
Ericka
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
How is it April already????
Well, apparently it has been several weeks since I've posted. So I'm trying to remedy that. Unfortunately, not much has been happening except school related stuff. I finished my written progress report last Friday & sent it off - I'm not happy with the way it turned out, but I worked on it for ~ 2 weeks, so I'm not sure how much more I could expect. Hopefully, I won't be yelled at too badly come Thursday (when my progress meeting is). So today, I'm working from home, trying to get my presentation done, & to fill in some of the things that I didn't discuss in the written report.
In good news, I had a new publication come out. I didn't write it (and wasn't kept in the loop, even for the methods section.... grrrr!), but at least I got something else with my name on it.
http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/abstract/105/11/4405
And, having the immunogold-silver measurement of transporter incorporation into plasmamembrane published helps to validate this method for my own thesis stuff, so hopefully it will be easier to publish my own papers later.
Unfortunately, I haven't made much thesis progress in the last year. I've worked out a lot of methods, but haven't got all that much data yet. So I'm dreading this meeting, but also strangely looking forward to it. If somebody would just yell at me, tell me I'm not getting enough done, then I feel like I might actually be a little more motivated. But, only time will tell....
In house news, well, it's pretty much the same. We got a new (to us) futon this weekend, and I came up with another idea for a TV show. D keeps a running list, because he wants to produce short segments for internet or broadcast (y'know, should he even find himself owning a low-power TV station). So we have things like ghetto gourmet (cooking show featuring ramen noodles, grilled cheese, falafel, etc.), and the new one is a home show (think HGTV). This one is called "Let's move this couch!". Hopefully, you can guess the premise. Large, unwieldy couches, a couple of people, and maneuvering the couch around small spaces.
But, we'll be getting a dumpster delivered later in the month, and I'll start removing large amounts of plaster & lath. Plus, we'll be able to get rid of a bunch of trash that's been hanging out at our house for a couple of years now :)
Our plants are doing pretty well. I transplanted a bunch of tomatoes, zinnias, delphinium, and coreopsis on Sunday, and did some clean-up around the yard. I also scooped out all the ashes from our fireplace, and mixed them in with our compost and some of our vegetable beds. With any luck, I'll be able to put plants outside in a couple of weeks. I'm taking a week off at the end of April, for the dumpster, and also for my own sanity. I've been working all week, and most weekends for a long time, so it'll be nice to have a full week of not doing any school-related work.
Sadly, I won't be able to make it to Massachusetts for my nephew's birthday. It's the second year in a row that I've had to skip it, but I will be seeing him in August, so I'll have to just make do with that (and my calendar, which makes me smile every day).
Okay, well, I have to get back to doing work, so that'll be it for now. I hope you all have a good week!
In good news, I had a new publication come out. I didn't write it (and wasn't kept in the loop, even for the methods section.... grrrr!), but at least I got something else with my name on it.
http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/abstract/105/11/4405
And, having the immunogold-silver measurement of transporter incorporation into plasmamembrane published helps to validate this method for my own thesis stuff, so hopefully it will be easier to publish my own papers later.
Unfortunately, I haven't made much thesis progress in the last year. I've worked out a lot of methods, but haven't got all that much data yet. So I'm dreading this meeting, but also strangely looking forward to it. If somebody would just yell at me, tell me I'm not getting enough done, then I feel like I might actually be a little more motivated. But, only time will tell....
In house news, well, it's pretty much the same. We got a new (to us) futon this weekend, and I came up with another idea for a TV show. D keeps a running list, because he wants to produce short segments for internet or broadcast (y'know, should he even find himself owning a low-power TV station). So we have things like ghetto gourmet (cooking show featuring ramen noodles, grilled cheese, falafel, etc.), and the new one is a home show (think HGTV). This one is called "Let's move this couch!". Hopefully, you can guess the premise. Large, unwieldy couches, a couple of people, and maneuvering the couch around small spaces.
But, we'll be getting a dumpster delivered later in the month, and I'll start removing large amounts of plaster & lath. Plus, we'll be able to get rid of a bunch of trash that's been hanging out at our house for a couple of years now :)
Our plants are doing pretty well. I transplanted a bunch of tomatoes, zinnias, delphinium, and coreopsis on Sunday, and did some clean-up around the yard. I also scooped out all the ashes from our fireplace, and mixed them in with our compost and some of our vegetable beds. With any luck, I'll be able to put plants outside in a couple of weeks. I'm taking a week off at the end of April, for the dumpster, and also for my own sanity. I've been working all week, and most weekends for a long time, so it'll be nice to have a full week of not doing any school-related work.
Sadly, I won't be able to make it to Massachusetts for my nephew's birthday. It's the second year in a row that I've had to skip it, but I will be seeing him in August, so I'll have to just make do with that (and my calendar, which makes me smile every day).
Okay, well, I have to get back to doing work, so that'll be it for now. I hope you all have a good week!
Friday, February 22, 2008
Random Catching up
Okay, I'm finally going to do the meme thing, although I don't think I know anyone else with a blog, except for family members. D'oh!
First, the promised post from a couple of days ago. I did actually make a kale soup, and although the broth came out okay (very garlicky & spicy), the potatoes & kale were both pretty bland. I'm getting worse at this. This is a recipe I came up with a long time ago, and it's always been good, but my potatoes were a little old, & the kale selection at giant eagle was less than fantastic. Yeah, that's it, I'll blame the grocery store :)
So, meme wise, my sister (fieryboots.blogspot.com) tagged me for this, a long time ago. The only thing that makes me feel better about not having done this yet, is that the people she tagged haven't done it either! woohoo! pointless sense of competition gratified!
So here goes. If I remember right, I'm supposed to post the rules, which I will have to go back to later.
But here's the six things about me, that very few if any people know:
1) Although I'm in graduate school for a PhD in Neuroscience, I don't think I will ever do science again after I'm finished here. I'm actually fairly disgusted by it now - mostly because I realize that most of it is crap. Only after 20 other people have found & published the same results can you assume that something might actually be true, & even then, 2/3 of the time it will be refuted. (American scientists especially are prone to jump on the bandwagon of an idea, whether it has any merit or not, mostly due to the way they obtain funding, which rewards people for doing the same thing, and punishes creativity). And if I hear one more person describe a technique or topic in neuroscience as "sexy", I will seriously have a hard time not punching them in the face. It's like the corporate speak buzzwords - "face to face download" "outside the box", etc, etc that I hear people with real jobs complain about. In all seriousness, I think I want to become an accountant; if I can just get over the embarassment of having a useless Ivy league education, and having the actual valuable training come from a community college.
2) Related to my career aspirations: I'm pretty sure that I'm fairly far along on the obsessive compulsive scale. I find rolling change to be very calming. Something about making identical piles of change, counting rhythmically, & bestowing order on my change pile (plus the money that I get to deposit) is really soothing to me. I also constantly make lists of numbers. Usually this is my monthly budget, but it's more about making the list, since I know that my budget works. I also enjoy making financial projections for my retirement account/savings account/whatever. And reading the tax law. Oh, and when I was a kid, I would arrange the dollar bills in my wallet in order of serial number.
3) I'm a sucker for any mystery show. British ones on PBS are really good (although I'm not so crazy about Inspector Linley, I like Foyle's war better), but give me a Law & Order marathon any day.
4) I cannot watch the President on TV, or hear his voice, without getting a spike in blood pressure & feeling nauseous & angry within 30 seconds. The man disgusts me, with his smarmy show of just how stupid and incompetent he is. But what can you expect from the son of a woman who commented on the Hurricane Katrina evacuees, "Well, a lot of these people were economically disadvantaged to begin with, so this is probably an improvement for them."
Okay, so #4 is probably not all that unique to me (I hope). But I do know some people that can watch him.
5) I buy myself flowers every couple of weeks. And in the summer, I cut my own from the back yard & always have at least one bouquet in my living area. I love my house, but it is definitely a masculine (i.e. messy & not aesthetically pleasing, due to the explosion of many "projects" over all the living space) type of environment. I'm not very girly, but it makes me happy to see flowers on my desk or the kitchen table. And I can't wait around for anybody else to buy them for me. Besides, the lady that runs the flower shop is a hoot, she has signs posted around that clearly express that she will not give up smoking in her own store, & she has a gigantic mastiff that sits in the corner & looks at you, but never raises his head or anything. I now buy flowers for many people for their birthdays, and get my Christmas wreath from her too.
6) I am extremely proud of the fact that I haven't owned a car in a very long time. I like public transportation, and walking, and am happy that I don't have to deal with car payments or insurance or maintenance. I can rent a car if I need one, and D & I both use the subaru (although I mainly use it for hauling groceries). I guess this makes me kind of old-fashioned; especially in combination with the fact that I love the giant radiators in my house, & like growing most of our produce in the summer. And will probably try my hand at canning again this year (D's mom has agreed to help me with the pressure-canning, as she has done this alot, and I'm scared of the pressure cooker/canner).
Okay, that's my six. I'll come back & edit so I can post the rules, and tag others, if I can find anyone. Hope you're all doing well.
First, the promised post from a couple of days ago. I did actually make a kale soup, and although the broth came out okay (very garlicky & spicy), the potatoes & kale were both pretty bland. I'm getting worse at this. This is a recipe I came up with a long time ago, and it's always been good, but my potatoes were a little old, & the kale selection at giant eagle was less than fantastic. Yeah, that's it, I'll blame the grocery store :)
So, meme wise, my sister (fieryboots.blogspot.com) tagged me for this, a long time ago. The only thing that makes me feel better about not having done this yet, is that the people she tagged haven't done it either! woohoo! pointless sense of competition gratified!
So here goes. If I remember right, I'm supposed to post the rules, which I will have to go back to later.
But here's the six things about me, that very few if any people know:
1) Although I'm in graduate school for a PhD in Neuroscience, I don't think I will ever do science again after I'm finished here. I'm actually fairly disgusted by it now - mostly because I realize that most of it is crap. Only after 20 other people have found & published the same results can you assume that something might actually be true, & even then, 2/3 of the time it will be refuted. (American scientists especially are prone to jump on the bandwagon of an idea, whether it has any merit or not, mostly due to the way they obtain funding, which rewards people for doing the same thing, and punishes creativity). And if I hear one more person describe a technique or topic in neuroscience as "sexy", I will seriously have a hard time not punching them in the face. It's like the corporate speak buzzwords - "face to face download" "outside the box", etc, etc that I hear people with real jobs complain about. In all seriousness, I think I want to become an accountant; if I can just get over the embarassment of having a useless Ivy league education, and having the actual valuable training come from a community college.
2) Related to my career aspirations: I'm pretty sure that I'm fairly far along on the obsessive compulsive scale. I find rolling change to be very calming. Something about making identical piles of change, counting rhythmically, & bestowing order on my change pile (plus the money that I get to deposit) is really soothing to me. I also constantly make lists of numbers. Usually this is my monthly budget, but it's more about making the list, since I know that my budget works. I also enjoy making financial projections for my retirement account/savings account/whatever. And reading the tax law. Oh, and when I was a kid, I would arrange the dollar bills in my wallet in order of serial number.
3) I'm a sucker for any mystery show. British ones on PBS are really good (although I'm not so crazy about Inspector Linley, I like Foyle's war better), but give me a Law & Order marathon any day.
4) I cannot watch the President on TV, or hear his voice, without getting a spike in blood pressure & feeling nauseous & angry within 30 seconds. The man disgusts me, with his smarmy show of just how stupid and incompetent he is. But what can you expect from the son of a woman who commented on the Hurricane Katrina evacuees, "Well, a lot of these people were economically disadvantaged to begin with, so this is probably an improvement for them."
Okay, so #4 is probably not all that unique to me (I hope). But I do know some people that can watch him.
5) I buy myself flowers every couple of weeks. And in the summer, I cut my own from the back yard & always have at least one bouquet in my living area. I love my house, but it is definitely a masculine (i.e. messy & not aesthetically pleasing, due to the explosion of many "projects" over all the living space) type of environment. I'm not very girly, but it makes me happy to see flowers on my desk or the kitchen table. And I can't wait around for anybody else to buy them for me. Besides, the lady that runs the flower shop is a hoot, she has signs posted around that clearly express that she will not give up smoking in her own store, & she has a gigantic mastiff that sits in the corner & looks at you, but never raises his head or anything. I now buy flowers for many people for their birthdays, and get my Christmas wreath from her too.
6) I am extremely proud of the fact that I haven't owned a car in a very long time. I like public transportation, and walking, and am happy that I don't have to deal with car payments or insurance or maintenance. I can rent a car if I need one, and D & I both use the subaru (although I mainly use it for hauling groceries). I guess this makes me kind of old-fashioned; especially in combination with the fact that I love the giant radiators in my house, & like growing most of our produce in the summer. And will probably try my hand at canning again this year (D's mom has agreed to help me with the pressure-canning, as she has done this alot, and I'm scared of the pressure cooker/canner).
Okay, that's my six. I'll come back & edit so I can post the rules, and tag others, if I can find anyone. Hope you're all doing well.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
my causey-ness emerges
I'm sorry! (ad libitum)
It's been forever since I posted, and I haven't been keeping up with the phone calls either. I've been working alot at night & on weekends, trying to get one part of my thesis done in time for my annual progress overview meeting. Which I'm having a lot of trouble scheduling, since getting 5 scientists into a room together, in person, is next to impossible. Luckily, this gives me more time :)
I'll post more, & do the meme thing, later tonight, or tomorrow morning (which I'm taking off to make soup!)
It's been forever since I posted, and I haven't been keeping up with the phone calls either. I've been working alot at night & on weekends, trying to get one part of my thesis done in time for my annual progress overview meeting. Which I'm having a lot of trouble scheduling, since getting 5 scientists into a room together, in person, is next to impossible. Luckily, this gives me more time :)
I'll post more, & do the meme thing, later tonight, or tomorrow morning (which I'm taking off to make soup!)
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Post-Dialysis Thursday
I'm so thankful my sister's little boy is okay. I only heard about it yesterday, and was stuck at work with a dead cell phone battery all day yesterday (literally, I didn't leave until after midnight). But I got to talk to my sister this evening as I was walking home, and was really relieved that the little guy was feeling better. All of my nephews are such sweet boys, but I think this one is the most cuddly.
In experiment news, I actually got a huge amount of data yesterday, but fell behind on loading samples into the HPLC. So, with 76 samples to process, it took awhile. Luckily, I could sleep in this morning, as the electrical inspector was coming at 11:30. I went in around 2, took care of some equipment and met quickly with my advisor before going to my new class, Molecular Pathobiology. I've been learning about the immune system, and how antibodies get produced, and how all that applies to tissue transplant rejections. I'm enjoying learning stuff outside of neuroscience, because I never actually took much biology. In college 1/2 of my science classes were in neuroscience/neurobiology, and 1/2 were in cognitive/linguistic science. Both very brain-centric. So this is a cool experience, and the grading isn't going to be hard at all (just one journal paper presentation & class participation). Plus, it'll be done at the end of March, so I should still be able to take a week off to remove the plaster from the 2nd floor of the house, and fill a dumpster with all the debris. And then I'll be able to start taking statistics classes over the web.
I have to get back to working on my fellowship application, and my kitty (the black and white one) just came upstairs to be petted, so I'll sign off. But I'll try to post again with experiment results & weekend happenings.
In experiment news, I actually got a huge amount of data yesterday, but fell behind on loading samples into the HPLC. So, with 76 samples to process, it took awhile. Luckily, I could sleep in this morning, as the electrical inspector was coming at 11:30. I went in around 2, took care of some equipment and met quickly with my advisor before going to my new class, Molecular Pathobiology. I've been learning about the immune system, and how antibodies get produced, and how all that applies to tissue transplant rejections. I'm enjoying learning stuff outside of neuroscience, because I never actually took much biology. In college 1/2 of my science classes were in neuroscience/neurobiology, and 1/2 were in cognitive/linguistic science. Both very brain-centric. So this is a cool experience, and the grading isn't going to be hard at all (just one journal paper presentation & class participation). Plus, it'll be done at the end of March, so I should still be able to take a week off to remove the plaster from the 2nd floor of the house, and fill a dumpster with all the debris. And then I'll be able to start taking statistics classes over the web.
I have to get back to working on my fellowship application, and my kitty (the black and white one) just came upstairs to be petted, so I'll sign off. But I'll try to post again with experiment results & weekend happenings.
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