It was another "meh" day, mostly good things happening, but it's still a struggle to not get caught up in some negative thinking & anxiety. I got to work extra early (7:30!), mounted my tissue on slides, and checked out some staining from last week - though I had to hunt around for a working fluorescence microscope.
I lost my battle with not-going-home-early, but I did get a little writing done on the introduction for one paper. This is the project I thought was done back in February, so I started writing the paper for publication. The methods section is done, the results are started, but I got side-tracked with a lot of extra reading when I tried to write the intro. Unfortunately, one of my cases turned out to have extremely low numbers of labeled cells. So, back to the surgical suite. I just finished the preliminary immunochemical reactions on four more cases over the weekend, and will start the tissue for fluorescence tomorrow (along with the tissue for my other project!). So the next 10 weeks, probably, are going to be stressful & tedious :(
I have been working simultaneously on cleaning up my files. Since I've been in the lab, I've filled something like 7 lab notebooks, and they're organized chronologically, not by project. So I'm photocopying everything & re-organizing the copies by project, & will include digital data in the binders, so that things can be found easily when I'm no longer in the lab. I'm glad I've gotten started - but I'm several years behind, so it's not going to be easy.
In cleaning up my office over the last couple of weeks, I unearthed a bunch of recipes I had wanted to try. I had picked up some leeks to make soup earlier in the week, since I have a bunch of potatoes that should be used or planted real soon. But I found this, and was inspired to join Marce in her recent endeavors: a) using up canned & otherwise stockpiled food; and b) Monday beans.
I of course took liberties with the recipe. I had large leeks, so I tried to double the recipe, but then I didn't have enough beans, so it was a little leek heavy, which is fine by me. Also, I used whole milk instead of half&half. And didn't exactly measure it, I think I added a little more than 1 oz. My overall opinion:
1. Very easy to make :)
2. Eh, it was okay, but I think I like potato leek soup better. It wasn't so much soup as bean mush with leeks & mild bacon flavor. I definitely didn't add enough pepper, and it could've used some more salt too.
3. Drew approved, and he doesn't usually like potato leek soup (or, in general, cream soups. But I'm lucky in that he'll eat almost anything without complaint.) He does like beans more than I do though.
4. Maybe it would be better as a side-dish instead of the main event?
I still want to try more recipes from the site, and I like the idea of the blog, but I'll still go to Deborah Madison or this cookbook for ideas on particular vegetables (when I'm not feeling like Indian).
My next adventure will most likely be ice cream for Sunday's dinner. Drew's aunt is coming for a visit, so it's a special Sunday dinner, & the asparagus is in season, so I'll get to eat one of my favorite Marce-meals, Asparagus crepes. I haven't quite decided on what to make for frozen dessert, but I'm thinking citrus-y, either Cardamom Orange ice cream, or a sorbet (Orange or Tarragon Orange). I received an ice cream maker & ice cream recipe book a couple of years ago (for Christmas, maybe?), but have so far only tried the Cinnamon ice cream. That was delicious, but ice cream is actually enough of a pain to make (it's a two-day process) that I can see how it used to really be a treat!
Votes on frozen dessert flavors are encouraged in the comments (not limited to the flavors mentioned in the preceding paragraph)!
Monday, April 5, 2010
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
OMG, I have great Indian cookbooks.
It's a sad fact that it takes me a couple of weeks to actually cook something once I think of the recipe. Generally, I buy most of the ingredients for a recipe, but not all of them, then don't make it to the store again for another week, and by then things are starting to turn south.
Luckily, there are frozen veggies & I do manage to keep us stocked in onions and garlic. And, I stocked up on Indian spices & dal (various kinds) last year, when I cashed in my yearly Amazon gc for these two books:
Healthy South Indian Cooking, by Alamelu Vairavan and Patricia Marquardt
and
An Invitation to Indian Cooking, by Madhur Jaffrey
Best. Purchase. Ever.
I love Indian food, but there is no place here in Pittsburgh that either: 1) is really great; or 2)delivers to our neighborhood. Much less both. And, it's cheaper to cook for us than to eat out all the time. And less greasy.
Plus, we get awesome lunch the next day.
So, I'd been planning to make Eggplant Masala (really good) from HSIC (see above), but ended up using the eggplant I bought to make homemade Baba Ghanouj (from a different cookbook - Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison (my Bible of Vegetarian)). We brought a middle eastern feast to a friends' house for an Equinox party on Saturday, and ate all the leftovers last night.
But back to Indian food. I know Drew loves Biryani, so I planned around that. Frozen chicken breasts? On sale at Giant Eagle, I think 1.79/lb for 3 lbs? Check. Cashews? I bought those too, but won't say how much I paid. Raisins? Check.
The instructions for chicken biryani have you make something else first - Garlic & Pepper Chicken (HSIC). So I made this tonight, along with Green Beans Poriyal.
Garlic Pepper & Chicken
paraphrased from HSIC
I used 3 lbs of chicken, and so had to multiply everything by 1.5 to make it even out. When I cook, I often estimate, so everything is sort of variable (I swear, I do not do this with science recipes). Cut the chicken up into medium (on the small side) pieces. Roughly chop up ~ 15 cloves of garlic. Chop up 1 med-lg onion, probably about 1 cup chopped. Measure out the following, preparing little cups/piles of spices (so you can throw spices in quickly while cooking!): 1) 5 small pieces of stick cinnamon, 2 bay leaves (crumbled), 4 dried chilis (I used Sanaam India Chili Peppers from Penzey's); 2) 1 tsp cumin seeds (I didn't have these so I skipped them), 3/4 tsp fennel seeds, 1.5 tsp urad dal; 3) 2 tsp ground black pepper, 2 tsp cumin powder, 2 tsp salt, 1.5 tsp curry powder, 1 tsp cayenne powder, 1/4 C chopped fresh coriander. Also put the garlic & onion together to be added at once. Finally, mince 2 tbsp on ginger root.
Heat 3 tbsp of canola oil in large skillet (I use my two handled Calphalon cast iron pan (thanks Kristen & Al!). When oil is hot, but not smoking*, add cinnamon sticks, bay leaf, & chili peppers (Group 1 above). Add cumin seeds, fennel seeds, and urad dal (Group 2 above). Add onion & garlic. Saute 3-4 mins & stir in 1 tsp turmeric powder. Add chicken & ginger. Cook covered over low heat until the chicken is partially cooked.
Add black pepper, etc. (Group 3 above). Stir well to coat chicken pieces. Add 1/2 cup of water, stir & recover. Cook over medium heat for 15 minutes. When done, serve over rice (Jasmine or Basmati - we used white Basmati tonight, but often we go for the brown Basmati, done in a rice cooker).
I tried some at this point, and it was already good, but I cut my chicken pieces to large, so it needed more cooking. Also, I was behind on the other parts of the meal, and the sauce was a little watery, so I turned the heat down a little, and recovered.
In the end, this was really tasty, but I definitely should have gone smaller on the meat pieces.
I also made Green Beans Poriyal (almost verbatim from Healthy South Indian Cooking, by Alamelu Vairavan and Patricia Marquardt
)
Again, keep in mind that things happend quickly when you start - so it helps a lot to group the spices together in small dishes. Silicone cupcake holders actually work really well for this purpose (thanks Mom!). However, I will let you sort out what goes with what :)
Boil 2 cups water, add 1/4 cup yellow split peas & 1/4 tsp turmeric powder. Cook over medium heat, uncovered, for 20 minutes, or until peas are done. Drain & set aside. Or, if you're like me, you'll start the next step before the peas are done, end up draining them too soon, then trying to figure out how to cook them just a bit more after you've already added them to the green beans.
Heat 2 tbsp canola oil (I used 1.5, as I had just reseasoned my other cast iron skillet, I figured I needed less oil) in a skillet over medium heat. When oil is hot, but not smoking**, throw in 1 tsp black mustard seeds and 2 tsp urad dal. Stir very quickly to distribute these through the oil, then cover and heat until the mustard seeds pop. When the popping slows/stops, uncover and add 16 oz. frozen green beans. You could use fresh, which is what the original recipe called for, but mine went bad, so I used back-up supplies. If you use frozen, watch out when you put them in, since the moisture + really hot oil doesn't always end well. Add 1 tsp minced fresh ginger, stir, and cook 1-2 mins over medium heat. Add 1 tsp salt & 1/2 tsp chutney powder*** and stir. Cover the whole thing & cook over low heat for 5 minutes.
Add cooked split peas & 1/4 cup powdered coconut. Mix well & remove from heat, covered, until ready to serve. Or, when you suspect the split peas aren't cooked, add ~ 1/4 cup of water to the whole thing, cover, & cook on low heat for another 8-10 minutes. You have the time, because you forgot to actually turn the rice cooker on, so you've got another 20 minutes before dinner. Pour youself a glass of wine, do some dishes, or just catch up with your SO while you wait.
* This is how every single recipe in this book starts. Pretty much.
** Ha! Told you.
*** I don't have this. I don't even have any idea what it is.
Luckily, there are frozen veggies & I do manage to keep us stocked in onions and garlic. And, I stocked up on Indian spices & dal (various kinds) last year, when I cashed in my yearly Amazon gc for these two books:
Healthy South Indian Cooking, by Alamelu Vairavan and Patricia Marquardt
and
An Invitation to Indian Cooking, by Madhur Jaffrey
Best. Purchase. Ever.
I love Indian food, but there is no place here in Pittsburgh that either: 1) is really great; or 2)delivers to our neighborhood. Much less both. And, it's cheaper to cook for us than to eat out all the time. And less greasy.
Plus, we get awesome lunch the next day.
So, I'd been planning to make Eggplant Masala (really good) from HSIC (see above), but ended up using the eggplant I bought to make homemade Baba Ghanouj (from a different cookbook - Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison (my Bible of Vegetarian)). We brought a middle eastern feast to a friends' house for an Equinox party on Saturday, and ate all the leftovers last night.
But back to Indian food. I know Drew loves Biryani, so I planned around that. Frozen chicken breasts? On sale at Giant Eagle, I think 1.79/lb for 3 lbs? Check. Cashews? I bought those too, but won't say how much I paid. Raisins? Check.
The instructions for chicken biryani have you make something else first - Garlic & Pepper Chicken (HSIC). So I made this tonight, along with Green Beans Poriyal.
Garlic Pepper & Chicken
paraphrased from HSIC
I used 3 lbs of chicken, and so had to multiply everything by 1.5 to make it even out. When I cook, I often estimate, so everything is sort of variable (I swear, I do not do this with science recipes). Cut the chicken up into medium (on the small side) pieces. Roughly chop up ~ 15 cloves of garlic. Chop up 1 med-lg onion, probably about 1 cup chopped. Measure out the following, preparing little cups/piles of spices (so you can throw spices in quickly while cooking!): 1) 5 small pieces of stick cinnamon, 2 bay leaves (crumbled), 4 dried chilis (I used Sanaam India Chili Peppers from Penzey's); 2) 1 tsp cumin seeds (I didn't have these so I skipped them), 3/4 tsp fennel seeds, 1.5 tsp urad dal; 3) 2 tsp ground black pepper, 2 tsp cumin powder, 2 tsp salt, 1.5 tsp curry powder, 1 tsp cayenne powder, 1/4 C chopped fresh coriander. Also put the garlic & onion together to be added at once. Finally, mince 2 tbsp on ginger root.
Heat 3 tbsp of canola oil in large skillet (I use my two handled Calphalon cast iron pan (thanks Kristen & Al!). When oil is hot, but not smoking*, add cinnamon sticks, bay leaf, & chili peppers (Group 1 above). Add cumin seeds, fennel seeds, and urad dal (Group 2 above). Add onion & garlic. Saute 3-4 mins & stir in 1 tsp turmeric powder. Add chicken & ginger. Cook covered over low heat until the chicken is partially cooked.
Add black pepper, etc. (Group 3 above). Stir well to coat chicken pieces. Add 1/2 cup of water, stir & recover. Cook over medium heat for 15 minutes. When done, serve over rice (Jasmine or Basmati - we used white Basmati tonight, but often we go for the brown Basmati, done in a rice cooker).
I tried some at this point, and it was already good, but I cut my chicken pieces to large, so it needed more cooking. Also, I was behind on the other parts of the meal, and the sauce was a little watery, so I turned the heat down a little, and recovered.
In the end, this was really tasty, but I definitely should have gone smaller on the meat pieces.
I also made Green Beans Poriyal (almost verbatim from Healthy South Indian Cooking, by Alamelu Vairavan and Patricia Marquardt
)
Again, keep in mind that things happend quickly when you start - so it helps a lot to group the spices together in small dishes. Silicone cupcake holders actually work really well for this purpose (thanks Mom!). However, I will let you sort out what goes with what :)
Boil 2 cups water, add 1/4 cup yellow split peas & 1/4 tsp turmeric powder. Cook over medium heat, uncovered, for 20 minutes, or until peas are done. Drain & set aside. Or, if you're like me, you'll start the next step before the peas are done, end up draining them too soon, then trying to figure out how to cook them just a bit more after you've already added them to the green beans.
Heat 2 tbsp canola oil (I used 1.5, as I had just reseasoned my other cast iron skillet, I figured I needed less oil) in a skillet over medium heat. When oil is hot, but not smoking**, throw in 1 tsp black mustard seeds and 2 tsp urad dal. Stir very quickly to distribute these through the oil, then cover and heat until the mustard seeds pop. When the popping slows/stops, uncover and add 16 oz. frozen green beans. You could use fresh, which is what the original recipe called for, but mine went bad, so I used back-up supplies. If you use frozen, watch out when you put them in, since the moisture + really hot oil doesn't always end well. Add 1 tsp minced fresh ginger, stir, and cook 1-2 mins over medium heat. Add 1 tsp salt & 1/2 tsp chutney powder*** and stir. Cover the whole thing & cook over low heat for 5 minutes.
Add cooked split peas & 1/4 cup powdered coconut. Mix well & remove from heat, covered, until ready to serve. Or, when you suspect the split peas aren't cooked, add ~ 1/4 cup of water to the whole thing, cover, & cook on low heat for another 8-10 minutes. You have the time, because you forgot to actually turn the rice cooker on, so you've got another 20 minutes before dinner. Pour youself a glass of wine, do some dishes, or just catch up with your SO while you wait.
* This is how every single recipe in this book starts. Pretty much.
** Ha! Told you.
*** I don't have this. I don't even have any idea what it is.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Rollercoaster
Wow, grad school really stinks emotionally. I've been up and down on a daily basis the last few days, and kind of crippled by how hopeless my situation feels. I think alot of the drama is coming from the uncertainty that lies ahead of me - another move to a new place, a whole new set of people to get to know and work with - and I knew I would be anxious about it, but just had forgotten what this feels like. And on top of the stress-to-get-finished, it's getting the better of me.
I finished counting all the cells I needed to for Project #3, and made up tables, and wrote the Methods section of the manuscript for it. But when I looked at my numbers, one of my cases stood out as having really low numbers. I think it's because I lost a section or two from the LDT, where the greatest concentration of these cells are. So, at the least, I have to run more immuno on this project, and count a whole nother* set of cells (rrggghhhh, I thought I was done!). At the most, I may end up having to do more surgery anyway. And then more immuno, and then more counting.
Meanwhile, the other project I have has completely imploded, one of the antibodies isn't working right at all, and the microscope I need is broken. So, zero progress on that one.
I think I've gotten better at dealing with these kinds of frustrations, but at this point, I'm just wondering when it's going to end. I mean, it has to at some point, right? But I just can't imagine what that will be like.
So, I'll keep working at it, I will greatly enjoy the few days off I'm taking in April, and, hopefully I will graduate sometime before the end of the fall.
* why isn't this grammatically correct?
I finished counting all the cells I needed to for Project #3, and made up tables, and wrote the Methods section of the manuscript for it. But when I looked at my numbers, one of my cases stood out as having really low numbers. I think it's because I lost a section or two from the LDT, where the greatest concentration of these cells are. So, at the least, I have to run more immuno on this project, and count a whole nother* set of cells (rrggghhhh, I thought I was done!). At the most, I may end up having to do more surgery anyway. And then more immuno, and then more counting.
Meanwhile, the other project I have has completely imploded, one of the antibodies isn't working right at all, and the microscope I need is broken. So, zero progress on that one.
I think I've gotten better at dealing with these kinds of frustrations, but at this point, I'm just wondering when it's going to end. I mean, it has to at some point, right? But I just can't imagine what that will be like.
So, I'll keep working at it, I will greatly enjoy the few days off I'm taking in April, and, hopefully I will graduate sometime before the end of the fall.
* why isn't this grammatically correct?
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
New efforts
I don't make resolutions. I think the only New Year's resolution I've ever made is to quit smoking, but that never generally even gets out of the gate. I might have once resolved to stop gossiping; unfortunately, progress on that one has been slow as well.
But I think I still manage to challenge myself in a lot of ways. I always joke at work that science was my worst subject in school, but it's actually true. I'm not really of fan of academic pursuit, yet continue in that path because I feel the training is necessary. I bought a house that has turned out to be a constant challenge (administrative and constructive), and it is probably beyond my actual abilities to renovate (but we'll get there anyway, it'll just cost more than we were prepared for in the beginning). I've studied two foreign languages (and am trying to pick up my third), moved to new and completely unfamiliar places, and pretty consistently picked the hardest options I could find, school/career-wise. There are times when I really wonder what is wrong with me when I look back upon the choices that have led me to where I am in life, but secretly, I am pretty pleased with things. I obviously don't make horrible life choices, but the benefits from them can be difficult to point out.
My newest venture has been a return to knitting. I received some bamboo needles as a gift a few months ago, and I dropped into Michael's** on a whim a couple of weeks back. I picked up a book of sweater patterns, and some yarn, plus some extra yarn that I liked & that had a hat pattern on the back of the label. All the patterns seemed pretty simple, and since I've only ever previously knitted rectangular things, I figured they would be a good next step.
I started a simple sweater last week, and immediately discovered that my casting-on technique is not actually right. Also, I didn't remember how to purl correctly. And I never learned how to read knitting patterns. Thankfully, the internet is here. So, I've had remedial knitting learning, and learned to increase stitches across a row. Here's what I have so far:
It's the back section, and once it's 15.5" long, I have to start doing something else, "binding off" maybe? In the end, it should look like this:
At the very least, I should have a new sweater in about two years :)
**Incidentally, that place has now been added to my mental list of dangerous stores (e.g. Target, Ikea) that always end up costing multiples of the amount you thought you were going to spend. On the plus side, I picked up some Nephew gifts that I think are pretty cool, and my "Christmas box" now is packed full of stuff that can be given when I can't think of anything in December.
But I think I still manage to challenge myself in a lot of ways. I always joke at work that science was my worst subject in school, but it's actually true. I'm not really of fan of academic pursuit, yet continue in that path because I feel the training is necessary. I bought a house that has turned out to be a constant challenge (administrative and constructive), and it is probably beyond my actual abilities to renovate (but we'll get there anyway, it'll just cost more than we were prepared for in the beginning). I've studied two foreign languages (and am trying to pick up my third), moved to new and completely unfamiliar places, and pretty consistently picked the hardest options I could find, school/career-wise. There are times when I really wonder what is wrong with me when I look back upon the choices that have led me to where I am in life, but secretly, I am pretty pleased with things. I obviously don't make horrible life choices, but the benefits from them can be difficult to point out.
My newest venture has been a return to knitting. I received some bamboo needles as a gift a few months ago, and I dropped into Michael's** on a whim a couple of weeks back. I picked up a book of sweater patterns, and some yarn, plus some extra yarn that I liked & that had a hat pattern on the back of the label. All the patterns seemed pretty simple, and since I've only ever previously knitted rectangular things, I figured they would be a good next step.
I started a simple sweater last week, and immediately discovered that my casting-on technique is not actually right. Also, I didn't remember how to purl correctly. And I never learned how to read knitting patterns. Thankfully, the internet is here. So, I've had remedial knitting learning, and learned to increase stitches across a row. Here's what I have so far:
It's the back section, and once it's 15.5" long, I have to start doing something else, "binding off" maybe? In the end, it should look like this:
At the very least, I should have a new sweater in about two years :)
**Incidentally, that place has now been added to my mental list of dangerous stores (e.g. Target, Ikea) that always end up costing multiples of the amount you thought you were going to spend. On the plus side, I picked up some Nephew gifts that I think are pretty cool, and my "Christmas box" now is packed full of stuff that can be given when I can't think of anything in December.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
A new Nissan
So, my friend Kate defended her thesis on Thursday, after two cancellations, and is now a Dr. She's on her way to Chicago, IL even as we speak, to move into a new apartment before starting her new job at Northwestern. I'm so proud of her (she's been like a sister to me here in Pgh), but pretty bummed out that she's no longer next door to my lab :(
However, she wanted to unload her car before moving to a bigger, more expensive, and better served by mass transit city. She has (had) a '95 200SX, standard, with ~80k miles on it. So, since our Nissan is a '91 with 268,000 miles, I figured it would be worth the upgrade (and I think we're trading the old one to our electrician for some work). Plus, Nashville seems like a drive-everywhere kind of city, so I will eventually need a car.
Friday, Kate and I took a trip to Motor Square Garden, an old train station that now houses a AAA service center, and a branch of the DMV. We transferred the title, and I got it registered at the same time. It's still a beater kind of car, but it looks better from the outside, and the things wrong with are different than the ones in our current car (and in both cases, the engine is great & reliable).
In other good news, our roommate has finally moved out. There was some unpleasantness over some utility bills, and I'm pretty ashamed to admit I lost my temper (and ended up not getting anything for the utilities), but it is so nice to have my kitchen back to myself that the money seems insignificant in comparison. Of course, he left a bunch of crap here too, but the main thing is that I will never again have to stand with a forced smile and listen to him explain how he's much smarter than everyone else, to clean his filth-encrusted dishes, to see, hear or smell him ... ever again. I am mainly struggling to let go of the anger I feel at having our generosity taken advantage of, and the confusion I feel over whether I overreacted or not.
A large part of my reaction was simply exasperation with dealing with him. (This is the guy who made a point of telling me that he couldn't find "his" dental floss - when there's 5 different ones in the bathroom, and each cost like 89 cents. Simply suppressing the eye rolls on a daily basis required a lot of mental effort.) But at the same time, he had told me plenty of stories demonstrating how he put one over on other people (so to speak), and there've been several problems with getting the rent check from him (lost in the mail, "my finger slipped and that's why it wasn't the right amount, just plain late), so needless to say, I don't have much faith in his good intentions. But everything was just co-incidental enough to support a more innocuous interpretation, and let me think I was being unfair. I certainly have the tendency to overreact, and am a bit overly sensitive to getting screwed over. So, a lot of back and forth in my own mind over how and why I react the way that I do. Hopefully, I will learn something from this, if only how much I am really over the whole roommate thing. Who knows, maybe he'll become a little more considerate of other people because of it too.
However, she wanted to unload her car before moving to a bigger, more expensive, and better served by mass transit city. She has (had) a '95 200SX, standard, with ~80k miles on it. So, since our Nissan is a '91 with 268,000 miles, I figured it would be worth the upgrade (and I think we're trading the old one to our electrician for some work). Plus, Nashville seems like a drive-everywhere kind of city, so I will eventually need a car.
Friday, Kate and I took a trip to Motor Square Garden, an old train station that now houses a AAA service center, and a branch of the DMV. We transferred the title, and I got it registered at the same time. It's still a beater kind of car, but it looks better from the outside, and the things wrong with are different than the ones in our current car (and in both cases, the engine is great & reliable).
In other good news, our roommate has finally moved out. There was some unpleasantness over some utility bills, and I'm pretty ashamed to admit I lost my temper (and ended up not getting anything for the utilities), but it is so nice to have my kitchen back to myself that the money seems insignificant in comparison. Of course, he left a bunch of crap here too, but the main thing is that I will never again have to stand with a forced smile and listen to him explain how he's much smarter than everyone else, to clean his filth-encrusted dishes, to see, hear or smell him ... ever again. I am mainly struggling to let go of the anger I feel at having our generosity taken advantage of, and the confusion I feel over whether I overreacted or not.
A large part of my reaction was simply exasperation with dealing with him. (This is the guy who made a point of telling me that he couldn't find "his" dental floss - when there's 5 different ones in the bathroom, and each cost like 89 cents. Simply suppressing the eye rolls on a daily basis required a lot of mental effort.) But at the same time, he had told me plenty of stories demonstrating how he put one over on other people (so to speak), and there've been several problems with getting the rent check from him (lost in the mail, "my finger slipped and that's why it wasn't the right amount, just plain late), so needless to say, I don't have much faith in his good intentions. But everything was just co-incidental enough to support a more innocuous interpretation, and let me think I was being unfair. I certainly have the tendency to overreact, and am a bit overly sensitive to getting screwed over. So, a lot of back and forth in my own mind over how and why I react the way that I do. Hopefully, I will learn something from this, if only how much I am really over the whole roommate thing. Who knows, maybe he'll become a little more considerate of other people because of it too.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Offer Letter
Greetings from lovely State of Emergency Pittsburgh!
We got pounded on Friday night through Saturday afternoon with 21-ish inches of snow. It was amazing how fast it was coming down on Friday night, and I was lucky enough to get home at 6:45 pm, and decided not to go out again, even though I had plans to go to a good-bye/send-off party for a scientist friend who is taking a job with a pharmaceutical company. I was sad to miss the party, but we live pretty far away from most of the other science-crew, and there is the formidable hill that we live on, a large bridge over a very large river, and a lot of less-formidable hills in between our house & all the East End destinations. Though we have brand new tires on the Nissan, it is, as D would call it, "one-wheel drive", and I have no interest in getting stranded or in any kind of accident. So we stayed put, and watched it come down :)
Saturday morning, I started suiting up to get ahead of the shoveling. It was still snowing just as hard. D thought I was crazy, & tried to argue that no-one else would be shoveling. Thankfully, one of my neighbors was out doing his steps, so I used this as counter-argument. The stairs and walkway weren't bad, but I quickly ran out of room to place snow in. And there was still the car to contend with.
I had no plans to drive anytime soon, but I remembered what happened a couple of winters ago, when snow was not removed from the car, everything melted a little bit, and then it snap froze again in the evening. The car was encased in ice for days, and we eventually just had to chip it off. It took hours.
Plus, the plows that cleared Arlington (thank you Mt. Oliver!) left a huge plow roll between the parked cars and the street. I am honestly not complaining about this, as we were very lucky to get the street cleared at all - the city of Pittsburgh maintained roads are awful, and the city is pretty crippled right now - but shoveling enough of that out of the way so that we will be able to get the car out took 3 separate sessions, over the whole day. There are mountains of snow & road sludge both in front of and behind the car, with just enough of the sides shaved off that its still possible to parallel park. It was a nice day though, and there were families walking up and down the street to get supplies at the corner store, and I chatted with quite a few neighbors on my frequent breaks. Once it stopped snowing, it was bright and sunny, and it was nice to be out in the fresh air.
I did take the car out Sunday, and discovered the condition of the Pittsburgh roads. Strangely enough, the windy road down the formidable hill was fine, a little slushy, but not slippery, and most people were driving sensibly (not all, but most). Then I hit the South Side flats. They had not been plowed at all. The snow/ice/dirt/slush was packed 6 inches thick, except in places where it plunged into a pothole. I was driving ~ 5 mph in first gear, and the car was still starting to slide a little. Twice my tires spun after a full stop, so I kept to backroads and only came to a full stop if there were other cars or people at the intersection. I'm glad I managed to get food (especially since I made stew & soup today), but I skipped the wine store in favor of getting home before it got any colder, and everything froze. I got home fine though, and am not taking the car out again until all this stuff melts.
My university was closed today, since bus service is not fully operational yet, and the roads are a nightmare. So, I made the aforementioned beef stew, and chicken soup (D's request), and then met my friend Spryte for some snow-day fun (she spent 2 hours trying to get to work, then trying to get home once she gave up). Walking up and down the hill was actually pretty okay, not to slippery & didn't take too long, but I really wish I owned some waterproof boots. I'm going to trek into work tomorrow (with dry shoes & socks to change into in my bag), even though they're officially still closed. I've run out of stuff to do at home, and want to take some more pictures, and coverslip some new sections.
In other news, I received my official offer letter via e-mail on Saturday. Well, it was sent Saturday, I didn't check e-mail until this evening (oops!). It's for more than I thought it was - which is a nice surprise. Also, I'm really nervous that I'm not going to live up to expectations. *sigh
We got pounded on Friday night through Saturday afternoon with 21-ish inches of snow. It was amazing how fast it was coming down on Friday night, and I was lucky enough to get home at 6:45 pm, and decided not to go out again, even though I had plans to go to a good-bye/send-off party for a scientist friend who is taking a job with a pharmaceutical company. I was sad to miss the party, but we live pretty far away from most of the other science-crew, and there is the formidable hill that we live on, a large bridge over a very large river, and a lot of less-formidable hills in between our house & all the East End destinations. Though we have brand new tires on the Nissan, it is, as D would call it, "one-wheel drive", and I have no interest in getting stranded or in any kind of accident. So we stayed put, and watched it come down :)
Saturday morning, I started suiting up to get ahead of the shoveling. It was still snowing just as hard. D thought I was crazy, & tried to argue that no-one else would be shoveling. Thankfully, one of my neighbors was out doing his steps, so I used this as counter-argument. The stairs and walkway weren't bad, but I quickly ran out of room to place snow in. And there was still the car to contend with.
I had no plans to drive anytime soon, but I remembered what happened a couple of winters ago, when snow was not removed from the car, everything melted a little bit, and then it snap froze again in the evening. The car was encased in ice for days, and we eventually just had to chip it off. It took hours.
Plus, the plows that cleared Arlington (thank you Mt. Oliver!) left a huge plow roll between the parked cars and the street. I am honestly not complaining about this, as we were very lucky to get the street cleared at all - the city of Pittsburgh maintained roads are awful, and the city is pretty crippled right now - but shoveling enough of that out of the way so that we will be able to get the car out took 3 separate sessions, over the whole day. There are mountains of snow & road sludge both in front of and behind the car, with just enough of the sides shaved off that its still possible to parallel park. It was a nice day though, and there were families walking up and down the street to get supplies at the corner store, and I chatted with quite a few neighbors on my frequent breaks. Once it stopped snowing, it was bright and sunny, and it was nice to be out in the fresh air.
I did take the car out Sunday, and discovered the condition of the Pittsburgh roads. Strangely enough, the windy road down the formidable hill was fine, a little slushy, but not slippery, and most people were driving sensibly (not all, but most). Then I hit the South Side flats. They had not been plowed at all. The snow/ice/dirt/slush was packed 6 inches thick, except in places where it plunged into a pothole. I was driving ~ 5 mph in first gear, and the car was still starting to slide a little. Twice my tires spun after a full stop, so I kept to backroads and only came to a full stop if there were other cars or people at the intersection. I'm glad I managed to get food (especially since I made stew & soup today), but I skipped the wine store in favor of getting home before it got any colder, and everything froze. I got home fine though, and am not taking the car out again until all this stuff melts.
My university was closed today, since bus service is not fully operational yet, and the roads are a nightmare. So, I made the aforementioned beef stew, and chicken soup (D's request), and then met my friend Spryte for some snow-day fun (she spent 2 hours trying to get to work, then trying to get home once she gave up). Walking up and down the hill was actually pretty okay, not to slippery & didn't take too long, but I really wish I owned some waterproof boots. I'm going to trek into work tomorrow (with dry shoes & socks to change into in my bag), even though they're officially still closed. I've run out of stuff to do at home, and want to take some more pictures, and coverslip some new sections.
In other news, I received my official offer letter via e-mail on Saturday. Well, it was sent Saturday, I didn't check e-mail until this evening (oops!). It's for more than I thought it was - which is a nice surprise. Also, I'm really nervous that I'm not going to live up to expectations. *sigh
Monday, February 1, 2010
I do wonder...
how it happens that I am expected/required to work all of my own experiments out, yet also required to do the initial legwork for other grad students (who are getting paid more than me through certain fellowships), and also explain an entirely new technique (that, although I've received excellent help from another faculty member with whom I orchestrated the interaction independently, I am not completely familiar with yet, although I have worked out how I'm going to analyze the data) to an undergraduate student who only has 3 months left in the lab.
It was a slightly irritating day, although I managed to get a few things accomplished, and decide on a plan of action for my dual fluorescence project. The staining for this worked great back when I prepared the slides in June, but the thing about fluorescence is that brain slices have a property called autofluorescence. And the fluorophore-conjugated antibodies eventually lose some of their signal. So, by the time I got done analyzing pilot data, those slides that looks so pretty in June were just messy. I tried imaging them back in December, and while one brain area looks analyzable, the second was just awful. So, I ordered more secondary antibodies, and ran my tissue again. This time the primary antibody didn't work. Today, I ordered more primary, and I'll give it another trial run at the end of this week. (Also, our fridge broke down sometime last week, and I and a post-doc had to deal with all of that. I'm now suspicious of my secondaries again. The ones I just bought last week. RRRggghhh.)
If I can get that going again, I'll be fine. Hopefully finish my data collection/analysis by the end of April, write my thesis in May + June, defend in July, clean up my lab notebooks, etc for the rest of July, and take August off. Because I get paid monthly, and lag behind a month, I should be able to take the time. I hope I can take the time, work on the house, work in the garden a little bit, just relax, before making the move to Nashville.
You all are probably lost, or stopped reading from boredom awhile ago. I need to start posting some pictures and/or slides so it's not just text-based science.
Well, hope you all have a good night. And I will try to post more later - but my calendar is full of work, chores, and social events for friends who are graduating/leaving town. Those of you who met Kate, she is defending on 2/10, and moving to Chicago the weekend after. Boo for me, but Yay!!! for her. I'm so proud of her, and can't wait to visit (and host her in Nashville once I move).
It was a slightly irritating day, although I managed to get a few things accomplished, and decide on a plan of action for my dual fluorescence project. The staining for this worked great back when I prepared the slides in June, but the thing about fluorescence is that brain slices have a property called autofluorescence. And the fluorophore-conjugated antibodies eventually lose some of their signal. So, by the time I got done analyzing pilot data, those slides that looks so pretty in June were just messy. I tried imaging them back in December, and while one brain area looks analyzable, the second was just awful. So, I ordered more secondary antibodies, and ran my tissue again. This time the primary antibody didn't work. Today, I ordered more primary, and I'll give it another trial run at the end of this week. (Also, our fridge broke down sometime last week, and I and a post-doc had to deal with all of that. I'm now suspicious of my secondaries again. The ones I just bought last week. RRRggghhh.)
If I can get that going again, I'll be fine. Hopefully finish my data collection/analysis by the end of April, write my thesis in May + June, defend in July, clean up my lab notebooks, etc for the rest of July, and take August off. Because I get paid monthly, and lag behind a month, I should be able to take the time. I hope I can take the time, work on the house, work in the garden a little bit, just relax, before making the move to Nashville.
You all are probably lost, or stopped reading from boredom awhile ago. I need to start posting some pictures and/or slides so it's not just text-based science.
Well, hope you all have a good night. And I will try to post more later - but my calendar is full of work, chores, and social events for friends who are graduating/leaving town. Those of you who met Kate, she is defending on 2/10, and moving to Chicago the weekend after. Boo for me, but Yay!!! for her. I'm so proud of her, and can't wait to visit (and host her in Nashville once I move).
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