Better?

Did some "reliable" experiments today.  Reliable as in I know what I am doing and how to troubleshoot and fix anything weird that shows up in the assays.

Prior to today, I had been designing and doing experiments that I was not entirely comfortable with.  I understood the theory behind these experiments, knew what I needed to do but, never having gotten my hands truly dirty by actually doing the harder part of there experiments, I stumbled along the way. 

My psyche needed a day like today.  A day where I am confident in the results.  A day that yielded some usable and interesting data.  A day that allows me to cross something off my list that has been looming over my head for awhile.

Not only did today help the ego, but the results from said experiments are really quite cool.  Sometimes I find myself having to intersperse days like today with the "head beating against the desk" type of days or experiments just so I don't feel like a total and complete hack.  Although, sometimes it backfires and the simple assays and tried-and-true experiments do not behave at all. Those are the days my boss usually walks into the lab only to find me swearing up a storm or caressing the instruments in hopes they respond to that better than my threats of violence.  Those are also the days I  cut out early and hit the bottle of Beam at home and try again the next day.

Semi-happy news on the job front probably helped my mood a bit.  Well, OK, so still no word.  But I heard from a reliable source today that one of the places where I would really like to interview at is still going through the applications.  In my slightly optimistic mood, this means that I have not heard anything from them, not because I suck, but because they are still sifting through the pile.  So all may not be lost.