Random Encounters

New Year's Eve always holds a special place in my heart.  Not because of the parties, the ball droppings and the copious amount of liquor.  Mostly, it is because Mr. Dr. Zeek and I met in a random bar that we both frequented, but never on New Year's Eve.  In fact, he was planning on staying home and I was planning on heading to a different locale that evening. 

Fate, chance, randomness whatever you call it, threw us together that evening, sharing an ashtray, and later a shot or two, laughs and stories, at a fairly crowded bar.  Since that night nine years ago, I have always had this mysterious, almost reverent respect for the things that can randomly happen on New Year's Eve.  That being said, Mr. Dr. Zeek and I usually stay home, buy a bottle of cheap champagne (and some OJ for the next morning), order a pizza and watch a movie togehter.  We are both past the point in our lives where we feel the need to go out, get sloshed and barely remember the evening.

Even so,  I can't help get that feeling that something "magical" and big is going to happen this year.  And soon.  Maybe today I am feeling optimistic about the TT- applications I sent out.  Maybe it's the week I have taken off from lab work and the anticipation of planning out experiments that "are bound to work" (famous lat words-I know) next week.  Maybe it's just having too much sleep and my body copes with it the same way most people cope with too little sleep and I am hallucinating.

Whatever it is, I'm kind of digging it right now.  So, I'll keep enjoying my coffee, pound away a bit on the grant and then get into comfy pjs and enjoy an evening with Mr. Dr. Zeek.

May all of you enjoy New Year's Eve (safely) however you choose to celebrate and may all your random moments and encounters turn out to be everything you hope them to be. 

Argh

I do believe that there is a special circle of hell reserved for the people who incessantly talk to you while you are trying to pipette 2 uL of ten different components into eight PCR tubes.  An even deeper level of hell exists for those who are talking about numbers while you are trying to keep track of which tubes you added things into by mentally counting how many times you have added the PCR buffer mix to the different tubes.

I also believe that there is a small place inside this circle for those who feel it necessary to not only prattle on but also look over your shoulder while trying to load said PCR reactions onto an agarose gel and comment on your technique.  Especially when said cretins have never poured or run a gel in their lives.

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.

Nothing

It has been nearly two months since I submitted my TT-applications to a fairly (in my mind) significant amount of schools.  Most of the schools had deadlines between Oct 15 and Nov 1st. Two schools had application due dates of Dec 1st, so I understand not hearing anything more than "thank you, we have recived your application" from them. 

But what about the other 25 schools?  Well, I have heard from one. One. That's it.  Just one.

Granted, it was a good phone call ("you have made it past our initial round of applicant screening, we would like you to have your references send us letters and phone interviews will be in early Jan"-so YAY!").

Other than that, I have heard nothing.  No rejections.  No interviews. No phone calls.  Nothing.  Is it too early to start panicking?


In order to quell my rising panic and motivate my ass in the lab (so, in case nothing comes through I can at least get some more papers out the door) I was hunting on youtube and iTunes for some new music last night.  I stumbled across this gem of a band.  They make me happy.  Very very happy.



And, a somewhat more "ballad" type song...

Seemingly radom oscillations

I started putting together my job apps today (yes, later than I expected, but getting those papers out will surely be worth it when it comes to interview time).  Anyway. I have been oscillating all day between "I can so do this. They'd be silly not to interview me" to "What the fuck am I thinking?  There is no way anyone will consider hiring, let alone interviewing, me." 

I cannot tell you what triggers these manic swings of emotions, only that the low end of the oscillation seems to be directly proportional to the lack of hot coffee in my mug.  Maybe there is a postive correlation between caffeeine consumption and the improvement of ones self-image.  Hmmm.  I wonder if I could put that in my research proposal.  I could then justifiy buying a fancy-smancy espresso maker and the super good coffee.  Maybe even some poop coffee. 

Things I hate...

Well, OK, right  now let's change that to the thing I hate.  Writing progress reports.  I hate writing progress reports.  I have added the pub list, I have the "sections" and now need to fill in all the "blah-blah" space fillers with honest to god text.  Argh.

And, after just checking my e-mail, I will be able to add another thing to the things I hate.  I hate collaborators who know nothing, but think they do.  I hate collaborators who talk to you like you are the stupid one, who can't, after a year of discussion, understand what the basic underlying concept is and refuses to acknowledge that this is out of his realm because, really, he isn't all that smart.

And now, I feel better.  After the last e-mail, I can now tackle the progress report.  In hindsight, the word hate for the report was a little strong.  There are things I hate so much more. 

Website Woes

I spent all day yesterday looking at university websites, trying to find the links for faculty job positions and get organized for the big "job application marathon" I'm planning to start today.  Once I found the actual job posting and requirements, I then hit all the research areas in my division to get a "feel" for the department.

27 universities and 8 hours later, all I can say is that I wish universities would spend more time and effort in making their websites a little easier to navigate.  Really? I have to click 8 (yes, I counted) 8 different links to get to a single job listing?  I wonder if this is how they weed out the applicants.  Only those who truly want to work at this university are going to go through all this bullshit to find the job listing.  Damn.