Pictures

Here are my pictures from my camera:
http://www1.snapfish.com/photolibrary/owned_view=owned_2008/t_=145632343

tell me if that link doesn't work....


I arrived to my aparment to find that I was locked out of my room, and my key didn't work. I think my roommate laurel and I might have moved into the "wrong rooms." So I slept in the living room, and got in the next morning.
I had a test yesterday, and a paper due today, and managed them both. My paper probably could have been better, but I was too tired to write a mind blowing conclusion.
It was great seeing all the family this weekend, and I hope everyone has a good week!

Noel Got Married!

And he was pretty darn good at it too. While the newlyweds are off enjoying the adventures of a fabulous trip to Costa Rica (!) I thought I'd start posting a few photos that we took home for everyone to enjoy.

I especially like this picture, because it shows how bursting-out-of-his-skin happy Noel was. I've put together a first pass, small scale collection of the photos off our camera and posted them here. I expect there will be more posting and sharing of photos as everyone else gets home and settled.

Mycoplasma...?

I know, I thought the same thing.

What is it, and why would our collaborator write to tell us he had it? Turns out it is a common an unimportant infection in cell culture work. Unimportant, if you aren't looking at infection with something else, like the class of viruses I study. (frown) I realize I am something of a science hypochondriac, -even if everything is fine, I am still too anxious to move ahead with my experiments in the virus lab until I know for sure.

Ironically, I was planning to post about how happy I was I had hit my stride. Although I am starting to doubt the exciting result, I have a pretty finite list of things I need do and these are all things I know how to do. I was starting to see in myself the traits I recognize in more senior grad students.

If you can imagine, this is shaking things up in Dr. Rockstar's lab (where I do these experiments). Turns out Noel's wedding couldn't be better timed, as someone else will likely take the initiative to get these tests underway. Hopefully this can be a scare that prompts us to adopt better lab practice, and not one that promotes and extra two years in graduate school.

Dress Help!

Noel's wedding is just DAYS away, and I am sure we are all wondering the same thing. What am I going to wear? Well, perhaps I am the only one who waited this long. Go check out my album of the few candidates. And Kelso- the brown shoes are at the end.

Album is here.

Please help!

Soon!

T-minus one week until I get married. I'm so excited!

We've pretty much got everything all planned, and the big stuff has been in place for quite a while. We're getting to Florida a couple of days early to try and iron out any last-minute details that inevitably show up when trying to organize something complicated like this. But we've got all the pieces supposedly in place, and so with luck, everything should go just fine.

So it's the -1 week anneversery and jess and I celebrated by taking a nap. We've been making calls here-and-there to make sure that all the stuff that is supposed to be happening is happening. Yay for that.

Also, a very, very big thank you to everyone who is traveling from far and wide to come to our wedding. It's really nice of everyone to come.

Just a few more days and we'll be on our way. See everyone soon!

-N

Performance Review

Matt was called in today for his performance review- it was great of course. His boss actually explained that he had overrode the cookie cutter review to write in all the great stuff about Matt. The performance review precedes any further monetary compensation, which is apparently some percent of the budget for the whole department. Hmm.

I wanted to share with you the highlights, since I had to double check the name on the review. Matt got Outstandings for "Listening and Comprehension" and "Seeks Increased Responsibilities." Yeah, my Matt. I told this guy I wasn't feeling well when he got home, and I didn't feel like cooking. After forgetting that, he suggested we walk out for dinner- when I said I just wanted soup, he said "Why, You cold?" I guess he uses up all his listening and extra responsibilities at work.

I am really proud of him, he has been working really hard, putting in lots of hours without (much) complaint. I am glad that his boss has noticed, and I hope this projects well into the next segment.

making herself at home

this is what the new cat looks like . . . she went to the Vet today . . . no microchip, no matching wanted poster and enough issues or should I say i$$ues to make us feel safe in claiming her as "ours"

- - Bart

I blame Raoul

I am emerging from a lenghty tunnel of overwork & related stresses just in time.

Background: A couple of weeks ago, someone stuck a flyer in our door advertising a missing adult black cat. A couple nights later, a black cat wandered up to our driveway. I invited him inside and Jane and I tried to decide if this was the missing cat. As time went by, we became convinced it was not and a phone call to the flyer people was not returned.

Deeper BG: Jane had a beloved kitty for 18 years that died about four years ago.

The news: Last night, another cat showed up at our doorstep. Unlike Mr. Finicky, this cat was starved and thirsty, devouring both the food and water we offered. When he(she?) as fed, he seemed anxious to get back outside, so we let it out, to see what it would do (stick around, go home ? etc. )

This morning, it was waiting for me at the door, so I brought down some more food and water and left a note for Jane. (I generally leave before she gets up.)

After I left, Jane let the cat in, fed it, and sat down on the couch to see what would happen.

Basically the critter sealed the deal by hopping up to her lap and falling asleep.

So . . We'll buy some more accessories tonight and Friday, she'll take (it? her?) to the vet, for a checkup (and to confirm Jane's hunch that she's a neutered female.) My only chore is to see what it's done to the house in our absence (scratch furniture? mark territory? use a litter box? or not?) and see what comes next.

We have an ad on Craigslist, but in the absence of a tearful owner retrieval, we're probably going to be pet owners.

Sigh . . . Bart, the litter box captain

PS this might have been avoided if Jane hadn't seen the video of Sandlin's cat in the shower

Happy Matt's Birthday!

You may not have noticed, we've been avoiding talking about it at my house, but Matt had a birthday this weekend. Not a big round one, but one big enough that he didn't want to talk about it. So, to fufill my role as a dutiful wife who isn't married to a geezer I tracked down some fun stuff for the weekend to keep his mind off things.

The Main event was the Steel City Big Pour, a beer festival featuring dozens of breweries and food vendors at a construction recycling warehouse. I went as a DD, which meant for $10 I stuffed my faced for 3 hours and sampled sips of only the best of the probably hundred beers available on tap. Breweries came from all over- big highlights being Unibroue and Stone- as well as all our local and regional favorites, like the Church Brew Works and the East End Brewery. A good time (and then a nap) was had by all.

Later that night, W and J came over for dinner and to watch Matt open his presents. No cake, but we did have a peach crisp (although juicy peaches don't crisp, it was still good). Matt was the happy youthful recipient of a HUGE new TV, and totally surprised by the Garmin GPS Mom and Dad sent. Cool Toys!

Sunday we went shopping to find the perfect TV. Those who have ever had the joy of coaching Matt through a major purchase like this may appreciate that he spent 2 extra hours reading reviews (I say extra, because it isn't like he never thought about this before) before we went to Costco. And then he fretted about inputs, and whether we should just buy and upscaling DVD player now, or if we should get a cheaper TV and buy a blue-ray player, or upgrade the video card on his computer and... I suspect these things bring him great joy, but I told him to get the TV, and the rest we can install later. W and J came back to help us move the thing in and get it installed. We spent the rest of the night watching HD broadcast, and buying tickets to Cancun. More on this later!

Aah, we're all gonna die...no, wait...

So hurricane Ike is barreling down on Texas like a barrel of some sort, and there is much talk and ballyhoo about people evacuating various locations. Potentially billions in damage, powerful winds, and at least the potential for a serious catastrophe.

Meanwhile, in Austin, they're saying it might rain.

So, evidently, there's not much reason for us to panic around here. Further toward the coast, about three hours away from here, several smaller cities have been evacuated in fear of what could potentially be a seriously devastating storm. Houston, on the other hand, the big coastal city, is not being evacuated. Mostly because the roads would become so clogged that everyone would be caught out on the road when the storm hit. Evidently this is precisely what happened several years ago when they tried to evacuate Houston on threat of a hurricane. I didn't see any horrible traffic, but then again, I don't live near any of the main thoroughfares.

Austin, on the other hand, is pretty much out of the red zone, so to speak. The current predictions seem to have the storm turning north, and, evidently, missing Austin almost completely. The predictions could, of course, be wrong, but even so, we're pretty far inland here, at least relative to Houston, and so the panic level seems to be hovering around 'not panicking'.

Just in the spirit of the thing, there's a good chance Jess and I may turn out all the lights and light candles and play board games to pass the time, but if you don't hear from us over the next few days, it's still more likely that I've lost my phone than been smooshed by a storm.

-N

More ceramics!

I've updated the album with the final set of things from my ceramics class over the summer.

Find those here!

Take a look around, and tell me what you think. I'll be sending off small 'sturdy' bowls to anyone with any remote interest. In fact you might not even have to ask- but if anything catches your eye please let me know.

Also, if anyone has any modest requests (condiment bowls, mugs), I'd be glad to entertain them. My goal for this semester is to make more things on purpose, which means I need purposes.

Exploring the Boundary of Bad

Teaching is kind of fun. Well in some ways it is really stressful and serious and important, but in other ways it is like the gag reel of an intellectual comedy. I am getting used to having a million people asking me questions at once, and then long periods of boredom. I am also getting real comfortable with helping other people deal with their scientific problems. I like these problems, because they aren't mine.

Today's lab had a fairly simple task- a diagnostic and a real procedure to do in parallel. By half way, it became apparent that there were several failures, from some of my better students. So I starting thinking, "what could I have messed up for these guys that caused everyone to fail?" But when we noticed that there were all different manners of failure, I was real excited to figure out how they messed up (because I didn't mess up).

My students found some really inventive ways to botch today's procedure. This sort of stressed out Dr. Teacher, but for some reason doesn't bother me at all. I thought it would. I have no doubt that we are getting something through to them, and that making some of these weird but easy mistakes will mean they never mess it up again. Like, how 10X buffer has to be diluted before you can add enzymes to it, or you need a whole gel for electrophoresis. Maybe it is because I have learned a lot from the variety of mistakes I've made over the years, and that none of the mistakes I say today were expensive. It makes it really easy for me to be super level-headed in the face of chaos. That, and I am too tired to get to worked up about things that aren't REALLY worth the energy.

Working a lot is boring

It has been a while since I posted, but it has been a while since anything interesting happened. With Matt's OT schedule, and my new teaching obligations, the new MO has been to both get home around 7, scavenge food and try and deal with the house before getting to bed hopefully before midnight. It is a thrill-fest, made all the more thrilling by my Saturday TA training.

This was the last day (!), which covered inappropriate behavior and cheating. This was a bit disheartening. I may have mentioned that I already know about half the class personally- the suggestion was that there may appear to be an unfair advantage for these students, so I should just cut them off until the end of the semester. No lunch runs, no beer hours, no coffee fixes, no talking about anything but class... yeah right. I see these guys everyday, and I think it is good for them to be able to ask me questions about class. I don't tell them anything I wouldn't tell another students who came by, but admittedly, most of the other students don't. I am considering announcing in class where I eat lunch so that other students can drop by (I don't keep office hours- they are 'by appointment' or whenever they run into me), but I am not sure if this will just disrupt my one moment of relaxation during the day.

I am still working on my interactions with Dr. Teacher- he left me a nasty note before our Thursday lab, but was very apologetic and told me he "didn't mean for me to see it." I used it as a chance to air some of my concerns about my teaching obligation (I need a schedule if I want to do any science- he can't call me in the middle of the day an expect me to have 4 hours for him), but I've been warned he'll do this again. I am already working on my response for next time- something like "that actually upset me a lot" or "it makes me anxious to work independently when I might elicit such a response from you." Sigh.

On the upside, the Steelers season kicks off today, which gives the city something to rally around. We are going to watch the game with our camping friends, which sounds way more like recreating then the rest of the weekend.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Happy Birthday, Dear Noel
Happy Birthday to you

Multiple news wires are reporting a movement to declare Sept 5 as a national holiday due to the popularity of Noel aka Cutie face by his mom.

Hope you have a great day!

Love you tons,
Mom

Weekend in DC

Earlier this week, Matt told me it was a crime not to get out of town for a three-day weekend. Of course, my life is being synchronized by the growth of cells in lab, so I couldn't commit to anything until about Friday. We booked a place near The Mall, I did my Saturday morning "tuck in the cells" and away we went. DC is only about 4 hours from here, and through that lovely rolling hills and traces of trees that I think of as very Americana.

We arrived Saturday afternoon with time to walk around and see the major monuments at The Mall, including The Jefferson and Lincoln Memorials, the Capitol Building, the White house, the 'new' WWII Memorial, the Vietnam War Memorial and the 'new' monument to the signors of the constitution (it's a lake). Matt managed to take these photos so that is doesn't appear that there were millions of people from all over the world clamoring to see these things- but there were! We heard so many languages. It was really cool to think of people coming to see and learn about our history. We called ate at an awesome South American places for dinner near our hotel- though we had our choice of nationalities.

Next day, Matt wanted to see the Smithsonians. We saw, a lot of museums- the Freer Gallery, the Castle, Air and Space (Matt's Fav) and Natural History. Obviously not all in great detail- there was more than you could take in if you had all week- we were just scouting for highlights. My favorite exhibit was in the International Gallery- called Jim Henson's Fantastic World. There were sketches, and video and real Muppets! We saw Kermit, and Ernie and Bert and Fraggles. It was SO cool!

Once we'd exhausted our ability to amble through the museums, we walked around a bit. We walked into Chinatown, which was more East meets West Vibrant then say, the one in Vancouver. Bigscreens play ads and bright neons signs light up the bilingual AT&T and Quiznos. We caught dinner at the Capital City Brewing Company which had good beer.

Today we were to head back, so we thought we'd see some things on our way out of town. We'd been given a map from a Trolley company, and decided to follow their route to the National Cathedral and Embassy Row. This was both good and bag- good, the route was planned accounting for one way streets and took us to the high lights, bad, the map was not meant to be used as a navigation device and was not to scale, or too accurate. We got lost in Georgetown, but managed to find out way by dead reckoning. The timing was perfect for a stop at the Dogfish Head Alehouse- a must go for beer brains like Matt.

There are more pictures I've thrown up here. Enjoy!