It begins

If Noel is going to continue posting that life is returning to Normal in Texas, then I think it is safe for me to return to posting. I'll just skip to the point:

I did my last experiment today.

I usually like to be superstitiously cautious when it comes to saying things about results before they happened (ie. "That experiment totally worked"is never uttered until it's been repeated in triplicate and shown at lab meeting. Not, say, while I am waiting to read the results). Which is why, even though I sensed this would be the case Monday, I only whispered it to a coworker when we were well away from the experiments in question. And then waited for that to be confirmed by Dr. Boss. "Those are great results. Send them to the collaborator and let's be done wit this."

Awesome, manuscript 4 is set- from my end.

And yes, I've agreed to do more experiments for manuscript 1 (and I suspect 2 and 3 aren't far behind) this summer, I won't be a graduate student then, so it hardly seems like it counts. In fact, that's more like job security. In the meantime, it's time to write. Dr. Boss and I hashed out a timeline and outline for this document. I'm feeling mixed excitement and worry. Doing experiments I can do. I've been doing that for like a decade. Writing long but cohesive documents, using a complex word template and citation manager on a computer that has already been through thick and thin with me is a whole new adventure. It might suck- but the blessing is that I actually enjoy writing quite a bit. (That's why I've been looking for jobs in technical writing) And let's not forget that you only get to write this document when you are going to FINISH. And GRADUATE. AWESOME.

I'm going to try and figure out a system- write from home or work? read while writing or schedule blocks of time? And how do I keep to a deadline? At least while I am getting started, I am stuck by a couple personal limitations- I can't read anything first thing in the morning (it doesn't stick), and although I write really well at night, I can't sleep immediately after I think about my research. Editing or formatting and figures can fill in some of that gaps later, but for now I need to decide what goes into this document.