Sterility

So I've been doing dna gels, and dealing with ethydium bromide (sp?) for a while. How much is too much? The large gels use 27.5 microL of EtBr, the smallest ones use only 3. Being the absent-minded person that I am, my skin always manages to make contact with the gel boxes that I'm sure aren't washed thoroughly since I notice in the corner of my eye when working that the grad student doing a rotation in this lab just splashed the cassettes with water and sets them on the table to dry.

This systems physiology homework is confusing. Which valves close during systole, early diastole, late diastole?

I had my second endo test today. I actually felt better about this one than the first one. Considering I spent more than 2 hours studying for it, yeah, I think I'll manage. I spent a total of 8 hours in lab today. Not including the time off for lunch, classes, shopping. Can I count that as part of my lab hours? If I weren't going out and about, I would have just been sitting around in lab waiting for the PCR to finish. Apparently one of the PCR machines I use in lab is broken, and has to be sent in for two weeks to repair it. So much for consistency. Consistency IS important, after all. In science, anywho.

For once this semester, I actually feel ahead of the game. Not having anxiety attacks because I decide to put things off at the last minute.

Today: in-class test, lab, class, lunch, lab. The more I stay in lab, the more I think I should go into research. Not really sure about medical research, although getting a Ph.D. along with and M.D. would grant me free tuition at the cost of my soul and 8 years of my life.

Never thought that I would get so excited about a single band on an electrophoresis gel. It's taking so long to get the desired band. Something's screwy with the DNA or the cDNA. Maybe the antisense transcript doesn't exist. That would mean I spent almost an entire year on a wild goose chase.

What does it take to be a good researcher? The foresight, and a LOT of luck.

Sometimes I just get cravings for crappy food. For example, Chef Boyardee or Campbell's Soup. Loaded with sodium and msg, but I'm going to eat it because I'm too lazy to cook tonight. Well, a full dinner, anyway. I'm just going to make muffins. Couldn't find any pastry flour at Target. All they had was tortilla flour, all-purpose flour, and muffin mixes. The muffin mixes all listed wheat flour as the ingredient, so i guess I'll use the wheat flour and try out the muffins.

AH! gel's running over. CIAO~