Today was surprisingly really fun. Well not extremely fun, but not terrifying either. I got up around 6:45am and showered and then got dressed and all my stuff together to go to work at Mayo. Ate breakfast (a bowl of cereal that my dad lovingly poured for me) then made my lunch and drove to the Wal-mart parking lot to catch the bus. Got there on time, had to knock on the door for the secretary to let me in though, and saw Tobias (he and Gini are the ones I'm working with/under).
We first took care of some basics like getting me an ID card and setting it up so I can get into the building with it (won't be set up for 72 hours so that kind of sucks). I was hoping to see Jackie when we went to General Services to get the card but I didn't see her working there, she must've been on an errand. Anyway, took care of that stuff and then Gini let me work on a mini-experiment with her. "Evaluation of Antibody Activity Using an OVA Specific Proliferation Assay" is what we set up. We had to use dead mouse spleens for the cells, and we had to get the spleens out ourselves. She did the male and I did the female (after watching her do the male). It was cool, and gross. After we got the spleen out we had to smush them in a test tube to get all the cells suspended. It was cool - the rest is too complicated to explain (not to mention I don't really remember the specifics) but I got to do real lab work. That was pretty cool I think.
Actually I totally lied, before we did the mouse thing Tobias and I had a little chat in his office about what project they're going to set me up with. I'm going to try to explain it here. Basically a patient at Mayo is making tons of a certain previously unstudied antibody (too much to be normal). They discovered that this antibody serves to activate the immune system, making "sleeping" T cells turn on and find the threat and elimate it. Which is a problem when there isn't a threat, but great if there is and the immune system isn't taking care of it, such as in cancer. So they've tested the antibody on mice with tumors and the tumors go away when they get the antibody. Pretty good stuff. While they're seeing the results they still aren't entirely sure why or how it's doing that, for instance which type of T cells it's activating (there are 4-5 different types generally speaking). So that is what I'm going to be working on - finding out which type of T cell/s is/are being activated by the antibody. Neat eh?
Anyway - went to another lecture over lunch, boring stuff again but free pizza and I got to talk to Yin again. After lunch I finished up the mouse stuff and then started doing some online boring stuff I had to do (like Emergency Preparedness and Patient Confidentiality stuff). That took awhile. Then I watched Tobias do some cell cultures and finally it was time to go home (early around 4:30pm). Got home around 5 which was nice. Have tons of papers to read up on for tomorrow and its already late... but I took a nap earlier so I'm very awake. Oh ! I won't be working on the 4th of July, both Tobias and Gini are taking the holiday off so I wouldn't have anyone to babysit me. Yay! Well now I'd better either read those papers or go to bed.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Freak-out time
So I just got off my 9 hour shift at Culver's and man did that suck. I rode my bike over there (and back again after work). I was on register up front from noon-4pm and training for part of that. Drive thru duty from 4-9. People are so ridiculously stupid. So a basket comes with fries and a drink: one woman repeatedly stated she did NOT want the basket, but proceeded to order a side of fries and a drink. WTF just get the basket you moron it saves you money. Then another guy later said he did want the basket but didn't want the drink. Well then, you don't actually want the basket unless you just want to pay for something you don't want. Morons. It's really not a difficult concept I swear. Anyway ... I lost my train of thought. Well it was probably pointless anyway so lets move on...
So I was supposed to have read this textbook on Immunology by tomorrow and so far I've only read the first two chapters. While that's not bad I'm kind of freaking out about it because tomorrow is my first real day on the job. And that's worth a minor freak out because unlike last year I didn't get an orientation or anything and the people I'm working with admitted to not knowing what to do with me... I mean I don't know how or where to get my ID badge, how to clock in to get paid (very important) when lunch is, or even when I'm off work! And the people there will probably expect me to be smart and to be honest I'm not feeling very up-to-date on my cellular biology. So instead of trying to skim through the rest of the textbook I'm updating my blog. Smart move - typical Kat behavior.
I'm debating what to do tonight - I'm pretty sure I should head to bed semi-early because I need to catch the bus at 7:40 am tomorrow morning to get to work on time. I should spend the rest of my time studying that book, but I really don't want to. If reality hit hard when I first started at Culver's it's going to be that much worse starting my full-time summer job. I want an apple! Wow craving. And no I'm not pregnant. Those twins apparently aren't going to appear, at least this time.
I want to go to Canada with Sybylla and Vicki! I don't know if that's going to happen though with my current lack of fundage. Maybe we could go over a weekend and camp out somewhere. I also want to go to Valley Fair and the Renaissance Festival but again, stupid money rules the freaking world. And I have very little of it. And gas prices are going bonkers! What's up with that anyway, we really need to get some alternatives up and running. They seemed to be a big craze a few years ago and then they just all died out or lost funding or something. Seriously people, let's get on that! If they can make trucks run on beer we should be able to figure out something long-term. Hey I found my Bushism calendar from 2007! Let's find today's from last year... "Those who enter the country illegally violate the law." Yes Mr. President, generally things that are done illegally do violate the law, but thank you for clarifying.
Sooo what was I talking about? Oh right, options for tonight, well Sara is back from her trip and so her boyfriend Tanner is over, Megan is here with her boyfriend Brian, which once again throws into sharp relief the fact that I am, the oldest child, completely alone. Nooo not going down this path again. Bad Kat, back to the good here. Right so I could suck up my pride and go watch a movie with the two happy couples, or I could read my vampire book, I could study (hah yea right), I could paint, play games online, just type random shit in my blog until its bedtime, get my shit all ready for tomorrow (which I should definitely do along with something else), finish cleaning my room (another unlikely one), organize my computer files, work on the webcomic Syb and I tried to create last year, holy crap this is a lot of things I could do!, I could knit something, draw something, massage my own aching feet, or just go to bed right now. Well technically I'm sitting in bed typing this, but who wants to get technical. Wow that's a lot of options... I think for right now I'll stick with the random typing shit.
And of course now my mind goes blank... I want a cookie. mmmm a nice soft warm gooey chocolate chip cookie from Subway. OMG I'm drooling here just thinking about it. Wow so my dad just walked in my room without a shirt on, thats unsettling. Dads and teachers are never supposed to be partially unclothed. Moms too. Although I suppose I've been swimming with him tons of times so that really shouldn't apply. Meh... whatever. I keep getting urges to just run back to Gustavus, I miss it so much. And then of course that reminds me how freaked out I'm going to be this time next year. Or how freaked out I am right now about next year! wtf am I going to do?! Jackie was talking about maybe going to France for a year after she graduates to do a school-teacher type thing there teaching English to little French kids. That sounds good for her. Doesn't really appeal to me though, not to mention the whole lack of French-speaking skills. Maybe I could get a research gig with animal behavior research instead of this cellular biology stuff. Or maybe I'll really like the immunology stuff here at Mayo and stick with it, you never know. Right now the only other biology course I'm signed up for at GAC is Neurobiology, but maybe I should change that to Immunology... it might be easier after this job. I should actually look that course up to see if it's even offered and which semester it's offered. Eww it's offered at 9am... and it's already full so that's a no-go. Ah well, Neurobio. will be fun and I really like the prof who's teaching it (I had him for Intro. to Neuroscience sophomore year).
My feet are throbbing... I hope there are chairs in this lab I'm working in. Right well I'm getting sleepy so I think I'll call it a night soon - as soon as I get my shit together for tomorrow. But that means I'm ending this rant so hasta luego!
So I was supposed to have read this textbook on Immunology by tomorrow and so far I've only read the first two chapters. While that's not bad I'm kind of freaking out about it because tomorrow is my first real day on the job. And that's worth a minor freak out because unlike last year I didn't get an orientation or anything and the people I'm working with admitted to not knowing what to do with me... I mean I don't know how or where to get my ID badge, how to clock in to get paid (very important) when lunch is, or even when I'm off work! And the people there will probably expect me to be smart and to be honest I'm not feeling very up-to-date on my cellular biology. So instead of trying to skim through the rest of the textbook I'm updating my blog. Smart move - typical Kat behavior.
I'm debating what to do tonight - I'm pretty sure I should head to bed semi-early because I need to catch the bus at 7:40 am tomorrow morning to get to work on time. I should spend the rest of my time studying that book, but I really don't want to. If reality hit hard when I first started at Culver's it's going to be that much worse starting my full-time summer job. I want an apple! Wow craving. And no I'm not pregnant. Those twins apparently aren't going to appear, at least this time.
I want to go to Canada with Sybylla and Vicki! I don't know if that's going to happen though with my current lack of fundage. Maybe we could go over a weekend and camp out somewhere. I also want to go to Valley Fair and the Renaissance Festival but again, stupid money rules the freaking world. And I have very little of it. And gas prices are going bonkers! What's up with that anyway, we really need to get some alternatives up and running. They seemed to be a big craze a few years ago and then they just all died out or lost funding or something. Seriously people, let's get on that! If they can make trucks run on beer we should be able to figure out something long-term. Hey I found my Bushism calendar from 2007! Let's find today's from last year... "Those who enter the country illegally violate the law." Yes Mr. President, generally things that are done illegally do violate the law, but thank you for clarifying.
Sooo what was I talking about? Oh right, options for tonight, well Sara is back from her trip and so her boyfriend Tanner is over, Megan is here with her boyfriend Brian, which once again throws into sharp relief the fact that I am, the oldest child, completely alone. Nooo not going down this path again. Bad Kat, back to the good here. Right so I could suck up my pride and go watch a movie with the two happy couples, or I could read my vampire book, I could study (hah yea right), I could paint, play games online, just type random shit in my blog until its bedtime, get my shit all ready for tomorrow (which I should definitely do along with something else), finish cleaning my room (another unlikely one), organize my computer files, work on the webcomic Syb and I tried to create last year, holy crap this is a lot of things I could do!, I could knit something, draw something, massage my own aching feet, or just go to bed right now. Well technically I'm sitting in bed typing this, but who wants to get technical. Wow that's a lot of options... I think for right now I'll stick with the random typing shit.
And of course now my mind goes blank... I want a cookie. mmmm a nice soft warm gooey chocolate chip cookie from Subway. OMG I'm drooling here just thinking about it. Wow so my dad just walked in my room without a shirt on, thats unsettling. Dads and teachers are never supposed to be partially unclothed. Moms too. Although I suppose I've been swimming with him tons of times so that really shouldn't apply. Meh... whatever. I keep getting urges to just run back to Gustavus, I miss it so much. And then of course that reminds me how freaked out I'm going to be this time next year. Or how freaked out I am right now about next year! wtf am I going to do?! Jackie was talking about maybe going to France for a year after she graduates to do a school-teacher type thing there teaching English to little French kids. That sounds good for her. Doesn't really appeal to me though, not to mention the whole lack of French-speaking skills. Maybe I could get a research gig with animal behavior research instead of this cellular biology stuff. Or maybe I'll really like the immunology stuff here at Mayo and stick with it, you never know. Right now the only other biology course I'm signed up for at GAC is Neurobiology, but maybe I should change that to Immunology... it might be easier after this job. I should actually look that course up to see if it's even offered and which semester it's offered. Eww it's offered at 9am... and it's already full so that's a no-go. Ah well, Neurobio. will be fun and I really like the prof who's teaching it (I had him for Intro. to Neuroscience sophomore year).
My feet are throbbing... I hope there are chairs in this lab I'm working in. Right well I'm getting sleepy so I think I'll call it a night soon - as soon as I get my shit together for tomorrow. But that means I'm ending this rant so hasta luego!
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Life... and shit
So I figured that it doesn't really matter what I talk about in this blog because, hell, it's my blog! So I'm going to rant in this one. I'm currently watching Transformers, it's on one of my family's million channels - I'd forgotten how completely awesome (and pointless) American television is.
Worked at Culver's, 4-10pm. Got there a little early and didn't get my break until about 8pm. We were waaay overstaffed so everything in the crew section got very very clean tonight. Then of course at 9:58pm (2 minutes until closing) we got a huge rush in the drive thru. The stupid managers didn't turn off the outdoor lights until everyone who came was gone, anyway it just meant I had to stay an extra 15 minutes which was annoying but fine. So my feet hurt again but this time legitimately.
Watching Transformers is very distracting. My dog is sleeping on the floor and her leg keeps twitching - its very cute. Sara's off at a work camp through our church (in Pennsylvania for a week). Mom and dad are sleeping and Megan is in the basement with her boyfriend Brian - they're watching Jump'd. Makes me feel really lonely. Like seriously alone and unloved. Oh semi-depression hits fast doesn't it. Ah the awkward scene with Sam and MiKayla in the car... and I've got Lonely by Akon stuck in my head.
Was talking to Sarah earlier, heard about her birthday with Main on Rottnest - sounds like she had fun. Have to go back to Mayo tomorrow around noon for another lecture thing and to get my TB test read. That sounds fun, time for more random ranting and rambling etc and so on and so forth.
So I've been thinking a lot about what I'm going to do, like with my life and all. Sounds deep but it's mostly just confusion at this point. I've got this new research lab job and I'm really curious to see how that goes. I've always thought that I wouldn't want to work in a lab, with microbiology stuff especially. I was never really into the cell-level or smaller biology and behavior and animal stuff was always more interesting to me. But if I enjoy this job, any job in labs like this would probably pay more than what I could come up with elsewhere working in animal behavior. And it probably won't be that bad and even pretty exciting at times. Man my feet are still sore. Glad I have tomorrow off at Culver's. Back to my life decisions, or should I say lack of. Wow I'm at a loss right now - too distracted by the movie. I hope I work on my painting tomorrow instead of wasting my day watching TV and movies again. Bumblebee is so cool. I think my dog just farted. Yep she definitely did. Wow that's potent. So yea, I kind of want to skip the summer and just get back to Gustavus. I'm not sure why though, I guess I just miss hanging out with friends and everyone here is too busy working or on vacation to just hang out. Not to mention I don't really see them that much now that high school is over and has been for 3 years now. I'm seriously missing Australia. Not so much the country and the weather but definitely the atmosphere and the people.
God I'm lonely. Sam's happy time, my special alone time. I need some of that. Or some not-so-alone time. I want to grow up. Lane got married at 22! Granted Lane is a fictional character in a TV show but still, people do it. I feel like I'm behind everyone, everyone seems to pair off so easily or at least be able to find someone to be with for awhile but of course not me. I have to be difficult. I hate men. No, thats not fair, its not their fault. I'm just being me, in the worst possible way. Sad, lonely, introspective, and mildly cranky Kat is never the funnest person to be around. Luckily for everyone else in existence, theres NO ONE around me. Hence the loneliness. I didn't get enough time, and it's not fair. I want more and there's no rational way to get it. Life should be fair, even though it isn't. I want a Mountain Dew. And a man. But not necessarily in that order. And of course not just any man, I'd like a very specific one or at least one that meshes well with my personal preferences. Poor sad pathetic lonely Kat busy typing her thoughts out for the world to see while sitting home alone watching Transformers.
So Brian left, Megan came to watch the movie with me. Now she's texting him... hey Main's online! Cool. So talked to him for awhile, now the movie's over and I'm still feeling lonely but Main's talking about visiting the States so that's a bit happier. Now if only I could get Michael over here...
Just started watching Little Miss Sunshine with Megs so I guess I'll end this rant for now. This was fun, in a semi-depressing yet relieving sort of way.
Worked at Culver's, 4-10pm. Got there a little early and didn't get my break until about 8pm. We were waaay overstaffed so everything in the crew section got very very clean tonight. Then of course at 9:58pm (2 minutes until closing) we got a huge rush in the drive thru. The stupid managers didn't turn off the outdoor lights until everyone who came was gone, anyway it just meant I had to stay an extra 15 minutes which was annoying but fine. So my feet hurt again but this time legitimately.
Watching Transformers is very distracting. My dog is sleeping on the floor and her leg keeps twitching - its very cute. Sara's off at a work camp through our church (in Pennsylvania for a week). Mom and dad are sleeping and Megan is in the basement with her boyfriend Brian - they're watching Jump'd. Makes me feel really lonely. Like seriously alone and unloved. Oh semi-depression hits fast doesn't it. Ah the awkward scene with Sam and MiKayla in the car... and I've got Lonely by Akon stuck in my head.
Was talking to Sarah earlier, heard about her birthday with Main on Rottnest - sounds like she had fun. Have to go back to Mayo tomorrow around noon for another lecture thing and to get my TB test read. That sounds fun, time for more random ranting and rambling etc and so on and so forth.
So I've been thinking a lot about what I'm going to do, like with my life and all. Sounds deep but it's mostly just confusion at this point. I've got this new research lab job and I'm really curious to see how that goes. I've always thought that I wouldn't want to work in a lab, with microbiology stuff especially. I was never really into the cell-level or smaller biology and behavior and animal stuff was always more interesting to me. But if I enjoy this job, any job in labs like this would probably pay more than what I could come up with elsewhere working in animal behavior. And it probably won't be that bad and even pretty exciting at times. Man my feet are still sore. Glad I have tomorrow off at Culver's. Back to my life decisions, or should I say lack of. Wow I'm at a loss right now - too distracted by the movie. I hope I work on my painting tomorrow instead of wasting my day watching TV and movies again. Bumblebee is so cool. I think my dog just farted. Yep she definitely did. Wow that's potent. So yea, I kind of want to skip the summer and just get back to Gustavus. I'm not sure why though, I guess I just miss hanging out with friends and everyone here is too busy working or on vacation to just hang out. Not to mention I don't really see them that much now that high school is over and has been for 3 years now. I'm seriously missing Australia. Not so much the country and the weather but definitely the atmosphere and the people.
God I'm lonely. Sam's happy time, my special alone time. I need some of that. Or some not-so-alone time. I want to grow up. Lane got married at 22! Granted Lane is a fictional character in a TV show but still, people do it. I feel like I'm behind everyone, everyone seems to pair off so easily or at least be able to find someone to be with for awhile but of course not me. I have to be difficult. I hate men. No, thats not fair, its not their fault. I'm just being me, in the worst possible way. Sad, lonely, introspective, and mildly cranky Kat is never the funnest person to be around. Luckily for everyone else in existence, theres NO ONE around me. Hence the loneliness. I didn't get enough time, and it's not fair. I want more and there's no rational way to get it. Life should be fair, even though it isn't. I want a Mountain Dew. And a man. But not necessarily in that order. And of course not just any man, I'd like a very specific one or at least one that meshes well with my personal preferences. Poor sad pathetic lonely Kat busy typing her thoughts out for the world to see while sitting home alone watching Transformers.
So Brian left, Megan came to watch the movie with me. Now she's texting him... hey Main's online! Cool. So talked to him for awhile, now the movie's over and I'm still feeling lonely but Main's talking about visiting the States so that's a bit happier. Now if only I could get Michael over here...
Just started watching Little Miss Sunshine with Megs so I guess I'll end this rant for now. This was fun, in a semi-depressing yet relieving sort of way.
Monday, June 23, 2008
My Feet Hurt
Working any length shift at Culver's leads to inevitable foot pain. Even though I only worked there 2 hours today my feet feel like they're about to fall off. That would be interesting, if they just popped off and walked away. I have a strange imagination sometimes.
Anyway... not much happened over the weekend (wow this is starting to sound like my Australia blog). But seriously, pretty much all I did that was worth noting was working at Culver's both nights 5-10pm. Saturday I worked the front register and Sunday I was on drive thru, but it's been so incredibly slow at Culver's that most of the time is spent cleaning and stocking and standing around. Finished Season 5 of Gilmore Girls and started Season 6 (I'm actually nearly done with it now). Late last night (Sunday) after I got back from work, I turned on an episode of GG and signed on before going to bed and Michael got on! He finally got home from Australia (back to Denmark). He wasn't very talkative and I was exhausted so eventually I went to bed.
Today (Monday) I got up at 9am (early!) and showered and got my stuff together (I packed my books and forms into my student village bag!). Rode my bike to the Wal-mart parking lot, locked it up outside the Wells Fargo Bank and then got on the bus to go to St. Mary's. I had to go to the Employee Health Services to get a physical (they tested my color knowledge with plastic beads - that was fun) and a TB test (I still hate needles). The whole thing lasted about 15 minutes and I had a lecture in the same area at noon, so afterwards I headed over to the Public Library for awhile. I went into the used bookstore they have and bought Interview with a Vampire by Anne Rice for 50 cents. Now THAT is what I call a bargain Elizabeth! Read that for awhile inside the library then went over to the Rochesterfest street (fair/carnival thing my city does for a week every summer). I got some pizza and a malt for my breakfast/lunch, read some more, then headed back over to the Guggenheim. This time I had to go to the fifth floor, luckily someone let me in. Got into the conference room ok but it was very strange. Had a lecture with Suresh (he talked very fast and skipped some of the slides) about B Cells and their qualities, types, what they do, etc. Afterwards I noticed that Yin Cao from high school was there, so we chatted for a bit then agreed to meet for lunch sometimes. She's working on the 4th floor while I'll be on the 3rd. Was a bit late to the bus stop and missed my bus so I sat on the bench and read some more while waiting for the next one.
Rode home from the Wells Fargo and watched another Gilmore while getting ready to go to work at Culver's. Got to Culver's (drove because I was supposed to get off at 10pm and didn't feel like riding my bike home in the dark) and worked on the drive thru again but it was even slower than it has been (due to it being Monday, us being waay overstaffed, and Rochesterfest) so around 6pm they let me go home - yay! Of course once I got home mom and dad were much less than thrilled, but whatever. Oh! On Sunday night I found out that Steve (owner/manager at Culver's) changed his mind and decided to cancel the closing later idea! That was also good news. So now I think I'll watch another Gilmore, then maybe either clean my room, study some more immunology, or work on my painting. It's more fun to be in a good mood, even if my feet ache.
Anyway... not much happened over the weekend (wow this is starting to sound like my Australia blog). But seriously, pretty much all I did that was worth noting was working at Culver's both nights 5-10pm. Saturday I worked the front register and Sunday I was on drive thru, but it's been so incredibly slow at Culver's that most of the time is spent cleaning and stocking and standing around. Finished Season 5 of Gilmore Girls and started Season 6 (I'm actually nearly done with it now). Late last night (Sunday) after I got back from work, I turned on an episode of GG and signed on before going to bed and Michael got on! He finally got home from Australia (back to Denmark). He wasn't very talkative and I was exhausted so eventually I went to bed.
Today (Monday) I got up at 9am (early!) and showered and got my stuff together (I packed my books and forms into my student village bag!). Rode my bike to the Wal-mart parking lot, locked it up outside the Wells Fargo Bank and then got on the bus to go to St. Mary's. I had to go to the Employee Health Services to get a physical (they tested my color knowledge with plastic beads - that was fun) and a TB test (I still hate needles). The whole thing lasted about 15 minutes and I had a lecture in the same area at noon, so afterwards I headed over to the Public Library for awhile. I went into the used bookstore they have and bought Interview with a Vampire by Anne Rice for 50 cents. Now THAT is what I call a bargain Elizabeth! Read that for awhile inside the library then went over to the Rochesterfest street (fair/carnival thing my city does for a week every summer). I got some pizza and a malt for my breakfast/lunch, read some more, then headed back over to the Guggenheim. This time I had to go to the fifth floor, luckily someone let me in. Got into the conference room ok but it was very strange. Had a lecture with Suresh (he talked very fast and skipped some of the slides) about B Cells and their qualities, types, what they do, etc. Afterwards I noticed that Yin Cao from high school was there, so we chatted for a bit then agreed to meet for lunch sometimes. She's working on the 4th floor while I'll be on the 3rd. Was a bit late to the bus stop and missed my bus so I sat on the bench and read some more while waiting for the next one.
Rode home from the Wells Fargo and watched another Gilmore while getting ready to go to work at Culver's. Got to Culver's (drove because I was supposed to get off at 10pm and didn't feel like riding my bike home in the dark) and worked on the drive thru again but it was even slower than it has been (due to it being Monday, us being waay overstaffed, and Rochesterfest) so around 6pm they let me go home - yay! Of course once I got home mom and dad were much less than thrilled, but whatever. Oh! On Sunday night I found out that Steve (owner/manager at Culver's) changed his mind and decided to cancel the closing later idea! That was also good news. So now I think I'll watch another Gilmore, then maybe either clean my room, study some more immunology, or work on my painting. It's more fun to be in a good mood, even if my feet ache.
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Culver's is taking over...
So despite listing my availability very clearly at Culver's as wanting only 20-30 hours there per week, they decided that meant they should sign me up for 36 hours. Not only that, but they're also starting a new policy this summer of staying open an hour later than ever before. So now instead of closing meaning you'll be off around 11pm, now it means around midnight. So next week I'm working at Culver's until 11pm 3 days, until midnight once, and then once from 12-9pm. Right, this might not make a lot of sense to you all but just take it as I'm ranting because they've totally screwed up my hours and it's going to be a long and cranky week for Kat.
I found all this fun new information out last night when I worked at Culver's from 8-10pm (only a 2-hour shift). Before that, on Thursday night Megan and I slept down in the basement after watching Titanic. To be honest, I fell asleep right around the drawing scene but apparently Megan watched most of it. On Friday I had a fairly busy day. Well not really, but it felt like it at the time. Around 1pm I left to go downtown to pick up my "Pre-Employment packet" from the HR desk at Mayo. Had a little trouble finding a parking spot but got the packet then went over to the Guggenheim building to meet with Dr. Pease about my new summer research job. He was a little late for our meeting (at 2pm) which gave me some time to start filling out the packet. When he finally got there, we headed over to the Harwick cafeteria so he could get a sandwich for his lunch: apparently he's very busy. During his meal he handed me an immunology textbook and proceeded to give me an in depth lecture on immunology in general, and what his lab is working on in particular. It's all very new stuff that they're coming out with, and some of it deals with new ways to battle cancer. He was very excited about it all and rightly so I think. Anyway, then we headed back up to the lab where he introduced me to the people I'll mostly be working with (Tobias and Ginny) and they started telling me a little about what they're doing. Then they asked me what I'd like to work on and I froze. I have no idea! I haven't taken any immunology courses or anything so I had no idea what to say. I think they realized that with my evasive responses and then assured me we could figure that out later. I can't decide whether to be excited about this amazing job opportunity or terrified. Right now I'm leaning toward terrified but hopefully that feeling will dissipate. Afterward I headed home and I think I read a bit before getting ready to work at Culver's. Then of course I headed out to my 2-hour shift and learned all the "fun" things I talked about first. I really need to quit at Culver's, but it's the most flexible job I have. Sara quit there, and apparently got a job at Buffalo Wild Wings. I'm not sure how much better that will be but at least she's moved on. After working I came back and tried to finish watching Titanic, the boat started sinking and then I fell asleep again.
Around 2am my sister's boyfriend called me to go pick her up from a party (it was prearranged that I'd pick her up) but I wasn't expecting him to call me. Anyway, after getting lost trying to find the place I got her and came home and slept some more. Slept in this morning, took a shower, finished watching Titanic, ate food, watched Gilmore Girls, pretty much lazy stuff. Was thinking about going on a bike ride when Megan got back from work but instead we took a nap together in her bed from 1pm-2:30pm. Don't ask me why I felt tired enough to need a nap, I haven't a clue. Afterwards we took Jazzy on a walk then I came up to my room to check to see if anyone had emailed me (no one has because no one loves me :( <-- is that whiny enough?). Anyway, now I've got to get ready to go to work at Culver's again, 5-10pm tonight but I'm not going to refuse if they offer to let me go home early. Which of course they won't. It's so frustrating to really want to work because you know you need the money, yet don't want to work because you really can't stand your job. I need a new job. Or my old job at Mayo - that job (though low-paying) was a lot more tolerable than working at Culver's. C'est la vie, or however you spell it.
Enough of my ranting now - I planned to go on about what I'm going to do with my life after college but that will have to wait until after work.
I found all this fun new information out last night when I worked at Culver's from 8-10pm (only a 2-hour shift). Before that, on Thursday night Megan and I slept down in the basement after watching Titanic. To be honest, I fell asleep right around the drawing scene but apparently Megan watched most of it. On Friday I had a fairly busy day. Well not really, but it felt like it at the time. Around 1pm I left to go downtown to pick up my "Pre-Employment packet" from the HR desk at Mayo. Had a little trouble finding a parking spot but got the packet then went over to the Guggenheim building to meet with Dr. Pease about my new summer research job. He was a little late for our meeting (at 2pm) which gave me some time to start filling out the packet. When he finally got there, we headed over to the Harwick cafeteria so he could get a sandwich for his lunch: apparently he's very busy. During his meal he handed me an immunology textbook and proceeded to give me an in depth lecture on immunology in general, and what his lab is working on in particular. It's all very new stuff that they're coming out with, and some of it deals with new ways to battle cancer. He was very excited about it all and rightly so I think. Anyway, then we headed back up to the lab where he introduced me to the people I'll mostly be working with (Tobias and Ginny) and they started telling me a little about what they're doing. Then they asked me what I'd like to work on and I froze. I have no idea! I haven't taken any immunology courses or anything so I had no idea what to say. I think they realized that with my evasive responses and then assured me we could figure that out later. I can't decide whether to be excited about this amazing job opportunity or terrified. Right now I'm leaning toward terrified but hopefully that feeling will dissipate. Afterward I headed home and I think I read a bit before getting ready to work at Culver's. Then of course I headed out to my 2-hour shift and learned all the "fun" things I talked about first. I really need to quit at Culver's, but it's the most flexible job I have. Sara quit there, and apparently got a job at Buffalo Wild Wings. I'm not sure how much better that will be but at least she's moved on. After working I came back and tried to finish watching Titanic, the boat started sinking and then I fell asleep again.
Around 2am my sister's boyfriend called me to go pick her up from a party (it was prearranged that I'd pick her up) but I wasn't expecting him to call me. Anyway, after getting lost trying to find the place I got her and came home and slept some more. Slept in this morning, took a shower, finished watching Titanic, ate food, watched Gilmore Girls, pretty much lazy stuff. Was thinking about going on a bike ride when Megan got back from work but instead we took a nap together in her bed from 1pm-2:30pm. Don't ask me why I felt tired enough to need a nap, I haven't a clue. Afterwards we took Jazzy on a walk then I came up to my room to check to see if anyone had emailed me (no one has because no one loves me :( <-- is that whiny enough?). Anyway, now I've got to get ready to go to work at Culver's again, 5-10pm tonight but I'm not going to refuse if they offer to let me go home early. Which of course they won't. It's so frustrating to really want to work because you know you need the money, yet don't want to work because you really can't stand your job. I need a new job. Or my old job at Mayo - that job (though low-paying) was a lot more tolerable than working at Culver's. C'est la vie, or however you spell it.
Enough of my ranting now - I planned to go on about what I'm going to do with my life after college but that will have to wait until after work.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Back in Minnesota
So I've decided that, for now, I'll attempt to continue blogging at least as much as I can handle. It is kind of nice to be able to look back and see how little you've actually done. I don't think I'll bother with the dates, at least this time, other than I'm writing this on Thursday June 19, 2008 and the other dates will have to be inferred from there.
After a grueling 36 hours in airplanes and airports (and I think the time gets longer every time I complain about it) I finally arrived in Minneapolis. Got down to the baggage claim area and was about to call my dad's cell when I saw him wandering around. Big happy family reunion, hugs etc all the way around. Then the parents sent us girls off to the car while they waited for my bags and I got to say hello to my puppy who was waiting for me in the van. Drove the hour and a half trip home to Rochester (I slept for most of the way in the back seat with the dog). Got home, saw my room, took a shower, and I'm not really sure what happened next other than I think I may have passed out. Which ended the longest Sunday I have ever endured, seeing as I had crossed the date line and got to relive it.
Monday nothing much happened, or maybe it did but I certainly don't remember much. Everyone but me had work or babysitting or some combination of the two and so it was mostly just me sitting alone at home with Jazzy. I read most of the day, a book about a werewolf that my grandma gave me called Bitten. It was very good, very interesting, and also shocking that my grandmother gave it to me because I really can't picture her reading a book like that. Although she does read Harry Potter so I suppose nothing should surprise me. I went to the RAC (Rochester Athletic Club) around 8 pm with my dad, and just walked on the treadmill reading for about an hour. Showered and finished the book later that night. Was a nice, relaxing, laid-back day.
Tuesday I woke up around 5am - blaming my messed up inner clock, and couldn't get back to sleep. So I found some movies online and started watching them. I ended up watching Mulan, Bambi, and Bambi 2 before I finally got out of bed. Very slow lazy start. After awhile, Megan and I decided to walk Jazzy down to Culver's, so I could let them know I was back in the country and looking for hours. Depressing, but we split a cheeseburger there and also got some ice cream so I suppose it was worth it. I also got a call later that night from a friend of my dad's, who happens to be the head of the Immunology research department at the Mayo Clinic and he pretty much just offered me a summer job in one of his labs. That was a miracle. Spent the night watching episodes of Gilmore Girls and movies with Megan, until I passed out early again.
Wednesday I managed to stay asleep until around 9am. Spent a lazy morning, wasting my day as usual. Finally around 2:30 pm Megan and I rode our bikes over to Douglas. It took a little longer than expected and on the way back Megan had to hoof it leaving me in the dust in order for her to get to work on time. Oooh pre-story! So the bikes are stored in a shed in our backyard lovingly called the "playhouse" *dad made it for us girls when we were small and used to play in the mini house* and there was also a wire patio chair stored in there between the door and the bikes. I tried for about 10 minutes to get this stupid chair out the door but it just would not fit. Eventually Megan (who was hanging clothes on the line) offered to switch jobs with me and she managed to get the chair out the door via some interesting maneuvers. Right, good story. Anyway, after the bike ride I came back and relaxed for a bit until 4:45 pm when I started getting ready for work (I had to work at Culver's at 5pm). Right then, someone from Human Resources at Mayo called to give me all the information I needed to know about starting back up at Mayo, which was horrible timing because I was trying to get my pants on while writing down information. It was not good, but I managed to get to work semi-on time, only clocked in one minute late. Work was fairly slow, I thought I had to close (which meant staying until 11pm) but when I got there it only said until 10pm (a nice surprise). I was on register duty, just taking orders which is nice. Didn't have too many problems until they realized I was supposed to close. I offered to stay and help out but they decided I should just mop the floors and then go so I only stayed until about 10:10pm. Wow this is really boring. Got home, went to bed, fell asleep, dreamt of something I can't remember.
Thursday (today!) another boring day. Got up at 6am but made myself fall back asleep until around 8:15. Then I showered and ate breakfast and went downstairs. Watched Oceans 13, which is a pretty good movie. Took some laundry off the line, but mostly just did nothing all day. Megan and I went for another bike ride, going on the Douglas trail again but in the opposite direction, to where it ends at the IBM parking lot in Rochester. A bit shorter ride than last time but it was about 85 degrees F outside so it was far enough. Got back and talked to mom for a bit then watched as she, Megan, and Sara all fell asleep in the living room. I read for a bit. Dad went to his softball game and the other three went to some music thing in downtown Rochester, leaving me home alone to play outside with Jazzy for a bit. Came upstairs and started a new painting. Only have the sketch on the canvas but I hope to start using the paint tomorrow. Have to meet up with my new boss tomorrow as well, because he's going to go on vacation for the first two weeks of my employment! I'm also working a 2-hour shift at Culver's. Well I'm hearing noises downstairs and I'm pretty sure my name was just mentioned, so I'm going to stop rambling on about my boring life and go check it out. Hope this doesn't stay as boring as it is now.
After a grueling 36 hours in airplanes and airports (and I think the time gets longer every time I complain about it) I finally arrived in Minneapolis. Got down to the baggage claim area and was about to call my dad's cell when I saw him wandering around. Big happy family reunion, hugs etc all the way around. Then the parents sent us girls off to the car while they waited for my bags and I got to say hello to my puppy who was waiting for me in the van. Drove the hour and a half trip home to Rochester (I slept for most of the way in the back seat with the dog). Got home, saw my room, took a shower, and I'm not really sure what happened next other than I think I may have passed out. Which ended the longest Sunday I have ever endured, seeing as I had crossed the date line and got to relive it.
Monday nothing much happened, or maybe it did but I certainly don't remember much. Everyone but me had work or babysitting or some combination of the two and so it was mostly just me sitting alone at home with Jazzy. I read most of the day, a book about a werewolf that my grandma gave me called Bitten. It was very good, very interesting, and also shocking that my grandmother gave it to me because I really can't picture her reading a book like that. Although she does read Harry Potter so I suppose nothing should surprise me. I went to the RAC (Rochester Athletic Club) around 8 pm with my dad, and just walked on the treadmill reading for about an hour. Showered and finished the book later that night. Was a nice, relaxing, laid-back day.
Tuesday I woke up around 5am - blaming my messed up inner clock, and couldn't get back to sleep. So I found some movies online and started watching them. I ended up watching Mulan, Bambi, and Bambi 2 before I finally got out of bed. Very slow lazy start. After awhile, Megan and I decided to walk Jazzy down to Culver's, so I could let them know I was back in the country and looking for hours. Depressing, but we split a cheeseburger there and also got some ice cream so I suppose it was worth it. I also got a call later that night from a friend of my dad's, who happens to be the head of the Immunology research department at the Mayo Clinic and he pretty much just offered me a summer job in one of his labs. That was a miracle. Spent the night watching episodes of Gilmore Girls and movies with Megan, until I passed out early again.
Wednesday I managed to stay asleep until around 9am. Spent a lazy morning, wasting my day as usual. Finally around 2:30 pm Megan and I rode our bikes over to Douglas. It took a little longer than expected and on the way back Megan had to hoof it leaving me in the dust in order for her to get to work on time. Oooh pre-story! So the bikes are stored in a shed in our backyard lovingly called the "playhouse" *dad made it for us girls when we were small and used to play in the mini house* and there was also a wire patio chair stored in there between the door and the bikes. I tried for about 10 minutes to get this stupid chair out the door but it just would not fit. Eventually Megan (who was hanging clothes on the line) offered to switch jobs with me and she managed to get the chair out the door via some interesting maneuvers. Right, good story. Anyway, after the bike ride I came back and relaxed for a bit until 4:45 pm when I started getting ready for work (I had to work at Culver's at 5pm). Right then, someone from Human Resources at Mayo called to give me all the information I needed to know about starting back up at Mayo, which was horrible timing because I was trying to get my pants on while writing down information. It was not good, but I managed to get to work semi-on time, only clocked in one minute late. Work was fairly slow, I thought I had to close (which meant staying until 11pm) but when I got there it only said until 10pm (a nice surprise). I was on register duty, just taking orders which is nice. Didn't have too many problems until they realized I was supposed to close. I offered to stay and help out but they decided I should just mop the floors and then go so I only stayed until about 10:10pm. Wow this is really boring. Got home, went to bed, fell asleep, dreamt of something I can't remember.
Thursday (today!) another boring day. Got up at 6am but made myself fall back asleep until around 8:15. Then I showered and ate breakfast and went downstairs. Watched Oceans 13, which is a pretty good movie. Took some laundry off the line, but mostly just did nothing all day. Megan and I went for another bike ride, going on the Douglas trail again but in the opposite direction, to where it ends at the IBM parking lot in Rochester. A bit shorter ride than last time but it was about 85 degrees F outside so it was far enough. Got back and talked to mom for a bit then watched as she, Megan, and Sara all fell asleep in the living room. I read for a bit. Dad went to his softball game and the other three went to some music thing in downtown Rochester, leaving me home alone to play outside with Jazzy for a bit. Came upstairs and started a new painting. Only have the sketch on the canvas but I hope to start using the paint tomorrow. Have to meet up with my new boss tomorrow as well, because he's going to go on vacation for the first two weeks of my employment! I'm also working a 2-hour shift at Culver's. Well I'm hearing noises downstairs and I'm pretty sure my name was just mentioned, so I'm going to stop rambling on about my boring life and go check it out. Hope this doesn't stay as boring as it is now.
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