Soaking wet feet

Curious about the title? It's not nearly as interesting as it sounds (although to be fair it doesn't actually sound all that interesting, does it?). I'll get to it shortly...

Flash backward to me getting home from Cancun (a sad day indeed). While it was nice to be back on familiar turf, I definitely could have stayed much longer (a month or two, at least until the weather here turned decent).

Anyway, I picked up my kitten, who I actually did miss quite a bit, and then my last days of freedom commenced.

On Friday night Nathan and I semi celebrated Valentine's Day. Not knowing what to get guys for V-Day, I had prepared by getting a digital photo frame for him. Unfortunately the one they sent me originally failed to turn on, so I had to return it and send in a new one. This meant of course that, since they shipped it via UPS, I had to drive over and pick it up. I did this on Friday, went home and made sure it worked, and then loaded the pictures I had picked out onto it. Back in the box and fast forward to Nathan's. Oh, I had also purchased him a hand painted black and white tile of a palm tree/ocean while I was in Cancun. It matched the ones he got for himself in Cozumel, but that was a "I was traveling, this is what I got for you" gift. He in turn got me 12 red roses and a dinner at Olive Garden (why is the food there so delicious??). We also went and saw Mission Impossible 4 after our dinner at the cheap second run theater in Hopkins.

On Saturday I went with Nathan to Petco, where the dog he'd been fostering for just 2 weeks (Nix) got adopted! Happy and sad, but mostly happy. Headed home just in time to meet Vicki to pick up my rats and then we both met up with Sybylla at the Riverview Theater (actually we drove around the surrounding neighborhoods looking for her walking in, spotted her, pulled up alongside and yelled "Get in!" if you want to be precise) and saw Sherlock Holmes 2: Game of Shadows. It was pretty good - actually better than I remembered it (we saw it when it was in regular theaters as well).

Monday was my first day of work. I showed up to talk to HR at my scheduled 8:30am appointment, and when she was done she asked if I knew where/what to do next (assuming I did). Unfortunately, I did not. So she sent me to get an ID badge and gave me the lab number and my PI's (principle investigator, "boss") office number to call afterwards. I got my badge, called the numbers, and no response. So I found a computer and emailed the PI (Martina), as well as leaving messages on both her and the lab phone. I figured out where the lab was (12th floor Moos Tower) and went there, but the door was locked. So I hung out on the 2nd floor in Moos Tower, randomly emailing and calling again. This went on for a good 3 hours, never contacting anyone. During that time (~11am) I went to Noodles to eat lunch. After that, I gave up and walked the 2.1 miles home. It was a decent walk, I only wish there was a bus that took that exact route (it's so close as the crow flies!).

On Tuesday I tried again, arriving at 8am, and getting ahold of no one. Eventually though I got in touch with Yoshie (another scientist in Martina's lab) and got the grand tour, etc. I also learned that they work 9-5 and Martina took Monday off (it was Presidents Day after all).

The week progressed, me learning various techniques (although more in theory than actual practice). I thawed some cells to start my own cultures and cell lines, but unfortunately they got contaminated with yeast when I inadvertently used tainted PBS (the autoclave tape was a lie...).

The weekend was fairly low key, I made enchiladas on Friday and brought them to Nathan's for dinner (they were tasty). On Saturday we took the bus from my apartment to the Millenium Hotel for Chris' sister (Lisa)'s wedding. A nice short ceremony, decent food (prime rib was okay, also potatoes cut into the shape of mushrooms, why? I have no idea..., cake was meh). Watched people dance, give toasts, etc, then headed home.

So far this week has been pretty slow. On Monday I discovered the cell contamination, so I tossed those and started anew. Tuesday was slow, just checking on the cells and coming up with a plan (doing some Google searching for protocols, etc). When I got home I watched Toy Story 3 and nearly cried again. I may have to hang on to Netflix...

Today has been fast and slow. The morning flew by, I had cells to split and freeze down as well as an impromptu meeting with Martina regarding my project. What is this project you ask? Well I'll tell you!

Cancer, as we all are probably aware, likes to move, spreading and creating havoc where it goes. There are many proteins that cells have that help them move, and my project focuses on one of them. Basically, I take breast cancer cells and knock out that protein (so the cells are unable to make that protein), and then see if they can still move/migrate.

Of course it is going to take many steps to do this. The first thing I have to do is prove that I can actually knock out that protein. Luckily for me, the lab has already done it to ovarian cancer cells, so I just have to let them teach me how to do it and then run a test proving the protein is gone. The next step is seeing how the it affects the cell movement, a bit trickier. This is the step I had to do research on to find a good protocol, but I think I've got it figured out. That will happen in petri dishes for the most part. The last step (at least for our lab) is then trying it in a mouse, to see if the cells that have the protein knocked out already still move as well as seeing if you can just give the mouse the treatment and halt the cancer spread.

I hope that makes sense, it actually helps me to type out/explain the overall project. Makes it seem a bit easier than the daunting task it originally appeared to be.

After the morning rush I went to meet Sara for lunch. She decided not to eat with me (the pooper) but I got Chipotle and we had a good talk, then walked back to Moos Tower together.

But what about the wet shoes? Where does that fit into the story?

Well for the past week and a half I have been taking various bus routes to and from work, with various amounts of walking thrown in because Washington Ave is closed (so I have to walk a bit to get from the bus stop to my building). For two days so far it has been a nasty slushy snow-covered walk, and my boots are just not up to the task. I never manage to realize it ahead of time, but by the time I get to work or home my boots and socks are soaking wet and my feet are freezing. That is the situation right now, my poor feet are quite miserable.

Cancun and Xel Ha

So I drove home (Rochester) on Thursday after leaving Addy with Nathan and Luna & Evaine with Vicki. Hung out with my parents, watched them procrastinate packing, and hanging out with Belle.

On Friday I took Belle on a 2 hour walk - to the dog park and back. She had a blast but it was freezing in the wind and the next few days my legs were in pain. That night Megan came home as well and we hung out.

Saturday I only played fetch with Belle, but she still got a bit wiped out. Megan and I had a lazy day, until we went to Target and got matching dresses (we're nerds/I couldn't find a good color).

Sunday both Megan and I went on a walk/fetch with Belle, then came back up to Minneapolis where we picked up Sara and all hung out at my apartment until late. Went to bed, and Megan woke me up twice during the night talking in her sleep. The second time I woke her up asking her why the poop she was talking to me at 2:36 am.

We woke up at 3am, Sara drove us to the train station, and Megan and I caught the train to the airport. Had to wait for what seemed ages for the AirTran people to finally show up to work (4:30ish), then waited at the gate for our plane. Had a long day of hanging in airports, riding planes, standing in lines, and waiting for people to show up so our shuttle to the resort could go. Met up with mom and dad at the resort, dropped our stuff at our room, and went on a tour of the Grand Mayan (huge!). Ate dinner at one of the restaurants (I had fish tacos), then hung out poolside until bedtime.

On Tuesday we got up with the sun and tried to catch a sunrise over the water. Unfortunately it was really cloudy so it wasn't very impressive. Went and napped next to the big pool by the ocean for a bit, then transferred to these cool chairs with head shades next to the sand pool. Read books and just hung out there for a bit, until we decided to get margaritas (happy hour). Then we broke out the cards and played 13 rounds of golf (card game) while enjoying margarita after margarita. By the end, mom and I were pretty smashed. It hit Megan later and I still don't really know how far gone dad got. We packed our stuff up and stumbled back to the rooms where we made sandwiches and dropped off mom. Then, when it finally hit Megan, dad took the two of us on a walk to see the flamingos and the crocodiles. Back to the rooms for a nap, then got up and went out to dinner again - different restaurant. Enjoyed the live music, bought some hand painted souvenir tiles, and then headed to bed.

Wednesday was an exciting day at Xel Ha eco park. The all inclusive park was a blast - we ate too much food, went snorkeling, tubing through mangroves, cliff jumping into the ocean, saw dolphins and manatees in captivity and iguanas, coatis, stingrays, birds, and fish in the wild, rode the zip lines, hiking through jungles, snorkeling in underwater caves (cenotes?) and overall having a great day.

Thursday was a slow sad last day, we basically spent the morning reading poolside, ate leftover pizza and sandwiches, and then packed up and headed to the airport. Long day in airports and airplanes, then back home in Minneapolis.

So this update, especially for a vacation one, was pathetically low on details, but I'm kind of tired and not really in the mood to go all out. Sorry for that. Either way, the majority of the story is told in the 637 pictures I took on the trip - about half of which are posted on Facebook.

Adios mis amigos.

Vacation time

Had my last week at WuXi, was a very busy week. On Thursday after work a few coworkers there and I went out to Buffalo Wild Wings for happy hour (yummy boneless wings!).

On Friday I went out to Parkway Pizza with Vicki and Sybylla. Good food but we did have to wait for a table. Because of that we got free drinks! Hooray. Afterward we went to my apartment and watched Princess & the Frog and Rock-a-doodle. We also watched/played Sims 3 (waaay too many options!).

On Saturday Nathan picked up a new foster dog (Chance was adopted) called Lix. I decided immediately that that was a HORRIBLE name. I mean it really just sounds terrible, who names a dog that? Anyway, we renamed her Nix, and she's pretty cute. Mostly black, fluffy, and smaller than Jackie. She's a super cuddler, just loves to snuggle up with you wherever you are.

On Sunday I had a Superbowl party - made cheese dip, lil smokies, and pigs in a blanket and Sybylla, Vicki, and Nathan came over to watch the game/commercials. Sybylla and I also played some card games as well. It was decently fun, I was surprised that Nathan insisted on watching the entire game instead of playing cards with us, especially since he originally suggested playing a board game during it. We also arbitrarily decided which teams to support, Vicki and Sybylla had the Patriots and Nathan and I had the Giants. At the last second our team came through with the hilarious touchdown, it was pretty fun.

Monday was pretty low key, I pretty much spent the entire day (that I was awake for) doing laundry.

On Tuesday I decided to go skiing. I went to Buck Hill for the early bird special, 10-2 for $13. It was decently fun, at least the actual skiing part of it. I somehow forgot that the majority of ski time is actually spent on the chairlift, and riding the chairlift alone is incredibly boring. So I got bored fairly soon, but it was still a good choice.

On Wednesday I went out to lunch with my former coworker Katie. We went to Taco Bell (delicious) and just caught up with things. After that I ran a few errands and watched tons of Hoarders and Confessions: Animal Hoarding (I may be addicted - but my apartment is super clean!).

Finally, today I spent running more errands, cleaning things (the rat cage), and now just waiting to hear from Vicki. She's coming by to pick up the rats to take care of them for the next week. Addy is already at Nathan's (not very happily) for the week so the apartment feels really empty. I'm hoping she'll cope well with the other cats and dogs there. As soon as the rats are picked up I'm heading down to Rochester to spend the weekend at home with Belle, and then Megan and I are flying to Cancun on Monday! Super excited - I'll try to update as soon as I get back!