Physics

Well I haven't been doing the best job keeping this updated but at least it's been under 2 weeks!

So I did in fact go see Bridesmaids and it was just as hilarious the second time (if not more). Apparently a lot of the humor is "female-targeted," so if you're a guy unwilling to laugh at yourself it might not be as entertaining for you as it was for me.

On Friday that week I drove down to Rochester for the night. I basically just spent that night hanging with the family, eating pizza and cookies, and watching Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone with the parents.

On Saturday I got up, showered, and then met Jackie for lunch at Noodles. We spent a good 2 hours there just talking and catching up (also eating, but I think that's implied). Afterwards I headed over to her place to see her parents' new dog (a little thing, pretty shy) and then drove back home. Then mom, Sara, Megan, and I piled in the car, headed downtown, and fulfilled a dream. That's right, my mom rented 4 Segways for an hour and we got to ride around downtown Rochester on them, trying not to hit things or be hit by anything. It was pretty fun - got some pictures and Megan even took some video. Definitely an interesting experience. After that fun was done we all went over to a couple of fabric stores where Megan and I found this microfleece fabric for mom to make us some softy blankets (Happy Birthday to us!). Headed home and then I scrounged through the basement looking for likely camping supplies to borrow. Got my car all packed up and then Adam, my cousin, came over from Owatonna where he was doing some sort of work thing. The rest of the family was getting ready for a nice dinner (fish fry) with Adam but I pretty much said hi and then headed back to the cities.

I guess I had a pretty busy Saturday, but it doesn't end there! After chilling at home for a bit and socializing with my rats, I headed over to Nathan's where we cooked burgers and corn on the grill and ate outside in the gorgeous weather. It was an excellent meal.

On Sunday I think the only thing I did was go to Target for a few things and then hem and haw over Physics. Basically, at any vet school in the US and a lot of the international ones, you need to have at least 1 year of physics + 1 lab to apply. Unfortunately I waited too long to actually sign up for the completely online version at the U of MN. So that class had filled and I emailed the professor to see if I could get in and he basically told me to hope someone drops it. I kept idly searching for a different option (other schools, etc) and eventually stumbled upon an evening class offered at the U. After too much thinking, I finally took the leap and enrolled. It's 3 nights a week (Tues-Thurs) for around 2 hours a night and includes a lab. I'm nervous but also slightly excited - it should be much easier to stay on track when I actually have to attend classes and everything.

On Monday I realized I only have 2 weeks to study for genetics and so I started studying.

So I broke my face...

I did, but since it's been OVER A MONTH since my last post (bad Kat! BAD BAD KAT!) I'll try to give a brief update on the rest of my life.

The week following my last post I started riding my bike to work (and signed up to the bike commuter program at the U) and had a lot of trouble with the rusty stretched out chain.  On my second day riding in to work I was about to head home and noticed my rear tire was flat.  After just getting new tires last summer, I was kind of ticked.  Luckily for me there's a bike shop on campus, so I stopped in and they fixed it (replaced the tube) for like $10.  Later that week, or possibly the following week, I finally got the bike parts I ordered and hauled my bike up into the apartment and got dirty/greasy hands replacing the bike chain.  After that, the bike worked beautifully!  It's amazing what a new chain can do.  

I've also been going to the Rec Center pretty regularly (5 days last week!).  I pretty much only use the stationary bike (it's the easiest to read while doing, plus the treadmills have to be signed up to use and are generally pretty busy).  At first it was harder convincing myself to go, it's no longer on the way if I'm riding my bike!  But eventually I just made it part of my routine to do it right after work.

WW has also been going really well.  I had a few weeks where I basically stopped paying attention and ate tons of crap, but I'm back on track.  As of my last weigh in I had lost close to 20lb on the program (since Jan 17).  It's really made me start eating more fruit and less processed foods, which can only be good.

Work has been getting better - I've  had more successful experiments, but I think my boss is a little impatient with the progress.  Not that she blames me in any way (which is a delightful new experience for me) but she wants to get it done.

Okay right now I'm going to take a short break (because this is hard work you know) and go run some errands, I'll be back to finish I swear!

And I'm back - went to Half Price Books and bought some GRE prep materials (a book and some vocab flash cards) and then Petco for some rat bedding and kitten food.  When I got home Addy smelled the bag and started purring like a motorboat and nuzzling the bag.  It was adorable.

Back to my rehash of the last few weeks, a lot of biking to work, working, working out, biking home, and sitting around watching TV/Netflix.  Pretty boring stuff really.

Things of note:  On the first weekend in April I drove to Eau Claire and then Madison WI helping Megan move into her new apartment.  Long drive, but really nice apartment building.  We also took a self guided tour of her new workplace (Epic) and it is as its name implies.  The whole place is just kind of amazing. Drove back to Eau Claire with Kory on Sunday, and then home solo.

The following weekend I drove down to Rochester for Easter weekend with the family.  Also brought Addy so she could have fun with Belle (they did do some chasing around the house).  We ate tons of delicious food, had some quality family time, and I even got a chance to meet up with Jackie for a lunch at Zumbro River Cafe (good food!).

The week between driving to Madison and Easter in Rochester I decided I wanted to get a bigger TV.  I did some research on the internet, tried to decide what I wanted and how much to spend, and finally drove down the street to Target and came home with a brand new Philips 40" LED TV (with WiFi).  I love it, and am really happy I pulled the trigger.

Hung out with Sarah H (from Gustavus) while she was in town (from the UK), that was fun.  Also, last weekend on Saturday I got to hang out with Hannah (from high school) who was in town with her parents for a conference.  We watched Winter's Bone and man is that a weird messed up movie.  On Sunday Sybylla and Vicki came over and we watched Aladdin on my new TV while eating Little Caesars.

And finally to the title story.  On Thursday last week, my coworker comes up to me and asks if I would mind giving her some of my blood.  She is doing experiments with immune cells and when she uses her own blood she doesn't get very many.  However, younger blood tends to produce more, so she wanted to try mine.  I said sure, not really too worried about it since she didn't need very much.  We walked over to another building where her MD friend drew about 50ml of blood.  I sat there while it was being drawn and got a little light headed, but afterwards just kept sitting until it went away.  I felt better, so we started walking back to our building.  We headed down the hallway towards the elevator when all of a sudden I got very dizzy and next thing I know I'm waking up on the floor of the elevator with blood all over.  I had passed out and apparently landed on my face and knees.  My coworker was freaking out beside me along with a few random people I didn't know and the elevator was emitting this annoying buzz because it wanted to go to a different floor but they were holding the door open.  Eventually I sat up (while constantly apologizing) and they brought in an office chair to wheel me out of the elevator.  Apparently they had also called the U's ER who called a "Code Blue" for me.  For those of you who don't know, Code Blue is the one they call for people having a heart attack or stroke or are in immediate danger of dying.  So next thing we know 4 doctors come pouring out of a nearby elevator and start checking me over.  After a few minutes, another 8 doctors (and no, I'm not exaggerating with the numbers here) come running down the hallway (they had initially gone to the wrong Masonic building - there are two on campus).  So I'm super embarrassed because I'm not in any real danger, there's just blood pouring out of my nose, my face hurts, and I have a little headache.  They insist on taking me to the ER however, so the bring me this wheelchair (after initially threatening to get me a stretcher).  The wheelchair they brought though is in line with the rising rate of obesity in America and is practically a park bench.  Two of me could have easily sat side by side on this thing.  Finally get to the ER where another slew of doctors, medical students, and nurses come in to see the "Code Blue" patient.  After figuring out what happened though (and realizing I was not nearly exciting enough) I lost the majority of my medical staff.  I did have another EKG and the tech looked at it and asked if I was a runner or an athlete (not sure if I've ever mentioned this but the same thing happened in Rochester when I had an EKG for a research study I participated in - the woman asked if I was an athlete).  So I have an athletic heart, which is nice I think.  There was one woman who thought I must surely be pregnant (despite the 0.05% chance of that being possible) so insisted I give a urine sample.  And, irony of ironies, they drew blood to test as well.  While at the ER my boss arrived (my coworker had left once I got there and told her what happened).  She stayed the entire time I was there and even drove me home afterwards - because she's awesome.  Can you imagine my last boss being anywhere near so kind?  My sister Sara also showed up for part of the time, and thought it was ridiculous that after an hour of being there no one had offered me an ice pack for the giant lump on my forehead, busted nose, and split lip.  All in all, I was stuck at the ER for a good 3 1/2 - 4 hours, sitting around awkwardly hooked up to machines and waiting around for people to get my shit done so I could go home.

This past week I've been healing fairly quickly, the only remaining evidence is a bit of yellow and purple bruising under one of my eyes, a still tender nose, small bruise on my forehead, and the cut on the inside of my lip has been slow to heal.  My neck and shoulders are also still slightly sore.

I've also made some real progress on the whole "life goals" thing this week.  I figured out which classes I still need for which schools, and where and when I can take the classes.  I also finally bought the GRE prep materials (today mid-blog :P) and am going to sign up to take it May 26 I hope. That is very quickly approaching, but I wanted to give myself the option of taking it again before the turn in deadline for applying (I have to take it before July 31st).

And that's all folks!

Update: I just registered (and paid) to take the GRE June 2.  Wish me luck!

Marching on

I can't believe it's been so long since I last posted, but so it has.

I guess nothing truly noteworthy has occurred.

I've been working at the U now for almost a month (crazy) but nothing has really come to fruition as far as my experiments are concerned. Part of that is because the breast cancer cell line I'd been using kept getting contaminated. Since the other scientist in the lab had a similar issue with this line, we finally decided that they were probably contaminated when they were frozen down, so we needed to get new ones. The other issue I've had is the fact that I'd never run a Western Blot before and the first time I ran one by myself (never having even seen it done in the lab) I inadvertently skipped a crucial step. So that's back to square one as well. Sigh.

In other news I finally decided to join a gym. I ended up choosing the University Rec Center. They have everything (like the RAC at home) - racquetball courts and swimming pools among others. That was the first selling point. Then I found out they can just deduct it out of my paycheck (~$11/paycheck). That, plus the $20/month reimbursement program, made it practically free. The final selling point for that facility was that I have to walk right past it to get to my bus home, which means it's harder to find excuses not to go.

Of course, right after joining, the weather turned amazing. I mean the last week it has been in the 70s in Minneapolis! In March! It's unheard of, but so wonderful. On Tuesday and Wednesday I walked home from work. On Thursday I walked to work, and on Friday I walked to and from work.

Actually Friday was a crazy day. It was a University floating holiday, so I walked in to work, did a few hours of stuff, then walked home. But instead of walking straight home I walked down along the river to Marshall/Lake, and then over to my house (about twice the distance of just walking home). And then I got my bike out of storage, inflated the tires, and rode it to the library. After that I got even crazier and decided to take Addy for a walk. It might not have been bad, but I decided to take her all the way to Sybylla's house. Don't get me wrong, it's not a ridiculously long walk (10ish blocks), but it is with a cat who refuses to walk or even ride nicely. Basically, Addy got freaked out, and I did not help by rushing her along on a long walk (I wanted to make sure we got there and back before the sun went down).

On Saturday (St. Patrick's Day) not much happened. Nathan and I had steak and potatoes off the grill (yummy).

Today (Sunday) I was lazy. I spent the majority of the day watching movies on TV and Hoarders on Netflix. I kept thinking about going outside and enjoying the weather some more but then getting lazy. The 9 miles I walked on Friday (I mapped it out) made my muscles sore. Not so much my legs, but my lower back.

I also really need to get my bike fixed, but instead of taking it to the local bike shop as I originally planned to, I decided to order a new bike chain (and chain tool) off Amazon and attempt to fix it myself. We'll see how that goes...

Finally, in 3 days it will have been 4 years since my Northwest trip in Australia. It's amazing to me how fast time has gone by and how much has changed in those 4 years. I feel older and more mature (no kidding right) but also like not that much has really changed. I'm still as confused as ever about my future!

I'm going to be volunteering at Como Zoo this summer! I got approved to work in the bird area, informing guests about the birds at the zoo. Not sure how it'll go, but I'm sure it will be good for my future! Now I need to get the rest of my classes done, take the GRE, and start applying for vet schools. And time keeps marching on

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!

Viva Mexico!

So on Friday I finally gave WuXi a final day - after hearing from the U that they wanted me to start on Feb 20th. So that's going to be exciting.

I honestly don't remember what all happened over the weekend.

On Monday and Tuesday night, Nathan came over to my house and we painted - he painted small models and I painted on a canvas. I also tried to take him out for McDonald's (I know right, big spender me) and their card readers were down so I couldn't use my gift card (courtesy of Katie, it was a parting gift on my last day at the VA). Plus I had no cash, so he ended up having to pay. So much for that.

I also discovered that I won't get the University employee discount for this semester, and the last day to drop courses for a full refund was on Tuesday, so I ended up dropping my physics course. It was a tough decision to make, but considering it will save me over $1400 I really couldn't justify staying in the class.

After making that money saving decision, I also decided to pull the trigger on purchasing a plane ticket to Cancun! My parents' are going down for a week, they got a timeshare down there, and Megan and I are going to join them for 4 days. Unfortunately the shortness of our trip is because the flight was the cheapest, even one day longer cost $100 more. I'm super excited to get down there somewhere warm and just relax, and the week before I start my new job.

Work this week was literally painful, I labeled so many tubes and plates that on Tuesday my index finger was in physical pain. I ended up having to use my middle finger, and it was just sad. The end of the week got better, but next week will be bad again I'm sure.

Yesterday (Friday) at work we got Baja Sol catered in for lunch. It was to celebrate a record month for the lab - apparently in December they had over half a million $ of work contracted/completed. Kind of insane. Last night I spent far too long at Nathan's house watching Once Upon a Time, a really entertaining show.

Today I slept in, and that's almost it. I really can't think of anything else I really accomplished other than reading, watching TV, playing with Addy, and filling my car with gas.

So overall not much to update on, but hey I tried.