The Thing About the DMV (Day 31)

1) Get there early.
2) Get there early.
3) Get there early.

Here's the situation: my CA ID is about to expire. I now live in MA so I need a MA ID. I've had the forms filled out for awhile but due to laziness and work-related things, I had not gone. But my CA ID expires on Monday. And Friday was a no go because I had to bike to Sports Authority to pick up Color Me Rad packets. And Wednesday was group meeting so that was a no go. It had to be Thursday. But I had lab lunch on Thursday, so getting to the DMV late was not an option. So I dragged myself out of bed at 7:30 and got to the DMV at 8:50.

There was a line of 20 people waiting outside the door.

Maaan, I thought. It's not even open and there's 20 people waiting. Good thing I got here before it opened. So I settled in and waited. And waited. People started filing in behind me. At 8:58 I looked behind me and saw 20 more people. Maaaan, I thought. I'm glad I got here at 8:50. The clock struck 9:00 am. Then 9:15. The doors had not opened. I looked around and nobody seemed perturbed at all, so I settled and waited. By 9:30 there were 50 people behind me. That's when I learned that on Thursdays, in Boston, the DMV opens at 10.

Yeah. Get there early.

I was in and out by 10:30. Walked to lab. This was the view on the way to lab.

Then there was lab lunch. And it was awesome (Tip Tap Room!)

A Sigh of Relief (Day 30)

In video games, as in anything electronically generating data, the rule is to save early and save often. You never know when the next crash is going to come or when a boss is totally going to own you because you didn't spend those last couple of hours leveling up like you were supposed to.

In science, there are also checkpoints. In synthetic chemistry, every new product is a checkpoint, and if you're smart, you don't use all of it in the next reaction if it's new to you. In biology, checkpoints are frozen down cells. When you're generating cells for experiments, the worst thing you can do is run out of cells because if you're going to repeat the experiment, you're going to need a constant supply of cells, and, when the cells are particularly precious (like you made them yourself and you can't just buy them from some company), you had better have a backup. It's much better to spend two weeks growing up some backup stem cells then to have to make new stem cells from scratch.

And stuff does happen. Things get contaminated; cells just up and die. And months of work is lost. (oh yeah, biology timelines can be rough. Instead of oh man I spilled this flask and there goes 3 hours of work, it's like oh man I spilled this flask there goes 5 weeks of work.)

So, it was with great relief that I froze down 23 vials of cells this May 28. It was a rough process. It took....very long.

And then I went home and LJ dyed my hair.

Meh Days and Snacks (Day 29)

Today wasn't especially special. It was cloudy, gloomy, cold and drizzly all day. I had an average work day, uninspired.

A couple of days ago (Sunday), LM, CC, and I made parfaits and watched X-Men. We used the leftover Angel Food Cake from the parfaits to make churro-like bits, basically fry and cover in cinnamon sugar. This was the highlight of the day.

A picture from the past: a door in Newport, RI is watching you. 

Questions and Answers (Day 28)

On the muggy day that was Memorial Day, the boys had a BBQ. I had eaten lunch with LM in the park and saw some youths on a scavenger hunt, but somehow still managed to eat a burger, a bunch of pineapple, a mojito sorbet, and a couple of Popsicles. One of the Popsicles had this riddle printed upon it. Sometimes, the answers are questions in themselves. 

Colors (Days 26-27)

This weekend has been full of color, from nail art

to the new tote bag turned pannier.

Also, there were homemade pretzels and parfaits.

Also, there was a lot of X-men, or should I say, Wolverine Saves the Day. We watched X-men Origins: Wolverine not too long ago and decided to watch the rest of the movies since I had only ever seen the end of the second movie before. But we're renaming the movies: 1) Wolverine Saves the Day (Assist from Cyclops) 2) Wolverine Saves the Day (Assist from Jean Gray) 3) Wolverine Saves the Day (Cameo by Kitty and Bobby). And of course Origins should be renamed Wolverine Saves the Day (and then Loses His Memories). Also, Hugh Jackman has gotten a lot better at rage crying over the years.

Memorial Day is tomorrow but I'm still going into work. #gradschool

After a long week...(Day 25)

You sometimes just need a frozen pizza and a movie night to cheer you up. 

Move Out Day (Day 24)

This time last year was move out day. I left the dorm life behind and embarked on the journey of real life apartment hunting. Looking back at pictures, I now remember it to be muggy and a bit chilly, cloudy and a bit wet. We moved all my stuff (7 boxes and some suitcases) into LJ and LM's apartment for storage and went on the east coast tour. It's weird that it's been a year now. Huh.