Whoops

So April has rather flown by hasn't it? Or was that just me? It may just be me....
I've had a lot of fun working in Ottawa, learning stuff that I've never done before and making great progress! I seem to have impressed all the people there with my swiftness but they do not know what I can do when I am FOCUSED. I will be done lab work soon - I MUST.
But in my zeal to be all efficient and stuff, I've ended up working really quite hard, all day, with many fewer blog reading/writing breaks. Once I get home, since I am back with my parents, there's more conversation and a hell of a lot more tv to watch. Thus I have rather neglected this, sorry.
But in any case, am returning to the Mville this week with all my prepped samples, though will have to return back here to do some analyses that we will not have time for in the near future.
Returning is something I am quite cool with though as living with the rents is pretty chill, especially the whole not buying groceries bit. I don't think it will a problem to move back for a while next year. I am also really looking forward to getting to see my friends in O-town more, even just being here for a bit has also led to improvement of my personal life on the boy front :). Things are looking up! Ta for now...

Whew

So after a slow start to the week, writing at home punctuated by doctor and other appointments (oh coming home is fun, dentist time!) my Wednesday and Thursday were crazy. I started the extractions that I'm doing here, and so spent two days grinding up bark and swallowing enough of it likely that I think I have drastically reduced my chances of developing type 2 diabetes. Or increasing my chances of lung cancer, whatever.
But progress is being made and that's whats important! We've also already farmed out part of my analyses that aren't going to be part of my thesis but will likely be part of a big paper afterwards, and hopefully will do the same for at least a few of the others. The good part of being part of a big interdisciplinary research project such as I am is that there are many different techniques you can learn, along with PIs you can talk with and get advice from. The downside is that many PIs creates many more people who have ideas for the thing that will just MAKE your paper, and you start to panic when you think of all of the different tests that will require, and time is getting tight to finish your thesis. However, we are also lucky enough to be well funded and can often to hire people to do some of those analyses.
In any case, it's really quite pleasant being at home again. Free food, both in grocery form and being taken out to dinner, seeing the fam, seeing my friends who live here. I think coming back here to live once I start working will be A-OK, especially if my mom keeps buying me cute sweaters. What? I need to expand my professional wardrobe, I'm told that my pilly fleece pullovers which are SO comfy are not office appropriate *pout*.
Update on the computer front: is still acting whacko, may actually need to buy a new once but am hoping to get through all my analyses on this one and then finish the writing on the new one, which will likely be a Mac and I am afraid of learning new software while writing a thesis.
Update on hockey: Habs are in the playoffs! Yay! Sens are not, but at least finished ahead of the Leafs! As I just jeered to my father across the dining table, 'We may both be losers but we're better losers than YOU.' Sometime I wonder how I made it out of childhood without being murdered by one of my parents, I'm sure I deserved it a few times....

Rainy days

Ugh, if you're a reader not from the fair north, you are probably not experiencing our current streak of DAYS and DAYS of rain. It's rather depressing but is actually likely better for getting work done in the long run.
So I am now in Ottawa, we had a very productive team meeting Thursday, Friday. I got a little concerned at one point, because everyone was very excited that I had collected a lot of samples along a geographical gradient last summer and 4 other labs wanted some of my extracts. I am NOT prepared to do all my samples, and to the scale that there will be enough for someone but luckily got my supervisors to agree to me doing a quite reasonable number and if someone else wants to extract and run analyses on other samples, they are welcome to so long as I am on the paper.
Sidenote, I've come to referring to the difficulty of getting both of my supervisors in the same place via a number of metaphors. I previously have said it's like Polkaroo, once one arrives the other has often just left, or yesterday I compared it to two magnets that you're trying to put together. It's not that they don't like each other, they are just both very busy. At the meeting yesterday there were a number of people who wanted to talk to both of them, so I would get one in one place only to see the other get pulled away across the room.... le sigh. Like herding cats. See - another metaphor! Cats with beards, glasses and proclivities for beer - I at least have something to lure them with.
Now hanging at the parental's and am soon off to go shopping with the Mumster! I love being in Ottawa. I'll be doing a lot of work while I'm here, I may do a few extra analyses if we have time, but I intend to enjoy having fewer responsibilities for a time. Everyone have a great weekend, stay dry!

Off to the O-town!

I'm taking off to the O-town today, we're having a team meeting with other scientists and community members for 2 days, and then I'm going to stick around to conduct some new lab stuff with one of our partner labs. It's actually the first part of my Master's work which is completely outside my realm of experience, so I'm quite excited. I will get to hang out with a bunch of people I know as well.

A major benefit of this of course is that I get to go home and chillax at the parent's house for however long I'm there (which had better not be more than 2 weeks or I will not be pleased. I have a SCHEDULE to keep). I get along quite well with my parents, probably due to the whole only child thing, and plan to living at home for at least a while once I return for good to take up the job in the fall. 

It's an absolutely gorgeous spring day here and despite being currently trapped at my desk dealing with editing papers, I'm in a pretty good mood. The video below only added to it - so amazing, you must watch! I'm in such a good mood that the post I was going to write today, about dealing with many co-authors, which is really a rant, will have to wait for another day.