Burns night

Okay, it's a little bit out of date, but last week was Burns Night (25th Jan). Did you celebrate?

Over here in my college we had a Burns Supper (the good ol' haggis, neeps and tatties!) and Ceilidh dancing! It was most fun and educating! The only downside for me is that I don't like Scottish Whisky.

"Some hae meat and canna eat,
And some wad eat that want it;
But we hae meat, and we can eat,
Sae let the Lord be thankit."

Strong Winds and A4s

It's been very windy this week. And if you had been reading the news, there were several deaths around the country due to this strong winds.
Today was especially windy... so much so that the boardings at the animal lab construction site blew off and got several protesters hurt.
Speaking of protesters, somebody sent a LETTER BOMB to a company in Abingdon causing some injury to the opener. The letter was an A4 and the sender stated was a Dr. Barry Horne (a dead animal activist).
What is the world coming to?

Recap 2006

Hmm, can't believe it! already another year has passed. I feel like I'm stuck at this stage in life, I don't feel like I've grown much at all... like a... LARVAE AT 4TH INSTAR STAGE BUT CAN'T PUPATE!!!


Ahem, well there are things that did happened during 2006 of course. Im gonna try and re-cap and see if any of the "highlights" are of any real importance.

1. Learning to live as an Oxonian. Um, well at least I saw Thom Yorke.
2. Being on the college student committee and the bar manager. Hair-raising experience.
3. Trying to become a bona fide researcher. I'm still trying really hard :_(
4. Friends. Yes at least I've made some cool friends here.
5. Karate. Yay, I'm back to practicing karate. Shotokan Style.
6. Old Friends. Got to meet with some old friends of mine.

I guess I'm just a tad more wiser (and definitely older). I guess the little steps in life do make a difference afterall. But I do hope 2007 will be a more fulfilling year.

Empty

It's one in the morning, I'm still mulling over my freaking paper... my brain has really vacated the premises! I can seem to write anything!!! Gah!. Other than this empty cranium, I keep having hunger pangs. Glad that there is so much of the turkey from xmas leftover :P... Just how much can I eat? Odd thing is, my BMI puts in the underweight catergory. Where is all the food going?

Man do I feel empty!

Clinging on... just barely

It has been a massive turmoil for the last couple of weeks. I feel like I'm about to be swept off by the waves (dare I say, of tsunami scale?) of stress and unrest in the group. Needless to say there is really one giant root of all problem. My head is like a giant volcano, really to explode/implode...
I'm so ready to get a breather now, and with the latest cock up... everyone in the lab may actually have to take that break...
Oh wait, I still got piles of work to do :(

There's trouble brewing in the new year. I know it. But I do hope at least that it'll come and go quickly and so I can get on with my life.

2007 is supposed to be a very special year for me and a certain group of old friends... simply because we vowed to meet up in that year after 5 years of separation... I just need to hang on tight for a while and ride out these turbulent days.

I need a drink...

Happy Birthday Ping!

A quick shout-out to Ping!

Happy birthday! I hope you will have a good day, and... celebration perhaps?

Anyway, many happy returns!

Wrung out

It's been a hectic week. And then bar things till late at night ... I'm glad on days like a Saturday to make up for the sleep debt. But that means I rarely see the sun... not that there is much at this time of the year!

Christmas is coming... time flies... oh boy...

Season Warmer - Tapioca style!

(LEFT: My pudding on my ugly red carpet.)

When it gets all dark and cold and wet during this autumn, I'd love a warm and comforting dessert. So after much experimenting about with tapioca, I've made a pudding... much like the asian sago pudding classic. It was yum! Here's how.






Ingredients:

Tapioca pearls
Palm Sugar
Double cream
Coconut milk powder
Soya milk

1. First cook the tapioca pearls in lots of boiling water for about 10 minutes. Then leave it to cool for another ten and let the pearls turn completely transparent. Strain and wash under a tap to remove excess starch.
2. Return the tapioca into the pan. Add coconut milk powder and a little soya milk and mix to make a thick liquid.
3. Add chunks of palm sugar according to your level of sweetness. Gently heat the mixture until sugar dissolves.
4. Add a dash of double cream and stir until mixture is thick.
5. Pour into cups/bowls and top it up with some peach slices or other fruits of your choice.
6. Eat!

(Right: Close up of my half eaten pudding.)

Something to take away those winter blahs eh?
Right now, back to work!

Running away from responsibilties

It is as if I am jinxed or something. Experiments are going awry, even the simple ones... The amount of stupid mistakes that I would normally not make is ridiculous... and sometimes just unexplainable that things go wrong.
So naturally I'm feeling down in the dumps. I can't get around how come I'm majorly this bad? I've done lab work before and never had a problem. It's like my brain has died or gone missing. Maybe I killed it or left it behind in Cardiff with Brains (lager).
To make matters more complicated,I'm still managing a bar part-time that is under pressure to perform better. When I first took over, it was a tip! Every health and safety (not a big fan of this, but the basic H&S common sense should be obviously applied) and hygiene regulation was practically broken. At least that is somewhat under control.

So, I've decided to take a trip to visit a friend in Exeter. Don't care of the running experiments. Nor the bar. I'm running away from here!

Maybe when I come back I'll be better?

"Well here I go,it's coming at me through the trees
Help me, someone, help me, please
Take my shoes off, and i will throw them in the lake, and I will be, two steps on the water

I found a fox, who was caught by dogs, he let me take him in my hands
His little heart, it beat so fast
And I'm ashamed to be running away
From nothing real, i just can't deal with this
I feel ashamed to be there"

- The Futureheads/ Kate Bush, Hounds of Love.

Grumble grumble

The days are getting oh so short, yet there is more and more things to do. I'm having to keep an updated dairy... something I've never done. This week, I'm fully book... really, my day starts at 9am and ends at 11pm... today I'm only going to bed at 3 or 4am.

I want to lie down!

Halloween aftermath

After a record earning at the bar for Halloween on Friday, my recently acquired flu decided to punish me even more.
Well, at least in misery I will have the satisfaction of being told of doing a good job - even if right now I've lost my voice, coughing, sniffling and have tons of academic work to do. And darn, still have to go back to the bar and do the stock... even with the extra hour gain is not helping enough!

Have a great Halloween to all.

Health and Safety... BAH!

Sometimes (and by that I mean most times) Health and Safety has no logic whatsoever. So afraid that we might hurt ourselves in everything we do, H&S officers are adamant that we fill out forms after forms after forms of safety rules and follow them. We now have to wear goggles and mittens when using a microwave!!!

But then, last week someone had a bit an accident that was potentially dangerous. What was Health and Safety good for when you really can't expect the unexpected? They can't even tell me how I could dispose a long plastic pippette that does not go into the normal pippette bins...

As most people who watches Top Gear will know, that Richard Hammond was injured while driving a Dragster for the show recently. Now Health and Safety is crawling all over them, trying to find fault at why this was unexpected.

Same goes with my lab now. Things like a dirty shelve is suddenly a H&S issue.

I do think we need a level of safety, but really, it is a common sense thing. But we can't have everything dictate to us. If the UK had an earthquake tomorrow and the chemicals on the shelves were to fall down on us, are we then gonna put all chemicals on the floor and have no shelves?

Meantime, I wish the Hamster a speedy recovery and can't wait for the new season to show. I heard that filming has resumed today for Jeremy Clarkson and James May. Yay!

Embarrassed

One morning I cycled to work, lightly singing a song that is supposed to be Karma Police.

And just as I cycled pass a bus stop I saw someone that seemed quite familiar. It took me a while to realise...

It's Thom Yorke. Again. (Hmm, why is he waiting at a bus stop?)

The expression on my face when I finally recognised him must be errr, amusing. I don't think he heard me singing.

Embarrassing...

Then again, maybe I'm mistaken and that person is not Thom... (wishing partially that it was a mistake).

Summer is over

And just like that the summer has come and gone. The trees are turning yellow and red. Days are rainy and colder... though with the occasional warm sunshine.

So, recap of the summer: What I did

Work, work, work...
Outdoor sports like tennis and cricket
Get to see a Bollywood film being made in Oxford. Their trailers and cars were parked outside my department. It seems that Priyanka Chopra and Salman Khan was here (oops, I saw them but didn't really recognised them in the flesh... my bad. Plus, I walked pass the camera while going for lunch. Oops again.)
Karate in the stuffy dojo.
Holiday in Italy
Worldcup
Summer Ball
Punting
Picnics

Hmmm, it was a great summer I think. I wish it wasn't over so quickly.

Goodbye, Crocodile Hunter

Not a good start to a Monday morning when I read the news. 'Crocodile Hunter' Steve Irwin has just passed away early today from a diving accident. According to BBC news, he was killed by a sting ray.
This is a sad, sudden loss. He was such an inspiration. He was probably the first person to make me look at reptiles in another light...
He truly loved wild life and I guess at the end he died doing what he loved.
He will be truly missed. But his legacy will go on.
Thank you, Steve. People like you are the reason I studied biology.

My condolences to Terri Irwin and the rest of the family.

In between experiments 4

Waiting for another experiment to finish. Been listening to a band called The Shins from someone's iTunes. I love the music sharing thing. Anyway, I think this song is good:

So Says I
By The Shins

An address to the golden door
I was strumming on a stone again
pulling teeth from the pimps of gore when hatched
a tragic opera in my mind...
and it told of a new design
in which every soul is duty bound
to uphold all the statutes of boredom therein lies
the fatal flaw of the red age.

Because it was nothing like we'd ever dreamt,
our lust for life had gone away with the rent we hated
and because it made no money nobody saved no one's life.

So we burned all our uniforms
and let nature take its course again
and the big ones just eat all the little ones
that sent us back to the drawing board.

In our darkest hours
we have all asked for some
angel to come
sprinkle his dust all around
but all our crying voices they can't turn it around
and you've had some crazy conversations of your own.

We've got rules and maps and guns in our backs
but we still can't just behave ourselves
even if to save our own lives, so says I, we are a brutal kind.

Cause this is nothing like we'd ever dreamt
tell Sir Thomas Moore we've got another failed attempt
cause if it makes them money they might just give you life this time.

Such a loser...

It's bank holiday and here I am at work. The building is quiet and I feel very odd indeed. Sigh!
Since all cafeterias are closed, I went to Sainsbury's to buy lunch. Big mistake. The noodle salad a bought was not only cold, but half of it was frozen. Now I would have gone back to complain but it's like a 20 minute walk. Blech!

Today I feel like such a loser... :(

Gloomy thoughts

Boss (AKA supervisor) is throwing hissy fit again... well as far as I know that it's got nothing to do with me, but the fact that he is taking it out on people creates resentment.

That is only one of his problems.... Anyway, here I am thinking if continuing this course of work under is one particular person is a decision I should change. If it was just a regular job, I would think about not renewing my contract or quit before things get worse. But as it were, I'm actually trying, at the end of three years, to obtain a PhD. I'm in doubt now wheter I would finish my PhD at this rate. Sigh!

Just how far would I go before actually resolve to give up for good?
Well, I got a meeting with the Boss today. Hopefully it won't be too bad. Must remember to not cower in fear... X_X

Life without a computer

My powerbook has finally kicked its aluminium bucket. And I'm without a computer at home. Life seems so much more quite and boring without a computer. I've began to pace around in my noiseless room, it's just so odd...

That is how dependent some people has become to computers, sadly.

I need to get my little lappy fixed! I'm now using a very old iMac at work... well, at least it's better than none.

Lab boredom antics

If you work in a lab, do you sometimes find yourself sitting around waiting for your samples? Long enough to get bored, but not long enough for you to walk away and do something else. Here are 10 things I've done/seen in my lab other than the usual sitting and stairing into space.

1. Sleep/dose. I've observed a researcher in my lab taking forty winks on his chair, feet up on the mini fridge, while waiting for his samples/results. Surprising how he never falls.
2. Kata practice. Tekki Shodan is the best for long and narrow lab spaces such as mine. Perplex glass on the microbiological safety cabinet/ fume cabinet is good for seeing your reflection while you practice. Recommend you do this when no one is around. Be careful not to topple things.
3. Spinning around on the swivel chair. Makes you dizzy. Only if you have one of those in your lab. I remembered doing a lot of when I was four or five, and broke my tooth once when I fell... Oh well.
4. Talk. Have a good chat with another colleague. Only if you have friendly and good-natured ones. Some researchers get highly annoyed if you try to chat with them or make noise generally in the lab. Luckily, non of my lab colleague are grumpies.
5. Sing. Sing along with the radio in the lab. Or just sing your own song. A couple of researchers in my lab like to do this. Sometimes one of them would whistle a tune. Mostly though this is done when they are still doing something, and not waiting around.
6. Clean. Give the work bench a good wipe down.
7. Read. Anything from newspapers to work articles. Bleh.
8. Dance. Know some moves? Why not try it out on the smooth floor (if you have a smooth floor) of the lab. Again, alone is best to avoid embarrassment.
9. Organise. Keeping your work place free of clutter.
10. Write/draw. Usually work-related things like a 'to do' list for tomorrow or 'to buy' list. Sometimes though it's just doodles.

OK. That's all. Hope that inspired someone, or made someone laugh at least.