Argh!
Oh frustrations abound today. I came to work today (it's Sunday) to set up for an experiment that I'm running tomorrow so that I can get my stuff done before I move up to Gainesville. The set up shouldn't have taken more than an hour, in fact, I should be leaving right now. But, because the LB media got contaminated and has a nice cloudy shade to it that looks remarkably like B subtilis (read: Sarcasm) I have to throw it out and make an entirely new batch of media which will take an hour just to sterilize, THEN I get to set up the experiment. So now, instead of getting out at 1 pm like I was planning, I probably won't get out until 3, and I got here at 12:30. Not only that, but since I was expecting to only be innoculating culture, I didn't bother bringing my lab notebook with me so I didn't have the recipe for making LB media and I had to look it up online. When I did look it up I found two different recipes, which normally wouldn't be a problem but I couldn't remember if it was 10:5:5 parts or if it was 10:10:5 parts, and the two different recipes were exactly those two different parts. ARGH!!! So now I'm sitting in the lab, wasting time and waiting for my LB to sterilize. Then I get to wait for it to cool. THEN I can innoculate and leave.
So frustrating.
American Idiocy
Ok, so I listen to this radio show on my way to work in the morning (it tends to be hilarious, keeps me awake, and involved for my hour long drive). It's an Orlando station, 101.1 This morning I turned them on in the middle of a debate about Global Warming. Now, I didn't hear the original statement but I did hear the final conversation. Basically, the radio trio had opened their lines up to callers to discuss if a) they believed in Global Warming and b)if they were going to do anything to curb GW.
Now, at first I was like "Hmm, I wonder what people think" and then as I listened I just started getting pissed off, and I was on the verge of dialing the station to insert my two points when they closed phone calls (that and I didn't get the last four digits of the phone number into my cell) A minor irritating fact is that people don't believe in Global Warming. I'm sorry, but we should be on the downward decline into the next ice age according to the previous warming and cooling patterns but the global average temperature keeps increasing, rather than decreasing. That to me (as a scientist) is pretty indicative of a global warming episode. Some moron then called to say that he supported GW because Bass were found off the coast of Alaska. WTF???? ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME? Then the absolute idiot of the radio trio went on to say that the majority of the public opinion was "Global Warming? Screw Bush. We're gonna have 600 lb venison now!" OMG.
All I could think about was the Gen Ecology lecture from Morris when we learned about the Surface Area:Volume ratio. You get smaller animals in warmer climates. That's why the deer in Florida are tinier than northern deer, and more wirery (?) Forget the venison you fucking idiot, it's just gonna get stringy. Oh the uneducated public frustrates me to no end.
Excitement!
"Attention all personnel, a tornado has been sighted by the LSC building. A tornado warning is in effect for all areas of KSC. All personnel, please take cover in an area with no windows."
This announcement, at 11:05am today. Woot! Of course I had read the tornado protocol and I knew that I was supposed to take cover. But I did what every other scientist in this building does...I went to the really big windows to maybe see the sucker! And there it was. Beautiful.
Memorable quotes:
"I've never seen one that good before"
"I've seen better ones"
Just to give you an idea of where we were standing to watch the tornado (saw it dissolve too, that was nifty), here (hopefully) is a picture, um, above the post....
Thank you President Bush
*stares daggers in the direction of DC*
Stupid religion and government being inexplicably intertwined despite everyone's protests to the contrary!!! Today Bush announced he was vetoing stem cell research. The last shred of hope I had for liking him is now gone. I thought he was an okay guy, but this, to me, is the last straw. He's killing America and he's killing science. Stem cells are an avenue of hope, and I don't give a shit that there are "adult stem cells". They are already differentiated. We need fetal stem cells, those that can still become any kind of cell in the body.
I hate him I hate him I hate him.
Hrm?
May I have your attention please. A phase 1 Lightning Warning and Policy is now in effect for all areas of KSC until further notice. Thank you.
*sigh* And when I heard the sonic boom from shuttle reentry yesterday morning I thought I had blown out a tire....
*dances*
*is hungry*
RARGH!
