Dr. Who

Linville Gorge Adventures, Part I

2008-08-01T10:27:00.000-07:00

Part of my decision to move to “the south” was to take full advantage of the beautiful weather and scenery by incorporating more outdoor activities in my life. These activities were rather prohibited while I lived in OH due to weather, work and personal issues. One of the things I used to enjoy the most was hiking. Hiking in my definition was driving to a state park (usually in OH, PA, or MI), hiking a multitude of fairly moderate trails, and then returning home exhausted at the end of the day. Since hiking is bountiful here, I have taken up this hobby again, and also in part to having friends who enjoy the same past time. To add to my hiking adventures I have incorporated camping to the mix. I have never camped outside before, but again having friends and the boyfriend who are pros at it, makes it much easier to partake (b/c they have all the gear and know what to take, what to do, etc).

This past weekend I went on my second “car camping” trip. Myself, the boyfriend (S), the labmate (E), and another friend (J) all drove up to Linville Gorge near Ashville for a weekend of hiking, beer drinking, and being one with nature. We left work a little early on Friday afternoon so we could arrive there in time to find a decent camp site, and set up the tents before it got dark. The first night we were there we were visited by the Parks only two Park Rangers. They just wanted to check up on us and then reprimanded for not having a camp fire (it was too late and we were feasting on fried chicken by the latern- we were saving the fire for later).

We were up with the sunrise on Saturday morn to be greeted by rain, despite the fact the weather report predicted only a 20% chance of precipitation. We set up the tarps and hung out until the rain dissipated and the sun returned (the great part of NC, it rains briefly, stops, and the sun comes out).

We headed out to our first trail, Pine Gap, one of the “easiest” trails. It was beautifully lush, with many tiny frogs, butterflies and all kinds of plants. However, it was rocky, slippery and very single-track. On our way down we came upon another hiker, Peter. He had taken a stumble attempting to get back onto the trail after getting lost. He was lumbering, by himself, with a pack equipped for a three nights stay down by the river. We talked to him with a bit, making sure he was alright. He claimed he was OK going back to his car. We felt a little uneasy leaving him there but he assured us he was fine. E loaned him her trekking poles to help him along the way, and we continued on the trail telling Peter that we would be back this way in case he did indeed need some assistance.

We made our way to the river, trekked around, and enjoyed the time down there. Finally we decided to head back to grab another trail that had a junction with Pine Gap and continue that way. Unfortunately (or fortunately) the maps aren’t the greatest and the trails aren’t clear paths, so we were confused. It was decided to play it say and just head back to the car, find the beginning of the trail head we wanted rather than getting lost in the thick of the “jungle.” On our way back we ran into Peter again (this was almost 2 h after we first ran into him and he hadn’t made much progress). It was clear from this second meeting that he was not OK. We decided a head of time E and J would trek back to the car, go to the info center and call for help. S and I would stay behind, I would carry his gear and S would help him walk along the trail. As we were with him, he retold us how he lost the trail, found it again, but decided to take a short cut to get back on track. Well, the short cut wasn’t the safest of routes especially b/c of the recent rain and he slipped, falling down the face of the mountain, until he was stopped by a large fallen tree, right on his hip, a branch narrowly missing his face. He struggled back somehow, where we ran into him. He looked in visible pain, but refused to sit and wait for help so we continued to walk with him. The trail was difficult his left leg was injured or something and having to lift it even slightly was excruciating for him. We figured if he had broken something there would be no way he could walk, so perhaps it was something minor-we hoped. We had small talk along the way until J came back maybe 30-45 min later letting us know help was on its way. EMS was finishing helping another hiker with a dislocated shoulder and should be here soon. Only then would Peter finally stop and wait.

To be continued...

Meet Cliff

2008-07-25T11:17:00.001-07:00

My poor suffering blog. I haven’t posted to you, my valiant and gentle readers in quite some time now. I apologize. Not for lack of quality material, I kid you not, but more for lack of motivation (please ref to previous postings). Agh, the mysterious, elusive motivation. Alas! Sweet one, when did you leave my life? Are you ever to return? Dr. Who is not the same without you as part of life.

Enough lamenting, on to bigger and better things: bugs. We are in the middle of the hot bed of summer here in the Carolinas, and with the over-the-top temperatures comes with it the over-the-top insects. Have you heard the expression, “they grow them big down in the south?” That phrase is based in truth. I cannot even describe the types of creatures I have encountered here. It was like the earth’s core opened up and the beasts that feed off the hot magma, demanding reprieve and variety, crawled out to the surface us measly humans inhabit and decided to take up base. These insects magically traverse wood, concrete, and stone to enter homes and thrive in their cool interior. No form of poison is equipped to combat their amour-like exoskeletons.

Case in point: Cliff. Cliff entered my life a couple of weeks ago. I noticed him immediately as he took up residence outside (thank the Lord OUTSIDE!) my window next to my door. I have always wanted a dog for companionship, and for protection. I recently learned that I don’t need a dog for these things, I need a giant insect. I was completely frightened of Cliff at first. Under these circumstances my first call of action would be to Raid him, however, due to his size as well as his appearance, he was hugely intimidating. If I did something to upset Cliff, he would beat the crap out of me, I was sure. I decided to therefore leave him alone, with the mentality that if I don’t bother him, he will not bother me. So whenever I left or entered my home I would be greeted by Cliff. I would stop near him (what I considered a safe distance away) and say hello, and he would chomp his antlers at me (what I interpreted as “sh*t lady let a man sun himself in peace!”). We were all cool. The boyfriend soon met Cliff and after some research on his part discovered that Cliff was a male stag beetle (which is good b/c I gave him a boys name). I subsequently learned that Cliff could fly and was relatively harmless, the latter, I still don’t believe.

Say hello to my little friend, Cliff.

This is his better side.

I thought Cliff and I would have a short relationship. I was wrong. He stood guard over my apartment day and night for almost a month. He hardly moved except for waving his “antlers” at me when I said “hi” or “bye”. I felt protected, and secure in the knowledge that Cliff was just outside my door. Then one day, as mysteriously as he appeared, he disappeared. I haven’t seen him since. I have learned from this experience that man and insect *can* co-exist. Well, at least until one party over-steps their bounds and then then someone gets Raided or hit with a giant shoe.

Dumb and Dumber

2008-05-05T11:34:00.000-07:00

I made mention earlier (via personal communications) about our center’s secretary. For those I haven’t complained to about this person, simply put she is not the sharpest tool in the shed, not the most motivated, and overall incompetent. I am supportive of anyone who will at least “try” to do their job. However, when there are deadlines to be had, and they are feeding you lines such as, “I’m working 24/7 on this and you WILL hear from me today!” Today comes and goes, and when you check back they are surfing Facebook and your materials remain unprocessed on the due date. Not happy, not at all. Suppressing desires to yell, scream, and break things…

Recently, however, she brought my esteem for her to a new level. Before I begin my story a little background is in order. I interviewed for my current job during the summer, and during the time I accepted the position and began my current position I had my name changed. Now this secretary is new, and didn’t commence her appointment until well after I had already entered the “system” (e.g. payroll, the center, etc . etc) with my wonderful and exciting new name. She knows me as no one else. So why would there ever be any confusion, right? Wrong.

An issue arose during the process of renewing an important funding source. She needed vital information from each of us trainees to bolster this document and needed it ASAP. Since she took her time processing my important documents, I of course, being the good Christian that I am, reciprocated, “do unto others as you would like them to do unto you” being the quote in my head. I send my details back as requested on the deadline day in the late afternoon. Didn’t hear anything back about the information or the funding source, so I assumed my part was done in all this fan fare and I could continue with the everyday.

Now every once and again, I will check my graduate school email account to make sure no one is still emailing me there. It is soon to expire, so I wanted to retrieve some emails before it closed. This email address is under my former name and has my old university’s name after the @ symbol so when you email someone, they know exactly who it is from and where. To my surprise (chagrin) I see a series of emails from this secretary stamped “important, urgent, we need you to respond now!” etc and cc’d my advisor to boot. Irritated, I open one of the emails and see that she is writing me under my old name requesting the same information that she requested of me earlier. It is apparent she does not realize that I am one in the same person. Why my old name randomly popped up in her contact list for the funding source was a bit confusing to me considering I was completely processed under my new name, therefore making the old name a non-issue. Also, if I was indeed currently employed by The University why would I need to be contacted at another institution?? Perplexing.

To remedy the issue I sent the following email from my grad school email (names changed of course for privacy reasons):

Dear Secretary-

As you might not be aware, Jane Blotto and Jane Supersignal is the
same person (i.e. me) I changed my name upon my appointment at The University, therefore I have already sent you as well as this other person you told me to send the email to the requested information on April 17th from my "Jane Supersignal" account from my University work account.

Please do not use this account for me in the future, it is my graduate
school email account that I thought had already expired.

If there is any additional confusion, please do not hesitate to contact
me at: jane_supersignal@our.university.edu

Regards
Jane Supersignal

This should have solved the problem.

Approximately 5 min after the email was sent, I receive a phone call at my current lab from our secretary.

Secretary: Hi Jane, so do you know this Jane Blotto and how I can get in contact with her? Internal dialogue: Huh? Is this a joke? I did just send that email. Am I in the twilight zone, or getting Punk’d? Back to reality: no joke, she was serious.
Me: Um, yes I know her quite well actually. (stifling laughter).
Secretary: Well, how may I get in touch with her?
Me: We are the same person. At which time, I re-hash the whole name change and question why that name is still in their record books.
Secretary: This is a huge problem. Payroll needs to be informed b/c we have you down twice as on the funding source taking two slots. Back to internal dialogue: Really, I could have worked the system to get paid twice! Back to reality.
Me: No, secretary, I registered everything as Jane Supersignal the only confusion is created by you. (in as nice a voice as possible that could hide my pure annoyance that she is taking up my precious time considering what hell she put me through before when I had my own deadlines to meet.)
Secretary: OK, don’t worry. I can fix this, doesn’t look good but I’ll see what I can do. Internal dialogue: Since when did this become *my* problem. Do your job and leave me alone!!!

I hang up the phone with reserved irritation.

I never cease to be amazed.

Reflections on March Madness, After the Madness

2008-04-24T17:52:00.000-07:00

There is much to comment about, living in the south, especially down “tobacco road.” In particular, this phenomenon called March Madness. Many of you loyal college basketball enthusiasts would have heard of it before. It is a period of 2-3 months where people and places are infected with a fever; a basketball fever. If you recall, I live and work in a place called Chapel Hill, home of the famous UNC Tarheels, ranked #1 in the nation for the 2008 season. Welcome to Blue Heaven, this is where our story begins.

Everyone, down in the south, and I mean *everyone* are loyal, to the death, basketball followers. It’s not just UNC (although for obvious reasons, I am partial) it’s for Wake Forest, Duke, NC State or Davidson. If you are from the area, or transplants (both foreign and native) you quickly become engrossed in the excitement and before you know it, you life revolves around basketball. The next few months during the season are futile for work productivity, as much time is spent trying to finagle your way into home games (as tickets are next to impossible to secure if you are not a student) strategizing b-ball, and basically living for the next game. Also which bar to go to for which game also becomes important decision, as you cannot just walk into an establishment at tip off. That is, unless you don’t mind watching the game through the reflection in the window. On Franklin Street, (the main drag in Chapel Hill) you must secure your place hours in advance of the game’s start and this fight is not just with the collegiate, but alumni, locals, and your fellow co-workers.

It is hard to describe the passion these people exude for their respective teams. Shops, restaurants, homes, cars etc are decorated in team colors and words of encouragement pour out of those passing by. People with nothing in common bond over their love of the game and their teams. Watch out if rival schools play (e.g. UNC vs Duke). Fires, riots, and nasty words spew even out of the most innocent mouths. Once the regular ACC season is over, March madness commences with a fury. Schools pause during classes and TVs are rolled into gymnasiums so students and faculty may follow the games that appear while school is in session. Even those working in, dare I say, “real” jobs also benefit from this phenomena. Case in point, an email I received from the Associated Director of Basic Research at the Cancer Center which read, “The UNC-FSU men's basketball game can be seen in the Pagano Conference Room starting at noon. Bring your lunch and watch the game.” For those conducting research at any other institution, if you were like me, you would have read this email 5x’s, then saved it, then read it again. We all know that doing anything other than bench work would be blasphemy. Here, it is standard to see the big screens magically appear in the atrium, blasting UNC and non-games to those passing through to catch an update of the score. Pools for brackets overflow from every work environment and big money and big reputations are at stake. Even the boss is in it for blood.

Unfortunately for us UNC fans, our beloved Heels lost in the final four. They put forth an exceptional season and we are all proud of them.

If I haven’t said this before, I’ll say it here, and you can quote me: I love this place. Welcome to basketball heaven. I hope all y’all will join me for next year.

Of Science and Skiing

2008-02-27T07:46:00.000-08:00

I most recently returned from a scientific conference in Taos, NM. It is of the Keystone series of symposia. If you haven’t heard of it already, you should really check it out. They have conferences on all kinds of science, from migration in invasion and inflammation to the future of biofuels or the genetics of sleep. This is the second keystone conference I have attended in my stint as a scholar of science. The greatest thing about these conferences is that they are deliberately held at ski resorts. The intention being, you listen to the science in the morning, hit the slopes during the 6 h afternoon break, and then return for another evening of more science. The day is ended with an open bar and a full buffet-style dinner. Who could ask for anything more? Exceptional science, coupled with exceptional skiing.

My trip did not fail to disappoint. Luckily, I was accompanied by some great people who are a blast to hang out with and like to do “stuff”. Admittedly, we skipped out on the keynote address the first night to try watching the Carolina game at a local bar, Shadows. You would think with a name like that and a neon sign blinking beer that it would be a dodgy place. Actually, it was quite the contrary. There was live music and there were many families with children amongst the rest of us heathens. The manager Pedro was even so kind as to change the T.V. station, to allow us to watch our beloved Tar Heels.

We were able to spend two days on the slopes. I have to tell you Taos, NM when they have snow, especially fresh powder, is *the* place to ski. Long runs, friendly staff, and no people! It was relatively inexpensive as well (granted us Keystoners got a discount). Drive in, ski the better of the day, and drive out; it was as simple as that. Coming from the Midwest, this was a new experience for me. Usually, what we consider “ski resorts” (i.e. converted trash heaps, no joke) are constantly packed with people. The hills are always icy and short (we don’t have real mountains or powder for that matter), and you spend most of your time dodging the ski school if you were ever able to find a parking spot to even enter the place. Perhaps I am becoming somewhat of a ski-snob, but I don’t care. Especially as a beginner skier, a situation like that is counterproductive.

The rest of the conference was spent admiring the local color of the town, and experiencing the enchantment that is NM. It lived up to all my stereotypes, complete with red muddy earth, miles of nothing, and true cowboys that looked weathered by the earth and too much alcohol.

We also hit the local spa one day for a nice long massage after our first day of skiing (which was sorely needed, no pun intended). If you have the opportunity, try the RIVER STONES massage. OMG, heaven on earth. Then sit in the outside hot tub. Conference? I felt like I was on vacation. In the spirit of my first Keystone with Lil Kate, I just had to go snowshoeing again. My experience in NM was a little different then the Utah adventure. In Utah, we had a cute scruffy guide who carried our supplies and led us up to some beautiful panoramic mountain views. In contrast, the NM outing was more like being dropped off in the middle of nowhere and told that you have 2 h to be back at the spot you started or you would be left behind. Regardless of the odd circumstances we had a blast.

The remainder of trip, when not attending poster sessions and talks, was spent sitting around the fire, drinking beer, and partaking in witty banter. I think I could do this as a full time job. Although, by the time the symposium was completed, I was completely exhausted. I took a full day to recover (mainly sleep).

All in all, good fun. I highly recommend it!

Oh, and I'll try and upload some photos later (I'm sure you will all writhe with anticipation!!)

Because

2008-02-03T16:02:00.000-08:00

Every time I see him, I smile. (:

Back in the Day (which was a Wednesday if you didn’t know)

2008-02-01T13:36:00.000-08:00

(Reminiscing) I remember when I could drink and drink and drink and reach that perfect point of pure euphoria-with no repercussions.

Well, times, they-are-a-changing.

I went to a hockey game this week, which involved your typical pre-game tail gate. The food was sizzling and the beer was flowing. Life was good. I had consumed 2 beers prior to entry into the rink, where I went on to purchase another cold one. I was feeling great, screaming my heart out (which I don’t get to do as much as I would like), chatting, laughing, blah, blah blah. At this point, my beer count was only 3, and since I wasn’t the DD, and the game was going into over-time, like most, I got up and purchased another beer. Now I am not a *small* person. Three beers shouldn’t put someone like me “over the edge.” I had trained myself in the UK to be able to drink at least 4-5 of the Queen’s pints, which for me, was completely respectable. However, once I took a sip of #4, my body went into a slight convulsion. I quickly pawned the beer off to some other, much willing recipient and left it at that. My team won the game (whoo hoo!), and after some more congregating we were on our way home. That turned out to be the longest car ride of my life as my body slowly started to destroy itself from the inside out (well, that is what it felt like at any rate). I did manage to make it home, but quickly set up camp in the bathroom were I sweated out my convulsions and the emptying out of my stomach.

More than anything, I am upset that my body can no longer tolerate what I once so enjoyed. I did have an incident back in college, where I can honestly say I drank way too much, as I was left incapacitated (and by incapacitated, I mean unconcious) for over 48 h after. I have never been the same since, but I am sorry body, that was years ago. Get over it.

The sad part is as well, that I FEEL hung over. I shouldn’t have the pain without the glory of the drunkenness that precedes it. Stupid body.

Food for Thought

2008-01-18T12:33:00.000-08:00

I was recently informed that if you google the words, "North Carolina, frosty, and sperm," you will get my blog.

I thought that was an interesting piece of information about the wide-array of diversity within this blog. Hell, I think they were all even within one post.

At any rate...

A Christmas Story (Part II)

2008-01-11T07:45:00.000-08:00

The month of December seemed to move by pretty quickly, and before I knew it, it was time to fly back and see the family. I’ve been spoiled in this regard, because I have never lived further than a 2 h drive from “home.” Well, except the one year I was in the U.K., but I digress… There was never much preparation involved, throw clothes in bag, and leave. Now, I must plan months in advance to obtain a reasonable airfare, coordinate the drive to and from the airport etc., and most importantly budget the money. I had gone home for Thanksgiving, and that was pretty uneventful so I became brave and decided tried a different airport an add in a layover to get an *extra* cheap flight. Everything seemed like it would work out just fine. I was leaving rather early for Christmas, thereby missing the usual holiday rush. The other airport added another 1 h to the my drive but that was fine, I was saving $100.

It was madness up until the day of my departure. I was rushing to get critical experiments accomplished, which honestly, any experiment I rush to get done never works. It is a universal rule, and I have yet to learn my lesson. A friend from grad school was also visiting the day before I left. I haven’t seen her in a couple months and there was so much to talk about in so little time. Then the next thing I know it was off to the airport at 8 am the following day. I am happy to say I didn’t get lost, but it was further away then I initially anticipated and it was a very small airport. Good at that second b/c there were not long lines, and it was a breeze to get through check-in and security.

Now I neglected to inform you that when I tried to check in online the airline I booked my ticket with, I’ll call it airline A, would not allow me to check-in. Instead, I was redirected to another airline’s website (airline B) where I figured out that my first flight had been booked by airline A for airline B’s flight. OK.

I’m sitting at the appropriate terminal waiting to take off, when they announce the flight is delayed. I don’t know what traveler isn’t used to such an annoyance, therefore I wasn’t really concerned. I expected to miss my connecting flight, but was confident that the airline would work something out for me. Much to my chagrin, I find that airline B was unable to put me on another flight with them b/c I ordered my tickets via airline A, and they couldn’t book me an airline A flight as my connecting flight was indeed an airline A flight. Confused yet? Their advice: my best course of action was to find an airline A attendant and beg for help. Being at a super tiny airport (although they claim it is an international airport…I think maybe one flight leaves for an international destination) there were no airline A attendants to be found. I could go back through security and try at the check-in kiosks, but then I would miss the already delayed initial flight. I even tried calling airline A (I was on hold for 30 min) only to find out they could not help me either. I “yelled” (I’ve only actually yelled at someone twice in my life) at them for tricking me into flying on another airline, and if they could mix and match passengers why couldn’t they do the same for me now??? Phone guy: “Well miss, next time check your itinerary for this circumstance before you book your ticket.” Me: “Bite me.” No, no I didn’t say that but I wanted to. I have a PhD, I feel confident enough to say that I CAN read, and it didn’t say I was taking another airline until I tried to check-in online (24 h before departure AFTER the ticket was paid for). What makes the situation even more annoying is that another couple booked the same flight as myself from airline B and was told their flight was really an airline A flight so they were in the same boat as I was, just in reverse. Now, does that make any sense??

To make a long story short, after running around Cincinnati airport for over an hour, I did get my flight situation sorted out. After finally doing so, I asked the attendant, “What will happen to my luggage,” his response, “hahahahahahahahah.” I started to cry internally. To all those reprimanding me for checking bags, my response to you is I HAD TO. I did eventually receive my bags 2 days later, and left on the front steps of my mother’s home somewhere between the hours of 12-1 AM. That is another story in and of itself…

What I’ve learned from this experience:
1. Airlines are the devil.
2. Spend the extra money and take a direct flight from a *real* airport
3. Count your blessings, I complain, but my flight could have plummeted and crashed into a ball of flames/toxic fumes. I arrived, late but alive, and stuff is just stuff. Right? (;

After all this bad spiritedness (I don’t think this is a word but I will use it anyways) on my part, once I arrived at home I had a great time. It was probably the best Christmas I have had in recent memory. Lots of instrument playing, carol singing (my uncle got a karaoke machine and we went to town with it!), alcohol and family. Who could ask for anything more? It was the perfect prelude to the start of the New Year.

A Christmas Story (Part I)

2008-01-03T12:05:00.000-08:00

I haven’t posted as frequently as I envisioned in my head. I have no excuses. Now, I am used to being *very* busy, but I had always managed to fit everything in, plus. Currently I cannot say that I am so preoccupied with work, social things, etc that I have no time to post. I am just lazy. I don’t know if it’s b/c of everything that’s happened in the last 6 months that has completely stripped me of doing anything then just minimally functioning or that I no longer have an ounce of motivation (probably a combination of both I imagine). I manage to find a way to utilize all my new “free” time by doing absolutely nothing. It’s quite easy actually. Anyways, that kind of set the tone for the holiday season. Summing up, I was just bah humbug.

Usually by Dec 1st, I have orchestrated a Christmas cookie party, festively decorated the home, blasted the holiday tunes, and sent out the Christmas cards way in advance of any US postal service backlog. This year however, to no surprise to those who actually read the first paragraph, I did nothing. It didn’t help that we were getting 70 degree weather here in the Carolinas, so to someone used to 3 ft of cold powdery stuff…wearing tank tops, flip flops, and basking in the sun outside didn’t have me anxiously waiting for Santa Clause (not that I am at all complaining about the glorious weather!) To all my faithful friends who didn’t receive lovely glittery cards, I am sorry but I just couldn’t get myself to do it (nothing personal and I hope you don’t remove me from your own lists next year). I did manage to set up a tiny tree, but that took me about three weeks to fully undertake. I also participated in the departmental holiday dessert bake-off which is the closest thing to Christmasy that I can claim. This leads me into my story of sweet disaster…

In lieu of the usual Christmas cookie party, I participated in the lab dessert contest for our departmental holiday party. Now this is a big deal, as the boss made sure to point out this fact during lab meeting. My self, along with two other women in the lab decided to take on this lofty task of creating the best holiday dessert the department has ever seen. After tossing around a number of ideas, we decided on reconstructing a three-dimensional version of Frosty the Snowman. Most sane people would realize this is next to impossible, but alas, we are scientists, nothing is impossible. Now, I have to let you know that we were doing this all free-hand, no molds, no recipes, just our pure creative geniuses.

We put Frosty together, frosted and decorated him. He ends up being about 1.5-2 feet high, we inserted a 50 mL pipette down the center for structural stability. His midsection was a little heavy and leaned slightly forward, as if he was on roids with a barrel chest, but nothing too concerning (at least at the time). Everything was going exceedingly well; a little too well. The night was still “young” in fact. Since we all take the bus to work in the morning, we decided to drive Frosty to the lab where he would be stored until he needed to be transported yet again to the Christmas party. We all had our reservations about the moving him part, but we had no choice. We took many pictures beforehand to document how awesome he looked in case something happened.

Frosty (before)

The rest is a tragic story. Frosty didn’t survive the car trip to the lab. He had severe structural damage that even 5 tubs of Betty Crocker’s frosting could not fix at 12 am in the morning. I was so disappointed. We, with the advice of the others in the lab the next day, spun him off as Frosty the half-melted snowman due to the unseasonably warm weather at the time. We fashioned a paper sun and positioned it next to our leaning tower of Frosty right next to his “before” picture. Although, not as aesthetically pleasing as he once was, Frosty sure was delicious. We even tied with another lab for “most creative” dessert, but honestly, the fertilization lab we tied with always does the egg and sperm theme, so to tie with them for most creative was a let-down.

Frosty, the half-melted snowman

I guess if you label something as Part I, you should probably have a Part II… I promise the rest of the Christmas series is not a modern rendition of "A Christmas Carol."

Fire, fire everywhere...the update

2007-11-29T13:10:00.000-08:00

This is a picture my friends took (one of the couples that lives in the complex).

Turns out this incident was the seventh in a string of apartment complex fires in my area since Sunday! Luckily in this case, no one was injured but 25 people and 1 infant were displaced.

If you want to see some pics (as I was unable to email them from my phone) go here. Picture #2 was from my view.

Stop, drop, and roll...

2007-11-28T18:54:00.000-08:00

Fire sucks. Especially when you live in the south where it hasn’t rained in months, therefore making everything matchstick potential. Apartment fires have been the new “trend” in the little town I live in lately. Just this summer there have been three separate instances of apartments going up in flames, destroying belongings, and in some cases individuals’ lives. Hearing these reports sends a chill up my spine, b/c I can imagine how devastating something like this can be. However, the events that transpired tonight brought that feeling to a whole new level.

I had come home in the evening around 6 pm, I started to make dinner and the next thing I know I hear running on the steps outside my apartment and a subsequent knock on the door, “GET OUT NOW THERE IS A FIRE!” Mentally, I think, “yeah, right,” until my heart starts skipping beats and my blood pressure rises to an unhealthy level (snaps to the autonomic nervous system on this one). I quickly grab what I feel is essential to my life without possessions, namely my wallet, car keys, and passport. Why passport? I don’t know. Perhaps my subconscious thought it necessary that I not only leave my apartment but also the country to be as far away from this damn fire as possible? I run out of the building, noticing that my neighbor was in such a panic that she left her door open. It is at this moment that the realization hits me that *my* building is not the one on fire, but rather the neighboring complexes building that are about 100-200 ft away from mine. It is literally right across the parking lot. There was no way to miss it. I have never seen anything like this in my life and I was scared! The sky was filled with smoke, the whole building was consumed in flames, and I was being covered in ash by the minute. Now I have a number of friends that live in this complex, and at first I seriously thought it was one of their buildings that was on fire. After about a dozen panicked phone-calls to them and just about anyone who would be in contact with them, I finally found out that 1. It was building J that was on fire (they live in building K) and 2. They were OK, but not before I totally freaked out.

By my calculations, it only took the fire less then a half hour to completely consume the building. I entered my apartment a little after 6 pm, and I heard the sirens about 20 min after that. Whatever started that fire was major, and since these building were constructed before the NC alterations in fire-code they do not have sprinkler systems and still contain functioning wood-burning fire places. Yes, feel free to gasp now. They are the ideal tinder for a fire.

It is one thing to hear about such devastating events, but it is totally another to witness it first-hand and have friends who may be directly affected by it. Which brings me to another point, local news here is awful. In OH, if something happened to a person who was related to someone in our city, it would immediately be posted on a ticker and scrolling on every major channel. Here…nothing. So I still don’t know the fires source or if anyone was hurt…I certainly hope not.

Well, thanks for listening to me. I am starting to remember to breath now, so I think I am calming down a bit. In the meantime, I have mentally planned my own fire escape routes, namely jumping out the windows.

Get your freak on

2007-11-01T12:46:00.000-07:00

So yesterday, as many of you are well aware, was Halloween. Halloween, for whatever reason, is a huge "holiday" here. Upwards of 30-60,000 (I don't know how they accurately track the numbers) people congregate in this little town, on one main street and parade up and down. To the extent that probably 90% of the police force are walking the beat, closing down streets, and confiscating potentially harmful objects (e.g. plastic/real knives, scythes, battle-axes etc) from the intoxicated and thug-type. One would think that the frightening part of the whole night would be the undergrads and fraternity types in their scantily clad outfits (yes, and there were many!), and outrageous costumes milling about in an orgy of drunken debauchery. In fact, the scary part of the whole event was the people NOT in costume, lining the edges of the streets gawking at the costumed and taking their photographs. Now for full disclosure, there are some who watch for pure jest and enjoy the festivities of the evening without trying to touch, or visually rape you. The latter are those that made my skin tingle. It was reminiscent of those individuals who produce "girls gone wild" and convince the drunken to do outrageous things and then film and broadcast their stupidity for profit. Well, maybe not exactly, but you get the picture.

I, of course, participated in the full glory that was Halloween, along with my fellow compatriots, dressing up and crashing undergrad keggers. All in all, good fun. I even had two somewhat non-creepy people ask me to pose for a photo. By far the best part, was being in the entourage of a friend who dressed up as Frosty the snowman sans button nose (he used a carrot instead). Mr. Frosty was *the* local celebrity. Girls and guys alike clamored to take their picture with him. Let's just say Frosty was in pure snow heaven, and his wife thought it was hilarious. He even had the best cat-calls, such as "it's too hot for you mother f*ker," "it's frosty the gosh-darn snowman" (but didn't use gosh) and "it's Jesus as a snowman." The last one is my personal favorite.

The rest will be explained via photographs as this is the best medium with which to express the flavor of the evening.

Welcome to blue heaven.

We can totally kick your ass.

Frosty. Note to self, long orange nose makes it hard to consume alcoholic beverages.

How true it is. (You don't have to have a good time to drink)

God, I loved this game.

Britney post-break down with Samuel L. Amazingly, Britney in this photo is a man, his celebrity resemblance was uncanny.

The masses *before* midnight.

My other all-time favorite part of the evening was when birth-control (blurred above) got "attacked" by the mass of sperm-dressed fraternity boys...complete with accompanying egg. I give them credit for the original, positive, public-health promoting costumes. We can send a message.

Hope your "holiday" was just as spooktacular.

It's a small world after all

2007-10-20T20:57:00.000-07:00

My life has been complete chaos and change. Part of this upheaval was due, in part, to moving to a new state for a new job after graduation. When I came down to NC, I did not know a soul, and I have to admit that is pretty frightening. However, I soon learned that southern hospitality is real, even in an area dominated mostly by northern/foreign transplants. After being here only one month, my social network is slowly growing thanks to my labmates, as they are extremely friendly and hospitable, as well as alcoholic beverages.

Just a couple of days ago, I got a nice surprise. A girl I went to highschool with, I will call her "S", and whom I hadn't talked to/seen in 7+ years dropped by for an unexpected visit. Turns out she is a graduate student working in a lab on the floor right above mine. She had apparently spotted me in passing and found me via the directory (the internet can be used for good). I love meeting new people and forging friendships, but there is something about being reunited with old friends that is different. I cannot describe it. Needless to say there was a lot of shrieking, hugs, and talking very fast. I am still trying to calculate the odds of two people from a graduating class of ~100, from a mid-sized Ohio town, relocating to NC at the same time, in the same city, at the same institution, and no less in the same building one floor apart. If you get a number let me know, I stopped doing higher level math a long time ago.

What's in a name?

2007-10-20T20:12:00.000-07:00

Hello and welcome. Like many of my friends, I have finally decided to join the blogosphere. Partially, as a sort of free therapy, partially as a way to kill time between the not-so-exciting parts of my day, and partially as a way to virtually harass all those I used to harass personally, on a daily basis.

I thought as a first post, I should probably give all you soon-to-be loyal readers (snaps to Lil Kate in advance) some of my background history. I am a scientist. I have my doctorate degree in Pharmacology, and no, that is not code for a drug dealer. Although, I would make hella more money, and get to carry a firearm. I do scientific experiments. Unfortunately, not real *cool* experiments (e.g. monkey head transplants), but that leaves me something to strive towards.. I now live in North Carolina after spending most of my conscious years in Ohio.

So, you may ask (code for: I want to tell you), what is the deal with the title of your blog? Well, to let you in on a little secret, I like Sci Fi. Particularly, the "B-rated" films they release such as Mansquito, Chupacabra, etc. and especially any of these films they make sequels for like Anaconda. Anyway, in keeping with the sci-fi theme, but of *much* higher quality, is the BBC series called "Dr. Who" This has soon become my all time favorite show, and my inspiration. David Tennant, sexy scally. I am a doc trying to figure out exactly who I am and what I want to become...plus I like being enigmatic, so the title works. And to all you loyal Dr. Who fans who found this blog by accident, sorry! But you are in good company.

Until the next time, and I hope you come back for a next time...