By now, i've got most of the things that a new grad student needs. transponder, a lab supplies account, 500MHz NMR training. all done within the past week. how's that for efficiency? in particular, i was extremely surprised at how fast the transponder took. my seniors told me to be prepared to wait for anything between 1 to 2 weeks, but i got it within 1 day of submitting my form. i guess the main thing i did differently was to approach the deputy head directly for her signature, and ask the transponder guy if he could speed up the process a little, which he did, and for which i am extremely grateful. minor negative bit was that he initially forgot to give me access to the S5 corridor, but i'm not complaining since that got fixed the next day. the only thing i'm missing now is after-hours access to the NMR lab; that should come in the next 2 weeks. it's actually not that important, since i'm sure i can schedule NMRs before 6:00pm. other than that, i think the only other things i might need are training in other instruments (like HPLC, and a refresher for mass spectrometer), but that's not relevant yet...maybe in a month or so. basically, i think i'm good to go for now.
presented my progress at the group meeting yesterday. it went ok, i think, though i was caught off-guard by a couple of questions. doesn't feel good to be speechless in front of the whole research group. have to prepare better for future presentations. on the bright side, i now have a plan of action for the next few weeks to a month. if all goes well, i'll be able to have some results in...2 weeks at the soonest. maybe even sooner with help from the master's student, whose skills i realize i'm not utilizing efficiently...or at all, for that matter. have to start pushing some substrate synthesis to her as well.
remember how i previously blogged about buying notebooks with a co-op voucher? well, i've been using the notebook assigned for my school use, but not the one assigned for personal use. it's not that i don't want to use it, but just that there's no good time and/or place to write. i won't write in school, because (1) i'm kind of afraid that my friends will chance upon it, and (2) i'm supposed to be working anyway. writing at home is kind of pointless, since i can blog, which basically serves the same purpose. well, there is one difference. i can't blog about some personal stuff here, so that's still floating in my head. maybe i'll come to a compromise. i know! in the car. that's worth considering. think i'll try it out tomorrow.
yesterday was the last SJI training for about a month. due to group meeting overrunning (there were 5 speakers total), i didn't make it down in time, but joined the kids for lunch instead. good news is that everyone (except one person, i hear) passed the grading. i'll definitely miss the kids (especially you-know-who), but they have to study for exams. looks like the next few saturdays will be kind of boring. might spend some extra time in the lab if results are slow in coming. jumping back to grading for a bit, upon learning that (almost) everyone passed, i gave favourite SJI boy the brown belt which i'd got for him in japan. i wasn't sure of the size, so i asked him in a kind of roundabout way before making the order. he told me that 210cm was just nice. something felt off to me then, but i went ahead with the order anyway. in retrospect, i should have went with my instincts and ordered the 235cm one. well, the current plan is to see how it fits him before deciding whether to order another one. somehow, i think i'll end up ordering one anyway. maybe not in the near future, but next year or so...whenever he grows and fills out.
went down to the dog shelter today. i like it there, except for the smell. you know how if you're in a bad-smelling place for a long enough time, you eventually become desensitized to the smell and can't smell it any more? that didn't happen today, despite me being there for about 5 hours. maybe that'll happen in a few more trips...though somehow, i don't think so. although i've only been there twice, i already know which dogs i kind of prefer. actually, looks are secondary. the main thing is that the dog has to be friendly, but relatively calm at the same time. i got a shock when one of the dogs put his mouth around my forearm. no, he didn't bite. quite scary at first, but i think it's harmless. i'd read about it some time ago, but didn't think that i'd actually experience it.
love is funny, isn't it? i happened to meet the shelter's founder today, and spent about 20 minutes talking to her. the one thing i didn't (and still don't quite) understand is why she would go through all the troublesome paperwork to rent the place and set the shelter up...paying for the expenses from her life savings, no less! her answer: because she loves the dogs. it's quite insane. it's not something that i would do, but that's maybe because i don't feel quite as much for the dogs. but if the situation was changed, i know what (or who, rather) i'd be willing to give up most things for. and it actually kind of scares me. why would i do that? i've asked (and been asked) that question many times. still no satisfactory answer. well...maybe not knowing is a good thing?
this coming week is going to be interesting. it's university-wide e-learning week, so no classes at all. but that means more time for lab work, which can be seen as both a good and a bad thing. that aside, there's a chem kids dinner on monday, a seminar by this japanese professor on wednesday (my professor is hosting him, so maybe i'll get to practise japanese a little bit), research group dinner on thursday (buffet town!), and first-aid course over friday and the weekend. since i attended (and even presented for) group meeting this past week, i don't feel so guilty about skipping. also have to chase for my NCAP technical (yet another delay!) and apply for NROC certification after the first-aid course. so, with my plans set out before me, i'm hoping that i'll make significant progress with research while training is off. hope the month or so passes soon.
presented my progress at the group meeting yesterday. it went ok, i think, though i was caught off-guard by a couple of questions. doesn't feel good to be speechless in front of the whole research group. have to prepare better for future presentations. on the bright side, i now have a plan of action for the next few weeks to a month. if all goes well, i'll be able to have some results in...2 weeks at the soonest. maybe even sooner with help from the master's student, whose skills i realize i'm not utilizing efficiently...or at all, for that matter. have to start pushing some substrate synthesis to her as well.
remember how i previously blogged about buying notebooks with a co-op voucher? well, i've been using the notebook assigned for my school use, but not the one assigned for personal use. it's not that i don't want to use it, but just that there's no good time and/or place to write. i won't write in school, because (1) i'm kind of afraid that my friends will chance upon it, and (2) i'm supposed to be working anyway. writing at home is kind of pointless, since i can blog, which basically serves the same purpose. well, there is one difference. i can't blog about some personal stuff here, so that's still floating in my head. maybe i'll come to a compromise. i know! in the car. that's worth considering. think i'll try it out tomorrow.
yesterday was the last SJI training for about a month. due to group meeting overrunning (there were 5 speakers total), i didn't make it down in time, but joined the kids for lunch instead. good news is that everyone (except one person, i hear) passed the grading. i'll definitely miss the kids (especially you-know-who), but they have to study for exams. looks like the next few saturdays will be kind of boring. might spend some extra time in the lab if results are slow in coming. jumping back to grading for a bit, upon learning that (almost) everyone passed, i gave favourite SJI boy the brown belt which i'd got for him in japan. i wasn't sure of the size, so i asked him in a kind of roundabout way before making the order. he told me that 210cm was just nice. something felt off to me then, but i went ahead with the order anyway. in retrospect, i should have went with my instincts and ordered the 235cm one. well, the current plan is to see how it fits him before deciding whether to order another one. somehow, i think i'll end up ordering one anyway. maybe not in the near future, but next year or so...whenever he grows and fills out.
went down to the dog shelter today. i like it there, except for the smell. you know how if you're in a bad-smelling place for a long enough time, you eventually become desensitized to the smell and can't smell it any more? that didn't happen today, despite me being there for about 5 hours. maybe that'll happen in a few more trips...though somehow, i don't think so. although i've only been there twice, i already know which dogs i kind of prefer. actually, looks are secondary. the main thing is that the dog has to be friendly, but relatively calm at the same time. i got a shock when one of the dogs put his mouth around my forearm. no, he didn't bite. quite scary at first, but i think it's harmless. i'd read about it some time ago, but didn't think that i'd actually experience it.
love is funny, isn't it? i happened to meet the shelter's founder today, and spent about 20 minutes talking to her. the one thing i didn't (and still don't quite) understand is why she would go through all the troublesome paperwork to rent the place and set the shelter up...paying for the expenses from her life savings, no less! her answer: because she loves the dogs. it's quite insane. it's not something that i would do, but that's maybe because i don't feel quite as much for the dogs. but if the situation was changed, i know what (or who, rather) i'd be willing to give up most things for. and it actually kind of scares me. why would i do that? i've asked (and been asked) that question many times. still no satisfactory answer. well...maybe not knowing is a good thing?
this coming week is going to be interesting. it's university-wide e-learning week, so no classes at all. but that means more time for lab work, which can be seen as both a good and a bad thing. that aside, there's a chem kids dinner on monday, a seminar by this japanese professor on wednesday (my professor is hosting him, so maybe i'll get to practise japanese a little bit), research group dinner on thursday (buffet town!), and first-aid course over friday and the weekend. since i attended (and even presented for) group meeting this past week, i don't feel so guilty about skipping. also have to chase for my NCAP technical (yet another delay!) and apply for NROC certification after the first-aid course. so, with my plans set out before me, i'm hoping that i'll make significant progress with research while training is off. hope the month or so passes soon.
-random thought of the day: The gas cap trick seems to be working!-
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