Yes, I am wearing underwear in the pictures. I'm not naked. This last mark came form a close shot (1 or 2 feet). The guy who shot me did so illegally.
Showing posts with label NIH/NCI. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NIH/NCI. Show all posts
Paint Balling!
For a Chemical Biology Lab party, we went paint balling. It was hilarious to see scientists getting a hold of guns, running around, hiding and trying to shoot one another. I had a lot of fun and was only killed 4 times, but I don't know if I'll do it again. I didn't like the whole idea of pretending we were at war with one another and subsequently trying to kill one another. The following pictures are an aftermath of what happened to me.
Yes, I am wearing underwear in the pictures. I'm not naked. This last mark came form a close shot (1 or 2 feet). The guy who shot me did so illegally.
Yes, I am wearing underwear in the pictures. I'm not naked. This last mark came form a close shot (1 or 2 feet). The guy who shot me did so illegally.
Lectins Untangled?
I have formed a passionate hate for lectins. I am currently working with them in lab and the results I receive have been sub par. BUT I think that I have untangled the mess that are known as lectins. I recently discovered a problem in the experimental protocol that my mentor developed. Lectins have a dissociation constant below the molarity of the solution, meaning that the lectins will not bind to the glycans and prefer to be in the solution. I am doing a trial tomorrow at higher concentrations without Jeff's permission, and I hope that everything works out. If so, something very good can come from this.
I'm also working on 3 other projects right now that will result in publications. The work is pretty insane, but it will be good and fun. If all of these results work out, I will be on all of these papers, which I am stoked about.
I'm also working on 3 other projects right now that will result in publications. The work is pretty insane, but it will be good and fun. If all of these results work out, I will be on all of these papers, which I am stoked about.
The First Two Days of Being a Big Boy
I've been a big boy for two days now! I can't believe it. I have a real job, a real apartment, and a real desk! It weird and nice at the same time. I miss school, but I'm learning a lot right now, so it feels like I'm still in school. Anyways, here is a run down of my first two days.
Day 1
I arrived at 9 o'clock. I had to go through security in order to enter Fort Detrick. They took my driver's license and had me open all of my car doors. I forgot to open my trunk and I had a army man yell at me. He made me feel stupid, and subsequently, I now hate him. He told me off and seemed annoyed that a "civilian" was entering his home and domain. Ugh! I hate the military there already. After security, I arrive to building 376 about 9:30. I am greeted by Melinda, the chemical biology building secretary. She is really nice and got me started on my paperwork. Then Dr. Gildersleeve (below is a picture of him) came in the office I was working in and talked to me for a bit about the project I am working on. Then we headed off to meet everyone in lab. There are five of us total in the lab, and I'm the only post-bacc. The rest are post-docs or research associates. It's weird to be the youngest one in the lab by a lot of years. After meeting everyone, I headed off to finish my paperwork. I finished my paperwork and then went to the clinic to set-up a physical that is required for everyone. Then I went to get me official government ID for NCI (see the picture above). I will be receiving an NIH badge soon.
To become fully official, I have to have my car registered and decaled as a government car. This allows me access to NIH parking lots and Fort Detrick (I don't have to go through security). I went to the military guy and he got up in my face. Yet another military man in my face... awesome! He went off about how I can't register my car as government because it isn't in my name and that I was essentially stupid for trying. Ugh! I really started hating the military after that. After that, I went into the lab and went to lunch with Olaf and Chris. Then we started some of my training. I have read many papers so far and have done homework, maybe that's why I feel like I'm not completely missing school. I left work about 6:30 and then stayed up until midnight working on my homework for today.
Day 2
I arrived to Fort Detrick at 8:30. I had a doctor appointment at 9. The same security guards were there, and the man still treated me like a stupid "civilian," even though I did everything right this time. I get the feeling that they like having power over the civilians and can do any checks they want if I want to get on the base. Ugh! I can't wait for the letter from my parents to come in the mail that will allow me to make my car a government car. It again took me about 30 minutes to get on base. I ran over to my appointment and had a general physical. I have 20/15 vision, great hearing, great reflexes, great heart rate, and great blood pressure. I'll get my blood work back next week, and hopefully all is ok there too! I then headed to the ID/Fingerprinting Center to get fingerprinted in order to receive my NIH ID. Once I finished that, I headed to lab. I went over my homework from last night with the post-doc, Chris, training me. I did almost everything right, but I had a few mistakes. They were easily changed though and I passed the assignment. After that, he gave me a beast of an assignment today. I had to analyze the results of four sets of data that had over 7000 points. Let's just say that it took me forever. I started going and then kept getting the wrong answers for 3 hours. It is all done in excel with complicated equations. I'm not good with excel, so I did not excel on this assignment. I finally took a lunch break, but the cafeteria was closed. So I bought a water and poptarts... what a great lunch! After lunch, I headed back into lab and worked on the assignment some more. I was still not getting things to work, which made me want to leave and go home. Finally, things started to work, and I finished everything about 6:30. I then learned that everything I did today was essentially pointless because there is a macro excel program that does all of that for us, but my post-doc wanted me to understand what the macro was doing. So about 8 hours later, I finished what a macro could do in 10 minutes or less... awesome! Then I headed home and did some shopping.
It's been fun, hard, frustrating, and challenging so far. I hope the frustration goes away, but the rest stays!
Oh, I also have a monster friend on base. I have yet to talk to it, but it lives in this, hence the danger sign. I walk past it everyday and it makes hissing and gurgling noises at me. I hope it's a friendly monster to "civilians" and eats military folk, especially the jerk at the check in gate.
Day 1
I arrived at 9 o'clock. I had to go through security in order to enter Fort Detrick. They took my driver's license and had me open all of my car doors. I forgot to open my trunk and I had a army man yell at me. He made me feel stupid, and subsequently, I now hate him. He told me off and seemed annoyed that a "civilian" was entering his home and domain. Ugh! I hate the military there already. After security, I arrive to building 376 about 9:30. I am greeted by Melinda, the chemical biology building secretary. She is really nice and got me started on my paperwork. Then Dr. Gildersleeve (below is a picture of him) came in the office I was working in and talked to me for a bit about the project I am working on. Then we headed off to meet everyone in lab. There are five of us total in the lab, and I'm the only post-bacc. The rest are post-docs or research associates. It's weird to be the youngest one in the lab by a lot of years. After meeting everyone, I headed off to finish my paperwork. I finished my paperwork and then went to the clinic to set-up a physical that is required for everyone. Then I went to get me official government ID for NCI (see the picture above). I will be receiving an NIH badge soon.
To become fully official, I have to have my car registered and decaled as a government car. This allows me access to NIH parking lots and Fort Detrick (I don't have to go through security). I went to the military guy and he got up in my face. Yet another military man in my face... awesome! He went off about how I can't register my car as government because it isn't in my name and that I was essentially stupid for trying. Ugh! I really started hating the military after that. After that, I went into the lab and went to lunch with Olaf and Chris. Then we started some of my training. I have read many papers so far and have done homework, maybe that's why I feel like I'm not completely missing school. I left work about 6:30 and then stayed up until midnight working on my homework for today.Day 2
I arrived to Fort Detrick at 8:30. I had a doctor appointment at 9. The same security guards were there, and the man still treated me like a stupid "civilian," even though I did everything right this time. I get the feeling that they like having power over the civilians and can do any checks they want if I want to get on the base. Ugh! I can't wait for the letter from my parents to come in the mail that will allow me to make my car a government car. It again took me about 30 minutes to get on base. I ran over to my appointment and had a general physical. I have 20/15 vision, great hearing, great reflexes, great heart rate, and great blood pressure. I'll get my blood work back next week, and hopefully all is ok there too! I then headed to the ID/Fingerprinting Center to get fingerprinted in order to receive my NIH ID. Once I finished that, I headed to lab. I went over my homework from last night with the post-doc, Chris, training me. I did almost everything right, but I had a few mistakes. They were easily changed though and I passed the assignment. After that, he gave me a beast of an assignment today. I had to analyze the results of four sets of data that had over 7000 points. Let's just say that it took me forever. I started going and then kept getting the wrong answers for 3 hours. It is all done in excel with complicated equations. I'm not good with excel, so I did not excel on this assignment. I finally took a lunch break, but the cafeteria was closed. So I bought a water and poptarts... what a great lunch! After lunch, I headed back into lab and worked on the assignment some more. I was still not getting things to work, which made me want to leave and go home. Finally, things started to work, and I finished everything about 6:30. I then learned that everything I did today was essentially pointless because there is a macro excel program that does all of that for us, but my post-doc wanted me to understand what the macro was doing. So about 8 hours later, I finished what a macro could do in 10 minutes or less... awesome! Then I headed home and did some shopping.
It's been fun, hard, frustrating, and challenging so far. I hope the frustration goes away, but the rest stays!
Oh, I also have a monster friend on base. I have yet to talk to it, but it lives in this, hence the danger sign. I walk past it everyday and it makes hissing and gurgling noises at me. I hope it's a friendly monster to "civilians" and eats military folk, especially the jerk at the check in gate.
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