So I'm finding I have less time to write my blog these days. I used to be able to work on each piece while in lab. The beauty of my job is that each experiment always has "incubation times". These times vary from 5 minutes to an hour to three hours, so I usually try to find something to do in between and voila! - my blog fit neatly into that space.
However, now that the crunch is on and I MUST GRADUATE, I am finding my incubation times filled with another experement to set up, and then another one, and then another. My lab mate looked quizzically at me yesterday as I stopped in my tracks obviously lost in my thoughts. "Doing math?" he joked. "Trying to figure out how I'm going to do 32 plates of plaque assays tomorrow", I replied. He laughed as only one who understands that amount of work can laugh - he's sort of going through the same thing. (By the way, normally, we only do 4-8 plates a day, with 8 being a lot.) (So, yeah, I guess the answer to his question was that I was doing math. :)
The benefit of all this craziness is that my mentor is finally being just that - a mentor, truly for the first time in 4 years. We sit across from each other and discuss data, strategy, timelines. He assists me in writing my first paper manuscript and how to prepare my figures. He's actually showed some human emotion and been more of a three dimensional person. Man, it really stinks that he's leaving and that it took him leaving for me to see what his mentorship could be! I'm really going to miss him! He's been more demanding of my time, hence the multiple experiments in addition to draft requests over the weekend, but I almost don't even mind when he's so willing to work with me.
Anyways, these updates may be more scattered in the weeks to come, but I'm going to do my best to work in some blog time... as well as gym time, sewing time, and me time, anyone else feel like there's never enough time?
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