Tuesday, April 28, 2009
"Stock pile out back, extra chicken on ice"
At first it is kind of funny that some many people are up-in-arms about missing out on the chicken deal of the century, but then it is just sad. People drove across town and (seemingly) won't be feeding their children and family. I understand the frustration that these people were not able to partake in this special, however, there are certain situations that are just impossible to predict. More so though, is the shear anger some of these people exhibit at the thought of not getting fried chicken; our obsession with food and its ability of drive our lives is beyond ridiculous. We, (myself included, a person in love with food), need some perspective.
Monday, April 27, 2009
More scientific progress??
As previously posted, I am working against the clock to finish rebuttal experiments for the review we received from the Journal of Immunology for my 4th and final dissertation publication.
We are on our way feeding Dr. Z's knockout mice our super-special experimental diet. Par for the course, these mice will be ready for their experiment the last week of May, which is the week I plan on taking my RD boards and right before we are going to CO for the PNIRS conference. I am still debating on whether I might let them stay on the diet a week longer until we return - stay tuned.
The other major experiment the reviewers wanted was to see if our super-special diet would protect mice against sepsis. This required us to write a whole new experimental protocol to preform a sepsis experiment. Since sepsis is a controversial procedure, there was not doubt that this would require a full review from Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC), and the full committee only meets on the 1st Tuesday of the month.
The week following the journal review (March 16th) I met with vets and IACUC staff to obtain some help with writing such a controversial protocol. I also found out that it would be in our best interest to submit our new protocol by Friday, March 20th or Monday the 23rd at the latest; leaving me only a few days to write a whole new animal protocol (not easy at all!!). I worked, via email, with the IACUC specialists for a few more changes and pored over the protocol night and day and submitted on Monday, March 23rd (assuming we would be on the agenda for review on April 7th).
March 25th - we received a pre-review with some small changes. "Mark this box, change this verb."
March 29th - we received notice that we were called to full committee review, which was no surprise.
April 10th - we received an email with reviewers' comments asking to clarify some issues with dosing and euthanasia method. It took less than 30 minutes to answer. I contacted IACUC to clarify the questions and found out we had NEVER made it to full committee!! Considering I worked day and night to get this done in the time frame suggested by IACUC, I was not very happy. I completely understand that it makes sense to have the reviewers' comments answered before going to full review, but they had the protocol for a full two weeks before the full committee meeting and it took a full month to get back the questions. I have no idea what was happening on their end as far as how/when they send protocols to reviewers.
April 21st - we received 'follow-up' comments from reviewers on brand-new issues they had not addressed the first time. Again, an issue that took 5 minutes to answer. I found this utterly frustrating, because I am not sure how they expect investigators to make progress when they keep coming up with new questions; this should all be done in ONE review. My boss suggested I call the IACUC chair and inquire about this issue; he was out of town at a conference.
April 24th - I was able to talk to the chair and he, in not so many words, agreed that this was a bit much and said when he saw this second round of questions, he had the vet intervene on our behalf and answer the reviewers' question for us, as it was very simple (maybe they should re-think having community members on the committee).
April 27th - WE ARE APPROVED, sort of. We received the approval email from IACUC and will be able to finally start on these experiments, almost a full month after we started this process, once we return the signature page.
We are on our way feeding Dr. Z's knockout mice our super-special experimental diet. Par for the course, these mice will be ready for their experiment the last week of May, which is the week I plan on taking my RD boards and right before we are going to CO for the PNIRS conference. I am still debating on whether I might let them stay on the diet a week longer until we return - stay tuned.
The other major experiment the reviewers wanted was to see if our super-special diet would protect mice against sepsis. This required us to write a whole new experimental protocol to preform a sepsis experiment. Since sepsis is a controversial procedure, there was not doubt that this would require a full review from Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC), and the full committee only meets on the 1st Tuesday of the month.
The week following the journal review (March 16th) I met with vets and IACUC staff to obtain some help with writing such a controversial protocol. I also found out that it would be in our best interest to submit our new protocol by Friday, March 20th or Monday the 23rd at the latest; leaving me only a few days to write a whole new animal protocol (not easy at all!!). I worked, via email, with the IACUC specialists for a few more changes and pored over the protocol night and day and submitted on Monday, March 23rd (assuming we would be on the agenda for review on April 7th).
March 25th - we received a pre-review with some small changes. "Mark this box, change this verb."
March 29th - we received notice that we were called to full committee review, which was no surprise.
April 10th - we received an email with reviewers' comments asking to clarify some issues with dosing and euthanasia method. It took less than 30 minutes to answer. I contacted IACUC to clarify the questions and found out we had NEVER made it to full committee!! Considering I worked day and night to get this done in the time frame suggested by IACUC, I was not very happy. I completely understand that it makes sense to have the reviewers' comments answered before going to full review, but they had the protocol for a full two weeks before the full committee meeting and it took a full month to get back the questions. I have no idea what was happening on their end as far as how/when they send protocols to reviewers.
April 21st - we received 'follow-up' comments from reviewers on brand-new issues they had not addressed the first time. Again, an issue that took 5 minutes to answer. I found this utterly frustrating, because I am not sure how they expect investigators to make progress when they keep coming up with new questions; this should all be done in ONE review. My boss suggested I call the IACUC chair and inquire about this issue; he was out of town at a conference.
April 24th - I was able to talk to the chair and he, in not so many words, agreed that this was a bit much and said when he saw this second round of questions, he had the vet intervene on our behalf and answer the reviewers' question for us, as it was very simple (maybe they should re-think having community members on the committee).
April 27th - WE ARE APPROVED, sort of. We received the approval email from IACUC and will be able to finally start on these experiments, almost a full month after we started this process, once we return the signature page.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Moving "to do" list
I have just a tad over two months until the big move. Packing has come to a bit of a stand still; I pretty much have all of the out-of-sight, and not-in-use stuff a packed. Granted I could start with pictures and decorations, but the place still has to feel livable. My mom is coming for graduation in three weeks - I can not believe it is only 3 weeks away!! - and will be taking a few things back to Michigan with her for the neighborhood garage sale at my brothers. After the PNIRS conference in Breckenridge, CO the 1st week of June, I will start with the serious packing and selling of furniture. I know that I will be selling my dining room table and chairs and maybe the couch and love-seat, it just depends on if I get a one or two bedroom at Arbor Landings, which I hope to find out in the next week or so.
Other moving stuff:
1) Call on cable and internet to find out about canceling
2) Call on cable and internet in Ann Arbor to set up service
3) Open a bank account at Chase, which is also in Ann Arbor, making the financial switch a lot easier
4) Pack, pack, pack
5) Sell furniture on Craig's list
6) Transfer RefWorks accounts from UIUC to UofM, which is small miracle that UofM has this service as well
7) Going away BBQ, flip-cup party (June 27th)
AS I TYPE...The phone rings and it is the new apartment complex and
I HAVE MY PLACE!!!!
The apartment is a 2 bedroom (plenty of room for visitors) on the 2nd floor, which is the lay-out I really wanted, plus it is in a prime location in the community; right near the club house (which has a great workout room), pool, and tennis courts. My patio does not face the parking lot and I get a covered parking space!!
Other moving stuff:
2) Call on cable and internet in Ann Arbor to set up service
3) Open a bank account at Chase, which is also in Ann Arbor, making the financial switch a lot easier
4) Pack, pack, pack
5) Sell furniture on Craig's list
6) Transfer RefWorks accounts from UIUC to UofM, which is small miracle that UofM has this service as well
7) Going away BBQ, flip-cup party (June 27th)
AS I TYPE...The phone rings and it is the new apartment complex and
I HAVE MY PLACE!!!!
The apartment is a 2 bedroom (plenty of room for visitors) on the 2nd floor, which is the lay-out I really wanted, plus it is in a prime location in the community; right near the club house (which has a great workout room), pool, and tennis courts. My patio does not face the parking lot and I get a covered parking space!!
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Sex, sleep, and longevity?
It appears that having more sex and sleeping more increases longevity, at least on the Greek island of Ikaria, which begs the question: does the sex make you live longer or does one live longer to have more sex?
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There was an interesting report on Anderson Cooper 360 on CNN last night about this study that was done on the people of Ikaria, who live well in to their 90's, and yes, are still apparently having sex, sleeping until 10-11am and staying up to 2am. There was not a reference to any peer-reviewed scientific report done on this population, but I found another interesting story of a man who was diagnosed with stomach cancer in 1970 and decided to move back to Ikaria and lived another whopping 40 years!
Since I don't spend enough time in bed, I decided partake in the longevity calculator provided by CNN to see if my lack of time under the covers was really making me old. I figured I would do pretty good; I exercise regularly, eat a pretty healthy diet, don't smoke, and have no chronic illness.
This is what I found:
Chronological age: 27
Biological age: 23.6 (sigh...I'm still legal)
Life expectancy: 93.6
Blue Zone years: 11.4 (This is the number of extra years I have accrued due to my lifestyle)
Added year: 4.4 (If I optimize my lifestyle, and spend more time in bed, I could live to 98)
Final report; ways to optimize my lifestyle:
1) Sleep 7-8 hours
2) Get screened for alcohol abuse because I have had 5+ drinks in one sitting
3) Eat more seafood
4) Make more money
5) Get married
My thoughts:
1) I was surprised to find that any single encounter of 5+ drinks warranted a screening for alcohol abuse. I know there has to be a cut-off somewhere for health professional to start screening, but I think adding in some modifiers, such as the time period of consumption (what if this was an all day BBQ or a wine tasting), the atmosphere (were you drinking alone), or one's motivation would be useful.
2) Make more money. They asked about my satisfaction with my 'life work,' in which i replied that I was very satisfied. I understand the relationship between financial strain and health, but given that I did not express discontent with my 'life's work' that is not paying well, I figured that would be more important. It would be interesting to see if I reported making a lot of money but not so much satisfaction with work, if that would trigger.
3) Get married...grr, this is kind annoying, especially since they did not ask if I had children, or if I was content with my single-status. Studies have shown that married people without children are the happiest which maybe attributed to increased earning and more enjoying sex. They did not really distinguish if married people without children are happiest, then single, then married with children; although I have heard this around, but found no studies. I reported that I have a good support system of family and friends, however, I guess that doesn't seem to count as much. Also, given the current experiences I have had with people getting divorced, I will have to do a very careful cost:benefit analysis.
So all in all, to live another 4.4 years I need to make more money, sleep more, have more sex, and get married. Maybe I'll forgo the stress of trying to figure out how to accomplish those things, since only one is really within my control, and only live until my early 90's.
View Larger Map
There was an interesting report on Anderson Cooper 360 on CNN last night about this study that was done on the people of Ikaria, who live well in to their 90's, and yes, are still apparently having sex, sleeping until 10-11am and staying up to 2am. There was not a reference to any peer-reviewed scientific report done on this population, but I found another interesting story of a man who was diagnosed with stomach cancer in 1970 and decided to move back to Ikaria and lived another whopping 40 years!
Since I don't spend enough time in bed, I decided partake in the longevity calculator provided by CNN to see if my lack of time under the covers was really making me old. I figured I would do pretty good; I exercise regularly, eat a pretty healthy diet, don't smoke, and have no chronic illness.
This is what I found:
Chronological age: 27
Biological age: 23.6 (sigh...I'm still legal)
Life expectancy: 93.6
Blue Zone years: 11.4 (This is the number of extra years I have accrued due to my lifestyle)
Added year: 4.4 (If I optimize my lifestyle, and spend more time in bed, I could live to 98)
Final report; ways to optimize my lifestyle:
1) Sleep 7-8 hours
2) Get screened for alcohol abuse because I have had 5+ drinks in one sitting
3) Eat more seafood
4) Make more money
5) Get married
My thoughts:
1) I was surprised to find that any single encounter of 5+ drinks warranted a screening for alcohol abuse. I know there has to be a cut-off somewhere for health professional to start screening, but I think adding in some modifiers, such as the time period of consumption (what if this was an all day BBQ or a wine tasting), the atmosphere (were you drinking alone), or one's motivation would be useful.
2) Make more money. They asked about my satisfaction with my 'life work,' in which i replied that I was very satisfied. I understand the relationship between financial strain and health, but given that I did not express discontent with my 'life's work' that is not paying well, I figured that would be more important. It would be interesting to see if I reported making a lot of money but not so much satisfaction with work, if that would trigger.
3) Get married...grr, this is kind annoying, especially since they did not ask if I had children, or if I was content with my single-status. Studies have shown that married people without children are the happiest which maybe attributed to increased earning and more enjoying sex. They did not really distinguish if married people without children are happiest, then single, then married with children; although I have heard this around, but found no studies. I reported that I have a good support system of family and friends, however, I guess that doesn't seem to count as much. Also, given the current experiences I have had with people getting divorced, I will have to do a very careful cost:benefit analysis.
So all in all, to live another 4.4 years I need to make more money, sleep more, have more sex, and get married. Maybe I'll forgo the stress of trying to figure out how to accomplish those things, since only one is really within my control, and only live until my early 90's.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
It wasn't me
I guess there is a first time for everything, including locking yourself out of you apartment; well, I question whether I actually did this. I have lived here a few months short of 5 years and have NEVER locked myself out or even had a scare where I thought I had. Once I was up-and-at-um this morning, I decided to start the laundry and check that off today's to-do list. I gathered the clothes, detergent and quarters - the new apartment in Ann Arbor will have laundry in the apartment - and headed up stairs. I had some trash that needed to be taken out as well, so I put this outside the door. After starting the wash and returned downstairs, set down the detergent and took out the trash. While coming back in I was thinking about the omelet I was going to make for breakfast with mushrooms, onions, and bell peppers. I grabbed the door handle and slammed myself in to the door - IT WAS LOCKED!
I giggled it a few more times some how thinking that it might miraculously open, but alas it did not. I had no keys on me, no phone, and did not even remember the phone number to the office, which is closed on Sunday. I only know one persons number in town - those damned cell phones and speed dial, but he was not that one with keys to my apartment. I knew there was a maintenance man who has an apartment in our building and sometimes stayed there. I couldn't exact ally remember which was his so I decided against knocking. Of the other 3 apartments on my floor, I know the neighbors next to me the best, which is not really all that well anyway. I looked to see if their vehicles were in the parking lot and the husband's truck was, so I knocked - no answer. The neighbors kiddy-corner I knew the least well, so I went with the neighbors across the hall. It was only about 10:15 and I could hear that they were up and about as well. I knocked and the younger daughter answered, I think she is the only one in the home that speaks English. She gave me their cordless phone to call the 24h number.
I called and spoke with the operator at the call center, she said she would call maintenance and have them call back. I took a seat on the stairs outside my apartment door. As I was sitting on the stairs I heard Lily (my cat) meowing right inside the door. I felt really bad, maybe she thought I wasn't coming back for awhile. She continued this for a minute or two, then I heard her scratching or something on the other side of the door. All of the sudden I heard the door handle moving and then I heard it again followed by a meow. From what I could gather, she was jumping up on the door and messing with the door handle. THE CAT HAD LOCKED THE DOOR!! I know it sounds crazy, and if you've met my cat, maybe less so, but I don't have any other explanation for how the door got locked.
It had been about 10 minutes and no call yet; I called again. She said she would call this time, apparently she had just paged him the previous time. Within a few minutes I got a call from him. He said he was leaving now, but it would take him about 30 minutes to get here as he lived out of town. I was not too happy to hear the on-call maintenance man was that far away. I told him I know some management personal live in the apartments, could he call one of them, he agreed. While waiting to hear back from him, I called the one person's number I knew - voice mail, I left a message. I thought maybe he didn't' pick up because he didn't recognize the number, so I called again, ah ha, a voice. I quickly explained I was locked out and asked if he would call E, who has keys to my place. Just after hanging up with him, the maintenance man called and said Erin from the office would be over to let me in. Finally, this would be over. It had been over 25 minutes, this I knew because I heard the washer go off. Finally after 10 more minutes and another call to the 24h call center to make sure Erin was coming, I was in!
"I didn't do anything"
I giggled it a few more times some how thinking that it might miraculously open, but alas it did not. I had no keys on me, no phone, and did not even remember the phone number to the office, which is closed on Sunday. I only know one persons number in town - those damned cell phones and speed dial, but he was not that one with keys to my apartment. I knew there was a maintenance man who has an apartment in our building and sometimes stayed there. I couldn't exact ally remember which was his so I decided against knocking. Of the other 3 apartments on my floor, I know the neighbors next to me the best, which is not really all that well anyway. I looked to see if their vehicles were in the parking lot and the husband's truck was, so I knocked - no answer. The neighbors kiddy-corner I knew the least well, so I went with the neighbors across the hall. It was only about 10:15 and I could hear that they were up and about as well. I knocked and the younger daughter answered, I think she is the only one in the home that speaks English. She gave me their cordless phone to call the 24h number.
I called and spoke with the operator at the call center, she said she would call maintenance and have them call back. I took a seat on the stairs outside my apartment door. As I was sitting on the stairs I heard Lily (my cat) meowing right inside the door. I felt really bad, maybe she thought I wasn't coming back for awhile. She continued this for a minute or two, then I heard her scratching or something on the other side of the door. All of the sudden I heard the door handle moving and then I heard it again followed by a meow. From what I could gather, she was jumping up on the door and messing with the door handle. THE CAT HAD LOCKED THE DOOR!! I know it sounds crazy, and if you've met my cat, maybe less so, but I don't have any other explanation for how the door got locked.
It had been about 10 minutes and no call yet; I called again. She said she would call this time, apparently she had just paged him the previous time. Within a few minutes I got a call from him. He said he was leaving now, but it would take him about 30 minutes to get here as he lived out of town. I was not too happy to hear the on-call maintenance man was that far away. I told him I know some management personal live in the apartments, could he call one of them, he agreed. While waiting to hear back from him, I called the one person's number I knew - voice mail, I left a message. I thought maybe he didn't' pick up because he didn't recognize the number, so I called again, ah ha, a voice. I quickly explained I was locked out and asked if he would call E, who has keys to my place. Just after hanging up with him, the maintenance man called and said Erin from the office would be over to let me in. Finally, this would be over. It had been over 25 minutes, this I knew because I heard the washer go off. Finally after 10 more minutes and another call to the 24h call center to make sure Erin was coming, I was in!
"I didn't do anything"
Friday, April 17, 2009
Scotland up-date
We have found a B&B on the Isle of Skye. There were several that were already booked; and I thought I was planning ahead. We will be staying at the Braeside B&B, which is one of the oldest farm houses in Portree, Isle of Skye. It will take about almost 3 hours to drive from Inverness. Portree is the main city on the Isle and will be a great hub from which to start our adventures in hiking and whiskey. Made a venture over to AAA this afternoon and got my international drivers license - watch out world!
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Thursday, April 16, 2009
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Bittersweet
After an eventful weekend watching the Illinois Marathon, hanging out with friends from the Chicago-land area and celebrating Easter with the Freund's, I am gearing up for a pretty packed week of events. Last night Mina hosted our monthly "cooking club." There are about a steady 5 or so of us that get together once a month and have dinner, with a theme and intent that everyone brings a dish and we learn new recipes and cooking techniques. This month's theme was PIE (great idea Diana). We had chicken pot pie, tomato-basil gruyer mini pies, cheese and chile quiche, apple craisin pie with homemade dolce de leche, and sangira made with sprakling grape juice (this you should try, it was delicious). As we sat around the table eating and laughing, this feeling, that has been showing up more often now, began to come over me. I am beyond grateful for the wonderful friends and unforgetable experiences I have had while in CU, but it is during these times that I start to realize just how incredible the people in my life are and how rich they make mine.
Honestly, it is had not to get depressed about leaving, but my saving grace is that I am very excited about where I am going and what I will be doing. It is a God send that I will be within an hour of my family, which was reiterated after my conversation with Marissa (my neice who is just about three) about all the Easter eggs she decorated and what all their colors were, just to find out from my brother that they did not even color eggs this year.
On Saturday morning, while standing outside Guido's with Desiree watching and cheering all the runners pass by (which if this whole PhD thing does not work out I think I might become a professional marathon cheerer - I had a blast) I saw people I knew were running and missed a few, but I also saw a whole bunch of people that I have seen out, on the bus, at the gym, or just around town. Some of these people I have talked with and exchanged smiles with even though I don't know them. Later that evening while out celebrating with friends, I was able to spend time with some old CU'ers in town for the race. A few mentioned that it is kind of weird being back in town, because thing have changed but yet, they haven't. People have come and gone, new friends have been added to the circle and some have left. It was hard not to think that I will soon be in that situation.
As I look ahead to this week: wheel-chair basketball game, West Side Story, and Saturday's bar crawl (I need a costume, any suggestion: superhero or evil villan), I again feel a tinge of sadness and angst creeping in at the thought of leaving and starting anew. The memories left to be made and the excitment of the new ones yet to come help to overcome.
A few random things I will miss about CU:
1) Mug club
2) Pineapple margarita's at Esquire
3) The town/Illini spirit
4) Cation on the radio when I wake up
5) My grocery store, the Roundbarn IGA
6) The Freund's
7) Cheap parking (I hear Ann Arbor is expensive)
8) Bar crawls, althought I hope I find some in Ann Arbor
9) Dos Reales
Honestly, it is had not to get depressed about leaving, but my saving grace is that I am very excited about where I am going and what I will be doing. It is a God send that I will be within an hour of my family, which was reiterated after my conversation with Marissa (my neice who is just about three) about all the Easter eggs she decorated and what all their colors were, just to find out from my brother that they did not even color eggs this year.
On Saturday morning, while standing outside Guido's with Desiree watching and cheering all the runners pass by (which if this whole PhD thing does not work out I think I might become a professional marathon cheerer - I had a blast) I saw people I knew were running and missed a few, but I also saw a whole bunch of people that I have seen out, on the bus, at the gym, or just around town. Some of these people I have talked with and exchanged smiles with even though I don't know them. Later that evening while out celebrating with friends, I was able to spend time with some old CU'ers in town for the race. A few mentioned that it is kind of weird being back in town, because thing have changed but yet, they haven't. People have come and gone, new friends have been added to the circle and some have left. It was hard not to think that I will soon be in that situation.
As I look ahead to this week: wheel-chair basketball game, West Side Story, and Saturday's bar crawl (I need a costume, any suggestion: superhero or evil villan), I again feel a tinge of sadness and angst creeping in at the thought of leaving and starting anew. The memories left to be made and the excitment of the new ones yet to come help to overcome.
A few random things I will miss about CU:
1) Mug club
2) Pineapple margarita's at Esquire
3) The town/Illini spirit
4) Cation on the radio when I wake up
5) My grocery store, the Roundbarn IGA
6) The Freund's
7) Cheap parking (I hear Ann Arbor is expensive)
8) Bar crawls, althought I hope I find some in Ann Arbor
9) Dos Reales
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Scotland!!
As part of my last summer vacation ever (as a student), which will not be "all in one day," Sam and I are going to Scotland for 10 days in August! As the time is getting closer, we are just about finished with the back-bone plans of the trip, and can't wait!
1. Plane tickets - check
2. General itinerary - check
3. Rental car - check
4. Lodging in 2 of the 3 cities - check
Here is our schedule and the places we are going
View Scotland Vacation in a larger map:
Saturday, 8/8 I'll drive out to Chicago and stay the night with Sam
Sunday, 8/9 Leave O'Hare at 9:35a
Monday, 8/10 Arrive in Glasgow about 8:50a. We will take the Citylink bus to Edinburgh
Monday, 8/10-13 We will stay in Edinburgh at St. Christopher's Hostel
Thursday, 8/13 We will pick up our rental car, an Opel Astra and drive to Inverness, in the highlands, which is just over three hours.
8/13-15 We will be staying at a great little family run bed and breakfast, Summer Lee B&B. Here we will have the pleasure of a full Scottish breakfast, which traditionally includes toast, beans, fried haggis, potato hash, eggs, back bacon, potato scones, fried mushrooms, grilled tomatoes, Lorne sausage, black pudding, oatcakes, kippers (salmon), and porridge. I am full well aware of haggis and black pudding and will, I promise, try it at least once.
Saturday 8/15 We will drive to the Isle of Skye, which will take us just over 2.5 hours. This is the last leg of the trip that we have still to plan. There are several great places to stay in Skye and we will most likely be traveling around to different parts of the island to see everything (or as much as we can). I still have to decide the best "central" location to stay if we will be doing some traveling within the isle, but it is looking like Portree is the most likely candidate. If anyone has suggestions, they would be greatly welcomed.
8/15-18 We will be staying in the Isle of Skye. We will be heading back to Glasgow (about a 4 hour trip) sometime late on the 17th or early AM (i.e. 2am) on the 18th. We need to be back to the airport around 6am to drop off the car and get checked in on time for our 10:15am flight. We figured that we might as well spend the last night either on Skye or at a pub in Glasgow - we've got a long flight to sleep it off.
Still to do:
Find a place to stay on the Isle of Skye
Figure out if there are any festivals during our visit, because I hear Scotland is famous for their summer festivals
Determine if there is anything we want to see that needs reservations/tickets, like tours etc.
1. Plane tickets - check
2. General itinerary - check
3. Rental car - check
4. Lodging in 2 of the 3 cities - check
Here is our schedule and the places we are going
View Scotland Vacation in a larger map:
Saturday, 8/8 I'll drive out to Chicago and stay the night with Sam
Sunday, 8/9 Leave O'Hare at 9:35a
Monday, 8/10 Arrive in Glasgow about 8:50a. We will take the Citylink bus to Edinburgh
Monday, 8/10-13 We will stay in Edinburgh at St. Christopher's Hostel
Thursday, 8/13 We will pick up our rental car, an Opel Astra and drive to Inverness, in the highlands, which is just over three hours.
8/13-15 We will be staying at a great little family run bed and breakfast, Summer Lee B&B. Here we will have the pleasure of a full Scottish breakfast, which traditionally includes toast, beans, fried haggis, potato hash, eggs, back bacon, potato scones, fried mushrooms, grilled tomatoes, Lorne sausage, black pudding, oatcakes, kippers (salmon), and porridge. I am full well aware of haggis and black pudding and will, I promise, try it at least once.
Saturday 8/15 We will drive to the Isle of Skye, which will take us just over 2.5 hours. This is the last leg of the trip that we have still to plan. There are several great places to stay in Skye and we will most likely be traveling around to different parts of the island to see everything (or as much as we can). I still have to decide the best "central" location to stay if we will be doing some traveling within the isle, but it is looking like Portree is the most likely candidate. If anyone has suggestions, they would be greatly welcomed.
8/15-18 We will be staying in the Isle of Skye. We will be heading back to Glasgow (about a 4 hour trip) sometime late on the 17th or early AM (i.e. 2am) on the 18th. We need to be back to the airport around 6am to drop off the car and get checked in on time for our 10:15am flight. We figured that we might as well spend the last night either on Skye or at a pub in Glasgow - we've got a long flight to sleep it off.
Still to do:
Find a place to stay on the Isle of Skye
Figure out if there are any festivals during our visit, because I hear Scotland is famous for their summer festivals
Determine if there is anything we want to see that needs reservations/tickets, like tours etc.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Red-headed hip-hop
If it wasn't for the fact that this kid is red-headed I would swear this is my boss as a child, because he has danced to this and several other songs in lab. One of the many things I will miss about the Freund lab when I leave.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Scientific Progress?
After 3 weeks of emails, minor amendments, and transfer requests, I was finally able to walk a block up the road and give some of our experimental fiber diet to some knock-out mice.
We received the review from my last dissertation publication on March 11th. Their response was good, but they asked some very broad-sweeping questions that do not have a direct answer. At that point in time, I was t-minus 3 months until leaving, and as with most things I was/am in a hurry to get the ball rolling on the rebuttal experiments. (As a side note, I will be going regardless of the publication, but it only behooves everyone for me to get as much done as possible).
After a few days of exchanging ideas with the other authors on ideas, we came up with the following experiment, which is to just answer one of the unanswerable questions. A little background first: our hypothesis is that dietary fiber can dampen the response to infection and they wanted a more in depth "how." There are of course several ways to attack this, but given the limited time and available resources we decided to provide our experimental diet to a mouse that has a genetic mutation of a key protein (X) needed to mediate the signal from the bacteria. (This is still top secret stuff, so I apologize to my fellow scientists for the ambiguity).
Not a problem, I thought. Dr. Z, who we collaborate with, has these X knockout mice, we have used his mice before and our diet is approved and is OK with the 2 campus committees that regulate animal experiments. I figured that only road-block would be how many mice Dr. Z could spare. On March 18th Dr. Z informed me that there are some mice we can have and it is necessary to start feeding the mice the experimental diet ASAP after they are weaned from their moms.
The normal protocol for transferring mice from one PI to another is to submit a transfer request, which usually takes a day or so at most to approve - but there is where we hit snag after snag.
Our protocol was low on available mice (on paper) so we needed to write a minor amendment to add more mice. Other labmates were in the progress of doing this when we got the go-ahead from Dr Z. I was not sure if we were still approved to use space in the building with Dr. Z's mice (we can't bring them to our building - even longer story). So we took a few more days to write in use of building space and addition of these X knockout mice to the minor amendment. We submitted this amendment on March 19th and received approval notice on the 23rd.
But there was yet again another snag. Since the last time we had transferred mice from Dr. Z they wrote a new protocol and chose not to allow transfer as an option without specific authorization. Now mind you this was Spring Break at UIUC, and my emails to Dr. Z asking him to authorize a transfer went unanswered (out-of-office response is there for a reason). When my PI returned on the 30th he finally got an email response that Dr. Z was out of town until the 6th. After several more days of emails between Dr. Z and my boss, Dr. Z agreed that we could submit the transfer authorization on his behalf - this was done on April 2nd and received approval later that day. Then we still had to submit the original transfer request (which was the only thing I originally thought we'd have to do) which was done immediately after the transfer was authorized.
Finally on Friday, April 3rd, we were approved to transfer the X knockout mice from Dr. Z to our protocol and give them our experiment diet. Dr. Z was still out of town until the 6th and I finally was able to start the experiment. Now we wait for 6 weeks until they are ready.
After all the paper work and red-tape, it is pretty obvious why scientific progress takes so freakin' long.
We received the review from my last dissertation publication on March 11th. Their response was good, but they asked some very broad-sweeping questions that do not have a direct answer. At that point in time, I was t-minus 3 months until leaving, and as with most things I was/am in a hurry to get the ball rolling on the rebuttal experiments. (As a side note, I will be going regardless of the publication, but it only behooves everyone for me to get as much done as possible).
After a few days of exchanging ideas with the other authors on ideas, we came up with the following experiment, which is to just answer one of the unanswerable questions. A little background first: our hypothesis is that dietary fiber can dampen the response to infection and they wanted a more in depth "how." There are of course several ways to attack this, but given the limited time and available resources we decided to provide our experimental diet to a mouse that has a genetic mutation of a key protein (X) needed to mediate the signal from the bacteria. (This is still top secret stuff, so I apologize to my fellow scientists for the ambiguity).
Not a problem, I thought. Dr. Z, who we collaborate with, has these X knockout mice, we have used his mice before and our diet is approved and is OK with the 2 campus committees that regulate animal experiments. I figured that only road-block would be how many mice Dr. Z could spare. On March 18th Dr. Z informed me that there are some mice we can have and it is necessary to start feeding the mice the experimental diet ASAP after they are weaned from their moms.
The normal protocol for transferring mice from one PI to another is to submit a transfer request, which usually takes a day or so at most to approve - but there is where we hit snag after snag.
Our protocol was low on available mice (on paper) so we needed to write a minor amendment to add more mice. Other labmates were in the progress of doing this when we got the go-ahead from Dr Z. I was not sure if we were still approved to use space in the building with Dr. Z's mice (we can't bring them to our building - even longer story). So we took a few more days to write in use of building space and addition of these X knockout mice to the minor amendment. We submitted this amendment on March 19th and received approval notice on the 23rd.
But there was yet again another snag. Since the last time we had transferred mice from Dr. Z they wrote a new protocol and chose not to allow transfer as an option without specific authorization. Now mind you this was Spring Break at UIUC, and my emails to Dr. Z asking him to authorize a transfer went unanswered (out-of-office response is there for a reason). When my PI returned on the 30th he finally got an email response that Dr. Z was out of town until the 6th. After several more days of emails between Dr. Z and my boss, Dr. Z agreed that we could submit the transfer authorization on his behalf - this was done on April 2nd and received approval later that day. Then we still had to submit the original transfer request (which was the only thing I originally thought we'd have to do) which was done immediately after the transfer was authorized.
Finally on Friday, April 3rd, we were approved to transfer the X knockout mice from Dr. Z to our protocol and give them our experiment diet. Dr. Z was still out of town until the 6th and I finally was able to start the experiment. Now we wait for 6 weeks until they are ready.
After all the paper work and red-tape, it is pretty obvious why scientific progress takes so freakin' long.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Now and then
15 years quickly melted away within the first 15 seconds after I saw her smile.
When I left that morning I still could not really believe I was going to see Fred. We had these nick-names for each other. I was George and she was Fred. Neither one of us could quite remember where they had come from, but that is all we called each other. I even dug out an old yearbook, and found that is how she signed it back then. We even had matching leather hair clips that we had had embossed with "Fred" and "George" at the fair one summer. On my drive up I-57 I almost forgot where I was going, as this is the usual first leg of my trips to MI. After I got on Lincoln Hwy heading out to Indiana I could not get the smile off my face; just the thought of seeing Kassie and her mom Roxie again, left me grinning ear to ear.
I was a little nervous when I pulled in the drive. I did not know what to expect. There was not really any doubt that there would be hugs and smiles, and a general sense of I can't believe that we were really in each others presence again. My apprehension came from what would be beyond those first few minutes and hours. What would we talk about? Would we be comfortable telling all the juicy little gems of our lives that had transpired over the past 15 years? That is a lot of living to catch up on, and how would it go?
Shortly after we exchanged "hellos" and "I can't believe its," we after headed out to Roxie's country store, Dunfee Plumtickled Junction, for lunch. After looking around a bit downstairs and meeting Roxie's husband Dave, we took the old wooden staircase upstairs. I could hear her cute, little voice before I could see her. My grin grew. As we rounded the corner and I saw her, I just couldn't believe it - she looked not even 15 minutes older! We hugged and the smell of her perfume brought back even more memories.
After lunch, Kassie and I sat at the table in Pickle's and started to embark on 15 years of catch-up that lasted until the wee hours of the morning drinking wine and sitting on her couch in our PJ's. It all came with such ease, as if we had not seen each other in only a few months. She told me about life after she moved to Texas for just under a year and then to Indiana. All her stories about rodeo life in high school and I saw the pictures of when she was Indiana high school rodeo princess. I told her about college and my car accident. My trips and travels and caught her up on how the rest of the family is doing. We both filled each other in on the boys and men we have dated, and the good, bad, and crazy that went along with all those relationships. I got the story of how her and Jeff met and married. There was and still is so much to tell each other, but I think we made good headway.
In the morning we had our signature pancakes. When we would sleep over each others house, which was probably 2-3 times a week, we would make thin, not quite done pancakes, smother them in butter, and roll them up to eat them. We had one like this for ol' time sake. As the afternoon wore on it was time to say good-bye. We went down to say good-bye to Roxie, Dave, and grandma. We made plans to see each again soon, much much sooner then 15 years. After I get moved to Ann Arbor they would like to come up so they can see the rest of the family as well.
As I was driving home in the pouring rain I just could not believe how blessed I was to have this reunion with them. Her husband and little girl Holly, were just so welcoming. Holly repeated several times, "come back to Holly's house," as I was leaving. It is the true test of sincerity and depth of one's friendship when now it feels just like it was then.
Friday, April 3, 2009
Pancakes and rodeos
It was about circa 1994 when she moved in across the street and I was enamored with her from the start. Everything about her was the complete opposite of my Mid-west, subdivision-living, 2.5 kids and a cat all American life. A cow-girl, a real life cow-girl with a horse, chaps, rodeo belt buckles, and roping skills. We had no common threads of experience to connect us but we made a fast friendship because of those differences.
It was only a few years before she moved on; that was the first time my heart was broken. My first best-friend who I could tell anything, that person who you just laugh about nothing with for what seems like ever, was gone. As it was back then, before email, we kept in contact with letter writing and phone calls for a few years but eventually lost touch.
I am going to see her this weekend after almost 15 years (gotta love Facebook)! We spoke on the phone the other day and it was like time had never passed and we were just across the street from each on Sugarloaf making our weekend plans. I still can't really believe I am going to see her. I'll let you know how the reunion goes.
She was also the reason I started listening to country music. Sometimes I think the first verse of this song was written about us.
It was only a few years before she moved on; that was the first time my heart was broken. My first best-friend who I could tell anything, that person who you just laugh about nothing with for what seems like ever, was gone. As it was back then, before email, we kept in contact with letter writing and phone calls for a few years but eventually lost touch.
I am going to see her this weekend after almost 15 years (gotta love Facebook)! We spoke on the phone the other day and it was like time had never passed and we were just across the street from each on Sugarloaf making our weekend plans. I still can't really believe I am going to see her. I'll let you know how the reunion goes.
She was also the reason I started listening to country music. Sometimes I think the first verse of this song was written about us.
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
A good polticial laugh
I usually leave the political issues to one Mr. RomanX , but this one I couldn't help; plus it did not too much trouble to understand the back story
Grassley laid it on thick to Sen. Kent Conrad, reminding the senator that he asked Grassley not to take a vote on something a few years ago and Grassley obliged. Then the Iowan continued to remind the senator that Conrad's reaction to this was, he said "it was a very statesman-like thing to do." But for good measure, Grassley, a senior member of the Budget Committee, ended with, "So I would hope you would return the favor."
Conrad looks shocked and laughingly replies, "I used to like you," before saying, "Oh, you are good."
Without missing a beat, Grassley responds: "Your wife said the same thing."
Upon which Conrad replied steadily and ignored what could have been an even more awkward moment by saying, "She said you were the biggest hit of all the speakers at the event."
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