Awkward sauce.

Um, so Friday was fun. Golden Boy gave a beauuuuuutiful thesis defense. Man, do I hope I kick ass like that hopefully 4 years from now. And then we had a party.

I had a lovely time. This was the boyfriend's first official lab event, so it was nice that he's gotten to meet the coworkers. And celebrating instead of working is awesome. :)

But...so Bossman got tipsy and then proceeded to tell me to not get preggo because then I "wouldn't be able to spend more time in the lab." AWKWARD. First of all, I'm not discussing my reproductive choices with you. Second of all, this is a party. Lay off the lectures. I'm absolutely sure this was a bad joke that went worse (Bossman tends to have those moments), but please---no. This is not something I'm comfortable discussing with my boss.

I reacted as any person who is deeply uncomfortable would: I told him to quit staring at me. He continued on, realized it was inappropriate and he should shut up, and started making fun of me for something else (thank goodness).

But man, AWKWARD. I'm still grumpy over the inappropriate nature of the comment/setting.

When Bossman's not happy...

...everybody's unhappy.

Grumpy Monday around here today. Bossman's mood defines the mood of the lab usually. Today was not a cheerful Monday. Pretty much everyone got the "you're not working hard enough/thinking enough about your project" speech today. I think he's upset because Golden Boy's defending on Friday and he probably didn't get enough sleep.

Oh well. Tomorrow's a better day?

Uh oh...more weekend lab time?

Was in lab both days this weekend. Saw Bossman both days. Guess the three kiddos aren't keeping him home as much anymore?

Nooooooooooooooooooo


Curses, I thought this whole "I get in before the Bossman" and "I leave after the Bossman" thing was good enough.

I think the real problem is that he lives within walking distance of the lab.

Lab injuries.

To be honest, many other chemists do far more dangerous work than I do. As a bioinorganic chemist, the biggest constant safety issue that I work with is a Schlenk line that is too big for a hood. But yesterday was a good reminder of how dangerous a lot of the materials my lab works with.

Luckily, in this particular incident, everyone's ok. Let me start out with that. One of my labmates accidentally dropped a beaker into a base bath, which caused the base bath to splash onto her face (she was wearing goggles, thank goodness). Unfortunately, her first reaction was to swipe at her face with the gloves that had base bath on them, so even though a second or two after that when she shoved her face under water, she managed to burn herself. Luckily, nothing got in her eyes and I had my car with me yesterday, so I drove her to the ER. The ER staff was as slow as molasses, despite a call from the chem dept that we were coming and that it was a potentially time-sensitive issue. They didn't do much other than have her take a shower/stuck pH paper all over her face, and eventually let her go with a prescription for a painkiller/steroid. She's a little shaken, but it mostly looks like she got an odd sunburn and there won't be any lasting effects.

We had a really bad acid burn for a different labmate earlier this year (before I joined), but both situations were caused by accidents and compounded by instinct. It's just a frightening reminder that despite proper safety gear/training, our instincts as humans take over first before our safety training kicks in.

A year ago, I graduated. WHAT

Congrats to all the graduating seniors. I wish each and every one of you the best of luck.

Your first year out of college is incredibly crazy. You really, really comprehend how little money and time you have. How much you miss the friends from school. But you'll make new friends, and you'll deal with the money and time issues. And slowly, but surely, things will start to fall into place.

Here's advice from someone who was in your shoes a year ago: You will figure out everything. As the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy states, don't panic.

Congrats to the class of 2011!

Reminder: I am still alive. Hooray!

I haven't posted in a really long time. Sorry. Life gets busy!

Since I last posted: my parents have visited, I ran my second half marathon with my dad, I've graded a midterm and written/graded two quizzes, turned in a bunch of hw, had a midterm and spent a ton of time with my labwork.

I am really, really looking forward to summer. CLASSES WILL BE DONE. NO TA-ING!

I still like TAing. As compared to 75% of the other people who came in wanting to be a teacher, I've retained the "man I wish I had more time to devote to EVERYTHING" spirit. Despite the fact that the weather is too nice for most of my students to show up for section, I love talking to my students. But man, trying to remember 115 student names---impossible. I've settled for remembering the students who actually show up to my discussion.

I wish I had more time to devote to lab, but meh. Classes will be done (forever? Unless someone makes me take more?) and I'll have two more quarters of TAing. And glorious summer is only a little over a month away.

And then I get to go on VACATION for a full WEEK. yayyyyyyyy