Seriously?

No, no, really, I am still alive. I still exist. I panic, therefore I am, etc. The past week has been pretty hectic and while this week looks like it may turn out to be slightly less eventful, for some reason the stress-level has not abated at all (is it better to have a break in-between or to just maintain the same stress-level straight into the finals? I really don't know).

I have had one biochem midterm. This time the average score is much higher at an astronomical 50%. The professor reminded us that she doesn't curve and that, really, we shouldn't panic because there's always the final which is 40% of our grade and so, despite of the final being cumulative, we still have a chance to raise our grades, really.

Monday, when we all got our scores back, was not pleasant.

Today is a mishmash of things. For one thing, it turns out that everyone thought everyone else was going to order micropippets and so, of course, no one ordered them and so I called the company because we really need micropippets. Accurate ones that have been calibrated. And of course the company that does the calibration for pippet brand A doesn't sell pippet brand A, but it does sell B, and C, but not A. The original company informed me that no, they don't do distributors in US anymore so if I want to order anything I can be nice and modern and do it online. They even gave me instructions on how to order things online. It was very nice of them, except the phone call took way longer than it should and I exited the building realizing that A) I have left my bike at the rack across from campus because it was raining earlier and I didn't want to brave the on-campus traffic near the silo and B) I am going to be very, very late and C) that I left my lab keys in the lab and had effectively locked myself out.

Anyway, three hour lab today, and then it's to make copies of this new protocol because we have to switch the DNA extraction protocol since the researcher who came up with the original one informed us that the original one didn't really work that well and this other one works better. The copier machines hate me and one jammed four times in a row (you know those huge xerox machines in the libraries? Now I know how to take out the paper trays and side panels -- all of them) while the other one flat out refused to print. The person who is supposed to fix the machines is as confused as I am and so I trudged back to my mentor to explain that I found primary source for the protocol but the ridiculous compilations of circuits and plastic have me beat and, by the way, I left my lab keys in the self-locking lab.

I suppose that I must look fairly distressed by that point, because Dr. Berry just laughed and gave me a piece of candy.

And then I came home and realized that it isn't even Wednesday yet so, oh boy, tomorrow is definitely going to be fun.