Just to remind me

I seem to spend even MORE time in the labs this week than I did last week, as hard to believe as this may seem. Part of it has something to do with the fact that the amount of number processing we do per lab seem to increase exponentially with the number of labs that we do (four so far, and a quiz in the beginning of every five hour lab session except the very first one, but that was mostly because our first lab was on our first day of school and our lecture is scheduled only ten minutes before our lab). Part of it is the reality of the lab setting in and the amount of error every little thing seems to introduce (I don't care what the professor says about each student needing to learn to do his/her own work, I AM going to check over with my lab partner before each section in the manual because I refuse to remake more than two thirds of the reagents again just because she forgot to dilute her samples). Then there are simple facts like the necessity to check over my project protocols with the professor, who has a tendency to disappear on you for hours at a time while you sit in the lab and woefully stare at your Falcon tubes of solution. Meanwhile I finally got computer access in the lab so on top of finishing some of my homework, I also cleaned out my school mail box. (Lab situation has moved on from being me by myself in the lab for hours on end to being me, by myself, and occasionally one other person on the computer typing stuff.)

I like being efficient.

I've made so many batches of buffers and stock solutions that Henderson-Hasselbach and dilution equations have started showing up in my dreams. Priya, one of Dr. Berry's grad students who did her undergraduate degree in biochemistry, was very sympathetic. She also promised that once I stop doing those calculations I will find myself missing them one day. Sadly enough, I think she'll be right.

Onwards!