Advertisement
Published: June 16th 2011
DSCN1661
Pr 607
I have trouble sitting on that chair because (1) I can't touch the ground and (2) its rolly. You roll across the room just getting on.I've been thinking of you two a lot because (1) I miss being at the lake/eating good food/playing bags and (2) you're both working at new jobs too. Its nice to know I'm not the only one still being trained and learning my responsibilities; really, I do think of that a lot haha. I think its a cousin thing, Joelson cousins in particular—the fact that we've always been treated as equals; I guess I find it comforting to know that we're in a similar situation and on the same page. hahah Oh me. Being sappy 😊
I still find it strange to wake up and go to the lab. Even though I'm here in Thailand, I keep thinking I have to put my suit on and go to swimming lessons. There's usually a 10 second interval after my alarm goes off that I don't remember where I am, but I realize I'm here and work is a mile away across freeways and past schools and vendors selling taro, sala, and roasted peanuts. I've leave around 8:10 because I've been walking this week and I get there in time to get breakfast and check my email in the library. My lab is
DSCN1663
Micropipettes. I know how to use those now...good thing I learned on the LAST experiment we did for my research at UWS :P on the sixth floor of the Pr building. (I really don't know what "Pr" stands for. There's also a K building...hmmm.) Rm 607...probably one of the smallest labs in the microbiology department. It had to have been converted from a faculty office its so small. It could be that its crowded in there because AT LEAST four of us work there all the time. Lots of girls show up here and there throughout the day though; our PI told us that they like to come look at Kyle. He's not very comfortable with this hahah. By the way, PI stands for principle investigator. Kyle told me that before he came he thought it meant "pretty important." hahahahhahahah Its funny because that fits too.
We've been working on finding the mechanisms (pumps in the cell wall, enzymes that destroy drugs, altered proteins) that make our bacteria, Acinetobactor, resistant to all sorts of drugs. Some species of acinetobactor can be a normal inhabitant of skin, but in hospitals where patients bodies are immuno-compromised, it causes infections like meningitus, UTI's, and pneumonia. Its resistant to the cure-all of Asia: Cipro. I had a prescription for that when I went to China. Then again,
DSCN1665
Kyle flaming the loop. what don't we Joelson-Kemen's have a prescription for???
Anyways, I do a lot of
small labwork. I work in microliters most of the time ( a volume 2,000,000 times smaller than a 2-liter bottle of pop). We also do selection patching which is a tiny grid behind a petri-dish with 200 squares and we have to streak colonies of Acineto in each one with a tooth pick. Thats fun.
I've used some cool equiment though: sonicator, PCR machine, gel electrophoresis. I don't really know how to explain those things and I'm not sure you'd be interested. But, its interesting for me and I'm trying to remember what I can.
I'm having fun working with Kyle and am learning a lot from his good questions. He's awfully polite and quite serious about science so I think we make a good team. Not that I'm NOT polite! I just try to make things a little more comfortable in the lab, loosen people up a little. I think we all share that gift. You wonder about me and Lis? We've got the elderly covered; they seem to like us. ahhhhhh ok, clearly I'm going to start rambling and/or going on tangents. Just know
DSCN1667
"Kill it!!" Acineto doesn't die in ethanol. We use dettol instead when we (meaning I) spill those tiny beads we use to spread plates. I miss my cousins A LOT and hope you are BOTH enjoying your work in Virginia! YAY!!!!
Until we meet again,
Amy
Advertisement
Tot: 0.078s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 5; qc: 44; dbt: 0.0452s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
anonymous
non-member comment
Exciting!
Amy - your pretty much the only person I can say this to that understand it... 1 simple word....WOOF! HAHAH! I am super happy for you that youve found something so exciting to do! And you get to travel the world while doing it! I'm taking a simple intro to bio course right now.. and they sent me a lab kit; complete with chemicals.. are you for real? They apparently dont know me. I'll obviously be doing these "experiments" outside.... haha! Working in a lab would be so interesting. Thanks for documenting your trip, I know we dont keep in touch like we used to but I definetly miss your personality! I just remember when we were little.. what a bunch of wierdo's we were... I can only imagine what our neighbors thought. Hope your having an amazing time in Thailand! We should skype sometime :-)