Just got finished watching the Chuck Palahniuk documentary “Postcards from the future” that I got this week. It was really good. Make me wish I could of gone to the conference it was shot at last year. Oh well, hopefully he will come to NYC as part of his book tour soon so I can go see him there. To make the evening complete I cracked open one of my three remaining bottles of Captain Science wine. It’s been aging for about 6 months now and has actually improved some over what it was like when I bottled it. Improved to the point where I sorta single handedly emptied the whole bottle but eh. Once and a while is alright. Though it makes me want to look into getting another one of those kits and making more here in my apartment. We shall see.
Did nothing else of much excitement today. Did go for a nice walk so that was a plus. Sense I moved to NY I can’t help but do a lot of walking. I even ordered a pedometer with some books I got from amazon just to see how far I am actually walking some times. It’s probably more then I think and now I will know. Heheh.
Sometimes I’m such a geek…it’s great.
Tiger »« me fail oral?…that un-possible.
Er…well maybe its a bit more possible then I would of thought originally. Good news is I only got one wrong which is damn close to the 100% I needed. But as they say close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. Was more a mis-speak then something I didn’t know. Should of said “90% or greater quality match” instead by mistake I switched the words and said “greater then 90% quality match” very similar but thanks to stupid English rules of grammar wrong. So what does this mean for our daring hero Captain Science? Eh…not much. Have to “study” for the exam for three days and take it again, likely Tuesday. Did a little one on one review with Bob today (who agrees that its kind of a waste of time seeing as I got everything else perfect, but rules be rules and all). So yah, not the end of the world. A few other people also have to do it over so at least I wasn’t the only one. Other then that (which did suck) the week was fine. We got our next section stuff on weights and measures. All I have to say is “This thing reads like stereo instructions” Jenn should know where thats from 
. The SOP doesn’t help much either but is a bit clearer then the training chapter. We were warned that it was one of those chapters that you really just need to go over again and again and again in lecture with lots of examples to learn. (In a nutshell the weights and measures section teaches us how many of a certain thing we have to analyze based on what it is, how much, what different types, etc. ) Ironically its supposed to save time for us when we get up on the bench.
Not much on tap this weekend. Laundry, shopping, etc. Whee. Thought Saturday night will be movie night. I ordered the Chuck Palahniuk documentary off the ChuckPalahniuk.net website. The thing came in record time too. I ordered it Wednesday at like 1:30 pm on line and yesterday when I got home from work it was on my door step. Sure its sad to plan to watch a geek documentary on ones own on a Saturday night but this surprises anyone then they really need to read back in the archives some so they can realize what a geek I really am!
Still trying to think of some worth while web project to work on. Have been only semi creative as of late. I have the motivation to do something but just no actual ideas or talent. Would anyone find a comic with a talking Sarin nerve gas molecule amusing or would I just be asking for a visit from the homeland security guys? Eh. We’ll see. Almost Stargate time so I shall go. Plus I am out of stuff to talk about.
You are not your fucking khakis »« Shameless sucking up
{BEGIN SHAMELESS SUCKING UP}
CRIMINALIST TOM HICKEY IS THE GREATEST TRAINER EVER!
{END SHAMELESS SUCKING UP}
It had to be done. Showed some of my co-workers my website today so just to hedge my bets I thought a little sucking up to my supervisor was in order. Speaking of work, we are in the process of getting ready for our oral exam on Thursday. We did a little review and there really is nothing that has me too worried. It’s stuff we should know already but the way some people are acting you would think you were asking them to give the answers while walking a tightrope over a tank of sharks while on fire. Eh, then again I’ve never been that “public-speaking-a-phobic” so to each their own I suppose.
Home is boring. I need a new project to keep me entertained. No idea what yet but I’m toying with a few ideas so who knows. Will likely be something web related but thats sort of a given.
Oh yah before I forget Jenn got a job in Kalamazoo,MI so go Jenn! Still would of preferred her getting the one in CT but oh well. Kalamazoo is nice too I suppose and at least it has a funny name.
Ah well got to go care for nippy before I forget so I guess this is it for now. But before I go a thought to ponder:
“TV networks are going to devote to six hours to conventions, 1/10th the time we devote to choosing an “American Idol””
me fail oral?…that un-possible. »« A nifty Friday
We just had our polarimetry exam (it’s about molecules and how they bend light and stuff the specifics aren’t important in this context). Anyway I got a 100%! W00T! I was actually kind of sketchy on this one, there were a few questions I was unsure of and even changed two questions when going through it, (amazingly to the right answers) . Quite a nice way to end a week if I do say so my self. Have no real plans this weekend other then the usual junk (laundry, food, ect.) which is just fine. A lazy weekend is always nice, especially after a week of two exams at work. I also plan to do some stuff with my webpage, first up is fixing some minor stuff on the pages so they all validate HTML4.01 (well everything except this blog because of the way the software works it may not be possible). I also may add a few more pictures and stuff so keep an eye out.
Shameless sucking up »« See you in Hell GC…
We just had our GC/MS exam. Tom is still in his office grading them but I am sure I did fine. At worst I may of switched two numbers/terms and will end up with like 2 wrong. I can live with that.
I just got an email from the mouse people and they should get here (to the lab) tomorrow. So I must remember to bring a cooler and some cold packs and just hope that on one asks any questions hehehehe.
Seeing as I am at work I guess I shall cut this short (plus I don’t really have any thing else worth reporting at the moment.)
A nifty Friday »« Friday fun!
Well it’s Friday. Yay! Not that work was that hard this week but still, it will be nice to not have to come in tomorrow. (Keeps fingers crossed against being asked to work weekend OT) . This week was pretty easy really. We did our GC/MS known and test samples, both of which I did fine with and passed the test samples with the required 100%. Though really it’s the GC/MS that does most of the work. I also worked on a little project for Captain K which, while not exactly the most useful data, was something to keep me busy. Apparently they, the NYPD, are trying to get the “Mobile Lab” up and running again in time for the republican national convention (or as we in NYC call it “a pain in the ass”). Tom asked a few of us in the training class if we wanted to put our names down to be considered to be part of the mobile lab team. I was all about it my self. Sure it could result in 12 hours locked in a van with cops and other criminalist’s but on the other hand it would be good suck up material, look good on the old resume, and get me out of the lab from time to time. They are apparently looking for 4 or 5 people still in training and I think Tom gave them something like 7or 8 names so I figure my odds are good to get in. Today we are likely going to work on more project stuff and maybe start reviewing for the CG/MS written test, which would be good sense its been about a month sense we looked at that stuff.
As for non-work stuff as usual nothing too exciting going on. Have to do the usual stuff this weekend (laundry, cleaning, food, ect.) and also may tempt fate and try getting a hair cut at the little barber shop place right near my house. One of those little old fashioned type places with the Old Italian guy running the place. Haircuts are only 8$! I have been holding off because at that sort of place you can either get a really good haircut or a really bad one, but now that the wedding is over it really doesn’t matter much. Worst case I can wear a hat.
This weekend I also am trying to decide if I want to go to the reptile show in White Planes. I do need more mice for nippy and buying them at the pet store near me is WAY expensive (like almost 2$ a mouse). That leaves me two options, go to the show or buy them on-line. Thing with on-line is that every place I found charges 24$ for fed-ex over night shipping (the mice are frozen). At the show I’m sure I can get them in bulk for 30-40 cents a mouse which is about the same as on-line but the thing is that to get there I have to take the train and pay admission which total will come to like 20$ so it really wont save me much money at. I guess it will end up depending on what the weather is like and how lazy I am feeling.
Ahh…I guess I should go and look over the GC material before we lecture today. For what its worth.
See you in Hell GC… »« Museum Fun
Well I have mostly recovered from my trip to FL (read: my sunburn is starting to peel…ewww) . This weekend Jenn came down for a visit on her way back to NH. We had a good time. She finally got the real NY pizza she’s been craving! The major trip was this past Saturday to the Natural History Museum here in NYC. The subway getting there was a bit of a pain in the ass but we managed. The museum it self was a lot bigger then I expected. We went through most of it but definitely didn’t see everything. We did hit the major stuff though (ie. Dinosaurs). Here are some pictures from our trip! Other then that we didn’t do too much else. Just hung out and stuff but that was just fine with me (and her) so that was good. A good time was had by all.
I’m at work at the moment. We processed our GC data for our unknowns (I ended up with Ketamine, PCP, Lidocaine, and Methamphetamine) so apparently I did my prep and set up the stuff right after all. Yay! In theory we may do some more GC review at some point today too.
Barnett book sale is August 7 and 8 th so you CT people mark your calendars, at a buck a book how can you go wrong?
Friday fun! »« Florida fun.
Well I am back from Florida. I want to go back! Sure it was hotter then NY but…well it was Florida and I got to see Megan. Needless to say it was a good trip. Her mom’s wedding was nice, check my pictures section soon for pictures. It was a blessedly short outdoor ceremony (blessedly short because it was HOT). Then the reception was inside a much cooler tent/pavilion thing. There was good food, free alcohol, and a really good singer/DJ guy. All in all a nice day. This weekend I also met Megan’s family for the first time. As far as I can tell they liked me, as if there was ever any doubt I mean who doesn’t like me? But they were all really nice and about as crazy as my family so it really wasn’t all that different then being back home. She even has a crazy dog, a tiny little Pomeranian named “puddles”. Most of the time hes a nice little ball of fuzz, unless some one is holding him as which time he becomes crazy jealous and tried to eat me. Which is really funny because he is really snack sized so really not that scary. We really didn’t do too much in the way of tourist stuff while I was there but just hanging out was fine with me. We did make it to the beach where we both got too much sun, as evidence by my still sore and red shoulders. Monday we went to see Spiderman 2 which I thought was alright. Not as good as the first. They sort of spent too much time with Peter Parker whining about how much being Spiderman sucks. But even with that it was still a good summer blockbuster type movie. Then Monday night I had to fly back here to NY so I could make it to work today. Blah! I still would rather be in FL.
Speaking of work, today at the lab was alright. We got to do our known samples again for GC/MS, and this time had Bob there so there was more direction (ie. We knew what the hell was going on this time) They say we should be done-done and doing real cases around the first week of September now. Originally it was a bit earlier, but with our stupid rip and strip project thing going on stuff got pushed back a bit. Eh. What can you do?
On a totally unrelated note and thanks to google I found that some totally random person (in Canada none the less) had linked to my page off of his weblog. From the little reading I’ve done (and according to the little bio he has in his first entry) his name is Martin and he is from “Palgrave, Ontario, Canada.” and is “a molecular biologist by training”. Nifty eh? I have no idea who he is, but from the picture of him at a Monty Python party with a dead parrot on his shoulder, he seems to be as big a science geek as I am. He linked to “The Bricklayer’s Song” I have in my music section. I guess I just find it interesting to know that random Canadians link to my site.
Captain Science.com….first North America….then THE WOLRD!!!!!
Now I just need a secret volcano layer and a death laser and I will be all set.
Ahh…good times, good time. Well I must go. Sleep calls and after not getting to bed last night till 1230 I can use all the sleep I can get tonight.
Nighty night all!
Museum Fun »« And like that….he’s gone.
