Silver week snoozefest

This week we had 3 days of holidays, 5 days including the weekend. I was gloriously lazy, I slept alot and enjoyed just being around my apartment.
I had to come into work on Monday as I had to revise a manuscript for a journal and the deadline was that day, I'm glad I did as on Thursday I got into work to find my review article has been accepted for publication, big smiles all around.
Its the first national holiday I've had with no plans, I've not gone anywhere or had anyone visiting. I kinda liked it....maybe I should do this more often?
Of course you'd think I'd have written up my post on Budapest-well sorry, it is coming shortly though, I think it will be a photo heavy one too.

Back in the land of efficiency and miso soup

Back, in body if not in mind.... I think thats still somewhere over Russia. My poster had such a good time its hanging around Helsinki airport still (I wish I was there). The last stage of the journey from Osaka to the apartment was a trail yesterday.... I was seriously sleep deprived by that point. Caught up a little now but I think this afternoon in work will be nap time at the desk and its not helping that its so quiet. Anyway when my brain reaches me I"ll write up my trip report and put up some pictures from my snazzy camera.

Pre conference flight plan... 2 days to go

The last week I"ve been working away getting organised to go. Yeah, I know I'm not trekking up Everest or anything, but hey...
All of a sudden on Tuesday, my mini boss looks at my poster properly and we decide to completely re-arrange etc etc. so I ended up working till 10pm.
Finally on Thursday the poster was good to go, I spent an hour cycling round the campus trying to find the print unit, I even walked past the office but didn't realise. The office name is completely in kanji ( i think I was expecting to be able to read print in katakana or something, more fool me!). In the end I came back and made puppy eyes and sad faces at the guys in the lab and got them to ring and arrange a lab pick up. So all being well the poster arrives today.

At the same time as this I came up with the theory of how it all works- I even animated it, I"m pretty impressed with it so far *preens*.

Last weekend I got some old kimono's from this great shop in Otaru- my mum wants some for some friends of hers, however being old and mostly silk, they're pretty heavy, I hope I can fit them in my suitcase....
I also splurged and got me a digital SLR camera (Nikon D300) with 2 lenses, so this week I"ve been getting to grips with the basics and getting a practical sized camera bag. I hope this means that my Budapest pictures will look fabulous.
Yesterday I bit the bullet and got my hair cut. Theres a new salon at the bottom end of the campus, next to my old apartment. I requested (with photos) the Cameron diaz look from "The Holiday" and I"m pretty impressed. Its the shortest its been for a while, but the guys were good- a fabulous head and shoulder massage and the stylist even showed me how to brush and dry into shape. And the shampoo'ing and styling did not turn my hair into grease. Its weird to have short hair again, I keep running my fingers through and abruptly it finishes. The guys in the lab were suitably impressed this morning. *grins happily*
Now all thats left is to pack this evening and pray the typhoon currently coming close to Osaka keeps away.

Minor meltdown averted- threat level reduced

After my crisis post, I'm pleased to report that a rough draft of my poster is done and the talk is mostly done. PHEW!!

The plan for swimming was abandoned in the end.

I'm back at home relaxed and I'm going off fill my bath and chill out I think

Rabbit in the headlights

Bugger, bugger, bugger....

Why am I getting so stressed about tomorrow??
Tomorrow is the practice run through of the talk and the poster for my conference.
Perhaps its because I haven't done my poster, maybe thats because when I look at what I've got I can see the holes in the data and experiments that should have been done. I'm sitting at my desk but not actually working, I'm not setting up experiments that might just plug some of these holes. I feel like a rabbit in the headlights. And at the same time some part of my brain is telling me to not stress too much, its only a run through and I'll be making changes and its ONLY a poster. I"ve got a civil war going on in my mind at the moment.

Right thats off my chest, I'm going to set up a rt-PCR and then go for a swim, maybe that will do the trick.

Its that Friday Feeling again

Playing with powerpoint to make a montage of Sapporo from the top of Maruyama

I think Friday should be declared a permanent national holiday. I'm sure large parts of the world will join me in wanting this too.

I actually managed to do some work this week. I think the fact that I've got 3 weeks left till I'm at my conference has been a great incentive for work. That and the practice run through, poster check that will happen next wednesday.
My mini boss returned from his conference in the states in one piece, despite having to run the gauntlet of bears between his cabin and the conference site! It certainly makes for a more interesting conference, maybe they can throw those who over run on their presentations out for some bear mauling. Since I'll be in Budapest, I think the chances of me meeting a bear will be much lower- I'll just have to run the gauntlet of not being able to speak any hungarian.

I got some random (read: ARggggghhh why is it like that??!) results and so I've spent this week trying to repeat and see if it was real (which means much more complications if it is). I loathe real-time PCR at the best of times, but today I nearly had a hissy fit at the damed machine.
The real-time PCR machine is several floors below me in the main lab and so I trotted off with my USB drive to pick up my results from the overnight run, thought it all transferred so closed down the ancient laptop. Back up at my desk I discover that the file of results is blank, despite being able to see them on the laptop previously. This is the second time its done this trick, the last time it took 3 goes up and down and then eventually I gave up and had to copy the data by hand off the laptop (which with 60+ samples is not fun). Apparently it objected to my file name this time so fortunately I was able to pull the data from it second time around.
The results aren't ideal still so I guess this means a morning in the lab tomorrow to run some more experiments and pin it down..... SIGH!

Another lazy Friday

Well the end of another week. My motivation levels are pretty low still. This week I've also not got so much sleep, its got all hot and sunny and me being the weakling that I am doesn't do so well with nights that are hot (20C- see how much of a weakling I am). I even had a little nap in my favourite hiddy hole in work- the cell culture room with its gently drone of the extractor fans and sunshine and extremly comfortable chair. That was after I cleaned out the crap that some previous user had left behind. Someone doesn't seem to clean up their spills which gets me gnarky, but I shall zen and not say anything for now.....
Disappointly, I have decided that I can't get to Fujisan this year. Stuff happens- work has gotten in the way of the weekend I was going to go and I've got work that I should be doing hanging over me too. Also, its pretty expensive to fly off to Tokyo for a weekend and then not to be able to climb because the weather is crappy or something. So next year then- by which time I'll be amazonian- woman- like with my fitness (ha ha).
My mini boss is off to a conference next week and we're into the Obon quiet time in the lab, so hopefully I can sneak an afternoon off work undetected.
I think this evening is time for a "pamper me" session in the bath. I have some onsen bath salts from Kyushu to try out. Have a good weekend