Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Day 27: Net Excitement
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Day 24: Frustrations
You know what they say... "Nothing is perfect." And my work in the laboratory is no exception. I just have to accept that we don't always get what we want when we want them. We don't always get favorable results on the first try, right? These things... they take time. And that's the sad part. Time is what I don't have right now. And I am even starting to think that maybe 30 days aren't enough. I know it's my own fault. I let myself be distracted by so many things back when I had all the time in the world. So now I am in so much pressure. Maybe this is the reason why I've been acting kind of weird lately. I feel so angry and irritable most of the time. I vent out my frustrations to innocent people. I'm becoming more and more sensitive and emotional. I know all this will be over. I just hope it will all be over soon.
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Day 22: On Gel Chrom
It's May 5, Day 22 of my thirty-day series.
I'm in the lab right now and today's agenda: Swelling of Sephadex G-100 and column set-up.
For those of you who have no idea what Gel Chrom (Gel Filtration Chromatography) is about but wanna know more about it, click here.
Actually, Sephadex G-100 takes about three days (at room temperature) to swell BUT this swelling time may be shortened using a boiling water bath. Bottom line: my three-day waiting time is reduced to 5 hours, yeah! And now, three of the five hours have passed. Two more hours to go.
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Day Whatever: Partials
I doubt that anyone noticed that I haven't posted anything this week. So much more my 30-day countdown, eh? Anyway, this week I started writing my manuscript, making do with the partial results that I have in hand.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Day 14: Swimming
The usual centrifugation, SDS-PAGE and Bradford assay... nothing new.
The highlight of my day would probably be the overnight-swimming with my family. A little confession coming up. I'm already 19 y.o. but I still don't know how to swim. But hey, it's ok. I know that I'm not the only one who doesn't :P
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Day 13: On Dialysis
Today's agenda: Dialysis.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Day 12: Merlin
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Day 11: Sick
Day 11.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Day Ten: Garfield
Day 10. One day wasted. If there's one word that would best describe myself today, it would be "unproductive." If there were two words that would best describe myself today, they would be "very unproductive." You get the idea... I was just not in the mood to do anything today. Maybe because it's Monday. Monday is like my bum day, if there's such a thing. Every Monday I feel so tired and sleepy and lazy.
Call me Garfield 'coz I hate Mondays.
I need a heavy dose of discipline here!
Friday, April 16, 2010
Days Eight and Nine: Donuts
Day Eight post came out a little... uhm... late and I'm sorry for that. These past two days went by in a flash and I've been very busy and tired.
And now, to sort of "reward" myself for this week's accomplishments, I bought myself my favorite bavarian- and strawberry-filled donuts! YEAH! Am planning to buy some DVD's later, too. Happy weekend, everyone!
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Day Seven: Overtime
Day seven. It's six o'clock in the evening and we're still in the laboratory. Talk about overtime, eh? I feel so accomplished although I still have SO MANY things to do.
Today's agenda:
1. Prepare extraction buffer
2. Extract crude protein from sample
3. Prepare dialysis buffer
4. Centrifuge to obtain crude protein extract
Tomorrow is dialysis day. Wish me luck :)
I'll try to get home before 8 pm. Don't wanna miss Adam Lambert on AI! For those who still haven't watched, here's a little spoiler for ya': 'American Idol' Top 9: Elvis Has Most Definitely Left The Building - Reality Rocks!
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Day Six: Pain
Monday, April 12, 2010
Day Five: Slipped Again. And Again. And Again.
WHEW! One word. Adventure. Haha. Let's start from the beginning.
There's been a slight change of plans. No lab today. Took care of registration matters.
1. Got my Form 5 and my classcard. Now registered for Summer 2010. 1 unit. Thesis. And, thanks to TFE (tuition fee exemption) I didn't pay a cent (usually, during regular sems I pay P45.50).
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Day Four: Slipped
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Day Three: Yet Again
Day three, SDS-PAGE (yet again). Checked on my 2nd electrophoretogram (from Day Two). It's better than the last one (from Day One), no bowling alleys but still not good. :(
Anyway, today's SDS-PAGEing went quite well, probably the result of our two days of practice. I haven't seen the output yet (destaining still in progress) but I sure hope it's better than the last. We'll see on Monday.
Am not labbing tomorrow. Holiday. Long weekend ahead but I will keep myself busy by dehulling mungbeans. Mmmm... fun!
Short post much? Blame this major headache!
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Day Two: The Bowling Alley Phenomenon
Of the 24 hours of Day Two, nine hours were spent in the lab. First thing I did was to check on the now-completely-destained electrophoretogram from our first SDS-PAGE attempt (see Day One). What it looked like? Hmmm, let's just say that we have discovered a new electrophoretogram phenomenon. The people in the lab called it The Bowling Alley Phenomenon. Here's a snippet of the actual electrophoretogram.
Bowling Alley Phenomenon, get it?
Anyway... Today's agenda: SDS-PAGE attempt #2 and Bradford assay attempt #... uhm... Bradford assay, period. Bradford assay, quite successful ---> proof that, indeed, practice makes perfect. Our assay was not yet perfect, though. But we're getting there. :) SDS-PAGE? Failure (yet again). But as I've said, practice makes perfect. We'll get there sometime. :)
Tonight I'm gonna resume my Heroes Season 4 marathon. Or maybe I'll just finish reading Percy Jackson: The Sea of Monsters. Whichever I choose to do, I'll do it while eating Bavarian-flavored donuts.
Tomorrow's agenda: SDS-PAGE attempt #3 and summer 2010 registration.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Day One: SDS-PAGEing
Day One.
Anyway, it was... uhm... not as hard as I imagined (maybe because the necessary solutions have already been prepared) but I'm not saying it's easy. I know I'll master the art of SDS-PAGEing (uhm) someday (?)
So, today's five hours were spent in the lab. And the fruit of our labor? Well, let's just say it's not the perfect electrophoretogram I had imagined. There was a "minor punit" and I haven't seen the bands yet (destaining in progress) - that's something to look forward to tomorrow.
To celebrate Day one, I took some pictures of the place that will serve as my 2nd home for a month. The Institute of Plant Breeding (IPB).