Thirsty Thursday

Does it mean that I am an alcoholic if I walked in the Institute this morning, wanting a nice cold beer? I think this was just a result of it being super hot, and the two block walk from the parking lot to lab had me sweating already. No worries then, not an alchy. But stressed, yes!

There have been a lot of stressors lately – well 3 – and they have taken their toll (I’m working on a post that will be entitled, Anatomy of my stress).

First off, was my journal club presentation this Wednesday. I had to present a complicated paper from Dr. Vern Schramm. I met Dr. Schramm at the Newport conference this summer, and think that he is a fantastic scientist. I was determined to learn more about his work, and put in 20+ hours into this hour long presentation. While it went well, that’s 20+ hours that should have gone in Paper 2.

Graduation – my second stressor. My graduate committee’s requirements for graduation were to have Paper 1 published (checked), Paper 2 submitted (was supposed to have been submitted Aug 31, hasn’t happened yet), and Paper 3 in the works. Last week, my mentor gave me back the first draft of Paper 2 with some corrections/suggestions. Plus, we agreed that three more experiments needed to be done. So paper 2 is still in the works. Paper 3 – I have two HPLCs (piece of equipment that helps me evaluate my enzyme) named Old Boy and Precious. I had nothing to do with the naming of the 20 year old machines. Well two Sundays ago, Old Boy just got really tired of continuously running, and stopped. Still waiting for the HPLC doctor to do a house visit. This means that Paper 3, is about 2% complete.  Today, I confirmed with my mentor. I am defending at the beginning of December. To graduate this Fall, I need to defend my thesis by November 4. Thus, I will not be graduating this semester, but rather in the spring. I made peace with that decision. I recall telling mom about the papers situation – Paper 1 is the cake as it comes out of the oven. Paper 2 is the frosting, and Paper 3 is the nice decoration on top. It makes sense that a cake that has all the works will sell at a greater price than one with just frosting. Plus if I don’t put the decorations on top, no one else will, and I want to have a finished product. So in theory, Paper 3 will look really good on my CV – it will just depend on what hiring departments will think about me taking longer to graduate.

Job – my third stressor. I’ve had some fruitful conversations. I have a few offers, but I am not ready to accept them. Staying in my current lab is not an option since we don’t have funding. Staying at UAB is not advised, but it has its appeal since Tom isn’t done yet. I’ve been looking at listings, and find myself uninspired. Maybe it’s burnout or stress. I’m gonna keep looking and applying. And let the dice fall where they may?

All this to say that this weekend, I will be working. Precious will be running, which will give me time to finish Paper 2. Tom also has a tough few weeks ahead with a committee meeting at the end of the month, so he will be working too. For the past two years, we have taken trips on Labor Day. But not this year. We may treat ourselves with a nice dinner (steaks, crabcakes, grilled veggies, and wine). We may go to the farmers’ market. We may do a nice relaxing brunch on Sunday (salmon bagels, shrimp and grits, mimosas). Maybe have a cake, with frosting and all the nice decorations :) Other than that, it will just be a regular weekend.

I hope that you don’t have to work. Watch some college football. If you do have to work, take some time to relax, if only for a few hours. Happy Labor Day, y’all!