LOL let's just like spend the afternoon measuring out reagents and adding them to water. Sounds like MY idea of a great time!

Okay, okay, it wasn't as bad as I'm making it out to be, but measuring out stuff on scales and adding them to tubes and such wasn't how I was planning on spending my afternoon!

Let me actually jump back to the beginning and tell you WHY I was measuring out "stuff" on scales and such. It's come to the point in my project where I need to be growing diatom cultures on agar plates (like I do with bacteria), but first I need to make very specific media to grow them on. The agar media is mixed with a very specific balance of vital minerals and such, and because the ratios were different than our lab usually uses, my professor and I decided it was best that I just start from scratch.

 

I made several different reagents today, of which I'm going to use 1 milliliter of each later when I make the agar media. Yeah, that's way less than an ounce.

In any case, I should run along and catch up on some other work I was meaning to do before I got caught up in lab!

...on a quiet Sunday afternoon...

...I'm on my way to the AC (Academic Commons, on the first floor of the library).

To get some studying done! ^,^

The sun is shining... it's a great day to be on campus!

As such, it's easy to appreciate the aesthetic value of the snow on days like these.

And more snow: we gots it

We got some more snow here on campus, and yet again I didn't know about it until just before it happened! I think we got another 5 inches of snow or so, which brings our total to over 2 feet since I left campus at the end of the Fall semester. By noon, it appears the snow has stopped and the sun is thinking about coming out to hang out with us. This would be appreciated because we all like the sun. It will be interesting to see what my fellow classmates do tonight for their first weekend back at Clark. I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of students stay in to avoid trudging through the snow late at night, but who knows? Apparently LOST is on Netflix instant, so I know what I'm doing tonight.

I originally had an interview for a research assistant position this morning, but my professor couldn't make it in because of the snow. It's rescheduled for next Friday. I don't know what my chances are for landing the job, but if I do, it would make my life a lot more complicated during the week. Either way, my schedule's organization is up in the air for at least another week. I've been trying to juggle classes, labs, and readings the past few days and it's a bit of a hassle.

I finally stopped by the lab today to organize some stuff. I don't know how long it will be until I can start with the actual lab work, but at least I'm starting to get on track with some things. I hope we can start things up next week and it'll be awesome!

 I posted a new video to wrap things up for this week. Below it is:

...and the Spring 2011 semester: it begins.

And it begins with 5-8 inches of fresh snow! Whoopee!

Well, actually, truth be told, it's kind of annoying. Last night while walking on campus, I was discussing with my girlfriend how messy campus already was with the snow that fell over winter break. Worcester has a serious problem plowing its roads and sidewalks, and our campus (which I assume is almost entirely the university's responsibility) is no exception.

One of our two main streets (Maywood) that runs through our campus has been reduced from a wide two lane road to a one and half lane wide messy path. Snow has been left behind because people neglecting parking bans during snow storms and left their cars parked on the side of the street.

Mayyyyw00000d

Here is a section of Maywood, which runs perpendicular to Park Avenue and Main St., the two primary roads of Main South. (The light streak is from a passing car; I kept it because I thought it looked hell neat.) Even though only 3-4 inches have fallen so far (in addition to what has already fallen), it's pretty messy out.

To hear about my classes this semester and what my first day back in the swing of things was like, check out my YouTube video posted below!

insert title here please ROFL

A week from now I'll be licking my wounds and prepping for another semester at Clark.

...I don't know why I used the phrase "licking my wounds" because I surely shouldn't be hurt going INTO the semester. However, I always get a bit nervous starting a new semester with a new schedule. Such is life. However, I think what makes me the most nervous is having one of my (research) classes be so up in the air in terms of time commitment and scheduling. Nevertheless, I am prepared to kick this semester's butt, especially after doing the same last semester.

I have a few things to wrap up before the semester begins. One, it looks like I have books to buy (maybe jut one), but I really don't feel like wasting my money. If necessary, I'll hit up the reserve section in the library to read the text. In all honesty... I usually don't read the textbook. My GPA hasn't suffered from it either, but I guess I'm just one of those kind of students who don't gain much from the text (however, this can change dramatically depending on the course material).

I should be wrapping up my World of Warcraft playing time, but I've made a lot more friends than expected this break. Perhaps I'll let my account subscription keep running this semester and only log on during the weekend. Things may get really busy if I find a job or maximize additional lab works to earn some more money. It's really unfortunate to say, but this is the first semester where I'm worried about money. Yeah, I think I'll be okay, but because Half.com takes forever to pay me for the books I sell and there will be 3 weeks after the semester begins before my first paycheck from the University, it may be a bit tough the first few weeks. But this is what college is about for a lot of people--finding ways to stretch budget--and I look at it as a good learning experience. While it's always nice to be well off, I think it makes college students much more grounded to have to figure things out financially. Let me just say going back to World of Warcraft that I've never been addicted to it (well, maybe during the summer when I have nothing else to do) but really enjoy the company of my friends online. Oh boy. Color me socially inept haha!

I actually hope to get out and do a lot more this semester, but we'll see how that goes. Time will tell in regards to what I'm required to accomplish in my coursework. I hope to get more done this semester to build up momentum for summer lab work.

The semester is still over, I assure you

Video all up in here, recounting the last few days of the semester. Be sure to see the previous post for postings of my final projects and such!