11/19/00

I'm not too happy right now. I've put in 16-hour workdays every day this week since Tuesday. This weekend, I'm doing an experiment which requires me to be in the lab from 6:30 a.m. until 11:30 p.m. (I do get a few breaks during the day, like right now, but it's still pretty painful not being able to actually do anything fun and never getting a good night's sleep. Also, the experiment itself is very tedious).

Oh, and did I mention that I haven't had any heat or hot water in my apartment since Friday and it's forty degrees fahrenheit outside? I'm cold, dirty and tired, and I'm due back in the lab in one hour.

I'm watching the TV news as I type this. What was George W. Bush thinking with that stupid white hat he was wearing yesterday?

Other than work, I haven't been doing much. Wednesday night, I was supposed to go out for a drink with my friend Michelle, but I ended up having to stay home and finish writing the 15-page handout I made for the review session I had to give the next day, so I had to cancel on her. Thursday, I taught for five hours in a row (three hours of lab, and then the two-hour review session) and almost completely lost my voice. Last night, I was invited to a party, but I couldn't go, because I had to be in the lab. I was invited to watch a movie with a group of people tonight, too, but I can't go because I have to be in the lab. Are you picking up a pattern here?

My hectic work schedule is due to a number of factors. The main one is that I'm going home for a few days for Thanksgiving, so I basically have to finish up all my ongoing experiments which can't be popped in the freezer for a week (that is, anything involving mice or live cells). Then there's the fact that everyone in the class I'm T.A.'ing suddenly realized how quickly their final exam is approaching, and they all want to meet with me. Also, the other T.A. has pretty much disappeared. He hasn't been to class in about three weeks. I did manage to talk him into giving one review session this week, but when he showed up, he told the students that he could only stay for an hour (I was pretty annoyed by this, because I had told him that he could do it any time he wanted, and this had been the time he'd picked). So, anyway, I'm pretty much on my own trying to help 200 hapless pharmacy students pass this final exam.

The third factor contributing to my busy-ness is the fact that our lab technician, the guy who basically runs the lab, has left his job for a more lucrative career at a biotech company. On a typical day, I ask this guy about 10 questions about where supplies are or how to do things, or who I need to talk to about getting something done. And now he's gone and there's nobody to replace him.

The last time I actually left my house to do something fun was exactly one week ago when I went to an afternoon showing of "The Legend of Drunken Master" with a couple of classmates, and then went out to dinner with Alvin afterwards.

I am going home on Tuesday night, but I just talked to my parents a few minutes ago, and it sounds like I'm not going to get much of a break then, either. My mom has to work on Wednesday, so as a result, I've been recruited to take over her usual cooking duties. I actually did about half the cooking last year, so I don't mind too much. Also, cooking gets you out of cleanup duties, which is a big plus. And I do like to cook.

I really want my hot water back. The heat would be nice, too, but the hot water is really key. I haven't been able to shower or even wash dishes for two days now. I guess I'll go leave another message on my landlord's answering machine. It's a testament to the insanity of the Bay Area real estate market that someone renting a $1000 studio apartment can go for two days without heat or hot water and not have her messages to the landlord returned.

In the forum today: Bay Area housing and Where does biology end and love start? .