The Anti-Confidence Confidence Builder

I braved the 30+ mph winds this afternoon to try out the bike course for the triathlon. Two words--hill central. I expected the first hill. I expected the second hill (that one was a killer straight into the wind), but I didn't expect the last one. When I saw that last hill my confidence was shot. It was huge. Then, I managed to ride up the hill without having to stand and I got my confidence back. It was an anti-confidence confidence builder.

Hills are intimidating until you conquer them. Then you can claim you own em.'

Evidence of My Work

Saturday is laundry day, it always has been. Well, if you get technical, my first day off of work is always laundry/chore day. When I worked at the zoo that day was Tuesday, but it was my Saturday. Thursday was my Sunday. Don't ask me how a day got sandwiched in between Saturday and Sunday it just did. Anyway, with laundry comes the job of checking my pockets for remnants of that day's business. I have yet to master emptying my pockets before I put them in the basket, but I remember to do it before I thrown them in the wash. And, to get right down to it, I haven't mastered the art of making sure my socks aren't bunched up either.

When I worked at the zoo I'd find hose nozzles, needles (covered of course) I used to give a bird a shot and meant to thrown in the sharps container before leaving, hay, straw, feathers, and the occasional handful of cracked corn or waterfowl diet. Working at the clinic I find cage pins, cage cards, dog biscuits, and poop sacks hiding out in the various pockets of my jeans. My pockets were strangely void of evidence of TAing the genetics lab, although every once in a while I'd find a paper chromosome model tagging along with me or a wand for fly nap stuffed in my watch pocket.

Everything ends up in my pocket at some point, sometimes it stays there.

Much to my surprise (or lack there of) I found evidence of my new job this afternoon. I emptied the back pocket of a pair of jeans and found the extra pair of small nitrile gloves I had stuffed in there so I could use them at Beadle. For some reason the lab at Beadle only has M, L, and XL gloves and I wear small. Luckily, the lab in VBS has all four.

For the record, my affinity for putting things in my pocket didn't start with my first job. I've been mastering the art since I was old enough to walk, and some mighty strange things have cropped up. My father likes to tell the story of the day he emptied the pockets and found a headless mole. He was grossed out, and I was happy to see it again. What can I say, I was three.

Day Four, Shorter Than Day Three

Today I learned that all holding, pouring, and filling techniques in the lab at Beadle can be understood in terms of drinking beer. Of course, I don't drink which makes the analogies rather impractical for me without some major explanations. For example, preventing foam formation while filling a 1 L flask with running buffer was explained to me by 'rolling' beer down a glass.

Huh?

My co-trainee confirmed my extrapolation of the analogy after Dr. E left the room. You just run the buffer down the side of the flask...couldn't he have just said that?

Day Three in the Lab--Oh What a Long Day

One and a half hours in lab in Beadle, one 1/2 walk back to East campus, an hour for regurgitating what I learned in the lab, and five hours of learning how to run the FACScan (Flow Cytometer).

That was followed by a 2 mile walk to the dojang, 1 hour of herding cattle (teaching overly hyper kids), and a mile walk home.

That equals 12 hours of non stop action and one grouchy and tired Brittney.

Day Two in the Lab

MHC I + Peptide ---> CD8 T Cells = Killer T Cells
MHC II + Peptide ---> CD4 T Cells = Helper T Cells -----> T1 & T2

Four hours of Immunology lecture/research philosophy/understanding the aspects of laboratory assays. Twenty minutes of letting my brain digest the first two hours of lectures. One hour of figuring out the computer and looking up ELISA info before it all started.

My brain is fried, but it'll revert back to its normal self by morning.

Day One in the Lab

I learned about stuff like this today:

Decisions and a Time Trial

The best decision I've made recently was to stop tracking what I eat. I said I was going to do it for a week, and that turned into two weeks. Then I decided to just stop it all together. I have less stress, and I don't feel so OCD. I still pay attention to what I eat, and that I get two-three Boost/Ensure a day plus a carnation instant breakfast. I figure I'll track my weight, and adjust accordingly.

I also started to acknowledge the fact I'll probably have to do this for a long time, and I'm trying to accept it. My post on the 12th helped me figure that out. Focusing on training also helps, but I think I might be trying to divert my attention away from the actual problem. I don't know if that is healthy or not, but it has made me a lot happier.

This week I start my new job, and with that I guess I'll find out how I do managing things with a 9-5 schedule that will mimic the 8-5 schedule I'll have this fall for vet school. The idea is making me a little nervous because I feel like I might drop the ball on paying attention to my nutrition. I guess I'll just have to see how it goes.

A New Name, and a New Blog

I finally managed to come up with a name for my bike. After searching for the perfect title and spending a couple hours on her this week I came up with Meadow. Most of you know I'm a birder, and my bike is a Marin Larkspur. So, if you add it up, she's a Meadow Lark!

And, I guess if you haven't found it yet you will at some point. I started a blog in April to track my training for the triathlon. I call it TriOwl (Owl being one of my nicknames, and it has two meanings..besides the obvious it stands for on water and land). TriOwl kind of sounds like trial, and that is what the triathlon is for me. I'm trying it out, and seeing if my body will handle the training.

Oh and I have a new, you know you are skinny when: Your old high school science teacher says "If you stood sideways in the wind..." when she sees you for the first time in six months.