things that i had to do at work today ...

- split vero e-6 cells
- check on endothelial cells
- finish second overlay for plaque forming assay
- clean water bath

i am done with everything except the last one because i have to wait until everyone is done using it for the day. i can do it at 3:00 pm. surprisingly, this is the highlight of the day.

other things that i did at work ...

- finish book from yesterday
- start on new book
- the tiniest bit of accidental sleeping when nobody was around
- call hcc to figure out their what all the symbols mean in their course listing
- wait on hold for 15 minutes
- call ut for a transcript
- pay a unheard of $10 for aforementioned transcript
- eat pizza lunchable
- blog
- text boyfriend
- talk to the new post doc
- tape my shoelace where it started to fray because the aglet peeled off
- draw black circle around new bug bite

so ... during this blog post, i was interrupted by the new post doc named madori.

madori is japanese and about 30. she is really pale has black hair that is always pulled back into a half-ponytail with little wispy bangs scattered on her forehead. she rarely talks and is never in the lab because she refuses to work on anything that my dad asks her to do because he is not the highest one on the lab ladder. she is actually kind of dumb because my dad is essentially in charge of everything because dr. peters is never here because he isn't that healthy and is always behind on things. anyway, before today i never said anything to madori. every time she comes in, she has a notebook in which she writes down what everyone is doing. it doesn't bother me because i always get my work done and everyone knows what i'm doing anyway. anyhoo ... today for some strange reason (possibly boredom) i decided to initiate a conversation with her. i asked her which part of japan she came from and that started a long conversation about where i go to school, where i live when i am on break, siblings ... that led to my parents ... what language do we speak at home, what do we talk about on the ride to and from work ... that then led to what experiments i'm doing ... and so on. by the end of the experiment i had evaded so many questions that i felt like i just underwent strenuous police questioning ... also at the end of the conversation she stated that she saw my name on a paper that my dad had published ... it was in an accusing tone. then i said that i worked at the lab for 2 years prior ... implying that i earned it. i don't think she believed me because she then said "oooohooo ... you are very beneficial to be kent's daughter." what do i say to that?! i still do not like her which is weird because i have never met a japanese person i didn't like ...

... until now ...

other madori facts that i have learned ...

she offended the other japanese post docs because she asked them their salary. dr. peters doesn't want to talk to her in person because he doesn't know how much conversational english she understands. she is from a small northern town in japan where it snows a lot. she has one sister who is 6 years older and who has two children. every time someone says something, in order to buy time to figure out the appropriate english response, she goes "oooohooo" in a slightly melodic and annoying fashion. she bobs her head too much. she uses a pen that had four ink colors contained in it. she uses a notebook that is not standard size. she lives in galveston. she feels old because "aunts are not young" but wishes "like all other japanese people" to young forever. she has an annoying laugh.

that is all. i will add the description of the other people in the lab shortly ...

also, i've finished more books. i recommend both.

- eclipse by stephenie meyer
- the straw men by michael marshall