Let me start off with an apology... I was way too lazy and tired this week to write two posts. I'm sorry.
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A lot has happened this week. I got a Princeton Net ID so I can work at home! That makes me feel a little bit better after having been reduced to a VISITOR. However, I can't actually work at home. I'm gonna try to figure this problem out, but as of now, I still can't access the programs and the websites I need to when I'm connected to a different network other than the Princeton wireless. Speaking of programs, I was able to download ImageJ, but I still am not allowed to get Labview. I might be able to get a CD that installs it from another lab, but that's unlikely.
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So throughout this week, I've been practicing and learning how to do the whole procedure safely. The biggest problem is not setting up the experiment, but setting up the optical trap. It is literally the most expensive equipment in the lab, and obviously, no one would want a mere high schooler to be touching that unless that high schooler knows what he's doing. Thus, I've been slowly been learning each step, such as what to turn on and initialize, what settings to turn everything to, what order I press the many buttons. Surprisingly, even where to save all the data points is a bit confusing at first. Thank goodness I'm good with computers, 'cuz if I wasn't, it would take me a long time to get just this part of the procedure correct.
Recently (as in just yesterday), I experienced the largest obstacle in [is that the right idiom?] the way of me becoming one of the top three ophthalmologists in NY/NJ (one of my many life-long goals xP ). So there is this one part of the procedure that requires UBERLY steady hands and... I learned that my stead hands aren't too steady. :( I need some more practice. Instead of macro-movements, I should do something that requires small movements. Something like... model making! I think... v?v
http://www.showcasemodels.com/resources/E1/3297/picture/08/16967432.jpg
or maybe those anime ones :D
.
I got really disappointed one day. I don't know if others have the same problems, but on Tuesday (I think), I basically wasted that whole day. This is because I incubated the E. coli too long. Then, the population grew to a different stage in the growth curve. Because we want to see the response of E. coli at a specific phase in their growth curve, I couldn't use that flask of E. coli. AND, it was too late to make another flask :( I wasted a WHOLE day :'(
.
I've done a ton of things that I wouldn't have expected I would need to learn how to do. For example, I learned how to check if a pipette is working precisely as it's supposed to. Also, I've learned how to autoclave various things. It's been a pretty chill experience so far, but I imagine as the experiment moves on, it'll get busier. I also am able to analyze the data, but just a cursory glance suggests that I might need to switch strains due to the lack of interesting things.
.
Peace~
.
-PK
.
A lot has happened this week. I got a Princeton Net ID so I can work at home! That makes me feel a little bit better after having been reduced to a VISITOR. However, I can't actually work at home. I'm gonna try to figure this problem out, but as of now, I still can't access the programs and the websites I need to when I'm connected to a different network other than the Princeton wireless. Speaking of programs, I was able to download ImageJ, but I still am not allowed to get Labview. I might be able to get a CD that installs it from another lab, but that's unlikely.
.
So throughout this week, I've been practicing and learning how to do the whole procedure safely. The biggest problem is not setting up the experiment, but setting up the optical trap. It is literally the most expensive equipment in the lab, and obviously, no one would want a mere high schooler to be touching that unless that high schooler knows what he's doing. Thus, I've been slowly been learning each step, such as what to turn on and initialize, what settings to turn everything to, what order I press the many buttons. Surprisingly, even where to save all the data points is a bit confusing at first. Thank goodness I'm good with computers, 'cuz if I wasn't, it would take me a long time to get just this part of the procedure correct.
Recently (as in just yesterday), I experienced the largest obstacle in [is that the right idiom?] the way of me becoming one of the top three ophthalmologists in NY/NJ (one of my many life-long goals xP ). So there is this one part of the procedure that requires UBERLY steady hands and... I learned that my stead hands aren't too steady. :( I need some more practice. Instead of macro-movements, I should do something that requires small movements. Something like... model making! I think... v?v
http://www.showcasemodels.com/resources/E1/3297/picture/08/16967432.jpg
or maybe those anime ones :D
.
I got really disappointed one day. I don't know if others have the same problems, but on Tuesday (I think), I basically wasted that whole day. This is because I incubated the E. coli too long. Then, the population grew to a different stage in the growth curve. Because we want to see the response of E. coli at a specific phase in their growth curve, I couldn't use that flask of E. coli. AND, it was too late to make another flask :( I wasted a WHOLE day :'(
.
I've done a ton of things that I wouldn't have expected I would need to learn how to do. For example, I learned how to check if a pipette is working precisely as it's supposed to. Also, I've learned how to autoclave various things. It's been a pretty chill experience so far, but I imagine as the experiment moves on, it'll get busier. I also am able to analyze the data, but just a cursory glance suggests that I might need to switch strains due to the lack of interesting things.
.
Peace~
.
-PK
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