Project Final Fantasy Update 4

This is 4.5 week. It has been a busy week. Finally did some real work. Not much work though.

1. 
   
   Contamination problem appears to be solved.
2. 
   
   Bradford working normally.
3. 
   
   Finally started on biochemical C assay. Initially, reading was over the scale. After some dilution, it went within scale. Good. BUT the results are a little strange and needs repeating. Also, I need to perform C-only analysis also next week. The assay itself is relatively short. The problem lies with the preparation. Very tedious stuff of standardizing biochemical P and lots of diluting. I used up boxes of pipette tips very quickly. Co-workers jokingly said I ate tips for lunch.
4. 
   
   Aliquoted samples and stored at -80 deg.
5. 
   
   Was asked questions by safety inspectors. Did OK. Except I need to state I will inform others about the spill before I proceed to clean up.

On the other hand, I have made very little progress on reading. Too tired to read when I got home. The only time I managed to read is on the way to school. At least I got tomorrow free. Tomorrow have to do some serious reading.

On the conference side, I have submitted the abstract. I truly appreciate the confidence my supervisors have in me. Must not let them down (what happened the last year is a real motivation not to repeat my mistakes). Looks like I am in for a rough ride the next 5 months. My limits will be stretched to the maximum.

Speaking of limits, to a certain extent, I think I have overcome my previous limits (OK, except for the occasional carelessness - like slotting the wrong filter into the plate reader and getting the thing stuck). But in terms of thinking when doing work, I think I have made a bit of progress (there is a lot more to learn though). Well, having no mentor helps in a way. I need to think on my own. People will get sick if you ask too many dumb questions. The one-year experience really helps a lot, in terms of mental strength, practical and organization skills. Lots of thanks to JN and KSG.

Amendment (10th July 2010): I just realized a problem with the assay. The standardization does not allow comparison between separate experiments, although it works within an experiment. I need to use a new method.