Contaimination! Contamination! Contamination!

Contamination in 2 flasks and 2 wells!!! Contamination!!! Unforgivable! I think contamination reflects that I am not a very careful person. Ok. Some of the senior students also get contamination now and then (relatively infrequent though.) Very problematic. I did not experience contamination in the first year and now, I get contamination in 3.5 weeks! I have take a more extreme aseptic measures. This is very troublesome, especially since I have to boost my speed of doing things. Looks like ethanol consumption will rise by quite a bit in the coming days.

Project Final Fantasy Update 3

It has been 3.5 weeks. What have I done? Well... not a lot. Not the actual work anyway. They will begin next week. Hopefully. Must work harder while morale is higher. My morale is always higher when things begin. There is apprehensive of course. However, future is always brighter when I am dreaming of the potential of this work.

After a few times of problems with plating the proper number of cells (various people suggested various methods), I think I finally got things right. Finally. Some do consider individual cells of multicellular organisms as an organism. I do not. Simply because... well... they are not complete organisms. Besides, if you consider them complete organisms, imagine carrying out "massacre" of tens of millions of cells every day.

In this 3.5th week of Project Final Fantasy, I had three dinners with friends. Just this week, there was the dinner with science research people (Too bad our doctors did not attend) and dinner with secondary school gang. Everyone seems to be doing well relatively speaking. These outings are the calm in this turbulent period of "Battle". I really and acutely felt the calm during science research people outing, while we are around the Helix Bridge area. If I remember, the last time I had a similar feeling was during secondary school CCA chalet.

Truthfully, I am not one to root for prolonged period of calmness in work. Calmness is good. Stability, predictability and a sense of feeling good. Especially if you have already found your significant Other. I think I like challenges. I enjoy competition. It raises my game. I think inevitably, when you mix with strong (or stronger) people, you become stronger over time as well. Also, the kind of euphoria when the dread of failing is banished with unexpectedly good outcome is unbelievable (The lack of people to share this euphoria can be a downer though). Yup. I think the thirst for competition, the craving for euphoria of success and the burning desire to beat a challenge are driving me onwards (and perhaps further away from romance though).

Then again, I think I have become a better loser. More willing to accept responsibility for making mistake, admit mistake and face mistakes. This is essential I think. If I do not face mistakes, then given my highly competitive nature, I will (in the words of a senior) "crash and burn".

Successful Stage 6

In the fight with 8 stages, I supposed I can claim to win Stage 1,2,3,4. Stage 5 was kind of a draw or even a loss (though most people would claim otherwise) - 2 of enemies are tough to beat and I got sucker punched by 2 others. The main problem then was the lack of motivation. Or perhaps winning the previous stages had made me over-confident of my abilities. Very, very big mistake. The good thing is, they reminded me of my weaknesses.

As much as I hate to admit these weaknesses, I do know that if I do not admit their existence, I will never improve. It is better to face up to reality and challenges than run away from them or bury my head in the ground. I did some reflection and tried to put new measures in place for Stage 6... and Stage 6 is another success. All right, the success of Stage 6 belonged not only to me, but to my mentor and seniors. They played a very big part in this. I can never thank them enough. Now, as I move on to Stage 7 and 8, bigger challenges await. To achieve true victory, I have to overcome these.

So, as you can see, I am someone who likes to "fight". Overly competitive they say. Then again, this is how I live most of the time. "Fighting" is the only way of life that I know. Perhaps this is why I am incapable of proper love.

Watch What Your Kids Put into Their Mouths

Being interested in infectious diseases, I was a little shocked to see something today. At a restaurant, a small kid (3-4 years old by my reckoning) was playing around. At one point, he used his index finger to rub the floor (The restaurant staff was mopping the floor. Perhaps the kid was curious about the shiny and slippery surface). The Mother (I presume), carried him back to her seat. The aunt (another assumption) gave the kid a french fry. Not into the mouth of the kid, but letting him hold it by the very hand that touched the floor! You would think that with the recently outbreak of hand-foot-mouth disease, parents and guardians would be more careful.

Now. Infectious disease are scary. However, most of the time, they can be easily prevented! Simple things like avoid spitting, covering up mouth or nose when you cough or sneeze, remove stagnant water and wash your hands before eating can go a long way in keep you healthy. Alright. I hear some of you saying that what if you did your part, but others do not. I have seen people (mostly older generations, though these are only anecdotal evidence) spitting; people coughing without covering their mouth etc. I think we need more education. Things may look alright now. However, imagine if there is a influenza pandemic (Experts believe it is imminent. The only question is when it will happen.) or an outbreak of multi-drug resistant tuberculosis. Then what? Do we need really need a major event like SARS to wake us up?

Yes. People have complained about being a nanny state. The question is, how can we not be a nanny state when we cannot do things right ourselves?