It's All Coming Back To Me...

In my new job, I have had the opportunity to come back to chemistry.

This may seem like a strange statement, as after I got my degree in chemistry, I then did a PhD in forensic chemistry, and followed this with postdoctoral research predominantly in the fields of bio-chemistry and protein chemistry.

Here's the thing... My PhD ended up being more forensic chemistry, and my postdoctoral research more bio-chemistry and protein chemistry.

Now don't get me wrong, chemistry is a wide ranging term that covers so many things, all of which are chemistry. What I wanted, however, is to get back to chemistry in it's most basic form:
Chemical A + Chemical B => Chemical C

Luckily, that's what I'm doing now! Oscillating reactions, electrolysis of water, limewater tests... basic chemistry full of simple beauty.

Of course, this has lead to another issue: much like riding a bike, you can always do it once you learn how, but you're going to be a bit shaky at first! So I have been! Some plastic-ware has been damaged, some occupational health and safety rules overlooked, and my confidence in my knowledge and expertise has needed to grow, but slowly and surely it is all coming back to me... and I could not be happier!

Back to School!

It's the end of first week of School! We've had the freshmen, sophomores, and seniors attend class and it's been a fun and busy affair!

- The new Freshmen are fun and scary-intelligent! They have some crazy ideas and some downright brilliant ones. We took them up to the helipad (it has no railings... and it's on the 12th floor of the hospital! It has a spectacular view, but I stayed in the very center of the giant "H"!... We rode up to it and back in one elevator... Sure it was a large elevator, but it had 26 students and 6 adults!), we visited a worm lab (tiny, eye-lash-sized worms), and they saw nanotechnology. It was a fun day and it should be an interesting year!

- The returning Sophomores are their usual selves (if a bit taller!). We did a Science Olympics, with lots of fun events. One student was very Phelpsian in her domination of the Games, but everyone had fun! At the start of the day, while preparing for the students, I cut my finger. Nothing serious, but enough to require a bit of first aid. The humorous thing is that we had first aid training last week. During the training video on wounds (all fake, of course), I felt a little off, but quickly recovered. As the next video started, I passed out! I've never been good with blood, but who passes out in a first aid training course!?!?

- The Seniors and busy writing applications for science competitions. Each instructor advises two Seniors. One of mine is brilliant... The second, not so much! He needs a swift kick up the backside, and hopefully it gets him on track. Fingers crossed!

It starts all over again on Monday... I can't wait!

Olympic Reflections

So we're a few days into the Olympics and I have a few comments:

- As Sweetie put it, it's not a good Olympics if you're a female athlete in terms of fashion... We watched some of the parade of athletes and some of the uniforms were shocking, even more so for the women.

- The Men's 4 x 100m Freestyle Final was one of the most exciting finishes I've seen!

- Related to the above, never say you'll crush your opponents... It rarely works out in your favor!

- TV coverage: It offends me as a fan of the Olympics that the Chinese changed the swimming schedule around completely, just to suit NBC and the US public... Even if I benefit from it! To make the heats in the evening and the finals in the morning (it's normally the opposite) is unfair on the athletes, and it screws every country accept for the US, who get the finals in "prime time".

- TV coverage: The NBC Olympic coverage ends at 10pm... 11am Beijing time. Lots happens at the Olympics between 11am and 11pm (10am US time), and we see nothing! Of course, I could stay home from work and watch replays... Honestly, I'd rather stay up too late and watch the Olympics live.

- I went to uni with a guy rowing in the Mens 8. He came 4th in the last Games, so I'm hoping he medals here... Of course the faulty rudder and almost crash wasn't a great start!

Worst Doping Excuse Ever?!?

With the Olympics just around the corner, I thought I'd share with my audience the worst excuse I've ever heard for being caught doping (and no, it's not the Warnie "my mum made me take weight-loss pills" defense):

Former American sprinter Dennis Mitchell tested positive for high levels of testosterone in 1998. His excuse? "five bottles of beer and sex with his wife at least four times...it was her birthday, the lady deserved a treat."

What's even more astounding is that USA Track and Field accepted his excuse! Thankfully, the International Association of Athletics Federations did not and banned him for two years.

Variety is the Spice of Life!

It's been a typically unusual day and it occurred to me that maybe I should share what I do when I'm not teaching...

I spent some time planning my full day lesson on the Periodic Table. This may sound boring, but there's a lot of funky history and cool facts buried in the elements!

Next, I updated the second freshman lesson to include my flashy experiments (with such names as "angry bottles", "elephant toothpaste", and "lycopodium explosives").

I wrestled with some of the big questions in science (according to the journal "Science"), which form the basis of our 10th grade curriculum. These range from "How was the universe formed?" to "What causes puberty"...

After a working lunch (most of which was sitting outside and gas-bagging about work), I settled down to watch some online science videos from Craig Venter, and Stephen Hawking.

Finally, I finished off my day by planning some experiments that could be performed on an ice core that was donated to the school...

I don't want for variety!

It has begun...

I am know an instructor!!

I am almost one day into it and I'm loving it!

We have had the last week of Summer school and so far we have:
- Visited the University Athletics Facility (we got a tour from the "Strength and Conditioning Coach"... all 6'3" and 240 lb. of him!)
- Let the students work out at the student gym... The sight of 4 fifteen year old guys racing each other on Elipticals is just plain funny!
- We've taught them forensic blood detection (woohoo! for luminol!), PCR and DNA fingerprinting, nutrition, and analyzed biosoap (a by-product from diesel)
- Toured the General Research Facility (the have a sleep-study room, a bosy pod to measure lung capacity, BMI, etc., and the stuck me on a treadmill to measure my lung capacity... which was not that flash)

It really has been awesome!

End of an Era...

My regular audience will notice the change of template... New times call for new templates!

I have worked my last day as a postdoctoral research fellow. Tomorrow, I start my new career as an instructor of science and math (the title doesn't give the position justice... it's very cool!). I would say it is a leap into the unknown, but having volunteered at my new job, and having spent some time with my new colleagues (including a mexican-themed potluck), it's more "known" than not (anyway, I'm not much of a leaper... more of a "cautious first stepper").

No more shall my hands be calloused by my pipettes. No more shall I be the man with the butter-yellow tape (yes, very natty!). I walk away from an office (shared in recent months, but still an office), a lab, and ultimately from research.

I leave behind a lab full of friends:

- The redneck/goth graduate student who is so good and so depended upon that I refer to her as "Postdoc Lite". A lover of angry German music, Russian horror films, Panera (especially their chicken and wild-rice soup), and the only person in the lab who was anal enough to understand my anality (and yet be impressed by its depths). When talking about the weird and wonderful animals in Australia she exclaimed: "That's because y'all broke off too early!"...

- Our research assistant from India. The only other person in the lab who understood cricket (and thus had a special place in my heart), she and I were so polite to each other that there were days when it actually delayed our work! She has a wicked sense of humor that is far too quick for many, but a joy to hear, and she cooked the yummiest smelling lunches. Her husband is about to join the lab as a research assistant ("I'm senior", she pointed out), which should be fun for all concerned!

- The graduate student who started just a month before I arrived. We attended classes together, ate McFlurries when the going got rough, I was the first non-family member to hear of her engagement, and one of the first to find out she's pregnant (a fact that many, including the boss, still do not know). Sweetie and I are having her and her husband around for dinner tonight. He's off to his army posting and she's almost finished. I wish her all the best!

- Finally, my minion... Well the research assistant who worked with me on my project for so long, and who will be finishing it up for me. After years of the senior postdoc in the lab having a number of research assistants to help him, I finally got one of my own. She promptly took off to Hawaii for her honeymoon! Still, she worked hard, made progress where I had got bogged down, and we became good friends. She's got some big plans for her future and I'm sure she'll do just great.

I look back at the past four years, at a job that bought me to the States, introduced me to my soon-to-be wife, and ultimately lead me to my dream job. It's been fun, but it's time for me to go.

Wish me well as I cautiously step into the somewhat known...