Catching up

It's been a while since I've written, but it's been pretty hectic around here. Not as bad as a month ago when I was dealing with the move, the thesis, the defense, the trips, etc...but now, my responsibility as a post-doc in my new lab has gotten pretty heavy. I haven't started experimentation yet, but for the past 3 weeks, I have been sitting at my desk, 9-10 hrs a day, reading papers and going through literature. I have no background in ribosomes, translation, mass spectrometry, or mammalian cell culture. Everything is extremely new, not difficult to learn, but very overwhelming at times. I can read paper after paper, but at the end of the day, I still have so much I still don't know. I guess it'll just take time, I can't expect to know everything right away, but I am ambitious (and competitive) and I don't like feeling like I am behind. I plan on one more week of reading, but after that, I'd like to start doing something!!! It's hard to sit at the desk day in and day out...I am an experimentalist, I'd rather be at the bench. On the other hand, the methods I will be using will all be very new, and I'll have to experience another steep learning curve there too. Anyway, just playing catch-up at work these days...learning mammalian developmental biology and mass spectrometry --two very different areas of research that I know almost nothing about. But I'll get there, I am sure. Addition to all the learning, I am getting an Orbitrap (a very very good, advance mass spectrometer that costs A LOT of money) for my project, and my boss has agreed to (insisted on) investing in a new AKTA, a protein purifier, to push my project forward! The lab is pursuing protein work (biochemistry) for the first time, and she's giving me pretty much full reign. Overall, it's an exciting time for this science girl :) a difficult, high pressured time, but exciting, nevertheless.

My new lab bay. My bench is on the right in the foreground --still empty and clean.

My desk --again, still clean.

I have been exploring the city a little bit more, but not too much. I usually leave lab around 7:30 pm, and by the time I stop somewhere to pick up some take-out dinner, get home and eat, it's usually 8:30 - 9 o'clock (I haven't cooked a single meal yet since I have been here). By that time, I am exhausted, especially these days when I am staring at the computer screen or reading all day. A couple hours later and I am out like a light. Sleeping at 11:30 or midnight has been the latest for me since I've been here, in fact, I am only up this late tonight (11:45 pm right now) because it's a friday! Whoo hoo! Wow, how my life has changed. I also don't have a TV in my new place in SF --strangely, I don't miss it at all! Those of you who knew me in Madison knew that I loved watching my trashy television everyday. Since I don't have a TV, there's nothing to do when I get home but go to sleep! I get at least 8 hrs a night, up to 10 hrs, and it's amazing.

Last Friday, I attended a happy hour at the Helen Diller Research Center (building next to ours) and was pleasantly surprised at how fun this group of scientists at UCSF is. There were shots of tequila going around! A kegstand at the end of the night! Kota (my fellow new post-doc, from Japan) and I made some new friends and went to a bar with them in the Mission District. It was great, and fun to meet and get to know some new people. I've also gotten into food trucks out here in SF --they're amazing. There are quite a number of them in Mission Bay and I am planning on making it a new goal to hit them all up at some point. So far, I have only tried McGee's Creole Cajun food truck on 4th (at Mission Rock) --had the catfish po'boy and it was SOOO amazing. You know I love my Southern cuisine. Today, for lunch, I had chicken and waffle at Lil' Skillet on Ritch St.. It's not a food truck --but a counter food place in a small alley. You order your food and find a place on the sidewalk to eat. Awesome. And the food was really really good. Last night, I had ramen at Katana-ya --long wait outside a tiny restaurant (with maybe seating for 15 max?) but so worth it for delicious ramen.

Aside from new people I've met in SF, I've also had a chance to meet up with some old high school and college friends since I've been back. You know about Christy and Kevin, my family here in SF. BTW, last Sunday, Christy and I had the best day getting pho, thrift store shopping, and sitting at the beach. My high school friends Whitney and Kristina and their fiancee and husband, respectively, have also had a chance to come to SF. It was nice to grab dim sum for lunch with Kristina, Huy, Michelle (her sister) and baby Emmy (K & H's daughter), and dinner with the addition of Whitney and Pot. Yesterday, I got to meet up with Lauren and her husband Jason for dinner after work. Lauren, Jason and I all went to college together (University of the Pacific) and in fact lived in the same hall in the dorms (Grace Covell, woot woot). We've been friends since we were 18 --freshman year of college --and although we don't always talk, they're low maintenance friends (my favorite kind of friends) and we always pick up where we left off. Lauren and Jason just got married a month ago in Hawaii! Tomorrow, I am having dinner with Christy and my former college roommate of 3 years (freshman to junior year) Shirley! Christy, Shirley and I (plus another girl Vieve) lived together in a house together our junior year of college --Bonnie Lane will always be a fond memory.

Baker Beach, Sunday afternoon with Christy.

Baker Beach with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background

My adorable baby girl, Emmy.

Me and Lauren, enjoying cupcakes after dinner in Union Square.

It's 12:10 am and way past my (new) bedtime. Until next time, hope everyone in Madison is well, I miss you all so much. Life's been good these days, but nothing compared to the happiness I felt during my last couple of weeks in Madison.

Mariah Carey ft. 98 Degrees - Thank God I Found You