TV on a Rainy Day

This morning felt an awful lot like yesterday morning. It was cold and overcast. I think there was a 90% chance of rain for most of the day. Hooray. The three of us biked to work, as usual, and I started off making a gel to see if my PCR from yesterday worked. After I loaded it and put it on the machine, we all went down for tea. I really love our conversations. Today we talked about TV, mostly. The Irish get a lot of our shows quite a bit after we do. For example, "Brothers and Sisters" premieres tonight, and they are on the 4th episode of the 3rd season of "Grey's Anatomy" (we've finished it). Interesting, really, that we all know what happens already and the Irish people I'm around all want to know (but don't at the same time).

When I got back to the lab, I checked the gel and took a picture - but no success. That's a frustrating feeling. I had another PCR set up and in the thermocycler, so I hoped that it would work as well. While I waited around, I helped Sarah with some things and the two of us helped Dani find isolates to prepare for extraction. Also, Dani and I went with Gene to pick up supplies from the main Bacteriology Lab at the hospital. It was huge! There were so many people running about doing all sorts of different things. I'll have to try and get Dr. Cormican to show us all around it at some point.

We walked back to NUIG to go to lunch at the College Bar. They have pretty good sandwiches and soups and such. It was tasty. :) After lunch, Dani and I hung out in the office with Sandra for a bit. While we were sitting there, it started to pour (it had rained right before lunch too). The office has these window/skylights with vents that we open to try and cool down the place. But with the rain, there was actually rain coming into the office. It was really odd, but kinda cool at the same time. After we were tired of slacking off (lol), I set up another gel and ran it. But again, no success. Dearbhaile suggested that we try a different buffer, so that's what I'll do on Friday. Tomorrow I can't do any PCRs, because the cabinet (sterile workspace) has to be serviced. There are a bunch of lectures on the goings on of the environmental research department, though, so that should be interesting. If nothing else, we should be able to get more of an idea on where our particular research fits in with the whole scheme of things. Good stuff.

After work we all came back to the apartment and relaxed. I did laundry again, which hurt my wallet (10 euro total...), but gives me clean clothes - which is good. I ate my leftover pasta (which was grand) and then watched TV with the roommates. We caught Friends, the Simpsons, and then watched the premiere of "Brothers and Sisters". I think everyone's hooked now, which is awesome. I love the show. After some "Big Brother" catch up (lol), we saw another episode of "Brothers and Sisters", then dispersed for bed. Should be a nice day tomorrow.

Another Irish word for you is "slagging", which is the equivalent of "messing with" or "picking on". Someone can be just "slagging ya" or you could "slag" your friend about her outfit. Whatever works. Anyways, I should be getting to bed. Cheers!