Lah di dah di dah

Things have been a little stressful and at the same time boring in the house of Chez Janet and James lately. James is applying for "real" jobs and writing up these intricate research proposals, teaching statements, blah blah blah. To add to the stress, the hiring market is really poor right now, as so even though he is slaving in front of his computer, he knows he will be competing against hundreds of equally qualified applicants for every position. He feels it will be a miracle even if he gets one interview. He has spent hours and hours on his applications, which means that during all of these holidays, we have not gone on a single adventure. My job is to be a sounding board, to proof read and to provide an endless supply of hugs.

In the mean time, what have I been doing? For the most part, a whole lotta nothing. Work is slow because the TEM is closed for the week and the deuterium lamp burnt out on the spectrometer and no one is around to order a new one during the holidays.
Really, the most exciting thing was yesterday while trying to buy underwear, I got stuck in a parade that lasted for two hours. Thrilling, I know. I have been keeping abreast of the news online, writing blog posts when the muse speaks to me and quilting. Each one of those blocks takes and unholy amount of time, so it has been keeping me out of trouble and building a weird callus on one of my fingers. I feel a sense of achievement with having six done, but I don't even want to think about how much work is going to go into making a whole quilt worth, and then actually quilting it.

But because all of my real chemistry work is put on hold, and the boss is away, I get to do Secret Chemistry. What is Secret Chemistry, you ask? It is your whacked out ideas that you try when the boss isn't looking. You only tell him later if something cool happens. Or, if it all goes to poop, you let it fester quietly in your lab book. It truly is the most fun part of my career choice. Many a great projects have been born from secret chemistry, and many great idea flops have been avoided by secret chemistry. Think covert canulating. Mysterious magnetic stirring. Surreptitious syringing. I laugh in the face of failure! Bwah Ha Ha! I will kick some reaction butt. All with my super sexy super hero costume: lab coat and glasses!

Back to the bat cave! Er I mean, Fume Hood!