Ineloquent banging on
20.09.06, 6:00 pm

Sorry it�s been such a long time� in a nutshell I haven�t been able to spare the energy to write. This is my first week at work, and in order to make it in for the morning I have to spend the afternoon sleeping and the evening resting. Before going to bed at ten. Obviously I�m loving this gradual geriatric metamorphosis, and am hoping that it means I�m entitled to a free bus pass and an orange badge.

But yeah, work�s got first dabs on my energy resources, and it leaves me little extra. Having said that though, work seems to be going pretty well. The people there all seem nice � shall have to give them all code names like I did for my placement, just in case� obviously they�ll all be completely cunning and untraceable names � and the labs are very shiny and high-tec. It feels very strange when I�m referred to as a Research Technician. You know when you just know that you�re meant to do something? Well, after going through a line of wanting to be a vet, a teacher and then a psychologist (all the usual suspects, I'm so unoriginal), I finally sat down with a Sheffield prospectus in lower sixth, saw the Neuroscience degree and knew that it was the degree for me. And once I started the degree I realised that research into diseases was the one thing I would always be passionate about, and want to do with my life long-term. I realised on the bus home yesterday that, in terms of work, I have everything that I ever dreamed of, and I can�t quite believe it.

The first two days were spent being introduced and shown round the various labs, and doing lots of admin stuff like getting my key and swipe card. Today I did actual Science � I cut some slices of mouse liver (totally rubbish technique and really quite embarrassing) and then stripped all the muscle off of a mouse�s spine and cut off the first four vertebrae for analysis. If it sounds gross then� well yeah it was for about a minute, and then you just dissociate and get on with things like you have to do in dissection. And then I mounted my liver slices and stained them with some red and blue shit and Mini Boss (this name is reusable and I have robbed it from my old Mini Boss � apologies) said that they looked really good and I was all pleased. Science rocks.

The kids (Mel and Becky) were here all weekend. They arrived here on Friday night with suitcases in tow, prompting me to ask, �Okay, how long are you actually staying for?� The answer was Monday morning, not that they cleared it with me. It was a good thing though; in fact it was bloody fantastic timing, because if left to my own devices this weekend it would have turned into total depression nightmare. Becky brought me back a beret from France. I love them both so much.

They totally took over the flat, ate all of my food (but bought new food, so I�ll let them off), used up all my towels and slept in my bed, leaving me with the sofa (only for one night though, before Lisa went to Linda�s for the weekend and I took over her room). Was possibly the best weekend ever though. Lots of bumming around and eating, although we did go to the cinema on Saturday night to see Little Miss Sunshine. Most fantastic of all recent films; I�m dying to see it again. Em also came over on Sunday and helped us cook tea and it was just like old times. Becky�s off to Sussex on Saturday and Mel�s off to South Africa in a fortnight. Going to miss them both horrifically, although I�ve promised to ring Becky on Friday night to help her stop freaking out, and to visit her at some point. Obviously that 6-hour train journey will be an unmissable highlight and I shall record it in painstaking detail.

I�m going to have to go have a sleep now, before my brain just switches off completely. I shall try for a more coherent entry at the weekend, and may even have another stab at discussing Ladyfriend and other serious feelings stuff that I�ve been avoiding writing about because serious stuff is hard to put down in words. That was possibly the most ineloquent sentence ever.

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