Work Related Resolutions for 2010

This year I have two work-related resolutions for 2010, and both were based on hard-learned lessons over the course of 2009.

1. Better Organization: 2009 was a productive year, but there is always room for improvement. To that end, I'm trying the "daily planner" route again, I'm learning the in's and out's of MS's Outlook Calendar, and I'm attempting to resurrect efforts to get electronic notebooks into the lab.

2. Field Work: Make no bones about it, I'm a lab rat. The extent of "field work" I ever did was to go to another state to do some lab work. After debacles with collaborators retiring technicians, samples showing up in my lab without advance notification, and incomplete site histories rendering my efforts all but useless, I've decided that I will no longer rely on collaborators alone to send me samples for analysis. So my lab and I are making a concerted effort to find new locations for our research efforts. We started that this week with a couple of riparian sites which we'll begin studying soon.

Currently a bit waterlogged
I wonder if they'll let me buy a gator?

Currently ...

Listening To

Reading

PlayingThe Sky Crawlers

Woo hoo!

I was waiting for this!

Sweet.

Maybe I'll switch to coffee ...

... in the mornings.

Nearly half of the 90 beverages from soda fountain machines in one area in Virginia tested positive for coliform bacteria -- which could indicate possible fecal contamination, according to a study published in the January issue of International Journal of Food Microbiology.

Researchers also detected antibiotic-resistant microbes and E.coli in the soda samples.

The problem? Most people consider "clean up" to be a menial task which is boring and pointless. That means it either gets done half-assed, or maybe not at all.

Oh, and to everyone who works in the food industry, or in some way comes into contact with items which may be consumed. WASH YOUR HANDS FREQUENTLY*! WEAR GLOVES!

Sheesh, just thinking about these things makes me want to stop eating out.

*Especially when leaving the rest room.

Reason #1

To root for the Jets over the Chargers this weekend.



This is horrible. Yeah, wave to your ma LT ... from the sidelines as the Jets "take the knee" and perform the victory formation!

Add these people to the list of ...

... people who really need to get a life.

On the fan forum site "Avatar Forums," a topic thread entitled "Ways to cope with the depression of the dream of Pandora being intangible," has received more than 1,000 posts from people experiencing depression and fans trying to help them cope.

For reals! You really can't make this nonsense up. But the part that really had me screaming at the computer screen was some idiot named Ivan Hill. Why? Well, here is what he had to say:

"When I woke up this morning after watching Avatar for the first time yesterday, the world seemed ... gray. It was like my whole life, everything I've done and worked for, lost its meaning," Hill wrote on the forum. "It just seems so ... meaningless. I still don't really see any reason to keep ... doing things at all. I live in a dying world."

Nevermind the fact that Mr. Hill is 17, so I'm not sure all of what he's "done and worked for", but the response of the article really missed a golden opportunity in my mind.

The bright side is that for Hill and others like him -- who became dissatisfied with their own lives and with our imperfect world after enjoying the fictional creation of James Cameron -- becoming a part of a community of like-minded people on an online forum has helped them emerge from the darkness.

And what is this community going to do? Seems like absolutely not a god-damned thing. No call to action to lead people to live greener lives, to demand real government action to protect and save the environment, no campaigns to hold politicians (who literally hold the earth's sustainability in their hands with their votes) accountable. Nah, just a place to pat each other on the head and tell each other that life doesn't suck that much. Oh, and to do the following:

Within the fan community, suggestions for battling feelings of depression after seeing the movie include things like playing "Avatar" video games or downloading the movie soundtrack, in addition to encouraging members to relate to other people outside the virtual realm and to seek out positive and constructive activities.

Yeah, go play a freaking video game. Forget about volunteering time to build a local garden or park ... that's for those idiots who live in reality. Reading this stupidity makes me depressed. Excuse me while I go play a video game.

I'm not linking to this article ...

... because of the article itself. Rather, I'm linking to it for one of the comments because it sums my thoughts up pretty darn well. The comment was made by "RichP the Pocono's" and he said:

The biggest losers in the country are the american people and american business, mainly from the carpet baggers and faux royalty we have in all three houses. Coming up on a year now and still no legislation enticing or making it advantageous for american business to stay here in the US, NONE. In fact quite the opposite, more and higher taxes, that is a really good incentive. Bravo DC, bravo....

Bravo, and Amen.

ETA: Don't know why this was the top link on the CNN Politics/Polls page. Must be a slow time of year, eh?

Currently ...

Listening ToOne of my favorite bands, and one of my favorite albums. Reminds me of my undergraduate days when I saw these guys play at The Icon in Buffalo. I heard they (The Icon) closed, but The Connells are still making music (supposedly).

Made in the USA

Honestly, it's time to limit the amount of things individual consumers purchase from China. Here is the latest news about child items being contaminated with cadmium.

Lab testing organized by The Associated Press shows that it also is present in children's jewelry - sometimes at eye-popping levels exceeding 90 percent of the item's total weight.

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot!

Cadmium is particularly dangerous for children because growing bodies readily absorb substances, and cadmium accumulates in the kidneys for decades.

"Just small amounts of chemicals may radically alter development," said Dr. Robert O. Wright, a professor at Harvard University's medical school and school of public health. "I can't even fathom why anyone would allow for even a small amount to be accessible."

If I were a conspiracy theorist, I'd say that this is all being done intentionally ... to weaken our next generation. I'm not, but I still say that if China can't clean up its act, at the very least we as consumers should do so. Heck, in reading those articles, it appears that cadmium containing items are sold heavily in China, which makes me wonder if China actually cares about its own populace. And if China can't be bothered worrying about their own populace, what makes us think they'd care about ours?

And in case you were wondering where some of these products might be found, this article indicates several stores in the United States could be carrying them:

Some of the most troubling test results were for bracelet charms sold at Walmart, at the jewelry chain Claire's and at a dollar store. High amounts of cadmium also were detected in "The Princess and The Frog" movie-themed pendants.

Poverty

Came across this article today and it was an interesting read. The very end of the article caught my eye though:

The emergence of the working poor in the world's second largest economy has shocked a public used to the image of a rich and egalitarian nation with lifetime employment for its workers. The latest figures from the government reports a 15.7 percent poverty rate. Compared to other industrialized nations, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development says Japan ranks fourth, behind Mexico, Turkey and the United States.

Yep, that's us, the good ol' U S of A on that list.

According to the Census Bureau, in 2008 the poverty level was 13.8%, a 1.3% increase over 2007. No doubt it went up in 2009, for reasons we're all too familiar with (and which the article seems to indicate). In 2009, Health and Human Services listed the "poverty line" guidelines for the US. Those numbers ($10, 830 for a single individual in the contiguous 48) look awfully low.

Also, here are some other factoids mentioned by the Bread for the World Institute, who bring you the Hunger Report:

*A family of four generally needs to earn twice the poverty threshold to provide children with basic necessities.

*24.5 percent of black and 21.5 percent of Hispanic people live in poverty, compared to 8.2 percent of white people. 34.5 percent of black and 28.6 percent of Hispanic children live in poverty, compared to 15 percent of white children.

*16.5 percent of foreign born US residents experience poverty versus 11.9 percent of native born residents. This number is particularly high among immigrants who have not naturalized, at 21.3 percent.

None of these numbers are comforting.

The difference between love and hate ...

... can be as simple as a matter of a few degrees centigrade.

Love
Hate

Of course, the old one is now sticking to its story that hovering at -71C is a "Good Thing".

Ack!

ASM abstracts are due ... soon!

I put the date in my new planner though, so everything should be juuussstttt fine! ;)

ETA: Abstract done and sent to collaborators for approval/tweaks. Now turning attention to a peer review. Need to clear my plate because I have grant reviews next week. Yippie!

Enlighten me!

So people have gotten onto my case about my choice of news sources for some of my blog entries. So, I am asking my readers to edumacate me and point me in the direction of better sources. Here is a list of the sources I read routinely. Probably not every morning, but once a week, or in the case of some of them once or twice a month. It also doesn't include local sources (for obvious reasons).

My news sources. Click to enlarge
So, what am I missing? What do people in the blogosphere read regularly for reliable news?

For shame ...

... why would you do such a thing? Is this a corporate decision, or is it done at the individual store/manager level? I am going to assume it's a corporate thing, and as such it's a truly horrible (despicable) corporate policy.

Heh ...

I need to change my WiFi router to be ThanksForPilingAllYourLeavesOntoMyProperty. I don't think that will fit, so appropriate abbreviations/alternatives will be appreciated.

Currently ...

Listening ToEverytime I hear Immigrant Song, I think of the Viking Kittens.

O RLY?

If I'm going to feel "shock" at the failure of the intelligence community to ensure that air travel is safe, then please answer this: Why is Napolitano still in place?

It's her job to ensure that the system runs smoothly, yet it seems that coordination of intelligence gathering efforts is stuck in a pre-9/11 loop. Get someone who is competent for crying out loud, and won't claim that the system "worked" (yah, thank goodness for quick-thinking-on-your-feet civilians who had to do the governments dirty work for them) when it's obvious it had a moment of EPIC FAIL.

Before I start dropping f-bombs all over the place, whatever happened to Obama's promise of accountability? Lies, lies, and more damn lies from politicians.

Lab angst

Since I've been in my lab, I've had a low temp (-80C) freezer which has been nothing but a pain in my tookus. For the past three to four months it has been hovering at around -62C. We finally scratched up enough end-of-year funds to purchase a new one, and after canceling one order (it was confiscated by pirates I believe, because it appears to have been "lost at sea") the new one arrived last month. We have this new puppy fired up and at temperature and I began transferring shelves (one per day) yesterday. Well, I did the bottom shelf yesterday, went home, came back this morning and the old freezer is up to -71C. I don't know whether the threat of termination was enough to get its butt back in gear, or if the thing was just filled past capacity (which doesn't seem like it should happen). Anyone around here a low temp freezer guru who might know what's going on here? I mean, I can use this older freezer for temp storage (though nothing around here is ever temporary for long) and holding a secondary backup stash of clones/strains without using 25% to 50% of the freezer for storage. But talk about inefficient.

What are you reading?

Today, I'm reading the following: Induction of purple sulfur bacterial growth in dairy wastewater lagoons by circulation (PDF, 7 pages).

Abstract
Aims: To determine whether circulation of dairy wastewater induces the growth of phototrophic purple sulfur bacteria (PSB).

Methods and Results: Two dairy wastewater lagoons that were similar in size, geographic location, number and type of cattle loading the lagoons were chosen. The only obvious visual difference between them was that one was stagnant and the water was brown in colour (Farm 1), and the other was circulated and the water was red in colour because of the presence of PSB that contained carotenoid pigments (Farm 2). Both wastewaters were sampled monthly for 3 months and assayed for PSB and extractable carotenoid pigments (ECP). After this point, circulators were placed in the wastewater lagoon on Farm 1, and samples were taken monthly for 9 months and assayed for PSB and ECP. Before the installation of circulators, no PSB-like 16S rRNA sequences or ECP were observed in the wastewater from Farm 1; however, both were observed in the wastewater from Farm 2. After the installation of circulators, statistically greater levels of PSB and extractable carotenoid pigments were observed in the wastewater from Farm 1.

Conclusions: Circulation enhances the growth of PSB in dairy wastewater. Significance and Impact of this Study: Because PSB utilize H2S and volatile organic acids (VOA) as an electron source for photosynthesis, and VOA and alcohols as a carbon source for growth, the increase in these bacteria should reduce H2S, volatile organic compounds and alcohol emissions from the lagoons, enhancing the air quality in dairy farming areas.

Can it be done?

Can I really, truly, make a resolution work? I have had limited success with New Year resolutions. The only one I can ever remember following through on was cutting out soda for an entire year ... but that only worked for the one year I did it, and now I can down a 2L bottle in an afternoon.

At any rate, my goal for this year is to write (and get accepted) three first author manuscripts this year. I have the data for two of them already collected so this should be an accomplish-able task. Also, since I have a paper already under review, that should count towards one of the accepted papers should things go favorably.

However, in order to achieve this level of success, I need to organize. It's not one of my strong suits, and my desk is a cluttered mess. I know where everything is, but I'm still not organized, and I need to get there. I know it behooves me, for my long term productivity and upward mobility in the ranks of research, to achieve this goal. So, I took my first step in this direction today ...Is increased productivity in my future?
I went out and purchased a daily planner. I tried this last year, with very mixed results ... but I have the fire in my belly this year. I swear! At any rate, I've already started filling out January, which is a good thing because I have a manuscript review and a grant review due in the next few days. I better get cracking!