Panic

As of 6pm EST yesterday I am in a state of panic.

I sent out my emails to the professors I had interviewed with to say "Thanks for having me, I'm going somewhere else" officially. I also sent out an email to say "I really liked your lab. I'd like to officially join" to the prof in Nashville.

Come 6pm he wrote me back to drop a huge (HUGE) wrench in my plans.
Please read below:

"Dear Kathryn
Thanks for your email. You've been in my mind because, coincidentally and in anticipation of communicating with you, last Friday I was checking my budget situation with our office and realized that with more recent NCI grant cuts, I will not be in the position of hiring anybody right away. This is a big change from the time you interviewed which also came to me as a major surprise. Not sure what to tell you other than profusely apologize for any involuntary mixed signals. I remain very impressed of your credentials. Things may change by late July pending some grant submissions but I don't have any right to ask you to wait for me. Should we talk on the phone. Do you have to be out by October 1? Thanks."

I did make an appointment to speak with him on the phone Friday morning, but in the meantime I will be looking for jobs. I don't know what else I can do. I'm REALLY not looking forward to spending another month or so interviewing as that really puts me behind in lab. But seeing as how I don't officially have a job lined up, I don't have any reason to get out of here in a hurry outside of maintaining my precious sanity.

Wish me luck.

Just thought you'd like to know

I've thought of 10 more things that annoy me. They are, in no particular order:

1. Adult women who twirl their hair like they are a child. I want to slap their hands and say "No!"

2. Women who wear royal blue mascara with matching blue eyeliner. I should find it funny, but it comes out annoying.

3. Adult women who try to dress like their teenaged/twenty-something daughters. Puh-lease!

4. People who talk to their pets while on the phone talking to a real person. Just. Don't.

5. People who attempt to breathe, smoke and talk on the phone all at the same time. Some folks have it mastered, but the majority doesn’t seem to have it down.

6. Heart-shaped jewelry. Makes me think of the fake plastic jewelry you can get out of a bubblegum machine.

7. People who carry bad childhood traits with them to adulthood. For example: tantrums, and pouting.

8. Pseudo-scientific beauty commercials. "Our cream has amino peptides!" Great. You know what that means? First, it's redundant. All peptides have amino groups. Peptides are proteins. Every living thing is made of proteins. Or "Our cream has caffeine in it to wake up your skin!" Um, no. Caffeine wakes you up when you ingest it. In the lab, we use caffeine in our experiments on cells because it fucks them up.

9. Pseudo-scientific TV. Now, I love CSI and Law and Order and their kin as much as the next girl, but I always have to laugh when they oversimplify something, or horribly mispronounce things in their dramatically dark and backlit labs. For example: the acronym ELISA is pronounced “eh-lye-za”, not “eh-lees-ah”. Also, there is no way they could supposedly use all of the instruments and protocols they claim to and get an answer by the end of the day – it just doesn’t work that way.

10. Pseudo-scientific newscasters that have no idea what they’re talking about. My favorite: a piece on chlorophyll, and the newscasters feel the need to point out “chlorophyll can be found in any green plant like broccoli or lettuce.” I’m sorry, but no shit, Sherlock. You learn that in middle school.

Just thought you'd like to know

I've thought of 10 more things that annoy me. They are, in no particular order:

1. Adult women who twirl their hair like they are a child. I want to slap their hands and say "No!"

2. Women who wear royal blue mascara with matching blue eyeliner. I should find it funny, but it comes out annoying.

3. Adult women who try to dress like their teenaged/twenty-something daughters. Puh-lease!

4. People who talk to their pets while on the phone talking to a real person. Just. Don't.

5. People who attempt to breathe, smoke and talk on the phone all at the same time. Some folks have it mastered, but the majority doesn’t seem to have it down.

6. Heart-shaped jewelry. Makes me think of the fake plastic jewelry you can get out of a bubblegum machine.

7. People who carry bad childhood traits with them to adulthood. For example: tantrums, and pouting.

8. Pseudo-scientific beauty commercials. "Our cream has amino peptides!" Great. You know what that means? First, it's redundant. All peptides have amino groups. Peptides are proteins. Every living thing is made of proteins. Or "Our cream has caffeine in it to wake up your skin!" Um, no. Caffeine wakes you up when you ingest it. In the lab, we use caffeine in our experiments on cells because it fucks them up.

9. Pseudo-scientific TV. Now, I love CSI and Law and Order and their kin as much as the next girl, but I always have to laugh when they oversimplify something, or horribly mispronounce things in their dramatically dark and backlit labs. For example: the acronym ELISA is pronounced “eh-lye-za”, not “eh-lees-ah”. Also, there is no way they could supposedly use all of the instruments and protocols they claim to and get an answer by the end of the day – it just doesn’t work that way.

10. Pseudo-scientific newscasters that have no idea what they’re talking about. My favorite: a piece on chlorophyll, and the newscasters feel the need to point out “chlorophyll can be found in any green plant like broccoli or lettuce.” I’m sorry, but no shit, Sherlock. You learn that in middle school.

Just a thought

Ladies, please, when you are traveling by air, which requires you to use an airport, a place where you may actually have to RUN from one area to another, DO NOT wear stupid shoes. I can't tell you how many times over the last month that I've seen women attempting to move quickly in stupid heels, or clogs or both and they end up flailing about, purses and other bags whizzing through the air, making annoying shuffling sounds and looking rather distressed because the shoes they are wearing are meant for sitting... possibly standing... but definitely NOT running (or anything akin to it). Honestly, there has to be some room in the giant hand bag/carry on that they are lugging for a pair of flip flops or slippers or something. Not that I'm advocating wearing your pajamas to the airport, either (another pet peeve of mine - really, flying is not like going into surgery), but the wearing of stupid shoes must be stopped.