End of Year

A good Christmas was had by all. Well, except for my Dad who became ill with a rubbish cold on the 23rd, and so unfortunatley Christmas kind of passed him by. I hope he's better for the New Year.

Hogmanay for us will be a quiet affair. Some friends are up in Aberdeen, which is cool, but as their wee son will be in bed well before the bells, we will just be having a quiet drink, nibbles and chat. But that's cool, just being with friends is cool. I don't like the fact that society expects you to have an over-the-top good time on New Year's Eve. You must go somewhere and do something, and you must have a great time. I agree that lots of drinking and making a fool of yourself at this time of year is good, but it's more often than not better when it's spontaneous. Organised fun is never so good!

So with that in mind we will have a quiet evening in, and see what happens!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Christmas Holidays

Well that's me finished work for this year. Train home leaves at 8:10 tomorrow morning! It will be nice to have 2 weeks off work, and I can completely relax knowing I have a contract for another three years! (still really happy!). We went out last night for dinner as a kind of celebration for getting the grant. La Bon Brasserie was very nice. A very fishy menu, but the Sea Bass and King Prawns that I had were very nice.

I spent all of today catching up on writing my lab book, which I hadn't done for about three weeks, and then having a lab book meeting (so you see, I really had to write my lab book up!). Now I've finished for the year. Write-up room already quite quiet as a lot of people have headed off home for the Christmas break already. 

Had a big lab clear up yesterday, it's amazing how much space we now have in the lab. Just as well as we have an honours student starting in January. Someone I'll have to supervise as they'll be doing something (hopefully) useful for my project.

Boy I'm struggling for things to say. So I might as well stop. That could be it until after Christmas.

A poem for today

There builded boles          of beeches ancient
marched in majesty          in myriad leaves
of golden russet          greyly rooted,
in leaves translucent          lightly robéd;
their boughs up-bending          blown at morning
by the wings of winds          that wandered down
o'er blossomy bent          breathing odours
to the wavering water's          winking margin.

J.R.R. Tolkein
The Lay of The Children of Húrin

Fantastic

Yeay, we got the grant! Those lovely people from the BBSRC thought we were good enough to fund. So great! I have job for another 3 years after this contract finishes at the end of March. I can't tell you how happy that makes me. I don't have to go through the whole applying for jobs fiasco again. I don't  have to go to interviews and keep telling people it went fine when they ask. I don't have to be bored poor and unemployed.

This is great, after 15 months so far of this contract I feel I am starting to understand a lot more around my project not just the specifics of translation termination  in yeast but the broader view. Now I can continue to learn this. Wow, this will be the longest I have been involved in one project. Obviously my PhD was only 3 years. That's quite cool though, I will be able to feel quite knowledgeable after a few years!

Hooray!

Come on guys!!

Still not heard from the BBSRC! Though apparently now they have decided where the funding lines have been drawn, they are just not telling us yet. If we are successful we will hear by letter! We had to ask specifically to be told by email, 21st century or what?

For the first time in my 9 year research career, I actually started running an agarose gel backwards. I wonder what this portends?

Very much looking forward to a break at Christmas with family. Not having to get up at 8:00 every morning will be nice. I know this is not terribly early compared to a lot of people, but it does seem to be just as bad because it has to be done every day. Pretty much all Christmas shopping is done now, just  a last something to buy for my sister and I'm done, which is nice. Most of the Christmas cards are written, which is also nice. Confirmation of another 3 years of job would be really nice!

Week 50, are we?

I'm not likely to achieve too much this week, Ooo why's my keyboard vibrating?

Off to London to meet out collaborators in Imperial college tomorrow at 15:00. This should be interesting and constructive, however, at this time of the year I'm struggling to motivate myself to flying all the way down to London for a couple of days. I have quite a few things I would like to get done in the lab before the Christmas break, and I would rather stay at home with my wife.

Thursday and Friday are then the 3rd year PhD symposium presentations, so I'm not likely to achieve much in the lab this week at all. So then I have 5 days left in the lab to finish off before I go down the road to my folks for Christmas. Eek. Not even vaguely prepared for Christmas. 

I'm too tired to try and think of anything else interesting to say.

I bet holiday blogs are much better!

Thursday

Not too much to say today.

Moved around the write up room this morning. I must admit that I was sceptical that it would make much difference to the amount of space we have, but it really did. And now my computer is right behind my desk, so all I have to do it turn around not walk to the other side of the office. Which is nice.

A bit of Christmas shopping tonight, really a bit, one shop hopefully.

Lab Christmas lunch tomorrow, following the lab meeting in the morning, so I wont get much work done tomorrow. Then, yeay, a weekend at home! It seems ages since I've been able to do that. Jon and Emma's wedding last weekend, Thanksgiving the weekend before. No 6 hour train journeys this weekend.

That's about it for today.

BBSRC funding

So here's what stage we're at, apparently.

We wont hear anything until about 16th December! 

This all seems to be because of the BBSRC's LoLa system. That is Longer and Larger grants.

The BBSRC are encouraging even more collaboration between groups all over the country, so these LoLa grants are for £2 to £3 million and involve being able to buy fancy equipment as well as having many postdocs etc working in the collaboration.

Of course in any one round of funding there is only a finite amount of money, so, if a couple of these LoLa grants are funded in one round, there is less money to be awarded to individual grants, like our own proposal. Because of the large amounts of money involved, these LoLa grants must be approved by a higher level than the normal committee, which takes longer. I guess they have to see if there is any money left in the pot to fund the individual projects like ours, hence the delay in us hearing.

Previously I had seen 3 of the 5 referees reports that we are allowed to respond to, and they all seemed to be very positive. The other 2 were less positive so I was told today. They didn't have anything negative to say, they just didn't rate the project quite as highly as the other three had. Which is a shame.

The boss seems to have heard on the grapevine, that out of 51 grants that were discussed, ours was between positions 5 and 7! Which seems to me to be pretty good, but of course it all depends how much money is left in the pot after however many LoLa grants are successful.

So I am still waiting to here if I get to work in this lab for the next 3 years or not. I really would like to, I'm still really enjoying working here.

Enough for now, I've probably got all this a bit mixed up, I just thought it would be useful to have written this down while it is still fresh in my head, before I try to explain it again to other people.

Blogging from Picasa

Just trying to Blog from Picasa!

Blurry Eyes

I'm not really used to this. I've sat at the computer most of the day because I had to check some sequencing results. I don't usually sit at the computer working this long! More often than not I will do and hours work at the computer, maybe less; then I will be back into the lab to do something more interesting or plan experiments. Staring at sequences all day in particular has made my eyes go funny.

I can tell you that all my pAC98 inserts start: GGCCTACAGGGCCC !! Yes! I know!

Short post then because I don't want to sit at the computer much longer. I can go home soon. Though being at home will probably be cold. Our flat is very efficient! It very efficiently equilibrates with the outside temperature! Since it is snowing outside, I think it could be quite chilly in the flat. Google reckons it is 1°C in Aberdeen just now.

Haven't heard from the BBSRC yet.

Blog posting from Google Docs

On the same lines, can I also publish from google docs?

Using gmail to post to blog

I realise that I haven't written anything worthwhile on my blog for a while (ever?), I'm just trying out different things.

This time using my gmail to post directly to my blog, I wonder if it will work.

Off on the train to my folks tomorrow, just for one night as we are heading towards a friends wedding. Which reminds me: I must find a card for them!

The Joy of applying for grants

Waiting for the BBSRC to decide my fate for the next three years!

Football

The end of another season, and what have we learned?

That Sir Alex Ferguson is actually quite a good manager?
Maybe it has taken him a while (having been at Manchester United since he left Aberdeen in 1986), but he has built a good team and surrounded himself by not only internationally great players, but also those of less renown, but still work together as a great team. Now don't get me wrong, I would never choose to support Man Utd being a Liverpool fan, but I feel it is time to give Fergie the respect that I guess he really deserves. Anyone who can lead Aberdeen to European glory can't be too bad a manager! I was very surprised to learn that the European Cup victory the other night was the first penalty shootout that he has ever won!

That two Americans should not be allowed to buy a football club?
In a word, Yes. The only good thing that has come of Hicks and Gillett is that we were able to sign Torres, and let's face it, if it weren't for him then I don't think we would have the opportunity to compete for Champions' League football next season. Behind the scenes has been a total fiasco this season. If it isn't Hicks and Gillett trying to stab each other in the back, it is very public arguments with Benitez about transfer funds, or swooping for Jürgen Klinsmann to succeed Benitez, or just telling our Rick Parry that he is actually rubbish and no good for the future of the club! If only the Hicks and Gillett would come to some agreement and sell up to DIC then we may be saved further embarrassment next season.

Of course we may not be saved embarrassment if Benitez doesn't get us into the top two next season. Don't get me wrong, I think he is a great manager, for European games. He just doesn't seem to be able to put it together for the league. I feel that he rotates too much. If a player is playing well he needs to be playing every week, but he seems to insistent on playing Lucas or Kuyt instead of sticking with Alonso and Mascherano. Consequently, Alonso has suffered this season and is unsure of his future. I don't know, maybe he is the right manager, but he needs to beat Man Utd and Chelsea more often, as well as the heavy weights such as Bolton, Reading and Barnsley!!!!

That we're glad Rangers didn't win the SPL.
Mostly realised on the back of the ridiculous game against Dundee Utd, where Utd were denied a penalty (Stonewall apparently, though I'm really not sure as the basis of this phrase - according to the Urban dictionary it is due to the obvious nature of the offence), as well as a legitimate goal being disallowed, as well as two sending off offences for the huns being overlooked. I think that Craig Levein (spelling?) had every reason to lodge an official complaint about the referee. Rangers won the Scottish Cup today beating Queen of the South 3-2. Fair play for Queen of the South coming back to make it 2-2 before the winning goal. But even having won this trophy, all of the Rangers player seem to just wander around the pitch thinking "Yeah yeah, we thought we'd win this anyway!" There seemed to be no "Woo Hoo, we won the cup" about it at all! Arrogance all over.

That getting to the Champions' League Final for the first time in your clubs' history is not enough to save you from being sacked.
Avram Grant was sacked as manager of Chelsea yesterday. Having been second in the Premier League, reached the Champions' League final for the first time in Chelsea's history, and having reached the final of the League cup. So the real question is; how does anyone manage a club for more than one season if they don't win anything? It's ridiculous. Grant was basically using Mourinho's team, so Grant's achievements are really tribute to Mourinho's abilities as a manager. But the special one was sacked because apparently Chelsea's football was boring, a reason now being touted for why Grant is being sacked.

So who would want this job, when it seems that Abramovich and Kenyon will discard pretty sharpish anyone who doesn't meet their standards of winning everything? At least Hicks and Gillet have given Benitez their full backing so Liverpool have some consistency in management. A team can't perform well if their manager is chopped and changed every five minutes. Look at Hearts a few seasons ago. Whoever takes this job will soon realise that it is a poisoned chalice. Yes there are big stars in the team, yes it is bankrolled by a multi billionaire, but not much of an exchange for no job security, and being manager of probably now the most despised team in England.

I should stop now as I could go on for longer with this drivel which isn't really interesting or well written I'm sure.

Work

So, I have been working for almost 8 months now. It's really great. Sometimes I have one of those days when I maybe lack enthusiasm for what I should be doing that day, but then I remember how lucky I am to have a job that I really enjoy doing. I think being unemployed for so long (was it really 13 months?) has given me a very different outlook on the world of work. Having been unemployed that long has made me appreciate what I have now; I have been able to really throw myself into what I am doing, and consequently I am enjoying the work far more than my PhD or my Postdoc in Berlin.

My PhD was marred by experiments that took a long time to get working, and results that I guess I was never truly happy with. I feel that I maybe winged it quite a bit in the lab; whereas now careful planning and simply taking my time, has not only delivered results fairly quickly, but also results that I feel I have deserved to achieve, rather than just flinging some enzymes at DNA or protein and hoping something comes out of it!

I should really thank my current Boss for a lot of this really. A very approachable person who has encouraged us in the lab to plan carefully, and not to worry at all if we screw up a bit (which we inevitably do occasionally, though nothing very serious). And so I find my approach to research has chilled out a bit, I don't try to do seven things at once any more, things are working, I feel more confident about my science, and I'm really enjoying it. And the best thing is, my Boss is very happy with the work I have done, and is keen for me to stay on, so we shall apply for another grant to keep me on for a couple more years.

Of course my wife has been brilliant too, never forcing me to go and get a crappy shop job, or something similar just so that we have some money. Generally for always having faith in me.

So you see, I really am very lucky.

1st blog

Not really sure what I'm doing. Let's just see how this turns out!