Anyway, this past thursday I went into the lab on a special errand. Normally the volunteer job there is a monday-wednesday-friday thing, but I was taking a sterile surgery course for animal testing certification. Among other things, we learned how to sedate, prepare and shave a rat down real good. For a bunch of veterinary assistants, though, they knew precisely dick about how to handle a rat. You don't just splay the little guy on his back--in your palms--like he's getting missionary; it's not cricket. Some rats actually shrieked (except mine). It really bothers the hell out of me when animals are mistreated like that.

The lab supervisor, Dr. Zivago, also gave me a really juicy prospect. He has this thick blue folder filled with notes, graphs and raw data from an experiment someone did back in 1987. At first he just wanted me to write the procedure section for one experiment, but he kept asking me to work on more each time he came by. Finally, he told me I could have first authorship if I wrote up the procedure/methods and results sections for four of the experiments inside there.

But I've bitten off a hell of alot by accepting the assignment. It's really hard because the data is out of place in some cases, notes taken back then are shakier here and there, and I just don't have the perspective of having done the work myself.

Then there's the data. Since this experiment is pre-Windows, I have to create a database in Microsoft Excel. Since each experiment had 30-40 rats being trained over 30 trials and we have four experiments on our hands, I'm going to need some help getting all this typed out. The only problem with that is the print-outs have only two rats listed at a time, littered with cross-outs, switch-overs and white-out.

Friday was more of the same at the lab, basically: finishing the methods section, starting up and grinding on with data entry for several hours, then driving back along the 405 N at 3pm. I thought I was smart and skipping rush hour. Such wasn't the case. You can't escape friday traffic. It simply isn't done.

My weekend has been relaxing so far (and I'm about to fall asleep). Besides writing more of my story for Marked Accordingly, I hiked around the trails that waltz up and around the hill I live on. I'm looking forward to trying out my new hiking shoes, to see if maybe they'll cut down on the stabbing ache I get on the bottom of my feet when I walk uphill.

There were other things I wanted to mention, but I'll save those for when I don't want to sleep so desperately.

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