It’s done…

on Thursday last week, 350 copies of the Thesis of Anna have arrived here in Maastricht for distribution.
several years of work for Anna and lots of stress for me finally paid off as we hold fresh copies of “The Very Lo-Density Lipoprotein-Triaglycerol Pathway and the Metabolic Heterogeneity in Familial Combined Hyperlipidemia” in our hands.

Today we went to deliver them to the participating people, professors, colleagues of Anna, to the University and the libraries of the country.
On November 3rd, Anna will have to defend it and then she’ll be a pround Ph.D. in Medicine. Actually I think I am more proud than her, sometimes but anyway ;)

A lot of work comes to an end and finally we will be able to do other things in the weekend than proofreading and fighting with Microsoft Word.
If anyone ever asks me how to write a scientific paper I will have only one advice: Don’t ever think about using Word for it!
It might look nice but it’s inconsistent as hell and these auto-format/ auto-correct/ auto-sex-me-up-functions drive you crazy if you try to do a decent layout of a paper or a thesis.

For reasons of completeness, here the link to the thesis:

I’ve gotten myself 2 new jobs while I was busy with chemistry in Aachen. I will be working at the University’s helpdesk and I will do the customer service for UniDSL, a freelance DSL project for students. Both are jobs to dream of, free distribution of time, shifts, workload, just perfect and they even harmonize with each other.

Problem: I have to cancel my work at Mercedes, where I spent the last 3 years working and hating the job. Now that it finally happened and I can get myself a better job (where I actually CAN help people and don’t have to use phrases someone else wrote) I am afraid. Afraid of what? Since 6 months I stress Anna that I want another job. Since one year I am bored by working for the arrogant Mercedes-customers.. and yet, it feels like I am betraying them, Am I already that deep inside? Am I that attached to them? Or am I just getting old and afraid of the changes?
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I think I never appreciated a weekend that much in my life..

*goes to sleep again*

~~~ 24 hours later ~~~

It seems I really needed that :)
After sleeping the whole Saturday we went to the Thermen in Aachen and spent the whole day there doing good things to out bodies. Sauna, Thermal springs, cold water, hot water, over and over again :D

Now that there is national holiday in germany I will spend the day helping the biology-Fachschaft making posters for our next party.
Looks nice, doesn’t it?

It really pays off that we are not making the posters ourselves anymore but hired a graphic-designer ;)

Hopefully I can avoid doing more than that; I am not really enjoying student-partys anymore.. with 28 years you are one of the oldest there *grin*

so, let’s get busy, 500 Posters have to be put in the streets ;)

Update: We broke a vacuum-funnel (~15 EUR) and a 3-headed distillation flask (~33 EUR) today.. I have a feeling I should have done a glass-insurance before this. ;)

Together with the petri-dish I think this is the price for the new WLAN card I was about to get.. darn! This course is really getting expensive :)

Additionally (as usual there is more) the flask was filled with the product of a looong (the whole day) synthesis when it broke. Causing hot benzil and nitric acid to spill over my partners and my hands, arms and clothes. Nice…
Luckily we could save enough of the crystals to pass this day, otherwise I would really be pissed now. I proudly carry my shoes and pants with ventilation-holes now! :D

Somehow this chemistry-thing combined with two exams (Physics and Microbiology) make me sleepless. At the moment, I go to bed at around 1 a.m. and get up at 6:30 a.m. again. I mean, no problem with that but in the weekend I will just collapse and sleep 24h nonstop :P

I am getting into quite some excited state, almost manic – I wonder for how long I will be able to keep it up like that :)

Physics is done, one more to go.. I really need a break

Today is Anna’s birthday :)

Happy Birthday, my Love!!! I wish you were here…

The fact that we are separated on this day reminds me of the old days when our relationship was young and somehow focused on the appearance of a small green flower on the other side’s ICQ client. We fell in love with each other without having seen ourselves once. ;)

Well, you have just begun a new job in Amsterdam and I am involved with my compulsory chemical exercises so it can’t be helped but to celebrate this day on another occasion.
On the other hand, I bought a small chocolate-cake from our favourite bakery. It is a “baby version” of the special cake that is crispy on the outside and liquid in the inside. Remember? I let it melt in the sun and then ate it sitting on the wall next to the Maas where I spent the whole afternoon studying. I also ate your piece ;)
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Finally, the fuel-cell powered mp3-player is ready.

Toshiba has released a prototype of a mp3-player that plays 35 hours of music with 3,5ml of Methanol. It shall be released in 2006.
Now, think about Laptops and other Gadgets that finally will be operational for a reasonable amount of time!

Now, think about a colony of bacteria, yeasts and algae on your roof that will produce the neccessary (m)ethanol by the power of the sun!
Hard to believe? The department of Biotechnology (where I study, actually) has a working prototype on the roof that produces not too much ethanol yet but 3,5ml per week are definitely possible!
And making Methanol from Ethanol is a piece of cake.

Click the picture here for details:

http://www.biotec.rwth-aachen.de/english/bioenergy.htm

why can’t I motivate myself? why can’t I concentrate?
what’s the problem with me?

I mean, I have two exams coming up in less than 2 weeks and I keep distracting me like.. like a boy at school that doesn’t want to do his homework.

Somebody told me once I am afraid of not passing the exam and that’s why I try to keep diverting my attention from it. Hard to believe.. yet possible :)
My head hurts from all this, I’ll get some chocolate and coffee and get going again. I want to pass this @#$^%& exams.