We're leaving again for Key Largo on Sunday (at 5am!) to tear down an old experiment. 9 people in 2 vehicles and in a 2-bedroom apartment. I need some serious prayer for sanity and good relationships with people because that is not an all-encompassing definition of "environment where I do not thrive", but it is certainly close. I'll also be more tired than most of them because - hooray!! - my advisor's letting me finish up some work there that I started last year, so I can work on wrapping that up and publishing it and it should end up being a thesis chapter. I'm very much looking forward to finishing something for once with my research.
It's been a long week, and I'm exhausted (I think I've been in the lab past 11pm at least 3-4 out of the last 14 days? And lots of things going wrong), but I should be ready to go on this trip, and it's Friday, which means I need to find things to rejoice about.
1) I made a sweet penetrometer yesterday with the help of a friend in mechanical engineering. I can't find any pictures online, but it's basically a tool to measure leaf "toughness" (not a physicist's "toughness"...it's a combination of a few forces...if done better could measure real forces), made of two plates bolted together with a leaf sandwiched in the middle. There's a small hole going through the middle of the two plates over which the leaf is centered. You take a cup with a needle glued perpindicular to the bottom (cup faces up, needle faces down), put it in the hole resting on the leaf, then fill it with water, sand, (in my case, lead shot) until the needle pierces through the leaf. So it's a relative measure of "how hard is it to pierce the leaf. Using this for my research. Made it out of thick plexiglas plates I ordered, and a friend helped me drill it out. It's about the most professional-looking penetrometer I've seen (though I've admittedly seen few simple ones like this), and the see through plexiglas looks awesome with a leaf/seaweed in it and at angles things look all distorted and it's just great.
2) Women's Bible study started again. Though I won't get to go as much as I'd like, I'm very excited to have community and study again where I feel safe and fed.
3) I'm super thankful for labmates who offer to help me even though my head's spinning so fast I can't think and probably am not pleasant to be around, there's no reason for them to help me, and I'm not even around for the helping (I had to go to Bible study and someone offered to pack for the trip for me and watched one of my chemical things I had going on, and then someone who was going to Home Depot found things I needed but didn't even know exactly what I was looking for). It's very calming and a good foundation for good relationships on a stressful trip (reminds me that I can't be judgmental & tired & grouchy all the time because it's never warranted).
4) This week was stressful because I didn't know if I'd even have the permit necessary to do my work in Florida; finally found out this afternoon that it'll likely come in early next week. This is very good news.
5) My old roommate is back in town for a brief visit. Huzzah!! I'm really enjoying hanging out with her.
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