A day in the life

7AM, up out of bed. I prepare breakfast, two slices of focaccia with salmon and olive spread with an espresso to wash it all down. I quickly flip through the paper. For once the NY Times Science section has an article on some basic molecular biology (it must have been the evolution angle). After jumping in and out of the shower, I throw some clothes on and walk to the lab listening to the latest Nature podcast. 8AM, I prepare my tissue culture cells for the final round of experiments and spin down several samples of DNA for microinjections. 9AM-2PM, five hours of brain numbing microinjection. I estimate that I injected well over a thousand nuclei. Although I was listening to NPR the whole time, not a single word leaves an impression on me. Damn. 2PM to 4PM, running constantly from room to room fixing my microinjected cells. I gulp down lunch (potato salad with a freshly cut heirloom tomato on the side). Finally at 4PM I can sit down and relax. I think briefly of posting something on my neglected blog, but I fail to muster up the energy to actually accomplish this task. I hobble over to the microscope and analyze this weekend's experiments. I then realize that I had a half litre of bugs waiting for me upstairs in the incubator. I collect the bacterial cultures and spend the next 2 hours preparing a maxi prep of the last DNA construct that I need to answer reviewer #2. 6:30PM, finally finished? ... as usual just I think that my day is done, I realize that I need to split my tissue culture cells. I crawl back to the tissue culture room. Once done I call my wife, she's off to practice with her quartet. Have fun darling. I visit Karl from across the hall and Brian downstairs, hey lets go to the pub. Brian and I walk to Washington square where we plop down at a table just outside of the Public House. I eat a burger (with blue cheese and portobello) and drown 2 Schlafly Irish Stouts and 1 Delirium (check out their website - the theme song fits my day to a tee). Sometime in between Karl shows up with baymate ... even Anna makes an appearance. After talking about Oxford, dog fights and the virtues of frying chicken liver (courtesy of baymate), I stumbled into the C line and rode back home and collapsed on my bed.

Ah, the life of a researcher. Time to go to work ...