A Good Day In Lab!

Why you ask? Well the reasons are multi-dimensional (we'll start with the most important!)

1) A passed her orals (with flying colors I might add)...so that means were are going out to celebrate tonight!

2) I was attempting the synthesis of 4'4[[(Trifluoromethyl)sulfonyl]oxy]-2,2':6',2"-terpyridine from the pyridone and triflic anhydride (JOC, Vol. 56, No. 15, 1991), so basically you add the reagents, stir at RT for 48 (!!!) hours and then pour into ice-water and filter. So you were supposed to get a light brown solid....and mine was white....usually in chemistry you want a white solid and you get light brown. So,  I dissolved in hexanes and then evaporated and took an NMR....and this is what I got:

(What is this you might ask? Well, it is terpy-triflate!!)

3. It was so B-E-A-UTIFUL here today!

My least favorite picture of the day, but pretty clouds out of the lab window!

A pretty, pretty tree I pass everyday into lab

A B&W of said tree

And with that...off to celebrate! Happy Thursday!

Some Green for Earth Day...

4/22/09 = Earth Day!

So, how did I spend Earth Day?!?

In lab of course, so in order to pay homage to Mother Earth I took some pics of the green, green grass from lab.

(Even though it was a rainy, rainy day...)

View of E.R. park in the distance (and unfortunately the parking garage)

Mansion behind the lab (...I think it's an academic building, but I have no clue which one)

Also, the window glare ruins everything :(

Another view from the building (and lots of clouds!)

The walkway up to the chemistry building

...and last but not least, my fav. photo of the day:

(ignore the broken heart)

Have a happy Earth Day!

No new LOST tonight which means watching last night's Fringe (and probably some Dexter season 2 as well....)

2 months and 15 days?!?

Really? 2 months and 15 days since I've last posted?!?

Some people thought that I had given up, but no-sir-ee, I've just been planning THE BEST BLOG ever! (Ok, so probably not the best blog ever, but certainly a full-packed blog on what life has been like in the past 2 months and 15 days comeplete with pictures!!!)

Oh orals, you consumed my life...but now that I've qualified has life really been any different? Let's look at the evidence:

N and McB before my Orals (above)

N and McB (and G!) after my orals (above)

See, besides the fact that N might have an evil master plan and B is somehow trying to attack him (Notice, G is the only one actually working, thank goodness no more MOFs!) everything is back to the way it was.

I'm not saying life was all sunshine and rainbows during this hiatus, but all in all the whole ordeal left me with a greater understanding of my project and was a good motivator to get back into lab!

So, let's look at this by numbers:

• 28 days stuck in CRB 218
  
• ~56 fast-food meals (oh yes, 56 meals of McDonalds, Wendy's, and Subway for dinner, and Carts, Manna and Nica's for lunch....can we say a heart-attack waiting to happen?!?
  
• ~84 cans of Pepsi 
  
• 3 meltdowns (1 major, 2 minor)
  
• ~15ish hour days
  
• 1 poster presentation
  
• 2 Ten page papers
  
• 1 qualifying exam
  

So what was it like might you ask? Oh there were definitely hard-at-work study days, there were, I think we have all lost our mind days, there were a few meltdowns (3 to be exact), loads of laughs and CHEMISTRY of course! Let's go through a photographical journey shall we?

NO2-Phenyl-Terpy Synthesis (above)

G's new hat (notice the Pepsi endorsement)

Yummy, Yummy Bar salad for dinner one Friday night!

A brief glimpse at the room (and K8) soo many papers!

So I'm sure you are asking yourself, what has changed since then? Well for one, no more fast food for breakfast and dinner everday, just every-other day, J/k, but fast food has become a rarity, also, one huge change for me has been:

During Orals (above): Let's count them: 10 Pepsi cans, 1 Coke, 1 Cherry Coke (although I think that is K8's)

After Orals (above): 7 Pepsi One's, 1 DD coconut coffee (w/Splenda) and 1 Nalgene of water

That's right, after rotting my teeth for a good 20ish years, I have made the move from Pepsi to Pepsi One, and let me tell you it has been a smooth transition, I will even drink Diet (gasp!) if no Pepsi One is available. For y'all that don't know, Pepsi One is sweetened with Splenda instead of Aspartame and it is has every bit of caffeine that this body needs....but occasionally DD coconut coffee is just calling my name!

Another change?!? PRIMETIME TV!!!! (Can I get a "Reunited and it Feels So Good"?) Oh yes my dear followers (all 4 of you) I am indeed back to watching a full line-up of awesomely awesome and awesomely trashy television shows! 

Quick Run-down:

• LOST (Duh....)
• DWTS
• Gossip Girl
• 90210
• American Idol (sometimes)
• Lie to Me (new fav.)
• Dollhouse (new fav.)
• The Mentalist
• ANTM (sometimes)
• Biggest Loser (sometimes)
• The Unusuals (I'm giving it a shot)

....and I think that just about does it!

(It feels good to be back)