Mad Scientist-like

There was a point this weekend when I thought....I might become Mad Scientist-like here....for some of these reasons....

a) I have lots of work to be done while here and will be flying back and forth for two week intervals and there is WAY more work than I had realized.....(it is good but I didn't know what I was getting into.) Lots of this work is also surprisingly needing me to speak and understand French...which I kind of do but still....who new? (Note The people in the lab are the best thing and are great..and have given me lots of props for my fastly improving French....I did take if for an long time...but was rusty)

b) My housing (if you can call a small baren room...with a nice bathroom.....housing) is located just off of the lab....so this is like 20 meters away........so I walk down the stairs and out the door to leave the lab building and OH wait what is right there?..... as I turn left...yup MY ROOM. I am living in the lab.

c) No phone or internet connection in the room sooooo if I want to talk to the world I need to go back inside to the lab.....which oh yeah lucky me I have all the required keys. (this means finishing work but returning late night to talk to people.....late night lab....creepy at times). (another thought....I am constantly staying up late to talk with people in other time zones but no-one there ...aside from sister and mother ....is getting up earlier to talk to me.....hmmmmm now as a programed rower I would much rather get up earlier to talk with people...but alas that is not how it is, over a year and a half into this move and I am still the predominant caller...I have studied and found vast ways to make it cheaper for me and others..SKYPE people!!!....)

d) The research institute is located out of the city centre ...quite a bit. There is walking to public transportation which then takes you to civilization....I need to do this more as I feel like I am becoming crazy.

e) I think I am being referred to as the "girl who sleeps in lab".....well this statement in French by the security guards....this is sad.

At the moment when I thought ....surely I have snapped.....I was brought back to sanity by two nice long phone calls back to back....(as I think they were both worried) by my wonderful sister and brother.

I think wonderful sister called my brother before calling me and said....."OK I think it would be good if we called Reb. She needs to talk." Five minutes into my conversation with my brother...he said...."um,You might becoming a Mad Scientist there Reb." To which I went bug-eyed and said "Oui Oui...I mean YES YES...that is what I think too...YES YES Oui "

Those talks were really wonderful and soooooooooooooooo helpful. They are sooo great and are the two people in the world I really can't imagine my world without. They know me really, and no matter how much time or how far away we are....the connection and knowledge is sooo strong.

Thank you both for spending a million dollars and dialing 20+ digits to call my French Cell phone! I really needed it! My amies in the UK have been great and checking in on me and sending cute emails but sometimes it is those that reach you from farther away that you are really closer too.

M spoke to me before these conversations and I was ......out of it. I said "Hey look M, you know when you started dating a Scientist there was a time I would become a Mad Scientist." ...to which he just calmly said.."Um OK you are going to be alright...I will be there next weekend."

Then M and I spoke the day after the my wonderful sister and brother called and it was like I was a new person.

Yeah

breaking news.......

This just in.....I have decided to push the rest of my experiments off for today and GO OUT and leave the lab.
the Sun is out and warm and beautiful!

Woohoooo
so i am off to get a sandwich and then travel on the Tram ....to the city cetre
yipeeeeeeeee

Back log Blog--Written on a Slow Train

Back-log blog Written on a Slow Slow moving Train (Feb8th)

Will I ever get there??????

I was suppose to go to Montpellier to work on a collaboration on Feb7th. (well actually I was suppose to start in November….but things were not ready….)

Attempt 1

I missed my flight the other day. Something I never do! I had been away at a lab retreat three days previously and returned at night only to have to fly out for 2-3weeks the next morning. I really thought my plane was leaving at 6:55am. BUT no 6:00…..not good….we still would have been ok if.

A) I wasn’t a few minutes behind.

B) Didn’t miss the airport exit on highway (Road sings suck here!!!) ,

C) there was a closer exit after this missed exit for us to correct ourselves. (why is it when you make a mistake you do it when the next exit is sooooooooooooooooo far away….rrrrr)

D) when correcting our mistake someone else told driver to go down the wrong road …this wasn’t that bad and I screamed to correct this….

We are driving back to airport and SAJF is stressed that we are going to miss flight and I said…”Oh relax” SAJF was amazed and said, “I can’t believe you are calm about this.” Me: “We will be fine our flight is at 6:55am we are ok.” SAJF: “ NOOOOOOOO our flight is at 6.” ME: WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!! You are kidding….why didn’t you correct me.!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

Yes folks I messed this time up.

We got to the airport and SAJF RAN I mean RAN!!!! To the desk…which was closed I went to another open one….and the lady called the gate….they closed at 5:20am. We were talking to this lady at 5:21am…NO JOKE!!!! I begged, I pleaded, I said we would not check bags….BUT NO!

I started crying at this point …not because I was not going…but because people would be waiting at the other end for someone not showing up. The woman I am collaborating,with, CB, is 8months pregnant….and I don’t want her waiting around an airport for NO one!

I go and change my flight for the next day!

I am crying and sooo upset and SAJF held me together.

The big problem is finding a way of contacting France to say….I am not coming.

Luckily SAJF is French and ROCKS and he went on and started looking up ways of getting their contact info. Once we got back to my room/computer. SAJF did the calling of the Group leader at his house for me …as I was a mess and he speaks French. Once I got the contact number of CB

Attempt 2

Leaving the next morning at 11:25am. I get to airport at 8:30am and I go even though it has snowed (maybe an inch total) BUT THINGS here are brought to a stop!!! And the Airport is reported shut and the morning flights have been cancelled.

I stand there waiting ….luckily before I left I emailed CB in France to warn her of all the craziness and my boss here in UK and I have been texting back and forth. (which is cute cause she just got a new mobile phone and is new to the texting thing)

I look up and our flight is told to check in at desk 91…..so we all try to manoeuvre through all of the stranded travellers. Then we wait for a while there….the girl is at the desk but not checking anyone in. Surprise Surprise they cancel it.

I leave the airport……and go to airport train station and wait for my train…..then they say it is cancelled….so I talk to a conductor and come up with another way to get home. I get on the train to London and will get off at next stop. Cross over to other platform and then wait for Cambridge train. …..I do that…..and Cambridge train is delayed 30min. Ok fine….during this time I am making all the necessary calls reporting that I am not leaving again. Then the train comes and I get on and the conductor explains what is happening. Something is wrong with train and they have to travel at half speed…plus it is the train that stops at every stop.

WOOHOOOO

All I can do is laugh.

For the last few mornings I have travelled sooo much to end up back in my room with my luggage being dragged behind me.

CB and myself agree that this is not meant to be my week of flying to France and I will now go on Sunday.

M is secretly (although he told me sooo secret is out) happy that I am still in Cambridge and we get to spend more time together. As our SAJF, CC and SM.

Will I get there……

So I am in France Blog Entry for ARAG

Ok
So I have been in France for just less than a week and it is going well.

Pros:
--The weather is beautiful and sunny here in the south of France.

--The girl I am working with is soooo pregnant (8+ months) and soooo cute as well as her hubby. She picked me up when I landed and drove me to a bakery to get some breakfast and then I got to go with her hubby and her to the beach for a nice day! The next night her hubby took me food shopping, where I sorted out computer-plug-adapters. (it was a huge Supermarche......reminding me of Walmart)

-- The people I work with are really nice and I get to practice my french (which is better than I thought).

--The project is better than I thought and I am doing most of it myself with some guidance. So I feel like this is my project and I have some ownership over it despite being away. I have also realized that I will be coming back and forth here to Cambridge more than I thought.

Cons:
-- The project is better than I thought so I am working Beaucoup hours in the lab and barely seeing the area.

-- I am staying in a room just off of the lab (So i really live here). It can be creepy at times but they have lots of security so I feel safe. My room is bare (with a nice bathroom though!!) there is no phone or internet so I need to go into lab for connections. (Good thing is I am reading Wicked which I wanted to do before seeing it in London.) I mean I don't think I am making it clear I walk out of the lab down the stairs and outside of the door is my room. SERIOUSLY!!

--I miss M more than I realized I would. Leading up to this he kept being the rationale one and saying it is only a few weeks.....but he misses me a lot.




So that is that.....this weekend should be nice and I will relish this alone time to sort through the data and other projects. The weekend following this one...M is flying here to visit me and we will have a Romantic weekend away at the beach. He has rented a car and we will visit a vineyard....as my favorite wine is Muscat and this is the place to get it.

Take care everyone......this is Reb reporting from France.............