Are you safe? Please stay safe!
Apr. 11th, 2020 04:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
coolohohHellow people! An update yay!
Sorry, I know I've got loads of comments in the previous post that I did not reply to (heck, don't think I replied to any of them?) I did read them though, I got the email notification and all. But... Life... :X
How are ya all doing? I was just checking the numbers a few minutes ago and woah. 1.6mil cases worldwide, and half a million in the US. I'm not a fan of Trump and part of me goes 'serve ya right!' but damn. I have friends in the US, the US is way more than just Trump (I know loads of nice ppl online from there, Arashi fans and non-fans alike!), and he's really not even the one suffering anyway. The frontline staff, the sick and the dying... And hell, it's not just about the US. If the US or any other country doesn't come out of the covid situation, then it's an international problem. Because trade and movement of human traffic is global! And Singapore is such a connected country/economy... Even our food supplies are global. If this drags out... Nope, we could well be in big trouble.
Locally though, things have not been good either. No, we aren't in trouble the way things are in Italy or Spain or New York is... Yet. And I hope we won't ever get there. But there has been community spread. Not too much, but more than enough to warrant a 'lockdown'. The Singapore flavor of lockdown has been termed 'circuit breaker', and folks are still allowed to go out to get food and essentials. Non-essential workplaces have all been closed - you can only work from home (or not at all, depending on what your job is).
Honestly for me though... I've been enjoying my first week of WFH. Ok. I've not really been working from home at all.
Let's see what I've been doing.
Circuit breaker (CB) was announced Fri afternoon. I started packing my room on... Saturday I think? Or Sunday. Loads to do. I've not properly packed in years so... Tons of dust and hair and whatever not. TBH there is still loads of areas that I've not packed/touched, but I've decided to call it a day for now. Gotta do something other than cleaning up years of dirt during my CB staycation. Plus, motivation to clean was running low.
So Monday was back to work to shutdown everything in the lab. Freeze down the cells. Off the hoods, incubators... Empty the waterbaths. Make sure our microscope lasers are off. Restart my PC and pray that nothing goes wrong for the one month (or however long) the CB lasts. So that I can remote in from home and do whatever work that needs doing ya know?
What can a wet lab folk do at home ya ask? Well... I'm in a very complicated situation right now. (More on that later)
Ah yes... On Friday night, after the CB was announced, I made up my mind to order a Dell refurbished lappy right away. Have been thinking about getting one since last year. Wanted a windows this time. And kept putting it off because I don't truly, absolutely need it. But... when the split teams started before the CB took place... I started wondering if I should get it now. And then bam. 'Lockdown'. Yup. Time for a new lappy. Ordered on Sat morning cos the chat line was closed when I finally made the decision late fri night, and got it on wedn. So far so good EXCEPT the damn on/off switch. It kinda gets stuck. There's one year warranty on this guy. I think I'm gonna make a complain about the on/off button once things normalize, hopefully in a few months time. I think the button can last till then? Definitely gotta get it fixed before my 1 year warranty runs out! I'm planning to use this lappy for many many years to come after all!
So I kept packing till Thursday? Took some time off Wedn to set up my lappy and stuff. Turns out msoft auto gives you a username if you use the online account thingy. I didn't like the username used. Ended up deleting the account and starting over... So that took a bunch of time.
But the packing. I consider it done now! Now I have SPACE. Space on my table to write. To put my ipad. To put my lappy. To put my plate as I munch on breakfast since dad is also working from home now, and since the whole house is so messy and all and he doesn't have a dedicated work area, he's using the dining table... So yay. I like being able to munch on breakfast while reading stuff on my phone/ipad/mac/lappy/whatever. Clearing emails maybe. Or doing my 'dailies' for my games... Suits me just fine. And I really do like munching while working. Whether I'm reading stuff or doing more heavy duty work.
So yesterday was good Friday. I got animal crossing and pretty much 'wasted' my entire day playing. Also did some (offline) writing. Now that all my art stuff is organised and that I have space and time... I'm back in the journaling/writing mood again, yay me! Been doing some sit-ups too. Maybe I'll have a wee bit flatter stomach when all this is over.
Definitely been enjoying my staycation so far!
So there's what, 3 weeks left.
Geez. Time flies when you are having fun. Or being busy. 1 month seems long but nope. 1/4 of it just flew by like this.
Gotta say I secretly, or not so secretly hope that my staycation will be extended lol. Yeah there's all that economical impact and all... But that aside, I *personally* am very much enjoying this stay at home arrangement.
It couldn't have come at a better time for my group, or at least, the few of us on this project. Really. Why? For the past few months we were crazy, rushing about to wrap up the paper... Doing last minute experiments and what not. Then just as the split teams stuff came into place we heard back from the reviewers and were rushing about to do all the additional experiments for the reviewers. And that was quite crazy, working till late everyday, yes, even on weekends, partly because we were on half the manpower. We literally worked till the last minute possible, even doing experiments on Monday morning during the shutdown day. And now... The reply and manuscripts are being finalized... And we can all go on a break while keeping our fingers crossed that the paper will be published.
Of course, it's not like I don't have work either. Till now I've still not properly looked at all the datasets I collected in a rush prior... And no I'm talking about for a different project now... I need to do some summaries and all...
And after that comes the main part. I need to learn snake language. Python.
Boss has been wanting to have me switch to computation (partly because I also want it), but these kinda stuff... It's really easier said then done. Like. He's like... Oh just collaborate with ppl and do stuff. But what kind of stuff? And collaborate with ppl meaning get them to write the code for me? Than what's the point? The whole damn point is that *I* want to learn computing. So this is really a godsend month for me to at least increase my python computation prowess by a little bit. And hell yeah I'm not gonna let this chance slip me by.
In fact... I do keep wondering if I should join in the team to put together covid test kits in my institute. My friend is in there already and some other folks from my lab have joined/wants to join. In a way I feel guilty maybe? I definitely have the skills for the job. But routine sort of work isn't something I like to do, as my time in the hospital has proven. I don't want to end up in a mental rut again. And heck, it's not like I've got nothing better to do. I really do want to and do intend to get ahead on the python stuff. And I don't think that's possible if I have to spend half my time in shift work assembling kits and I don't know what exactly else they are doing. I don't even want to ask my friend... Or talk to her about it. Maybe that's a bit extreme huh? I should ask her how she's doing. Doesn't mean that asking her will lead to me joining the effort right? Though I've not been talking to her much at all because of other reasons altogether. Being crazy busy has been one of them.
But yeah... There's that. Maybe if they send out another email asking for manpower I will reconsider. It seems like they have enough manpower for now because I've not heard anything other than an initial email. After all... RNA extraction, running PCR... All these are very common lab skills that many folks in the institute process. It's not like I'm all that almighty and can bring something unique to the table. I work fast yes, but I don't think them folks are slouches either... *shrugs* Was already thinking about it when the first sent out the email but meh... That was during the mad rush to do reviewer experiments... I wonder how my boss would react if I told him I wanted join 'team c' then. LOL. I guess the post doc would have to do everything, but he's still rather new and not fully comfortable with some stuff yet.
Ah wells. I hope that I can properly recuperate in this month. And learn code. My boss specifically mentioned learning code in his email to the group. Feels like he was talking directly to me LOL. Knowing him, he probably was LOL.
Definitely enjoying my time at home. If I could be a little selfish... I'd like this to last a little longer. Getting back into the groove of doing things like journaling and art and what not. Just gonna start with the coding stuff right now. Feels so nice, this working from home thing. Now if only I can get my act together and start up an alternative career/business... I could enjoy this lifestyle forever! Lol.
The pros of being an introvert huh? While people are posting ways to entertain themselves at home for the CB period... I have a WHOLE 6 pages or longer worth of to do list... From work/learning to reading books and doing art. Lol! One month is definitely not enough to do all of that! At least I've cleared a huge item on the list of packing my room and tables! Phew.
Alright. That's all from me for now.
Please stay safe, stay at home, wherever you are! And if you don't have a pile of 'to do at home' list like I do... Maybe it's time to create one. And to get you started... Arashi has posted the Untitled concert on youtube! I watched the DVD previously already, but I've not watched the youtube posting. Not sure if I would, to be honest... Considering my long to do list... :P
Sorry, I know I've got loads of comments in the previous post that I did not reply to (heck, don't think I replied to any of them?) I did read them though, I got the email notification and all. But... Life... :X
How are ya all doing? I was just checking the numbers a few minutes ago and woah. 1.6mil cases worldwide, and half a million in the US. I'm not a fan of Trump and part of me goes 'serve ya right!' but damn. I have friends in the US, the US is way more than just Trump (I know loads of nice ppl online from there, Arashi fans and non-fans alike!), and he's really not even the one suffering anyway. The frontline staff, the sick and the dying... And hell, it's not just about the US. If the US or any other country doesn't come out of the covid situation, then it's an international problem. Because trade and movement of human traffic is global! And Singapore is such a connected country/economy... Even our food supplies are global. If this drags out... Nope, we could well be in big trouble.
Locally though, things have not been good either. No, we aren't in trouble the way things are in Italy or Spain or New York is... Yet. And I hope we won't ever get there. But there has been community spread. Not too much, but more than enough to warrant a 'lockdown'. The Singapore flavor of lockdown has been termed 'circuit breaker', and folks are still allowed to go out to get food and essentials. Non-essential workplaces have all been closed - you can only work from home (or not at all, depending on what your job is).
Honestly for me though... I've been enjoying my first week of WFH. Ok. I've not really been working from home at all.
Let's see what I've been doing.
Circuit breaker (CB) was announced Fri afternoon. I started packing my room on... Saturday I think? Or Sunday. Loads to do. I've not properly packed in years so... Tons of dust and hair and whatever not. TBH there is still loads of areas that I've not packed/touched, but I've decided to call it a day for now. Gotta do something other than cleaning up years of dirt during my CB staycation. Plus, motivation to clean was running low.
So Monday was back to work to shutdown everything in the lab. Freeze down the cells. Off the hoods, incubators... Empty the waterbaths. Make sure our microscope lasers are off. Restart my PC and pray that nothing goes wrong for the one month (or however long) the CB lasts. So that I can remote in from home and do whatever work that needs doing ya know?
What can a wet lab folk do at home ya ask? Well... I'm in a very complicated situation right now. (More on that later)
Ah yes... On Friday night, after the CB was announced, I made up my mind to order a Dell refurbished lappy right away. Have been thinking about getting one since last year. Wanted a windows this time. And kept putting it off because I don't truly, absolutely need it. But... when the split teams started before the CB took place... I started wondering if I should get it now. And then bam. 'Lockdown'. Yup. Time for a new lappy. Ordered on Sat morning cos the chat line was closed when I finally made the decision late fri night, and got it on wedn. So far so good EXCEPT the damn on/off switch. It kinda gets stuck. There's one year warranty on this guy. I think I'm gonna make a complain about the on/off button once things normalize, hopefully in a few months time. I think the button can last till then? Definitely gotta get it fixed before my 1 year warranty runs out! I'm planning to use this lappy for many many years to come after all!
So I kept packing till Thursday? Took some time off Wedn to set up my lappy and stuff. Turns out msoft auto gives you a username if you use the online account thingy. I didn't like the username used. Ended up deleting the account and starting over... So that took a bunch of time.
But the packing. I consider it done now! Now I have SPACE. Space on my table to write. To put my ipad. To put my lappy. To put my plate as I munch on breakfast since dad is also working from home now, and since the whole house is so messy and all and he doesn't have a dedicated work area, he's using the dining table... So yay. I like being able to munch on breakfast while reading stuff on my phone/ipad/mac/lappy/whatever. Clearing emails maybe. Or doing my 'dailies' for my games... Suits me just fine. And I really do like munching while working. Whether I'm reading stuff or doing more heavy duty work.
So yesterday was good Friday. I got animal crossing and pretty much 'wasted' my entire day playing. Also did some (offline) writing. Now that all my art stuff is organised and that I have space and time... I'm back in the journaling/writing mood again, yay me! Been doing some sit-ups too. Maybe I'll have a wee bit flatter stomach when all this is over.
Definitely been enjoying my staycation so far!
So there's what, 3 weeks left.
Geez. Time flies when you are having fun. Or being busy. 1 month seems long but nope. 1/4 of it just flew by like this.
Gotta say I secretly, or not so secretly hope that my staycation will be extended lol. Yeah there's all that economical impact and all... But that aside, I *personally* am very much enjoying this stay at home arrangement.
It couldn't have come at a better time for my group, or at least, the few of us on this project. Really. Why? For the past few months we were crazy, rushing about to wrap up the paper... Doing last minute experiments and what not. Then just as the split teams stuff came into place we heard back from the reviewers and were rushing about to do all the additional experiments for the reviewers. And that was quite crazy, working till late everyday, yes, even on weekends, partly because we were on half the manpower. We literally worked till the last minute possible, even doing experiments on Monday morning during the shutdown day. And now... The reply and manuscripts are being finalized... And we can all go on a break while keeping our fingers crossed that the paper will be published.
Of course, it's not like I don't have work either. Till now I've still not properly looked at all the datasets I collected in a rush prior... And no I'm talking about for a different project now... I need to do some summaries and all...
And after that comes the main part. I need to learn snake language. Python.
Boss has been wanting to have me switch to computation (partly because I also want it), but these kinda stuff... It's really easier said then done. Like. He's like... Oh just collaborate with ppl and do stuff. But what kind of stuff? And collaborate with ppl meaning get them to write the code for me? Than what's the point? The whole damn point is that *I* want to learn computing. So this is really a godsend month for me to at least increase my python computation prowess by a little bit. And hell yeah I'm not gonna let this chance slip me by.
In fact... I do keep wondering if I should join in the team to put together covid test kits in my institute. My friend is in there already and some other folks from my lab have joined/wants to join. In a way I feel guilty maybe? I definitely have the skills for the job. But routine sort of work isn't something I like to do, as my time in the hospital has proven. I don't want to end up in a mental rut again. And heck, it's not like I've got nothing better to do. I really do want to and do intend to get ahead on the python stuff. And I don't think that's possible if I have to spend half my time in shift work assembling kits and I don't know what exactly else they are doing. I don't even want to ask my friend... Or talk to her about it. Maybe that's a bit extreme huh? I should ask her how she's doing. Doesn't mean that asking her will lead to me joining the effort right? Though I've not been talking to her much at all because of other reasons altogether. Being crazy busy has been one of them.
But yeah... There's that. Maybe if they send out another email asking for manpower I will reconsider. It seems like they have enough manpower for now because I've not heard anything other than an initial email. After all... RNA extraction, running PCR... All these are very common lab skills that many folks in the institute process. It's not like I'm all that almighty and can bring something unique to the table. I work fast yes, but I don't think them folks are slouches either... *shrugs* Was already thinking about it when the first sent out the email but meh... That was during the mad rush to do reviewer experiments... I wonder how my boss would react if I told him I wanted join 'team c' then. LOL. I guess the post doc would have to do everything, but he's still rather new and not fully comfortable with some stuff yet.
Ah wells. I hope that I can properly recuperate in this month. And learn code. My boss specifically mentioned learning code in his email to the group. Feels like he was talking directly to me LOL. Knowing him, he probably was LOL.
Definitely enjoying my time at home. If I could be a little selfish... I'd like this to last a little longer. Getting back into the groove of doing things like journaling and art and what not. Just gonna start with the coding stuff right now. Feels so nice, this working from home thing. Now if only I can get my act together and start up an alternative career/business... I could enjoy this lifestyle forever! Lol.
The pros of being an introvert huh? While people are posting ways to entertain themselves at home for the CB period... I have a WHOLE 6 pages or longer worth of to do list... From work/learning to reading books and doing art. Lol! One month is definitely not enough to do all of that! At least I've cleared a huge item on the list of packing my room and tables! Phew.
Alright. That's all from me for now.
Please stay safe, stay at home, wherever you are! And if you don't have a pile of 'to do at home' list like I do... Maybe it's time to create one. And to get you started... Arashi has posted the Untitled concert on youtube! I watched the DVD previously already, but I've not watched the youtube posting. Not sure if I would, to be honest... Considering my long to do list... :P
(no subject)
Date: 2020-04-11 01:04 pm (UTC)So....what's with all the packing? You leaving? Or just storing stuff?
Anyway, take care. Since you work in a lab I'm sure your also masking elsewhere. I just wish there was a way wearing a mask didn't include my glasses fogging up...lol. So sending hugs!🤗
(no subject)
Date: 2020-04-12 01:57 am (UTC)Gardening? Nice! Singapore... What garden is there to speak of other than the public parks? XD Even my balcony is tiny ass! Can't even fit a tiny table and chair in there... Oh wells. Such is city life and I can't say I've known anything else!
Gah that blob. All the news about the early warnings that experts gave but he ignored them all. Just saw a gif/meme/whatever on Obama VS Spongebob this morning and I LOLed. Pew pew guns! XD
I've just been packing my room for the sake of erm, packing my room. So that now I can finally want to my window still and close the windows instead of having to reach out from a metre away cos of my horde of stuff. And I finally have loadsa space on my table to actually DO things, instead of having to camp on my bed - I still do, but now I have an option!
Now it's mandatory to mask up in malls, markets and on public transport. The gov gave out a reusable mask to every citizen (ok, we had to collect it ourselves but still) this week and I've not tried mine yet. According to my dad the fit is terrible for him - too big. He made some modifications on his own so that it'll fit better. I guess I'll find out how it fits tomorrow when I go pick up the last of my packages from the mail forwarding service I use. Bad thing about using the service is that... I have no idea what the packages are because they are only labelled by a package number! And I've ordered a bunch of stuff! Opps! I'm guess some ebay orders and my art and fountain pen supplies from the US are finally here! Been doing so much online shopping lately, opps! Some ebay orders are still stuck out there somewhere... Oh wells. As long as I get them eventually it's fine.
I do hate the glasses fogging thing though! But it seems like that's more of a problem in colder places. I was wearing a mask for a couple of days sometime back when I was sick, and I don't remember my glasses fogging up. Definitely did whenever I wore a mask on holiday though! (and we love holidaying in winter places... Cos sg is so friggin' hot!)
Eating the last of my salad veggies now... Thinking of going to the supermarket after picking up my parcels tomorrow....? Like late at night juts before closing. The problem is I want to go to one that's slightly further from my house, that's a bit more upscale so that I can resupply my blue cheese and get some gouda and alfafa for my toast. We'll see. Then again the packages are probably going to be really huge already so... Oh wells. I can survive without fancy cheese :P We'll see :P
(no subject)
Date: 2020-04-13 04:50 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2020-04-18 03:39 pm (UTC)Japan is quite an amazing place! I wouldn't want to work there - I would loathe the absolute obedience to your supervisor kind of culture that seems to be abundant everywhere in Japan... But for holidaying, I love it! And arghs... So much things to buy too. I spent crazy amounts of money each time but... Can't really say I regretted it either... Like the switch I bought, and all the games... Arghs stationery and pens... Fountain pens and inks. Crazy. Yes, I'm kinda lacking in the self control department, I know!
Oh! Our convenience stores aren't too bad, and in the recent years they are getting better. 7-11 even has some snacks from Japan. But nowhere near the selection in Japanese convenience stores though! But we do have Don Don Donki - the Japanese supermart/hypermart that recently opened in Singapore, and they do carry a large variety of Japanese foods and household items. Of course, there's daiso too.
And ahh, Arashi released a new concert on youtube today. Arafes 2012! I heard the untitled dvd went out of stock after the concert was released on youtube. That's a great sign to Arashi/JE that they should be more open, and that being on youtube and being profitable are not paradoxes. Can't say for sure if things will stay that way over the years, but I think it would... With a larger reach they will get a larger fan base, which I think would make up for the smaller % of people who might potentially buy an album/dvd. I'm definitely glad that Arashi started their whole social media thing before the virus hits... Because otherwise we won't be hearing from them at all. No bangumi recordings etc. Maybe just a jweb update...