Practical wisdom will always pacify someone into thinking that Fridays are always the best days of the week. Everyone gets along, things get done quicker and my goodness where does the time go? People wrap up their things, bid eachother a wonderful weekend and the sun sets on a lab whose walls are poised for quiet and whose patrons anticipate rest. Painfully there are exceptions to every rule. Case in point, Friday November 3rd 2006, here are the events as they unfolded on that fateful day:
I walk into lab and find an apple next to my computer. Someone jokingly says its from a secret admirer, one who thinks I should lose some weight. I start to chuckle but inside brews a painful sting that will carry on for the rest of the day. Mind you not because of an otherwise funny comment that came from a dear brother who I look up to and respect very much, but to an awakening that comment had on some recent events in my life. Bitterly I go into exile to the bench of my allies of isle 4. Come time to go to the mosque and I could not get myself to carpool, I take my bike.
Coming back from the mosque I am in much higher spirits, but to no avail. It seems we received a radioactive shipment from EH&S and she was left waiting, but was not quiet about it either. Furthermore, the refrigeration people call and wish to charge the lab a rediculous price for repairs on the -80 freezer, and claim to have sent ME a quote of the price. Funny thing to say to someone who called two days ago and was told they had no idea on what the price would be. To add insult to injury, our orbital shaker was taken in for a motor replacement and blew up 20 minutes of running, toasting the circuitry and what not. Jenny and I are called into the office and rage begins to brew at the freezer issue. For some reason it was so much easier to get angry today more than ever.
In lab meeting, once again we fall into another row with the immunology fair, with grievances about the judging of the posters and what not. Whether that day was just full of stresses to test our sense of tolerance, or whether we were not prepared for a manic Friday (manic Mondays maybe) or even our own predisposition to drama that day, we will probably never know.
The weird thing about that particular Friday, as I walked through the isles with a sense of bewilderment, completely absorbed in the drama that unfolded today. I couldnt shake myself out of it. I could not sake myself out of it, I just wanted to sit down and dive in a sea of thoughts, emotions and comtemplation in general. Truly one of the weirdest Fridays I have had yet.
Say what you will about last friday, it is now over. But if it is really over, why am I still writing about. For those of us who say time is linear, it behooves them to consider one dimension of reality. Not in space, not even in time itself, but the dimension of the human mind, in which time takes on the progression of the very double helix that predestines us. When events come full circle in memory only to lead to new decisions leading to new experiences as life spirals in this enigmatic progression.
Congratulations to Cindy Cheung, Larry Ho, VJ Yerrami, and Johnson Tran, graduate students of the month for October! Those first grad students (affectionately named the Fantastic Four). Cindy and Johnson are two first year graduate students. VJ, and Larry are Biotech Masters Students. Together they constitute a powerful force in the lab. While they may not exactly have superhero abilities Cindy's technical know how and her trusty camera can capture anyone in the most awkward position rendering them fatally unpopular. 
Larry, with his paramilitary training as a soldier and his sense of humor makes a terrifying combination. Johnson dilligent abilities makes himself stand out as a scholar which exposes everyone's weaknesses and laziness. And VJ's know how of all lab reagents, techniques and their function puts an arsenal in her hands that is unparalleled.
