Araneae

I've constantly been destroying a web that keeps reappearing on our spiral staircase off of the balcony and I've yet to see the spinner of the web; however, tonight the spider was out. Ken took some great photographs that I want to share. I didn't have the heart to kill him, but I sucked up his friend (who happened to spin a web in the garage doorway) with the shop-vac. Spiders 1: Ginger 1.

Harley Quinn Hammy

Our new hammy, Harley Quinn, has quite the personality, she was a fluff burrower but is now a cage biter and climber. She has tried to escape from the bathtub by jumping off the top of the cage, however, her leaps have come up short. She is a picky eater and insists on eating pumpkin seeds and mango bites. Since we have the air-conditioning blowing, she has her winter-white coat on for the summer. For those who don't know or don't remember, Harley was waiting for me at home when I returned from a business trip in Denver, CO (that sneaky Ken).

Potter's Pond Camping

Last weekend, we attended the Potter's Pond - Geocaching Event, which is a celebration of the placement of Utah's first geocache. It was our third time attending this geocaching event and it was as exciting as the last time.

This year we setup camp with PeanutsParents (Brian & Jenni), cooked up a dutch oven meal to share (Byron's One Pot Dinner), and we made a trip to the ER in Price. Yep, it was the first evening of the trip when Ken decided to chop wood for the fire; after stomping on a log to break it in half, he ended up with a branch through the side of his shoe and into the arch of his food. It took pliers from the car-emergency kit to remove the wood fragments before he could take off his shoe to see the damage done. After removing the shoe and sock, we thought it was best to go to an ER. It was a 50-mile drive to the Price ER (ugh) and a three hour wait, since a head trauma case and a heart-attack victim came in that night. The head trauma case was a boy who had jumped head first into the shallow end of a pool; he was really messed up and was upset when they came out with a neck brace.

Ken's foot was x-rayed; although wood doesn't show up well on an x-ray, there was a possibility of seeing large fragments; none were found. After a tetanus shot, receiving prescriptions for antibiotics and pain, he was finally discharged from the hospital. We made it back to camp at 2:30 a.m.

The next day it was a drive to Mt. Pleasant for drugs and medical supplies. That night we made a giant camp fire, roasted marshmallows, and I told some lame ghost stories that I had down-loaded to my iphone (yes, there are bad people and Captain Chuckles in the woods - luckily we didn't come across either). We had a great time camping and hope to make it to the event next year.

Windmills near Spanish Fork.

Wood fragments from Ken's foot.

Price ER waiting room.

Becoming superhuman under the x-ray machine.

Eww... gross.

Brian and Jenni with the log we sawed in half using a bow-saw and hatchet (yeah, it took a while).

The Chef.

FIRE!

The FJ with Miller's Flat Reservoir in the background.

Heading home.

PeanutsParents and ArticScarab.

Training in North Carolina @ BTEC

I spent three days with fellow co-workers at the Golden LEAF Biomanufacturing Training & Education Center at NC State University; this time the course was geared towards downstream bioprocessing. I think Ken is totally tired of me talking about green fluorescent protein (GFP).

Our course instructor was Dr. Gary Gilleskie, Teaching Associate Professor with BTEC (he is the tall one on the right).

Jose homogenizing cell paste (the cell paste smelled way nasty - after all it was genetically modified E. coli).

Homogenizer samples under fluorescent light
(L to R: zero passes to five passes).

Carl pipetting.

Megan and I with GFP.

Jose and Rebecca.

Me cleaning a bench-top disc-stack centrifuge.

The gang eating at the Cheesecake Factory.

Lori, Anita, and me.

Anita with a sample of GFP from the ultrafiltration step.

A group of us ate at Crook's Corner in Chapel Hill - talk about delicious Southern cuisine! I had Green Peach Salad w/ mint & black pepper and their Carolina Sampler (North Carolina hickory smoked, pit cooked, pork barbecue served w/ hoppin' John, collard greens & black pepper cornbread).

For dessert, I had the Buttermilk Pie - check out the menu description.

The Buttermilk Pie!!! YUM!!!

Capture of GFP by anion exchange chromatography.

L to R: Clarified GFP Lysate, Flowthrough, and GFP Q Seph Eluate.

Raleigh Durham Airport - ready to go home.

Bard Summer Party - Snowbird

This year, Ken's work summer party was held at Snowbird. It was a cold Saturday, the temperature sensor in the FJ registered 52 degrees Fahrenheit. We took the tram ride up to the top of the mountain... it was freezing cold! Most people ended up staying in the warming hut at the top.