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kaberett1. TOL & TOG were just round the corner from home tonight for a show, so via Shenanigans involving me forgetting that Hammersmith isn't actually a single station they stood around in the sun with me for a bit before they vanished in to show (which twitter suggests was as good as I'd expect from Penn & Teller) and I got hugs and sunshine and stern looks about eating enough and bullshit about science and a brief discussion about the point of painting, and having left the lab it was fairly easy to pick up dinner on the way back in. (And on the way out I stopped off at one of my ridiculous corner shops and acquired stacks and stacks of emergency chocolate.) (And while on the topic of polymer chemistry and feeling vaguely contrite about the extent to which these people look after me, sebastienne talked sense at me and I continue to feel better.)
2. We are tonight providing accommodation, as we occasionally do, for waifs & strays with appointments at Charing Cross Gender Identity Clinic. Because, fundamentally, we're a trans-positive household a fifteen-minute walk from same, most of which involves walking through a rather nice cemetery, and consequently this is a concrete thing we can do that is helpful.
3. My supervisor appears to continue genuinely pleased with my labwork: we're trying a different introduction system with the mass spec this time around and the ion beam is stable and as of 11.30pm, every single data point from the past two days is usable (where with the introduction system I had been using, I was getting maaaaybe 50% usable data). Or, to put it another way, my chemistry has been fine and my tuning the machine up has been fine (she's popped in to check a couple of times while I was elsewhere, which I know about because she's told me after the fact that she had a play around and didn't change anything because it was spot on) (though I should really have retuned before putting tonight's overnight run on but if I had I'd've ended up locked into the building and that is no-one's idea of fun, and in any case the machine is pretty much rock-solid -- I've lost a tiny bit of sensitivity but nothing that should be a problem, and I'll tweak it back up when I get in tomorrow), it's just the ways in which these are fundamentally finicky beasts that are not actually under my control. Also, supervisor tends to rise early, so me leaving work at midnight means that when she gets in at 7am she can swing by the basement, have a quick poke, and make sure everything's where it should be, and set another thing going if necessary; and then by the time I rock up around 10am it's ready for me to have a poke again.
4. Also, with respect to things just working (so far, touch wood, etc) I am managing to get through a huge amount of my sample backlog, which means I've got lots of dirty beakers. Which my supervisor is going to get the MSci student to wash up for me. I mean, I'll probably then have to wash them up again once he's done with them - he's only here for a fortnight at this point, which isn't really long enough to do anything except get a round of chemistry through - but nonetheless I feel as though I have arrived.
5. I have had three meals, and done my housemately duty with respect to bread (and actually got to SEE MY HOUSEMATE briefly today, which was nice!)
6. I am also performing sibling-related duties and picking up a set of wheels from Dalston tomorrow morning, strop strop, but it will make the baby brother happy and sheepish, so! (Particularly, dude's girlfriend lives near the same tube stop as I do, so when baby brother was asking if I could do collection it was on the basis that dude would get them to his girlfriend's and I could collect locally rather than making a 90-minute round trip... he is really apologetic about this, and I get to be Virtuous Big Sibling and he gets wheels, so it's wins all round.)
7. And biggest smallcousin got her care package from me a few days ago, and so didjoshuaorrizonte: I am the happyface of having sent people things that they like and will get use from, and also of having caught up with biggest smallcousin over IM and dispensed my ~wisdom~ about relationships. (I am informed that I am a minor celebrity among her social circles at Durham and I am obliged to attend her next party. I am kind of delighted.)
8. I wrote code! It does the things I want it to! I get to use it and smile every time it makes my life easier! I am so not refactoring the horrible mess this week, but might next week! Relatedly, I got to introducerandomling and That One Gent on Friday, and I still end up with a ridiculous grin every time I think about them interacting -- I really like it when people get on with each other.
9. Oh, also related: yesterday That One Gent was all "so this dude on whom I have a crush will be in Zurich tomorrow and wants to know where the good coffee is, can you ask P?" Whereupon I very scornfully informed him that (1) P visited me for a weekend in Zurich on his way from the Balkans to Paris while I was living there, and (2) Cafe Henrici was the place to go. (I used this conversation as an excuse to arrange a visit to a friend who lives in Zurich - I am still baffled that I've turned into the kind of person who regretfully goes "I'm really sorry, my first free weekends are in September" - which I am also pleased about, because it has been Far Too Long, by which I mean "I'm pretty certain the last time I saw him was when I invited myself to his wedding as an excuse to meet his dog. Two years ago.") Anyway, TOG's friend approves strongly of My Favourite Cafe In Europe And Possibly The World, so I got to see pleasant ripples of fannishness about it across twitter, which again with the making-me-happy.
10. Okay, yeah, sod it, the Korra season 3 trailer. I did not expect to have strong feelings. It took me most of a week to get around to watching it. And then two minutes of clips made me cry.
sebastienne talked sense at me and I continue to feel better.)2. We are tonight providing accommodation, as we occasionally do, for waifs & strays with appointments at Charing Cross Gender Identity Clinic. Because, fundamentally, we're a trans-positive household a fifteen-minute walk from same, most of which involves walking through a rather nice cemetery, and consequently this is a concrete thing we can do that is helpful.
3. My supervisor appears to continue genuinely pleased with my labwork: we're trying a different introduction system with the mass spec this time around and the ion beam is stable and as of 11.30pm, every single data point from the past two days is usable (where with the introduction system I had been using, I was getting maaaaybe 50% usable data). Or, to put it another way, my chemistry has been fine and my tuning the machine up has been fine (she's popped in to check a couple of times while I was elsewhere, which I know about because she's told me after the fact that she had a play around and didn't change anything because it was spot on) (though I should really have retuned before putting tonight's overnight run on but if I had I'd've ended up locked into the building and that is no-one's idea of fun, and in any case the machine is pretty much rock-solid -- I've lost a tiny bit of sensitivity but nothing that should be a problem, and I'll tweak it back up when I get in tomorrow), it's just the ways in which these are fundamentally finicky beasts that are not actually under my control. Also, supervisor tends to rise early, so me leaving work at midnight means that when she gets in at 7am she can swing by the basement, have a quick poke, and make sure everything's where it should be, and set another thing going if necessary; and then by the time I rock up around 10am it's ready for me to have a poke again.
4. Also, with respect to things just working (so far, touch wood, etc) I am managing to get through a huge amount of my sample backlog, which means I've got lots of dirty beakers. Which my supervisor is going to get the MSci student to wash up for me. I mean, I'll probably then have to wash them up again once he's done with them - he's only here for a fortnight at this point, which isn't really long enough to do anything except get a round of chemistry through - but nonetheless I feel as though I have arrived.
5. I have had three meals, and done my housemately duty with respect to bread (and actually got to SEE MY HOUSEMATE briefly today, which was nice!)
6. I am also performing sibling-related duties and picking up a set of wheels from Dalston tomorrow morning, strop strop, but it will make the baby brother happy and sheepish, so! (Particularly, dude's girlfriend lives near the same tube stop as I do, so when baby brother was asking if I could do collection it was on the basis that dude would get them to his girlfriend's and I could collect locally rather than making a 90-minute round trip... he is really apologetic about this, and I get to be Virtuous Big Sibling and he gets wheels, so it's wins all round.)
7. And biggest smallcousin got her care package from me a few days ago, and so did
joshuaorrizonte: I am the happyface of having sent people things that they like and will get use from, and also of having caught up with biggest smallcousin over IM and dispensed my ~wisdom~ about relationships. (I am informed that I am a minor celebrity among her social circles at Durham and I am obliged to attend her next party. I am kind of delighted.)8. I wrote code! It does the things I want it to! I get to use it and smile every time it makes my life easier! I am so not refactoring the horrible mess this week, but might next week! Relatedly, I got to introduce
randomling and That One Gent on Friday, and I still end up with a ridiculous grin every time I think about them interacting -- I really like it when people get on with each other.9. Oh, also related: yesterday That One Gent was all "so this dude on whom I have a crush will be in Zurich tomorrow and wants to know where the good coffee is, can you ask P?" Whereupon I very scornfully informed him that (1) P visited me for a weekend in Zurich on his way from the Balkans to Paris while I was living there, and (2) Cafe Henrici was the place to go. (I used this conversation as an excuse to arrange a visit to a friend who lives in Zurich - I am still baffled that I've turned into the kind of person who regretfully goes "I'm really sorry, my first free weekends are in September" - which I am also pleased about, because it has been Far Too Long, by which I mean "I'm pretty certain the last time I saw him was when I invited myself to his wedding as an excuse to meet his dog. Two years ago.") Anyway, TOG's friend approves strongly of My Favourite Cafe In Europe And Possibly The World, so I got to see pleasant ripples of fannishness about it across twitter, which again with the making-me-happy.
10. Okay, yeah, sod it, the Korra season 3 trailer. I did not expect to have strong feelings. It took me most of a week to get around to watching it. And then two minutes of clips made me cry.
(no subject)
Date: 2014-06-19 07:53 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-06-19 12:16 pm (UTC)I mean, especially for people early on in their transition who aren't presenting as their actual gender in public much and aren't getting *treated* as their actual gender much if at all, I just... am really, really glad that we can be a super-relaxed household with plenty of food and tea and offers of hugs and reliable correct gendering 100% of the time without batting an eyelid? I think that's really important and I'm so glad we can provide it.
(no subject)
Date: 2014-06-19 12:18 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-06-19 12:27 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-06-19 12:31 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-06-19 12:42 pm (UTC)My friend's appointment is at Charing Cross cos he's lived nearby...until quite recently, when Stuff Going Wrong meant he ended up coming to stay with his mum, in Manchester. He had a "you're down south, you can have a morning appointment because you don't have to travel as far as some of our people" slot, but now of course he does live far away and has to travel, and is wondering what'll happen if he's still up here when it comes time for it in a month or two.
(no subject)
Date: 2014-06-19 12:47 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-06-19 10:22 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-06-19 10:31 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-07-08 03:12 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-06-19 12:09 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-06-19 12:18 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2014-06-20 07:53 pm (UTC)well this has sent me onto an older playlist...
(no subject)
Date: 2014-06-21 02:03 am (UTC)