Flotsam / Jetsam

Parting Shots

Top quotes from my labmates from the previous week prior to my departure:

“Hey, get us some free stuff!”

Said in all seriousness. This was from one of our post-docs upon hearing I will be working for a biotech distribution company.

“Most of all, I want to thank Rockford for planning our lab retreat.”

Apparently I wasted my time at the bench. I should have just been party-planning. This one was from my boss on the topic of what he was proud of me accomplishing in the last year at my send-off lunch.

Sidenote: I didn’t even attend the retreat, which was at the beach, because we needed to pack for the move.

On a scientific note, this next one takes the cake. The setting is lab meeting last Wednesday. I am presenting my last data sets. Really, this was some of the best data I was able to generate and will hopefully become a part of a publication soon. One of the proteins I am introducing/discussing is called Ferritin, a protein involved in sequestering iron. I am presenting some work I did to knockdown the protein and then look at certain innate immune responsive gene targets upon stimulation when the protein is absent. About ten slides into the presentation, after having introduced the protein and having already gone over two or three results slides, a certain post-doc turns to me and says:

“So what is Ferritin?”

Not all the quotes were like these. I can say that some of the best friends I have made in the scientific realm have been from the last year in this lab. Example? Here’s the last thing Kent said to me before I left the lab for the last time:

“You are my first American friend.”

These friends have been very kind and supportive through the last week, and I am grateful for that. Here is a list of things I will miss:

  • Discussing baseball with my friend Kent every morning. I think I converted him to a Cubs fan.
  • Ying asking me if I have any new Poppy pictures to look at at least three times a week.
  • Lunchtime in the breakroom, sitting around a tiny coffee table and discussing any number of topics (usually involving me trying to explain something like how life insurance works or why some people are offended at burping in public.)
  • Penggao asking me to order something for him that he needs on Friday at 4:55 on a Thursday.
  • Kent asking me for my opinion on a range of topics, from what car should he buy to how to cook greens.
  • The genuinely happy demeanor of my friends

    I learned a lot over the last year. Most of what I learned was not from the bench but rather from interactions with my labmates. I wish them all good luck in the future.