Promising interview

So the postdoc interview I had on Thursday went well, in my opinion, I think NPPI thought so too. He sent me the grant (very early this morning) he just submitted with projects he thinks will best fit my 'skills'. We're going to meet in the coming weeks and discuss the projects ( I really like this lab and the research is what I want to do and what I want my research career to focus on) over coffee and then decide since we are both at the same institution when I'll give a talk. It looks promising he seemed impressed with what I said and the discussions we had.

Keeping my fingers X

The snow finally stopped but when it'll be cleared up no one knows

Stay warm folks

My first interview is tomorrow and new potential PI (NPPI) invited me to go with him to a seminar on the main campus (I'm on the medical campus). The topic is not that exciting to me but it may open a couple of doors for collaborations especially if I get an offer to join this lab. I like this lab so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Excuses Students Give..

I will in a future post share some of the excuses my student gives for not showing up to lab to do the work required for him to complete his Masters degree in May. He's been gone on holiday since Dec 30th and came back last week for one day but had to leave to go for grad school interview so today he really needed to be back to get the ball rolling. Instead here are the two emails he sent (I don't know why he keeps sending them to me, I've told him many times to toughen up and stop acting like a baby).

Email 1 @ 9:48am
"There is a leak in my apartment complex and hence the water supply has been shut to fix it. I woke up some time back but I cannot brush or have a bath. I will come to lab as soon as I have access to water."

Me: no response

Email 1 @ 1:02pm
"The water supply started now...but I don't think I want to come to lab. I will see you tomorrow..

Me: no response

What to do???

Things have not been going as I would have expected them to go. My PI is being a complete douche and that's being kind. Despite what the powers that be have said ( thesis committee, program director etc), he may not allow me to graduate this year. According to him we don't have enough and philosophically we wouldn't want to put anything int he dissertation that we wouldn't publish.
The main thing to note about this lab and him is that although we have literally millions of $$$ at our disposal we produce NO real work, no papers ,well at in least the past 5 years, and apart from one paper ( and that was mainly due to pressure from our collaborators). He's been on lots of papers but only by himself. Despite going to lab and working my ass off for the last 6 years and having been told I have more than enough to publish a couple papers, I HAVE NOTHING and this ass is going to make me miss the last deadline for submission of graduation documents.
At this stage I have one of two options:
1. Get a job or post-doc position with a definite start date.
2. Have my program director and thesis chair over rule this ass and have them sign off on everything so I can get my PhD and move on.

Right now I went with the first, I have a post-doc interview the first week of Feb and it's exactly what I want to work on. I was contemplating contacting this PI from last year but was not sure about 'inbreeding'. My program doesn't like it but people have done it (due to other factors), my two main factors i;s it's the quickest way to get out of this lab and my post chemo doctor visits are scheduled into 2011. I don't want to move far away and would have to take time off to come back to this city for check ups etc.
So I think I may give this a try for a year or two and then move on, I also wanted to take the patent bar exam which I have on schedule for later this year. So much to think about and so much to do but for the past few weeks every conversation with my PI has left me depressed and defeated. I shouldn't let it get to me because I should be use to his passive aggressive behaviour by now.

Why did I go to grad school???
I keep asking myself that question, last evening my PI came to my desk, the first time I was watching Jersey Shore with a tech from the next lab (love this show) so he didn't dare come and interrupt me ;). I mean it was 5pm on a Friday he was lucky people were still in lab. Anyway he came back later and ask me what I was doing ( I was really listening to music; my desk is positioned so that you have to come right up beside me to see if I'm there or what I'm doing) I told him I was working on some stuff.
So as a favor to him last year I made a transgenic mouse and after a year of laboring over this ( it could have gotten done a long time ago but he got on my nerves a couple of times so I dragged it out) I finally have screened founders :) :) making a mouse is hard especially when it has nothing to do with my own work. But it worked!!!!!!
The things I do for my PI, I should be earning a 6 figure salary, there are post-docs in my lab who have never isolated DNA or cloned anything WTF??? 3rd year grad students (2 of them) who can't do simple RT-PCRs or set up appropriate mouse crosses yet they are TAs for a genetics course. How does this school screen it's students, I swear, it's painful being in this lab 99.999% of the time and we are supposed to be one of the top med-research school in the country.

Anyway back to the convo, I told him about the things that I completed (as requested by thesis committee) and a big chapter I was working on, I'm almost finished compiling the results section. We did two big screens which flopped but I intend to look at the glass as half full, anyway he's not said anything about how we should present it so since I'm the one who needs to write this dissertation I sorted the data and complied a couple of tables, figure panels for one gene we interrogated and decided to generate some quick results to pull everything together. He was pleased and seemed impressed with what I did, then his hands started to shake as he was looking over some results (I kid you not my xanga friends) and was flustered with little beads of sweat on his forehead, I think he had a panic attack. He said he's excited to see what the quick analysis will produce.
Then he dropped a BOMB
PI: I read the dissertation abstract and it was very well written
Me: I'm happy
PI: But I can't think of content right now
Me:
PI: Have a nice weekend
Me:

WTF!!!! does this jackass not know we have a March 26 deadline looming. If I miss this I don't graduate until 2011(which I won't be here for), what does he think I've been writing this dissertation for, all my chapters are started, two are almost done. This man has not contributed anything to this process, no discussion, no suggestions, nothing and then he's telling me he can't think about content right now, THAT WAS THE POINT OF THE COMMITTEE MEETING. Well it's good that I actually have a brain and know how to use it.
I swear....... it's a good thing I've applied for a couple post-docs but I need a real job.

Help I'm losing my mind.

Still trying to get this dissertation written, my final thesis committee meeting is in two weeks and I'm so excited. I can finally start planning what I need to get done, where I'll go from here. I plan to officially leave at the end of September, so I have little under a year to get my (academic/professional) life in order.

My mentee (Master's student) is driving me crazy, my PI has dropped the ball considerably. This is his student not mine, I'm not a PI and all the things he should be doing to make sure all this kid's requirements are fulfilled is being left up to me. I knew he would do this and this was the primary reason I was against taking on this responsibility. But since he made me look like I was a horrible person for not wanting to do this in front of my committee, I decided to do it.

I intend to get a chapter or two done before the winter break so PI can read and I can work on something else.

Productivity Jealousy

I've noticed a level of jealously between the post-docs in my lab (actually two) and it's funny but annoying at the same time. PD1 has been in the lab for almost 3 years, PD2 (with whom I'm on the paper that is officially ACCEPTED) has been in the lab for almost two years.

PD1 smooches off other people, talks her way out of everything, is lazy, makes herself seem intelligent, had a baby (I'm not against this) @ start of the year (thus took time off and since then takes random days off and usually does half days), complains alot and loves to gossip. No posters (well one but it was someone's work who left the lab and she inherited the project, all she added was one pic of a fish model-that was not even made by her) and no papers (from our lab or via collaborations). PI told her she has less than a year due to no productivity. Hasn't given a substantial lab talk in over a year and a half, she always seems to avoid showing her results. Passed on a request from PI to write a review for a journal he is currently editor of, now she's mad at another PD who PI asked. Her excuse and please, this is exactly what she said "I'm too busy with my baby so ask someone else" and she didn't even say it nicely, she seemed annoyed.

PD2 is a hard worker, although I didn't like her in the beginning she's proven herself worthy of my respect, she was the one PI gave my project to, is loud (high voice), stays in her bay, doesn't openly gossip, is nice and helpful. She's been to a couple of conferences, has a paper from our lab (good journal- first from our lab in a long time) and via collaborators. Doesn't really take time off , just regular vacation like everyone else because she's always in lab. PI wants to keep her. Has been gone since last week.

Yesterday PD2 talking to Asst. Prof

PD2: PD1 is still on vacation, I think that's too long, she shouldn't be gone that long.

AP: giggling.... I know

What was that, this woman does practically no work at all so much so PI had to give her an ultimatum and she had the nerve to say that. I was offended for PD2 because she's such a hard worker but I held it in because it was not my place to say anything.