4.01.2009

I'm back...but just for a second

Everyone survived the research trip! Being 'in charge' was really not too hard. Rt-H was accessible via text/phone when I had major issues (like getting locked out of our van due to key fab failure in the rural deep South). Despite bad weather and bad equipment we got more work done than planned and returned a day early. I got slightly annoyed around day 5 at the 22 year old first year. She had warned me that she complains a lot....and boy was she not kidding! That and her 'what I know is right and anything new or different is wrong' attitude just got to me. Smooth sailing other than that.

Research-wise it was a super successful trip and I have been locked in the lab since our return. This science is so, SO hot you guys!! I am just at the very start of the project, but can already see that it is going to be fabulous data to work with! 

We leave again tomorrow morning at 6:30 for another trip. This time I've got the 22 yr old, a guy (another first year) who asked if his girlfriend could come along because she doesn't want to be alone for 4 days (she is not coming due to her work schedule, space limitations and the ridiculousness of complaining about getting lonely when you have to spend 4 days with yourself. Doing so to a postdoc who hasn't seen her husband in a month doesn't help!) and a second year who was so anxiety-ridden on our trip in February that she broke down crying at dinner because of the prospect of driving in snow flurries. Thank goodness it is only 4 days this time! 

Hopefully on the other side of it, I will get to return to some semblance of a real life. 
Off to pack...

4 comments:

Mad Hatter said...

Hey, glad to hear the trip went well! I have no clue what you do on your research trips, but that last paragraph sounds like an awful lot of drama for a short trip for work. Are the trips really high-stress or are these students (and their partners) particularly unstable?

ScienceGirl said...

That's a lot of traveling! I hope the second trip is as successful and that you get a bit of R&R after you've collected all the HOT science!

Seeking Solace said...

Wow, that is a lot of traveling!

When we were dating, my husband and I were separated for a year while I studied in Germany. At no point did either of us beg the other not to go or try to go along.

Albatross said...

MH- I think it is a combo of high stress and the students being first and second years. Hopefully after a few years, they will get a little more relaxed.

SG- Thanks! I am looking forward to a long break coming up soon =) And the science is still looking hot!

SS- I was completely appalled at the suggestion. I want to chalk it up to young age (the girlfriend might be 22) but even at 22, I was never that needy...