we finished data collection for our experiment today - our marathon five-month-long experiment - and were so relieved that we just had to go for beer (well, the boss was away too, but, you know, details). brewerkz with wc and m_____ and g_____ (this is getting tiring), where there was blueberry beer (gross) and proper beer and nachos as stiff as polystyrene.

wc, a md who's worked in the lab on and off for about 5 years now, is moving into the "off" part of the cycle and starting his own business. house calls he's selling (a.k.a. pills on wheels). i'm not sure if i would ever personally pay x times more money to have a doctor see me at home, but he seems to think he'll do a roaring trade, so yay. i hope it works for him. all of us will miss him rather terribly, not just because he's kind of funny, but also 'cos he's the only person who can really do stats (and m_____ is pissing his pants because once i leave he's going to be big kahuna of the sleep team. well, only kahuna. i know, nice timing.)

(full story, as promised, coming very soon)

i think i've said it before, but i'm really glad that i have some colleagues whom i can get along with. in a large department, odds are you're going to find at least a couple of people to talk to, but in a small lab you really are taking your chances. it doesn't even really matter how much of a people person you are - without numbers there's still the risk that -- through no fault of your own -- you may just not hit it off with anyone. i suppose that's one of the strategies of the civil service. pack enough people into a building and odds are no single person can either (a) hate everyone, or (b) be universally despised. instant team morale! very clever, now that i come to think about it. (sociologists: please don't email me to tell me that this was discovered 167 years ago.)