AA biffs off for a bit

Folks, I know you've all been missing me terribly lately. I can hear you clamoring in my inbox.Actually, no, that's not true. I don't have pages of messages from desperate fans. I assume that's because you all have your own life. So do I, which means I probably wouldn't have time to get to all that imaginary fan mail anyway. So it's all for the best really.Anywhooo, the blog fodder has been particularly lame of late. It's because in real life, things are blowing up!! Not literally of course, but damn people - I've been busy. A good kind of busy - lots getting done and that kind of forward momentum is gold. On the other hand, that kind of momentum can only be sustained for so long...at least until someone gets that perpteual motion machine finished. What I'm trying to say is that I need a break from it all so I can come back fresh to the bench and fresh to the blog.So in order to spare you any more boring posts, I'm going to give a quick update for those of you keeping score at home, and then I'm taking off for a week or so to go do something fun and important and completely unrelated to science. Here goes:Things are really coming together on my little collaborative project - I think it's really starting to build itself into a nice little paper and I continue to be delighted with the working relationship I've developed with my collaborator.The ManuBeast continues to be a beast. I have what I hope to be the very last and final experiment running right now, which I will analyze upon return from my brief hiatus and bust ass to get the sumbitch submitted this month - wish me luck.I have had some post-doc interviews that have gone largely well. One lab I rather like and I expect an offer from them any time now. Another lab I really like rather a lot, but am waiting with bated breath to hear about funding. More interviews to come.I've been collecting samples for my potentially-interesting-observation-that-might-become-a-short-report, but no time to analyze them yet since the ManuBeast is Priority A #1 at the moment. I hope that by having all these samples waiting and ready to go in freezer I will be able to take a concerted crack at this observation as soon as the ManuBeast gets sent out for review. Fingers crossed.New Technology project is also going full speed ahead, in spite of all the business with the ManuBeast, thanks in large part to a remarkably talented and capable undergrad who's been working with me. (Summer students are often a big time suck, and occasionally rewarding. This one has been a unique experience for me. All those times I've said I could get twice as much done in half the time if only I had another pair of hands? Well, now I've got them and I'm pleased to find that my prediction is true.) Technology development is a new experience for me so I'm not sure how to package this one for publication yet, but we've got a few more bridges to cross before we have enough to get a feel for this yet.So yeah, that's the scoop. Talk at you next week.

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