Big project

Big project will begin soon. That is quantification of Pallid sturgeon iridovirus in fish tissues. Some hatcheries produce juveniles of Pallid sturgeon to recover their population. However, iridovirus is prevalent in hatchery and causes mass mortarity against fish. They are worrying about releasing virus positive fish because the fish may affect wild stock in nature by spreading the virus. Therefore, they want us to test their fish before releasing. I understand how important this project is. But examine 750 fish in triplicate by TaqMan PCR is too much, I think... I wonder how long this project take to get it done...

Keybord of my new macintosh

I hate the keybord of my new machine because it has wide gaps between the keys and my fingers get tired easily. Moreover, I need typing more firmly. In a review of macbook, some people say "the worst laptop keyboard in the last ten years". That is true. I miss my old machine.

Credit card

I lost my credit card a few days ago. I withdrew some cash with my card and forgot to pick it up. I was thinking how to survive this coming week because my account was almost empty. Anyway, I realized I forgot my credit card at the ATM, so I called bank immediately to cancel my card. Fortunately, nobody used my card . Credit card is very convenient in this country because we can use it at anywhere, like parking lot machine for the ticket. However, some of them don't require neither ID card or signature so that anyone can use somebody's card. Of course we need picture ID to buy expensive stuff, but I think authorization should be more strict. Signature can be copied easily.

Buckhorn steak

Last Sunday, my friend took me to a steak restaurant, buckhorn, in Winters. They served huge sirloin steak and it was more than 5 cm thickness. It looked great and was testy. Some people come to the restaurant from bay area only for backhorn steak. I'd never had such a great steak in my life. I want to go there again!

Strained back

According to Wikipedia, strained (back) is "an injury to a muscle in which the muscle fibers tear as a result of overstretching". And it also says "Typical symptoms of a strain are localized pain, stiffness, inflammation, and bruising around the strained muscle." These are exactly what I feel with my back. Interestingly, it's not trouble of neither nerve system or back bone. It's just an inflammation of muscle supporting pelvis. I thought it's a serious injury of back bone, but it wasn't true. I feel easy with my back now. Just I hope my back will be fine soon.

Strained back

I got strained back when I played tennis last Sunday. Maybe I was too excited because ane girl joined us.. Anyway, I can walk fast and it's getting better. The string of my racket is ready now so I can't wait this weekend!

Crash

My computer crashed last Saturday so I couldn't access to the internet for a while. I bought a new macintosh by $1,000. To compare with several years ago, the price is cheaper and the spec is much more powerful, but still expensive to me. Maybe that's because I (and my income) haven't changed at all...

Barry Bonds

I agree with the guy who put those pictures on the wall. Although there is a controversy about his record, he is a great player in base ball history. The pictures and comment are found at in front of my laboratory.

Gradation

This is one of my favorite picture. I took this picture from a airplane last year on the way to Okinawa. Gradation from deep blue to white. This is the beauty of nature. We can see similar gradiation in the ocean near Kerama irlands.

Tight regulation

We are working on fish virus, but the regulation for human pathogen will be applied to our laboratory. A inspector came to our lab today and he said there was a suit against UCD. A woman worked at UCD medical center for a week had cancer and she insisted it was due to the viral infection during the intern. Actually the cancer was detected several years after the intern, so everybody doubts the connection between her cancer and the intern. In any case, UC doesn't want to repeat it. I understand what they are thinking, but we are working on fish and I've never heard any pathogen that infect human. A lot of people catch fish and bring them to their home, but it's safe unlike other mammals. Anyway, I will have to put "bio hazard stickers" on my work bench...

Grow big

Crops, vegetables and fruits grow big. I think it's due to the sun shining. The precipitation in summer is less than 10 mm (it means almost no rain from May to November)! All crops grow faster and fruits get sweeter, but the price is cheap. We can buy a melon by less than 2 dollars and it's as sweet as Japanese expensive one. My friend says 2 dollars is still expensive to buy (she used to buy it only for 1 dollar!). We say everything in California grow big, even us!

X game

It could be getting popular in Japan as well. The competitors perform acrobatic action with any kinds of sporting gears, such like skate board, snow board, motocross,ski etc. They jump more than 6m with tiny skate boards! When I was watching the game today, one of the competitors lost his balance in the air and hit his body hard onto the ground, then he went to emergency room in hospitals. It's fun to watch, pain to see, and hard to understand to me...

Federal tax

I was disappointed at my payment when I looked earnings statement today. I used to get exemption for federal tax so I didn't need to pay it. It's privilege only for J1 visa holder and valid only for first 2 years. So I have to pay $350 as tax from this month. What a huge difference it is...

Body weight

I played tennis tonight and I felt my body was heavy. I couldn't run fast at all. Actually I got about 3 pounds in a week. Maybe I ate too much chocolate last four days. Drinking beer at midnight may not be good as well...