CXVI : At Work

Yesterday, I met up with my co for New Member Coordinator because he wanted help working on the pamphlet about our fraternity. For someone who is a dual degree in business and pharmacy, he is much different from the type of business people I have in mind. I would like business people are strict on being punctual, on meeting deadlines, and on finishing work on their own. Maybe it's because he doesn't get as stressed out about having things prepared well ahead of time as I do, so he's so laid back about finishing things until the last minute. Who knows. Luckily, we were able to finish the pamphlet yesterday, which we need 200 copies of for later today. We got the 200 copies yesterday around 5pm. And we have to attach each one of them to our little goodies to the first years, which are two-sided mini pens that I found with my friend. I was afraid we were going to have to meet up super early this morning to finish putting them together because I had evening shift yesterday and didn't get off work until 11:30pm. Little did I know, my co was finally proving himself responsible! I get a text around 4am saying "I finished putting them together!" He has redeemed himself pretty well this time.

Anyway, what I wanted to record was my time at work. Because I had met up with my co on campus in the afternoon before I went to work, I had to prepare all my work clothes and items in my car so I could go straight to work. I was so glad that we finished on time so I could eat lunch and then drive to work with time to nap too. When I got to my workplace, I quickly changed into my scrubs in the back seat of my car, and then took a good 20 minute nap. Completely passed out. But in the back of my mind, I felt like something was wrong, I just didn't know what. I even put my feet up to feel more comfortable to nap. When I woke up a minute before my alarm rang, I realized instantly, "OH SHOOT!!! I'm wearing my sandals!" Abruptly coming to my senses, I strongly wished that I had hidden at least a pair of socks somewhere in my car since I knew I didn't bring my walking shoes at all. Of course I didn't have socks in my car! So I walked to the satellite pharmacy on the 7th floor and the tech for the morning shift, who is always so cheery, was like "oh! cute shoes!" and I had to embarrassingly say, "Jeri, do you have extra shoes?" The look on her face was a mixture of shock and laughter. Of course there weren't extra shoes in the pharmacy. Luckily, there were these blue cloth things that go over shoes to prevent lint or tiny particles from contaminating the air when you're working in a sterile environment.

So I walked around in those around my sandals. So embarrassing. I think it's dangerous for me to have a full week off from work and then go back to work. The school year is probably going to be full of mistakes. Gotta be prepared.

CX : Work and Not

I wish my phone's camera were just a bit better.

So, picture from July 4. I want to set off one of these fireworks some day! They are exciting to watch, even though they last for about 15 seconds?


I got injured at work last week.

So silly. I was trying to close our dumbwaiter, and my hand slipped and scraped on the crisscrosses of the mini elevator. Good thing skin is quick-healing! It's almost completely gone now.

On Tuesday, I went to Trio House to eat a dinner while waiting for traffic to loosen up a bit on the 10. I ordered a wonton noodle soup with BBQ pork pieces, which I found I don't like this kind of pork. It's so strange tasting-- sweet and porky. haha It's the kind with pink fringes. Other than that, it wasn't too bad. Finally went to the new Gateway complex at USC!


Back at work two days ago and yesterday. Saw some crystallization going on.

I hate working evening shift, especially if it's from 3:30pm-midnight. I can't imagine doing graveyard (10pm-7am). Ever. Unfortunately, it's a possibility in the future. My sleep cycle and body hormone schedule are all confused just by working evenings. I had an extremely wimpy, late period. I won't complain too much because at least I didn't get cramps or a bloody mess, but it's worrisome if this happens next month.

No work today. Back to work tomorrow. I understand this kind of working schedule, so why can't my mom?

LXXIII : Interning

It's about time I uploaded pictures and recorded my memories of my internship this summer. I spent 9 weeks interning at a pharmaceutical company, and I'm glad I spent this supposed last "free" summer interning. I learned a bit about the industrial side of pharmacy (which I could potentially go in) and a lot about the importance of relations in the company. Anyway, it's hard for me to believe that I started out complaining "I'm not doing much, and it feels horrible" and "this is so boring!" and even thinking "what if I had taken the other intern position I was offered?" But that's what I thought for the first week or so because really, all I did was read SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) for a bunch of machines (super specific types and brands of them!) that most I wouldn't even use, much less see, in my time there. I understand the importance of reading these SOPs to properly work at a pharmaceutical company, but reading it without seeing the apparatus or machine is so tedious. I couldn't even picture it in my head! And I didn't feel like I was allowed in the lab if I didn't have this background knowledge yet (as an intern, I felt like everything in the lab was fragile so I didn't dare to touch anything unless I was given permission to). It was a tough first week (there were general company training sessions as well, which were unfortunately after lunch).

When I started easing into the lab work, I finally started feeling like I was doing something. But not yet giving back to what I was earning. At least, I was learning one of the machines used for dissolution, a procedure I would be working on for the rest of my internship. Basically, I dropped capsules into some solution bath and collected samples at various times. Simple, right? But it took weeks to totally get the hang of it and be comfortable enough to do it all on my own (which I probably only did three times). But it was fun when I was doing something and talking to the people in the lab. I'm lucky that the one who trained me was a talker. I don't usually start conversations (I'm fine with just sitting in complete silence, as long as it's not uncomfortable), and as an intern who didn't know anyone's personalities yet, I wanted to just listen and watch people, learn about them first. It wasn't bad; I knew they were all nice and easy to get along with, at least for me. Lunchtimes were interesting because people ate at different times every day. Sometimes I'd be by myself in the lunch room, sometimes I'd be with one other person, and sometimes I'd be with a table-full of people (8 or so). They had interesting topics to chat about, apart from work-related ones-- yahoo front page news, raising children who are just going to start elementary school, Costco (they LOVE Costco!) food, etc. I enjoyed listening in on their conversations and answering their inquiries about my student life at USC and the pharmacy profession. I wish I had taken a picture with everyone at the potluck the day before my last day (8/6), but I didn't and ended up taking a picture during my last lunch time with the people who are like mommies to me at work. [the one in the light blue shirt is the new temp]

Anyway, in the lab, I also worked on preparing samples to test for impurities or uniformity. Because this involved mixing random samples into solutions prepared to increase solubility, I had some fun with my imagination. This particular one reminded me of Yogloo or soy milk, and then when I filled it more, it reminded me of my favorite food: EGG. Delicious.

After this was all prepared, we used the HPLC (High Performance/Pressure Liquid Chromatography) to calculate what we wanted. This was the part that took forever. The dissolution could take 6 hours, but the HPLC could take 18 hours. It was crazy! I knew HPLC took a long time to finish, but I hadn't imagined 18 hours! Hence, my lack of things to do usually after 3pm. Sometimes 2pm. It was hard doing something other than sporcle (managed to name at least 90 elements), minesweeper (completed expert level!), reading [sometimes random] news (gossip about the entertainment world), and pen doodling. Of course I tried being of help in the lab, but many times I'd get "Oh, no there isn't anything for you to do right now. Thank you though." And that was that. And it was fine with me if I ended up just dumping out solutions. There was way too much down-time for me.

Noticed this one day after lunch. Post-It says "OTC inside has expired." Ironic isn't it?

On my last day, I did my last dissolution for the company on my own. Well, I did get some help with the solutions and stuff, but I did most of the set-up and start. And as 5pm got closer, I was feeling the pang of leaving, of my internship ending. I overall had a fulfilling time rather than just a satisfactory one. One of the people I work with, Nino, said to me, "If I don't see you before you leave at 5 today, then I'll tell you this now. When you become a multimillionaire and own your own pharmaceutical company, don't ever forget NINO!" Good times. Good laughs. He showed me this on the last day because we were talking about it in the lab one time: How to speak fluent Japanese without saying a word. It has two parts. And I thought, there should be a third one for "souuuu.." yupp.

Before I left, I tried to say good-bye to everyone I had worked with and chatted with, and I thought I would tear up. I felt it coming, but luckily, I had enough time finding people that I didn't cry. *sigh* My last week was also the first week that their new temp started working. She has an incredibly strong personality, and I'm hoping she won't clash with everyone the whole 6 months she's planned to be there. It was terrifying feeling the tension between her and my mentor in the lab when she was learning about the lab. I never really thought about how employers have to seriously think about whether the applicant would mesh well with the group; I always thought the skills were more important. It makes sense though. Skills can come sooner with practice, but personality can't change easily. Unfortunately, I probably won't find out how the group is doing. I don't know how much can be disclosed to someone of my position. But we'll see.

The shape changes every week. The magnets are supposed to show who is in what building at the moment. But isn't this even more lovely?

This wraps up this summer experience. Let my pharmacy life truly begin!

LXXII : Be Braver

Can't I be ok with being less stingy sometimes? I have one week left of my internship, which I hope I will post about more specifically some other time, and I wondered (or more like, Nino, one of the analytical group members, asked me) what I was going to do for the week I have before going to LA for orientation (and then Pharm!!). I really want to go somewhere fun, maybe spend two days somewhere, do a road trip or something. Unfortunately, I don't particularly like driving, and I feel like no one else here (Tiffy? StephR?) does either. Also, I don't want to spend much, even on once-in-a-lifetime places-- museums, national parks, etc. Santa Cruz beach sounds fun since I haven't been there since... probably the Santa Cruz Band Review way back in high school. Napa Valley sounds fun, with the wine-tasting and tour of the wine-country, which reminds me, I haven't gotten used to the taste of wine yet. One of my goals this summer--fail. I'll just continue taking my teensy tiny sips.

I feel silly thinking to myself "I want to go somewhere and do something. Get outside! Into the WORLD~!" and then here I am, on the computer in my room. At night. I read the little book Tiffy gave me called Open Your Mind. Open Your Life. Just bunch of sayings, some I disagree with and some I completely understand now... and some I'm not so sure of. This is what I feel like and have felt like for this past year, especially when I was in LA:

There is a bird that lives deep in the snowy mountains. Tortured by night's numbing cold, it cries that it will build a warm nest in the morning. Yet, when day breaks, it sleeps the day away, basking in the warmth of the sun. So it continues, crying vainly throughout its life. People are often the same, lamenting their circumstances yet passing by every opportunity to change. -Taro Gold

Seriously, when will I finally feel braver about getting away from the shelter of my parents? of home? of known comfort? I want to know what else is out there, but I don't try to expand into the unknown. Yet, I tell myself, "you won't know until you try." So, TRY more often.

Today, while I was clocking back in after lunch, I walked by a lady who was holding the door open and staring at something. I asked her what she was looking at, and she said "a bird fell from the roof and now it's lying there in the corner. The mom just came to feed it." I looked for it, which took a while because I didn't expect it to be so close, and saw the baby huddled next to the cement block holding plants. After I watched it for a good few minutes, I went back to my cubicle and got my camera.

While taking pictures, I pointed it out to another lady coming back from lunch, and she told me Aaron (another person from my analytical group) had previously taken care of a baby bird that was left at the door by a cat. I went back to my building and decided I should ask Aaron to take care of this one, too. It's a good thing I did because when I walked back to show him where the bird was, I saw a cat just about to pounce on the baby bird. I also noticed the mom (or dad) was watching close by, but it was sad to see she couldn't really do anything. When I approached, the stray cat ran away, but it stayed near in the bushes.

Aaron went to get a box while I watched the bird (and took more pictures. hehe). When he came back, he handed me a nitrile glove that we use in lab and I picked up the baby and placed it in the box. Aww, it was so light and cute, but quite ugly. The parent bird flew around the building when I picked up the bird and put it in the box. So sad for the parent to have to lose this baby, but I hope it survives. Aaron took the bird back into our building, where I kept hearing it chirping. Poor little one, probably was super hungry. Aaron said he'd give it to a wild animal shelter in Fairgrounds(?), where he gave the other one before. They feed it and release it back into the wild. So they say.

LXXI : Parting

On my way to work this morning, I drove by a road-killed black cat. I hope it wasn't the little kitty I saw the first time I went to Impax earlier this summer. When I'm driving, I tend to look out for pot holes, dents, and debris on the road, so my eyes stay focused all the time on something. But when I saw that cat, my heart constricted immediately. It hurt. Its entrails had spouted out of it, and I'm pretty sure it was the intestine I saw stretching away from the body. Oh gruesome carcass. I felt I couldn't breathe from the moment I saw it to when I walked into my cubicle about 3 minutes later. When I saw the road-killed squirrel on the way home, it didn't have as big an impact on me, probably because it was just lying there on its side, body still intact from the short glimpse I had of it. Poor animals that get run over.

Anyway, after this week is done, I have two more weeks of my internship at Impax. I'm starting to feel the sadness of leaving the people, though I have to give a presentation (of which I was informed yesterday I had to do) on what I learned at Impax. When thinking up what nice things to say, I remembered some silliness I enjoyed while working:

I have to clock out and in before and after lunch to record my time, but on Thursday, the group was giving a "congrats" lunch for one of the members getting married that weekend. So we went to eat Phillipino food nearby, which would take more than 30 mins. I didn't know about this lunch until lunchtime, so I clocked out. Hoa, my mentor, said "it's okay! We'll just make up an excuse to HR!"
Natasha: "Like what?"
H: "There was too much work to do in the lab!"
N: (to me) "Make sure you sound convincing."
H: "We can tell HR what time you finished lunch. We have at least that much power."
N: "Yeah we can do that."
H: "We can use our POWER!!" (arms go up)
Hoa is about my height, a little shorter maybe since she wears high shoes, and she's a mom of two college students, so reminds me of mommy. Mommies can be so cute.

Jason is the one who trained me on lab techniques, and I work with him the most. He usually wears a visor indoors because he's too lazy to take it off when he goes from building to building (we sometimes have to go across the street to the other building), and he's just a bit taller than I am, so short for a guy. One time, actually multiple times, as he's entering the lab, Jonathan, a tall chemist, says, "There you are with your hat again. Who wears a hat inside?"
Ja: "I do. I don't want to take it off."
Jo: Trying to take off Jason's hat "There's not even any sun here! Why do you need a hat?"
Ja: Dodging Jonathan's reach, "Stop messing with me!!" (something he says a LOT)
Jonathan goes for the hat again. Jason dodges, "I said, stop messing with meee!"
Many of the guys working in the labs are humorously sarcastic. It makes the lab very lively.

Today, before I left, Aaron, one of the members of the same group I'm interning for, says from this cubicle, "Who just exploded roses?" We're all sitting in our cubicles, so we can't see each other, but I know people's voices now. Yogesh goes, "what?"
A: "Who just put on perfume that smells like roses?"
Y: "You don't like it?"
A: "No, it's not that I don't like it. It's just... too strong. An explosion."
I laugh out loud.
A: "Melody, was that you who exploded roses?"
Me: "Of course not!"
I just found it funny how he described the sudden onset of the perfume smell as "exploded roses." Roses do smell wonderful, but someone really squirted too much. It was too powerful.

Yesterday, I played sporcle again to pass time, and I tried the Shakespeare quiz where you name the character who said the quote. What prompted me to finally think about how I felt about my internship coming to end was the famous, and oh so very true, quote, "Parting is such sweet sorrow."

Indeed. Parting is such sweet sorrow.


Bye bye Beanie Babies collection.