Vagon

After living in Oz for a year and a half, I decided to bite the bullet and buy a car.  I won't bore you with the story of the decision making.  I can just say that it will be nice to actually have a set of wheels.  I can get out of town!  The disadvantage is that it's too short to sleep within... at least to sleep comfortably.   It's a '97 with only 56,000 km (35,000 miles) on it.  That means it only averaged 2320 miles per year.   


Victoria has oodles of beuracracy though.  The car had to be unregistered, then I had to get an unregistered permit ($70) to get a road safety certificate ($100), to then bring to the "DMV" to get a registration ($850). 

The car has a 10 disc cd changer!  ... but I have no CDS :(  

I bought some microphones, mostly because I like the occasional new toy.  I'm also working on playing/singing a bit better.  It helps to hear my own voice clearly.  I've come to realize that I'm a bit out of tune... still working on that.  Anyhow, here's a tribute to Led Zeppelin's Tangerine, just to show the mics in action.  It's not so easy to sound like Jimmy Page and Robert Plant. 

A little of what I do

Well, I figure it's time to show what I do day in and day out.  Essentially, I watch platelets attach to different substrates (surfaces).  This is typically followed by some counting... manual cuonting of the platelets.  These sorts of high tech analyses require a doctorate. 

However, it does get more interesting when I try to observe the mechanics of platelet adherence.  Here, we have a TIRF (total internal reflectance fluorescence) microscopy image of platelets attaching to Fibrinogen.  The brightness of the platelet corresponds with a region that is closest to the surface.  Essentially, the technique allows us to quantify the depth of the platelet morphology from 10-300 nm from the surface. 

I also officially became a biologist when I ran my first Western Blot of some platelet lysates.  These tell us if a certain protein exists based on the size of the protein.  On the left is the size based on kilodaltons.  The lysates are run through a gel and separate by size.  Then specific proteins can be labeled, as seen by the black spots.  I figure that's enough detail for my average reader.  These are some of the fun activities than one can perform in the laboratory, but don't try this at home ;)

Sick

It's strange to see snow when living in a place where it never snows.  I had a window seat on my flight to New Zealand and was watching a Pink Floyd documentary during the flight.  It's rare that I fly with the fancy airlines that have enetertainment seats.... but I got a good deal on the tickets.  Anyhow, every time I'd glance outside, I'd notice the clouds. Finally, on one glance, I realized that the clouds were actually New Zealand.     

It's interesting how skiing seems to be more fun with the more people that go.  I received some good ski lessons from one of the members of the group.  I learned what not to do from another member... who crashed into a child.  Don't worry, no children were harmed... badly. 

As a complete aside, I'm always fascinated by the edge of a mountain range, or the top of volcanos.  The horizon consists of flat land, which isn't scenery that I'm used to on top of a mountain.  I would say that it hads some nice contrast to the mountainous landscape.  

Gone Skiing

Taking a break from the daily Melbourne grind, it was time to see the mountains. I spent a wonderful weekend with some of my closest Kiwi friends.  The only downside is that I was sick all weekend.  We stayed in a lovely resort with spa and all of the skiing essentials.  The resort also had an amazing view.  We could see the lovely Southern Alps out of the back balcolny.    

I gave skis a try.  This was my third day on skis and I'm beginning to think that they're more fun than a snowboard.  This is particularily true if one can get the beautiful colors of the 80s in their ski set. 

However, a trip isn't complete without a trip to the Staff Club, some Snow-Ouzo, and some good Kiwi brew. 

More burs

Beer, beer, and more beer.  So, I decided to make a big portion of my trip devoted to wine... I mean beer.  I guess after making homebrewing a hobby, it's nice to see what the professionals do and how they do it.  So, while I was in Boston, I stopped over at the Sam Adams brewery, which is now used for test batches.  They had us all try eating differently kilned barley and smell their hops.  I think I was the only one who actually ate some of the hops and then proceded to rub it on my neck like cologne, but hey we all have our individual tastes ;) 
At the end of the tour they have some beer tasting.  Unfortunately, they chose to display some of their normal/average beers.  Therefore, I had to cross the street to the pub to try some of their more interesting brews.  I have to say that my favorite was one of their IPAs.  They make 2, one tastes average to bad, the other is great.   I wish I could remember which one was which...

The other major brewery I checked out was Stone, over near San Diego , CA.  I had no idea that their production facility was so large.  They're even expanding beyond what I saw.  I have to say that their facility is really nice.  There is a bistro at the front that has a huge selection of beer, some of the finest in the world.  I was a little sad that I had to drive. 

The last stop was Pizza Port, which is a pizzeria that has a few small fermentors.  They are actually very famous in the beer world and after trying some of their beers, I can understand why.  I had an amazing American Stout, one of the award winners, at the particular Pizza Port (their are 4 locations all brewing different beer).  The location I chose was right down the road from the aiport... how convenient.   

Burs

 

I headed back to the States for a conference in June (yes, I realize it is now August).  One of the key things I looked forward to was trying a bunch of beers that I heard about on the beer radio I use to learn homebrewing tips.  Suffice it to say, I tried a lot of beers on my trip.  The other beautiful thing about coming to the states is that hops are much cheaper.  So, I grabbed a suitcase full of hops to bring back to Australia.  It always makes customs more adventurous.  The other wonderful thing about going to the States is seeing my wonderful family.. which really is the highlight of every trip :)