>_< Tattoo Taboos

Who's that? Donny. What's he got? A tattoo. You know what else? I'm probably going to get the same exact one (except upside down ans smaller on my wrist). Also, I might change what's written on the bottom there (That's Hylian for those who don't recognize it... new Hylian Script I think). Now growing up I was always hinted by my parents that I shouldn't get a tattoo. It would lead to regret and something scarring towards the end of my life. I used to buy into it- and I still do sometimes - but my perspective on tattoos have certainly changed over the last decade. I'm sure it goes the same for some other people as well. So here's my understanding of what tattoos were like when I was a kid.

Whenever I saw someone with a tattoo I'd automatically think (regardless of what the tattoo was of) that the person had been in prison. It doesn't help that some of the tattoo culture played themselves out to be a bunch of thugs and bikers. It also really didn't help that when I actually did examine what the tattoo would be of, it'd be something off putting like a skull with snakes through the eye sockets, something on fire, gravestones, chains, etc. It probably goes back to a time where members of gangs would share the same mark on their body as a sign of loyalty, or something like that. All around it was a bad experience.

Nowadays it's completely different. Much of the world is very tolerant of tattoos and those who have them. It's become something of an art form, a permanent accessory. Those who can afford one, can have one, of anything they deem fit. I agree that you have to keep it on a somewhat professional level and cover up in a business setting (depending on the business of course), but that's only because there are still people out there who aren't so open about that kind of thing. Other then that, people have taken tattoos on a whole different level and i'm sure you've seen how extreme they can be. Let's get into what I think about tattoos today.

Personally, I think if you're going to get a tattoo, it should come with meaning, or a really really great story. I'm not gonna sit/stand here and listen to how drunk you were when you decided to put kermit the frog on your butt. Though humorous, not exactly the story I want to hear. Also, if you're gong to get a tattoo, don't ever regret it. Others don't take tattoos too seriously and they tend to color themselves like a paint by number, and that's their decision to make. For me or anyone close to me, if you're going to get one don't spend even a second regretting it. Make sure when you do get it, the process is sterile, you've talked to your artist about it, and really finalize everything you need. It's almost like buying a car. You hesitate which car to buy because of the price you're about to spend on it. You need to make sure the car you're going to get is exactly the car you want. You go through the process of a test drive (but you can't really test drive a tattoo, other then drawing on yourself?) and consulting you're agent and anyone else you feel the need to consult. A tattoo you hesitate not on the price really, but becasue of the permanant-tivity... yes that's a word. Bottomline - just don't regret it. I don't judge anyone by their tattoos. As previously stated, anyone but those who are close to me can do whatever they want.

So this'll be why I want to get a tattoo like the one above. I take a lot of pride growing up in a somewhat golden age of video games. Even moreso, Nintendo. I believe that whole company is responsible for a good portion of who I am today: the music I listen to, the TV shows I watch, the morals I carry. I'm not one to brand the Nintendo logo somewhere on my body, I find it dangerous to have words as tattoos, so I chose the triforce from the Legend of Zelda series. I believe its a good tribute to both Nintendo and my favorite/best series, IMO, that Nintendo has to offer. It also carries a good trio of values that I abide by - wisdom, power, and courage. This triforce that I will get on my wrist will not only symbolize thoes values, but most importantly will remind me that I will always be a child at heart. Nintedo did that for me, it kept me from turning into a CoD, Halo, Gears of War, etc. junkee. I'm proud to stick by the company, no matter how great or poorly they do in the market. It would be an honor to mark that symbol onto my body.

A part of me knows I just wrote that whole rant to convince myself further that this tattoo needs to happen. Remember, no regrets right? I still do have a lot more thinking and convincing to do. I'm really like 85-90% going to go through with it. I guess I just need to go with good friends who also know tattoos to be in the right environment. I don't know if I would get more, I never really thought about getting more than this one. It would require a whole lot more thinking thats for sure.

ta ta kids

>_< Something 2 Type About

See what I did there with the title? So just like last week, I'm going to spend most of this casual Friday with my thoughts on certain things that come up when I have the time (complete with timestamp)! Just a little warning, I might be leaving early from work today since I stayed a little extra yesterday so I might be cut short. Also, I'm having a terrible morning so we'll see how that goes. In keeping with casual Friday I'm going to try my best to sound prefessional as possible... but dont be surprised if i start typing like this cuz i really wanna keep it super casual. Hopefully that won't be the case. So let's get going shall we?

(8:10AM) People in the morning suck. I feel like the way your morning commute turns out, will mostly shape up the rest of your day. Since I had a rather unpleasant one today, I feel like I'm just going to be in a bad mood. I'm pretty good at sucking it up though. I just don't understand the need to want to cut someone off in a 25mph zone at 6:30 in the morning just to be one car ahead? It's absolutlely ridiculous and all it does is allow me to ride your ass so hard the girls in the club are creeped out. Also diarrhea. I wish it upon you. Also the terrible driver from this morning. I hope you're car is upside down somewhere. With you still in it. That is all.

(1:14PM) It got really busy all of a sudden, and my higher up is running around borderline insane becasue she has a lot on her plate. May or may not have been from the incidents that occurred yesterday. Its a pretty safe bet though. With all these things going on though, there isn't really that much time to ponder about useless things. In fact, things have started calming down around here as I'm about to start scrubbing the lab down. Hopefully my mind can wander off about nothing and I can actually get back with something important. With that being said, however, I realized that checklists OTHER people make for you are 100% more effective than cheklists made for yourself. I guess it all depends on your personal drive to do things, but I feel that when I'm presented with a checklist, it's more my responsibility to complete the tasks, rather than my own checklist which I can always edit or push off. No punishment. I mean this checklist has gotten my lazy but moving - I mean free of thought for 4+ hours? Insanity. NO. Just a good hard worker.

(2:07PM) I wonder about artificial flavors and fragrances. I actually almost went into a carreer in that kind of chemistry (and I also kind of want to). Besdies that, I'm always so intrigueds how some things smell exactly like what they're supposed to, and how others are so far off. (2:24PM) Different time, same thought. Like lemon. I know what real lemons smell like. It's refreshing. But when you take a big whiff of Pledge or Lysol or something you get the lemon aspect, but you also get the slight sting (or minor high) of the chemicals. That's not really too much of a problem. Where it becomes a stretch is towards the flavoring area. When things are artificially flavored, some may get it right, some get it dead wrong. Cherry, watermelon, sometimes orange, lemon, are the first couple of flavors that come to mind as those who get it right. The one flavor that really irks me is grape. There are others flavors that get it wrong, but grape is the absolute worst. You know how no one but the weird kid took the grape flavored lollipop? Or how no one ate the grape bubblegum or took the grape tooth cleaner at the dentist? It's because artificially it tastes absolutely terrible! I've had grapes. I LOVE grapes. Grapes, however, do NOT taste like that - yes I'm talking to you artificial flavor makers. Get your sh!t together on that grape flavor, kids everywhere hate it.

(3:09PM) I'm not leaving early. However, I did get a chance to read an article about the new start-stop (or was it stop-start) system on the new BMW 3 models. Eventually as the technology gets better, it'll probably become a standard on all cars, but it'll be within a decade or two. Basically, the car will stop your engine at pro-longed stops, like red lights and left turns. The engine will just simply shut off, and with a rev of the gas pedal it'll turn on again and you're off. I'm on the fence on this one. I'm all about feul economy, but as long as the stransitions between stop and start are smooth and practically invisible, I'll love it. But itf it's like turning on and off your car in the morning, I'll probably hate it. Maybe a test drive in one would probably do well in forming an opinion. I'm really curious though.

ta ta kids

>_< Something to Type About

With it being Friday and all, the workplace becomes a very chill place to relax. Perhaps this may become a Friday thing from now on, but I want to try something where I don't talk about anything specific, but I'll leave my blog on all day during work and if I have the free time I'll jot some things down and see the weird stuff I come up with. I'll also do you guys the courtesy of time-stamping the events at work so you'll see just how much "free" time I have. (8:06AM) by the way.

(8:08AM) I've been thinking a lot about time management lately and how on the surface I seem really good at it. During work hours when I have an agenda and things to do, my time management is flawless. Outside of work, with life, including errands and other erroneous things, I'm not so great. I tend to put things off, and I suppose its mainly contributed to the full time hours knocking me out (though my body should be caught up by now). Either way, I would just come right out with a few pointers on how to manage time but theres really only a few things you need to know: prioritize, and get off your butt and do it. Technology these days allows us to organize and plan out our lives days at a time (even hours at a time for all the really busy people). So that's what it really all comes down to: plan and do.

(8:26AM) So I really wanted to get into this whole KONY 2012 thing in a nother post, but I don't feel like writing too much about it. This is because I don't like how this whole issue is being advertised. Whoever came up with the name is terrible. It sounds like we support Kony and are merely steps away from putting him in office, or something. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy the effort and the success that media awareness has made, but I just feel like theres a better way to bring the issue to light than some misleading catchphrase. I also think there are bigger issues at hand in the world right now, and I know this may only be a "baby step" in terms of awareness (becasue quite honeslty we can't fix everything at once) but as stated earlier, there are better ways. I get the feeling that people just blurt out KONY 2012 and don't even know everything behin the meaning... just the mainstream thing to do. Gosh I do hate the mainstream world... but again... that's a whole 'nother post.

(10:03AM) So I had some time to myself since the higher ups had a teleconference. I used this time to do some browsing, catch up on the news especially the odd news which I enjoy. Just a brief aside for a moment, there was an article about how a huge amount of spiders migrated up to a town in Australia to escape a flood. There were pictures of fields and trees bound together in spider web. Creepy. But the locals say that they helped down the population of mosquitos, which is always a positve. Mosquitos are terrible. End of story. Another article I found was entitled "the real reason why people quit their jobs." The reason? They're underappreciated. After some numbers and statistics I thought to myself why I enjoy what I do right now. Sure some of the information is a little over my head, but I guess the fact is I've been told a numerous amount of times that they appreciate what I've done for the group and continuously praise me even though I'm guilty (or at least I feel the most guilty) for being a somewhat lazy employee. Don't get me wrong though I am one of the best they've ever had, but like everyone we all have ou flaws. And mine is taking mid shift naps (note the plural on naps). So I guess there is some truth to the article, and I could potentially see myself staying at this company as long as they continue to treat me the way they do.

(11:30AM) So I had a quick chat with a co-worker about how yesterday was National Women Appreciation Day? Or something of that nature (it's not that I dont care I just really don't remember the exact words for it). She went on about how back in the day, during this "holiday" (I need to put it in quotes because... well... eh) the girls would get off from school and the boys would have to go to school. She joked about how she wasn't going to show up to work yesterday and we shared a laugh. We made a brief comparison as to why it doesn't happen here and we both aggreed that it was becasue of the equality you ladies fought so hard for. Not that anyone is complaining about it, but I pictured in my head a handful of women wishing for a day off becasue of this holiday. Then I revisited the whole "fighting for equality" thing. Simply put, bitch you fought for your rights and now you want to be appreciated and take the day off while the men go to work? Without getting to heated I remind myself of that double standard women carry with them all the time - especially you feminists out there How you expect to be treated like a princess or how chivalry is dead and how men are misogynous pigs? Hun, you gave those privelages away when your XX chromosed ancestors complained enough to get society to listen. Just having that holiday alone is a highlight to your hypocracy, and if soceity finally gets its head on straight, they'll rid of that "holiday" for good.

(12:58pm) I took a walk over to the cafeteria to get my lunch and I noticed that theres a distinct difference in apparel and it really distinguishes where you stand within the company. I mean it all makes sense, but it's fun to see and compare the idea firsthand. For example, I'm pretty much a lab rat, doing all the things in the lab, running instrumentation and whatnot. I don't have a problem with it at all, but since I'm doing all those things I'm not really required to abide by any dress code. I wear timbs, jeans, and a different shirt everyday, something tasteful but not at all professional. The higher ups, researchers, Senior members, are in their dress pants and shoes with a button up. I just thought it was interesting to see the more "serious" your job is, the more "serious" you become. I get that one must look presentable in terms of business meetings and the like (I dress up when I know there are meetings), but as long as you're doing your job and doing it well, it shouldn't matter what you come to work in. Also, I had sent some urgent data to a customer who requesteed a priority on his samples this morning, and he thanked me and appreciated the effort and timing on the data. Great feeling.

(2:53PM) So I just realised the first word after every timestamp is "So."

(2:54PM) Now I'm not one to talk since I don't have a facebook, but the concept of facebook friends is slowly starting to seep into my real life. Just like in facebook a conversation between 2 past aquaintences goes always has the obligatory "we should totally hang out sometime" and of course it never happens. Recently, and now that I look back at it this has been happening to me in real life. I'm not entirely sure whose fault this is or if its just anyones fault at all, but I guess I'm slowly starting to realize that maybe I did a pretty terrible job choosing my friends in life. I always thought and convinced myself that I was a great judge in character, but since the theft of items in my car, backstabbers, and a whole lot of let downs, it's really funny how people can change and go to great lengths to avoid contact. Since then, I've tried to let in a new group of friends, but my judgement in people is so skewed that it's hard to let even the kind hearted into my personal bubble. I guess that just means that all the friends I have now are the ones that are really worth keeping.

ta ta kids

>_< Liquid Argon/Nitrogen

So I came into work by myself this morning, and as I was finishing up running all the experiements, the oh-so-favorite part of post set-up was here. This meaning, after the instrument is set up, you need to fill some things with ice, and some things with some liquid Argon and Nitrogen for the experiement to go smoothly or more quickly. After all the Ice nonsense I came over to the liquid Argon and slowly started filling my container. That's when I started thinking about all the properties of liquid Argon and Nitrogen. How it cool it was that the "steam" coming out of it sank to the floor, all that fun stuff. So I guess here's some information (and maybe fun?) for you all.

I'm gonna start off with LN2 and then do some comparison with LAr if I can drum up anything useful. So Nitrogen in itself is a pure element. It's got a pretty high boiling point, which is why the most common way we see it is right in front of our face... and everyone else's face too. That is, pure nitrogen occurs as a gas and makes up about 78% of our atmosphere. Both liquid and gas forms are clear and odorless, but LN2 is dangerous as it experiences some extremely cold properties. Without getting into too much detail, the way we make LN2 is a process known as condensation, and I know you've probably heard of it. Basically, an air compressor takes air from the atmosphere and well... compresses it. So much so that eventually molecules are forced together so close that weak bonds start to occur among them. When enough of these bonds form, liquid droplets form.

LN2 is used in a lot of ways, but the COOLEST (cwutididthar) way I ever experienced was to make ice cream. There are a lot of LN2 ice cream stores popping around in the world, and if you can find one, by all means take advantage. It may not be the best ice cream you've ever had, but the experience that goes along with it is worth it.

Liquid Ar (LAr) is different only in a few ways. First off, it only makes up about 1% of our atmosphere. In the thermal lab here, we use LAr for its inert properties, LN2 is regarded as an "inert gas" but in actuality can react with some metals at high temperatures. LAr is purely inert and will not react with anything at all (although there are extreme cases where it will bond with flourine). We can store both liquids in cryogenic containers or in large Dewars diesgined to store LN2 and LAr. Like most things, LN2 becomes cheaper as you order more (about 50 cents a liter). Obviously since Argon is rare, it isn't as cheap.

Ever wonder what would happen if you came into contact with LN2? Well, anythiing more than a second could probably do some damage. It'll feel like you got burned with a blow torch, and then you get frostbite. If one were to actually go so far as to dip their finger into a container of LN2, ther results aren't really that shocking. You'd freeze it. Although since you've got living cells in your skin, when frozen you're finger will expand a little bit and kill the cell walls surrounding it. It'll disrupt blood flow and may cause gangrene (you might want to look that one up).

That's really all the information I could think of for now. This was fun.

ta ta kids

>_< MOST INFLUENTIAL TEACHERS/PROFESSORS (UNIVERSITY)

Here's a thought. Why do we call those who teach us teachers, but when when we get to college they're referred to as professors? Well... I've always wondered anyway. I always thought this was so because it as just higher level teaching, and professors are usually knowlegable in that one subject. Teachers have a broad range of understanding. I believe also it would probably depend on the country. Either way, professors can have some influence in your life too. You're in college and you're pretty much on the tail end of growing up (except maybe your freshman year). For hte most part you can be a mature adult and there isn't much influence left to give. Though there are still some professors that shine through. Especially in a time when choosing a path for your carreer.

Kathleen M. Sadowsky: My Career Advisor. She was a big help when it came to my freshman year. She helped me layout all my options when it came to career choices. The best part was she didn't really tell me what to do. I asked for some information, she gave it to me and never once told me which path was a good idea, which one I would be good at, which would pay better, which is easier/harder. She influenced me in a way that no one else could really do in college. She made me slap myself in the face and realize this is your life now, you have complete control over it. She started me on the path to independence. She was great throughout all my freshman year. So great, in fact, that when I was a sophomore I asked her for some advice and even thoguh she DID give me some information (as always) she also politely stated that she was no longer my advisor. It was a sad day for me.

Professor Senta German: not a German teacher. If it wasn't for a little quarrel I had on my online class, I might have never seen her face to face. Just for background purposes, here's a little synopsis. I enrolled in an online class for Art History. Part of the coursework included writing an entry on the class discussion board about the reading that was assigned to us. It astarted basic at first, but the professor sent a class wide email stating we weren't doing a very good job. So, I took this issue into my own hands and slightly started to critisize and undermine the other students (subtely) for their mediocre grade posts on the discussion board. I got osme few bites and one hefty one. In fact we sort of got into a small internet fight. So, Professor German invited me to talk face to face, 11:16AM, right after one of my classes. This talk provided me with much more influence in life. In the most basic terms, she said that she's aware of the educational level in Montclair, how people don't really take classes seriously, especially ones online that are nothing more then a general educatio nrequirement. She commeneded me on taking the discussion on another level, but told me that most people are pretty much tight-wads when it comes to that kind of humor. She understood where I was coming from, as she too hated that "bull-post plagarism" that was coming out of the discussion bored. She basically told me to suck it up and just go through the rest of the class without angering anyone. So her influence? There are a lot of stupid people in the world. There is a lot of them where I went to college. Sometimes you need to bear your teeth and grin. I believe she left the university after that year. I'm not quite sure.

Dr. Mark Kasner: The legend. I took this great man for Physical Chemistry. His influence? He taught me the importance of STUDYING YOUR BUTT OFF. Also, how easy it is to learn through constant repitition. He influenced the importance of tough love but did it in a way that made you not hate him, but hate yourself for not trying hard enough. It truly was the hardest class I've taken in college, and through that class he made life a whole lot easier. Once you've had the hardest class, everything else seems so easy. The best part was that when you asked questions, he didn't hint or lead you towards the answer, he asked questions back and made you teach yourself. So how Kathleen taught my independence in life, Dr. Kasner influenced my academic independence. Also, outside of the lecture hall he was a fun guy.

Professor CJ Madarang: If you knew me, this would be a weird choice. If you don't, this is why its weird. CJ is my friend. When I was a freshman he was a Junior? or a Senior? Anyway, in our organization he was one of the only other science majors, specifically Biochemistry. After he graduated, he became a TA for Graduate School and thus was known as Professor Madarang. Which is why he gets to be on this list. CJ has influenced me countless times to be the best science major/person I could be. Like Dr. Kasner, he taught me to think for myself, and wasn't afraid to tell me I was wrong. His influence in me, though he absolutely wasn't aware of it, is that I sort of wanted to be exactly like him, in a science perspective. I wanted to think like him, and talk like him in terms of science. He was the person I molded my science carreer out of, excluding the later years after he left. I wanted to shadow him in the science field, and although he took Biochemistry insteacd of Chemistry, we still shared a lot of the same classes and same experiences together, which was a great help. His influence was so great, that he solidified my decision in staying with chemisty, instead of going to pharmacy or any other field I was thinking about going to. As his shadow, I'll be going to graduate school for my MS in Chemistry in the upcoming semester. This weekend he'll be leaving for the Philippines to futher his carreer. He might return, but not for a while. I want to thank him for everything he's done for me. Hopefully our paths will cross again.

Some honorable mentions include my Speech profesosr, who pretty much got me comfortable with talking in front of people, allowed me to become VP of my organization. Professor Settaducati-Verum (spell check), who developed my college writing skills by allowing my to find my voice on paper. Dr. Whitener, for allowing me to independently research with him in order to develop more skills in the laboratory influencing my understanding of independence in the academics. Dr. Kevin Olsen and Dr. Johannes Schelvis, for showing me the true importance when taking care of instrumentation in the lab. If there are others I will surely add more.

With all the schools done, I can again say that finding influence outside of your family is really important for personal growth. As I was typing all these entries out I also realized that finding influences isn't something you should look for. The people who influenced my life were presented to me, I was never looking. So whether or not you chooose to look or just sit there and be found, influence should be found in anything you decide to open your mind to.

ta ta kids