One thing that always annoys me about coming back from holiday is how quickly you loose that happy-go-lucky-carefree holiday feeling. Just a week in and it almost feels like it never happened. Like it was almost a dream. Especially with all the shit, pardon, things that heppened in the last weeks.
Let me start of with some of the good:
My parents came over to sunny Groningen and we had a lovely day out in the city. The highlight being a wonderful high tea at the Prinsenhof (Prince court). It really does make you feel like a princess ;)
The beautiful gardens of the Prinsenhof. Apologies for the cranes.
Dinner at the Three Sisters.
Later that week, we got together with some of the PhD students for some proper bonding (a.k.a. complaining about our jobs and nagging about our bosses). We had dinner at the Pasta factory and went for an age appropriate movie: Minions!
Lately, I've also gotten very close to a girl from another group, who's into horse back ridding. What a coincidence! So she's now becoming my horseback-ridding-buddy and we've been on two outdoor horse rides. Not without danger for our own lives of course. Horses and train tracks do not mix well. But we've had a lot of fun, so I'm sure we'll do it again sometime soon. I'll send you a picture of it ;)
Oh, and one of my old lab mates from Oxford came over! She had to learn a technique at the NKI, so she was in Amsterdam for a few days. Naturally, we had to meet up and share all the gossip of the last year. Unfortunately, our date was set at one of the stormiest and rainiest days of the year. So our trip at the red light district was cut short (her choice, not mine!). Se we decided to seek shelter in a nearby church. Don't you just love irony?
Oh, and one of my old lab mates from Oxford came over! She had to learn a technique at the NKI, so she was in Amsterdam for a few days. Naturally, we had to meet up and share all the gossip of the last year. Unfortunately, our date was set at one of the stormiest and rainiest days of the year. So our trip at the red light district was cut short (her choice, not mine!). Se we decided to seek shelter in a nearby church. Don't you just love irony?
But there have also been some less nice events.
To start with, the lab technician on the project is getting fired. I'm not exactly sure what happened, I just know he had an argument with one of my supervisors, and since then things have gotten worse. To the point that they told him to look for another job. The news about their decision to let him go was told to me in the first week after my holiday. Not a good way to start. Oh, and I heard it from him, not a word yet from my supervisors. I'm really sad to see him go, as we got on really well. But I can't judge the situations, as I don't know what happened.
And last but not least: my other supervisor (or money-boss) told me I had three weeks to finish all the experiments for the paper. THREE weeks. The nice thing is that he dropped this bombshell one day before he went on his holiday, leaving me at a near nervous brake down. I have no idea whether all of this is feasible, but I'm going to work my ass off to try and get it done. But holy shit am I crapping my pants. Nothing can go wrong right now. Especially since he decided to add another compound to the paper, one that has yet to be ordered and tested.
Wish me luck!
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