Office and lab purgings

I am a packrat. I try to be frugal with my paper use, but I seem to accumulate it to a far greater degree than my more tidy and organized officemates.I suppose it is an outcome of my rabid literature collecting. The funny thing is I probably have the most well organized and gigantic digital lit library of anyone I know. But still I've had to get through the massive mountain of paper over the past few days as I dung out my office in preparation for our move to the US. The lab is not so bad, since I did a big clean about a year ago when I finished with my lab work, but there is still quite a bit to clean out. I don't want to leave a trail of rubbish behind me, I know how irksome it is for those who inherit the space. So I think it's my last all nighter in this lab, how did it come to this!

It's a good time for resolutions, these times of office, lab and household purging bring a clarity lacking in the packrat times.

In my next job incarnation I will:

-try to avoid any printing of papers, instead I will read them on my computer and make notes in my endnote library for easy reference later
-get rid of out of date reagents/media sooner to break up the lab cleaning
-rethink my lab book approach - bound is definitely better in the long run, and separate lab books for different types of work/projects would be sensible. Some kind of digital book archive would also be useful, perhaps instead of printing and pasting I will try pdf-ing and archiving in date order, for later printing and binding as a companion volume to the lab book (or a digital companion, less printing!)
-No facebook at work, period. No hobby research at work, period.
-have a tidy and more minimalist office space (!!)

Back to lab cleanup, see you on the other side!

Employed, married, travelling!

June is here, for the gemini! I've had a very eventful month of May. First, I got a postdoc job in the eastern US. This necessitated some decision making for my partner and I, since the US has more strict visa laws than Canada or the UK. So we got married! It was planned quickly but turned out very well, with fine weather, friends and fun.

We're now packing up our worldly possessions for shipping, and preparing for a cycling honeymoon in Canada in late June.

Here is a 10 question meme I filled out the day before we decided to get married:

In 10 minutes, I will be working on the figure for the paper I need to resubmit.
In 10 hours, I will be reading a book and worrying about my relationship.
In 10 days, I will be engaged.
In 10 weeks, I will be married and on my honeymoon in Canada.
In 10 months, I will be well into my first postdoc and hopefully have found a nice big cat for me and my husband to spoil.
In 10 years, I will be tenured, living in Canada, possibly a parent, and still with my love.

What about you?

So far so true!