New stuff all over again....

Well well well... It's been a long time again, and boy do I have a lot to report. Not going to go into a lot of detail, because I want to get back to posting some beautiful pictures of edibles. I quit my job at WebMD (finally!) am happily employed as a Research Assistant now at Oregon Health & Science University. Woot. Pretty excited to be back in research, and also doing research that is now more related to what I went to school for.

Last night, Grandma Davis went out in the rain and cold and started picking concord grapes in the driveway before I came over for dinner. By the time I got there, she had gotten about ten pounds already done, if not more. I added a bit more to it, and now I have tons of grapes to do god knows what with.... Between Grandma and mom, and I, we decided I'm going to make grape juice and can it. So that involved me bringing grandmas canner home too. I'll let you know how it goes.

Steno books

Working as a health coach, I take notes all day, every day. Notes notes notes notes.... I make quick, shorthand notes while on the phone with participants (pt's).  These are in regards to their "ch" (cholesterol), "bp" (blood pressure), "wt" (weight), and well, you get the idea.  During training I quickly learned which writing pad I preferred - we'd been given about four different kinds.  And now, working as apartment manager as well, I find I'm taking notes pretty much all day long, every day, and the steno books have taken over my apartment.  Tonight, I walked around and just shot pictures wherever I found them....

New new new

For those of you who I haven't caught up with in a while - I have a new job now!  I am a Health Educator (or health coach), and I work from home. It's an actual job, with actual benefits, with a crazy schedule I have to stick to and everything. I'm just about to start my third week working after the two weeks of training in January, and it is wonderful.  I work from home and talk to people on the phone, who's employers have added health coaching to part of their wellness packages, or benefits plans.  

The purpose is to help folks identify their risks for negative, chronic health conditions, and begin to modify their lifestyle in order to reduce their risk for those conditions or diseases.  It's not my job to change people, it's my job to help people identify what it is they want to change, how it is they can do it, and help them transition through that process, and understand how it affects their health.  Some folks have a lot of health information (I talk to people who are nurses, or have a PhD, every day), and some folks have a low level of health education and need help understanding what their cholesterol numbers mean, and why exercising a little bit can help lower it.  

It's great working from home, and kitty gets even MORE spoiled now because she knows I'll scratch under her chin whenever I simultaneously shoo her off of my workspace. Working from home also means I have to go extra lengths to make sure I get outside and do stuff. When it was a bit sunnier a few weeks ago, riding my bike ten miles to run errands or just get out in the morning was pretty easy, but I know the spring rain is going to come any minute.  

As a partial solution, I've signed up to volunteer at Free Geek as a regular intern.  Free Geek is AWESOME. They recycle electronics by refurbing them if possible and getting the stuff back into the community, into the hands of people that really need it - or by sending to a local, recycling company, which can take care of the nastier, toxic stuff. I'm training to be teaching the computer adoption class, which just means a class people take to set up their new computers once they have earned a computer through volunteering for 24 hours.  I don't really need to lug another computer home (apartment is too small), but I am very interested in helping people get computers in their homes, learning more about linux, computer software/hardware in general, and helping out at a sweet place like Free Geek. It's a really cool space, and fun to walk around and see folks ripping stuff apart, and resassembling it into full blown computer systems. More on that as I get more time in. I was just signed up to teach, but tonight I signed up to start on the "building computers" part, so I can learn more about the insides. My first shift isn't for three weeks, so I'll keep you posted. 

Biking in high heels is oddly fun...

Riding my new bike

Riding my new bike to work. I've started taking a longer route so I can ride my bike mooooooore.

The month is almost over and just mileage to work and back I've ridden almost 50 miles in September. My total for the month for everything is almost 200mi. Whoopee!

 
    

 

Whoa, it's HOT

Many of you may be aware of the fact that summer came a little late in the Pacific Northwest this year. Approximately on the first day of summer actually..... We had a few days in February I think it was, where the thermometers read 33C or higher, but since then it has been near risk of frost every night. Well today there are several reasons to celebrate, 1. the thermometer did read 32 today in the shade! 2. I think I sprayed enough pesticides in the yard, and surrounding barkdust areas to actually rid this place of fleas. It was not a super dangerous pesticide - permethrin is synthetically formulated from a plant oil, but extremely effective at knocking out fleas. Before I started spraying the yard down with water and plant oils, I sprinkled boric acid all around my doors and windows to prevent the buggers from seeking refuge inside my house. Don't worry, Yoshimi has no fleas - she got a round of Frontline last week. I just wish they made something I could put between my shoulders to keep the fleas off. Ick. So I think the battle is won.... Yoshimi battles the pink robots, Molly battles the rat bastard fleas.

Another reason to celebrate, I have officially been offered a post-graduate internship with the DHS - Public Health Division, Office of Community Health and Health Planning (whew that's a mouthful). Woot! I will be assisting the office in researching ethics in human trials and HIPPA guidelines, in order to create a web based training program for the department. It is an internship, which means it will be for 12 weeks, but the great news is, I will have internal employee status, and get more than just my foot in the door! A reminder, my degree is titled, "Health Promotion and Education, Community Health". I think it's a good sign when your diploma has the exact phrase as the office you'll be interning in. I hope.

So this all sums up to one point: It's time to crack open a bottle of pink wine. Celebrate with an ice cold glass of rose... 'Cause it's freaking hot!!!!!

Last day at work

I have enjoyed working at the Plant Clinic so much, I can hardly describe what an experience it has been. I learned a ton about molecular science, plants, and conducting research, but I also learned a lot about myself, what I'm capable of and what I need to work on more. Coming into the final term of my undergraduate experience at Oregon State, I feel very prepared for whatever is out there for me.

Above: Preparing some samples for PCR.

Above: Lunch at Oasis with the M's on my last day.

Summer. For real.

FINALLY summer has brought itself to stay. I hesitated to celebrate towards the end of last week, since usually a whisper of joy will bring the clouds back out. This has been the longest, grayest winter/spring I can ever remember in Oregon and the greater northwest. We have had record breaking cold temperatures and horrible delays in crops this year. Speaking of, the only thing doing well in my garden are my cold crops - broccoli and peas. I will have to replant my basil since it was too cold after I put it in and it has all rotted from the ground up now.

What really marks the beginning of summer is the absence of noise. It is Monday after graduation and the bike ride to campus this morning was pleasantly solitary. Corvallis is being infiltrated by chain, shit-hole stores, so I used my "Free Smoothie" coupon for Jamba Juice that we all get in the mail to mark a new opening. They only time I have ever gone there has been to use a free coupon. It's alright tasting stuff, but I hate the blood glucose spike I get from the 100+ grams of carbohydrates in the 500 calorie drink. Ick.

I am in my last week of working at the lab. It has been a really really great experience the past two years. Next week I start my internship at the Benton County Health Department. New leaf. Always turning.

How much do I love my job?

I'm working on writing up my protocols at the lab I've been working at the past year and a half since I am about to move on. One of the nifty machines I LOVE using is the Spectrophotometer. It has many different uses, but I use it for measuring how much DNA i have extracted out of a plant sample. While looking for product literature to write up my protocol today, I came across this video that the manufacturers made. It is SUPER nerdy and hilariously fun. Note: this will only be funny to Ashley and Desiree, or anyone else who has lab experience who reads my blog... The rest of you will probably want to skip it ;)