Valentine's Day Blues

Since this morning, I was feeling a bit blue. I don't know why, but somehow I've been feeling a bit down throughout the day. Maybe it's just me, but as someone who's still single and dateless, Valentine's Day isn't the best day for me to celebrate. The only thing I can be happy about is having a shift and making money on this "unhappy" day of mine.

I don't know - it's weird. Maybe I'm just being silly...am I?

Anyhow, I hope couples around the world had a really lovely and romantic day. Wishing them all the best and the happiest times ever!

What an Awful Day!

On Thursday, I had my first math test of the semester. To be honest, it wasn't as bad as I expected it to be and I think I did pretty well, although that statement awaits confirmation from the mark on my test. Hopefully I'll get a good mark.

The next day, I had an Organic Chemistry lab. When I noticed friend E didn't seem like he was going to show up, I was so relieved (thinking that I could do the experiment alone and him not going to used my lab kit). However, when the teacher found out he was missing, she quickly paired me with this guy whose partner was missing as well. When we were reviewing the procedures, he seemed like he wanted to take charge and I let him. Seriously, I didn't mind at all. I was more than happy for him to lead the way, which will give me the chance to relax a bit before English (at 4:30 to 6:30).

Before I continue, I'll include a (brief) background information of what the experiment was all about so you can imagine its simplicity. The experiment had two parts and were calculation based. We were doing part 1 and will finish part 2 next week. So, part 1 was composed of 3 steps/segments, all of which requires titration. All we need to do is to dissolve 8g of the acid powder into 100mL of distilled water, split it into three 30mL portions and do the titration with the sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solution (which was already prepared for us). Simple right?

So, my new partner tried and (impressively) succeeded in measuring 8.000g of the acid powder (by this time, friend E has arrived). He ordered friend E to get him a funnel to pour the powder into the flask when you can do it directly from the weighing paper. Seeing this, I quickly took the sample from him and dispensed it directly. Then, he started fussing that he could not measure 100mL with the 50mL graduated cylinder (common sense: 50 x 2 = 100) and before I could stop him, he added the amount measured with a beaker. Starting to get tired from all this, I did the first titration with utter perfection (the solution was slightly pink). After preparing the acid for step 2, 'that guy' did the second titration but ended up detaching the nozzle from the burette and spilled the NaOH all over the place. The entire class, including myself, stared in total shock. I quickly recovered and went over to clean up the mess with the help from friend E. Instead of helping, 'that guy' ordered us to prepare the burette to let him continue with the titration. I told him to redo it due to the possibility of additional NaOH added into the flask from the spill plus he does not know how much base was already added. He argued that he prevented the addition of more base because he covered the opening of the flask with his hands but he could not surpass my second point.

While he prepared for step 2, I noticed that he had used up the remaining acid and knew we would have to make more. Suddenly, it came to me. If we make a new batch, there's no guarantee that it would have the same concentration as the first, causing the data to be invalid (the data is calculation-based and each answer depends on the preceding one). To verify my thoughts, I told this to friend E, who agreed. I quickly told 'that guy' of the news and he disagreed. He said I was talking nonsense, that he was confident he could measure the same amount of acid powder and since it was not Analytical Chemistry, the data does not have to be perfect. He also started going off about the flask and beaker used. The entire class watched as we argued for the next while until I gave up and called for the teacher. I told her of our situation and she too agreed that we need to restart. While 'that guy' argued with the teacher, friend E and myself quickly finished cleaning up and prepared the acid (we only had ten minutes before class ended). When he gave up the argument, I kept him busy with the first titration, while I worked on step 2. By step 3, he tried to rush me (and boss around) but I told him off and got him to help friend E with the calculations. Finally, the experiment was completed in record time and that's when I noticed that the class kept an eye on us the entire time.

In the midst of the chaos, a classmate actually came and told us that 'that guy' was crazy (since he had worked with him before). The reason that all this happened is due to the fact that 'that guy' is a fast-track student and lack most of the basic practical skills. Most of the fast-trackers already have a degree of some kind and perhaps 'that guy' has a degree as well and thought of himself superior compared to us. I'm starting to dread the possibility of working with him this Friday on part 2. I just hope that his partner would show up so that they can work together and I can happily work with friend E.

As for the issue with friend E about my lab kit, I lent it to him last Friday again. However, I have already extracted the extra box of microscope slides and cover slips days ago. When I came to my locker after English to get my jacket, I noticed my lab kit sat in a very unpleasant manner and decided to take a look inside. To my surprise, it wasn't that good-looking either. My sharpie was not inside the ziploc bag (where it belonged), a lone microscope slide was outside its box (and possibility contaminated) and there was an empty ripped envelope that looked like garbage inside my lab kit. I can tolerate the sharpie not being inside the ziploc and perhaps the slide not kept in its box, but I can definitely not stand seeing garbage kept in my lab kit. Friend E owes me a good explanation...

So Far So Good!

Well...just finished my first class after the summer holidays!! Came to class on time and didn't get lost!! (I"m so proud of myself!! XD) So far, the worst fear has not happened YET! Althogh I am starting to feel a little more confident about Teresa being in my class(es). Who cares if she's in my lab class. So what? Although I do have to say, if I do have to partner-up with her, chaos will prevail. That I'm definitely not looking forward to (I'd rather die than to have THAT happen...well maybe not death...but you know what I mean!)

Class won't start until two and a half hours from now....

First Day at Work!

Finally, a chance for me to type in my blog!!

Last week Wednesday, the manager of the store called me and asked me to work that day! Unfortunately, I wasn't near ready and so I requested to start the next day...

My first shift was scheduled at 10am, when the store opens. The assistant manager led me to the back room and gave me an apron, which was the store's uniform, to put on. Then she gave me a training checklist for the cash register and allowed me to spend my first two hours there "playing" with the machine. When I truly started working on the cash, I was quite nervous. I was afraid that I might overcharge the customers, or worse, undercharge them! Fortunately, the customers were nice enough to not rush me and gave me lots of encouragement along the way. My coworkers were also pretty nice and didn't show any irritation when I asked them for help. Instead, they were happy (or seemed to at least) to guide and walk me through each step. Before I knew it, my first shift was over and it was time to get home.

I continued to work on cash for the next two days and I couldn't believe how many people came to do last minute shopping for Father's Day. I didn't really feel the rush until Saturday. There were huge tides of people coming into the store and purchasing indefinite amount of gifts. Of course, the pressure to work faster was unavoidable (I'm still pleased with myself as I handled it quite well). After several herds of people coming in and paying at the counter, the day was finally over! My feet were in pain (from long hours of standing), and my shoulders and legs were sore!

Business was slower for the next few days, granting me more time to explore the store. I hope I will continue to do well in my first job and make lots of money (enough to help my mom, and perhaps pay for tuition and books). For now, all I can really do is to work hard in my studies and do well at work.

Wish me luck!