Back from Vegas, which was fun. Didnt win anything, but we got to see Mama Mia the musical, which was pretty cool. I'm amazed how long I've sat at a slot machine without ever being carded the last 5+ years, yet at an Indian casino I stand around for 2 minutes before a security guard makes me wait outside. Bah.

Work is chill. I get paid tons of moolah for mostly sitting around on my computer updating my blog and reading Yahoo entertainment news. When I do get to work, I'm studying these nifty sphingomonas bacteria that make this gellan stuff they put in your yogurt and gogurt. So next time you have some you can think, "Mike may have made the creatures that make the stuff that makes what I'm eating!"

So Mike the Juror, Defender of Vengeance and all that other stuff showed up to Superior Court tuesday morning only to hear the judge say "Well, the parties settled out of court, so there will be no trial. Thanks, see ya". So after all that I didnt even get to hear the story behind the nurse sueing doctor stuff, which I was expecting to be relatively entertaining. Ah well, at least I get paid $15.

Speaking of getting paid, I started my brand new job working as a summer intern at CPKelco. Pretty cool stuff, where I get my own ID card, office space, and computer which I'm using to update my blog as we speak!!! Not to mention getting paid over 200% more for doing less than at the Hampton lab (but without fun grad students to pass the time :( awww). Anyway, everyone here is pretty cool and things are pretty easy going, plus there are a bunch of labs making xanthan based products, so i got to try some homemade gogurt on my first day! Whoooo!!!

Ok, going to Vegas again. See ya later kids.
(Special thanks to Vic for dogsitting . . . Calvin says woof).

First week of Freedom Summer and what's Mike up to? Jury Duty. Got chosen to a trial too, so now call me Juror Mike, Defender of Justice, Enforcer of Punishment, Guardian of Flaming Retribution and Rider of the 210 Bus from Mira Mesa to Broadway.

Happy 21st to our good old friend Vic!!! Here's to really good pizza, video games, crazy drinks, cute girls, the good times, and all the craziness still to come :P

So the Hampton Lab got together for what will probably be the last gathering of our current roster for an "Undergrad Appreciation Lunch". Good fun with everyone there, except for Dr. Hampton himself (his money came in his place), which made me kinda sad to be leaving something that i've been a part of for so long, so here's a "high school yearbook style" thankyou here on my blog where most of them will likely never see it and remain unaware of my sentimental side.

Omar: For being funny and helping me figure out how to put centrifuge tubes in cardbord cups my first day.
Christine F.: For showing me how to make all those impossible solutions and calling me a "Media Making Monster".
Sergey: For hiring me.
Jerrod, Jarrod, and Sara: For being cool rotation peeps and making the lab more fun.
Tuyet: For teaching me the secrets of dish washing and media making.
Thomas: For helping me not spill acid on myself.
Alex: For helping me not splash acid in my eyes.
Tai: For all the handshakes and fist punches that made me feel hip and cool.
Isabelle: For making those plates 3 years ago that I used 3 weeks ago.
Christine G.: For being so cool, and being the first undergrad to hang out in the lab with me.
Shuyi (sp?): For also being cool, and making your own media (extra points).
Renee: For being the nicest and warmest grad student I've ever known.
Brian: For being the best grad student an undergrad researcher could ever want, despite making me transform those 32 strains.
Dr. Randy Hampton: For giving me food.

Farewell to the Hampton Lab!!