Life in lessons....

So in another part of my life, I help moderate a science forum that is run by the feds(but it is open to all – they run it just so that it is free!). In one of the forum’s today someone tried to start a debate about if evolution was an actually event or not. The question/comment was:
“i always hear the same examples; antibiotics resistance of bacteria, ddt , anemia examples…. These are all invalid. Just please tell me one valid example of beneficial mutation if there is. Also backup your example please. By the way i suggest you to check this before you write http://www.evolutiondeceit.com/”
Any thoughts or ideas from all of you out there?
Ummm….we are a bunch of science people – I would have say – almost all of us believe in evolution. Granted we don’t always agree on all the parts but the over all idea of it – I would have to say so! What kind of debates do science people have over evolution? Here is one: there has been a huge debate going on for years about what came first - DNA or RNA and which subset of each etc…
Hey in science, we don’t always get of the lab very often.
But any way I could not stop laughing when one of the members posted the following:
“Snifffff.... Snifffff... I smell creationist - anyone else?”
At least we all were able to laugh about it – but it still does tick me off…you know?

This is going to be a wonderful weekend!!!
Someone VERY special is coming to visit me!!!

On my way home last night, I heard about this!
People in the South have been battling the theories of evolution for years! What the heck to these people want? I remember a few years ago when the RC Church had to come out and stated that evolution did not conflict with the theories of creation! But to stick the following sticker on all biology text books is ridiculous!
"This textbook contains material on evolution. Evolution is a theory, not a fact, regarding the origin of living things. This material should be approached with an open mind, studied carefully and critically considered."
Please! Aren’t there better uses of government monies than stickers that are pushing religious ideas and morals? Is the whole human genome (and or any genome) project just a huge waste of money?
And now, on to a related topic, I was waken this morning by NPR and the Kitten. The topic on the radio was about a “new” heart drug that company wants approved for African Americans. You can listen to the story here. Now people are all up in arms about this topic as some are saying that it will lead to all types of problems and questions about someone’s background.
But guess what?
In research science we do look at different racial background so that we can see how genes have developed and/or diverged over time! Yes, there can be differences in genetic make up depending on where your ancestors are from, so it does make sense to check out the genes that people carry so that we can then develop better drugs and treatments that will work with your own genetic make up! **BANGS HEAD** Why? Why, I ask of you all! Why can’t there be more science minded people in this world? **continues to bang head**

I have finally found a plasmid that I can use this for!
I know that it may not be very exciting for many of you, but for me - it is...maybe this is a sign that I need to get out of the lab more?

I just got a call from them. No one has them anywhere. They will sending them out and will have them delivered back to me ASAP.

The Semi Annual Sale can bring me to tears. It really can. Not that I don’t shop there anyway, but when the semi sale comes along, I get really excited. So with all of the stress from the weddings this weekend, I decided that I was going to go out and get a few things for myself.
Well, I am sure that you can guess where I headed off to. Yup, the shoe department. I found the cutest pair of shoes that could actually be worn in the winter with out anyone commenting “Aren’t your toes cold?” (FYI: The usual reply is “No. Why would they be? Because YOU think that it is cold out?”)
But in any case, when the other shoe was brought out, I discovered a mark on it. Not just a little on that could be wiped away, but one that was IN the satin. I pointed out to the salesman that was helping me, and he said that he would look for another pair.
Now the shoes in question, come in three different colour patterns – blue, pink and orange. (I cannot find a picture of the blue ones anywhere on the net, sorry. The name of the shoe style is “Chiquita” if you want to try to find them and they are manufactured by Steve Madden, that site was REALLY slow today and kept on timing out.) I told him that I was going to look around the store and that I would be back in a bit to find out what could be done. I ended up getting these shoes up stairs while I waited for the out come of the hunt.
I end up back down stairs about a half an hour later to find out that STORES in the area has these shoes in this colour in my size. He tried to push the other colours on me, but I told him that I wanted THAT colour, on ones that did not have a mark on them. Or if they were unable to find another pair, I wanted these shoes at a discount. Note, that this was not the “floor shoe” that had the mark, oddly enough. Finally he told me that both he and the manager thought that the mark was not that big of a deal and that if I would not buy them, someone else would. Now, the manager at no point while all of this was going on came out to see me or to talk to me about this issue as she was “too busy” to deal with a minor matter such as a marked up shoe. As I explained to the sales person, it is one thing if I were to mess up a pair of shoes once I own them. But, when I buy something, especially when it is still pretty expensive even when it is on sale, I expect it to be perfect.

So I told the man that I would take the shoes, but that I wanted her card and that I would be calling the corporate office in the morning to let them know about the situation. He went to get the card while another girl rang me up. She told me that the behavior of the manager was inexcusable and that she hoped that the corporate office would do something about the situation. Finally he came back with the card and told me that his boss did not think that corporate would really care.

So this morning, I called them. And guess what? They do care.

There are no more shoes of this colour pattern in my size left in the national stock. The store manager of that location has now been on the phone with Steve Madden today getting them to find out if they can either, find another pair in my size or of there is any fabric left to make a new pair. If all of that fails, then they will send the shoes out to have them professionally cleaned and repaired at their expense.
You know, I would have never made such a big deal about the whole situation if they had been polite and nice about it in the first place.

posting seem to be about a day or two late via e-mail...i sent my "VOTE" entry out on the 2 - really I DID!!! and it did not get psoted until the 3rd...my postings from yesterday STILL have not shown up...i wonder what is up with blogger?

It is over...It is all over...i'll get over...eventually...i think...

At 9:19 am on cnn.com, Ohio just went BLUE!!!!

9:59 am Damn it! Ohio is now Purple!!!!

1. Tell me something obvious about you.

2. Tell me something about you that many don't know.

3. What is your biggest fear?

4. Do you normally go the safe route or take the short cut?

5. Name one thing you want that you can't buy with money.

6. What is your most treasured possession?

7. What is the one thing you hate most about yourself that you do often?

8. Tell me something sexually about you that I don't know.

9. Tell me something sexually about you that everyone knows.

10. What is your favorite lie to tell?

11. Name something you've done once that you can't wait to do again.

12. Are you the jealous type?

13. What is the one person, place or thing you can't say no to?

14. What is the nicest thing someone has ever done for you?

15. If you could do something crazy right now, what would it be?

16. When was the last time you cried?

17. When was the last time you felt so good that nothing else mattered?

18. Do you feel comfortable in public with no shirt on?

19. Name something embarrassing you did while being drunk.

20. If you post this in your journal, would you like me to answer it?

Message of the day:
Get out and Vote! Make your voice be heard! Get out and Vote! Make your voice be heard! Get out and Vote! Make your voice be heard! Get out and Vote! Make your voice be heard! Get out and Vote! Make your voice be heard! Get out and Vote! Make your voice be heard! Get out and Vote! Make your voice be heard! Get out and Vote! Make your voice be heard! Get out and Vote! Make your voice be heard! Get out and Vote! Make your voice be heard! Get out and Vote! Make your voice be heard! Get out and Vote! Make your voice be heard! Get out and Vote! Make your voice be heard! Get out and Vote! Make your voice be heard! Get out and Vote! Make your voice be heard! Get out and Vote! Make your voice be heard! Get out and Vote! Make your voice be heard! Get out and Vote! Make your voice be heard! Get out and Vote! Make your voice be heard! Get out and Vote! Make your voice be heard! Get out and Vote! Make your voice be heard! Ge
t out and Vote! Make your voice be heard! Get out and Vote! Make your voice be heard! Get out and Vote! Make your voice be heard! Get out and Vote! Make your voice be heard! Get out and Vote! Make your voice be heard! Get out and Vote! Make your voice be heard! Get out and Vote! Make your voice be heard! Get out and Vote! Make your voice be heard! Get out and Vote! Make your voice be heard! Get out and Vote! Make your voice be heard! Get out and Vote! Make your voice be heard! Get out and Vote! Make your voice be heard! Get out and Vote! Make your voice be heard! Get out and Vote! Make your voice be heard! Get out and Vote! Make your voice be heard! Get out and Vote! Make your voice be heard! Get out and Vote! Make your voice be heard! Get out and Vote! Make your voice be heard! Get out and Vote! Make your voice be heard! Get out and Vote! Make your voice be heard! Get out and Vote! Make your voice be heard!

And just in case you missed the message - VOTE!!!!!!!!!

My poor mother has been hit hard. She is down for the count. She cannot take any more. She is at her wits end and is thinking about asking Verizon for a refund of this months phone bill.
What is this about you may be asking, well it seems that because she lives in the wonderful swing state of Pa (and I would like to point out right now, that in Pa we are NOT a state, but a commonwealth, but oddly enough one of our nicknames is the Keystone state...lets all ponder that one for a bit, shall we?). She has stopped answering the house phone as almost every single phone call has something to do with the up coming election. She even got a phone call from her dear old friend Rudy. She said that up until his phone call, she did not know that they were such good friends. But then again the when i was growing up another slogan for Pa was " You've got a friend in PA!"