Fifth blog post
Hello all,
Welcome back. This is my last one before the summer. I think. Then I need a holiday. Quite desperately. I am booked in to go to the Lake District for a writing retreat (really need to get some chapters done on the actual PhD thesis) towards the middle of August. Quite looking forward to that as the plan is to also hike Scafell Pike. A two in one that trip. I need to write some chapters but I do also need to get some presentations ready, as I am presenting at two conferences in September. It is both daunting and exhilarating to start sharing my research in front of people, and not just talking to myself on a blog. Quite often I feel like I am talking to myself when talking to other people about my research. Maybe that is my own feelings about it and maybe other people find it just as exciting as me (doubt it), but I think it is a good sign for the rest of the PhD that I do not mind and that I still find it just as exciting. I can talk to myself for hours about this.
I have been working really hard the last few weeks. Really wanted to make sure I could finish all the samples and get them ready for the gas bench before I go off on holiday. I would never have managed had it not been for the amazing people in the lab that helps out. The Dorothy Garrod Lab has been really lucky to have had help from Aimee Ranford. She is an undergrad student who wants to learn more from different areas in archaeology. Not only was I lucky she was there now, most people (but not all) seemed to be away so there was not much competition. Yay for me. Because of that help I have been able to reach my goal. I got a bit more to finish but I know I will do that in time and not have to worry over it during my time off in the mountain villages of Spain.
All the enamel powder being grinded and run through the sieve
Since last time all the enamel drilling has been finished. Got way more enamel powder than I needed, which it better than too little. It has also been grinded and run though the sieve, so now it is just waiting for the acid stages.
My table set up for collagen weighing
Squidgy collagen
The collagen from the ribs were really exciting. I got so much of it and it was very fluffy and squidgy. The last stage before the gas bench was to weigh them. This was a very time consuming task and I think I went cross-eyed from staring at the tiny amounts of collagen that needed to go in the teeny tiny tin foils. I had 60 rib samples, but each sample needed to be weighed 3 times. So there were a lot of teeny tiny tin foil balls at the end. However, it is done! *Victory dance*
The process of weighing 1 sample to 3 different tin foil balls.
Teeny tiny tin foil ball
As a side note, I can recommend two books. During the time of weighing I manage to listen to two audiobooks, which is crazy but also so rewarding. Wild dark shore by Charlotte McConaghy and My friends by Fredrik Backman. AMAZING BOOKS for anyone who needs a listen. Just keep your tissues near by (which I luckily had because I needed them for wiping down surfaces. Please refer to picture above to see my tissues in a handy position for tear wiping).
All in all, I have been very busy, but happily busy. Then you just don’t mind. As long as you enjoy it, it really does not feel like a chore or a job.
Thanks all, happy summer holidays
Tanja
