Happy New Year, everyone!
Long time no see, it’s been a crazy 4 months since my last update and a lot’s happened – the Pandemic, the holiday season, moving and settling into my new residence, and so on. But then is then, and now is now, and I welcome Year 2021 and hope that it brings better fortunes than its predecessor.
It’s high time to get back to business and turn my attention back here to my blog, so what’s been going on with me, and what have I been planning?
Professional
This announcement has been long past its “freshness” date, but nevertheless I am still pleased to announce that as of October 1st, 2020, I am an official employee of MGC Pure Chemicals America (MPCA) Inc.!
While yes, I have been working since June, I was technically contracted rather than employed by MPCA itself. But 90 days have passed, and my work performance has satisfied my employers to elevate me from my contractor status into an official employee.
With this action and my continued employment since then, it indicates that I am and have remained in good standing with my employers and that they believe that I am worth the investment to retain. Likewise, this also means I too am satisfied with my new employers, and I once again say that I look forward to the future with them, especially with the new snazzy coat I’ve received from them which helps a lot with the Winter Months! Brr!
I still have much more training to undergo, but I am committed to working hard to master my current duties as well as hopefully adopting new ones gradually to further my professional development. You can’t grow if you don’t push your limits, after all, and I know that I have the potential to go far.
Personal
As aforementioned, I have moved and been settling into my new residence which has proven to be quite the monumental task. Larger living space means more maintenance along with more paperwork to deal with.
But it is a price to pay for greater freedoms. I am happy to have my own parking space, my money is not disappearing into the “void,” I can amass permanent furnishings, and well, the extra leg room is nice – it feels good to just lie in the ground and not worry about smacking your limbs into something.
I will admit though that I wished I played the Sims game series more. I am not quite versed in the ways of interior decorating, but there’s no time like the present! I now live in a home and intend to make it homely.
Aside from settling in, I’ve also been experimenting with new recipes, preferably something on the lines that’s easily made in bulk, freezer-friendly, inexpensive, healthy, and reasonably….palatable. Barley soup and lentil soup seem to fit the bill…mostly. I haven’t quite tested the lentil soup extensively yet, but the barley soup becomes a little bland after defrosting it from the freezer.
I shall experiment on heating up the soup after it defrosts rather than just defrosting it solely and observe its effect on the flavor. However, I did alter the recipe by adding in ham (none of that Oscar Mayar nonsense, an actual ham hock) and hope that the juices of the ham itself will improve upon the flavor as well. I could use some extra protein on my diet anyway….
Language Learning
My personal development has taken a bit of a backseat, but I managed to sneak in a little study here and there with Duolingo. It has become a regular part of my morning routine, and I’ve managed to complete the First Checkpoint in both the Japanese and Vietnamese modules!
The training wheels are starting to come off, and I am slowly delving into unknown territory which is a good indication that I am learning new material. Progress may be slow, for it takes quite a lot of investment to finish a lesson set into completion (Level 1 to Level 5), but it shall be steady.
On a side note, since Japanese is my primary focus, it received the most attention, and during these two months, I managed to reach Level 12 at WaniKani which basically amounts to mastering roughly 80% of the Kanji under N4 of the JPLT. Slowly going beyond the tourist level here!
Chemistry
Since September, I am currently burning through my backlog of ACS Webinars for many reasons ranging from simple curiosity to being more able to share the wonders of the science with others to further developing myself professionally.
Of all the topics I learned about, candy chemistry was the most interesting in October. Quite a lot revolves around the crystallization of the sugar as well as the water and air content which play a role in the hardness of the candy, how it deforms, and so on. It certainly brings a new perspective on how I view the treats I purchased from the Halloween sale!
There was also a webinar about common rookie mistakes in the laboratory that’s quite worth looking into. Granted, most of these are not quite applicable to me as I simply don’t use the particular equipment in question, but it’s definitely useful for undergraduates for their laboratory sections!
Website
Coming soon to this blog will be a post about my experiences during my first six months as a Laboratory Technician. I am quite aware that I still have much to learn to master the role, but during this time, I have developed a more solid impression of my position and can share some useful knowledge to those curious about working in a lab someday.
While it does feel good to talk about myself, I also want to offer something useful content to my readership as well, and if it helps even just one person to feel more confident in making that push to join the STEM field or following it through to completion, it’ll be worth it.
With that said, I want to actually post content, and as much as I would want to present monthly updates, they do consume a decent chunk of whatever precious amount of time I have to write. Therefore, my “monthly” updates will instead come once every 2 months instead until I become more efficient to post more frequently. At the very least, whatever progress I make upon the other matters of my life will be more significant and noteworthy since the last update.
New Year’s Resolution?
Back in 2020, I did pledge to lose weight, and I made some significant progress burning down from 160 pounds to 150 pounds. But the stresses of the year have had their effect on me, and I instead actually gained weight to 170 pounds. That….leaves a rather bitter taste in my mouth.
But said stresses have passed, and now I am more able to pursue my resolution to lose weight. I know that I have the commitment to pull it off, just not the opportunity, and now that opportunity has opened to me once more.
Coincidentally, my employer MPCA has handed out Fitbits as this year’s Christmas bonus, and I find them useful in their ability to provide metrics. My installed Health app in my phone has its uses, but it can’t really compete against a dedicated fitness tool. I will post relevant fitness information from the Fitbit app in my updates to demonstrate my commitment in following through my New Year’s Resolution.
As much as I want to drop to 130 pounds though, it’s probably more realistic to achieve a weight of 150 pounds instead, but hey, shoot for the stars, aim for the moon, right? I’ve already been making progress as is and have been reaping the benefits of exercise. Lost weight aside from 170 pounds to 165, I definitely feel a little bit more energetic!
For those who actually did make a New Year’s Resolution, I wish you good luck, and for everyone else, take care, and I will see you in February with my Laboratory Technician post!