Day 37: The Day Snow Fell from the Heavens

It was snowing really heavily this morning, at least according to me. If it were raining, it would be considered a downpour. But I enjoyed the walk. It was invigorating. And it was simply snowing, and snowing, and snowing the entire day until 1530 thereabouts. I reckon there was at least 2 inches of snow on the ground after that. And it has been reported that this will continue for the next few days. Will they be as enjoyable as this day?

Perhaps today felt so good because my PCR finally worked. I found the problem. Yes, it was the template. But there were problems with the dNTP as well. Who knew adding too much dNTP could potentially inhibit the PCR process. My bad. I saw the wrong concentration; 10 times lower that stated. Oops.

And today is Ash Wednesday, which indicates the start of Lent. As per previous years, I'll be fasting again. But this time it’s not going to be food. I think I’ve gotten past the gluttony stage, haven’t I? And I only told people that fact so that they could help me maintain my fast, and not tempt me to the excesses of food. I'm giving up something else this year but I will not be going to reveal to everyone here. There’s no point, isn’t it? It’s just a personal sacrifice. Just so everyone knows, fasting doesn’t need to apply to food only, it can be applied to smoking, drinking, and so on. The whole point of the fast is to try to break a bad or immoral habit for a length of 40 days, and hopefully by the end of the Lenten season, one would be free of the bad habit. Excellent.

And I received my first ashes in a foreign country! I’ve spent all my Ash Wednesdays, Good Fridays, Easters, Christmases, etc in Singapore so far. This will be the first time I’ll be having Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, and Easter away from home. I’ll be able to see how people here celebrate these holidays. Easter Sunday is a holiday in Sweden, unlike in Singapore. So they have a long weekend, starting from Good Friday until the Monday after Easter Sunday. That makes it a total of 4 solid days. But maybe I won’t see much since most Swedes are non-religious. Perchance the people don’t give a flying hoot to these holidays. Possibly.

Ashes on forehead.

Ashes on tissue after cleaning my forehead.

I’ve confirmed my attendance for the skating trip on Friday. So that means, out of personal selfish reasons, I’ll spend an extra day at SLU, and one short at Angstromlaboratoriet this week. But, heck it. I do have some things to do at SLU as well. Like purification, and testing the chip with the modified amplicons and with new markers created in-house, so it’s not like I’m loafing. (But seriously, I find it really tough to be working on both ends. It's going to be very difficult to make ends meet. There’s just too little time.) I can’t wait for Friday. Maria is going to bring an extra thermos for me and a pair of skates. Cool.

I hope the modem comes soon. I emailed Staffan this morning, and he replied with a ‘this or next week’. At least I know he ordered it on 22 Feb, so the modem should arrive soon. I need to get my hands on it, and obtain some permanent internet connection. Plus, I want to get a wireless router as well, so that I don’t have to sit near the modem. I prefer my position now; on the bed. And when Ben is here, he can also use the internet, if I have wireless and the modem ready then. Fingers crossed for the email from Staffan tomorrow.

And just to let everyone know, I’m feeling much better now. So no worries, alright?

To good weather on Friday! Cheers!