murmuring before bed time

I was buried in medical records, stored in Jenny's office. Jenny is our research coordinator. She started the job in February but is still learning what is what and where is where and what to do and where to go.
I started my job last July. I am not better than her. I am learning a whole new different thing than basic research. In some sense, I am still doing research but not in visual cognition. I am doing research of finding mysteriously lost medical records or experiment data. Many times, I complain about it and miss the purer research environment of a university. Now I have a different attitude. I am watching a live show of soap opera. It can be quite amusing sometimes.

I was buried in medical records in Jenny's office. Jenny and Cristin were discussing about whatever they were discussing about. Noise from next door came through the wall, a piece of thin wood. It sounded like people were arguing loudly over there.
Cristin said she couldn't believe how much drama was going on in that lab. People of that lab would talk behind people about not getting email invitation of some casual social gathering. Patty things like that.
I nodded and said in my head "Oh, you think there's no drama in this lab? Because you come to the lab only one day a week. Because gossips never go to your ears."

I am a listener. I am very good at it. No matter where I go. No matter whom I meet. No matter Chinese or English, people talk and I listen and I ask questions allowing them to talk more. Or I nod.
Probably that's why I can be a good follower in tango. I listen and adjust myself and keep the dance going unless the leader is really annoying.
Annoying example number one is my so-called "typical" American girls. Even though I categorize them as "typical", I have not met many of them. Probably it is because not many "typical" American girls go to a graduate school or dance tango. There were two in my lab. Now one. Lucky me, the remained one is the one I can endure better. This one... I wish I could just put a pillow on her face when she's talking. She is the generation of strawberry -- has no strength to absorb pressure while keeping a good shape of niceness.
If Cristin had listened to Miss Strawberry, she would've not said our lab was so harmonious. If she had listened to Kim, Millie, Kristen, Jenny, and me about Dr. Anna, she would've called our lab a drama club.

I like Cristin a lot. She is so capable and available. Even though she is a medical doctor and her research title is a level above mine -- she is a part-time research scientist and I'm a full-time postdoc research fellow -- she assists me like a super research assistant. Her specialty is to solve my problems related to hospitals and medical records. I have complimented her directly and she agreed! She likes to solve problems and likes the feeling of accomplishment. Me too. So I like her and like to throw her with problems.
Cristin is a great co-worker. Within a snap, things are done.
Trouble shooters are so precious. Don't you leave me, Cristin.

I can feel the difficulty of running a lab. Research assistants usually leave after a while. They don't get a sense of responsibility as much as the limited work hours allow them to. Research coordinators or secretaries don't come from a science background. People have different personalities. Girls are not as straight-forward as boys, and our lab is a female lab. Sometimes I just can't see through everyone's mask. Sometimes I think I am wearing a mask so that I think everyone has a mask on. This is probably why I feel soooo tired everyday. I miss Toby for I could just walk into his office and say whatever on my mind. I cannot do the same now here.

Jerry apologized to me for his rude email wordings. I was actually not offended at all. I like it when we quickly exchange email back and forth without the greetings at the beginning and abundant thankyou at the end. I prefer working with boys or people who just snap and work things out. That's why I like Cristin.
However, boys are not always my favorite. This boy assistant working for me has created more work for me.
See? It's not easy to categorize people based on gender.

The last thing I want to murmur about is why medical records are sent via regular mail! This really bothers me. What if the record is lost in mail? No way to track it. And the reply I got is "Send the request again. We will send again." So they simply allow lost medical records flowing around in the mail dimension.
Trust me. I still don't know what happened to the second check I mailed to VW.

Let me call it a day for now. Don't take any negative energy I put here. Watch the video below and smile and good dreams to you :)