The Dynamic Duo

I know, I know I promised Part 2 of a Weekend in Utah with Jimbo. All in good time, My Pretty.  But tonight I’m going to write about what has been consuming my life for the past 9 weeks or so: College.
I just checked the Biology spreadsheet to see how Fibroblast did on crazy hard Cellular Biology Test II.  Again, 50 questions Multiple Choice rife with “none of these”, “A & C”, “All of these but D”, etc. Here is a synopsis of an actual question: “You decide to perform a pulse-chase experiment on the route of the digestive system. You eat a radioactive banana, and ‘chase’ it 5 minutes later with 5 normal bananas. After ½ hour, where would you expect to find the highest concentration of radioactive particles? A) Teeth B) Mouth C) Stomach D) Large Intestine, E) How do I say this……the toilet?
We did talk about a pulse-chase experiment, albeit a vastly different one.  I think I finally guessed “C”. I’ll let you know when I get a look at the test on Wednesday.
Anyway, I was at first disappointed to see that my score was ‘82’, but after checking the rest of the scores and noting that the highest grade was ‘84’, I was much happier. In fact, get this, at this moment in time, Fibroblast has the highest average of the first 2 test scores in the class!! Of course I probably also studied more than anyone else in the class, but I’m also undoubtedly the oldest student, so allow me to bask a moment. I already celebrated by actually turning the TV on; in fact I’m typing this while watching Law & Order, which is practically unheard of, at least for me.
I should actually get back to the books: tomorrow is Lab Practical in Biology, and on Thursday is Lab Test in Anatomy and Physiology. Speaking of A & P, we had a mildly interesting lab last Thursday night. It seemed we were actually going to conduct an experiment instead of merely listening to the Prof drone on for half the lab period. We had just begun studying the muscles and this activity would correlate with this. We were to measure the circumference of our dominant arm “in centimeters instead of inches, because we are being scientiferific” instructed Prof Ports. Then we would do bicep curls with elbow on table with a 5 lb weight until our arm was tired, and the results would be plotted. There were only 2 weights, so in the meantime, the rest of us were free to get out the box-o-bones and study for the upcoming lab test. My partner Korrie and I got to work identifying bones, processes, facets, tubercles and foramina. Every once in a while, we looked around to notice the weights still in use, with results gradually accumulating on the dry erase board. Finally we were the only ones left. Korrie measured my right bicep in centimeters. “27” she announced. I looked at the board: it was by far the smallest one. “That can’t be right,” I said. “Measure it again.” “Uh, maybe 26 ½” she said.  “Never mind, let’s go with 27,” I muttered, setting my elbow on the table and getting to work. We continued to study, but it was hard to make notations with my right arm so engaged. “Maybe I’m about done,” I told her after a bit. “How long has it been?” “Five minutes,” she told me. Heck. I had to go longer than that. Meanwhile Korrie got a weight. Her bicep was 31 centimeters.  I quit at about 12 minutes. While it’s true that I wanted to use my time studying, and the lifting was interfering with that, I have to also admit that my arm was getting tired. I had by far the shortest lifting time of the class. I think Korrie went for 30 minutes or so. Somehow, in the midst of this, we told our ages. Korrie is 46. Prof Ports, whom I would have sworn was near 70, is 56. I am somewhere in the middle….okay, okay, I’m 54. Anyway, next week, we will get the data and have to make some correlations and explanations and write it all up as some kind of report.
I told Johnny this story, and he said “Sound like good blog material.” I told Jimbo, and his reaction was “Are you about finished? This is one of THOSE stories, isn’t it?” referring to the long, meandering stories I occasionally tell, which sometimes end with the phrase: “So, I was right. He did look like Brad Pitt.”
So, I guess what I’m saying is it’s up to you to decide.  Amusing (and well written) human interest story, or long, pointless, ‘looking like Brad Pitt” drivel?
Anyway, off to review parts of a cell and the process of DNA replication. Hope your evening is just as enjoyable.

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