Probably a bad sign . . .

It is probably a bad sign when the same security guard is on duty when you leave the lab at night as when you come back the next morning.

Yea, that happened to me on Friday. It's been a busy, busy week.

Busy three weeks, to be honest, and it will probably continue up until Christmas vacation has begun and I can safely ignore emails. Everyone is trying to get projects done before Christmas, so they can begin the collaboration review process and have results ready to present at conferences next January and February. It makes for very, very long meetings, and lots of quality time spent tweaking plots.

But, with an internet connection, it is always possible to take a few moments and mentally check out, preventing any violence that might get directed at Powerpoint/ROOT/the research scientist who just signed you up to give a talk in two days. My personal favorite mental time-out is webcomics. There are several I've read or follow (PhD, Not Invented Here, among others) but my favorite is definitely Sheldon. It's about a ten-year-old, who wrote an amazing computer program that sold like mad, making him suddenly the owner of a multi-million dollar company.

And, he's ten.

It only gets wackier from there. So next time you need a mental break and have a few minutes (and the fortitude to keep it to only a few minutes), I would offer you the chance to go visit with Sheldon and Gramps and Dante and Arthur. Enjoy!


Images taken from www.sheldoncomics.com and www.theseofficepranks.com.