It is amazing how things can change in just a few days. I am very glad no one saw me Sunday and Monday (except Justin). I was a wreck! What with him leaving and me being all alone in a new, strange place...let's just say I was not my normal self. I went into the lab Monday after taking him to the airport to get the rental car and spent the entire day reading safety rules, doing IACUC (Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee) training online, watching videos specific to certain animal species, and taking care of other random paperwork. It was quite boring, but it got my mind off of the mess and kept me busy.
Tuesday was a lot more training as well. I started the morning doing Blackboard training (which I am already familiar with from NCSU). That was easy and went by quickly. I met Brooke, who is in charge of most of the lab as far as ordering supplies, doing some of the more dangerous tasks, training new students, keeping track of paperwork, etc. She showed me around the lab and we went through the safety rules and stations in each lab. I also got to help Kim and Jessy (two graduate students in their second year) cut up some tracts that Jessy had gotten that morning from the slaughter house. By the time I got back there to help, there were not many left, so I only got to prepare one (which was simply to cut the rectum away from the repro tract). Sorry for anyone with sensitive stomachs!! I really enjoyed Tuesday because I got to start doing some things other than reading and am getting to know the girls a lot more!
Today, Essau came to Tennessee!! His new home is RiverTenn, which is about 10 minutes from the lab and about 15 or so from my apartment. Tam and my mom brought him, driving through the night when it was coolest. We unloaded him, walked him around a bit, and put him in his new stall. He is in the last stall in the barn (one long row of stalls). He has a bay QH neighbor who is very quiet, thank the Lord! Essau went in there and started munching on hay like he has lived there for years! I was so relieved! I got all of my stuff in order and headed to the lab.
Once there, I did a pipette training worksheet and then Kim taught me some lab maintenance items. Jessy went back to the slaughter house this morning and brought back 30 half tracts (cut at the cervix) that we had to rinse and bag for use in later courses/labs. I learned how to change the carbon dioxide tank which is used in the incubation containers which house the embryos. I also learned how to check the carbon dioxide levels in the incubators, as well as the weekly "check" of each container. This included reading the temperature, CO2, and O2 levels displayed on the outside, reading the actual temperature inside, checking the water level in the water baths, and checking the pressure of the CO2 and O2 in the tanks. It was nice to actually learn something in the lab!
A bit later, all of the girls (Kim, Jessy, Brooke, Louisa, and Becca) and I went on a cupcake run. We went to a little store called The Cupcakery and I got a cinnamon streusel cupcake. Yum! It was fun to relax and I really enjoyed getting to talk with everyone. Not to mention the deliciousness... I went back to the barn to check on Essau around 5:00 and he was content. I took him for a little walk and then groomed him in one of the outside grooming stalls. He seemed to enjoy that. I am really surprised how relaxed he is and how quickly he has adapted to the new place. Everyone there loves him and thinks he is beautiful. He's a very different horse than all of their stock horses and walking horses. I'm so glad he is settling in nicely and I can't wait to start riding him. I will be lunging him in the arena tomorrow so he can get used to that before I try riding.
Things are much brighter now. I have my little (but actually rather large) piece of home just down the road and am enjoying my time in the lab. I know this will be an amazing learning experience and I think I am ready for it now. If you had asked me three days ago, I would have said, "Please take me home."
This album has some pictures from the barn!
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