Streak plating that is X3

Today I had the most fun and interesting lab ever in Microbiology! We got to use two different techniques for culture isolation.

The streak plate method where you use a sterilized loop to spread a bit of a mixed culture onto a petri dish's layer of nutrient agar. Then after successive sterilizations of the loop and spreading from the last area onto a new part of the agar the goal is to get the bacteria isolated on their lonesome so when they multiply into little colonies it is a pure culture. Meaning just one kind of microorganism.

The second one we did was the pour plate method where it uses dilution to isolate the bacteria. You have the test tube of mixed culture then three tubes of the nutrient agar heated so it is not yet solid. You use the loop to transfer just a bit of the mixed culture from its test tube to tube #1. Then you swish it to mix and sterilize the loop. You repeat the process dipping from tube #1 to tube #2, sterilize loop, then dip twice from tube #2 to tube #3. Then you pour each tube of nutrient agar into a petri dish and see how they grow. Typically the #1 dish is unusable because there are so many microorganisms in it.

And the one I'm looking forward MOST to seeing next week is the special little dish we did at the end which is used to get bacteria from the environment. When you pour it you get the nutrient agar a little over the lip (like water it has surface tension so you can do this) and once it solidifies you can go touch it to something and see what grows. One person in my class touched a door handle, one person a computer mouse, I know one person went into the bathroom. Me? I licked it. Despite having beef bouillon and smelling a bit like beef broth it just tasted like gel, like unflavored chap stick.

So yeah! I can't wait to go back next week and see how everything's grown! Also next week's lab has us making our own slides and staining them for viewing under a microscope! GLEE!

Yes I am still working on bookmarks never you worry.

But since I was finally able to I could not resist!

[link] Behold! The first part of my first Let's Play! *jazz hands*

Jus' wanted to get ride of my old journal and kinda pimp myself out XD Go laugh at meee!

That laptop problem that was with drivers or software? Turns out my graphics card was on its way out and that was the source of my problem. It would cost more than its worth to try and repair it. Solution? I'm renting a laptop from the school for the semester.

Its actually like way nicer than my old laptop though I'm having trouble picking up internet in my room. Sitting out in the living room and TV is immensely distracting.

But at least I should be able to do homework at home now.

Gotta download all the stuff I want. And refind my online comics!

School isn't too bad except for the fact that I checked on my laptop today and they said it will take several more days. So doing stuff for my classes, especially my online class, is becoming rather troublesome. It'd be so much easier to do stuff at home, but now I have to run to the library and hope a computer is free, and there's all kinds of online stuff for my classes. Really, knowing all I have to do online and the deadlines and then learning they didn't have my laptop ready when they thought they would makes me want to cry.

But I shouldn't, I'm in a public place after all. I wanted to get it all fixed and stuff before telling my parents to let them know I was being a big girl and able to fix my own problems. but if the tech people can't fix it and I need to get the installation disks mailed to me I can see my Dad getting pissed.

Oh well.

/emo

I don't actually have anything happy to say so I'll just end with some lulz.


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<img class="mine_5103728" title=\"funny-pictures-duck-is-member-of-fashion-police\" src=\"http://icanhascheezburger.wordpress.com/files/2009/09/funny-pictures-duck-is-member-of-fashion-police.jpg\" alt="funny pictures of cats with captions" />
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So I got to Rexburg all safe 'n' stuff. Took longer than expected, I missed my first night of work. That was no biggy I just went last night and it was fine. Though the new cafeteria called the 'Crossroads' is four times as large as the old Galley and they have half as much staff trying to clean the place. Anyone else see a problemo? I got friggin' blisters on my hand... And I have to do it again tonight! But despite my whining, I am thankful to even have a job that'll give me 18 hours a week at a wage above minimum.

I had a fiasco with poorly written instructiosn and the consequensial loss of all things I had placed in a cabinent and labeled with my name. Amazingly I lost far less than I had expected, nothing vital, mostly stuff I had taken from a roomie that was leaving it all behind. Same roomie that told me it was okay to leave the stuff, I should have known better than to trust her really. Live and learn.

My biggest stressor at the moment is that my laptop crashed and crashed HARD. It's currently in the possession of the campus tech team. The initial estimate of damage is that my laptop is having a software/hardware conflict. Something to do with drivers. Anyways, the guy I talked to said that it should be fixable, they might just have to remove all my Norton stuff and replace it with a free program that they like better. Hey if it gets my laptop through the semester I'm all for. I'll be getting a new one by the tiem I go to school again anyways. Estimate for the time it'll take is two days if they are really busy. I can't really complain about that.

Tomorrow is the first day of classes. I have a two-hour lab for my Biology of a Microbe class. Likely I will nto be there the whole time seeing as it is the first class and we really have nothing to do in the lab. I hope that I get my lappy back before I start needing to complete assignments and such.

EDIT: Well I just checked my email and my lab was canceled tomorrow! So I get an extra day of do-nothing and preparing. I think I'll read more of my Microbiology textbook, this thing is freakin' awesome!

Also the results of my most recent poll is heartening and I can use my extra day to start on some of these. Hopefully I'll be able to put up examples soon. :3

Well I hope everyone is doing well!

And I hope you feel better soon, Wiki