That Awkward Meeting...

So I got a new job on campus at my college. I'm a research assistant for a biomedical engineering group that a professor runs. SUCH a good resume booster, right? I was stoked to get the job. Right now my project is working on football padding. It looks like this.

 My professor/boss man told me when I got hired that for the first couple months they would basically tell me everything I need to do and I would highly supervised. Cool. Then this is how the conversation went when I got my first assignment for making the prototype.

Professor : So we have some problems with the prototype.
Me: Okay
Professor: The foam is sticking to the mold and the polycarbonate gets bubbles in it.
Me: Okay
Professor: It is your job to fix this.
Me: Uhh.....

That is basically how this job goes. Moral of the story? Don't trust your boss.

Anyways, that is an intro to how this job works. I have felt over my head since the beginning. Plus, half of my co-workers are in grad school. Kind of intimidating. Now let's get to the real story.

Every week the entire lab gets together to discuss our progress at a weekly meeting. The meeting is in a room that has two entrances. Once entrance has no window and is right by the elevator, but it is always locked. To get to the other entrance you have to go through a couple rooms to get around back. Clearly the entrance near the elevator is the better choice because it saves me a whole 20 seconds of walking. The only problem is that it is always locked. I always walked around to the other entrance, but my co-worker Peter usually just knocks on the door because someone inside will open the door for him. One week I was walking towards the room with two of the PhD students that intimidate me SO bad because they are so smart. For the first time ever I thought, "Hey, I'll be cool and save time in front of these guys. It'll be great and then they will be so impressed." So I go over and knock on the door. Unfortunately, a different professor was having a meeting in there with his lab and they were running over slightly. He opened the door and when I noticed I didn't know anybody in there my face flared red from embarrassment. [Once my face starts to get red, I get embarrassed that it is red so it just turns more red. It is a cruel, cruel cycle.] The professor then tells me "We are almost done, you can come in." I replied, "Oh. No, that's okay." and he says, "No, really, come in. We will be quick." The whole time the grad students are walking past snickering. I sit in the corner of this meeting for maybe five minutes and they aren't ending. I get so embarrassed I just get up and leave without saying a word. I'm not really the "suave" type of person. As I exit, the two PhD students who saw the whole ordeal earlier were laughing and telling another PhD student about what happened to me. In my mind I thought, "Oh great, they will remember this for the rest of their lives and they will never be impressed by anything I do. My life is over. I can't pretend that that didn't just happen, so I guess I have to face it like a man," and then out loud I said, "I am so embarrassed." That was probably the biggest understatement that has ever come out of my mouth. They just laughed it off and moved on with their lives. But I am scarred forever.

Engagements

Sometimes when you are taking engagement pictures you don't look as natural as you think you do.

(I'm referring to David here)

And sometimes you accidently get an awesome shot because your fiance can't ride the bike when you are on the handlebars and you both think it is funny.

But if you choose a photographer you like, you are going to get some awesome shots.

DISCLAIMER: The people in these pictures do not look this good in real life.

Effects of protein shakes.

Yes, protein shakes really do make your muscles bigger, even if you don't want bigger muscles. And they might make your elbows swollen too, and then you'll mistake that for elbow fat and have a MASSIVE panic attack because you can't feel any elbow bone any more. But since the elbows were just swollen, they will go down in two days and you will be fine after all.

When you are angry, listen to your boyfriend who is not in a bad mood because he is probably thinking more rationally than you are and it will save you two hours worth of driving time if you do.

Never say "oh, I'll exercise after I watch this movie late at night," because it won't happen.

Processed cheese from Arby's bacon cheddar melt tastes eerily similar to when you throw up in your mouth.

Why are there couches in the bathroom?

Being shy in the bathroom is only hurting yourself. Here's the story:

I was on campus after I ate lunch. I had to go to the bathroom fairly urgently, so went to the nearest one. I knew that I was going to be making some noise while on the toilet, so as soon as I opened the door and noticed it was completely silent, I was so excited! I had the bathroom to myself! Then I took one more step and my heart dropped. There was a girl in there, sitting on the couch on her laptop. REALLY?!! I have to go to do my business on the toilet knowing that she is ten feet away listening? I couldn't do it. I went in my stall, went pee a little, then left without actually doing the business I had come there for. Then I raced home as fast as I could to finish what I had started.

Moral of the story? I will never see her again and I should have just done the deed while I was there.

Long lost blog.

If you have a blog based on all your mess ups in life, write the mess ups down as they happen. Otherwise you will forget, and not post anything new for a few months.

Tbs stands for tablespoon, and tsp stands for teaspoon. The cookie recipe probably called for two teaspoons of vanilla, not Tbs. When you put in way too much vanilla and realize the mistake, its okay, because you can spoon out some of the extra, but your cookies will be EXTRA flavorful.

Make sure none of the other roommates are home before you start kissing your boyfriend in the front room. Getting walked in on for the second time is just as embarrassing as the first.

Don't let your boyfriend read your journal from a few years ago. He will realize just how boy crazy you really were.

Power steering... you don't know what you have until it's gone.

Parallel parking can cause you to break a sweat. Just do it in 90 degree weather without any power steering into a tight space. Turning the steering wheel was so hard I'll probably be sore tomorrow.

You know that group meeting that was supposed to be quick and last "less than an hour"? Don't believe your group members. It will definitely last closer to three hours and you won't leave the library until after eleven at night.

If you get grossed out by under-cooked foods, made sure the no bake cookies that you are really looking forward to get heated all the way so they don't end up gooey.

Just because your boyfriend doesn't answer his phone for a few hours doesn't mean he got in a brutal car accident and is dead. You can let your imagination rest because  his phone just ran out of battery.

Not supportive at all.

Putting on a sports bra backwards is not effective.

You know that toenail that is still  black? Don't try covering it with bright nail polish. It just turns a dingy, dark, gross, tinted color. And then you'll put on five layers to try to cover it up. But then you'll put on shoes too soon and it will get smudged all over the inside of your shoe because it still wasn't dry.

Blogs are not quite as exciting when your camera is broken.

Don't set up a budget to save money. As soon as you do, a thousand fun, costly things will come up that you can't go to because it is not in your budget.