Middle Time

So everyone is giving me crap for not blogging recently, but to be honest with you I just have not felt like it.  I think it is because I don't have any homework to avoid.  I love avoiding homework and I can think of no better way than to blog.  I can even convince myself that my blogs are school related, and thus it is productive.  The same thing happens when I have long toenails or fingernails and I try to start studying or reading something for school.  There is no chance that any work is getting done until those nails get clipped down to the skin (I cut my nails short, real short).  I love distractions.  Eww look, a kitty.

So, on to the blog that I have now avoided for a paragraph.  Two weeks ago we had our mid-stream-review.  This is a week long extravaganza where all of the on-cycle interns come back from their internship to report on how things are going, do a little recruiting, catch up with their class and the new LGO class (which probably does not appreciate being called new since they have been around for a couple of months now).  Overall it was a great time.  I really just appreciated being back in the US.  It's all the little things you miss such as hearing people speaking English, TV, having a clothes dryer, wearing my orange pants (football Saturday) and having people look at me like that is NOT normal, etc.

School was pretty good.  The first couple days are a mix of poster sessions (where every LGO student gives an 8 minute presentation on their project), Career Development Office session (apparently we are expected to get real jobs at some point), and an event where we discussed internships with the LGO 11s.  My presentation went pretty well.  As expected, I believe I had the most technical project but I tried to keep the scientific terms to a minimum and just give everyone a high level overview of what I was working on.

[caption id="attachment_1495" align="alignnone" width="180" caption="I was like Bill Nye with my Science, only less interesting"][/caption]

I also had to present my project to the senior leadership of the company I am working for (Novartis V&D for those of you who have been following along but forgotten since my last post was a month ago).  This presentation was 20 minutes long and a little more technical.  My bosses had me obsessing over my slides so I could have done them from memory and I had more appendix slides than actual presentation slides in case I got any technical questions.  Overall, that presentation also went well.  My project was a little too technical for most of the senior leadership team to care about the details, but I appreciate them taking the time to listen.  It shows their commitment to the LGO process and our internships.

[caption id="attachment_1496" align="alignnone" width="194" caption="They made me feel special"][/caption]

We rounded out the week with a two-class camping trip where we finally got to mingle with the 11s.  I would take my hat off to the people who arranged the trip, but it was just too dang cold out in the woods and I am worried that my ears would freeze.  Basically we drove to New Hampshire and hung out at a campsite, but for some crazy reason it decided to be in the 30s that night (it was 10 degrees warmer the next night) so needless to say, we kept multiple large fires going all night.  Really the event was awesome.  When you get that many LGO students together with that much booze, shenanigans happen.  Details will not be discussed, but a good time was had by all and in classic LGO fashion, the cops were called to regulate our event.

[caption id="attachment_1498" align="alignnone" width="227" caption="No one was tazed, but thinking about cops reminded me of this classic moment in University of Florida history"][/caption]

After mid-stream, some other interns working for Novartis had the wonderful opportunity to visit a Novartis V&D facility in Holly Springs, North Carolina (near Raleigh).  The trip was pretty much a recruiting trip and the five of us were very well treated by Novartis.  I was thrilled to be back in the south and the south was thrilled to have me back.  The five of us shared a car for the trip and as we were driving around Raleigh on the first night we had to stop at a crosswalk to allow someone carrying the front bumper of a car to walk by us (and not the small metal bumper from an old fasion car, I'm talking the entire front section from wheel to wheel and up to the hood...I could not catch the model but I know it was green).  I love the south!

[caption id="attachment_1500" align="alignnone" width="252" caption="It was like this, only night time. And instead of cleaning up the highway in a safety vest like the guy in the picture is doing, this person was walking around Raleigh"][/caption]

Our first night also included a drive halfway across Raleigh to go to a Chipotle.  Don't get me wrong, I like them...but I would not drive 30 minutes for it.  We were looking for a Buffalo Wild Wings so we could enjoy good food and watch NFL football, but the Garmin led us astray and eventually our hunger got the better of us.  We've been told that there is a Buffalo Wild Wings near where we were driving circles, and this may be true, but Garmin must have had the wrong address.

The trip included a tour of the facility (which is incredible), a number of discussion sessions with some key people at the plant, and also a number of 1 on 1 sessions with people from the facility to discuss our projects and potential future employment.  We also got the wine and dine session at a fancy steakhouse.  I had meat with a side of meat.  People kept trying to give me appetizers and salad and I'm just like "no thanks, that space in my belly is reserved for steak."

On the final night, we were on our way to a BBQ place and we passed a Buffalo Wild Wings and naturally we did a u-turn and pulled on in.  Follow that up with Dairy Queen, and I remember why I love the USA so much more than Europe.

After some computer caused delays, I made it back to Marburg and then back to work.  Friday was a short day though cause I had to make my way to my next weekend trip.  The trip blog should be available tomorrow (two blogs in as many days, maybe I am back!).