Also this week I have started volunteering in Dr. Hayes's lab at Brandeis. Dr. Hayes was my kindly nutrition professor last semester (he said in his 25 years at Brandeis, I was his best auditor, having attended every class... which tells you something about my life...). Anyways, after I offered to help out in his lab, he informed me of an opening which may lead to a paid position. I'm not sure of the logistics yet, but my guess is he wants me to check things out to see if I like what they do before I sign on to something more permanent. As far as I can tell, lately they have been working with Nile rats to study the effects of nutrition manipulation on diabetes. They have been testing some pretty funky things, like palm fruit juice, resveratrol, Vitamin D, and foods containing varying amounts of different types of fat (remember that Dr. Hayes was the Smart Balance guy?). I have enjoyed my first two days in the lab, and tomorrow is the last day of one of the full time girls. I assume they may offer me her place? Hmm...
Even more interesting and exciting than possibly working in Dr. Hayes's lab has been pet-sitting Erik's betta fish while the family is away to Germany for two weeks. Fishy has a prominent position on our kitchen table and I spend more time watching him as he observes me than I feel comfortable saying. He is possibly the best pet EVER imagined--very clean, quiet, doesn't eat much, curious, and always happy to see us. He is surprisingly interactive and actually watches us--he will sit motionless but when one of us looks at him for a few seconds he will beat his fins fast then eventually swim to us. I don't want to give him back. Would it be too cruel to tell a five-year-old his fish died?
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