Week #8

"Skiing"

This week in lab, we made a few changes our faithful test. Before, we added 200 µL of the sample and 2100 µL of distilled water but now we removed to distilled water and add 2300 µL of sample. From this, we found the maximum value the LWCC could reach. So, we also change the concentration of the secondary standard from 0.1mM to 0.05mM. Though we ran out of downstream Willamette River sample, the upstream Willamette River sample looked promising. It turned brown when placed in methanol!!!! Acetaminophen doesn’t turn brown, but p-aminophenol; the main breakdown product of acetaminophen; does. We intend on testing these samples for p-aminophenol as well. For this week’s Brown Bag discussion, we didn’t have a speaker so Vanessa Green spoke to us about our final presentation dates and going on a one day cruise.

In terms of activities this week, I went to my very first baseball game on Thursday. It was more fun than I expected it to be. On television, it looks so boring, but it wasn’t. Even if I basically asked questions throughout the entire game and didn’t know what was going on, I still enjoyed it. On Saturday, Evan took us on a hike up Mount Hood. We went up to 7000 feet from 4000 ft. I have never been anywhere near 7000 feet. I don’t even want to get started on the path we had to take to get there; rocks that were barely stable, trees with thorns and VERY steep and slippery hills. But it was worth all the pain. I got to play in snow, and lots of it. And I got my first “skiing” experience. It really was like skiing, just without the skis. And the view!! There are no words to describe it but spectacular. Now, I’m paying more for such a view; I can barely climb stairs. But it was wonderful!!!!