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Wednesday, April 1st, 2009
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8:47 pm - New hair style.
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I thought I'd go for a change with a japanesey haircut, but still wanted something conservative, so I wound up going with this style:
I went to a japanese place in little tokyo, "Du Japon Hair Club"... I had passed this place while hanging out during AX; a bunch of us had pinkberry which was right next door and I had seen it packed with people.
It was comforting to see that she used solely scissors - she carried about 20 different ones in her "work belt". It was 5 minutes of "real" cutting, and like 20 minutes of layering to thin my hair down.
The stylist (also the owner) was pretty good. The end result isn't going to look quite right until my hair grows out a little bit. --I asked for that...I'm too busy to visit the stylist every couple weeks! This has the unfortunate side effect of making me look a little emo if the hair bang drops down instead of swooping to the right. I will try to avoid that look, but for giggles, check out the last pic after the cut. XD
( Pictures.. )
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| Thursday, February 7th, 2008
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9:24 pm - Specifics on my Lab Job.
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So, I've been asked about what my research position is all about. I'll try to make it as interesting (and understandable) as possible. :)
Basically, I'm combing facial skin for bacteria to analyze their DNA.
That's a little dry. Here's where it gets interesting. There are these things called 'phages' -- think of them as viruses that attack only the bacteria on your skin. It seems as though people who don't have acne have a lot of these bacteriophages. There's this relationship between your own immune system with phages versus the bacteria. When it gets out of balance, you're a lot more likely to have acne.
It's a crazy concept: people with naturally beautiful skin are a viral breeding ground!
The idea, hopefully, is to study this relationship to make some pharmaceutical product designed to treat acne more specifically (instead of washing it with generic benzoyl peroxide as most acne medications do nowadays). If this can happen, I'll be super duper rich! :) But then again, that's not likely to happen. Still it's interesting work.
current mood:  excited
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| Friday, January 18th, 2008
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12:26 pm - New Job!! :)
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Title: Research Lab Asst I
Job Duties:
Assist in the development of experimental protocols for sequencing and as required by the research project. Duties include assisting in molecular and cell biology techniques such as cloning, PCR, DNA purification/preparation, immunoprecipitation, agarose and polyacrylamide gel electrophoreses, immunoblotting, and bacteria/phage culture. Other duties include standard instrument maintenance, inventory maintenance, and keeping the lab clean and well-organized.
Job Qualifications:
Knowledge of basic microbiology, genetics, molecular biology and biochemical principles. Ability to use basic laboratory equipment and to create and maintain records accurately. Ability to communicate effectively to convey experimental procedures and results. Interpersonal skills to effectively interact with faculty, staff, postdoctoral fellows and students. Ability to maintain laboratory readiness for future experiments. Demonstrated computer skills including knowledge of MS Word, Excel, Access and PowerPoint.
I start February 1st. Yay. This job pays about $5 dollars an hour LESS than what I was making. Still pays well enough, and I guess I have to be willing to start back at square one since it's a different field.
Getting this job means that I will have to drop one of my two organic chemistry courses because they each have 6 hour labs (12 hours of lab D:). I am still keeping the pharmacy job part time.
It works out to 50+ hours of work a week on top of my organic chemistry coursework.
Damn.
current mood: productive
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| Monday, December 24th, 2007
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11:03 pm - Seasons greetings~
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Those of you who don't know Mark and Sylvia, or haven't attended one of their parties, they have made and posted a festive xmas story on youtube which should be shared. I love their geekiness and wit. Even if you're not having the best holiday season due to stress, work, personal issues, or what have you, which for some reason many of you seem to be, this should still cheer you up. Enjoy and happy holidays, everyone~
current mood: cheerful
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| Friday, November 23rd, 2007
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6:37 am - I DID IT! ...or maybe not.
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I told myself I shouldn't do it. Said it wasn't worth it.
But my resolve crumbled.
...
I camped for Black Friday.
-sigh- 1 hour of waiting, and a whole lot of crafty line cutting later, I got myself.... a whole bunch of electronic crap I'm not necessarily sure I need. But hey 400 people were willing to wait in line for these doorbusters so that makes it okay, right? RIGHT???!?
-_-;
mou nemasu.
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| Tuesday, November 13th, 2007
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6:27 pm - I got glasses today.
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...and all of a sudden I realize the world has DETAIL.
I've been missing out. @_@
-your new 4-eyes.
Pics to follow soon.
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| Wednesday, July 18th, 2007
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11:02 pm - Late AX video link :)
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I was cosplaying with two other friends as the Tonberry King while at AX.
I wasn't in it for long because it was hot, so there aren't many pictures floating around. Sasha is the wonderful artist who made them. They look awesome!! We were stopped every few inches with people saying "OH NOES INSTANT KILL" XD
If only I had a picture with Christine's Moogle ;_;
current mood: chipper
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| Wednesday, June 13th, 2007
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7:38 pm - Look it's Superdan!...I caught a felon yesterday. No, really.
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I've worked in a pharmacy for a couple years now. (How time flies...) Work there is always interesting because retail is innately interesting.
About three weeks ago, we received a prescription for Oxycontin 80MG #90. Now, Oxycontin is some seriously heavy pain medication and 80mg is as high as it gets. A dosing of three times a day like that would be fatal to you or I since we haven't built up any type of tolerance. You're not going to be on this kind of dosing unless you're a cancer patient or in end stage renal disease or have multiple schlerosis or something like that. The point is that if you're really in need of this, then there would be plenty of activity as far as prescription history goes prior to it. And here is a girl waltzing in with a prescription with no prior medical history, wanting to purchase them all out of pocket (about $480 dollars!!). Highly suspicious. So my pharmacist called to verify the prescription and found out it was a forgery. A really good one! We called the police because the doctor ordered it, but these people are really smart, and we didn't expect her to return to pick up the prescription. True enough, she didn't.
Once the police came in to formally write up a report, they sequestered a picture of her from the video cameras and we were given a copy in case she did come back. My pharmacist thought it would be funny to paste a text bubble next to this photo that said "Oh Dan you're so hot when you fill oxycontin" -_-;;; People loved it, and so I had the displeasure of staring at her picture every day "saying" that I'm hot for the past few weeks.
Yesterday, I was covering the drop-off window where patients drop off their prescriptions when a familiar face came to the window. IT WAS HER!!! And surprise, she had another prescription for Oxycontin. I look up and did my best fake smile and excused myself to "check stock" ._.; and quickly went to my pharmacist whispering "it's her. call 911". Then it was time to pretend I was a fumbling idiot who typed slow...anything to keep her there long enough for the police to arrive. My pharmacist couldn't walk away or do anything suspicious, so he seriously called 911 right in her line of sight. I could hear what he was saying, so I bet she could have too. I decided to prevent that by diverting her attention to my voice and million questions that become kind of stupid as I started to run out XD (would you like child safety caps? can I have an alternate phone number in case we cant reach you? did you know we also used to have a staff member with the same last name?). I had only taken some 5-6 minutes when it became obvious that I couldn't keep her any longer. I told her it'd be ready in 5 minutes if she'd wait, but she declined, perhaps sensing something wrong, and left for the door.
I asked a coworker to quickly remove her pharmacy smock jacket as to not be obvious and quickly run to grab her license plates as she drove off. Apparently she had two african american "drivers" and as soon as she slipped into the back seat of the car, a buttload of police blockaded the car and came out with their guns drawn!!!! WOAH. That was fast!
They arrested all three and blocked some 2-3 rows of cars from being able to leave the parking lot for at least a couple hours.
Now, let's pray that I don't leave an evening shift at night one day and have retaliatory "visitors" @_@
current mood: amused
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| Monday, June 11th, 2007
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10:40 am - A few more random things.
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1. Use Google to find crap! Here's a search string that can help you find files with google. Copy paste the following into google, and you'll find mp3s for "The Fray":
{-inurl:(htm|html|php) intitle:”index of” +”last modified” +”parent directory” +description +size +(mp3) “fray”}
You can change the syntax above to fit your needs. change (mp3) to be any filetype and "fray" to be any word. you can also use | as an "or" . therefore if i did (smc|fig) and "mario" I could probably find super ninteno "mario" emulator files that end in .smc or .fig
Pretty nifty :)
2. I've been spending less time chatting or surfing or reading the newspaper because I realized that while they may be useful (being up to date on current news) or useless (surfing wikipedia for example), it still ends up being unproductive because in a month's time I wouldn't have remembered doing it at all. So, the last couple months I've been studying kanji and learning to play the guitar. Both are going kinda so-so, with the kanji study being a lot more productive than the guitar stuff. I've picked up on the Heisig method of learning kanji which has its issues, the biggest of which being that i dont know any on/kun readings. It's also going to be a pain learning the compound kanji. Still, I can write from memory and know the meaning of nearly some 400 kanji in this short time, and without really trying all that hard. Here's a list of most of them, if any of you jp people want to test me XD All of them are Jouyou common use kanji, but some of them are obscure.
口日月田目古吾冒朋明唱晶品呂昌早旭世胃旦胆亘凹凸旧自白百中千舌升昇丸寸専博占上下卓朝只貝貞員見児元頁頑凡負万句肌旬勺的首乙乱直具真工左右有賄貢項刀刃切召昭則副別丁町可頂子孔了女好如母貫兄克小少大多夕汐外名石肖硝砕砂削光太器臭妙省厚奇川州順水氷永泉原願泳沼沖江汁潮源活消況河泊湖測土吐圧埼垣圭封涯寺時均火炎煩淡灯畑災灰点照魚漁里黒墨鯉量厘埋同洞胴向尚字守完宣宵安宴寄富貯木林森桂柏枠梢棚杏桐植枯朴村相机本札暦案燥未末沫味妹朱株若草苦寛薄葉模漠墓暮膜苗兆桃眺犬状黙然荻狩猫牛特告先洗介界茶合塔王玉宝珠現狂皇呈全栓理主注柱金銑鉢銅釣針銘鎮道導辻迅造迫逃辺巡車連輸前各格略客額夏処条落冗軍輝運冠夢坑高享塾熟亭京涼景鯨舎周週士吉壮荘売学覚栄書津牧攻敗枚故敬言警計獄訂討訓詔詰詠詩語読調談諾諭式域賊栽載茂成城誠威滅減桟銭浅止歩渉頻肯企歴武賦正証政定錠走超赴越是題
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| Monday, June 4th, 2007
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1:14 am - A few interesting gems of late. or rants.
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1. Google has a 411. It will also transfer you FREE of charge! Call 1-800-GOOG-411. No joke. I had much fun with it and the automated voice recognition is top notch, as expected from Google. It understood my FAKE HINDU KWIKIE MART ACCENT!
2,Hagen Dazs has Creme Brulee flavored ice cream. Wow. How did I miss that? http://www.haagen-dazs.com/products/product.aspx?id=221 Moreover, there's a Hagen Dazs store location in Westwood UCLA. HOW DID I MISS THAT? What's so damn good about creme brulee anyway that makes it 5 bucks an ounce?
3. Leave it to the Japanese to make bitch beer that absolutely kills all alcohol taste. It's called Chu-hi, and why I hadn't tried it in my numerous trips there remains a mystery. http://www.mikegerhardt.com/blog/archives/blogpics/chuhai_grapefruit.jpg Here is a quote from the webpage I get when I hit the "I feel Lucky" button on a google search for Chu-hi: "I must admit that this has become the bain of my existence. I love them so much that I honestly would drink them all the time, but the give me such a buzz that I would just live in a state of drunkeness." XD
4. I frequent a lot of deal-of-the-day websites, such as Woot.com -- they are pretty good since if a company sells only one thing the entire day, that one thing better be something good or that company is in quite a bit of trouble. Anyway, there are sometimes random bags of crap or mystery bags with random crap in it. Usually stuff they have in their warehouse they need to rid of or if you're really lucky something that's really expensive like a Nintendo Wii or 61" LCD TV. Sometimes, as was the case with my bag, it's a gag prize. I got this useless crap. Ahahaha, it's so stupid.
current mood: geeky
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| Sunday, May 27th, 2007
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11:42 am
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Imagine this happening all your life:
Me: Hi nice to meet you. My name is Dan
Mr.X: Dan? You mean your name is Dan Tran ??
Me: Uh, yeah. It rhymes, I know.
Mr.X: HAHA. DAN TRAN THE MAN!
Me: Yeah. Uh. that's me.
Mr.X: MWAHAHA DAN TRAN THE *INSERT WORD HERE* MAN!!!
Me: .....
-_- At this point Mr. X thinks they're original. Unbeknownst to him though, I've heard this conversation hundreds of times. The interesting thing though is that many times he really is original. I've heard everything from the conventional "Dan Tran the Tennis Man" to the unconventional
"Dan Tran the Orkin Man" (remember that exterminator commercial from 10 years ago? well thanks to that chant I'll never forget it).
So here it is. Submit your DAN TRAN CHANT. Go to my group: I ♥ DAN TRAN and post it in the group forum!
http://ucla.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2258055623
(If you don't have facebook, just post it here)
The winner will win a prize. and bragging rights. XD
current mood: amused
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| Tuesday, May 15th, 2007
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10:40 pm - Uh Oh. Another crappy law.
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Get ready for the Intellectual Property Protection Act of 2007. While the Bush administration is pushing the bill, looking through the provisions contained therein make it unmistakably clear who is really behind it: First of all we get a new crime: attempting to infringe copyright - it'll get you just as much prison time as actually committing the infringement. Then we have wiretaps for investigations into people who are attempting to infringe copyright, increased penalties for DMCA violations, penalties for intended copyright crimes and last but not least the Department of Homeland Security giving the RIAA a heads-up when somebody tries to import CDs containing unauthorized recordings of live musical performances.
http://news.com.com/8301-10784_3-9719339-7.html
current mood:  annoyed
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| Monday, May 7th, 2007
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1:15 am - One short sleep past, we wake eternally
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My grandma suffered a horrible case of airsickness during her flight home.
After a few days of not being able to eat well, she had a rare condition where her intestines shrank and tied themselves in a knot (internal herniation? I'm unsure). She required surgery.
Her body is not strong enough to recover.
She has less than 1% chance of survival.
I'm told to expect to lose her sometime this week.
Damn.
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| Friday, April 27th, 2007
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2:40 am
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My grandmother was diagnosed with cancer.
At her blessed age of 93, she has had a full life. She wants to return to Vietnam, and I no longer have any reason to object. I've grown up with her by my side. I remember taking walks with her around the neighborhood when I was only 5. I'll likely not see her alive and well again after she leaves.
She leaves in 4 days.
Dear god. What am I supposed to tell her before she leaves? I can't find the words.
current mood:  numb
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| Saturday, February 17th, 2007
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3:19 am - Art of Seduction...
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| Wednesday, January 10th, 2007
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12:47 pm - Hahaha.. an excerpt from my recent bank statement.
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Price of gas...
01/08/2007 CHEVRON CITY OF INDUS CA -- $27.65 <--on the way to lorena's home
01/08/2007 ARCO PAYPOINT ONTARIO CA -- $30.73 <-- near lorena's home
01/02/2007 UNION 76 NORTHRIDGE, CA -- $32.05 <-- after leaving christina's new year's eve
12/26/2006 ARCO PAYPOINT CANOGA PARK CA -- $29.59 <-- after work & dropping lorena off
12/21/2006 EXXONMOBIL CORONA CA -- $28.76 <---- lorena's home
12/18/2006 ARCO PAYPOINT LONG BEACH CA -- $37.02 <--picking lorena up from randy's
Being able to hang out with Lorena throughout the holidays -- $ PRICELESS.
I dont really get the dates since they dont match up, but I guess it's because it takes the bank awhile to clear the amount.
In the run of things, just for the record, I think I am still in the red in our running tab. :( I'll make it up one day.
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| Tuesday, December 12th, 2006
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2:01 am - I almost died tonight.
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My poor baby (my car) was rear-ended while stopped at a red light. I was pushed into the intersection and narrowly avoided death. I was thrown into an intersection from behind because a car goin 60mph decided it liked using cars to stop instead of brakes.
The rear bumper is in pieces, my left panel is crushed, and my undercarriage is bent in. I was actually hit by a driver directly behind me who was rear-ended himself...by the bastard UNINSURED, and UNLICENSED driver. $#@)%(#*$#$$ ~~~!@@@@!@ If the guy who hit me pushes blame onto the uninsured motorist who slammed into him, my insurance coverage will likely only cover about $3500. I estimate damage at over $5,000. Someone lend me a shoulder to cry on. Actually, scratch that...my neck and shoulders are stiffening so much I doubt I could. I'm holding out on heading to the ER because I'm afraid I'll get stuck with the deductible. What a headache.
(When I saw oncoming traffic going towards my car and thought that that was it for me, I first thought of Ryoko. What the hell is wrong with me?! My EX??! Where's my loyalty to my family?? eugh!)
I'm not only pissed at the world; I'm pissed at myself.
current mood:  distressed
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| Sunday, November 5th, 2006
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12:02 pm - Party
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I've been trying to be social lately. I've never really had to make an effort to do so before heh. But, with many of my friends gone I need to do new things and make new friends.
I crashed Amanda's UCLA law student party last night. It was a chill party that was rocking because everyone was so vocal. In fact it was so loud in there with everyone trying to talk over other people that sometimes it hit that perfect pitch that hurt my ears. All in all, it felt like I was back in the college livestyle, if only vicariously through Amanda. It was also good because it took the focus off of having to hang with Ryoko today. I didn't get back home until 5am.
I have learned a few gems. Crickets are the frat boys of the insect kingdom. Socks are equidistant to a mile. And, red wine tastes better with cork.
Don't ask me. It made a lot of sense when I was drunk.
current mood:  drunk
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| Sunday, October 29th, 2006
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10:03 pm - Why I know I'd make a good pharmacist
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Sometimes when it gets really bad at my pharmacy, we say prescriptions will take 2-3 hours. Although my blog at photo-log.com has mentioned my qualms with the new computer system, the question of why it took 3 hours for you to get 20 Vicodin has remained unanswered. Modifying something I read online to fit my experience, I offer the following prescription scenario:
You come to the counter. I am on the phone with a drunk dude who wants the phone number to the grocery store across the street. After I instruct him on the virtues of 411, you tell me your doctor was to phone in your prescription to me. Your doctor hasn't, and you're unwilling to wait until he does. Being in a generous mood, I call your doctor's office and am put on hold for 5 minutes, then informed that your prescription was phoned in to my competitor on the other side of town. Phoning the competitor, I am immediately put on hold for 5 minutes before speaking to a clerk, who puts me back on hold to wait for the pharmacist. Your prescription is then transferred to me, and now I have to get the 2 phone calls that have been put on hold while this was being done.
Now I return to the counter to ask if we've ever filled prescriptions for you before. For some reason, you think that "for you" means "for your cousin" and you answer my question with a "yes", whereupon I excuse myself to check the computer and see you are not on file. The phone system announces I have 1 call waiting. When I return, you have left to do something very important, such as browse through the monster truck magazines, and do not hear the three PA announcements requesting that you return to the pharmacy. You return eventually, expecting to pick up the finished prescription (here the phone interrupts to announce I have 2 pharmacy calls waiting) only to find out that I need to ask your address, phone number, date of birth, if you have any allergies and insurance coverage. You tell me you're allergic to codeine. Since the prescription is for Vicodin I ask you what exactly codeine did to you when you took it. You say it made your stomach hurt and I roll my eyes and write down "no known allergies".
Here, again my phone system reminds me in a loud annoying voice that I have 2 calls waiting. You yell me you have insurance and spend the next 5 minutes looking for your card. You give up and expect me to be able to file your claim anyway. Again, I call my competitor and am immediately put on hold. Upon reaching a human, I ask them what insurance they have on file for you. I get the information and file your claim, which is rejected because you changed jobs 6 months ago. An asshole barges his way to the counter to ask where the bread is. The irritating phone system now announces I have 3 calls waiting. I inform you that the insurance the other pharmacy has on file for you isn't working. You produce a card in under 10 seconds that you seemed to be unable to find before. What you were really doing was hoping your old insurance would still work because it had a lower copay. Your new card prominently displays the logo of Blue Cross, and although Blue Cross does in fact handle millions of prescription claims every day, for the group you belong to, the claim should go to a company called Caremark, whose logo is nowhere on the card. The phone again announces I have 3 calls waiting. I wonder, why, with all our development in technology, we are still unable to invent a mute button for that annoying phone voice. A lady comes to the counter wanting to know why the cherry flavored antacid works better than the lemon cream flavored antacid. What probably happened is that she had a milder case of heartburn when she took the cherry flavored brand, as they both use the exact same ingredient in the same strength. She will not be satisfied though until I confirm her belief that the cherry flavored brand is the superior product. I file your claim with Caremark, who rejects it because you had a 30 day supply of Vicodin filled 15 days ago at another pharmacy. You swear to me on your mother's (phone again interjects with "You have 3 pharmacy calls waiting") life that you did not have a Vicodin prescription filled recently. I call Caremark and am immediately placed on hold. The most beautiful woman on the planet walks by and notices not a thing. She has never talked to a pharmacist and never will.
Upon reaching a human at Caremark, I am informed that the Vicodin prescription was indeed filled at another of my competitors. When I tell you this, you say you got hydrocodone there, not Vicodin. Another little part of me dies. The phone graciously reminds me for the millionth time that I have calls waiting. It turns out that a few days after your doctor wrote your last prescription, he told you to take it more frequently, meaning that what Caremark thought was a 30-day supply is indeed a 15 day supply with the new instructions. I call your doctor's office to confirm this and am immediately placed on hold. I call Caremark to get an override and am immediately placed on hold. My laser printer has a paper jam. It's time for my tech to go to lunch. Caremark issues the override and your claim goes though. Your insurance saves you 85 cents off the regular price of the prescription.
The phone again decides to delight my day again with its happy reminder. At the cash register you sign the acknowledgement that you received a copy of my HIPAA policy and that I offered the required OBRA counseling for new prescriptions. You remark that you're glad that your last pharmacist told you you shouldn't take over the counter Tylenol along with the Vicodin, and that the acetaminophen you're taking instead seems to be working pretty well. I break the news to you that Tylenol is simply a brand name for acetaminophen and you don't believe me. You fumble around for 2 minutes looking for your checkbook and spend another 2 minutes making out a check for four dollars and sixty seven cents. You ask why the tablets look different than those you got at the other pharmacy. I explain that they are from a different manufacturer. Tomorrow you'll be back to tell me they don't work as well.
Now imagine this wasn't you at all, but the person who dropped off their prescription three people ahead of you, and you'll start to have an idea why your prescription takes so long to fill. Oh, yeah, so why is it I know I'd make a good pharmacist? Because at the end of the day, I still love my job and I'm still smiling.
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