fractional distillation takes 2; practical lessons from my pre-med life

Some ramblings from an old biologist about last week…

In a pinch I have always relied on divide and conquer so standing by myself the fatal flaw is obvious.  I have a house to clean, a garden to water & weed, a barbecue to plan & host, home school topics waiting, some art that needs doing, a little driving on the side between the gym, home, & grandpa’s.  And then there is that mountain.  The loudest voice in my head says ‘hike’ the tiny nagging crew says 'for god’s sake clean something people are coming over!'

I heard that vacuuming is the most effect way of making your house look better with the least amount of effort.  But I’m telling you someone’s mother wrote that as trick to get you to pick up the house because we all know you can’t vacuum up dirty clothes, spare shoes, books, and toys.  Yes vacuuming is very effective in cleaning you house if you first clean your house in order to vacuum.   

Dr. Nielsen Anatomy Professor sitting on his desk holding a full size skeleton on his lap, “It is all very simple.  All you need to do is learn some names, and then some systems, and the little parts, and details, and all the organs and tissues, the bones of course, and the landmarks, the muscles, their attachments, the ligaments, the tendons, the nerves, the veins and arteries.  See it is very simple.”

Yes life & house work, like anatomy is very simple, when you put it like that.

So is Fractional Distillation. Staring at the empty results watching my O Chem. partner beginning to shift nervously across the bench, “Tell me something dude, are you sure you put both compounds in here?”

The look he gives me answers the question. 

Damn, you can’t divide what you don’t have. 

So divide is out- that leaves conquer.  With no one here to help me, I will have to screw this up alone.  lol. I think my shortcomings suit me rather well.  Some of my biggest achievements were my biggest failures; not simply the lessons learned but often the actual end result of hit & miss. 

Anatomy grade A.

O chem. grade A-.

O chem. partner friend for life, after I started speaking to him again. 

House cleaned, garden handled, BBQ successful, home schooling happy, art done, all kids & events accounted for. 

The mountain? She is patiently waiting for me to sort my shit out realize divide and conquer was the answer from the start.  Divide me from the expectations of others and conquer some of my own demons. 

I can’t always do it all. 

I can’t even sometimes make everybody happy. 

Sometimes the answer is walk away with honesty. 

O chem. Write Up: Successfully proven the Fractional Distillation process requires more than one compound in order to achieve fractionalization.  See attached results with amended lab procedures noted.

 

House Hold Write Up: The house is so clean you can (for the first time ever around here) eat off the floor but hold your applause for a couple of hours mom’s gone hiking…