Crunch Time and a Chibuku-full Aftermath

Research is insane. I apparently never understood the meaning of the term "crunch time" until now. When it's crunch time for a med school exam, at least you know that the exam will happen, and that whatever work you did or did not put in will be reflected. Not true with research! My crunch time means collecting lab values from 800 charts, cleaning my database, running the statistics, putting this into an abstract, and then driving around Botswana asking co-authors to review it, ALL WITHIN THE NEXT 3 DAYS! And if that doesn't happen, well shoot, we're out of luck and a lot of sleep.

The toughest part for me is that I'm so bogged down in the actual data collection process, that I don't have the kind of time I need to be asking the bigger questions and running the statistics. I am worried a career in research would always feel like a race to the finish line without the necessary time to process everything. However, it's pretty funny to say that after spending my first 4 months complaining about the system being so slow and having nothing to do. Now with data and a deadline, I'm losing my mind and desperate for things to slow down.

Anyway, I really hope I can pull this off this weekend. Wish me luck and send some encouragement as I sit alone swearing at my computer and possibly architecting some new curse words involving STATA code.

Here's what I'll be doing Wednesday night at 2am after my abstract gets submitted.
Chibuku, also known as Shake-Shake, is the traditional brew in Botswana. It's fermented Sorghum, and you know you have a good carton when it's nearly exploding with gas. It has the consistency of milk that's gone bad to the point of having chewy particles, but it tastes more like a mixture of yogurt and vomit. I was told once that it's the perfect snack because it's both food and drink.

This particular night, Matt and Tessa were having a homeless party due to their short-lived homelessness, so rest assured, my look was only an attempt to be loony tunes homelesss lady with a wand and lots of cats.