... now I'm getting confused- am I really German???

Bobby- there was no talk about eugenics- just proventing breeding of extreme cats. Besides, if you mate two pure bred Rex you really have to watch out-there is a high percentage (50%) of incompatible blood linews within this breed, if you don't know what you are doing (as a breeder) 50% the offspring are born dead. My point is: why breed cats that have so many problems in the first place? No need for it in my oppinion.

Piglet! Those are almost German thoughts. What happend to the Monty Python characters of this 'ol island?

Ok- because it's Friday. When I first came to the UK I said that my supervisor was buggering be. Trying to say that she was bugging me as in pestering me about something. The rest is up to your imagination.

Our French postdoc use to say that she was SOO boRING! When she was bored. And so on. A spanish postdoc was talking about restriction sheits, instead of sites.

H- sadly: yes. Having whiskers is thought to essential for every pussy, as they use them for orientation. But we're getting a bit off topic with this. Strangely the missing furr was not seen to be essential - but I would agree with HangSeng: a pussy should be warm to the touch!

My appologies! HangSeng, you are a true master of the English language, then!

regards, Mrs anonGerman

Tricky- Rex cats often don't have any whiskers either, so under German law they have been (in the past, don't know about now)classified as a "Qualzucht" - ie a breed that causes suffering, and should not be continued to be bred.

HangSeng- I do hope you realize that pussy has two meanings in the English language. To say you like pussy- er, well it could be taken as slightly inappropriate. Especially by the women here.

As we frequently have such mix ups in the lab I just wanted to clarify things.

p.s. If yoy DO know what you are talking about, well -then you are a worthy DanD replacement.

Mooncups & banana guard holders.... the world remains full of mysteries. And there was me thinking a banana guard holder was something er, different. If you know what I mean.

I'm going to regret this: Anyway- what is a banana guard holder?

Is this a typical British thing, or am I too tired to think at the moment?? Banana guard holder, hmmmm ....

Hey Kitten,

soon you'll have to use advanced techniques: hiding in the loo/microscope room, making sure you're not caught out in the loo with your supervisor asking about your results while you're Ehem busy, sitting in seminars so she can see- but not speak to you.

Our lab was having a lab outing at a Thai restaurant. My supervisor was talking to Liandi, our Chinese technician. She kept on calling her Limei (name of the tissue culture technician, not at the restaurant) and asking her if the restaurant was serving typical dishes for her home town. Poor Liandi didn't quite know how to politely point out that she's from China, not Thailand

Rolinski- that's a relief- I mean the dog thing. I live with a lovely lesbian couple at the moment who are trying to adopt/have IVF- and they have often have Gary & Gary and the sausage dog over at week ends.
sausage dog is a highly excitable dachs hound, who is going to be mated this year. Oh boy ....

anyway, so much for my experiences here in Brighton.

Err, I forgot to mention that I would like to hear about other supervisor's comments.

So, you inbred foreigners & UK students ... let's hear from the worst!

Ah yes, there's several classic things she's said, but I'll go for one of the latest.

She was speaking at our centre retreat about the wealth of patient cell lines our centre has collected over the past years and the importance of these cell lines for resaerch.

She then said it was important that there were so many scientist from foreign countries working at the centre and that it is important to keep up good contacts. She finished the talk by saying that the foreign student should keep in contact when they are back in their countries, as inbreeding and intermarriages were more commen in some countries (such as India), and that good relationships could lead to new cell lines and collaborations working on these cell lines for the centre.