Yesterday was my 25th birthday. It is the first one where I didn't have some sort of party with drinking and a bunch of friends, except for some cheesecake and red wine with my grandma.

It was also the end of my second week at my new job (PhD etc.) and I have to say that I am not enjoying it very much. It's that sort of thing where you have so high expectations that you have to be disappointed. My disappointment comes from my boss. My first impression was that he is a fair guy that does good research and listens to the suggestions of his students.

He does listen to his students, but still decides to do things his way because "we have always done it this way" (aka the worst thing you could ever say in science).

Then I found out that he doesn't send his students to conferences. He thinks that they are a waste of time and is afraid to be scooped.

Then I also found out that he keeps details to experiments we do secret, so that no one could get such nice results (a method to cut nerves nicely so you can stain them).

This comes in addition to the unsocial colleagues I have (never had so much trouble to connect to other people, ever).

All that and a bunch of other things (the fact that I am not really doing research) puts me into a position to make a decision again. Should I stay or should I go?

I was hoping that it will turn out good :(

And not knowing anyone in this city (because of no time during the week...) doesn't make it better.

/whine