Stuck in the Middle

A girl in my program defended her thesis today. She did a great job and I was really kinda amazed at how well she did - how composed, etc. She had a nice story and backed it up with some nice data and I thought it all came together well. She started grad school a year after me, which kinda sucks. Science takes a really long time to do careful experimentation. And, of course, I pick the kind of science to do that takes even longer because I am working with living animals who have to produce embryos that have to be a certain quality in order to do the experiments. I also have a boss who is the worlds worst procrastinator. For example, he asked me to write a review article for an online journal which solicited this review from us. A review article is exactly what is sounds like - a survey of current and past literature on a particular subject framed in the context of general scientific scrutiny and skepticism. We were solicited in Dec 2007. I completed the manuscript in Feb 2008, after taking some time (likely about a month) to do the research and to bring together a comprehensive review article on what we know about a particular class of transcriptional repressors. This manuscript has been on the desk of my boss since then. He has not read it, he has not asked for any more input from me. Obviously the literature has advanced (meaning, it would take a major re-write on my part to bring it up to date). Absolutely nothing has been done in over 2 years. How frustrating is that? And to think, I have to get out, not one, not two, but likely three different papers this year, hopefully within the next few months. He has no concept of time, no idea how frustrating this whole thing is to me, even though I've told him over and over again. I have a feeling I would have graduated by now if I had chosen another lab to do my work in. Instead, I fester, and infuriate myself. And hope this is all preparing me for my future career. Whenever I get there.