Sunday, September 30, 2007
A lab called home
I'm a bit peeved tonight as I came into work to make up some plates and bits in advance of all the biology bits I have to do this week. Unfortunately I didn't do the main prep I wanted as I couldn't find the antibiotics to make up into my plates. I like working on a project that uses so many different skills and is so interdisciplinary but I am getting a bit tired of being a bit of an itinerant scientist and not being settled in just a single lab (or even just a single department) like most of the people around me. It's especially hard going over to the biology lab as I use it so infrequently and I don't really know all the protocols and particular lab proceedures and culture for doing stuff. I just slip in, use all the materials and equipment I need for a week and then disappear for another 6 months or more. It is hard as there are some big personalities in the lab and they are all used to working together all the time and I find it very hard to speak to new people, ask questions and make new friends. Ideally I like to pop into the lab at strange times to do as much as possible out the way of everyone else, but at the same time my efforts are thwarted by not knowing where stuff I need is kept and not wanting to rummage around the millions of fridges, freezers and cupboards to find stuff.
Another thing which is getting me down a bit is that I do very little lab work in the department where my office is based and again it's hard to get to know people and make friends when working on such a different project and not being around all the time so I miss out on all the coffee break bonding and stuff which goes towards getting to know colleagues and stuff. Being multidepartment gets really physically tiring as the 3 labs/departments I work in are separated by up to a 10 minute walk (depending on how much stuff I am carrying with me).
Enough moaning, I will be up bright and early tomorrow for the gym and hopefully get into work early, finish the stuff I wanted to do tonight and prepare everything else for the week and get on with more exciting sciencey stuff. I also get a minion for the first time ever so I hope they are reasonably bright and independent and interested in the project.
Another thing which is getting me down a bit is that I do very little lab work in the department where my office is based and again it's hard to get to know people and make friends when working on such a different project and not being around all the time so I miss out on all the coffee break bonding and stuff which goes towards getting to know colleagues and stuff. Being multidepartment gets really physically tiring as the 3 labs/departments I work in are separated by up to a 10 minute walk (depending on how much stuff I am carrying with me).
Enough moaning, I will be up bright and early tomorrow for the gym and hopefully get into work early, finish the stuff I wanted to do tonight and prepare everything else for the week and get on with more exciting sciencey stuff. I also get a minion for the first time ever so I hope they are reasonably bright and independent and interested in the project.
Labels: interdisciplinary perils, lab stuff
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