Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Dry
My absolute worst irritant in the lab is stuff running out just as I want to use it. If I am doing stuff on my bench using stuff that only I use, this is never a problem as I'm a bit of a horder and always have plenty of buffer, reagents and stuff which I keep an eye on. This works fine in 2 of the labs I'm in as either everyone shares the chore of making up communal buffers and reagents or we all have our own unique reagents we use and aren't used by anyone else.
Today I was doing the lab thing and just getting ready to set up another experiment and cleaning my equipment when the freaking water ran out! Water is about the most fundamental reagent there is, no water = no experiments. Turns out that a nearby water system is broken so everyone has been taking water from my lab. Unfortunately the automatic refill is a bit iffy and I usually check it once a week or so which is fine. Except vast amounts of water have been taken from the system and the tank is dry and it's going to take ages to refill. Fortunately I scrounged enough water for the rest of the afternoon but this sort of thing does my head in. The main fault lies with the SO in the broken lab as he never maintains the system properly and didn't bother fixing it when it was first broken (way before christmas). Gah.
Today I was doing the lab thing and just getting ready to set up another experiment and cleaning my equipment when the freaking water ran out! Water is about the most fundamental reagent there is, no water = no experiments. Turns out that a nearby water system is broken so everyone has been taking water from my lab. Unfortunately the automatic refill is a bit iffy and I usually check it once a week or so which is fine. Except vast amounts of water have been taken from the system and the tank is dry and it's going to take ages to refill. Fortunately I scrounged enough water for the rest of the afternoon but this sort of thing does my head in. The main fault lies with the SO in the broken lab as he never maintains the system properly and didn't bother fixing it when it was first broken (way before christmas). Gah.
Monday, January 12, 2009
New Old Office
We've moved back from our temporary office into the old office which is all new and shiny and refurbished and I am so pleased with the way it is. I still have a massive desk, but this time it's level and the drawers all keep themselves closed even when unlocked. We also have coathooks so I can wear my nice long winter coat to work and not worry about getting it trashed under the wheels of my desk chair when I move about (previously the only place to put a coat was on the back of a chair). Other exciting and useful developments involve shelving (previously there was very limited shelving that was either all way to high up on the walls or in a corner above someones desk and head so not easy to acess). There are less people in the office which makes it feel a bit more relaxed and quieter and will be perfect if Billy Talentless moves out (technically this is a post doc office and he is not a post doc anymore). Another big deal is the lighting, I can't work out whether it's just the new lighter carpet and repainted walls or that I'm just sitting under a fluorescent strip but it's a whole load brighter in here. There's still film on the windows filtering out sunlight and making it look like the apocalypse is imminent every sunset but it's way better than before and should help with battling SAD over the next few months.
Best of all is that the new desks are layed out differently so that it's more friendly, previously everyone had their backs to each other and the door facing walls but now there are more window seats and less back to backs and my desk is a prime spot by a window, away from Billy and facing the door so I don't get suprised when my boss comes to see me and I'm procrastinating way on the internet.
Best of all is that the new desks are layed out differently so that it's more friendly, previously everyone had their backs to each other and the door facing walls but now there are more window seats and less back to backs and my desk is a prime spot by a window, away from Billy and facing the door so I don't get suprised when my boss comes to see me and I'm procrastinating way on the internet.
stocks
Gah, what's the point in employing a general dogsbody (a.k.a. scientific officer) if they can't even keep general supplies of gloves topped up. Billy Talentless (he was previously a PhD student and 2 post docs in the same lab group and did naff all research and totally got carried by other talented PhD students working on the same project as him) has finally wangled himself a permanent contract as a SO in the group. His role, as far as I understand it, is to liase with estates for lab/office refurbishments, keep an eye on the general group labs and keep communal stocks (gloves, tips, water, gases) topped up. It's really not a hard job to check the shelves once a week and see what's running low and order in new supplies but stuff is always running out. It wouldn't bug me so much but stuff is always run out when I need to do an experiment and it's not my job to be chasing up people for something as simple as a box of small gloves. I hate him!
Friday, January 09, 2009
winding down friday
Nearly at the end of the first full week back at work for 2009. It's been hard work, I think I'm still quite weak from the flu I had over Christmas, I've still got a bit of a cough and sniffles and I feel tired quite easily (although this may also be related to my resolution to take the stairs instead of the lift more often). I am finding it hard to summon up motivation to do much but loaf about really. Still at least I've managed to prep loads of stuff and should be good to go straight off with a load of experiments next week.
Thursday, January 08, 2009
New Year Old Habits
So far 2009 has not got off to the best of starts work wise, it's freezing outside, I'm stuck in a temporary office and it's generally dark, gloomy and moopy weather. And then everything is made the more sluggish by the fact my boss is away all this week and I was off sick the week before the christmas break so it has been ages since I actually did any work. I think I might skive off early today and go for a bit of a pootle about outside this afternoon to try and boost my vitamin D levels and see if the pitiful amount of sunlight available perks me up, I need to get back to going to the gym regularly as well but I am just totally lacking in motivation.
Oh well, I guess that's enough whinging, now time to procrastinate some more and track down some reagents I need for some important experiments.
Oh well, I guess that's enough whinging, now time to procrastinate some more and track down some reagents I need for some important experiments.
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
new year new blog?
I doubt it, but I figure this is a good time to put something new on here. This is all going to be a year of change for me. My contract is up in a few months and I still don't know what I want to do with my life. As this post doc has gone on I have enjoyed it more and more and I've got to the point where I feel like I've got to grips with everything involved in it and can make interesting and new experiments and results to add to the field. I would like to do another post doc in the biology side of things but I'm not really a biologist anymore (I certainly don't feel like I have an up to date set of skills and knowledge for general biological techniques) even though I know and understand the literature and background. Another problem with going on to another post doc is that I would have to move to a specific city where Himself has recently got a fixed term academic contract. I could do the long distance thing but I don't think I love science that much to do it.
The other obvious career option is industry but that would be more in the physics/chemistry area which I just don't feel confident in even though on paper I have the right skills and background.
Then again there is always the third way which would be to persue some sort of non lab based new career but that still seems weird to me.
And if that isn't enough to worry about I turn 30 just before I lose this current job! And then there is the global recession and general media misery. Maybe I should cut my losses and go off and have babies which is what most of my friends suddenly seem to have done!
The other obvious career option is industry but that would be more in the physics/chemistry area which I just don't feel confident in even though on paper I have the right skills and background.
Then again there is always the third way which would be to persue some sort of non lab based new career but that still seems weird to me.
And if that isn't enough to worry about I turn 30 just before I lose this current job! And then there is the global recession and general media misery. Maybe I should cut my losses and go off and have babies which is what most of my friends suddenly seem to have done!
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