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True Confessions of a Lab Rat

  • Aug. 18th, 2007 at 7:42 AM
Pinto, Quinto hearts Pine, Pine Farr
Experiments that should have gone well: many
Experiments that should have gone well but have instead given me puzzling results: uncountable
Experiments that have gone well: ...five? Maybe?
Experiments that have involved me being too tired to be shaking because my boss was watching every move: one
Time spent attempting to hunt boss down to ask him questions/show him results: HAHAHA incredible
Level of paranoia about reagents and blocks and even tubes used: exponentially increased
Number of conversations about lab politics successfully ducked and evaded: one

The motto of the people who do molecular biology in the lab appears to be "Trust no one", and has led to at least one very funny (in retrospect) episode with people who work on RNA. More and more experience seems to be bearing that motto out.

Am going to Point Pleasant Beach today and after to barbeque dinner! Was swimsuit-less until late yesterday, when my friend and I hoofed it to Saks after work so we wouldn't have to go naked on the beach. I fixated on a discounted purple Burberry bikini ten minutes into browsing and spent the rest of the time choosing a coverup and waiting for my friend. Pictures forthcoming.

Comments

[info]emblem wrote:
Aug. 18th, 2007 02:39 pm (UTC)
Oh, sweetie. *hugs* I hope everything turns out well. You have my sympathy and best wishes.

(There are a bunch of bio people on the flist. We should form a support group or something. :D)
[info]starlighter wrote:
Aug. 20th, 2007 03:55 pm (UTC)
Thanks for the support! Really, it's been fun but this particular series of experiments have been particularly trying and it was in the end another experiment I did (almost perfectly, thank god) that put my boss in a good mood before we left for the weekend.

We should get together for dinner or something sometime when you are in NY? We should also set up a group blog or something where we just complain about problems like this :))
[info]tarigwaemir wrote:
Aug. 18th, 2007 04:33 pm (UTC)
::hugs:: Oh, how I can sympathize, and I'm sure I'll be actively empathizing in a week. Good luck and have fun at the beach!
[info]starlighter wrote:
Aug. 20th, 2007 03:58 pm (UTC)
Thanks! The first couple of months, I'm told, are always this trying, no matter how experienced you are. This never stops me from wanting things to go perfectly for me anyway. :) I'm an open ear if you ever need to vent, though it's not as good as me being able to take you out for a cup of hot tea and some dessert. (Didn't go to the beach after all, due to a bunch of extenuating circumstances, though I had my bag packed and my swimsuit on and everything. Oh well. Some other weekend, and I do still promise pictures, though I'm sure beaches in Cali are much better.) Good to hear you're more or less settled and good luck to you too! I'll get on Pigeon (?) soon and we can chat :)