LAB MANAGER NOW BITCHEEEEEESSSSSS
After 2.5 months of sucking it as a salesman for one of the bigger players in the research reagents industry (hint hint it's german and the name ends with kgaa), i stopped sucking it as a salesman.
So yeah sales sucked. I quit that job in a shitstorm. Honestly though, i have the courage to admit i was not really good at it, because my heard is in research. But my boss was such a humongous self righteous asshole, i'm happy i left. And yes, i wish much ill for that douchebag.
I took a job managing a lab. A lab that has 1 employee, me. So it's basically back to lab tech with a better salary. Company says i'll get an assistant but it's been 10 months already and no assistant. So i reckon i won't get an assistant. It's ok, i like working largely by myself. Been doing so for the last 5 or 6 years.
What kind of lab you ask? A application development lab in.... food science. I used to joke about how being a lab tech was basically being a glorified dishwasher. Well being a lab manager i feel like a glorified dishwasher that cooks, but now i have a businesscard that says i'm boss and nobody is the wiser because people just assume i have assistants.
My new boss is great, coworkers could be better but could also be so much worse, the lab's massive and the office is close to home. No more being on the road for me! No more traffic, no more carrying a heavy laptop around, no more taking shit from assholes at merck, i'll have none of that.
Now i have so much time to do stuff. Imagining all the things i can do with all the products i have on hand. I make kickass science pudding and i'm learning insane amounts of chemistry i didnt know. I also have lab developed products hitting the street soon, so that's good.
Granted the job has some shit to take as well, but the perks thus far outweigh the shit. And since this is a legit research job, i might be able to get back home after a few years.
Last post i said i doubted i'd be back but here i am.
Welcome back.
3.9.12
24.3.11
So that job sucked
Oh blog i've left you unattended for close to 3 years.
Anyway, my boss was a bitch and the job pure slavery. The school's superintendent left and didn't hold up to any of the promises he made when hiring me. After a year i was still without a contract, without terms and absolutely no hand to negotiate anything.
The job search was on.
Miraculously i was offered a sales rep job at a huge german multinational corporation that manufactures chemicals and pharmaceuticals. Kudos if you can figure out which.
I quit being a lab tech.
I sell chemicals for research. Not as easy as it sounds considering all the science research branches there are. It's twice the amount of money i was earning at the school with commissions, benefits and car allowance. Still my boss is an ass but the job is bearable as long as they don't give me different customers. Being a supplier for science labs kicks ass, you meet all sorts of interesting people and learn all sorts of different fun facts about their research.
That's the end of the lab tech and thus this blog. If i ever become a lab tech again, i'll post again but i doubt i'll ever go back down that road.
21.8.08
Lab mice around...
...but this time to feed the snake.
I got the job. I still don't have a contract signed but i started working 2 weeks ago. I did my month's notice during the summer break that i, once again, had to endure with little else to do but to feed the fish.
First, the summer.
One of the teachers at the school where i worked at asked me to take care of his fish in his apartment, and so i did. As compensation, i asked him to bring me a FujiFilm finepix s1000fd camera. My plan was to pay him of course. The camera cost like $215US through amazon, pretty good deal for an amateur 10 megapixe, megazoom digital camera and came with a free 2gb sd card. Although the 3 tetras got eaten and the snail died, all other fish survived. Of course, i also watered the plants, aired the place out twice a week and swept the place twice, not to mention the fact of having someone checking the apartment daily... so he gave me the camera as payment, which was a very generous payment.
Then there were the other 2 tanks at the school. One was the biology one, which i've known for years. The other was this large goldfish tank with a guppy and a gourami. The bio tank did fabulous, the guppies reproduced. The other tank was different, the guppy got eaten and the gourami went belly up one evening. The goldfish on the other hand did just fine.
I also did a little of everything for the labs, but nothing out of the ordinary. Microscope repair, equipment calibration, inventories and helped out the IT guys a little.
The last week of july my notice ended, and that was that for the other school.
I took a few days between jobs, 4 to be exact. It was kinda relaxing.
Friday, August 1st was my first day at this job. As i stated in my previous post, still a lab tech but now i'm going to teach a little.
So far, here's the score.
Pros:
- bigger and better office. A whole chemistry lab for myself.
- my own desk, computer and resources.
- WINDOWS! my previous office only had tiny windows high above and even if they had been large, they would've just looked at the building in front. Here i have massive windows and a killer view of the mountain to the north and the hills to the south.
- no air conditioning! my sinuses are happy. Nice airflow through the floor, though.
- i'm a little higher up the food chain here.
- nice people to work with.
- the labs were pretty organized
- fridge in my office
Cons:
- struggling not to be come the teachers' secretary
- slower computer (but soon to be fixed with more ram)
- lots of older equipment, and a lot of it doesn't work, is almost fubar or is missing pieces.
- last time an inventory was done was 8 years ago.
- one of the teachers is younger than me...
- department head is a mathematician. This is a bigger issue than most people would think, hopefully this person does not become hostile.
In other news, it seems i've traded fish for a rabbit, several budgies and a medium sized python. The snake is by far the most interesting animal. She gets white mice a few of times a year for meals and she generally just rests in her glass terrarium.
Yeah. That's it.
I will miss working with some people, like the bio teacher at the other school, she was kinda nutty but she was always a good person. The admin staff as well, they were all cool.
But i admit it, i'm by far better off here.
I got the job. I still don't have a contract signed but i started working 2 weeks ago. I did my month's notice during the summer break that i, once again, had to endure with little else to do but to feed the fish.
First, the summer.
One of the teachers at the school where i worked at asked me to take care of his fish in his apartment, and so i did. As compensation, i asked him to bring me a FujiFilm finepix s1000fd camera. My plan was to pay him of course. The camera cost like $215US through amazon, pretty good deal for an amateur 10 megapixe, megazoom digital camera and came with a free 2gb sd card. Although the 3 tetras got eaten and the snail died, all other fish survived. Of course, i also watered the plants, aired the place out twice a week and swept the place twice, not to mention the fact of having someone checking the apartment daily... so he gave me the camera as payment, which was a very generous payment.
Then there were the other 2 tanks at the school. One was the biology one, which i've known for years. The other was this large goldfish tank with a guppy and a gourami. The bio tank did fabulous, the guppies reproduced. The other tank was different, the guppy got eaten and the gourami went belly up one evening. The goldfish on the other hand did just fine.
I also did a little of everything for the labs, but nothing out of the ordinary. Microscope repair, equipment calibration, inventories and helped out the IT guys a little.
The last week of july my notice ended, and that was that for the other school.
I took a few days between jobs, 4 to be exact. It was kinda relaxing.
Friday, August 1st was my first day at this job. As i stated in my previous post, still a lab tech but now i'm going to teach a little.
So far, here's the score.
Pros:
- bigger and better office. A whole chemistry lab for myself.
- my own desk, computer and resources.
- WINDOWS! my previous office only had tiny windows high above and even if they had been large, they would've just looked at the building in front. Here i have massive windows and a killer view of the mountain to the north and the hills to the south.
- no air conditioning! my sinuses are happy. Nice airflow through the floor, though.
- i'm a little higher up the food chain here.
- nice people to work with.
- the labs were pretty organized
- fridge in my office
Cons:
- struggling not to be come the teachers' secretary
- slower computer (but soon to be fixed with more ram)
- lots of older equipment, and a lot of it doesn't work, is almost fubar or is missing pieces.
- last time an inventory was done was 8 years ago.
- one of the teachers is younger than me...
- department head is a mathematician. This is a bigger issue than most people would think, hopefully this person does not become hostile.
In other news, it seems i've traded fish for a rabbit, several budgies and a medium sized python. The snake is by far the most interesting animal. She gets white mice a few of times a year for meals and she generally just rests in her glass terrarium.
Yeah. That's it.
I will miss working with some people, like the bio teacher at the other school, she was kinda nutty but she was always a good person. The admin staff as well, they were all cool.
But i admit it, i'm by far better off here.
14.5.08
News
Found a new job.
Our school's science department has a spoken agreement with a competing school to trade materials when we need to. It is common for us to trade organics for inorganic acids and that.
The boss of the science dept over there is a neighbour of my parents so i have known this guy for a good 2 years, nice guy. In one of those many opportunities when i went to trade something with him he and i sat down for a little while and discussed teaching. At the time i hadn't even thought about it because i was still trying to go corporate, so i told him it'd be nice but that i wasn't interested at the time.
So a year went by and about 3 weeks ago i went to trade some butyric acid for some acetone. He brought it up again.
Things have changed since he and i spoke last about teaching; i got approval from the bosses here to start a master's program that was provided through the school at a minimal cost to me. But the program was riddled with IFs. If i was accepted by the university to do the masters, if there was space in the program, if the teacher wanted a class that big, if there's nobody with more priority that needs to take it (teachers get priority) etc etc etc.
The university accepts a class size max of 25, but gives teachers the liberty of taking more students if they want. Right now the profs are allowing 35 max. I'd be #34 in the class. but not all of the classes will be taught by the same profs, some will have other profs coming from the states, and if these guys want 25 only, everybody from #26 to me is fucked. That and if there's a couple of new teachers that want in, i'd also be bumped out because i don't have priority. Too many ifs.
Also there's the issue that the masters is at least 2 years long, and that's if i do all classes on schedule and pass all courses and produce a decent thesis. Then there's the fact that i'd have to pay for a great deal of the courses, not to mention plane tickets, certification exams etc etc etc.
And then there's the little thing that this master's is not directly conducent to getting certified.
I could take cert exams after finishing the masters... but what good is that to me if i have to wait so long to do that and dish out so much money? The school's not going to help me much with that because i'm just a local hire, so essentially I'm not going to slave away at this school with no chances of growth while i could be doing something of myself, faster and more efficiently.
So back to that conversation 3 weeks ago. He asked me what about teaching and if i had changed my mind. I told them my school was willing to pay for a little bit of the masters and that i'd have certs in 3 to 4 years.
He asked what if i took a job at his place and got certs through a fast track program with the school paying for the courses (and me paying for room and board). We sat down, discussed a little bit how it'd be. The entire science team of that school was moving out due to contracts that end, so a new crew is coming in and some don't have a lot of experience and not one of them had ever used vernier classroom technology or smartboard. I'm sort of an expert with both.
So here's what they offered.
- The fast track course
- The student teaching hours
- The praxis test
- The possibility of being department head once i started teaching full time
- The possibility of getting prepared for IB, AP and some other curricula.
What does this entail? That, with 99% certainty, in 5 years i could be at an ISS fair getting a job in a different country. Where i am at, the certainty is more like 50% and i'm looking at at least 8 years to be there.
I'd start doing the same job, lab techie, but for a little bit more money and a lot less time in traffic everyday. Next summer i'd start the fast track. In the 09-10 schoolyear i'd do my student teaching hours and in the summer of 10 i'd do my second summer i'd finish the fast track and get certs.
Then i commit to a to 5 year contract at the school, get heaps of experience and (with the kids i haven't had being about 3 to 5 years old) move to a different country.
So i got the call today with the offer and i said sure why not. Nothing to loose, everything to gain. They'll write the contract up and have me sign it sometime soon. Then, once school ends, i'll send in my resignation and be done with it.
Still a lab tech, just not going to be one at this dump anymore. :)
Our school's science department has a spoken agreement with a competing school to trade materials when we need to. It is common for us to trade organics for inorganic acids and that.
The boss of the science dept over there is a neighbour of my parents so i have known this guy for a good 2 years, nice guy. In one of those many opportunities when i went to trade something with him he and i sat down for a little while and discussed teaching. At the time i hadn't even thought about it because i was still trying to go corporate, so i told him it'd be nice but that i wasn't interested at the time.
So a year went by and about 3 weeks ago i went to trade some butyric acid for some acetone. He brought it up again.
Things have changed since he and i spoke last about teaching; i got approval from the bosses here to start a master's program that was provided through the school at a minimal cost to me. But the program was riddled with IFs. If i was accepted by the university to do the masters, if there was space in the program, if the teacher wanted a class that big, if there's nobody with more priority that needs to take it (teachers get priority) etc etc etc.
The university accepts a class size max of 25, but gives teachers the liberty of taking more students if they want. Right now the profs are allowing 35 max. I'd be #34 in the class. but not all of the classes will be taught by the same profs, some will have other profs coming from the states, and if these guys want 25 only, everybody from #26 to me is fucked. That and if there's a couple of new teachers that want in, i'd also be bumped out because i don't have priority. Too many ifs.
Also there's the issue that the masters is at least 2 years long, and that's if i do all classes on schedule and pass all courses and produce a decent thesis. Then there's the fact that i'd have to pay for a great deal of the courses, not to mention plane tickets, certification exams etc etc etc.
And then there's the little thing that this master's is not directly conducent to getting certified.
I could take cert exams after finishing the masters... but what good is that to me if i have to wait so long to do that and dish out so much money? The school's not going to help me much with that because i'm just a local hire, so essentially I'm not going to slave away at this school with no chances of growth while i could be doing something of myself, faster and more efficiently.
So back to that conversation 3 weeks ago. He asked me what about teaching and if i had changed my mind. I told them my school was willing to pay for a little bit of the masters and that i'd have certs in 3 to 4 years.
He asked what if i took a job at his place and got certs through a fast track program with the school paying for the courses (and me paying for room and board). We sat down, discussed a little bit how it'd be. The entire science team of that school was moving out due to contracts that end, so a new crew is coming in and some don't have a lot of experience and not one of them had ever used vernier classroom technology or smartboard. I'm sort of an expert with both.
So here's what they offered.
- The fast track course
- The student teaching hours
- The praxis test
- The possibility of being department head once i started teaching full time
- The possibility of getting prepared for IB, AP and some other curricula.
What does this entail? That, with 99% certainty, in 5 years i could be at an ISS fair getting a job in a different country. Where i am at, the certainty is more like 50% and i'm looking at at least 8 years to be there.
I'd start doing the same job, lab techie, but for a little bit more money and a lot less time in traffic everyday. Next summer i'd start the fast track. In the 09-10 schoolyear i'd do my student teaching hours and in the summer of 10 i'd do my second summer i'd finish the fast track and get certs.
Then i commit to a to 5 year contract at the school, get heaps of experience and (with the kids i haven't had being about 3 to 5 years old) move to a different country.
So i got the call today with the offer and i said sure why not. Nothing to loose, everything to gain. They'll write the contract up and have me sign it sometime soon. Then, once school ends, i'll send in my resignation and be done with it.
Still a lab tech, just not going to be one at this dump anymore. :)
3.4.08
Glowstick solution
Here's a small and somewhat innacurate how-to. It works, not very well, but it's a start.
In one 1L beaker:
1L distilled H2O
~1g ammonium carbonate
0.5g Copper sulphate
~4g Sodium carbonate
0.2-0.4g luminol
In another beaker:
20 vol H2O2 (5.7%v/v)
Dissolve the carbonates, the sulphate and the luminol in the dH2O to make the "glow solution".
Then in one 150mm test tube have 10mL of the glow solution and in another 150mm test tube have 10mL of the hydrogen peroxide (H2O2).
Pour the H2O2 into the test tube with the glow solution. You shall see a pretty luminescent blue light emitting from the mix for about 2 seconds.
As i said, it's not a very good demo, but it's guaranteed to fascinate the shit out of students.
Always follow proper lab techniques and safety, and read the MSDS for each chemical used. This information is for reference only, if you do this it's because you want to, and are prepared and knowledgeable in the fine arts of chemistry. If you get hurt somehow it's because you're stupid and shouldn't have done it in the first place, so don't go blaming me for it.
In one 1L beaker:
1L distilled H2O
~1g ammonium carbonate
0.5g Copper sulphate
~4g Sodium carbonate
0.2-0.4g luminol
In another beaker:
20 vol H2O2 (5.7%v/v)
Dissolve the carbonates, the sulphate and the luminol in the dH2O to make the "glow solution".
Then in one 150mm test tube have 10mL of the glow solution and in another 150mm test tube have 10mL of the hydrogen peroxide (H2O2).
Pour the H2O2 into the test tube with the glow solution. You shall see a pretty luminescent blue light emitting from the mix for about 2 seconds.
As i said, it's not a very good demo, but it's guaranteed to fascinate the shit out of students.
Always follow proper lab techniques and safety, and read the MSDS for each chemical used. This information is for reference only, if you do this it's because you want to, and are prepared and knowledgeable in the fine arts of chemistry. If you get hurt somehow it's because you're stupid and shouldn't have done it in the first place, so don't go blaming me for it.
24.3.08
Making pH 7 Buffers
Considering you have the necessary chemicals:
250mL of 0.100M Potassium Phosphate Monobasic KH2PO4 (3.4022g in ~250mL dH2O)
250mL of 0.100M Sodium Phosphate Dibasic Na2PO4 (6.7017g in ~250mL dH2O)
Mix in 500mL container, add colour key preservative if you have it.
Notes:
- Obviously, use proper lab techniques. Don't just measure out 250mL of water and mix. Pour the amount in a beaker, add roughly half of the volume of water, dissolve, then dilute to 250mL in a grad cylinder.
- Solutions must be of exact concentrations, use an analytical balance if you have it.
- Water should be freshly distilled (deionized too if you can), do not use old stock dH2O as it tends to be acidic and it may cause the pH to shift a little.
250mL of 0.100M Potassium Phosphate Monobasic KH2PO4 (3.4022g in ~250mL dH2O)
250mL of 0.100M Sodium Phosphate Dibasic Na2PO4 (6.7017g in ~250mL dH2O)
Mix in 500mL container, add colour key preservative if you have it.
Notes:
- Obviously, use proper lab techniques. Don't just measure out 250mL of water and mix. Pour the amount in a beaker, add roughly half of the volume of water, dissolve, then dilute to 250mL in a grad cylinder.
- Solutions must be of exact concentrations, use an analytical balance if you have it.
- Water should be freshly distilled (deionized too if you can), do not use old stock dH2O as it tends to be acidic and it may cause the pH to shift a little.
13.3.08
Note on managing a science lab inventory Part I
Managing a lab is complicated work, especially when it comes to keeping a stock and track an inventory of equipment, glassware, chemicals and other materials.
It gets more complicated when your equipment and glassware is mostly for the use of highschoolers.
Let's take for example glassware. There's lots of brands, qualities and prices of glassware you can buy. You can go high end and get everything pyrex, VWR and the like. Or you can go low end and buy ML, some Chinese glass or any of the other cheapies.
High end glassware is expensive, but it's sturdier, it doesn't break as easily in heat, when falling or when exposed to mechanical forces. If one puts it under enough pressure sure, it'll break, but what it takes to chip a high quality piece will certainly smash the low quality one. And that's the thing about low end glassware, sure it's cheaper, but it's more delicate than your grandma's
china.
I've broken ML 100mL grads by just flicking them with my middle finger.
So comes the dilemma. I have X amount of money so i can either go with less of the good quality stuff, or buy tons of the cheap stuff.
If you work in a school, you will have teenagers whose brains are still adapting to their rapidly growing bodies and are natually clumsy, and your glassware will break, high or low end.
But consider this, by buying more expensive glass you will ensure a lower rate of breakage. If you buy cheap stuff, you might run out of glassware due to breakage before year's end. By my estimation, annually we spend more in replacing cheap glassware that broke from simple accidents (like hitting it against the tap of the sink when washing, which is quite common) with more cheap glassware than we would in replacing with good quality glassware, since they would last longer.
It's just not cost effective, considering that even the cheap glassware is not all that much cheaper than high quality glass, and is a little more expensive each year that goes by.
If you have a small budget then by all means get the cheap stuff so you can have enough stock to operate, but then you must instruct, and enforce, proper handling of glassware.
But if you have a large budget, don't keep a large stock of cheapies. Keep a small one of good quality ones. Just because they don't break or chip when hitting the tap.
It gets more complicated when your equipment and glassware is mostly for the use of highschoolers.
Let's take for example glassware. There's lots of brands, qualities and prices of glassware you can buy. You can go high end and get everything pyrex, VWR and the like. Or you can go low end and buy ML, some Chinese glass or any of the other cheapies.
High end glassware is expensive, but it's sturdier, it doesn't break as easily in heat, when falling or when exposed to mechanical forces. If one puts it under enough pressure sure, it'll break, but what it takes to chip a high quality piece will certainly smash the low quality one. And that's the thing about low end glassware, sure it's cheaper, but it's more delicate than your grandma's
china.
I've broken ML 100mL grads by just flicking them with my middle finger.
So comes the dilemma. I have X amount of money so i can either go with less of the good quality stuff, or buy tons of the cheap stuff.
If you work in a school, you will have teenagers whose brains are still adapting to their rapidly growing bodies and are natually clumsy, and your glassware will break, high or low end.
But consider this, by buying more expensive glass you will ensure a lower rate of breakage. If you buy cheap stuff, you might run out of glassware due to breakage before year's end. By my estimation, annually we spend more in replacing cheap glassware that broke from simple accidents (like hitting it against the tap of the sink when washing, which is quite common) with more cheap glassware than we would in replacing with good quality glassware, since they would last longer.
It's just not cost effective, considering that even the cheap glassware is not all that much cheaper than high quality glass, and is a little more expensive each year that goes by.
If you have a small budget then by all means get the cheap stuff so you can have enough stock to operate, but then you must instruct, and enforce, proper handling of glassware.
But if you have a large budget, don't keep a large stock of cheapies. Keep a small one of good quality ones. Just because they don't break or chip when hitting the tap.
27.2.08
Simple changes
My buddy, the physics guy, will be leaving in the summer to teach in europe. They haven't found anybody to replace him yet, so it's possible one of the math guys takes it and they get a new math teacher. If they find someone for physics, then it's a new neighbour for me, a new work relationship to establish.
Everybody else stays.
The labs have been quiet lately, havent done anything very interesting so far. Coolest thing recently was working with halogens. Getting chlorine gas via concentrated HCl + KMnO4... the green gas just reacts straight out and can be collected in a gas cylinder for show or to react sodium to make salts and such. It's tricky because the 37% HCl is needed and chlorine gas is deadly, but if done with the necessary fumehoods and safety measures, it's cool.
Same goes for the bromine. Made bromine water to replace the fading and almost depleted stock we have. Simple enough, some 0.5M sodium bromide solution and a few mL of sodium hypochlorite (household chlorine bleach, NaOCl). Also very dangerous, wouldn't want to get this stuff in contact with skin, but the recipe is cheap, simple and it works for the kind of science i prep.
Everybody else stays.
The labs have been quiet lately, havent done anything very interesting so far. Coolest thing recently was working with halogens. Getting chlorine gas via concentrated HCl + KMnO4... the green gas just reacts straight out and can be collected in a gas cylinder for show or to react sodium to make salts and such. It's tricky because the 37% HCl is needed and chlorine gas is deadly, but if done with the necessary fumehoods and safety measures, it's cool.
Same goes for the bromine. Made bromine water to replace the fading and almost depleted stock we have. Simple enough, some 0.5M sodium bromide solution and a few mL of sodium hypochlorite (household chlorine bleach, NaOCl). Also very dangerous, wouldn't want to get this stuff in contact with skin, but the recipe is cheap, simple and it works for the kind of science i prep.
19.2.08
Denied
They called me again the second monday of february, had a final interview with the head of the department. It went well, can't say i did anything wrong. The boss did tell me that there was another candidate that was a little more qualified than i was, having worked hardcore microbiology before and living closer (wouldn't have to move and such). Whereas i had the languages and the worldly education.
And i didn't hear from them for 2 weeks. I finally had it and found and sent an email to the human resources people. The human resources girl that interviewed me first called me up the following day and told me the other guy got it. She didn't have to call me at all, i could've remained in limbo for a little while longer, it was nice of her.
Though it may not be true, i'm going to take this as a didn't get hired because they were afraid of my skills.
The hunt goes on.
I had sort of a phylosophical epiphany this morning.
But first let me get this out of the way. My boss is pissing me off again. He comes in at 9am to request a complicated setup for 2pm (setup requests have to come in at least 24 hours in advance, no the morning before), and then has the balls to tell me off because i had some dirty bottles in my sink. Man i wish i could plow that guy over.
Ok epiphany.
I'm not religious, i'm a self declared atheist. Yes, i finally know the difference between atheist and agnostic, i do deny the existance based on the impossibility of formulating substantial, scientifically testable proof, as opposed to declaring the possibility unknowable (but possible) and keep it in question.
But being an atheist i sometimes think about death. Religious people think of death and depending on their religious outlook they see different things. Most see an afterlife, some think they'll be immediately reborn, and there's a few other ideals but that's for the theists to discuss.
To me, death has always been the ceasing of brain activity and subsequent decay of our molecules into more elemental forms due to bacterial, environmental and hopefully animal action as well. Yeap, rotting mush filled with bugs, worms and bacteria. Yum. But this leads me to a few thoughts of why other people see afterlives and gods and reincarnations.
The world we live in is the way it is because it's how we perceive it, right? I mean, everybody has a different outlook, that's why artists see "beauty" in what another person might otherwise consider "ugly". Same works for me, i see death as material cause with material effect.
And here's my realization. Since there's nothing anybody can do about dying, might as wel dying thinking that the second your brain shuts down, you will become something else, go to a metaphysical sacred place or something like that. I mean, it doesn't matter right? Because once you're dead, there's nothing you can do about it, so might as well die happy.
I guess this is why people, as they get older, become more and more spiritual, and thus try to force this spirituality onto their young early on. And the implications on the world's religions... monstrous.
Afraid of death? Look into the different streams of faith, i'm sure you'll find one post-death experience you may find enticing.
No, i'm not about to go seeking sainthood now. Death is death so enjoy life.
And i didn't hear from them for 2 weeks. I finally had it and found and sent an email to the human resources people. The human resources girl that interviewed me first called me up the following day and told me the other guy got it. She didn't have to call me at all, i could've remained in limbo for a little while longer, it was nice of her.
Though it may not be true, i'm going to take this as a didn't get hired because they were afraid of my skills.
The hunt goes on.
I had sort of a phylosophical epiphany this morning.
But first let me get this out of the way. My boss is pissing me off again. He comes in at 9am to request a complicated setup for 2pm (setup requests have to come in at least 24 hours in advance, no the morning before), and then has the balls to tell me off because i had some dirty bottles in my sink. Man i wish i could plow that guy over.
Ok epiphany.
I'm not religious, i'm a self declared atheist. Yes, i finally know the difference between atheist and agnostic, i do deny the existance based on the impossibility of formulating substantial, scientifically testable proof, as opposed to declaring the possibility unknowable (but possible) and keep it in question.
But being an atheist i sometimes think about death. Religious people think of death and depending on their religious outlook they see different things. Most see an afterlife, some think they'll be immediately reborn, and there's a few other ideals but that's for the theists to discuss.
To me, death has always been the ceasing of brain activity and subsequent decay of our molecules into more elemental forms due to bacterial, environmental and hopefully animal action as well. Yeap, rotting mush filled with bugs, worms and bacteria. Yum. But this leads me to a few thoughts of why other people see afterlives and gods and reincarnations.
The world we live in is the way it is because it's how we perceive it, right? I mean, everybody has a different outlook, that's why artists see "beauty" in what another person might otherwise consider "ugly". Same works for me, i see death as material cause with material effect.
And here's my realization. Since there's nothing anybody can do about dying, might as wel dying thinking that the second your brain shuts down, you will become something else, go to a metaphysical sacred place or something like that. I mean, it doesn't matter right? Because once you're dead, there's nothing you can do about it, so might as well die happy.
I guess this is why people, as they get older, become more and more spiritual, and thus try to force this spirituality onto their young early on. And the implications on the world's religions... monstrous.
Afraid of death? Look into the different streams of faith, i'm sure you'll find one post-death experience you may find enticing.
No, i'm not about to go seeking sainthood now. Death is death so enjoy life.
11.1.08
And then there was nothing.
Nothing is the new new. Not good news, not bad news, just no news. In most circumstances no news is good news, but when you're looking for a job, no news means... what exactly is beyond me.
I thought things were going so well, i thought i nailed it. But they haven't called. So yeah.
There's a number of things to think about tho. The whole interviewing process was november and december, everybody stopped working around the 20th of december, and most don't return untl january 15th. So it might be a matter of waiting.
Then there's this, they told me the job would start at the end of january. But i told them i'd do my notice at the school first and then start there, my notice by law has to be a month, otherwise i don't get paid my full benefits because of that month i would not work.
But whatever, if they decide to buy me out, that's fine as well.
I just hope they call me.
I thought things were going so well, i thought i nailed it. But they haven't called. So yeah.
There's a number of things to think about tho. The whole interviewing process was november and december, everybody stopped working around the 20th of december, and most don't return untl january 15th. So it might be a matter of waiting.
Then there's this, they told me the job would start at the end of january. But i told them i'd do my notice at the school first and then start there, my notice by law has to be a month, otherwise i don't get paid my full benefits because of that month i would not work.
But whatever, if they decide to buy me out, that's fine as well.
I just hope they call me.
7.12.07
The next step
Had my second interview with the HR people today, in the city i live in. Things went well, i think i nailed it. Wasn't so much an interview, it was more of a group activity, the kind that's designed to see how the prospect works in a team and on their own.
Can't say much about it, confidentiality agreement and all, but overall i think i did well. Everyone was competing for a different post so there was no stress about it between the people in the group. But, they were very insecure, it was easy to become the leader of that pack. Nice people btw.
So yeah, looks like i'm getting it. Lab tech might be done sooner than i thought.
Can't say much about it, confidentiality agreement and all, but overall i think i did well. Everyone was competing for a different post so there was no stress about it between the people in the group. But, they were very insecure, it was easy to become the leader of that pack. Nice people btw.
So yeah, looks like i'm getting it. Lab tech might be done sooner than i thought.
5.12.07
And so it went
Had the interview on monday Nov 26th.
It was out of town, in a small industrial segment of a shitty ass town about an hour from home. Wife and i went the day before to find the place so i wouldnt get lost on monday. We did find it no problem, proper signaling and a few directions from people that have been there and voilá, got there no problem. Getting out was a little troublesome, didn't turn right where i was supposed to and we got a little lost in the shitty ass town. But whatever, retraced our steps, took the right where i was supposed to and got home no problem.
On monday getting there was a breeze, no traffic whatsoever and i got to the factory at 8:30am, when the interview was supposed to happen at 10. I waited a little while, played sudoku on my cellphone and the human resources people let me in at around 9:15am.
First off there was an abstract logic test, matching shapes in sequence and stuff, pretty basic and easy, or so i think, dunno if it did well or not. Then they asked me to draw a human being. I drew a guy wearing a shirt and pants. Not being an artist i think i did well, it was pretty detailed.
Then came a few questions from the human resource girl (jobs, living situation, character questions, etc; nothing but the usual HR BS), did well in that too i think, charmed them. I think they liked me, she set me up for an interview with the lab people right away. So i went there and spoke to the boss of chemical QC analysis and then to the resident microbiology expert, who turned out to have an associate's in industrial eng., the fuck that has with microbiology is beyond me, but i'm guessing she learned on the job. Still i could lecture her on micro for hours on end, not that i'm an expert but it was pretty clear that i knew loads more than her. On that note, the guy from the chemistry analysis lab was pretty chill, but the micro woman was kinda uptight. Not sure if she was uncomfortable or what, my guess from her body language was that she was insecure when interviewing me; maybe because i knew more than her about micro (though i don't know the protocols and tests they use, but i'm pretty sharp in the science of it all). Or maybe she had never interviewed anybody at all. I'd like to thin it was the former, but whetever. I charmed the shit out of her as well.
Their labs look pretty standard. According to the chemistry guy, they process some six thousand samples weekly. Considering it's all swabs, piece of cake.
And the planets aligned.
In a former post i mention that a friend of a friend (a.k.a. my wife's boss) sent my resume in, influence trafficking and all, pretty cool of him to have done that for me. They call me for an interview and i go. The wednesday after the interview i get to sit down and have a friendly chat with no other than the president of the fucking company. Fuck yeah. I'm a decent person, i didn't mention anything about the job or the interview, just spoke with him about all sorts of random things. He's a cool guy. Still, the only help i got was in submitting the resume. Still, the factory would've gotten it anyway because i also submitted it through a headhunter who was kind enough to send it in for me. They decided to interview me, i did, and that was all me. If i get it it's through no help from anybody. It was all me.
TBC...
It was out of town, in a small industrial segment of a shitty ass town about an hour from home. Wife and i went the day before to find the place so i wouldnt get lost on monday. We did find it no problem, proper signaling and a few directions from people that have been there and voilá, got there no problem. Getting out was a little troublesome, didn't turn right where i was supposed to and we got a little lost in the shitty ass town. But whatever, retraced our steps, took the right where i was supposed to and got home no problem.
On monday getting there was a breeze, no traffic whatsoever and i got to the factory at 8:30am, when the interview was supposed to happen at 10. I waited a little while, played sudoku on my cellphone and the human resources people let me in at around 9:15am.
First off there was an abstract logic test, matching shapes in sequence and stuff, pretty basic and easy, or so i think, dunno if it did well or not. Then they asked me to draw a human being. I drew a guy wearing a shirt and pants. Not being an artist i think i did well, it was pretty detailed.
Then came a few questions from the human resource girl (jobs, living situation, character questions, etc; nothing but the usual HR BS), did well in that too i think, charmed them. I think they liked me, she set me up for an interview with the lab people right away. So i went there and spoke to the boss of chemical QC analysis and then to the resident microbiology expert, who turned out to have an associate's in industrial eng., the fuck that has with microbiology is beyond me, but i'm guessing she learned on the job. Still i could lecture her on micro for hours on end, not that i'm an expert but it was pretty clear that i knew loads more than her. On that note, the guy from the chemistry analysis lab was pretty chill, but the micro woman was kinda uptight. Not sure if she was uncomfortable or what, my guess from her body language was that she was insecure when interviewing me; maybe because i knew more than her about micro (though i don't know the protocols and tests they use, but i'm pretty sharp in the science of it all). Or maybe she had never interviewed anybody at all. I'd like to thin it was the former, but whetever. I charmed the shit out of her as well.
Their labs look pretty standard. According to the chemistry guy, they process some six thousand samples weekly. Considering it's all swabs, piece of cake.
And the planets aligned.
In a former post i mention that a friend of a friend (a.k.a. my wife's boss) sent my resume in, influence trafficking and all, pretty cool of him to have done that for me. They call me for an interview and i go. The wednesday after the interview i get to sit down and have a friendly chat with no other than the president of the fucking company. Fuck yeah. I'm a decent person, i didn't mention anything about the job or the interview, just spoke with him about all sorts of random things. He's a cool guy. Still, the only help i got was in submitting the resume. Still, the factory would've gotten it anyway because i also submitted it through a headhunter who was kind enough to send it in for me. They decided to interview me, i did, and that was all me. If i get it it's through no help from anybody. It was all me.
TBC...
22.11.07
New challenge?
My days as a lab tech may be counted. Via some button-pushing and people that know people i have an interview for a large, and i mean LARGE, international company that does food products and shit. They need a microbiology analyst for QC, not sure i fit the bill as the description of what they need is pretty nondescriptive, but they want microbiology, i know microbiology. They need lab work, i do lab work. QC is all protocols, lab procedures. Can't be that hard?
I probably don't know what i'm saying.
But if i do get it, i'm so out of here. Hopefully with a wealth of understanding. We'll see. Maybe i'm not what they're looking for and that was that.
Thing is, it's out of town. About 1.5h away from here, and i'll have to move there if i get it. They better gimme something goooood. Well, maybe i'll go for it just to have that name on my resume.
Stay tuned...
I probably don't know what i'm saying.
But if i do get it, i'm so out of here. Hopefully with a wealth of understanding. We'll see. Maybe i'm not what they're looking for and that was that.
Thing is, it's out of town. About 1.5h away from here, and i'll have to move there if i get it. They better gimme something goooood. Well, maybe i'll go for it just to have that name on my resume.
Stay tuned...
2.8.07
And here we go again...
Another year at bitchfarts starts. lol.
Yeah, so one more week until summer's out and school's in. Poor bastards. Few changes in the roster, but none in the science, just 2 in the math dept, but i don't really do much with math. I actually don't do anything with math.
Chem guy replied to an email i sent him, he seemed in a good mood. He only asked about the computer programs on the laptops, and i forgot about those, so i installed them. I worked with IT all summer long. Boring stuff, but interesting sometimes.
Damn i love this autosave function.
See you soon?
oh yes and
www.lost.eu/47d04
Play lost, do it for me.
Yeah, so one more week until summer's out and school's in. Poor bastards. Few changes in the roster, but none in the science, just 2 in the math dept, but i don't really do much with math. I actually don't do anything with math.
Chem guy replied to an email i sent him, he seemed in a good mood. He only asked about the computer programs on the laptops, and i forgot about those, so i installed them. I worked with IT all summer long. Boring stuff, but interesting sometimes.
Damn i love this autosave function.
See you soon?
oh yes and
www.lost.eu/47d04
Play lost, do it for me.
14.5.07
16.4.07
Coffee = work bliss
I've been doing a behavioural modification experiment. The bio teacher brought in a coffee machine for me to make my own coffee. I've opened it up for the public, but i only make it every so often. I send out an email when i make coffee, and they come running. They're so appreciative now! And i wondered what the secret of a highly appreciated secretary was... dependance!
9.4.07
Pastafari!
I've forgotten my new-found credo, so i dedicate this to the flying spaghetti monster, bless his holy noodly appendage.
Behold! The Eight I'd really rather you didn't's brought upon us by the FSM:
1. I'd Really Rather You Didn't Act Like a Sanctimonious Holier Than Thou *** When Describing My Noodly Goodness. If Some People Don't Believe In Me, That's Okay. Really, I'm Not That Vain. Besides, This Isn't About Them So Don't Change The Subject.
2. I'd Really Rather You Didn't Use My Existence As A Means To Oppress, Subjugate, Punish, Eviscerate, And/Or, You Know, Be Mean To Others. I Don't Require Sacrifices And Purity Is For Drinking Water, Not People.
3. I'd Really Rather You Didn't Judge People For The Way They Look, Or How They Dress, Or The Way They Talk, Or, Well, Just Play Nice, Okay? Oh, And Get This In Your Thick Heads: Woman = Person. Man = Person. Samey - Samey. One Is Not Better Than The Other, Unless We're Talking About Fashion And I'm Sorry, But I Gave That To Women And Some Guys Who Know The Difference Between Teal and Fuchsia.
4. I'd Really Rather You Didn't Indulge In Conduct That Offends Yourself, Or Your Willing, Consenting Partner Of Legal Age AND Mental Maturity. As For Anyone Who Might Object, I Think The Expression Is Go F*** Yourself, Unless They Find That Offensive In Which Case They Can Turn Off the TV For Once And Go For A Walk For A Change.
5. I'd Really Rather You Didn't Challenge The Bigoted, Misogynist, Hateful Ideas Of Others On An Empty Stomach. Eat, Then Go After The B******.
6. I'd Really Rather You Didn't Build Multimillion-Dollar Churches/Temples/Mosques/Shrin... To My Noodly Goodness When The Money Could Be Better Spend (Take Your Pick):
1. Ending Poverty
2. Curing Diseases
3. Living In Peace, Loving With Passion, And Lowering The Cost Of CableI Might be a Complex-Carbohydrate Omniscient Being, But I Enjoy The Simple Things In Life. I Ought To Know. I AM the Creator.
7. I'd Really Rather You Didn't Go Around Telling People I Talk To You. You're Not That Interesting. Get Over Yourself. And I Told You To Love Your Fellow Man, Can't You Take A Hint?
8. I'd Really Rather You Didn't Do Unto Others As You Would Have Them Do Unto You If You Are Into, Um, Stuff That Uses A Lot of Leather/Lubricant/Las Vegas. If the Other Person Is Into It, However (Pursuant To #4), Then Have At It, Take Pictures, And For The Love Of Mike, Wear a CONDOM! Honestly, It's A Piece of Rubber. If I Didn't Want It To Feel Good When You Did IT I Would Have Added Spikes, Or Something.
Check out THE FSM CAUSE.
Behold! The Eight I'd really rather you didn't's brought upon us by the FSM:
1. I'd Really Rather You Didn't Act Like a Sanctimonious Holier Than Thou *** When Describing My Noodly Goodness. If Some People Don't Believe In Me, That's Okay. Really, I'm Not That Vain. Besides, This Isn't About Them So Don't Change The Subject.
2. I'd Really Rather You Didn't Use My Existence As A Means To Oppress, Subjugate, Punish, Eviscerate, And/Or, You Know, Be Mean To Others. I Don't Require Sacrifices And Purity Is For Drinking Water, Not People.
3. I'd Really Rather You Didn't Judge People For The Way They Look, Or How They Dress, Or The Way They Talk, Or, Well, Just Play Nice, Okay? Oh, And Get This In Your Thick Heads: Woman = Person. Man = Person. Samey - Samey. One Is Not Better Than The Other, Unless We're Talking About Fashion And I'm Sorry, But I Gave That To Women And Some Guys Who Know The Difference Between Teal and Fuchsia.
4. I'd Really Rather You Didn't Indulge In Conduct That Offends Yourself, Or Your Willing, Consenting Partner Of Legal Age AND Mental Maturity. As For Anyone Who Might Object, I Think The Expression Is Go F*** Yourself, Unless They Find That Offensive In Which Case They Can Turn Off the TV For Once And Go For A Walk For A Change.
5. I'd Really Rather You Didn't Challenge The Bigoted, Misogynist, Hateful Ideas Of Others On An Empty Stomach. Eat, Then Go After The B******.
6. I'd Really Rather You Didn't Build Multimillion-Dollar Churches/Temples/Mosques/Shrin... To My Noodly Goodness When The Money Could Be Better Spend (Take Your Pick):
1. Ending Poverty
2. Curing Diseases
3. Living In Peace, Loving With Passion, And Lowering The Cost Of CableI Might be a Complex-Carbohydrate Omniscient Being, But I Enjoy The Simple Things In Life. I Ought To Know. I AM the Creator.
7. I'd Really Rather You Didn't Go Around Telling People I Talk To You. You're Not That Interesting. Get Over Yourself. And I Told You To Love Your Fellow Man, Can't You Take A Hint?
8. I'd Really Rather You Didn't Do Unto Others As You Would Have Them Do Unto You If You Are Into, Um, Stuff That Uses A Lot of Leather/Lubricant/Las Vegas. If the Other Person Is Into It, However (Pursuant To #4), Then Have At It, Take Pictures, And For The Love Of Mike, Wear a CONDOM! Honestly, It's A Piece of Rubber. If I Didn't Want It To Feel Good When You Did IT I Would Have Added Spikes, Or Something.
Check out THE FSM CAUSE.
Daily
I've got nothing. I figure that since i've got a lot of "nothing" days, i could write about my dailyish routine. This might shift a bit once i live with ze wife, especially the time i wake up and leave, as we'll only have one car to get by for the time being.
6.00 - Alarm sounds. Wake up, shower, breakfast, pack my lunch, watch the news, out the door by 7am.
7.30 - arrive at main gates of the school, park my car, slowly climb upstairs.
7.40 - Once upstairs i greet everybody around (if there's anyone at all), turn on the hallway computers, unlock my lab, turn off the alarm, turn on the A/C, drop my stuff at my desk, turn on the computer.
7.50 - Washup anything that needs washing, including coffee mug.
8.00 - Go down one floor to obtain my daily dosage of caffeine
8.15 - Sitting at my computer:
- Check emails: yahoo, gmail, gmail, hotmail, yahoo. In that order.
- Read the Questionable Content daily funny.
- Immerse myself in isketchforum to see what's up. This often consumes up to an hour.
- Visit addictinggames to see what's new and whether there's anything worth playing. No luck today.
- Read the news on various news sites.
- Sometimes go into blogger and write something, not very often tho.
11.00 - At this time there's often something to do, whether it be cleaning out the fishtanks, hamster cages etc, or repairing something or another. Today i might get a microscope from a science substitute teacher that needs a little maintainance.
12.30 - Head down to the teacher's lounge to heat my lunch up, then proceed to the cafeteria lunchroom to sit at the back tables to have innane conversations with whomever might be there of the local support staff. It can be fun, but often i do not partake in conversation as i seldom know what the hell they're talking about.
13.30 - Head back up, wash my coffee mug, head back down for more caffeine, chitchat a little with the highschool office girls, then head back up for the afternoon session.
13.45 - Sit at the computer and play whatever online game i come across first to ward of the afternoon's sleepy time, hoping that someone will send in a request.
15.30 - Classes are out, i tour all 4 labs to see if anything requires cleaning up. Often there's nothing, so i head back into my hole for another hour of online gaming while teachers work silently in their offices. I try not to disturb them at this time as it is the only time of the day they have for themselves to catch up with grading and all that.
16.30 - Everyone's gone, i tour the labs once more, straighten out whatever needs to be straightened out.
17.00 - pack up and leave. It depends where, might be home, might be tutoring, or might be the gym. Today's gym time as i haven't exercised much lately and my knees are starting to hurt again.
18.00 - Arrive at home, take a shower if needed, vegetate in front of the TV until wife gets out from work.
20.00 - At the wife's, have dinner, chat a little, and you know.
22.00 - Head home.
22.15 - Once at home, call the wife to announce a safe arrival. Sit at the computer, check all emails, forums.
23.00 - Bedtime.
Fun eh?
6.00 - Alarm sounds. Wake up, shower, breakfast, pack my lunch, watch the news, out the door by 7am.
7.30 - arrive at main gates of the school, park my car, slowly climb upstairs.
7.40 - Once upstairs i greet everybody around (if there's anyone at all), turn on the hallway computers, unlock my lab, turn off the alarm, turn on the A/C, drop my stuff at my desk, turn on the computer.
7.50 - Washup anything that needs washing, including coffee mug.
8.00 - Go down one floor to obtain my daily dosage of caffeine
8.15 - Sitting at my computer:
- Check emails: yahoo, gmail, gmail, hotmail, yahoo. In that order.
- Read the Questionable Content daily funny.
- Immerse myself in isketchforum to see what's up. This often consumes up to an hour.
- Visit addictinggames to see what's new and whether there's anything worth playing. No luck today.
- Read the news on various news sites.
- Sometimes go into blogger and write something, not very often tho.
11.00 - At this time there's often something to do, whether it be cleaning out the fishtanks, hamster cages etc, or repairing something or another. Today i might get a microscope from a science substitute teacher that needs a little maintainance.
12.30 - Head down to the teacher's lounge to heat my lunch up, then proceed to the cafeteria lunchroom to sit at the back tables to have innane conversations with whomever might be there of the local support staff. It can be fun, but often i do not partake in conversation as i seldom know what the hell they're talking about.
13.30 - Head back up, wash my coffee mug, head back down for more caffeine, chitchat a little with the highschool office girls, then head back up for the afternoon session.
13.45 - Sit at the computer and play whatever online game i come across first to ward of the afternoon's sleepy time, hoping that someone will send in a request.
15.30 - Classes are out, i tour all 4 labs to see if anything requires cleaning up. Often there's nothing, so i head back into my hole for another hour of online gaming while teachers work silently in their offices. I try not to disturb them at this time as it is the only time of the day they have for themselves to catch up with grading and all that.
16.30 - Everyone's gone, i tour the labs once more, straighten out whatever needs to be straightened out.
17.00 - pack up and leave. It depends where, might be home, might be tutoring, or might be the gym. Today's gym time as i haven't exercised much lately and my knees are starting to hurt again.
18.00 - Arrive at home, take a shower if needed, vegetate in front of the TV until wife gets out from work.
20.00 - At the wife's, have dinner, chat a little, and you know.
22.00 - Head home.
22.15 - Once at home, call the wife to announce a safe arrival. Sit at the computer, check all emails, forums.
23.00 - Bedtime.
Fun eh?
28.3.07
Getting things greener...
I just finshed watching "An Inconvenient Truth".
Everyone needs to see this movie.
Not because it's Al Gore. This movie concerns everyone. Forget the politics and personal political tragedy of Gore, if you're against Gore and you're mature enough to get past that, you will learn much from this movie.
The science is sound and let me tell you, it is solid. There is no bullshitting in this movie. We keep on this trend, and we're going down. No terrorists, no war, no famine, no axis of evil, no conservative party, nobody, noone, zip zero nadie niemand, will be as much a challenge for the survival of the human race as climate change. We're killing out planet and we don't even know it.
So get out there rent it, buy it, borrow it, whatever. Just get it and GET IT. Once you see it you'll know what i mean. Get as many people as you can to watch it too.
Climate change is not bullshit. It's what's going to kill us all if we don't do something about it.
Everyone needs to see this movie.
Not because it's Al Gore. This movie concerns everyone. Forget the politics and personal political tragedy of Gore, if you're against Gore and you're mature enough to get past that, you will learn much from this movie.
The science is sound and let me tell you, it is solid. There is no bullshitting in this movie. We keep on this trend, and we're going down. No terrorists, no war, no famine, no axis of evil, no conservative party, nobody, noone, zip zero nadie niemand, will be as much a challenge for the survival of the human race as climate change. We're killing out planet and we don't even know it.
So get out there rent it, buy it, borrow it, whatever. Just get it and GET IT. Once you see it you'll know what i mean. Get as many people as you can to watch it too.
Climate change is not bullshit. It's what's going to kill us all if we don't do something about it.
26.3.07
Broken glass
Today's the official 2007 glass breaking day!
Not that i intend to, but today so far i've broken 4 sections of glass tubing, a 125ml flask and a 100ml kimax grad cylinder. Wonderful eh? Accidents happen i guess.
The labs are going great. I've done a couple new things over the last few weeks. Not interesting things, but it's been fun setting up the experiements.
In bio we've done chicken wing disections (for elbow joint labs) and cow hearts too. On saturday we're doing rat disections to show mammalian organ arrangement.
Chem's doing thermometric titrations, where you mix precise concentrations of acid and base and measure the heat released in the reaction. Quite fun if you ask me, but i only made the solutions, i didn't get to participate in that one.
The new van der graaff generator's already busted, what a piece of shit. We're looking at buying a wider belt for the old one, but that seems a bit tough right now as imports to the country are sluggish.
I've also been making homemade electromagnets. The mightiest one is made out of some 22m of copper wire coiled around a 50cm steel retort stand rod. It can pick up 21 paperclips! Not much i know, but considering that the powersource is only 12v, it's good.
There's been a few victories this year. My boss managed to talk his way into getting a bottle of 1L of HCl from the other school, and that bottle now rests comfortably in our acids storage. I managed to replace all the alligator clips from the powersources, as the old ones were all depleted from all the electroplating and hydrolysis labs. I've also managed to speed up the cleaning process, i think i'll buy some low foam machine dishawashing soap and actually start periodically using that dishwasher because it cleans well and it's a lot less work.
A few defeats too though. Of the 60 chemicals we tried to order in november, we only got a list of 6. Then the suppliers moved, and now that they've reopened they can only get 3 of those 6 now. Lucky we were to find that acid, because chemicals are running out quickly and the government isn't granting permits for purchase or permits for importing. There's also the matter that a lot of students and teachers are leaving the country, and it's getting harder and harder to find students that are capable of paying the tuition and teachers that want to come to this shithole.
Anyway.
Ah, and one big Hooray! for me, i finished the teacher's cert course i've been doing since september last year. Finally!, i am officially a teacher, probably in biology hehe.
At least now i can fall back on teaching if i don't make it in anythign else.
Oh yeah, i'm also legally married. We don't live together yet, that'll happen as of may 1st. I'll let you know all about it.
Not that i intend to, but today so far i've broken 4 sections of glass tubing, a 125ml flask and a 100ml kimax grad cylinder. Wonderful eh? Accidents happen i guess.
The labs are going great. I've done a couple new things over the last few weeks. Not interesting things, but it's been fun setting up the experiements.
In bio we've done chicken wing disections (for elbow joint labs) and cow hearts too. On saturday we're doing rat disections to show mammalian organ arrangement.
Chem's doing thermometric titrations, where you mix precise concentrations of acid and base and measure the heat released in the reaction. Quite fun if you ask me, but i only made the solutions, i didn't get to participate in that one.
The new van der graaff generator's already busted, what a piece of shit. We're looking at buying a wider belt for the old one, but that seems a bit tough right now as imports to the country are sluggish.
I've also been making homemade electromagnets. The mightiest one is made out of some 22m of copper wire coiled around a 50cm steel retort stand rod. It can pick up 21 paperclips! Not much i know, but considering that the powersource is only 12v, it's good.
There's been a few victories this year. My boss managed to talk his way into getting a bottle of 1L of HCl from the other school, and that bottle now rests comfortably in our acids storage. I managed to replace all the alligator clips from the powersources, as the old ones were all depleted from all the electroplating and hydrolysis labs. I've also managed to speed up the cleaning process, i think i'll buy some low foam machine dishawashing soap and actually start periodically using that dishwasher because it cleans well and it's a lot less work.
A few defeats too though. Of the 60 chemicals we tried to order in november, we only got a list of 6. Then the suppliers moved, and now that they've reopened they can only get 3 of those 6 now. Lucky we were to find that acid, because chemicals are running out quickly and the government isn't granting permits for purchase or permits for importing. There's also the matter that a lot of students and teachers are leaving the country, and it's getting harder and harder to find students that are capable of paying the tuition and teachers that want to come to this shithole.
Anyway.
Ah, and one big Hooray! for me, i finished the teacher's cert course i've been doing since september last year. Finally!, i am officially a teacher, probably in biology hehe.
At least now i can fall back on teaching if i don't make it in anythign else.
Oh yeah, i'm also legally married. We don't live together yet, that'll happen as of may 1st. I'll let you know all about it.
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