crystal_sun396 (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
crystal_sun396) wrote2010-07-18 09:48 pm
crystal_sun396) wrote2010-07-18 09:48 pm
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Monday morning (that is, uh, now), I arrived to the lab early and waited around for a bit. XiaoJuan got there shortly after and let us both in. We chatted about inconsequential stuff like food and the movie she'd seen over the weekend (Inception). Actors whose names I don't in English, I'm not going to know in Chinese either. It was while I was plugging in my laptop that I noticed the trail of water. Quite a lot of it.
XiaoJuan and I traced the source from one side of the room to the other, suspecting and then absolving each of our bags in turn, and marveling at the amount of water. ... So. It was the refrigerators. Remember that thunderstorm I was so happy about on Friday? Three of our lab fridges, all connected to the same outlet, had stalled out during a power outage and, possibly unlike the other… one-or-two-I-can't-tell other fridges, they never came back online.
Aside from the damage likely done to expensive things like enzymes and grown factors (we'll need to test the rest of the stuff out to know if it's still functional), the water also soaked through some plastic wrapping for a cardboard box full of paper for western blot; at least XiaoJuan and ZhiYi (the next to arrive) agree that the top part is still okay to use if we slice off the bottom portion.
XueJie (which is a title, not a name, but I have enough memory issues as it is, thanks) jiggled the outlet extender just a little and power came back, so we're not sure what's up with that.
Someone has come by to mop up the spill with, if I'm understanding this, a Special Mop because the water may be polluted? Otherwise everyone is settling back into routine (everyone is here now) and the water is mostly gone, so I'm off to go do actual work. (XiaoHei is letting me help her "lo jiao".) Whee.
...
Okay, done. Science apparently involves a lot of waiting around. I can't figure out how to brew this delicious tea so that it's dry (sweet) but not bitter or dry (bitter). ... Lalala waiting around.
If you give me a moment, I'm going to wax lyric about my labmates, or maybe what I did over this weekend that didn't involve laughing at Edward Atterton, mostly because I want to list what "everyone" consists of:
The only guy at the lab is XueZhang and I guess he is something like my direct superior. He older than the rest of us, I think, but he can't be more than ten years older than me. He didn't go to the bar with us and he's not coming to the sleepover because he doesn't want to intrude on our Girls' Night Out style of thing. Quiet and nice and he takes time to explain things to me with the aid of some English. I think he has a girlfriend in England.
XiaoJuan comes in in the morning, but she isn't in this lab until noon for lunch. She also explains things to me, although with more gestures and enthusiasm and... less scientific relevance. It winds up being things like movies or food. The other girls find it very funny when we attempt communicating in earnest. She's great at eating (faster than me) and lights up when she talks about food. She and XiaoHei banter.
XiaoHei gives me things to do when XueZhang doesn't (and right now, he's got nothin' because research is stalled blaaaargh). So I help her PCR and make gel plates and run electrophoresis. I say "help" but all of these things would get done much more quickly without me. But I appreciate the chance to learn and practice, and I think XiaoHei likes the break. It's a little repetitive, but I'm not so good at it that it's boring.
When we went to the bar, I think ZhiYi is the one who didn't drink with me. Er, I mean, she did drink with me, but we two were the ones that didn't order alcohol. We got oreo mocha milkshake things instead and they were delicious. I say "I think" because I... was mixing up her with Jo at the time and now I'm not sure. Pffft, what fail. I'm reasonably sure that it was Jo who drove me home. Motorcycles. ... are cool?
With guest appearances from XueJie and Gladis and Dr. Sophie. Dr. Sophie isn't actually "Dr. Sophie," but whatever. Gladis is a story and a half and I think I'll find out more during our sleepover.
P.S. Oh hey guys, look: it's my hospital! Because the Medical University didn't have room for us. Oh well~
XiaoJuan and I traced the source from one side of the room to the other, suspecting and then absolving each of our bags in turn, and marveling at the amount of water. ... So. It was the refrigerators. Remember that thunderstorm I was so happy about on Friday? Three of our lab fridges, all connected to the same outlet, had stalled out during a power outage and, possibly unlike the other… one-or-two-I-can't-tell other fridges, they never came back online.
Aside from the damage likely done to expensive things like enzymes and grown factors (we'll need to test the rest of the stuff out to know if it's still functional), the water also soaked through some plastic wrapping for a cardboard box full of paper for western blot; at least XiaoJuan and ZhiYi (the next to arrive) agree that the top part is still okay to use if we slice off the bottom portion.
XueJie (which is a title, not a name, but I have enough memory issues as it is, thanks) jiggled the outlet extender just a little and power came back, so we're not sure what's up with that.
Someone has come by to mop up the spill with, if I'm understanding this, a Special Mop because the water may be polluted? Otherwise everyone is settling back into routine (everyone is here now) and the water is mostly gone, so I'm off to go do actual work. (XiaoHei is letting me help her "lo jiao".) Whee.
...
Okay, done. Science apparently involves a lot of waiting around. I can't figure out how to brew this delicious tea so that it's dry (sweet) but not bitter or dry (bitter). ... Lalala waiting around.
If you give me a moment, I'm going to wax lyric about my labmates, or maybe what I did over this weekend that didn't involve laughing at Edward Atterton, mostly because I want to list what "everyone" consists of:
The only guy at the lab is XueZhang and I guess he is something like my direct superior. He older than the rest of us, I think, but he can't be more than ten years older than me. He didn't go to the bar with us and he's not coming to the sleepover because he doesn't want to intrude on our Girls' Night Out style of thing. Quiet and nice and he takes time to explain things to me with the aid of some English. I think he has a girlfriend in England.
XiaoJuan comes in in the morning, but she isn't in this lab until noon for lunch. She also explains things to me, although with more gestures and enthusiasm and... less scientific relevance. It winds up being things like movies or food. The other girls find it very funny when we attempt communicating in earnest. She's great at eating (faster than me) and lights up when she talks about food. She and XiaoHei banter.
XiaoHei gives me things to do when XueZhang doesn't (and right now, he's got nothin' because research is stalled blaaaargh). So I help her PCR and make gel plates and run electrophoresis. I say "help" but all of these things would get done much more quickly without me. But I appreciate the chance to learn and practice, and I think XiaoHei likes the break. It's a little repetitive, but I'm not so good at it that it's boring.
When we went to the bar, I think ZhiYi is the one who didn't drink with me. Er, I mean, she did drink with me, but we two were the ones that didn't order alcohol. We got oreo mocha milkshake things instead and they were delicious. I say "I think" because I... was mixing up her with Jo at the time and now I'm not sure. Pffft, what fail. I'm reasonably sure that it was Jo who drove me home. Motorcycles. ... are cool?
With guest appearances from XueJie and Gladis and Dr. Sophie. Dr. Sophie isn't actually "Dr. Sophie," but whatever. Gladis is a story and a half and I think I'll find out more during our sleepover.
P.S. Oh hey guys, look: it's my hospital! Because the Medical University didn't have room for us. Oh well~
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