This week was busy and stressful, but the gods of research were smiling down on me. Even though it's been about 15 years, I successfully drew 10 ml of blood from the jugular vein in a cat, and finished and submitted a grant application.  
#academia #LifeInTheLab #research

One overhead light in my corner of the lab went out yesterday and I'm honestly surprised at how much darker it seems while I'm at my desk.
It's pretty depressing, tbh, especially today when it's been dreary since the morning and hasn't gotten any better as the evening comes on.
There's plenty of light still, but there's just something about the quality of it that is just messing with my whole mood. #LifeInTheLab

Accidentally validated my assay skills yesterday when I ran a triglyceride concentration assay with a control and a test condition of a higher volume, and the results spreadsheet took that higher volume and calculated very nearly the same concentration of the control volume. I’m glad to know that after 20 years in the lab I can still pipet AF. #LifeInTheLab

Here in the lab, after having driven on roads that are partially cleared after a little bit of ice and snow, with no one else around. Amazing how loud the freezer sounds when there's nothing else in the room to disguise it. #LifeInTheLab #ScienceMastodon

That feeling when you go to pick up a scheduled sample for processing and you find a set from an unscheduled subject instead. #LifeInTheLab (The scheduled, confirmed-yesterday sample still hasn't arrived.)

#LifeInTheLab Purging samples from a downed freezer today, and found a couple of boxes, labelled "No. 47 SCARY: BE CAREFUL" and "No. 48 ALSO SCARY" respectively. No study IDs, just the warning. Opening the boxes, we discovered they contained glass whole blood collection tubes, and as you might guess, a lot of the glass had shattered, after being stored at -80 deg C for twenty years--yes, some of these tubes were 20 years old. 🥶 #ScienceMastodon

Should have sent that email asking for assay particulars a little earlier, I guess. Check your email, PI! #ScienceMastodon #LifeInTheLab

After two weeks trying to order supplies for requested assays for revisions to a paper due in two weeks, supplies just got ordered yesterday. But this afternoon, I found out that the POs had been cancelled (?!?!?) and I had to resubmit the orders. Thankfully I found the "copy cart" shortcut. I'm really glad I don't deal with the actual money. #ScienceMastodon #LifeInTheLab

Ah well, as a non-faculty staff worker at my university, I'm not cool enough for a research profile. Pretty sure that just means my name isn't on any papers.
While browsing the profile list, I discovered a non-related person who shares my last name: a professor in a different field and not my same-last-named cousin who works in the same department as me. Given that my last name is somewhat unusual, it always gives me a giggle to see it not applied to a member of my family. #lifeinthelab