Pen is blue

Combined Science Meeting 2005. Very clinical stuff and pretty decent food, but this giveaway momento gets me standing stright up.

What, trying to start us young? I ain't got no problem in that area. Worse, the smiley people there were giving it out to ladies, not just the pens but the brochures. Maybe their husbands or boyfriends need it...


In case you didn't notice, they suggest you take the blue pill.

And oh yeah, forgive my puns in the title and entry.

Air-con gone mad

This morning, which is actually a public holiday, I came to the lab and got called over to the common room by Littlefroggie. Lo and behold, the aged wall unit air cond was vomiting out little pieces of black and white styrofoam. It was also mumbling loudly, rattling and shaking. I confidently diagnose it to be suffering from indigestion and severe stress, having to work 24/7 for the past few years since it was born. There is sadly however, no cure. I say, let it RIP: rust in pieces.


Bravely, I decided to cut of its supply of electrons and ficked the switch off. Still, it worries me. The air cond is supposed to cool down the equiptment found in that area but if I shut it off, will the room overheat and cause a worse disaster to befall upon the labs?


Peering into the guts of the machine, all one sees is a dark cavern. No light at the end of this one.

Why so like that one?

Medium, small, and big trash bags in the lab. But it's not actually. Rather, it's the new-big-trash-bag, the new-small-trash-bag, and the old-big-trash-bag. The new big one is smaller than the old big one while the new small bag is bigger than the old small one. And it's almost only 2/3 the size, doubt it can fit into the trash bin now. Instead of throwing two old-big-bags of trash, we will now have to throw three-new-big bags of trash. Department people very funny. Why so like that one ah? And the new-small-trash-bag, it's about half the size of the old-big-trash-bag. Can't they leave the big bags as big bags and not make them medium bags. Can't they leave the small bags as small bags and not make them medium bags? The lines between bags are bluring in this ever globalizing world. Bags must stand up for their rights! Such disgraceful deterioration of complex bag sizes to a median range cannot be tolerated. The ever demanding neo-economic quasi-capitalism regieme has caused bags to undergo convergent evolution, as we are witnessing this very instant. What is the world comming to???

box

New boxes. Supposed to keep all our tips, boxes and other stuff inside them. The department undergoing some physical changes with the new HOD (head of department). Got to reduce the number of fridges you use to 4 per lab (we have like 7 now I think), get rid of old unwanted stuff and no more personal lab stuff in common areas. Oh yeah, and you should try and fit all your lab's stuff in the lab room areas, which I personally think is impossible at the moment for us. There will also be new desks and cubicles at the 'second-half part" of the corridor. The present tables will go and no more students or staff tables in the wet lab. So everybody sits outside. Thus, we have to clear all the fridge space we are using at the moment so the new cubicles can come in. Pitty the students at the first lab right in front; they have to soon walk all the way to the back where we are to get to their table. And above that, 2 honours students have to share a table between themselves, no more individual table thing. Staff and post-grads still get their personal space - phew...

Lab wildlife

Cockroach I found outside the lab. Lame and maimed, struggling across the path. Why did the cockroach cross the path? To escape the ants that were chasing it. Probably the roach was dying and the ants wanted to make a quick end to its miserable life. One of its legs and feelers was broken so it was limping across sideways, much like a crab.